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Lukewarm and Loving It!
Francis Chan

Francis Chan (1967–present). Born on August 31, 1967, in Hong Kong to Chinese parents, Francis Chan was raised in San Francisco after his family immigrated to the U.S. His mother died during his birth, and his father, a pastor, passed when he was 12, shaping his faith through loss. Chan earned a bachelor’s degree from The Master’s College and a Master of Divinity from The Master’s Seminary. In 1994, at age 26, he founded Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, California, growing it from 30 to over 3,000 attendees by 2010, when he resigned to pursue broader ministry. Known for his passionate, Bible-centered preaching, he authored bestsellers like Crazy Love (2008), Forgotten God (2009), and Erasing Hell (2011), urging radical devotion to Christ. In 2013, he launched We Are Church, a house-church movement in San Francisco, and later moved to Hong Kong in 2020 to plant churches, though he returned to the U.S. in 2021. Married to Lisa since 1994, he has seven children. Chan says, “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”
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Sermon Summary
In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of overcoming worldly desires and focusing on the treasure of God's kingdom. He refers to the book of Revelation, where those who overcome are promised the right to sit on God's throne. The speaker describes the majestic scene of God's throne, with its glowing appearance, lightning, pillars of fire, and roaring thunder. He highlights the story of Zacchaeus, a wealthy tax collector who had a life-changing encounter with Jesus. Zacchaeus willingly gave away his possessions and repented of his wrongdoings, experiencing salvation and the invitation to dine with Jesus. The speaker encourages listeners to prioritize their relationship with God over worldly pleasures, reminding them of the rewards and blessings that come from following Jesus.
Sermon Transcription
You know, sometimes we'll look at another place and we'll go, Oh, that's weird that they live that way. No, it's weird that we live this way. We're the weird ones. You know, you guys, some of you could probably go, Oh, it's weird, our pastor's Chinese. No, it's weird that you're not. You know, sometimes it's like we get into this world where we just think, I mean, you guys are, you know, we get in this world where we just think, Gosh, you know, the way they live is so strange. No, the way we live is so strange. I mean, isn't that crazy that if there were a hundred people in the room and you've got your computer and your internet connection, you know, they would just look at you like, Whoa, you're one of the three people that has all of that? Two dollars a day over half of the world? Here's two dollars. Two dollars. I want to show you something. Look at you. Did you see that? They just kind of go, I don't like that one dollar bill touched me. Let's close it back. There's probably a couple more on the ground from the last two services. No one's reaching for it. You know, I guarantee you no one's going to leave here today and call their friends and go, No way, Francis threw out two dollars. But do you understand that the majority, the majority of the world would look at what I just did and think that is crazy. Most people would go, I can't believe he just did that and no one even reached for it. Fifty-three out of a hundred live on that per day. Now maybe if I threw out two $100 bills, maybe someone might have reached out a hand because that's more like a day's wage for us, right? You know, $200 a day, you know, you make about four grand a month. That's about a day's wage. Now isn't that weird? I mean, how does that hit you to think that you make 100 times, 100, 100 times the amount of what the average person on this planet makes? That over half of the people, you make 100 times what they make if you make four grand a month. I don't know if that's weird or it's weirder that you don't think you're rich. You know how everyone else in the world would look at this? They would just go, no way! Do you know how strange it is to the rest of the world? Imagine if you're one of those 53 out of the 100 and you look at some people that are making 100 times what you make and you hear them complain about money. You guys, have you ever stopped to think how the rest of the world looks at us? We are so weird. We are so filthy, filthy, filthy rich. And yet most of you would say that you're not. And I'm hoping to change that today. I'm hoping you can walk out of this room like I do and go, man, I am just loaded. I am just absolutely rich beyond imagination, you know, because that's the way the rest of the world looks at me. And we've got to accept it. We're rich. That's my point. You don't like to think of yourself as rich, but you are so rich. And yet some of you would call yourself broke and the rest of the world would just look at you and go, man, what an idiot. You're stressed out about money. You're stressed out about 30 years from now. The point is you're rich. I'm rich. And that puts us at a very serious disadvantage spiritually. What the Bible says, what Jesus says is you're rich and that's a huge disadvantage for you. Jesus says it is so hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. See, we thought riches were this great advantage. Oh, it's so cool because look at all I have. All those poor people over there and Jesus goes, ooh, you're at such a disadvantage because you're rich. It is so hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. You know how