Jeff Miller

February 2, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Congratulations to the Poor in Spirit

Jeff Miller

February 2, 2025

The Heart of the Disciple

Introduction:

Who Are the "Poor in Spirit"? (Matthew 5:1-3)

Romans 3:23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...

James 2:10 - For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.

Why Are We Congratulating the Poor in Spirit?

How Do I Become Poor in Spirit?

Luke 18:9-14 - He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

3 Signs That You Are Poor in Spirit:

You Humble , Exalt yourself.
You compare yourself to God , not Others.
You bank on God's Mercy , not your Works.
Congratulations to the poor in spirit, you have the kingdom of heaven!

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:00-00:16
Harvest Bible Chapel, I am so excited because we are having a party today.
00:16-00:17
Who's ready to party?
00:20-00:25
So Harvest Bible Chapel, I would like to say, congratulations.
00:27-00:28
Give yourselves a hand.
00:29-00:30
(congregation applauding)
00:34-00:35
You're like, what are we celebrating?
00:38-00:42
Well, this is going to be an eight week long party.
00:44-00:49
And the party for the next eight weeks, congratulations.
00:52-00:54
Like who are we congratulating?
00:54-00:56
Well, what are some things that we congratulate people for?
00:57-00:58
Shout them out.
00:58-01:00
What are some things we congratulate people for?
01:01-01:02
Birthday, marriage, okay.
01:02-01:04
Congratulations, you're getting married.
01:04-01:05
Something else.
01:06-01:07
Okay, new job.
01:07-01:08
Congratulations on the new job.
01:09-01:11
Or retiring from that job.
01:12-01:14
Congratulations on your retirement.
01:14-01:15
What else?
01:17-01:18
New baby, yeah, new baby.
01:19-01:21
Congratulations, you're having a baby.
01:21-01:22
Congratulations.
01:22-01:24
We get congratulations, right?
01:25-01:26
What's that?
01:26-01:28
He said graduation.
01:28-01:31
Oh, a graduation, congratulations.
01:35-01:40
Well, we're gonna be in the Sermon on the Mount.
01:40-01:43
If you wanna open your Bibles up to Matthew chapter five.
01:44-01:49
And the Sermon on the Mount is actually Jesus' first sermon.
01:51-01:52
And it's so interesting.
01:55-01:57
The first sermon of Jesus.
02:00-02:05
This is how he introduces, this is his intro to his sermon.
02:08-02:12
Matthew chapter five, it says, "Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain.
02:13-02:16
And when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
02:17-02:26
And he opened his mouth and taught them saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
02:28-02:30
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
02:32-02:35
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
02:36-02:41
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
02:42-02:46
Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
02:48-02:51
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
02:53-02:58
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
03:00-03:15
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." This is how Jesus introduces the greatest sermon ever preached.
03:18-03:20
in a section that we call the Beatitudes.
03:21-03:27
And notice every one of these statements of Jesus starts with the word blessed.
03:30-03:36
Like, well, if we're going to understand what this is about, we better know what the word blessed means, right?
03:37-03:46
Well, if you pick up a commentary or get online and look things up, most people just simply say this, Blessed means happy.
03:51-03:52
Yes and no.
03:54-04:00
I would say yes and more than that.
04:00-04:07
Happiness doesn't really cover the full meaning of what the word blessed means.
04:07-04:19
Because at least in our context, when we think of happy, we think like something good happened to us, like a cookie, we had an Oreo, we're happy.
04:19-04:22
Or we had a rollercoaster ride, we're happy.
04:23-04:25
Or I got a raise at work, I'm happy.
04:28-04:36
But you look through what Jesus was talking about here, and you know, these things don't sound very happy.
04:38-04:43
You know, if you're like, happier are the people who are mourning, like, what?
04:44-04:49
That doesn't really make sense.
04:51-04:52
What does blessed mean?
04:53-05:00
Well, the Greek word is mekarios, and it means a blissful condition of the soul.
05:01-05:11
But here's the thing, it's not about external circumstances because worldly things cannot make you happy.
05:13-05:27
So the better sense of the word blessed is this, congratulations, congratulations.
05:27-05:30
That's the better sense of mekerios.
05:32-05:41
What Jesus is saying in the Beatitudes is this, if you miss this, you are so not going to be enjoying this party for the next eight weeks.
05:41-05:50
What Jesus is saying is this, if you are this kind of person, congratulations because there is something awesome in store for you.
05:52-05:53
That's what he's saying.
05:54-06:01
And when we go through the Beatitudes, you gotta get this too, the stress here is on being, not doing.
06:02-06:08
The Beatitudes are about who you are, not about what happens to you.
06:09-06:17
And these beatitudes are all constant life patterns of true believers.
06:17-06:38
And Jesus said, "The people that live with these attitudes are the people who are truly blessed." Therefore, Jesus is saying, "Congratulations to you." Beatitudes, and really when we go through the whole Sermon on the Mount, this is what Christians are meant to be, all right?
06:39-06:41
Who's the Sermon on the Mount for?
06:42-06:46
You know, I read so much stuff over the past month, all kind of goofy ideas.
06:46-06:50
People are like, well, this is for like people in the millennial kingdom or like people in heaven.
06:51-06:56
No, the Sermon on the Mount is for disciples of Jesus Christ, that's who it's for.
06:58-07:13
And in his introduction, Jesus is giving these characteristics of a Christ follower And these beatitudes, this is all Christians should be exemplifying all of these.
07:14-07:22
And you're going to see as we go through these over the next eight weeks, that each of these demands the others.
07:25-07:27
So look, this isn't a checklist, okay?
07:28-07:34
This isn't some checklist we're gonna go through and say, "Okay, I did that one, I did that one, I did that one, okay, good, ready for heaven.
07:35-07:36
That's not how it works.
07:36-07:43
What we have here is a spiritually logical flow.
07:45-07:47
Think of it more in terms of steps on a ladder.
07:49-07:52
And all of it must be spirit-powered.
07:54-07:56
With that said, I want us to bow our heads for a moment.
07:57-08:01
I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's word.
08:01-08:06
I will pray for you to receive it, and then we're gonna get this party started.
08:10-08:12
Father in heaven, do what only you can do.
08:16-08:20
By the power of your Spirit, we pray in Jesus' name.
08:21-08:24
And all of God's people said, amen.
08:25-08:26
So, we're ready to party.
08:27-08:29
Congratulations to the poor in spirit.
08:31-08:32
(congregation laughing)
08:46-08:47
I see some of you aren't yet on board.
08:51-08:52
I was ready for that.
08:54-08:56
So let's look at verse three, shall we?
08:59-09:09
Jesus starts his sermon by saying this, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." What's he saying?
09:09-09:11
I mean, this must be pretty significant.
09:11-09:15
This is the first statement in Jesus' first sermon.
09:17-09:19
Well, first of all, poor, what does he mean by poor?
09:19-09:22
He's not talking about material stuff here, okay?
09:23-09:25
Some people think that poverty is a virtue.
09:27-09:34
If poverty's a virtue, listen, never give money to a poor person because then you're robbing them of their character.
09:35-09:36
Poverty's not a virtue.
09:38-09:41
He's describing an internal condition.
09:41-09:54
He says, "Your spirit is poor." But this word for poor in the Greek, it draws a picture from a beggar.
09:56-10:04
It's the posture that a beggar would take, bowing timidly, begging for help.
10:06-10:09
Because you see, in Jesus' day, often beggars were crippled.
10:10-10:22
They were unable to provide for themselves, so they had to completely and totally rely on the grace of someone else to provide for them.
10:22-10:34
and they would come before them in this beggar's posture and say, "I need your help so desperately." Do you get that picture of the beggar in your mind?
10:35-10:38
Please, I need you to help me.
10:39-10:45
I have nothing to offer you back, but I so desperately need your help.
10:45-11:00
And Jesus here is saying, "Be that guy in your spirit." that you go before God and say, "God, I am a guilty sinner, God.
11:00-11:03
I got nothing to offer you, God.
11:06-11:11
And honestly, God, I know that I don't deserve anything from you.
11:13-11:20
God, my only hope is that you will show me grace.
11:20-11:22
That's the only hope that I have.
11:28-11:29
That's the poor in spirit.
11:31-11:36
The poor in spirit are people who agree with God about their condition.
11:39-11:42
And we could spend weeks just talking about this concept.
11:42-11:49
We're not going to, but there's a couple of verses I want us to look at that really drive the point home.
11:49-11:53
Romans 3.23, a lot of you probably have this memorized.
11:53-11:59
It says, "For all have sinned "and fall short of the glory of God." Those who are poor in spirit recognize that.
11:59-12:04
I have fallen short of God's glory.
12:09-12:10
I've failed.
12:13-12:14
I have failed.
12:14-12:17
I see that God has a perfect standard.
12:18-12:21
And I look at the landscape of my life and I see that I haven't met that.
12:22-12:26
I have fallen short of what God expects from me.
12:28-12:30
Guilty, guilty.
12:34-12:38
And in case there's someone saying, well, I'm not really that bad.
12:38-12:40
You know what James 2.10 says?
12:41-12:46
It says, "Forever keeps the whole law, but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.
12:48-12:50
Wrap your brain around that.
12:50-13:05
Imagine walking into an earthly courthouse because you committed one crime and you walk in and the judge says, well, legally, you are guilty of committing every crime in the United States of America.
13:05-13:07
Do you think that judge is gonna let you go?
13:10-13:11
No, no.
13:12-13:28
James says, "If you broke the law, even at one point, you lived your whole life, and just one time, just one time, you told this little white lie to get out of trouble, you're guilty of breaking God's whole law." You know why?
13:28-13:33
It's because rejecting the law is rejecting the law giver, and God takes His law very seriously.
13:35-13:39
God says, "Oh, you didn't agree with me when I said this in that one part.
13:40-13:43
"Well, you have rebelled against God.
13:43-13:50
"That is a serious crime." We could go on and on.
13:50-13:53
Romans 5 says that we are weak, we are ungodly.
13:54-14:00
Romans 5 says we are enemies of God, and to add tragedy on top of tragedy, there's nothing that I can do about that.
14:04-14:09
You see, my friends, we are guilty and helpless.
14:09-14:13
us. That's what we are.
14:17-14:18
Someday you're going to die.
14:20-14:27
And you're going to walk into your court date and you're going to be judged by the holy God that you have sinned against.
14:29-14:37
And you have no defense, you have no excuse, you have no clout and you will get no second chance.
14:38-14:47
"You will stand before this holy God, guilty and helpless." Like, man, I thought we were having a party.
14:50-14:53
Like, why are you talking about this?
14:56-15:05
Because of the reality that the only people who receive grace are the people who know they need it.
15:06-15:06
That's why.
15:07-15:17
People that know they have nothing to offer God, they're 100% dependent on the grace that God shows in His love.
15:18-15:20
And that's the cross of Jesus Christ.
15:21-15:37
The cross of Jesus Christ forever stands as a testimony to how completely, spiritually bankrupt every single one of us are, because it took the death of the spotless, perfect son of God to pay for my sin.
15:38-15:40
That tells, that says a lot about God.
15:40-15:44
That says something about me too, how horrible my condition is.
15:48-15:57
So the first statement of Jesus' first servant, he says, congratulations to the spiritually bankrupt.
16:02-16:08
And that's where the servant has to start, my friends, because nothing happens until this happens.
16:09-16:18
Listen, this, this is the fundamental characteristic of a Christian right here.
16:21-16:24
Broken and poor before God.
16:29-16:40
Everything else that we're going to be looking at over these next few months in the Sermon on the Mount, Everything is a manifestation of the fullness of Jesus Christ in you.
16:44-16:48
But this verse is about emptying.
16:50-16:55
If you're gonna be full of Christ, you gotta be empty of yourself.
16:59-17:21
So Jesus says, "Congratulations to the poor in spirit." You're like, "Man, I'm not sure why you blew up "all these balloons, Pastor Jeff, "because I don't really see the, "why are we congratulating the poor in spirit?" That's next on your outline.
17:24-17:42
He says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit for," hang on a second, I was thinking this past week, wouldn't this be a completely different sermon Jesus stopped at the word spirit, that Jesus was like, "Hey, congratulations to the spiritually bankrupt.
17:45-17:49
You are loved." What?
17:50-17:51
That doesn't make any sense.
17:52-17:55
But you see the rest of the verse tells us why we're having the party.
17:57-18:10
He says, look at this, "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." For theirs is, actually, in the Greek, the word theirs is emphatic.
18:11-18:15
And that tells us the way that Jesus said that.
18:15-18:19
He was giving a little bit of shock value here.
18:19-18:32
He says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Like, well, what is the kingdom of heaven?
18:34-18:35
Like, what is that?
18:37-18:44
Man, we could spend so much time talking about that, but really we can boil the kingdom of heaven down to one statement.
18:45-18:49
The kingdom of heaven is the place where Jesus Christ rules.
18:50-18:51
That's the kingdom of heaven.
18:51-18:54
It is the place where Jesus Christ is ruling.
18:56-19:01
In other words, he's talking about salvation.
19:03-19:13
When you come to Jesus Christ, poor in spirit, spiritually bankrupt, you receive his grace and his mercy.
19:13-19:16
And in that moment, everything changes.
19:18-19:21
The Bible says that you are forgiven of your sin.
19:21-19:24
The Lamb of God has taken away your sin.
19:25-19:26
You are pronounced not guilty.
19:26-19:27
You are forgiven.
19:28-19:30
You are an adopted child of God.
19:30-19:31
You're no longer his enemy.
19:31-19:33
He has brought you in as His child.
19:35-19:37
Bible says you're regenerated.
19:37-19:38
God puts His Spirit in you.
19:38-19:42
He turns a dead sinner into an alive saint.
19:43-19:46
That's what changes when you come to Christ.
19:48-20:00
And all, and we could go on and on, but everything the Bible says about salvation and grace and being born again, everything the Bible says can be summed up in one statement.
20:02-20:07
"Yours is the kingdom of heaven." You get it all.
20:08-20:10
The Bible says you're given a new citizenship.
20:11-20:15
You belong not to the kingdom of the world anymore.
20:15-20:19
You belong to the kingdom of Jesus Christ where he reigns.
20:21-20:22
And you have to notice this.
20:22-20:32
He says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, "for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It's present tense.
20:35-20:42
Again, I do a lot of reading and so many people wanna take these beatitudes and throw them into the future.
20:43-20:49
Like, "Yeah, theirs is the kingdom of heaven, "he's talking about the thousand year millennial kingdom." (mimics gibberish) No.
20:51-20:55
"Well, you know, theirs is the kingdom of heaven, "he's talking about the ultimate glorification "of believers in heaven."
20:56-20:56
(mimics gibberish)
20:57-20:59
No, he did not say that.
21:00-21:10
He said, "There's is the kingdom of heaven right now." We have the kingdom now and we have all the blessings that come with it.
21:10-21:18
As we already said, we have his spirit dwelling within us, which means we have the peace of Christ, which passes all understanding.
21:18-21:20
We have the joy of Jesus Christ.
21:21-21:23
We have comfort through the hardest of trials.
21:24-21:27
We have perfect provision, God providing everything we need.
21:28-21:30
We have hope.
21:31-21:37
There is nothing that can happen to me that will rob me of what God has for me.
21:42-21:45
We have the body of Christ, the church.
21:45-21:49
We have a spiritual gift given to bless others in the church.
21:50-21:54
The Bible says that we are heirs with Jesus Christ.
21:55-21:56
Can you wrap your head around that?
21:57-22:00
You are a fellow heir with Christ.
22:00-22:04
That means we have everything because we have the kingdom.
22:08-22:24
So as you see, it's very clear when you study the Beatitudes, that Christians, followers of Christ, and non-Christians, these people live in two different realms.
22:27-22:33
Because the Beatitudes are actually bookended by this same statement.
22:33-22:34
Did you notice that?
22:35-22:40
The first Beatitude, "For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." See the last one, verse 10?
22:42-22:48
"For theirs is the kingdom of heaven." What's that mean?
22:48-22:52
Jesus is saying the first thing and the last thing you need to know is this.
22:55-23:01
Jesus says, "When you receive me, you get my kingdom." That's where you belong now.
23:06-23:08
This congratulation is starting to make sense.
23:11-23:13
Why are we congratulating the poor in spirit?
23:16-23:36
Because according to Jesus, when you are spiritually bankrupt, And you come to God for His mercy and grace, you get everything, literally everything.
23:40-23:44
I could stop here, but I still have some time.
23:46-23:48
And who likes a party that ends early?
23:50-24:04
There is a question that we do have to answer, obviously, and that is this, there's gonna be people that are sitting here, people that are watching this stream or downloading this later, that maybe they're like, "Man, you know what?
24:05-24:08
I really want this kingdom, I really want these promises.
24:08-24:11
So how do I become poor in spirit?
24:17-24:24
What do I have to do to become poor in spirit? The answer?
24:26-24:26
Nothing.
24:29-24:31
You already are, amigo.
24:33-25:24
There's not a thing you have to do except recognize and acknowledge that you already are. Because you see, there's one thing, there's one thing that keeps people from recognizing that they're poor in spirit. And it is that one thing that will keep people from coming to Jesus Christ. Yes, even people sitting in the church. This one thing will keep you from coming to Christ, from acknowledging you being poor in spirit. That one thing is pride.
25:27-25:41
So we're going to spend a few minutes talking about that, because for many of you this is a problem. Well Have you truly acknowledged that?
25:46-25:57
Well, Jesus illustrated the difference between somebody who's poor in spirit and somebody full of pride.
25:58-26:00
He spoke this in a parable.
26:01-26:03
We're gonna have it on the screen here, Luke 18.
26:04-26:06
You don't have to turn there, but you wanna write the reference down.
26:07-26:09
So you're gonna wanna go back and read it again.
26:10-26:13
But here's how Jesus illustrates this point that he's making.
26:13-26:34
Says, "He also told this parable "to some who trusted in themselves "that they were righteous," ding, ding, ding, "and treated others with contempt." Jesus said, "Two men went up to the temple to pray, "one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
26:35-26:50
"The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus, "God, I thank you that I'm not like other men, "extortioners, unjust, adulterers, "or even like this tax collector.
26:51-26:52
"I fast twice a week.
26:53-26:55
"I give tithes of all that I get.
26:58-27:12
"But the tax collector, standing far off, "would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner.
27:18-27:26
Jesus said, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other.
27:27-27:39
For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, "but the one who humbles himself will be exalted." Like, how do I get poor in spirit?
27:42-27:43
You are.
27:45-27:47
You gotta recognize that you are.
27:49-27:51
Because nothing happens until you do.
27:52-27:55
Like, okay, well, how do I know if I'm poor in spirit?
27:55-27:58
Well, on your outline, here's three signs that you're poor in spirit.
27:58-28:00
This comes from Jesus' parable here.
28:01-28:02
Here's three signs that you're poor in spirit.
28:02-28:04
Number one, you humble yourself, not exalt yourself.
28:06-28:08
That's a sign that you're poor in spirit.
28:08-28:10
You humble yourself, not exalt yourself.
28:12-28:14
Do you see the difference in the prayers?
28:14-28:19
The Pharisee, me, me, me, me, me, me, I'm so special.
28:19-28:22
Me, me, me, me, I'm better than other people.
28:22-28:29
Me, me, me, me, that's needs mercy.
28:35-28:44
But you know, there's something in us, there is something in every single one of us that wants to exalt ourselves.
28:48-28:53
There's something in every one of us where we're just, we'll be in a conversation with someone.
28:53-28:59
We're like, oh, oh, take a breath because I wanna say something awesome about myself.
28:59-29:05
I wanna point to something about me that you should be so like wowed by.
29:05-29:17
And there's just something in all of us that we're wanting to point to our accomplishments or our character or something that we're just like, I'm proud of this.
29:18-29:19
We all do that.
29:25-29:27
How do you really think about yourself?
29:32-29:42
I gotta tell you, a couple weeks ago, just in my quiet time with the Lord, He laid a question on my heart that just crushed me.
29:43-29:44
And now it's your turn.
29:46-30:07
But the Lord, in His still, small voice, He asked me, "How dependent am I on God, really?" Oh, I know the church answer, and we sing here, "Lord, I need you," and we sing that, but how dependent am I on God really?
30:09-30:10
How about you?
30:12-30:13
That's a question I've been wrestling with.
30:15-30:17
Are you really dependent on the Lord?
30:22-30:24
If the Lord said, "You know what?
30:25-30:31
I'm stepping out of your life for a week, and you can just take care of things yourself." Would you even notice?
30:33-30:47
Have you become so accustomed to just doing things your way in your power, by your wisdom, that you wouldn't even notice if God stepped away from you?
30:50-30:55
If God removed his spirit from you, would you notice?
31:03-31:05
Well, this is the first sign that you're poor in spirit.
31:08-31:12
You realize there really is nothing in me worth bragging about.
31:14-31:14
Is that you?
31:15-31:18
Like, you know, yeah, there's really nothing about me worth bragging about.
31:18-31:19
Is that you?
31:19-31:32
Then Jesus says, "Congratulations, you are poor in spirit." Number two, second sign that you're poor in spirit is obvious from the parable.
31:32-31:35
You compare yourself to God, not others.
31:37-31:38
That's a sign that you're poor in spirit.
31:38-31:41
You compare yourself to God, not to other people.
31:42-31:42
See the Pharisee?
31:43-31:45
He's like, "I'm so thankful.
31:45-31:58
"I'm not like other men, extortioners, "Unjust adulterers, this tax collector, "so thankful I'm not like them." Oh, BTW, comparing yourself to other people, stupid.
32:00-32:01
It's stupid.
32:01-32:04
It's fundamentally, objectively stupid, why?
32:04-32:07
Because you can always find somebody worse than you, right?
32:09-32:10
It's not hard.
32:13-32:16
But you can also always find somebody better than you.
32:21-32:29
The tax collector, he compared himself, not to other people, he compared himself to God.
32:30-32:31
Do you know how I know that?
32:31-32:34
Because of one word, sinner.
32:38-32:41
That was the only word that he had to describe himself.
32:44-32:53
And if you feel anything other than that in the face of God, then you have never faced God.
32:57-33:05
Because someday when you stand before God, you're gonna find out that God doesn't grade on the curve, he grades on the cross.
33:08-33:17
And you see, the question is, or you're like the tax collector in this parable who was like, forget everybody else.
33:17-33:19
Like who gives a rip about everybody else?
33:19-33:21
God, I am a sinner.
33:23-33:24
Jesus says, is that you?
33:25-33:29
Congratulations, you are poor in spirit.
33:29-33:30
That's awesome.
33:32-33:41
Thirdly, third sign that you're poor in spirit is you bank on God's mercy, not your works.
33:43-33:43
That's how you know.
33:44-33:47
You bank on God's mercy, not your works.
33:48-33:55
You see the target of the parable very clearly said right on the front end, to those who trusted in themselves that they were righteous.
33:59-33:59
There's pride.
34:01-34:02
There's pride right there.
34:03-34:05
Great definition of it.
34:05-34:07
trusting yourself that you're righteous.
34:08-34:11
Again, we're all tempted to go this route.
34:12-34:18
Self-reliance, self-confidence, self-expression, believe in yourself.
34:18-34:21
That's the world's way, okay?
34:25-34:35
And if I pulled you aside after service, and we can have a real honest conversation, real private, honest conversation.
34:36-34:38
And I said to you, "You've gone to heaven.
34:41-34:44
Would you say something like, 'Well, yeah, I'm going to heaven, I'm a good person.
34:45-34:47
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to heaven.
34:49-34:50
I mean, I was in church today, wasn't I?
34:51-34:52
Like, why are you asking me this?
34:53-34:56
Like, I'm a really moral person, Jeff.
34:56-34:58
I mean, why would you even ask me that?
34:58-34:59
Am I going to heaven?
35:00-35:01
Of course I am.
35:01-35:02
I'm a good person.
35:06-35:07
That's not being poor in spirit.
35:11-35:14
We said it positively here, we're gonna say it negatively now.
35:15-35:21
You will never receive God's grace if you don't think you need it.
35:26-35:35
Several years ago, a friend of mine, And I reached out and she said, "My mom's in the hospital and she's dying.
35:37-35:40
"She doesn't know the Lord." And she goes, "Would you go talk to her?
35:40-35:54
"She goes, 'Would you please share the gospel with her?'" And I said, "Oh, absolutely." So raced up to the hospital and tracked her down and got talking to her, some chit-chat, introductions, all that, and, you know, we know your family.
35:57-36:24
I said, "You know, I gotta tell you "something really important." I said, "I wanna share with you what the Bible says, "because none of us know when, "but someday we're all gonna stand before God, "and it's just my concern that you're ready for that." I said, "You know, the Bible says that we're all sinners." And as soon as I said that, you could see it on her face.
36:24-36:47
She was like, she kind of rolled her eyes, I said, "You know, we're all born with a sin nature, a selfish nature, and we're all born with that." And she says, "Well, I'm not really a sinner." I'm like, "Oh, okay." Well, I said, "Let me ask you a question.
36:47-36:49
I said, "If I can be so, well, let me ask you a question.
36:49-36:56
Have you ever told a lie in your life, even once?" She says, "No."
36:56-36:57
(congregation laughing)
36:58-36:59
Are you telling one now?
37:01-37:02
I didn't say that.
37:05-37:08
A bedside manner is a little better than that.
37:10-37:11
She, no, I never lied.
37:11-37:26
I said, "Have you ever wanted something "that somebody else had?" She goes, "No." I'm like, "All right, we're gonna have to dig "into the archives." I'm like, okay, let me ask you this.
37:26-37:35
When you were a little girl, when you were a little girl growing up, I said, did you always do everything your parents told you to do and you respected them perfectly all the time?
37:36-37:38
And she was like, yeah.
37:40-37:46
This conversation went on and on and on for an uncomfortably long amount of time.
37:47-37:53
I could not get this woman to confess to ever doing anything wrong.
37:53-37:54
Like, are you Jesus?
37:54-37:56
Like, what is going on here?
37:57-38:02
And I just, the conversation ended the way it began.
38:02-38:07
I was, I just prayed over her.
38:07-38:15
But I gotta tell you, I walked out of there just completely like, what do you do?
38:17-38:37
How do you, how do you convince somebody to receive the grace of God and Jesus Christ when they don't think they need it, when they refuse to acknowledge that they are a sinner, when they fail to recognize that they're poor in spirit.
38:40-38:54
We can pick on that lady, but there's people here in the same boat that you would say, yeah, Jeff laid it on pretty thick today, but I'm really not that bad.
38:57-38:59
You're also not, porn spirit.
39:07-39:10
I hear men, they're puffing their chest out.
39:11-39:11
I don't need anyone.
39:12-39:12
I don't need anyone.
39:14-39:15
I don't need anyone.
39:16-39:17
You know what that is?
39:18-39:18
It's pride.
39:20-39:21
and you're not getting out of the gate.
39:22-39:25
In Jesus' sermon here, because you're not poor in spirit.
39:27-39:29
Do you know how women say it?
39:33-39:34
I am enough.
39:35-39:38
That was something that was popular a couple of years ago.
39:38-39:39
Thankfully, I hope that's waning.
39:41-39:42
But you hear women say, I am enough.
39:44-39:52
Don't let anyone tell you that you are not enough because I've seen wall art that says that, I am enough.
39:55-39:56
No, you aren't.
39:57-39:58
You're not enough.
40:00-40:04
And if you really think that you are enough, why are you here?
40:05-40:06
Because you don't need Jesus if you're enough.
40:08-40:14
And you can't even get past the first sentence of Jesus' sermon, ladies, because you're not poor in spirit.
40:17-40:28
And you're like, "Well, okay, okay. I guess I do kind of need God." No! You're desperate for Him. Can you recognize that?
40:32-40:46
Because if you don't see how spiritually bankrupt you are, And you will never see how infinitely valuable Jesus Christ is.
40:48-40:57
And if you're not willing to see your need, then you're unable to see how Jesus meets it.
41:00-41:06
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It's not the finish line.
41:10-41:11
These are the starting blocks.
41:13-41:13
Are you there?
41:15-41:16
Are you there?
41:18-41:29
Because if you are, if you are, let's give a congratulations to the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
41:29-41:29
Come on.
41:30-41:31
(congregation applauding)
41:33-41:35
(congregation applauding)
41:37-41:45
On behalf of the leadership at Harvest Bible Chapel, poor in spirit, congratulations.
41:47-41:47
You get everything.
41:49-41:49
Let's pray.
41:50-41:58
Father in heaven, I thank you for your word.
41:59-43:11
Yes, God, your word oftentimes will tear us before it builds us up. Father, I want to pray against pride. There's something, Father, in all of us. It's sin, it's self-centeredness, that we want to exalt ourselves. Father, I pray that you would give us spiritual eyes to see the condition of our hearts. According to our Lord, we are broke. Father, I just pray that we're able to recognize that and come to you on those terms. Empty-handed, dependent, like Jesus said later on, like a child. Father, we thank you for the glorious promises that comes with that, that when we come to you empty-handed, we walk away with literally everything. We praise you, Father, and we thank you for that. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Matthew 5:1-3 & Luke 18:9-14

