The Danger of Transactional Salvation: Moving Beyond the Consumer Mindset

• Consumerism vs. Discipleship [00:36:02 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the societal habit of consuming products and information with the biblical call to be consumed by God's presence.
• The Nature of God [00:38:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes God as a 'consuming fire' who is holy, perfect, and purifies sin, referencing Hebrews 12.
• Anger Management [00:35:10 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the previous weeks' series on anger, noting the enemy's tactic to make people deny or dwell on anger, and positions the current message as the solution.
• Elijah and the Prophetic Ministry [00:39:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor introduces the Old Testament story of Elijah from 1 Kings 18 as the primary illustration for the sermon.
• The Nature of God's Presence [00:42:50 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts sensational miracles (fire from heaven) with God's presence in small, quiet whispers and the privilege of knowing Him personally.
• Human Spiritual Apathy [00:50:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor discusses the people's silence ('but the people said nothing') as a state of being frozen by the collision of truth and their own wills, illustrating how believers often resist God's call.
• Divine Pursuit [00:52:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor asserts that God will not leave us alone when we are silent or resistant, but pursues us relentlessly because He loves us.
• Idolatry and False Gods [00:53:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor contrasts the true God with Baal and modern 'little g' gods like materialism, status, and self-gratification, noting that these idols offer no help or truth.
• Divine Sovereignty and Power [01:00:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The narrative highlights God's power through the fire consuming the sacrifice, wood, stones, and water, proving His supremacy over false deities.
• Wavering and Decision [01:01:22 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor challenges the congregation to stop wavering between two opinions or gods and to make a definitive choice to follow the Lord.
• Daily Miracles and Surrender [01:02:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor redefines miracles as daily gifts (sunrise, breath, life) and calls for the congregation to move from being consumers to being 'consumed' by God.
• Surrender and Transformation [01:04:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor challenges the congregation to stop fitting God into their lives and instead build their lives around Him, describing this as moving from 'consumer to being consumed' through surrender.
• Living Sacrifice [01:05:24 ▶️ 📄]
  > Referencing Romans 12, the pastor explains that being a living sacrifice is not comfortable but involves letting God transform the believer's thinking and identity.
• True Strength and Powerlessness [01:06:45 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor redefines masculinity and strength, arguing that true toughness comes from realizing power in powerlessness and admitting the need for God's help rather than relying on one's own willpower.
• The Fruit of the Spirit [01:07:26 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor lists the nine characteristics of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, etc.) as the evidence of a 'tough guy' who has surrendered to the Holy Spirit.
• Divine Power and Resurrection [01:08:15 ▶️ 📄]
  > Citing Ephesians, the pastor emphasizes that the same power that raised Christ from the dead is available to believers, contrasting this with the futility of living on one's own strength.
• Cultural Idolatry vs. True God [01:10:54 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor critiques the 'consumer culture' where pleasure and comfort are gods, contrasting it with the 'true and living God' who offers real hope, peace, and freedom.

• Sermon Illustration [00:10:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor tells the story of Travis and Lacey, a couple whose marriage was on the brink of divorce. They decided to physically attend church as a 'last ditch effort' and, through community connection, experienced significant restoration from God.
• Sermon Illustration [00:37:08 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a personal anecdote about being in a drive-thru to illustrate a 'consumeristic' approach to faith, where one expects entertainment and convenience ('hold the challenge') from God and church.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:00 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a story about an atheist distillery owner in Kentucky who sued a church after lightning struck his building. The judge noted the irony of the atheist blaming a God he denies and the church denying the power of the God they worship.
• Sermon Illustration [00:40:33 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts a story about an atheist blaming God for a lightning strike while the church denies involvement, leading a judge to note the irony of both blaming a God they deny exists or power they deny.
• Sermon Illustration [00:42:01 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes the character of Elijah as a 'lone voice' who was often afraid, isolated, and lived in a cave, contrasting his humility with his status as a famous prophet.
• Sermon Illustration [00:50:30 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about being speechless and frozen when confronted with truth, relating it to a couple who silently drove home after a message about adoption before finally speaking.
• Sermon Illustration [00:48:57 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses a boxing match analogy to describe the showdown on Mount Carmel, introducing Elijah as a 135-pound fighter against 850 prophets of Baal weighing 17,000 pounds collectively.
• Sermon Illustration [00:52:40 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor recounts the biblical story of Elijah vs. the prophets of Baal, including the prophets' frantic dancing, shouting, and self-mutilation, followed by Elijah's prayer and God's fire consuming the wet sacrifice.
• Sermon Illustration [00:54:52 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor quotes Isaiah 44, describing the absurdity of a woodcarver using part of a tree for fire and bread, and the rest to make an idol, highlighting the stupidity of worshipping a block of wood.
• Sermon Illustration [00:56:55 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses modern analogies for idolatry, describing idols as 'pieces of paper' (money), 'reflective glass' (self-image), and 'metal and rubber' (technology/cars), asking if these can truly rescue or save.
• Sermon Illustration [01:02:56 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor illustrates daily miracles as evidence of God's presence, listing the sunrise, oxygen, heartbeat, family love, laughter, and shelter as 'fire from heaven' miracles that should lead to surrender.
• Sermon Illustration [01:07:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor references the Apostle Paul writing from a 'damp and dirty prison cell' as an example of a 'tough guy' who found strength in Christ, contrasting his physical weakness with his spiritual power.
• Sermon Illustration [01:08:27 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor uses the analogy of God blowing the rock off a tomb to raise a dead man to illustrate that the same mighty power is available to work through believers' lives today.
• Sermon Illustration [01:09:43 ▶️ 📄]
  > The pastor describes Jesus voluntarily laying Himself on the altar and taking the sins of the world upon His shoulders to illustrate God's relentless love and the cost of salvation.

• Pastoral Charge [00:39:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > Open Bible to 1 Kings chapter 18 and follow along with the sermon.
• Pastoral Charge [01:04:47 ▶️ 📄]
  > Surrender life to God, build life around Him, stop worshiping comfort, trust Him completely, and shift focus from receiving to pouring into others.
• Pastoral Charge [01:05:13 ▶️ 📄]
  > Give bodies to God as living sacrifices, do not copy worldly customs, and allow God to transform thinking.
• Pastoral Charge [01:12:51 ▶️ 📄]
  > Recite a specific prayer of acceptance, gratitude, and surrender to Jesus Christ.
• Pastoral Charge [01:12:17 ▶️ 📄]
  > Bow heads and take silent time to respond to God's speaking.

[00:08:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:08:09] Church Online. Happy Father's Day. I'm Ryan Sharp, the campus pastor at Lake Point Church Firewheel, and it's so good to be with you today. To all the dads watching right now, whether you're in the living room on your couch with your kids climbing all over you, or watching from the car between errands, or maybe this is your first Father's Day that it hits a little different because of loss or distance. I want to say we see you. You're loved, appreciated. You matter. We're grateful for you.
[00:08:39] and how you lead your family.
[00:08:41] If this is your first time with us, welcome.
[00:08:45] And if Live Free brought you here today, we're so glad that you got here.
[00:08:49] Listen, put Live Free Nation in the chat.
[00:08:51] We'd love to say, hey, Live Free goes deeper into the weekend message every single Monday.
[00:08:58] So if today connects with you, and I know it will, don't miss Monday's episode.
[00:09:03] And for our regular Lake Point Church Online family, listen, welcome back.
[00:09:08] We're so glad you're here.
[00:09:09] drop the city that you're joining us from in the chat right now. Let us know where you're joining us from because we'd love to say hi. Now, I want to mention something pretty big. You ready?
[00:09:20] This is like family meeting time. We are thrilled as a church to announce that Cornerstone Church in Lucas, Texas has voted to join the Lake Point family as a campus of Lake Point. This is a
[00:09:36] significant moment as our movement to help all people know Christ, live free, change the world, expands into the Allen and Lucas communities of Collin County. We'll begin the integration process with an opening planned later this year. Here's why this is significant, even for the campus that
[00:09:57] I'm a part of, the Firewell Campus, because it's just 20 minutes south of the new Lucas location.
[00:10:04] So we've already got people there that are commuting from that area that are so excited about a location just down the road from their home.
[00:10:14] And so if you're in one of these areas, come join us at Firewheel in this interim time as we're launching Lucas.
[00:10:22] We would love to see you there, and you'll get up-to-date information as we head close to that launch.
[00:10:28] Hey, if you're in the DFW area, we've got a campus for you.
[00:10:32] We've got eight campuses like all around the city.
[00:10:37] We're ready to welcome you.
[00:10:39] And if you're in the Garland area, Sachse, Plano, Wiley, the Firewheel area, come to my campus.
[00:10:47] I'd love to shake your hand, introduce you to our community, help you find a next step.
[00:10:52] And that happened to Travis and Lacey.
[00:10:55] You see, six months ago, they were attending online and they were watching a live free podcast here and there.
[00:11:02] maybe like a lot of you that are watching right now.
[00:11:05] And they decided, you know, we need to do something.
[00:11:08] You see, their marriage was just about over.
[00:11:12] They had each acknowledged, we're done, we're done, we're done.
[00:11:15] And they said, you know, let's go to church.
[00:11:19] Let's physically show up at this church that we're kind of getting to know online through the podcast and through church online.
[00:11:25] Let's see, maybe as a last ditch effort, what God could do.
[00:11:29] And I gotta tell you, for the last six months, they leaned in. They've been going to Rooted. They've been connecting in community. And what God has done in their marriage has been significant. Just this last weekend, they
[00:11:42] grabbed me in the lobby and they said, let me tell you how God saved our marriage. God did a deep work in their life. And I got to tell you, if you are sitting there going, man, I attend
[00:11:55] online, I'm near a campus, but you know, it doesn't really matter. I got to tell you, it matters.
[00:12:01] The fact that that couple, Travis and Lacey, got around people and those people helped push them towards God's plan for them, that's significant.
[00:12:11] That's what I want for you too.
[00:12:13] Hey, also, if you are attending Lake Point on a regular basis, try out Saturdays.
[00:12:19] Here's why.
[00:12:20] The Saturday service is all like the same, the same as Sunday service, except for this.
[00:12:26] You get the opportunity to open up a seat on Sunday morning to somebody who comes for the first time.
[00:12:32] It's like the shortest missions trip you'll ever take, Pastor Josh says.
[00:12:36] Like moving from Sunday to Saturday service so you can help reach people for Jesus.
[00:12:42] Listen, ahead of the NFL season here, you're gonna want your Sundays free for all those awesome games as we got our Cowboys winning, I'm sure, this season.
[00:12:52] It's gonna be great.
[00:12:53] But come try it out.
[00:12:55] Saturdays are for church.
[00:12:57] Hey, our hosts and our prayer team, They're live in the chat right now if you need prayer.
[00:13:02] Just let them know, hey, I need prayer for this or that.
[00:13:05] And if you need prayer right now or through the week, you can always text the word prayer to the number 20411.
[00:13:14] Now, let's worship Jesus.
[00:13:16] He deserves all the glory, all the honor.
[00:13:18] Let's worship him today.

