That is an incredibly moving bumper. It's a motive. It's powerful because it's our voices crying out, saying, God, set a fire in our soul because we just want more of you. But really, that little 20-second bumper captures this entire season that we're in because those are our voices from night two of re, crying out, saying, God, we want more of you. We want more of you. Set a fire in our Soul. That is the cry of our hearts. That is the cry of our church. We want to be people with radiant faces, burning hearts, and holy lives in Jesus’ name. And so once again, let me welcome you to Valley Creek. We are so glad you are here with us, whether this is your first time or this is your community of faith. We're so glad that you're here. And I'm just going to tell you, here's what I believe. I believe that you are here because you're looking for God. I think you're here because you're either looking for God or you're looking for more of God. Like some of you, you're just here because you're just trying to figure out, is Jesus real? Is he good? And is he worth it? You're looking for him. And here's what I want to say to you is God always feeds the hungry heart. And as you ask and as you seek and as you knock, you're going to find him in Jesus’ name. And some of you are here, and you found God, but you're looking for so much more of him. Well, can I tell you, God comes where he already is, and he is here, and there is so much more of him to come. And so together we are looking for God, and we are looking for more of God, and we are finding him together. And I hope you and your family stayed warm during this wild, interrupting, weird week that has taken place before us. And really, it's just that I would call it an interruption because two weeks ago, we started a conversation on Fueling the Fire.

This is what we're going to spend most of our spring together on. We are going to kind of go through this thing. It's not a series. It's a conversation. It is, it is not about knowledge and information. It is not logical or linear. I want us to have a conversation. I want to kind of expose some things. I'm hoping we can reveal some things. I'm hoping to get you to reflect, and to wrestle, and to kind of stoke the fire of your Soul. And I hope the conversation that we have in here carries on with you when you leave this place and you talk about it with your spouse, or you talk about it with your parents, or you talk about it with your children, or your friends, or your roommates, or the people in your circle, or the people on your serve team. I hope you have a conversation with yourself about what we're talking about. And most importantly, that you have a conversation with the Holy Spirit all throughout the week on Fueling the Fire. It's time to fuel the fire. It's time to get things really hot. It's time to set things ablaze. It's time to steward and tend the fire of God that is in this place. And I want you to understand that those words say fuel the fire, not fan the flame, not start the spark, not ignite the light. Why? Because there is a fire of God burning in this place. We need to tend it. We need to steward it. We need to fuel it. And we need to take responsibility and ownership and authority over the fire in our lives and in our families and in our church, because if the fire is sacred to God, then it must be sacred to us. And so that's what we started two weeks ago. And then all the weather happened, and all the stuff got crazy. And let me show you this first verse: In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. I had a really good plan. I really liked it.

I mean, January was going to be, I was going to dump this whole load of fuel on you so that by the time we got to February, you were burning and we'd have a lot to talk about. That was the point of the one thing weekend of re of a week of prayer and fasting, of new worship songs of, of a new reading plan, of leader summit. I was going to get you really hot, and then we were going to go. But the Lord had some different steps for us. And we're going to take it because I told you the very first week that this is not by might nor by power, but by the Spirit. That Fueling the Fire is not about knowledge and information. It's not about events and, and programs and polished communication. No, it is about the Spirit of the living God. The Spirit starts the fire, and the Spirit sustains the fire because the Spirit is the fire. You see, all throughout Scripture, one of the primary ways God reveals himself to us is through fire. From Genesis to Revelation, we watch as God reveals himself to us through fire. This uncontrollable, all-consuming, everlasting, eternal, glorious, pure, vibrant, bright, powerful, authoritative fire. When we talk about the Fire of God, we're talking about the presence, the purity, and the power of God coming into our lives. In fact, God even calls himself The Consuming Fire. For our God is a consuming fire. He is a fire that wants to consume, and He is looking for someone or something to consume. And so, when we come to God, and we submit and surrender and sacrifice our lives to Him, He will gladly and joyfully consume it. He is the all-consuming fire, and he is looking for us to surrender ourselves to be consumed by him. The great problem we have is we don't realize that God is a consuming fire. We often think that we are the all-consuming man. That we are the all-consuming man, and he is supposed to be the surrendered God. And we forget that it says He is the all-consuming Fire, and we're supposed to be the surrendered man. And so sometimes we reverse how this whole thing works. And part of it is because we've grown up in a generation of consumer Christianity, of convenient Christianity, of comfortable Christianity, where we think we're the ones who have come to consume and God is now supposed to be surrendered to us. But Biblical Christianity, Jesus Christianity, Kingdom Christianity, He is the consuming fire, and we are the surrendered man.