hard it is? You know, people have said, you know, Francis, you're always talking about the poor over there and caring for them. Don't you care about the people that are spiritually poor? And I go, yeah, that's why I'm in Simi Valley. Not only we're the richest people in the world, but you talk about security. Let's live in the safest city in the world too. Who do you think on this planet, I think the toughest people to reach are right here in this room. The richest, safest, secure people on this planet. Jesus says in Luke chapter 18 where He says it's hard. You guys, we in this room, we're at a serious disadvantage. Luke chapter 18, He talks to a person who has wealth. He talks to one of us. Luke 18, verse 18, a certain ruler asked Him, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Okay, so there's this rich man who wanted to go to heaven, right? That's us. That's why you're in this room, right? You're a rich person that wants to go to heaven. That's what we have in this room. That's what we have in the satellite room. The satellite room, we have rich people who want to go to heaven and they're always late for church. Kidding you guys. I know some of you guys go in there to make room here and thank you for that. The rest of you, you're just late. Luke 18, here's a rich young ruler, comes to God and comes to Jesus, good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? Verse 19, why do you call me good? Jesus answered, no one's good except God alone. You know the commandments, don't commit adultery, don't murder, don't steal, don't give false testimony, honor your father and mother. Verse 21, all these I've kept since I was a boy. When Jesus heard this, He said to him, you still lack one thing, sell everything you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come follow me. When he heard this, he became very sad because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, how hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. Indeed, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Those who heard this ask, who then can be saved? And Jesus replied, what's impossible with men is possible with God. God tells this rich man, just sell everything you have, give to the poor, and the guy's like... And he just went away sad, he couldn't do it. And Jesus goes, oh, it's so hard. It's so hard when you're rich, enter the kingdom of heaven because you actually think your riches are worth something. And like, I don't know if I could give them up because you just get so clouded, it's so hard. He goes, it'd be easy for me to cram a camel into the eye of a needle than it is to get a rich man into the kingdom of God. Man, I've been studying this passage for 20 years. Man, I've read this backwards. I've heard so many sermons on it explaining every piece of this or that. After 20 years of studying, I'm just going, you know what, I know what this means now. I finally figured out what Jesus was trying to say when He says it's hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. You see, what Jesus was really trying to say was that it's hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. I'm convinced of that. You see, sometimes we dissect the passage so much that we're just blinded to what it's obviously saying. You just look at the rich guy going, man, it's so hard. Do you understand? This is one of the hardest places in the world to tell people about Jesus, for them to get it because we're so rich and so comfortable. And he says, it's impossible. He goes, you know what, it's impossible. It's impossible for the rich to get into heaven. That's how hard it is. He goes, but with God it is possible. It's impossible from a human level, but it can happen. It can happen. That's why I'm here. I go, you know what, it's not going to be easy. It's not going to be probable. But by the power of God, some of you could go to heaven. You see, because if you keep reading, you know, then the disciples go, well, we left everything, verse 29, verse 28. We left all we had to follow you. And Jesus says, I tell you the truth, no one who's left his home, wife, brother, sisters, parents, children for the sake of the kingdom will fail to receive many times as much in this age and in the age to come. You keep reading, Jesus predicts his death and He gives a blind beggar his sight. And then in chapter 19, what happens? Look at this story, very important. Chapter 19, verse 1, Jesus entered Jericho and He's passing through and a man was there by the name of Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was. Being a short man, he couldn't because of the crowd. So he ran ahead, climbed up a sycamore fig tree to see Him since Jesus was coming that way. Remember this story? And then when Jesus reached His spot, He looked up and said to him, Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today. So He came down at once, welcomed Him gladly. And all the people saw this and began to mutter, He's gone to be the guest of a sinner. But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, Look, Lord, here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor. And if I've cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount. Jesus said to him, Today, salvation has come to this house. So here's a wealthy man and what happened that day? Salvation. What happened that day? The impossible. A rich man jumped out of a tree and said, Here, take my money. Here, half goes to the poor and the rest of it, who did I rip off? Here, four times whatever I ripped you off. I don't care about money anymore. Jesus just invited me in. Jesus wants to dine with me. Look, Lord, you know