Christian Life Church
August 18, 2024 at 8:30am & 10:00am
The days are coming in which every believer needs to know and experience the Lord for themselves. Altars are where God does His most obvious work.
Locations & Times
Christian Life Church Columbia
2700 Bush River Rd, Columbia, SC 29210, USA
Sunday 8:00 AM
The Altar Experience 8.18.24
Acts 2:12 “What does this mean?”
Acts 2:37 “What shall we do?”
Key Ideas
· Abraham taught us it is more important to “build altars and pitch tents” than to “build tents and pitch altars.”
· Jacob was renamed Israel at the Jabbok Brook, but he wasn’t called Israel again until he built an altar.
· Jesus discovered the peace of God at an altar in Gethsemane.
I. Altars are markers of our life-path.
Jack Hayford identifies four characteristics of altars in the life of Abraham:
A. Altars of Promise (Genesis 12:1-7)
B. Altars of Prayer and Praise (Genesis 12:8)
C. Altars of Progression (Genesis 13:1-4)
1. In this passage, Abraham begins to mark his journey by moving from place to place, building altars as signposts of promise.
2. Every significant, positive gain in my Christian life and ministry has been achieved at an altar.
D. Altars of Possession
1. These are places where victory is realized and the promise is fulfilled.
2. Genesis 22:1-18
3. Hebrews 11:39, 40
II. Altars are built of hard things.
A. Altars are a reminder of our weakness and our total dependence upon Him.
B. Altars “offend our sensibilities.”
C. Altars require sacrifice.
III. Altars are places of confrontation and violence.
A. “Blood is spilled; death occurs; and fire consumes flesh.”
B. “Our God is a consuming fire.”
C. 1 Peter 1:7 NIV These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
D. 1 Peter 4:12-13 NIV Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
E. Malachi 3:3-4 NIV He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.
IV. Altars are places of light.
A. Light can expose evil.
B. Light can reveal good.
C. Light can bring clarity.
V. Altars are places of special encounter with God.
A. The days are coming in which every believer needs to know and experience the Lord for themselves. Altars are where God does His most obvious work.
B. Altars give God “room to work.”
Christian Life Lessons
1. The altar signifies a place of “turning aside.”
2. The altar gives us an opportunity for response.
3. The altar is a place to ask for and receive help.
Acts 2:12 “What does this mean?”
Acts 2:37 “What shall we do?”
Key Ideas
· Abraham taught us it is more important to “build altars and pitch tents” than to “build tents and pitch altars.”
· Jacob was renamed Israel at the Jabbok Brook, but he wasn’t called Israel again until he built an altar.
· Jesus discovered the peace of God at an altar in Gethsemane.
I. Altars are markers of our life-path.
Jack Hayford identifies four characteristics of altars in the life of Abraham:
A. Altars of Promise (Genesis 12:1-7)
B. Altars of Prayer and Praise (Genesis 12:8)
C. Altars of Progression (Genesis 13:1-4)
1. In this passage, Abraham begins to mark his journey by moving from place to place, building altars as signposts of promise.
2. Every significant, positive gain in my Christian life and ministry has been achieved at an altar.
D. Altars of Possession
1. These are places where victory is realized and the promise is fulfilled.
2. Genesis 22:1-18
3. Hebrews 11:39, 40
II. Altars are built of hard things.
A. Altars are a reminder of our weakness and our total dependence upon Him.
B. Altars “offend our sensibilities.”
C. Altars require sacrifice.
III. Altars are places of confrontation and violence.
A. “Blood is spilled; death occurs; and fire consumes flesh.”
B. “Our God is a consuming fire.”
C. 1 Peter 1:7 NIV These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
D. 1 Peter 4:12-13 NIV Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.
E. Malachi 3:3-4 NIV He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the LORD, as in days gone by, as in former years.
IV. Altars are places of light.
A. Light can expose evil.
B. Light can reveal good.
C. Light can bring clarity.
V. Altars are places of special encounter with God.
A. The days are coming in which every believer needs to know and experience the Lord for themselves. Altars are where God does His most obvious work.
B. Altars give God “room to work.”
Christian Life Lessons
1. The altar signifies a place of “turning aside.”
2. The altar gives us an opportunity for response.
3. The altar is a place to ask for and receive help.