Cornerstone Christian Center
Cornerstone Christian Center
What Are You On Fire For? | On Fire
Have you ever stopped to consider what truly ignites your passion? Many of us pour tremendous energy into hobbies, sports, entertainment, and countless other pursuits—yet something deeper calls us to examine what we're genuinely "on fire" for.
This powerful message challenges us to look beyond our temporary enthusiasms to discover what drives us at our core. Just as ancient travelers always carried fire for survival, we need spiritual fire to thrive in our faith journey. But unlike physical flames that eventually die out, the fire of God within us can burn eternally—if we tend to it properly.
Drawing from Paul's encouragement to Timothy to "fan into flame the gift of God," we explore how a vibrant spiritual life requires the same elements as a physical fire: fuel, oxygen, and a spark. The Holy Spirit works as that divine breath, igniting our small embers of faith into powerful flames that transform not only our lives but the lives of those around us. We discover that God hasn't equipped us with a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and self-control—everything we need to live with passion and purpose.
Many believers experience seasons where their spiritual fire dims to barely glowing embers. Perhaps you've felt this too—going through religious motions while missing the vibrant connection with God you once enjoyed. This message offers practical wisdom for rekindling that flame through intentional communion with the Holy Spirit, who Jesus promised would dwell with us and in us as our helper and guide.
The beautiful promise remains: God's steadfast love endures forever, and His faithfulness extends to all generations. As you listen, you'll be challenged to examine what might be smothering your spiritual fire and encouraged to embrace the transformative power of a heart truly ablaze for God. Are you ready to reignite what matters most?
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What are you on fire for? You know, there's something inside of each one of us that gets us excited, gets us fired up, that gets us kind of driven for the day, and something that we focus on. Maybe we live for it. Possibly we're like a really passionate fan about something, or maybe we're just like a really big music nut or something like that, and I can tell you that I'm somebody who has too many hobbies Anybody else Too many hobbies. They tell you that I'm somebody who has too many hobbies Anybody else Too many hobbies. They're like too many stuff and too many things that are expensive Anybody else. It's one of these things where it's like man, I love music and I like going to live music, but man, I really love barbecue and we love barbecue and go to barbecue. But oh, man, you know, I really like sports and watching sports or playing golf or doing these other things. I really like fishing and hunting and shooting and doing this other stuff. I'm buying guns and buying shoes and doing these things and taking photos and all of that stuff is awesome, but none of it is what really gets me fired up, see, because there's only one thing that I'm really passionate about and it's none of those things Now, and I come from an era that's a little bit in days gone by where we used to all carry this thing in our pocket called a lighter.
Speaker 1:And we used to carry our pocket lighter because you never knew when a really good song was going to come on and you just needed to let everybody know how dope that song is. Anybody else Do you guys remember? So whenever the song comes on, you're like get the lighter out, it's good to go. So whenever the sun comes out, you're like get the lighter out, it's good to go. And it was so weird because all of us had this fire in our pocket. I remember, you know everybody's grandparents like chain smoke cigarettes, and it was very normal. There was always lighters laying around. As kids, you could get your hands on matches all the time. And now nobody carries fire because it's like a foreign thing. Like what would you need to start a fire for? You know, like I have an iPhone, you know. So it's a different deal, and so as we think about it, it's like man, what a departure from this idea of always having fire on you to never having to deal with it anymore. And so it's one of these things. That is a big shift for us in culture. But you know, as we talk about this idea of what you're on fire for, you get the concept of what really gets you excited. You know, I was thinking about man, some of the things coming up and the men's campy trip and some other stuff.
Speaker 1:We were talking about this series called Everyday Carry and when we were talking about that, we were talking about how the things we carry every day and what we're prepared for, not that we live in fear, but that we're prepared for what may come. And some of the stuff that was in that bailout bag that we were talking about was stuff like this. It's some people call it the C's, some have the five C's, the 10 C's. It's different stuff, but they say it's things that you should have with you to prepare you for if you had to go out into the wilderness so you could survive. How many people think they could survive in the wilderness? That doesn't fare very well for this crowd. Okay, we have 10 people going to survive out of this whole crowd. But you get the idea. And the reason is because none of us none of us are practicing these skill sets. I mean, you think about it.
