Sermon Synopsis for February 22, 2009

“Another Church Fire” 2 Timothy 1:1-13

I want to talk about church fires.

What did the pastor say when someone told him the church was on fire? Holy Smoke!

The story’s told …
The pastor of the Mennonite church and the Fire Chief both died and arrived at the pearly gates at the same moment. The Fire Chief passed through right away and the pastor told St. Peter that he knew the man as a totally sacrilegious, depraved, discredit to the human race. The pastor asked, “Why was he allowed to pass through before me?”

St. Peter replied, “Dear pastor, your case has been examined thoroughly. Through the years, as you preached from the pulpit, most people fell asleep. But when the chief sounded the alarm, everybody prayed! And he’s seen more churches on fire than you have.”

Maple Grove had four fires. I showed slides of the destruction of the December 1967 fire.

One Church Member was quoted in History of Ohio & Eastern Conference, “Our church didn’t burn; it was only the building.”

There have been a number of times that Maple Grove was really on fire.

THINK ABOUT THIS
Malibu Presbyterian Church burned in Mid October of last year – the next Sunday the congregation met in a theatre – over 600 in attendance – the largest crowd the church has ever seen – there wasn’t room for everyone to squeeze into the auditorium. Church leaders announced that the services and programs would continue in various locations as they sorted out what to do.

Pastor Greg Hughes told the congregation, "I think God will bring us to a new place where we will glorify him on that hill again." Hughes added, "You want to see a church on fire, I'll show you a real church on fire," prompting wild applause. There was an excitement, an enthusiasm, a unity that the church hadn’t seen in years, maybe never before. The church burned, but now, the church is on fire.


There are destructive forces at work against the church, but, if we are a faithful church, we will be able to withstand them.

Jesus told Peter, “You are Peter (rock) and on this rock (peter), I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Mt 16:18)

We need to be solidly grounded (like a rock) in the Lord Jesus Christ –and we will succeed as a church. Nothing can destroy us.
Paul, “No one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 3:11)

In today’s scripture passage, I want to focus on verses 5 to 8 of 2 Timothy chapter 1.

A. TO BE “ON FIRE” FOR GOD, WE MUST HAVE “A LIVING FAITH”

Where did Timothy get his Faith – passed down by his grandmother and mother. (v.5)

This is the most natural evangelism – to pass your faith to your children and family members.

In our Men’s Prayer Group – we talked about the difficulty in sharing our faith with those closest to us. Yet these are the people most important to our lives. It doesn’t make sense.

Sometimes I’ve heard parents wonder, “Why don’t my kids have the passion for God and a strong faith like I do?” “Why have my children wandered from the Lord?”
It’s a real concern.

We know that Timothy’s dad wasn’t a believer (Acts 16:1). I’m sure that concerned Timothy.

v. 5 – Paul is reminded of Timothy’s “sincere faith”
Sincere – genuine “without wax” Latin – “sine cera”
The phrase comes from a practice where people would hide the cracks in cheap pottery with wax in order to pass the pottery off as being worth more than it actually was. Quality products were often stamped with the words sine cera to show it had not been doctored. It would be similar to those products today that are stamped, “all natural” or “100% pure”. Paul is reminding Timothy of his faith that is pure and genuine.

Where did the faith come from?
It first lived in Lois, his grandmother
And it lived in Eunice, his mother
And now lives in Timothy

Greek word “enukesen” – “lives”
Related to “dwelt” in John 1:14 “and the word became flesh and lived with us”

What does Timothy have living in him?
As set of rules or doctrines? Is it perfect church attendance? An exact confession of faith?
No – he has a living, breathing faith. It’s alive. It’s a faith that comes out in his life. Wherever he is, whatever he is doing … his faith is evident in his life.

To be “on fire” for God, we need to have a living faith.

B. TO BE “ON FIRE” FOR GOD, WE MUST USE OUR GOD GIVEN GIFTS

v. 6 – “Fan into flame the gift of God which is in you.”
(the laying on of hands is the recognition by the church of these gifts – in timothy’s case, ordination to ministry)

A flame will go out if it’s left on its own.

