Passion & Enthusiasm

       “Don't put out the Holy Spirit's fire.”   1 Thess 5:19  NIRV

           In nature, all living things grow if they are healthy.  The church as a living organism, will also grow if it is healthy.  But, it will grow only as each member is also growing in faith.  From time to time, we need to ask ourselves,  do I have the passion and enthusiasm I had when I first believed? 

Read:  Acts 2:36-42    

I.  What Is Passion ? : an intense emotion, strong  feeling. great devotion to 

            John 2:12-17  passion comes from within-   John 4:34

*  if you have passion for something, you love doing it unselfishly

*  teachers have passion to teach,  students have a passion to learn

*  if you want to be good at something, you’ll have a passion for it

*  it isn’t simply going through the motions just to get it done like a task

            Romans 12:10-13  serve the Lord enthusiastically

II.  Why Do Believers Lose Zeal (passion) ? 

*  why is it that so many Christians are apologetic about being

    passionate about Jesus and His saving grace ?

*  perhaps you have allowed something precious to become familiar

*   in marriage, passion needs to be renewed when it becomes ordinary

*  satan will tell us to start over again “tomorrow”

*  tomorrow doesn’t exist in the Christian life-  “today is the day...”

            Revelation 2:1-7  “...you have lost your first love.”

*  perhaps you have become too ‘routine’ about your faith

*  apathy then, is a condition of the heart and can be corrected

III.  How To Restore Passion   

*  God repeats over and again the importance of maintaining the fire

            1 Timothy 4:12-16  maintain your (fire) passion

*  Saul (Paul) had a zeal- but it was misdirected  Acts 22:3-5; Romans 10:1,2

*  focus your enthusiasm for the Lord’s work and His purposes for you

*  passion like fire, consumes energy, therefore we become exhausted

            Isaiah 40:29-31  God will renew your passion (strength)

*  begin by focusing on the needs of others- be a friend, a confidant

*  associate with other passionate people

            2 Timothy 1:5,6  fan the flame of God within you

*  fire needs to be fed in order to keep growing-  feed on the Word of God