Sermon Tone Analysis

Fresh Faith

We are starting our new summer series based on the book by Pastor Jim Cymbala, pastor of the Brooklyn Tabernacle.

Last year - Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire - What happens when God’s Spirit invades the hearts of his people.

It’s set us on a prayer and a mission to do what we can do to foster an atmosphere in our services and our lives where the true power of God’s Holy Spirit can be set free.

It’s been a focus of our prayer meetings

It’s been a focus of our teachings.

And I believe that it is happening and going to continue to happen.

This book asks the question of what happens when Real Faith ignites God’s people.

When we talk about faith, we talk about the center of our Christian life.

There is nothing that we can do to please God without faith.

So my prayer this summer is that you are sitting on the beach, or on a boat, or in a car or airplane, or just in your back yard and you are faithful to read this book, that the Holy Spirit would enlarge your faith for bigger and better things.

Do you know why I pray that for you?

Because if it happens in your life personally, imagine what happens in this place when all of that faith from each person is released in the corporate service - Miracles will happen here.

ce when all of that faith from each person is released in the corporate service - Miracles will happen here.

Lives will be healed and changed

Families will be restored

The harvest will be brought in.

PRAISE GOD!

John 10:10

The Steps to Destruction

We have an enemy that has one thing on his mind - the total destruction of God’s people.

The thing is that is against what God tells us about his plans for our lives.

- God’s plan is to make us fruitful.

To give us abundant lives through his son Jesus Christ.

God says, he will never forsake us

He will never walk away from us.

So the Bible makes it very clear that it is very hard for the Believer in Christ to be destroyed.

And yet we have seen it happen, haven’t we?

So what’s the deal?

The deal is that the enemy must be subtle about his destruction in our lives.

And that’s what this verse says here.

I missed it until I saw it brought out in the reading.

But it’s true.

The enemy’s destruction of a life has to be a progression.

He cannot just appear on the scene and bring utter destruction.

He has to do a couple of things.

He has to get us to believe that it’s possible

He hast to get us to a place where we buy in to his plan

A place where we open up our lives to him

A place where we don’t trust God the way that we should

A place where we are divided and separated from the larger family of God - the church.

How does he get us there?

First Step - Theft

First he steals from us.

The Bible says here and in other scriptures that satan is a thief.

We see here in verse 1, that he never comes in through the door.

He sneaks in over the wall and through some window.

How many know that a person sneaking over the wall and through the window, doesn’t have the best intentions for you?

His stealing is where the gradual breakdown begins.

His goal is to steal from us to the point that he robs us of our relationship with God.

He Steals our Love For Christ

So he steals our first love.

- this is always done through the enticement of the things of this world.

He is coy in taking our devotion and our worship from God onto inanimate things.

This portion of scripture is very important when it comes down to recognizing the ploys of the enemy, because we see here that many get robbed from without even knowing it.

We have a church who is doing the work of the Kingdom

They are operating in patience and love.

They are speaking out against evil

They are not falling for strange teachings or teaching strange things themselves - They are people of the Word.

They have stood strong amidst the persecution that is coming against them

But Jesus says, you are doing it all in the wrong spirit and for the wrong reasons.

You have lost your first love.

In other words - Your fulfilling the letter of the law, but don’t have the spirit of it.

The law was given to lead us to a savior - to THE savior.

But their hearts are not there.

And here is the thing - he doesn’t say it here, but it can definitely be surmised by the things that are listed here.

It may have even been their ministry that took the place of Jesus in their hearts.

But no matter what you are doing - It’s the love for Jesus that matters.

And this would cause them to be discounted in heaven - their light, lampstand (Spirit of God would be extinguished.

That’s sad.

But the truth is that it’s true of just too many believers today.

Those who are even doing great things for Jesus.

The enemy has stolen their first love.

And when that happens, our hearts grow cold.

We get cynical in our faith and about life.

We buy into other compromises with the World

So check your heart brothers and sisters.

If you are not on fire for Jesus.

If you are lackadaisical about your walk with him.

If your faith in him doesn’t excite you, you have lost your first love.

He Steals Our Joy

He steals our joy.

When we don’t have the love that we should have for Jesus.

When he is not our first priority, the joy of serving him will leave as well.

The seventy disciples return from their missions trip excited about what they saw and experienced

But Jesus says something to them that we need to be careful about as well.

Make sure that your joy is founded in the right things.

It’s not about what you can do

It’s not about what even I am doing through you - yes those things should make you joyful

When we see peoples lives changed, there should be joy

When we see healings and miracles and the power of God moving we should be joyful

When we experience the power of God moving in our lives, we should be joyful

But that’s now where joy comes from.

Joy comes from the fact that our names are written in the lambs book of life.

There is nothing that the enemy can do to steal that.

He can steal the feeling

He can steal the experience

He can steal the joy founded on those things

But He cannot change what is written in heaven.

My joy is in Christ, because He is the one who died and resurrected again to save me