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What does it mean to be “poor in spirit”? How do we become poor in spirit?
“... for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” What is the significance of Jesus using the word IS? How would you explain this to a young child asking what it means that we get the “kingdom of heaven”?
How do you convince someone they are poor in spirit if they consider themselves “not that bad of a person”?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Taylor Brown

January 26, 2025

Just Like Us

Called to Make Disciples

Taylor Brown

January 26, 2025

Just Like Us

Introduction:

What Kind of Disciple Should I Be and Should I Train? (1 Kings 19:19-21)

A disciple who Joyfully Responds to God’s call. (1 Kings 19:19-20a)
1 John 5:3 - For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
A disciple who willingly sacrifices whatever Gets In the Way . (1 Kings 19:20b-21a)
Luke 9:61-62 - Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

Hebrews 12:2 - Let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith.
A disciple who humbly remains Submissive and Teachable . (1 Kings 19:21b)
2 Kings 2:12 - And Elisha saw it and he cried, “My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” And he saw him no more. Then he took hold of his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.

1 Corinthians 4:15 - For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.

Titus 2:3 - Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good...

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:52-00:55
Turn your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 19.
00:55-00:58
1 Kings chapter 19.
00:58-01:00
And while you turn that, I wanna ask a question.
01:00-01:02
Don't raise your hand or shout the answer.
01:02-01:06
Have you ever had to train your work replacement before?
01:07-01:12
Have you ever been trained by, have you ever been trained by the person that you were replacing?
01:13-01:18
I have experienced neither of these scenarios in my life, but I imagine both are a bit awkward.
01:19-01:26
I can envision a scenario where maybe It didn't work out well, but for the most part, this is an awkward and uncomfortable business practice.
01:27-01:32
I did a quick Google search this past week and I came across this woman's unfortunate training story.
01:32-01:33
You wanna hear about it?
01:35-01:40
She writes, "I got hired for a position "in the business office of a private school and church.
01:40-01:44
"I showed up for my first day to find out "they hadn't fired my predecessor yet.
01:45-01:49
"I had to sit in her office, "waiting to start my job while my boss fired her.
01:50-01:53
"Train me after that." It was super hard and uncomfortable.
01:55-02:01
That would be like me walking into the church office tomorrow to be Pastor Jeff saying, "Hey, here's Pastor Farron, "the new pastor's gonna replace you.
02:02-02:08
"Train him before you clear out the office and head home." Not the most comfortable of experiences.
02:10-02:20
While training, your replacement may be an awkward and uncomfortable business practice in the workplace, It is the way of discipleship in the kingdom of God.
02:21-02:30
And we see this way of discipleship in action as we close out our latest series, Just Like Us, The Life and Ministry of Elijah.
02:32-02:34
Last week we saw Elijah at his lowest moment.
02:34-02:39
He wants to give up on his God-given calling because he feels like a failure.
02:40-02:44
But God speaks to him and tells him, Elijah, you still have a purpose.
02:45-02:51
you still have kings to appoint and your own prophetic replacement to train.
02:52-02:55
I wonder how that instruction from the Lord made Elijah feel.
02:55-02:57
Elijah, don't give up.
02:57-03:04
I have a replacement for you to train who has almost the same exact name as you, Elisha.
03:05-03:08
I'm gonna struggle the entire sermon not saying Elisha, Elijah.
03:08-03:09
That's gonna be really hard.
03:09-03:11
So call me out if I do that.
03:12-03:16
My wife asked me this past week, Why didn't God give Elisha a much different name to make it much simpler for us?
03:17-03:19
And I have no idea what the answer to that question is.
03:20-03:27
But regardless of how Elijah may feel about the succession plan, it is the will of the Lord, which means it is good and right.
03:28-03:40
This succession plan shouldn't discourage Elijah, it should actually encourage him because he has the opportunity to pass on his knowledge, his wisdom, and godliness to the next generation.
03:41-03:48
Elijah has the privilege of leaving a lasting legacy through his training of Elijah.
03:49-03:50
See, I just did it already.
03:53-03:54
Pray for me so I don't do that again.
03:55-04:08
Just like Elijah, I got that time, you too are called to make disciples and train up your replacements who will faithfully serve the Lord and make disciples long after you pass on from this life.
04:09-04:20
Just like Elijah, you too are called to pass on your wisdom and leave a lasting legacy that changes lives, families, and eternal destinies.
04:21-04:26
So before we continue, let's go to the Lord and ask for his help because we certainly need it.
04:26-04:26
Please pray for me.
04:27-04:32
I will faithfully proclaim God's word and I will pray for you that you will faithfully receive it.
04:38-04:45
Father, we come to you to study a very short but challenging passage.
04:46-04:49
One that's gonna make us all feel a bit uncomfortable.
04:51-04:54
Because Lord, in many ways, most of us are not living into these verses.
04:57-05:04
Lord, I pray that we would begin to view this call to discipleship and making disciples as an amazing opportunity.
05:06-05:08
Lord, as the excitement of our lives.
05:09-05:14
So I pray you'd minister to us in the way we need to minister to, and you would challenge us, and you would convict us.
05:15-05:17
I ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.
05:19-05:26
So before we dive into our passage and talk about making disciples, let's talk for a minute about what a disciple truly is.
05:27-05:36
Because you cannot be a biblical disciple and train biblical disciples until you are clear and what a biblical disciple even is.
05:36-05:45
At Harvest, we constantly teach that a disciple worships Christ, walks with Christ, and works for Christ.
05:46-05:52
This means a disciple follows Jesus and helps others to follow Jesus.
05:52-05:59
A disciple isn't self-focused, only concerned about his or her relationship with Jesus Christ.
05:59-06:05
A disciple is others-focused and concerned about their relationships with Jesus Christ as well.
06:07-06:14
You may be thinking, okay, I'm clear on the definition, I get it, but what kind of disciple should I be?
06:15-06:18
What kind of disciple should I train?
06:19-06:30
We actually find the answers to these questions in 1 Kings chapter 19, verses 19 through 21, as Elijah personally calls, trains, and disciples Elisha.
06:31-06:34
So what kind of disciple should I be and should I train?
06:34-06:39
First answer to that question, a disciple who joyfully responds to God's call.
06:40-06:44
A disciple who joyfully responds to God's call.
06:46-06:48
Let's read verse 19 of chapter 19.
06:49-06:57
So Elijah departed from there and found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with 12 yoke of oxen in front of him, and he was with the 12.
06:57-07:02
Elijah passed by him and cast his cloak upon him.
07:03-07:10
So Elijah took a several hundred mile detour to throw himself a massive pity party and to feel sorry for himself.
07:10-07:20
But we saw last week, God draws him out of his pity party and once again makes Elijah a man of simple faith who goes exactly where God directs him.
07:22-07:26
And Elijah travels and finds Elisha plowing his family's field.
07:27-07:38
And I was reading this text in 2025, it may seem like Elisha is a low and poor farmer who's struggling to make ends meet, but that's actually not the case at all.
07:38-07:43
They have 12 yoke of oxen, each yoke is a pair, so they have 24 oxen.
07:43-07:46
And each yoke is being plowed by a servant.
07:46-07:50
And Elisha is the one plowing with the 12th yoke of oxen.
07:51-07:53
So Elisha's doing pretty well.
07:53-07:58
He's sitting pretty and looking at a very lucrative future on his family farm.
07:59-08:02
Until the simplest of gestures changes everything.
08:03-08:07
A prophet's cloak is thrown over his shoulders.
08:08-08:13
You know, we share and receive nonverbal communication constantly.
08:14-08:19
Someone can use no words, but you can hear loud and clear what he or she is saying.
08:19-08:21
Let me give you a few examples.
08:21-08:22
You're at an intersection.
08:22-08:23
You're wanting to turn left.
08:24-08:29
And the person at the opposite stop sign wants to go straight, and they flash their lights at you.
08:30-08:31
What are they telling you?
08:32-08:33
You can go ahead.
08:33-08:34
They're being kind and letting you go first.
08:35-08:39
My dog runs the front door and jangles the bell on the doorknob.
08:39-08:40
What is he telling me?
08:41-08:42
Let me out, human.
08:43-08:44
I have to go to the bathroom.
08:46-08:49
My daughter, Emmy, puts a mini bag of Pirate's Booty in my hands.
08:51-08:56
Let me ask you, is she giving me my least favorite snack that tastes like cheesy Tyraphone packing peanuts?
08:58-08:59
No, what is she telling me?
09:01-09:04
Open this for me now because I want to eat it.
09:06-09:12
In a similar way, Elijah is communicating a very loud and clear message with this cloak over Elisha's shoulders.
09:13-09:18
God is calling you to be a servant and prophet just like me.
09:20-09:24
And Elisha receives this call loud and clear because we see this in verse 20.
09:25-09:25
Look at what he does.
09:26-09:30
And he left the oxen and ran after Elijah.
09:31-09:34
Elisha didn't think to himself, oh, what a nice guy Elijah is.
09:34-09:36
I was really chilly while I was plowing the field.
09:36-09:38
A nice new comfortable cloak.
09:38-09:39
Sorry, Pastor Jeff, I had to say it.
09:42-09:45
Instead, Elisha thinks I need to get going and respond to this call.
09:46-09:49
He isn't begrudgingly drag his feet across the field.
09:49-09:53
No, he sprints after his new trainer.
09:55-10:01
Let me ask you, do you joyfully run after Jesus in the call to discipleship?
10:02-10:08
Does the idea of making disciples excite you and fill you with a sense of purpose?
10:09-10:16
Or does the call to make disciples and be a disciple kind of seem like a burdensome and draining chore?
10:18-10:22
Does the call to make disciples seem like an optional task to you?
10:23-10:27
Oh, that's just for super Christians, prayer warriors, missionaries, pastors.
10:27-10:29
You know, maybe someday, whenever I have time.
10:30-10:31
Maybe someday when I retire.
10:32-10:34
Maybe someday when the kids get older.
10:36-10:37
But please listen.
10:37-10:44
If you do not faithfully follow Jesus now, you will not faithfully follow him on some made up date in the future.
10:45-10:50
If you do not make disciples now, I guarantee you that you will not make disciples later.
10:52-10:56
Jesus Christ is not interested in training Sunday morning only disciples.
10:57-11:09
He recruits and trains 24/7 disciples who view every single aspect of life as an opportunity to point others to the good news of Jesus Christ.
11:10-11:15
You shouldn't be looking for loopholes and escape hatches to get out of your God-given calling.
11:16-11:19
You should be ready and willing to make a difference.
11:20-11:23
Bless others and share the good news of Jesus Christ.
11:25-11:32
As John says in his first epistle, "For this is the love of God, "that we keep his commandments, "and his commandments are not," what?
11:34-11:34
Burdensome.
11:35-11:40
It's not just doing it, but doing it with the joyful and right attitude.
11:42-11:49
Will you choose to joyfully obey your master's command, to be a faithful disciple and disciple maker?
11:51-11:57
Will you joyfully accept this call from God and get moving, or will you choose to stay put?
12:00-12:03
What kind of disciple should I be and should I train?
12:04-12:09
Second answer, a disciple who willingly sacrifices whatever gets in the way.
12:10-12:14
a disciple who willingly sacrifices whatever gets in the way.
12:18-12:22
Elisha makes a request once he chases Elijah down in verse 20.
12:23-12:27
Let me kiss my father and my mother and then I will follow you.
12:28-12:34
You know, this request may remind you of a conversation that Jesus had with the man in the Gospel of Luke.
12:35-12:41
This man tells Jesus, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.
12:42-12:44
Does that sound like a reasonable request?
12:45-12:46
Not according to Jesus it isn't.
12:46-12:53
Jesus says, no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
12:55-12:58
This guy's request and Elisha's request seem identical, don't they?
13:00-13:05
Does this mean that Elisha is making a sinful and wrong request?
13:06-13:10
Is Elisha trying to welch on the deal at his mommy and daddy's house?
13:10-13:14
Is he is hoping that Elijah will forget about him and move on?
13:16-13:21
I think the answer to this question is no, because of how Elijah responds.
13:22-13:31
Elijah says, "Go back again, for what have I done to you?" Does that response kind of confuse you a bit when you first read it?
13:31-13:33
I know it did for me whenever I studied it this past week.
13:34-13:38
It seems like Elijah is saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry, little buddy.
13:38-13:43
"I'm so sorry I've ruined your life "by throwing this cloak on you." "Yeah, sure, go back and say goodbye to your parents.
13:44-13:51
"I feel so bad I've done this to you." But in context, it's obvious that Elijah isn't saying that.
13:51-13:59
What he is saying is, "Go back and say goodbye to your family, "but remember what I have done for you "and come back to me.
14:00-14:07
"Remember the call you have received." You know, this reminds me of bedtime with my kids.
14:07-14:10
Every single night my wife and I will divide and conquer.
14:10-14:15
She'll take one kid and I'll take the other, even though they always just want her to put her to bed and not me.
14:16-14:18
So one of them gets stuck with me every single night.
14:18-14:24
And every single night without fail, whoever I'm assigned to asks, can I say goodnight to mom?
14:25-14:26
Can I say goodnight to mom?
14:27-14:34
Like you've already said goodnight to her five times, but sure, go say goodnight to mom, but you will quickly come back and get right into bed.
14:36-14:41
Both Elisha and my kids are given a call to remember and obey.
14:43-14:49
Remember the command you have been given and let nothing get in the way of obedience to it.
14:51-14:57
In Luke chapter nine, Jesus knows that the man who wants to return home is just making a lame excuse.
14:58-15:02
He doesn't actually want to follow Jesus.
15:03-15:05
Jesus knows this man's heart.
15:05-15:11
But the heart of Elisha couldn't be more different than the heart of this excuse maker.
15:12-15:14
It's obvious that Elisha doesn't want to stay put.
15:15-15:16
He wants to get moving.
15:19-15:23
He proves this by what he does in verse 21.
15:24-15:34
And Elisha returned from following Elijah and took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of oxen and gave it to the people and they ate.
15:36-15:38
Elijah has to do something very drastic.
15:39-15:45
He has to cut ties with his old life so that he can move into his new life.
15:46-15:51
So he burns his personal plow and he has a big barbecue for his hometown.
15:53-15:58
This may seem extreme to you, but it is necessary for Elijah.
15:59-15:59
Let's get it again.
15:59-16:09
Elijah, Elijah needs to sacrifice everything gets in the way of being a faithful disciple and a faithful prophet.
16:10-16:15
He needs to eliminate any fallback plans or temptation to go back to his old life.
16:16-16:22
Because when things inevitably get tough, he'll be tempted to fall back on his old family trait, but he can't do that anymore.
16:22-16:27
There is no plan B, there is only the plan A assigned to him by God.
16:29-16:35
You know, the Bible is full of men and women who sacrificed everything to follow the Lord.
16:36-16:42
Abraham leaves behind his home country to go to a land he doesn't even know what it is.
16:43-16:54
Moses leaves behind his comfortable life as a shepherd to lead a annoying and grumpy group of people out of Egypt and into the wilderness.
16:55-17:02
Ruth leaves behind her family and her gods and Moab to worship the Lord and go to a country she's never been to before.
17:04-17:14
Peter, James, John, and Andrew leave behind their nets and their boats to become fishers of men, even though they had no idea what that actually meant at the time.
17:16-17:26
Matthew walked away from his tax booth where he was illegally making money under the table to follow Jesus who promised him zero financial rewards in return.
17:27-17:37
Simon the Zealot gave up his freedom fighting ways to fight against the Romans to follow Jesus who willingly allowed the Romans to nail him to a cross.
17:40-17:48
Paul gave up his status as a famous Pharisee to follow Jesus and serve the church that he had persecuted.
17:50-17:55
This is the pattern and lifestyle of every faithful servant of God.
17:56-18:01
A disciple is someone who offers up his or her life to the Lord as a willing sacrifice.
