WEBVTT 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:09.240 So a question for you is, who are you? When you 00:00:09.240 --> 00:00:11.740 think of yourself, when other people think about 00:00:11.740 --> 00:00:17.039 you, what do they picture? What's your personality? 00:00:17.059 --> 00:00:20.059 What's your reputation? When you're at work, 00:00:20.649 --> 00:00:23.530 Are you the hard worker? Are you the jokester? 00:00:23.829 --> 00:00:26.489 Are you the one that just wants to be quiet and 00:00:26.489 --> 00:00:29.370 get everything done? When you're in class, when 00:00:29.370 --> 00:00:31.890 you're at school, are you the one that sits on 00:00:31.890 --> 00:00:34.130 the front row? Are you the one that sits on the 00:00:34.130 --> 00:00:36.950 back row and maybe pays attention some of the 00:00:36.950 --> 00:00:41.170 time? When you're at a family reunion, who are 00:00:41.170 --> 00:00:45.170 you? What's your reputation? Or maybe different 00:00:45.170 --> 00:00:48.939 than a family reunion is a class reunion. When 00:00:48.939 --> 00:00:51.439 you get back together with your friends that 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:54.020 you haven't seen in a long time, and sometimes 00:00:54.020 --> 00:00:57.280 we revert back to maybe that high school personality, 00:00:57.399 --> 00:01:01.899 who are you? What's your reputation? Is it something 00:01:01.899 --> 00:01:05.280 that you're proud of, or is it something that 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:09.890 maybe we sometimes wish we could change? When 00:01:09.890 --> 00:01:12.609 I was a student at Southern, just up the road 00:01:12.609 --> 00:01:16.049 here, taking theology classes, there was one 00:01:16.049 --> 00:01:18.950 day that one of my fellow students had someone 00:01:18.950 --> 00:01:22.109 sitting next to him, a younger lady, a younger 00:01:22.109 --> 00:01:24.650 girl, and I thought she looked familiar. And 00:01:24.650 --> 00:01:27.890 so after class, I went up and I said, didn't 00:01:27.890 --> 00:01:30.269 you go to Ozark Academy? That's where I went 00:01:30.269 --> 00:01:34.329 to school. And she said, I did. But I'm surprised 00:01:34.329 --> 00:01:38.260 that you would remember me. You only spoke to 00:01:38.260 --> 00:01:41.500 me one time when we were at school together. 00:01:41.819 --> 00:01:44.120 And she told the story that she was a freshman 00:01:44.120 --> 00:01:49.480 and I was a cool senior. And the one year of 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:51.739 school together, I only spoke to her one time, 00:01:51.739 --> 00:01:53.599 apparently. Now, this is a boarding school, so 00:01:53.599 --> 00:01:55.620 we're living in dorms, eating in a cafeteria. 00:01:56.180 --> 00:01:59.140 And this was the story that she said. She had 00:01:59.140 --> 00:02:01.840 received a check from her parents in the mail. 00:02:02.250 --> 00:02:04.349 And she had it on her tray in the cafeteria. 00:02:04.590 --> 00:02:07.170 And she accidentally, when she was throwing away 00:02:07.170 --> 00:02:09.569 her trash, she'd thrown away this important check 00:02:09.569 --> 00:02:12.569 from her parents. And so I don't know if she 00:02:12.569 --> 00:02:15.349 realized it immediately or later she came back. 00:02:15.509 --> 00:02:19.189 And so she's standing over the trash can, you 00:02:19.189 --> 00:02:22.610 know, with discarded milk cartons and leftover 00:02:22.610 --> 00:02:25.669 lasagna and green beans and whatever it was. 00:02:25.750 --> 00:02:28.689 And she's looking for this important check. And 00:02:28.689 --> 00:02:31.509 here comes Greg Hudson walking by, and the one 00:02:31.509 --> 00:02:34.569 word that she remembers I ever said to her as 00:02:34.569 --> 00:02:39.009 she's digging through the trash can was, are 00:02:39.009 --> 00:02:43.330 you hungry? I didn't say, hey, what happened? 00:02:43.349 --> 00:02:45.909 Could I help you? Did you lose something? Do 00:02:45.909 --> 00:02:48.229 you need some assistance? I didn't say, oh, I'm 00:02:48.229 --> 00:02:50.389 sorry that you're digging through the trash can. 00:02:50.550 --> 00:02:54.430 I had a smart aleck remark and said, are you 00:02:54.430 --> 00:02:57.669 hungry? And that's what she remembered. about 00:02:57.669 --> 00:03:01.310 me. That was my reputation several years later 00:03:01.310 --> 00:03:05.409 as I bumped into this former classmate. That 00:03:05.409 --> 00:03:08.930 was all that I had ever said to her. What's your 00:03:08.930 --> 00:03:12.469 reputation? Do you ever wish you could change 00:03:12.469 --> 00:03:16.569 your reputation? Are you ever challenged to change? 00:03:17.490 --> 00:03:21.469 What if God challenges you to change something 00:03:21.469 --> 00:03:25.289 in your life? We're going to jump back into our 00:03:25.710 --> 00:03:28.189 series that we started a couple weeks ago about 00:03:28.189 --> 00:03:31.169 the prophet Elijah. And we're going to actually, 00:03:31.310 --> 00:03:33.909 we're going to get to 1 Kings 18 in just a moment, 00:03:33.949 --> 00:03:37.389 but we're going to start in James chapter 5 in 00:03:37.389 --> 00:03:40.210 the New Testament. We read this verse the last 00:03:40.210 --> 00:03:42.430 time we were together, but I just want to remind 00:03:42.430 --> 00:03:46.009 us of something here. James chapter 5 and verse 00:03:46.009 --> 00:03:50.490 17. We're talking about the prophet Elijah in 00:03:50.490 --> 00:03:54.879 the Old Testament. But James says, Elijah was 00:03:54.879 --> 00:03:58.159 a man, was a person with a nature like ours. 00:03:58.740 --> 00:04:01.919 And he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, 00:04:02.000 --> 00:04:05.039 and it did not rain on the land for three years 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:07.639 and six months. And he prayed again, and the 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:10.120 heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its 00:04:10.120 --> 00:04:13.360 fruit. The thing I want to bring out about that 00:04:13.360 --> 00:04:16.879 verse is that Elijah was a person just like us. