Fan It Into Flame

January 16, 2024 Pastor Chris Oswald

Thesis The Christian life requires both receiving the finished work of Christ and actively multiplying what God has given us through effort and spiritual ambition, trusting that pursuing God's glory is always the path to our own ultimate joy.

Series

True North

Type

Expository

Tone

—

Method

—

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

29 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Pastoral correction · unit #20

"Oswald directs community groups to discuss two questions: first, identifying what God has given them to multiply; second, recognizing where fuller obedience would create trouble—making explicit the cost of fanning gifts into flame."

Doctrinal loci· 11 surfaced

Sanctification · 13 Soteriology · 6 Ecclesiology · 4 Pastoral Theology · 4 Eschatology · 3 Theology Proper · 3 Ethics / Moral Theology · 2 Pneumatology · 2 Providence / Sovereignty · 2 Anthropology · 1 Bibliology · 1

Bible citations· 14

Illustrations· 1

analogy · unit #24 — Oswald uses Paul's upcoming three vocational metaphors to illustrate that soldiers, athletes, and farmers all master the art of investing discomfort for accomplishment, making them apt models for Christian effort and spiritual ambition.

Theological claims· 12

The pattern of church history is perpetual oscillation between error and overcorrection rather than sustained doctrinal equilibrium. unit #5
The contemporary emphasis on gospel-centeredness has created an imbalance by celebrating Christ's finished work while neglecting the progressive, effortful dimensions of Christian sanctification and calling. unit #6
Proper Christian theology requires simultaneous affirmation of both the finished work of Christ and the progressive elements of sanctification and calling. unit #8
The apostolic pattern in farewell texts is to call believers to spiritual ambition and progressive multiplication rather than passive celebration of the finished work. unit #12
Jesus's final words parallel the apostles' by calling for multiplication and expansion, demonstrating that 'God loves you as you are' statements, while foundational, inadequately describe Christian life by omitting the building that must occur on that foundation. unit #14
The 'fan into flame' principle applies to every domain of life where God has given something—spiritual gifts, marriage, church membership, vocation—all require active effort to multiply what has been entrusted. unit #15
Fanning spiritual gifts into flame often invites trouble and sacrifice, creating temptation to do only enough to satisfy conscience while avoiding the costs of full obedience. unit #16
Every spiritual gift presents the same dynamic—one can give enough to satisfy obligation while recognizing that fuller exercise would require sacrificial cost. unit #17
The strategy of avoiding cost and seeking safety produces the worst suffering, while full obedience, despite its immediate cost, never produces regret. unit #21
The plan that brings God optimal glory is identical to the plan that brings you ultimate joy—pursuing God's glory never requires compromising your own good. unit #25
Though pursuing God's glory sometimes appears to conflict with personal good, that appearance is deceptive—glory-seeking produces ultimate personal flourishing while comfort-seeking guarantees loss. unit #26
Scripture and church history unite to testify that pursuing God's kingdom produces both eternal reward and present blessing, while those who live fully for Christ universally testify to having no regrets. unit #27

Quotations· 1

"aim for earth, get nothing. Aim for heaven, get earth thrown in." — C.S. Lewis (unit #27)

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Full transcript

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0 · The pastor introduces the podcast format, identifies himself, and explains the purpose of this episode as preparation for community group discussion of the previous Sunday's sermon

Greetings and salutations, Gentiles and Jew. Welcome to the Providence Community Podcast, the very first podcast of 2024. My name is Chris Oswald, Senior pastor at Providence Community Church. This is. This here is one of them. They're preparation for community group kind of podcasts. Pretty soon you'll be gathering to discuss the text that you heard last week in the sermon. And I try to drop these podcasts at least before you gather to meet for community groups so that you have maybe another way of listening and thinking through the content that was explored during the Sunday morning sermon.

1 · Oswald establishes the biblical context of 2 Timothy by explaining Paul's imminent execution and his relationship with Timothy as his beloved spiritual son, framing the letter as final words from a dying mentor

Well, we're looking at a particular passage in a particular book. We're looking at two Timothy. I don't think I mentioned that the name of the series is going to be called True North. And it is sort of just based on this idea that Paul is as he is really ready to leave this world, ready to be executed, in fact, already being poured out like a drink offering. He says as Paul is waiting for execution, he reaches out to one of those men that he loves the most, his true child. He says in, in this book, his beloved child, his beloved son in the faith. Timothy.