18:02-18:11
Nothing is off limits, nothing is held back, everything is held very loosely, except for their dedication to the Lord.
18:13-18:16
In Hebrews chapter 12, verses one through two, we're given this command.
18:17-18:29
Let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race set before us, looking to Jesus as the founder and perfecter of our faith.
18:31-18:35
You cannot cling to Jesus if your hands are full of the things of this world.
18:36-18:42
You cannot faithfully follow Christ if you're weighed down by unrepentant sin.
18:45-18:49
Maybe you want to get moving this morning, but something is causing you to stay put.
18:51-18:58
What is keeping you down and holding you back from being a faithful disciple and maker of disciples?
19:00-19:03
Maybe you need to repent of your sin for the very first time this morning.
19:03-19:10
If that's you, please don't wait another minute to turn from your sin and turn to Jesus Christ for forgiveness and eternal life.
19:11-19:15
Your lifelong journey as a disciple can start right now.
19:18-19:24
Maybe you're a Christian, but there is a sin dominating your mind, your heart, and your actions.
19:26-19:37
Gossip, complaining, lying, slander, greed, pornography, constant worrying, cheating the system at work, laziness.
19:38-19:42
Whatever this sin is, refuse to sit in the dark with it any longer.
19:43-19:50
Cast it into the light and put it to death by confessing it to the Lord and confessing it There's another believer who can hold you accountable.
19:51-20:00
Stop trying to run the Christian life with a hundred pound weight on your back that only gets heavier and heavier and heavier with each passing day.
20:03-20:09
Maybe for you, it's limiting the amount of time you spend with those friends who are dragging you down more than you're pulling them up.
20:10-20:22
To be clear, you should always have unbelieving friends, immature Christian friends that you are pouring into, But if you're not careful, these people can influence you more than you influence them.
20:24-20:26
Maybe for you it's a scheduling sacrifice.
20:27-20:36
Your schedule is jam-packed with a lot of good things, but sometimes good things need to be cut out and put aside in favor of better things.
20:38-20:41
When was the last time you had unhurried time with the Lord?
20:42-20:46
Not just time with the Lord, unhurried time with the Lord.
20:46-20:48
and it wasn't a checking off of the to-do list.
20:50-20:56
When was the last time you really connected with family and friends?
20:58-21:05
Do you prioritize Sunday morning worship, small group, other edifying activities?
21:08-21:22
You know, hobbies, relaxation time, and your kids' extracurricular activities are great things, but they can easily become soul-sucking idols that take way too much of you and your family's time, attention, and affection.
21:24-21:33
I'm not saying you have to quit your job and move on to the streets of Pittsburgh to do evangelism 24/7, but I am saying that you make time for what you care about.
21:35-21:45
If I offered you front row seats to your favorite band or box seats at your favorite stadium, You would drop everything to take advantage of these opportunities.
21:48-21:53
If you truly want to grow as a disciple and make disciples, you will make time for it.
21:54-21:54
It's that simple.
21:56-21:59
Be honest about what's holding you back and do something about it.
22:00-22:02
Burn the plow, kill the oxen.
22:03-22:07
Choose God's plan A rather than falling back on your plan B.
22:08-22:16
Everything you sacrifice will seem like nothing in comparison to what Christ will give you in return.
22:18-22:21
So what kind of disciple should I be and should I train?
22:22-22:26
Final answer, a disciple who humbly remains submissive and teachable.
22:29-22:34
A disciple who humbly remains submissive and teachable.
22:37-22:40
So at this point you may be thinking, okay Taylor, I'm convinced.
22:40-22:42
I want to stop staying put.
22:42-22:43
I want to get moving.
22:43-22:51
I want to sacrifice everything that is holding me back for being a faithful disciple and maker of disciples.
22:52-22:54
But how do I do this?
22:54-22:57
What are some practical tips I can sink my teeth into?
22:59-23:02
Well we see this at the end of verse 21.
23:03-23:08
Then Elisha arose and went after Elijah and assisted him.
23:09-23:13
Notice that Elisha isn't given the top spot right off the bat.
23:13-23:16
He is Elijah's lowly assistant.
23:18-23:21
Elisha is Robin and Elijah is Batman.
23:22-23:27
Elisha is Daniel LaRusso and Elijah is Mr. Miyagi, right?
23:27-23:29
We see this pattern all throughout scripture.
23:29-23:31
This is how it started with Joshua.
23:31-23:35
He started as Moses' assistant before he became the leader of Israel.
23:36-23:42
Jesus discipled his 12 disciples for three years before they began the major portion of their ministry.
23:44-23:52
You know, in the age of social influencers, people want a position of prominence, not a position of submissive service.
23:53-23:58
People wanna be listened to, but they don't want to listen to others.
23:59-24:01
but that's not how discipleship works.
24:02-24:05
You cannot lead unless you allow yourself to be led.
24:06-24:09
You cannot disciple unless others disciple you.
24:10-24:14
You cannot teach unless you are taught.
24:14-24:20
You cannot share the gospel until you have been mastered by the gospel.
24:22-24:25
You are only as mature as the people who pour into you.
24:28-24:29
Who is pouring into you right now?
24:32-24:33
Who are you learning from?
24:34-24:36
Who are you modeling your life after?
24:37-24:42
If your answer is not a Christian, that needs to change as soon as possible.
24:43-24:45
And there are several ways to get started.
24:45-24:50
Truly pay attention and take notes to the sermons you hear at Harvest and online.
24:51-24:54
Read good Christian books to actually stretch your thinking.
24:55-24:59
As Pastor Jeff often says, just because it says Christian doesn't mean it's Christian.
25:00-25:04
I would say 75% of the Christian books that are published are terrible and you shouldn't read them.
25:05-25:11
Listen to godly podcasts that broaden your horizons and sharpen your biblical worldview.
25:12-25:14
If you don't know where to start, talk to me.
25:14-25:16
Talk to Pastor Jeff, we would love to help you.
25:18-25:21
Seek after people in this church who can disciple you.
25:22-25:25
And I know exactly what you're thinking when I say that.
25:25-25:28
"I don't know about that, that sounds really awkward.
25:29-25:39
"I don't want to embarrass myself "by asking someone to disciple me." Let me say to that, we make discipleship way more complex than it needs to be.
25:40-25:42
It is so simple.
25:43-25:52
You don't need to robotically go up to someone and read a script, "Will you be my mentor "so I can be your protege?" You don't need to do that.
25:53-26:02
On the flip side of this relationship, If you want to disciple someone, you don't have to awkwardly approach someone and say, I want to be your discipler.
26:02-26:03
Will you be my disciple?
26:04-26:05
Just don't do that.
26:05-26:06
Just don't do that.
26:06-26:11
You can have these kinds of relationships without labeling them as such.
26:11-26:12
And it's so simple.
26:13-26:16
Ask someone in this room to get coffee, breakfast, or lunch.
26:17-26:18
Can you do that?
26:20-26:21
Can you do that?
26:22-26:24
You're all capable of that.
26:25-26:30
Can you ask someone to meet up with you once or twice a month to study the Bible, to pray and talk about life?
26:31-26:31
Can you do that?
26:33-26:37
Invite that non-Christian couple or neighbor over for dinner or a game night.
26:38-26:39
Can you do that?
26:40-26:42
Maybe you'll have a friendship start.
26:43-26:45
You can invite them to church, to small group.
26:46-26:49
Maybe get to the point where you can ask them, hey, will you study the book of the Bible with me?
26:49-26:54
You may be stunned by how ready and willing people are to take you up on your offer.
26:55-27:00
But no one will take you up on your offer if you don't give the offer in the first place.
27:01-27:05
Keep an eye out for the next round of now what, next steps for a new life class.
27:05-27:09
It's only a six week class and you may be thinking, I don't need to learn this material.
27:10-27:13
Yes, but you can learn how to share this material with others.
27:13-27:20
It's very simple stuff that you can walk through with someone, you can disciple them with this material.
27:21-27:25
These are simple ideas that you can grab ahold of and put into practice.
27:25-27:28
Don't psych yourself out and overcomplicate it.
27:29-27:34
When you are discipled by someone, he or she is inviting you into his or her life.
27:35-27:40
And when you disciple someone, you are inviting him or her into your life.
27:42-27:47
You are creating deep relationships that will lead to conversion and life transformation.
27:49-27:55
I wanna fast forward the story a bit to show how Elijah and Elisha have this kind of deep relationship.
27:56-27:58
You know, Elijah doesn't even die.
27:59-28:02
He is taken up to heaven in a chariot of fire.
28:02-28:16
And as he is whooshed away, Elisha says this, "My father, my father, the chariots of Israel "and its horsemen, and he saw him no more." My father, my father.
28:17-28:20
Elijah and Elisha are not just coworkers.
28:21-28:23
They are not just mentor and protege.
28:24-28:27
They are not just discipler and disciple.
28:27-28:30
Elijah and Elisha are father and son.
28:31-28:32
They are family.
28:35-28:39
Parents, discipling your immediate family is a top priority.
28:40-28:43
Disciple your kids, whether they're in the home or not.
28:44-28:49
If your kids are younger, you still have the time to shape how they view the world, God, and themselves.
28:49-28:52
Have family devotions, family worship every single week.
28:53-28:56
Put it on the calendar and don't sacrifice it for anything.
28:57-29:03
Look for teachable moments and ways to share the gospel every single day in new and fresh ways.
29:05-29:08
And if your kids are all grown up, your job is not done.
29:08-29:12
You can still walk them through the biggest decisions of their lives.
29:14-29:18
Discipling your kids is an unshakable responsibility.
29:19-29:24
You are training up future husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, bosses, and church leaders.
29:24-29:27
So yes, focus on your immediate family.
29:27-29:33
Focus on your children, but don't lose sight of the other people that God has placed in your life.
29:35-29:40
Older men in this church view the younger guys as spiritual sons.
29:42-29:45
Paul says this relationship was lacking in the Corinthian church.
29:45-29:54
He says, "For though you have countless guides in Christ, You do not have many fathers, for I have become your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
29:55-30:01
Older men, do you have spiritual sons in this room and outside these walls?
30:02-30:20
Guys that you pour into, guys that you study the Bible with, guys that you share the gospel with, guys that you invite into your homes so they can personally see you love your wife, love your kids, love your grandkids, and see you live with integrity.
30:21-30:26
If you have that kind of discipling relationship, write that guy's name down at the bottom of your notes.
30:27-30:29
Keep serving him, keep praying for him.
30:30-30:37
And if you don't have this kind of relationship, write the name of someone down who you want to pursue after in discipleship.
30:38-30:43
And if you can't think of someone, you need to think of someone before the day is over.
30:46-30:49
Experienced ladies, I will not say older ladies.
30:49-30:51
I will not say, I'll say experienced ladies.
30:51-30:56
You need to view yourselves as spiritual mothers and the younger women as spiritual daughters.
30:57-30:59
And Paul speaks to this in Titus 2, three through four.
31:00-31:05
He says, "Older women, likewise, "are to be reverent in behavior, "not slanders or slaves to much wine.
31:05-31:16
"They are to teach what is good "and so train the young women "to love their husbands and children, "to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands.
31:17-31:21
There are a lot of wives and young moms in this church who are in the thick of it right now.
31:22-31:26
And they need the wisdom and life experience that you have to offer.
31:27-31:32
Train up these young women so that they can replace you as spiritual mothers someday.
31:34-31:38
At the bottom of your notes, write down the name of a woman who you were discipling or want to disciple.
31:39-31:41
And please, pursue after this woman.
31:41-31:45
Don't just write it down, crinkle up your notes in the garbage, be intentional.
31:47-31:54
Younger guys and ladies, view people similar to your age at this church as brothers and sisters.
31:55-31:59
Be a good big brother and take that new believer under your wing and show them the ropes.
32:00-32:04
Be a good big sister and don't let that new woman feel alone and isolated.
32:05-32:08
Take a group of women over to her to welcome her to the church.
32:10-32:15
Write down who you are discipling or who you want to disciple.
32:17-32:22
Who knows what these individuals will end up apart from your personal investment.
32:24-32:31
To be honest, I don't know where I would be if Pastor Jeff didn't choose to personally invest in me 13 years ago.
32:33-32:35
He gave me a ministry opportunity when I had zero experience.
32:36-32:41
He allowed me to preach even though my sermon count was one at that point.
32:43-32:47
He taught me lessons about preaching, pastoring, and living that I couldn't learn in seminary.
32:49-32:51
At the time, there was nothing in it for Jeff.
32:52-33:01
I had no special knowledge, training, or skills to offer him in return, but Pastor Jeff chose to view me as a personal investment.
33:02-33:09
View discipling relationships as long-term investments and not immediate returns.
33:10-33:15
The investments you make will take time, but they will pay dividends in this life and the next.
33:16-33:20
But to reap the rewards of these investments, you must be humble now.
33:21-33:23
You must be teachable now.
33:23-33:28
You must be discipled so that you can continue to disciple.
33:30-33:37
You must view your time and your effort is belonging to God and to others and not to you.
33:40-33:47
You know, as we close the book on Elijah, Elisha begins to come into focus and carry the baton that is given to him.
33:49-33:53
Elijah trains Elisha to be just like him.
33:54-33:56
And that is how the Christian life works.
33:57-34:00
You obey and do exactly what God's word tells you to do.
34:00-34:02
You stand for the truth.
34:02-34:03
You refuse to give up.
34:03-34:05
You make disciples.
34:06-34:16
You train up your replacements, then you exit the stage and graduate to glory as the Lord works through the men and women that you personally helped to equip.
34:19-34:21
You know, these God-given tasks may seem so far beyond you.
34:23-34:25
You may feel ill-equipped for the job at hand.
34:26-34:29
You may even feel like an imposter.
34:31-34:36
But as we've discussed throughout this whole series, Elijah was not a superhero.
34:38-34:42
Elijah was an average person just like us.
34:43-34:45
He was just like you.
34:46-34:50
He had mountaintop moments and time in the valley as well.
34:51-34:56
He had great successes and terrible failures, just like you.
34:58-35:00
But do you know what else you have in common with Elijah?
35:01-35:04
You serve the same God.
35:05-35:07
You have been given the same promises.
35:08-35:11
You have been entrusted with the same calling.
35:11-35:14
You have access to the same power.
35:16-35:20
God never calls you to something and then leaves you to do it by yourself.
35:22-35:26
God gives you limitless access to his resources.
35:27-35:29
He gives you access to his people.
35:29-35:32
He gives you unlimited access to himself.
35:35-35:38
Find your hope and confidence in him and him alone.
35:39-35:40
Let's pray.
35:44-35:48
Father, we thank you for the life and ministry of Elijah.
35:50-35:59
What so often we can read your word wrongly and just feel like these men and women that we read about are so far beyond us, but they're not.
36:00-36:01
They're just like us.
36:02-36:04
They are sinners in need of salvation just like us.
36:05-36:08
They are broken people in need of fixing just like us.
36:09-36:12
They are fearful people in need of the confidence that you give.
36:15-36:16
Lord, I pray for every single person in this room.
36:17-36:23
I know right now that there are a lot of doubts, a lot of excuses swirling in our hearts and minds.
36:23-36:26
Lord, dispel those clouds from our thoughts and our minds.
36:27-36:29
Lord, I pray that Lord, there'd be no more excuses.
36:30-36:32
No more being held back.
36:32-36:33
No more staying put.
36:34-36:36
I pray that we'd all get moving in some way today.
36:37-36:40
Whether it's stopping someone after service to ask them to grab lunch.
36:41-36:43
Whether it's calling that friend we haven't talked to in a long time.
36:45-36:48
Lord, help us to take that step of obedience today.
36:49-36:57
Lord, help us to continually follow you turn back. And we ask all this in Jesus name, Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Kings 19:19-21

