Passion is not just for romantics ! You lot have a reputation about being passionate. Passionate about cars and bikes and motorised things. To be passionate is to have a strong enthusiasm for something. (That is what the dictionary says) When we look at it, passion is a huge word. I have been passionate about;Jazz, swing, celtic and gospel, music at different times. (Yep – strongly enthusiastic)I have been passionate about:Soccer, long distance running, triathlons, cycling, Human powered vehicles (yep, strongly enthusiastic)I have been passionate about:Ancient history, Celtic history, Baptist history, Australian Baptist History (Yep, strongly enthusiastic about it) You guys are strongly enthusiastic about your vehicles. Why?What creates passion? Where did it come from???? Maybe a family connection – didn’t work for me but did my brother at least with cars. Maybe it did work for me;Dad and mum did something right. Grandfather did something right, Great grandfather did something right. Passion for telling people about Jesus. Yep, strongly enthusiastic .about Jesus and His messagI am a 4th generation Pastor, on Dad’s side. I am a 5th generation Baptist, on Mum’s side. When I was young the last thing I wanted to do was be a minister. What happened? I got strongly enthusiastic about the message of Jesus. How does it happen?
Something triggers it. How about the disciples?
12 guys then 11. Ran away from Jesus yet a while later – strongly enthusiastic. Strong enthusiastic enough to die for their beliefs. What prompts John to tell us to love one another.? Or what prompts Peter to say this:1PE 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade–kept in heaven for you,
Jesus affected them!!!!
Passion comes because of an affect on us.
My dad has been affected by Sunbeams. You could say he has sunbeam stroke.
Others of you have an affection for different vehicles, something triggers it. Something somewhere triggers a focused interest in one thing or another.
For the disciples – it was Jesus. He became everything to them. Their whole life revolved around Jesus and his life, message and the implications of that. So much John wrote letters to people to encourage them to stick to what Jesus said. So did Paul.
Their passion for Jesus lead to the New Testament being written. What can our passion lead to? How can we use this passion we have for good???? AC 4:13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” AC 4:18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. 20 For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” AC 4:21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old. Just two things here.
- Being with Jesus has an impact. V15.
I firmly believe that hearing the Jesus message has an impact on everyone. Positive or negative. For these guys they were affected and infected. Something triggered a change from a pack of wimps who ran away to guys willing to stand up and face martyrdom.
This was the Jesus factor in their lives. Hang on they ran away when they knew Jesus.
Arrr, here we come to a big issue. Recognizing who Jesus really is, has an impact.
If Jesus is seen as a historical figure, a good teacher, a nice bloke then there is no impact.
But when it is recognized who Jesus is. – When we see Jesus as God, the one person who can deal with our biggest issues in life, the most amazing person in history, the creator, etc etc etc. It affects us.
If we don’t feel Christianity is having an affect on our lives – have another look at Jesus.
- Passion comes through obedience. V 19-20
This sounds like a weird statement. But how do we know we are passionate about our vehicles? We spend time doing what is best for the vehicle.
Same here. We do what is best for our relationship to Jesus.
If we are passionate about Jesus we will want to find out about him, spend time with him, tell others about him and please him.
In those 4 statements we have:
- Find out about Him –devotion to learning about Jesus – Bible stuff.
- Spend time with Him – Prayer / communication to and from Jesus
- Tell others about Him – evangelism, witnessing, discipleship, teaching, proclaiming.
- Please Him – Obedience – a lifestyle of being Christian.
I’ll leave you with these questions: Where is my passion? What is my passion for? And
How is my passion demonstrated?
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