Speaker 1:You got to use a compass. Most people don't know which way to point the compass to start, and so you know it's like you have that. You have combustion, something to start a fire. You have something like a container so you can capture water, because without water we all die. That's right, very good. And then this idea of like something to clean the water, like you know, iodine or whatever. That would be something that you can use to cut, so that you can cut, like down a branch, or you can cut you know some things to make sure you can go do something, cordage so you could make, maybe make a shelter out of it or something to take care of, like first aid. Man, you need something. Maybe stop the bleed kid or or a tourniquet or something. Man, stop the bleed kit or a tourniquet or something. I mean something to cook, because how many people?
Speaker 1:Once you get out there day two, you know your stomach's starting to rumble. You need to be able to survive, and so this is something you have to have, and maybe a piece of clothing, because maybe you got out there and you were wearing a fashionable fit. Now you got to be blending in, and so you need some camo. You need something like that, and possibly, if none of the things are working, then you can't use your phone to pay. Then you actually need cash. You guys remember cash. It's like a paper thing, you guys remember.
Speaker 1:All of this stuff is all good and fun, but the problem, of course, is that if you don't know how to use it, then none of it is worth anything to you. So you could have a whole backpack full of stuff and none of it means anything. But if we're going to try to survive, the first thing that most people say is that you need to start a fire. And the reason you need to start a fire is because without a fire, you can't stay warm, you can't cook anything, you can't clean your water and any of these kind of things. And so as we're thinking about this stuff, about how valuable fire is to us man, it comes to this idea that you know that skill set is kind of lost on us because all of us can go to the store and just go buy a lighter, whereas in the day they had to know how to do that with friction, they had to do it with some kind of a striking rod or something like this. How do people can actually start a fire without a lighter? Can you do it? Oh, man, got some pretty strong, okay, so you guys are the same people that were raising their hand earlier. So that's good, it's good.
Speaker 1:So, this idea of like starting a fire, because it's a skillset, man, that's kind of lost because you have to practice it in order for it to function. And so, as you think about that, in this idea of fire, it comes to this idea of concept of man. If we're so intentional about having a skillset that will keep us alive, then what are we doing with our intentionality when it comes to our spiritual life in God and being on fire for him? And see, that's an important shift because, as we talk about it, that's the very thing that I'm most passionate about man. I love my soccer clubs. I follow, and you know the American football teams that we follow, and the baseball team and the basketball team, and I cheer for all those things, but none of those things matter eternally, and that's why, if you ask me, what are you fired up for man? I'm fired up for God and I want you to be fired up for God. I want you to have a fire for God inside of you. That's something that drives you. It's this thing that really is a passion for your life. It's something that helps you get up in the morning and go. You say, okay, what am I doing with my life? Well, I'm trying to do what God has asked me to do. That's what I'm doing with my life and so I want to be fired up for him and that's what I want to be about.
Speaker 1:If you have your Bible, your tablet, your phone, we're looking at 2 Timothy this morning and as we pick up there, it's in 2 Timothy 1, it's just Paul writing to Timothy and he's challenging him and encouraging him as a young leader. He's saying 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, for God has given us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Somebody say amen to that and you can see what he says here. It's this idea of fanning into flame and so often, you know, we get in a season where maybe we've had a really passionate fire for God and it's been something that's really driven us and maybe over time that has faded and it's become down to, just maybe, this little ember that's inside of us. What the challenge is here?
Speaker 1:What Paul is telling to Timothy, is don't give up. Be someone who allows the Holy Spirit to fan that small amount of faith into a flame that burns for him. Don't get put out, in your faith with God, that you would burn for God, that you would have this passion and this thing that's going inside of you that is clearly not from you, it's from him and that you fan that thing into a flame that will burn bright for God. And you just don't do that easily. See, this is the gift of God. This is what he wants to do in your life. See, he wants you to thrive, he wants you to be successful. He wants your children to thrive and your grandchildren to thrive. He wants good things for them, not bad things. He wants them to be overcomers and he wants them to be used by his spirit. He wants to guide them and direct them and to instill in them gifts and abilities to be used for his glory. And all this comes from the spirit of God in us.