what? I don't care because I found this treasure now. So all my other stuff, it doesn't matter. I give it all away and Jesus says, Okay, he got it. See, I told you, the rich can enter the kingdom of heaven. It's near impossible, but with God, all things are possible. And it happened. Salvation has come to this house. You see, the kingdom of heaven is not like the rich young ruler who said, Man, I got my wealth. He told me to give it to the poor. I don't know, man. He went away sad. The kingdom of heaven is about a little man who jumps out of a tree and goes, Man, I don't care about my stuff. What is the kingdom of heaven like? The kingdom of heaven is like a man who finds a treasure in a field, right? And he sees this treasure. It's so great that he covers it back up. And he goes, Man, let me just get rid of everything else I have because I want that field so badly. He doesn't have to sit there and think about it and go, Man, I don't know if it's worth it. It says, With great joy, you found, you get it. You see that the treasure is that great that I don't even have to think. This isn't compared. This isn't a, let me weigh it out, what's more valuable. With great joy, let me just sell everything I have and get this field. With great joy. I don't, do you ever picture Zacchaeus slowly climbing down the tree and going, Um, alright, I guess I'll give some to the poor. I feel kind of guilty about it anyways. Or if I ripped you off, I'll pay you back. Don't say that. You just picture this little banged up veto guy going, Woo, you know, just jumping. And here's all my money, you know, here you go. And anyone I ripped off, I don't care because I've got God. It's like this treasure that was so great. See, but that's so rare. You see, because money does weird things to people. It just does. I've heard people say that many times. I mean, you heard that, hear that statement? Have you used that statement? Man, money does weird things to people. One statement I have yet to hear in my lifetime. Money has done weird things to me. It's always someone else, huh? You guys, money has done weird things to us. Money has done very weird things to us. Accept it. See, Jesus says, the thing with money is it gives you this, this false sense of security. You start feeling safer the more you have, rather than finding your security in God. The more you have, the less you're inclined to believe that you're needy. Jesus wrote these seven letters to the churches in the book of Revelation. He writes to these seven churches, and one of them was a pretty wealthy one. And when I read the letter, I just go, wow, that's America. This is a letter to the church in America. It freaks me out how similar it is. A lot of you guys know exactly what I'm talking about. The church in Laodicea in Revelation 3, verse 14. It's crazy when you read this, you go, man, that's so us. And that's scary because it's not a nice letter. He says in Revelation 3, verse 14, He says, to the angel of the church in Laodicea write, These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. Verse 15, I know your deeds, that you're neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other. So because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I'm about to spit you out of my mouth. Again, I'm not going to go deep into the geography and tell you about the history of this because I think sometimes we miss the point of the passage by getting too into the details. And that's especially true in this passage. It's simple. Jesus says to this church, you're not hot, you're not cold. You're just kind of lukewarm, just kind of casual about me. I feel like just spitting you out of my mouth. You make me gag. It's not like a hot cup of coffee. It's not like a iced mocha. You're just like this lukewarm coffee. I sip it by accident. Just, oh, that's disgusting. He goes, that's what I think of your church because you're not fired up about me. You're not on fire. You're lukewarm. And a lot of it is because they're rich. You see it in the next verse, verse 17. He says, you say, I'm rich. I've acquired wealth. I don't need a thing. Somebody goes, I don't need a crutch. I'm doing fine. He goes, but you don't realize that you're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire so you can become rich and white clothes to wear so you can cover your shameful nakedness and salve to put on your eyes so you can see. See, this church, they were kind of laid back about God because they didn't feel like, oh, I'm depending on God. God, give me this day, my daily bread. That's not us. When's the last time you were like, oh God, give me something to eat today? No, it's like, well, I don't really need God for my food. I don't really need God for my home. I don't really need God to give me money for the rest of it because I've got my whole retirement set up. And I've got money to leave for my kids so they don't even have to depend on God. I mean, none of us really need to depend on Him for our daily necessities. He goes, it creates this sense of security that suddenly you feel like you're not a needy person because no one on the right mind would look at you and say, wow, you're needy. Those people in Simi Valley, they're so needy. And God says, they don't get it. They really are the needy ones. They're actually the ones that in my eyes are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, naked. It's disgusting because of their view of me because they're not on fire. Are you on fire for God right now? See, my concern is that some of you in this room, many of you, I'm not judging. I'm just saying that you would probably say it about yourself