The World Needs a Church on Fire

There is enough darkness in the world.

What we need is light.

There is enough hopelessness.

What we need is hope.

There are enough people telling us everything that is wrong with the world.

What we desperately need is a Church that remembers Who lives inside of us.

Jesus said:

“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.” — Matthew 5:14

Church, this is not the time to hide our light.

This is the time to burn.

We Were Never Called to Blend In

Somewhere along the way, Christianity can become comfortable.

We attend church.

We listen to sermons.

We sing worship songs.

We read our Bibles.

We discuss theology.

And all of those things can be good.

But Christianity was never meant to simply become something we attend.

Jesus called us to follow Him.

The early Church did not turn the world upside down because they had comfortable buildings, impressive programs, or perfect presentations.

They had encountered Jesus.

And they could not keep quiet about Him.

After Peter and John were commanded to stop speaking about Jesus, they answered:

“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” — Acts 4:20

There was something burning inside of them.

They had seen what Jesus could do.

They had experienced His mercy.

They had watched Him transform lives.

And once you truly understand what Jesus has rescued you from, it becomes difficult to remain silent while others are still searching for rescue.

The World Doesn't Need Secret Christians

Look around.

People are hurting.

Families are struggling.

People are addicted.

People are lonely.

People are confused.

People are desperately searching for identity, meaning, purpose, and hope.

And we have been entrusted with the greatest message the world has ever heard:

Jesus saves.

Yet sometimes the Church has become so afraid of offending the darkness that we have hidden the light.

Jesus never told us to hide.

He said:

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” — Matthew 5:16

Notice that Jesus said let your light shine.

We are not the source of the light.

He is.

Our responsibility is simply to stop covering what He has placed inside of us.

The answer to darkness is not yelling at the darkness.

The answer is turning on the light.

Fire Spreads

There is something interesting about fire.

Fire spreads.

One burning piece of wood can ignite another.

Then another.

Then another.

That is what I believe the Church desperately needs again.

Not manufactured excitement.

Not emotional hype.

Not performance.

People genuinely burning for Jesus.

People who pray because they want to know Him.

People who worship because He is worthy.

People who open their Bibles because they hunger for His voice.

People who love the broken.

People who serve when nobody notices.

People who share the Gospel because they cannot stand the thought of someone living without knowing the hope they have found in Christ.

Paul told Timothy:

“Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you...” — 2 Timothy 1:6

Sometimes the fire needs to be stirred.

Maybe you once burned brightly for Christ.

You couldn't stop talking about Jesus.

You couldn't wait to open Scripture.

You prayed for people.

You looked for opportunities to share the Gospel.

You wanted everyone around you to experience what you had experienced.

But somewhere along the journey, the fire became smaller.

Disappointment came.

Busyness came.

Church hurt came.

Comfort came.

Routine came.

And without realizing it, what once burned became an ember.

If that describes you, this isn't condemnation.

It's an invitation.

Stir it up again.

We Cannot Wait for Someone Else

It is easy to look around at the condition of the world and say:

“Someone needs to do something.”

The Church needs to do something.

Pastors need to do something.

Evangelists need to do something.

Someone needs to reach these people.

But what if God has placed those people around you?

Your workplace.

Your family.

Your neighborhood.

Your school.

Your community.

Your social media.

Your circle of influence.

You may never preach behind a pulpit.

You don't need one.

Your life is already preaching something.

The question is whether people can see Jesus through it.

Maybe revival doesn't begin with thousands of people gathered in a stadium.

Maybe revival begins when one person gets completely serious about following Jesus.

Then their fire touches someone else.

Then that person touches someone else.

Fire spreads.

Jesus Had Compassion for the Lost

Our urgency cannot come from anger at the world.

It must come from love for it.

When Jesus looked at lost people, He didn't respond with disgust.

Scripture says:

“But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.” — Matthew 9:36

That should be the heart of the Church.

Yes, we preach truth.

Yes, we call sin what Scripture calls sin.

Yes, we refuse to compromise God's Word.

But we must never forget why we are speaking.

Because people matter to God.

The person trapped in addiction matters.

The person who mocks Christianity matters.

The person confused about God matters.

The person who has been hurt by church matters.

The person who wants nothing to do with Jesus right now still matters.

We are not fighting against those people.

We are fighting for them.

The Harvest Is Still Plentiful

Jesus continued:

“The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” — Matthew 9:37

That verse should wake us up.

The problem was never that there were not enough people who needed Jesus.

The problem was that there were not enough people willing to go.

Church, there is a harvest outside our doors.

We cannot become so occupied maintaining Christianity inside our buildings that we forget about the people dying without hope outside of them.

The Church was never meant to be a container for the fire.

We were meant to carry it into the darkness.

Your city needs Christians who burn for Jesus.

Your neighborhood needs them.

Your workplace needs them.

Your family needs them.

This generation needs them.

Maybe the Awakening Begins With Us

We pray for revival.

We ask God to move.

We ask Him to awaken the Church.

We ask Him to save our communities.

But perhaps part of our prayer needs to become:

“Lord, start with me.”

Search my heart.

Remove my complacency.

Restore my hunger.

Give me compassion for people again.

Give me courage to speak.

Give me humility to serve.

Give me boldness without arrogance.

Give me truth without cruelty.

Give me love without compromise.

And let my life burn so brightly for You that the people around me cannot help but see Jesus.

Paul wrote:

“Do not quench the Spirit.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:19

Church, don't quench the fire.

Don't hide the light.

Don't spend your entire Christian life sitting beside the fire when God has called you to carry it.

The world is dark.

But darkness has never been stronger than light.

John tells us:

“And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” — John 1:5

We don't overcome darkness by becoming more like it.

We overcome darkness by allowing Christ to shine through us.

So burn again.

Pray again.

Seek Him again.

Worship again.

Serve again.

Tell somebody about Jesus again.

Love the broken again.

Walk into the places where darkness seems strongest carrying the light of Christ within you.

Because somewhere near you is someone desperately looking for hope.

And God may have placed you in their life so they could see Him.

Church, it's time to burn again.

Not so people will see us.

But so through us—

they will see Him.

Pastor Scott