Decision Time

One question can expose a divided heart: who will you serve right now? We open 1 Kings 18 at Mount Carmel where Elijah confronts a nation stuck between the Lord and Baal, and we let that same challenge land in our modern lives. When pressure hits, comfort calls, and culture makes idols feel normal, a halfhearted faith starts to limp. We talk plainly about how anything can become an idol when it takes first place, even good things that slowly consume our time, attention, and love.

We also dig into what hardship is meant to do in a believer. Instead of letting famine seasons drive us away, we choose to run to God first, not as the last resort. Psalm 34 gives language for spiritual resilience: blessing the Lord at all times, seeking Him, and discovering that He answers and delivers. We reflect on the difference between a powerless object of worship and Yahweh, the living God who listens, speaks, and leads.

From Joshua 24, we take the daily urgency seriously: “Choose this day whom you will serve.” That decision shows up in our homes, our habits, and our prayers. And just like Elijah soaking the altar, we name the moments that feel impossible to fix and remember that God specializes in redemption and restoration. If you need to come home to faithful Christianity, this message invites you to decide without delay. Subscribe for more, share this with someone who needs clarity, and leave a review. What is one thing you need to put back in its proper place today?

Transcript

Welcome And Mount Carmel Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hey, what's going on, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Beyond Sunday. As always, it is a pleasure to have you tuning in. My name is Lee Day, and I pastor Christ Family Outreach Church located in Amelia Courthouse, Virginia. Today, if you got your Bibles, I want you to go ahead and turn to 1 Kings chapter 18. We're going to look at a couple, two verses right out the gate here, beginning with the 20th verse. 1 Kings chapter 18, verse 20 says this. So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. And Elijah came near to all the people and said, Now listen to what he says, friends. This is so good. How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word. The people's hearts had become hardened. That's their problem. They were struggling through hard times with a famine and had been persistent in idolatry. Now, my friends, listen up, listen closely here. Hard times should not push you away from God. Matter of fact, hard times in life should cause you to draw near to God. We should be getting even closer to our Heavenly Father during those difficult, rough times. Proverbs 18, verse 10 says this the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous man runs into it and is safe. So God is our safe place, even in the midst of your storm. Now Elijah asked the people a question, and this is what he asked. How long will you go limping between two different opinions? So Elijah has called the people out, and he's basically said this, my friends, it's decision time. Who are you going to serve as God in your life? The one living true God or the false God, Baal. Which one? It's decision time. But you can't go limping back and forth between the two. It's decision time. If you're writing notes, if you're taking notes, I want you to just jot that down. It's decision time. As Christians, we've got to be careful not to fall into that same type of trap, my friends. The trap of idolatry can become so easy to fall into if we are not careful. Today's culture, our society, this world has made it so easy to fall into the trap of idolatry. Anything that we place before our relationship with God can become an idol. So we got to be careful. Something that can start off so innocent, it can start off good, can can over time consume us. It can consume our time and everything about us if we're not careful. And before you know it, we could be guilty of taking that thing, that person, and putting it right in front of our relationship with God. God wants you and I to keep him first in our lives at all times. 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 30. If any of you guys know me out there, you know this is my life first. This is what I hold dear to. 1 Samuel 2 30. God is speaking in the text and he says, Those who honor me, I will honor. Now I want you to consider that today because that's huge. I mean that is that is huge. That God is willing to honor you. Okay? I mean, you have the opportunity to walk in the honor of God. Now, however, in order for God to honor your life and what you're doing in your life, God says you first must honor Him. Now, many of you listening, you've probably already chosen Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior of your soul. And to that I say, Amen. Praise God. But some of you listening still may need to make that decision. Now, no matter what category you're falling into at this moment, we all are facing the same question in this episode: Who will you serve today? Who will you serve in the right now moment? Now, pressing on, first Kings chapter 18, beginning with the 22nd verse, just going to look at a few verses here. The word of God says this, praise the Lord. Then Elijah said to the people, I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord God, but Baal's prophets are 450 men. Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it, and I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. And you call upon the name of your God, lowercase g, and I will call upon the name of the Lord God, and the God who answers by fire, He is God. And all the people answered, It is well spoken. Now, with that in mind, if you've got your Bibles, I want you to turn, if you will, to the book of Psalms. And when you get there, we're gonna be looking at the 34th Psalm. Okay. So Psalm 34, and and and we're gonna begin with the first verse. I'm gonna read eight verses here. So I want you to stay tuned in. Stay tuned in. Okay, it's gonna get really good. Psalm 34, beginning with the first verse, says this I will bless the Lord God at all times. Did you hear that? I will bless the Lord God at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. Woo hoo! Verse one alone is something to chew on. I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My friends, if we're living like that, we ain't limping between the Heavenly Father and a false God. Okay? His praise shall continually be in my mouth. That's a full-time believer. That's someone who's made up their mind. All right, verse one. