He's On Fire!

Spirit of God, you're you, you have all the authority I pray over my heart and mind. I am healed by your stripes, your blood declares that I am free, in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim, every weapon formed against me. I must pray, in the mighty name of Jesus. I draw a permanent boundary line, the enemy has no right to come near my family. No scheme could ever undo God's plans, no matter the circumstance. The cross has sealed my destiny, in the mighty name of Jesus. Oh I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim, every weapon formed against me. It must break, in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. Oh, I know, all the power of fear and darkness must go. Every key to every, every victory I hold, is in the mighty name of Jesus. I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near. On the doorframe of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here. I'm protected, on all sides, by the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, when the enemy comes near. On the doorframe of my life, is the blood of Jesus Christ. I will not fear, I will not fear, there's an army of angels here. I'm protected, on all sides, by the blood of Jesus Christ. In the mighty name of Jesus. Oh, I pray, calling on the power of heaven. I proclaim, every weapon formed against me. I know it must break, in the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. Oh, I know, all the power of fear and darkness must go. There's every key to every victory, oh, I hope. It's in the mighty name of Jesus.

In the mighty name of Jesus. In the mighty name of Jesus. It's in the mighty name of Jesus. Oh, it's in his name. No other God, no other authority, has the power you have got. Oh, we can call on your name, oh Lord. We can call on your name, oh Lord. To break the fear, to break anxiety, to break depression. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus. I know, that in his power, in his name, all fear is gone. darkness must go amen so let's we're gonna sing that part again and i will not fear i will not fear when the enemy comes come on you need to sing this of my life is the blood of jesus i will not i will not fear i will not fear there's an army of angels here i'm protected on all sides by the blood of jesus christ i will not fear i will not fear when the enemy comes near no on the doorframe of my life is the blood of jesus come on with the authority that christ has given you he has all authority and it's in you because he's in you so you need to declare these words this morning when the enemy comes near on the doorframe of my life is the blood of jesus christ and i will not fear i will not fear there's an army of angels here i'm protected on all sides by the blood of jesus christ in the mighty name of jesus oh i pray calling on the power of oh god i proclaim the lord every weapon formed against me in the mighty name of jesus in the mighty name of i know i know i know is every key to every victory in the mighty name of jesus in the mighty name of jesus we'll lift up his name this morning so on christ alone our cornerstone

no other foundation can rebuild upon not philosophy nor the wisdom of man all of the ground upon this road you'll build your church and the gates of hell will not prevail hey when we bind and in jesus name we will not fear never fear oh no yes he's been an interest he was crucified and he came king and now he'll join us to the praise of his glory The gates of hell will not prevail When we bind and loose We proclaim your truth And in Jesus' name We will not fail We will never fail In hell We will never fail We will never fail We will never fail We will never fail We will never fail We will never fail Build your church Build it from the ground up It's your church Build your church Build your church

Build it from the ground up We are your church Build your church Build your church Build it from the ground up We wanna sing your glory Lord Build your church Build your church Build it from the ground up Build your church Build your church Build it from the ground up It's your church Build your church Build your church Build it from the ground up It's your church Build your church Build it from the ground up Build it from the ground up It's your church Build your church Build your church On this rock On this rock You build your church In the gates of hell We'll not prevail When we bind and lose We bind and lose

We proclaim your truth And in Jesus' name You will never fail Now build your church Build your church Build your church Build it from the ground up It's your church Build your church Build your church Build your church Build your church Build your church Build it from the ground up It's your church Build your church Build your church Build it from the ground up It's your church Build your church Build your church Build it from the ground up It's your church Build your church Build your church Build it from the ground up It's your church Oh, oh, oh, oh I'm gonna stand on your word, Lord Oh, oh, oh, oh