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
What holds you back from being faithfully discipled and faithfully discipling?
Who has poured into you and shaped the Christian you are today?
Who is the Lord calling you to disciple right now and what steps can you take to make this happen?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Taylor Brown

January 19, 2025

Just Like Us

Called to Never Give Up

Taylor Brown

January 19, 2025

Just Like Us

Introduction:

How WILL the Lord Help Me to Not Give Up? (1 Kings 19:1-18)

He WILL point me to His Daily Provision . (1 Kings 19:1-8)
He WILL get my Attention . (1 Kings 19:9-14)
1. By drawing me out of my Pity Party . (1 Kings 19:9)
2. By redirecting my Focus . (1 Kings 19:10-14)
  Romans 5:6, 8 - For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly...but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
  
  2 Corinthians 12:9 - "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."
He WILL replace my half truths with His Whole Truth . (1 Kings 19:15-18)
1. By reminding me that I have a Purpose . (1 Kings 19:15-17)
  Ephesians 2:10 - For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
2. By reminding me that I am not Alone . (1 Kings 19:18)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:49-00:52
You can turn your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 19.
00:53-00:55
1 Kings 19.
00:56-01:05
You know, we all have success stories of how we persevered and stuck it out with something that was draining, time-consuming, and challenging.
01:05-01:10
But we also have a long list of things that we've quit and given up on as well.
01:11-01:17
Personal goals, diets, health routines, Bible reading plans, and on and on the list goes.
01:18-01:22
You know, to be clear, I'm not saying that walking away from something is always wrong.
01:22-01:24
That's not the case at all.
01:24-01:34
There are necessary times of transition in life when it is good and right to turn the page and move on to the bigger and better next thing that God has for you.
01:35-01:43
But if we're honest, the list of how we stuck it out are much shorter than the list of how we quit.
01:44-01:46
At least that's how I feel about my life.
01:47-01:52
You know, growing up I quit T-ball, my parents tell me, because I was too bored, hot, and thirsty in the field.
01:53-01:59
And one time I hit the ball at the tee, ran to first base, kept running into the outfield instead of going to second base.
01:59-02:00
So maybe I should have quit that one.
02:01-02:02
I also quit soccer.
02:02-02:03
That didn't last very long.
02:04-02:07
I didn't get very far past Hot Cross Buns on the recorder.
02:09-02:12
But not to brag, I can still play that song pretty well to this day.
02:12-02:14
I won't play it for you today, though.
02:14-02:20
I think one of my biggest regrets in life a piano when my brother and sister stuck with it.
02:21-02:30
You know, these are all minor examples, but I've been tempted to give up and quit when it comes to more serious commitments as well.
02:31-02:37
This desire to quit struck me the hardest in 2015 and 2016 during my first ministry job as a youth pastor.
02:38-02:46
For the first year and a half or so, I remember vividly every single night locking up the church building, looking up at the sky and just saying, I don't want to do this anymore.
02:46-02:49
This isn't working, I just want to quit.
02:51-02:54
And the Lord impressed upon my heart that I was not allowed to quit.
02:55-02:59
I did not have his permission to wave the white flag and surrender.
03:01-03:05
Without the Lord and his help, I would not have lasted in that job for almost eight years.
03:06-03:10
And without the Lord and his help, I wouldn't be standing before you today.
03:12-03:15
Maybe you were on the verge of quitting something that God has called you to.
03:16-03:45
your reputation, your integrity that becomes harder and harder to maintain, your marriage, your faithfulness as a husband or wife, your work ethic, your dedication to the church, your hope and the promises and provisions of God, or maybe even your faith in Jesus Christ. You may think in this moment, "You know You know what, it's just too hard, I can't keep the plate spinning.
03:45-03:47
It's time just to give in and give up.
03:49-04:01
Well, before you make any hasty decisions, please press the pause button on quitting and hear how the Lord wants to encourage you through 1 Kings chapter 19, verses one through 18.
04:02-04:06
This is the third week of our latest series, Just Like Us, the Life and Ministry of Elijah.
04:07-04:11
And so far, Elijah has a perfect sticking with it record.
04:12-04:14
He stands up to King Ahab for the idolatry of Israel.
04:15-04:17
He prays for it not to rain for three and a half years.
04:18-04:27
He stands up to the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, prays down fire from heaven, and then prays down rain from heaven afterwards.
04:28-04:32
So far, Elijah has a perfect batting record.
04:34-04:35
But that's all about to change.
04:36-04:39
Elijah is about to become much more relatable.
04:40-04:49
Because just like us, Elijah is tempted to give in to the pressures of life and give up on his God-given calling.
04:51-05:00
We will also come face-to-face with the reality that God is totally unlike us, and he does not quit on us when we are tempted to quit on him.
05:02-05:09
Just like Elijah almost 3,000 years ago, the loving help of our God is offered to you and to me right now.
05:11-05:18
The Lord will help you to not give up if you simply grab a hold of his gracious offer.
05:20-05:23
So before we continue, let's go to Lord in prayer and ask for his help.
05:23-05:24
Please pray for me.
05:25-05:29
I will faithfully proclaim the word of God and I will pray for you that you will faithfully receive it.
05:38-05:45
Father, I realize there are a lot of people in this room who've come into this church this morning feeling beat up and discouraged.
05:47-05:48
And they feel like giving up.
05:50-05:54
Lord, I pray that you would minister to every single heart this morning.
05:56-05:58
And you would give us the comfort that only you can.
05:59-06:02
Lord, help us to be reminded what you will do to help us.
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We ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.
06:07-06:10
So how will the Lord help me to not give up?
06:11-06:15
First up on your outline, he will point me to his daily provision.
06:16-06:20
He will point me to his daily provision.
06:23-06:27
Let's read chapter, I mean, sorry, chapter 19, verse one.
06:27-06:34
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, how he had killed all the prophets of Baal with the sword.
06:35-06:39
So Ahab totally missed the point of the fireworks display on Mount Carmel.
06:39-06:43
He totally missed the point of the slaughter of the prophets of Baal.
06:43-06:49
He should have come back to his wife Jezebel to tell her all that God had done and call her to repentance.
06:49-06:55
Instead he comes back to tell her all that Elijah had done and to whine to her.
06:55-06:58
He says, "Honey, can you believe what that jerk did to us?
06:58-06:59
"He killed all of our prophets.
06:59-07:05
"What are we gonna do?" Parents in the room have seen this tactic a countless number of times.
07:05-07:14
One of your kids comes to you with a quivering lip, tear-filled eyes, and a big cup of tea to spill about his or her brother, sister, or cousin.
07:14-07:18
Let me ask you, why does your child share this tale of woe with you?
07:19-07:23
So that you will do their dirty work for them, right?
07:23-07:25
That's exactly what Ahab is doing in this moment.
07:25-07:33
He knows that when he tells his scary wife about what happened on Mount Carmel, She is gonna dig in her heels and want to kill Elijah.
07:34-07:37
Not surprisingly, that's what happens in verse two.
07:37-07:48
Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah saying, so may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.
07:49-07:53
This kind of feels like a laughable and empty threat, doesn't it?
07:53-08:01
After all we've seen over the past few weeks, the Lord has used Elijah to embarrass the king and queen time and time again.
08:02-08:04
There's no way Elijah falls for this, right?
08:06-08:10
Well, the answer to that question may sadly surprise you from verses three through four.
08:11-08:14
Then Elijah was afraid.
08:15-08:20
And he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and he left his servant there.
08:21-08:28
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat under a broom tree, and he asked that he might die.
08:29-08:31
He's saying, "It is enough now, Lord.
08:31-08:36
"Take away my life, for I am no better than my father's." Are you serious?
08:37-08:40
Elijah stomps on his enemies, now he's running away?
08:41-08:41
What's his problem?
08:43-08:47
Well, Elijah thought everything and everyone would turn around in Israel after Mount Carmel.
08:48-08:57
He thought Ahab and Jezebel would repent, tear down the altar to Baal, tear down the Asherah pole, and accept him as the Lord's prophet.
08:58-09:00
But that doesn't happen.
09:01-09:02
His expectations aren't met.
09:03-09:06
His hopes are dashed into a million pieces.
09:07-09:12
And this shocking turn reminds us of a very important reality.
09:13-09:15
No one is beyond discouragement.
09:16-09:20
No one is beyond the reach of depression, anxiety, and fear.
09:22-09:27
Even the strongest among us experience the weakest seasons of depression.
09:30-09:35
Our worst losses can happen immediately after our greatest victories.
09:35-09:39
Our worst moments come after our best memories.
09:40-09:45
Like children on a sugar rush, we have a spiritual high and then we crash and burn with a spiritual low.
09:46-09:54
One minute you're thinking the sky is the limit and the next the ground opens up underneath of you and you have no idea what to do next.
09:55-09:57
Have you ever felt that way before?
09:58-10:00
Do you feel that way right now?
10:02-10:06
Let's see how the Lord provides for Elijah during his mental breakdown in verses five through eight.
10:07-10:13
And Elijah laid down and slept under a broom tree, and behold, an angel touched him and said to him, arise and eat.
10:13-10:19
And he looked and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water, and he ate and drank and laid down again.
10:20-10:32
And the angel of the Lord came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, "for the journey is too great for you." And he arose and ate and drank, and he went in the strength of that food 40 days and 40 nights.
10:32-10:35
The Hora of the Mount of God.
10:36-10:42
So Elijah travels for over 100 miles, and he is exhausted, and he passes out.
10:43-10:53
If I ever fall asleep on the couch, my kids are diligent to poke me, open up my eyelids, or yell, "Dad, wake up!" And I'm always annoyed by that, But Elijah can't really be annoyed by who wakes him up.
10:53-10:54
The angel of the Lord.
10:55-10:57
Imagine that divine wake up call.
10:58-11:08
He's given food and he falls asleep again and the angel of the Lord says, "Shake him awake once more for his long journey." And you may be thinking, this is a weird story.
11:08-11:09
This is random.
11:09-11:12
Why are we learning about Elijah's diet and his sleep schedule?
11:14-11:19
Well, notice that God doesn't slap Elijah upside the head and yell at him.
11:19-11:24
Instead, he gives the prophet what he needs, a snack and two naps.
11:26-11:28
We all need two naps today, don't we?
11:29-11:34
The Lord knows exactly what Elijah needs and he knows exactly what you need.
11:35-11:38
And he meets your needs every single day.
11:39-11:44
The roof over your head, the food in your belly, the clothes on your back are from the Lord.
11:44-11:49
We were created to be dependent upon God and what he gives us.
11:50-11:57
We are embodied souls, which means that our physical health affects our spiritual health.
11:58-12:11
And if you don't believe me, talk to someone in this church who's experiencing chronic pain or has experienced chronic pain in the past, and they will quickly tell you that what is happening in their body quickly bleeds into their minds and their souls.
12:12-12:19
We all share the same basic needs, but we experience the side effects of those basic needs in different ways.
12:20-12:27
Know what your body needs and take advantage of God's good gifts because if you don't, you will experience the consequences at some point.
12:28-12:33
It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, it may not be next week, but the bill will come due.
12:34-12:38
You cannot keep going and going and going like the Energizer bunny.
12:39-12:42
Like Pastor Rich preached a few weeks ago, you need to rest.
12:43-12:49
If you know that your body needs eight hours of sleep, maybe don't mindlessly scroll, I can't say TikTok anymore, can I?
12:50-12:51
Too soon?
12:52-12:54
Mindlessly scroll on Instagram until 1 a.m.
12:55-12:58
Discipline yourself and go to bed the time you need to go to bed.
12:59-13:05
Maybe you work way more than you should, and when you're home, you're not fully present with your family.
13:06-13:12
Hammer out a schedule that will work for your work life and your family life, or both will suffer.
13:13-13:16
You may be in the same boat as me when it comes to diet and fitness.
13:17-13:19
You know you need to eat better and be more physically active.
13:21-13:23
Or maybe for you it's over drinking.
13:25-13:30
You drink too much and too often and you feel the negative effects of that.
13:31-13:34
You feel tired, anxious, you snap at people.
13:35-13:39
If that's you, please talk to me, Pastor Jeff, one of the other elders, we would love to help you.
13:41-13:49
You know, in various ways, all of us are making our lives even harder, more difficult, but not taking advantage of God's daily provision.
13:51-13:56
It's way easier to give up when you feel mentally and physically drained.
13:58-14:02
If you are on the verge of burnout right now, do not wait to make necessary changes.
14:03-14:12
Submit to the help of God and start new behaviors that will create new habits that will then lead a better state of mind, body, and soul.
14:13-14:15
Instead of giving up, you need to get going.
14:17-14:19
So how will the Lord help me to not give up?
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He will get my attention.
14:23-14:25
He will get my attention.
14:28-14:38
After getting fueled up, Elijah travels another 250 miles from Beersheba to Mount Horeb, which may not sound very familiar to you, but its other name might, Mount Sinai.
14:39-14:42
This is where Moses encountered the Lord in the burning bush.
14:42-14:45
This is where Moses was given the 10 commandments.
14:45-14:52
This is the perfect spot for the Lord to grab ahold of Elijah's attention and your attention as well.
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The Lord will get my attention, letter A, by drawing me out of my pity party.
14:59-15:02
By drawing me out of my pity party.
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Let's read verse nine.
15:08-15:17
Then Elijah came to a cave and lodged in it, and behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to Elijah, what are you doing here, Elijah?
15:19-15:24
Once again, it's important to note that God doesn't lecture Elijah.
15:24-15:27
A depressed person doesn't need a lecture.
15:27-15:30
A depressed person needs compassion.
15:31-15:32
God simply asks, what are you doing here?
15:34-15:35
Don't miss the fatherly tone.
15:35-15:37
It's like he's saying, talk to me, son.
15:37-15:39
What is going on with you?
15:41-15:48
As Pastor Jeff and I have said in previous sermons, when God asks questions, he isn't after information, he is after transformation.
15:49-15:54
God is lovingly drawing Elijah out of his pity party that he is throwing for himself.
15:55-15:58
God is the expert interrogator and question asker.
15:59-16:07
And he doesn't need heat lamps or bright lights to get you to tell you what he wants because his questions are convicting and piercing enough.
16:08-16:11
And this question asking began at the very beginning.
16:12-16:15
After Adam and Eve's sin, what is the question that God asked them?
16:16-16:17
Where are you?
16:19-16:20
Does God not know where they are?
16:21-16:22
He certainly does.
16:22-16:26
They're like little kids covering their eyes and picking the worst hiding spot in the house.
16:27-16:30
He asked them that question to draw them out.
16:32-16:35
Or my favorite question pops up in the book of Jonah.
16:35-16:43
Jonah runs away from God, then gets thrown overboard, swallowed by a big fish, spit out, and he finally goes to Nineveh to preach to them.
16:45-16:49
And he goes, gets a big box of popcorn, goes on the hill to watch the city burn.
16:50-16:51
But it doesn't happen, does it?
16:52-16:53
God spares the city.
16:54-16:56
And Jonah throws himself a pity party.
16:57-17:02
And he feels so sorry for himself because also the plant that gave him shade wasn't keeping him cool anymore.
17:04-17:08
And God asked Jonah a question that I think about almost every single day.
17:09-17:10
Do you do well to be angry?
17:11-17:13
Do you do well to be angry?
17:14-17:17
Again, God knows the answer to that question, no.
17:17-17:20
But he asked that question to draw Jonah out.
17:22-17:26
You know, just like Elijah today, you may be depressed.
17:27-17:31
Maybe you're experiencing a worse depression than you've ever felt before.
17:32-17:37
Maybe a devastating loss or trial has fallen upon your life like an atomic bomb.
17:38-17:44
Instead of grieving well, you've been cutting yourself off from the comfort of the Lord and others.
17:45-17:48
And people around you are waiting for you to live again.
17:50-17:52
Or maybe you're dying a death by a thousand cuts.
17:53-17:57
Just when one wound seems to heal, another five are opened up.
17:58-18:00
Everywhere you turn a new fire, it's raging.
18:01-18:11
Work, financial, and family fires are happening at the same exact time, and negativity and complaining have become your go-to pastimes to deal with the stress.
18:13-18:18
Or maybe, like Jonah, your preferences haven't been met to your exact specification.
18:18-18:19
You're throwing yourself a pity party.
18:20-18:25
You know a few weeks ago I had a very similar experience to Pastor Jeff's cinnamon crunch bagel debacle.
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You guys want to hear about this?
18:28-18:29
Darla does, I'll tell Darla.
18:31-18:33
So a few weeks ago we ordered Chipotle.
18:34-18:35
I went to go pick it up.
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And when I got home I realized they didn't give us two of the chips that we paid for.
18:40-18:43
Get in the car, drive all the way back, oh we're out of chips.
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And the app didn't know that.
18:47-18:48
How do I get a refund?
18:48-18:50
but we'll call this 1-800 number.
18:50-18:54
No sorry, no help, and I go home, I'm fuming to my wife.
18:54-19:02
Like, oh, today stinks, this is the worst, nothing's going right, I hope Chipotle goes out of business, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, pity party.
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We've all been there, and we'll all be there again.
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In this moment, the Lord may be lovingly drawing you out of your pity party with the same exact question that he asked Elijah, what are you doing here?
19:20-19:23
Do you want to stay in this bad place or do you want to get to a good place?
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Do you want to keep pushing me away or are you finally ready to invite me into the pain of your struggle?
19:30-19:32
What are you doing here?
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How will you answer that question this morning?
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Your answer to that question can determine the trajectory of the rest of your life.
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The Lord will get my attention by redirecting my focus.
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Letter B, by redirecting my focus.
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And in verse 10, Elijah takes this question from God as his cue to vomit up his emotions.
20:02-20:17
Elijah says, I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, throw down your altars, and killed your prophets with a sword, and I, even I only am left, and they may seek my life and take it away.
20:18-20:25
We'll talk even more about the details of this ramp because Elijah repeats it word for word later on in this passage.
20:25-20:29
But it's important to note that Elijah shares a lot of half-truths with God.
20:30-20:33
And as I've said before, half-truths are whole lies.
20:34-20:41
Elijah is evaluating his circumstances from his own limited perspective and he needs his focus redirected.
20:42-20:52
And in verses 11 through 13, the Lord redirects his prophet's focus and brings necessary clarity like an eye doctor helping a patient with horrible eyesight.
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Let's read verses 11 through 13 together.
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And the Lord said, go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.
20:59-21:05
And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broken pieces the rocks before the Lord.
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But the Lord was not in the wind.
21:08-21:09
and after the wind, an earthquake.
21:10-21:11
But the Lord was not in the earthquake.
21:13-21:14
And after the earthquake, a fire.
21:15-21:16
But the Lord was not in the fire.
21:17-21:21
And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper.
21:22-21:26
And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.
21:27-21:44
And behold, there came a voice to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?" You know, this is the same mountain that Moses was on hundreds of years before, and some scholars think this is the same exact spot where Moses hid himself while the glory of God passed by.
21:46-21:49
God used this location as part of their refocusing process.
21:50-22:03
He turns Elijah's focus away from his present circumstances to his past faithfulness, and he calls Elijah out of the cave, and there is a great wind that cuts the rocks apart.
22:04-22:11
There is a great earthquake that shakes the mountain of jello and a fireball like the one that fell on Mount Carmel.
22:14-22:17
But the Lord doesn't speak to Elijah through those natural disasters.
22:20-22:24
The wind, the earthquake, and the fire are attention-getters.
22:25-22:31
It's like a father or mother grabbing their child's face to show them that what they're about to say is very important.
22:33-22:48
It's like God is saying, "Elijah, I could speak to you "with a thunderous and terrifying voice, "but I'm not gonna do that, so pay attention." After he redirects Elijah's focus, he speaks, and asks the same question yet again in a low whisper.
22:48-22:58
"What are you doing here, Elijah?" You know, Elijah and the rest of us deserve to be treated harshly and without kid gloves.
23:00-23:02
But praise the Lord, he doesn't treat us that way.
23:03-23:09
When we're down and doubting him, the Lord doesn't yell at us and say, get over it, you baby, rub some dirt on it and move on.
23:10-23:17
No, at our worst and weakest moments, the Lord offers you his greatest and best acts of grace.
23:19-23:21
Grace is how the Christian life starts.
23:21-23:28
As Pastor Jeff read in Romans 5, 6, for while we were still weak, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly.
23:28-23:38
And two verses later, "But God shows his love for us "in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Grace is also how the Christian life continues.
23:39-23:55
As Paul was experiencing depression, Jesus told him this, "My grace is sufficient for you, "for my power is made perfect in weakness." The Lord redirects Elijah to his grace and he is doing the same exact thing for you right now.
23:56-24:00
He is grabbing ahold of your face and redirecting you to Christ.
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To the one who took the angry wrath of God so that you could receive the gentle love of God.
24:09-24:18
You know, a few months ago, actually last month, I was looking at my Christmas Eve message on the couch at home and my daughter, Emmy, came up to me and said, "What's that?" I said, "Oh, this is Dad's sermon.
24:19-24:23
"I'm gonna talk about Jesus." And I thought she'd be really excited 'cause we talk about Jesus all the time.
24:25-24:26
But she gave me this response.
24:26-24:28
"Jesus again?"
24:28-24:29
(congregation laughing)
24:33-24:36
Maybe you feel that way about the sermons preached here at Harvest.
24:37-24:39
Really, Jesus again?
24:39-24:41
Don't you have anything else up your sleeve, preacher boy?
24:42-24:48
Honestly, I have nothing and no one else up my sleeve because Jesus is more than enough.
24:49-25:05
Jesus is more than enough for every pity party, every bout of depression, every horrible season of life, submit to God's redirection and look to Christ, whether it's for the very first time or the millionth time.
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Instead of asking Jesus again, passionately declare Jesus always.
25:14-25:16
How will the Lord help me to not give up?
25:17-25:21
Number three, he will replace my half-truths with his whole truth.
25:23-25:25
He'll replace my half truths with his whole truth.
25:29-25:35
After God asks Elijah the same exact question, Elijah offers the same exact response in verse 14.
25:36-25:43
Elijah said, "I have been very jealous of the Lord "and God of hosts, the people of Israel, "forsaken your covenant, throw down your altars "and killed your prophet with the sword.
25:44-25:51
"And I, even I only am left, "and they seek my life to take it away." Elijah still isn't getting it.
25:51-25:53
He's still not getting his facts straight.
25:54-25:59
He said, "I've been very jealous for the Lord." Well, sure you have in the past.
25:59-26:00
How about right now?
26:01-26:04
Does running away seem very passionate to you?
26:04-26:17
He says, "All the Israelites have torn down your altars "and abandoned you." But what about all the people, all the Israelites who fell down and worshiped God and helped Elijah slaughter the prophets of Baal and Mount Carmel?
26:18-26:30
Elijah says, "I am the only surviving prophet of the Lord." Well, we know this isn't true because Obadiah told Elijah in chapter 18 that he hid a hundred prophets in a cave.
26:31-26:37
You know, our memories have a funny way of being fuzzy and wrong when we're experiencing intense emotions.
26:38-26:44
Every single one of us can embellish the truth and add our own spin on things to further our own false narratives.
26:46-26:52
But the Lord flips Elijah's script replacing Elijah's half-truths with his whole truth.
26:52-26:54
Let's read verses 15 through 17.
26:55-27:12
"And the Lord said to him, 'Go, return on your way "'to the wilderness of Damascus, and when you arrive, "'you shall anoint Hazael to be king over Syria, "'and Jehu the son of Nimshi, you shall anoint "'to be king over Israel, and Elisha the son of Shaphat, "'of Abel, Maloah, you shall anoint "'to be prophet in your place.
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"'And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael, "'shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes "who shall Elisha put to death." So the Lord will replace my half-truths with his whole truth by reminding me that I have a purpose, by reminding me that I have a purpose.
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The Lord reminds Elijah that he has work to do.
27:38-27:40
His time as a prophet isn't over yet.
27:40-27:44
He has kings to appoint and his own replacement to train.
27:45-27:51
God is telling Elijah, Stop running away from your responsibilities and do what I've called you to do.
27:53-27:57
Man, wouldn't it be nice to have God directly tell you what he wants you to do?
27:59-28:01
Oh wait, he has done that for you, hasn't he?
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In his word, he has told you exactly what you were called to do, you are to be an ambassador for Christ, you are to make disciples, you are to share the good news of Jesus Christ.
28:12-28:15
And that will be the main focus of our message next week.
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but you cannot give up on your God-given calling because the Lord isn't done with you yet.
28:21-28:26
If you still have breath in your lungs, you have a purpose stamped on your life.
28:28-28:30
Listen to what Paul promises in Ephesians 2.10.
28:31-28:39
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
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God has specific people for you to bless, specific people for you to share the gospel with, specific people to love.
28:48-28:53
He has specific ministries in this church for you to start or continue with.
28:54-29:00
You cannot give up because there is too much ministry to be done and too many blessings to forfeit.
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Finally, the Lord will replace my half-truths with his whole truth by reminding me that I am not alone, by reminding me that I am not alone.
29:16-29:17
Let's wrap up with verse 18.
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The Lord says, "Yet I will leave 7,000 in Israel, "all the knees that have not bowed to Baal "and every mouth that has not kissed him." Elijah claims to be the one and only faithful servant of the Lord, and God calls him to the carpet on this outrageous claim.
29:35-29:39
There's a big difference between one person and 7,000 people, isn't there?
29:40-29:46
The Lord always has a faithful remnant who will serve him and not give up.
29:47-29:50
Elijah is not alone and neither are you.
29:52-29:58
Maybe you are single, widowed, or divorced and the loneliness you experience is overwhelming at times.
29:58-30:01
And maybe it feels like no one really cares about you.
30:02-30:06
Maybe you feel alone even though you're constantly surrounded by coworkers throughout the week.
30:07-30:13
Maybe you feel alone even though your kids You're constantly in your face, 24/7, asking for stuff all the time.
30:14-30:18
Maybe you feel alone even though you've been at this church for a long time.
30:19-30:23
And I certainly won't tell you not to feel this way because that would be pointless.
30:24-30:25
Feelings are feelings.
30:26-30:31
But I do want to remind you of the truth as you experience these feelings.
30:32-30:35
You are never truly alone if you are a part of the family of God.
30:37-30:51
You have a heavenly Father who cares about you, a big brother in Jesus who looks out for you, a comforter in the Holy Spirit who lives within you, and brothers and sisters in Christ, in this church who will stand shoulder to shoulder with you.
30:52-30:58
If you haven't already, I want to encourage you to take the step to pursue after meaningful relationships today.
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Your involvement in the church is a lot like skiing.
31:03-31:09
Your natural reaction, your natural urge is to lean back while you're going down the hill, but if you do that, you will wipe out.
31:11-31:13
You have to resist against that urge and lean forward.
31:16-31:18
If you feel disconnected, talk to me after service.
31:18-31:20
I would love to get you connected to a small group.
31:21-31:26
Ladies, if you feel alone, please sign up for the Seek Truth Women's Conference on February 22nd.
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It's a great opportunity for you.
31:29-31:33
Men, sign up for the Tune Up Men's Conference the next week on March 1st.
31:33-31:36
This is a great way to kickstart new Christian friendships.
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If you notice someone in this church who constantly sits by themselves, ask him or her if you can sit with them.
31:45-31:47
Invite that suffering couple over.
31:47-31:49
Call that person you know is struggling.
31:49-31:53
Small group leaders, be on the lookout for people in your group who are disconnected.
31:53-31:57
Let us help one another to not give up.
31:59-32:04
You know, over the past few months, I've been walking my dog late at night while everybody else is asleep.
32:05-32:07
Not really recently, 'cause it's been really cold, but before that, it was.
32:07-32:09
Maybe when it's not like zero degrees out.
32:10-32:17
But I love listening to podcasts, praying and meditating, especially when it's a clear night, which isn't very often in Pittsburgh.
32:17-32:18
When it happens, it's nice.
32:18-32:26
But a few weeks ago, it was a totally clear night, not a cloud in the sky, but I couldn't see the moon anywhere.
32:28-32:31
I looked up on my phone, This was the new moon, the invisible phase of the moon.
32:31-32:34
We couldn't see the moon with our own two eyes.
32:35-32:40
But let me tell you, in that moment, I didn't lose it and freak out and worry that the moon exploded or turned off.
32:41-32:47
In that moment, even though I couldn't see the moon with my own two eyes, I knew it was there, and I knew it was doing its job.
32:49-33:00
You know, in a much greater way, even though you cannot see the Lord with your own two eyes right now, He is here and He is offering His help to you.
33:01-33:06
Even though you may not feel close to Him at this moment, the Lord is closer than you can possibly imagine.
33:07-33:11
God is always at work, so you must never give up on the work He has given to you.
33:13-33:18
Do not give up on loving and serving your spouse, even if he or she is cold and distant right now.
33:18-33:24
Do not give up on patiently discipling your children, even when they couldn't seem to care less about what you have to say.
33:25-33:29
Do not give up on serving this church, even if your efforts don't seem to make a difference.
33:30-33:34
Do not give up on pursuing after the Lord because he pursues after you.
33:37-33:42
Do not quit on God because he has never once considered quitting on you.
33:43-33:43
Let's pray.
33:47-33:52
Lord, there's so many hurts and pains in this room, I can't even begin to list them off.
33:53-33:57
health concerns, financial concerns, family concerns.
34:00-34:04
Lord, it can be overwhelming to consider everything that everyone is going through, but none of these things overwhelm you.
34:05-34:08
You know every single detail down to the letter.
34:11-34:13
Lord, only you can give us the help that we need.
34:15-34:36
And Lord, I pray if there's someone in this room who doesn't know you, that you would lead them to a saving knowledge of Christ, and they would look to Jesus for salvation be forever changed. And for the rest of us, Lord, help us to look to Christ once again, to find our hope, to find our confidence, to find the only answer in a world full of questions.
34:37-34:42
We thank you and we praise you no matter what happens.
34:44-34:48
And we ask all these things in the wonderful name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Kings 19:1-18

