We Praise Your Name, I Will Bless The Lord At All Times, Good Old Toe Tapper, The Great I Am, Build My Life, It Is No Secret (What God Can Do), Great Big Wonderful God, Trust and Obey

Have you ever been in a situation where you didn’t know what to do and just had to trust God? Briefly describe what happened.

21 Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”…

Last Sunday, we were reminded that our extraordinary God is the incomparable God who does what only God can do—nothing is impossible for Him. He works through ordinary people who trust and obey Him. The message is a reminder to EXPERIENCE THE EXTRAORDINARY GOD BY FAITH. Why is faith important? It is impossible for us to please God without faith. 1 Kings 17:1 introduces us to Elijah the Tishbite, who spoke to the wicked king Ahab and said that there would be no dew or rain in the land except by his word. He was an ordinary man who became extraordinary by the grace of God. In James 5:16-18, he was described as a man with a nature like ours—ordinary, like all of us. But Elijah was a man of prayer. Great things were accomplished through this ordinary man by our extraordinary God. How do we experience the same?

LISTEN

1 Kings 17:2-4 shows us that God had a specific instruction for Elijah. He had become a public enemy because the king believed he was responsible for the drought and famine. So God told Elijah to hide, and that God would give him drink from the brook and that he would be fed by ravens—unclean birds. Elijah listened. Why is listening important? Rom. 10:17 reminds us that faith comes from hearing the word of Christ! God speaks. The only question is, are we listening? Isaiah 55:2-3 rebukes us and gives us a reminder—listen to God! We listen to God through the Bible, through the counsel of people, and through our authorities. The greatest obstacle to listening to God is often not that He is unwilling to guide us, but that we already have a will of our own. George Muller once said, “I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own.” We need to reach a point where we can tell God, “Whatever You say, Lord, I will surrender and trust You!” Many times, we are unable to listen to God because our minds are always cluttered. If we want to experience the extraordinary God, we need to slow down, be quiet, and listen!

OBEY

James 1:22 reminds us to be DOERS of the word. If we believe the Bible is the Word of God, we need to fully surrender to Him and His instructions. A.W. Tozer said, “The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.” You cannot say you have faith in God and not obey! 1 Kings 17:5-6 shows that Elijah obeyed, and it happened as God had said—he drank from the brook, and he was fed by the ravens, who brought him bread and meat. God supplied his needs daily! But then, in 1 Kings 17:7-9, when the brook dried up, he was asked to take another step of obedience—go to Zarephath, where a widow, of all people, would be used by God to provide for him. It was a place of refining, and Elijah followed God. 1 Kings 17:10-11 tells us that Elijah met this widow and asked her for water and bread. The woman told him that she did not have enough to share, as she could not afford to feed her own son. Jesus talked about this in Luke 4:25-26, showing that Elijah was sent to this widow for a mission!

TRUST

Elijah continued to ask the woman to make bread (1 Kings 17:13-14)—an action of obedience to God. It may have seemed impossible and awkward, but the promise according to the word of the Lord was that the bowl of flour and jar of oil would not run out, and it happened just as God said (vv. 15-16)! When God says something, we must obey, for we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). We need to trust God completely. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah was commanded to go and show himself to Ahab, and God said that He would send rain. Ahab continued to blame everything on Elijah and called him the troubler of Israel (1 Kings 18:17), but in the next verse, Elijah courageously confronted the king and told him, “You are the one at fault!” Later on, Elijah challenged the king: gather 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah, and Elijah would face them all. In v. 21, he talked to the people: if you believe in God, follow Him; if Baal, follow him. Elijah challenged these prophets—whoever could send fire on the altar, that would be God. So the prophets of the false gods prayed and prayed, cutting themselves until they bled and shouting—but nothing happened.

SUPPLICATE

Elijah prayed in 1 Kings 18:36-37. God showed His power, and so these prophets of the false god were killed! Now, regarding the promised rain, 1 Kings 18:41-45 shows us how expectant Elijah was for the rain to come. He kept praying by faith, and it did come! Now, when Ahab told his wife, Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to threaten him. Surprisingly, even after seeing God’s power, Elijah ran for his life and became so discouraged and depressed that he even prayed that he would die (1 Kings 19:3-4). His past victories did not guarantee his security! We should depend on the Lord day by day. For Elijah, God was extraordinarily gracious, caring for him and feeding him (1 Kings 19:5-7). Our God meets us in our weakness and restores us, and our failures do not limit Him from accomplishing His purpose. God gave Elijah only one question, and He repeated it twice—WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Our Extraordinary God is present not only in our spiritual highs, but also in our spiritual lows. God gave him three missions to do, and He sent him back to work! How did Elijah’s life end? 2 Kings 2:11-12 shows us that he did not die but was brought to God alive! In the NT, when Jesus was transfigured, two men were talking with Him—Moses and Elijah (Luke 9:29-31). Amazing grace and power in an ordinary man’s story, accomplished by our EXTRAORDINARY GOD

Pray for the Lord to send His witnesses to people whose lives are in “danger” from an eternity without Christ.

Step out in faith and godly courage to use your God-given influence to share the gospel with them!

• Worship God for who He is, what He has done, and what He will do in our lives.

• Upright and moral governance of public servants; repentance and salvation for government leaders and citizens for a Christ-centered Philippines.

• For legislators to promote and support bills and laws aligned with God’s Word.

• Pray for the victims of the flooding caused by Habagat in Luzon. That God may grant favorable weather for the nation

• War in Ukraine to end, loss of lives prevented.

• For the civil war in Syria to end peacefully, protection for Christians and other minorities, and freedom from oppression for Syrians. Pray for the gospel to spread rapidly throughout the country.

• Pray for Sudan and persecuted Christians there; earnestly seek God’s intervention to stop the bloodshed. Pray for freedom from oppression, that God’s word and His people bring them comfort and hope.

• Earthquake victims in Indonesia, Burma, Thailand, and other countries.

• That CCF Members would honor and love God and make disciples.

• For elders, pastors, dleaders, and families to become holy, humble, harmonious, happy, and heart-working.

• Ministries and churches expand worldwide.

• Worship and Training Center

• Prayer Mountain

• Deeper intimate relationship with God.

• Righteous living.

• Salvation of family and friends.

Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.