Relate Community Church
Relate Community Church
Next Level Love 3
Join Pastor Susan Mead for our third week of Next Level Love!
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Good morning. Do I have the right mic? Good morning, good morning, no, no, no, no, no, my goodness, y'all the weather have you?
Speaker 1:enjoyed the weather this week. Now, why can't you say good morning like that? Let's try this again. Good morning, we are in the house of God. Amen, I am excited to be here.
Speaker 1:If you don't know me, I think I think I know most of you. But if you don't know me, my name is Susan. You can also call me Susan, susie, susu, hey, all those things I will answer to. And I am a part of the pastoral staff team here at relate and I'm always honored when I get to come up here and deliver the word of God. And this is a very special day because, guess what? This is my very first time getting to do it in our brand new building. And the most exciting part for me is I can see all of you now. It's so different than the theater, but it was black, you were just preaching to the black. But we are so excited to get busy with this third installment. How many of y'all been here for week one or week two? Okay, if, next level love, next level relationships.
Speaker 1:In week one, pastor talked about keeping our focus on the Lord right, keeping our eyes on Jesus, and then everything comes into place. Seeking him first, and then all these things will be added Amen. And then last week, y'all remember what that was Relationship poisons, those little landmines we need to run away from and be mindful of and keep at the forefront so that we don't ruin our relationships. So here's what I thought. What am I going to preach about this week, lord? What are you going to give me about relationships? So here's what I thought. I thought let's talk about some fire in the relationship. Let's talk about fireworks. Let's evoke some passion inside of us. Right and no, married people. This is not for you today. Wrong kind of passion, wrong kind of fireworks. But what we want to talk about is how do we get fired up with the word of God in our lives? How do we take our relationships to the next level through the fire of God? Are y'all ready for that today?
Speaker 2:Everybody's a little low today.
Speaker 1:We're going to get busy, we're going to get fired up. So something about me is I always give a. I give a disclaimer and I know many of you have heard it already. I give a disclaimer that when I preach and I'm up here, I dart around a lot, I talk a lot, and fast, and I put a action pack full of notes right here for you. How many of y'all are taking notes today? I know we didn't put any out there for you. That's my bad, but I think that's okay because it allows you to to keep it right here, right to keep it right here in your heart.
Speaker 1:So that's what we're going to do today and we're going to get started right off the bat, because I have named this sermon. Are you ready for it? Don't fire them, fire them up. Can you all say that with me? Don't fire them, fire them up. And I think it's very important, as we want to go to the next level relationship with God, we want to go into the next relationship, the next level, with our peers and with our family. We have to understand that we've got to be fired up ourselves, amen. We've got to be fired up first. So here's what I want to do? I'm going to jump right in, get ready, get your pins ready, because I've got a lot to cover today and I got a lot of scripture. Y'all want to hear some more to God today. Amen, I'm going to give you some. We're going to start off right at the bat.
Speaker 1:I'm going to tell you a few things about fire and why it's so important to have this fire in front of you, inside of you, all around you, coming out of your mouth. Because, very first thing, in the very, very beginning of time to the end of days, god is represented by fire. Did you know that the Lord is represented by fire? His presence is represented by fire. I'm going to give you a few ways that that happens, because it is the most captivating element. It reveals who God is. Okay, write that down. Fire reveals who he is it. It reveals how he moves. Write that down. And it reveals what desires from us. Everybody say fire. By the end of this, you're going to have some fire. I promise you're going to be hot. We're going to be asking for the air to put on. All right. Romans 12, 11,.
Speaker 1:Our first one says not to be slothful in business but to be fervent in spirit serving the Lord, but to be fervent in spirit serving the Lord. Not to be slothful in business, but to be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. Do y'all know what fervent means? Put that definition up there. Fervent means having or displaying a passionate intensity, a hot burning, a glowing about you for the word of God. This is what the word of God tells us To be fervent, to be on fire. So these are not Susie's words. Whose words are these? They're from the Lord, they're from the word of God. But also in the beginning of that scripture it says to what? Not be slothful in the Lord's business? What does slothful mean? Lazy, don't be lazy about God's business, but be on fire about God's business, amen.
