If The Lord is God, Follow Him
Type: Sunday Morning Service
Sermon: If The Lord is God, Follow Him
🗣️ Speaker: Pastor Daniel Hahn
Drawing lessons from the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18, Pastor Daniel emphasizes the importance of choosing whom we worship. He highlights how modern distractions often lead us to divide our worship and prioritize other idols over God, urging the congregation to rethink their commitments and rebuild their relationship with the Lord. Ultimately, Pastor Daniel calls for a deep consecration—to eliminate false idols and rekindle a passionate, singular devotion to God, allowing His presence to transform lives.
ℹ️ Tip: The video is set to start at the beginning of the sermon, but you can scrub the playhead to any part of the service. ℹ️
Additional Info
The info below was generated by an AI from the audio recording of the sermon.
Introduction
Life in today's fast-paced world often feels overwhelming, with bustling schedules packed with commitments, notifications, and constant connectivity. For many, including church leaders, this reality is all too familiar. Balancing personal life, work, and spiritual commitments can lead to distractions, making it challenging to maintain a focus on what truly matters—our relationship with God.
The Importance of Worship
In the Biblical context of 1 Kings chapter 18, we find Elijah confronting a nation that has strayed from the worship of Yahweh, the one true God, and embraced false idols, notably Baal. This chapter reveals the consequences of divided devotion, encouraging us to reflect on our own lives and what allegiances we pour our energy and attention into. It's crucial to examine our calendars, spending habits, and even the activities we prioritize; these often reflect our true devotion and worship.
Confrontation: Choose Your God
Elijah's challenge to the Israelites was clear: they must choose whom to worship. He asked, "How long will you waver between two opinions?" This question resonates with many of us today—how often do we straddle the line between God and our daily distractions? Whether it’s career ambitions, entertainment, or personal interests, we too can fall into the trap of trying to balance our spiritual life with secular pressures. The divine call remains: if the Lord is God, follow Him without reservation.
The Silence of Idols
The silence of Baal, as described in scripture, paints a vivid picture of false gods that demand much but offer little in return. As Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal, he demonstrated how ineffective these idols were in answering genuine cries for help. In our lives, the idols can manifest as social media, addiction to entertainment, or unhealthy relationships. The noise of our modern existence can drown out the voice of God, leading to a spiritual vacuum characterized by silence where we seek answers.
Rebuilding the Altar
Elijah's next step was to rebuild the altar of God—symbolizing reconnection to identity and covenant. The 12 stones he used were a reminder of the tribes of Israel, representing unity and the need to honor their heritage with dedication. In our context, building altars means creating spaces in our lives for worship, devotion, and remembrance of God’s promises. When worship and the Word occupy a preeminent place in our schedules, the presence of God becomes undeniable.
Expecting God's Presence
When Elijah prayed, fire fell from heaven, demonstrating that God's presence is powerful and transformative. Contrary to the frenetic attempts of the prophets of Baal, God answered Elijah with a miracle—a consuming fire that showed His sovereignty. This underscores a critical truth: divine intervention often occurs in response to sincere faith, relinquishing control, and obedience. When we focus on God and honor Him, miraculous changes can manifest in our lives and our communities.
Elimination of Idols
Finally, after proving God's supremacy, Elijah commanded that the false prophets be removed. In modern terms, this reflects our need to eliminate distractions and anything that leads us away from the worship and devotion to God. It requires honesty, bravery, and a willingness to adjust our lives, our schedules, and our spending. Whether by deleting apps, stepping out of unhealthy relationships, or changing our community engagement, we must actively cut down the idols that threaten our spiritual integrity.
Conclusion
As we navigate our busy lives, the challenge remains to ensure that we’re not just checking a box by attending church on Sundays or engaging in worship. If the Lord is God, we must commit fully—whether through our actions, priorities, or relationships. The invitation is to align ourselves with God's truth, rebuild our altars through dedicated practices of worship, and eliminate competing allegiances. Only then can we experience the fullness of God's grace and transforming power in our lives.
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Use the questions listed below as a launching point to discuss the sermon points together as a family. These are great for dinner table discussions and small groups.
Introduction: This week we explored Elijah's story and how it challenges us to rediscover our identity in Christ and prioritize obedience. Let's dive into this message and discuss how we can apply these lessons in our daily lives.
