The Love of Christmas God loves us. This truth is foundational, Pastor Dave said, and he acknowledged that nothing he had to say about God’s love would be new to us. But he helped us slow down and bask in the wonders of God’s love as displayed at Christmas by explaining five...
The Joy of Christmas Pastor Dave introduced the subject of joy by saying that everybody experiences joy at times. They feel joy, he said, when they win the lottery (or a new car on a gameshow) or when their child hits a homerun or when they open a Christmas gift and find exactly what they...
1 Kings 19:9-18“What Are You Doing Here, Elijah?” After the spiritual high on Mt. Carmel, Elijah plunged into a crisis of faith. He had stood before the Lord and been zealous for Him, but the death threat from Jezebel led him to think his ministry was a failure. Disillusioned...
1 Kings 19:1-8Elijah Flees Jezebel When Jezebel, the pagan wife of evil King Ahab, hears about the slaying of the 450 prophets of Baal, she is infuriated. She swears by her little-g gods that she will kill Elijah within 24 hours. We expect Elijah to laugh in the face of her threat. After all...
1 Kings 18:41-46The Lord Sends Rain After the dramatic showdown between Yahweh and Baal, the people of the northern kingdom of Israel fell down and acknowledged, “Yahweh – He is God!” Later, Elijah bowed to the ground before the Lord with his face between his knees, appealing...
1 Kings 18:20-40If the Lord Is God, Then Follow Him In obedience to the Lord, Elijah engaged in a dramatic showdown with the prophets of Baal. Pastor Dave gave us three takeaways. There is a difference between testing the Lord and obeying. Elijah obeyed God; too often, we test God. Dave defined...
1 Kings 18:1-19Elijah Confronts Ahab After three years of drought, God called Elijah to speak to Obadiah, a high official in Ahab’s household. God asked Obadiah, through Elijah, to play the dangerous role of messenger between the wanted man Elijah and the wicked, angry king. Obadiah was...
1 Kings 17:8-24The Widow of Zarephath After the brook Cherith dried up, the Lord told Elijah to go to Zarephath, where a widow would feed him. She turned out to be a poor widow with just enough flour and oil to make one last scanty meal for herself and her son; then they would starve. But...
1 Kings 17:1-7Introducing Elijah In this week’s brief passage, Elijah breaks onto the scene and, even with no backstory, it is clear he is a spiritual giant in the same league as Moses, Joseph, David, and John the Baptist. Pastor Todd described Elijah as a man of humble origins, a man of...
1 Kings 16:21-34A Question of Fairness Pastor Austin began by noting the repetitive nature of much of 1 Kings so far: The account of an evil king’s reign is followed by the description of God’s righteous judgment on him. In this week’s passage, however, we hear about the...