SACRIFICE

Jan 24th, 2026.

·         The Old Testament is full of examples of sacrifices.

·         Under the Old Testament, sacrifices were to literally die. Their blood was shed and the sacrificial animal was thereby “dedicated” or “destroyed.” [A sacrifice dies, as living sacrifices we must die to self-1 Peter 2:5]

Gen 4:4 And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

Romans 12:1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

What is involved in a sacrifice?

1.      The priest.

2.      The sacrifice.

3.      The altar

Today we are going to focus on the priest.

Remember we are the royal priests [1 Peter 2:9]

1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

·         The priest in the Old Testament were called to continually offer sacrifices in the altar daily.

·         We are called as royal priests in the  new testaments to offer our bodies/life as holy sacrifices.

Heroes and celebrities.

The difference between heroes and celebrities is not talent, intelligence, or persistence? No, they both can have talent, intelligence and persistence, or they both may not have any. The difference lies in the area of sacrifice.

·         Why they sacrifice

·         What they sacrifice

·         Where they sacrifice.

·         For whom or to whom do they offer the sacrifice.

Matthew 7:22-23 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Many people sacrifice for themselves; they sacrifice for personal gain. Their own goals.

·         To build a big business.

·         To be great in their field of Athletics.

·         To be at the top in their careers.

True sacrifice is selfless; it is focused on others not yourself.

We are wired to make a difference through sacrifices.

·         Deep inside all of us there is a deep desire to make our lives count. Because God has created you to give yourself away.

Fulfillments through sacrifice.

You wonder why many people are frustrated in life, trying to find out what they're trying to do with their lives?

·      The reason is they don't realize that God wired them up to give themselves away and that's where fulfillment comes. Do good and you will find joy in it.

·      Fulfillment doesn’t come from personal gratification.

We think fulfillment comes from personal gratification, but it doesn't.  If it did the wealthiest people in the world would be the happiest people in the world. The wealthiest would have the strongest marriages, they would have the most peaceful houses.

Luke 12:15-18   Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.¹⁶ And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. ¹⁷ He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do?” I have no place to store my crops.’¹⁸ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain.

What is it that gives gratification?  What is it that gives significance and that feeling of meaning and purpose in life? That satisfaction feeling in life? 

Ministry:

It's when you give your life away.  God wired you to give your life away- Ministry. 

You have a choice-To live a life of sacrifice or just do what pleases you.

·         He will not force you to make impact in your life.

·         He will not force you to encourage others.

·         He will not force you to use your skills to help others.

·         You can decide to live a self-centered life. Where all that matters is you and what pleases you.

Ephesians 2:10 "It is God Himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus and long ago He planned that we should spend these lives in helping others." 

·         God wants to use you for His purpose. 

·         You can be a tool in the hands of God to make a difference in this world.

·         God wants to use you.  He has a unique assignment, a life mission and a ministry for you that no one else can fulfill. 

·         It requires sacrifice.  In order to be used by God, in order to fulfill His purpose, there are some things you're going to have to give up.  You can't do it all.

Jeremiah 51:20 “You are my war club, my weapon for battle—with you I shatter nations, with you I destroy kingdoms

 Most people say, "I want to serve God plus achieve all the other goals, and plans and ambitions I have in life."  But you've got to sacrifice. 

Are you willing to lay aside your personal ambitions, your goals, your plans for your own life, your family, your career, your personal motivations, your drives, your desires. If you say it’s a lot to ask, I agree. That is what God is asking if you want to walk with him.

C. S. Lewis once said this, "The only thing Christianity cannot be is moderately important."  If it's not true, if Jesus really wasn't who He said He was and He really didn't come and die on the cross for my sins and offer eternal life into heaven and do all of those things, if that's not true, we ought to close up shop right now and go home and watch something on TV. 

On the other hand, if Jesus is who He says He is and He died for me and He came down from heaven and died for me with the ultimate sacrifice, then I owe Him my entire life and allegiance.  That's it. 

WHY SACRIFICE ?

What we're talking about is a life of sacrifice.  But why in the world should anybody do that?  Why would I sacrifice my own plans, ambitions, dreams, desires, goals for God's purpose for my life?  Why would I do that? 

Three straightforward answers:

1.      Hebrews 9:26 "Christ came to take away all sin by sacrificing Himself."

·         Because of that we need to learn to sacrifice. 

2.      Ephesians 5:2 "Live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice for God." 

·         If you want to learn to be like Jesus Christ, you're going to have to learn to sacrifice.

·         If you have no sacrifices in your life right now there's no love in your life.

·           An unsacrificial life is an unlovely life because that is the essence of love.

·         Love is not getting.  Love is giving.

3.      If there's no sacrifice in your life there's no love in your life.

  The ultimate example of sacrifice is when God sent His own son Jesus Christ, left heaven, came to earth, went through all that torturous trial, died a naked death on the cross as a criminal for you.  No one will ever sacrifice more for you, than Jesus Christ already has.

