Rekindle! (Week Three)

2nd Timothy 1:7

Says that for the spirit of God does not give us. You did not give us a spirit of timidity but give us a spirit of power of love and self-discipline is a 2nd Timothy 1:7 and it's the holy spirit that gives us this Power Mesa to sum up this phrase of of self-discipline. We could simply say that it's it's right thinking leads to write living and I want you to have that in the back your mind as we kind of talked about the subject today and the phrase in itself is generic, but it could really apply to anything alive with remember that we're talking about being a believer in this context. And we have to ask the question. How do you begin to have the right thinking in our lives? Pastor in the Philippines named Jolie today Garcia and I was reading studying this week and I came across this and said and he said the heart is to emotions and feelings as perception and comprehension is to the mind. It is from the influence of the heart and the mind that we move and make decisions and act. The believer should then pray for a sound mind regularly. And I think that's so true that are high at heart and our minds need to connect on the same level and we applied at and we check it with God's word to make sure it's accurate but there's four things that a Believer must have to have a sound mind. And the first is that a leader should have a pure mind we can read this in in Philippians. I'm sorry in 2nd Peter 3:1 where it says dear friends. This is now my second letter to you. I've written both of them as reminders to stimulate you to Wholesome thinking soap all purpose in writing. This letter is to think wholesomely is as Christ would have have us think the second is Ephesians 4:29 where it says do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths. But only what is helpful for building others up according to the their needs that it may benefit those who listen

And the third verse the context is Philippians 4:8 and to the Church of Philippi. Whatever is true. Whatever is Noble whatever is right, whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things. And so we focus our our minds from thinking on things that are corrupt in the world but focusing on what is pure and what is right and what is Audible? What is what is trustworthy? What is true? That is the beginning of having a sound mind. It's it's to have a pure mind. And a pure mind knows that it's been been washed by the blood of Christ that the old ways of of living are in the Old and the new is coming to the realization that that we've been we've been class. We've been washed from the oil life through Christ. In Hebrews 9:14, it says this how much more then will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself unblemish to God cleanse our conscience from acts that lead to death. So that we may serve the Living God. And got so so good that we we look at this this idea that the not just the idea. But the fact that Christ's Blood Washed us into in Eternal new life that through the spirit. We are unblemished and brought before God is holy and righteous not because of anything we've done but because of the act of what Christ did and what the Holy Spirit does to regenerate into washers. And if your mind understands that it's it's been renewed and about three weeks ago. We went the Romans 12 and we talked about what A Renewed mind looks like and you can go back on the website fccr B. Organ you can and you can listen to that sermon. But but if you're mine is founded on the truths of God and Christian virtues that are found only in his work A sound mind. Secondly. It requires as Christ centered mind phlippines to 5 says this Philippians 2:5 says in your relationships with one another had the same mindset as Christ Jesus.

To have a humble mind and focusing on things above would be to have the mind of Christ. We can get so wrapped up and so consumed with things that are going on right now, especially right now in this world, but but but we're supposed to have an eternal perspective and internal focus on what's what's above in Colossians 3:1 says this since then you have been raised with Christ set your hearts on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and that's where Christ if she's at the right hand of God. See the house love for one another in the concerned for your church family would be to have the mind of Christ Christ had the mind of to die for his his family to die for the church. There's no way that the church could have been birthed had it not been through Christ humility to go into the cross and his death in his resurrection and the hope that we have and have a love for first forgot desire to bring him glory and realize that our life really is not our own our life is God's and and so that's that's how we can have the mind of Christ as we think about this The Third One requirement for Saint Linus to have a powerful mind and we may think of that and it's thinking that we had this power trip and we've got it all figured out and everything but it's it's not that it's not being the smartest person on the planet, which is good news for me and then some of you most of you but but it's the deal through the Holy Spirit to discern three things. We discern good and evil between the good and the best for our lives. That's not an easy thing. It's there and how distracted we can get or how how much is out there tysis away from this but but Hebrews 5:14 says this but solid food is for the mature who by constant use of train themselves to distinguish good from Evil now, it's interesting because the word trained is in that verse he could have said he would buy it by constant use are able to distinguish good and evil at automatically, but he died because they had trained. To do this, but how do you how do you train it's like anything else? You don't