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
How do you see your physical health affecting your spiritual health? How can you take advantage of God’s provision and make changes right now?
Why do we often choose to throw a pity party when we feel discouraged rather than seek comfort and help? What should you do when you feel the urge to isolate yourself?
Why must Jesus ALWAYS be your focus when you are struggling and feeling depressed?

Breakout (by gender)
Honestly share how you feel tempted to give up right now. Pray for one another.

Taylor Brown

January 12, 2025

Just Like Us

Called to Stand for the Truth

Taylor Brown

January 12, 2025

Just Like Us

Introduction:

Why Should I Stand for the Truth? (1 Kings 18:1-46)

Because fear of man will crush my Fear of God . (1 Kings 18:1-16)
Proverbs 29:25 - The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.
Because I have a responsibility to Others . (1 Kings 18:17-19)
Galatians 6:1 - Brothers if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

Colossians 4:5-6 - Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
Because God's glory is too great for me to Stay Silent . (1 Kings 18:20-37)
Because God will honor me if I Honor Him . (1 Kings 18:38-46)
John 12:26 - "If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will be my servant also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him."

Luke 9:26 - "For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when He comes in His glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels."

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:56-00:59
Turn your Bibles to 1 Kings chapter 18.
00:59-01:02
1 Kings chapter 18.
01:02-01:04
And while you turn there, I wanna ask you a question.
01:05-01:08
Who has ever watched the show What Would You Do?
01:09-01:10
Nobody.
01:10-01:11
A handful.
01:12-01:23
For those of you who don't know what the show is, it's a hidden camera show that has been hosted by a journalist named John Quiones for 18 seasons, 161 episodes.
01:23-01:42
And this hidden camera show documents the reactions of real people as they come across various moral dilemmas, illegal activities, and other confrontations, but they don't realize that everything that is happening is staged by actors and being recorded for television.
01:43-01:52
And the main hook of the show is to put you into the shoes of the person under the microscope that week and ask you some hard-hitting questions.
01:53-01:55
What would you do in this situation?
01:56-01:58
How would you respond?
01:59-02:06
You come across a little girl who's being verbally berated by her dad, both of whom are actors, but you don't realize that.
02:07-02:10
Would you just mind your own business and move on?
02:10-02:13
Or would you step in and help the poor girl?
02:13-02:18
You're in one of the aisles at Walmart and you see a woman stuffing merchandise into her large purse.
02:19-02:21
Would you just laugh it off and keep shopping?
02:22-02:24
Or would you report it to a manager?
02:25-02:30
You come across a gang of teenagers savagely bullying a homeless man.
02:31-02:31
What would you do?
02:32-02:34
Would you pretend like you saw nothing?
02:35-02:41
Or would you step in and potentially risk the wrath of the teenagers being redirected at you?
02:42-02:46
You know, this show has caught some astounding responses in both sides of the spectrum.
02:47-02:51
admirable bravery, and embarrassing cowardice.
02:53-02:57
Some episodes, men and women rise to the occasion and become the heroes of the episode.
02:58-03:04
And other people are very embarrassed in front of millions and millions of viewers.
03:05-03:11
You know, this morning, we're in the second week of our latest series, Just Like Us, The Life and Ministry of Elijah.
03:11-03:15
And you are about to have your own hidden camera experience.
03:16-03:26
as you watch Elijah handle public idolatry, intense conflict, and the greatest contest of all time.
03:27-03:39
You will clearly see what Elijah did 3,000 years ago, and in the process, you will have to grapple with questions, the same questions that John Kiyonese asks at the end of every single episode.
03:40-03:40
What would you have done?
03:42-03:44
How would you have responded?
03:46-03:50
Would you have stepped in or would you have stepped back?
03:51-03:53
So before we continue, let's go to the Lord in prayer.
03:54-04:01
Please pray for me that I'll be faithful to proclaim God's word and I will pray for you that you'll be faithful to receive it.
04:03-04:12
Father, we thank you for this opportunity to worship you, to come to your word, to hear from you.
04:13-04:14
That's why we're here, Lord.
04:15-04:16
Well, I pray that we would hear from you.
04:17-04:24
I pray your Holy Spirit would convict us, challenge us, and he would build us up all in the same time.
04:25-04:28
We ask all this in the mighty name of Jesus Christ, amen.
04:30-04:35
So last week we were called to obey the Lord and do whatever his word commands us to do.
04:36-04:42
This morning we will receive the call to stand for the truth in a world that strongly opposes it.
04:43-04:53
We are called to be bold servants of the Lord who oppose ungodly ideologies, who call for repentance and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
04:55-04:58
You may hear this and think, eh, I don't think this sermon is for me.
04:59-05:02
I'm all for obedience, but I'm not an outspoken Christian.
05:03-05:06
My faith is really important, but it's very private to me.
05:06-05:07
I don't like to make it public.
05:08-05:13
Well, that sounds very convenient, but that doesn't sound very biblical.
05:14-05:20
According to scripture, God is a personal God, but he is by no means a private God.
05:21-05:26
Your faith is meant to be lived out behind closed doors and in public.
05:28-05:30
Again, you may be thinking, I'm not really sold on this yet.
05:31-05:36
I believe in the truth, but why should I stand for the truth?
05:38-05:39
That's a great question.
05:40-05:42
Why should I stand for the truth?
05:44-05:50
As you seek to answer that question together this morning, be diligent to focus your attention on how Elijah stood for the truth.
05:50-06:05
At every turn in 1 Kings chapter 18, honestly evaluate how you would have responded back then and how you will choose to respond right now to what is happening in this world and in your life.
06:06-06:08
So why should I stand for the truth?
06:09-06:13
Because fear of man will crush my fear of God.
06:14-06:17
Because fear of man will crush my fear of God.
06:20-06:22
Let's read verse one of chapter 18.
06:23-06:31
After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, go, show yourself to Ahab and I will send rain upon the earth.
06:32-06:41
So long after the miracles at Zarephath with the widow and her son, Elijah is finally called back into active duty.
06:42-06:49
The drought and famine has lasted for three and a half long years, but it's finally about to come to an end.
06:50-06:58
And while Elijah travels, we are given a quick update on what's going on with King Ahab in verses two through six.
06:58-07:01
So Elijah went to show himself to Ahab.
07:01-07:09
Now the famine was severe in Samaria, and Ahab called Obadiah, who was over the household, Now Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.
07:10-07:19
And when Jezebel cut off the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water.
07:20-07:25
And Ahab said to Obadiah, go through the land to all the springs of water and to all the valleys.
07:25-07:31
Perhaps we may find grass and save the horses and mules alive and not lose some of the animals.
07:31-07:34
So they divide the land between them to pass through it.
07:34-07:41
Ahab went in one direction by himself, and Obadiah went in another direction by himself.
07:42-07:45
So things are looking very bleak for Ahab's kingdom.
07:46-07:51
But per usual, he's handling things his way rather than God's way.
07:51-07:57
He seems obsessed with finding a solution to his problems anywhere and everywhere besides God.
07:58-08:03
He seems far more concerned with saving animal life than human life.
08:04-08:09
Does that sound familiar to you at all with something that's happening on the West Coast right now?
08:10-08:13
Ahab has the worst and wrong priorities.
08:15-08:19
In these verses, we also meet Obadiah, who serves as Ahab's chief of staff.
08:20-08:25
Obadiah may serve the king, but his ultimate devotion is to the Lord.
08:26-08:30
We are told that Obadiah feared the Lord greatly.
08:31-08:38
And this is proven by his brave actions of saving faithful prophets and hiding them and feeding them in caves.
08:38-08:45
Faithful prophets that Queen Jezebel wants to shish kebab for resisting her and her false gods.
08:46-08:54
And if Obadiah is found out, he will also be murdered along with those prophets who didn't make it into his cave protection program.
08:56-09:00
In verses seven through 16, Obadiah comes face to face with Elijah.
09:01-09:02
Let's read that together.
09:03-09:13
And as Obadiah was on the way, Elijah met him, and Obadiah recognized him and fell on his face and said, "Is it you, my lord Elijah?" And Elijah answered him, "It is I.
09:14-09:24
"Go and tell your lord, behold, Elijah is here." And Obadiah said, "How have I sinned against you "that you would give your servant "into the hand of Ahab to kill me?
09:25-09:36
"As the Lord your God lives, "there is no nation or kingdom "where my Lord is not sent to seek you." And when they would say, "He is not here," he would take an oath of the kingdom or nation that they had not found you.
09:37-09:40
And now you say, "Go tell your Lord, behold, Elijah is here.
09:40-09:44
"And as soon as I have gone from you, "the spirit of the Lord will carry you, I know not where.
09:45-09:53
"And so when I come and tell Ahab and he cannot find you, "he will kill me, although I, your servant, "have feared the Lord from my youth.
09:54-10:04
"Has it not been told my Lord that what I did "when Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, "how I hid a hundred men of the Lord's prophets "by fifties in a cave and fed them with bread and water?
10:05-10:25
"And now you say, go tell your Lord, "behold Elijah's here and he will kill me." And Elijah said, "As the Lord of hosts lives "before whom I stand, I will surely show myself "to him today." So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him Ahab went to meet Elijah.
10:27-10:30
You know, some scholars are not huge fans of Obadiah.
10:30-10:34
They think he is a wimpy wuss who whines to Elijah.
10:35-10:41
And I think that's a really unfair accusation because Obadiah looks a lot more like us than Elijah, right?
10:42-10:44
Isn't it easier to relate to Obadiah?
10:45-10:53
Elijah is this tough, intimidating guy while Obadiah is just a regular dude who has jobs, bills, and a to-do list.
10:53-10:58
He's trying his best to honor the Lord during his daily routine.
10:59-11:09
But Obadiah is also stressed out about working with Elijah because he can't envision a scenario where this team up ends well for him.
11:10-11:14
You know, Obadiah reminds me a lot of my dog, Murdoch.
11:14-11:15
I actually have a picture of him on the screen, I think.
11:16-11:16
There he is.
11:18-11:19
You know, we have a golden retriever.
11:19-11:22
He doesn't exactly check all the boxes in the wind column.
11:22-11:26
He can bark at the worst possible times, like when my kids are napping.
11:27-11:29
He gets really jumpy at my parents' house.
11:30-11:36
He is stunned that other people exist in our neighborhood and have the audacity to walk past our house.
11:37-11:39
And he can be a bit of a scaredy cat sometimes.
11:41-11:45
But at the end of the day, Murdoch is very loyal to our family.
11:46-11:51
He plays gently with my kids, He even tries to protect them.
11:52-12:00
Murdoch is a flawed and imperfect dog, but he is also a faithful and dependable servant who realizes that he is not the master of the house.
12:02-12:08
Like Murdoch and the rest of us, Obadiah is a flawed and imperfect servant who doesn't always get it right.
12:09-12:11
Does Obadiah experience the fear of man?
12:11-12:11
Yes.
12:12-12:14
Does he have worries and anxieties?
12:14-12:14
You bet.
12:15-12:18
Does he struggle to believe in Elijah's plans?
12:19-12:19
Of course.
12:20-12:28
But at the end of the day, Obadiah is a faithful servant of the Lord who is loyal to God and not to Ahab.
12:30-12:33
Obadiah follows Elijah's instructions and goes to the king.
12:35-12:36
I want you to understand something.
12:36-12:40
You will wrestle with worrying about what other people think about you.
12:41-12:48
You will be weighed down with the desire to please other people at the expense of pleasing God.
12:49-12:57
To be clear, it's a good thing to care about your reputation but this good desire can easily dominate your heart and your mind.
12:57-13:02
If you live to please others, you will constantly be disappointed.
13:03-13:08
Public opinion is like a twisty and curvy rollercoaster that goes up and down, left and right.
13:08-13:16
One day, you're the best thing since sliced bread and the next you are the worst person that someone has ever met.
13:17-13:39
You know, one pastor from several hundred years ago once wrote, "If you live in the mouths of men, you will die in the mouths of men." Solomon puts it this way in Proverbs 29, 25, "The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe." Living to make everyone else happy is a dangerous trap.
13:39-13:41
Don't fall for it.
13:42-13:46
Choose the better and safe path, which is the fear of the Lord.
13:48-13:52
You may be wondering, what does it even mean to fear God?
13:53-14:00
Fearing God means that you have a deep and reverent respect for his position, his power, and his promises.
14:01-14:07
A deep and reverent respect for his position, his power, and his promises.
14:08-14:17
When you fear God, you submit to him as your rightful master instead of all the King Ahabs in your life who are calling for your attention and devotion.
14:19-14:27
The fear of God sets you free from the fear of man while the fear of man crushes your ability to fear God.
14:30-14:32
Whose approval matters the most to you?
14:34-14:37
Whose approval matters the most to you?
14:37-14:42
If your number one goal in life is to make your spouse happy, neither of you will be happy.
14:43-14:46
Neither of you will experience God's best for your marriage.
14:47-14:53
But if you both share an ambition to please God, you will grow closer to one another and the Lord.
14:54-15:05
If you are obsessed, consumed, with the congratulations of your manager, your boss, you will be tempted to cut corners and sacrifice time with your family to advance your career.
15:06-15:13
Moms, if you are obsessed with looking like a great mom on social media, you will quickly become burned out and depressed.
15:14-15:24
But if you find your identity in Christ and entrust your little ones to the Lord, those chains of measuring up and being the best will begin to loosen.
15:26-15:38
Just imagine what your life would look like if you cared far more about the unchanging view of God than the constantly changing opinions of other men and women.
15:39-15:47
Imagine how much more bold and effective your witness would be if you feared and respected God above everyone else.
15:50-15:51
So why should I stand for the truth?
15:53-15:55
Because I have a responsibility to others.
15:56-15:59
Because I have a responsibility to others.
16:02-16:07
Let's see what happens when Elijah and Ahab and arrive at the reunion set up by Obadiah.
16:07-16:19
In verse 17, "When Ahab saw Elijah, "Ahab said to him, 'Is it you, you troubler of Israel?'" So what's the first thing that Ahab does when he sees Elijah?
16:19-16:26
He doesn't repent, he doesn't say I'm sorry, he doesn't ask for help, he points the finger and blames Elijah.
16:26-16:29
"Oh, look who it is, the source of all my problems.
16:29-16:30
"Look around at what you've done.
16:31-16:38
"This is all your fault." So Ahab's finger pointing reminds me of life at my house sometimes.
16:38-16:51
I'll walk into the family room, discover snacks ground into the carpet, toys everywhere, drinks spilled on the couch, and I'll ask, "Who did this?" And one of my kids will immediately throw the other under the bus.
16:52-16:56
And then the accused will point a finger at the accuser, "No, you!" And I'll go back and forth like that.
16:56-17:00
"No, you, no, you, no, you!" We're not much better as adults, are we?
17:02-17:12
We are experts at passing the buck, of assigning blame, of playing accusatory hot potato so that consequences do not fall in our laps.
17:13-17:17
My problems are everybody else's fault, and I'm just a poor victim.
17:19-17:25
But we are often guiltier than we care to admit, and far less innocent than we claim to be.
17:27-17:32
Elijah smacks away Ahab's pointed finger, and boldly tells him the truth.
17:33-17:35
In verses 18 through 19.
17:36-17:45
And Elijah answered, I have not troubled Israel, but you have, at your father's house, because you have abandoned the commandments of the Lord and followed the Baals.
17:46-17:56
Now therefore send and gather all Israel to me at Mount Carmel, and the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel's table.
17:58-17:59
Elijah has a prophet.
17:59-18:07
Elijah has a responsibility to tell the king what he needs to hear, not what he wants to hear.
18:08-18:16
Elijah holds up a mirror to reveal the true source of Ahab's problems, Ahab himself, his own foolish idolatry.
18:16-18:19
Ahab has no one to blame but himself.
18:21-18:25
And please don't confuse Elijah's bluntness for hatred.
18:26-18:29
This is the most loving thing he could do for Ahab.
18:30-18:39
It is loving to tell someone the truth while it is unloving to allow someone to stew in his or her own self-deception.
18:41-18:49
Let me ask you, is it loving for me to just let our friend have his fly down or have a little something something hanging out of his nose?
18:50-18:51
And not saying anything.
18:51-18:52
Is that the loving thing to do?
18:53-19:00
No, in those moments it's awkward to say anything I value my own comfort over my friend's well-being by not saying anything to him at all.
19:01-19:07
But if I truly love my friend, I'll grab him, put an arm around him and say, "Hey dude, "Kennywood's open, there's a bat in the cave.
19:07-19:21
"Sorry to say it, but I can't not say it." In all seriousness, you may think that you are being loving and kind by not pointing out the obvious sin problems of a Christian friend.
19:21-19:28
