Ignite Involve Increase

IGNITE

1.  God Himself has designed that everything in the church be done by the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is the Ignition.

·      We are a Spirit filled church.

·      We are a supernatural church.

·      We need more than great music, good dramas, incredible video clips, jump houses, pizza parties and ice cream socials.

We need the all powerful, all knowing, always in attendance, supernatural power of the Holy Spirit!

Acts 1:8 challenges us "to go and be my witnesses." It does not say, “Go and DO witnessing.”

·      Sharing Christ is not a project, or a weekend retreat, it is a lifestyle!!!

We in the church have got to understand that REAL MINISTRY is not so much about doing as it is about BEING.

·      God called us to be witnesses.

·      But some of us have entered the “Witness Protection Program” and we are waiting for the perfect opportune time to share our testimony.

Quench: to put out or extinguish, to reduce heat in (steel, etc.) by placing suddenly in water.

·      I believe the church has become less effective in reaching, teaching, and baptizing the world because instead of stirring the Spirit of God, and operating in the Spirit of God, and living in the Spirit of God, they choose to quench the Spirit of God.

1 Thessalonians 5:19 "Do not stifle the Holy Spirit.20 Do not scoff at prophecies,21 but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good.22 Stay away from every kind of evil."

·      This is not anything less than a command straight from God!

o  This command tells us not to let a mechanical order substitute the reality of the presence and the power of the Spirit of God.

o  We can not, should not, better not, put chains, borders, stocks, or restraints around the Holy Spirit.

Quenching the fire means that we don’t fuel it, you don’t put any wood on it, you don’t give it anything to burn and eventually you quench the fire and it dies.

·      That is what quenching the Holy Spirit is. It’s when you allow the fire to die. It’s not just taking water and pouring it on Him you just neglect the fire.

·      You just stop doing what you ought to do to maintain the fire of His presence. 

o  As you ignore such spiritual fuel: Like praying and reading the word, worshipping and living a Holy and righteous life you begin to quench the Holy Spirit. You put the fire out!

o  If you feel weak get filled with the Holy Ghost.

o  If you need direction, open up the book. 

o  As you feel like you can’t make it, memorize and speak the promises of God.

You ever wondered why it is that God allows certain things to happen in our lives that we don’t understand.

·      I am convinced that God allows a lot of trials and tribulations in our life to give us prayer fuel.

·      Cause as long as things are going good in many peoples lives, they stop praying.

o  Now you don’t want to hear but we need to hear this.

§  God allows trials and I mean things that drive us to our knees, that cause us to pray and seek Him like you really need Him because even when we think you got it all you have no idea how desperately you need Him.

§  He allows trials and tribulations to cause fuel in our lives to feed the fire of the Holy Spirit in us.

“When you grieve the Holy Spirit it is something that you do to Him, when you quench the Spirit it is something that you do to yourself.”

What fuels the fire after ignition? Involvement.

INVOLVE

2. Involvement is my opportunity, it’s my job, it is a part of my responsibility, or can be my loss.

I have a novel idea for you, if you want things in your church and your spiritual life to be different then why don’t you quit griping about it and get involved in changing it!

·     Why don’t you get out of the seats and into the vision, why don’t your get off of your rear, and dive into His mission then submit yourself to His service. Quit being so selfish!!

·      Stop checking us and start involving yourself!

·      Stop griping about everybody and start relating to everybody.

·      Stop thinking that you’re griping is affecting anybody but yourself!

·      Your griping doesn’t affect me, your griping doesn’t phase me, and your attitude doesn’t make me cry, since I’m doing what God said to do!

·      I’m following His lead, He is my guide, He is my refuge, and He is my source, so He is my way maker, my miracle worker, and my friend.

“God isn’t relying on me I am relying on Him.”

What fuels the fire after involvement? Increase.

INCREASE

3.  The question is; are we increasing spiritually and numerically if not how can we increase spiritually and numerically?

·     He has designed us, designated us, and He desires us to increase.

·      Spiritually- staying ignited and continuing to fuel the fire.

·      Numerically- through salvations, life changes, and the Spirit’s indwelling within every service and inside every department.

The Spirit of God has given us good news to share with the world and He has put up barriers.

·      He put up the cross, He’s put up the blood, He’s put up the Holy Spirit and He said don’t go to hell, don’t blaspheme the Holy Spirit, don’t resist my Holy Spirit. 

“Jesus said if I be lifted up I will draw all men, women, and children unto myself.”

·      Lift Him up. Live the Christian life with all you’ve got.

·      Live it like you were the last Christian on earth.

·      Live it bearing the fruits of the Spirit.

·      Love God with all your heart, your soul, your mind and your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.

How did they increase the church in the bible?

You know what they did they arrested Paul and Silas, they beat them, they stripped them, they chained them and they threw them in prison but at midnight the scripture said, “At midnight they prayed and sang praises.” 


Acts.16:25 “And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.”

I was reading this story over and over and the Lord said every now and again the devil makes a mistake. He said if you’ll read that I’ll show you Satan’s worst mistake in this whole story.

·      I read it, he beat them, he stripped them, he chained them, threw them in the prison over and over and over and then one day I saw it.

·      The devil made a mistake not when he beat them, not when he attacked them, not when he stripped them, not when he chained them, but he put Paul and Silas in the same cell!

Because Jesus had already said, “If any two of them get together and begin to lift me up there is no prison house strong enough to hold them.”

·      We have got to come together as a team unified in the work of Jesus Christ!

What if he’d had put Paul in the same cell as sister gossip that just wants to criticize and find fault with everybody? I don’t think they’d of had a miracle.

  

Then here’s what sealed the deal for me the scripture said, Acts.16:26 “And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.”

·      Just two of them in that prison were praising while the rest of them were all bound up. But when two of them started praising everyone’s bands got loosed.

·      If we praise Him then the rest of the world will get loose.

If we get IGNITED, and INVOLVED, we will INCREASE!

If we get IGNITED, and INVOLVED, we will have covered INCREASED!!!