[00:13:20] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:13:20] Get to live in.
[00:18:58] And listen, there's no greater story.
[00:19:01] It's what we come to remember, what we come to sing about.
[00:19:05] because there's no other story worth saying, repeating or singing for all eternity but the story of Jesus and what he did for us because that story gives me a future and a hope.
[00:19:17] It's a story that has changed the trajectory of my life and someone needs to hear this today.
[00:19:25] It can change yours.
[00:19:28] You may be walking into this place going, I have no hope, I have no future and I'm here to tell you today that's not true because in Jesus, you have a hope and a future for tomorrow and for all eternity that can be your story that's what we're singing
[00:19:45] about that's what we're singing about and so listen we have one response jesus has given everything to us and because of this we respond by giving everything back to him because he is worthy of all of it we're just simply instruments of praise to say jesus you get the glory you get

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:20:06] the honor and you get the praise and so let's give it to him right now every voice and i am an instrument of exaltation and i was born to lift your name above all you hear the melody

[00:20:29] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[00:20:29] of all creation it's a song of praise that only i you sing it who else is worth who else is

[00:20:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:20:45] thank you for your amazing grace that is so freely given to us not by anything we have done

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:25:30] all because you are a good let's worship together how sweet i'd say orange i want to as long as long as i got my chains are gone it's such a joy to worship with you can go ahead and take a seat and as you know today we're celebrating all the dads and the
[00:28:12] father figures in our lake point church so would you please turn to the screens for a video that

[00:28:18] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:28:18] put a smile on your face this is a generic father's day video respect provision legendary handsome these are synonyms representing dads that have been sprinkled in this video here's a dad fixing a truck we'll give you a close-up to see the grease on his hands
[00:28:45] greece means stability even if he calls the mechanic later and here's a dad grilling some food for his family, reminding us that we're all just modern-day hunters.
[00:28:56] And here's a dad at a baseball game, because baseball is the all-American sport.
[00:29:02] Now here's tools, lawnmowers, fishing rods, golf, hand-to-hand combat.
[00:29:12] By now, all dads should have seen themselves in one of these examples.
[00:29:16] And if not, well, it was the one where your wife elbowed you.
[00:29:21] The music is changing now to signal the video, and it's almost over.
[00:29:26] Dads don't just take you to hockey practice, gymnastics tournaments, and change your flat tires.
[00:29:32] They also teach you how to pray, how to hear the soft whisper of God, and how to walk in life like a man should, in step with Jesus.
[00:29:42] You've seen your dad carry the weight of life's burdens, yet smiled and taught you to love well through it all.
[00:29:49] in all seriousness thank you and happy father's day you legendary handsome fella man happy

[00:29:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:29:59] well hey lakewind family happy father's day hey i just want to take a moment and i want to honor the fathers grandfathers father figures and mentors watching right now some of you are carrying the weight of your family on your shoulders and nobody perhaps sees it some of you are showing up
[00:30:18] every single day for perhaps kids who may not say thank you yet some of you are grieving a father you lost or carrying the pain of a father who wasn't there hey wherever you are today God sees
[00:30:29] you and he is the perfect father that fills every single gap and so thank you for being here today we're honoring you and we're celebrating you hey because of your generosity Lake Point family this
[00:30:40] weekend Lake Point is honoring dads across every campus welcoming families through our doors and creating moments where men can encounter god in a real and personal way and none of that happens without people who give serve and pray so one we want to say thank you for being a part of this
[00:30:56] movement and so if you want to be a part of it also if you're here and you're not yet a part of it but you want to do so text the word give to 20411 or visit lakepoint.church slash give again
[00:31:09] thank you for being a part of this let's continue to do this together also i know some of you might be here today because maybe somebody invited you maybe that was your wife your kids or a friend
[00:31:20] sent you a link hey welcome we're so glad that you are here we are a big community there's literally people joining from different cities states and countries and we love that you're joining us today
[00:31:30] also if you happen to be in the dfw area come visit one of our eight locations find your campus at lakepoint.church locations come say hi come hang out we would love to meet you in person give
[00:31:43] you a hug and we continue to be the church together hey if you're outside of the dfw area we want to encourage you to find a local church and walk through that door perhaps even
[00:31:52] next weekend as well text the word map to 20411 and you will find a map where you'll find churches lake point has planted as well that's let's take that step today hey you don't have to figure
[00:32:04] everything out we are called as christians to simply focus on what is our next step and now Lake Point family, there is more happening in the life of our church.
[00:32:14] And of course, we don't want you to miss out.
[00:32:15] So check out LP News.

[00:32:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:32:21] Hey, Lake Point.
[00:32:22] Happy Father's Day to all the dads and father figures with us this weekend.
[00:32:26] We're so grateful for the impact you make in the lives of your families.
[00:32:31] At the Movies begins July 11th through August 2nd.
[00:32:34] Join us for this four-week sermon series where we use movies to illustrate biblical truths.
[00:32:40] Plus, you're in for a treat with free popcorn, drinks, and fun photo opportunities with your favorite characters.
[00:32:48] At the Movies is an in-person only event, making it the perfect time to invite someone new.
[00:32:54] And this weekend only, while supplies last, we have bags of chips, salsa, and invite cards available for you to take to a neighbor and give them a Texas-style invite to Lake Point.
[00:33:04] So grab a bag or a stack of invite cards on your way out today and learn more at lakepoint.church.movies.
[00:33:12] And lastly, SOAR Camp is coming up in one month for anyone with special needs ages 6 and up.
[00:33:19] From July 21st to 23rd at our Rockwall Campus, SOAR Camp is designed specifically for those in our special needs ministry to feel seen, loved, and have a week of fun.
[00:33:30] We'll have worship, music, crafts, games, and more at the Rockwell campus.
[00:33:35] To learn more or register, text SOAR to 20411.
[00:33:40] Now, let's dive back into our series, En Fuego.

