Burn Our Hearts Again

BURN OUR HEARTS AGAIN

TEXT: 1 KINGS 18:1-46

THEME: LORD MAKE OUR HEARTS BURN FOR YOU

I remember 1 Kings 18 preached at Heritage Christian University during lectureship one year. It was being preached by Steven Guy. During this sermon I made a choice in my life. It was a choice that changed my life. It was my last year of my B.A program. I was going to graduate and work with the Hartsville Pike church of Christ. It was planned that while I was there I would work on a Master’s degree. I was seriously questioning if I should continue training in Biblical knowledge. People all round me, members of the church, elders were encouraging me to get a degree in another field. People were suggesting that I could not count on congregations providing for my family. So as an insurance policy, it would be wise for me to have another degree in another field. This was done just in case preaching did not work out. At the time I was considering going to get a MBA. It was a Master’s in Business Administration. This was a deeply difficult decision for the time. But during this sermon of Steven Guy’s it caused my heart to burn. This has happened to me a few times in my life. It happens during sermons that hit home. It is what the Bible talks about his cutting to the heart in Acts 2 and in Luke 24 when Jesus is talking to two travels. The text indicates that their hearts burned when the scriptures were opened up to them. I sat there feeling this burn in my heart. Maybe you have felt this way before during a sermon. This burns inside. When you feel it you know God’s word is working on you. During this sermon, the word was hot in the heart. I just remember the line “If God be God, then serve him.” This verse rings into my ears. If I truly believed in a powerful, almighty God, then would I not believe that he will look after me and my family? If God is, who am I to question Him? He will provide. I do not need an insurance plan for preaching. I just need to trust God.

Maybe you have felt this way before. You have questioned the role of God in your life. You have not rejected him. You have not turned your back on him. You just have not taken him serious. You have found yourself looking to something else for satisfaction. You have discovered yourself placing your trust in another area. You have allowed life to cause you to doubt the power of God in your life. You have become lax in attending worship. You have pretty much given up reading your Bible. And prayer is maybe done at the table, but you have not prayed in weeks. You are on autopilot was Christian. Your level of commitment is way down. And if you are like me you need God to come into that heart and make it burn again. You need the word to drive the message home. You need your heart to have a revival. You need to be motivated. You need to be spurned to action. You need to be pushed for serve the Lord. You need revival in your heart.

The reason you need revival is because you started to question the Lord. He just does not seem to be near. You cannot sense his presence. The people in Elijah’s day had the same concerns. 1 Kings 18:1-2 indicates “Now it came about after many days, that the word of the LORD came to Elijah in the third year, saying, "Go, show yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the face of the earth." So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab. Now the famine was severe in Samaria.” This verse might seem of little importance, but really it is indicating the atmosphere of the time. The people are worried. In that day, rain was seen as a direct blessing from God. The people saw God’s flavor through the rains. Because there was no rain, and there was a famine in the Land, people started to question the presence of the Lord. Where is God during this time? These are the most difficult times for people. During difficult times people will start to turn to God for help. You lose the job, you lose a loved one, and you lose your purpose. People will start to look for God again. You begin to pray for His assistance.

I remember Jerry from a congregation in the past. Jerry was a highly successful business man. He had eight season tickets to the Tennessee Volunteers in the new section of the stadium. He lived in the private community in Gallatin, in a million dollar house on the lake. I still remember his story. He took me to a Volunteers game one Saturday. While we were traveling he was complaining about flying. I was telling him about some of my bad experiences. Then he interrupts to inform me that he never flies on public planes. Jerry was a buyer in a large company. Companies would contact him to showcase their products. If Jerry brought from you, it would be millions of dollars of profit for the company. I still remember what he told me. I told me about a company that asked him to come to the headquarters. The company wanted him to fly out of Nashville. Jerry, not being arrogant, just simply stated. “I told them if they wanted me to come, send the private jet to pick me up in Gallatin.” This was how powerful Jerry was. But I also remember the day he walked down the aisle crying. He had lost his job as the buyer with the company he worked for. Big house, big lifestyle, needs big money. Losing his job was a wakeup call to Jerry to get right with God. But within a month Jerry had a new job, with just as much pay and privilege.