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:20.800 He wasn't a superhero. He wasn't some sort of 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:25.480 spiritual giant. He didn't have anything else 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:29.019 than we could have. But what we know about Elijah 00:04:29.019 --> 00:04:32.139 is that whenever he heard God talking to him, 00:04:32.300 --> 00:04:35.819 whenever he saw God's instruction, that's what 00:04:35.819 --> 00:04:39.560 he did. He followed through. He did exactly what 00:04:39.560 --> 00:04:43.240 God wanted him to do. So with that in mind, let's 00:04:43.240 --> 00:04:47.480 go to 1 Kings chapter 18. Our last time together, 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:51.160 we were in 1 Kings 17, but we're going to continue 00:04:51.160 --> 00:04:55.079 the story of Elijah today, and the next couple 00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:58.319 times that I'm here with us, we'll continue to 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:03.060 talk about Elijah. But in 1 Kings 18, verse 1, 00:05:03.259 --> 00:05:07.199 the story of Elijah continues like this. It says, 00:05:11.930 --> 00:05:14.810 that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the 00:05:14.810 --> 00:05:19.209 third year saying, go present yourself to King 00:05:19.209 --> 00:05:23.550 Ahab and I will send rain on the earth. And so 00:05:23.550 --> 00:05:26.930 Elijah went to present himself to Ahab and there 00:05:26.930 --> 00:05:30.949 was a severe famine in the land. Now we have 00:05:30.949 --> 00:05:32.670 to review just a little bit because it's been 00:05:32.670 --> 00:05:34.410 two weeks and there's probably some folks here 00:05:34.410 --> 00:05:37.629 that weren't here two weeks ago. So in 1 Kings 00:05:37.629 --> 00:05:40.610 17, the word of the Lord came to Elijah and he 00:05:40.610 --> 00:05:43.269 went before King Ahab and he said, it is not 00:05:43.269 --> 00:05:47.569 going to rain because King Ahab had led the people 00:05:47.569 --> 00:05:50.089 away from God. And so God was going to pronounce 00:05:50.089 --> 00:05:52.589 a judgment upon the land and it was not going 00:05:52.589 --> 00:05:56.529 to rain. And then after Elijah boldly went before 00:05:56.529 --> 00:05:59.850 the king, the voice of God came and sent him 00:05:59.850 --> 00:06:02.370 across to another place where he was going to 00:06:02.370 --> 00:06:05.439 be provided for. And if you remember, he was 00:06:05.439 --> 00:06:08.240 going to be fed by some unique animals. And I 00:06:08.240 --> 00:06:09.959 wanted to put this picture that Bethany drew 00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:13.139 for us up one more time. What kind of animals 00:06:13.139 --> 00:06:17.699 fed Elijah? Ravens, birds who would normally 00:06:17.699 --> 00:06:22.060 eat whatever food they got. And yet these ravens 00:06:22.060 --> 00:06:26.300 went out of their way to bring this food to Elijah. 00:06:26.480 --> 00:06:29.160 And then he was drinking water from the brook. 00:06:29.259 --> 00:06:32.040 But even though he was exactly where God wanted 00:06:32.040 --> 00:06:37.050 him to be, Eventually, the brook dried up, and 00:06:37.050 --> 00:06:39.529 the word of God came to Elijah again, and he 00:06:39.529 --> 00:06:42.050 went off in another direction, and he went all 00:06:42.050 --> 00:06:44.910 the way to the area of Sidon, which is a pagan 00:06:44.910 --> 00:06:50.529 nation close by, and he met a widow there, and 00:06:50.529 --> 00:06:54.350 she was about to eat the very last of her food, 00:06:54.389 --> 00:06:58.250 and yet she offered it to Elijah, and because 00:06:58.250 --> 00:07:01.410 she offered it to Elijah, God provided for the 00:07:01.410 --> 00:07:04.939 widow, and the widow provided for Elijah during 00:07:04.939 --> 00:07:08.120 this time of famine. But now for three years, 00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:12.360 Elijah's been there, and this lack of rain has 00:07:12.360 --> 00:07:15.579 been taking a toll on the land. And I imagine 00:07:15.579 --> 00:07:19.160 as we see tragedies in the world, whether it's 00:07:19.160 --> 00:07:22.459 a plane crash or a forest fire, it often breaks 00:07:22.459 --> 00:07:26.459 our heart. I imagine Elijah, as he sees this 00:07:26.459 --> 00:07:29.879 national tragedy, this judgment of God being 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:33.649 poured out, I imagine his heart was broken as 00:07:33.649 --> 00:07:37.509 the land continued to get drier and drier, as 00:07:37.509 --> 00:07:41.629 things continued to die and less and less happened. 00:07:41.689 --> 00:07:44.750 But now the word of God came to Elijah, and he's 00:07:44.750 --> 00:07:47.410 supposed to go back to King Ahab and tell him 00:07:47.410 --> 00:07:50.149 that it's going to rain again. And so he makes 00:07:50.149 --> 00:07:53.129 his way to where the king is. We're not going 00:07:53.129 --> 00:07:55.410 to look at the story, but he bumps into a gentleman 00:07:55.410 --> 00:07:58.589 named Obadiah who worked for the king. but also 00:07:58.589 --> 00:08:00.889 worked for God. Really cool story. Read that. 00:08:01.269 --> 00:08:05.709 He tells Obadiah to go and tell the king that 00:08:05.709 --> 00:08:07.670 Elijah is back. And so we're going to pick up 00:08:07.670 --> 00:08:12.370 the story in verse 17. It says, Then it happened 00:08:12.370 --> 00:08:17.389 when Ahab, King Ahab, saw Elijah, that Ahab said 00:08:17.389 --> 00:08:23.029 to him, Is that you, O troubler of Israel? You're 00:08:23.029 --> 00:08:25.610 the one that caused all this. You're the one 00:08:25.610 --> 00:08:27.949 that came in and said it wasn't going to rain, 00:08:28.110 --> 00:08:31.569 and now you're back. You are the one that caused 00:08:31.569 --> 00:08:35.250 all this. But I love the way that Elijah responds. 