Like, think about how many times we show up, and we come to God with this convenient, common, casual, contemptive attitude. With the spirit of apathy and dismissiveness, and we kind of show up, and we're like, God, wow us, move us, make all this today worth my time, meet my needs, take care of my desires. And there's this attitude that we are the one who is here to consume Him. And we often show up like Pharaoh. Who is the Lord? Or like the Pharisees that say to Jesus, like do something, like do something. So like wow us, like move us, like, like just do anything. But He is a consuming fire. And He is meant to be treated with awe and reverence and wonder and honor and respect and a sense of the fear of the Lord. We did not walk in here today to consume Him. No, we walked in here today to submit and surrender and sacrifice our lives to Him that He may consume us. And what I want you to understand is, is that God is so good. He is not an indiscriminate fire. That's like a wildfire that just burns up everything. No, He only consumes that which is offered to Him. He will not consume that which is withheld from Him. So, if you want the fire of God and anything in your life, you have to first offer it to Him, and then He will consume it. But if you withhold it from Him, He will not consume it. And this is why Paul urges us and says, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, in the midst of his sacred fire, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual act of worship. He says, I urge you offer your life to God, submit and surrender to Him, present yourself as a living sacrifice that the fire of God may fall and consume you. Because He won't consume you if you don't first offer yourself to Him. And this is why we go through life with so much of our life, cold, dark, and lifeless. And we wonder, why is there no fire in my marriage? Why is there no fire in my finances? Why is there no fire in my family? Why is there no fire in my Soul? Why? Because you've withheld it from Him. And until you submit it and surrender it to Him, He cannot consume it. He will not consume things that are not offered to Him. So, whatever you withhold, just understand you're keeping it fireless. And if it's fireless, it's lifeless. It's dark, and it's cold, and it's gray, and it's gloomy. But the moment I submitted and surrender it to the consuming fire, He will consume it and bring His presence and His purity, and His power to it. Are you with me on this? He is the consuming fire. You are called to be the surrendered man. He is not the surrendered God to our consuming nature. Thank you for sharing that. That was very good. I'm really enjoying this conversation with you. See, in the Old Testament, the priests had one job. Their main job was to keep the fire burning. The fire on the altar must be kept burning. It must not go out. Every morning, the priest is to add firewood and arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat of the fellowship offerings on it. The fire must be kept burning on the altar continuously. It must not go out. God says, priests, you're responsible to keep the fire burning. Whether it's hot or it's cold, keep the fire burning. Whether it's early or it's late, keep the fire burning. Whether it's windy or it's calm, keep the fire burning. Whether it's an ice storm or brutal heat, keep the fire burning. Whether you're busy or you're bored, keep the fire burning. Whether you're overwhelmed or you've got nothing to do, keep the fire burning. Whether you feel like it or don't feel like, keep the fire burning. Whether your family cares about it or not, keep the fire burning. Keep the fire burning. Keep the fire burning. Your one job is to keep the fire burning. No matter what is happening, you keep the fire of God burning. And that is a prophetic picture of the spiritual truth because you are now the priesthood of believers, a holy nation of people who belong to God, and your job is to [Keep the fire burning]. In Jesus' name. Every morning, add firewood and arrange your life in such a way that the fire will burn. I want you to see that every morning. There is something about the morning starting the day by saying, God, the first thing I'm going to do today is make sure this fire is burning. That's why Jesus says, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, the first thing. This is why Jesus, early in the morning, withdrew to lonely places to pray. There's something about the first thing in the morning. I have got to tend this fire because if I don't have a fire in the morning, I have nothing to offer the rest of the day to the people in my life. We're like, I'm so busy. I don't have time for the fire. I got to get the kids to school. I got to go to work. I got to take a big test. I got to go do this. You understand, then you went fireless into every one of those things. No wonder it's not working. No wonder it's hard. No wonder it's like, why? Because you got nothing early in the morning. Every morning, tend the fire, add firewood, and arrange. Take some fuel, throw it on, and arrange it. Are you adding firewood to your life? And is it arranged in such a way that the fire of God can burn? Like, here's a great question for you. Ready? This last week and a half, two weeks of crazy. Did you add any firewood to your fire? And did you arrange your life in such a way that it could burn? Like last Sunday, we weren't able to gather, and