Embrace the Hill Elijah The Pre-run… You have to decide How you're gonna handle That hill… Hate...
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Transcript of Embrace the Hill Elijah The Pre-run… You have to decide How you're gonna handle That hill… Hate...
Embrace the Hill
Elijah
The Pre-run…
You have to decideHow you're gonna handleThat hill…
Hate it? Or embrace it?
You don't get a choiceOf whether or not
You'll go throughTrials and hardships…
Things you've doneThings done to youJust life
It will happen…and it can hit sohard and fast…paralyzing you
No matter what happens…
Every hardship has a blessingThe trials come with gifts
If we trust God through them
No ridiculous little sayingsHardships and trials hurtIt's not about "Try harder""Overcome""Be stronger"
Elijah…Persecution and judgment
Prophets of God put to deathFalse prophets celebrated
Elijah is being huntedDeath of an innocent man3 years no rain
1 Kings 18:21…
"Go tell King AhabThat I'm right here…and
Bring the false prophets, too"
Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will
you go limping between two different opinions? If the Lord is
God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him…”
Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it
And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and
put no fire to it
And you 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”
Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it 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 them, and they prepared it
and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon,
saying, “O Baal, answer us!”
But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made
And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. 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 with swords and lances, until the blood gushed out upon them
Their god desires their bloodTo show devotion to him
Our God went to the crossBecause of his devotion to us
And as midday passed, they raved on until the time of the
offering of the oblation, but there was no voice. No one
answered; no one paid attention
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” And all the people came near to him
And he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been
thrown down
Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord came, saying, “Israel shall be your name”
…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 seahs of seed(almost 15 liters)
And he put the wood in order and cut the bull in pieces and laid it on the wood. And he said, “Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood”
And he said, “Do it a second time.” And they did it a second
time. And he said, “Do it a third time.” And they did it a
third time
And the water ran around the altar and filled the trench also with water
And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the
prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac,
and Israel…
…let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am 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, and that you have turned their hearts back”
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
And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God”
Not a great thing…
And Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one
of them escape.” And they seized them
And Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there
…they have built the high places of Baal to burn their sons in the fire as burnt offerings to Baal- Jeremiah 19:5
Rain comes…after 3 years
God was looking for:Single-minded Faith in the One who supplies
Rather than self-sufficiencyBackup plans and other sources
Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had killed
all the prophets with the sword
This is that moment!
If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they
be convinced if someone should rise from the dead
- Jesus, Luke 16
Discussing the FaithSharing what God has done
Telling your story
Arguing someone to Faith
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”
Elijah's Response?
Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and
came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his
servant there
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying…
“It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am no better
than my fathers.” And he lay down and slept
under a broom tree
"I haven't changed anything""I haven't done my job""I can't make a difference"
What's the problem with that?
God didn't call Elijah to be Accountable for results
He called Elijah to be Faithful to the Call of God
On his life
God didn't call you to be Accountable for results
He called you to be Faithful to the Call of GodOn your life
Great Falls often followGreat Victories
When our eyes are on GodThere's nothing that can beat us
When our eyes are on our Circumstances, we can't help
But be beaten
Every hardship has a blessingThe trials come with gifts
If we trust God through them
Couldn't the God who answered By fire and brought Great victory
Also protect Elijah? Or…bring him home?
Spiritual Rut=One hardship after another:
Permanent- Nothing will change"They're still trying to kill me!"
Spiritual Rut=One hardship after another:
Blinding- all I can see"I gotta run or I'll die"
(No room for faith)
Some of you…Everything filtered throughYour hardship. Can't even
Engage in relationships with People who love you
Spiritual Rut=One hardship after another:
Personal- all about me"The whole universe
is against me!"
And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, “Arise and eat.” 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 lay down again. 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”
You're trying to doIn your own strength
What I never called you to doAlone
And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God
Blinding:"You're not alone
I'm here…I never left"
Living in a cave…
…the word of the Lord came to him, and he said to him, “What
are you doing here, Elijah?”
“I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword…
…and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life,
to take it away”
It's personal, GodIt's all about how hard
I'm trying and how good I amCompared to everyone else
So why do I have to suffer?
And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord”
And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind
tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind
And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake
And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.
And after the fire the sound of a low whisper
And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave
Elijah is fresh off victory
The moment he put his eyes onThe success rather than God's call…He set himself up for a Fall
We can get so busy lookingFor God on mountaintops
That we miss his PresenceIn the Valleys and the Ordinary things of life
Karaoke
Quit trying to reproduce An experience and
Start seeking the GodWho is there regardless
Of your feelings at the moment
Good times will comeHardships will come
God won't changeAnd won't walk away
Keep your eyes on a fixed object
And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you
doing here, Elijah?
He said, “I have been very jealous for the Lord, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars…
…and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am
left, and they seek my life, to take it away”
"It's not personal…It's about my Call
My glory and your blessingAs you follow Me"
It's not personal…It shouldn't blind you…
But nothing has changed, right?
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-meholah you shall anoint to be prophet
in your place
"You don't get to decideWhat's unchangeable
With a wave of my handI can change everything"
And the one who escapes from the sword of Hazael shall Jehu put to death, and the one who escapes from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha put to death
Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have
not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has
not kissed him”- 1 Kings 18-19
I'm so special…working so hardWhy is God doing this to me?
Sucker…I got 7,000 just like youWho said you were alone?
And just like that…It changes
Nothing is permanent but GodSo he's our focus
Our goal is the Call of God
Permanent
Not if your faith is in Jesus"New creation"
Cross guarantees it
Blinding
If all you can see is youYou ain't seeing near enough
God is greater…alwaysAnd he has a Call on your life
Personal
We all struggleThe enemy says "You're alone"God begs to differ
Hate the hill…Or embrace the hill
Hardships come, Trials come
Today…choose your focus and The purpose of your life
Everything else flows from it
Questions, CommentsDisagreements
Pray
Pray for Youth Trip
Next SundayBaptism at 4 PM
Salem Greenway