just automatically become a prodigy even though some people are but they still have to train and work towards other things but they're not the area that they're not The Prodigy in but we have to train in certain areas in our lives to be coming in to be better at things right in general, but for a Christian for believer to have a sound mind have to train to do that. Well, how do we do that? We obviously you need to be in God's word because that's where cheese comes from. We are in constant prayer throughout the day, you know, we don't there is a set time although there is different times explained to the Bible of fast and things like that of when they would pray but God's word does not require us to pray every single day at a certain time. It leaves it up to us to be able to do that in our in our walk with the Lord and really if we're supposed to be in communion with the Lord and building our lives on Jesus prayer should happen throughout the day. Everyday, you know, we can't we can't get through this life without communicating with with him. And so this has to be a priority in our life prayer to be fellowshipping with one another and obviously that's been hindered over the past few weeks with with this whole stay-at-home order, but we can still Fellowship through through our phones and I'm recording right now on my phone, but we can text each other we can call each other we can I email one another we can do this on our laptops or iPads. We can video chat with one another we don't have to give up meeting together one because of this crisis it'll be different. It's not the same as being in person. But you know, like we've been saying this past couple weeks with Eric Church. We've been having a challenge to to write letters together church directory and write letters to to one another and it's been so good and encouraging to hear the stories from other people how they've been just uplifted and encouraged through the pig. Using the letters from the different people that are doing this and it's just going old school and it's really cool to see that encourage you for doing that for church made you're somewhere else. I encourage you to do that to your church directory call your family or friends with people that you don't normally write a letter to them and just tell him you know in Courage the courage you note a Bible verse prayer that's been on your heart to be a prayer got something God's been saying to you to encourage them. You'll be praying for opportunities for that. But this this Hebrews 5:14 where talks about that were trained trained ourselves to distinguish Good and Evil. We're going to talk a little more about that in a second. The solid food that is Believers. We have to constantly be weeding through all the junk out there in this world. That's not good for our hearts and for our mind. Just like we're wearing masks outside today. The mask is the filter from from the the pollutants that are out there, you know, people were wearing masks before the fires happen to the fight against pollution, you know, or or pollen that's that's in the air but it's the filter those things and as Christians as Believers, we need to filter our hearts and our minds from from the things that Satan throws ass on that tries to corrupt our minds with whatever that maybe you can fill in the blank in that but we have to be able to train ourselves to filter those things in our lives and ask for God's holy spirit to guide us in right-thinking. And in a powerful mind also discerns God's Will and spiritual things and Ephesians. 5:17 says this therefore do not be foolish but understand what the Lord's will is is interesting because there's two contrast there. It's the opposite of the Lord's will is foolishness. And in a way, we could say it's a waste of time to the believer when we're not focused on the Lord's will because once we have given our hearts to Christ, we're living differently, we're living not as this world calls to live but as as Christ calls us to live is as God's word calls us to live and it's a different mindset. The opposite is that is foolishness. We're not living for the Lord. So we're living for our selfishness Romans. 6:18 says this you have been set free from sin and have been slaves had become slaves to righteousness. So we were once slaves to send we're not slaves to righteousness in Christ Dietrich. Bonhoeffer says it this way and I and I love this. This is a devotional that I've been reading to called seize. The day was Dietrich Bonhoeffer and this is from April 3rd, and he says this That Christ offers us freedom from the power of sin. This Freedom motivates us to live in Conformity with God's Will and purpose but his gift of Freedom never allows us to do our own thing. We might think that freedom has to do with being able to do what we want. But this is actually being trapped in our own wanting and willing. Christ gift of Freedom takes us beyond the limits of our own selfishness and into the realm of God's greater good and when doing the greater good arises out of Truth thankfulness rather than compulsion or guilt. Then we are free indeed. I love that lionesses Christ gift of Freedom takes us beyond the limits of our own selfishness and into the realm of God's greater good The third thing about having a powerful mind is to have a mind that is able to discern against Satan's traps the schemes and throws out against us and towards of Satan has blinded the minds of the world's confuse them. He's blinded the minds of unbelievers. It's nothing that we could ever say or anything that we could ever do to to take to take the scale. So to speak off of an unbelievers eyes. It is only God that can do that to power through through through guy that can do that, but we can be faithful to to loving and serving those around us those that don't know Christ.