[00:33:45] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:33:45] All right, what's up, Lake Point family?
[00:34:14] Great to see you all.
[00:34:14] Thanks for being here today.
[00:34:16] Hey, I want to add my happy Father's Day to all you guys out here today.
[00:34:21] Man, we have so many great dads at Lake Point Church and all of our campuses.
[00:34:26] we just got an inordinate number of really good men around this place and so grateful for you all and so I just love the way you guys are making a difference in your family and your neighborhood and your community
[00:34:37] and the kids' schools and what you do at work just the way you're a light and we're so grateful for you today and so we have on your way out today you can grab a dad's root beer
[00:34:47] we got dad's root beer we got the original kind we got diet root beer for you guys that are watching your figure We got cream soda for you guys that live on the wild side.
[00:34:57] Just grab it on your way out today.
[00:34:59] I mean, just a way for us to say thank you and have a great day with your family today.
[00:35:03] Well, my name is Bro, by the way, and I get to be on the teaching team here.
[00:35:06] And we are in week three of a little series that we're calling En Fuego.
[00:35:10] And we spent the first couple of weeks, if you're with us, talking about anger, about this combustible, smoldering kind of fire that rages in our heart that can cause so much damage.
[00:35:22] That's why we spent a couple of weeks talking about it.
[00:35:24] And as we said last week in our enemy, what his plan is to get us either to deny it or to dwell on our anger.
[00:35:31] And he loves to get us swinging back and forth, deny, dwell, deny, dwell.
[00:35:35] And Jesus comes along and says, no, no, no, no, let's deal with it.
[00:35:38] And I will help you deal with it.
[00:35:40] So if you missed either week, you might want to check it out online.
[00:35:43] I think it's a very important topic with a ton of stuff from God's word to apply to our lives.
[00:35:47] And I'm so excited for the freedom that a lot of you are finding.
[00:35:51] So we're going to shift gears today, and we're going to talk about you and me being consumed.
[00:35:57] Now, we know a bunch about consuming, right?
[00:36:02] Our whole society revolves around consumerism, and there's even a thing called the Consumer Index that shows how well we are consuming.
[00:36:10] We consume food, junk food, health food, fast food.
[00:36:13] We consume fashion.
[00:36:14] We consume tech.
[00:36:15] We consume cars and houses and entertainment.
[00:36:17] we consume social media, news cycles, podcasts, hot takes, streaming content. We are constantly consuming information and ideas and fear and anxiety messaging and comparison and comfort and convenience. And then we read reviews on Yelp to see how other consumers felt about their
[00:36:38] consuming experience. According to Harvard Magazine, businesses can expect a 9% increase for every star they receive from consumers.
[00:36:47] And one bad review can reduce the desire to purchase, visit, or book by 42%.
[00:36:54] And it's not just products and such that we consume.
[00:36:58] We can bring a whole consumer, what's-in-it-for-me mindset to our relationship with God, can't we?
[00:37:06] Man, I have been there.
[00:37:08] I was kind of like the person in the drive-thru, you know, pulling up to church going, hey, yeah, I like some great music, easy on the volume. If I could get like a couple of cool
[00:37:18] videos and we need a relevant message, hold the challenge. Could you throw in free coffee in a fun environment for my kids? Excuse me, could I get that supersized? It's kind of that consumeristic, you know, what are you going to do for me, God, kind of approach to faith, where you walk away
[00:37:34] from church giving it a one or two star Yelp review. But gang, here's the deal. You and I were not created to be consumers, but rather to be consumed by God for his good purposes.
[00:37:49] You and I were meant to live a God-centered, other-centered, difference-making, en fuego kind of life that burns with passion and purpose. It says this about God in Hebrews chapter 12.
[00:38:01] It says, therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and all for our God is a consuming fire.
[00:38:16] You say, make no mistake about it.
[00:38:17] He is en fuego.
[00:38:20] Our God is transcended.
[00:38:21] He is otherly.
[00:38:23] He is holy, perfect, and pure.
[00:38:25] And like a consuming fire, his presence burns away sin, evil, impurity.
[00:38:30] He is all knowing.
[00:38:31] He is all seeing.
[00:38:32] He is all powerful.
[00:38:33] He is absolutely all inspiring.
[00:38:36] He showed up before Moses ablaze in a burning bush.
[00:38:39] He led his people through the wilderness as a pillar of fire.
[00:38:42] He descended on the followers of Jesus in Acts 2 like tongues of fire.
[00:38:46] His love burns hot, and it never goes out.
[00:38:49] He is a self-combusting, inextinguishable, eternal, all-consuming fire, and he never changes.
[00:38:56] He never changes.
[00:38:57] But I'm telling you this, his presence changes anything it touches, and he longs to touch you and me.
[00:39:04] He wants to move us from being merely consumers to being consumed by him.
[00:39:09] I want to unpack a story from the Old Testament book of 1 Kings chapter 18 today.
[00:39:13] If you've got a Bible, you can head there.
[00:39:15] We're going to put it on the screens as well.
[00:39:17] We can track it together.
[00:39:17] But this story is, it's en fuego.
[00:39:21] Anybody watch the UFC event at the White House the other night?
[00:39:26] They had a real live cage match event.
[00:39:29] Guys were kicking each other in the face on the White House lawn.
[00:39:34] And I'm not talking about Congress either.
[00:39:36] It was like, this is a real deal.
[00:39:37] Well, this story we're going to read today is one of those SmackDown main event, Royal Rumble cage match kind of scenes.
[00:39:43] It's one of those incredible events in history where you wish you'd have had tickets.
[00:39:47] Because, man, we got it all.
[00:39:48] We got blood.
[00:39:49] We got trash talk.
[00:39:51] We got wannabe gods.
[00:39:52] We got villains.
[00:39:53] We got heroes.
[00:39:53] We got underdogs.
[00:39:54] Plus, we got fire.
[00:39:57] Lots of fire.
[00:40:00] I can remember a true story many years ago, back in my home state of Kentucky, where a whiskey distillery was coming to a small town.
[00:40:07] Well, a certain church in that town prayed against and lobbied against that distillery coming to their town.
[00:40:13] In fact, most of the community didn't want it to come.
[00:40:16] Well, the owner was an atheist, very non-sympathetic to the community's wishes, and he built it anyway.
[00:40:21] Well, one night, lightning hit it and burned it to the ground.
[00:40:26] The owner actually sued the praying church, blaming them for the lightning strike.
[00:40:33] And the church denied any involvement whatsoever.
[00:40:36] The judge in the case shook his head and said, here we have an atheist who blames a God who he says doesn't exist and a church who denies the power of the one that they say that does.
[00:40:49] So I wanna take a little of the suspense out of this story by telling you up front, The fire in this story, 100% God. He does it. In fact, the main character in this fire story
[00:41:02] is God himself. And because the Bible is the epic story of God, he is always the headliner of every story. But the best supporting actor role in this story goes to a guy named Elijah.
[00:41:14] Have you heard of this guy? Elijah was probably the most famous of Israel's prophets. He became a highly esteemed spokesperson for God. He was seen throughout Jewish history as the voice, not like a four chair turn, but he was a voice for God. And still today, every time the Jews
[00:41:31] celebrate the Passover feast, they will set an extra place at the table for Elijah. He's mentioned 29 times in the New Testament of the Bible. I mean, as Christians, we can't really study the life of John the Baptist who paves the way for Jesus without understanding the life of Elijah.
[00:41:47] Add to that the fact that this guy doesn't die, but God just takes him up to heaven in a chariot of, guess what, fire, makes this guy pretty special. But if you ask Elijah, he would simply
[00:42:01] say, man, I'm nobody special. In fact, I live in a cave down by the river. Unlike a bunch of my other counterpart superstars like Daniel and Amos and Joel and Zephaniah and Haggai, I haven't
[00:42:18] written anything. In fact, my longest sermon recorded in the Bible is only 22 words, but Elijah was the voice. Often a lone voice. He was often on the run, afraid, isolated because there was an
[00:42:32] evil king and queen who really did not like prophets at all. They really didn't like hearing God's truth from anybody. But Elijah was committed to speaking for God because he was the voice, even though he was a lone voice as a result god does some amazing things through him and elijah
[00:42:50] like many of us are learning discovered that god he is always with you and not only in the breathtaking sensational big time part the red sea rain down fire from heaven kind of miracles but mostly in the small quiet whispers deep in your spirit when you feel alone and you feel
[00:43:07] abandon. I mean, even today, God often speaks to the gentle and obvious rather than the spectacular.
[00:43:14] And we might say, God, I wish you would do something miraculous for me. But the real miracle of Elijah's life and our life is the privilege of actually being able to personally know the creator of the universe, the true and living God, who is an all-consuming fire,
[00:43:31] a God whose love burns white hot for you and for me. Now, another player in this drama is an evil king. His name is Ahab. He was the eighth king of Israel. He was Israel's most evil king. He did
[00:43:45] more to stir up God's anger than any other king before him. And on the surface, his life is not unlike many of our lives were at one time. I mean, he was a guy trapped in his own selfish desires.
[00:43:57] and a lot of us have been there. He was a guy unwilling to listen to God and a lot of us have been there. He was unwilling to do the right thing. A lot of us have been there. He married
[00:44:11] a really evil woman. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. His wife was a woman named Jezebel. Ever heard of this woman? In fact, do you know anybody named Jezebel? I mean, Judas and Jezebel are not real popular names among expecting parents and for good reason.
[00:44:28] Jezebel, among other things, led her husband, the king, far away from God and drew him into all kinds of bizarre idol worship.
[00:44:35] She surrounded herself with 850 false prophets or false gods.
[00:44:42] They were her own voices who would tell her and Ahab whatever they wanted to hear so they could justify anything they wanted to do.
[00:44:51] But the voice, the lone voice, Elijah, he told them what the true and living God wanted them to hear.
[00:44:58] So Ahab and Jezebel hated Elijah for speaking God's truth.
[00:45:03] So here's how the story goes.
[00:45:04] Elijah watches Israel slide further and further away from God.
[00:45:09] And this is Israel, God's chosen people, the great nation from the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the people he rescued time and time again, a people who once gratefully were deeply devoted to God,
[00:45:19] but they had moved from being consumed by God to being mere self-centered consumers.
[00:45:25] As a result, their culture is spiraling out of control and everybody's doing whatever they want to do. They're partying all the time. They're sleeping with whoever they want to sleep with. It is girls gone wild and boys gone wilder and all in the name
[00:45:38] of the worship of their gods. So our main character in the story, the only true God, the all-consuming fire. Going back to my childhood here, he has a little bit of a Popeye moment where he looks down and says, that's all I can stands and I can't stands no more.
[00:45:54] and he tells Elijah, it's time to do something about this. So Elijah comes out of hiding and he tells his courageous friend, a guy named Obadiah, who actually worked for the king.
[00:46:04] He asked him to set something up. And Obadiah, a really cool guy, even though he had a job in the palace, he loved the Lord. And at one time he is secretly hidden like a hundred prophets of God in
[00:46:15] caves to protect them from the anger of his evil boss. So Elijah asked his buddy Obadiah to set something up with the king. Even though letting the king know that he knows Elijah might cost him
[00:46:26] his life, Obadiah sets something up. Well, Ahab, he agrees to meet with Elijah. And when he sees him coming, he greets him with this line that like it seems straight out of one of those movies
[00:46:39] where the evil king is finally introduced to the hero. Check it out. When he sees Elijah, says to him, is that you, you troubler of Israel? He's like, well, well, well, there you are finally
[00:46:54] in the flesh, the one always stirring stuff up and making trouble with all this truth from God stuff. And Elijah comes back with this. I've not made trouble for Israel, but you and your father's
[00:47:08] family have. You have abandoned the Lord's commands and have followed the Baals. Now it's supposed to be pronounced Baal, but I grew up saying Baal and we're in Texas, so we're saying Baal. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel and bring the 450
[00:47:25] prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at your wife Jezebel's table. This is like Elijah saying, how about your gods and my gods step outside? Let's settle this. Meet me on the
[00:47:38] mountain. So Ahab sends word throughout Israel and assembles all the prophets on Mount Carmel.
[00:47:44] Now, I don't know why Ahab agrees to do this, but he does. And he sends word to Jezebel's prophets to meet on Mount Carmel for this classic showdown. Maybe it's in his arrogance. He sees this as a
[00:47:58] chance to show off. Maybe he sees it as a chance for his wife to kind of strut her stuff. After After all, she managed 850 well-fed prophets and they were going up against one skinny cave dweller.
[00:48:11] This could be a really great publicity stunt.
[00:48:13] You know, make a bunch of money, sell a bunch of tickets.
[00:48:15] He can make a total fool out of Elijah, make him even more unpopular than he already was.
[00:48:20] You see, the nation had been living in a famine for three years, one that Elijah had predicted.
[00:48:26] And so the blame for the famine was placed squarely on Elijah's shoulders.
[00:48:29] So this is a chance to finally be rid of this dude and his out-of-touch God, and show the real power of their gods and the royal prophets.
[00:48:41] A few years ago, I got to stand on this spot, Mount Carmel in Israel. There's a statue of Elijah there, actually. There's an incredible view overlooking what they refer to as the Valley of Armageddon, where some believe the final showdown will be fought. But it gave me chills
[00:48:57] standing there thinking about this particular showdown. Because, gang, this is kind of a pay-per-view moment. It's like ding, ding, ding, microphone jops. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the main event in this corner. Weighing in at 135 pounds, including his tunic,
[00:49:15] from the plains, the caves of Gilead, the one, the only, the one, the lonely, the voice, Elijah. And they're by booze because they believe he's responsible for the famine.
[00:49:25] And in this corner, weighing in at a collective, 17,000 pounds, the clever, the cunning, the royal sultans of Sleaze, the prophets of Baal. And everybody cheers because the prophets of Baal let you live however you want to live. Let's get ready to rumble. Sorry about that. I get a little
[00:49:47] carried away. But before this clash on Carmel could begin, Elijah takes the mic and he says these words to the crowd, to the people of God. This is so cool. He looks at the people and goes,
[00:50:01] how long will you waver between two opinions? How long are you going to waver? If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal is God, follow him. How long are you going to waver between the two?
[00:50:15] and then it says, but the people said nothing. That's simple five word phrase, jump off the page at me. But the people said nothing. Kind of might be hard to believe, but I've been speechless
[00:50:30] before. So confronted by the truth that I was frozen, just like a lump in my throat. My mouth went dry. I couldn't speak if I wanted to. You ever been there? I mean, let me ask you,
[00:50:41] you ever been sitting in a place like this and like an epic battle between your heart and your will breaks out. I mean, you kind of are living like this day to day. Then once a week you come
[00:50:53] in here and these two worlds collide. You got anger and then peace and then bondage and freedom, acceptance and challenge and faith and fear and worry and worship and hypocrisy and authenticity and bitterness and forgiveness and envy and contentment and being a consumer and being
[00:51:08] consumed. And you sit there at a loss for words because you know, you know that God is trying to say something to you, and you just sit there kind of frozen because you know he's trying to get your
[00:51:18] attention, but you don't know how to respond. Man, I have been there. I was talking to a couple just last night who sat through a message a few years back about adoption here at Lake Point, and when
[00:51:28] it was over, they said they just walked silently to the car. They didn't speak to each other at all.
[00:51:32] They drove almost all the way home, and they finally broke the silence and said to each other, we're supposed to adopt, aren't we? And they did. I mean, sometimes you just know that God is
[00:51:43] speaking to you and you sit there frozen. And then sometimes we resist that moment. And we think in the moment, you know what? This feeling, it'll go away. It'll go away. As soon as this bald guy
[00:51:54] shuts up and I'm outside in the parking lot, then I can just get back to normal and God will just leave me alone. Let me tell you something. He won't. He won't. He loves you way too much. He
[00:52:08] will not leave you alone. He pursues you and me like we are the only ones alive on this planet.
[00:52:14] You cannot outrun his love. And in those moments where you're still and you can't speak, that's when he wants to speak into your speechlessness. So the people are frozen.
[00:52:26] They say nothing. So the voice Elijah continues and he sets up how this showdown is going to go down. He says, I am the only one of the Lord's prophets left, but Baal has 450 prophets. Get
[00:52:40] two bulls for us. Let them choose one for themselves. 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,
[00:52:49] but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your God, and I will call on the name of the Lord. And the God who answers by fire, he is God. I mean, you got to love this. You see what God's
[00:53:01] doing here? In ancient literature, Baal is known as a so-called little g-god of thunder, lightning, rain, water, and fire. So here's God playing to his opponent's supposed strengths.
[00:53:16] And I also don't think it's any coincidence that God has chosen a man whose name, Elijah, is a combination of his own name. The name of God, Elohim, and Yahweh, you combine that, it means Elijah, which means the Lord is God. So in this moment, the Lord is God. Elijah
[00:53:34] steps up and says to the prophets of Baal, choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there's so many of you, call on the name of your God, but do not light the fire. So they
[00:53:44] took the bull, given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. Oh, Baal, answer us, they shouted. But there was no response. No one answered. And they
[00:53:57] bounced around the altar they had made. Can't you just see them like dancing and shouting and singing? They're singing every fire song they could think of. Come on, Baal, light my fire.
[00:54:08] I fell into a ring of fire. I've seen fire and I've seen rain. Girl on fire, we didn't start the fire, burning it down. They sing every fire they know and nothing happens. Nothing happens. And
[00:54:20] that's when this skinny cave dwelling prophet of God begins to trash talk. I love this. At noon, Elijah began to taunt them. Shout louder, he said. Surely he's a God. Oh, perhaps he's deep in thought
[00:54:33] or maybe he's busy. Literally in Hebrew, that means maybe he's going to the bathroom or maybe he's traveling. Oh, maybe he's sleeping. You just need to wake him up.
[00:54:42] I love this scripture found in Isaiah where God himself kind of trash talks about these little G guys. This is kind of long, but track with me here. This is so cool. This is a cool passage
[00:54:52] scripture. This is the Lord God speaking. I am the first and the last. There is no other God who is like me. Let him step forward and prove to you his power. Who but a fool would make his own
[00:55:07] God an idol that cannot help him one bit. The wood carver measures a block of wood, draws a pattern on it, works with a chisel and a plane, carves it into a human figure. He gives a human beauty and
[00:55:19] puts it in a little shrine. He cuts down cedars. He selects the cypress and the oak. He plants the pine in the forest to be nourished by the rain. Then he uses part of the wood to make a fire.
[00:55:31] With it, he warms himself and he bakes his bread. And then, yes, it's true, he takes the rest of it and makes himself a god to worship. He makes an idol and bows down in front
[00:55:44] of it. He burns part of the tree to roast his meat and to keep himself warm. He says, oh, that fire and feels good. Then he takes whatever is left and makes his God a carved idol. He falls down
[00:55:55] in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. Rescue me, he says. You are my God. Such stupidity and ignorance. Their eyes are closed. They cannot see. Their minds are shut. They cannot think.
[00:56:07] The person who made the idol never stops to reflect. Why, it's just a block of wood.
[00:56:15] I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat.
[00:56:19] How can the rest be a God?
[00:56:21] Should I bow down and worship a piece of wood?
[00:56:25] The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes.
[00:56:28] He trusts something that can't help him at all.
[00:56:32] Yet he can't bring himself to ask, is this idol that I'm holding in my hand just a lie?
[00:56:38] He trusts something that cannot help him at all.
[00:56:44] Does that sound familiar?
[00:56:46] Now, of course, we are certainly intelligent enough not to worship a carved piece of wood, but we sometimes bow at the altar of looks and image, don't we?
[00:56:55] We can worship at the shrine of materialism, success, and status.
[00:56:58] We can give our energy, our devotion, our affection to shallow, self-seeking relationships and self-gratification and fame, never stopping to think, isn't this idol just a piece of paper?
[00:57:10] Isn't this just a piece of reflective glass?
[00:57:12] Isn't this just a piece of metal and rubber?
[00:57:14] isn't this just a piece of wood and stone and brick and shingles? Am I bowing before something that's just a lie? Because the truth is this God can't rescue me. This God can't save me. This God
[00:57:26] can't love me. This God can't create me. This God can't recreate me. This God can't sweep away my failures. This God can't give me a bigger purpose. This God can't give me eternal life. Oh, it
[00:57:36] promised me that and more, but man, this is just a lie. You see, if you and I chase all the stuff of this consumeristic kind of life, making them little g gods, we will miss out on knowing and
[00:57:51] experiencing the true and living God of unfailing love and mercy, the good father who wants to consume all of us and walk with us every day. Well, check out the prophets of Baal. They're crying out to their wannabe God. So they shout out louder and slash themselves with swords and
[00:58:09] spears as was their custom until their blood flowed. Y'all ever gotten that desperate, that frantic? I mean, that frustrated with your little G gods? I know a bunch of people who got that desperate. They got to the point of cutting themselves, just harming themselves because
[00:58:24] their God, their God really couldn't help them anymore. Midday passed and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But again, there was no response.
[00:58:37] No one answered.
[00:58:38] No one paid attention.
[00:58:40] Now, this is kind of a contrast to the people said nothing.
[00:58:44] Now their God said nothing.
[00:58:47] Then Elijah said to all the people, come here to me.
[00:58:50] They came to him and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was in ruins.
[00:58:54] This is kind of a shout out to their history.
[00:58:57] He's kind of like saying, do you remember?
[00:58:59] Do you remember how we used to walk with the living God?
[00:59:02] And with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord.
[00:59:05] and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seals of seed.
[00:59:09] The purpose of that trench was to catch the blood of the bull as it ran down the altar.
[00:59:13] He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood.
[00:59:16] Then he said to them, fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.
[00:59:23] Do it again.
[00:59:25] And they did it again.
[00:59:26] Do it a third time.
[00:59:27] And they did it a third time.
[00:59:28] The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.
[00:59:32] Now you would think, instead of telling them to saturate the altar with water, he would have called for them to bring lighter fluid or gasoline.
[00:59:42] What's he doing here?
[00:59:44] He's intentionally stacking the odds against God because Baal was the supposed God of fire.
[00:59:52] At the time of the sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed, O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant
[01:00:03] and I've done all these things at your command.
[01:00:05] Answer me, O Lord.
[01:00:07] Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again.
[01:00:15] Now notice something about Elijah.
[01:00:16] He didn't dance around.
[01:00:18] He's not trying to draw attention to himself like the other so-called prophets of Baal.
[01:00:23] Elijah doesn't ask God, do this, God, so they will crown me the winner.
[01:00:27] Do this, God, so they'll finally start listening to me.
[01:00:29] do this, God, so they'll finally give me the respect I deserve. No, no, no, no. Elijah wanted what God wanted. And that was for the people to turn their hearts back to their creator and check out what happens. Then the fire of the Lord fell, burned up the sacrifice, the wood,
[01:00:45] the stones, and the soil. Also licked up the water in the trench. And when all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. Still the undefeated,
[01:01:02] undisputed champion of the universe, our God is en fuego, all-consuming fire. I think Elijah asked a great question to all of us when he asked those people, how long are you going to waver?
[01:01:22] How long are you going to waver between two opinions, two gods? Because the short story of history of Israel since Moses led them out of Egypt was we follow God. No, now we follow our
[01:01:34] own selfish desires. Oh man, our selfish desires have wrecked our lives. So now we follow God.
[01:01:39] No, forget it. We're going to do whatever is right in our own eyes. Oops, sorry, God, we will follow you and on and on and on this pattern would go. So Elijah, the voice stands
[01:01:46] up with passion. He asked, come on, how long are you going to do this? How long are you going to waver between two gods, between famine and rain, between death and life, between misery and
[01:01:57] happiness between guilt and forgiveness, between little G wannabes and the true living God.
[01:02:02] How long are you going to waver? You see, gang, the audacity of God is that he clearly states over and over again in his word that there's only one God and it's him. And it's not because he's
[01:02:15] on an ego trip. It's because it's true. And when we choose to cry out in desperation to any of those other little gods we set up, there's only going to be silence because they're not real.
[01:02:29] they can offer no answers, no guidance, no truth, no comfort, no power. They are not God's worthy of our worship. And you might be thinking, well, you know, I would follow God too. If he would do
[01:02:40] a miracle like that for me, if only I could see like fire from heaven descend, I might believe too. Hey, listen for me, every day of life is a fire from heaven miracle, a brilliant, a brilliant
[01:02:56] blazing ball of fire sets every day, painting the sky with this unparalleled majesty. Fire twinkles millions of miles away in the night sky to remind me that when I go to sleep, that there is a God who never does. Fire then rises in the eastern sky and lights another day
[01:03:14] where we awaken amazingly refreshed and our lungs fill up with the exact right amount of this perfect thing called oxygen and our hearts beat with incredible regularity, sending life-giving blood through these little tiny intricate passageways all through our body, all the way
[01:03:29] to our brain that lets us know as we see the reflection of our one and only kind of face in the bathroom mirror, we say, I'm alive for another day. To kiss our spouse, to hug our kids, to know
[01:03:39] the miracle of loving someone so much that it feels like a fire is burning deep in our soul.
[01:03:45] To walk through each day ignited by the experience of joy and happiness and challenge and friendship.
[01:03:50] to sometimes laugh so hard that you feel like you're going to combust, to walk through your front door and know that the home fires of shelter and safety are still faithfully burning, to sit outside by your fire pit at night
[01:04:03] and reflect on all the bad decisions you've ever made, all the stupid things you've done, all the times you should have crashed and burned, and you think, man, it's a miracle I'm still alive.
[01:04:13] Guess what? You're right.
[01:04:15] Your whole life is a miracle sparked in you by the loving God who's the all-consuming fire. And I think that maybe sometimes God wants to ask you and me, how long are you going to waver? You see all this
[01:04:32] miraculous around you. How long are you going to waver? I know he's asked me that. He's like, bro, how long until you move from being a consumer to being consumed? When will you surrender? When
[01:04:47] will you lay your life on the altar and let me light you on fire? When will you stop fitting me into your life and start building your life around me? When will you stop worshiping comfort
[01:05:00] and say yes to me, even though it costs you? When will you stop leaning on your own understanding and just trust me completely? When will you stop asking who's going to pour into me and start
[01:05:13] asking, who can I pour into? Romans 12, kind of a famous passage of scripture says, and so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for
[01:05:24] you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he finds acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don't copy the behavior and customs of the world and other little g gods,
[01:05:36] 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. Let's be honest, being a
[01:05:47] living sacrifice that's talking about is not real comfortable. Being consumed by God means your plans may change. Your identity gets reshaped. Your priorities get reordered. But here's the great paradox. According to Jesus, when you and I do that, we don't lose our life. We find it.
[01:06:09] we find it moving from consumer to being consumed it centers around one word surrender surrender i've had this written in the margin of my bible for years now you've heard me say it before i wrote it right over that romans 12 passage says this the greatness of a man is in
[01:06:30] direct proportion to the measure of his surrender the greatness of a man is in direct proportion to the measure of his surrender let me say something all you guys today because there's there's a lot
[01:06:40] said about being a tough guy, being a strong man. Let me tell you what makes a guy really tough.
[01:06:45] It's when he realizes that there is tremendous power in powerlessness. When you and I finally come to God and surrender and say, I need your help to be a good man. I need your help to be a
[01:06:59] good dad. I need your help to be a good husband. When we humble ourselves and say, Father, I cannot kick this habit on my own. I can't live this life in my own feeble strength, my own puny willpower.
[01:07:10] I need a higher power. I need a better wisdom. I need the strength of the everlasting God surging through my veins. When we do that, that's when God starts developing truth strength within us. Let me give you nine characteristics of a really tough guy.
[01:07:26] Here they are. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. And gang, that only happens inside of you and me when we surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit of God. We followed the apostle Paul for weeks. I don't know how many weeks,
[01:07:43] but a lot of weeks. You talk about a tough guy, check out what he wrote from a damp and dirty prison cell. He said this, kind of a famous verse, for I can do everything through Christ
[01:07:52] who gives me strength. Here's Paul saying, that's the secret of my life. You want to know the secret of my internal toughness? I just lay my life on the altar every day and I rely on the power of
[01:08:04] Jesus Christ to me and I can do all things through him who gives me strength. He also wrote this in Ephesians chapter one. He said, I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of
[01:08:15] God's power for us who believe him. Check this out. This is the same mighty power, the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the place of honor at God's right
[01:08:27] hand in the heavenly realms. Listen to me. If God can blow the rock off a tomb and give life back to a dead man, he can work through your life too. The same power, the same power is available to all
[01:08:40] of us. So with that being true, let me ask you, why would we go through life choosing to do it on our own? I mean, why wouldn't we drop our pride, stop chasing other gods, put our ego on
[01:08:51] the altar every day and say, consume me, oh God. Because I just don't want to experience what you can do for me. I want to be overtaken by you. Burn away all that is shallow and selfish and fake and
[01:09:02] risk-free. I want to burn for you as a living sacrifice, consume my heart, my thoughts, my plans, my passions for your glory. I want to rely on your strength and your wisdom and your grace and your power every day because the greatness of a man, the greatest of a woman
[01:09:17] is in direct proportion to the measure of their surrender. So let me ask you, how long are you going to waver until you do that? You see, when it comes to us, there is no wavering with God.
[01:09:30] you may not yet believe in him but he believes in you so much so that he promised that he would come down and bring us up out of the bondage and oppression of sin the promised one jesus
[01:09:43] would lay himself on the altar would take the sins of the whole world upon his shoulder so that mankind you and me could be made right with god and jesus never wavered either he went to the
[01:09:56] cross and voluntarily laid down his life so that we could know real life. And gang, that's what lights my fire. I have spent the past almost 50 years of my life now trying to get people to see
[01:10:13] that there's a God who loves them with a relentless love. I've been trying to hold out the invitation to embrace the gift of God, his amazing grace, for people to grab hold of a new beginning, to grab
[01:10:26] hold of a fresh start, a clean slate, to accept forgiveness through Jesus Christ, to acknowledge that Jesus is the Lord, to let him heal you, to let him fix you, to let him transform you,
[01:10:38] empower you, set you free as you follow him. And you know what? I'm sure like Josh and many other preachers have felt, I have sometimes felt like a lone voice, outnumbered in a culture where
[01:10:50] people surround themselves with only those who will tell them what they want to hear.
[01:10:54] a consumer culture where pleasure and comfort and achievement and ecstasy and selfishness those things are God and the reason I feel so obligated to speak the truth is because the prophets of Baal are still deceiving the minds of people and taking them far away from the true and living God
[01:11:16] and far away from hope and far away from true happiness and far away from peace and far away from freedom, fulfillment, purpose, and passion, the kind of life that God has longed for all of
[01:11:26] us to experience. I feel compelled to speak God's truth because so many people are living beneath their privilege of knowing the true and living God. There is a God who cannot bear the thought of heaven without you. So much so, he allowed his son to take your punishment on the cross
[01:11:47] so your sins could be wiped away if you would just surrender to him. So let me ask you one more time.
[01:11:57] How long will you waver? If the Lord is God, then follow him. Follow him. I'm going to give you some space to do that today. Let's bow our heads. Maybe right now you know God's speaking directly to your
[01:12:17] heart. You just know it. And you're sitting here in one of those frozen moments. And you know he's saying to you, come on, stop wavering. Stop living with one foot in and one foot out.
[01:12:29] Put both feet in the light and just follow me. Surrender your life to me. Lay it down so I can fill you with power and purpose and passion and freedom and wisdom. He wants to do that right here,
[01:12:41] right now. All you got to do is surrender to him. Say, Jesus Christ, I accept the gift of your forgiveness on my behalf. Thank you for what you've done on the cross. I want you, I want you
[01:12:51] to lead my life i need you to lead my life i want to be consumed by you god father it's my prayer that someone is praying that prayer right now in their own words in kind of a frozen moment where
[01:13:06] they just know that you're speaking to their heart and i pray that today they would just go palms up and surrender thank you god for pursuing me all those years you never stop a bunch of us
[01:13:21] are grateful for that thank you for the miracle of life thank you for proving that you are the one true living God. God, we want to live our lives consumed by you. And I pray all this in