Discussion Questions:
Identity Check: What does it mean for you to be a son or daughter of the Most High King? How can this understanding change the way you live your daily life?
Prioritizing Worship: Look at how your time is spent each week. What does it say about who or what you're worshiping? How can you ensure God is at the top of your list?
Obedience in Impracticality: Can you think of a time when you or someone you know practiced obedience to God, even when it seemed impractical? What was the outcome?
Facing Idols: Pastor Daniel talked about identifying idols in our lives. What are some modern-day idols you think people struggle with, and how can we overcome them?
Action Steps: What is one step you can take this week to rebuild your personal altar to God? How can our group support each other in this?
Closing: Take some time to pray together, asking God to help strengthen your identity in Him and guide you towards obedient actions, no matter how impractical they may seem.
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Introduction
Hello Kids! Today we’re going to learn about a really exciting story from the Bible that involves a prophet named Elijah. This story teaches us about making choices in our lives, especially when it comes to who we follow and worship. Just like Elijah asked some important questions, we’ll also learn how to think about our own choices.
Scripture
1 Kings 18:21 (NIV): "Elijah went before the people and said, 'How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.' But the people said nothing."
Craft: “Build Your Own Altar”
Materials:
Small cardboard squares (for the base)
12 small stones or beads (to represent the 12 tribes)
Glue
Markers (to decorate)
Optional: Glitter or stickers for fun decoration
Instructions:
Take a cardboard square and use it as the base for your altar.
Use the glue to stick the 12 stones or beads on the base to represent the tribes of Israel.
Decorate the altar with markers, glitter, or stickers, representing worship.
As you create, think about how you can worship God in daily life, just like Elijah did!
Game: “Choose Your God”
Instructions:
Spread soft balls or bean bags around the room labeled with different things like "God", "TV", "Games", "Friends", etc.
As you call out different things, the kids have to run to the one that they spend the most time with or focus on the most.
After the game, gather and talk about what they chose and why. Discuss how we want to choose God above all else!
Discussion Questions:
Who did Elijah challenge in the story?
What are some things we might put before God in our own lives?
Why is it important to follow God wholeheartedly?
How can we make sure we are worshipping God and not getting distracted by other things?
Wrap Up with Prayer:
Let’s bow our heads and pray together:
"Dear God, thank You for this exciting story of Elijah. Help us to make wise choices about who we follow in our lives. We want to put You first and treat You like the most important part of our lives. Please help us to remember to pray and to read our Bible. Thank You for loving us and guiding us every day. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen."Let’s remember that God is always there for us, and just like Elijah, we want to follow Him no matter what!
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Historical Context of 1 Kings 18
In 1 Kings 18, we find ourselves during a dark period in Israel's history. The kingdom, originally united under Kings Saul, David, and Solomon, has split into two—Judah in the south and Israel in the north under King Ahab. The time was the ninth century BC.
Ahab, influenced by Queen Jezebel, led Israel into Baal worship, a popular fertility deity worshiped in the region of Canaan. Baal was often represented as a thunder and storm god, believed to bring rain and bountiful harvests, crucial to an agrarian society.
Elijah's confrontation on Mount Carmel held symbolic and literal significance. The challenge to call down fire directly countered Baal's supposed powers, proving Yahweh's supremacy. The use of 12 stones by Elijah was deliberate, reminding Israel of their ancestors and the covenant with God as a united group, even though they were divided politically. This moment was not just a display of power but a call back to identity and faithfulness amidst idol worship and syncretism.
This period was marked by conflict between those adhering to Yahweh's covenant and those seduced by neighboring religions, highlighting a constant struggle within Israel to maintain their distinctive identity and religious purity. Elijah's actions and the miraculous events on Mount Carmel reminded the Israelites of Yahweh's singular sovereignty and covenant faithfulness.
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1 Kings, chapter 18. So this may come as a surprise to many of you, but I'm a bit of a nerd.
This device right here is my brain. It's true. You can ask my wife. I forget everything. If it's not attached to me, I'm gonna forget it.
We literally will put things in front of the doorway so I have to trip over it to get out. So I remember it and often I just absentmindedly move it out of the way and walk out the door. My wife can tell me our house is 12 minutes from here. She could tell me before I leave the house, she can say, don't forget to go by and do this thing before you go to work. Yes, ma', am.
