You see thermometers only tell you what the temperature is but they cannot do anything about the temperature. The mercury in the glass tube is the servant to the cold and hot changes of the weather. On the other hand thermostats dictate the temperature of my home. When it is cold I go to the thermostat to make a change.

Here are three negatives to being a thermometer.

1. They Lack Faith - Mat 8:26a "And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?" Faith is the only currency that spends in Heaven friends. Sadly, many people who would like to see great changes take place lack faith. It was only by faith that William Carey could say, "Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.

2. They Lack Vision - Pro 29:18a  "Where there is no vision, the people" perish:" Vision, says John C. Mawell, "Need to be communicated clearly, creatively, and continually." Vision always leaks, so we need to constantly be reminder ourselves as well as those around us about the vision.

3. They Lack Courage - Jos 1:6a  "Be strong and of a good courage:" Courage isn't the absence of fear it is only the will to act in spite of your fears. A great little addition I like to quote when I am fearful is, "Fear knocked, faith answered, no one was there."

Here are two reason to be a Thermostat.

1. Passion - Act 1:3a "To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion" There is only one time throughout Scripture where we find the word, "Passion." It is in reference to Christ and what He did for mankind on the cross. Passion will move us to pray like we've never prayed before, to persevere over the difficulties, and to perspire in the labor for the lost.“Everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it.” Isaac Newton First Law of Motion

2. Compassion - Jude 22  "And of some have compassion, making a difference:" The greatest difference maker in the world is compassion. Compassion has no room for rejection or intolerance to a world that needs Christ. We need more people who are like a thermostat that have compassion on this world.

In closing, “Some people will change when they see the light. Others change only when they feel the heat.”

  In the eighteenth century, England was starting to become an industrialized nation. The population has doubled and many families moved to the towns and cities to work in factories. Children, from ages six to fourteen, were employed and had no time to go to school. However, these children were given a day off on Sundays. Many people feared Sundays, for these children would let their mischief and rowdiness out in the streets of England. Children grew with no religious or moral guidelines. Robert Raikes saw the need of education for these young “ragamuffins.” He had also visited the prisons and realized how easy it is for children to fall into crime. Raikes knew the parents of these poor children “totally abandoned themselves, having no idea of instilling into the minds of their children principles to which they themselves were entire strangers.”

Since the children worked hard in the factories during the week, he felt that Sunday would be the best time to educate them. He hired four women to teach these children how to read. His primary textbook was the Bible.

With the help of Reverend Thomas Stock, Raikes was able to enroll one hundred children, from ages six to fourteen in July 1760 in the home of Mrs. Meredith. Results became very obvious as these youngsters were taught in Sunday school. One of the manufacturers of hemp and flax who employed many of these children commented, “The change could not have been more extraordinary, in my opinion, had they been transformed from the shape of wolves and tigers to that of men.” The crime rate dropped evidently in the city and county as the attendance of these Sunday schools increased.

By 1831, the Sunday school attendance increased to 1,250,000 children weekly, ministering to approximately 25 percent of the population.

The Sunday School Movement was a great influence to our Christian education today. As Raikes once commented, “The world marches forth on the feet of little children. Public schools have now taken over much of the role that Sunday Schools pioneered. But who can doubt that there is today a desperately important educational task for the church with children, whether through the Sunday School, or some other format. To change the world, reach the children! Is your congregation and Sunday School reaching the poor and needy children of your area?”