Borrowed Fire

Well, I’m pretty sure that all of you guys know me, but in case you don’t. Well, I don’t know if you guys know me, but if you don’t, I’m Miss Lauren. I am the next-gen pastor here, and I have been given the privilege of teaching in big church today, which by the way, like 7-year-old self executive team would have finally feel like I collected all the Infinity Stones. I’ve taught in kids church, I’ve taught in youth, I’ve taught all over all these little small places. Big church is the last one. And so I feel like it’s all coming together. That’s what it feels like.

But I want to pray one more time before we go into things, but I’m teaching to you guys exactly what the message has been all morning. And that’s next gen. Of course, the next-gen pastor is coming to talk about next gen. But I think God has put inside of me this new understanding of how vital the next gen is not just to our church, but to life. You understand, no matter what, the kids are the future. Whether you’re in the church, whether you’re in the world, whether you’re at Starbucks and you see a kid there, that kid is the future of this world. They’re the future. That’s why the Bible says train a child up in the way that they should go, and they will not depart from it. That’s what we’re getting into today. Exactly what you saw, the faith of all these kids, the administrators pouring out on top of them. We have men and women who got dunked today, but we also had a little kid that got dunked today. A little kid, ready to testify of what God has done in his life. That’s what baptism is. It’s a public proclamation of your faith. He’s 7 years old and ready to tell people about Jesus. That’s why this generation is so important.

So thank you, NextGen. I am so honored to lead NextGen. I’m honored to be on the stage. Although I look too young to be up here, I guess I’m not. I don’t know. I just feel honored, and I come from a place of gratitude, and I am going to preach a little bit today. So if I hurt your feelings, I’m sorry in advance, but also not really, because it is that vital. It is that vital. So let’s pray and then we can get into it.

Dear heavenly Father, thank you so much. Thank you so much that you chose me, that you chose me for salvation, that you chose me for life, that you chose me for this, Father, that this gets to be my purpose. I am eternally grateful, Father, and I understand that you have made my life a testimony of what happens when you pour into the next generation. And so, Father, I pray today that it’s not only my words, Father, but I pray that it’s your testimony that you’ve done with my life that these people get to see today, Father. I pray that this congregation doesn’t just get a fire for NextGen, Father, but they have a fire for you. They have a fire for you that burns so deeply that they finally find their passion and their purpose, regardless of the age of the person in the room, Father. If they have breath in their lungs, they’re here to complete a purpose. And so today, God, I pray that you just reignite that purpose. Thank you, Jesus. In your name we pray.

All God’s people said, “Amen.”

Growing Up in a House of Girls

Okay, sorry if I look a little hazy, but we had a lot of really sweet, tender moments. So I’ve been crying all morning for no reason. For reasons, but I want to tell you a little bit about myself. I have four sisters. So I grew up in a house of all girls, which was kind of unfortunate for my dad. When I was born, I’m the baby. I’m the last one of a blended family. And I was the very last one, and my dad was really praying, really praying for a boy. Like, “Please, God, give me a boy. I can’t do this much estrogen.” I know he was dying for something that was just different. And then I came out, me. So he was sadly disappointed about that, but not really, because my dad had this thing about him: he didn’t really care that he had a group of daughters. He was going to teach us to do the stuff that he wanted to do regardless. So if he wanted to watch football, then all of us girls were watching football with my dad, okay? If we needed to go and change the oil in my mom’s car, my dad was lining all of us girls out there to teach us how to change the oil, because one day he might not be there, and he might have to help, and we might have to be able to help ourselves. We can’t borrow my dad’s knowledge forever.

Now, I was never climbing on the roof to go see what was going on with the AC. I wasn’t like, “Hey, let’s go learn the AC in case mine ever goes out, I can get it on my own.” No, that’s your job forever, Dad. So I didn’t go to all of the lessons that he gave, but I definitely was always present for those moments, because my parents instilled in us this fact that, “What if we’re not there? What if we’re not there? What if we’re not there?” You can’t borrow our knowledge and our wisdom forever.

Borrowed Fire

And that’s the topic that I kind of want to give to you guys today, which is borrowed fire. Borrowed fire. We cannot keep living in a generation where we’re borrowing from our grandparents’ faith, where we’re borrowing from our parents’ faith. And I know that this is probably not a new concept for some of you guys in the room. But forgive me, I’ve been teaching kids for a while, okay? So this might be a little elementary, but we’re talking about Leviticus today, because the fire that God has put inside of you should not be hidden.

In Matthew it says, “Why would you light a fire and put a basket over the top of it?” Why would anybody do that? But I feel like New Mexico has been living in this place of dormancy. Like we have so many dormant Christians here. It’s like, “Yeah, I’m a practicer of my faith, but I don’t just give out my wisdom for free. I don’t just give out my love for free. I don’t just share with anybody. I’m not just generous with anybody, but I’m a Christian.” That’s what New Mexico feels like. I don’t know if you guys feel that way, but I’ve always felt out of place here, because I was always the kid in the shopping cart going, “Hi! Hi! Hi!” And my mom was like, “They don’t want to talk to you.” They don’t. New Mexico people are like, “Get your kid under control.” They’re not friendly. This isn’t the South, you know? But that was my personality. So I always wanted to share what was in me, but it just feels like the state has a basket on top of it. The light that we do have, it’s not very bright, because there’s a basket on top of it.