I'm gonna walk in your truth Oh, oh, oh, oh We're gonna be led by your Spirit Nothing comes against us because of you Thank you, Jesus, that you build your church Turn to somebody next to you and say, I'm glad to be a part of his church Hallelujah, hallelujah Thank you, praise team, fantastic job Y'all can be seated Thank you for being at church with us today Well, thank you for getting out and braving the conditions Alright, it's just wet and cold and we're alright We made it, we're here Thank you for joining us online Thank you so much for still being a part of the service We're still a part of this thing If you're here in person or online, we're so thankful for you joining Revolution Church today I have the privilege of being the youth pastor here at Revolution Church, and we just want to say thank you for being patient, having a lot of grace as things are changing. Hey, there's walls going up outside. Y'all see that? Come on, give God praise for the stuff's going on, expansion, the growth, it's happening. The guys are working in the cold. They're out there. I see them during the day getting stuff done. So excited for that. So thank you for working with us during this time. We've got connect cards. This is what they look like. I'm not just doing it just to hide my phone up here.

It's actually something I want to show you. You can actually fill these out, right? They're in the chairs either in front of you or behind you. If you're a first-time visitor, please, please fill it out. If you have a prayer request, if you just want to talk to somebody at the church about something, fill it out. Turn it in when we turn in our tithe and offering or take it to the connect room, the glass room out in front. And giving, you can give online. Super simple. You got the tap tags on the back of the chairs right there in front of you or behind you. Or if you wanted to go old school, you still get cash, you still want to do a check. That's fine too. To expand God's kingdom, amen, church? Expanding God's kingdom, we give to him. You can do that in the back. Speaking of connect cards, the connect lunch is today. Everybody say today. Yeah, during third service, there's good food. I'm just going to tell you, there's good food there. You should probably show up. You get the chance to meet Pastor and Miss Connie, learn about our church, meet other great people here at our church family. There's also childcare provided for that. We love the littles. We're not just wanting the adults. We care about the whole family here at the church, right? And so speaking of the littles and the kids, you see these clocks, I guess I call it like a shot clock. Like you all know I'm a basketball guy, right?

You see these numbers next to the screen. If you have a child and they gave you a sticker when you checked your child in, if something happens, they want you to check on your child, they'll put the number on that clock right there and just go out and check and see what's going on with your kid, right? Miss Amy and Miss Amanda, they do a fantastic job and all of our volunteers. We love the hundreds of kids that come here every Sunday. We want to make sure that everybody's good. So if you see a number flash on the screen, please check that and see if that's your child. We want to take care of them and you all. Today is the last day of our 21 day fast. Has anybody experienced something from the Lord during the 21 day fast? I don't know if some people praise the Lord because they're like, yes, it's over. I can eat this or I can do that again. No, seriously though, hopefully as I have, you've heard something new from the Lord. You've been challenged by the Lord. And my prayer is that it's seeds that were planted. Who knows when you're going to see the fruit? Who knows when you're going to see it fully grow? Just trust the Lord with that time of fasting and prayer. Thank you for joining with us in that. And lastly, Awake 21 has finished up. Yes, praise the Lord for over half a million people that got to see through online and in person the name of Jesus be glorified in little old Blount County. Little at reaching over half a million people, y'all, that's a lot of people. That's a lot of people hearing about Jesus. And I love the unity of our churches in this community for God's kingdom. His church, right? Not just about us, not just about a name, but about God's church. And I love that song. Would you pray with me as we transition?

I love you, Lord. I love you. I'm so thankful for your church. And I'm so thankful for the truth. As you told Peter that you are the Christ and upon that rock, upon that understanding, upon that foundation that you are the Messiah, nothing will be able to prevail against us. Father, as we hear the word today, I believe that you're going to speak to us in a new way. You're going to continue to build your church in this new year. Thank you so much for each and every person that's on this property, all to you in Jesus' name, amen. Good morning. I'm Alex. And welcome to Revolution. If this is your first Sunday with us, we are excited you're here. Please stop by the Connect Hub. Our team would love to meet you personally and give you a welcome gift. If you're watching online, say hi in the comments. We'd love to connect with you and welcome you to church today. Don't forget our Connect 2 membership class is next Sunday. This is your chance to learn our beliefs and understand why membership matters and get connected to the heart and vision of Revolution Church. Register now on the Church Center app through our website. We'd love to see you there. Are you curious about fostering, adoption, or supporting families who are? Join us Monday, February the 9th at 6 p.m. in Room I. for our Foster and Adoption Ministry Interest Night. Come connect and learn and discover how you can make a difference. Sunday, February 8th is the Big Football Event

