Peter Roselle: Burning Hearts for God (Luke 24:32)

• 32 says, and they said to one another did not our heart burn within us while he talked with us on the road. That was one of the messages Bill Johnson spoke that really spoke to me he said we should be called the church of the burning hearts, not a Catholic thing. You know, the sacred heart remember those of you that grew up that way. He’s holding his heart out in the open and that’s not the worst thing, is it? Like imagine if all of us could live with that much honesty that we just held our hearts out to people and let them see it. But no, this is burning hearts. And if the church is full of people burning for the Lord that’s a church that’s gonna attract people with the light of God, right? And I think I might’ve said this story but it just bears repeating because I love Bill Johnson, he’s a fifth generation pastor. He’s just gotten a father’s blessing. You could just see it. It’s all over his life.

00:55 - And it’s beautiful how his church has impacted the whole world. It’s amazing how one local church and, you know, kind of the backwoods of Northern California is known all over the world ‘cause he was willing to just submit to what the Lord was trying to do for him. And he was at a conference with Heidi Baker and he was waiting as the worship was going on and the praise and worship was going on and there was a lady next to him. And I don’t know if you know this, but he himself is a musician, he led worship, plays the piano. His father had a big impact on him that way.

01:27 - So, you know, he’s not a novice when it comes to music. And as he’s waiting to go up to speak during praise and worship, there’s this girl over here who’s singing way off key and really loud. And he was getting annoyed. You know, he’s just being honest as he’s talking and he was getting annoyed and he’s saying, oh my God, can’t somebody tell her to please just turn the volume down a little. It’s so distracting. And then Heidi Baker comes and walks up next to him and puts her arm around him and says, look at her, isn’t she amazing? 35 years a prostitute got saved and when she comes in, she can’t help it. She just has to worship. He went, oh, I’m so sorry God that I allow my flesh to get in the way and be annoyed by that one. This is what we live for.

02:27 - It doesn’t matter how bad the situation is, God can turn somebody’s life around. Who am I to judge, right? Like, go for it lady. This is way better than 35 years of selling your body and defiling yourself. We don’t have the right to do that, do we? I mean, we do, we get annoyed, I get it, we get annoyed by things at church sometimes but like you just, if you’ve been on the other side you know how great it feels for people to just accept you and love you for who you are and not put you through this lens of, you know, you don’t meet my standards. So this is what one guy said about, the Christian said about the rise of Christianity.

03:12 - One of the most striking things about the early Christians was exemplified in ancient Turkey during a plague, all right? So we’re in the middle of a plague right now. The rich and the well-to-do and particularly the doctors would gather up their family and possessions and leave town and they would flee to the hills to the fresher less polluted air or to friends and family and towns far away. But the Christians often among the poorest and many of them slaves would stay and nurse the people including those who were neither Christians or family members or in any other way related to them. Sometimes the people that were sick got well again, not all the diseases were necessarily fatal. And sometimes the Christians would themselves catch the disease and die from it. Here’s what I want you to remember.

04:06 - But the point was made graphically and unmistakably. This was a different way to be human. That should be convicted, huh? How about me? Am I living in a way that someone would look at me and say I don’t know what it is about him, but he’s different. And not in a crazy way, like he’s operating off of a different GPS. Like he’s tuned into a different satellite and the decisions he makes are different than the people on the job make and this is not better than anybody he’s just tuned into the source, right? These people are living it in a way that the unbelievers were looking at saying that’s a different way to be human. You’re not sleeping around, you’re committed to one spouse for your whole life.

04:54 - You’re disciplining your children in a different way than we are. What’s different about you? And then he gives the answer, the Christians when they were called upon to explain the habits of heart which made it second nature, right? That’s a powerful thing right there. He comes in and gives us that second nature of heaven to override the pole of our earthly nature. What was it that made it second nature to do these things? They would talk about Jesus and about the God that they had discovered through Jesus whose very own nature was self-giving love. That’s what Heidi Baker was saying to Bill Johnson that day, right? Look at her, 35 years prostitute, saved, sanctified, set apart, in a sense restored.

05:45 - What the world would say is impossible, nothing’s impossible with God, amen. All right, let’s stand up and we’ll make a declaration at the end. I love this version of that verse I quoted to you, It’s Romans 5:20. And if you go on Bible Hub you can compare all different versions of the same verse, it’s a great tool. Bible Gateway and Bible Hub, man, they’ll keep you busy with the word and they’re both free, it’s awesome.

06:14 - But it says in this particular version, “Where sin abounded the grace of God did super abound.” That’s a good word, right? You might not like what’s going on in the culture, I sure don’t. And I’m out with unsafe people all the time. So I get the line that we’re trying to be sold right now and I don’t buy it. So I understand it’s complicated, and whatever that’s another day’s topic. But I got to look in the mirror first. Judgment begins in the house of the Lord.

06:45 - What am I doing to change it? How am I living my life in a way that said that’s a different way to be human. Pretty big obligation in it. But Jesus looked at Peter and you know remember Peter had a kind of a checkered background, there’s some sketchy decisions that he had made. And when Jesus said, who do people say that I am? And then they gave the different answers. And then Jesus said, well, who do you say that I am? What did he say? You are the Christ, the son of the living God. Lord, where can we go? You’re the bread of life? Where can we go? We’re not leaving.

07:24 - You’re the one, we know that you’re the one other people might have left, but we know you’re the one. And that’s when Jesus looked at him and said am that rock, I believe of your confession, Peter that Jesus Christ is Lord on that rock I will build my church. Who’s speaking now? Jesus said, I will build. Say it again. My church, I will build my church. It’s not Peter attrition church, it’s not denominations church, it’s the church of Jesus Christ, right? On that rock I will build my church. Jesus is still building his church on that rock.

08:01 - You believe that? You know in America, it looks like many churches are watering down the word. Sorry, I’m not trying to be the police here, but you just can’t, you can’t skim on the truth. His church is gonna be telling the truth. Even when people don’t wanna hear it. Like we’re not gonna tickle people’s ears, ‘cause we’re worried about offending them. We’re gonna give them the truth, we’ll do it with love, but we gotta tell them the truth, right? The gates of hell will not prevail against my church. That’s what Jesus said. I think we should say it out loud. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church of Jesus Christ. So here’s what I want you to think about.

08:45 - If the Gates of hell are prevailing maybe it’s not his church. So who has to change? Raise your hand. We’re the church. So if you don’t like what’s happening in culture start with yourself and say I’m gonna be living a different model now. And instead of fighting flesh with flesh, I’m gonna fast and pray and ask the Lord for the right strategy. So that we can be those different people, amen.

09:13 - And Jesus said, I will give you not just Peter, but all of us, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. That means that we can bring heaven to earth. Lord as in heaven so on earth as it is in heaven let it be here on earth this day, come Lord. I have the keys and that will give you authority to bind and loose, amen. So let’s lift our hands. Lord, I wanna submit to your authority over my life. Thank you for giving me the keys. Thank you for making that road available. It might be narrow, but it’s available.

09:47 - And I choose Lord, I make a decision in my life to be the difference maker that you want here in this earth, not to just collapse under the pressure of the culture and say the easy thing or look the other way but to speak the truth in love. I refuse to dine with the father of lies. I will eat your word. I will speak the truth of God, but I’ll do it with your oil, with the love of your Holy spirit operating in me so that we can all be obedient to your call, that our food would be to do the will of the one who sent us. Heavenly father, son and the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. I bless your people to go and be those change agents today in Jesus name. Everybody say it, amen. Lift the shout, man, it’s good. It’s good to celebrate with the Lord. .