Speaker 1:I sat there and I worshiped a while ago and I watched everybody on fire during worship, the words that we were singing, not by power, not by might, but by the spirit of the living God. That's because we have a fire when we're in here worshiping. Right, we're going to talk about how do we keep that fire within us today. How do we, how do we spread that? How do we catch others on fire? We have to be on fire. So I'm going to give you a few ways that fire is represented in the Bible, and then we're going to get digging in. Are y'all ready for this? Get your pens ready. Number one fire represents God's divine guidance, his divine guidance. If we want to be on fire in him, we have to allow him to guide us. Amen.
Speaker 1:We see right here in the wilderness, in Exodus 13, 21, god led the Israelites with a pillar of what? By fire, and, it said, by a cloud of smoke during the day, and a pillar of fire to guide them so that they could travel by day or night. See, this is God's guidance, this is his protection, this is him lighting the way. Okay, what does a fire do? It lights things up, right, this is him lighting the way for us. What does a fire do? It lights things up, right. This is him lighting the way for us in times when things are uncertain, providing clarity for us. We have that fire, him, guiding us.
Speaker 1:Psalms 119, 105 says let your word be a lamp unto my feet and a what A light unto my path. And let me tell you, when this scripture was written, back in the day, there was no LED lights. There was no LED. When they said a lamp, they meant kerosene, they meant oil, right, they meant what Fire. And when it says be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, just think about that lamp walking, guiding you every step of the way, so that you're not walking in darkness. Amen, kirsten, can you grab me my water down there please? Thank you. So Psalms 119, 105, write that down. Here's another way.
Speaker 1:In the old Testament, the priests were instructed to keep the fire on the altar burning at all times. Thank you, never letting it go out. Leviticus 6.13 says the fire on the altar must be kept burning. It must not go out. Every morning the priest is to add what Firewood? Keep adding kindle, keep adding kindle. Keep that fire going, keep that fire growing every day, so that the fire kept burning. It must not go out. This continual fire was a sign of devotion. It was a sign of ongoing worship. Every single day it kept burning.
Speaker 1:And did you know that being on fire for God is a form of worship? It's a form of worship. When you shout out in worship right here, as we did, you're on fire for God. There are flames coming out of your hands. There are flames coming out of your mouth when you sing praises to the Lord. The fire is important, but you know what To go next level love. We got to figure out. What does that fire look like? How do we get that fire? How do we spread that fire? So this is what I'm going to talk to you about today.
Speaker 1:Everybody say fire them up. Everybody say fire them up. Everybody say fire me up, not you, me, that was backwards. Anyway, we're going to talk about how do we do this, especially when we find ourselves in these places where we just can't even get ourselves fired up. Have y'all ever had that kind of a week? Maybe you're coming in here this morning and you just had a bad month and you're like how am I supposed to fan somebody else's flame when I can't even get myself on fire? Have you ever felt that way? Let's be honest today, people yes, yes, everybody's had a week. I'm telling you I've had a week.
Speaker 1:But we're going to talk about how do we do that today, because I want to remind you that there is a great commission, there is a great mission, there is a great calling, there is a great purpose on your life, and that is to what Go out and make other disciples. But in order to do that, anna, you got to have the fire. I know we struggle. I know we struggle sometimes to get ourselves out of bed, much less make a phone call and encourage somebody or to go to somebody's house and visit them and spend time and invest time with other people when we just don't feel it ourselves. But this is what we're going to do. We're going to talk about it and I just want to be honest with you.
Speaker 1:That title it's really cool, right? Don't fire them. Fire them up. I stole it. I stole it. I didn't steal it from another sermon, but I stole it from this amazing book in business that I used to read years ago, that even to this day, it is my favorite favorite business book. I still go back and I revisit it and I highlight because it's all about how to captivate people. How do you find those things in them that we can't cancel people out. We can't just fire them. We got to find out what it is that keeps them fired up, right, what kind of Kindle we need to use to get them. And so the reason why I love that book as many of you know, some of you don't years ago, for like 11 whole long years, I was a district manager here in the Houston market.
