1/11/15   FOLLOWUP TO OUR WEEK OF PRAYER

    Kevin Senapatiratne was with us this week and we had four evenings together to pray, to learn about prayer.  On the last night he talked about campfires.  I want to share a few things he said and tag on with an application for us as we head into this new year.
    He calls himself the spiritual pyromaniac of their ministry. His desire is to light spiritual fires in the hearts of believers, as well as seeing spiritual fires burning in churches and cities. A pyromaniac is someone who likes to light fires. Spiritually, we all need to see fires lit in our own lives and in this fellowship we have at this church.
    This reminds me of an old story.  A local church building caught on fire.  As the fire department was there to put out the fire all of the neighbors came to watch what was going on. One neighbor in particular had been invited by the pastor to come to church, but he had never come. The pastor said to him, “I have never seen you at church before.”  The neighbor replied,” I have never seen the church on fire before.”
    The truth is that the more that believers in the church as a whole are on fire, the more people will be drawn to the Lord.
    Kevin use the illustration of campfires. He talked about how to build them and keep them going. This illustration really caught my attention because, when it comes to campfires, I really am a pyromaniac. There is something special about sitting around the campfire, roasting hotdogs and watching the fire burn.
    To get a campfire going requires that you start with kindling. The kindling will burn quickly and brightly. But to keep the fire going you need logs. You can’t start the fire with just logs in a match, but with good kindling it will cause the logs catch on fire. One of the critical keys to see in the logs burn and stay burning is that the logs stay in contact with the fire and the other logs. If there was a log that said, “I’m going to just go over to the other side of the fire pit and burned by myself”, that log would quickly quit burning.
    Another critical factor in burning a good campfire is oxygen. This reminds me of a time when we were camping at Spencer Lake Bible camp. We had a good campfire going, but I thought it would be fun to get out the air pump we used to blow up our air mattresses. It puts out a large volume of air and when I blew it on the campfire we had a much larger fire.
    What is the spiritual application? To get a spiritual fire going requires the kindling of spiritual hunger and enthusiasm. Lord, I need you more and more. I need your presence and strength. I want to worship you and be faithful to you. I’m not going to be afraid to be excited for you and to be passionate about my service to you.
    We need to be spiritual logs that will get connected to the Lord in the local church and begin to burn for him. We need to stay close and not think that it doesn’t matter if we come to church are not. So many people today who call themselves Christians let anything and everything interfere with their church attendance. God is not a high priority in their lives and they find every excuse to skip out. We need that close fellowship, strength and encouragement that comes by being with God’s people.
    There is an old song we used to sing, I love the thrill that I feel when I get together with God’s wonderful people. Another part of the song says, oh what joy his love affords when we meet in one accord and we lift our hands and praise unto the Lord.
    We also need the wind of the Holy Spirit continually blowing in our midst. We see the impact that the spirit made on the church in the book of Acts. They turn the world upside down and shook many cities. Down through history, the wind of the Holy Spirit has ignited countless spiritual fires impacting millions of people. As we observed the challenges that we have before us as Christians in the modern world, the solution is the message of the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus still changes lives in the Holy Spirit still convinces people of sin and empowers believers to serve the Lord.
    We need the spiritual fires, we need the fullness of the Holy Spirit because the world is lost in sin.  People need to be saved and we can’t manipulate that.
    How do people get saved?  The Bible tells us that the Father draws people to Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  He opens people’s minds to God’s truth. The Spirit convinces people of the presence of sin in their lives and the fact that they need God. God wants all people to be saved. This is an invitation that can be accepted or rejected. We see the importance of answering the call of the Holy Spirit. It is a dangerous thing to resist because we cannot come to Jesus on our own.  Also, many have times when the Spirit is calling them and they reject, then in the future thay have no desire to respond.
John 6:44 NIV
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 16:8 NIV
8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:
John 12:32 NIV
32 But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.
The Harvest
    Why do we need spiritual fire? Because people without Jesus are lost in sin. We need to see a mighty harvest of souls, people coming to salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ.
    Steve Green wrote a powerful message in this song:
    Everyday they pass me by,
I can see it in their eyes.
Empty people filled with care,
Headed who knows where?
    On they go through private pain,
Living fear to fear.
Laughter hides their silent cries,
Only Jesus hears.
    People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize, people need the Lord?
    We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right.
What could be too great a cost
For sharing Life with one who’s lost?
    Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear.
They must hear the Words of Life
Only we can share.
    People need the Lord, people need the Lord
At the end of broken dreams, He’s the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize that we must give our lives,
For people need the Lord.
    People need the Lord.
Yes, people really do need the Lord.
    It takes workers to bring in the harvest.  I want to share a video with you.  Some of you have seen it before, but it is worth repeating.  Let God speak to you as we talk about the harvest.
Matthew 9:37-38 NIV
37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
After video:
The final challenge of the week of prayer was to consider the lost, consider specific people who need to be saved, to consider people we don’t even know yet, but need the Lord as their Personal Savior.  Are you willing to pray and commit to seeing people come to the Lord?
What has God spoken to your heart that you want to share with us today?      What encouragement do you have for others?
Prayer