This powerful message challenges us to move beyond comfort zones and step into the fullness of what God has called us to become. Drawing from Romans 6:4, we're reminded that baptism isn't just a symbolic act—it represents a complete burial of our old selves and a resurrection into new life. The central tension explored here is profound: many of us are comfortable placing things on God's altar, allowing Him to burn away what doesn't belong, but we struggle to actually rise from that altar and walk in our new identity. The sermon unpacks three transformative truths: first, that burial must precede breakthrough—we cannot resurrect what we refuse to bury. Second, God births brand new beginnings in us, not through behavior modification but through complete identity transformation. Drawing from 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Ezekiel 36:26, we see that God doesn't just refurbish the old us; He makes us entirely new creations with new hearts and new spirits. Finally, we're called to walk boldly in the power of the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead—a Spirit that now dwells within us. The message confronts our tendency to tiptoe around challenges when we should be walking in divine authority. Perhaps most convicting is the reminder that the altar isn't a finish line but a starting point, not where our purpose dies but where it's discovered and launched into the world.