Speaker 1:I had 22 locations for this big department store. I think you're all going to remember it, sears. Do you all remember Sears? Put on your Sunday, best kids, we're going to Sears. Yes, and not only did. I was a district manager for Sears stores, but I was. I was a district manager for a very specific area of the store and that was Sears portrait studios.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, you know, raise your hand, if you hadn't had your family picture made at Sears, you took your babies. Yeah, that was me and my team selling you pictures, and I'll just give you a little tidbit. We were good, let me tell you. We were good. Y'all might have thought you were coming in for the $5.99 package and no, no, you left with a lot more, because you know what we would say. You know when you leave here the film destroyed, you'll never get this picture back. You're like take my money please. But I loved cheering on my team. I loved figuring out what made that person tick. How do I add fire to them? How do they work harder? It wasn't about just firing them right, it's about firing them up. So, in the spirit of Sears Portrait Studios, here's what I've decided to do today. I'm going to share some old family photos with you guys, of the pastoral staff too. Can we have picture number one? Who is this? Look at this little Pastor Jason down here. See, if I was selling these pictures to your mother, I'd be like look at those blue eyes. They're gonna be destroyed forever if you don't buy this picture. So cute.
Speaker 1:Let's go to the second one. Who's next? Well, we can't leave out little Stephanie. Is this not Kirsten made over. Look at that Stephanie's little. Some of these are Olin Mills. Y'all believe it or not, I worked for O too.
Speaker 1:All right, let's go to the next one. All right, so this. These people lived in Africa. So there was no Sears in Africa. Okay, so there was no Sears portrait studio. They made their own. But I love this. Look at pastor gay. Look how cool this woman is right here. I love it.
Speaker 1:And let's go to the next one. Who do we have? Oh, we can't leave out the Mooney children, the grown adults. Now look at this family. I know, right, I sold memories. This is what I got to do with. Sell this kind of stuff, all right, and of course, I cannot leave myself out. I always try, I always try. But uh, well, this was the best of the bunch. People, this actually made the cut, me refusing to smile and my sister with her eyes closed. This was on the wall. People, this was on the wall. I'm telling you, whoever sold us that picture should have came to work for me because they, they were good. But I say that in fun, because you know we have this responsibility, especially to our loved ones, the people closest to us, to keep them fired up, keep them fired up, and we're going to talk more about that in just a second.
Speaker 1:But I want to talk to you about the author of this book. Okay, his name was Kenneth Blanchard and he wrote this book. It's called don't fire them, fire them up. He wrote it in 1994. And let me tell you something about Kenneth.
Speaker 1:He came into this, this company If y'all remember Xerox, y'all remember Xerox printers and copying. It was a big thing back in the day. He came in and they gave him the worst performing district in the entire company and they sent him to Detroit Underperforming. The whole company was at this level where they're about to go under. But he came in and here's what he did and I love that this whole book talks all about that. So if you're into business, I want you to read it.
Speaker 1:He came in. He took this demoralized and broken company, this underperforming district full of people that needed to be fired up is what he did. They were on the verge of bankruptcy and you know what he did. He came in and he re-energized it, he re-educated it and he gave it new life because his love for the business and his potential for the people now you know who. That reminds me a lot of Jesus. He came into a very broken, demoralized world and he came in and he re-energized it. He educated us, he gave us new life Amen, because he had a fire inside of him and he knew that was his purpose. Jesus Christ did the same for us.
Speaker 1:So I want y'all to say get fired up. So here's what I'm going to do Now. I'm going to start preaching. Are you ready? That was just the fire, that was just the first part.
Speaker 1:All right, so I'm going to give you three things that we're going to talk about today. These are going to be my three points, and I'm going to cheat and I'm going to give them right up front for you, and a lot of them are business related out of this book, but because the model is so parallel to the word of God, I'm going to marry this today because sometimes people can't just have the heavy meat when it comes to the word of God. Sometimes you got to have the milk, and so I want to deliver this to you in a very basic way. I'm going to probably tell things to you guys that you've already heard a million times, but I hope in my prayer for you today is that God will spark something new. Have you ever opened up the word of God? And you've read a scripture a hundred times, but the one time, this one time, it said, hey, it poked you and you're like, okay, I hear you loud and clear, lord.