and we know you probably already have dinner plans, so let our youth take care of your lunch. Join us after 2nd or 3rd service in the pavilion for soups or chili at a cost of a donation towards our youth mission trip. If you would like to provide a soup or chili, please sign up in the Church Center app. Second Chance Prom Ministry 2026 Selection Event is coming up on Saturday, February 28th, starting at 8 a.m. at the Broadcast Campus. If you or someone you know of any age is in need of formal attire, accessories, and or services for their formal event, we are here to fill that need at no charge. Male and female attire is available for proms, dances, military balls, weddings, or any formal event. And volunteers, males and females, we can't do it without you. Whether it's helping shop during the event, set up and tear down, alterations and more, we need you. Our goal is to make everyone feel amazing on their formal night. Attendees and volunteers, register now at Riorevolution.com. Hi, I'm Pastor David. If you're new in your walk with Jesus or have recently recommitted your life to Christ, I want you to join me in basic training. Basic training is a six-week class

to help you establish a strong biblical understanding of your faith in Jesus. Join me in room A at 1130 on Sunday morning, beginning February the 8th. You can sign up on the church website or the church center app. I'm so excited to share these classes with you. If you missed any of the wonderful activities we announced, no problem, go to our website or the church center app. Thank you for being with us today. Enjoy the rest of service. Amen. Good morning. Good morning. Just excited to be here. Praise the Lord. Hey. East Tennessee beat the weather again. Amen. Amen, amen. I'm so excited to be here. Let's welcome those watching online because I'm sure we got several watching online today. Those that are in prison that are watching, let's welcome all those. Thank you all for coming. I just love being in the Father's house. I went to D.C. this week and I hate flying. Rachel says it's because I don't control anything when I'm in the air because I like control, she says.

But my feet are on solid ground and I am here. Amen. So I just don't like it. The older I've gotten, the worse my fear of heights has gotten, so I don't know what it is. But yeah, so today I want us to jump right into scripture. As we do, I'm gonna give you a chance to turn to 1 Kings 18, 20 through 39 is what we're gonna be looking at. If you have your Bible, turn there. If you don't, you got your Bible and your hat, turn there as well. But we're gonna jump in there. Before I get in it, I wanna give some context, give you some time to get there. We're gonna be jumping into the story with the prophet of Elijah when God asked him to confront King Ahab and the 450 prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel and to bring all of Israel that could show up there, to bring them all onto this mountain. And at this time, there's famine going on. In fact, it hadn't rained for two years and stuff. And you had Jezebel hunting down the prophets of God. You have Israel that is divided between God and Baal. And so you see all kinds of destruction happening and all kinds of confusion happening in Israel. In fact, the prophets of God were running and going into hiding to try to get away from the persecution. But God tells Elijah, hey, it is time now

to confront King Ahab and all that is going on. And so we're gonna jump into that story on Mount Carmel. So let's go, 1 Kings 18, 20. It says this, so Ahab sent for all the children of Israel and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. And Elijah came to all the people and said, how long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. If it is Baal, follow him. And then goes on and says, but the people answered him not a word. Then Elijah said to the people, I alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Therefore, let them give us two bulls and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. but no fire under it. Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord. And the God who answers by fire, he is God. I'm gonna stop right there. I'm gonna paraphrase a little in this story here about what happened. So you have Elijah challenging the prophets of Baal, saying bring two bulls. He even allows them to choose the bull