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord. Let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. Oh, my friends, that's so good. Listen to verse three again. Oh, magnify the Lord with me. I need someone out there to magnify the Lord with me. Can you just say praise God right where you're at right now? Amen. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. We just need to lift up the name of the Lord today. He's worthy to be praised. He's worthy of it all. He is Alpha. He is Omega. He is our Father. He is our friend. He is the righteous one, the holy one. God is so good. We lift you up, Father God. I'm telling you. Verse three, my friends. I'm gonna read it again. Oh, magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt his name together. That's so good. I sought the Lord. Verse four, I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord God heard him and saved him out of all of his troubles. Verse seven says, The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. Amen. O taste and see, verse eight, O taste and see that the Lord God is good. Blessed is the man. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Let me tell you something about God. Let me just tell you something about my heavenly father. When you cry out to God, Yahweh, when you cry out to God, he always is listening to your cry. God is not only faithful to listen to you, God is faithful to lead you through life's journeys as well. You see, we honor God by making him the first one we go to when life gets hard. That's honoring him. We honor God by making him the first one we go to when making a decision and wanting to be sure that everything we do in life brings God glory and honor. And when we do that, okay, when we do that, when we honor God, God is looking, remember 1 Samuel chapter 2, verse 30, God says it itself, God is looking to honor you back in return. So a decision, a decision must be made, okay? A decision absolutely must be made. You say, Pastor Lee, what what decision, what decision needs to, needs to be made in my life? Well, if you go back to what we are talking about today, the the decision that needs to be made is the same one that we're learning, that we're reading about this morning, okay, in in the book of 1 Kings. And the decision that every one of us needs to make is this who will we serve right now in our lives? Who will we serve? And my friends, that's a daily decision. That is an everyday moment. When we're facing weakness, who are we going to serve? And if we can remember that question as kind of like an inventory question, a keep in check question, it's going to help us continue to stay on the right track and not fall off track. Okay. Joshua chapter 24. If you if you got your Bibles, go ahead and turn there. Joshua chapter 24. We're going to look at the 14th verse on this call of whom will you serve? Okay. Just still keeping that same topic going in this episode. Whom will you serve? Joshua 24, 14, gonna look at a couple verses here. So hold on tight. Says this. Now, therefore, fear the Lord God and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods, lowercase G, that's false gods. Put away the gods that your father served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, then choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your father served in the region beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Joshua, in this in this part of the text, Joshua has confronted all the tribes of Israel and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and officers of Israel when he gave this particular speech. Okay? And it was decision time. It absolutely was decision time. Joshua charged the people to serve God in all sincerity and all faithfulness. You see, we're not to play games with God. Why? Because he knows better. We're not pulling the wool over him, he knows better. Joshua said, Choose today whom you will serve. But as for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord. When Jesus was speaking through John to the church in Laodicea, Jesus said this, I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot. Okay. So God wants a decision to be made. This day, whom will you serve? We either choose to faithfully trust the word of God for our lives, or we don't, my friends. But God does not want us playing games with our Christianity. Okay? I'm gonna say it again. God does not want you and I playing games with our relationship with his son Jesus Christ. He doesn't want us playing games with our Christianity. In Joshua chapter 24, verse 15, Joshua calls the people out for their idolatry. And then he says, choose this day. Write those three words down if you're taking notes, jot them down. Choose this day whom you will serve. In other words, don't waste any more time. Okay? And I I I love that part. I love that part. Don't waste any more time. Don't waste another day. Don't waste another moment. Don't waste another hour. Don't waste any more time. Don't waste another minute. Don't waste another second. Don't waste any more time. Choose today who it is that you're gonna serve faithfully and go do it. But I warn you, okay, I warn you, my friends, just like Joshua warned Israel, there is only one living, true God who is alive and well today. And I encourage you, my friends, I encourage you to hold up the exact same banner as did Joshua. And the banner is this as for me and my house, here's his banner of declaration of faith. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord God. You say, Pastor, not everybody in my house wants to serve the Lord God. No, but you stand on faith. You stand on the declaration of faith in God through Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, your Lord and Savior, who's risen alive and well. They may not be acting like it right now, but as for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord. They may not be feeling like it right now, they may not be thinking it like right now, but as for me and my house, we're gonna serve the Lord. My my husband may not want to do it, my wife may not do it, want to do it, my my children may not want to do it, my grandchildren may not want to act right, but but I'm standing on the declaration of faith for all of them, including myself, that as for me and my house, we are gonna line up according to the word of God and the promises of God for our lives, and we are going to faithfully serve the Lord. Can someone in faith say amen to that? Praise the Lord God Almighty, hallelujah. Now, 1 Kings chapter 18, go back there in your Bibles. 