00:08:36.090 --> 00:08:39.070 It says in verse 18, he answered, I have not 00:08:39.070 --> 00:08:43.190 troubled Israel, but you, King Ahab, and your 00:08:43.190 --> 00:08:46.649 father's house have, in that you have forsaken 00:08:46.649 --> 00:08:50.129 the commandments of the Lord and have followed 00:08:50.129 --> 00:08:54.809 the Baals. So Elijah, once again, is speaking 00:08:54.809 --> 00:08:57.429 to the king and he says, I'm not the cause of 00:08:57.429 --> 00:09:01.669 this, but you are, King Ahab. So one more review, 00:09:01.730 --> 00:09:06.009 our second review. King Ahab was the king of 00:09:06.009 --> 00:09:08.690 the blue kingdom there, the kingdom of Israel, 00:09:08.789 --> 00:09:13.590 the northern kingdom. After Solomon's son, the 00:09:13.590 --> 00:09:16.509 kingdom divided, King Solomon's son, the nation 00:09:16.509 --> 00:09:19.250 divided. So there was Israel in the north and 00:09:19.250 --> 00:09:22.909 Judah in the south. And in the south was Jerusalem. 00:09:23.070 --> 00:09:25.710 And so they continued worshiping in the temple 00:09:25.710 --> 00:09:30.570 and serving off and on, serving God. But in the 00:09:30.570 --> 00:09:33.809 northern kingdom, they set up a false system 00:09:33.809 --> 00:09:37.370 of worship. In Samaria, they had their own idols, 00:09:37.570 --> 00:09:39.789 bulls and other things that they would pray to, 00:09:39.929 --> 00:09:42.509 that they would worship to. And almost every 00:09:42.509 --> 00:09:45.269 king in the northern kingdom was leading the 00:09:45.269 --> 00:09:48.710 people away from God. And so when Elijah says, 00:09:48.929 --> 00:09:53.509 it's your fault, Ahab, And your fathers, notice 00:09:53.509 --> 00:09:57.070 we read this last time, but chapter 16 and verse 00:09:57.070 --> 00:10:02.230 30, it says, now Ahab, the son of Omri, did evil 00:10:02.230 --> 00:10:05.450 in the sight of the Lord more than all who were 00:10:05.450 --> 00:10:09.029 before him. He was more evil than all of these 00:10:09.029 --> 00:10:11.789 wicked kings. And it goes on and talks about 00:10:11.789 --> 00:10:14.750 how he married Queen Jezebel, who was the daughter 00:10:14.750 --> 00:10:18.350 of a priest of Baal, and they set up places of 00:10:18.350 --> 00:10:21.610 worship to these false gods and so forth. And 00:10:21.610 --> 00:10:26.730 so Elijah was able and willing and bold enough 00:10:26.730 --> 00:10:31.190 to speak truth to this person, even though he 00:10:31.190 --> 00:10:35.809 was a king. Sometimes it's hard to speak truth 00:10:35.809 --> 00:10:40.139 to power. Because power doesn't always want to 00:10:40.139 --> 00:10:41.559 hear the truth because they're going to think 00:10:41.559 --> 00:10:44.240 whatever they're doing is right. Sometimes it's 00:10:44.240 --> 00:10:48.759 hard to speak to a king or a leader or a president 00:10:48.759 --> 00:10:52.279 about mercy or whatever it is because sometimes 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:54.879 people don't want to hear things. But Elijah 00:10:54.879 --> 00:10:58.860 was bold enough to speak truth to this king and 00:10:58.860 --> 00:11:02.460 say, you are the one that has caused this challenge. 00:11:02.659 --> 00:11:05.799 You are the one that has done all these things. 00:11:06.259 --> 00:11:12.440 And so, They set up a challenge here. Notice 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:15.919 what Elijah tells the king in verse 19. He says, 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:20.340 now therefore, king, send and gather all of Israel 00:11:20.340 --> 00:11:23.480 to me on Mount Carmel. We're going to gather 00:11:23.480 --> 00:11:25.960 on this mountain that overlooks the Mediterranean 00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:30.220 Sea. Bring all the people, bring 450 prophets 00:11:30.220 --> 00:11:34.419 of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at 00:11:34.419 --> 00:11:38.000 Queen Jezebel's table. And so that's exactly 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.980 what was going to happen. How long did that take 00:11:40.980 --> 00:11:44.919 to gather these people from the corners of the 00:11:44.919 --> 00:11:49.519 nation? It must have been a few days, a week. 00:11:49.580 --> 00:11:52.120 I don't know the timetable here, but eventually 00:11:52.120 --> 00:11:55.940 they gathered together and Elijah stands before 00:11:55.940 --> 00:11:59.899 the people in verse 21. And Elijah came to all 00:11:59.899 --> 00:12:05.139 the people and said, here's the challenge. How 00:12:05.139 --> 00:12:10.399 long will you falter between two opinions? If 00:12:10.399 --> 00:12:16.200 the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow 00:12:16.200 --> 00:12:20.000 him. But the people answered him not a word. 00:12:20.220 --> 00:12:23.899 This was the call. This was the challenge. People 00:12:23.899 --> 00:12:29.200 had to make a choice. Elijah challenged the people 00:12:29.200 --> 00:12:32.919 of God, the people of the northern kingdom, to 00:12:32.919 --> 00:12:36.590 make a choice, decide. who you're going to follow. 00:12:36.870 --> 00:12:40.169 And I think that this is a word not just to them, 00:12:40.230 --> 00:12:43.070 but I think it can be a word to our generation 00:12:43.070 --> 00:12:48.529 as well. Because too many times we want to, as 00:12:48.529 --> 00:12:52.029 churchgoers, we want to look godly, we want to 00:12:52.029 --> 00:12:54.970 sit in the right place, and yet we also want 00:12:54.970 --> 00:12:59.070 to dabble with the world just a little bit. We 00:12:59.070 --> 00:13:01.149 want to say the right things, we want to sing 00:13:01.149 --> 00:13:05.429 the right songs, and yet we want to get as close 00:13:05.429 --> 00:13:09.730 as we can to the excitement of the world at the 00:13:09.730 --> 00:13:12.750 same time. I mentioned in the children's story 00:13:12.750 --> 00:13:16.850 that Jolie and I were able to go to Egypt just 00:13:16.850 --> 00:13:21.009 a few days ago, and we were able to see incredible 00:13:21.009 --> 00:13:25.080 sights. One of the ancient wonders of the world, 00:13:25.120 --> 00:13:29.240 the pyramids and the Sphinx. That's a tomb and 00:13:29.240 --> 00:13:34.899 then a human -headed lion and all this artwork 00:13:34.899 --> 00:13:41.340 of different things and depictions of gods that 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:44.559 they worshipped. The jackal -headed god or the 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:47.559 crocodile -headed god or the hawk -headed god. 00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:52.039 All these different gods. that they were worshiping 00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:56.340 incredible architecture, incredible displays. 