that he's gonna sacrifice. Bring two bulls, and I will prepare an altar, you will prepare an altar, and then we'll pray. Whoever answers, which is the true God. And so he allows the prophets of Baal to go first. They sacrifice their bull, they put it on their altar, and they start praying. Nothing happens. They start dancing, nothing happens. They start cutting themselves, all kinds, you know, and nothing happens. In fact, it gets to the point where towards the evening, Elijah's like, maybe your god's asleep. He starts mocking them, saying maybe your god's asleep. Maybe you need to shout a little louder and wake him up. He just needs a little nudge. Or maybe he went on a trip and he's just got a voicemail up saying sorry, I'll get back to you when I can. You know, he starts mocking them. And then it goes on, and after they try and try and nothing happens, it's Elijah's turn. And Elijah does his thing. And I wanna jump back in what Elijah does, okay? Verse 30, then Elijah said to all the people, come near to me. So all the people came near to him, and he prepared the altar of the Lord that was broken down. I want you to put a pin in this scripture right here. And he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. Because we're gonna come back to that.

And Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord has come saying, Israel shall be your name. Then with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seeds of seed. Two seeds of seed is five gallons worth of seed, okay? So a trench big enough to hold two seeds or five gallons worth of seed. And he put the wood in order and put another, I want you to put another pin right here. And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces and laid it, excuse me, and laid it on the wood and said, fill four water pots with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. Then he said, do it a second time. And they did it a second time. And he said, do it a third time. And they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar, and he also filled the trench with water. And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, so again, let's put another pin right here. We're gonna come back to this scripture as well. And it came to pass at the time of the offering

of the evening sacrifice that Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and I am your servant. And that I have done all these things at your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice and the wood and the stones and the dust and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now here's the third pin I want you to put up because we're gonna come back to this. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord, he is God. The Lord, he is God. Let's pray. Father God, I pray that you reveal yourself through this message. No matter where anyone is on their journey of finding you and your son, Jesus Christ. Maybe they have never been revealed who Jesus Christ is in their life. I pray that your son is revealed through this message. Or maybe somebody needs to hear something that draws their heart back to you, O Father. I pray that you reveal your heart to those that need to see it today, Father. I pray that you reveal your whole self

to your church today, Father. As we go into this message, do what only you can do in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. And so we're in this series of bring the heat. And I don't know about you, but when I hear the phrase bring the heat, I think about fire. Now I grew up with a game called NBA Jam. Anybody know NBA Jam? yes Jimmy knows where I'm going with it so yeah so I grew up playing that game that came out when I was a kid so I'm probably telling my age I don't care but but yeah so playing the game you hit a few threes and you hear the announcer say he's heating up and then you come back and you hit another shot you'll always hear the announcer not just the announcer but the the character would just be consumed by fire right and then all of a sudden you would hear he's on fire say it again Jimmy come on there you go he says it better than me so he's on fire and so when I think about bringing the heat I think about the source of that heat what provides the heat and that's the fire and so as we go into 2026 and pastor has challenged us bring in the heat in 2026 which I believe God has laid on his heart to challenge us as a church to bring the heat I'm praying that that heat comes from the fire of God amen and so here's the thing about fire guys is fire can be very destructive or it could be a powerful tool if fire has no structure in place that fire will consume everything in its path however you put structure around the fire it will provide heat how many of you are using your fireplaces right now to stay warm right it provides heat for you you know also fire can provide nourishment for the earth after a forest fire there is a lot of growth that happens from all the ash that is left fire can also provide can also provide power for us fire can provide purification we talk about it all the time going through the fire so that we may be purified it depends on the structure you put around the fire that contains the fire that causes it to do what you want it to do and so this

