Fan the Flame
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Fan the Flame
Fan the Flame
At Covenant College one professor writes in the book Becoming Whole, “each year in one of my classes, I conduct an experiment, asking the students to tell me what they should do to get a job. They invariably provide the following sorts of answers:
“We should study hard.”
“We should major in a field with good career options.”
“We should learn how to write a résumé.”
“We should use our parents’ connections.”
There is truth in all these answers, but notice that the students’ entire focus is on techniques, on those things that they can do to control the material world. I’ve done this exercise with approximately 750 students over the years, and only one of them has ever said, “We should pray.” Think about the horror of this: some of the godliest young people in America—at least at the outset—don’t instinctively prioritize falling on their knees to pray to the Creator, Sustainer, and Redeemer of work for help with finding a job. It’s all about résumés, connections, etc. ”
Excerpt From: Brian Fikkert & Kelly M. Kapic. “Becoming Whole.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/becoming-whole/id1420313463
Excerpt From: Brian Fikkert & Kelly M. Kapic. “Becoming Whole.” Apple Books. https://books.apple.com/us/book/becoming-whole/id1420313463
Steps of Repentance
Step 1: God I am wrong
Step 2: God I am sorry
Step 3: God Forgive me
In many ways, the western church has reoriented the story to be all about the individual. Many teachings revolve around techniques and ideas of how to live your best life.
We worship God on Sunday but don’t live for him or acknowledge Monday through Saturday. Some cases our worship on Sunday is more about us than it is about God. If we are not careful the focus gets shifted to meet the needs of the consumer/church attender than to focus on Jesus himself.
I will never forget.
God gave us a property in town. I remember showing up at a city council meeting and two of the biggest bulliest in town were there.
They stepped forward and started to complain about the church. They said the church up there got a property next to my house and they are not cleaning it up. One weekend we had it knocked over because the city said you did not need a demo permit to tear things down that weekend and so we knocked it over.
We had not hauled it off yet.
So they complain at the city meeting on Monday. We had a mission team in town and so on Tuesday, I moved who I could to that property and started hand loading things in the dumpster. We got some equipment and by Wednesday afternoon the house was completely gone.
That should make our neighbors happy right?
Contrary to thought this made them madder.
So they picked up the phone and called the Department of Natural Resources on the church. Now this was under past government administrations.
I got a phone call from DNR about a report on Asbestos and they alleged that we had threw a bunch of asbestos in a dumpster without permits. (We never did anything illegal in all of this)
An investigation was opened. I had a friend who was our attorney in the early days of the church. He was a state representative and so I made a call to him.
He said Jonathan this is good timing because all these departments are putting in their request for budgets so I will make a phone call.
DNR came and visited us.
I knew the truth of what was happening.
Now those in town did not know what was going on so any time we would do work outside they would drive by and take pics because they thought we had been issued stop work orders. They drove by a lot. I always waved but they did not wave back
The city leaders at the time also did not know the truth but they kept putting pressure on us as well.
It was time for another city council meeting and I heard things were going to blow up that night and that I should be there. I went and took a few people with me.
Before I got there, God laid on my heart
Luke 6:2
27 “But I say to you who listen: Love your enemies, do what is good to those who hate you,
28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Going in to this meeting I knew that I could love them from a distance through God’s love for me, I could pray for them you know
God please remove them out of my way and God I am fine however you want to do that.
I really got hung up on the do good to those who hate you.
This requires action.
The Lord taught me several things.
One: Truth does not always need a defence. If it’s the truth you don’t have to convince people of it.
The other valuable nugget was from Neil Franks and he said Jonathan here is how you beat an unreasonable person. You put the unreasonable person in front of reasonable people and let them be unreasonable.
So God just simply said do good to them by not speaking out against them.
They got up and started in. They said whoever told those students (that was me) to load up that house should never be allowed to work with children because basically they force fed asbestos to those students.
My music minister at the time was there and he could not take it.
He stood up and started arguing this and the Newspaper was on the other people’s side so guess who got their pic in the paper.
God showed up big that day and I was able to stay silent.
I will never forget at one point in the meeting God took my eyes off all the junk going on and said look around.
You see when I was being attacked the few bystanders in the room had their eyes on me. They were watching what I was going to do next. How was I going to respond.
One lady in the room was watching very intently
God said to me in that moment or later on. If I don’t let them attack you, and I give you the strength to sustain it, then they will never know what grace looks like.
Did you hear that? God used what Satan meant for evil for his good.
After the meeting was over, I spoke to a few more people
Things moved along and we learned a whole lot about asbestos. We got through it.
I remember the day the couple who accused us came up and apologized.
I also will never forget the conversation with the other lady in the room a year or two later.
She said that night I remember watching you and after the meeting was over I said I have a whole new respect for you and I responded and said
Thanks Cheryl
She said he knows my name.