00:13:56.860 --> 00:14:00.259 And yet all of this was about leading people 00:14:00.259 --> 00:14:05.700 away from the true God. In fact, this was a tomb 00:14:05.700 --> 00:14:09.679 here to a particular pharaoh because the pharaoh 00:14:09.679 --> 00:14:14.419 was a god as well. And on two days of the year, 00:14:14.539 --> 00:14:18.559 the sun would shine through this opening and 00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:20.960 it would... go all the way to the back of this 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:25.159 temple at a particular time to illuminate the 00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:29.580 Pharaoh, to illuminate this false god. And everywhere 00:14:29.580 --> 00:14:33.460 you looked, you could see these idols, these 00:14:33.460 --> 00:14:36.759 false gods, just like in the land of Israel. 00:14:36.879 --> 00:14:39.340 At that time, they were worshiping the different 00:14:39.340 --> 00:14:43.879 Baals. Now, I don't think that very many of us 00:14:43.879 --> 00:14:47.100 here in North Georgia, I don't think that many 00:14:47.100 --> 00:14:52.240 of us set up idols. We don't have physical graven 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:56.519 images that we're tempted to bow down before, 00:14:56.600 --> 00:15:01.279 that we're tempted to worship. But do we have 00:15:01.279 --> 00:15:07.220 other kinds of idols that may distract us, that 00:15:07.220 --> 00:15:11.139 may pull our attention, that may pull our focus 00:15:11.139 --> 00:15:16.159 away from God? Maybe it's our job and the hours 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:19.600 that we put in to make sure we have enough money 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:22.240 to provide for our family. That's a good thing. 00:15:22.580 --> 00:15:27.720 But could that dedication to one thing be harming 00:15:27.720 --> 00:15:31.679 us in our devotion to God? Or could it be our 00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:36.220 media use? We carry these little devices around, 00:15:36.399 --> 00:15:41.179 and how easy is it to lose time, to lose an hour? 00:15:41.899 --> 00:15:44.419 scrolling through something or watching some 00:15:44.419 --> 00:15:48.259 silly video, which in and of itself is not necessarily 00:15:48.259 --> 00:15:52.320 a bad thing, but can it be absorbing our time? 00:15:53.120 --> 00:15:56.720 What about sports? Have mercy. I know there's 00:15:56.720 --> 00:15:59.960 a big game tomorrow, but we need to make sure 00:15:59.960 --> 00:16:02.820 that whatever we're doing, we're not distracted 00:16:02.820 --> 00:16:08.419 from serving the true God of heaven and distracted 00:16:08.419 --> 00:16:12.799 by these little things. We're challenged to make 00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:19.179 a choice. And so Elijah sets up a duel, you could 00:16:19.179 --> 00:16:25.179 say, a contest, a confrontation between two sides. 00:16:25.340 --> 00:16:28.039 And you can read through those verses, and it 00:16:28.039 --> 00:16:32.000 talks about there's going to be two altars, there's 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.700 going to be two bulls, a livestock placed upon 00:16:35.700 --> 00:16:38.039 them. There's going to be two opportunities, 00:16:38.059 --> 00:16:43.820 and then notice what it says in verse 24. 1 Kings 00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:47.480 18, verse 24, it says, Then you call on the name 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:51.620 of your gods, with a little g, and I will call 00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:54.779 on the name of the Lord, and the God who answers 00:16:54.779 --> 00:16:59.200 by fire, he is God. So all the people answered 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:02.220 and said, That sounds good. It is well spoken. 00:17:02.460 --> 00:17:05.779 That's the challenge. That's the duel that we're 00:17:05.779 --> 00:17:09.140 going to have. And this should have been the 00:17:09.140 --> 00:17:12.180 perfect test for Baal. If Baal was ever going 00:17:12.180 --> 00:17:14.420 to pass a test like this, this would have been 00:17:14.420 --> 00:17:18.480 the one. Because Baal was the god of fertility. 00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:21.700 And so part of that was that the crops would 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:25.039 grow. And what do the crops need in order to 00:17:25.039 --> 00:17:28.180 grow? They need rain. So he's the God of rain. 00:17:28.400 --> 00:17:31.740 And along with that, the God of thunder and the 00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:36.119 God of lightning. This was the perfect test for 00:17:36.119 --> 00:17:41.240 Baal to prove that he was a true God, which he's 00:17:41.240 --> 00:17:44.640 not. But it was the perfect opportunity. And 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:48.339 so we see that's exactly what happened. And the 00:17:48.339 --> 00:17:50.779 prophets of Baal got to go first. And notice 00:17:50.779 --> 00:17:56.829 what happens in verse 26. It says, And they prepared 00:17:56.829 --> 00:18:00.130 