"Building a Church Through Outreach"
The Power of Sacrifice
ELCOG 01/27/08
Text: Romans 12:1-2
Last week I discussed the start of our 21 day fast as I laid out the plan that we will begin on February 3rd. I want to remind you of the three types of fast that we can choose from. First, the Normal Fast: No food and only water or natural juices. Secondly, the absolute Fast: Abstaining from all liquids and food, and lastly, the Daniel Fast: Abstaining from all meats, breads, sweets and drinking only water or natural juices (no sodas, tea or coffee) I strongly encourage you to follow the Daniel fast. You may mix the other two with the Daniel fast. For example, follow the normal fast for a week, then follow the Daniel fast or however, you feel led to complete your fast. But as your pastor, I call you into this fast and I also call for a solemn assembly for prayer. Beginning February 3rd we will pray each night at 7:00. We will have praise music playing and you are welcomed to just kneel in the altar and pray and intercede as long as you like. You may be finished at 8:00 or at 7:30, but at least you will have prayed and interceded for our church and our families. Remember:
Matt. 17:20
20And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.
Matt. 17:21
21Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.
I believe that when we have the correct mixture of prayer and fasting God will hear from heaven and will answer with His power. He will destroy the works of the evil one and will give us victory. He will unlock the doors that seem to be locking us out of our place of purpose and place of power. But in order to drive out these spirits and to unlock the power of God in our lives and in our church we must be willing to sacrifice!
Think about the willingness to sacrifice from Abraham:
There is a great lesson to be learned from this passage.
Gen. 22:5
5And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
(He knew that he was going to sacrifice, but he still called it worship. You must get to the place in your life that you can consider sacrifice as worship)
Gen. 22:6
6And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
Gen. 22:7
7And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
Gen. 22:8
8And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
Gen. 22:9
9And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
(Sometimes you have to keep the faith even when you feel like your promise is bound. You must show God that you are going to be faithful to the end. That you are not only able to start the process, but you are willing to finish the sacrifice. You have to be willing to give up what you want the most in order to advance with God. Sooner or later it must be more about God and less about you.)
John 3:30
30He must increase, but I must decrease.
Gen. 22:10
10And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
Gen. 22:11
11And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
Gen. 22:12
12And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
(This is an important line in the text; I know that you really fear God. Because you are willing to sacrifice, because you are willing to complete the task, because you were willing to give up your personal gain God sees that your fear Him. It is not really about what your mouth says, but rather what your actions say. You must be willing to sacrifice in deed, not just in word!)
Gen. 22:13
13And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
(Because Abraham was willing to sacrifice he was able to see God’s provision. If you are going to see God provide in your life then you must be willing to sacrifice in your life. If you want to get God’s attention then you must sacrifice. You must be willing to go the extra mile and climb the hill with your promise and lay it out before God!)
Gen. 22:14
14And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.
(God is still Jehovajireh! He will still provide all your needs especially when you sacrifice for God!)
Gen. 22:15
15And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
Gen. 22:16
16And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
Result of Sacrifice:
Gen. 22:17
17That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
Gen. 22:18
18And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
God will provide, but He will also bless you, He will bless your seed, He will bless your family, He will bless your finance because you obeyed and sacrifice.
I think one of the major problems in the "church world" today is that we do not know how to sacrifice. We have lost the ability to really sacrifice and because of that we hinder God from blessing us in all aspects of our lives. We must be willing to sacrifice. There is still power in sacrifice for believers!
Let’s think about one more sacrifice found in the bible.
Luke 23:33
33And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left.
Luke 23:34
34Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.
Now let’s go back to the day before the crucifixion. Jesus battled with the sacrifice. He knew what was required of him. He knew that the cross would be a hard road to travel, but He knew that a sacrifice was required.
Luke 22:42
42Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.
Luke 22:43
43And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.
Luke 22:44
44And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Luke 22:45
45And when he rose up from prayer, and was come to his disciples, he found them sleeping for sorrow,
Notice verse 43…. as he prayed for strength to handle the sacrifice he had angels come to strengthen him. God will also send angel to you as you begin your sacrifice. God will minister to your needs as you enter into the power of sacrifice.
Notice that Jesus was strengthened, but he continued to pray that he would be able survive the sacrifice. And after the prayer he rose up determined to follow through with the sacrifice.
That is why it’s important that in our 21 days of fasting that we also pray! It will help you to follow through with the sacrifice. Prayer will keep you determined to follow through with the sacrifice. You must be determined. I know that it is easy to start the fast, but you must finish if you want the blessings of God.
Next Sunday we will start our 21 days. Will you be blessed because you sacrificed? Or will you continue to dig in the mud and never advance in your relationship with Jesus Christ.
There is Power in Sacrifice!