Speaker 1:And so that's why Paul says listen, you remember that I put hands, I prayed for you, for the impartation of the Holy Spirit to empower you to do the very things that you are now doing, because how many people know, man, you could get prayed for? And then you're out there doing it and you're like I need more prayer. Anybody else that's me, I'm the guy on the stage. I'll still tell you I need some more prayer. If you think about it, stop and pray for me, because I need it, and that's the same thing for all of us. Is that it's not just a one and done, it's an every day. More of your spirit, more of your power, more of your anointing Friends. We wanna be on fire for Jesus. You say amen to that, and so what we pick up here is this concept that we know that none of us is perfect. None of us have arrived, I'm the first to tell you, but that means that all of us, just like Jesus and his disciples, all of us are following after Jesus where he's leading us to go, and so that means that none of us have arrived yet. Until you meet him face to face, you're not finished. So keep on walking after Jesus where he's leading you to go.
Speaker 1:Our ambition is to be more like Jesus, and what we know is that, as we do that individually, collectively, we see a huge change start to happen. We can love God, we can make disciples, we can reach the world, and so that's how we live collectively as this church in the community of faith. See, we live across all these cities in the West Valley, but we come together with this drive that we would be those that connect and we grow and we serve the Lord. So we challenge you to be intentional in your life with God, get a part of a life group, get involved in what God wants to do in you. Amen. So we want to be those that are on fire for Jesus. Now we think about a flame. It's the very thing we've been picking up here. Is this flame that's burning for God?
Speaker 1:And you could tell the difference with someone who has a passion for God and someone who is kind of mentally given assent to God. Right, there's a big difference. There's even a difference between people that are passionate for God and their faith as a Christ follower and people that used to be passionate in their faith as a Christ follower. And I could tell you as a kid who grew up as a pastor's kid and seeing the different variations of people and how they faked it or didn't fake it from Sunday to the week. I'm sorry, was that too real? Me back up and say it again so you get it the second time. See, I would see where people would either act it all the way out and live their faith for real or they would fake it and be a hypocrite just on Sunday. And maybe I was one of those people, because I would act a certain way around church folks in a different way around other people, because I would act a certain way around church folks in a different way around other people.
Speaker 1:And what was happening is this flame that had started in my life. I had allowed other things to start to put that flame out, I'd allowed it to get choked down in my life and I had not allowed the Spirit of God to work in and through it and for me to push through the difficulties Because, guess what, I can't do it in my own strength. He doesn't ask us to do it in our own strength. That's why we go to him. And so, as we pick up back here with the same scripture in second Timothy, what does it say? It says that it's by this laying on of hands that you've experienced this, but that we are called to be those that have the power of God, that he gives us the power, and we know the difference whenever we are those who need the power of God, because all of us need the power of God.
Speaker 1:If we try to do it in our own strength, it's not going to happen the right way. You ever try to do something in your own strength and you run out of your strength. So you just act crabby towards everybody. You're like the non-Christian Christian that's out there, not acting like Jesus, anybody, nobody, nobody's pointing at their friend. Okay, praise God. I can tell you in my own life. It's totally true, man, it's like man.
Speaker 1:If I'm trying to operate on my own power and my own strength, it's something that he didn't call us to do. He called us to go to him for the power, to live for him for today. And I think sometimes we make that same mistake of we're trying to live in the power of God from last Sunday instead of the power of God for today, and so we're listening to it from last week. Man, what a powerful word from Pastor Scott. You know, dr Martin, he's up here. Giving the word of God is so good. That was a long time ago. Oh, I bet you can't tell me his sermon points. That's what the point is. Is that every day we need to go to him. Lord, for today, your daily bread For today, the power to live for you. Lord, I can't do this in my own strength. I know I can't. I will fall short. I will start acting a fool. I will say hurtful things towards my neighbor, anybody. I'm getting too real today. I'm going to keep moving. So, power, love.
Speaker 1:The second thing that he says is that we all have love, and the love of God is so different than the way our love is. Our love is so fickle right, it's about how we feel at the moment Whereas God's love is the decision. He has made it for you. He loves you. The reason he loves you, he loves you so much that he sent Jesus all the way to you to get in your business. Because he loves you that much. He loves you so much that he will convict you of what you're doing wrong, so that you don't keep on acting a fool and walk away from him for eternity. He will bring you back to himself. It's not condemnation, no, he will bring you back to himself. It's not condemnation, no, it's conviction, it's bringing you back to him.
Speaker 1:It's the reason you tell your little kids don't touch the stove, it's hot, because you don't want them to get burned. And they don't see the difference. They're like, oh, whatever they wanna touch it. You're like don't touch it why? Because you love them, you don't want them to get hurt. It's not that God's trying to give you a bunch of rules. No, he's trying to help you live for him. And so he loves you so much that he gives you the love, his love for other people.