I won't Forget. Guess what? 12 minutes later, I forgot. So I have outsourced my brain to this phone. I can't remember anything.
My calendar, my notes, my task list, my Rolodex. Anybody remember that word email? Texting is all right here in my phone. If I forget it at home, I'm gonna go back and get it because I don't. I can't remember anything else.
But I don't know what I'm going to do if I don't have my phone with me. The problem, of course, is that I spend way too much time on it. I'm going to be real with you today. I'm going to put the iPhone will give you a report of how much time you spend on your phone. And I'm going to tell you this morning, it's right here on the screen.
That's 5 hours and 24 minutes on average every day. That's not weekly, that's daily. Don't judge me. You know, you're sitting in bed at night, doom scrolling just like I am.
In my defense, I run a lot of the church communications through my phone. All of our church's social media, the website chat widget, the generic church email address, lighting automation, security cameras, all come through my phone. But still, that's a lot of screen time. Now I'm going to put my calendar on the screen. This is my calendar.
That's a legitimate screenshot that I took this past Thursday of my calendar. Now, to be fair, the church is. All of the church's events are there. But even if I'm not attending that event as a pastor and somebody who's in and out of here, logistics is important to what we do and I need to know about it. So that's literally all of my calendar right there.
It's a little blurred because you don't need to know my business, but. So I'm just being real with you. I'm being honest. This is my confession to you. We are busy.
Are we not busy as a people, Are we not busy? I may be a pastor, but I'm also a man with a phone and a feed and a flesh. I have the same issues that every other person has. So I'm not throwing rocks at you. I'm sharing honestly what's going on.
But my guess is you're probably in the same boat. You're probably in a similar situation. Most family calendars look like that. They may not have all the church events on it. I work here, so that's what it looks like.
But I've got my kids activities on there. My wife's appointments are on there. I can see her appointments, she can see mine. All of them. It's there.
Life is busy. But let me ask you something. If we could show your calendar up there, would it look the same? I mean, even if you're not putting your calendar in your computer or your phone, if it was recording where you your appointments and when you go to Walmart and when you have your dog groomed and all of these things, if we put all that on the screen, what would it tell us? Let me put it another way.
Whose name would be glowing at the top of your altar? The fact is, if we put our calendar and our bank statement and our browsing history on the screen, it would preach a message. This is what you worship? Oh, it got quiet. This is what you worship?
Let me set up our scripture text first. Kings 18. Let me set it up before we read it. The nation of Israel had traded worship and leadership of God Yahweh for a false God named BAAL under King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. So in judgment, Elijah announces a drought and boom.
The heaven slams shut and it's dry. For years now, God has sustained Elijah, first by ravens and then by the miracle with the widow who Elijah prayed over her. And she suddenly had a never ending supply of oil and grain and could always make bread and feed her and her son. They were starving before God did a Miracle he supplied for her and Elijah. God had been taking care of Elijah.
But meanwhile, the evil queen Jezebel is hunting all the Lord's prophets to put them to death. And Elijah's the last one because of the famine that's just absolutely crushing the land. Israel, they are starving. And God gives Elijah instructions to go show himself to the king and queen. And this is where we're going to step into the story today.
A nation starving, an altar in ruins, and a showdown on Mount Carmel. But be warned before we dive into this, this is not a little devotional. This is a divine showdown. So hold on to your shorts. I'm going to read this entire passage.
It's lengthy. Stay with me. It's an excellent story. Let's read. Starting in chapter 18, verse 17 says this.
When he saw Elijah, he said to him, is that you, you troubler of Israel? I have not made trouble for Israel. Elijah replied, but you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the Lord's commands and have followed Baal's. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel.
Bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, how long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. I want you to highlight that or underline that in your Bible right there.
If the Lord is God, follow him. But if BAAL is God, follow him. But the people said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left. But Baal has 450 prophets.
Get two bulls for us. Let Baal's prophet choose one for themselves and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood, but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood, but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your God, lowercase g, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The Lord, capital letter, the God who answers by fire.
He is God. Then all the people said, what you say is good. Verse 25. Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose one of the bulls and prepare it first. Since there are so many of you, call on the name of your God, but do not light the fire.
So they took the bowl given to them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of BAAL from morning till noon for Hours they did this. Baal, answer us. They shouted. But there was no response.