2 · Oswald explains Timothy's assignment in Ephesus—a strategic city where the church was drifting from sound doctrine—and identifies Timothy's supernatural teaching gift as the reason Paul stationed him there

Now, Timothy, if you'll remember from our time in First, Timothy has been left in Ephesus, which is an extremely strategic and important city in the Roman Empire. And I've got a frog in my throat. I keep sounding like Al Mohler. Anyway, thank you for listening to today's talk Turning Point. Whatever his thing is, he's left Timothy in Ephesus because Ephesus is a church that is starting to veer away from true doctrine. It seems to me in this particular instance that in Timothy's case he may have received a supernatural gifting of teaching to do the job that that Paul's called him to do. That's really why he's there. He is there to teach. He is there to keep folks on the right path of theological truthfulness, of gospel truthfulness.

3 · Oswald identifies the letter's central purpose: Paul, having suffered greatly for faithful teaching and now facing execution, writes to encourage Timothy to remain faithful in his own teaching ministry

And so what we're finding in our passage is that Paul is really about to be executed. He's suffered a great deal for being a faithful teacher. And he's writing to Timothy to encourage him to remain faithful in his particular teaching gift.

4 · Oswald presents 2 Timothy 1:6-7 as the controlling text for the entire letter, focusing on Paul's command to fan Timothy's God-given gift into flame and the spirit of power, love, and self-control that accompanies it

This is described, I think, in the verse that sort of sets the table for the entire book, and that is that he wants him to fan into flame. This is second Timothy 1, 6. Fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self control.

5 · Oswald articulates a principle of church history: Christian communities perpetually oscillate between errors and overcorrections, constantly adjusting course rather than maintaining perfect balance

Now. We're always catching up. Sorry, coffee break. We're always catching up to an overcorrection from previous problems and issues and so on and so forth. This is just the Christian life. This is what it means to be in a local church, to be in a particular moment in Christianity. In the history of Christianity, we're always sort of either moving away from some error or readjusting after we've moved away perhaps more than we ought to.

6 · Oswald critiques the contemporary gospel-centeredness movement for overemphasizing Christ's finished work while neglecting the progressive, developmental aspects of the Christian life—an imbalance he attributes to preaching's tendency toward oversimplification

One of those has been. One of the things that has developed in Christianity in the past 30 years or so is this idea of gospel centeredness, in particular an emphasis on the finished work of Jesus and the satisfaction and relief that comes from the finished work of Jesus. And this is all beautiful and glorious truth. We are just not very good. As people and particularly as communicators, we have created a style of preaching that greatly favors oversimplification. And as a result of that, we tend to often deliver unbalanced truth. And I think there's a little we can do about that. I don't know that we can fix that. I think there's just by the very nature of who we are as people and so on and so forth. It's a difficult thing to do anyway. So we've established this sort of environment where we pretty routinely celebrate the finished work of Jesus. But in so doing, we tend to neglect talking about the progressive elements of Christianity.

7 · Oswald argues that Christianity contains both completed and progressive dimensions in every aspect—kingdom, salvation, sanctification—all operating in the tension of already/not yet eschatology

And Christianity is a progressive sort of thing, even as it is a finished sort of thing. No one piece of this is going to describe the glorious riches that we have in Christ. And to some extent, in a very real sense, we are what we are. We are set apart in Him. We are. Hebrews says, we are sanctified in him even now. But in another sense, we are caught in this. Caught. We are put into this sort of progressive experience. And every aspect of Christianity has a progressive element to it and a completed element to it. It's the already not yet, and it's in everything. This is how we would talk about the kingdom. This is how we would talk about our salvation. It is already and not yet. This is how we would talk about our sanctification, and so on and so forth.

8 · Oswald warns that celebration of Christ's finished work and doctrines like eternal security must not eclipse the progressive elements pervading Christian experience and calling

And so we want to make sure that even as we celebrate the finished work of Jesus Christ and, for instance, eternal security, or just the concreteness of our salvation as it was set before the foundation of the world, he chose us in him before the foundation of the world. Even as we celebrate the finished aspects, we've got to be careful that we're not neglecting the progressive elements that are everywhere within the nature of Christianity.