She said when I first got here and started getting involved she said I drank the koolaide and thought you and the church were what is wrong with this town but she says I have been watching you and I have changed my mind.
She said I want to come to church. I am thinking about just sitting in the parking lot is that ok. I said come in the roof should hold up. We had some good builders on the building.
Come on inside. We met her in the parking lot and walked her in.
(Conversation with van)
It’s a cult up there, no I have heard Jonathan preach and it’s good.
They are taking all the land, we all know that is not true
They don’t pay taxes, wrong the coffee shop collects and pays sales tax
He said I can see I won’t win you over now will I and she said that’s right. My mind has changed about you.
Only God could do all this. Only God could write the story of Bridge of Faith. One day the mayor came to me scared because of demons chasing him and he gave his life to the Lord.
Step 4: God cleanse me
7 But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
I am a fix it type of person. You tell me a problem then i want to fix it. I have learned to listen better but I still want to fix things. It is a whole lot easier to try and fix your problems than it is to deal with my own as well.
This becomes a problem when it comes to repentance. Last night, we identified our idols and then we looked at the Loyalty of our God.
If you are fix it type of person or intelligent, educated, independent person this becomes a problem when it comes to repentance.
We identify the problem and we want to fix it.
The problem is that if sin is the problem then their is only one solution and that solution is Jesus Christ.
You can’t fix it!
You are fully dependent on Christ for you to be healed.
This is tougher than it may sound because our flesh would rather fix it than to trust Jesus. We would rather discipline ourselves or just fix it ourselves or just change our thinking or behavior to solve our idol problem.
Jesus is the solution. It take Jesus to cleanse us from sins.
two things
Turn to
The city of Corinth was a philosophical city. It was rooted in knowledge and wisdom. People took pride in their knowledge and what they knew.
Paul writes this beautiful chapter on the necessity of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
1 Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it.
2 You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose.
3 For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve.
6 Then He appeared to over 500 brothers at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep.
7 Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.
8 Last of all, as to one abnormally born, He also appeared to me.
9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
10 But by God’s grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God’s grace that was with me.
1 Corinthians 15:1-
I have proclaimed the Gospel to you, you received it and you have taken your stand on it.
Christ died for our sins, he was buried and that He was raised on the third day according to scriptures.
Christ appeared to over 500 brothers at one time
What if I was to tell you that I arrived early today and went out on the lake to fish. While I was fishing, I got the new MO record large mouth bass. I would say Dayle was there and he saw it. So if I tell you that it was just me but if I say Dayle was there.
Imagine Paul says Jesus appeared to over 500 brothers at one time. So if one person sees it you might say well they just hallucinated but if 500 people saw it.
My fish becomes believable if 500 people say they saw the fish that I caught.
Not only that but at the writing of this letter he says that most of these are still alive to the present
So after they received this letter they could go ask one them who were present if Jesus really appeared to them.
Paul says I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle
Why
Because before I came to know Jesus I persecuted the church
Paul goes from persecuting the church to suffering and being persecuted for the church.
That is a miracle only Jesus could do this.
10 But by God’s grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God’s grace that was with me.
1 Corinthians 15:
God’s grace was not ineffective toward me. God’s grace changed me.
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”?
As a philosophical city some of them are saying that there is no resurrection of the dead.
Paul lays out a beautiful argument for the resurrection of Christ and the resurrection of the dead.
13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised;
Some of you say there is no resurrection of the dead and if you say this then Christ has not been raised. Christ was fully human and fully God. He was God in the flesh.
We started this chapter with knowing that Christ has been raised and if Christ being God in the flesh was raised then there is a resurrection of the dead.
Here in verse 13 he flips the argument and says that if you say there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.
14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is without foundation, and so is your faith.
If Christ has not been raised, then..
The message we preach is without foundation and so is your faith.
Look at the word picture here. He says the message we preach is without foundation.
If Christ has not been raised, the Gospel does not have a foundation.
What happens when you build a building without a foundation?
I have building plans in my office and on those plans are sheets for foundation plans. Why are their dedicated sheets to the foundation of buildings because if you don’t have a strong foundation you won’t have a building.
In this word picture of foundation, I also think about a pyramid or human pyramid. Do we have any cheerleaders in here?
What happens if we was to building a human pyramid on stage here and I took the smallest people and put them on bottom. What happens when we put the big guys on top. The pyramid crumbles.
Without the resurrection of Jesus, the Gospel message does not have a foundation and
So is your faith
Remember the first few verses of the chapter.
1 Corinthians 15:
1 Now brothers, I want to clarify for you the gospel I proclaimed to you; you received it and have taken your stand on it.
2 You are also saved by it, if you hold to the message I proclaimed to you—unless you believed for no purpose.
Step 4 of Repentance is God cleanse me
when we try other methods than trusting the Gospel to deliver us from sin it’s as if we don’t truly believe that Jesus can deliver us.
