The Importance of Stoking the Fire
Last week, I spoke a little about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit coming like a rushing wind from heaven and filling the house where the apostles were gathered. They saw what looked like flames of fire resting on each of them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:2-4).
This week, we had the privilege of Rev. Rick Just bringing us the message, and he continued the topic of Pentecost.
He started with a story about the first church he pastored.
One night, in the middle of the night, there was banging on the door, and at about the same time, the phone rang. The church was on fire!
He said they had been praying for the church to be on fire, but this wasn’t exactly what they meant. 😊
Looking back, however, it turned out to be a good thing because the church grew and became spiritually on fire.
Is the fire still burning?
This is a question we should be asking ourselves, both as a church and as individuals.
The world is full of fire extinguishers.
One of the biggest is being too busy. This is an easy trap to get caught in. We need to be careful what we say yes to. Even when something is good and important, we may not have the bandwidth to take on one more thing. We need to focus on the things that stoke the Fire.
Our Priorities can also become fire extinguishers when they aren’t the right ones. Sports, for example, have become a big focus for many families. There was a time when kids’ sporting events were rarely scheduled on Sundays. For some, sports have become a god. The same can be said for the accumulation of stuff. The world’s focus is often on houses, cars, jewelry, money, and all sorts of material things. Our focus should be on the filling our lives with Fire.
Another fire extinguisher is self-centeredness. Today’s culture is very focused on “me”. We are constantly bombarded with messages telling us to look out for ourselves because nobody else will. We are encouraged to build our persona and make ourselves the best we can be. But the question is, what kind of “best” are we striving for?
The right community helps keep the Fire burning. The trouble with self-made people is that they often end up worshiping the creator instead of the Creator.
We need to extinguish the extinguishers.
Jesus was physically with the apostles before the Holy Spirit came to them like flames of fire. He could not then—and cannot now—be physically present with everyone. But the Holy Spirit can. That is the Fire we have been given.
Our fire may currently be nothing more than a flickering ember, but it doesn’t have to stay that way. Just like a small ember smoldering in the grass can become a wildfire and burn thousands of acres when the wind blows across it, the same is true for us. We can fan our own flames and help ignite the flames of others as well.
If our flame is a flicker, it’s not Jesus’ fault.
The ember is there; it just needs to be stoked.
Just like there was the sound of a rushing wind when the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles, we need to get out our bellows and blow on the embers within each of us.