9 · Oswald marshals multiple biblical images—the parable of talents, leaven, transformation from glory to glory—to establish that progression happens through human effort applied to divine gifts, with evaluation based on multiplication rather than mere preservation

Whether you're talking about this idea with Jesus communicates with the parable of the stewards, in which individuals are given a dispensation, given a gift, and they are to given not so much a gift, some talents, some finances, and they are really evaluated by how much they multiply what they were given. This is simply the very idea of the Kingdom of God being like Leaven, advancing slowly and progressively. This is simply the way that we are transformed from one degree of glory to another. I could just go on and on and describe all the various ways in which this progressive issue is important. Well, how do we progress? We progress through effort.

10 · Oswald signals a major shift to extended exposition of 2 Peter 1, framing it as something the Lord has been pressing him to bring to the congregation

One of the passages that I've been meaning to read to you, I just knew the Lord wanted me to bring this to the Church at some point, is 2 Timothy chapter 1.

11 · Oswald reads 2 Peter 1:2-15 in full, emphasizing Peter's language of multiplication, the command to make every effort to supplement faith with virtues, and Peter's stated intention to use his final days stirring up progressive growth through reminders

Just start in verse 2 May Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. So already at the beginning, may grace and peace be multiplied to you. We're talking about growth and progression here. His Divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us is precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. Verse 5 of 2 Timothy 1 For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and virtue with knowledge and knowledge with self control and self control with steadfastness and steadfastness with godliness and godliness, with brotherly affection and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fail, you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that I have. That you have, I think, it right as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon. As our Lord Jesus Christ made very clear to me. I'm in verse 15, about done. And I will make every effort so that after my departure, you may be able at any time to recall these things.

12 · Oswald identifies a pattern in apostolic farewell texts: both Paul and Peter use their final moments not to celebrate past accomplishments but to call their spiritual children to multiply what they've been given through spiritual ambition and progressive growth

All right, so patterns are beautiful things. My broken little brain loves patterns. Here's the pattern I'm seeing. I've got three goodbye texts in mind. Paul writing Timothy is a call to what? In his final moments. What's he saying to Timothy? Multiply, fan into flames. Get this thing, take this gift you've been given and steward it so that it becomes more progression. We have this passage I just read to you. How does this passage end? Peter says, I'm about to check out, guys. Lord Jesus has revealed it to me that I'm not going to be here much longer. I'm going to pass away. What does Peter say? His intention is to use his final moments, his final days. What's his intention? His intention is to encourage this sort of progressive growth if these qualities are yours and ever increasing. So there's the two big dogs of the faith, Peter and Paul. Both, as they are passing from this life to the next, use their final days to communicate a bit of what I would call spiritual ambition, spiritual discontentment to some degree. Just the idea of expecting and leaning into and wanting to give and serve and grow more and more and more. There's no resting on laurels. We're not using our last days. Peter and Paul are not using their last days to sort of, you know, sit, or even simply to celebrate what has already been filled, finished. But in many respects, they look at what has already been finished and say to the people they love, take that. Take that gift you've been given and do a great thing with it.

13 · Oswald highlights Peter's warning that failure to pursue progressive growth indicates blindness and forgetfulness about the gospel itself, making diligent pursuit of virtues the means of confirming one's calling and election

In the passage in two, Peter, he actually says that if you don't do this thing, if you're not growing in these qualities, it shows that you don't have a clear understanding of what the finished work of Jesus entails. Verse 9. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election. For if you practice these qualities, you will never fall.

14 · Oswald adds Jesus's Great Commission to the pattern of farewell texts calling for multiplication and expansion, then critiques 'God loves you just the way you are' theology for explaining only the foundation while neglecting the building that must occur on it

I said there were three. We've got Peter and Paul. But I'm also thinking of Jesus, who says, what at the end of his earthly ministry. Go therefore into the nations, multiply, make disciples expand, take over, rule and subdue. So the concern is simply that God loves you just the way you are. The Work is finished. These sorts of statements, while true, don't actually explain the entirety of the Christian life. They explain the foundation of the Christian life, but in some respects neglect what we are to do to build on the that foundation.

15 · Oswald applies the 'fan into flame' principle broadly across all domains of Christian life—spiritual gifts, calling, marriage, church membership, vocation—identifying them all as divine gifts requiring active cultivation

And that's why Paul is saying to Timothy, fan this gift you have into flame. It's all the same idea, whether we're talking about a spiritual gift, whether we're talking about a calling, whether we're talking about the marriage that you have or your church membership or your vocation. You've got all these things that God's given you. Let's lean in and do the very best with them that we can.