Speaker 1:So that's how you can love the unlovely people. That's why you are loved, because you are unlovely too. It's because the love of God can work in us and through us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to be those that love people. The way God loves us, the way he has shown us to love, and that's how we can show the love of God to other people, is that we ask him Lord, today, I need your power to live for you. Lord, today I need your love to flow through my life. Lord, I want to love people the way you love me. And see, that's a difficult one, friends, because what it does is it means that we have to be those willing to forgive. In fact, we have to be those that are willing to pre-forgive the situation, and before you go out your house, you should might as well just start. You know, lord, today I need your love. I'm going to ask you to pre-forgive. Help me to pre-forgive everybody in traffic the whole I-10, all of 303, the whole 101, all of it, lord, the 202 behind the mountain, god, please, today, before I hit it, before we go downtown, before we hit the tunnel, oh God, am I wrong? Nope, probably before you get out of your driveway, lord, for my neighbor who could spit that trash can out beside me, god, I had neighbors and my neighbors had a whole bunch of sand people delivered in front of their house. I was like what is going on? They needed Jesus that day. You know what I'm saying? It's the love of God to flow through us so that we don't react the way we would naturally react, which is not the love of God.
Speaker 1:The third piece is interesting. It says that we would have power and love and self-control. Some say a sound mind, and what I love that about this translation is it's showing us what is it. It's the fruit of the spirit. The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience all these different attributes and self-control, and what that means is that, lord, I'm not just going to act out, however makes me feel good, but instead I'm going to put this before you. I need the mind of Christ to help me make decisions, the way you would help me make decisions, lord. I want to say things that are building up and not tearing down. Lord, I want to be someone who is a confidant and can keep confidential. Lord, I want to be someone who is speaking love and speaking the truth in love, and not just trying to burn people down. Lord, help me to be who you want me to be and see, when we start to put those elements together, then we really start to have some fire. We start to have some flame. That's what it is.
Speaker 1:Whenever you think of flame, it's in three parts right, you need to have oxygen, you gotta have the fuel that you're burning and you gotta have that spark. Without it, it doesn't go anywhere. You can have something that will burn, you can even have a flame right next to it, but without the oxygen, the breath upon it, then guess what? It doesn't go anywhere. And that's why so often we talk about how the Holy Spirit symbolizes throughout scripture, how the Spirit blows upon them. It's a fresh wind of what God is doing and it's a way to see the Spirit's actions. We can't see the wind, much like we can't see the Spirit, but we can see the activity that the Spirit is doing. And so, in the same way, that's what he's talking to you about is that he wants to have a fresh move, a fresh breath upon your life, upon your situation, but you have to embrace what he's doing in order for that to happen.
Speaker 1:I wonder how often we're hiding away. We have the other piece. We still have faith, we still have something there, but he's like no, you need my oxygen to burn bright. For me, it has to come from me. This is the whole point. You need something that would be a starter to kick that thing off. You have to have all those elements together and I can tell you, man, as somebody who you know, I've been in a jam once and again and I've been in a place where I was away from that fresh fire in my life and I felt a little bit dejected.
Speaker 1:And it's interesting because all of those decisions were my decision, but I was wanting to blame God for it. I'm glad I'm the only one, but I had isolated myself. I had put other things in my life. I let my quiet time with God die down and I started to have the flame go down, flame go down, flame go down, and I'm like, oh, I can't feel the spirit of God. God, why aren't you talking to me? He's like what are you talking about? I'm here all the time. I'm open to you all the time. Why are you hiding from me, friends? He wants you to draw near to him, because as you draw near to God, then the voice of God, the spirit of God, the feel of the spirit moving through your life, will start something new. It'll be that new flame in your life that you've been looking for.
Speaker 1:Man, many of us have gone through this season of busyness and chaos, and even these last years it's been pretty wild. But he wants to do something new in you today for this season, for what you're going through right now, for what you're about to head into that you don't even know you're going into. You need more of the spirit of God in your life. I need more of his spirit in my life because he wants to do something greater than what he has already done. He wants to get it going to the next level, and so that means that we have to be those that embrace the work of God in our lives. Now, sometimes there's things that are preventing us from actually making that fire happen, like I was talking about in my own situation, and I think that's where we have to really take an assessment and change whatever that is so. If the starter is where we have to really take an assessment and change whatever that is so, if the starter is not working for you, then you need to change the starter. You need to get those other perspectives out of your life, you need to get those other habits out of your life. You need to change things so that you can be fired up for God.