Speaker 1:So, number one we're going to talk about knowledge of the product. Write that down. Number two we're going to talk about the confidence and the delivery. And then number three the desire to see results. We're going to talk about the knowledge of the product. We're going to talk about the confidence in the delivery. This is why pastor wants me to use a table all the time. I'll use a table. Next, service and the desire to see results. So I'm going to go right into number one knowledge of the product.
Speaker 1:Do you know the word of God? Well now, susie, hold on. I really don't think that you should be comparing the word of God, the Bible, to a product. Well, let me tell pages. It is our manual for every day living. It is the one thing that we want to put into the hands of others so that they know the hope that we have. Amen, it's the product that we're selling. Do you know the product? Do you know the product. If we want to get to the next level in our life, with our relationship and our spiritual walk with the Lord or with each other, we have to know the product.
Speaker 1:Second, peter 3, 18 says but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior, jesus Christ. What does it say? But grow in the knowledge, grow in the knowledge, grow in the knowledge. What does that mean? Know your product, know your product. If you come into a brand new job, you're trained right. You're told all about the company, how long ago it started, what this does, what that does, do this, don't do that. It's the same way with God's word know your product and grow. It doesn't say get grown in the knowledge. Okay, some of us think we know everything. No, no, no, it's continual. Remember I talked about that fire on the altar? It's continual. It's continual, continually know the word of God.
Speaker 1:Hebrews 3, 23 says let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. I told y'all I have a lot of scripture. I hope you're writing fast. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, because for he who is promised is what Faithful. Let us consider how to stir one another up to love and good works. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering. Know the word of God. Hold on to that hope, Do not waver. Do not let who you are around cause you to waver. Do not let where you work cause you to lose confession of your faith. Because I think a lot of times the way we keep the fire down no, it's getting too big, got to keep it down. Keep it down, shh no. Hold on to that confession of faith.
Speaker 1:And then I love the second part of this. It says hold on to that confession of faith. And then I love the second part of this. It says let us consider how we can stir up one another. Everybody say stir up. Stir up to love and good works. This is about catching fire. This is about spreading fire. How do we get everybody else to get as fired up as we are? You know, I am asked all the time are you like this all the time? What's the? The answer because I have the fire at God in me. It cannot be contained, amen. But I love it says let us stir one another up. Let's stir one another up. I know some of y'all be stirring up some trouble. I see your post. You stir up some trouble. Let's stir up for good works.
Speaker 1:And another version of this says let's spur one another on. Y'all know what a spur is. Of course you do, because it's Texas and it's rodeo season. Come on, come on. Y'all know, last week was Texans Day for all your kids, so everybody was pulling out the boots and jeans that we don't put on all year long, but we are going to the rodeo.
Speaker 1:A spur is what you put on the back of your boot, and y'all know what a spur does. It hits this little spot. See, it hits this little spot right here on the side of the horse. Just to give them a little go. Go, pep up, let's go. And the word is telling us spur one another on. So here's what I want you to do Gently elbow that neighbor and say Hyah, hyah, spur them on, wake them up, get that horse moving.
Speaker 1:Amen, we have got a job to do. You have a calling on your life and I'm going to give you the first thing. That's the easiest, I told you. I'm going to give you the first thing. That's the easiest, I told you. I'm going basic. Don't get your feelings hurt. Don't get your feelings hurt. Did you know one of the easiest ways. The easiest ways to set somebody else on fire is to invite them to church. Just raise your hand today. If you were invited to relate community church Somebody, whether they still go here or not, okay, keep your hand up. And out of all these hands, I want you to keep your hand up If you serve on a team here, okay, keep your hand up. I want you to keep your hand up, do you? Are you in a small group here? Look at all around the room. Just from a simple invitation, people are taking next steps. That's called next level. That's next level. Love, amen. Invite to church.