I'm not sure there really is a better scripture for this than Matthew for River read about Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by Satan Jesus each time that he's tempted by Satan. He's fires back scripture, which is truth. And so Satan tempts them in different different ways. And each time Jesus uses scripture to to fight back as a weapon in a fusion 6 a few weeks back. We talked about Ephesian 6 when we talk about A Renewed mind and and in God's of the sword of the spirit, the God's word is a weapon that we have to use against the enemy. The Hobbit House mom gets the enemy you have to use an in understand truth and that truth only comes from God's word nowhere else to have a sign sound mind lastly believer must and really has to have a positive mind and it's not talk about filling your mind with good thoughts Good Vibes that you take from different religions philosophies or ideologies of the world. We're not talking about this this idea of have a healthy lifestyle and and you know this new age thinking that if we connect our mind with their body Center of chakra this kind of stuff that is not the kind of positive mind. It was supposed to be be be talking about here are thinking about It's not sitting around getting to a happy place and that sort of stuff having a positive mind if they have in mind that is optimistic and hopeful in the fact that Christ overcame sin and death and offers that to us that there's no way that we can have a piece and a heart and a piece and our mind had it not been for Christ's death on the cross that covered our stand and after his resurrection that offers us eternal life. There's absolutely no way that we would have hope apart from that in this world. It's realizing that all we could ever need is in Christ and that Joy is complete in him. We can have a joy through that. positive mind focus on things above Philippians 4:8 we're so finally brothers and sisters. Whatever is true, right whatever is Noble whatever is right, whatever is pure whatever is lovely whatever is admirable if anything is excellent or praiseworthy think about such things we read this earlier, but it's such a good verse to go back to 22 really meditate Instinct on in our Lives having a sound mind is so important to believe her because the enemy wants nothing more than to confuse and destroy our thinking and William Barclay Pastor commentator Theologian key wrote this and said self-discipline is the control of oneself in the face of Panic or passion. Or passion you set a repeat again. Self-discipline is the control of oneself in the face of Panic or of passion. I think it's so good. And so profound especially today, you know, I'm not sure if sound mind could be more useful than the now considering what we're going through in the in the in this world. It's we could say that the opposite of a sound mind is a mind that's focused on panic and a mind that's that's on fear. That's not the same thing as as having a mind that is that is clear thinking there's a difference between a victim a patient or distressed person in the first responder. See if you look at the the EMTs are the police the military the nurses the doctors, especially right now and it's going around us. They don't have time to focus on the Panic or are the chaos that's going on around them. They're the ones that jump into the situation first by the jump in the situation one because they chose to do that. They chose that way of life, but that that That the person that they're going to save or help their life is on the line. There's really no other option. And and I think in this North State Northern California, we have some of the best First Responders in the country at Savin is eating the world. I mean considering going from fires to flooding to viruses to all the things that we've experienced in the past few years there the first on the scene and and it's it's been amazing watching them and that we've been able to support them at different times. And I know that many other churches have many other people having a community We Love Our First Responders, we will pray for them and continued support them. Anyway that we can but the mindset of First Responders really the mind so that we should have as as Believers as as Christians. The keys of it shows in that life. The key is that we as Christians have chosen and and taking that that oath to submit to Christ. I'll we we're focusing our minds and being willing and obedient to what Christ has for us each and every day anyways as Believers we have to have that same focus on our lives because it was too before right thinking leads to write live. We're going to transition for a minute. We're going to look at 1st Corinthians 2. And so if you have your Bibles you can turn with me to to 2nd Corinthians chapter 2 verse 16. We're going to read to chapter 3 verse 9. and one of my favorite verses is ever is is in here and I'll tell you why in a second but the 1st Corinthians 2:16 says this for who has known known the mind of the Lord who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him, but we have the mind of Christ a listen to Brothers and sisters I could not addressed you as people who live by the spirit but his people who are still worldly near infants in Christ. I gave you milk not solid food for you or not yet ready for it indeed. You are still not ready. You are still world for since there is jealousy and quarreling among you and you are you not worldly. Are you not