Restoring the Altar

COMMUNION and PRAYER FOR THE SICK

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NIV

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Prayer for the Sick

James 5:14–15 NIV

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven.

MESSAGE

Today we wrap up our Vision series with a message regarding something very specific that the Lord has laid on my heart.

So far, we have talked about being the church God has called us to be, operating as the uncommon community God desires us to be, leaning on God through prayer in all things, moving together as the body of Christ, and today, we will talk about something I believe is critical to our ministry success this year.

I want to begin by looking at a story in 1 Kings. Israel was facing a very real problem - the problem of false worship. They were deeply involved in Baal worship.

Elijah was the only prophet of God left… but there existed 450 prophets of Baal. Elijah presents a challenge, if you will, in his attempt to lead the people of God back to the Lord. He said this in 1 Kings 18:21

1 Kings 18:21 NIV

21 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.

The people said nothing. I find that to be an interesting response. Elijah is challenging their faith and they stood their… silent. So he goes another direction. He offers another challenge or test.

1 Kings 18:22–23 NIV

22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. 23 Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets 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.

And then, Elijah says this… this verse serves as our main text today and for the main verse for our business meeting later.

1 Kings 18:24 NIV

24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

The people agreed to the test - a test of the true altar of worship. The test was simple - the people would worship and the true God… would answer.

We know the story… the prophets pf Baal go the distance… they dance and shout and do all they can to get their “god” to answer. But 1 Kings 18:26 makes clear, “there was no response; NO ONE ANSWERED.”

Look at verse 27

1 Kings 18:27 NIV

27 At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”

NOTHING HAPPENED! The people had placed their faith in a lifeless god… a false deity. The people had been misled and misdirected. It was clear… their so-called god had FAILED the test.

But Elijah was confident that the God of the universe, the God he worshiped, served and obeyed would NOT fail the test. Again, look at his words and faith in 1 Kings 18:24

1 Kings 18:24 NIV

24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

Now, before Elijah calls down fire from heaven, he does something extremely important. After the people watch the prophets of Baal make fools of themselves, it was now Elijah’s turn to present the offering to the One true God.

Look at verse 30.

1 Kings 18:30–32 NIV

30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” 32 With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed.

Before he called down fire… HE REPAIRED THE ALTAR.

The altar… had been torn down. The place of worship and sacrifice… had been torn down. The place of total surrender and obedience… had been torn down.

Before Elijah called on the name of the Lord… HE REBUILT AND RESTORED THE ALTAR.

This morning, I want to share with you a very clear direction God has given me regarding our worship and service. God has been working on my heart regarding this vision for some time now. And it’s beyond time for me to move on it.

God is calling me… calling us… to restore the altar of worship at HWC.

The Significance of the Altar

First off, let’s talk about what I mean by an altar of worship.

HWC is NOT involved in any kind of false worship of any false god. We believe in and worship the One true God. Amen?

However… in these last days, I believe God is calling us back to a deeper, more intimate worship of Him. And it’s going to start… at the altar.

The altar is a place of worship and sacrifice. The altar has been a part of faith in God since sin entered this world.

Why did the altar become a part of our faith AFTER the fall of man? Because it became the place where sin was atoned for… blood was shed on the altar. Sacrifices were made as payment for our disobedience and rebellion.

Thankfully, Christ satisfied our sin payment in full. We no longer have to make such sacrifice because Jesus was the ultimate sacrificial Lamb - His blood was enough. The sins of those who would call on His name have been atoned for. His blood becomes our new covering.

Jesus did this work for us… on the cross… at Calvary. If you need forgiveness of sin, restoration of your soul, and spiritual freedom, JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY!

So if Christ paid the price in full on the cross… what significance does the altar hold for believers today?

The cross is where Jesus laid down His life for us… the altar is where we lay down our lives… FOR JESUS.

And that brings me back to the cliff hanger I gave you last week. God is calling me… calling us… to restore the altar at HWC.

A long while back… roughly two years ago, God began to stir within my heart the need to restore the altar - to be clear, to bring back altar/prayer benches to the front of the sanctuary.

I prayed about it, tossed it around in my mind… but never surrendered. Why didn’t I surrender? Nothing less than… disobedience. As I expressed to the men’s group… my pride got in the way. I feared what people might say if restoring the altar meant losing some chairs in the sanctuary.

This December, God began dealing with me again regarding restoring the altar.

This prayer began by asking God for help… specifically more volunteers. The work of the ministry is increasing and we need more believers to rise up to answer the needs. And in all this… God directed the conversation back to the altar.

And this time, I presented my fear to Him. I spoke to the Lord regarding my concern with the chairs. And what He said back to me gripped my heart and led me to total surrender. This is what He said regarding the chairs and I quote, “You have made plenty of space for personal comfort, but you have removed the place of personal sacrifice.”

And then God said this, “How can you ask people to give of themselves when the place of total giving has been removed?”

And with that… I surrendered. And we have began the process of altar restoration at HWC.

