The Father's House

Today I visited a new church called "The Father's House". The sermon was on 1 Kings 18:16-46 which is the passage where God consumes the sacrifice on Mount Carmel. I love this passage because God comes down and displays his glory in a consuming fire. The pastor focused on two words for today's sermon, "Sacrifice" and "Fire". In Matthew 3:11 John the baptist says, "“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Sacrifice hurts because it costs us something. Even though it may be painful to give God whatever it is we hold closest to our heart, it is necessary to make that sacrifice in order to receive the fire (Holy Spirit). After all, if Elijah hadn't prepare the alter with a sacrifice, there wouldn't  have been anything for God to consume (with fire). In Luke 9, Jesus made it clear that following him requires sacrifice."Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it." Luke 9:23-24