And I feel like God’s called us to share and to use the gifts and talents that he has placed inside of us. And just because you’re in this room, and just because you’re 40 years old, and I’m just a little kid up here, doesn’t mean that I don’t have something for you today. I’m just telling you that right now. This is going to feel really simple, and it’s like, “Oh, I’ve heard this message a thousand times in church.” No, you haven’t. Haven’t heard this one. And I feel like God has a word for you.

A Holy God Dwelling Among Unholy People

So we’re going to Exodus first, but we’re taking a journey through Leviticus. And Leviticus is a whole story about how a holy God can dwell among such unholy people. Does that sound familiar? We live in a very unholy place right now. So how can such a holy God come and dwell here? How can such a holy God come and heal this land, this city, these drug problems, these statistics? How could he come and be a part of this?

Well, God gave them a command all the way back in Exodus, before they even left Egypt. It’s Exodus 25:8, and it says:

They were to make a sanctuary for me so that I may dwell among them. You must make it according to all that I show you, the pattern of the tabernacle as well as the pattern of its furnishings.

From the very, very, very beginning, God’s plan was not simply to rescue Israel. From the very beginning, his plan was to draw them closer into relationship with him. He gave them a plan before they even left of what they needed to do when they got there. Build the tabernacle. He had a plan to bring it to fruition. He wouldn’t give you the end result of what he wants you to do. He would not give you this purpose inside of your life unless he was going to carry you through it, and unless he was going to help you see the end of it. That’s the whole point of doing life with the Holy Spirit. He was leading them into relationship.

Israel made it all the way from Egypt, crossed the Red Sea. We saw God at Mount Sinai. They rebuilt the tabernacle exactly how it should be in Exodus 25. And this is where we end up in Leviticus, okay? So now they’ve basically done all of the rituals that they need to. They’ve done the sacrifices. If you read those first few chapters, it’s the sin offering and the fat offering and the grain offering. Every offering that they had to bring to live among a holy God. God gave them very specific instructions to follow. And now they’re at this point where they’re waiting to see if God’s going to come. Is he going to appear? Is he going to show himself? Is he going to reveal himself? Can a God that holy actually dwell with us hooligans, basically, right? And will he accept the sacrifices that we’ve given him, because the grain sacrifice, fat sacrifice, sin, all of these sacrifices and offerings, will they even matter?

My Grandma and the Geriatric Corner

Sometimes that’s how we feel. I don’t know about you, but that’s how I felt coming into church when I first started. I came in, and I didn’t even want relationship with God. I went because my grandma went. And she seemed to have life all together. And so when one of my sisters died, and my family was going through the storm, and everything was falling apart, the only thing that made sense was to go with the one person who had it together. So I followed her. And I sat in the pews in the very back, in what we used to call the geriatric corner, because that’s where all the old people used to sit. There was not at this church, so nobody get offended, but that’s what we called it. And the pastor recognized me, because my grandma had been going to church for years, because my grandma’s a very, very faithful woman, and she raised us girls, all going to church. She’d pile us all in and take us, take all of our friends. We’re always like, “Hey, can we bring this person?” My grandma’s like, “I might have to buy a new car, but yeah, bring them. Come on, let’s go.” She would always bring us all in the car, take us all, and pray over us before we went into service, make sure that we took notes when we got back. “What did you learn?” She was always invested in those things.

But there were times where I would go to church and sit there and just be like, “I messed up. I didn’t do this. I didn’t do that.” Now this is high school Lauren, so I’m sure the sin was small, but still sitting there thinking of all these sacrifices, will God even accept my worship right now? Will God even have me in this building right now? I’m sitting here next to my grandma and all these women of faith, and I just feel out of place. Will he even accept this? Will he even take this offering?

The Fire Comes Down

And Aaron, Aaron has been prayed over, consecrated, washed, anointed, and oiled, and ready to go so that way he can be the high priest. Is God going to accept him? Because I probably, if I was Aaron, I’d be like, shaking in my boots. Do I have any unconfessed sin? Do I have anything that could strike me down? This is the Old Testament. Anything is possible right now. So for 7 days, Aaron and his sons were consecrated. They’re washed, they’re clothed, they’re anointed. Everything is exactly how it should go.

When we get to Leviticus 9:22:

And Aaron lifted up his hands towards the people and he blessed them. He came down after sacrificing the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the fellowship offering. Moses and Aaron then entered the tent of meeting, and when they came out, they blessed the people, and the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came out from the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell face down and worshiped.

So it worked. And I’m not saying there’s this perfect method. There kind of is. But there was a way that they did things. God gave them an order. They did it correctly, and they saw the fruit. He came. The fire came. It struck. This is the moment that they had been waiting for.

Point One: It’s God’s Fire

And this is my first point. It’s God’s fire. The fire did not begin with Aaron. The fire did not begin with Moses. It did not begin because they put all of these offerings together. It had nothing to do with what they did with their hands. It had to do with the posture of their heart, and understanding that these sacrifices were going to God because he was worthy and he was holy, and there was nothing they could do to be worthy and holy enough. That’s why they brought the sacrifice. That’s what the belief was. That’s what the heart posture was. They understood God’s grace.

