What East 38th Street Needs to Get Hot for Jesus
Rev. 3:14-22
  1. Items that won’t make us HOT and help us to be LUKEWARM!

    2.  
    1. Attempts to force us away from lukewarmness

      2.  
      1. More members


        2. Numbers are NOT bad, but neither are they an indicator of what is Hot, Lukewarm or Cold. What will heat things up spititually at E.38th is for the members we have to get on fire.
         
      2. Different Pews


        3. We can change the seating, make them more uncomfortable or easier to sit on – it still won’t make us hotter for Christ!
         

      3. Diverse Programs


        4. Programs are to help keep the fires going, not light them. More programs are not the answer. Often people leave their church in search of a church that has a youth group or children’s church, a singles ministry. These are good!!!! But they are not what will light a fire in your heart.
         

      4. Special Services


        5. While these are good. Can be exciting, encourage us, THEY ARE NOT WHAT WILL MAKE US HOT!!!! Us them as a blessing, not as a bridge or support for closeness to the Lord.
         

      5. Assignment of jobs


        6. Often we think that giving someone a "job" will pull them up from a spiritual low. Jobs should not be thought of as a means of uplifting someone. They should be doing things for the Lord because they are HOT not to get hot or keep them in church.


       
    2. Items that chill us into lukewarmness

      3.  

       

      1. Acceptance of Frigidity


        2. We have gotten used to the fact that we are less than what God wants from us. We excuse ourselves from the requirements that God sets for us. Are we what He wants?

        Is He the thing in our lives that we are excited about? Are we accepting the things in our lives that He is unhappy about casually and living LUKEWARM????????
         

      2. Unyielding Rigidity


        3. We often are so stuck in our ways that we will not let God speak to us. Just like the Pharisees in the NT, we are so set in ritualistic practices, that God can not reach us!!!!!
         

      3. Backwards Backsliding


        4. Simply put, are we where we used to be? Do we look forward to worshipping God as we once did? Is there an elation when we think of what He has done for us? Are you pressing forward? Trudging forward? Or are you sitting still, even sliding backwards spiritually?????
         

      4. Gnawing Gossip


        5. How can we be HOT for Christ if we are filled with gossip that gnaws at the very core of our being? If we can’t say anything good – DON’T say it at all!!!!!
         

      5. Slanderous Backbiting


        6. Why do we backbite? Jealousy, envy, etc. Can God be in this? Can God bless us if we partake of such?
         

      6. Continual Complaining


        7. Murmuring was so detrimental to the Children of Israel. It caused them, grief. It will chill us!~!!!!!!!
         

      7. Important "I’s" and overlooked "u’s"

    WRONG ATTITUDE. Not servant like!!!!! Tears down.
     
     
  2. Items that will help make us HOT and conquer LUKEWARMNESS

    3.  
      1. Honesty to God

        2.  
      2. Desire to serve Him

        3.  
      3. Prayerfully seeking "FIRE"

        4.  
      4. Yielding our lives to Him

        5.  
      5. God’s WORD applied to our paths

        6.  
      6. Love for the Brethren, Lost, His work, etc.

        7.  
      7. Do the first works
Gary Marcum - East 38th Street Free Will Baptist 051798am