Speaker 1:Did you know that church attendance has great benefits that you don't even know? Regular church attendance, if you're coming and you're in the house of the Lord every day, did you know it lowers the risk of depression? Let's get fired up, amen. Let's get fired up on that. You have better life, life management. Did you know? You achieve more goals. You have higher education prospects because we're seeking God first. Amen. And parents, it's okay, we're going to church, you can sleep under the pew and because of that, right there, I'm here in the house of God every Sunday. Amen. It matters to have your kids in church, get them fired up. Can you imagine getting somebody fired up at such a young age, a young adult age, a teenage age and see what they can do for God? They got a lot more time than we do. Some of us have been sitting around a long time waiting to get fired up.
Speaker 1:Psalm 92, 12, and 13 says this the righteous will flourish like a palm tree. They will grow like a cedar of Lebanon. Where, say it again? Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of God. I love this. I have a picture of a cedar tree in Lebanon. Do you know?
Speaker 1:This actual tree stands for resilience and unity and in biblical terms it means deeply rooted in holiness. And right here the word of God, the very word that you need to know, the very word that you need to share to level up your relationship, says hey, guess what? I'm going to have you rooted in holiness. And when you're rooted in holiness and you're in church every day and you are in the word of God, you know what happens. It becomes to fall on here first, but then, when it falls here, it becomes here, and then, when you get it here, it has nowhere else to go, but here, do you see how that fire works? Get yourself rooted. Get yourself rooted. You know I talk about.
Speaker 1:I know it's a simple term get to church, but it's so important. It's so important because you know what People are watching us. People are watching you and you may be the only Bible that people are reading. That's the only way that they can get fired up. Is I want to be around Anna, because there's something around being Anna that just it makes me want to do more, it makes me want to serve more, it wants me to be a part of things. Okay, I've been known to step on toes. Just, I said it. Don't get your feelings hurt, but there's something else. It's called excellence. It's called excellence. Do you believe that our God works on an excellent level? He's the ultimate excellent. Did you know that one of our core values right here in Relate Community Church is to pursue what Excellence? Excellent? Did you know that one of our core values right here in Relate Community Church is to pursue what?
Speaker 1:So when you come into the house of God, you need to be on time. I can't be late to work. Hurry up kids. Get in the car. I'm dropping you off. I don't care if you didn't have breakfast. I can't be late for work. All right, kids, now take your time. We'll get there as long as we're there before pastor starts preaching.
Speaker 1:Part of the fired up happens in the worship. You need to be fired up for the worship. You need to be fired up for the prayer. You need to be fired up for the preaching. You need to be fired up because people are watching this church. Did you know? Every time I meet somebody new, I say so. How did you hear about us? How did you know who invited you? And you know what? There's people in this room right now that say well, I've been watching y'all. I've been watching you move in, I've been watching you do little things out in your parking lot and passing things out. People are watching us. So we're going to take that task on to invite people to church. We want them to come in and feel a church on fire. Amen.
Speaker 1:And the fire happens in this room, not in the. What are our two service times? Say it again. Let me tell you something monday through saturday, we go through a lot of darkness. Even though we may not love, we may not live in darkness in our lives. We live in a very dark world. So monday through saturday we are, we are navigating. We are navigating through the darkness. So when we roll in here on sunday, this is where the fire happens. Right, this is where the fire, this is where the pillar leads us into this very room.
Speaker 1:And have y'all ever noticed those blue flags that wave out front? We may not have them today, but there is these blue banners that say relate, here we are. They wave like this in the wind and I'll tell you the last few weeks that those have been out. I drive in and I'm, yes, jehovah, nisi, my banner, my victor. I can roll into church today. Know that I am a victor Because I'm getting into the house of God. You know why? Because I'm planted here. I'm rooted in holiness. He's the one true king. You know, we've been planted here, right here, right here in Aldine Westfield, old town spring. We've been planted like a cedar tree. We have a responsibility. Invite people to to church, invite them to First Wednesdays, invite them to small group, invite them to students. Get your teenagers into small group. Okay, hurt toes, here we go, hurry, but next level, everybody say next level. This is how we get our kids to next level. If it's small groups important to you, it needs to be important to your kids. Get them to small group, get them to small group.