we do the best we can to communicate things to you. And here's what we said. We said, here's how we're going to keep the fire burning. If we missed the first week of this conversation, watch it. And if you saw it, then do the house sessions in your house, find the secret place, and read some of the Psalms. Here's my question for you. Did you do either of those things? And if not, why? Because here's what I want you to understand. If we can't keep the fire burning during an ice storm, how are we going to keep the fire burning when we're in the valley of the shadow of death or in a storm where we feel like we're about to sink, or heaven forbid, we actual face real persecution for our faith. See, at some point in time, you have to take responsibility for your fire. At some point in time, you have to take authority and ownership over this is my fire. And it looks exactly like I want it to look. You're like, oh, no, my, my fire doesn't look anything like it looks exactly like you want it to look. Because if you wanted it to look different than it does, you would do something about it. You would add some firewood and arrange your life differently so it can burn.

And what I need you to understand from me is I can't make your fire burn. Oh, I've tried for almost two decades, but I've figured out I can't. Here's what I offer you. I offer you a burning coal and a pile of prepared firewood. You walk into this place, I will hand you a burning coal and a pile of prepared firewood that has been cut and chopped, and dried. You have to decide, do I want the coal? And am I willing to pick up any of these pieces of prepared wood and add them to this coal so I can have a fire in my life? You say, what does that mean? That's everything from circles to reading plans, to, to music, to, to, to events, to serve teams, to the... Everything we do is a pile of prepared wood and we, where we chop it, we split it, we cut it, we dry it, we kill them. We make it look attractive. We sell it for free. Do you want the coal? Do you want any wood? Because you've been commanded by God to keep the fire of your life burning. And there are no asterisks in this passage that say, unless, unless you're in a hard season, unless you're single and wish you were married, unless you're married and wish you were single, unless there's a lot going on, unless you've got to travel for work, unless you haven't figured out where to go for college. There's no one less. See, I want you to picture a big fire with me for a second. If you've ever seen a big, giant raging fire, it's, it's profound how alive it is. And it, and it's attractive. It draws people from far away. When they see it, they, they come in and a big fire. It's so bright that it, that it gives you visual, like you can see everything because of how bright it is. And it has this energy to it. It dances, it flickers, it, it flashes and it, and it has this ability to just consume everything that is, that is put within it. And, and it brings great comfort to people who are sitting at it. Their blood pressure goes down and they're peaceful. And it's so hot that it literally will make their face glow, literally like a red glow on their face. And when there's this fire, people can't help but look at it. They like, look away at something else, and they come back. They look away at something else, and they come back because it's, it's deeply mesmerizing. And at a fire, people say things that they would never say anywhere else. And they get deeply connected to the other people sitting around them. Okay. We've all seen a real physical fire. Do you realize that as a prophetic picture of what your life will look like when the fire of God burns in here, your life will be attractive and people will be drawn to you from afar. You will have so much vision. You will be able to clearly see because the glory of God is so bright. It shows the way. You will have energy. Your life will dance and flicker and flash. You will have this sense of personal holiness. Why? Because the fire of God is consuming everything in your life that is not of Him. You will have this deep sense of peace and safety, and security. Your face will literally glow with the radiance of God because the fire is warming it and burning it. You will be mesmerized by God, and you will not want to look at anything but Jesus because you're in awe and wonder of Him. You will always have something to say about God in your life because of what He is doing. And you will have these deep relationships that are being built as you sit around the fire of God together. So the question is, is there a fire of God burning in your life? Do you smell like smoke? Because if there's a fire within you, you can't help but smell like it. And you'll smell so much like it that you won't even know you smell like it. That you walk in and people are like, whoo, whoo. That's a lot. And that smell is either really attractive or really repulsive. It either turns people completely away from you because they want nothing to do with the fire of God, or it draws people in, and they're like, hey, I -- could you share one of those coals with me? Okay. So, I asked you two weeks ago, do you smell like smoke? Do you have the fire of God? But I really should have asked you this question. Do you want the fire of God? Do you want to smell like smoke? That's the real question. It's not do you or don't you. It's, it's, it's, do you want to.