acting like mere humans for when one says I follow Paul and another follow I follow polisar you Not Mere human beings. What after all is Apollos in? What is Paul only servants through whom you came to believe as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed Apollos watered it but God has been making it grow. So neither. The one who plants you're the one who Waters is anything but only God who makes things grow. so neither The one who plants in the one who Waters have one purpose and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor verse 9 for we are co-workers and God service. You are God's field God's Building. I love this picture. Paul paints. He writes this letter to the to the Corinthians first because this church has been under the guidance in the direction of teaching of Apollo Apollo. This is is a great teacher. He's an excellent teacher but Paul originally set up this church and found this church in Coram, and he catches word probably through Polo's or somebody else in his is leadership that but they're having issues within the church and you can read 1st Corinthians and 2nd Corinthians and find out all the issues. They had in the church, but Paul is riding to this church because what is beginning to see is that this church is confused there wondering do we follow Paul do we follow a policy on the teaching polish. But he's instilled enough of the Christian ABC's, you know into them while he was building building down in that church in to do the people, but the people that are in this church at this time of these writing this are Juggling they're living the. One foot in and one foot out there their infant baby Christians as as as Paul says and they should be further along considering how long they been a Christian but they're starting to live more worldly. And so this is a knockout of nopales from Paul Paul is a is grateful for polyps and Inns teach. He he makes a note in here that. Paul is the one who planted the seed 1st Corinthians 3:7. He is the one that planted the seed but apollis is the one that water is It ultimately God is the one that makes that grow at Sea Grill and I don't know if you you have ever tried to grow seeds before indoors many of you right now are Growing Seeds indoors. It's not that hard but the basics of it are often neglected and when we start getting seeds that are that really tall and skinny and they kind of Keel over. You don't have the light that you need the UV UV light that that comes from the Sun. So that's why you have grow grow lights to put over it because it's going to strengthen that so if you have the plant in the in the light, the light is about you in a few inches from the seed. You're not going to get that lanky see so if you're welcome his that's why he have like you can see you just dumped not start over again. But but others have that light that Greenhouse the warmth the things that they need in their seeds can can grow better. And so it's it's so important that as we think about this in the Believers life God puts people in our lives to the plant that seed that first see that we we come to Christ that we acknowledge who he is what he's done for us and we and we live differently once we've submitted our life there and ask for forgiveness from our sins. But then got also put some somebody else in our life that disciples Us in the faith. Was that the pastor a teacher a friend a co-worker or mother or father, you know someone in our family that really builds into us and encourages and teaches us codsworth and explains it to us and that is when we begin to develop the mind of Christ develop this different way of thinking that is different than the world and that is called discipleship when somebody plants that seed and sower. we don't realize this as much but first this this passage that were reading is really the Apostle Paul's version of the Great Commission in Matthew 28, Matthew 28 talks about Jesus says before he ascends to heaven and go and make disciples baptized in the name of the father of the son of the Holy Spirit and in so we're supposed to go out and share the gospel message of Jesus Christ and Paul in his in his own way in his own words is saying that that we do the same thing that that dog that there's some that are that are gifted to evangelize and plant the seed there's some that are gifted to disciple others and water it but ultimately it is God that makes things grow and I think that's such a profound picture that we can keep our mind of as we continue to just drive and as we look at this 1st Corinthians 3:1 through the 1st Corinthians 3:7 nor the one Waters is anything but only God who makes things grow. So as they're going back and forth. We do we look at them Paul to be you. Listen to Apollo Stewie. Look at Pollos to eat. It was Nepal. They're going back and forth impulse and listen. It doesn't matter when it comes down to it who we are as humans because ultimately it is God that matters. It is God that has the power to make things grow focus on God focus on his will focus on his word match everything with his word and you can read in Acts 17 about the bereans and in so the bereans when they were confronted with with somebody teaching scripture that they've matched it with the actual word of God. They didn't just listen and takes take people's words for it. They went right to the scriptures to make sure it made sense and lined up with with their their beliefs and that's what were called to do is Christian.