Speaker 1:Now, in my own experience, one of the cool things that I got to do was that my parents did not make me ride the bus. My junior year I rode in the bus. Freshman year, sophomore year, junior year, I'm like please, please, for the love of God, no more bus, no bus. And they're like okay, I'll let you drive our car, as long as you have good grades and you do this and you work and you put gas, you know all the things. And I was like, okay, great, great, great. Because the other side of that was I was going to go out, you know, to the desert and steal one of the wild burrows and ride that to school. I was going to do something. I was over the bus but I got to drive the car and so I was excited. You know, I'm a kid, I don't think about it.
Speaker 1:I get out there, keys in the hand, the power, you guys remember the power, see the key and you go in, I put it in the thing, just fired it up, went to school like normal. And then I get out there one day and I put the key in and I'm like what is this? Nothing. There's power in the battery, everything's, the lights work, everything's. Oh no, the starter has gone out.
Speaker 1:So I walked in, dad, your truck, the starter is bad in your truck. He's like JT. Good news you can put a starter in it tomorrow so that you can start the truck back up. I was like, do I get to put a new starter in? I'm so excited you guys getting it not excited and I was underneath the truck. It's like September and it's super cool in September in Arizona under a truck super cool, no problem with the concrete, it's fine. And so, as you can imagine, putting a starter in it. Man, the intricacies of this thing. I didn't know what I was working on, so I'm like trying to fix it and do this stuff Eventually got a part, got a part put in the truck. Took a bunch of times but I got it in there. And when that miraculous turning over of the engine, when the fire started the engine, it was like vroom. I was like, oh, you guys remember, thanks, be to God, you know what I'm talking about. And that's what he wants to do in your life is he doesn't want to just leave you there, you know, not being able to go anywhere. He wants you to go after the things he has for you and he wants to give you the fire to be able to do those things.
Speaker 1:We pick up here in John 14, where Christ is talking to his disciples and as he does so, he's kind of challenged him on a different level. He says if you love me, you will keep my commandments and I will ask the Father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever, even the spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. Lord, thank you so much for your promise. See, that's exactly what it is is the Holy Spirit. He is the promise of the Father. See, jesus was done with his assignment. He came, he was a sacrifice for us. He needed to return back to the Father and he's coming again. Somebody say amen to that?
Speaker 1:And what we know about this is that he did not leave us alone. In fact, he gives us the Holy Spirit so that we can be empowered to live for God. So the promise of the Holy Spirit is from the Father, so that we can live for him. And to think about this, from the beginning it talks about the Spirit and the Father and the Son are all together, the triune God. That he would be considered someone who would help us is amazing.
Speaker 1:The fact that Holy Spirit knows me and cares about me and wants to help me is amazing, because it means that we have a God and we serve a God who loves us as his child and he wants the best for us. He doesn't want to leave us astray, he doesn't want to just kick us out, go for it. No, he wants to lead us, as it talks about like a good shepherd. He's the one that directs us and guides us and tries to keep us from calamity and terrible decision-making. He wants us to thrive and he does that day after day. And that small still whisper that he's saying to you whenever you start getting an attitude to start acting a certain way, and he's like hey, hey, what are you doing? He's trying to help us to make better decisions.
Speaker 1:Whenever we get away from our time with the Lord, we start going off in a different direction in our thought processes and in our focus, he's like hey, hey, what are you doing? See, I have this plan and I have this purpose. It's greater than your plans for your life, but you have to come to me so I can direct you in this path. And what I love about that is that he calls us not just to be someone who is there and it's a once in occasion. No, he wants us to dwell with him. To dwell we talked about it last week.
Speaker 1:It means to be there who's, someone who lives with him, who walks with him where we're going and see, it means that we're not keeping Holy Spirit back at the house and then living our life through the day and then coming back to him, or keeping him here at church and then going about our life and coming back. That's not how it works. He is with us and so he's the one that's with us. He will not forsake us that we would dwell with him, man, ask him. Ask him for favor in giving you insight. Ask him for his mindset as you're in your job and you're trying to troubleshoot a problem. Ask him for favor as you're working with clients. Ask him for favor in your family and with your children, with your grandchildren. Ask him for favor in your school and rapport with your teachers or professors. Ask him for these things because he is more than greater enough to do all that and way more than that, see, because you're dwelling with him, he's going to lead you in the right way.