See a while back I, I saw this sports psychologist, and he works with the most famous athletes in the world, and he helps them work on their psychology. And there's this little interview. And I watched him as he said, he asks every famous athlete. I mean, these are like big top of the level at all sports. And he says he asks them the same three questions every time he talks to them. And the three questions are, what do you really want? What are you willing to do to get it? And how much are you willing to suffer for it? He says he asked these athletes that are coming to him for help. What do you really want? What are you willing to do to get it? And how much are you willing to suffer for it? And he said, everybody thinks the problem is question two and three. He said, the real problem is almost none of the athletes can ever answer question number one. What do you really want? And he said, once you have an answer to the question, what you really want, you'll do whatever is required to get it. And it won't even feel like suffering for it because you're so passionately locked in on that, which you long for.

So, here's my question for you. What do you really want? Do you know what you really want? Here's another opportunity for a conversation. Have you ever just had a conversation with yourself? Like self, what do I want? What am I doing? What am I going after? What am I looking for? Fame, fortune, success, pleasure, comfort, convenience, privilege. Like, what is it that you want? Do you want a gas fireplace, Jesus, that you can turn on and off when you feel like it? Walk in here for an hour, turn them off, walk out, or turn them on, walk out, turn it off, go into your life, turn them on when you're desperate or when you need something, turn them off when you want to live like the world. Like, what do you really want? Because I think so much of what happens in our American Christianity context is we never answer that question. And then we get all upset about other people going after what they want. So, can I tell you what I want? I just want more Jesus. I want the presence of God to fill this place. I want to see His Kingdom come and His will be done. I want the fire of God in my Soul and in my family and in this place. And for almost 20 years now, I've been praying and working towards that end. That's all I really want. And I think it's so important for you to know what is in the heart of the leader. You know what happens in churches? We go to churches, and then we think we want the same thing until we realize we don't want the same thing. Then we get offended at a decision or a method, or some liturgy. Here's the deal. If you really want more of God, you're in a great place. And it doesn't matter what we ever do, because we're all then willing to do what it was required to get it. And we're all willing to suffer for it. Why? Because we just want more of God. You know why churches, everybody goes to every, I'm going here, and I'm going, I'm going there. That's exhausting. Just bless. I'm not going nowhere. Bless you for the, that's exhausting. Go and meet new people and a new thing, and this thing, and for two years, that's exciting. And then you realize, oh, it's not what I wanted. What they want. We want more of God. We want the fire of God, fire, presence, power, purity of God. So, what do I offer you? A burning coal and a prepared pile of wood. Do you want that? Do you want that? This is where I think we get stuck. Because I think we think we want it until we actually have to take the burning coal, which is hot. And then I actually have to do some work to get the wood. The good news is you don't have to find the trees, cut them down, split them, stack them, or dry them, or pay for them. You just have to grab them. Which is very... this is profound, by the way. I really agree. This is a great conversation. I, please keep going. I'm, I'm doing my best. Let's keep trying. I don't even know what I was saying that. Now go to the next thing. See literal God. God says you will seek Me and you will find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. Isn't it interesting that God says you'll find Me when you really want Me. That's what that says. We say, we, we, we pray, and we say, God, help me find You. Or we say, pray for me that I'll find God. God says that don't pray that prayer. God says, you'll find Me when you seek Me with all your heart. So, if you want to pray a prayer, pray that you will seek God with all your heart. It's not God help me find You, no, ask, seek, knock, and he will give and open the door, and it will be answered unto you. He feeds the hungry Soul. We, we find whatever we're looking for. So, it's not God help me find You. It's God help me seek You. Help me want Your fire. Help me want more than a gas fireplace. Help me want, want, help me to, to want You to consume my life and burn up everything that is not of You. Or this is why Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hit it again. And then, in his joy, went and sold all he had and bought that field. When you realize Jesus is the treasure in the field, it doesn't feel like suffering to sell everything you have to go get it. It's a joy because it's what I really want. And I've figured out that's the only thing worth having. So, I'll sell it, burn it all down. If I can have that, I think we say we want the fire of God. We're just not sure we're willing to go and get some wood. Fair? So, regardless of anything else I say, may you always remember wherever you go for the rest of your life, never be a part of a church that doesn't offer you a burning coal and a pile of wood.