No one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. This is the best part. At noon, Elijah began to taunt them. Shout louder, he said.
Surely he is a God. Perhaps he's deep in thought or busy or traveling. Maybe he's sleeping and must be awakened. I love that. So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed.
Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response. No one answered. No one paid attention. Then Elijah said to all the people, come here.
They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took 12 stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, you, name shall be Israel. With the stones, he built the altar in the name of the Lord. And he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two sieves of seed. I guess that's how you pronounce that.
He arranged the wood and cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering in the wood. Y' all still with me? Say Amen. Verse 34.
Do it again, he said, and they did it again. Do it a third time, he ordered, and they did it a third time. The water ran down around the altar and filled even the trench at the time of the sacrifice. The prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed, Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all of these things at your command. Answer me, Lord.
Answer me so the people will know that you, Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. Then Elijah commanded them, seize the prophets of baal.
Don't let anyone get away. They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down into the Kishon Valley and slaughtered them there. Wow, what a story. Pastor Tom has spent the summer doing some incredible teaching about worship. And that's been some good stuff, really good stuff.
I just want to put a little cherry on the top of these teachings with this sermon that I'm titling. If the Lord is God, follow him. Say that with me. If the Lord is God, follow him. If you're watching in the chat, you can put that in the chat online.
If the Lord is God, follow him. This story on Mount Carmel is powerful. So let's walk through the mountain with five Cs. I got five points for you all starting with the letter c. So the five Cs this morning, point number one, C1, confrontation. Choose your God, choose your God.
King Ahab immediately comes at Elijah. When he sees him, he says, you troubler of Israel. And Elijah is not afraid of this fool king. And he says, I'm not the trouble, you are. Or to put a finer point on it, he says, sin is the trouble.
He looks him dead in the face and said, if the Lord is God, follow him. And then immediately, Elijah gathers the people and asks them, how long will you waver? So in the original Hebrew, the word waver means something akin to the word limp or to dance awkwardly, or it implies loose footing. It's basically like standing with one foot on two drifting logs. If you had one foot on a drifting log and the other on a log and they start drifting, you can't stay on both of those logs very long.
Here's some stats that kind of sting. This morning. The Average American scrolls 2 hours and 24 minutes a day on social media. You saw my screen time. I shared it with you.
That number is nearly eight hours a day for teens who scroll. Unrestricted digital and entertainment firms now fight for nearly six hours of your attention every day. Parents spend more than $1,000 on one child's primary sport in 2024, and that's up 46% since 2019. So in five years, it's up nearly 50%. This is not travel ball.
This is just normal recreational ball. Travel ball is actually closer to $5,000 per child. On average. Those travel sports parents miss more than half of Sunday church services. Idolatry is not foreign to church folks.
Not a lot of amens right there. Idolatry is not foreign to church people. We have placed so many things before the Lord, and we're training our children to do the same. And I'm not immune to it either. Guess what starts on Saturday, August 30?
College football.
They get it. They get it. I have been looking forward all year to a little redemption. You guys know on Saturdays, my TVs on college football from 9am college game day starts and I watch it all day long. Don't get married on Saturdays in the fall, I'm not coming.
Don't have your events. Don't plan your stuff. Don't plan it on Saturdays in the fall because I'm not coming. I've got other priorities.
I'll be honest. There have been some Sundays I have walked in here in this church service. Me, I'm a pastor. I'm supposed to be better, right? I have walked in here on some Sundays and worship was about me.
Worship was about my comfort. It was about my preferences. It's too cold in here. It's too hot in here. I don't like this song.
I don't want to sing this one again. I don't want to sing the song. That's not my style. Elijah doesn't have any of that. He cuts right through the style conversation and he says, choose your God.
Church worship demands a verdict. You have to choose one or the other. You can't stand on two drifting logs at once. Eventually, they're going to drift apart. You're going to have to pick one.
Elijah confronts the false gods in public, not private. Because the call is made before the people. Because idols lose their power when they're named in the open. See, here's the thing. Israel didn't reject Yahweh outright.
They added baal.
You guys hearing that? They didn't just reject God and said, no, this isn't our God. This is our God and that's who we're gonna worship. No, they added to it. This is tough.
Hear me, y'. All. They weren't satisfied with the worship of one God. They were worshiping multiple gods. They were okay with worshiping Yahweh as long as they could worship their other convenient gods.