Speaker 1:It says it like this in Psalm 105, for the Lord is good, his steadfast love endures forever and his faithfulness to all generations. See, that's that part that we have to understand is that the Lord is good. See, for some man, they have a hard time with this first point, that the Lord is good. They feel like the Lord is out to get them, or the Lord is mad at them, or the Lord hates them and all these things. Friends, that's not the story. The Lord loves you. He has good things planned for you. He has good gifts for his children. He doesn't want you to live away from him. He doesn't want you to live in sin and destruction. He doesn't want you to live off the path of where he's called you, and he will challenge that in your heart because he loves you that much. The Lord is good.
Speaker 1:The second thing is that his steadfast love endures forever, and what I love about this is that there's something that you cannot shake. It's not like it's a once and done, and that's why we live this life after God continuously, every day. If it was about just making a decision for God once, then the moment that you said yes to Jesus, you'd be gone and you would have no more problems. But what he's called us to do is be someone who takes that light of the gospel to the next person, who lives for Christ in the situations, who lives for him and lives this thing out as an example of what it means to be his. His steadfast love endures forever the same God that was there for Abraham is the God that's there for you, the same one that was with Moses and did all the miracles to bring people out of Egypt, is the same God that's there for you, the same God of the disciples and seeing miracles happen and seeing Peter, under the power of the Holy Spirit, walk by and people miraculously healed, is there for you in your life as well.
Speaker 1:See, friends, his steadfast love endures forever, and so we're called to be those that take that fire from one to another, because that's what we're called to do, that we're called to take it to our neighbor. We're called to take it to our friend. We're called to be that light in the darkness. We're called to be a grandparent who gives that light of the gospel to our children and to our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. We're called to be those that live in his example of what it means to live for God and worship the Lord with our whole heart and mind, not just so they see us, but because it's real.
Speaker 1:It's something we're living because his faithfulness is to all generations, and what I love about that is the promise that my parents were praying over me when I was being a bonehead and acting a fool. They knew that the truth of the gospel would win out, because greater is he that's in them than he's in the world. And so they were praying Lord, go get Jay. Even if you got to shake him up a little bit, got to bounce him down the freeway a couple of times, guess what it's worth it because in the end he's eternally with you and living your purpose. Friends, I will pray all the time that my friends are blessed, but I will pray. They have no satisfaction in the things of the world. And why is that? Because all that stuff will try to put the fire out, whereas they need a fire inside them that burns for God so they can live for his purposes.
Speaker 1:Friends, faithfulness to all generations, as you're spending time with your family, as you're spending time with your sphere of influence, with your friends, that you would be someone who could be said of you that you have a heart that's burning after God, that you have a fire in your heart for God, that something's different there, that, as you impart, that, that's something that's felt tangibly by your presence, because the presence of the Holy Spirit in you, see, friends, that's what he wants to have for you. John 14,. It continues a little bit later it says it like this these things I've spoken to you while I was still with you. See, jesus has not left us alone. He says listen, I will never leave you or forsake you. I am the good shepherd. And even as he returns to the Father, he sends Holy Spirit to be with us, to teach us all things. And I love this because, even if it's not spelled out in the book directly, what does it say? That you would go after his heart and he will speak to you in how to navigate those things. And the Lord help us because, friends, this world is spiritually dark, but that the light of the gospel that's in us cannot be quenched by darkness, but that the brighter we shine for the gospel of the light of the Holy Spirit inside of us, the more it will change the world around us. So, friends, let me challenge you. We ask that question what are you on fire for, friends? My challenge to you is have a fire for God. Be on fire.
Speaker 1:Today we come to this question for each one of us of whether or not we've said yes to Jesus. See, our ambition here is to be more like Jesus. That's who we're called to be as Christ followers. So we ask that question today. Maybe you're here and you've never said yes to Christ. Today is your opportunity to say yes, have you embraced Jesus? Each person has to answer for themselves. It can't be your Nana, it can't be your Papa, it has to be you that answers that question. What are you going to do with Jesus?
Speaker 1:See, for us, the symbol of the cross is one of transformation. It's one of freedom. The cross is where Jesus took all of my sin and all of my brokenness and all of my regret. He took all of it upon himself, though he didn't do anything. He took it upon himself and he died with my sin upon him. But what he did? He paid for that sin forever. And he did that not just for me, he did that for every single one of you as well. He did it for all of us. He took the sin of the world upon himself and he became the ultimate holy sacrifice for all people, for all time.