Because you can't live on my fire. And if I have no fire, I have no coal to offer you. And if there is no wood, then you come for a show, not for change. So, you remember Moses, probably one of the most famous guys in the Bible. Moses is profoundly more like you than you realize. When we first meet Moses, Moses is born into trauma. He is orphaned. He is raised in a demonic household. He has so much brokenness inside of him that he rages and lashes out and kills a man in cold blood. And when they try to catch him, he runs into the desert, and he spends 40 years, an entire work life, on the backside of a desert in obscurity, ignored, unwanted, with shame and guilt, passing time, wishing his life could just get to retirement. And then one day, as he's walking by, he sees a burning bush, and this bush burns, but it doesn't burn up. Now, Moses was tending the flock, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert. The Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up. So, Moses thought, I will go over and see this strange sight. Why the bush does not burn up? When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses, Moses.” And Moses said, “Here I am. Do not come any closer.” God said, “Take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Moses is walking along, sees a burning bush off in the distance, and he realizes there is something about this that is speaking to the depths of his Soul. So, he turns. And the moment he turns and takes one step towards that burning bush, towards the presence of God, God speaks from it, “Moses, Moses.” And Moses says, “Here I am.” And God says, “Stop, take off your sandals because this is holy ground.” So, why the sandals? Because in that moment, Moses was submitted and surrendered to the lordship of God. It almost didn't matter what God was going to ask him to do. The point was here is the moment to see the fire of God. Are you willing to do whatever it says? “Take off your sandals.” Submission, surrender, obedience, and lordship. Part of removing the sandals was getting rid of the things of this world, the work of the flesh, the self-sufficiency, independence, Moses has spent most of his life relying upon. And God says, this is holy ground. See, God is removing the sandals, not because there was something wrong with Moses, but because God wanted to bring Moses ever closer to Him. He didn't want any barrier between Moses and the holiness of God. That's what the fire of God will do in your life. And as the fire of God began to consume him in that submission, surrender, and obedience, it began to change him and transform him. And then God goes on to speak to Moses and say, “Moses, I've seen the misery of my people. I've heard their cry, and I am concerned of their suffering. So go, I'm sending you.” And Moses kind of panics. He's like, who am I? And I can't go. And so, look what he says. He says to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” And God said, “I will be with you.”