it, and they called on the name of Baal for morning, 00:18:00.250 --> 00:18:06.750 even until noon, saying, oh, Baal, hear us. But 00:18:06.750 --> 00:18:10.990 there was no voice. No one answered. And then 00:18:10.990 --> 00:18:14.029 it says they leaped about the altar, which they 00:18:14.029 --> 00:18:17.569 had made. Oh, Baal, hear us, send fire down. 00:18:18.130 --> 00:18:20.390 And it says they leaped about, and some versions 00:18:20.390 --> 00:18:23.369 even say they leaped, leapt, leaped, I don't 00:18:23.369 --> 00:18:28.809 know. They jumped. onto the altar. If this bull, 00:18:28.970 --> 00:18:32.549 if this livestock isn't enough, God, send fire, 00:18:32.650 --> 00:18:37.670 consume me. That's some dedication that these 00:18:37.670 --> 00:18:43.650 prophets had to this false God. Consume me. And 00:18:43.650 --> 00:18:48.609 I wonder, what are we willing to sacrifice for 00:18:48.609 --> 00:18:52.450 our God, for our true God that we follow? They're 00:18:52.450 --> 00:18:57.019 like, God, you can kill me. If you want to, I 00:18:57.019 --> 00:19:00.299 think of Romans chapter 12, verse 1, where Paul 00:19:00.299 --> 00:19:02.819 writes, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by 00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:05.220 the mercies of God, that you present your bodies 00:19:05.220 --> 00:19:11.259 as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, 00:19:11.359 --> 00:19:14.480 which is your reasonable service. It's one thing. 00:19:14.500 --> 00:19:16.440 It's an incredible thing when people give their 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:22.799 life and die a death for God. That's a one -time 00:19:22.799 --> 00:19:26.960 thing. But God says, I need you to be a living 00:19:26.960 --> 00:19:30.940 sacrifice, a commitment that we make not just 00:19:30.940 --> 00:19:34.480 one time, but that we're able to make day by 00:19:34.480 --> 00:19:39.799 day and week by week as we choose, as we're challenged 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:43.740 to make a choice and to follow God. But in this 00:19:43.740 --> 00:19:46.359 case, they cry out to Baal and nothing happens. 00:19:46.500 --> 00:19:50.140 You go on to verse 27. It says, and so it was 00:19:50.140 --> 00:19:52.539 at noon. So they started in the morning. Now 00:19:52.539 --> 00:19:56.490 it's noontime. that Elijah, now we read before 00:19:56.490 --> 00:20:00.630 that Elijah was a person just like us. And sometimes 00:20:00.630 --> 00:20:03.390 we like to say, I told you so, or different things 00:20:03.390 --> 00:20:08.549 like that. And it says, Elijah mocked them. I 00:20:08.549 --> 00:20:11.569 think this is some righteous mockery, some trash 00:20:11.569 --> 00:20:15.930 talking, if you will. And it says, cry aloud. 00:20:16.289 --> 00:20:18.150 Maybe you need to shout a little bit louder. 00:20:18.630 --> 00:20:22.809 He's a God. He's busy. Shout a little bit louder. 00:20:23.690 --> 00:20:25.930 And then it says maybe either he's meditating. 00:20:26.869 --> 00:20:29.190 You know, you got to stir him out of his meditation 00:20:29.190 --> 00:20:32.029 chamber. You got to shout a little bit louder. 00:20:32.130 --> 00:20:36.210 Or it says he is busy. And this is actually an 00:20:36.210 --> 00:20:39.849 interesting euphemism here. And what it's referring 00:20:39.849 --> 00:20:44.430 to is someone going to the bathroom. Maybe you 00:20:44.430 --> 00:20:46.430 need to shout a little bit louder because he's 00:20:46.430 --> 00:20:50.710 in the outhouse. I can think, you know, of... 00:20:51.539 --> 00:20:54.779 mothers when the children are very small, and 00:20:54.779 --> 00:20:57.240 maybe they think that there's one room in the 00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:59.599 house that they can have just a moment or two 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:04.440 by themselves, but inevitably, mama, mama, mama, 00:21:04.619 --> 00:21:08.819 mama. And he's kind of, you know, maybe you need 00:21:08.819 --> 00:21:11.079 to shout a little bit louder to stir him out 00:21:11.079 --> 00:21:13.319 of this place. Or he's on a journey. He's further 00:21:13.319 --> 00:21:18.099 away. Yell just a bit louder. Or maybe he's asleep. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.769 You just got to wake him up. come on guys, yell 00:21:21.769 --> 00:21:26.529 louder, wake him up. And Elijah is sitting back 00:21:26.529 --> 00:21:30.650 as these guys are jumping and screaming and yelling. 00:21:30.670 --> 00:21:33.369 And that's not all. Notice verse 28. It says, 00:21:33.410 --> 00:21:38.630 they cried aloud and they cut themselves as was 00:21:38.630 --> 00:21:42.210 their custom with knives and lances until the 00:21:42.210 --> 00:21:45.890 blood gushed out on them. They were actually 00:21:45.890 --> 00:21:50.319 harming themselves. seeking to appease an angry 00:21:50.319 --> 00:21:55.799 God that wasn't even real. Sometimes people in 00:21:55.799 --> 00:21:59.500 our society, they cause harm to themselves seeking 00:21:59.500 --> 00:22:04.299 to escape from something. Harm themselves, whether 00:22:04.299 --> 00:22:08.579 it's through some kind of addiction to drugs 00:22:08.579 --> 00:22:11.740 or to alcohol, and they're doing all these different 00:22:11.740 --> 00:22:15.640 things seeking to escape. Or maybe it's whatever 00:22:15.640 --> 00:22:18.640 kind of media that they're binging. And unfortunately, 00:22:18.900 --> 00:22:21.019 even in this world, there's some who actually, 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:24.180 like these people, actually physically harm themselves 00:22:24.180 --> 00:22:28.380 and physically cut themselves seeking to escape 00:22:28.380 --> 00:22:32.339 from something. But all that they did, still, 00:22:32.660 --> 00:22:36.559 there was nothing. Because verse 29 goes on and 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:42.059 says, They prophesied until the time of the offering 00:22:42.059 --> 00:22:45.839 of the evening sacrifice, but there was no voice. 