And it's the same pattern today, especially in the modern Western church where we're awfully comfortable here in this building. We aren't rejecting Jesus outright, but we're too busy adding to him because we think we need other things. It's Jesus and y' all are getting quiet. It's Jesus and career. It's Jesus and entertainment.
It's Jesus and pornography. It's Jesus and my comfort. It's Jesus and my 401k. Come on, somebody.
Jesus in politics. Jesus himself said in Matthew chapter 6 that no one can serve two masters church. Elijah doesn't just ask for a tweak. He asks for a choice. Choose today who you are going to worship.
Some of us are spiritually waving. Some of us are spiritually limping, spiritually standing on two different logs because we're trying to balance God and another rival love. Put the calendar, the budget and the Browser history on the table and ask what? Which God is going to get first Call the Spirit makes us single hearted. It's time to choose your God.
If the Lord is God, follow him.
Point number two. See two, the silent gods. In verses 22 through 29, it tells us how the false prophets, the prophets of BAAL go all day cutting and singing and dancing and crying out all to their false God. And the Bible stacks these three sentences like a gavel. There was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Listen to me this morning. Church idols demand more and deliver less. They demand more and deliver less. They demand your hours, your money, your focus, and they deliver nothing but silence. Career promises significance, then moves the goalposts further.
Comfort promises rest, then leaves you restless. Politics promises salvation, but then stokes your outrage. Pleasure promises escape, but then chains your soul. Praise of people promises identity, then abandons you when the crowd changes. Church.
Where are you? Exhausted but unchanged? Where do you bleed time and money and sleep for a blessing that never comes? That's where Baal is silent. There were 450 prophets and for hours they were in a frenzy.
And y', all, I'll be the first to admit I am Pentecostal. I love to worship. I love to clap and sing and jump. I don't dance because I'm too white for that, but I jump. I can do that on time.
I love Pentecostal style of worship. These people were worshiping like that. They clapped, they jumped, screamed, dance, they even cut themselves and shed blood. But they received nothing but silence from their false God, y'. All.
BAAL is supposedly a storm God. If anybody could answer the challenge, if anybody could send lightning and fire, it should have been baal, right? Elijah's contest is a direct strike at Baal's supposed specialty. But he knew that he wasn't real. Idols demand more and deliver less.
Even religious frenzy is not equal to divine presence. That's better than you're letting on right there. Religious frenzy is not equal to divine presence. First, John tells us to keep ourselves from idols. It's a gentle but surgical strike.
The soundtrack of idols is silence. Only the living God speaks back.
If the Lord is God, follow him. C3 point number three. Construction. Rebuild the altar. Verse 30 tells us that Elijah repairs the Lord's altar that was torn down.
He selects 12 stones according to the number of tribes. So why did he use 12 stones? If you recall, at this point in history, Elijah was ministering in a divided kingdom. He was in the northern kingdom and the 10 or so tribes that stayed in the northern kingdom, were. Were there.
And there were two or so tribes in the southern kingdom. But Elijah chose 12 stones. Not 10, not two, not 144. He chose 12. One for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, who later became Israel.
The other tribes, he included them. There's an Old Testament pattern of memorializing Covenant moments with 12 stones. The 12 pillars at Sinai to seal the covenant. The 12 stones at the Jordan to remember God's mighty act. Elijah is deliberately right in this moment, stepping into that storyboard.
Like the other moments, this was a covenant moment. Before his prayer, he had to first rebuild identity. Elijah is preaching a sermon here with rocks. Talk about an illustrated sermon. He's preaching a sermon with rocks because this identity precedes activity.
Who are you? Before calling for fire, he calls Israel back to who they are, the covenant people of the Lord. The 12 stones for the 12 tribes of Israel. Before the fire falls, we've got to remember our name and who we are. I'm here to tell you this morning, church, that if your worship feels thin, if you feel like your worship's hitting the ceiling and not ascending to the throne room of God, if you feel like he's not hearing you and.
And you're just going through the motions, singing the songs, if you feel like we're just singing to pass the time, to make our emotions feel good, it's because you've forgotten who you are first. Peter 2 calls us living stones built into a spiritual house. Romans 12 tells us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. Folks, we are sons and daughters of the Most High King, and it's time you remember that.