At first, it looks like God doesn't answer the question. Who am I that I should go? God almost doesn't answer the question, but He does answer the question when He says, “I will be with you.” He says, “Moses, you know who you are? You are the man who has been consumed by fire. What qualifies you to go confront Pharaoh is you are the man who has been consumed by the fire of God.” And all of Moses' insecurities come to the surface. Well, who should I tell them sent me, and what if they don't listen, and I'm not good at talking, and the fire of God burns, and it burns off all of his insecurities and all of his self-consciousness and all of his self-condemnation. And from that moment on, Moses was a completely different man. He was a man of humility, a man of holiness, a man of hunger. He leaves as a man who has been consumed by fire, confronts Pharaoh, sets the people free, follows the pillar of fire by night, leading them to the Promised Land, goes up on Mount Sinai, meets with the very glory of God, the fire of God till his face radiates. And he comes down, and it literally glows all because he was the man who had been consumed by fire, all because he was willing to stop and turn. Okay. That's your story. You were born into trauma. You had an orphan Spirit. You were raised in a demonically oppressed world, and you had so much brokenness inside of you that it just came out and caused great destruction. And you probably found yourself on the backside of a desert in obscurity with shame and guilt, wanting life to pass you by, to get to this kind of moment of retirement or breakthrough or marriage or, or something like, I just need something to change. And then one day, as you're walking through your life, there's a burning bush, and the burning bush is the cross of Jesus. See the bush burned, but it didn't burn up. That's the cross of Jesus. Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice, and fire falls on sacrifice. So, when Jesus went to the cross, the fire of God's judgment fell upon Jesus, but because Jesus is the great, I Am. Because he is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega, the ancient of days, the everlasting one, the one who was the one who is the one who will be, He cannot burn out. So, He is the burning bush burning from the inside and does not burn out. And the moment we see the cross, the fire of God, the burning bush, and we turn, what is this? Repentance. I'm not going my way anymore. I'm going your way. And we take one step towards it. He speaks from the burning cross, the burning bush. And He says, “Sarah, Sarah,” or “Lucas, Lucas,” “Stop.” The question is, are we willing to say here I am? He says, take off your sandals. Submission, sacrifice, lordship, obedience, or do we come to the cross with contempt and commonness and apathy and dismissiveness and disdain? He is the consuming fire, and we are the surrendered man. Take off your sandals because you are standing on holy ground. Why does He want to remove everything that is a barrier between you and Him and bring you close and bring you into that holiness where that holiness begins to burn from the fire of God and purify you to make you who He has created and called you to be. And as that fire consumes you, it starts to change you. And then he gives you an assignment, just like he gave Moses, because the fire of God isn't meant to be contained within you. It's meant to set the world ablaze. And when you say, God, I can't go do that. He will remind you, you are the man or the woman who has been consumed by fire. And what qualifies you to go is the very fire of God in your life. And all your insecurities will come to the surface, and he will burn them all up, and you will become a man or woman of humility and holiness and hunger. And what you have to understand is you must be consumed by the fire before you go confront Pharaoh. You must be filled with fire before you go set the slaves free. You must smell like smoke before you have anything to offer anyone. Our problem is we want to confront Pharaoh with no fire. We want to free the slaves. We want to go do social justice without being filled with fire. We want to be a hope carrier and change our office or our school, but we don't smell like smoke because we've never turned aside to the cross of Jesus and come to the very fire of God that consumes us. And even when we do come, we come as if we're here to consume Him and He's there to be surrendered to us. No, “you take off your sandals,” He says to Moses. “I'm not taking off my sandals,” God says, because I'm the consuming fire of God. Let me consume you because it's what you were created for.

See, the greatest barrier between you and the fire of God is you, self. It's the greatest barrier. Self-centeredness, self-centricness, self-exaltation, self-reliance, self-dependence, self-condemnation, selfishness, self-centeredness, self. And the interesting part is the more you look at yourself, the more like yourself you become. Look at what this says. We all with unveiled faces, beholding as in a mirror, the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory by the spirit of the Lord. In other words, you become what you behold. You become, you're transformed into the same image of whatever you behold, whatever you look at. So, the more I look at myself, the more like myself I become. Do you ever notice the more you look at your anxiety, the more anxious you become? The more you look at your worry, the more worried you become. The more you look at your pride, the more prideful you become. The more you look at your achievements, the more you think you are the best ever. Like, do you ever notice? Like, like the more you focus on yourself, the more like yourself you become. Like, do you want to be more like you? And instead of going from glory to glory, we go from cold to cold, dark to dark, depraved to depraved because we're looking inward at ourselves. But he says, lift your eyes. Lift your eyes. Behold him. Behold him. Stop looking at, hey, stop looking at you. Just behold that. But my anxiety, stop looking at it. Just look at it. But my, but my, but my, just, just look at it. But my situation, just, just look, behold, just, just behold, just fix your eyes on him. He has eyes of fire.