You may think that you're loving by shrinking back yet again from telling that Christian family member about Jesus.
19:29-19:34
But in those moments, you are choosing to love yourself more than that person.
19:36-19:41
Instead of standing up for the truth, you are shrinking back in laziness and indifference.
19:43-19:51
Like Elijah, you too have a responsibility to tell others what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.
19:54-20:00
It can be hard to tell people that they are dead and their sins need to be brought to life by faith in Jesus Christ.
20:02-20:08
But you cannot share the good news of Christ without also sharing the bad news of sin.
20:10-20:15
It's not my favorite pastime to tell another believer something that he or she does not want to hear.
20:16-20:22
But I'd much rather feel the sting of awkwardness now than the ache of regret later.
20:23-20:26
This may be obvious, but it needs to be said.
20:26-20:31
Don't make these already hard conversations even harder by being a jerk.
20:32-20:45
I've heard so many prideful Christians pridefully bragging about how often they get turned down for faithfully sharing the gospel, and I always think to myself, I don't think you're being rejected because of your faithfulness.
20:45-20:47
I think you're being rejected because of your jerkiness.
20:49-20:58
I wouldn't blame the Lord and his gospel, "Blame yourself." The Apostle Paul tells us clearly how we should talk to Christians and non-Christians alike.
20:58-21:14
Galatians 6, one, "Brothers, if anyone is caught "in any transgression, you who are spiritual "should restore him in a spirit of gentleness." Colossians 4, five through six, "Walk in wisdom towards outsiders, "making the best use of the time.
21:14-21:21
"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you want to answer each person.
21:23-21:26
So be strategic, but not compassionless.
21:26-21:28
Be bold, but not rude.
21:29-21:32
Be a loving friend, not a spineless pushover.
21:33-21:40
Take responsibility and be willing to graciously engage in tough conversations.
21:42-21:43
Why should I stand for the truth?
21:44-21:48
because God's glory is too great for me to stay silent.
21:48-21:52
Because God's glory is too great for me to stay silent.
21:56-22:03
So verse 19 ends with Elijah throwing down the gauntlet and setting up the greatest showdown of all time.
22:04-22:08
Let's watch the pregame show unfold in verses 20 through 21.
22:09-22:13
So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered their prophets together at Mount Carmel.
22:14-22:19
And Elijah came near to all the people and said, how long will you go limping between two different opinions?
22:20-22:22
If the Lord is God, follow him.
22:22-22:24
But if Baal, then follow him.
22:25-22:29
And the people did not answer him a word.
22:31-22:37
The Israelites are mixing the worship of false gods with the worship of the one true God.
22:38-22:40
They view their beliefs like a buffet line.
22:40-22:47
You can pick a bit of this, a little bit of that, and a side of what's over there, and all these things can coexist on the same plate.
22:48-22:53
That may be fine and dandy at the Golden Corral, but it doesn't fly with the Lord.
22:53-22:55
He is an all or nothing God.
22:55-22:58
He wants all of you or none of you.
22:59-23:05
And Elijah tries to knock them off the fence and make them make a decision.
23:06-23:09
But the Israelites still don't know who to choose.
23:09-23:12
They don't know who the real God is.
23:15-23:19
Maybe you're in the same boat as the Israelites this morning.
23:20-23:23
You are trying to enjoy the best of both worlds.
23:23-23:30
You come to church occasionally, you enjoy fellowshipping at harvest, but you still have another foot in worldly living.
23:32-23:39
You may think that proximity to the church and the Christians gives you eternal security, but it doesn't.
23:41-23:43
Choose today whom you will serve.
23:44-23:46
Stop limping between two opinions.
23:47-23:48
Stop going back and forth.
23:48-23:49
Make a decision.
23:50-23:51
Who will you serve?
23:51-23:57
Jesus Christ and his perfect ways or yourself and your own sinful desires?
23:58-24:06
If you choose Christ, God's righteous wrath for your sin will be taken away and eternal punishment in hell will no longer be in your future.
24:07-24:16
If you choose Christ, adoption to the family of God and undying relationship with the Lord will be yours forever and ever.
24:17-24:25
Make the choice today because you don't know if you get tomorrow and there are no second chances after this life.
24:28-24:39
Since the people of Israel refused to make a choice, Elijah puts it in Yahweh or Baal's court to actually answer the question in verses 22 through 24.
24:40-24:47
"Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the Lord, "but Baal's prophets are 450 men.
24:48-24:56
"Let two bulls be given to us, "and let them choose one bull for themselves "and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood, "but put no fire to it.
24:56-25:00
"And I will prepare the other bull "and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it.
25:01-25:15
"And you will call upon the name of your God "and I will call upon the name of the Lord, "And the God who answers by fire, he is God." And all the people answered, "It is well spoken." Do we all understand the rules of the competition?
25:15-25:16
Are we good?
25:16-25:18
Thumbs up if you're still listening awake.
25:18-25:18
We all get it?
25:19-25:19
All right, good.
25:19-25:23
Baal is given first crack at this in verses 25 through 29.
25:24-25:46
"Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "'Choose for yourselves one bull, "'and prepare it for yourself first, for you are many, "'and call upon the name of your God, "'but put no fire to it.' And they took the bull that was given to them and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal for mourning until noon, saying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice and no one answered.
25:46-25:49
And they limped around the altar that they had made.
25:50-25:53
And at noon, Elijah mocked them, saying, "Cry aloud, for he is a god.
25:54-26:08
"Either he is musing or he is relieving himself, "or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep "and must be awakened." And they cried aloud and cut themselves after their custom and lances till the blood gushed out upon them.
26:09-26:13
And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation.
26:14-26:20
But there was no voice, no one answered, no one paid attention.
26:21-26:23
What a pathetic display.
26:24-26:29
Prophets of Baal cry and scream and dance for hours and hours and hours, nothing.
26:30-26:33
Then cut themselves to the devotion, nothing.
26:34-26:43
This proves that passion and belief means nothing if the object of your passion and belief is made up and non-existent.
26:45-26:47
And Elijah can't help himself.
26:47-26:49
Baal may be silent, but he's not.
26:49-26:51
He's saying, hey guys, raise the volume.
26:51-26:54
Maybe he's napping, or maybe he's sitting on his toilet throne.
26:55-26:58
And I'm not saying that, Elijah actually said that.
27:00-27:05
Sometimes the only righteous response to wicked beliefs is holy mockery and satire.
27:06-27:13
Sometimes the insanity of destructive beliefs must be picked apart and ridiculed instead of tolerated and ignored.
27:16-27:21
These guys step up to the plate, take a massive swing, strike out.
27:22-27:28
Next up is Elijah and his God up at bat in verses 30 through 35.
27:31-27:34
Then Elijah said to all the people, come near to me.
27:34-27:38
And all the people came near to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been thrown down.
27:39-27:48
Elijah took 12 stones according to the number of the tribes of sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came saying, Israel shall be your name.
27:49-27:56
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 seers of seed.
27:57-28:00
And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood.
28:00-28:08
And he said, "Fill four jars with water "and pour it on the burnt offering on the wood." And he said, "Do it a second time." And they did it a second time.
28:08-28:12
And he said, "Do it a third time." And they did it a third time.
28:12-28:16
And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water.
28:18-28:45
And at the same time, at the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, "Oh Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, "let it be known this day that you are God of Israel." "and 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, "that you have turned their hearts back." How much shorter is his prayer than the prayers of the prophets of Baal?
28:45-28:49
A few sentences versus a few hours of worthless nonsense.
28:51-28:55
Elijah makes this heart as humanly possible for this altar to catch fire.
28:56-29:01
He wants God's inevitable answer to be as clear-cut as obvious as possible.
29:01-29:02
He wants there to be no doubts.
29:02-29:08
He wants there to be no accusations of unfair play when God sends the fire.
29:09-29:12
Elijah can't sit on the sidelines and do nothing.
29:13-29:19
Elijah can't be silent because God is too great and he is too worthy.
29:21-29:26
You know, we all love to talk about that which interests and excites us.
29:27-29:29
to talk about something that we love.
29:30-29:33
If you don't believe me, grab someone at your service who loves to hunt.
29:34-29:37
Ask him or her about deer season, and you will get an earful.
29:38-29:41
You'll get a phone full of gory pictures in your face.
29:42-29:45
Grab a grandma at your service and ask about her grandkids.
29:45-29:50
Again, you'll get an earful and a phone full of less gory pictures in your face.
29:52-29:58
We can all go on for hours and hours and hours about a topic that interests and excites us?
30:01-30:04
Does God interest and excite you?
30:05-30:10
Does the gospel of Jesus Christ captivate your mind and thrill your heart?
30:10-30:14
Do you love to talk about the Lord, his word, his ways?
30:14-30:16
Would you rather talk about anything else?
30:19-30:23
There is no one and nothing greater than our God.
30:24-30:28
He is a loving Father who cares for us more than we can possibly imagine.
30:29-30:37
He is a gracious Savior who forgives us of our sins and invites us into a relationship, a friendship with Him.
30:38-30:48
While the idols, the false gods that we so often choose to worship over Him offer us nothing but silence, heartache, regret.
30:50-30:52
So why should you brag on the Lord?
30:53-30:55
Why should you share the good news of Jesus Christ?
30:56-30:59
Why should you stand for the truth rather than stay silent?
31:00-31:06
Not because you have to, and it's a chore to check off the to-do list, but because you want to, and it is a joy to carry out.
31:07-31:21
It is a joy to experience, because you are fully convinced that Jesus Christ is worthy of the praise and adoration of every single person you come into contact with every single day.
31:24-31:25
Why should I stand for the truth?
31:26-31:30
Finally, because God will honor me if I honor him.
31:31-31:34
Because God will honor me if I honor him.
31:36-31:40
Let's see God's answer to Elijah's prayer in verses 38 through 46.
31:42-31:49
"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.
31:49-31:59
"And when all the people saw it, "and they fell on their faces and said, "'The Lord, he is God, the Lord, he is God.' "And Elijah said to them, 'Seize the prophets of Baal.
31:59-32:02
"'Let not one of them escape.' "And they seized them.
32:03-32:06
"And Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon "and slaughtered them there.
32:07-32:22
"And Elijah said to Ahab, 'Go up, eat and drink, "'for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.' "So Ahab went up to eat and drink, "and Elijah went up to the top of the Mount Carmel, "and he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees.
32:23-32:31
And he said to his servant, "Go up now, "look toward the sea." And he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And Elijah said, "Go again," seven times.
32:31-32:48
And at the seventh time, he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand "is rising from the sea." And he said, "Go up, say to Ahab, "prepare your chariot and go down, "lest the rain stop you." And in a little while, the heavens grew black with clouds and wind and there was a great rain.
32:49-32:50
"Ahab rode and went to Jezreel.
32:51-33:01
"And the hand of the Lord was on Elijah, "and he gathered up his garment "and ran before Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel." So we have our answer.
33:02-33:07
The Lord annihilates the bull, the altar, and the water around the altar.
33:08-33:10
The fireball from heaven.
33:12-33:15
You know, this altar wasn't just an object of competition.
33:15-33:18
This was a sin sacrifice.
33:18-33:22
to the Lord that was lighted on fire by God.
33:23-33:31
The Israelites have sinned against God, so Elijah offers this sacrifice and God lights the match.
33:32-33:37
And the Israelites watching this awesome display finally recognize which God is real.
33:37-33:40
They bow down and worship the Lord.
33:41-33:48
God is vindicated as the one true God, while Baal is proven to be a dumb statue.
33:50-34:01
On the flip side of the coin, Elijah is vindicated as a man of God who speaks the truth of God while the prophets of Baal are exposed and proven to be men of lies who only speak foolishness.
34:03-34:10
Elijah was labeled as the troubler of Israel, but now he is celebrated while the prophets of Baal are slaughtered.
34:10-34:17
And God keeps his word and sends rain upon Israel as Elijah prays.
34:18-34:23
You know, Elijah is literally and metaphorically on the mountaintop in this moment.
34:23-34:30
This is one of the highlights of his life, and we'll discover next week that a low point follows immediately afterwards.
34:30-34:35
But for right now, Elijah must be overjoyed at this victory that God has won.
34:36-34:40
Elijah honors God, and in return, God honors Elijah.
34:43-34:48
As followers of Christ, we are offered a very similar pattern in scripture.
34:48-34:55
John 12, 26, Jesus says, "If anyone serves me, "he must follow me, and where I am, "there will be my servant also.
34:56-35:06
"If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." And Jesus gives the exact opposite promise in Luke 9, 26, which Pastor Jeff already read.
35:06-35:16
"For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, "of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory, in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
35:18-35:19
Are you ashamed of Jesus Christ?
35:21-35:26
Do you hide the fact that you're a Christian at work in your neighborhood 'cause you're worried about what would happen if people knew?
35:28-35:33
If you're ashamed of Jesus Christ now, Jesus Christ will be ashamed of you later.
35:35-35:39
If you serve Jesus Christ now, he will applaud you later.
35:41-35:48
If you know and love Jesus Christ, if you faithfully serve him, you will be misunderstood, insulted, and slandered right now.
35:49-35:54
But a day is coming when you'll be rightly understood, praised, and celebrated.
35:54-36:01
A day is coming when people will see God for who he truly is, and you will be seen for who you truly are.
36:03-36:09
Faithfulness to Christ requires a dedication to delayed gratification.
36:10-36:16
Are you willing to be hated and belittled by the world right now because you know God approves of you?
36:17-36:22
Are you willing to be lied about right now because you know that God knows the truth about you?
36:23-36:31
Are you willing to be rejected and turned down for your faith when you stand for the truth because you know that great glory is awaiting you?
36:34-36:47
You know, it's so easy to walk away from chapter 18 of 1 Kings thinking, Well, Elijah's standoff for the truth was so important, it was so intense, the ways I'm called to stand up for the truth don't seem very important.
36:49-36:55
We so often feel that way because we so often forget that we are in the middle of a spiritual war.
36:56-37:03
This war isn't fought in a mountaintop somewhere with dramatic music playing in the background, with fireballs coming down from heaven.
37:03-37:10
This war is fought in our homes, our communities, our churches, and our own hearts.
37:11-37:24
The battles of this war are seemingly minor conversations with your loved ones or acquaintances, small moments with your kids that add up over time, or decisions that may not seem like a big deal.
37:25-37:29
We have a choice to do the right thing or the easy thing.
37:31-37:35
How you stand up for the truth, how you fight this war matters.
37:36-37:39
It matters to God and it should matter to you.
37:41-37:43
Just like Elijah, you too are a servant of the Lord.
37:44-37:46
You are a soldier in his heavenly army.
37:47-37:57
And by doing your small part, you are partnering with the Lord to advance his kingdom and to advance the truth of his word over the lies of our enemy.
37:59-38:02
So you've seen what Elijah did nearly 3,000 years ago.
38:03-38:06
You have been reminded of what is expected of you right now.
38:09-38:12
Let me close by asking the same questions that we started with.
38:14-38:14
What will you do now?
38:16-38:17
How will you respond?
38:18-38:22
Will you step up or will you shrink back?
38:23-38:23
Let's pray.
38:25-38:34
Father, we thank you that the same God who sent down fire on Mount Carmel 3,000 years ago is still on the throne.
38:35-38:37
He is still ruling and reigning.
38:37-38:39
Lord, help us to trust you.
38:40-38:50
Lord, help us to love you so much that we can't help but tell everyone about who you are and what you have done through the person and work of Jesus Christ.
38:53-39:01
Lord, if there are people here who are shrinking back and are afraid of what others might think, Lord, give them a spine of steel.
39:02-39:06
Lord, give them confidence that comes from your Holy Spirit and your word.
39:08-39:20
And for others of us in this room, Lord, who don't know who to choose, who are still unsure about Jesus, Lord, I pray that you would show them the reality of what Christ has done.
39:21-39:26
And for the very first time, they would place their faith and trust in him alone for salvation.
39:28-39:30
Lord, you are great, you are glorious.
39:31-39:33
Let us never stay silent.
39:33-39:35
Let us always stand for the truth.
39:36-39:38
We ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Kings 18:1-46