Worship starts with identity. You and I are our sons and daughters of the Most High King. Elijah doesn't start with louder prayers. He doesn't start with dancing. He starts with identity.
12 stones. And then he does the impractical thing and pours water over the sacrifice. He doesn't just pour water on it. He. He douses it.
He drowns it. In the middle of a drought, he takes what is probably the most precious available commodity and pours it all over the altar, Pours it over the sacrifice in the middle of a drought. Because sometimes obedience is impractical. Sometimes obedience is impractical. Just asked the children of Israel, and they were marching around the walls of Jericho.
That didn't sound like anything. They literally marched in silence around a city for seven days. It sounded crazy. But on the seventh day, all the walls came down and they took the city. Just ask David.
When he marched out to meet a nearly 10 foot tall giant with nothing but a slingshot. That's crazy. It was impractical, but he did it anyway. And we know that story. Ask Jesus when he was willing to be led to a cross.
He was beaten and bloody and broken. Laid down his life for you and every other sinner on this planet. Obedience sounds impractical. Protecting your Sundays for church looks impractical.
Wow. Silence. You guys are here. I guess I'm preaching to the wrong people. Protecting your Sundays for church looks impractical.
Fasting your phone looks impractical. Ow. That one hits me. My wife asked me if I was capable of that and I'm not sure. Still working on it.
People choosing generosity looks impractical. Being generous and faithful with your giving. But when the fire falls, there will be no doubt who did it. There will be no doubt who did it. When Israel faced Jericho, there was no doubt who did it.
Because what they did didn't have anything to do with what happened. Except they were obedient. They were faithful. Elijah chose costly, impractical obedience. And it led to the fire of God's presence.
Our construction plan, just like Elijah's should be this. To put worship in the Word on the calendar first and everything else orbits that. I'm going to say that again because you guys saw my calendar. Put worship and the Word on the calendar first. Everything else comes after that.
To set first fruits, giving before discretionary spending and to make our hands an altar by serving and being involved in the work of the kingdom. That's what we're supposed to be doing. That's our blueprint. You. If the Lord is God, follow him.4 C4.
Consuming fire. God answers. At the time of the evening offering, Elijah prays a short prayer to a big God. Let it be known this day that you are God, that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me.
That you have turned their hearts back. And the fire falls. The fire falls. The false prophets of BAAL spent all day singing and dancing and cutting themselves. But all they heard was nothing.
Zero. Zilch. Silence. But when Elijah prayed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust, the water, everything was consumed. God's presence does in a moment what human frenzy couldn't do in a day.
The this is our Pentecostal Heritage Church. Tongues of fire on ordinary people. This is the baptism in the Holy Spirit. We don't manufacture moments when we worship. We make room for the fire to fall.
We repair the altar. God sends the fire. We obey the word. God turns the heart and thank God because of the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. It's grace.
First, Elijah says that God turns hearts back to him. Listen, God didn't do this miracle just to make himself famous. That's definitely a byproduct, and he does do that. But it was to rescue his people. That's why he did it.
Listen to Elijah's prayer. There's no hype, just God's name, God's word and God's work. When we rebuild identity, obey his word and worship him alone, we can expect his presence to do in seconds what our striving could never do, ever do. If the Lord is God, follow him. C 5.5 Consecration Worship Team.
You guys can go ahead and come on up. I'm almost done. Consecration. Cut down the idols. Verse 40 is a hard verse for modern years.
It's a hard verse. It says this. Then Elijah commanded them, seize the prophets of baal. Don't let anyone get in the way. They seized them and Elijah had them brought into the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.
That's a hard verse for us here in modern day because we don't do that. This is the New Testament, the new covenant. This is not a call to go out and start slaughtering non believers in their covenant context, that was justice. Under the law. The Bible says that false prophets are to be put to death.
If you prophesy and it doesn't happen, you're a liar and you should be put to death. These people had led Israel so far astray, they were leading God's people down the wrong path. For us, the principle is this. Don't negotiate with idols. Eliminate them.
Don't negotiate with them. Eliminate them. Get them out. The New Testament says in Colossians 5, to put to death what is earth earthly. Here's our language.
Today we kill the idols. Delete the app, cancel the subscription, confess the secret, break with the boundary pusher, step out of the political echo chamber, End the flirtation, restructure the schedule and do it. Not tomorrow, do it today. Rebuild the altar and then protect it. It's time for us to ruthlessly remove what leads us into false worship.
