Family Worship Night
Notes
Transcript
A Call to Repentance
A Call to Repentance
When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Is that you, the one ruining Israel?”
He replied, “I have not ruined Israel, but you and your father’s family have, because you have abandoned the Lord’s commands and followed the Baals. Now summon all Israel to meet me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
So Ahab summoned all the Israelites and gathered the prophets at Mount Carmel. Then Elijah approached all the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. But if Baal, follow him.” But the people didn’t answer him a word.
The situation was difficult.
The people of God were 3 years into a drought. No rain on this ancient, agrarian culture that depended on crops survive. People were starving and dying. And unfortunately, the spiritual health of this people was not any better. They had turned away from God. They had begun to worship other gods, specifically Baal and Asherah, two of the most popular pagan gods of their time. But this wasn’t a random decision. These were fertility gods. Baal was known as the god of agriculture, meaning when it came to the land produce food and rain keeping everything alive, he was the god to worship.
So, even though the people of God knew that Yahweh, the God of Israel was the only true God and they knew they were commanded to worship no other gods, they turned to baal worship. Especially in the midst of such a hard season. Though they had a relationship with God, and they knew all the right information, in the midst of a terrible crisis, a 3 year drought and famine- well Baal is a lot more practical. Everyone else is wroshiping him, he is known for bringing rain. So, why not try to be Yahweh’s people, and just add in some Baal worship to keep people alive right?
Elijah sees this happening around him and he says, stop wavering between these two gods. They are not the same! In fact the word he uses for wavering, is actually the word limping. Trying to follow both of these gods is like limping around everywhere you go, weighed down by this division and false worship. He says, choose who you will follow. If the Lord is God then follow him, but if Baal is god, then follow him, but stop deceiving yourselves thinking you can have it both ways.
And Elijah calls for a showdown between the gods to force the people to make their choice. He will be the one faithful prophet for Yahweh. And he invites all of the prophets of Baal to have a showdown of worship at the altars on Mount Carmel.
Elijah sees God’s people struggling, he knows they need to turn back to God and worship him alone, but in order for revival to come, repentance must take place.
Revival won’t come until repentance does.
Tonight, we are gathered to worship the one true God, the only one worthy of our worship. And I believe if we are honest, most of us would say that we have been in a hard season. From many people going through sicknesses, loss, and struggles, to the difficulties of our church going through this time of transition between lead pastors. This has been a hard season for us all. Honestly, the 3 years that Jenna and I have been here have all been filled with very unique and specific struggles for us as a church. I believe many of us feel the need for rain. We feel the need for that revival in the midst of drought.
But revival won’t come before repentance does. As Elijah called the people of Israel to examine their hearts and see where their worship was, I believe we too must see where our hearts are with God if we truly want to see Him come and bring us back to life.
Intentionally or unintentionally, it is easy to compromise and follow the practical gods of our world. It’s easy to let our calendars and priorities get away from us, it is easy to look for satisfaction in our job, school, sports, or finances. It is easy to tolerate sins that are hidden in our lives. But these things show our worship is fully devoted to God. And we must decide Jesus Lord? If Jesus is Lord then we must worship him with all we have!
Tonight before we sing a single song I want us to have a time of prayer and response together.
Invite Band Up.
Beneath your seats you will find a blank piece and a pen, don’t grab the paper with writing on it yet.
Prayer, reflect what you need to give up to God. Write it and put it at the foot of the cross.
A Church on Fire:
Altars set up, wood and bull but no fire.
Verse 29
Summarize Baal failed worship. (how hard we have to work to see no results when we turn to anyone but God.)
All afternoon they kept on raving until the offering of the evening sacrifice, but there was no sound; no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near me.” So all the people approached him. Then he repaired the Lord’s altar that had been torn down: Elijah took twelve stones—according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Israel will be your name”—and he built an altar with the stones in the name of the Lord. Then he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold about four gallons. Next, he arranged the wood, cut up the bull, and placed it on the wood. He said, “Fill four water pots with water and pour it on the offering to be burned and on the wood.” Then he said, “A second time!” and they did it a second time. And then he said, “A third time!” and they did it a third time. So the water ran all around the altar; he even filled the trench with water.
At the time for offering the evening sacrifice, the prophet Elijah approached the altar and said, “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, today let it be known that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that at your word I have done all these things. Answer me, Lord! Answer me so that this people will know that you, the Lord, are God and that you have turned their hearts back.”
Then the Lord’s fire fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell facedown and said, “The Lord, he is God! The Lord, he is God!”
The Lord, He is God.
This is our core believe at Christians. This is why we worship. This is why, in the midst of lifes hardest seasons we can sing, and have peace, and joy and hope. Because the Lord is GOD!
Elijah doesn’t just want to see a close victory, He wants there to be an undeniable, unbelievable blowout by Yahweh over Baal. He knows that no matter what the situation looks like Yahweh is God and will not fail. So, he has them pour gallons and gallons of water over this altar. Remember this is ina doguht- he fully believes that God will bring the rain. Elijah is willing to offer up the most precious and expensive offering he can with this water because he knows God is worthy and God wll come through!
And with just a simple, and short prayer, not ranting and raving like the other prophets, God shows up, he sends fire down and torches the altar and dries up all the water!
The Lord is God.
God is worthy of our worship and when we worship Him as he deserves we get to be set on fire as His people. We can’t settle for having a nice christian home, a nice christian family, or a good church service. WE must desire intimate relationship with God, dangerous worship that sets us on fire when we realize and declare with all boldness that the LORD IS GOD!
Tonight before we continue I want us to open our Bibles, or if you forgot yours, you can use the bible app on your phone. But I believe us being on fire for God requires that we are individually spending time with god in prayer and scripture and that we build one another up with that. So, maybe you have done this before or maybe not, but I want you to turn to whatever verse or passage God has been teaching you from lately. And just read a verse or two out loud in this place. You don’t have to raise your hand or anything, read whatever verse or few verses God has been meeting with you through lately, you don’t have to explain it or anything, just read it out loud so that as we continue to worship we see The LORD IS GOD and His WORD will remind each of us why we can worship him!
The City on Fire.
Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a rainstorm.”
So Ahab went to eat and drink, but Elijah went up to the summit of Carmel. He bent down on the ground and put his face between his knees. Then he said to his servant, “Go up and look toward the sea.”
So he went up, looked, and said, “There’s nothing.”
Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.”
On the seventh time, he reported, “There’s a cloud as small as a man’s hand coming up from the sea.”
Then Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Get your chariot ready and go down so the rain doesn’t stop you.’ ”
In a little while, the sky grew dark with clouds and wind, and there was a downpour. So Ahab got in his chariot and went to Jezreel. The power of the Lord was on Elijah, and he tucked his mantle under his belt and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.
The people of god repented and turned to God out of this time of worship and the display of God’s power. His people are set on fire but it doesn’t stop there. There is a starving and dying city around them full of Israelites and gentiles. God sends rain on the whole city.
This may not seem like a major detail to dwell on but I believe it is. God’s people turned back, they are set on fire once again to worship God, but God’s will is not just for his own peole to be on fire for HIm, he wants the nations!
God’s ultimate will is not for the church to be on fire, but the city!
Our worship as a church being fullyd evoted to God will overflow out of these walls, out of our lives, and into the world around us. As we follow Jesus, our Lord, in full surrender the world around us will be impacted. As we tell them about the God woh can bring the rain that leads to new life we will see salvation, healing, and transformation take place!
We must be on fire, so the city can be too.
To close tonight I want us to think about God’s heart for the city.
You have another card under your seat.