As the world grows darker, there is a mandate on the church to Arise and Shine. We must wake up to the fact that we are in a battle for the altar. This series will focus on the importance of contending for the altars of our hearts, homes, church, and community as we pray for revival and awakening in our time.
The Home
Speakers
Josh Blount
Lead Pastor
Worship
Notes
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How to build an altar in our home.
When cracks in the home are revealed, a weakness in the foundation is being exposed…
God is a foundation expert
Altar - is a sacred place to sacrifice to God and also to receive from God what only he can provide
Every home has the potential to be an altar to the Lord.
The home altar is a place where the sacred and the ordinary meet. It's a reminder that God is present in the mundane moments of life.
Henri Nouwen
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
Acts 2:42-47
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people.
Zechariah 10:1-2
Ask rain from the Lord in the season of spring rain from the Lord who makes the storm clouds, and he will give them showers of rain to everyone the vegetation in the field. For the household gods utter nonsense, and the diviners see lies; they tell false dreams and give empty consolation. Therefore, people wander like sheep, and they are afflicted for a lack of Shepherd.
Household gods = Teraphim
Teraphim - small personal idols that are prominently displayed within a household
“In addition to worship”
The mixing of idol worship with the worship of God dilutes the authenticity of our faith. God demands our wholehearted devotion, free from any distractions or false gods."
R.C. Sproul
If God is not God alone, He's not God at all.
Rick D. Boyer
When we build altars to other idols we diminish the power of God in our life and it leads to confusion.
Duality in theology leads to confusion, for it denies the simplicity and completeness of God." — Augustine of Hippo
Because God is not God alone in many homes, God is not God at all
in many lives.
What are you modeling?
Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary, use words
St. Francis of Assisi
Parenting is more caught than taught
1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Deuteronomy 6:7-9 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
“As successor to the Machine Age, the so-called Information Age promises to empower humanity as never before and therefore to complete our liberation. Taking the form of a wireless handheld device, the dynamo of our time has truly become, a symbol of infinity. It offers instant access to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Anyone who today works with or near young people cannot fail to see this: for members of the present generation, the smartphone has become an amulet. It is a sacred object to be held and caressed and constantly attended to. Previous generations fell in love with their cars or became addicted to TV, but this one elevates devotion to material objects to an altogether different level. In the guise of exercising freedom, its members engage in a form of idolatry. Small wonder that aficionados of Apple’s iPhone call it the Jesus phone.”
1. When You Sit
Deuteronomy 6:7 when you sit
2. When You Walk
Deuteronomy 6:7 when you walk along the road,
3. When You Lie Down
Deuteronomy 6:7 when you lie down
4. When You Get Up
Deuteronomy 6:7 when you get up.
Ephesians 5:16
Make the very most of your time [on earth, recognizing and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with wisdom and diligence], because the days are [filled with] evil.
God wants to be in your home
God is always near, but it's when we invite Him to lead that His presence becomes our guiding light.
Timothy Keller
Your altar and your victory are tied together!
Exodus 17:15
Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.
The Lord as our Banner means He is the front-runner in our battles, showing us the way to victory. Your altar of faith is where you declare this truth and claim your success."
A.W. Tozer