00:22:46.359 --> 00:22:51.660 No one answered. No one paid attention. They 00:22:51.660 --> 00:22:55.420 tried everything they could, but nothing was 00:22:55.420 --> 00:22:58.880 working. Still, there was nothing. And finally, 00:22:58.920 --> 00:23:01.720 Elijah's like, okay, it's my turn now. It's my 00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:06.819 time. Verse 30. It says, Elijah said to all the 00:23:06.819 --> 00:23:11.339 people, come. near to me. So all the people came 00:23:11.339 --> 00:23:15.119 near to him. He didn't want to yell. He didn't 00:23:15.119 --> 00:23:18.880 want to have to shout. Just press in. Come close. 00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:23.140 And then it says he repaired the altar of the 00:23:23.140 --> 00:23:26.799 Lord that was broken down. I love that picture 00:23:26.799 --> 00:23:30.680 because that shows that there had been a place 00:23:30.680 --> 00:23:33.839 where the worship of the true God had happened 00:23:33.839 --> 00:23:37.789 in that very place, but it had been neglected. 00:23:38.150 --> 00:23:41.210 It had been forgotten. It had been abandoned. 00:23:41.809 --> 00:23:45.130 And so Elijah takes the time, it says he took 00:23:45.130 --> 00:23:48.549 12 stones to represent the 12 tribes of Israel, 00:23:48.630 --> 00:23:53.329 and he built this altar. And it says he repaired 00:23:53.329 --> 00:23:57.410 the altar of the Lord that was broken down. And 00:23:57.410 --> 00:24:00.130 it says in verse 32, with the stones he built 00:24:00.130 --> 00:24:03.650 an altar in the name of the Lord. And so these 00:24:03.650 --> 00:24:07.240 people had gathered around. And Elijah was repairing 00:24:07.240 --> 00:24:11.299 that which was broken. And I wonder about our 00:24:11.299 --> 00:24:17.420 personal spiritual walks. How is your altar of 00:24:17.420 --> 00:24:22.559 worship in your life? Are you taking time to 00:24:22.559 --> 00:24:26.339 open up your Bible? Are you taking time to pray? 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:31.779 Is your spiritual altar neglected? Is it broken 00:24:31.779 --> 00:24:38.160 down? Is your Bible dusty? Are you taking time 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:43.740 to truly explore and get to know the true God 00:24:43.740 --> 00:24:47.619 so that you can avoid these little gods in your 00:24:47.619 --> 00:24:51.759 life? So as Elijah had challenged these individuals 00:24:51.759 --> 00:24:55.880 to make a choice, to make a change, we see that 00:24:55.880 --> 00:24:59.700 they're beginning to respond in worship. They're 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:03.400 beginning to respond in worship. If I can tell 00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:07.339 one more story from high school. I was at Ozark 00:25:07.339 --> 00:25:10.680 Academy in a boarding school, and it was my senior 00:25:10.680 --> 00:25:13.839 year. And I don't know why, but I decided that 00:25:13.839 --> 00:25:16.160 I was going to start reading my Bible. I'd grown 00:25:16.160 --> 00:25:18.980 up going to church. I'd been baptized, gone to 00:25:18.980 --> 00:25:21.420 Sabbath school, all the works. But I decided 00:25:21.420 --> 00:25:24.500 I wanted to make sure that this God was for real 00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:27.420 and was for me. And so I decided I was going 00:25:27.420 --> 00:25:29.420 to start reading my Bible. And we were in a dorm, 00:25:29.500 --> 00:25:31.240 so there was a certain time that there was lights 00:25:31.240 --> 00:25:33.700 out, but I would turn on the light in the closet. 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:36.420 and I would crack the door just a tiny little 00:25:36.420 --> 00:25:39.900 bit so that one sliver of light shined out of 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:42.500 the closet, and I would put my Bible in front 00:25:42.500 --> 00:25:45.200 of that sliver of light, and I would read one 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:48.640 page and two pages. That was my Bible reading 00:25:48.640 --> 00:25:51.720 plan. And as I read, I was looking for at least 00:25:51.720 --> 00:25:55.740 one verse that I could underline, one verse that 00:25:55.740 --> 00:25:58.859 I could see that perhaps God was talking to me. 00:25:59.630 --> 00:26:01.730 Now, that was the same year that apparently I 00:26:01.730 --> 00:26:03.630 told a young girl, why are you eating out of 00:26:03.630 --> 00:26:08.390 the trash? Are you hungry? So things don't change 00:26:08.390 --> 00:26:11.569 immediately. Things don't change all the time. 00:26:11.609 --> 00:26:15.210 But I begin to recognize that, yes, God is for 00:26:15.210 --> 00:26:19.309 real and God is for me. And so Elijah rebuilt 00:26:19.309 --> 00:26:22.589 this altar. And notice it says in verse 36, it 00:26:22.589 --> 00:26:26.750 came to pass at the time of the offering of the 00:26:26.750 --> 00:26:30.809 evening sacrifice. Remember that time that Elijah 00:26:30.809 --> 00:26:34.369 the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, 00:26:34.670 --> 00:26:38.410 Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that 00:26:38.410 --> 00:26:41.210 you are God in Israel and that I am your servant 00:26:41.210 --> 00:26:43.910 and that I have done all these things at your 00:26:43.910 --> 00:26:48.009 word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people 00:26:48.009 --> 00:26:50.829 may know that you are the Lord God and that you 00:26:50.829 --> 00:26:54.200 have turned their hearts back to you. So these 00:26:54.200 --> 00:26:56.839 people are gathered in close. The altar is repaired 00:26:56.839 --> 00:27:00.240 and Elijah prays. And he says, let it be known 00:27:00.240 --> 00:27:04.920 that you are God. Let it be known that I am your 00:27:04.920 --> 00:27:07.460 servant. And God, let it be known that you are 00:27:07.460 --> 00:27:10.240 