16 · Oswald acknowledges the cost of full obedience—that 'fanning into flame' often creates trouble and discomfort, making it tempting to do just enough to satisfy conscience while avoiding the consequences of going all the way

Now, as I said in the sermon, there are times when fanning something into a flame, making it burn brighter, there are times when trying more is obviously going to get you into more trouble. And, you know, for Timothy as a teacher, you know, that's certainly the case. It's really easy, as I mentioned on Sunday, to sort of do just enough to satisfy your own conscience, understanding that if you were to do more, it would cause trouble for you in some respect.

17 · Oswald extends the cost-of-obedience principle beyond teaching to all spiritual gifts, using mercy as an example where one can give enough to check the box while recognizing that going further would require true sacrifice

And I think we all understand how that works in teaching. But, you know, I'm not. I'm not sure that's not true of all gifts. You know, I don't know where. Well, I have a very complicated. We need to talk about spiritual gifts sometime because I think that we again, have oversimplified that even a little bit. But let's assume for this conversation the traditional view that people are given a particular gift or two or whatever may not be that, may not be what. What's going on there, but we could talk about that someday. Let's assume that's the case. Well, have you ever practiced mercy and realized, you know, I can give this much mercy, I can give this much care, but if I go much further, we're going to start getting into some pretty sacrificial stuff.

18 · Oswald shifts to personal testimony, acknowledging his own temptation across all areas of life to do just enough to claim obedience while avoiding the problems that fuller obedience would create

I don't know. To me, as I've walked through the Christian life, I've seen this in my life and not just teaching in every area where, you know, I could do enough to say I've done it. I can do enough to say that I've checked off the box, but if I did a little bit more, I'd be causing some problems for myself.

19 · Oswald warns against legalistic misapplication by weak consciences, using his own Bible-reading anxiety as an example, then offers love as the governing principle that transcends box-checking while remaining irreducible to quantitative rules

This is a slippery slope kind of thing because someone who's listening to this with a weak conscience is going to just like not even know how to not do this in every area all the time. I remember feeling this way when I was learning to read my Bible. And I'm like, what's the amount that pleases God? You know, amount, like daily amount, how much am I reading? That's the right amount. So this is something that is an art rather than a science. Some of us would love to have just a clear law of do this much or that much. But what I've learned over time is that the law is love. Supposed to love the Lord. I'm supposed to love the people in my life, supposed to love my neighbors. And love definitely goes beyond the mere kind of checking the box and saying that you've done it.

20 · Oswald directs community groups to discuss two questions: first, identifying what God has given them to multiply; second, recognizing where fuller obedience would create trouble—making explicit the cost of fanning gifts into flame

So what I would encourage for you community group goers this week to discuss is I just think this. First of all, let's make sure we understand that the whole Christian life is about taking something given to us and doing our very best with it. And maybe you could start thinking about what things there are like that in your life. And then maybe, maybe there are areas where, you know, I think there are things that there are gifts that if you were to fan them into the flame and do everything that God's called you to do with them, it would be, you could, you could get into some trouble.

21 · Oswald asserts from experience the paradox that safety-seeking produces the worst outcomes while full obedience, though costly in the moment, never produces regret—the path of avoidance guarantees the very suffering it attempts to escape

One of the things I've learned about that is that my plan to avoid difficulty is the path that actually leads to the worst kinds of difficulty. My commitment to safety is where is the most dangerous thing in my life. My plan to cut corners, my plan to be safe, my plan to be careful, my plan to avoid pain. These are always the things that lead me to pain. And I have never, ever, ever regretted just obeying, just going all the way in some area.

22 · Brief self-deprecating acknowledgment of the podcast's informal structure as transition to final illustration

I feel like this podcast is very disjointed. I'm sorry about that, but I'll leave you with this in the next chapter.

23 · Oswald previews the next sermon's content focusing on Paul's three vocational metaphors in 2 Timothy 2

In 2 Timothy, chapter 2, Paul talks about three vocations, and he talks about the soldier, the farmer, and the athlete. We'll get into that when we get there on Sunday morning.