Speaker 1:Number two we got to have confidence in delivery. I want to go real quick here. Number two confidence in delivering. Maybe you've got the word of God, maybe you're fired up. Maybe you had you heard a message from pastor. You got fired up in small group. Okay, what do I do with all this fire? Now? How do I do it? What do I do? I'm not confident.
Speaker 1:So many times people come to me and say I just don't know what to say to somebody If they start asking questions. I don't know what to say. Let me tell you first. The word says he will always give you the words to say. That's when it comes back to step one knowing the word of God. Let it sit here, let it sit here, let it sit here. Before you know it, you will be talking and you will be encouraging someone and a scripture come out and you're like did I just say that? Confidence in the delivery? How do you stay fired up? Let me tell you how you do that. You got to learn how to kindle a fire. You got to learn how to kindle a fire. You got to learn how to kindle your own fire, amen. And you know what Everybody's different.
Speaker 1:And what I love about this book is this man. He went into this company and he sat down and he took time to get to know people and he sat down and he found out what makes them tick, what motivates them. Have y'all ever been at work and the boss says, hey, if you guys get such and such done by noon, we can go home early. What you won't bet Everything is done by noon, amen, because you want to get out of there, you can get it done. It's the same way with the word of God. Everybody's different.
Speaker 1:Figure out what their Kindle is. Figure out what the Kindle is for your spouse. How do you set your spouse on fire, for your kids, for your friends, for the people in your small group? And once you get that regulated, let me tell you something. It's going to be going to come really easy for the person in the elevator. You know when the Lord starts saying say something, I need you to say something right now. And you're like say something, I need you to say something right now. And you're like you're going up the floors and you know the Lord's telling you, say something. You don't even know what you're supposed to say. But here's what happens when you open your mouth, fire will come out. You will take yourself to the next level. You'll get more and more confident speaking to people you don't know. And before you know it I don't know if y'all heard Pastor Gayla has a fabulous story about it. Somebody, she sat next to you on a plane. But it's not just Pastor Gayla that has the ability to do that, it's all of us. And let me remind you right now, it is your calling, it is your purpose, it is the reason for our existence is to advance and grow the kingdom of God. Amen.
Speaker 1:Write this down. What am I doing in my life right now to advance the kingdom of God? Take inventory, because that's how you get to next level. How are you advancing the kingdom of God? You know, when I was writing this I said, okay, what? What kindles me? How do people get me going? And you know I got to tell you pastor, pastor Angela, and maybe because they're the same bloodline, but, pastor Gayla, you know they can come up to you. Have you already had that? Look you okay, because they know they have that gift of discernment where the Lord says you need to go to Danielle right now and say you doing okay, because guess what, sometimes that's all the Kindle somebody needs. And you know there's.
Speaker 1:There's a very special person that's in this room that they they don't even know, they don't even know. I was about to talk to them and I usually like to give them a heads up, but this one's better Every month. This person encourages me, minister, joseph. Let me tell you something that encourages me, brother, that kindles my fire, because sometimes we can come out of a long week, we can come out of a long month, but he reminds me that everything I did before is not in vain. And to keep going, to keep pushing, to keep going. And honestly, I was praying, brother, yesterday. I was like it's in my sermon. I hope he texts me today. It's March 1st, but he did, he did, he followed what the Lord is asking him to do.
Speaker 1:No-transcript go into all the world, write down the word proclaim. Do you know what that means? It means to announce publicly. I don't know. I want to go next level, but I don't know about this publicly stuff. I don't know. I don't want to be persecuted, I don't want to be looked down on because my life doesn't measure up to what I'm saying. Is that our biggest fear? Did somebody say? Oh, it means to announce publicly, declare aloud Everybody right now, say fire them up.
Speaker 1:Number three you have to have the desire to see the results. You can be in church all day long, every Sunday, every Sunday, but sitting in church does not make you a Christian, like sitting in a garage does not make you a car. You have to have the fire to fuel it. You have to move forward. You have to know that there's got to be a goal. In business, you have a goal. Whether you sell homes, right, whether you work at the hardware store, everybody has a goal. And our goal. Everybody say advance the kingdom of God. That is your goal, plain and simple. Advance the kingdom of God. Let. That is your goal, plain and simple. Advance the kingdom of God. Let me tell you something.