[01:13:34] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[01:13:34] the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Man. Amen. Thank you, Pastor Mike. What a powerful word today.
[01:13:42] Hey, if today, stay with me just one moment. If today you pray to receive Jesus as your savior, would you take your phone out right now and text the word life to the number 20411. Our team wants
[01:13:53] to step in with you and help you understand what it looks like to follow him. Maybe today you need to keep processing with someone that decision to follow him right after our service is over
[01:14:02] underneath each of our crosses. We're going to have a team there that would love to pray with you about what God is up to in your own soul. Hey, as a reminder today that if you filled out
[01:14:10] one of these cards, you can drop it off out in the lobby in between those two doors, or you can drop it off in the offering bucket when it passes by. But before we go today, man, we want to celebrate
[01:14:19] what God has been up to. You may or may not know this, but this past week was a monumental week at Lake Point. We had our summer blast for our kindergarten through fourth graders. And y'all,
[01:14:29] we had over 3,400 kindergarten through fourth graders across all of our campuses. So if you see one of the 1,300 volunteers that helped pull that off, give them a hug, give them some Starbucks, give them something to help them get on through because man, they were serving our kids well.
[01:14:45] Those are incredible numbers, but the most important number I want you to hear is all of this, that over 1,600 students, kids, kindergarten through fourth grade, over 1,600 said they were ready to take their next step in their faith that might be following Jesus that might be baptisms
[01:14:59] just hang on just hang on you're going to want to cheer for this so what's happening right now is our teams are working alongside their parents to help them take those steps we've already had 35
[01:15:08] students give their lives to Jesus up to this point y'all that's worth celebrating we think God's going to keep doing more and more and more and you need to know this that events like summer
[01:15:18] blasts happen thanks to your generosity we could not do it without you Lake Point so we say thank you for stepping in obedience to faithfully give here each and every week. To give today, you can
[01:15:27] do it in a couple of ways. You can drop your offering off in the boxes on the way out, in the buckets as they pass by, or you can text the word GIVE to the number 20411. Don't forget, drop off
[01:15:37] your Saturday cards in the buckets. Let's go ahead and stand to our feet right now. Continue to