um during this unusual weather we had during Christmas break which we're starting to pay for it now all that warm weather it gave me a chance I had vacation days and so I took time off the out of the office we didn't travel anywhere it was a staycation to clean up the yard for Mark well to clean up the yard get it all prepped and ready to go and all that we had several sticks and branches fall from storms that had come through the year also we cut down three Bradford pears in the yard and so it's time to burn all those things and so I'm out there burning these sticks I start I go out there and Cooper my nine-year-old runs out dad dad dad can you show me how to start a fire and we have a good sized stone fire pit our backyard that we use throughout the year and so that's what I was going to use to burn everything and so he's like yeah sure I'll show you and so we started with the brush put on you start the fire and then you put on the small sticks and then you put on bigger branches and stuff and then I took logs we have logs in the backyard where we use it for the fire pit I took the logs put it on to and I told Cooper those logs are going to provide the source of the fire for all these branches we're about to burn then I showed him and told him about the importance of stacking it the right way so that air can get to it you don't want the fire to suffocate also explained why we did it in the stone pit and all those things I'll explain to him what I was doing and why I was doing it and so it took me two days to burn all the branches yes I have that many branches follow me and I got several trees in my yard so but took me two days to burn those branches so second day I get down out there I show him how to take the embers from the previous fire because they were buried under the ash they were still glowing I showed him how to take those embers to restart the fire after the fire started he got disinterested and ran off and started playing so so I was left there the whole rest of the day to finish that task but here's the thing is I don't know how much Cooper will understand or learn from that but this is what I hope he learned is that fire without structure is dangerous and fire with structure is powerful that's what I hope Cooper learned I asked him while we were in DC hey what'd you learn about fire he

said I need to allow it to breathe so he understood something about the structure in first Kings 18 we see the same truth played out here about the structure that the fire was gonna fall on. You see Elijah, three things with Elijah in this scripture. We see his care that was given to building the structure and building and rebuilding the altar that was there so that the fire could come down and consume it. His whole focus at the beginning was the structure of the altar, nothing else. Not the fire, nothing else. The second thing we see is the purpose of the fire and why it was and the purpose of that altar. We see that in his prayer, it's revealed the purpose of it all. And then the last thing we see is a clear understanding of who the fire belongs to. Lord, the God, God, the Lord himself, amen. And so as we move into 2026 and we answer that call that pastor has given us, that was given to him by God to bring the heat, I pray this, that this passage right here prepares us to understand that we need to focus on the structure of these opportunities, these altars that God has given us and that we need to recognize the purpose of these altars and fires. And to also remember that the fire is God's alone and nobody else's. So I've titled today's message this, he's on fire, amen. So the first thing I want us to notice

is Elijah's concern for the altar, the structure of the altar and how it matters. So my first point is this, the structure matters. Let's look at first Kings 1830, the first scripture I told you, let's put a pin in. Elijah said to all the people, come near to me. So all the people came near to him and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. First thing I want you to notice that, he repaired the altar of the Lord that was broken down. The altar was already there. And it goes on, it says, Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord had come saying, Israel shall be your name. Then with the stones, he built an altar in the name of the Lord. And he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seeds of seed. And he put the wood in order. Second thing, he puts the wood in order. It wasn't random, he put it in order. He cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood and said, fill four water pots with water and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood. So in this passage, we see his very first thing was the altar itself. Repairing the altar that God had already provided. The structure that the fire was gonna consume. You see, Elijah, he didn't have to go rebuild the altar.

Many times I think in new years, we automatically think new year, new me. New year, new process. New year, new career. New year, new this. Many times, God has already things in our lives that he wants us to focus on to build back up because they've been destroyed from neglect so that he can use it the way he intended it to be used in our lives. Not to make something completely new. That altar in 1 Kings existed years but had fallen in disrepair. Israel was a divided kingdom. It fell in disrepair because they were fighting over which God is the true God. King Ahab got distracted because of his wife, Jezebel and allowed compromise to come in to the kingdom of God. And because compromise came in, the prophets of God ran and they weren't able to tend to the altars that were there, that were in Israel already. And because they weren't able to tend to those altars and the people of Israel were not tending to them because they were looking to Baal, the altars came into disrepair. Israel had drifted from obedience. according to God's instructions for maintaining his altars and his opportunities. Pastor mentioned last week God opportunities and those opportunities are moments that God can be revealed that he will use in our

