The Altar
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The Altar
The Altar
This morning I want to talk to you about altars and I don’t mean the things I have to do to my clothes after I fall off my diet wagon.
In the Old testament we keep coming across these things called Altars. Noah built an altar to worship God, Abram built many altars and from there the altar phenomenon really took off.
When the temple was built the people of God were given very strict instructions on how to build different altars.
Because you don’t know anyone you came late hoping to slip into the back unnoticed so you can simply observe. As the pastor opens the service you have no idea what to expect.
“Using acacia wood, construct a square altar 7½ feet wide, 7½ feet long, and 4½ feet high. Make horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar are all one piece. Overlay the altar with bronze. Make ash buckets, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans, all of bronze. Make a bronze grating for it, and attach four bronze rings at its four corners. Install the grating halfway down the side of the altar, under the ledge. For carrying the altar, make poles from acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. Insert the poles through the rings on the two sides of the altar. The altar must be hollow, made from planks. Build it just as you were shown on the mountain.
“Using acacia wood, construct a square altar 7½ feet wide, 7½ feet long, and 4½ feet high. Make horns for each of its four corners so that the horns and altar are all one piece. Overlay the altar with bronze. Make ash buckets, shovels, basins, meat forks, and firepans, all of bronze. Make a bronze grating for it, and attach four bronze rings at its four corners. Install the grating halfway down the side of the altar, under the ledge. For carrying the altar, make poles from acacia wood, and overlay them with bronze. Insert the poles through the rings on the two sides of the altar. The altar must be hollow, made from planks. Build it just as you were shown on the mountain.
exodus 27:1-
The songs start and as you follow along on the screen you begin to wonder what dictionary they are using as the songs contain a lot of language you don’t understand. Redeemed, atonement. Why would anyone want to be turned into a sanctuary?
The purpose of these altars seemed to very. Some were for burning incense, others were for sacrificing animals like the one we just read about, and others still were built in various places as monuments to God. And there were so many different forms.
The purpose of these altars seemed to very. Some were for burning incense, others were for sacrificing animals like the one we just read about, and others still were built in various places as monuments to God. And there were so many different forms.
As you can well see some were very elaborate while others were very simple. And although they didn’t have uniformity in style they all seem
In the ancient world, any surface on which offerings were made or placed for a deity could be considered an altar.
As you can well see some were very elaborate while others were very simple. And although they didn’t have uniformity in style they all seem to serve a similar purpose. That purpose was to worship and Honour God. Whether by sacrificing animals or grains or simply setting up a marker where something significant happened.
That was in the Old testament, but today altars are different. Now when we refer to an altar most people think of what? The front of the church consisting of the area between the front of the platform and the first pew.
The altars to day n many churches are highly unused except when a pastor is brave enough to ask people to step out of their comfort zone and come forward for prayer.
For many people the altar has become a source of discomfort. Most people do not like standing or being in front of other people and when someone comes to the altar you know what they are thinking? I bet everyone is looking at me and judging me because they think I’ve done something really bad.
Isn’t that what our altars have come to? I like to say our altars are always open. In other words if you feel you need to come you don’t need to wait for an invitation just come, but the reality is the altars actually house more stuff then they do worshipers.
The altar has come a long way from what it once was. Once a place to worship and held in high esteem, a place that helped people come together with God, now an empty space that create barriers between preachers and the congregation.
Can I be honest with you? Personally I long for the days when the altars of the church are used to make sacrifices once again!
No I do not want you bringing animals and grain offerings. we are not going to light fires in the church, ever since Jesus died on the cross as the last sacrifice we don’t have to do that stuff anymore.
No I don’t want you bringing animals to church
But even though we are not sacrificing animals the altar still has a role to play in our worship today.
So this morning what I want to talk to you about is...
How to use the Altars?
How to use the Altars?
To do that I want to Read
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Be transformed by the Altar
Be transformed by the Altar
Me: Call to ministry, rededication and Dartmouth
We: There is something special about stepping out to meet with God. It doesn’t have to mean we are sinned horribly and need to repent it can mean that but what it really means is we want to come and align ourselves with God’s will for our lives.
God: In this passage we learn that we are now the sacrifice but not a sacrifice of death but rather a sacrifice of life. How we live ought to bring honour and worship to God, but Paul says the way to do that is to learn to think differently. to have your mind transformed. This is our act of worship.