drawing the hearts of all these people back. 00:27:10.819 --> 00:27:14.480 This is what it's all about. This is what the 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:17.779 drought was about. This is what Elijah's ministry 00:27:17.779 --> 00:27:20.869 was all about. This is what this challenge was 00:27:20.869 --> 00:27:24.470 all about, that God wanted everyone to know that 00:27:24.470 --> 00:27:27.730 he was God. God wanted everyone to know that 00:27:27.730 --> 00:27:31.250 he was drawing them back to where he was. God 00:27:31.250 --> 00:27:35.589 was drawing him back to follow him. Now, it was 00:27:35.589 --> 00:27:38.309 several years ago that I was in a group setting, 00:27:38.390 --> 00:27:42.009 and there was a challenge thrown out to come 00:27:42.009 --> 00:27:46.069 up with a one -word goal for the year that was 00:27:46.069 --> 00:27:50.329 ahead, for the school year that was ahead. goal. 00:27:50.329 --> 00:27:54.430 And as I was pondering that, this verse is where 00:27:54.430 --> 00:27:57.250 I landed. This verse is what I came up with, 00:27:57.309 --> 00:27:59.150 and I have it written in the margin of my Bible. 00:27:59.329 --> 00:28:04.410 In the year 2016, my one word goal for the year, 00:28:04.589 --> 00:28:07.069 and I want to make it my goal for every year, 00:28:07.210 --> 00:28:14.549 is known. Let it be known that God is God. Let 00:28:14.549 --> 00:28:18.009 it be known that I am a servant of God. And let 00:28:18.009 --> 00:28:20.829 the people I come in contact with through my 00:28:20.829 --> 00:28:23.529 words and through my interactions, may they know 00:28:23.529 --> 00:28:26.509 that God is reaching out to them, that God is 00:28:26.509 --> 00:28:30.789 drawing them back. And so as Elijah challenges 00:28:30.789 --> 00:28:33.470 these people to make a choice, as they're beginning 00:28:33.470 --> 00:28:36.569 to respond in worship, now we see that there's 00:28:36.569 --> 00:28:40.089 a third thing here that we can make God known. 00:28:40.269 --> 00:28:44.009 And so Elijah prays this simple prayer. Let it 00:28:44.009 --> 00:28:49.200 be known that you are God. And then boom! The 00:28:49.200 --> 00:28:53.720 fire fell from heaven. And some of you jumped 00:28:53.720 --> 00:28:56.720 just a little bit, but imagine if you were in 00:28:56.720 --> 00:28:59.740 that place. Have you ever been somewhere where 00:28:59.740 --> 00:29:06.339 lightning has struck close by? And your ears 00:29:06.339 --> 00:29:10.539 are booming, your eyes are from the brightness, 00:29:10.700 --> 00:29:13.660 the hair on your arms is standing up. Sometimes 00:29:13.660 --> 00:29:16.079 you can even almost taste it. It's like metallic 00:29:16.079 --> 00:29:19.390 when you're that close. to a lightning strike. 00:29:19.529 --> 00:29:22.230 And that is what happened in this situation, 00:29:22.470 --> 00:29:26.089 in this circumstance. Let it be known. And God 00:29:26.089 --> 00:29:30.289 reached down and sent fire from heaven. And it 00:29:30.289 --> 00:29:33.130 says, the fire of the Lord fell and consumed 00:29:33.130 --> 00:29:36.970 the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones 00:29:36.970 --> 00:29:39.930 and the dust, and it licked up the water that 00:29:39.930 --> 00:29:42.069 was in the trench. You know what? I didn't even 00:29:42.069 --> 00:29:45.420 mention that. After Elijah had taken his turn, 00:29:45.480 --> 00:29:48.099 he built this altar. He had told the people to 00:29:48.099 --> 00:29:53.759 pour water upon the sacrifice. How was God to 00:29:53.759 --> 00:29:57.859 be known? By fire. You wouldn't pour water on 00:29:57.859 --> 00:30:00.880 it. And it says they took 12 jars of water, four 00:30:00.880 --> 00:30:05.039 jars, three times, and it filled up this trench. 00:30:05.140 --> 00:30:08.799 And when the fire fell from heaven, it consumed 00:30:08.799 --> 00:30:13.410 the sacrifice. It consumed the wood. It consumed 00:30:13.410 --> 00:30:17.289 the stones and it even evaporated, burned up 00:30:17.289 --> 00:30:22.170 the water. And the people could respond in only 00:30:22.170 --> 00:30:25.990 one way. They saw it, they fell on their face 00:30:25.990 --> 00:30:29.890 and they said, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, 00:30:30.049 --> 00:30:33.569 he is God. That was the only response that they 00:30:33.569 --> 00:30:36.410 could have because they saw this fire fall from 00:30:36.410 --> 00:30:39.349 heaven and they recognized that this was the 00:30:39.349 --> 00:30:42.349 true God, that Baal was a false God. and they 00:30:42.349 --> 00:30:46.730 had to make a change. Now, is that what we need? 00:30:47.769 --> 00:30:52.150 Do we need fire to come down from heaven daily 00:30:52.150 --> 00:30:57.930 to remind us who the true God is? Do you remember 00:30:57.930 --> 00:31:00.349 what time this was? When did this take place? 00:31:01.130 --> 00:31:06.240 It said the time of the evening. sacrifice. So 00:31:06.240 --> 00:31:08.960 in the temple in Jerusalem, there's a morning 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:11.160 sacrifice, there's an evening sacrifice. And 00:31:11.160 --> 00:31:13.799 the evening sacrifice was about three o 'clock 00:31:13.799 --> 00:31:16.259 in the afternoon. But here in this northern kingdom, 00:31:16.380 --> 00:31:20.019 they didn't follow that anymore. And yet those 00:31:20.019 --> 00:31:23.980 sacrifices that took place day by day, week by 00:31:23.980 --> 00:31:28.400 week, those sacrifices, those lambs were pointing 00:31:28.400 --> 00:31:32.160 forward to something else. We're pointing down 00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:35.049 through the pages of salvation history. down 00:31:35.049 --> 00:31:37.089 to the time when John the Baptist could say, 00:31:37.230 --> 00:31:40.990 behold, look, the Lamb of God who takes away 00:31:40.990 --> 00:31:44.650 the sins of the world. And then it was on Mount 00:31:44.650 --> 00:31:47.970 Calvary, not Mount Carmel, at the time of the 00:31:47.970 --> 00:31:51.970 evening sacrifice, as Jesus was hung upon a cross, 00:31:52.210 --> 00:31:56.970 that he could proclaim, it is finished. And all 00:31:56.970 --> 00:31:59.849 of those sacrifices that were pointing to that 00:31:59.849 --> 00:32:02.309 moment at the time of the evening sacrifice, 00:32:04.070 --> 00:32:07.670 was completed. And the veil of the temple was 00:32:07.670 --> 00:32:12.210 torn in two. And Jesus could say, it is finished. 