So, if I become what I behold and I'm transformed into the same image and likeness, then the more I look at eyes of fire, the more fire is going to be kindled in my Soul. The more I look at the Everlasting One, the, the Ancient One, the Eternal One, the Holy One, the Worthy One, the Good One, the All-Consuming One, the one in whom is life itself, the Self-Sufficient One, the one who burns and never burns out. The more I look at him, the more I become like him. And the more of myself gets burned away. See, it's at the cross and only at the cross where we become free of ourselves. It's at the burning bush where Moses became free of his insecurities and his brokenness and his past and his shame, this bush that burned, but it never burned up. It's at the cross where the fire of God fell that when you come only there and only there can you become free of yourself. So, it's come to the cross, look at the cross, fall before the cross, worship at the cross, be captivated by the cross, be consumed by the fire of God at the cross. It's at the cross where the fire of God consumes you and your pride and your opinions and your agendas and your motives and your rights and your ungodly beliefs and your worldliness and the lust of the eyes and the cravings of the flesh and the pride of life, they get consumed. Don't take your eyes off it. Don't take your eyes off it. You're like, look at us. This is weird. No, don't take your eyes off it. I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, it’s Christ who lives within me at the cross. I become crucified for, for you died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. Like it's at the cross where I died and the Life of Christ comes alive. He must become greater, and I must become less at the cross. He becomes great, and I just kind of be transformed in his image and his likeness. If you would come after me, deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me. It's at the cross where all of the things of this world get burned off and consumed, and transformed from my life. Come to the cross.

Look to the cross. Behold the cross. The fire of God burns brightest at the cross. The fire of God is only available at the cross. Look to Him. Look to Him. He calls you by name. Take off your sandals. Come. Come. I'm the consuming God. I'll consume all the things in your life that shouldn't be there. Now, that's risky, but it's bold. Yeah, you might lose some of the things of this world that you've held on to, but they're shackles. You just don't realize it. See, if you can catch this, before the cross of Jesus, the fire of God burned on the altar at the temple in the tabernacle. Where did the priests tend the fire? On the bronze altar made by human hands at the temple of God. But when Jesus came on the cross, the final sacrifice, fire falls on sacrifice. The fire of God fell on Jesus at the cross, the Lamb of God who was sacrificed, slain on our behalf, and because He is so big and so great, that fire did not burn out. It burns brightly and ever brighter day after day from glory to glory. That fire moved from the temple, from the altar made by human hands. It fell on Jesus at the cross. And then when Jesus was resurrected, that fire was now released into human hearts. This is why in Acts 2, when they pour out the Holy Spirit, it says suddenly a sound like a blowing of a violent wind came from Heaven, filled the whole house where they were sitting. And they saw what seemed to be tongues of [Fire] that separated and came to rest on each one of them. So, the moment the Holy Spirit is poured out, fire fills them up. Tongues of fire, tongues of fire. The mouth speaks out of the overflow of the [Fire]. So if it's tongues of fire, that is there to indicate that my heart is now on fire. Burning words can only come from a burning heart. Fiery words can only come from a fiery heart. So, at the cross, Jesus took the fire that was contained at an altar made by human hands, and he moved it to the human heart made by the hands of God. So, you have something Moses didn't have. Moses saw the fire, experienced the fire, enjoyed the fire, was warmed by the fire. You're filled with the fire. We think I can't do it, Moses. Moses would look at you and be like, bro, I saw it. I was never filled with it. I mean, think of the Exodus, when the Exodus, when they're leaving. Right?

