At the Altar

Introduction

Welcome

Introduce yourself, wife and family.

Honor Pastor and leaders.

Main Passage:

Genesis 8:6–12 NLT

After another forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat and released a raven. The bird flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up. He also released a dove to see if the water had receded and it could find dry ground. But the dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground. So it returned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back inside. After waiting another seven days, Noah released the dove again. This time the dove returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that the floodwaters were almost gone. He waited another seven days and then released the dove again. This time it did not come back.

Title:

At the Altar

Prayer:

In Jesus name, amen!

Story:

I was born in Canada, in a city called Calgary Alberta. My family and I lived there for 10 years and then moved 3 hours away to a city called Edmonton, Alberta. When we lived in Calgary, we went to a church where my dad was an elder and my mom was part of the worship team. So christianity and church was part of my life since I was born.

However there was an incident that would change the trajectory of my families life and our dynamic.

I was too young at the time to remember what happened but my dad, a few of his friends, and the pastor (at the time) who were there told me what happened much later.

My Dad was at the sound booth and my mom was worshipping. My mom felt that God was speaking to her to speak a word over the congregation but what she had said caused an uproar. The congregation stood to their feet and started yelling at her, basically shouting to leave the church. My dad got up, grabbed my mom, pulled me out of children’s ministry and we left.

After that experience, my Dad said that he started noticing significant changes happening with my mom over the years. She was more reserved, isolated, less social, and didn’t leave the house much.

Looking back now, we understood that this was the early signs of severe depression; But it didn’t stop with depression. It later on developed into schizophrenia. She started hearing voices in her head, dramatic mood swings, disorganized thinking, speech and lifestyle and extreme paranoia.

An example of paranoia. In elementary the school would threaten to call social services because my mom would come to our school everyday out of paranoia that her kids would either get hurt or kidnapped. When my Dad heard what happened, he decided to send my sister and I, along side my mother, to Ethiopia for a year and half.

Growing up I had a deep resentment towards God, the church, and my parents:

God because how can God let this happen to our family.

The church because what they did to my family.

Mom because I attributed all the heartache and shame we went through as a family to her.

Dad because I felt like he abandoned our family by sending us to Ethiopia.

I was hurt, angry and bitter. When I got much older, the way that manifested and what I did to cope was by isolating myself, alcohol, drugs, partying, outbursts of anger, passive aggressive behaviour, porn addiction, and being extremely selfish.

It wasn’t until 2013, I was 20-21 years old where the Lord changed my life. I was invited to church by a man who moved from Dallas Texas to Edmonton to plant a church called Hybrid, which I later on became the pastor of. I attended the service, arms crossed, in the back of the sanctuary with an attitude of, “let’s see what he got.”

As the service continued and he started preaching the Gospel, my arms slowly started to unfold, I’m leaning in, and it is as if he’s speaking directly into my life. After the pastor was finished, he did an altar call to respond to the message.

The way I like to describe it to people is that: it felt like there was a rope attached to my waist and something (which I know now is the Holy Spirit), was pulling to the front of the altar. So there I was in the front, I get down on my knees, and I began to weep. It felt like 21 years of pain, hopelessness, and resentment was laid bare before the Lord on that altar. In exchange, I felt the embrace of the Lord, filled me with hope, and poured his love into my heart. Since then, I have put my faith in Jesus and never looked back.

Explanation:

I know what it feels like to be hopeless, discouraged, disappointed, and confused.

Waiting and wondering:

When will my mother get healed?

How long do we have to deal with this?

When will I get free?

When will I have rest and relief in my soul?

When will I get the answer to my questions?

When will I start being happy again?

When will I stop being bitter?

When will I stop feeling insecure, ashamed and guilty? and etc.

Unmet expectations. Hopes we have but are unfulfilled or feel delayed. Most of our frustration comes from that place.

Illustration:

Proverbs 13:12 NLT

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

Application:

You may not have my story or my experience but everyone in here knows what it feels like to be waiting on God for something and feel hopeless along the way because it’s either delayed or unfulfilled.

Body

Bible

Context

Many people in the Bible knew what it was like to wait on God and wrestle with a sense of hopelessness. One person who likely experienced this is Noah.

The bible says that in the time of Noah, the Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth. That everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So God, out of grief and a broken heart, decides to wipe away the human race which he created from the face of the earth.

In Genesis 6:9, Noah is introduced and is described as a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time and that he walked in close fellowship with God.

God then tells Noah that He is going to judge the human race by flooding the earthy.

He instructs Noah to build an ark and to bring his entire family, along with two of every kind of animal, into the ark when the flood comes.

So the earth is flooded and for 150 days Noah, his family, and the animals he brought on the boat are the only survivors in the entire earth floating on a body of water in the middle of nowhere.

Main Bible Passage:

Genesis 8:6–12 NLT

After another forty days, Noah opened the window he had made in the boat and released a raven. The bird flew back and forth until the floodwaters on the earth had dried up. He also released a dove to see if the water had receded and it could find dry ground. But the dove could find no place to land because the water still covered the ground. So it returned to the boat, and Noah held out his hand and drew the dove back inside. After waiting another seven days, Noah released the dove again. This time the dove returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that the floodwaters were almost gone. He waited another seven days and then released the dove again. This time it did not come back.

Transitional Sentence:

In this passage, we’re going to explore four powerful truths about what to do while waiting on God. Using the story of Noah in the Old Testament, we’ll highlight who Christ is and what He has done for us in the New Testament that will ultimately give us hope and strength.

