Consuming Fire Part 1

God has a vision for our lives, our church and the world.  It is our purpose to be stewards of that vision.

Summary

God has a purpose and a vision for our lives, our church and the nations.  It is our responsibility to be stewards of the vision God has imparted through his Word.  God has given Lifesprings Church a clear calling from the very beginning, a vision that was confirmed through numerous prophetic voices in the church.  God asking us to believe in His word and be the people through whom He brings forth His vision in our church and world.

Outline

1. In order to know where we are going, we need to know where we came from. WE NEED TO REFRESH AND CONNECT WITH THE VISION GOD IMPARTED TO THIS CHURCH FROM THE BEGINNING.
   1. We are going to go back to 1980 when Pr. Buddy Hicks founded the church. After this series, Pr. Buddy Hicks will come to minister.
   2. There is a rich history and tradition in the church with people who have faithful to the Lord and faithful in prayer.
   3. In Habakkuk 2, God commands that the vision is made clear so that people who hear it can run with it.
      1. The only thing worse than being blind is having sight with no vision – Helen Keller.
      2. All families and institutions have to have a vision.
   4. The primary vision is that God so loved the world that He gave His son so that all who believe in Him will have eternal life.
      1. Each individual church is given a vision and mission that ties into that greater vision.
      2. God is the CEO of His divine institution – the Church.
      3. The leaders of the church have to be in tune with God so that they can stay on track
2. Bishop Ron Rhea is not promoting a new vision, but is stewarding the vision implanted by God in the church through Buddy Hicks.
   1. When Bishop Ron began leading the church in 1995, the word that was in his heart was unity.
   2. Isaiah 54:12 – that verse was given to the church through numerous prophetic voices. It was a call to expand the Kingdom of God.
   3. It is inconceivable to think that God does not want the church to grow.
   4. Pr. Buddy had a radio show “Straight Talk” and Bishop believes that was the method through which God wanted the church to be able to influence the nations.
      1. Sometimes we impede the work of God because we do not see what he is doing.
      2. People gave Buddy an ultimatum to either pastor the church or do radio.
      3. They could not see that Pr. Buddy was pastoring the city and the nation.
      4. Even Ronald Reagan was deeply moved by Pr. Buddy’s prayer.
3. When God speaks, it is a fire to light the world.
   1. If Christ coming into the world does not make things better, then nothing will.
   2. A vision can be symbolized by a fire.
   3. When people are radical enough to believe God, things change.
   4. A vision is a prophetic vision of the future that keeps people on fire.
   5. GOD HAS A VISION FOR THE WORLD.
   6. To advance the Kingdom of God we need to tie into the prophetic voice that instituted the church.
   7. Straight talk radio went all the way to Washington DC.
   8. God is looking for people who will believe what He has spoken.
   9. We need to move forward with digital church, because people are online.
   10. We also need to move forward with church planting.
4. There is no power unless 2 agree!
   1. Bishop and Donna were talking about getting out of their economic distress.
   2. They made a decision for Bishop to go back and finish his degree.
   3. If people do not agree, there is no power and they are not going anywhere.
   4. If you don’t plan on going somewhere, you will end up at a place you do not want to be.
   5. If you have a vision, there will be obstacles to the vision.
      1. The obstacles are to test our hearts to see whether we really believe in the vision.
   6. If you do not write a vision down, you are unlikely to fulfill the vision.
      1. A Harvard study proves that those who write down their vision exceeded what they wrote down, but those who didn’t, were way below their other classmen.
   7. God is not dead, His word goes forth and does not fall to the ground.
5. We are at a time where we are to fulfill the purposes of the church from the beginning.
   1. We are to be known around the world.
   2. We are to plant churches.
   3. We are all either missionaries or a mission field.
6. We need to look at God’s prophetic word rather than external things.
   1. We are not to look at numbers.
   2. We are not to look at what is going on in the world.
   3. You do not know what is around the corner until you step out, we do not know what is waiting for us until we step out in faith.
7. When you have a vision, you need to sacrifice to make it a reality.
   1. You will find the sovereignty of God moving for you.
   2. You will also run into obstacles.
   3. You need to keep reconnecting with the vision until it is accomplished.
8. God is trying to stir us up and get us to reconnect to His vision for our church.
   1. If God cannot stir us up, nobody can.
   2. Therefore we must pray.
   3. After we move, God moves.
9. Miracles belong to the realm of moving in God’s vision.
   1. When you get born again you receive the full Holy Spirit, but there are more manifestations of the relationship as we walk it out.
   2. We need growing manifestations and experiences in our lives.
   3. God wants to burn the impurities out of our life, especially unbelief.
10. We have a world that is dying, people are talking about what is going on, WHAT ABOUT WHAT GOD IS DOING?
    1. It is time for us to believe God, connect to His vision and become part of the solution.
    2. There is a sacrifice for a vision, are we willing to sacrifice?
    3. Finances are the lowest common denominator in a relationship, if we cannot trust God with money, we need to reevaluate our relationship.
    4. We need to quit impeding what God wants to do in His Church. We serve a mighty God!
    5. There is eternity as stake, souls are at stake, and there is no voice in the wilderness crying out. We need people to get into every area of life to make it known that God is alive and He is on the throne.
    6. We need to repent for our indifference, for our lukewarmness, for our apathy, etc. and get on fire for God. We need to render our hearts to God.
    7. Why would we want to try to serve God with a half-heart?
    8. We need God to stir up our hearts…we need to ask Him to do it.
    9. WE NEED TO FAN INTO FLAME THE GIFT OF GOD THAT IS IN US.
    10. If we love Jesus, He will be manifested to us.