lives. All we have to do is come prepared the way God asked us to. That's what's happening here at this moment on Mount Carmel. It's a God opportunity for God to be revealed to all of Israel. So when I think of our altars in our lives or those opportunities in our lives, what are things in our lives that we may have neglected in our lives? The altars that God has already given us. Some things I think of is our calling. What God has called us to do. Each and every individual in this room has a calling if you know it or not. And that primary calling is to go and make disciples. Have we neglected those things? Second thing I think of an altar is our families. Have we compromised in areas in our families? Are we raising our kids according to God's instructions? Am I being the father I need to be according to God's instructions? Am I being the husband I need to be according to God's instructions? Our ministries, even our careers. God has given you that career for a reason. Everything in our lives should reveal God. In my career, every transaction that I have should reveal God in that transaction. How I handle people and customers. How I handle money. Am I a good steward? All of those things should reflect God and they should be maintained through the obedience of his instructions that he has given us. How we live our lives. Many times our breakdown doesn't start with rebellion, it starts with compromise. Sometimes we take shortcuts because things, it's gonna take too long. We're a microwavable generation. I want it in the air fryer or the microwave and get it over and done. I want to see my ROI or return on investment as quickly as possible. Maybe you're never going to see the ROI or the return on investment because it's not meant for you to see, it's meant for generations later. Or maybe the instructions he's given me, because my spirit isn't where it needs to be, it's confusing to me. Well, God is not a God of confusion. It is the spirit that we need to line up with him. And because I'm confused in my spirit about it, or because I don't understand it, I tend to lean on my own understanding and do it my way. And then many times we get frustrated because something is not going according to how God intended it because we took the shortcuts, because we compromised. And here's the thing, is when

we compromise, guys, I'm gonna play on words here, we alter the structure of the altar. And when we alter the structure of the altar, the fire cannot consume everything that it's supposed to consume. As we ask God to bless our 2026, our first focus must be the altar God has given us. As we ask God to bless the church and what we need to do as a church, our focus needs to be on, God, what is your instructions to me to set up the altar or the opportunity so your fire may consume it? God, as we go into this re-entry program, see, the re-entry program is not a new altar. It's being attached to something that's already in existence. And it is discipleship, something that God has already provided us. And we're attaching it to the prison ministry so when they get out prison, they have discipleship given to them the way God wants us to do it. So God, give us the instructions on how we need to go about building that reentry program. Right after Elijah's focus on the altar and his structure, you see his focus now shift to the purpose of the altar in the fire. Which leads me to my second point. The altar exists to point to God, not us. 1 Kings 18 36 through 37 says this, and it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, which I think is important, it says that at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, it's happening when it's supposed to happen. Elijah has prepared it for the time it's supposed to happen on. He's not creating his own time. He's creating or going by what God has already set in place. That Elijah the prophet came near and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word, at your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that you are the Lord God, and that you have turned their hearts back to you again. The purpose of the altar was to reveal God, not to reveal Elijah. I love his prayer because he says, let them know that you are God and I am just your servant. How many times do we go about building God's altars and they become soapboxes for us to stand on and pound our chest and say, look at me. It happens quite often. It's so easy to get in that

trap. We are creatures. Our nature is pride. Look at us. Look at what we're doing. Look at a real revolution. How many people are coming? How many people, homes we're getting into? How many prisons we're in? No. Look at how many lives God is touching. We're just a vessel for his message to go out. Look how many people are coming to my small group. No. Look how many people the Spirit are drawing to this small group so that God can be revealed. It is so easy to get trapped in that prideful notion, but Elijah's whole prayer is that God may be revealed to all of Israel and that their hearts turn back to God. So as Elijah does in 1st Kings 18, once we have rebuilt those altars, we need to make sure we're praying that God is revealed through the work that is about to happen. And once we've done all those things and we got our hearts in the right place, then the best thing we can do and the most faithful thing we can do is take a step back and allow God to do only what God can do, and that is to bring the fire to consume it all. Notice Elijah wasn't there lighting the fire, which is my third point. God owns the fire. We don't own the fire, guys. All we needed to do was be obedient and set the altar and the opportunity up according to God's instructions. The rest is up to God alone. In Western society at a young age, we're taught that it is our energy, it's our influence, it's our attitudes that change everything. We think many times we're the linchpin of the whole ministry or of our jobs and careers. Many times we think it's all dependent on us, but in reality it's all dependent on God. servants, doing what He has asked us to do. This platform, this message today is nothing about Markwell Baker. It's all about God being revealed through Markwell Baker. He's the one that decided to take a kid from Knoxville and the streets from group homes and foster homes into place on this stage to speak about His glory. Nothing I did did that except for my obedience and following His instruction. He has done the rest. So many times we are trying to light the fire and it is not our task to do it. It is not what we were meant to do. That part was never yours. That part was God's alone. We've been talking about bringing the heat all month long. And Pastor brought up in the first week, he brought