Everything God asks of us, he wants us to steward first. He gives us these things and he asks us to steward them. Everything that is a gift to you, your car, your house, your finances, your family, your kids, your grandkids, God has called you to steward it. That is what he has called. James 1:17 says every good and perfect gift is from above, coming from the Father of lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows. Scripture has never once asked you to light your own fire or to go and find it out in the world. We know where our fire comes from. It comes from the Lord, okay? And sometimes we just need that reminder.

So again, sorry if this is elementary, but we need the reminder that God is our source. He is our source, because I’m telling you, when my family was going through hell, they needed the reminder that he is our source. When my dad was battling alcoholism, he needed the reminder that God was his source. When my mom was stuck in a pit of depression, she needed a reminder that God was her source. These situations that affected the entire family, they needed the reminder that God is the source, because in every single moment we forget.

When I go swipe my bank card, I’m not like, “Thanks, God.” I should. He’s blessed me with that money. But there’s times where I just go to Target, and I’m like, “Babe, all right, we’re out of here, let’s go.” Got my stuff, don’t even think twice about it. Sometimes I get in my car and I drive really far. If I drive from Rio Rancho, sometimes it’s a 45-minute drive with the traffic and the cones, don’t even get me started. But sometimes it’s quite the drive. And you’d think I’d have so much time to sit in my car and be grateful for the car that God’s given me, for the source of communication that God’s given me that I get to steward well with the students I get to drive, and the games I get to go to, and the things I get to go to. But sometimes I forget that it’s actually God’s fire. He started that. He lit it. And God will never ask you to manufacture something that he can only provide. He’s never going to ask you to do that. He ignites it, and he expects us to steward it.

Point Two: It’s Your Responsibility

My second point is it’s your responsibility. So if God started the fire, then whose job was it to keep it burning, right? It’s like this tabernacle there with all the fire, and it’s like, all right, God’s presence is like the only big torch that never goes out, it’s there forever. No. He gave them instructions. If we go back to Leviticus 6, he gives us the instructions right there. In verse 12, it says:

The fire on the altar is to be kept burning. It must never go out. Every morning, the priest will burn wood on the fire. He is to arrange the burnt offering on the fire and the fat portions from the fellowship offerings on it. Fire must be kept burning on the altar continually. It must not go out.

He tells them almost four times, in two scriptures, the fire on the altar must keep burning. Do not let it go out. It must keep burning continually, always burn forever. Constant reminder that it’s our responsibility. He’s very specific about this.

If we go back just a couple of verses, we get the instructions, and before I give you the instructions, I want to tell you this. These are our instructions now. This is Old Testament, and this was given to Aaron, as far as how to do the offerings and things like that, but I think I’ve put a twist on it, to where these are your instructions now, because this means that we are living in a New Testament Bible. Okay? We’re living in a new era. Jesus has come. Okay? The Holy Spirit now dwells inside of us. Like Peter says, you are the royal priesthood now. You are the royal priesthood. And so when he’s talking to the priest on how he should handle this fire, he’s talking to us. Because the fire is the Spirit, and the Spirit now lives inside of you. 1 Corinthians 6:19, we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are. And so if we’re a host, that fire now lives in us. That means it’s our responsibility to keep the fire burning. We have to follow these instructions.

And so Leviticus 6:10 says:

The priest is to put on his linen robe and his linen undergarments, and he is to remove the ashes of the burnt offering the fire has consumed on the altar, and place them beside the altar. Then he will take off his garments, put on other clothes, and bring the ashes outside the camp to a ceremonially clean place. The fire on the altar is to be kept burning. He is to arrange the burnt offering on the fire and burn the fat portions from the fellowship offerings on it. Fire must be kept burning on the altar continually. It must not go out.

So he’s given them a series of instructions. And I was reading this passage, and I heard a pastor say, “Do not leave a passage of scripture until you’ve learned everything about it.” That’s a challenge, because you never know when you’ve learned everything about it. And so I was sitting there, and I was reading this, and I just started asking myself questions, like, “What do I not understand?” I don’t know everything. I don’t know, it’s Leviticus, I don’t get any of this. And so I started looking into this and reading these steps, and like what they each meant. And I was like, “Oh my gosh, this is what we need to be doing.” This needs to be my routine. And I’ve been a next gen pastor for 7 months now, so I have a whole routine. And this is it. This is what my altar looks like. This is what it looks like to add wood to my fire. This little corner right here, this is actually what it looks like in my office. But I have a little bench at home, and I keep that right there, and it has my books and all my stuff in it. And whenever I sit down to add some wood to the fire, that’s where I sit. And so I want to explain to you how I practically do each of these things.

Put On His Priestly Garments

The first thing that they say is to put on his priestly garments. Pastor Cindy talked about this earlier, when we were talking about baptism. But Galatians 3:27, “For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.” So if you have accepted Christ into your heart, if you are a follower of Jesus, you already are clothed in the linens. He’s already clothed you in that. Already, off top.