Speaker 1:I was a district manager for 11 years 11 years and in January of 2011, I was promoted to a regional director. In training, I was going from 22 locations to 122 multi-state locations. I spent a couple of months out in the field, training, doing presentations, standing in front of lots of people, and I came back to my hotel room in March. I'd been out and I was in Kansas City, missouri. I'd been there for a week and I came home and I was sitting alone in my hotel room and I just hung up the phone, with my son and my husband just checking in, and my son was so excited to tell me that he got his green belt that night and you know I fought through the guilt of not being there and I said I hung up that phone. I said, lord, I thank you. I thank you for putting me in the position where I'm at right now. But there's got to be more. There's got to be more.
Speaker 1:My salary was doubled but it wasn't making me happy. I had a title, I had position wasn't making me happy and I knew my future was going to be out on that road and I said, lord, today, today, something's got to change. I don was going to be out on that road and I said, lord, today, today, something's got to change. I don't want to be alone in this hotel room anymore. I love this job and I love my people and I love getting to teach and educate people and inspire them and light fires in them for business. But there's got to be more.
Speaker 1:And I laid down in the bed that night and the Lord spoke. He said, susan, see, what you don't know is all this has just been training for you. This is just training for you. I needed you to learn how to stand up in front of people and speak about what's important. I needed you to be able to talk to people you don't know about something you're super passionate about. I needed you to know how to go to the next level through me before anyone else. And I went home and I gave my two weeks notice, because you know what else the Lord said no more selling memories, you're gonna start selling futures. It's all been for this. Keep the fire, susan, keep the fire, susan, keep the fire. And what you know.
Speaker 1:And when I'm, when I think about this in the Bible, I think about this relationship between Paul and Timothy. We see, timothy was a young pastor and he was so discouraged, feeling like I don't know how to just keep my fire going. I've got the whole world coming against me. They won't listen to me. How do I go next level with this? How do I pastor people if they're not hearing me? And I feel so low. And you know what Paul? Paul writes to him and says Timothy, you are called by God. I don't care how nervous you are, I don't how scared you are, I don't care how much you think that maybe you're. You've got doubt in your soul right now. Here's what I'm going to do I'm going to fan that flame.
Speaker 2:Timothy, you keep going.
Speaker 1:Timothy, be brave. Timothy, you've got a purpose, You've got a calling. You got to take that generation to the next level. Amen, you do what you have to do, timothy, and you know what that's called in business Building a bench. Building those, that bench of people who are going to raise up under you so that God can move you somewhere else and raise them up to your position. But you got to set them on fire first. Here's your second question. I want you to write down what do I need to change in my life for this to be able to happen? What do I need to change in my life for this to be able to happen? What do I need to change in my life to allow me to allow God to fire up other people?
Speaker 1:And you know when Paul wrote that letter to Timothy, that second letter. Do you know where he was? He was in prison. He was in a jail cell in Rome, in prison in the worst place possible. Have you ever had that feeling? Well, I don't want to go fan somebody's flame because nobody's fanning mine. How do you think Paul felt he's writing a letter to Timothy and being encouraging and he's saying, hey, hey, keep going. Not once did he say, hey, I feel so abandoned, I'm all alone, I'm in this dark place. He said no, keep going, Keep going. Because I know so many times right now we easily say well, I'm not doing that because Paul could have easily said Timothy, I know, I know that's hard, but do you know where I'm at right now? That's not what Jesus died for.
Speaker 1:I think so many of us right now have a fire and a fight and a cancel attitude and a fire them attitude, because stupid stuff hurt toes. I don't like who they married, I don't like who they're hanging out with. You just fired them. I don't like who they voted for. You've just fired them. But can I tell you something? Right now, the kingdom of God does not look like this. It does not stand here negative with our arms crossed. It looks like this. Jesus Christ died like this. Do you think he died on the cross saying no, he looked down at every single person with love and said forgive them. Everybody say don't fire them. Everybody say fire them up. I'm going to close with this.
