Reviving Evangelism
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Welcome to Insights. I'm Pastor John and
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today we're going to talk about reviving
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evangelism within your heart.
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Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we just
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thank you for this opportunity to look
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at your word. We ask you, Lord, right
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now to help us to focus on what your
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word says, to focus on the power and
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need for evangelism in today's church.
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We're careful to give you all the glory
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and all the praise in Jesus name. Amen.
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So, we're going to take a look. First,
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let's Our basic text is 2 Timothy 1:6
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to8. And
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I really, really wanted to help you
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understand this that
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evangelism
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is the heartb blood of the church.
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Without evangelism, the church doesn't
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grow. And there's a difference between
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an evangelist
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and evangelism.
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Even though an an evangelist pursues
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evangelism
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and that's their distinct ministry, um
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Philippians uh 4:11 says that he gave
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these five specific ministry gifts to
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the church uh apostles, prophets,
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evangelists, pastors, and teachers. and
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their job is to bring believers to full
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maturity in Christ. So what I want to
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talk about today and what we've been
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focused on last week as well is the need
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for evangelism in the church. So this is
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what Paul said to Timothy. This is
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second Timothy chapter 1 6 7 and 8. It
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says, "Wherefore I put thee in
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remembrance that thou stir up the gift
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of God which is in thee by the putting
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on of my hands. For God hath not given
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us the spirit of fear,
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but of power and of love and and of a
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sound mind. Be not thou therefore
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ashamed of the testimony of our Lord."
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And evangelism
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is the act of reaching people with the
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gospel of Jesus Christ and bringing
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people to repentance and to accepting
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Jesus as Lord and Savior. That's that is
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the sole focus of evangelism.
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And evangelism has to start in you has
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to start in your heart. Uh in old days
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in the church they talk used to talk
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about revival has broke out. Revival has
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broke out. And what that means is that
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that spirit of evangelism
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has been rekindled.
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And so let's talk about that. Let's talk
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about what that means. Every fire if not
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fed will fade. A campfire once burning
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bright can be can die overnight if left
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unattended. If you've ever been camping
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before or you've ever had a been around
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a campfire or or had a a fire built in
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your, you know, in your backyard, as
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long as you're putting fresh fuel on
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that fire, fresh wood on that fire, you
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have a bright burning flame. But when
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you stop feeding the fire, the flame
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dies down.
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We are like that fire. If we don't water
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or feed the spirit of evangelism, the
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spirit of revival within ourselves, it
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never wells up for us to do what God has
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called us to do. And uh I want you to
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think about this.
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In Acts 18, Jesus tells his disciples to
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go to Jerusalem and tarry a few days
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where they'll be imbued with imbued with
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power from on high by the Holy Spirit,
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the baptism of the Holy Spirit. And it
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would give them boldness to be witnesses
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and that's what the Holy Spirit's for.
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It empowers you to witness
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to Judea, to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
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and the uttermost part of the earth. So,
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as they begin their journey as the
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church in Acts chapter 2:4 and Peter
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preaches his first sermon, 3,000 people
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are added to the church that day. A few
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days later, Peter preaches again and
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5,000 men, not counting the women and
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children, are added to the church. And
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this spirit of evangelism is on fire.
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The church in Jerusalem begins to grow.
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And it's growing by leaps and bounds.
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It's growing like crazy.
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And
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something amazing happens that we don't
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normally take a look at in depth is the
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fact that at that point the church was
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totally and completely in Jerusalem.
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And that's not what Jesus told them to
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do. He told them to wait in Jerusalem
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until they were imbued with power from
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on high. And then they were supposed to
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take the gospel
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and take it from Jerusalem to the ends
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of the earth.
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And they're focused on Jerusalem.
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They're building the church, but they're
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not doing evangelism. They're not going
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out and sharing the word outside of
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Jerusalem. And then something takes
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place, and it's in Acts chapter 7, the
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stoning of Stephen.
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And after Stephen is stoned for his
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testimony
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and he speaks what he speaks, he says,
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"I see Jesus standing at the right hand
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of the father."
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And the apostle Paul, he's known as Saul
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of Tarsus at this time, is standing
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there holding the blade clothes of the
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people that that stoned Steven.