For me, these are my linens. I’m not going to put it on, because I have a really cute outfit. But this is like my robe, and I wear it every morning. It’s actually dirty, and I should have washed it before I brought it. That’s embarrassing. But I’ll hold it this way. But this is like my robe thing, and I wear it in the mornings when I first get up, because I’m always freezing when I first get up. Not right now, because it’s 100 degrees, but I usually get up, put it on, and sit cozy on my bench. Usually I have a cup of coffee or an energy drink, and boom, I plop right down in my priestly garments. So holy of me, as a next gen pastor, I know.

But he’s our covering, and he’s our protection in our times of need. And this is another one of those steps that sometimes it’s just something that you have to say out loud: I am clothed in Christ. I am clothed in Christ. I am who he says I am. I am a daughter of the Most High King. I am a son of the Most High King. Guess what? You don’t stop being a son of the Most High King just because you become a grandpa here on earth. You’re still a son of the Most High King.

Ephesians 6:11-12 says:

Put on the full armor of God so that you can stand against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil spiritual forces in heaven.

He wants you to put on a covering, because it does something to your mind. Paul talks a lot about the transformation of the mind, right? When we put on the armor of God, when I put on that helmet of salvation, I go back to that moment that I got baptized. I go back to that moment when salvation became real for me. I come out of the water and I’m like, “Yes! Tell everyone!” Except I actually got baptized with like three people present, so kind of ironic there. But genuinely, I was just ready to go.

When you finally experience that freedom from secrecy and gossip, and all of those deep-rooted sins that keep you deep down and bitter, that you only deal with when you’re in your 20s, by the way. But those sins that are really deep-rooted, whenever you finally break free from that, when you’re like, “Holy Spirit, I just can’t do it anymore.” When you start stepping away from those conversations, it’s like putting on that belt of truth actually means something. It’s like when you pray, because the situation is hard, and even though you don’t get your answer, you still have peace that everything’s going to work out. That’s like putting on those shoes of peace, okay? There’s a process that goes into this.

And when I first became a believer, I used to stand in my room and do that. That’s so embarrassing to admit out loud, but I would. Because sometimes I needed to really wield my spirit. I needed to be like, “I’m going to get my sword. Yes, I am ready. What scripture do I know? What scripture do I know today? What am I going to shoot out?” Sometimes we got to wake that up, because we’re living in a dormant space. And guess what? You’re not going to be around forever. And your grandkids are not going to be able to borrow your faith and call on you for prayer. You need to teach them how to put on their own priestly garments, so that way they can stand up against the attacks that the enemy has for us.

Remove Yesterday’s Ashes

Remove yesterday’s ashes. The ashes were proof that yesterday happened. That yesterday actually happened. Sometimes we need to remember the failures that happened, so that way we don’t do them again. And sometimes we need to remember the glory and the miracles, so that way they can carry us through the next season. There’s different times for those, but we have to remove yesterday’s ashes, because either way, you’re going to be living in the glory days, or you’re going to be stuck in the pit. You have to keep moving forward.

My favorite, it’s almost football season, so my favorite team, don’t boo me, is the Patriots. And I’ve been a Tom Brady fan for years. I know, he’s the worst. He has more Super Bowl rings than all of you. But he has this thing, this is what I love about Tom Brady. He’s just like a machine, and he thinks about some things and he’s just like, “It works this way, and that’s that.” And I’m like, “Man, I wish I could convince my brain of that.” But Tom Brady has this thing called the next play mentality. The next play. No matter what happened on this drive or this play, once we clap our hands, we’re on the next play. I don’t care if we lost yards, I don’t care if we made a touchdown, I don’t care if the other team has the ball. I’m focused on what we’re doing for the next play. What is the next play? What is going to get me more yards right now? Because I don’t care about how many yards I lost. All I know is I need to keep going. You have got to keep going.

For me, my yesterday’s ashes look like my Bible notes, because just because y’all don’t see me here in church doesn’t mean I don’t be listening to the service, okay? I still keep up. I still want to listen to Pastor Cindy talk about prayer. I’ve been listening to all of them, okay? This is my notebook with my service notes in here. And I’ll go through and I’ll reread them, and I’ll go back into my Bible, and then I’ll go, “Okay, what did I learn?” Because sometimes we have to learn something from yesterday’s ashes. And just because this is yesterday’s notes doesn’t mean there’s not something still to learn. And just because I’m turning the page in my notebook, and just because I’m done with that moment of reflection in my life, and just because we’ve moved on a little bit, I even have my notebook here where I sit and I cry to God and I write my prayers for everybody and all my stuff. Those are yesterday’s ashes. When I turn the page, it becomes a new day.

Philippians 3:13-14:

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.

Me too, Paul. We press forward, church. Forward. And New Mexico’s a state of behind. We’re like a decade behind in fashion, we’re like a decade behind in food, we’re like a decade behind in everything. Like, where are the good stores? I live on the west side. Cottonwood Mall is awful, don’t even go to Cottonwood Mall. It’s scary. It’s the only thing to do, they just go walk around over there.

