Sermon Central
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Feed The Fire Series
Contributed by Glenn Newton on May 22, 2005 (message contributor)
Summary: Every Christian needs to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but after this gift is recieved, we need to Feed the Fire.. I share a couple ideas on how to do this.
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Feed the Fire
Pastor Glenn Newton
May 22, 2005
5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
2TI 1:8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 1Tim. 1:5-12
A couple of weeks ago, Nola and I took the girls to Piney bay and set up our tent, which hadn’t been used in a while, and we camped overnight. We had a good time… I took the girls to the swimming beach, and we froze in the water for about an hour, then we went back to camp and started the Fire so we could roast our Hot Dogs and eat dinner. After swimming in that freezing water, that fire felt good.
We ate our hot dogs, we made smores, and then the best time of camping… we just sat around and watched the fire…. Is it just me or is that fun? I love to watch the fire burn.. It’s almost like a magnetic pull, you have to watch. The fire burned all night, mainly because I got up at 3am and added our remaining two logs to the coals, and when we got up in the morning we still had a hot fire burning.
Throughout Scripture, Fire represents the presence and the Holiness of God… His Spirit. Last week we celebrated Pentecost Sunday, where after ascending to Heaven to be with the Father, Jesus sent the Promised Gift, the Holy Spirit to those disciples as they waited in that upper room…. Remember the description? Acts 2:2 says this, “2 Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
God sent the Holy Spirit, and His Spirit is represented by Fire…. As a Christian you have been offered this awesome gift.. The infilling of the very Spirit of God…. The Fire of God. You need to seek this infilling experience… to live as God wants us to live in this world, we must have the power of the Holy Spirit evident in our Christian walk… or we will find ourselves fighting a battle without being at full strength.
So my question for you this morning is this… Are you filled with the Spirit? And if you have been filled with the Spirit, what are you doing to Feed the Fire? Or another way of asking this same question, as our Scripture puts it…. Are you fanning into flame this great gift of God?
This morning I want to share a couple of ideas with you about how to Feed the Fire… How to keep your walk with the Holy Spirit alive and healthy…
1. Live with Sincere Faith The apostle Paul is writing to his young brother in Christ, this young pastor who is faced with some daunting tasks as he is teaching and preaching Christ… listen to what Paul says…. “ 5 I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God,”
RO 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