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And the persecution of the church begins
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in just violently
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and it causes the church in Jerusalem to
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scatter
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and the disciples flee.
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We get into Acts chapter 8
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and Philillip on his way to Samaria,
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he's fled Jerusalem. He runs into
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an a an Ethiopian unic who is studying
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the word trying to understand who God
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is. And
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Philillip gets
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into the chariot with him and explains
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to him the very verse he's reading.
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And what takes place is the beginning of
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the church spreading. He he explains the
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verse to the unit. The unit receives
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Jesus and they stop when they find water
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and Philip baptizes him. He receives the
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Holy Spirit and then the power of the
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Holy Spirit takes Philillip to Samaria
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and he begins to preach the word of God
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in Samaria.
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Peter flees and he sees the vision of
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the sheep coming down from heaven. At
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the same time, this persecution is huge
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and Paul gets letters of authority from
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the Sanhedrin, which is the ruling court
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of the Jews, to take every Christian he
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can find and put them in chains and
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bring them back to Jerusalem.
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persecution.
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It drives the the church forward.
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You stop and think about it. The
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assassination of Charlie Kirk.
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Look what happened. 100,000 people show
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up for his memorial service.
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Yesterday,
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I was watching the news and I watched
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the presentation of the Presidential
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Medal of Freedom to his his widow
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um as a proclamation of what Charlie had
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done. But look what's going on with
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Turning Point.
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In less than a month, they went they
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they have a
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over 130,000 people have approached
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Turning Point to add chapters. They've
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added over 2,000 chapters already to
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their to their mission. And Charlie
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Kirk's way of reaching young people was
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is evangelism
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because his first and foremost thing was
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to share the gospel of Jesus Christ
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um
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with young people and to get them to
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convert.
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So
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we have to develop this passion in our
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souls and that evangelistic fire once it
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begins to burn
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will set you on fire. But the cares of
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this world can cause you to get
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distracted.
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And Paul had noticed in Timothy and I'm
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sure Timothy had written him a letter
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trying to figure out what to do. And
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Paul's Paul urges Timothy to stir up the
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gift of God that's within him.
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And it's the flame of evangelism. If
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it's weakened in your heart, you can
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rekindle it. And we're going to take a
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look at how to keep it alive until the
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whole world knows Jesus. So Paul wrote
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this letter to Timothy from prison while
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he was waiting to be executed.
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Timothy was young. He was timid and he
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was facing pressures from false teachers
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and persecution and fear began to
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suppress his boldness. And and a lot of
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times what we run into is we're afraid
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to get out and be bold
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because we're afraid of what might
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happen to us. And Paul is telling
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Timothy, don't worry about what might
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happen to you. Jesus said persecution
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would come, but get that flame rekindled
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within you and go out and tell people
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the truth and the power of Jesus.
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He tells him to to stir up the gift of
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God. And that phrase stir up in Greek is
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an means to rekindle.
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And it's like blowing on the dying
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embers of a of a fire until they
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reignite and the flames begin to blaze
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again. And Paul reminded Timothy that
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the Holy Spirit within him was not a
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spirit of fear, but it's a spirit of
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power and love and of a sound mind. And
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you have to keep this in mind. Fear
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quenches the fame flame and faith feeds
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it.
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So just as Timothy was called to keep
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his spiritual fire burning, all of us,
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every believer has to guard and nurture
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the flame of evangelism through prayer,
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obedience, and the power of the Holy
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Ghost. And it's something that you
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absolutely need. You have to have that
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fire burning. So we're going to look at
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at some different aspects of that. Uh
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remembering who that the fire's source,
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remembering to reject the fire's
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enemies. And that's doubt and fear.
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Rekindle the fire through discipline.
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Uh
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developing a strong prayer life and then
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learning how to release that fire
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to so that it because fire spreads
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and all it takes is a little spark to
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get that fire going in someone else. And
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that's the truth of evangelism is you're
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actually
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causing someone else to catch fire for
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Christ. So the the source of the
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evangelistic fire, it's not personality
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or emotion. It's the Holy Spirit.