Place the Ashes Aside

We remove yesterday’s ashes, and then, place the ashes on the side. Because it’s not just a matter of turning your page. I’m not trying to call anybody out, but I know some of you take notes and don’t even look at them past Sunday. I know some of you walk out of this room and you don’t even remember what Pastor David or whoever was up here teaching. You don’t even remember half their points by the time you get out of the door. Are you remembering and honoring the sacrifice that was put in for you to receive manna today? Someone had to take the time to translate this into English, in so many different variations, by the way. We have so many different translations in English, and we still just treat it like a bookend. Like just a decoration. Do we honor what God is doing? Because gratitude remembers yesterday, but faithfulness fuels tomorrow. Okay? So if you can’t have gratitude for what happened in the past, then how are you supposed to have faithfulness to move forward? You can’t.

Change Clothes

Change clothes. Change clothes. This is something silly, I know Jensen can relate to, because we’ve been doing a lot of projects around here, for summer leadership. Shout out summer leadership, they’re awesome. They’re the teenagers that helped us over the summer build all kinds of stuff and paint all kinds of stuff. Whenever we would go and build stuff, me and Justin kind of have this running joke of, we shouldn’t be painting right now, because we’re always painting in clothes that shouldn’t be painted in, you know? We’re always painting in pants that shouldn’t be painted in, shoes that shouldn’t be painted in. And so then we end up painting, and then the paint splatters and gets on our stuff, and it’s like, “Okay, just got these shoes like 2 days ago, awesome. Just bought these pants because the last ones were ruined in paint.” And so we would forget to change our clothes. And I think that this is like the same revelation that I had when it comes to changing our clothes, because priests didn’t wear the wrong garments for the wrong assignments, okay? So discernment is knowing what faithfulness looks like in each one of those seasons.

We have to know Lamentations 3:22:

Because of the Lord’s faithful love, we do not perish. His mercies never end, and they are new every morning. Great is his faithfulness.

You know what that means? Sometimes God’s going to call you into a different season of faithfulness. Sometimes God might call you to start serving in the soup kitchen that’s not that far from your house. Or maybe God might call you to start buying a little extra food when you go through the drive-thru, so you can hand it to the next homeless person you see on the corner. Maybe God’s going to start using you to bring those invites that we have to that new series to your co-workers at work. Maybe God’s going to start calling you to change your ways a little bit. Maybe God’s going to start asking you to shift and move a little bit and do things that you’re not entirely comfortable with. But guess what? He has mercies new each day. His faithfulness is never running out. So we have gratitude for where we’ve been. Man, that was comfortable, and I really loved that. But we have faithfulness for where he’s taking us next. God, if this is where you’re calling me, if this is where my next step is, then I go. If you’re calling me to go serve here, then I go.

You want to make a difference in the next generation? Come serve in next generation ministries, man. I think, I did the math, and I’m bad at math, I’m a next gen pastor, not a mathematician, but I’m pretty sure that we have about 80% of our next gen ministries, that’s kids, youth, and young adults, run by people in those ministries. Next gen is running themselves. Incredible, by the way.

First Timothy 4:12, don’t let anybody look down on their youth, let them be an example. But also, I came in here to ask y’all, do you not want to share your wisdom? Do you not want to share your experiences? Because here’s the thing, you would not trust someone with your grandkid for their entire life to raise them. So do not leave the spiritual responsibility to just these teenagers and us back here, to pour out wisdom and experience and love on these kids, because there’s so much more from this church that you have to offer. It’s time to change that season of faithfulness, and be like, “You know what? It’s uncomfortable, this shirt’s a little itchy, I don’t like the tag.” But you know what? Sometimes we got to change clothes, and sometimes it’s got to look like a different level of faithfulness.

Carry the Ashes Outside the Camp

And then the next step was to carry the ashes outside of the camp. I think it’s so fascinating how much time they spent on the ashes. Clear the ashes out, then put them to the side, and then take them all the way out of camp. You want to know why? Because we live in the glory days. We live in it. And so he has to keep teaching us, “No, no, no, that was an old season. No, no, no, that was the past. No, no, no, we’re past that.” Remember, you can sit it here, and you can honor it, and you can look at it and be like, “Man, what a good time.” But you know what? Now it’s time to go take it out, and honestly move on. Because God’s work should create in you a fire. It lights something. So we shouldn’t be complacent. We shouldn’t be living in this movie reel of the life that we once lived, when there’s so much life left to live.

If you have breath in your lungs and you’re here on this earth, then God has a calling for you. There’s a calling and a purpose on your life, and he doesn’t want you to live in a state of complacency. He doesn’t want you to live in this state where you do nothing with the gifts and the talents that he’s put inside of you, because one thing that I’ve learned is the more you start using those gifts and talents, the better they get. And so some of you are like, “Well, I’m not even that good, I can’t even work with kids, they don’t even like me.” You know how many people have come back there and said, “Kids don’t even like me, I don’t want to work back here.” And then now they’re like, “The kids love me and I love this place.” He starts to work in you in a way that you need to remove the old stuff. Nobody wants to keep the trash inside their house.

Hebrews 13 says:

Let us then go to him outside the camp, bearing his disgrace, for we do not have an enduring city here. Instead, we seek the one to come. Therefore, through him, let us continually offer up to God a sacrifice of praise, that is the fruit of lips that confess his name. Do not neglect to do what is good and to share, for God is pleased with such sacrifices.