William Booth (Founder of Salvation Army), “The tendency of Fire is to go out; watch the fire on the altar of your heart.” Anyone who has tended a fireplace fire knows that it needs to be stirred up occasionally.

v. 6 “Gift of God” Gift = “charisma” (Gk) from “charis” (grace). It’s a free gift, given to us, to use.

Paul wrote to Corinthian Christians, “Each one has his own gift from God” (1 Cor 7:7). Everybody has “charisma”

This is a special ability, talent, personality trait – that is to be used for God and his Church.
There are lists of them (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4)

These gifts need to be discovered, developed, and put into practice. Otherwise they don’t do us, or God, any good.

The “fire” starts with the living faith and spreads when our Spiritual gifts are being used.

C. TO BE “ON FIRE” FOR GOD, WE MUST NOT BE AFRAID TO SHARE OUR FAITH (NOT TIMID)

One of Paul’s regular literary practices is to make a negative statement followed by three positive ideas.
v. 7 - “God did not give us a spirit of timidity”

But God did give us a spirit of
1. Power
2. Love
3. Self-discipline

Timidity (lit. cowardice, KJV = “fear”) – we aren’t to be cowards when it comes to our faith and using our spiritual gifts.

v. 8 – “Don’t be ashamed to testify about our Lord.”

How many of you are afraid to let your faith show through in your daily living?
Do your neighbors know you are a Christian?
How about the people where you work, where you shop, where you do your banking?

We should have “a spirit of power” (gk. “dynamis”, is root for dynamite, explosive)

It’s interesting that Paul doesn’t just list power.
Power (dynamis), love (agape), self-discipline (control of the self)

This is a significant combination; all three are necessary to keep the others in check.

Power alone can be destructive.
We’ve seen the destructive power of fire (in our church history, recently in the Coatesville area)

Perhaps we know faithful and “spirit filled” people who have destroyed churches and the lives of others? [I’m not going to give examples – you know them]

That’s a “spirit of power” (v. 7) unrestrained. (It’s explosive and dangerous)

Power needs to be tempered by Love and self-discipline
Jn 13:35 everyone “will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Fire can be used to destroy lives – or it can be used to warm homes, cook food, or take a rocket ship to the moon.

Love will channel the power for good use
Self-discipline will restrain the power against destructive use

CONCLUSION
Paul told Timothy to “fan into flame” the faith living in him.

A flame needs to be with other flames to keep burning.
To put out a campfire – spread the coals out.
To re-ignite a campfire – push the coals together.

St John of the Cross “The soul that is alone … is like the burning coal that is alone, it will grow colder rather than hotter.”

Do you look around and see others growing spiritually colder. We shouldn’t move away from them, we should put ourselves tighter together.

Opportunities this coming week – to help us “fan into flame” the fires of our faith.

Youth Sponsored Sports Dinner (Fri)
Birdsong Family (Sat and Sun)
Xtreme Worship (Tue)
Church Family Night (Wed)

I knew ROGER BARLOW, SR (his son is responsible for many of the Coatesville fires) when he was a kid.
What if my family witnessed to him, shared with him our faith?

There’s a Poem, “Prayer for an Arsonist” by Martha Kauffman published in the January 1968 Maple Breezes.
Here are some excerpts: “Lord, be with the arsonist today. Let him meditate on the dangers encountered by the firemen … let him see himself. He, too, is Thy child … Did none of us show to him the importance of serving Thee? Forgive us if we are at fault …” [I’ll send you the whole text if you want]

To be able to share your faith …
You need a “living faith” acting in your life.
You need to recognize, develop and use your spiritual gifts.
You need to not be timid or ashamed, but act in power, love and self-discipline.

God calls us, like Paul to Timothy, to “fan into flame” our faith.
Then our church and our lives will be “on fire” for the Lord.