00:32:12.369 --> 00:32:15.269 And that is the sign for us today. We don't need 00:32:15.269 --> 00:32:18.130 lightning to strike each and every day because 00:32:18.130 --> 00:32:21.930 we have the opportunity to look back and to see 00:32:21.930 --> 00:32:25.650 that Jesus died on the cross. And Jesus said 00:32:25.650 --> 00:32:28.990 in John 12, he said, if I am lifted up, I will 00:32:28.990 --> 00:32:34.019 draw all people unto myself. And so as we look 00:32:34.019 --> 00:32:37.779 upon the cross of Calvary, we can be reminded 00:32:37.779 --> 00:32:41.980 of what Jesus has done. And we can hear that 00:32:41.980 --> 00:32:45.700 challenge. What choice are you going to make? 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:50.299 And we can respond in worship. And we can, in 00:32:50.299 --> 00:32:54.960 all of our life, make God known. I want to close 00:32:54.960 --> 00:32:57.799 with a couple more pictures here. This is in 00:32:57.799 --> 00:33:02.230 a tomb. You can see the amazing... hieroglyphics 00:33:02.230 --> 00:33:05.690 and artwork and so forth. And this is a place 00:33:05.690 --> 00:33:07.970 called the Temple of Karnak, which is like 60 00:33:07.970 --> 00:33:11.349 acres, hieroglyphics everywhere. And as we're 00:33:11.349 --> 00:33:14.410 looking at these amazing structures, our tour 00:33:14.410 --> 00:33:17.509 guide said, look up on that wall. You see way 00:33:17.509 --> 00:33:20.710 up high on that wall? He said, this temple used 00:33:20.710 --> 00:33:23.799 to be full of sand. Time went on for a while. 00:33:23.859 --> 00:33:26.480 It kind of filled up with sand. And right there 00:33:26.480 --> 00:33:29.059 in that middle opening, you can kind of see a 00:33:29.059 --> 00:33:32.640 gap. Right next to that opening, there's a small 00:33:32.640 --> 00:33:37.900 carving of a shell, of a seashell. That used 00:33:37.900 --> 00:33:39.839 to be where the floor was because the sand was 00:33:39.839 --> 00:33:44.180 up higher. And so he said that shell was marked 00:33:44.180 --> 00:33:49.279 a meeting place where after this worship of Egyptian 00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:53.150 gods fell by the wayside, as the people of Egypt 00:33:53.150 --> 00:33:57.029 became Christian and were persecuted in different 00:33:57.029 --> 00:34:01.809 ways, that they carved a marking spot as a place 00:34:01.809 --> 00:34:04.730 where they could gather in this pagan temple 00:34:04.730 --> 00:34:08.650 and they could worship the true God of heaven. 00:34:08.730 --> 00:34:11.610 That was in Karnak. And on the island of Philae, 00:34:11.650 --> 00:34:16.150 you can see a pillar covered in hieroglyphics. 00:34:16.269 --> 00:34:19.159 And yet... There's a cross that has been carved 00:34:19.159 --> 00:34:21.219 there as well. And just around the corner from 00:34:21.219 --> 00:34:25.059 that is another little nook there. And you can 00:34:25.059 --> 00:34:27.000 see the hieroglyphics there have been chipped 00:34:27.000 --> 00:34:30.860 away, chiseled away. Because again, as later 00:34:30.860 --> 00:34:33.739 years, as Christians, as people were becoming 00:34:33.739 --> 00:34:36.760 Christians, they came to this place and they 00:34:36.760 --> 00:34:39.860 said, we want to worship the true God of heaven 00:34:39.860 --> 00:34:44.940 here. And so even in a world surrounded by falsehood, 00:34:45.739 --> 00:34:48.840 They're like, we're going to worship truth. And 00:34:48.840 --> 00:34:51.699 as Christians today in a world surrounded so 00:34:51.699 --> 00:34:55.539 often by falsehood, we can make a choice and 00:34:55.539 --> 00:35:00.079 we can stand with the true God. We can hear that 00:35:00.079 --> 00:35:04.300 challenge of Elijah. How long are you going to 00:35:04.300 --> 00:35:08.380 falter between two opinions? Follow the true 00:35:08.380 --> 00:35:12.079 God. We can follow the action. of Elijah, if 00:35:12.079 --> 00:35:15.699 we need to, to repair that altar of personal 00:35:15.699 --> 00:35:19.039 worship or family worship in our life. We can 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:22.360 respond to that prayer of Elijah. Let it be known 00:35:22.360 --> 00:35:26.159 in my words and in my actions that there is one 00:35:26.159 --> 00:35:29.659 God in heaven and I am going to serve him. So 00:35:29.659 --> 00:35:31.280 I don't know where you are in your life, which 00:35:31.280 --> 00:35:33.619 challenge you hear. Maybe you need to accept 00:35:33.619 --> 00:35:38.880 Jesus for the first time. Maybe you need to rededicate 00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:43.440 yourself. to his word, to serving him, to worshiping 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:46.119 him. Maybe you need to decide that whether you're 00:35:46.119 --> 00:35:49.039 in Columbia or Ringgold, you're going to let 00:35:49.039 --> 00:35:52.699 it be known that you're a follower of God. Whatever 00:35:52.699 --> 00:35:56.019 your challenge is, be ready to take that next 00:35:56.019 --> 00:35:59.280 step with Jesus. Let's bow our heads for prayer. 00:35:59.800 --> 00:36:03.980 Dear God, what an incredible story of a testimony 00:36:03.980 --> 00:36:08.940 that takes place that you reveal yourself. to 00:36:08.940 --> 00:36:10.980 individuals through history. You reveal yourself 00:36:10.980 --> 00:36:15.619 to us. And Lord, may each one of us from this 00:36:15.619 --> 00:36:19.159 day forward make you known to everybody we come 00:36:19.159 --> 00:36:22.219 in contact with. In your name we pray. Amen.