To share, because he’s pleased. You want to make the Father happy? Do what he says. Do what he says. It’s that simple. It’s genuinely that simple. He’s pleased with our sacrifices. Is he pleased with your sacrifice?

Because for me, again, this is what my sacrifice looks like. This is Shep. But I have my robe on usually, sitting in my spot. Sometimes I’m reading a book about the Lord. Sometimes it looks like me being on my phone, responding to students, texting them back. Sometimes it looks like putting on a podcast with my headphones on. Thank God for technology. Look at all the things we get to do with the Lord. But it’s not that hard, because all it takes is time for me to go, “Hey, I sacrificed this to the Father.” I think we think that we have to make it look a certain way to have a relationship, or to go through these motions with the Lord. And it’s not even going through the motions, it’s a heart posture. But honestly, this is a pretty comfortable heart posture for me. This is the easy part. Sitting here and filling it up is the easy part. It’s the sharing part that for some reason we have a hard time with. Why are we so close-fisted with the gifts and the talents and the love that God has given us?

The World Might Hurt You, But the Father Sees You

My mom used to tell me this when I was a kid, and I say this all the time. My mom used to tell me, “You are so special to me, I love you so much, you’re incredible. But when you leave these four walls, everybody might not think that. They might not think you’re the most incredible. They might not want to hear every 10-minute story you have to tell. They might not think you’re so funny, and they might not think you know the most about football. All the things that we think about you, they might not think about you. And you have to be prepared for that, because we love you so much, and the world might hurt you out there.” But guess what? I want to tell you the same thing. The Father sees you, and he sees you for all of the best that you are. He sees you for the goodness inside of you. He sees you for all the fruits of the spirit that you bear. He sees all the things that you do in quiet generosity, and he loves you and he cares for you.

I’m sorry if the world has beat you up. Genuinely, I want to say that I’m sorry if the world has beat you up. I’m sorry if you’ve been hurt by church people and Christians. I’m sorry. But don’t let that be the reason that you stop sharing your gift, because the Father loves you and he’s so proud of you, and you’re his favorite. And you’re a royal priesthood, and you’re a son and a daughter, and he wants to see you move, and he wants to see you have a life. And just because we’re not living in the glory days anymore doesn’t mean that you can’t have fun. Doesn’t mean that you can’t share the gospel. Doesn’t mean that you can’t share the wisdom and the life that’s inside of you.

If I get old and grumpy, somebody please shake me, because I cannot imagine sitting around just being like, “These kids are doing what again this summer, and wasting money for what?” My grandma was an incredible woman, because she would pay for my camp every year. She didn’t even know if I liked camp. Genuinely, I just feel like the camp would roll around again, and she’d sign me up and sign the check and send me. That was her investment to the next gen. And I look back now, and I’m like, “Did that woman know that I would be up here one day?” Did that woman know that one day I would have all of these students who know who I am and look up to me and think my faith is something? Because what she remembers was 14-year-old Lauren sitting in the back of the geriatric corner scrolling on my phone. And one day something just lit inside of me, and I said, “You know what? Let’s carry those old ashes outside the camp, and let’s try something new. Let’s add some fresh wood.”

Constant Devotion, Not Moments of Inspiration

The fire stays lit because of constant devotion, not because of moments of inspiration. Acts 2:42 says:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and to prayer. And everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and signs were being performed throughout the apostles.

Everyone was filled with awe. Could you imagine this room with everybody jumping and worshipping and living? The Lord is good. We got six people baptized, people are getting saved. Albuquerque’s going to revive. We’re going to wake up dormant. We’re in the live city, we got Topgolf and we love Topgolf, we don’t have any sports teams, but you know what, we still love this city. We’re 10 years behind in fashion, but we love it. Look at the size of the wonders. Look at the miracles that he’s doing.

I believe the water’s going to start flowing through the Rio Grande again. When this city starts waking up, when this city starts coming back to life, when we start actually devoting ourselves for an extended period of time, not just for a moment of inspiration from the Father, not just sitting here like, “Oh God, I just had a really rough day, I hope you speak to me, I hope you do something in me. Oh, this book isn’t working, I’ll try the pod.” We go through these motions and we get so frustrated. But in all reality, he’s just asking us to add another log. Just add another log.

My dad is a big country fan, and he used to listen to this song called “Put Another Log on the Fire.” Does anybody know that? It’s so lame. But that’s all I think about. Put the log on the fire.

There are six chapters before this explaining the regulations for sacrifice, explaining all the hoops they had to jump through. And then Jesus came and he tore the veil and he made the Holy Spirit available to you at any single point in time. You can talk to him right now, any point in time. I know the older generation is thinking, “Oh, Lauren, this is so cute. I’ve been reading my Bible for years, I’ve been consecrating myself in my prayer closet for years, there’s not a type of cedar I haven’t thrown on this fire.” I get it. But the wood that you add is not just for you. As much as this whole message is about you doing your own thing for yourself, because it’s about you and the Lord, and you and the Lord alone, your relationship with him, you have a ripple effect.

