REIGNITE - Rekindle Your Passion For God

Every fire, if left alone, will eventually diminish and fade to ashes. For a fire to remain alive and blazing, it demands new fuel added to it, as well as someone attending to it, stirring it and fanning it into flame.

So it is with our life in Christ. While you may have been on fire for the Lord in the past, unless you have been “attending to the flame” and stirring your spiritual walk, your fire will diminish into the ashes of the past.

As we begin a new year, we want to focus on helping you to stir the spiritual fire in your life. 2 Timothy 1:6 says, “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God...”

It's time to REIGNITE! Rekindle your passion for God!

Sunday, January 9 - "Restoring Your Faith"
James 2:14-26 & Hebrews 11:24-29 -
"...his faith was made complete by what he did"

Sunday, January 16 - "Renewing Your Hope"
Acts 27:20 -
"…we finally gave up all hope of being saved."

Sunday, January 23 - "Rethinking Your Knowledge"
1 Corinthians 8:1-13 -
"…for we know... but not everyone knows this..."

Sunday, January 30 - "Recommitting to Consistency"
Psalm 55:22 -
"Cast all your cares on the Lord..."

Be sure to join us each Sunday through January as we help you REIGNITE! Rekindle your passion for God!

ARE YOU CONSISTENT?

It’s no secret that I am a Pittsburgh Pirates fan. One of the greatest events in the history of the Pirates was their come-from-behind victory over the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series. The Pirates had been outhit, outpitched, outplayed and outscored throughout the seven-game series, and were on the verge of losing the game and the series, when with game seven tied up in the bottom of the ninth inning, Bill Mazeroski became the first player to ever hit a game-winning home run in the last inning to win the World Series for the Pirates. The series was, according to Mickey Mantle, his biggest career disappointment, but was also the crowning highlight of Bill Mazeroski’s career. What did the Yankees do wrong? According to Yogi Berra, the Yankees “made too many wrong mistakes.”

Mickey Mantle and Bill Mazeroski are both in the baseball Hall of Fame today. But, Maz is not there because of his home-run hitting ability. In fact, he was, at best, an average hitter. He is there because of his fielding ability. He is arguably the best fielding second baseman to ever play the game. Maz’s greatness is not measured in how many runs he scored, but rather by how many he prevented the other team from scoring. Maz went out every single day, day after day, and performed consistently the best way possible.

There are many Christians who have, at some time in their life, been on fire for the Lord, having a great relationship with Jesus Christ. But, too often, their spiritual fire cools down, and they find themselves drifting away from God. As Christians, we need to be more like Bill Mazeroski! Too many Christians are trying to be one-time home run hitters, when what they really need to be is consistent in their everyday life in living for God!

As we serve the Lord, it’s not so much what we do once, but rather what we do time after time after time. In short, we need to be consistent if we are to be on fire for God.

The dictionary defines consistency as “reliability or uniformity of successive results or events; conformity with previous attitudes, behavior, practice, etc.” Christians who are on fire for God will be reliable, consistent, steadfast and uniform in their walk, day after day.

This Sunday at Valley Chapel, we conclude our “REIGNITE” theme, looking at rekindling our passion for God, with the fourth message in this series - “Recommitting to Consistency.” If you truly want to reignite your spiritual fire, and rekindle your passion for God, then recommitting yourself to consistency is key! Don’t miss this critical message! It will change your life!

Today's BIG IDEA...
If you truly want to reignite your spiritual fire, and rekindle your passion for God, then recommitting yourself to consistency is key!

1. SURRENDING
“cast your cares on the Lord…”

· Our predicaments –
John 16:33 - “…In this world you will have trouble...”
1 Peter 4:12 - Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.

· Our problem -

· Our provision –
1 Peter 5:7 - Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Philippians 4:6-7 - 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

2. SUSTAINING
“…and He will sustain you…”

· What does it mean to be “sustained”?
· We lose consistency in our Christian walk, for we fail to latch onto God’s sustaining grace.
· What happens when we allow the Lord to sustain us, rather than trying to “go it on our own?”

Psalm 3:5 - I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

3. STABILIZING
“…He will never let the righteous fall.”

Psalm 112:7-9 - 7 He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD. . 8 His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes. 9 He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor, his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be lifted high in honor.

· Become devoted to the work of the Lord
1 Corinthians 15:58 - Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

· Become disciplined in the teachings of God’s Word
2 Thessalonians 2:15 - So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.

· Become dedicated to the hope of our Christian faith
Hebrews 10:23 - Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

1 Peter 5:10 (KJV) - But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.