Passionate Pursuit

Welcome to Renew

Razorbacks have some passionate fans

I listen to sports talk radio and I am amazed at how passionate they are

Tennessee’s fan base is so passionate they caused a potential hire to get unhired and the AD fired as well

I’m not here to talk to you about how you should be as passionate about God as you are about sports

You should, but that isn’t what this is about.

We have talked since the beginning of the year about our mission

We talked about the vision of where we are going in 2018

All of this is coming from our theme this year of being committed!

But this week I want to start a series on the Values of Renew

Exactly who we are

Values of Renew

Values defined

A person's principles or standards of behavior; one's judgment of what is important in life.

We all have things that we stand for.

Things that are standards of our life

When people look at you and your family they know what you stand for

We have those same things at Renew

As we continue to grow and influence I believe these values have to become synonymous with the name

When people hear that you go to Renew people should know that we are these things

Over the next 6 weeks we are going to define what each of these values are

These are things that you will see and hear from this stage

My hope is that you will make these a part of your life

Passionate Pursuit

Make Yourself Available

2 Timothy 2:20–21 ESV

Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

Put Yo Nikes On

2 Timothy 2:20–21 ESV

Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

Think about this verse for a second

Everything in a house has a use

Some good, some bad

But everyone has a use!

You were created for something!

What is it?

What is the reason that you are here?

You may know that answer or you may not.

The way to find out what you were created for is to make yourself available

In we see the story of where God had called Samuel

God hadn’t spoke often in those days

Maybe you don’t hear God speaking to you

Are you available?

When Samuel heard God, he thought it was Eli

3 times he went to Eli when Eli finally realized what was happening

In he speaks what we should speak

1 Samuel 3:9 ESV

Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

In order for us to pursue God with Passion we must make ourselves available for him to speak into our lives!

We have to be open to what God wants to say in us and how he wants to use us

We can’t keep running back to the familiar, we have to run towards God!

Put Yo Nikes On

2 Timothy 2:22–23 ESV

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible 5343. φεύγω

φεύγω phĕugō, fyoo´-go

I heard this when I was a teenager and every time I think about this passage and fleeing I think of this statement

A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible 5343. φεύγω

φεύγω phĕugō, fyoo´-go

The word here is one that is used multiple times of when people were running from captivity or threats

It’s not just about running from sin

Yes we must run from sin

We must flee from it like nothing else!

In Verse 21 it talks about cleansing ourselves from things that make us dishonorable

We have to leave all those behind

That is when we pursue the righteousness

But there are other things that we must flee from as well

Timothy was high character

We must flee impatience

Sometime as we pursue God we must wait

While he probably struggled with sin I believe he struggled with other things more

We have to trust God is preparing us in that waiting

Would you say that teenagers are patient?

That may mean we are in a place that we don’t necessarily want to be, but he is using this time to prepare us for something greater!

I’ll pause for your hysterical laughter!

As teenagers we would be all over the place

Our human tendancies are to make our own way

We would go from one “passion” to the next

Social media warriors!

If it isn’t movin in our time we are ready to go and make it happen

We weren’t focused on one thing very long

We have to be patient in our pursuit!

Sometimes our passionate pursuit requires us to be patient

Buddy System

2 Timothy 2:22 ESV

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Let’s do this together!

We need help along the way

People to lift us up and keep us going

Pursue in worship!

Worship here on Sunday morning

Not just showing up to check a box

We are here to allow God to speak into our lives

Sunday morning worship is like a water stop in a marathon

We need refreshing to continue our pursuit

To worship passionately and rejuvenate for the journey ahead!

Pursue in Real Life

Developing those relationships outside of the church is key as well

Being on a personal level with one another gives us the ability to know when we are struggling and need help

Basically this just means DON’T GO AT THIS ALONE!

Why is This Important?

This is the core of our values

This is where it all starts from

If we are passionately pursuing God then the other values will come along with it!

We have to be passionate about what we are doing

It’s not easy to keep this up but we must continue to fan the flame like Paul tells Timothy in

2 Timothy 1:6 ESV

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,

We must continue to pursue God with the passion that we had in the beginning!

Don’t let the fire go out!

Where Do We Go From Here?

Are we passionately pursuing God?

Does our life reflect that passionate pursuit?

Has your fire gone out?

Are you available?

Response time

Pray for that fire

Pray to allow God to use you for his purpose!

Meditate -

2 Timothy 2:22 ESV

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Ask - Put a spark in my life that I can fan into a flame of passion for Jesus!