[01:15:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:15:42] worship both as we give and as we sing. Hey Church Online, happy Father's Day one more time. I hope

[01:17:05] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[01:17:05] today's message blessed you. I hope wherever you are that God spoke to you. I believe that God has something incredible for you today, and I pray that you realize that. Hey, subscribe to our YouTube
[01:17:19] channel and turn on notifications so that you don't miss Live Free on Monday. It picks up right where this message left off. It goes deeper into it. You're not going to want to miss that. And if
[01:17:31] you need prayer for any reason, maybe God's doing something heavy on your heart today, text the word prayer to 20411. We've got teams of people who are ready, willing, able to pray for you today. Hey, let me pray for us. Jesus, thank you. Thank you for being our heavenly father.
[01:17:50] Lord, we love you. God, we love you. We are so grateful for you. Jesus, we rely on you each and every day. God, I pray for all the fathers around the world that are tuning in right now. I pray,
[01:18:03] God, that you would inspire them to continue to lead their families well. Lord, thank you for how they sacrifice for their kids, for their families, to lead them towards you. Lord, I also pray for
[01:18:15] every single person today that is on the edge of giving their life to you. Maybe they're just checking things out. Lord, I pray that right now they would realize just how incredibly valuable they are to you, that you sent your son, you died on the cross, you rose again so that we could be
[01:18:34] free. I pray that experience that, that freedom in you. Lord, we love you. We thank you. We praise you. Thank you for today and what we get to do here at Church Online in your name. Amen, amen,
[01:18:48] amen hey happy father's day everybody we'll see you next week hey church online happy father's day i'm ryan sharp the campus pastor at lake point church firewheel and it's so good to be with you
[01:38:34] today to all the dads watching right now whether you're in the living room on your couch with your kids climbing all over you or watching from the car between errands or maybe this is your first
[01:38:45] father's day that it hits a little different because of loss or distance i want to say we see you. You're loved, appreciated. You matter. We're grateful for you and how you lead your family. If this is your first time with us, welcome. And if Live Free brought you here today,
[01:39:03] we're so glad that you got here. Listen, put Live Free Nation in the chat. We'd love to say, hey, Live Free goes deeper into the weekend message every single Monday. So if today connects with
[01:39:15] you, and I know it will. Don't miss Monday's episode. And for our regular Lake Point Church Online family, listen, welcome back. We're so glad you're here. Drop the city that you're joining us from in the chat right now. Let us know where you're joining us from because we'd love to say
[01:39:33] hi. Now, I want to mention something pretty big. You ready? This is like family meeting time. We are thrilled as a church to announce that Cornerstone Church in Lucas, Texas has voted to join the Lake Point family as a campus of Lake Point. This is a significant moment
[01:39:54] as our movement to help all people know Christ, live free, change the world, expands into the Allen and Lucas communities of Collin County. We'll begin the integration process with an opening planned later this year.
[01:40:10] Here's why this is significant, even for the campus that I'm a part of, the Firewell Campus, because it's just 20 minutes south of the new Lucas location.
[01:40:20] So we've already got people there that are commuting from that area that are so excited about a location just down the road from their home.
[01:40:30] And so if you're in one of these areas, come join us at Firewell in this interim time as we're launching Lucas, we would love to see you there and you'll get up-to-date information as we head close to that launch.
[01:40:44] Hey, if you're in the DFW area, we've got a campus for you.
[01:40:49] We've got eight campuses like all around the city.
[01:40:53] We're ready to welcome you.
[01:40:55] And if you're in the Garland area, Sachse, Plano, Wiley, the Firewheel area, come to my campus.
[01:41:03] I'd love to shake your hand, introduce you to our community, help you find a next step. And that happened to Travis and Lacey.
[01:41:12] You see, six months ago, they were attending online and they were watching a Live Free podcast here and there, maybe like a lot of you that are watching right now. And they decided, you know,
[01:41:22] we need to do something. You see, their marriage was just about over. They had each acknowledged, we're done. We're done. We're done. And they said, you know, let's go to church. Let's physically show up at this church that we're kind of getting to know online through the podcast and through
[01:41:40] church online. Let's see, maybe as a last ditch effort, what God could do. And I got to tell you, for the last six months, they leaned in. They've been going to Rooted. They've been connecting in
[01:41:52] community. And what God has done in their marriage has been significant. Just this last weekend, They grabbed me in the lobby and they said, let me tell you how God saved our marriage.
[01:42:05] God did a deep work in their life.
[01:42:07] And I got to tell you, if you are sitting there going, man, I attend online, I'm near a campus, but you know, it doesn't really matter.
[01:42:15] I got to tell you, it matters.
[01:42:17] The fact that that couple, Travis and Lacey, got around people and those people helped push them towards God's plan for them.
[01:42:26] That's significant.
[01:42:27] That's what I want for you too.
[01:42:29] Hey, also, if you are attending Lake Point on a regular basis, try out Saturdays.
[01:42:35] Here's why.
[01:42:36] The Saturday service is all like the same, the same as Sunday service, except for this.
[01:42:42] You get the opportunity to open up a seat on Sunday morning to somebody who comes for the first time.
[01:42:49] It's like the shortest missions trip you'll ever take, Pastor Josh says.
[01:42:52] Like moving from Sunday to Saturday service so you can help reach people for Jesus.
[01:42:58] Listen, ahead of the NFL season here, you're gonna want your Sundays free for all those awesome games as we got our Cowboys winning, I'm sure, this season.
[01:43:08] It's gonna be great.
[01:43:09] But come try it out.
[01:43:11] Saturday's R4 Church.
[01:43:14] Hey, our hosts and our prayer team, they're live in the chat right now if you need prayer.
[01:43:19] Just let them know, hey, I need prayer for this or that.
[01:43:22] And if you need prayer right now or through the week, you can always text the word prayer to the number 20411.
[01:43:30] Now, let's worship Jesus.
[01:43:32] He deserves all the glory, all the honor.
[01:43:35] Let's worship him today.

[01:43:36] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[01:43:36] My story, and for many of you this morning, that's your story.
[01:49:17] And I just wanna say this, that is the only story worth singing and saying and repeating for all time and all eternity because it's the only story that offers hope for tomorrow.
[01:49:30] It's the only story that offers life, joy, and peace forevermore.
[01:49:35] Because it says, it's not a hopeless thing, there is hope.
[01:49:40] It's not a lifeless thing, there is life.
[01:49:43] In Jesus, we have everything.
[01:49:47] And some of you need to hear this today.
[01:49:49] That you walked into this place, and you're saying, my life has no hope.
[01:49:57] I have no joy.
[01:49:59] And I just want to say this to you at the very beginning of this service.
[01:50:02] Let me tell you, there is hope for you.
[01:50:04] There is joy that's available to you There is peace that's available to you And it's found in the risen name of Jesus Christ The Savior of the world You need to know that today Listen, Jesus has given us everything
[01:50:19] And our response this morning Is to simply give him praise He's given everything to us So that we can turn around and live for him He is worthy of everything He's worthy of our song
[01:50:32] He's worthy of our worship He's worthy of our prayers He's worthy of our life And so let's worship Him

[01:50:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[01:50:40] And I am an instrument of exaltation And I was born to lift your name above all names You hear the melody of all creation It's a song of praise that only I can hear Who else is worthy?
[01:51:10] Who else is worthy? There is no other.
[01:51:25] It's your song.
[01:51:26] Who else is worthy?
[01:51:28] God who gives us grace so free.

[01:55:59] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[01:55:59] So as we continue to worship, these aren't just words, but a response for gracious God.
[01:56:04] It's such a joy to worship the Lord with you.
[01:58:38] And as you know, this weekend we're celebrating all the dads and the father figures in our Lake Point Church.
[01:58:44] So would you please turn to the screens for a video that will put a smile on your face.

[01:58:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[01:58:52] This is a generic Father's Day video.
[01:58:54] Respect. Revision. Legendary. Handsome.
[01:59:03] These are synonyms representing dads that have been sprinkled in this video.
[01:59:08] Here's a dad fixing a truck. We'll give you a close-up to see the grease on his hands.
[01:59:13] Grease means stability, even if he calls the mechanic later.
[01:59:18] Here's a dad grilling some food for his family, reminding us that we're all just modern-day hunters.
[01:59:24] And here's a dad at a baseball game, because baseball is the all-American sport.
[01:59:30] Now here's tools, lawnmowers, fishing rods, golf, hand-to-hand combat.
[01:59:40] By now, all dads should have seen themselves in one of these examples.
[01:59:44] And if not, well, it was the one where your wife elbowed you.
[01:59:48] The music is changing now to signal the video and it's almost over.
[01:59:54] Dads don't just take you to hockey practice, gymnastics tournaments, and change your flat tires.
[02:00:00] They also teach you how to pray, how to hear the soft whisper of God, and how to walk in life like a man should, in step with Jesus.
[02:00:11] You've seen your dad carry the weight of life's burdens, yet smiled and taught you to love well through it all.
[02:00:18] In all seriousness, thank you, and happy Father's Day.

[02:00:22] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[02:00:22] you legendary handsome fella well hey like my family happy father's day hey i just want to take a moment and i want to honor the fathers grandfathers father figures and mentors watching right now some of you are carrying the weight of your family on your shoulders and nobody perhaps
[02:00:44] sees it some of you are showing up every single day for perhaps kids who may not say thank you yet some of you are grieving a father you lost or carrying the pain of a father who wasn't there
[02:00:55] hey wherever you are today god sees you and he is the perfect father that fills every single gap and so thank you for being here today we're honoring you and we're celebrating you hey because
[02:01:07] of your generosity lakewood family this weekend lake point is honoring dads across every campus welcoming families through our doors and creating moments where men can encounter god in a real and personal way and none of that happens without people who give serve and pray so one we want
[02:01:23] to say thank you for being a part of this movement and so if you want to be a part of it also if you're here and you're not yet a part of it but you want to do so text the word give to 20411 or
[02:01:34] visit lakepoint.church slash give again thank you for being a part of this let's continue to do this together also i know some of you might be here today because maybe somebody invited you maybe that was your wife your kids or a friend sent you a link hey welcome we're so glad that you are here
[02:01:52] we are a big community there's literally people joining from different cities states and countries and we love that you're joining us today also if you happen to be in the dfw area come visit one
[02:02:03] of our eight locations find your campus at lakepoint.church locations come say hi come hang out we would love to meet you in person give you a hug and we continue to be the church together
[02:02:15] hey if you're outside of the dfw area we want to encourage you to find a local church and walk through that door perhaps even next weekend as well text the word map to 20411 and you will find
[02:02:26] a map where you'll find churches lake point has planted as well that's let's take that step today hey you don't have to figure everything out we are called as christians to simply focus on what is
[02:02:37] our next step and now lake point family there is more happening in the life of our church and of course, we don't want you to miss out. So check out LP News. Hey, Lake Point, happy Father's Day