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why can’t our faith be just private and not public?
How do you see yourself struggling with the fear of man right now and how is it negatively affecting you?
Who is the Lord calling you to honestly share the truth with right now?
Why don’t we talk about God, His Word, and the good news of Jesus as often as we should?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Taylor Brown

January 5, 2025

Just Like Us

Called to Obey

Taylor Brown

January 5, 2025

Just Like Us

Introduction:

James 5:17a - Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.

1 Kings 16:33 - Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.

How Am I Called to Obey? (1 Kings 17:1-24)

By Praying according to God's Word. (1 Kings 17:1)
See: James 5:17-18, Deuteronomy 11:16-17, 1 Kings 8:35
By Doing exactly what God's Word Say. (1 Kings 17:2-6)
By Serving as God's Word directs. (1 Kings 17:7-16)
By Trusting God's Word no matter what. (1 Kings 17:17-24)
James 5:16b - The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

00:57-00:59
All right, turn your Bibles to 1st Kings 17.
01:00-01:01
1st Kings 17.
01:03-01:11
Growing up, we all had celebrities, athletes, leaders, or family members that we looked up to and admired.
01:11-01:23
You would look at this musician's poster on your wall, this athlete's trading card in your hand, or see this person in action and think to yourself, I could never do what he or she does.
01:24-01:29
Take 20 seconds to talk to someone around you about who this person was and why you felt that way?
01:32-01:36
Well I'm sure you heard a lot of interesting answers and shared an interesting answer yourself.
01:37-01:40
As a kid, this is how I felt about my dad.
01:41-01:45
To me it seemed like my dad could do it all and he knew it all.
01:46-01:51
I thought he had an answer to all of my questions and a solution to all of our problems.
01:52-01:56
And I grew up with people telling me how talented and hardworking my dad is.
01:57-01:59
And even now, many of you will come up to me and say, your dad is great.
01:59-02:00
And I'm like, thanks.
02:01-02:01
What about me?
02:04-02:05
Jay's a big fan, dad.
02:07-02:11
I remember thinking, how will I ever be able to take care of my own family someday like my dad can?
02:12-02:15
How will I ever be able to provide like he does?
02:17-02:21
It seems so big and strong in comparison to me and able to protect me from anything.
02:23-02:26
Most boys with great dads think this way growing up.
02:27-02:33
But at some point, every boy with a great dad realizes that his dad is not perfect.
02:34-02:35
He doesn't know it all.
02:35-02:36
He can't do it all.
02:36-02:37
His dad isn't a superhero.
02:38-02:40
His dad is just a regular person.
02:41-02:49
And now as a husband, father, and provider, I look back at my childhood and think, my dad was just doing his best and living by faith, just like I am.
02:50-02:53
He was making it up as he went along, just like I am.
02:54-02:57
He was a regular dude, just like I am.
02:58-03:04
As we heard in the introduction video a few minutes ago, we can be intimidated by the heroes of the Bible.
03:05-03:13
Joseph, Joshua, Caleb, Nehemiah, Ruth, Esther, Paul, and the focus of our study for the next month, Elijah.
03:14-03:18
All these people seem so far beyond us and above us.
03:20-03:24
Started to spoil a bit of what's ahead, that the Lord used Elijah to turn the rain clouds off and on.
03:24-03:27
He called down fire from heaven.
03:27-03:29
And how about this, he didn't even die.
03:29-03:33
He was chauffeured to heaven in a glorious chariot of fire.
03:34-03:40
We can read all these things in the Bible and think to ourselves, man, Elijah's on a whole other level than me.
03:40-03:43
I could never do what he did.
03:43-03:47
I am a spiritual loser and he is a spiritual winner.
03:49-03:56
But the book of James tells us a very different story in James 5, 17, Elijah was a man with a nature like ours.
03:58-04:03
One translation puts it this way, Elijah was a man just like us.
04:05-04:06
Isn't that encouraging?
04:07-04:13
Elijah wasn't a superhero, he was an average person who the Lord used in great and mighty ways.
04:13-04:16
There was nothing special about Elijah in and of himself.
04:17-04:24
What was special about Elijah was the God that he served in the calling that he received.
04:26-04:31
And there's nothing special about you and me in and of ourselves.
04:33-04:37
In and of ourselves, we are nobodies with nothing to offer anyone.
04:38-04:48
What is special about us is that we serve the same God that Elijah served, and we have received a similar calling to the one that Elijah received almost 3,000 years ago.
04:50-05:02
Over the course of this new four week series, just like us, the life and ministry of Elijah, we will hit the major highlights of his story, unpack his victories, and also discuss his greatest weaknesses and failures.
05:03-05:11
And to be clear, the goal of this series isn't to learn a bunch of interesting facts about Elijah that we can use to win a Bible trivia contest.
05:12-05:23
The goal of this series is to draw nearer to the God that we serve, to become more who he has commanded us to be, and to lean into the mission that he has called us to.
05:24-05:27
So before we continue, let's go to the Lord and ask for his help.
05:27-05:33
Please pray for me that I'll faithfully proclaim God's word and I will pray for you that you will faithfully receive it.
05:44-05:50
Father, we thank you for this awesome opportunity come together as your people to worship you and hear your word proclaimed.
05:51-05:56
This is not a small thing to check off our to-do list and move on to something else.
05:56-06:04
Lord, this is the main event of the week where we are recharged, where we hear from you and are empowered to do what you've called us to do.
06:06-06:13
Lord, I pray that your word would accomplish the purpose for which you sent it out, that you would watch over your word to perform it this morning.
06:13-06:15
We ask all this in Jesus' name.
06:16-06:16
Amen.
06:18-06:23
Well, if Elijah was a man just like us, he lived in an evil time just like ours.
06:24-06:32
After Solomon's reign and death, the kingdom of Israel was separated into two kingdoms, Judah in the south and Israel in the north.
06:32-06:37
And first kings focuses on the long line of horrible kings in the northern kingdom.
06:38-06:41
And the worst king of the northern kingdom by far was Ahab.
06:42-06:44
We know this because the Bible says so.
06:44-06:57
1 Kings 16.33, "Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, "the God of Israel, to anger "than all the kings of Israel before him." It's hard to imagine a more corrupt ruler than Ahab.
06:57-07:09
He marries a pagan princess named Jezebel from a pagan place called Sidon, and he doesn't just get a wife out of this deal, he gets new gods to worship, Baal and Asherah.
07:09-07:21
And it isn't enough for these two to just worship these false gods behind closed doors No, they mandate the celebration and acceptance of their beliefs in public.
07:22-07:24
Does that sound familiar to you at all?
07:26-07:31
This state religion mandated sexual sin and the murderous sacrifice of young children.
07:32-07:35
Again, does that sound familiar to you at all?
07:36-07:44
And perhaps the thing that points to Ahab's immorality the most is the fact that he allowed Jericho to be rebuilt again.
07:44-07:50
The city that God tore down brick by brick is rebuilt again brick by brick.
07:51-08:01
This wasn't an accident, it wasn't a whoops, didn't realize that, no, it was an intentional slap in the face of God, a total disrespecting of his past victory.
08:02-08:03
It was a loud and clear message.
08:03-08:08
We don't care what God has to say, we're gonna do whatever we want to do.
08:09-08:12
One last time, does that sound familiar to you at all?
08:14-08:21
Ahab lived and ruled as if Baal was alive and the God of Israel was dead and gone.
08:22-08:26
Reverence for God was cast aside for ridicule of God.
08:27-08:29
Purity was set aside in favor of perversion.
08:31-08:36
Joyful obedience was cast out the window in exchange for willful disobedience.
08:38-08:42
But then Elijah showed up on the scene and we're given little to no information about him.
08:42-08:49
All we know that he was a Tishbite from Gilead, which I'm sure means a lot to all of you sitting here today.
08:50-08:53
But the meaning of his name tells us all that we need to know.
08:54-08:56
My God is Yahweh.
08:57-08:59
Elijah didn't dabble in idol worship.
08:59-09:01
He didn't cave into peer pressure.
09:01-09:02
He didn't follow the crowd.
09:02-09:08
He obeyed God even when it was hard, even when it wasn't popular.
09:10-09:25
This morning, we're gonna focus our attention on four seemingly random stories from Elijah's early ministry, and we'll quickly learn that these stories are not random, but they're held together by one main theme, obedience to the word of God.
09:26-09:31
Elijah's obedience will reveal your need for obedience.
09:31-09:39
Like Elijah, you are called to a life of wholehearted obedience in a culture that celebrates disobedience.
09:41-09:55
I've been hoping and praying all week that you would walk away from this sermon fully convinced that obedience is the essential overflow of your faith and not an optional add-on to your faith.
09:56-10:06
There is one question you need to ask yourself and answer this morning as you are challenged by 1 King 17, how am I called to obey?
10:08-10:09
How am I called to obey?
10:10-10:13
First answer, by praying according to God's word.
10:14-10:16
By praying according to God's word.
10:19-10:21
Let's read chapter 17, verse one.
10:22-10:43
"Now Elijah the Tishbite of Tishbe and Gilead "said to Ahab, 'As the Lord the God of Israel lives, "'before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew "'nor rain these years except by my word.'" Like a movie, we're just thrust into the middle the action as the prophet Elijah stands before King Ahab to give him a message.
10:43-10:49
And I love how he starts off the message, as the Lord, the God lives before whom I stand.
10:50-10:55
In other words, hey, Ahab, you know that God you've been ignoring and treating like a deadbeat dad?
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He is alive and well and I serve him and not you.
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Elijah fears God, not Ahab, which leads him to share a very difficult message, a devastating drought and famine is coming because of Israel's unrepentant sin and shameless idolatry.
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And the rest of the passage from James I read a few minutes ago fills in some really important details.
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James writes this, Elijah was a man with a nature like ours and he prayed fervently that it might not rain and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth.
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Then he prayed again and heaven gave rain "the earth bore its fruit." So why won't it rain?
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Because Elijah prays that it won't.
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You know, on a first glance, doesn't this prayer kind of seem mean and horrible?
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Who's ever prayed for a drought before?
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I don't think any of us have.
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Imagine the ramifications of this prayer.
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The land will grow hard and not able to sustain crops.
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Families will suffer.
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Livelihoods will be destroyed.
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People will die.
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How could Elijah pray something like this?
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You know, when I was younger, I'm not proud to admit this, but I'll tell you today, I used to hope and sometimes even pray that my teachers would get sick so I could avoid turning in a challenging project or avoiding a test.
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Did anybody else do that growing up at all?
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My wife did, wow, I married the right person, I guess, the only other person who did that.
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If you were or are a teacher, I'm so sorry.
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I promise I'll pray for your good health later after this sermon.
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But can we all agree that these childhood prayers can be filed under the unrighteous category?
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Does Elijah's prayer belong to the same category?
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What do we think?
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No.
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My prayers were very self-centered and unrighteous, while Elijah's prayer was God-centered and righteous.
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Do you know why Elijah's prayer strikes us as unloving in 2025?
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Because we do not know the character of God and the integrity of his word as we should.
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Elijah is simply praying God's word back to God.
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Listen to this warning that was given to Israel hundreds of years before Elijah even prayed this prayer.
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Deuteronomy 11, 16 through 17.
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Take care lest your heart be deceived and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the lamb will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land the Lord is giving you.
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Here's another prayer from King Solomon decades before Elijah.
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When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray towards this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin When you afflict them, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel.
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This changes how we view Elijah's prayer, doesn't it?
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God is bringing consequences upon his people to get their attention and draw them to repentance.
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The Lord is waging a holy war against the false gods that Israel has chosen to worship over him.
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He is publicly embarrassing Baal, the storm god, and showing that Baal cannot control the skies.
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He is proving that Asherah, the goddess of fortune and fertility, cannot do anything to stop him or reverse the drought once it starts.
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Elijah deeply believes in the promises and warnings of scripture, and he obediently acts upon the knowledge that he possesses and prays according to the truth.
14:55-15:01
Elijah knows God's word, he loves God's word, and he prays God's word.
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Can you say the same for your own walk?
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Evaluate your prayer life over the past week or two.
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What percentage of your prayer life was dedicated to asking God for the easiest week possible with the least amount of road bumps?
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The answer to that question convicts me because it's so far from where it should be.
15:25-15:32
Yes, God calls us to bring our requests and personal needs to him, but we're called to do so much more.
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We're called to thank him for who he is, to praise him for what he has done, and to ask that his kingdom would be advanced in our neighborhoods, our communities, our city, our nation, in this world.
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If we're honest, our prayers often look like grocery lists of wants, more than heartfelt pleas for God to glorify himself and further his perfect plans.
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Our prayers so often seem to be addressed as someone who exists to serve us, rather than someone whom we exist to serve.
16:10-16:16
Harvest, let us be a church that doesn't settle for weak and shrimpy prayer lives.
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Let us instead pray to our big God and expect big results.
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Pray that God would use your faithful witnessing to draw that unsaved coworker to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
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Pray the Lord would raise up more faithful pastors, godly politicians, godly school teachers.
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Pray that the Lord would destroy wicked ideologies and organizations that are wearing away at the fabric of our society.
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Pray that our church would grow in unity with one another.
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Pray that God would show himself as mighty and the gospel of Jesus Christ is irresistible through the love we show for one another and the community around us.
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Harvest, let us obediently pray according to the truth of God's word.
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How am I called to obey?
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Second answer, by doing exactly what God's word says.
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by doing exactly what God's word says.
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Let's read verses two through four.
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"And the word of the Lord came to Elijah, "depart from here and turn eastward "and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, "which is east of the Jordan.
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"You shall drink from the brook "and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." That's kind of weird, isn't it?
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Those instructions are kind of out of left field.
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I don't know about you, but I've never seen a bird put food into people's hands.
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They only take food out of people's hands.
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Who's ever seen seagulls descend upon people with food at the beach?
17:49-17:53
Who's ever seen seagulls deliver a pizza to a hungry family?
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But this isn't hard for Elijah to believe, according to verses five through six.
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"So Elijah went and did according to the word of the Lord.
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"He went and lived by the brook Cherith "that is east of the Jordan.
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"And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
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Elijah has no problem trusting in a God who can turn the rain off and door dash food through wild birds.
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This story might seem kind of random and trivial, but it captures an important snapshot of Elijah's faith.
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Elijah obeyed God in the big things and the small things, because Elijah realizes that there are no small commands Every command that God gives is essential and important.
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God doesn't give advice, God doesn't give suggestions, God doesn't give optional commands.
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Everything that he says is to be followed to the letter.
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We must precisely obey because we serve a precise God.
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And as crazy as this bird command might seem, it was given for Elijah's good.
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All of God's commands are given for our good.
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To bless us and not to hurt us.
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To give to us and not to take away from us.
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You know, at times, my kids can be very sneaky in their disobedience.
19:26-19:31
A few months ago, my three-year-old daughter, Emmy, was getting really mad at her older brother, and she kept hitting him.
19:32-19:40
And I told her, "Emmy, if you do that again, "you're gonna go to timeout." And as I gave this parental lecture, there was a YouTube kids dance video in the background.
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That will prove very important in a few seconds.
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Not a minute passed before Emmy started wailing on Sam again and I used my dad voice.
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I said, "Emmy?" And as soon as she heard that, she pivoted from hitting her brother to pretending that she was dancing.
19:58-20:01
And that's the last time you're ever gonna see me dance in church, so I hope you enjoyed it.
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You know, I first had to stop myself from laughing and send Emmy to time out.
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My kids think they can fool me, but they can't.
20:14-20:20
You may think that you can fool God and sneak your disobedience under the wire, but you can't.
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I don't know how you're struggling to obey and do exactly what God's word says.
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I can only speak for myself and my own struggles.
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But as tempting as it is, You cannot justify disobeying commands that don't appeal to you very much because you obey other commands that are easier for you.
20:43-20:50
Maybe during the giving series a few months ago, you bristled at the reality that God's word commands you to give of your treasure.
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Instead of opening up your wallet, you opened up your box of excuses.
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You thought, well, I give of my time and my talents, that's good enough.
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Oh, is it?
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Think about what the Bible says.
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No, according to scripture, obedience to giving of your time and your talents does not excuse you from obedience to giving of your treasure.
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Maybe you know the Bible commands all professing believers to be baptized, but you refuse to do it.
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And you think, you know what, I'm a Christian, I'm saved, I read the Bible, I don't see the purpose, I don't think this really matters for me.
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and say to that, isn't it enough that the Bible tells you to?
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That God says to?
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Isn't that more than enough?
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Or maybe you do a great job of providing for your kids physically, but you're dropping the ball on providing for them spiritually.
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You rarely sing worship songs with them.
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You barely read the Bible with them.
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You occasionally sometimes pray with them.
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And you may justify this by thinking, well, I take my kids to church, they hear the Bible there, that's good enough.
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Well, kudos on taking your kids to church and obeying the Lord in that area.
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It doesn't excuse you from being the primary discipler of your children.
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And I can go on and on with more examples.
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But please hear me, I am not saying any of this to shame you.
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I'm saying this to help you.
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If you are in the family of God, Please understand that your heavenly father isn't a dictator who's waiting to pounce on you whenever you mess up.
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He isn't hiding behind the corner, jump out and go, "Aha, I got you," whenever you sin and then pull the rug out from underneath of you.
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No, again, God wants you to obey all that he says because he loves you and wants what is best for you.
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As God took care of Elijah's physical needs through his obedience, the Lord wants to provide for your spiritual needs and abundantly bless you through your personal obedience.
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So how am I called to obey?
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Third answer, by serving as God's word directs.
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By serving as God's word directs.
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Check out verse seven.
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And after a while, the brook dried up because there was no rain in the land.