1 Kings chapter 18, beginning with the 25th verse. And let me just say this in encouragement as you're flipping there. If you've got someone in your home that's not acting right, somebody that's not living right, just stand on the faith that they're coming. They're coming, they're coming to the truth, they're coming to the realization that God is who he says he is and they need to line up and serve him. They're coming. We're just believing in faith that they're coming back. Look at someone next to you if you're listening with someone and say, they're coming back. They're coming back. The 25th verse, they're coming back. Amen. Amen and amen. Glory to God, hallelujah. They're coming back. They're coming back. The 25th verse in 1 Kings 18 says this. I'm gonna read a little bit, so hang on tight with us. Put your seatbelt on. Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your God, lowercase g, but put no fire to it. And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, Oh Baal, answer us. But there was no voice. Okay, no surprise there. False gods can't speak, man-made, man-made idols can't speak, but there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made, and at noon Elijah mocked him, saying, Cry aloud, for he is a god, either he is musing or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened. And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom with swords and and lances until the blood gushed out upon them, and as midday passed. They raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention. I'm so glad that my heavenly father pays attention to me when I pray. I'm so glad that my heavenly father pays attention to my needs and even some wants. I'm so glad that my heavenly father pays attention to me when I worship him, when I'm offering him up praise. I'm so glad that my heavenly father pays attention to me when I approach him at the altar in prayer or worship or praise, or just to go up there and just listen. Just to go up to the altar and just listen. You see, many false religions have been formed in order to please the eyes and the ears of a person in order to draw them in. However, they all lack one thing a God who speaks. As for our God, his name is Yahweh, Jehovah God, he is alive and well, and even today, he is still willing to speak to you and I. Amen. Imagine how many lives would be changed in this world if God, okay, if God would speak to people now, watch this, because the people gave God a chance. Imagine that. That's mind-blowing. Imagine how many people God would speak to in this moment, right now, if people just gave God a chance to speak and minister into their lives. Oftentimes, unfortunately, God is left as the last resort. If even that at all, to be honest with you. If even that at all. The 30th verse moving on says this 1 Kings chapter 18, verse 30, gonna read a handful of verses here. Then Elijah said to all the people, Come near to me. And all the people came near to him, and he re he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down. Elijah. Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, Israel shall be your name. Excuse me. And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he made a trench about the altar as great as would contain two seas of seed. And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, Listen to this now, fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood. And 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. And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water. My friends, listen up. Without God, the wood was not going to catch on fire. Let's just be honest. Just being straight here with you, shooting straight with you. By soaking the wood, Elijah had created an environment that would be impossible without the hand of God at work. Now, maybe that's you today. Listen to me. Maybe that's you today. You have created an environment by your own actions and decisions that you have made in life and you feel trapped. You're the one that's created that environment. And maybe you're thinking that God would never forgive me, God would never show up, God would never love me, God could never use me because of this environment that I've created in my own life. However, God can take what looks like it is impossible to fix, and God will redeem you, God will restore you. God will set you free from the struggle, from the pain, from the pressure, from the weight, from the turmoil, from the lies, from the sin. God will set you free from it all. God loves to transform people, and he would love to begin with your heart right now, today. Romans 8 28 says this, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for the good. For those who are called according to his purpose. My friends, every one of you have been called by God to serve and to love him. Now we're gonna wrap this up. We're gonna wrap this up. Going back to the 36th verse, this is what it says. And at the same time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back. Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench, and when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, The Lord God, he is God. The Lord, he is God. And Elijah, verse 40, and Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal, let not one of them escape. And they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook of Kishon and slaughtered them there. He slaughtered them, my friends, because they had led God's people astray, and they had to pay the price for that. God forgave Israel. He forgave the people as they turned back to him. And maybe there's some things in your life right now that you too need to hand over to God. Maybe there's some things that they started out innocent, but you allowed to get in between you and God. Maybe today you're truly ready to trust him for the very first time, or maybe you've walked away and now you're ready to come back home and serve him faithfully again. But no matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter what type of situation you're in, every one of us has the same decision to make right now, in this moment. And we have that decision to make in every right now moment of our lives while on this earth. And here it is. Who will you serve right now? My friends, I choose God, Yahweh, Jehovah Jirah. Let's pray. Father, I pray in the name of the blood of Jesus that every person listening would have taken serious the question, the call, who will you serve today? Oh God, in faith we say, as for as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord in Jesus' name and blood. All God's people said. Amen.