Am I passionate about God?
Text: Philippians 3.7-14
Ice breaker: Have you ever met someone that really loved to go to the gym or to work out? Didn’t they share how amazing it was in a contagious way? How much do you think that their passion influences how they approach being at the gym?
No matter where you drive, even on the coldest winter morning, or in the most severe rain, you don’t need to drive far before you can see someone running and exercising outdoors. It is amazing to see the commitment and passion of people for their health and hobby (I confess that it makes me tired just to see them). Sometimes all that I would like to do is to stop the car and offer them a lift, but people do their exercise with such passion that I wouldn’t dare stop them!
Passion makes all the difference in the process of doing something. It is visible and changes everything, from the church to the government department. PASSION is noticeable and the lack of it is lamentable.
However the question today is: Am I passionate about God? Am I passionate about the things of God?
Today I would like us to start to think about how we can keep or even reignite our passion for God. And to help with that I would like us to ask ourselves some questions:
1) What am I most passionate about?
A good way to discern what our real passion is (YES we can say one thing, but in fact, in reality, be passionate about something else entirely.) is to use this simple formula:
Where I spend most of my: MONEY + TIME + ENERGY + THOUGHTS = MY PASSION (probably)
2) How will people remember me when I am not here anymore?
People who know you best also know your passions. What would your family, people that work with you, neighbours, and friends say you are most passionate about?
3) Am I satisfied with my passion for God as it stands right now?
On a scale of 1-10 (1=cold, 5=lukewarm, 10=hot), how would you rate it? Is it going up the scale or down it? To know that things could be better and not to do anything about it is not good enough, we are called to have a supernatural and amazing life – so let’s get passionate about it!
4) What needs to change so that God becomes my greatest passion?
What are the stumbling blocks that are killing the fire of passion about God in us? Is it sin, lack of willingness, laziness or even the fact that we don’t know how to do things differently to make the change?
Today let’s look inside of ourselves and ask God to show us the changes that are needed in order that His fire can be rekindled or can grow hotter in our hearts.
5) How can I keep my spiritual temperature high (or even increase it) when I am surrounded by cooling influences?
This is exactly what we will be talking about in next week’s group, but for now, we can remember a phrase from C.S. Lewis “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important”.
We have the most important and eternal presence knocking to enter our heart, and if we open up he will enter and change everything.
Remember who God is, what the Bible tells us about him and how awesome it will be to develop a deeper relationship with him.
Conclusion:
When people asked John Wesley why crowds came to listen to him, he said “Light yourself on fire with passion and people will come from miles to watch you burn.”
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