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The ripple effects of Elijah's prayer have finally caught up to him.
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The brook he was using as a personal water fountain goes belly up.
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Now what?
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How is God going to provide?
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We find the answer in verses eight through nine.
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Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah, "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, "and dwell there.
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"Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you." You know, this would seem even less likely as a source of provision to Elijah than being waited on hand and foot by ravens.
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As the text tells us, Zarephath belongs to the region of Sidon where Queen Jezebel is from.
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Zarephath is Baal central.
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Elijah traveling to Zarephath would be similar to a Jewish family trying to set up shop in Nazi-occupied Berlin in the height of World War II.
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This is not the safest of destinations for Elijah.
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But once again, he obeys the Lord, does exactly what he is told to do, and finds exactly what God promises in verses 10 through 12.
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"So Elijah arose and went to Zarephath.
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And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks.
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And he called to her and said, bring me a little water and a vessel that I may drink.
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Now she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.
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And she said, as the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour and a jar and a little oil and a jug.
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And now I'm gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die.
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Imagine how the widow must have felt receiving these commands in the middle of a drought and famine.
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As someone living in abundance, I don't like to even share my food at lunch or dinner.
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Who's with me?
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Who doesn't like to share their food from their plates?
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I'm not even a huge fan of sharing cheesecake with my wife for dessert, because I'm always doing the mental math in my head.
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Okay, how many bites has she had?
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How many bites have I had?
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How could I eat even more without looking like a gross and selfish pig?
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All of us husbands have been there and done that.
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It's hard for us to fathom being asked to give the very last portion of our food supply.
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This widow is willing to give a cup of water, she can do that, but even giving the smallest piece of bread is a bridge too far because the fridge is empty and the pantry is bare.
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And she even swears in the name of God, I can't help you, I can't do what you're asking.
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And notice that she swears in the name of your God.
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Not my God.
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Her gods are Baal and Asherah who are failing miserably at the moment.
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Yahweh is Elijah's God, but not her God, yet.
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That's all gonna change very soon.
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Check out Elijah's response in verses 13 through 14.
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And Elijah said to her, do not fear, "Go and do as you have said, "but first make me a little cake of it "and bring it to me, "and afterward make something for yourself and your son.
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"For thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, "the jar of flour shall not be spent, "and the jug of oil shall not be empty "until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth." So the widow's at a crucial crossroads that will determine her fate.
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Will she make this last cake for her little family, or will she make it for Elijah?
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Will she trust in herself in her limited supply, or will she trust God in his infinite supply?
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Will she disobey the word of the Lord or obey?
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Will she serve herself or serve a complete stranger first?
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Let's see what path she takes in verses 15 through 16.
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And the widow went and did as Elijah said, and she and he and her household ate for many days.
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The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the Lord that he spoke by Elijah.
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The widow takes the right path, and she is rewarded with an infinite amount of food until the famine is over.
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Unsurprisingly, the word of God proves true, and the promise is kept.
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Both Elijah and the widow survived starvation by obediently serving the other.
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They both serve as God's word directs them.
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And there is such an important principle here that we have to grab a hold of.
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Putting yourself first leads to emptiness, while putting others first leads to abundance.
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You know, the Christian life is a massive paradox.
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You find your life by losing it.
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You discover joy by denying worldly happiness.
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You come in first by putting yourself last.
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You serve yourself by serving others.
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Is it just me or is this really hard to live into?
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It's hard to have this kind of faith.
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It's hard to have this level of obedience because it's uncomfortable and it's inconvenient.
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It's so easy to keep your head down and just focus on you, your family, your wants, your needs, your schedule, your bills, your house projects, and nothing else.
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It's hard to pick your head up and see the needs of others, especially those who could do nothing for you in return.
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It's difficult to view the resources in your possession as belonging to God and not to you.
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Because when you serve, you are simply giving to others what has already been given to you.
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who are lending to others what has been entrusted to you.
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But you will not obediently serve in this way if you don't make space for it in your mind, your heart, and your schedule.
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You have to see a need and recognize it in your mind, and then desire to meet it with your affections, and then set aside time to meet the need.
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Serving others never happens by accident.
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It requires intentionality, it requires intentional obedience.
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Who and how is the Lord calling you to serve right now?
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Don't shout your answer, but share it with someone after service.
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And ask them to hold you accountable and check back in to see if you followed through.
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And don't fall prey to thinking, "Oh, well this isn't gonna matter that much, "it's not gonna make a difference." If the Lord could use a widow's small act of service and obedience to keep her and Elijah fed and her son fed during a famine, imagine what the Lord will do with your small act of service, with your small act of obedience.
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And you may not even see a tangible result right now, but guess what?
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Guess who sees?
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God.
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He sees your obedience, and that matters more than anything else.
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You know, this seems like the perfect place to end the story of Elijah and the widow, doesn't it?
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What a nice family sitcom moment to freeze frame on in classic '90s fashion.
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But the story doesn't end here.
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There's still one more trial to cover.
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There's one more lesson about obedience that Elijah, the widow, and all of us need to hear.
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How am I called to obey?
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Final answer, by trusting God's word no matter what.
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By trusting God's word no matter what.
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Let's read verses 17 through 20.
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After this, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became ill, and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
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And the widow said to Elijah, "What have you against me, O man of God?
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"You have come to me to bring my sin to remembrance "and to cause the death of my son." And he said to her, "Give me your son." And he took him from her arms and carried him up to the upper chamber where he lodged and laid him on his own bed.
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And he cried to the Lord, "Oh Lord my God, "have you brought calamity even upon the widow "with whom I sojourn by killing her son?" What a horrific turn the story has taken.
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One minute it's three's company with Elijah, the widow, and her son, and the next minute the son is gone.
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And she immediately turns on Elijah and his God.
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She shoots the messenger and accuses Elijah of bringing Yahweh's punishment upon her.
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She responds a lot like us when suffering falls upon our heads.
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This woman is in agony.
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She's experiencing the worst nightmare a parent can imagine.
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She must be thinking, "I trusted God, "and look where that got me." But as we talked about in the series on Job in November and December, God doesn't owe us favors because of our obedience.
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God is in no person's debt, and obedience is not the easygoing path of least resistance.
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It's easy to trust God when everything is going well and everyone is healthy.
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It's hard to trust God when nothing seems to be going right.
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The widow doesn't immediately respond in faith, and Elijah is shocked by the boy's death as well.
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But there is a key difference between the widow's reaction and Elijah's response.
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Elijah doesn't complain about God to others.
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He takes his problem and his questions directly to God.
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He prays to God, God, this doesn't make sense.
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This cannot possibly be why you sent me here.
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He then prays a big prayer, expecting big results that we talked about a few minutes ago in verse 21.
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And Elijah stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, "Oh Lord my God, "let this child's life come into him again." You know, as Christians, this side of the empty tomb, resurrection isn't very foreign to us.
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But Elijah is praying in faith for something that had not yet happened in biblical history at that point.
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We don't see in scripture that anyone had been raised from the dead yet.
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What a bold prayer.
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Bold strategy, let's see if it plays out for him.
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In verse 22, "And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child came into him again, and he revived." That verse is absolutely astounding.
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The Lord listened to Elijah.
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Another Old Testament verse is that word for listen or hear could be translated as obeyed.
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Earlier, Elijah did exactly as the Lord commanded, by going to the brook and then Zarephath, and now the Lord does exactly as Elijah asked, by making history and bringing the first person back from the dead.
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How does this work?
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How can God be in total control and our prayers still make a difference?
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Are you ready for my really deep theological answer that I went to seminary for for three, well actually it ended up being seven years.
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You know what the answer is?
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I don't know.
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I don't know, but I trust that both realities are true because the Bible says so.
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Our God loves to work through our prayers.
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He is sovereign over the ends of events.
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He's also sovereign over the means by which these events happen.
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Somehow the Lord uses the means of our prayers to accomplish his divine ends.
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James says this in the verse before his teaching on Elijah, "The prayer of a righteous person has great power "as it is working." Let's wrap up with verses 23 through 24.
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And Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper chamber into the house and delivered him to his mother.
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And Elijah said, "See, your son lives." And the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God, "and that the word of the Lord is in," Sorry, now I know that you're a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.
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We've come full circle.
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At the beginning of the chapter, we see that Elijah spoke the word of the Lord and now the widow is firmly convinced of that fact.
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She believes that Yahweh is the only living God and his word is to be trusted and obeyed no matter what.
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but this faith had to be kick-started by pain.
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She had to walk through the valley of death to come to God's green pastures.
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The glory and beauty of the word shines the brightest in the darkness of our helplessness.
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You know, this is the first Sunday of 2025, and you may feel very optimistic about the year ahead, while others of you feel very pessimistic.
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You're already convinced that 2025 is not going to be your year.
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You're going through a troubling time of testing and you don't feel like worshiping.
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You don't feel like reading the Bible.
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You don't feel like obeying God's word because it seems pointless.
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As the new year continues, I want to encourage you to keep trusting God even when it feels like God has betrayed you.
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Keep obeying God even when you don't feel like it.
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Keep putting one foot in front of the other when you feel like collapsing and just staying still.
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Keep believing that the word of God is the truth and obedience to it leads to great reward in this life and in eternity.
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You know, as we close, you may feel crushed onto the massive list of ways that God is calling you to obey.
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You may look at your outline and think, oh great, another bunch of things to add to my already busy schedule.
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I cannot do what Elijah did.
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This is impossible.
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You know what?
38:00-38:00
You're right.
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It is impossible.
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You cannot possibly carry out this list on your own.
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but stop taking your eyes, but take your eyes off of yourself for a minute.
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Also take your eyes off of Elijah because he never perfectly obeyed either.
38:20-38:23
Instead, look to the one who Elijah points you to.
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Focus your attention on the one who perfectly obeyed in all the ways that you have failed, Jesus Christ.
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Go through the list.
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Did Jesus pray according to scripture?
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What's the answer?
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Every single time without fail.
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Did Jesus do exactly what the Father told Him to do?
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Down to the very last detail.
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Did Jesus serve as the Father directed?
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The Son of Man, the Son of God, came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.
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Did Jesus trust in His Father no matter what?
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In the Garden of Gethsemane, when death, agony, and suffering where a few steps down his chosen path, Jesus submitted to the will of the Father, even though he knew how horrible this would be.
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If you do not know and love Jesus, I want to tell you that he knows you, and his love is offered to you this morning.
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Obey his call and command to come to him for forgiveness and eternal life.
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If you have trusted in Christ and turned from your sin, guess what?
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Your disobedience was placed upon him at the cross and his perfect obedience is now your obedience.
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When you struggle with feeling helpless and hopeless, remind yourself of this glorious truth.
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Jesus, the one far above us, willingly chose to become just like us.
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He chose to become just like you.
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Jesus became just like you so you could be set free from the impossible task of trying to earn God's approval and save yourself.
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Jesus became just like you so you could joyfully obey God's commands.
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Jesus became just like you so that you would be empowered to become more and more just like him.
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Let's pray.
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Father, we come to you, and all of us are in different places right now.
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For those in this room who think that they know you and don't, or have chosen willingly to reject you, Lord, I pray that today would be the day of visitation and salvation, that today would be the day that the lights turn on, and faith in Christ is placed in what he has done.
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And for the rest of us, Lord, Some of us are coming in here burdened, and we feel like we can't do any of the things you've called us to do.
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Lord, help us to look to your Son.
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Help us to look to your Holy Spirit who lives within us, and help us to remember we're not alone.
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We don't need to do this alone.
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We have a Savior, we have an advocate, we have a helper.
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We have someone living within us to empower us.
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Father, I pray as 2025 continues that we would walk in obedience to your word.
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I pray that we would look more and more like Jesus Christ at the end of this year than we do right now.
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I ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
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Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Kings 17:1-24

What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Does your prayer life seem unbalanced right now? What would it look like to pray big prayers to a big God and expect big results?
How do we justify or excuse our disobedience to God’s Word? How do you see yourself struggling to obey the Lord in a specific way right now?
What holds you back from serving others as God’s Word directs? How do you feel called to serve right now?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

Congratulations to the Poor in Spirit

Introduction:

Who Are the "Poor in Spirit"? (Matthew 5:1-3)

Why Are We Congratulating the Poor in Spirit?

How Do I Become Poor in Spirit?

3 Signs That You Are Poor in Spirit:

Called to Make Disciples

Introduction:

What Kind of Disciple Should I Be and Should I Train? (1 Kings 19:19-21)

Called to Never Give Up

Introduction:

How WILL the Lord Help Me to Not Give Up? (1 Kings 19:1-18)

Called to Stand for the Truth

Introduction:

Why Should I Stand for the Truth? (1 Kings 18:1-46)

Called to Obey

Introduction:

How Am I Called to Obey? (1 Kings 17:1-24)

Upcoming Small Group Questions CLICK HERE

How much of the Bible have we covered since 2011?

Introduction:

Who Are the "Poor in Spirit"? (Matthew 5:1-3)

Why Are We Congratulating the Poor in Spirit?

How Do I Become Poor in Spirit?

3 Signs That You Are Poor in Spirit:

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

What Kind of Disciple Should I Be and Should I Train? (1 Kings 19:19-21)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

How WILL the Lord Help Me to Not Give Up? (1 Kings 19:1-18)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

Why Should I Stand for the Truth? (1 Kings 18:1-46)

Audio Transcript

Introduction:

How Am I Called to Obey? (1 Kings 17:1-24)

Audio Transcript