Fan the Flame

Sermons Blog - Calvary

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PDF Manuscript: Fan the Flame

So good to be with you again this morning. I invite you to take your Bible and turn with me to Philippians, chapter 3. Today, I want to explore the temperature of your relationship with Christ. In John 10:10 Jesus makes this statement. He said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Think about that for a second. Jesus came to give us not simply life, but abundant life. I wonder, does that describe your walk with Christ? Could you say, as it relates to your spiritual walk, “I am on fire for Christ! I’m in the Word. I’m sharing my faith. I’m living in obedience to the Lord. I’m really experiencing to the fullest, the abundant life that Jesus promised”? Is that your experience, or is it something less than that?

Chances are, if you are honest, your walk with Christ is probably not all it should be or could be, right? For many of us, it seems that the longer we are saved the more our passion for Christ tends to cool off. For others, it may be that life just seems to get so busy that your relationship with Christ has just kind of taken a back seat. You know it isn’t supposed to be that way, but it just is. Maybe you are here today, and you would have to say that you are just spiritually burnt out and exhausted. You’ve given so much over a period of time that you have just lost your enthusiasm and joy. If it makes you feel any better, my guess is that all of us fight that reality from time to time. Because of pressures, because of laziness, because of involvement, sometimes we just aren’t as passionate, just not as “on fire” for the Lord as we should be or as we once were.

As we focus our attention on Philippians 3 today, I want us to see that for the apostle Paul, his relationship with Christ was not something that he took casually or lightly. Rather, he pursued Christ with his whole heart, and he encourages his readers to do the same. From his words in verses 1-11, I believe we learn how to reignite our passion for Christ. If we are going to be passionate, enthusiastic followers of Christ, we need to work at doing five things.