Fired Up (part 4) Sermon Preview

I present for your consideration today, two cities in Arizona.

City #1 – Bradshaw City, Arizona.  This beautiful city set amidst the Prescott National Forest was incorporated 160 years ago.  Within a decade of its founding, it boasted considerable wealth, with mansions and nice restaurants lining its main street.  The city’s 5,000 residents primarily worked at the gold mine located just outside of town, and its future looked bright!  Sadly (for its residents), the gold around Bradshaw City was quickly mined, leading to the city being completely abandoned by its residents just 25 years after its incorporation.  All that remains of Bradshaw City today is a National Forestry sign saying “Bradshaw City” and some dilapidated ruins of old buildings.  That’s right, Bradshaw City is a full blown ghost town today.

City #2 – Tombstone, Arizona.  This town got going about the time that Bradshaw City ghosted.  The silver mines outside of town drew many in search of wealth and prosperity, including famous cowboys like Doc Holliday and retired lawmen like Wyatt Earp.  While the silver mines were operating, the town grew to 14,000 people, but flooding in the silver mines led to the mining operation being abandoned, and the town shrunk to just a few hundred people.  It still exists today mainly as a tourist destination for people to take pictures near the old O.K. Corral.

Now, why do I share these locations with you today?  I do so because they are good representations of what happens when you separate something from its life source.  Ghost towns like Bradshaw City or ceremonial towns like Tombstone,  reveal little of their storied past now that the pipeline to their treasure has been turned off.  Like a cell phone with a run down battery and no charger, these cities have mostly lost their usefulness.

Let’s connect this principle to our spiritual lives …

Some of you reading this may identify your spiritual life like Bradshaw City:  there once was a day when you were “booming” with spiritual interest, but at some point, you disconnected from Christ, and today all that is left of your Christian identity is a baptism certificate or an old t-shirt from church camp … spiritual equivalents of the “Bradshaw City” National Forestry Service sign.  It may feel like the life that once looked promising has been extinguished.

Others of you reading this may identify your spiritual life like Tombstone:  an impressive past but a largely ceremonial present.  While you once walked with God daily, today you only gather among God’s people annually for Christmas or Easter services … spiritually “taking pictures” near the ecclesiastical O.K. Corrals of your more active Christian days.

Jesus does not want His followers to merely have a past with Him, but He desires our present and is preparing for our futures.  He does not want our spiritual lives to be ghost towns separated from a treasured relationship with Him, so He has sent the Holy Ghost to empower us to continue to produce His fruit in all seasons of our lives.

Would you like to reconnect to the Treasure?

This Sunday, May 18, at Wildwood Community Church, we will be in part 4 of our “Fired Up” sermon series continuing to look at a study of the Holy Spirit and the believer.  This week we will be in John 15:1-17 as we see how we can make our home (abide) in Jesus, and see His Spirit produce His fruit in our lives today.  Make plans to join us this Sunday in our 8:30, 9:45, and 11:00 service … and bring friends!