that you're lukewarm. If I were to ask you, okay, are you on fire for God right now or are you lukewarm? I think a lot of you would say you're lukewarm. What concerns me more than the fact that you're lukewarm is that some of you would say, yeah, I am lukewarm. And then you'll walk out the door and you'll do nothing about it. What concerns me the most is that some of you are lukewarm. You know you're lukewarm, but you want to be lukewarm. You've planned your life out this way. You've got enough God in your life. It's not like you don't want to be on fire. I mean, I look at the majority of the American church. They don't want to be on fire. They want a little bit of God. Of course they want God. I want a little bit of God. I mean, it's good. It's good for my kids. It's good to give them a little bit of morals. It's good to learn to give a little bit here and there, serve a little bit. But I've got enough of God. I don't have enough money. I don't got enough stuff. I don't got a big enough house. I need more of that. But I think I've got enough God in my life right now. And it's crazy. Not only are you lukewarm, but that's the goal. You're lukewarm and you're loving it. And you hate for anyone to challenge you to be on fire for God. So we're content here. It's the craziest thing. Do you understand this passage? What is lukewarm equal? Spit out. Well, what does spit out mean? I mean, you know, can you explain that? I need to? What do you want? I mean, it's this idea of spit out. And people have asked, well, does it necessarily mean that if I'm lukewarm that I'm going to hell? Because if you're spit out of his mouth, can you be spit out of his mouth and still be saved? And I'm going, well, you read it. Look at the words. Okay, you're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind. Are these words that you normally use for a believer? I once was blind, but now I'm blind. You know, no, no, these are people who aren't safe. Because if you get it, you won't be lukewarm. And this isn't about work salvation. It's not about, okay, if I work enough, then I'm suddenly on fire. No, I'm saying if you get it, the kingdom of heaven is a person who goes, whoa, you're kidding me. Okay, here's everything. I'm getting this treasure here. It's not about a person going, I don't know, that's pretty good. That's pretty good too. I don't know what I want. There's God, there's the world. There's God, there's, I don't know. God says, oh, you make me want to gag. So you're looking at me, okay, the maker of the world. And then you on this little planet, you're looking at this little house here and this little car and going, man, I don't know if I can give that up for retirement for a few years. And you comparing me, the creator, the one who made the whole world, who spoke it into existence. And you're going, ooh, I don't know if I can give up this little thing on this piece of dirt for Him. He goes, that makes me sick. You make me sick. You make me want to gag. I just want to spit you out of my mouth. See, your riches have so blinded you that you think this stuff is good. You don't see it as dung. It's a big pile of crap. And you don't get it. You think it's actually good. It's all this great stuff. You've been blinded by it. He goes, and that just makes me sick. God looks and He goes, man, you're comparing me to this. You're wondering if I'm valuable enough. Man, the kingdom of heaven is a guy that just goes, duh, are you kidding me? Let me just sell everything. It's about a guy that jumps out of the tree and goes, forget it. I can have God. He goes, but these people that are lukewarm, that's just repulsive. That's just sick to me. See, my concern is that people will see themselves as lukewarm because we do this in church all the time. Yeah, I'm lukewarm. And then 10 minutes later, you're gonna forget about it and move on in life. And I just go, what else is there to think about? Okay, so you understand what lukewarm is? So you're gonna be spit out of the mouth of God. You just go, okay. I go, man, you shouldn't do anything until you figure out how to be on fire for God. You should be down on your face. You shouldn't eat again until you come before God and just fast and pray, God, get me on fire. I'm not on fire. You gotta get me on fire for you. I wanna be in love with you. I gotta see how valuable you are compared to all this other junk. You know, get me here. That should be all you care about. Don't go to work tomorrow if you're lukewarm. Man, sell your house. Just move, do whatever it takes. You can't end your life lukewarm. Do you get that? I mean, why are Jesus' words so strong? He says in the next verse, verse 19, why does He say it so harshly? Verse 19, those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline, so be earnest and repent. Why is God saying this? He goes, because I love you. I don't wanna spit you out of my mouth, you understand? I love you and that's why I'm speaking so harshly and I'm rebuking you. He goes, then I'll discipline you too. I'll have things happen in your life that gets your attention because you're lukewarm. And if you end this way, I'm just gonna spit you out of my mouth because that's disgusting, it's repulsive to me. You make me gag when you question whether I'm worthy of everything and you compare me to your stuff and your false security, your idols. I was trying to think about this passage this week and say, okay, how does this relate? Because I want everything to be about love your neighbor as yourself. How does this relate to that? And Jesus says, I tell you this because I love you. And so I said, okay, what do I, what am