24 · Oswald uses Paul's upcoming three vocational metaphors to illustrate that soldiers, athletes, and farmers all master the art of investing discomfort for accomplishment, making them apt models for Christian effort and spiritual ambition

But each one of those positions, the farmer, the athlete and the soldier, are essentially experts at leveraging discomfort for the sake of accomplishment. That's what those positions are. That's what a farmer is. That's what a soldier is. That's what an athlete is. Investing significant amounts of time of discomfort to get the prize. They're sort of like master pain investors in a way. That's kind of what soldiers, athletes, and farmers are. And those are appropriate ways of thinking of the Christian life.

25 · Oswald asserts the fundamental unity between God's glory and human flourishing—that the path of maximum glory to God is identical to the path of ultimate human joy, eliminating any competition between the two

I want to leave you with this, and then we'll be done. And I'll get better. I'll get back to a better version of this, but I just want to make sure we never skip just basic things. And one of the basic things would be, you know, there's a plan for your life that brings optimal glory to God, and then there's a plan for your life that brings you ultimate joy and ultimate goodness and so forth. And those are the same plan. You will never have to compromise what's best for you by pursuing what is best for God. You will never have to.

26 · Oswald acknowledges the appearance of conflict between God's glory and personal good but insists the conflict is illusory—glory-seeking always produces ultimate personal good while comfort-seeking produces loss

It will sometimes look like you will have to. You will never have to. If you commit to doing what's best for the Lord, what's best for his name, what's best for his glory, it will always wind up being what's best for you. If you try to live your life the other way and you use comfort as your compass, you won't.

27 · Oswald marshals Lewis and Jesus to establish that heaven-seeking produces earthly good while earth-seeking produces nothing, then cites Paul, Peter, and David Livingston as witnesses that full devotion to Christ produces no regret

This is how Lewis talks about it, you know, aim for earth, get nothing. Aim for heaven, get earth thrown in. Seek first the kingdom of God and all these other things will be added to you. So there's Our minds are probably capable of thinking about this as like two different ways to live life. One for the ultimate glory of God and one for my happiness and joy. The truth is, is that if you will live for the Lord and really live for the Lord, you will find that that path was the best path for you. And you will say as Paul said, as Peter said, as David Livingston said, I have no regrets. I am so grateful that I lived all in for the Lord Jesus.

28 · Oswald closes with self-deprecating acknowledgment of the informal podcast format, expresses gratitude for the church, and blesses the community groups as they gather to discuss the content

Alright friends, thank you for listening to 20 minutes of me figuring out how to do a podcast again. I'm so grateful for you. I'm so grateful for our church. I'm so grateful that we get to encourage one another to faith in good deeds. So may you do so today or tomorrow as you gather for your community groups. God bless.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Dec 31, 2023

Unity in Diversity

Christ actively reconciles and unites all things to himself, making unity in diversity possible both in the world and within the individual believer, and this harmonizing work requires our deliberate surrender of every part of ourselves to his kingship.

Jan 14, 2024

Hope as Help

Biblical counseling is fundamentally the ministry of hope redistribution—helping people realign their misplaced hopes from false promises to the Lord, who alone sustains joy, purity, and renewal through the regenerative power of hope grounded in his promises.

Jan 14, 2024

Comfort is Not a Compass

True Christian love does not use comfort as a compass but calls those we love to follow Christ wherever He leads, even into suffering.

January 16 · This sermon

Fan It Into Flame

The Christian life requires both receiving the finished work of Christ and actively multiplying what God has given us through effort and spiritual ambition, trusting that pursuing God's glory is always the path to our own ultimate joy.

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

Chris argued that church history shows a pattern of oscillation between error and overcorrection rather than sustained doctrinal equilibrium…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we trace the sermon's core arc: from understanding the pattern of doctrinal imbalance in church history, through the recovery of sanctification's progressive demands, to the radical claim that God's glory and your deepest joy are one and the same.

Prayer

A Prayer to Fan the Flame

Father, we come before you in awe of your sovereign grace that has already accomplished our salvation through Christ's finished work. We mar…

Family table

What Are You Fanning Into Flame?