the vision of what 2026 is and wanting more salvations, more opportunities to show the love of Christ, the re-entry program, all these things that he mentioned at the beginning of this year. Now we just need to get to work on making sure those altars are built the right way. We as a church, all of us, every single one of us need to be building those altars as a church. If you see throughout all these messages there's a common thread. The first week, Pastor Pastor talked about Ezekiel in the Valley of Dry Bones. God tells Ezekiel, speak to the bones and do nothing else. The moment Ezekiel was obedient and he spoke to those bones, the bones began to come together. The structure was formed because of Ezekiel's obedience. Then the flesh and the muscles and the tendons began to form around that structure. And then from there, it was God who breathed the life into those soldiers. Ezekiel did nothing else but was obedient. First Kings 18.39 says this, now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and they said, the Lord he is God. The Lord he is God. When we step back and we give room for God's Spirit to move the way it needs to and we're obedient in setting up the altars, setting up the opportunities the way they are supposed to, God will be glorified alone. Pastor David a couple weeks ago reminded us that an excellent spirit produces excellence at every level. Thoughts, behavior, achievement, and through that God is glorified. It began with an excellent spirit. The structure. My spirit lined up with Jesus Christ. Being obedient in what the Word tells me how I should live my life and creating an excellent spirit through that instruction started it all. And then God was glorified. Pastor Pace here last week talked about David and confronting Goliath. David started and was obedient in the fields with his sheep before he ever met Goliath. He learned how to sling that rock by being obedient in those fields. And the moment came he didn't force anything. He was ordained to be king. He didn't go force and have a

war against King Saul in order to become king right away. He did it according to God's will. And the moment came when he stood in front of Goliath because he had prepared himself and because he was obedient. He had a God opportunity, an altar moment for God to be revealed. So church, in 2026 as we bring the heat, I pray that we set up the structure to the point that we can step back and allow the consuming fire of God to take over everything in our lives, in this church, everything that we do so that God may be revealed. So I ask that you pray the same thing, us as staff, us as pastors here at this church, as we take the calling that pastor was given by God. We need to be in prayer. We need to be in our word, finding the instructions on how we need to go about setting those altars up. And then, in your own lives, you need to be in prayer. God bless my family. Well, what does the Bible say I need to do to be the father I need to be, to be the wife I need to be, to be the husband I need to be, to be the children I need to be? God bless my career. Well, how does the Bible say I need to treat others so that you may be revealed in every transaction? God, show me. So 2026, let's bring the heat and allow the fire to be that source of heat. I'm about to close, and as I close, I'd like the prayer team to come up, please. Here's the thing, guys. The spirit that I am talking about and that has been talked about, the spirit that was breathed into those dead bodies, the spirit that led David to face Goliath, the excellent spirit that Pastor David talked about, the spirit that fell on the altar, that same spirit, God wants him to live in you through the sacrifice of his son, Jesus Christ. That same spirit you can have, so that everywhere you go, people can feel the heat from the almighty fire of God that's consuming your whole life. So I pray for those that maybe you have never met Jesus Christ and you have not experienced that spirit, you have not experienced the fire, today is the day for you to experience it. With all eyes closed and all heads bowed,