Points

First truth: Remember that you’re in the Ark.

Explanation:

Genesis 8:1 ESV

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark.

What do I mean by remember that we’re in the ark?

Remember that we’re in Christ. If you and I are in Christ, we have the reason, not just a reason, for hope.

Illustration:

Colossians 3:3 NLT

For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.

2 Peter 2:5 NLT

And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood.

Application:

Noah and his family being delivered from God’s judgement is a picture of what Jesus would do on the cross. There are so many angles:

Noah is like Jesus, who is declared righteous and blameless and brings his family, the church, to be delivered from God’s judgement and brought into the new creation.

The flood symbolizes Jesus death and resurrection or baptism; the washing away of the old and being brought into the new life (1 Peter 3:20-21).

But the angle I want to address is Noah and his family being in the ARK symbolizes being in Jesus:

You and I are delivered from God’s judgement and wrath, which is what we deserve for our sins, because we are in Christ.

Another example is Exodus 12, God’s judgement — the Spirit of Death — passed over the homes that the people were in because God provided the blood of the lamb to be smeared over their door post.

Because you’re in Christ, God doesn’t see your sin and therefore punishes you. He remembers (sees) that you’re in Christ and therefore you are under his pleasure. This is the hope we have.

Second truth: Don’t place your faith in the raven—trust in the dove.

Explanation:

Genesis 8:6–9 ESV

At the end of forty days Noah opened the window of the ark that he had made and sent forth a raven. It went to and fro until the waters were dried up from the earth. Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him.

Notice that the raven didn’t come back but the dove did.

Too often, we place our trust in things that abandon us and leave us empty-handed, instead of trusting in the Holy Spirit, who remains faithful like the dove.

Illustration:

Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT

Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”

John 14:18–19 NLT

No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live.

Application:

I use ravens as analogous to idols. When we’re discouraged or feeling hopeless, it’s easy to run into the arms of idols—things that offer temporary comfort or satisfaction but ultimately leave us feeling empty and abandoned.

In contrast, the Holy Spirit—the dove—may not always give us what we want or in the timeline we desire, but He always gives us what we truly need: His presence.

That’s what it means to have faith in the Holy Spirit. Though He may not give us what we want, He gives us what we need in every season of life—Himself. His presence is a well of unending, everlasting life. He never leaves us. He never forsakes us.

Third Truth: Open the window to receive the olive branch

Explanation:

Genesis 8:10–11 NLT

After waiting another seven days, Noah released the dove again. This time the dove returned to him in the evening with a fresh olive leaf in its beak. Then Noah knew that the floodwaters were almost gone.

To experience hope, we have to open our hearts to God.

Illustration:

Romans 8:23 NLT

And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

Application:

When the dove returned with an olive leaf—a small sign from the land—Noah knew that the newly restored earth was once again inhabitable.

In the same way, the Holy Spirit now gives us a foretaste of the future glory (heaven) that we will inhabit when Christ comes back: a time and place where we will be released from sin, death and suffering, have new glorified bodies and will receive our full rights as adopted children.

But to experience this hope everyday now, we have to open our hearts to Jesus.

Revelation 3:20 NLT

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

Fourth Truth: Build an Altar

Explanation:

Genesis 8:20 ESV

Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

Why did Noah build an altar to the Lord and give his burnt offering? Because for Noah this was his act of worship. A way of honoring God and giving thanks for who He is and what he’s done.

It was an external practice to reveal an inward reality and posture of the heart.

What caught my attention is that it said Noah offered a ‘burnt offering’. This is hundreds of year before God instructs the people of Israel in Leviticus 1 of the burnt offering.

Illustration:

Leviticus 1:8–9 NLT

They will arrange the pieces of the offering, including the head and fat, on the wood burning on the altar. But the internal organs and the legs must first be washed with water. Then the priest will burn the entire sacrifice on the altar as a burnt offering. It is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Application:

The burnt offering in the Hebrew is the ‘Olah’ offering or the ascension offering. It’s called Olah or Ascension offering because the animal was transformed and turned into smoke and would ascend to God.

This is the only offering prescribed by God where you give the best of what you have and burn the whole animal unlike other sacrifices where only parts of the animal are offered.

This offering was about giving God your very best—your everything. It was a total and sacrificial act of worship.

Conclusion

So what:

After I encountered and gave my life to the Lord in 2013 on that altar, I look back at that moment and remember two powerful lessons about the burnt offering:

First: Jesus laid himself on that altar, the cross, and gave everything for us. Three days later, he ascended from death, like smoke, and sat at right hand of God. He has finished the work and now I can rest in the love and grace of Jesus.

Second: When I gave my life to Jesus on that altar — my hopes, dreams, disappointments, brokennesses, pain, sin, desires and every part of my life — He transformed me and I ascended.

Now I can say: I once was blind but now I can see. I once was hopeless but now I’m hopeful. I once was crippled but now I can walk. I once was in bondage but now I am free. I once was dead but now I am alive

Now what:

So what does that mean for you and I. It means come to the altar and lay down everything. Tired, come to the altar. Broken, come to the altar. If you’re thankful, come to the altar. Addicted, come to the altar. Idols, come to the altar. Experiencing success, come to the altar. Broken dreams, come to the altar. Fear and anxiety, come to the altar. Desires and dreams, come to the altar. Your tears, come to the altar. Your crowns, come to the altar.

Nothing is wasted at the altar! This is a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.

Call to Action

Salvation call.

Hopeless or discouraged

Come to the altar

Prayer:

In Jesus name, amen!