This prompt invites your family to think concretely about gifts and abilities God has given them—not in abstract terms, but as real things t…

Couples

Fanning the Flame Together

What spiritual gift, calling, or responsibility did the sermon help you see more clearly—and what made you hesitate about fully 'fanning it…

Memorize

2 Timothy 1:6

This verse is the sermon's textual anchor and encapsulates its central exhortation: Christian sanctification requires active, effortful engagement with the gifts God has entrusted to us rather than passive contentment with the finished work of Christ. Memorizing it crystallizes the call to spiritual ambition and multiplication across every domain of life.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

Chris argued that church history shows a pattern of oscillation between error and overcorrection rather than sustained doctrinal equilibrium. What examples from your own experience or church background illustrate this pattern—where have you seen the pendulum swing sharply in response to a previous imbalance?

→ How might recognizing this pattern help us avoid being swept into the next overcorrection ourselves?
The sermon suggests that contemporary emphasis on 'God loves you as you are' and the finished work of Christ, while foundational, can create an imbalance by neglecting the progressive, effortful dimensions of sanctification. Where do you see this tension playing out in our own church culture or in conversations among believers?

Hebrews 10:10; 2 Corinthians 3:18

→ What would it look like to hold both truths together without collapsing one into the other?
Paul's command to Timothy to 'fan into flame' the gift God gave him (2 Timothy 1:6) assumes that a gift, once given, requires active effort to develop and multiply. What spiritual gift or calling has God entrusted to you, and what would 'fanning it into flame' concretely look like in your life right now?

2 Timothy 1:6-7

→ What specific obstacles—fear, cost, inconvenience—are you currently using to justify giving 'enough' rather than fully fanning that flame?
The sermon claims that the apostolic pattern in farewell texts is to call believers toward spiritual ambition and multiplication rather than passive celebration. How does this vision of the Christian life—as something we actively build on the foundation Christ has laid—differ from how you've sometimes heard Christianity described?

Matthew 28:19; 2 Peter 1:9-11

→ Does this call to active ambition feel motivating or burdensome to you, and why?
Chris argued that the strategy of avoiding cost and seeking safety produces 'the worst suffering,' while full obedience, despite its immediate cost, never produces regret. Can you think of a decision—your own or someone else's—where choosing comfort over obedience led to greater pain than the obedience would have cost?

Matthew 6:33

→ What does this pattern suggest about how we should evaluate the true 'cost' of following Christ fully?
The sermon claims that the plan that brings God optimal glory is identical to the plan that brings you ultimate joy—that glory-seeking and personal flourishing are never in conflict. How does this claim challenge or reframe the way you've thought about sacrifice or obedience in your own Christian walk?

2 Peter 1:2-15; Matthew 25:14-30

→ Where are you currently tempted to believe that full obedience to Christ would require you to forfeit something genuinely good?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

Monday Hebrews 10:10

Hebrews grounds our sanctification in Christ's single, perfect offering—yet speaks of us as those 'sanctified' (perfect tense, an accomplished fact) who are also being sanctified (progressive reality). We are not caught between finished work and ongoing effort; rather, we are positioned *by* the finished work to *engage* the progressive. The gospel does not exempt us from the labor of fanning our gifts into flame—it empowers us for it.

Tuesday 2 Peter 1:9-11

Peter's farewell exhorts us to 'make every effort to supplement' our faith with virtue, knowledge, self-control, and perseverance—language of active labor, not comfortable coasting. The one who 'does not possess these qualities' is called 'nearsighted,' unable to see the end for which Christ called us. We are called not merely to believe, but to build upon that belief with disciplined ambition, multiplying what God has entrusted to us.

Wednesday Matthew 25:14-30

In Christ's parable, the master's anger falls not on failure but on fearful passivity—the servant who buries his talent to avoid loss. We are accountable not simply for faithfulness to what we've received but for faithfulness in *multiplying* it. Whether spiritual gift, marriage, church membership, or vocation, God has given us something to work with, and comfort-seeking preservation is not the measure of obedience—multiplication is.

Thursday 2 Corinthians 3:18

Paul presents sanctification as a progression—we are being transformed 'from one degree of glory to another' as we behold Christ. This is not a onetime event but a ceaseless movement forward, each stage calling us to active pursuit of deeper conformity. The 'fanning into flame' is not optional embellishment but the very mechanism by which we are shaped into Christ's image.