Genuine love is always sacrificial

·         You cannot love somebody -- you cannot love God -- without sacrificing.

·         It takes a sacrifice of time, a sacrifice of energy, sometimes a sacrifice of money to love.

That's a secret of a good marriage.  The secret of a successful marriage is both partners must continually and intentionally make both large and small sacrifices for each other.

we are created to be givers

Ephesians 2:10 "It is God Himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus and long ago He planned that we should spend these lives in helping others." 

·         You were made to live for God's purposes not your own.

·         Have you ever tried to use something for a purpose which it was not intended for?

·         A Fork to eat soup,

The principle of giving- [You get by giving].

Matthew 10:39 39 He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. 

·         Jesus said, `those who try to hold onto their lives will give up true life.  But those who give up their lives for Me, will hold on to true life.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

godliness-TO BE LIKE GOD, He sacrificed.

God has set up this universe under certain basic principles.  He set these principles up because He wants you to become like Him. God wants you to become like Himself.  He wants you to become godly. 

·         You get by giving.  That's one of the universal principles of life.

·         You get by giving.  Whatever you give out, you're going to get back.

·         You give out criticism and you're going to get criticism back.

·         You give out cynicism; you're going to get cynicism back.

God rewards unselfishness // SELFLESSNESS

Hebrew 6:10 "God is not unjust.  He will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help him."

·         Do you ever feel unappreciated for doing the right thing?

·         Do you ever feel unappreciated for helping other people then they don't thank you for it?

·         In fact, maybe they don't even notice?  You start saying, "Why bother?  What's the use?  Why makes the effort? Nobody even cares.  Nobody even notices."

God notices.  And He is remembering and He is going to reward the little sacrifices in life that you never get thanked for. 

·         He says when you sacrifice to help other people, that's showing love to God. 

·         When you help others that's called ministry. 

·         When you minister to others, serve others, God says, "That's expressing love to Me." 

Mark 10:29-30 Jesus said, "Let me assure you that no one has ever given up anything -- homes, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children or property -- for love of Me and to tell others the good news who won't be given back a hundred times over and shall have eternal life." 

 ·         He says whatever you give up in service -- time, energy, money -- God says, "I'm going to restore it a hundred-fold."  That's 10,000% interest!  Do you know any bank giving those rates? 

Romans 12:1, "So brothers and sisters, since God has shown us such great mercy offer your lives as a living sacrifice to Him." 

·         When we think of what he has done for us, is it too much to ask if he asks for our sacrifices.

What does your faith cost you?

Charles. T. Studd was the highest paid professional athlete in England. He left it -- he gave it all up -- to become a missionary.  He said, "If Jesus Christ is God and He died for me, then no sacrifice that I make for Him could be too great."

Philippians 2:17  "It is your faith that makes you offer your life as a living sacrifice to serving God." 

·         “Any faith that costs nothing is worth nothing” Rick Warren.

2 Samuel 24:24 And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.

·         Sacrificial giving is not about how much you gave, its about the percentage you gave-Sacrifice.

 Mark 12:43 and he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

Prayer

"God, I will sacrifice my desires and dreams for what I think is going to make me happy in order to fulfill Your purposes in this world in my life, in my church and in my world."

In this you will receive more than you could ever have imagined in terms of happiness and significance because you can't out give God.

Jesus said you find your life by giving it away.  Life is composed of trade-offs.

·         You can't do everything. What am I going to do with my life?

·         What contribution are you going to make with your life? With the time you got left on earth.

The greatest use of your life is to invest it in something that's going to outlast it, which is the kingdom of God, the purposes of God.

·         A wise man will give up what He cannot keep for that which He cannot lose.

One day when we all get to heaven, we won't be there five minutes before we say, "It wasn't much of a sacrifice compared to what we've received out of this."

CONCLUSION-Nuggets of Wisdom about sacrifices.

1)      Genuine love is always sacrificial. You cannot love without sacrificing.

2)      The greatest use of your life is to invest it in something that's going to outlast it. The kingdom /purposes of God.

3)      Life is composed of trade-offs; you can't do everything.  You must choose what matters. Sacrifice other things.

4)      It is not sacrifice if we give only what we can afford – whether it’s money, possessions, time, etc.

5)      It is not a sacrifice unless it is given with the right purpose and for the right reasons.

6)      Sacrifice involves the dedication of any and all personal accomplishments to Christ.

7)      It is not a sacrifice when we try to serve God from the comfort of our easy chair.

8)      If our life doesn’t involve personal loss and suffering for the sake of Christ, then we have made no sacrifice.

9)      Sacrifice means to obey God regardless of where that leaves our family, careers, business and friends.

10)  Sacrifice means that we must put trust in God that He will provide for whatever it is we need.

11)  Sacrifice involves forfeiture of that which is very near and dear to us.

12)  Any faith that costs nothing is worth nothing.

13)  Sacrifice involves forfeiture of that which is very near and dear to us.

We will continue next week by exploring the powers of sacrifice and different kinds of sacrifices that you can make.