if you're here today and you're saying I want to experience that fire, I want you to lift your hand. Say, God, let me experience that fire. Even if you know Jesus Christ and you just haven't experienced the all-consuming fire yet, lift that hand. Because that fire is meant for each and every one of us. It is meant to consume all of our lives so that God may be revealed. Amen. For the hands going up, if that was you and you raise your hand as we go into this song, come to these altars. They are open for you. And church, as we sing this song, let's stay and worship God. Amen. you I just want to speak the name of Jesus Over every heart and every mind Cause I know there is peace within your presence I speak Jesus I just want to speak the name of Jesus Till every dark addiction starts to break Declaring there is hope and there is freedom I speak Jesus Your name is power, your name is healing Your name is love Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows Burn like a fire I just want to speak the name of Jesus Over fear and all anxiety To every soul uncaptivated by depression I speak Jesus Your name is power, your name is healing Your name is love Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows Burn like a fire

Your name is power, your name is healing Your name is love Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows Burn like a fire So shout Jesus from the mountain Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness Over every enemy Jesus for my family I speak the holy name Jesus So shout Jesus from the mountain Jesus in the streets Jesus in the darkness Over every enemy Jesus for my family I speak the holy name Jesus Your name is power, your name is healing Your name is love Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows Burn like a fire In the place of the Lord Your name is power, your name is healing Your name is love Break every stronghold, shine through the shadows Burn like a fire I just want to speak the name of Jesus Over every heart and every mind Cause I know there is peace within your presence

I speak Jesus Oh speak Jesus Over your family, over your situation Speak the name, the most powerful name of Jesus ♪ It changes things, yeah ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus from the mountains ♪ ♪ Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ Jesus in the darkness of every enemy ♪ ♪ Jesus for my family, I speak your name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus from the mountains ♪ ♪ Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ Jesus in the darkness of every enemy ♪ ♪ Jesus for my family, I speak your holy name, Jesus ♪ ♪ I speak your holy name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Shout Jesus from the mountains ♪ ♪ Jesus in the streets ♪ ♪ Jesus in the darkness of every enemy ♪ ♪ Jesus for my family, I speak your holy name, Jesus ♪ ♪ Jesus ♪ We just thank you holy, holy Lord. We thank you Lord Jesus for all that you have done for us. We thank you for your blood. We thank you for your forgiveness. And Lord, I just plead the blood over the place. This place today and those listening online, Lord, we just plead your blood and we just thank you. We thank you for your protection God. We thank you that you cover us and that you have us right where we're at. And Lord, all we have to do is just seek your face

and rest in you. So let us rest in you today. Let us rest in you this week. And may you just reveal to us God your plans, your revelation and download to us your instructions and directions. We just thank you Lord. We bless your holy name and thank you. Amen. Church, before you leave, I was struggling to share this with you, but I have to because God has been telling my heart the entire song. We have a connecting lunch today. That's the date I always know because I get to eat for free. I love eating by the way. God has placed in my heart that there are not somebody, but many people in this service today who needs to go to that lunch because you've been at the church or you've been part of the church for a while, but you have forgotten the real reason why God brought you here to begin with. So God said that today he wants to remind you of what that connection is. So this lunch today will be a little different. There will be many people there that are already part of the church. So for those of you responsible for it, don't think they're just going to score free food.

They're actually going to learn. So if that's you, I encourage you to go. If you didn't feel in your heart that's for you, go anyways. What's the hurt? Free food. But there's a catch. You have to go with an open heart. You have a free idea of how things work at the church. So when you go to that and you start looking, oh, I already know this. Be careful with the already know this. So go with an open heart because even what you already know, it's a different season and it will hit you differently. And you will now start doing things a different way on things you already knew. So God, place that in my heart and I want to invite you to go. It's the third service, right? During the third service, let's go look for me. I will be there trying to score some food. So go there and learn a little bit more and God bless you all. Thank you. For more information, visit www.fema.org