One of the greatest needs of people today is to grasp the big picture of the what, how and why of God’s Kingdom. Religion presents duties, demands, rules and requirements and places them upon people. Very rarely do we find churches, ministries and leaders who slow down to ensure that God’s people actually understand the big picture of what it means to belong to Him. Apart from the big-picture context of why we trust, love, obey and serve God, Christianity just feels like another heavy, empty religion. This series from Psalm 145 will place the character, worth and glory of God right back in the center of our Christian lives. From the big-picture clarity, all the other things begin to make sense.

The story of Issac in the Book of Genesis is one filled with drama. When his daddy, Abraham, laid Isaac on an altar and was willing to sacrifice him to God, the stunning incident must have impacted Isaac for the rest of his life. Interestingly, Isaac followed in the footsteps of his daddy in many areas - both good and bad. Yet, when it comes to building his own altars of worship to God, Isaac was seemingly unwilling to model the faith of his own earthly father. This message highlights the reality that each of us must come to our own understanding and encounter with God before we can truly worship and sacrifice unto Him with a genuine faith. Our parents' altars, our spiritual leaders’ altars, or our denominational altars won’t suffice for us. We need to build our own in meaningful worship to God. Isaac’s first altar helps us to see when it’s time to start building our own altars in our individual journeys of faith.

In the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, we find the language that establishes the concept of separation of Church and State. In summary, this amendment prevents Congress from either establishing by law or prohibiting by law the expression of religious beliefs and practices by the citizenry of the United States. Americans are free to worship as they choose. Increasingly, how the First Amendment plays out in our culture is being questioned. When churches were deemed nonessential by the government during the initial Covid pandemic, we all witnessed the diverse opinions about where the government could and could not regulate worship. Does the Bible help us at all concerning the issue of what to do when the worship of God is hijacked by government? While specific instructions to us on how to respond are not found in this passage of scripture, 1 Kings 13:1-10 may reveal some helpful components of what it looks like when human government seeks to modify God’s altars of worship. May be wise to discern what is taught here. This will be very important in immediate seasons to come.

Jesus left no rooms for doubts about His approach to stale religion. Consistently He warned religious people that their priorities, traditions, prejudices and addiction to the familiar was costing them greatly. Their spirits are stale. Their souls were running dry. To make matters worse, Jesus indicted them for reproducing their empty religious ways in the lives of others. He did not come to join them. Jesus intended to exchange dead religion for new wine. Any commitment to clutching old wineskins would result in the people missing what Jesus came to pour out. When God ordains a time of refreshing, the old has to go so that the new can come. This message both enlightens and motivates us to part with all our old wineskins and anticipate that new wine from Heaven is already being poured out by the Spirit.

Spiritual family is not just about coming together and enjoying one another’s company. While quality time is certainly one of the Kingdom love-languages, God also ordains that Christians partner together to advance His mission. There are battles to be fought and one. There are callings to be answered and obeyed. And there are mountains to claim and to conquer. From the Old Testament figure named Caleb, we can learn what it looks like for a faith family to wait, to war, and to win. All three of these prized components must remain active in any healthy church or Christian organization. Enduring until the end in the center of God’s will is the means by which we al bring Him glory together. It s also the only way for us to receive the inheritance He has appointed for us.

When the clock gets down to the final minutes, our instinct is to make sure that we are ready for when that final buzzer sounds - we know then that the game is over and the score in final. There is something about a deadline that seems to sharpen our focus on what is most important. For modern followers of Jesus, there is a tendency to wrongly think that the end of the race occurs when we die, therefore many Christians live to maximize this earthly life. We try to work hard, get an education, succeed in a career, raise a family, earn lots of money and retire with wealth at the earliest possible convenience. Many who do this successfully believe they have won. But have they? This message reminds us that the place where it is determined whether or not our lives truly mattered is at the Judgment Seat of Christ where Jesus himself will fully analyze and reveal the value of our earthly lives. Many will be saddened to learn that their “successful” lives did not amount to much in the eyes of the King. If we live with this divine appointment in mind, we will be ready to receive a reward from our King when we stand before Him. If we fail to remember this unavoidable moment, we will suffer loss and forfeit our reward.

Altars in the Bible are most often places where a believer raises up a standing memorial connected to some encounter they have had with God. In one instance, God moved upon Joshua to build Him an altar - but Joshua was sobered and careful to do so in a precise manner that he knew would honor the Lord. What can we learn from God’s instructions about how this altars to be built? If altars represent a surrendered and sacrificial life today, we need to take an intentional look at the clear instructions He gave about how Joshua’s altar must be built. Here’s a hint: God wanted something kept off the altar, and He commanded that something be engraved upon the altar. So must it be with the altar of our own lives as we live to honor Christ.

Abraham is the only person called “the friend of God” in the entire bible. Many follow. Many serve. Many worship. But God said that Abraham was His friend. One component of Abraham’s friendship with God is seen in his committed lifestyle of building altars at important moments where God revealed Himself to Abraham in new ways. Abraham made time and took the effort to throw down markers where his relationship with his God went deeper. Abraham learned the value of worship and sacrifice as the means to go deeper with God. From his story, we can discover four altars that we also must all build in our own lives. Friendship with God is not limited to building altars - but it cannot be absent of building altars either. If these four altars are built by us, we are well on our way to enjoying God in similar ways that Abraham enjoyed Him.

Jesus' longest recorded prayer is found in John 17, and it focuses heavily on one primary component: the unity of the Church. The Apostle Paul declared in Ephesians 4 that there is only one faith and one Church. How is it then that Christians are known for being some of the most divisive, fractured and contentious people? Why do we fight so much among ourselves? Those called to build Kingdom bridges seem more inclined to construct Kingdom walls. How do we guard the truth of the Gospel while still allowing for differences of opinion, possible interpretations and sincere representation of all that God’s Word says? And what is our heart posture to be towards those who want nothing to do with our Gospel message? How are we to treat them? In one short passage from Luke Chapter 9, we find Jesus’ own disciples fumbling His ways three different times. Jockeying for position, seeking to control those who serve Jesus differently, and calling for judgment and destruction upon those who say no to their message - is this what Jesus came to instill in us? We all know the answer, but we clearly need to hear it again in this season before Jesus returns.