And this is what God says to take a lamb and there to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and the tops of the doorframes of the houses. What is that? The cross, the tops and the sides, the cross of Jesus, the Blood of Jesus on the cross. And they are to eat the lamb. Take -- that same night, they are to eat the meat roasted over the [Fire]. Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roasted over the [Fire] head, legs, and inner parts. They took the lamb, they killed it, they put the blood on the doorposts of their house, and then they roasted it with fire. They didn't microwave it. They didn't eat it raw. They didn't boil it. Fire. Why? Because it was a picture that the fire of God was going to fall on Jesus, the Lamb of God, on the cross once and for all to release the fire of God into the human heart. When they did this in the Exodus, they got to follow the pillar of fire by night. They saw the fire, they experienced the fire, they enjoyed the fire. But when Jesus came on the cross, tongues of fire now filled the human heart from the inside out with the fire of God. And that's why we say behold, the Lamb of God who is, who is roasted with fire, if you will, on the cross for our sins, that we might live with the presence and the power and the purity of God. You see, when this all happened, and they watched that whole thing. This is when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart. And they said to Peter, “What shall we do?” And he said, “Repent, be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, and you'll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” It cut to the heart. This is for years, I prayed that we would just be a church cut to the heart. You say, “What does that mean?” It means I sit here and I realize my heart is hard. I have no fire in my heart. I have no want in my heart. My heart is worldly and dark and gloomy and cold, and I'm cut and convicted. I want the fire of God. So what shall I do? Repent. Just turn and be baptized. Come to Jesus, come to the cross, let Him forgive your sins and then give you the Spirit and fire. Come to the cross. Come to the cross. You want the fire of God? Come to the cross. Come to the cross. Like, come to the cross. The cross is not a place you visited 20 years ago. The cross is not a place you come and go. The cross is not a been there, done that kind of thing. No, come to the cross. And the more I move towards the cross, the brighter my fire gets. And the more I turn away from the cross and do my own thing, the colder my fire gets. Turn to the cross, come to the cross, look to the cross, move towards the cross, in Jesus' name. Do you want the fire of God? Come to the cross. In fact, maybe even right now, here's what I want to say. If you're like, I need the fire of God, whatever campus you're at, I want you as a sign of faith. You just want to stand up and come down to the front. We like never do this, but if you know what, if you're like, I want the fire of God as an act of humility, I don't care who I got to step over. I don't care what it's got to look like. At whatever campus you're at, you're like, I just want to come to the cross, behold the cross, look at the cross. I want the fire of God in my life. I want more of the fire of God. I want vibrancy. I want vitality. I want radiance. I want goodness. I want kindness. Come to the cross, look to the cross, take hold of the cross, be broken before the cross, take off your sandals at the cross. It is Jesus and only Jesus that can release the fire of God in our lives. Come to the cross, come to the cross, friends. It's the only thing there is. And so, wherever you are and whatever's going on in your life, in Jesus’ name, may you take hold of the cross.

Wherever you are and whatever's going on in your life, as you have just come to the fire of God, as you take off your sandals and you see Him as who He is, a consuming fire, not a casual, common contempting thing. No, He is the Eternal God, and He has called you right now by name, and He has drawn you unto Himself, and He's releasing his fire. Fire of God, fall, fire of God, come, fire of God, fill up every heart and every soul and every mind that has come to the cross. Fire of God, do that, which we have tried to do in our own strength for years, and burn off the impurities and the worldliness and the addictions and the brokenness and the pain. Fire of God, come and set us free from the things of our past, from the trauma and the demonic and the orphan realities and the internal rage. Fire of God, come and free us from all of the sense of, of bitterness and lostness and wishing our life would just pass us by kind of moments. Fire of God, come, fire of God, consume, fire of God, fall, fire of God, bring presence, bring purity, and bring power. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, we look to You. We call to You. We humble ourselves before You. Lord, we started with a simple bumper, just saying set fire in our Souls with our voices singing, and we finish our time today with bended knee and humbled hearts. I pray for every person that just by faith surrendered themselves to You. May they find You because now they are seeking You. May they sell whatever they need to let go of, so that in joy, they may have the treasure in the field. Holy Spirit, fuel the fire in our lives, in our homes, and in our church. This is a holy moment, a sacred moment, a meaningful moment, a live moment because you are good and you are here. So, in your own way, can you just maybe even just say, Jesus, I come to the cross. Maybe in your own way, just, Holy Spirit, fill me with Your fire. I surrender all that I am and want all that You are. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Jesus. We receive it. We respond. We rejoice. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.