Well Jesus plus
No it’s Jesus and only Jesus that can heal us from sin.
Here in verse 14 he says that if you don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead then you have no foundation and nothing to stand on.
15 In addition, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified about God that He raised up Christ—whom He did not raise up if in fact the dead are not raised.
1 Corinthians 15:
If there is no resurrection of the dead and Christ has not been raised then we are deliberately lying or false witnesses about God. The 500 that saw Christ and I myself says Paul who encountered Jesus then we are just making all this up about God.
He testified about God that it was God who raised Christ up.
He comes back to it that if the dead are not raised then God did not not raise Jesus because the dead are not raised.
16 For if the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins.
He states very clearly that if the dead are not raise, then Christ has not been raised.If Christ has not been raised...
Your faith is worthless
Your faith is worthless
The word worthless is also futile (meaning without results), empty, without cause or without success.Again back to verse 1 they have received this faith, taken their stand on it and also saved by it but if Christ has not been raised then your faith is worthless (without meaning, empty, without cause or without success).If Christ has not been raised...
You are still in your sins
You are still in your sins
25 He was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.
Without the Resurrection there could be no certainty of atonement and the Corinthians would remain in a state of alienation and sin.
This is the greatest tragedy of all. If there is no resurrection then we are still in our sins. We do not have victory over our sin. We are stuck in our sin and there is no victory.
There is no freedom from idols, there is no forgiveness and there is no cleansing if Christ has not been raised.
11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.
12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.
13 He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool.
14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.
Jesus’s death sets us free from sin. Jesus’s death and resurrection sets us free from the idols in our lives. It is is death and resurrection that allows us to live in freedom.
It is the death and resurrection that causes us to experience true cleansing
18 Therefore, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished.
If there is no resurrection of the dead, then those who trusted in Christ and have passed away have perished. Your loved ones that have went on before you have also perished.
19 If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.
1 Corinthians 15:
If there is no resurrection of the dead then we have put our hope in Christ for this life only and if this is the case then we are to be pitied more than anyone.
Think about the context of Paul’s life. He went from persecuting people to being the one who is persecuted. Paul endured beatings for the sake of Christ in this life.
30 Why are we in danger every hour?
31 I affirm by the pride in you that I have in Christ Jesus our Lord: I die every day!
32 If I fought wild animals in Ephesus with only human hope, what good did that do me? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.
In the previous chapters to this chapter Paul described giving up rights as a Christian so that you don’t cause the weaker brother to stumble.
This suffering that Paul is a little deeper than someone making fun of you. It is a little deeper than abstaining from drinking and feeling like everyone else has a good time but you.
Listen to Paul talk about this in 2 Corinthians 11
24 Five times I received 39 lashes from Jews.
25 Three times I was beaten with rods by the Romans. Once I was stoned by my enemies. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea.
26 On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the open country, dangers on the sea, and dangers among false brothers;
27 labor and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and lacking clothing.
28 Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my care for all the churches.
-32
2 Corinthians
This is a little more than just making sure everyone employed by the church gets a paycheck, this is a little more than dealing with unruly preteens, this is a little more than maybe denying yourself a right, this is a little more than refusing to drink so that you don’t cause others to stumble.
This is Intense!!!
He says if I endured all this for nothing than I am to be pitied more than all men.
20 But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man.
22 For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive.
This is great news!! Christ has been raised from the dead!!
In Adam all die so also in Christ all will be made alive.
Men hear me clearly Christ is alive and we don’t worship a God who is in a grave somewhere or some image that stands still we worship a God who is alive. It is in Christ that we are made alive.
I bring back the cup. So last night you saw Dayle begin to put the pieces back together.
This morning I put the light of Christ inside the cup and I want you to see some thing special. Do you see it?
Through the broken pieces God’s light shines
Paul described some broken pieces in his life and through these pieces, through Paul who persecuted the church now suffering for the name of Jesus the Light of Jesus shines through the broken pieces!
In David Platt’s latest book he tells the story of Neveen a native in the country he is visiting
Naveen was found by Aaron a missionary
Naveen’s mother died at an early age
Naveen’s father remarried
His step mother did not like Naveen she liked her kids.
One day Naveen fled to the mountains where he was living
David Platt described Naveen’s story as he was fleeing the mountain because the fear of his parents was greater than any lion or beast in the mountains.
After several days his father found him
Brought him home and chained him in the barn
Aaron staying in the barn hears something and locks eyes with this young Naveen chained to a pole
Aaron shares the love of Jesus with Naveen
One day Naveen’s father is coming down the mountain with his step brother.
Father asked him to go care for his step mom
You know what Naveen did
He went and stayed with his step mom caring for her for 3 weeks.
If Christ has not been raised then this is worthless.
Naveen loved on his parents because Christ has been raised.