Lord, Set Us on Fire!
Acts 2: 1-4
A Sound Like a Strong Wind
1-4 When the Feast of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Without warning there was a sound like a strong wind, gale force—no one could tell where it came from. It filled the whole building. Then, like a wildfire, the Holy Spirit spread through their ranks, and they started speaking in a number of different languages as the Spirit prompted them.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God. Let us pray.
My plea and prayer today before I leave McCabe Chapel is for the Lord to set us on Fire! I pray that we are all ignited with an unquenchable fire! I pray that the Holy Spirit touch us in such a way that none of us here will not ever be the same again!
Somebody say, “Lord touch!”
Touch your neighbor and say “Lord touch!”
There’s a sweet, sweet sprit it in this place! And I know that it’s the presence of the Lord!!! What! I got the Holy Ghost this morning because I’ve been set on fire. My baby cousin Percy Snelling, III gave his first sermon Easter Sunday at his church in Pine Bluff, AR. My baby cousin is 13 years old ya’ll. He’s the next generation pastor of our family. In our family it’s one in every generation. Dedra was scared that it was gonna be her. So she can breathe now because she know now that it’s not gonna be her. But that doesn’t mean that God doesn’t have a mission for her to do. But that’s not unique to my family. God has favor on everyone here. But are we will to accept God’s favor in our lives.
The reason why I brough up my baby cousin Percy is because it doesn’t matter what age you are! When God sets you on fire… you are changed for life! You are changed for the better! You are on a new playing field. You go from operating in the carnal and natural to operating in the supernatural! You are operating with a “can do” attitude! You are ready to stand up for Jesus, not just by singing a song, but by honoring the sacrifice that he made for us with our lives! When we are set on fire for God, we are getting it together with each other, so we can get it together for God.
But we need the Holy Spirit to set us out because sometimes we need to be revived because life is hard, but yet and still God is good! Amen! All the time that’s what it do! Because God is good all the time!
We need to stop being lukewarm and cold because the only way for the church to survive is for the Holy Spirit to set us on fire! Sometimes the fire goes out because we’ve become weary. We get tired and worn. If we aren’t that way now, one day will be asking for God to set us on fire! Even when times are tough, there is still hope as sure as there is God! There is always hope! And that’s what keeps our fire burning Amen! Hope is faith in things that are unseen!!! To have faith is to have hope. It’s because of the love of God in the form of Christ that we are able to have faith, hope, and love!
So today, I’m pray for God to set us on fire!
Let’s go back to the text….and if you look at verse 5 in the same chapter…There were Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem ya’ll. Something strange happened that made the people take notice.
There was a sudden sound that left people speechless and bewildered. Not only that, but ya’ll after the Holy Spirit came upon these folk, the on lookers started to look at them like they were crazy because they were testifying about God and what Christ did on the cross, and what they needed to do to be saved.
But they were speaking in their native languages. They weren’t crazy! They were set on fire by God! They were set on fire with that unquenchable fire that John talks about in the first chapter of Mark. That unquenchable fire is the Holy Spirit!
Now, that doesn’t mean that the flame doesn’t flicker or need kindling. That’s the purpose of us going to church on Sundays because sometimes our spirits need to be kindled and stirred. The purpose should always be to get the spark back into our lives, not put someone else’s out. And when God get’s a hold of you… the only one that lets go is us! It’s not God! We are reason why our flames grow dim.
But when the spirit gets stirred….Something happens….Somebody gets burned… And that somebody is the enemy! And when the enemy gets burned, guess what, the enemy wants to get somebody else because the enemy wants to put that person’s fire out!
Somebody that’s on fire for God is somebody that you can’t help but take notice of. Have you ever seen somebody that’s on fire for Christ? Some people in church don’t like to see people like that because it just reminds them how they are not on fire. It’s a lot of people that go to church that are satisfied just having a flicker. But like I’ve said before… If you believe in an insignificant God, then understand that you will get insignificant answers and results.
But whether you believe what I’m about to say or not, God knows that this is my prayer for Mc Cabe when I leave is that under the new pastor that this church is set on fire in such a way that this congregation makes a significant contribution to this community. I don’t know what you think is here, but when I look out into the congregation, I see a gold mine because God can shape and move any congregation that is willing to let him work.
Being set on fire for God means that we are living out our faith.
It’s almost like people are afraid for the Holy Spirit to move in a church because when the Spirit moves, people are changed. People can’t stay the same when the Spirit truly gets a hold of you! There’s an attitude change. There’s a new way of thinking! There’s an opportunistic attitude of hope and endless possibilities.
The question today is do you want God to set you on fire? It’s alright if your answer is no. Because if God wants to set you fire, God can, but if you are not willing, you are limiting what God can do with your life and through your life.
Sometimes it’s not about what we want. It’s God’s will! Sometimes it’s about the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s about the power that is transforming and that can transform lives! That’s power that transforms this church. That’s power that makes a church’s vision a reality.
Now going back to the text, if you read further down in the chapter starting at verse 14, the people looking at what was going on began to speak about the greatness of God in their native languages. The people looking at them began to wonder if they have been drinking too much moonshine. They thought that they were talking crazy.
But Peter said standing with the other disciples “Men of Judea and all who live around here, these folk ain’t drunk. It’s only 9 o’clock in the morning! No these people are doing what Joel talked about…And that was God is gonna pour out His Spirit on your sons and daughters and upon ALL people and they will prophesy, see visions, dream dreams…and that everyone that calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Not only that but God will do mighty things through many people.
God is not playing! God is all powerful.
Lord, I pray that you set us on fire! I pray that God sets us on fire and set us out! However it is done God gets all the glory and you are edified.
But if you want to be set on fire, then ask the Holy Spirit to come in your heart and life and show out! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. Amen. Amen.