I supposed to say to Cornerstone Church? What's the most loving thing I could say to you this morning? And I thought long and hard about this. And it's not gonna sound pretty, but I believe it's the most loving thing I could say to you this morning. I have this haunting fear that many of the people that attend Cornerstone Church, even if you've been coming for years and grew up in the church or whatever, I have this fear that some of you, possibly many, many of you are going to hell. It keeps me up at night. I read the Bible and I go, man, the kingdom of heaven's like a guy that just sold out. Is that what we have here? Some of you are, I know you are. But I have this other fear of like people that like being lukewarm and people that are there. Do you understand the reality of what I said? I'm talking about hell. Have you heard that word so many times that you just have grown numb to it? Eternal punishment. And it's like, what in the world am I doing up here then? And again, I sure hope you don't see this as well as Francis up there judging the congregation, saying he saved, I'm not saying that. I'm saying I'm willing to bet some of you would leave this room and say it about yourself that you are lukewarm, meaning you're gonna be spit out of the mouth of God and cast into the fires of hell. That's all I'm saying is what you would say about yourself. And it blows me away that some of you, you won't do anything. You see, because to me, I just go, whatever, God, I gotta get this right. Because why do you think I left the church in June? You guys write these emails, oh, because you're mad about this. No, I told you why I left, because I wasn't sure about myself. I don't even know if I'm a person that really wants the will of God. Sometimes I get caught, what do you think, that suddenly I'm just oblivious to all the riches and everything? I get caught, I get sucked into Simi Valley of this comfort, secure, happy little Disneyland world we live in. And I get attached thinking this is my home, this is the home. And God just saying, come on, that's not your house. I mean, I get sucked in by this awesome little family and how cute my kids are, how much I love them. And ooh, I couldn't bear to lose one. You know, it's like, no, God. And again, I had to go, God, am I lukewarm? Am I a man that even wants Your will? I've gotta be right about this. Man, and I've said, God, anything, anything, because I see the treasure now. Just give me that, give me that. If you have to take everything else away, you know what, if you have to take away all my stuff, it's just stuff. If you need to take my family away, it's just a family. I'm talking about God. I gotta have this. And sometimes I get clouded by the riches and the security that we have here. And that's why God said, this is gonna be hard for you. And I will do anything, I will leave. That's what I'm hoping, I just show I'm outta here. If I can't pull it off here, I'm leaving. Maybe I'm just not strong enough. I'd love to think that I could be that man here that lives in this crazy, rich, safe environment. And still could care less about all that security and have my eyes focused on God. That's what I wanna be, I'd love to be that example here. But if I can't, then I'm outta here. I'll sell everything and just live amongst the poor. Maybe I'm just not strong enough to really have my eyes on God here. But I gotta keep fixed on Him. I gotta be on fire, I'll do whatever. I'll jump ship, I am not going down with the ship. You're saying, wow, you're a terrible captain. I'm sorry, as much as I love you, I love myself far more. And I'm talking about my own salvation here. And again, it's not about works. It's not about earning it. It's just, you ever like when someone's struggling, someone becomes a new believer, and let's say their struggle is drinking. And you just say, you know what, maybe you should just get outta the bar for a little while. Because maybe you're just not quite strong enough to handle it there. You know, and just not wise. You know, I've got a sickness. And it's called comfort, security, riches. And maybe I'm just not strong enough to handle it here in the safest city in America. You know, and so maybe it's just not wise for me to be there. And so I gotta watch myself and go, man, if I can't do it, because this is all that matters. It's everything. I hope you're that serious about this. Jesus says in verse 20, next verse, He says, here I am. I'm standing at the door and I'm knocking. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I'll come in and eat with him and he with me. And then verse 21, He says, to him who overcomes, I'll give the right to sit with me on my throne just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. See, Jesus says, look, I'm knocking on the door. He goes, I'm saying this because I love you. And I don't want to spit you out of my mouth. I'm knocking. I'm going, please, let me in, let me in. I'm greater. These are greater riches. Just look at the other stuff is dumb. It's garbage compared to me. Trust me, it's so much better here. He goes, not only if you overcome, and by overcome, overcome this lukewarm. You see, the Bible says that there's this huge road that leads to destruction. There's this huge lukewarm road that leads to destruction. It's broad. Everyone's going there. He goes, but there's a few people. He goes, there's also this narrow road and few people will find it. Very few that are rich. Very few from Simi Valley. Very few, but they'll find it. And they're going to go against the flow. They're going to find it. And if you're one of those that overcomes, you