Sermon Recap
The Olah Offering
Part 7 of 8 in Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves
Parte 7 de 8 de la serie Two Men Enter, One Man Leaves
Read the full transcript · Leer esto en espanol
Brian Hunter · March 30, 2025
“When anyone among you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering… a burnt sacrifice from the herd.”
Scripture Referenced
Recap
Continuing the multi-week series in Leviticus, Brian focused on the Olah, or whole burnt offering, described in Leviticus 1:1-9: the sacrifice in which the entire animal, not just a portion, was placed on the altar and consumed by fire. Reviewing the series so far, he recalled earlier weeks establishing that God is a “consuming fire” who never compromises holiness for love, and that the blood of sacrifice was never about appeasing an angry, hair-trigger God waiting to punish people, but about restoring closeness with a God who desires relationship.
Brian pushed back on the instinct to read Leviticus as legalistic or irrelevant, insisting the series exists not to draw a crowd or entertain but out of obedience to what he believes God wants the church to sit with. The Olah offering’s distinctive feature (that the whole animal, not a token piece, went to the altar) became the picture for total surrender: not negotiating with God over which parts of life get handed over, but offering everything as a “living sacrifice.”
The message closed with an extended invitation for the congregation to physically respond: getting on their knees where they sat, turning their chair into a kind of altar, and offering God everything again, even if it wasn’t the first time making that same surrender.
Touch Points
- The Olah offering required the whole animal, not just a portion. What’s one area of your life you tend to hold back rather than fully surrender to God?
- Brian said the sacrifices were never about appeasing an angry God. Has that ever been your mental picture of God, even without realizing it?
- Is there something you’ve already surrendered to God before that you feel invited to lay down again today?
- Brian said these conversations exist out of obedience, not to be popular. Where do you notice yourself avoiding a hard truth because it’s unpopular or uncomfortable?