[02:02:52] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[02:02:52] to all the dads and father figures with us this weekend. We're so grateful for the impact you make in the lives of your families. At the Movies begins July 11th through August 2nd. Join us for
[02:03:04] this four-week sermon series where we use movies to illustrate biblical truths. Plus, you're in for a treat with free popcorn drinks and fun photo opportunities with your favorite characters at the movies is an in-person only event making it the perfect time to invite someone new
[02:03:22] and this weekend only while supplies last we have bags of chips salsa and invite cards available for you to take to a neighbor and give them a texas style invite to lake point so grab a bag or a
[02:03:34] stack of invite cards on your way out today and learn more at lakepoint.church.movies.
[02:03:41] And lastly, SOAR camp is coming up in one month for anyone with special needs ages six and up.
[02:03:48] From July 21st to 23rd at our Rockwall campus, SOAR camp is designed specifically for those in our special needs ministry to feel seen, loved, and have a week of fun. We'll have worship, music, crafts, games, and more at the Rockwell campus. To learn more or register, text SOAR to 20411.
[02:04:09] Now, let's dive back into our series, En Fuego. All right, what is up, Lake Point family? Great

[02:04:43] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[02:04:43] to see you all. Welcome to Lake Point. Hey, I want to add my happy Father's Day to all you dads today. Man, we have so many great, great dads around this place, all of our campuses,
[02:04:55] And we just got an inordinate number of really good men around this place.
[02:04:59] So, man, just grateful for you all.
[02:05:01] Happy Father's Day to you.
[02:05:04] And I just appreciate the difference you make in your family, in your workplaces, in your neighborhoods, schools, all that.
[02:05:11] Just really grateful for you.
[02:05:13] And to say thank you, we have Dad's Root Beer today for those of you that are dads.
[02:05:17] We got regular dads.
[02:05:18] We got diet dads for those of you who are watching your figure.
[02:05:22] And if you want to walk on the wild side, we've got Dad's Cream Soda.
[02:05:25] So there you go.
[02:05:26] It's all out there.
[02:05:27] Grab one on your way out as a thank you from us to you.
[02:05:30] We are in week three of this little series that we're talking about fire, and we're calling it the series En Fuego.
[02:05:35] And we spent the first couple of weeks talking about anger, this combustible, smoldering kind of anger that can really destroy our lives, and it lives in our hearts.
[02:05:45] And we said last weekend that the enemy really wants to get us to either deny our anger or to dwell on our anger. And he loves to get us swinging back and forth from deny to dwell,
[02:05:54] deny to dwell, deny to dwell. And Jesus comes along and said, no, no, no, let's don't deny or dwell. Let's deal with it. And I will help you do that. So if you missed either week on anger,
[02:06:05] you might want to check it out online. Really important topic with a ton of stuff from God's word to apply to our lives. And I'm just so grateful for the freedom that many of you are
[02:06:14] finding through applying it to your lives. We're going to shift gears today and we're going to talk about you and me being consumed. Now, we know a bunch about consuming, right? Our whole society revolves around consumerism. There's even a thing called the consumer index that shows us how
[02:06:33] effective we are doing in our consuming. We consume food, whether it's fast food, junk food, healthy food. We consume fashion. We consume tech. We consume cars and houses and entertainment. We consume social media, news cycles, podcasts, hot takes, streaming content. We are constantly
[02:06:51] consuming information and ideas and fear and anxiety messaging and comparison and comfort and convenience. And then we read reviews on Yelp to see how other consumers feel about their consuming experience. According to Harbor Magazine, businesses can expect a 9% increase for every star
[02:07:12] they receive from consumers. One bad review, however, can reduce the desire to purchase, visit, or book a place by 42%. And it's not just products and such that we consume.
[02:07:26] We can bring a whole consumer, what's in it for me mindset to a relationship with God.
[02:07:34] And man, I have been there. I was kind of like that person in the drive-through pulling up the church going, yeah, I'd like some great music, easy on the volume. Could I get a couple of cool
[02:07:46] videos and a relevant message to hold the challenge? Could you throw in free coffee and a fun environment for my kids? Yeah. And could I get that supersized? It was kind of a consumeristic, what are you going to do for me, God, approach to my faith, where you're walking
[02:08:02] away from church and kind of giving God a one-star or two-star Yelp review. But here's the deal.
[02:08:07] you and I were not created to be consumers. We were created to be consumed by God for his good purposes. You and I were meant to live a God-centered, other-centered, difference-making, en fuego kind of life where we burn with passion and purpose. Hebrews chapter 12 says this about
[02:08:28] God. It says, therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful And so worship God acceptably with reverence and all.
[02:08:38] For our God is a consuming fire.
[02:08:42] Make no mistake about it.
[02:08:43] It's saying he is en fuego.
[02:08:46] Our God is transcendent.
[02:08:47] He is utterly.
[02:08:48] He's holy.
[02:08:48] He's perfect.
[02:08:49] He's pure like a consuming fire.
[02:08:52] His presence burns away sin, evil, all impurity.
[02:08:56] He is all knowing.
[02:08:57] He is all seeing.
[02:08:58] He is all powerful.
[02:09:00] He's absolutely all inspiring.
[02:09:02] He showed up before Moses ablaze in a burning bush.
[02:09:05] He led his people through the wilderness as a pillar of fire.
[02:09:08] He descended on the followers of Jesus in Acts chapter 2 like tongues of fire.
[02:09:12] His love burns hot.
[02:09:14] It never goes out.
[02:09:15] He is the self-combusting, inextinguishable, eternal, all-consuming fire.
[02:09:20] And he never changes.
[02:09:22] But whatever his presence touches, it changes.
[02:09:26] And he longs to touch you and me.
[02:09:28] wants us to move from being a consumer to being consumed by him. Now I want to unpack a fire story from the Old Testament days found in 1 Kings chapter 18. We've got a Bible you can
[02:09:39] head there. We're going to put on the screen as well. We can track together. But this one man is in fuego. Hey, did anybody watch the UFC event at the White House this week? It was a real life
[02:09:50] cage match event. I mean, guys were kicking each other in the face on the White House lawn.
[02:09:56] and that was just Congress. Well, this story we're going to see today is one of those main events, Smackdown, Royal Rumble, cage match kind of scenes. It's one of those events in history where you wish you had tickets for it because man, we got everything. We got blood, we got
[02:10:11] trash talk, we got wannabe gods, we got villains, we got heroes, we got underdogs, plus we got fire, lots of fire. I remember a true story many years ago back at my homestead in Kentucky
[02:10:25] where a whiskey distillery was coming to a certain town, a little small town in Kentucky, and a church in that town prayed against and lobbied against that distillery coming to town.
[02:10:37] In fact, most of the community didn't want it to come.
[02:10:39] Well, the owner was an atheist, very non-sympathetic to his community's wishes, and he built it anyway.
[02:10:44] Well, one night, lightning hit it and burned it to the ground.
[02:10:49] The owner actually sued the praying church, blaming them for the lightning strike, and the church denied any involvement whatsoever.
[02:10:59] And the judge in the case shook his head and said, here we have an atheist who blames a God who he says doesn't exist, and a church who denies the very power of the one they say that does.
[02:11:12] So I want to take a little of the suspense out of this story, but I want to tell you up front, the fire in this story is 100% God's doing. In fact, the main character in this fire story is
[02:11:24] God himself. Because the Bible is the epic story of God, he is always the headliner in every story.
[02:11:32] Now, the best supporting actor role in this story goes to a guy named Elijah.
[02:11:36] Have you heard of this guy? Probably the most famous of Israel's prophets. He eventually became a highly esteemed spokesperson for God. He was seen throughout Jewish history as the voice, not like a four-chair turn. He was a voice for God. And still today, every time the Jews celebrate
[02:11:54] the Passover feast, they will set an extra place at the table for Elijah. He's mentioned 29 times in the New Testament. As Christians, we can't study the life of John the Baptist who paves the
[02:12:05] way for Jesus without understanding the life of Elijah. Add to that the fact that this guy doesn't die, but God takes him up to heaven in a chariot of, guess what? Fire. It makes him pretty special.
[02:12:19] However, if you ask Elijah, he would simply say, man, I'm nobody special. I live in a cave down by the river. Unlike a bunch of my other counterparts, like superstars like Daniel and Amos and Zephaniah, Haggai, man, I haven't written anything. In fact, my longest sermon
[02:12:38] recording the Bible is like, it's just 22 words. But Elijah was the voice, often a lone voice, often on the run, afraid, isolated, because there was this evil king and queen who really did not
[02:12:53] like prophets. They did not like hearing God's truth from anybody. But Elijah was committed to speaking for God because he was the voice, even if he was a lone voice.
[02:13:05] As a result, God does some amazing things through Elijah.
[02:13:09] And like him, many of us are learning that God's always with us.
[02:13:14] And he's with us not only in the breathtaking, sensational, big time, you know, part the Red Sea, rain down fire kind of miracles, but mostly he's with us in the small, quiet whispers deep in our spirit.
[02:13:25] When you feel alone and you feel like you're abandoned.
[02:13:29] I mean, even today, God often speaks to the gentle and the obvious rather than the spectacular.
[02:13:34] We might say, God, I wish you would do something miraculous for me, but the real miracle of Elijah's life and our life is the privilege of actually being able to personally know the creator of the
[02:13:47] universe, the true and living God, who is an all-consuming fire, the God whose love burns white hot for you and for me. Now, another player in this drama is an evil king, a guy named Ahab.
[02:14:01] He was the eighth king of Israel.
[02:14:03] He was Israel's most evil king.
[02:14:04] He did more to stir up God's anger than any other king before him.
[02:14:07] And on the surface, I mean, his life is not unlike many of our lives used to be at one time.
[02:14:13] He was a guy trapped by his own selfish choices.
[02:14:17] And a lot of us have been there, right?
[02:14:19] He was unwilling to listen to God.
[02:14:22] And a lot of us have been there.
[02:14:25] He was unwilling to do the right thing.
[02:14:28] And a lot of us have been there.
[02:14:30] he married a really evil woman. And a lot, I'm just, I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. His wife was a woman named Jezebel. Have you heard of this woman? Do you know anybody
[02:14:41] named Jezebel? Yeah. Judas and Jezebel aren't real popular names when parents are picking out names for their baby. And for good reason, Jezebel, among other things, let her husband, the King far away from God and drew him into all kinds of bizarre idol worship. She surrounded
[02:14:58] herself with 850 false prophets for the false gods, her own voices, who would tell her and Ahab whatever they wanted to hear so they could justify anything they wanted to do. But the voice, the lone voice, Elijah, told them what the true and living God wanted them to hear. So Ahab and
[02:15:19] Jezebel hated Elijah for speaking God's truth. So here's how the story goes. Elijah watches Israel They'll slide further and further away from God.
[02:15:28] And this is Israel.
[02:15:29] God's chosen the great nation from the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, a people rescued time and time again by God, a people who were once gratefully and deeply devoted to God.
[02:15:39] But they had moved from being consumed to being merely self-centered consumers.
[02:15:45] And as a result, their culture is spiraling out of control.
[02:15:49] Everybody's doing whatever they want to do.
[02:15:51] They're partying all the time.
[02:15:52] They're sleeping with whoever they want to sleep with.
[02:15:54] it's girls gone wild and boys gone wilder. And all of it was done in the name of their little G gods. So our main character in the story, the only true God, the all-consuming fire,
[02:16:08] he kind of has, I'm going back to my childhood now, a Popeye moment where he says, that's all I can stands and I can't stands no more. And he tells Elijah, it's time to do something.
[02:16:19] So Elijah comes out of hiding, out of his cave, and he tells his courageous friend Obadiah, who actually worked for the king, set something up. Now Obadiah was a cool guy. Even though he had a job in the palace, he loved the Lord. And at one time he had secretly hidden like a hundred
[02:16:33] prophets of God in caves to protect them from the anger of his evil boss. So Elijah asked Obadiah, set something up with the king. Even though letting the king know that he knows Elijah and
[02:16:44] where he's at might cost him his life, Obadiah agrees and he sets something up. Well, Ahab agrees to meet with Elijah. And when he sees him, he greets him with this line that seems like to me out of one of those movies where the evil king finally is introduced to the
[02:17:03] hero. It says this, when he sees Elijah, it says to him, is that you, oh, troubler of Israel?
[02:17:10] It's like, well, well, well, it's finally you. There you are in the flesh, the one always stirring things up and making trouble with this truth from God stuff. And Elijah comes back with, I've not made trouble for Israel, but you and your father's family have. You have abandoned
[02:17:31] the Lord's commands and have followed the Baals. Now, that's supposed to be pronounced Baal, but I grew up saying Baal, and we live in Texas, so it's going to be Baal.
[02:17:39] Now, summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel and bring the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at your wife Jezebel's table. This is like Elijah
[02:17:51] saying to Ahab, how about your gods and my gods step outside? Let's settle this. Meet me on the mountain. So Ahab sends word throughout Israel and assembles the prophets on Mount Carmel.
[02:18:03] I don't know why Ahab agrees to this, but he does. And he sends word to all of Jezebel's prophets to meet on Mount Carmel for this showdown. Maybe in his arrogance, he sees it as a chance to
[02:18:17] kind of show off and flex. Maybe it's a chance for his wife to kind of strut her stuff. After all, she manages 850 well-fed prophets and they were going up against one skinny cave dweller. This
[02:18:30] could be like a great publicity stunt. They could sell a bunch of tickets, make some money, make a fool out of Elijah, make him even more unpopular than he was at the time. You see, the nation
[02:18:40] had been living in a famine for three years, one that Elijah had predicted. And so they put the blame for the famine squarely on his shoulders. So this might be a chance to finally be rid of
[02:18:51] this dude and his out-of-touch God and show the real power of their real gods and his royal prophets. A few years ago, I got to stand on that spot, Mount Carmel, Israel. There's a statue of
[02:19:04] Elijah there, actually. There's an incredible view overlooking what they refer to as the Valley of Armageddon, where some believe the final showdown will be fought. But it gave me chills standing there, thinking about this particular showdown, because this is kind of a pay-per-view
[02:19:19] event. This is like ding, ding, ding, microphone drops. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the main event. In this corner, weighing in at 135 pounds, including his tunic, from the plains, the caves of Gilead, the one, the only, the one, the lonely, the voice, Elijah. And everybody boos because they
[02:19:41] believe Elijah's responsible for a whole lot of pain. And in this quarter, weighing into the collective, 17,000 pounds, the clever, the cunning, the royal sultans of sleaze, the prophets of Baal.
[02:19:54] Everybody cheers because the prophets of Baal let you live however you wanted to live. Let's get ready to rumble. That was it. So, sorry. Got a little carried away. I spit all over myself.
[02:20:10] But before this clash on Carmel could begin, Elijah takes the mic, and he says these words to the crowd, says these words to the people of God. He says, how long? How long are you going
[02:20:25] to waver between two opinions. If the Lord is God, follow him. If Baal is God, follow him. How long?
[02:20:35] How long are you going to waver? And I love what it says, but the people said nothing. I mean, that simple five-word phrase jumped off the page at me, but the people said nothing. Now, it may be
[02:20:50] hard to believe, but I have been speechless before, so confronted by the truth that I had a lump in my throat. My mouth went dry. I was frozen. I mean, I could not speak if I tried to speak.
[02:21:01] That ever happened to you? Let me ask you, have you ever been in a place, sitting in a place like this, and all of a sudden, like an epic battle, a colossal tug of war between your heart and your
[02:21:13] mind starts to break out? I mean, you live this way day to day, then once a week you come in here and two worlds collide. Anger and peace, bondage and freedom, acceptance and challenge, faith and fear, worry and worship, hypocrisy and authenticity, bitterness and forgiveness,
[02:21:33] envy and contentment, being a consumer and being consumed. And all of a sudden you're at a loss for words because you know, you know that God's trying to say something to you, that God's trying
[02:21:46] to get your attention and you can't say nothing. You don't know how to respond. Man, I have been there. In fact, last night I was talking to a couple who sat through a message about adoption
[02:21:56] here several years ago at Lake Point. And when it was over, they said they just walked silently to their car. They drove, got almost home in silence and finally said to each other, we're supposed to
[02:22:08] adopt, aren't we? And they did. I mean, sometimes you just sit there frozen because you know that God is speaking directly to you. And then sometimes we resist that moment. We start thinking in the
[02:22:21] moment, you know what? I feel it, but you know, this feeling is going to go away. As soon as that ball guy shuts up, I'm outside in the parking lot. Then I can get back to normal and God will just
[02:22:29] leave me alone. Let me tell you something. He won't. He won't. He loves you way too much to leave you alone. He pursues you and me like we're the only ones alive on the planet. You cannot
[02:22:43] outrun his love. And in those moments when you're still almost frozen and you can't speak, that's when God wants to speak into your speechlessness. So the people are frozen. They say nothing.
[02:22:56] But the voice, Elijah, continues and he sets out, all this is going to go down. He says, I'm the only one of the Lord's prophets left, but Baal has 450 prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let