Speaker 1:Some of us are finding our place in that smoldering where there once was a fire, but now there's just smoke. And have y'all ever been around a bonfire and you got home and your clothes stink and your hair stinks because of the smoke. If you're finding yourself in that place this morning, let me encourage you something you cannot stay there when there's smoke. There's something still underneath there. There's still still underneath there. There's still something underneath there.
Speaker 1:We cannot put ourselves in this place where we just allow the smoke, because what happens when we find ourselves there? We find ourselves in a type of Christianity that's not the one that God is calling us to. We find ourselves in a lukewarm position, and do you know what the Lord? Ourselves in a lukewarm position, and do you know what the Lord says about being lukewarm? Lukewarm water will never boil. You want to know why? Because the fire has been turned off. Can I get everybody to stand with me for just a minute? We're going to worship for just a couple of minutes and I want you to think about the fire. I want you to think about the ways that God's going to use you. How are you going to walk out of this room changed today? Because there's a spark. There's a spark, but when you walk out that door, there needs to be fireworks.
Speaker 2:Amen, let's worship Set a fire down in my soul that I can't control. I want more of you, god. I want more of you God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, god. I want more of you, god. Come on, I want more of you, god. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contain, that I can't control. I want more of you, god. I want more of you God. So set a fire down in my soul that I can't contend, that I can't control. I want more of you, god. I want more of you God. Set a fire down in my soul that I can't contend, that I can't control. I want more of you, god. I want more of you God. I want more of you God. Stand up high and now take my soul that I can't take, that I can't control.
Speaker 2:I want more of you God. I want more of you God. We worship you God. We worship you God. I want more of you God. I want more of you God. I want more of you God. You know, I hope that today.
Speaker 1:I hope that today you felt something inside. I hope that today you received something that maybe you haven't before. Maybe you felt something that you haven't before, and I just want to pray, as you exit this building today, that that fire just be blazing, that there be blazing for the Lord, because you're about to go into a dark world when you leave this place.
Speaker 1:And it's up to us to advance the kingdom of God. Amen, lord, god, we just pray today. Amen, lord, god, we just pray today, lord, I pray that this word has fallen fresh on someone in a way that they've never seen it before. God, that they understand that there is a precious calling on their life, lord, that we are called to something greater than ourselves and to get out of our daily routines and remember what did we do for you today, lord? What did we do to advance your kingdom, father, I pray that hearts are tender today to receive this Lord, and we just thank you for what you're gonna do. We thank you for the fire in this room. Let it burn. Let it burn, set a fire in our souls.
Speaker 1:Lord, in Jesus' name, and with every head bowed and every eye closed, I want to say a prayer for someone else. I want to pray for those people who maybe you're sitting there, two, two people. Maybe you're sitting here today and you. That fire has been smoking for a long time, maybe that fire is almost out. I want to pray for you right now, today, god, that person right now that feels like they were a flame for you once. Let them be a flame again, because your fire is ongoing. Your presence is ongoing. You go before us, you go behind us, you are all around us, lord. Lord, just encompass them in your love. Let your Holy Spirit guide them, be the pillar of light as they walk into the dark world. Today, god, I just want to pray over the person who doesn't know you. If there's anybody sitting in this room right now, I just want you to pray and now, all together, I want you to say this salvation prayer out loud, because someone here today says I want to say yes to God. I am feeling that tug on my heart when I walk into this place. Somebody invited me here, and now I understand why. I understand my purpose. I understand that Jesus died on a cross for me. He didn't cancel me out, he didn't fire me. He wants to fire me up, amen. And if that's you and you want to say that salvation prayer today, just repeat after me.
Speaker 1:Lord God, today, today, I am giving you all of me, all of my life. I'm giving you every breath. May you use it. Lord, god, for your kingdom. I believe that you came in my life. I believe that you died for my sins. I believe that you have washed me clean and I want to live my life for you. Lead me, guide me. Let me do your work in Jesus name, amen, amen. Are you on fire today Because I'm sweating, it's hot. We're going to go ahead. We're going to worship just a little bit more, but I'm going to call down my prayer partners. If you want to come down and have somebody pray for you, please come on down. Otherwise, go out, be the fire in the darkness today and share God's love. Thank you.