Can you believe even when it is costly? This weekend Pastor Steve Andres continued our BELIEVE series with a message about Elijah’s faith.
1 Kings 18:37-38
Elijah prayed, "Answer me, Lord, so these people will know that you are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.
Elijah was dealing with a people whose entire relationship with God existed in the past tense. They had not rejected God, they had added other gods to their worship.
1) Elijah’s faith was a CATALYST.
A catalyst creates a reaction. Healthy people don't go out looking for conflict, but growth and change rarely happen without discomfort.
"Father, make of me a crisis man. Bring those I contact to decision. Let me not be a milepost on a single road; make me a fork, that men must turn one way or another on facing Christ in me."
Jim Elliot
Our real conflict is not with people. People are the prize in the kingdom of God, so our goal is not to defeat people but to win them. Real faith will produce healthy confrontation.
2) Elijah’s faith created COMMITMENT.
Elijah asked, “How long will you waver between two opinions?” Elijah knew that belief was meaningless without obedience.
3) Elijah’s faith was COSTLY.
After years without rain, Elijah’s pouring out of water on the sacrifice was an extravagant act of faith. Are you willing to operate in trust even when it costs you something precious?
When Elijah prayed, God answered with fire from heaven! It may seem like this dramatic story of faith in action is out of reach for us. But the Bible says the opposite.
James 5:17-18
Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for three and a half years! Then, when he prayed again, the sky sent down rain and the earth began to yield its crops.
You can have a faith that God uses to turn hearts towards Him again!