[02:23:07] them choose one for themselves. Let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood, but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull, put it on the wood, but not set fire to it. Then you call
[02:23:16] on the name of your God, and I will call on the Lord. The God who answers by fire, he is God.
[02:23:24] Now, I love this. I love what God is doing here because in ancient literature, Baal is known as the so-called God of thunder, lightning, rain, water, and fire.
[02:23:38] So God is playing to his opponent's supposed strength. And I also think it's no coincidence that God has chosen a man whose name is a combination of God's own names. Elijah is literally taken from Elohim, God's name, and Yahweh. And it means the Lord is God. That's his
[02:23:55] name. So the Lord is God. Elijah says to the prophets of Baal, choose one of the bulls and prepare it first since there's so many of you. Call on the name of your God, but do not light
[02:24:06] the fire. So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. Oh, Baal, answer us, they shouted. But there was no response.
[02:24:20] No one answered, and they danced around the altar they had made. I mean, I could just see them dancing and shouting and drinking and singing, singing every fire song they could think of.
[02:24:33] Come on, Baal, light my fire. I fell into a ring of fire, girl on fire, fire and rain. We didn't start the fire, burning it down. They sing every fire song they know and nothing, nothing happens.
[02:24:45] And that's when the skinny little cave dwelling prophet of God starts to trash talk. I love this.
[02:24:53] At noon, Elijah begins to taunt them. Shout louder. Surely he's a God. Oh, perhaps he's deep in thought or busy. Literally in Hebrew, that means maybe he's going to the bathroom or he's traveling. Maybe he's sleeping. You just need to wake him up. I love this scripture it's found in
[02:25:11] Isaiah where God himself starts trash talking a bit about little g gods. Now this is a little long, but it's so cool. So just track with me. This is the Lord God speaking. He says,
[02:25:22] I am the first and the last. There is no other God who is like me. Let him step forward and prove you his power. Who but a fool would make his own God an idol that cannot help him one bit?
[02:25:38] The woodcarver measures a block of wood and draws a pattern on it. He works with chisel and plane and carves it into a human figure. He gives it human beauty and puts it in a little shrine.
[02:25:48] He cuts down cedars. He selects the cypress and the oak and he plants the pine in the forest to be nourished by the rain. He uses part of the wood to make a fire. With it, he warms himself
[02:25:58] and bakes his bread. Then, yes, it's true. He takes the rest of it and makes himself a God to worship. He makes an idol and bows down in front of it. He burns part of the tree to roast
[02:26:11] his meat and keep himself warm. He says, oh, this fire feels good. Then he takes what's left and makes his God a carved idol. He falls down in front of it, worshiping and praying to it. Rescue me,
[02:26:23] he says, you are my God. Such stupidity and ignorance. Their eyes are closed and they cannot see. Their minds are shut and they cannot think. The person who made the idol never stops to reflect. Why? It's just a block of wood. I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake
[02:26:42] my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a God? Should I bow down and worship a piece of wood? The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that cannot help him at all,
[02:26:57] yet he can't bring himself to ask, is this idol I'm holding to my hand just a lie? He trusts something that can't help him at all. Does that sound familiar to anybody else? Of course, we are
[02:27:13] intelligent enough not to worship a carved statue, but man, sometimes we bow at the altar of looks in the image don't we we can worship at the shrine of materialism success and status we give our
[02:27:26] energy and devotion and affection the shallow self-seeking relationships and self-gratification and fame never stopping to think isn't this aisle just a piece of paper isn't this just a piece of reflective glass isn't this just a piece of metal and rubber isn't this just a piece of wood and
[02:27:43] stone and bricks and shingles am i bowing before something that's just a lie because the truth is this God can't rescue me. This God can't save me. This God can't love me. This God can't create me
[02:27:55] or recreate me. This God can't sweep away my failures. This God can't give me a bigger purpose.
[02:28:00] This God can't give me eternal life. Oh, wait, promise me that and more. But man, it's just a lie. Gang, if you and I chase all the stuff of this consumeristic life, making them in the little
[02:28:12] gee, gods, we're going to miss out on knowing and experiencing the true and living God of unfailing love and mercy, the good, good Father who wants to consume all of us and just walk with us every day.
[02:28:29] Well, check out the prophets of Baal. They're crying out to their wannabe God.
[02:28:32] So they shout it louder and slash themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. You ever gotten that desperate, that frantic, that frustrated with your little G gods? I've known a bunch of people that got that desperate, that they would just get
[02:28:47] to the point of cutting themselves, harming themselves because their God couldn't help them anymore. 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. This is kind
[02:29:06] of a contrast to the people said nothing. Now their God said nothing. Then Elijah said to all the people, come here to me. And they came to him and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which was
[02:29:20] in ruins. Now this is kind of a shout out to their history. Kind of, he's saying kind of, do you remember how we used to walk with the living God? And with the stones, he rebuilds an altar in the
[02:29:32] name of the Lord. He dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seas of seed. The purpose of the trench was to collect all the blood from the bulls that ran down the altar. He arranged the
[02:29:42] wood, cut the bull into pieces, laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood. Do it again. They did it again. Do it a
[02:29:52] third time. They did it a third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench. Now you would think that instead of telling them to use water, he would have called
[02:30:03] for them to drench the altar with lighter fluid or gasoline. What's he doing here? He's intentionally stacking the odds against God because Baal was supposed to be the God of lightning and fire.
[02:30:19] At the time of the sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed, O Lord, 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 these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord,
[02:30:31] answer me so these people will know that you, oh Lord, are God and that you are turning their hearts back again. Now notice Elijah doesn't dance around like these other guys didn't draw his attention to himself as these other so-called prophets do. Elijah doesn't ask God to do it so
[02:30:50] the crowd would crown me the winner or start listening to me or finally give me the respect that I deserve. No, Elijah wanted the same thing God wanted, that the people would turn their hearts back to their creator. Check out what happens. Then the fire of the Lord fell, burned
[02:31:07] up the sacrifice, the wood, the stone, the soil, 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,
[02:31:21] still the undefeated, undisputed champion of the universe. Our God is en fuego, the all-consuming between fire. Now, I think that Elijah asked a great question to all of us when he asked those people, how long are you going to waver between gods? How long are you going to waver between two
[02:31:46] opinions? Because the short story of the history of Israel since Moses led them out of Egypt is we follow God. Yeah, we follow God. No, we're going to follow our own selfish desires. Oh man,
[02:31:57] our selfish desires wrecked our life. So we're going to follow God. No, we're going to do whatever's right in our own eyes. Sorry, God, we're going to follow you now and on and on and
[02:32:04] on this pattern we go. So Elijah, the voice stands up with passion and says, come on, how long are you going to do that? How long are you going to waver between famine and rain and
[02:32:14] death and life and misery and happiness and guilt and forgiveness and between all these little wannabe gods and the true and living God? Come on, how long are you going to waver? You see, gang, the audacity of God is that he clearly states over and over in his word that there is
[02:32:30] only one God and it is him. And it's not because he's on a huge ego trip. It's because it's true.
[02:32:39] And when we choose to cry out in desperation to any of those other little G gods that we've set up, there'll only be silence because they're not real. They offer no answers, no guidance, no truth, no comfort, no power. They are not God's worthy of our worship. And you might say,
[02:32:58] yeah, bro, I hear you, man, but I would follow God too if he would do a miracle like that for me.
[02:33:02] if I could only see fire from heaven, I might believe too. Well, for me, every day of life is a fire from heaven miracle. A brilliant blazing ball of fire sets every day, painting the sky
[02:33:17] with unparalleled majesty. Fire twinkles millions of miles away in the night sky to remind us that while we sleep, there is a God who never does. Fire rises in the eastern sky and lights another
[02:33:30] day where we awaken amazingly refreshed and our lungs fill up with the exact right amount of some perfect thing called oxygen and our hearts beat with incredible regularity sending life-giving blood through tiny intricate passages throughout our body all the way to our brain to let us know
[02:33:46] as we see the reflection of our one-of-a-kind face in the bathroom mirror, I'm alive. Another day to kiss our spouse, to hug our kids, to know the miracle of loving another person so much that it
[02:33:56] feels like a fire is burning deep within our soul, to walk through the day ignited by the experience of joy and happiness and challenge and friendship, to sometimes laugh so hard that you feel like
[02:34:09] you're going to combust, to walk through your front door and know that the home fires of shelter and safety are still faithfully burning, to sit outside at night by a fire pit and reflect on all
[02:34:20] the bad decisions you've ever made, all the stupid things you've done, all the times you should have crashed and burned, and you think, man, it's a miracle I'm still alive. Guess what? You're right.
[02:34:31] Your whole life is a miracle sparked in you by a loving God who is an all-consuming fire.
[02:34:46] So I think sometimes that's why God wants to ask you and me, how long are you going to waver?
[02:34:54] I know he's asked me that. Like, bro, how long till you move from consumer to being consumed?
[02:35:01] When will you surrender?
[02:35:02] When will you lay your life on the altar and let me light you on fire?
[02:35:08] When will you stop fitting me into your life and start building your life around me?
[02:35:14] When will you stop worshiping comfort and say yes, even though it might cost you?
[02:35:20] When will you stop leaning on your own understanding and trust me completely?
[02:35:24] When will you stop asking, who's going to pour into me?
[02:35:28] And start asking, who am I going to pour into?
[02:35:31] Romans 12, kind of a famous passage of scripture says, and so dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you.
[02:35:40] Let them be a living and holy sacrifice, the kind he will find acceptable.
[02:35:45] This is truly the way to worship him.
[02:35:47] Don't copy the behaviors and customs of this world and all their little G gods, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.
[02:35:55] Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
[02:36:00] Let's be honest, being a living sacrifice like that, isn't that real comfortable?
[02:36:07] Being consumed by God means your plans may change.
[02:36:12] Your identity gets reshaped.
[02:36:15] Your priorities get reordered.
[02:36:17] But here's the great paradox.
[02:36:18] According to Jesus, when you and I do that, we don't lose our life.
[02:36:24] We find it.
[02:36:26] We finally find it.
[02:36:27] You see, moving from consumer to being consumed centers around one word, surrender.
[02:36:33] Surrender I've had this in the margin of my Bible for years now You've heard me say it I wrote it right over Romans 12, that passage The greatness of a man Is in direct proportion to the measure of his surrender
[02:36:47] The greatness of a man Is in direct proportion to the measure Of his surrender Let me say something to you guys today Because there's a lot said about Us being a tough guy, being a strong man
[02:36:59] Let me tell you what makes a guy a really tough dude It's when he realizes there is tremendous power in powerlessness. When you and I finally come to God and surrender and say, I need your help to be
[02:37:14] a good man. I need your help to be a good dad. I need your help to be a good husband. When we humble ourselves and say, Father, I cannot kick this habit on my own. I cannot live this life in
[02:37:24] my own feeble strength, my own puny willpower. I need a higher power. I need a better wisdom.
[02:37:30] I need the strength of the everlasting God surging through my veins. When we do that, that's when God starts developing true strength on the inside of us.
[02:37:38] Can I give you nine characteristics of a true tough guy?
[02:37:41] This won't take long.
[02:37:42] Nine characteristics of a true tough guy.
[02:37:44] Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control.
[02:37:49] That only happens inside of you and me when we surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit of the living God.
[02:37:57] We followed the Apostle Paul for weeks.
[02:37:59] I'm talking weeks.
[02:38:00] Talk about a tough guy.
[02:38:01] check out what he wrote from a dark and dirty prison cell he said this for i can do everything through christ who gives me strength you want the secret of my life you want the secret of my
[02:38:13] internal toughness i just lay my life on the altar every day and i rely on the power of jesus christ in me i can do all things through him who gives me strength he also wrote this in ephesians chapter
[02:38:26] one i love it i also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of god's power for us who believe him. This is, check this out, the same mighty power, the same mighty power that
[02:38:39] raised Christ from the dead and seated him at the place of honor at God's right hand in the heavenly realms. You see, if God can blow the rock off a tomb and give life to a dead man,
[02:38:51] and he can work through your life too, the same mighty power is available to all of us.
[02:38:57] So why in the world would we go through life choosing to do it on our own strength?
[02:39:01] Why wouldn't we drop our pride?
[02:39:03] Why wouldn't we stop chasing other gods and put our ego on the altar and say, consume me, oh God.
[02:39:09] I don't just want to experience what you can do for me.
[02:39:12] I want to be overtaken by you.
[02:39:14] Burn away all that is shallow and selfish and fake and risk-free.
[02:39:18] I want to burn for you as a living sacrifice.
[02:39:21] Consume my heart, my thoughts, my plans, my passions for your glory.
[02:39:25] I want to rely on your strength, your wisdom, your grace, your power every day because the greatness of a man, the greatness of a woman is in direct proportion to the measure of their surrender. So how long will you waver? How long are you going to waver? You see,
[02:39:43] when it comes to us, there is no wavering with God. You may not believe in him, but he believes in you. So much so he promised that he would come down and bring us up out of the oppression and
[02:39:57] bondage of sin. And the promised one, Jesus Christ would lay himself. He would lay himself on the altar. He would take the sins of the world upon his shoulder so that mankind, you and me,
[02:40:08] could be made right with God. And Jesus, he never wavered. He went to the cross and voluntarily laid down his life so that we could know eternal life. And that's what lights my fire. I have spent
[02:40:22] almost now the last 50 years of my life trying to get people to see that there is a God.
[02:40:37] There's a God who loves them with a relentless love.
[02:40:42] I've been trying to hold out the invitation to embrace the gift of God's amazing grace.
[02:40:47] To grab hold of a new beginning, a clean slate, a fresh start.
[02:40:52] To accept the gift of forgiveness through Jesus Christ.
[02:40:57] To acknowledge that Jesus Christ, He is Lord.
[02:41:01] And to let Him heal you.
[02:41:02] And to let Him fix you.
[02:41:04] And to let Him transform you and empower you as you follow Him.
[02:41:06] And I'm sure, just like Josh, and many other preachers have felt, I have sometimes felt like a lone voice, outnumbered in a culture where people surround themselves with people that only tell them what they want to hear. A consumer culture where pleasure
[02:41:23] and comfort and ecstasy and achievement and selfishness, those things are God. And the reason I feel so obligated to speak the truth is because the prophets of Baal are still deceiving the minds of people and taking them far away from the true and living God. And thus far away from hope,
[02:41:45] far away from true happiness, far away from peace and freedom and fulfillment and purpose and passion, the kind of life that God longs for all of us to experience. And I feel so compelled to
[02:41:56] speak God's truth because so many people are living beneath their privilege of knowing the God of unfailing love. And I'm passionate about this because life is short and eternity is forever and there is a God who cannot bear the thought of heaven without you. So much so, he allowed his son
[02:42:17] to be laid on the altar so our sins could be wiped away. So let me just ask you one more time, how long are you going to waver? How long are you going to waver? If the Lord is God,
[02:42:35] then follow him i want to give you a chance to do that right now to lay your life on the altar and invite him to consume you let's just bow our heads for a few moments maybe this is one of those
[02:42:49] moments where you just know kind of frozen in time that god's speaking to you i mean it's just one of those times where you just find it hard to swallow you just know you just know god's been
[02:43:05] trying to break through for a long time so maybe this is the day at the time to stop wavering and say, I'm going to, I choose, I choose to follow God. I choose Jesus Christ as my Savior.
[02:43:21] I want him to forgive my sin. Jesus, I want you to lead my life. I want you to consume me, give me real freedom and real joy and real purpose. He wants to do that right here, right now. And so
[02:43:34] you just talk to him. And palms up, you know, just saying, God, I surrender to you. I surrender to you. And Father, I pray that there are people right now that are doing exactly that. Just coming to
[02:43:48] You're saying, God, consume me.
[02:43:49] I'm tired of being a consumer where life is just all about me.
[02:43:54] And I want my life to be about you.
[02:43:56] And I want you to show me the pathway to live in the kind of life that counts.
[02:44:03] Father, I thank you that there are people right now that are humbling themselves and saying, I'm done wavering.
[02:44:09] I'm taking the one foot that I've had in the darkness and the one foot I've had in the light and I'm putting them both in the light.
[02:44:16] And I'm going to follow the true and living God, Jesus Christ.
[02:44:19] Jesus, thank you for making that possible.