It's time for us to ruthlessly remove what leads us to false worship.
Are you brave enough to take those steps? Because there's too many people coming to church on Sundays to just get their Sunday fix. There's too many people that are just checking the box. I've done it. I've gone to church so they can just get it over with.
I have been that guy. I had to Choose. Are you brave enough today to slay the idols in your life? If the Lord is God, follow him.
I want to invite our prayer team to come forward as well. While they're coming up, I'm going to end with a story. I've got permission to share this story from the person who's involved in this because a lot of you may know them. You may know their family story about a young man named Zach. I took Zach to camp.
Gosh, seven, eight years ago. I'm getting old. Took him to camp, and he spent the week goofing off. Now, this is a good kid from a good family who I think loved the Lord. He knew the Lord.
He'd been taught the Bible. He knew these things. But he spent the week goofing off. He found his friends. I think he was late middle school, early high school.
And he just goofed off all week. And I guess Thursday, he decided, today's the day I want to get serious. And he tried to get serious but got nothing out of it. He said, pastor Daniel, I'm trying, and I just don't hear God. I'm not feeling God.
I don't think he's. I don't think he's speaking to me. Is he even there? And I challenged him on it. What have you done all week?
You've goofed off this entire time. I know because I watched you. I was disappointed in you. I watched you. And you were back during worship.
You were back with your friends, playing around, goofing off. You weren't listening to the sermon. Now you want something from God?
And he said, yeah, you're right. He hung his head. I was surprised at that reaction. I thought he was gonna fight me. But no, he was like, yeah, you're right.
And that was a turning point for that week. It was a little late in the week, but it was also a turning point in his life. I didn't know that. He told me that later. He and his wife and his family are faithfully serving God.
They live up in the Carolinas now, but they are faithful now. And he told me that that's a testimony. I asked him if I could share that story. He said, man, that's a testimony that changed my life.
Elijah gives us a map here in our scripture text. The 5C's confrontation. Choose your God. Counterfeits. Hear the silence from idols.
Construction. Rebuild the altar. Consuming fire. God answers. Expect his presence.
You should come to church expecting, by the way, five consecration. Cut down the idols. Our prayer team is up here because I'm going To open the altars this morning. If you've ever wondered why we call this area up here the altars, if you've ever wondered what that means, this is it right here. The altar is a place of sacrifice.
The altar is a place where you give something up, you make a sacrifice. So what needs to be sacrificed on the altars this morning? What needs to be sacrificed? What idols need to be cut down? I'm going to invite everybody to the altars this morning.
I can't make you. I'm not going to go out there and strong arm you, but I'm inviting. If you are a believer, I'm inviting you in just a moment. I'm going to invite everybody to the altars today. I want to invite families, couples, singles, our whole house.
If you came with your crew and they're not serving someplace else on campus, bring them. If you came alone, then come with your church family. We're in this together up front. And you'll find a New Testament altar. And when you come as you come, I want you to pray.
Lord, what must be sacrificed? What idols need to be soaked? What must be given up today? Or perhaps what needs to be eliminated or given less of a priority so that you can have my assist and my priority. Some of you already know what that is.
I would imagine most of us know what that is. You felt the spirit pointed out. Name it, kill it, don't negotiate with it. Eliminate it. The prayer team and others in our church family who are willing to pray, I want you all to listen to my instructions.
We're going to pray. And again, I'm inviting the house to the altar. We're going to pray for two things. Number one, we're going to pray with. For repentance with teeth, the courage to act on the sacrifice.
And two, renewal with fire, fresh presence of the Holy Spirit in your home.
So after the first service, I had several people come to me and say, that was a good sermon. I appreciate it. And after today's service, that's probably going to happen again. I sometimes wonder if you guys are just being nice. I don't know.
That always happens. But don't you dare come to me and tell me that that was a good sermon. If you're not participating in this altar call, this is not a good sermon. If you're not participating today, I don't care how old you are, how young you are, how mature you are, there's always something that's been vying for your time, attention and trust. That's not God.
There's always growth. Everyone has something to sacrifice. And if you don't think you do, then you're the one else preaching to to Today, this altar call is for everyone. So on the count of three, I'm gonna open these altars. We're gonna pray together, okay?
One, two, three. Would you come? Would you come?
