Sermon Transcript Tone Analysis

I am going to try and do the slide and in my sermon, but it's a little like, adding my head and rubbing my belly.

So, if I get behind, just let me know.

Since the first week of January, pastor Matt has been taking us through a convicting and encouraging series on what it is to love our neighbor as ourselves.

And through that, we've gotten a deep dive and some rich insight into the into the parable of the Good Samaritan.

And we have looked at the Old Testament and Abraham's faithful, but stumbling attempt to love his neighbor and we have begun to wrestle with what it looks like the live.

Sorry you flipping.

We begin to wrestle with what it looks like to live out this important command in practicality how we think about our neighbors.

Are we divide our time in regards to our neighbors, and what it looks like to love neighbors.

Well, in full lives.

As we continue in our neighboring Series.

Today we are looking at a rather awkward aspect of neighboring.

The aspect of being served by others.

When we talked about neighboring, we will often and very importantly talk about things we can do and ways we can serve.

But today, we are talking about how we can be third.

And this matter is because loving people as a one-way Street does not often lead the great relationship.

And one, real way, relationships can be detrimental.

It can build into our sense of Pride.

It can encourage us to condescend to others.

But when we build relationships, that are two way we can grow in humility, we can extend dignity to others and we can find ourselves being Jesus more clearly.

As we mimic his example, The Jesus that allowed Mary supports pensive oil on his feet, that defended her in doing so accepted her service of him.

There is an uncomfortable vulnerability, though when someone serves us.

If it's not something we asked for, we can feel awkward at the attention or that we aren't someone who should be served.

We can feel that our role as server is being threatened.

And if we take it a step further, if we rely on our neighbors and actually ask them to meet our need, it can expose us to rejection to embarrassment or two loss of status.

When we admit that we are in need, we open ourselves up to others and we lack control over the way that they will choose to respond.

I very clearly remember the day in high school, when I told a good friend, I was having a hard time and she said, you're the one we rely on.

You don't get to have hard time.

I certainly learned the wrong lesson that day about asking others for help and it took me a while to recover from that and it was so tempting to believe the lie.

The God wants me to shoulder the struggles, and the knees, and the issues of others.

But not to share.

My own needs in return, and learning to ask boldly for help from Neighbors, has certainly been a journey for me.

In our scripture today, the Prophet Elijah makes a really bold ask of his neighbor.

He makes an ass from a place of real need.

And he asked of someone also in real need.

We're going to be in first king 17 starting in 47.

Baby.

Sometime later.

The brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land and the word of the Lord came to him.

Meaning Elijah.

Go went to their Assets in the region of sidon and stay there.

I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.

So he went to their FS when he came to the Town Gate, a widow.

Was there Gathering sticks?

He called her and that her and asked, would you bring me a little water in a jar?

So I may have a drink As she was going to get it, he called and bring me please, a piece of bread.

As surely as the Lord your God Lives she replied I don't have any bread.

Only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug.

I am Gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son that we may eat it and die.

Elijah said to her, don't be afraid.

Go home and do as you have said, but first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.

For this is what the Lord.

The god of Israel says, a jar of flour will not be used up.

And the jug of oil will not run dry until the day.

The Lord sends rain on the land.

He went away and did as Elijah had told her there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family for the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry and keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

Are you uncomfortable with Elijah's ask of the Widow.

It's uncomfortable.

It takes such incredible boldness, last a starving Widow, the Fiji Now Elijah had something that we don't always have witches is an assurance from the Lord, that it was the right thing to do, and we don't want to overlook that.

That is important.

However, many of us can probably think of situations much less dire when God told us to do something and we didn't follow through, but Elijah Trust.

We don't have it written down for us, what his thoughts were, or how he felt about the situation, but we have his actions.

God said, I have directed a widow to supply you with food and so Elijah trust and Elijah act with confidence despite the obstacles and there are obstacles.

There is the obvious obstacle the visible lack of food but there is also the Obstacle of location.

Elijah has left the land of Israel.

The land of God's people and he's entered into the territory of sidon.

He is in the land that his future enemy.

Jezebel was raised in the land of Baal worshippers.

But Elijah trust God.

And Elijah asked.

Now none of us really know how we'll react in certain crisis situations until they are upon us.

However, some of us may have found ourselves in that situation tempted to starve rather than to ask that boldly or at the very least to have a bit of a debate with God.

I can think of my objections easily.

If I were Elijah God, this woman is not one of us.

God, it cannot be your purpose, despite what you were saying.

The takeaway went to take from a widow with a dependent.

There has to be a rich guy around here somewhere with a storehouse of food.

Can you direct me to him?

Instead, I could prophesy for him.

He could give me some food at could be a fair exchange of goods.

But Elijah, trust God.

And God provides miraculously for the woman that serves him and for her family and Elijah himself.

let's back up in the story a little at the beginning of this chapter Elijah has appeared in scripture for the very first time and his opening note is the prophesied that the evil King Ahab of Israel that God is bringing about a drought Read that in 1st Kings 17, 1 through 7. Now Elijah the tishbite from tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab as a lord, the god of Israel lives whom I serve, there will be there.

Be neither do nor rain in the next few years.

Accept my word.

And the word of the Lord came to Elijah leave here.

Turn Eastward and hide, and the kerith Ravine east of the Jordan.

You will drink from the Brook and I have directed the Ravens to supply you with food there.

So we did what the Lord had told him.

He went to the kerith Ravine east of the Jordan and stayed there.

The Ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening and he drank from the brook.

Sometime later.

The brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land.

Oh, God has Elijah, do something, Elijah goes and prophesized to Ahab for the Lord, and then God provides a place for Elijah to hide.

He provides food, and he provides water.

Elijah, is being taken care of it.

Is him and God in the Ravine, and he has his needs met, and then God, remove that provision.

When I read that, I feel it because I can think of so many times when I'm confident and comfortable in God getting what I need from him and then God says, okay, it's time to go out and get other people involved.

Be a river.

Not a lake, right?

Matt talked about that in his sermon a few weeks ago when we Trace Abraham, leaving the security of Babylon and going out into a new place.