The Restoration Process

Before Elijah repaired the altar, he called the people to come and to observe. The people were present as the altar was restored. As they watched, Elijah reminded them of their heritage with the stones and their history.

Our restoration process will be similar… as I have commissioned Stronger Men’s Ministry to build these altars from scratch.

We have secured the materials from Buzz Rice. He has lumber material that we are going to mill, shape, bolt together, and finish - we will build two 12’ altar/prayer benches that will be placed right here near the front of the stage.

AND… if the front row of chairs need to be moved… they WILL be moved. AND… if there comes a day when we need those chairs again, we will bring them back. But if we want to fill every chair in this place with a soul who needs Jesus, we must FIRST restore the place of intimate worship and personal sacrifice. We must lay ourselves down… at the altar.

And to be clear… the altar bench is NOT an object of our worship… it is a place where we worship the Lord. The altar bench moves us to humble ourselves before the Lord and it visually reminds us of what must be laid down in our pursuit of Jesus - we must give Him everything!

Lastly, as I shared this vision with the Board, God did something unexpected. He did something that reassured my heart regarding the direction He is leading us to go. God brought confirmation… through a prophecy He shared with one of our members, a prophecy I had no idea had been given. Leo… would you share that word with us today?

LEO GRAHAM TESTIMONY.

Closing Time of Prayer

Church, God is on the move. God is preparing this place, this church, this body - for a move of His power like we have never seen before.

But will we be moved? Will we follow as He leads? We can build an altar… we can move some chairs, we can amen and hallelujah all service long… but will we be moved to SERVE Him?

This morning, we are going to end this message a bit different. I want us to look back at the story of Elijah. The timeliness of this Word is so incredibly significant for me and for what God has been laying on my heart for 2023. I believe God is calling us back to… the altar… I believe God is calling us back to a place of sacrifice… a place of commitment, surrender, and giving all.

Go back to our main verse. Go back to the “test” Elijah lays out for the people.

He challenges the prophets of Baal to prepare an altar, and Elijah would do the same. They would call on the name of their god… but look at what Elijah says again in 1 Kings 18:24

1 Kings 18:24 NIV

24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

I love what Elijah says… and it is here where I feel God is calling us to pray this morning.

The prayer theme for the AG week of prayer is Awakening… and I believe God desires to awaken believers all across the heartland with His presence and power. Distractions are everywhere and while we do not “worship” false gods… sometimes we allow things to get in the way of our worship of the One true God.

Other things have gotten in the way of people’s faith. Other “gods” have caused the body to become sleepy in their walk with God. I believe God is calling us, arousing us from this sleep and in response, as Elijah did in 1 Kings 18, we need to call on the name of the Lord, the name that is above ALL names!

Prayer Point One: Call on the Name of the Lord.

His Name is Jesus. He is our Savior, our deliverer. He is the One that gave His life for us. I want us to take several minutes simply calling on His name, humbling ourselves before our Lord tonight. Church, can we call on His name and praise His name for the next several minutes?

Secondly, Elijah says something very important. He identifies God as the God who answers.

You see, Elijah knew the false gods of the day would have no answer. How could they? They were false gods! And like many in our culture today, people are turning to things that really have no answer for what they are walking through. Our God IS the answer! And our God answers prayer!

Prayer Point Two: Lift up your need before the Lord.

God WILL answer. And maybe that need has distracted you. Maybe that need has got you down. Maybe that need has you wavering in your faith. Whatever that need is… God is the answer… and He has an answer for you.

He was the answer for the people then… and He is the answer for us this evening. He HEARS your prayer and He will ANSWER your prayer. So take a few moments to lift up the needs in this place tonight.

Lastly, Elijah goes on to describe how God will answer. He said that God answers by what? by fire. And then Elijah reemphasizes that God… IS God.

Not only does our God answer prayer… but His answer is power - an answer that can only come from Him. So this final prayer point is simple...

Prayer Point Three: Be Receptive to God’s answer of power and fire.

Open your hearts to what God wants to pour into you today. In Acts 2, we see a prophecy recited that states God will pour out His Spirit on ALL people… His Spirit of power and fire.

When the first baptism in the Holy Spirit took place, Acts 2 records that tongues of fire came to rest upon all who were praying. With this baptism came Spirit-empowered testimony. The original Greek word used here was dunamis… the same word from which we get our word for dynamite. It is used 120 in the NT and not just as an explosive power… but as miraculous power!

We are living in the last days. God wants to pour His power into our lives through Spirit Baptism… yet too often we are not ready or willing to receive.

His answer is fire - miraculous power from on high - an answer you won’t find in anything of this world. He wants to pour His Spirit on ALL people… do you desire to receive from Him tonight?

We have called on His name. We have lifted up our needs. And now it is time to receive His answer of fire. Receive it tonight in Jesus name!

The altar is returning to HWC! And when it does… it will be dedicated as a place of intimate worship and personal sacrifice. I truly believe that God is going to do something unprecedented as we become a people that have fully surrendered… as we give everything to Him.

One last prayer point as we close: God, move in POWER as we wholeheartedly follow You in 2023!