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Acts 2:4, it says, "And they were all
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filled with the Holy Ghost and began to
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speak with other tongues as the spirit
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gave them utterance." The early
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believers, they didn't have any
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buildings. There wasn't a building. They
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had no microphones, no media. But they
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had fire
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and that fire began when the spirit
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descended on the day of Pentecost.
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Gos the gospel spread like wildfire
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because it burned first in the heart of
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the saints.
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And because of that fire that was
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burning in them, the fire spread.
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Moses is calling it the burning bush.
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God God's flame ignited his mission.
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When the bush burned without being
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consumed, Moses learned the divine fire
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doesn't destroy. It it empowers.
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Now, when we watched the fires down the
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palisades and things were being
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destroyed, there's fear with that kind
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of fire. But when you have the fire of
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the Holy Spirit burning within you,
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there's no fear there. It comes with
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boldness. When you felt that presence of
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God pushing you so hard and that flame
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burning, you can't stop yourself from
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speaking. You have to tell somebody
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about that fire that's been rekindled in
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you. And what God is asking you to do is
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to share that fire. Get it burning in
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somebody else.
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Never forget your zeal for souls. It's
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not self-generated. It's not your
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something that you do. It's something
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the Holy Spirit does within you.
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And it flows from the fact that you have
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developed intimacy with God.
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And that it's built on the altar of
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prayer. And if you don't attend to that
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fire, if you don't earnestly pray for
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God to keep the fire kindled within you
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and a roaring raging flame, it'll fade.
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And to maintain that evangelistic
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passion, you need to reach the lost for
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Christ. You have to stay close to the
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person that that actually ignited the
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fire and that's Jesus Christ.
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Paul warned Timothy not to fear. This is
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point number two. Reject the fire enemy
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enemies. Paul warned Timothy not to
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fear. Fear is one of the main enemies of
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evangelism.
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There's only faith and fear have one
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thing in common. You can't see them. You
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can see the results of them, but you
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cannot see them.
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And Hebrews 11 1 says that
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faith uh is the substance of things
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hoped for and the evidence of things not
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seen. If you have faith, you can you can
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ignite that fire. If you have fear, you
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can calm that fire.
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Second Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has
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not given us the spirit of fear, but of
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power and of love and of a sound mind."
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Fear tells you they won't listen. Fear
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says you're not ready. Fear tells you to
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stay quiet when heaven is urging you to
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speak. Other enemies of the fire include
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complacency. In other words, oh, I'm
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comfortable. I don't need to do
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anything.
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criticism,
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pointing out people's faults and and
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picking on people that are trying to get
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the the power of evangelism falling in
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their lives. And then of course sin
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and they're like wet blankets smothering
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the flame.
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Peter,
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he he dealt with this on the night of
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Christ's trial before his crucifixion.
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One of the people recognized him as a
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Galilean and Peter filled with fear
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rather than filled with faith faith
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denied Christ.
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Yet after Pentecost, after he was filled
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with the Holy Spirit, he preached boldly
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before thousands of people.
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And you need to apply some things. You
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need to ask questions of yourself.
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Identify what quenches your passion.
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fear, dizziness, comfort,
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and lay it at the cross. God's fire
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cannot dwell where fear reigns.
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The fire of evangelism thrives only in
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hearts ruled by faith.
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The third point is to rekindle the fire
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through discipline. Paul said to stir up
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the gift. That means it's intentional.
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If you've ever had a campfire burned
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down and it's all the way down to just
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embers, to get that fire going, you have
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to do a couple of things. Before you add
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any more fuel to the fire, you have to
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stir it to get oxygen flowing into that
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wood. And then when you lay the new wood
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on there, this dry wood, it catches fire
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and the flames begin to to leap up. So
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your your spirit man is the same way. If
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you don't feed him regularly, just like
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you got to feed that campfire,
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he loses strength. He loses uh his power
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and he becomes complacent.
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Good morning, Jesse. Uh the verb implies
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action that you must fan the flame
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intentionally.
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Romans 12:11 says, "Not sorrowful in b
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in business, fervent in spirit, serving
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the Lord." Fire needs fuel. Spirituality
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that fuel is prayer, scripture,
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fellowship, and service. You can't keep
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the fire if you never feed it.