The Ripple Effect

When I started going to church with my grandma, I didn’t think I was going to get saved. That’s so silly. I just thought I was going to church. I was like, “Whatever, go watch the Christmas play and have some fun and whatever.” And then God broke me at a youth event. Literally humbled me to my face, and I was sobbing and I was crying, and J.B. Chavez was talking about Jonah, and it was crazy. And then God literally stopped time, because I was about to be late for my curfew. My youth pastor’s wife was driving as fast as she could to get me home, and we left later than it should have taken. And then when we pulled in the driveway, time just, I don’t know, I can’t even explain it, it felt like time froze for a minute.

And looking back at that moment, and looking at where I am now, and looking at where my family is now, and looking at the ripple effect that each log of wood did to my life, did to my family’s life, did to the students here at this church, to students at other places. God has used me immeasurably more than I could have ever expected. Lauren in the geriatric corner had no idea. Lauren in the geriatric corner wasn’t even locked in, she was out.

And I want you to know it’s not the end of your journey. Just because your kids are grown up, moved out of the house, just because you’re not married yet, just because you haven’t started high school yet. You don’t have to wait for that next milestone, or for that next tragedy, or for that next mountain top to start stretching a little bit. To start spreading your flames out, to start reaching across the aisle. Look around you. There’s people in this room who need to have a conversation with you. And you may think I’m joking, but the life experience that you have is going to build somebody in this room’s life up more than you could ever imagine. I experienced it this morning.

Point Three: It’s Their Future

My last point for you. Okay, last point. It’s their future. It’s their future. It was your future once. To think about the people who were praying over my grandma as ferociously as she was praying over me. To think about my future grandchildren, to think about my future children, to think about their future children. I totally understand why the Bible kept these lines and lines of genealogy, because he wanted you to see how far faithfulness could travel. It goes so far. And the faithfulness that you have now, the people below you only get an excess. They only get a little piece of it. And you can only hope that they’re getting a little piece of it. You don’t even know if they’re taking it. So you have to live life at a 10 for Jesus all the time. As hard as it is, that’s the sacrifice. It’s what I’m trying to get these young people to understand.

That’s the whole, “I’m tired.” Yeah, I know. “I don’t want to read my Bible.” Yeah, I know. You think I always want to pick up and read my Bible? Spoiler alert, sometimes I don’t. And I know that you don’t either. But guess what? It’s their future depending on it. It’s their souls, it’s their salvation, it’s their livelihood, it’s their future.

Think about how much your life has changed since you encountered God. Close your eyes. Think about when you first started with the Father. Those first prayers, those first scriptures that you were trying to understand, that first worship song that just pulled on your heartstring. What God ignites in you, he wants us to steward. Keep your eyes closed for just a moment.

An Unauthorized Fire

I want to read this last passage to you. It’s Leviticus 10. And this is after the sacrifice has been accepted and the fire comes down. And now Aaron’s sons go, Nadav and Abihu.

Each took their own fire pan, put fire in it, placed incense on it, and presented an unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them to do. Then the fire came from the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord. Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Lord has spoken: I will demonstrate my holiness to those who are near me, and I will reveal my glory before all people.” And Aaron remained silent.

This got me. It actually choked me up when I read it. Oh God, I don’t want to ever be before the Father and have to answer for my sons bringing up an unauthorized sacrifice. And I don’t know the context, so I’m speaking in assumption over Aaron, but who’s watching these boys? Who was watching these boys? Who was letting them just burn a sacrifice unauthorized, after all the work they went through? Seven days worth of work, of prayer, of consecration, of anointing, of prophecy they poured out on these boys. Just for them to be like, “I’m going to take an unauthorized fire over here.” Things can change in an instant.

Judges 2:10:

The whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors, and after them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel.

In one generation, in one moment, everything can change. Your family lineage could have believer after believer after believer after believer, “Oh, I come from a long line of pastors, oh, congratulations to you.” And it could change in an instant. Takes one moment of comfort, one moment of thinking I’ve got it all figured out. God loves you, God loves your family, but he’s still expecting you to steward it. He’s still expecting you to do something.

Compromise rarely stays contained to one generation. The compromises that we see, or that we complain about, from generation after generation, they just trickle on down. “Oh, those millennials, they don’t listen.” That’s all they say about Gen Z. Why? Because nobody cared enough to fix the problem. “Oh, those boomers.” Why? Because nobody cared enough to fix the problem. So are we going to be the generation that cares enough to fix the problem? Because we have young people who are looking up to us. They’re looking up to us to be examples in faith, to be examples in our walk, to be examples in our character, to be examples in the world.

This is what my world looks like. This is real right here. It’s just a little corner with me and God. Because it’s real. And young people are looking for real. They don’t want counterfeit. They don’t want, “I’ve practiced this for 20 years, I’m really good at it.” They want real, genuine faith, not perfect faith. Nobody’s asking for perfect faith. But real faith. Real faith in Jesus.

Real, Not Perfect

Jesus saved my life. I’ll tell you, I’m a product of Next Gen Ministries, not here. But my grandma grew up taking me to church and taking me to VBS, and whatever church in town had a VBS, she’s like, “You’re going.” Get you there. I made friends all over. It’s actually funny, I’ve actually made connections with people in the room who I was at VBS with, with their kids, and had no idea. That’s how God was working in my life, all the way up until I turned 15 and I got saved, and then I turned 18 and someone offered me a job at the church, and I was like, “What? For real?” I was like, “Do you know my family doesn’t come to church?” It’s like I felt like I had to explain every reason why I shouldn’t be. I vomit words, so I just was like, “Oh, I’ve sinned a lot, I don’t think, I just, every reason why I shouldn’t.” And I’ll never forget, the pastor looked at me and he said, “That’s exactly why we want you. You’re real.” It’s not about being perfect. It’s about being real. It’s about being honest. It’s about being vulnerable. It’s about knowing that you are literally not perfect. But you serve a God who is.