And so I love this verse and then 1st Corinthians 3:7 on because my background is landscaping and Horticulture. I've just always love to be outside and work with my hands and watch things growing plant thing as an insult. If anybody knows me they would know that about me that I just love doing. I know that many people in our church enjoy that same passion and then if you watching this that I part of a church love doing that and I think it's such a gift that God has given us to be able to work with our hands and and trust him for the growth and I know many of you are planning Gardens right now and vegetables and fruit trees and things like that and not such a great thing, but don't forget the illustration that goes with it that every time you plant the seed every time you plant a tree remember that we're also called to plant a seed in other people's life that is instilling the gospel message in people's hearts. And as we water the plants in as we fertilize the plants and care for them realize that we also need to reach out and disciple others and and make sure that they're not only do Okay, but pray for them that we can send them scripture encourage them and help them to go from infant baby Christians to to mature and we know that nobody's going to be completely mature until Christ comes back but we do have the promise of Philippians 1:6 that says he who began a good work in us will carry it until the completion to the day of Christ. Jesus will return so we have that hope but the whole concept is the mind of Christ realized in the Believers of the church and as we've talked about these past three weeks rekindling our faith. This is all part of it having the mind of Christ is encompassing in rekindling our our faith. It's is when we see that we all work together for the glory of God that we can come to maturity. We no longer become selfish.

This may be why it's so hard for me. I think as is in in our our leadership at the church to sit back and sit in our homes and you know record from from home instead of being with you all in person because we we love to to be with one another and I've been so proud as watching our church over the years of how we've grown to get how we serve each other, you know, how we built in the end really encourage one another in their in their gifts a walking alongside one another. We're not a megachurch. We're not going to we don't blast or advertise the good that we're doing. We haven't and we won't ever ask for recognition or try to make our church name known through obnoxious propaganda or anything like that. Our desire has been to make price now. And I and Lead others to him and disciple them and give give all the glory and all the credit to the Lord because it is him that ultimate makes things grow. And that's what we will continue to do with our mission even now whether it's digital or in person we're going to continue on that mission that he's that he's given us to do. This is who we are. This is the DNA of First Christian Church, and I'm proud Pastor to be a part of that. We're not winning people to positive change or a lifestyle. That is a healthy mind healthy body Which is popular today in New Age thinking but our desire is to win souls from Death to life through Jesus Christ and have people live out the Overflow of that joy in that Eternal hope that we have beef the day-to-day Eternal hope that we have and that the Billy that we had to share it. He what we say and what we do really has no purpose at all. Unless Our intention is to lead people into a relationship with Christ and or intimate in him and this is what a sound mind is all about. She polished was trying to convey this to the church and corn and he's trying to encourage Timothy also in 2nd Timothy 1:7, which is been our theme verse for this this series his aim in a sense was to rekindle on the stir up their faith in Christ, and that's been the purpose of the series to be able to do that in US. Today is also Palm Sunday. And you can read more about that Matthew 21 encourage. You grab your family. You don't get on video chat call somebody I talk with somebody read the scripture together Matthew 21 talk about Palm Sunday. Jesus is triumph Triumph in his entry into the streets as everybody thought they were going to be restored politically so to speak and he's going to restore power as their King, but obviously that wasn't the intention of and then the reason Jesus came it was to to restore us to the father. It was to reconcile the father and and that he would ultimately die as soon as death even though he didn't send But has become the clothes if it's important that we can to see that we can easily become like a Spectators in the streets is Jesus rode through on a donkey and cuz when the people shouted Hosanna they were healing Christ is King, but the word actually means save now. Enzo in their own minds they waited for an Earthly King. God had a different way in mind of bringing true salvation to all who trust in him. And really if you think about it, we wanted instant fix in life. We want instant solution to the reason that we're we're not in our Bible reading God's word as we're sure if you want to a reason and a solution why we're not praying I like we used to her or maybe I just should we want an excuse for why we don't have a desire to live for Christ through thoughts and our words and our actions. I'd like we should but there isn't there is not a quick-fix and and if you read anything like that, it's it's not true. It's in I say this because it requires work. It requires consistency and requires a redirection of our thinking and