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Elijah built rebuilt the altar before
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calling down fire. Have you ever read
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that story? light on Mount Carmel before
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they started their deal, he re they
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rebuild the altar
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and then after the altar is prepared and
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he's got the sacrifice on there and
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everything is ready. What does he do? He
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c he prays and fire falls from heaven
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and consumes the sacrifice consumes the
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other sacrifice and all the water that
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was in the trench around it.
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The fire didn't fall until the altar was
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restored. That altar that you need to
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restore is your prayer life. Your time,
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the amount of time you spend with God
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directly reflects the amount of fire you
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have burning in your soul. So, rebuild
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your altar of prayer. Make daily time
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for God's presence. You can't know what
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God wants you to do unless you spend
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time with him. Discipline yourself to
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evangelize even when you don't feel like
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it. Obedience keeps the flame alive.
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And
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passion without discipline fades. And
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discipline keeps passion burning.
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And then the last thing or the last
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point I want to bring up is that you
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have to release that fire into the
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world.
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You're God's mouthpiece. A fire that
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stays in one place soon dies from lack
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of air.
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Like a believer who never shares the
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gospel will suffocate spiritually. You
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have to tell people what Jesus has done.
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I've told said this many times. Your
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greatest tool for evangelism, for
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witnessing is the testimony that you're
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living. How people see Jesus in you.
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Jesus uh Jeremiah 29 says, "His word was
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in my heart as a burning fire shut up in
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my bones and I was weary with forbearing
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and I could not stay." Jeremiah tried to
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stay silent but could not.
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When the fire burns within, it must come
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out. You ever seen a a building catch on
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fire, the fires start in the middle, but
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pretty soon the flames grow and grow and
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then you'll see the flames, any opening
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where there's air coming in. The flames
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will begin to burst out and eventually
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consumes the whole building. The early
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church, listen to this, the early church
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went everywhere preaching the word. It
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doesn't just say the apostles. It
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doesn't just say disciples. It says the
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church went everywhere preaching the
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word. They didn't wait for microphones
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or pulpits. Every street became a
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platform.
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So what do you need to do? You need to
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let your fire spread. Speak at work.
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Pray in public. Share hope online. Every
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believer is a torch in God's hands. He's
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looking to have people who will are
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willing to stand up
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and speak for him. And the more you do
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that, the fire grows stronger the more
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it is shared.
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So Paul told Timothy to stir up the
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gift. That call echoes to every believer
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today. The world is darker than ever.
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Just look around you. Look at what's
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going on in this world.
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But one burning heart can light a
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thousand more.
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You are that flame. Don't hide your
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fire. Feed it. Don't fear the flame. Fan
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it. Don't keep it to yourself. Spread
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it. Let's pray that the Holy Ghost
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rekindles passion to win souls until
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Jesus returns. So I want to encourage
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you that no matter how timid you may be,
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you know, no matter how ineffectual you
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feel you are, if you will just begin to
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tell people, God will give you the
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words. He will empower your testimony.
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He'll empower your words and you'll say
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the right things to the people that they
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need to hear to change their lives which
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is the purpose of evangelism is changed
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lives. The word of God does two things.
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It convicts and then it converts. It
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convicts people of their sin. It
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convicts them of what they're doing in
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their lives. And then
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when the conviction comes and repentance
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comes because of the conviction, it
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converts you and gives you power over
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the things that drew you into sin.
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Without conviction and without
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conversion, the word of God is not doing
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the job it's supposed to do in your
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life. And it has to begin with you. You
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have to allow God's word to change you.
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So let's pray. Lord Jesus, we thank thee
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for the fire the of thy spirit. Forgive
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us for letting the flame grow dim.
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Breathe upon us again, Lord. Stir up the
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gift within us. Cast out fear and fill
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us with holy boldness. Let our hearts
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burn. Let our lips speak and our hands
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serve. Use us to ignite revival in this
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generation in Jesus mighty name. Amen.
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Don't fear the flame. Panic. Go and do
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what you need to do to share the gospel
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of Jesus Christ with every person you
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meet. Don't be afraid of what God can do
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through you. Be what be encouraged of
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what God wants to do in you. We'll see
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you guys next week. You have a great
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week.

