Our Vision "People Living Everyday Grace In Our Community"
I want to
speak about life this morning. I want us
to focus on everything that God has placed within us that was always meant to
overflow out of us.
There is no more fulfilling way to
live than to draw daily on God’s all satisfying grace and let it flow through
us to others. John Piper
So, my
question this morning to start us off is this?
When have
you felt most alive? A time when you
knew that you were really living!
When have
you felt most alive in a conversation?
Sports
teams, weather, travel plans, photography, sunsets…
What about
God stories, stories of healing, stories that build up your faith?
I light up
when I hear stories about how people are sharing their faith with others
Chris B. was telling me about a conversation he had this week. This guy was sharing with him about 3 things
life is about - body, blood and truth.
It couldn’t have been a better segue for him to talk about Jesus and he
took it. So, if God puts you in a
situation like that, make sure you are asking the HS how you should respond.
I want to
talk this morning about someone who really lived in the OT and it was Elijah.
In 1 Kings
18 Elijah has this incredible showdown with the 450 prophets of Baal on the top
of Mt. Carmel. It’s an incredible scene with the real God who answers by fire. There were prophets slashing themselves until
their blood flowed, but Elijah is downright confident in
God.
Ok, now
enter the scene with me in 1 Kings 19.
We have Ahab, who was a wicked king in Israel and his wife Jezebel who
was even more wicked and the story is being relayed to her about what Elijah
has done
She is
swearing by the same gods who failed miserably against the God of Elijah in the
previous chapter and then we read...
Elijah was
afraid and ran for his life.
I don’t
get it….You just saw God demonstrate Himself powerfully on the mountaintop, He
answered your prayers and now he is going to let one woman scare him to the
point where he runs away from his next assignment
Elijah was
running for his life.
There is a lot
of reasons that we run and for Elijah, I don’t think it was necessarily fear of
dying.
It is the
daily fear. Elijah is tired, tired of
standing for righteousness, He is afraid of the battles that he is fighting and
even if you know you are going to win the battle, it takes energy.
He’s running
because he doesn’t want to fight another battle.
V4 Again
something that I don’t understand…another paradox - If you are running for your
life, why are you asking to die?
Elijah is
afraid.
You can’t
have a great faith, great God and great fear or can you?
You can wake
up in the morning after a great day of serving God in some form or fashion,
helping people out, serving others, blessing people, singing His praises and
wake up feeling defeated.
We were
never meant to leave God’s presence
So, how do
you live through it…It’s not that the fear is gone, but they found a faith in
God
I’m so
grateful that the Bible shows me a man of great faith in 1 Kings 18… and then
in 1 Kings 19, a man so low he is ready to die …he’s real, we can relate to
him!
My question
today is, “Are you running away from the direction that God is calling you?”
A lot of
believers are not in danger of ruining their lives….they are in danger of
wasting their lives.
We easily
get caught up in what everyone else is thinking and forget about listening to
the most important voice in our life, the voice of our Father God through His
Holy Spirit.
Here are
three keys to really living from the life of Elijah:
Get up and eat.
Go out and stand.
Go back the way you came.
All statements were made to Elijah
right from this story
Get Up and Eat!
You like
that verse! Would you like as your life
verse?
Elijah runs
far away, he wants God to take his life… and what does God do…He tells him to
eat.
If you and I
were managing a network of prophets, we might act differently. You might think, I need to challenge this guy to stand his
ground, but God is so gracious even when he is running away from Him. Who else will feed you and sustain you even
when you go in the opposite direction?
We’ve been
talking about developing better margins in our lives as well, eating healthy
etc…
This is just
not a picture of physical food, it is a
picture of how God’s Word meets our spiritual needs
One of the
stories that I love in the NT is when Jesus meets the Samaritan woman by the
well. He tells her, “13 Jesus answered,
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks
the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will
become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Or John
6:35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the
bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes
in me will never be thirsty.
God cooked
the food for Elijah, meal service was coming through; He has given you his
promises, but you got to get up and eat it.
I have given you daily devotionals, Bible apps….the greatest time in
history for the advance of the gospel, but you got to eat it!
But
sometimes we waste time asking God for stuff we can already have…God give me
faith. Faith comes by hearing the Word
of God… Romans 10:17 Your faith may be
malnourished.
So start
listening to His Word, listen to His voice.
I love the
story of Billy Graham who had a Bible opened in every room of his house. He said he did it so he could keep himself
filled and have snacks throughout the day!
I have given
you my word that you might have joy.
How amazing
it is for us…right there by our beds we have translations of the Bible for free
in any language!
We are not
all readers…I have listened to the Word of God many times since choosing a new
Bible app from Joansoft on my android phone.
It’s another way for us to appreciate the Word of God in a fresh way.
Ok, Sword
Drill, put your swords in the air.
Technology vs PRINT, phones and Bibles in the air, let’s see what is
quicker. The first one that finds this
verse has to stand up and read it.