habits. Which is not easy in our flesh at all. And that's why Paul in 2nd Timothy 1:7 and throughout all of his letters goes back to the reason and the way that we can redirect our thoughts and get back into good habits. And that is only through the holy spirit's guidance and direction in our lives. That is the only way that we can get back on track. The holy spirit is the solution. We have no quick-fix on ourselves. Apple is reminding his his readers of this and he's reminding us as well today. Only through the Holy Spirit. Can we have the power to overcome Temptation and fear only through the Holy Spirit to me love is Jesus love and most definitely only through Holy Spirit. Can you have a sound mind which is required to live the Christian Life and bring glory to God right thinking equals and leaves to write living and it's only through the holy spirit that we can that we can do this a couple weeks back. I sent an email to our church family and The email I listed this more. So a prayer I guess that I that I have and the desire that I have for myself but also for our church in this time of quarantine and staying at home and I just want to read it again to kind of refresh our memories and the challenges but it says this that that my prayer is that we pray with fervor to the Holy Spirit as if it was our last breath that we would love others and check on them as if they were always our closest family member. That we would reads God God's word read God's word as if it was our last day on Earth or last day with it. Worship God as though it was our only response in life. Give and support our church or your church where you're at during this time for the glory of God as you step out on the water in faith. Allow God to search the depths of your heart in the depths of your soul and make you knew as if it was your surgery day. And share the gospel in and comfort of Jesus Christ to a world lost and anxious Boulder than we've ever been before. And lastly in the quiet when the grandkids and the kids are in bed when the work is done for the day and you're just sitting there before we turn on the TV and stream those videos or whatever else get on her phone and check on on social media check up on people sit and pray and listen. Read and take the time to know that God is still God. And I use the source of our hope now and in the future.

And as we as we come to a close today, I want us to really think about this this subject of rekindling Our Lives over the past three weeks. I'll be gone through a lot of different stuff. Our challenge is to to get back to the basics to get back into to get into God's word. And as we just as I just read that list of of my my prayer and are hoping our desire for a church and for all of you, let's get serious about our faith looks really use this time to form some good devotional habits before the Lord. Let's not talk about it. I think about it or wish we could but we we have control over our time and our thoughts and our actions. So pray for the holy spirit's guidance to do that because we can't sustain that on our own we don't have the power remember to do this on our own to change things quickly, but it's only through the holy spirit that we can really rekindle that spiritual fire that we once had And so that is my challenge for you this week in in fear for your life. Next week is Easter will be back here and we're going to talk about the great message in the great. Hope of Easter and then we're going to take a different term rather than go back into our back into our design for discipleship series. We're going to Pivot so to speak and and this past week Suzanne Burch had brought up the word pivot and something that she said, I just couldn't take it. I couldn't stop thinking about that. But that that means and really after Easter over the 40 days of Jesus being here on Earth. There were seven different instances that he showed himself to people in groups, and those those instances changed people's lives. And so I wanted to spend the next six to seven weeks after Easter breaking those those encounters with Jesus down. Before his Ascension and focusing on those things because as the people encounter Jesus and he changed their lives they in a sense made a choice to Hibbett their wives and we can also make the choice to Pivot our lives and is now that we've kind of rekindled and working on rekindling our relationship with the Lord. We won turn up a bit and then turn and Focus On Christ and what he has for us in this in this world weather be in a living out in the world or living it out in social media and online and in Social distancing from those people around us. We want to really get practical about what that means. And how how Christ is the only hope for us and how Christ changes our lives and so I invite you to join us on the next six to seven weeks on that, but the bullets closing prayer together. Father we just thank you so much for this time together. Thank you for your word. I thank you for your holy spirit. Thank you for the words of Paul that that we can look too and be encouraged even now today as the 2nd Timothy 1:7 says that we do not have a power. We don't have it as a spirit of fear, but through your voice. He provides us with a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline a cell from a sound mind and Lord that we can't do this on our own but we can only do this through your power and we thank you that we have that resource Lord help us to be intentional help us to change direction help us to Pivot Lord Our Lives toward you and to bring you glory. We just pray all this in your name. Amen. the next