Radical Change Series

“We are saved by beholding. The soul is transformed by what it gazes upon. Look long enough at God and you begin to reflect Him. Religion can reform a life, but only an encounter with God can transform a heart.”

A W Tozer

As we turn the pages of Scripture and read about the great heroes of the faith, we can’t help but admire them. We read their stories, and something inside us whispers, “I wish my faith looked like that.” Who wouldn’t want the faith of Noah, hammering away for decades on an ark while the world mocked him? Who wouldn’t want the courage of Abraham—packing up everything he owned, leaving family behind, and walking into an unknown future simply because God said, “Go”? Who wouldn’t want to stand like David, a shepherd boy with no armor — just a staff, five smooth stones, and a sling — facing a giant that made an entire army tremble? Who wouldn’t want the boldness of Daniel, refusing to bow to a corrupt culture, choosing prayer over safety, and trusting God even when it meant a night in the lions’ den? Or the blazing devotion of Stephen, so filled with the Spirit that he proclaimed Christ even while stones rained down upon him?

We admire them.

We quote them.

We preach about them.

But deep down we wonder…

What would it take for our faith to burn like that?

What would it take to move from comfortable Christianity to courageous obedience?

What would it take for God to change us so radically that our lives could never be the same again?

Because these heroes of the faith are shown in Scripture to be ordinary people before God called them, we have great hope. What we admire in them can become what God produces in us. Admiration can grow into imitation… and imitation into transformation. Yet even with the road map of holy living written plainly on the pages of Scripture, we must admit something humbling: many seek change, but few truly find it.

We feel the dissatisfaction.

We sense the spiritual stagnation.

We know we were made for more than crawling — yet we remain stuck.

Why?

Because deep down we understand the cost. Becoming like Christ requires surrender. It requires letting go of control. It requires dying to the old, self-absorbed life we secretly protect. Sin is not just in our actions — it is woven through our memory, our identity, our pride, our fears, and even our comforts. And perhaps our greatest struggle is this quiet, stubborn preoccupation with self. But if we are ever to answer God’s call…if we are ever to become the kind of men and women we read about in Scripture… then listening is not enough. We must obey. Radical change does not come from trying harder—it comes from yielding deeper. It is the prayer of surrender that says,

“Lord, break me… and remake me as You see fit.”

In today’s message, we will discover that radical change — becoming more like Jesus — does not happen by accident.

It requires reverence.

It requires humility.

It requires trust.

And ultimately, it requires surrender to God’s commission on our lives.

Because it is only on holy ground that everything becomes clear. It is there that we learn who God truly is — holy, sovereign, and all-consuming. It is there that we learn who we truly are — frail, dependent, and desperately in need of grace. And it is there that brokenness is transformed into faith…fear into obedience…and self-glorification into servant-hearted mission. For when a person encounters the living God, they never walk away the same. Holy ground always changes you.

Holy Ground Reveals Who God Is

Moses is not searching for a burning bush, and he is certainly not expecting a divine calling. He is simply tending sheep — living an ordinary, quiet life in the far reaches of the wilderness. But on holy ground, God reveals Himself before He ever reveals His plan.

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So, Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.