Repeat after
me 1Kings 19:9-10 stand up and read it
out loud. No kinks in the elbows, arms straight up
Repeat after
me… GO
Go out and stand v9-11
It is one
thing that God speaks to you on the mountain when we are in a good place, but
He also speaks to us in the cave, when we are going through darker times. You feel more distant from God sort of like
when your “wifi signal” is not as strong in the cave. Here’s the truth, in isolation there can be
more despondency. But why do we do
that. We make a mistake, we crash spiritually
or something devastating happens in our life and the first thing we do is go
into hiding. It happened in the
beginning with Adam and Eve and it still happens now. I was just talking with
someone whose husband left her and the first thing I asked is do you have a
good support system of people around you and she replied by saying that she was
too embarrassed to go to church.
Remember
this Grace, whatever you are going through, you are not the only one left.
You are not
the only one left. God says I’m with you
when you pull the covers over your head, when you’ve eaten the last dessert.
The enemy
wants to keep you in the cave. He wants
you to keep replaying the film of how you went down and how you lost your
perspective
You made a
good decision to come here today!
David knew
it and shared it in the Psalms. There is
nowhere that we can run from God’s presence.
If I make my
bed in hell, you are there Psalm 139:8
He speaks
into our depression, dysfunction, addiction.
Elijah is still running but the LORD keeps pursuing him. There are lies that bounce around in the
walls of your cave and God wants to get you out of the cave. You may be stuck and He wants to get you
unstuck.
When you get
on the mountain, it’s a picture of worship, we hear God more clearly, in the
presence of the LORD.
How do we
stay calm? We do it by listening to our
Father’s voice through His Spirit
Look how God
passes by!
The wind
tears apart the mountains…He is not there.
A fire consumes,
a flashback scene for Elijah… He is not there.
There are so
many more dramatic ways that God could have shown Himself that He is in control
but then…a gentle whisper… Elijah, what
are you doing here?
Why did he
whisper to Elijah? He whispers because
He is close.The enemy can yell, the voices inside your head can yell, but God chooses
to whisper in this moment. He doesn’t need to shout because He is right, He is
in control, he holds you in the palm of His hand.
What about
you? What are you doing here, how long
are you going to stay in that cave, how long are you going to refuse to forgive
that person and hold them and yourself hostage?
How long are
you going to stay awake at night trying to fight a battle He already has won for
you?
Remember how
I was with you, how I provided for you
The hairs on
your head are #. Luke 12:7; Matthew 10:30 You have to be close enough to
someone to do that. God is closer than
you think!
His Spirit
is inside of you and I believe there are things He wants to tell you.
The 3rd
Thing God tells Elijah -
Go back the way you came v15
Go to the
desert of Damascus….anoint Nimshi…hand
the torch over to Elisha, get back to the work I called you.
How many
more nights will you spend in the cave, are you ready to get back to the place
I called you to be?
Keep
pressing in for more of His sustaining grace DAILY! Maybe you feel like you blew it, maybe you
are in a cave today, I believe He wants
to speak into your situation. He has
called you out on the mountain to be in His presence
REMEMBER…you
didn’t get into a relationship with God by your own achievements, performance
or effort….It was all by grace.
The same
grace that brought you this far will carry you through. I don’t know what threats you are up against,
what mistakes are staring you in the face.
2
Corinthians 4:8 We are hard pressed on
every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but
not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.
You might be
pressed, but you are not crushed…
You might be
persecuted, but you are not abandoned
You might be
struck down, but you are not destroyed.
Keep moving
forward for the glory of God.
I was at an
event a few weeks ago called MoMondays that Sharon and I were invited to and
Matt Ward was there as well. It was there
I heard people share about their struggles with depression, learning how to
take baby steps, failed business opportunities and what they learned through
their journey, perseverance, character, but the one thing that was so sad was
the sense of hopelessness. Inside I was
so distraught listening to their stories was that there is someone who longs to
be part of their journey and that is our God.
They were missing the Jesus factor.
The day
after Matt shared the lyrics to this song with me...a blast from the past from Steve Green, still so powerful today.
Everyday
they pass me by,
I can see it in their eye.
Empty people filled with care,
Headed who knows where?
On they go through private pain,
Living fear to fear.
Laughter hides their silent cries,
Only Jesus hears.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize --people need the Lord?
We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right.
What would be too great a cost
For sharing life with one who's lost?
Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear.
They must hear the words of life
Only we can share.
I can see it in their eye.
Empty people filled with care,
Headed who knows where?
On they go through private pain,
Living fear to fear.
Laughter hides their silent cries,
Only Jesus hears.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
At the end of broken dreams, He's the open door.
People need the Lord, people need the Lord.
When will we realize --people need the Lord?
We are called to take His light
To a world where wrong seems right.
What would be too great a cost
For sharing life with one who's lost?
Through His love our hearts can feel
All the grief they bear.
They must hear the words of life
Only we can share.
3 THINGS –
EAT, STAND,
GO
Listen to
God, live in His strength and go where He is leading you!