Speaker 1:Friends, we can't earn the grace of God, we can't earn God's presence, we can't earn his holiness. It's only through Jesus Christ, through his sacrifice for us, that we're made in right standing with the Father. But because Jesus came, there's a bridge to the Father through Jesus. And we say, jesus, I believe you are who you say you are and so, lord, I ask you into my heart and life that you would be my Lord and Savior. Lord, I ask you to forgive me. I want to start a whole new life with you and friends, he will. He'll make you into a new creation. You'll experience the forgiveness, the peace, the joy that you've been looking for. The Apostle Paul. He writes to the church at Rome. He says this because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, one believes and is justified. With the mouth, one confesses and is saved.
Speaker 1:Friends, today is your day. It's your opportunity to say yes to Jesus. I'm going to ask everyone in the room for you to stand to your feet right where you're at, bow your heads. If you're online, wherever you are, just take a moment. Quiet your heart for what God wants to do in and through you. You, as Christians, are praying friends.
Speaker 1:There are some here that were in the first service and need to make a decision with Jesus. I'm going to encourage you today that you would say yes to him, that you would invite him into your heart and life, that it be the transformation in your life you've been looking for as heads are bowed. If that's you here today, you say, pastor, I wanna be included in that prayer. I wanna invite Christ into my heart and life. Maybe it's for the very first time, or maybe you've done that in the past, but you haven't been living for Christ. You need to recommit your life to him. Make a decision to follow Jesus today. If that's you, if you just raise your hand right where you're at, say, pastor, that's me, I want to invite him to my heart and life. I see the hand that's there. The hand that's there. Thank you, lord.
Speaker 1:Others making decisions today, people raising their hands Thank you Jesus. Thank you Jesus. I'm going to ask if everyone would, if they'd pray this prayer out loud after me Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you. In Christ's name, I pray Amen, amen. Friends, we rejoice with you. Make a decision to apologize today. Several people raising their hand today Praise the Lord.
Speaker 1:Hey, we want to put some materials in your hand. Please connect with us back at the cafe or back in the back by the prayer tower or prayer banner. We want to be able to connect with you. Give you some resources. If you're online, message us. We don't want you to live this life in Christ alone.
Speaker 1:Friends, today for all of us, it's our opportunity to respond to this message, to be those that are on fire for God, and so that's the prayer that we would pray as we come forward to this altar today. We do so with intentionality, asking for more of his spirit to live for today and for the things he has for us, for more of his power, for more of his mentality, for his love in our lives that we would be those that are full of the spirit of God to live this love out to others. And so let me encourage you to come down to this altar today to spend time with the Lord, to pray for your children, to pray for your grandchildren, to pray that blessing over your family that they would all know the love of God. Jesus, we come to you today thanking you so much for your word as you speak to us. Lord, thank you for all that you've done on our behalf.
Speaker 1:Lord, we just revel in who you are and, holy Spirit, we thank you for being the one who is our helper and our protector and our guidance. Lord, you're the one who gives us insight and you convict us, because you wanna bring us back into alignment with you. Lord, you are the very one that breathe upon this faith we have and make it be fire and alive. Lord, we wanna be full of your spirit. Lord, we don't want a dead religion, we want a live faith in God.
Speaker 1:So, Lord, as we come to your altar today, we do so with intentionality. Lord, for more impartation of your spirit, for more of your presence. Lord, that you would be more than enough in us and in our children and in our children's children. Lord, from generation to generation. You are faithful. We pray all this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, amen. Hey, did you know that today, this weekend, actually marks 52 years of our founding pastors being married? It's their anniversary tomorrow. So if you get a chance, make sure you say hello to them and just let them know how much you love and appreciate them.
Speaker 2:And next Sunday we're going to be celebrating all of our graduates, and there are many of them. We are going to rejoice with them in both services. So if there's someone that you know that has just graduated high school, college, a trade school, please make sure that you let the office know or turn their name in on the app. We want to rejoice with them. It's going to be a special time of just praying a blessing over them and rejoicing for all their hard work.
Speaker 1:Amen. Before we go, I want to pray this blessing over us. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lord, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. Lord, you empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. We pray all this in the powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen, amen. Know this. We love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you and have a great week.