And you’ve seen him do so much through you, in your life, through your kids, through your family. And maybe you’re still in the process of receiving those miracles. And maybe you’re in the process of still receiving that hope and that future from the Father. But guess what? There’s people in the room who need to see that journey too. They need to see every part of it. And they’re ready for you.

These young people are hungry for relationships. They need spiritual grandmas and grandpas and moms and dads and older brothers and sisters. And I just think, they gave me a card that said I was a cut above the rest for a dad. And I know that I could play mom and dad, but it’d be really nice to have some strong men of God that want to come and love on these men. Noah prayed for a generation of young men that want to grow up. We need a generation of men to lead, because I can’t lead as a woman. And guess what, I can lead these young girls, but I’m not a mom, I’m not married. There’s skills and experiences that you have that they don’t. And I have benefited from grandmas and aunties and uncles in the church that have significantly blessed my life. There’s words of wisdom that I will cherish forever from some of those people. And what they need is relationship with you. Relationship with each other strengthens our relationship with Jesus. Just like it says in Acts 4:2, they were teaching, fellowshipping, and breaking the bread together. How can we grow closer as a family? This is a family.

Closing

We’re getting ready to take communion, and I want to read this last verse to you, but in Pastor David fashion, I wanted to end with a closing statement. Learn from the best, what can I say. So if I could sum this all up, here’s what I’d say: from the very beginning, God’s desire has never been to simply rescue a people, but to dwell among them. He is the God who starts the fire, entrusts it to his people, and calls every generation to faithfully steward his presence, so the next generation doesn’t just hear about him, they know him.

And that’s what I leave to you. Help us lead the next generation. Help us be the generation that heals this land. Because as close as we are to just falling down, we’re one generation from falling down, we’re also just one generation from coming up. We are one generation from being on a mountain top. We are one generation away from seeing the miracles and the wonders that God has for Albuquerque. And I pray about it, and God just gives me these visions of young people worshipping and dancing. And I just have this vision of driving down Central one day and seeing all these groups that we know handing out cards and handing out food to the homeless people, young people. And then I just see, oh my gosh, one day we have a whole shelter, a BC shelter, and the teenagers work there, and they serve, and they do things, and these spiritual moms and dads are helping raise these generations of kids who are in these rough situations and who need mom and dad to pour into their life, but they don’t have mom and dad to pour into their life, but BC has moms and dads that can pour into their life. And I just have this vision of one day Albuquerque actually changing, not because we want it to, but because we genuinely have a heart for people, because we genuinely know that Jesus wants Albuquerque to change, that there’s something he has to offer us that will genuinely change somebody’s life.

Salvation is going to genuinely change somebody’s life. Like Pastor Cindy said, this is one of the biggest miracles ever. Someone deciding that Jesus is alive, that he died on the cross for them, that his grace is enough for them, and that they want to follow him for the rest of the days of their life. That’s a fire being lit and going out into the world. That is, in fact, the greatest miracle that could ever happen. And what we need is more fires, to take the basket off and start going into the world and spreading like wildfire. Because, yeah, fire’s bad, but also fire’s God in the spiritual sense. We need God in this city, and we need a fire. We need to burn the old away, and we need the new to come fresh. We need it.

Invitation

Joel 2 says:

Even now, says the Lord, turn and come to me with all your heart in genuine repentance, with fasting and weeping and mourning, until every barrier is removed, every barrier, and the broken fellowship is restored. Rip your heart into pieces in sorrow, and your garments. Now return in repentance to the Lord, for he’s gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness, and he relents his sentence of evil when his people genuinely repent.

Do you want freedom? Repent. Do you want joy again? Repent. Do you want peace again? Repent. Do you want to see peace in your family? Repent and seek the Lord.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, I just want to invite you. Maybe you’ve never lit that fire in your heart before that I’m talking about. Maybe you don’t even know what it’s like to ask Jesus to come into your life. Now’s your chance. Now’s your chance to be a wildfire. His grace is sufficient for you. So if that’s you, and you want to accept Jesus into your heart, would you just lift your hand? I want to pray over you.

And as we step into communion, we’re remembering what Jesus did on the cross, and he asks us to do that in right standing with him. And so the decision that you’re making right now is actually incredible. It’s incredible, because now you get to receive communion, and you get to remember physically the grace that Christ has brought into your life.

So, dear heavenly Father, repeat after me.

Dear heavenly Father, thank you so much that you sent your son, Jesus, to die for me. I’m a sinner, and I’m in need of a savior. Jesus, I choose you. Wash me clean. Send me grace. Send me mercy. Make me new. I’m ready for life with you, forever and ever, for all eternity. I choose you, just like you chose me. Thank you, Jesus. In your name we pray.

All God’s people said amen.