[02:44:21] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_02]
[02:44:21] and it's in your name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Pastor Mike. What a powerful word today.
[02:44:31] Hey, if today, and y'all hang with me just one minute, if today that was you and you prayed to receive Jesus as your Lord and your Savior, full surrender to him, would you take your phone out
[02:44:40] right now and text the word life to the number 20411. Our team wants to come alongside you.
[02:44:46] They want to help you and look and see what it looks like to follow Jesus with all of your heart.
[02:44:50] Maybe you're still struggling through that today or wrestling through that.
[02:44:52] Right after our service is over, underneath each of our crosses, we've got teams there that would love to talk with you about what it means to follow Jesus and give your life in complete surrender to Him.
[02:45:02] Now, Lake Point, we love to celebrate what God has been up to.
[02:45:05] And you may or may not know this, but this past week was a monumental week at Lake Point.
[02:45:10] We had what we call Summer Blast.
[02:45:11] And you need to hear this, that we had over 3,400 kindergarten through fourth graders experience the love of Jesus, have incredible times together man they had a great week last week at summer blast but you
[02:45:23] need to know this there were over 1300 volunteers that helped make that possible so if you see one of them give them a hug give them a starbucks give them something to help them keep all the energy
[02:45:32] because they poured it all out for our students but the most important number of all of it is last weekend last week we saw over 1600 kindergarten through fourth graders say that they were ready to take their next step in faith that might be following jesus that might be
[02:45:45] baptism, but it gets even better than that. This past week, our teams have been working with their parents to follow up, and we've already seen 35 kiddos give their life to Jesus. Somebody, let's celebrate that right now, that God is on the move, changing lives. And you need to know this, that
[02:46:01] Summer Blast happens thanks in part to your faithful generosity. We could not do it without you. So we say thank you for being a generous church, being an obedient church that loves to give faithfully here. So thank you for being a part of that each and every week. To give today,
[02:46:14] You can do it in a couple of ways.
[02:46:15] The buckets are going to pass by.
[02:46:17] You can drop it off in the boxes on your way out.
[02:46:18] Or the easiest way is to text the word GIVE to the number 20411.
[02:46:23] Don't forget, drop your Saturday's Art for Church cards off in the buckets as they pass by.
[02:46:27] But let's do this.
[02:46:28] Let's go ahead and stand to our feet and continue to worship as we give and as we sing.

[02:46:32] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_06]
[02:46:32] Hey, Church Online, happy Father's Day one more time.

[02:47:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[02:47:53] I hope today's message blessed you.
[02:47:56] I hope wherever you are that God spoke to you.
[02:47:58] I believe that God has something incredible for you today, and I pray that you realize that.
[02:48:05] Hey, subscribe to our YouTube channel and turn on notifications so that you don't miss Live Free on Monday.
[02:48:13] It picks up right where this message left off.
[02:48:15] It goes deeper into it.
[02:48:17] You're not gonna wanna miss that.
[02:48:19] And if you need prayer for any reason, maybe God's doing something heavy on your heart today, text the word prayer to 20411.
[02:48:27] we've got teams of people who are ready, willing, able to pray for you today.
[02:48:33] Hey, let me pray for us.
[02:48:34] Jesus, thank you.
[02:48:35] Thank you for being our heavenly father.
[02:48:38] Lord, we love you.
[02:48:39] God, we love you.
[02:48:41] We are so grateful for you.
[02:48:43] Jesus, we rely on you each and every day.
[02:48:46] God, I pray for all the fathers around the world that are tuning in right now.
[02:48:50] I pray, God, that you would inspire them to continue to lead their families well.
[02:48:55] Lord, thank you for how they sacrifice for their kids, for their families, to lead them towards you.
[02:49:03] Lord, I also pray for every single person today that is on the edge of giving their life to you.
[02:49:09] Maybe they're just checking things out.
[02:49:10] Lord, I pray that right now they would realize just how incredibly valuable they are to you, that you sent your son, you died on the cross, you rose again so that we could be free.
[02:49:23] I pray that experience that freedom in you.
[02:49:28] Lord, we love you.
[02:49:28] We thank you.
[02:49:29] We praise you.
[02:49:30] Thank you for today and what we get to do here at Church Online.
[02:49:34] In your name, amen, amen, amen.
[02:49:37] Hey, happy Father's Day, everybody.
[02:49:39] We'll see you next week.