Friday Matthew 6:33

Christ assures us that when we seek first God's kingdom and righteousness, all things needed for flourishing are added to us—not grudgingly, but as the natural fruit of alignment with God's design. The sermon's radical claim becomes clear: the strategy that costs us most in the moment (full obedience) produces both God's optimal glory *and* our ultimate joy, while comfort-seeking guarantees both diminished witness and personal loss. In fanning our gifts into flame, we discover that sacrifice and fulfillment are not opponents but companions.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

A Prayer to Fan the Flame

Father, we come before you in awe of your sovereign grace that has already accomplished our salvation through Christ's finished work. We marvel that you have given us spiritual gifts, marriages, callings, and church memberships—treasures entrusted to our stewardship. Yet we confess our deep reluctance to fan these gifts into flame. We settle for doing enough to satisfy our conscience while avoiding the costly, sacrificial obedience that would multiply what you have entrusted to us. We are tempted by the comfort of safety and the illusion that passive enjoyment of your grace is sufficient. Forgive us for this half-hearted response to immeasurable grace.

We rejoice that the gospel does not leave us in this weakness. In Christ, you have sanctified us and are sanctifying us still, calling us to progressive multiplication and spiritual ambition (Hebrews 10:10, 2 Peter 1:9-11). The good news is not only that you love us as we are, but that you empower us to become what you have called us to be. Christ did not merely save us for comfort; He saved us for costly kingdom work. The Spirit you have given us is not a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).

We ask you, Father, to ignite holy ambition within us. Give us courage to fan our spiritual gifts into flame, whatever the cost. Strengthen us to pursue full obedience in our marriages, our callings, our church memberships, and our witness (Matthew 28:19). Free us from the deceptive safety-seeking that promises peace but brings the worst suffering. Help us to see clearly that pursuing your glory and our ultimate flourishing are not in conflict but are one and the same (Matthew 6:33). Grant us the grace to embrace the present cost of full obedience, knowing that those who have lived wholly for Christ testify to having no regrets.

We commit ourselves, as your church, to this glad pursuit of Christlikeness—to multiply what you have entrusted to us, to build upon the foundation of your finished work, and to find our deepest joy in your kingdom and glory. To you be all honor and praise.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

What Are You Fanning Into Flame?

For the parent

This prompt invites your family to think concretely about gifts and abilities God has given them—not in abstract terms, but as real things they're either letting sit or actively developing. Listen for what each person names, and gently help them see that 'doing enough' and 'doing all God calls' are two different things.

Pastor Chris talked about fanning a fire into flame—taking something God has given you and actually working it, building it, making it bigger and brighter. What's one gift or ability God has given you (maybe you're good at something, or you love something, or God has put you in a role) that you could 'fan into flame' more than you're doing right now? What would it look like to go from doing enough to satisfy yourself to actually going all-in?

Works for ages 8+ — younger kids can listen and answer with help from a parent; teens and adults will naturally engage at deeper levels of honesty about cost and commitment

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

Fanning the Flame Together

What spiritual gift, calling, or responsibility did the sermon help you see more clearly—and what made you hesitate about fully 'fanning it into flame'?
Where do you sense that we, as a couple, have settled for 'enough' rather than pursuing the multiplied life God has invited us into together—whether in how we steward our marriage, serve the church, or live out our vocation?
How can I pray for you this week as you consider the costs and the grace required to move from obligation toward full obedience in the areas the sermon surfaced?

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

2 Timothy 1:6

For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

Why this verse: This verse is the sermon's textual anchor and encapsulates its central exhortation: Christian sanctification requires active, effortful engagement with the gifts God has entrusted to us rather than passive contentment with the finished work of Christ. Memorizing it crystallizes the call to spiritual ambition and multiplication across every domain of life.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Providence Community Church

Lenexa, KS
Sundays · 10:00 AM
About us · What we believe

Plan a visit →

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# Providence Community Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [Unity in Diversity (2023-12-31)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2023/12/unity-in-diversity)
- [Hope as Help (2024-01-14)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2024/01/hope-as-help)
- [Comfort is Not a Compass (2024-01-14)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2024/01/comfort-is-not-a-compass)
- [Fan It Into Flame (2024-01-16)](/ProvidenceLenexa/sermons/2024/01/fan-it-into-flame)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
- [Plan a visit](/visit)

The page itself ships with Schema.org Article + Church markup (with real geo coordinates), Open Graph + Twitter cards for share previews, and a canonical URL. Transcripts are server-rendered HTML — no JS dependency for the readable body.