know, this flow that's going this direction, you're going, no, I see the treasure. I see Jesus. I'm going to walk to that. I don't care if everyone's going, I got the treasure in mind. I'm going toward that. He goes, if you overcome, he goes, I'll give you the right to sit on my throne with me. And you know what's awesome about that? It's in the next verse in chapter 4. He says, after this, I looked up and I saw this door standing open in heaven. What does he see there? He sees the throne of God. We've talked about chapter 4 before. Remember, John gets to go up there and see the throne? Do you understand the picture? He goes, I see this throne and there's this being sitting on it. He's glowing like diamonds and rubies. It's a person. It's God. He's glowing like diamonds and rubies. He's got lightning coming from his throne. He's got these pillars of fire. There's this roaring thunder coming from this throne. There's this big sea of glass around the throne. There's these 24 men dressed in robes and they're just bowing down, dropping their crowns before the throne. There's these four living creatures with eyes all over their bodies and six wings, looking at the throne, screaming, holy, holy, holy. He says there's a hundred million angels all bowing down and worshiping at the throne. And Jesus says, if you overcome, you can sit on that throne with me. You can be on that throne if you overcome. If you can see that throne and go, wow, that or this little world down here. That's why God says, you're going to look at all of that and then just go, I don't know. That makes me sick. That just makes me sick. Makes me want to spit you out of my mouth. And I will. Because you're trying to find this pleasure outside of me. You think these things compared to me, that's just repulsive. I've shown you the throne. I'm saying you can sit there if you overcome. You can have me. You can dine with me. You can be with me. You can have true riches. I'll clothe you in white robes. You'll have it all. And the Bible says if you get it, you'll say, oh, forget all this. I don't even care. I was reading Time Magazine last week. Does God want you to be rich? Remember that? And if you saw Time Magazine, it's got all these televangelists going, oh, God wants you to be rich. Oh, you know, riches are good. You know, you've got to strive for it. You've got to say, I've got to give them to me. I'm just going, you know what? If you've got the throne, you've got God, you won't care about the riches. It's not about being poor or rich. It's about I don't care. I don't even think about it. If my riches are an obstacle to God, that's all I care about. Why do I want anything else? What else do I desire on earth? It's all about the throne. It's all about heaven. Are you an overcomer? Is that you? Have you overcome this world? Here's what I want you to do. Again, I don't want this to be me manipulating anyone. I want you to be alone with God this morning. I want to give you some time to pray to God. Because I am not accusing any of you. I say I get scared about this because I don't know. But if you go, well, you know, just because I serve in a lukewarm way and I give in a lukewarm way and I pray in a lukewarm way, it doesn't mean I'm lukewarm. All right. But you just come before God and say, God, am I? Am I on fire for you? Do I really see how great it is to know you and the riches you have for me? Or am I caught up in all this junk? I'll give you some time of silence. And here's some things I want you to pray through. I want you to ask God, first of all, God, reveal to me the areas in my life where I'm lukewarm. Can you pray that to God? Say, God, show me where I'm lukewarm. You could probably pray that, right? How about the second thing? Would you be willing to say, God, give me strength in the areas where I'm weak and I'm lukewarm? You willing to pray that? But here's the real question. How about that third one? Are you willing to say, God, do whatever it takes to get me on fire for you? Whatever. That's a scary prayer. God, if you have to take everything I own away from me, if that's holding me back, God, please take it away. Please, please, please, please, because I want you so badly. God, if it's loved ones, please, please, please, I gotta be on fire for you. You willing to pray that? Do you see the treasure as that great? I hope so. Just gonna give you some time. Just bow your head before God and just start asking God for those things.
Lukewarm and Loving It!
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Francis Chan (1967–present). Born on August 31, 1967, in Hong Kong to Chinese parents, Francis Chan was raised in San Francisco after his family immigrated to the U.S. His mother died during his birth, and his father, a pastor, passed when he was 12, shaping his faith through loss. Chan earned a bachelor’s degree from The Master’s College and a Master of Divinity from The Master’s Seminary. In 1994, at age 26, he founded Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, California, growing it from 30 to over 3,000 attendees by 2010, when he resigned to pursue broader ministry. Known for his passionate, Bible-centered preaching, he authored bestsellers like Crazy Love (2008), Forgotten God (2009), and Erasing Hell (2011), urging radical devotion to Christ. In 2013, he launched We Are Church, a house-church movement in San Francisco, and later moved to Hong Kong in 2020 to plant churches, though he returned to the U.S. in 2021. Married to Lisa since 1994, he has seven children. Chan says, “Our greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things in life that don’t really matter.”