Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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*Revive! Are you ready to come back to life? -Love Deeply!*
John Chilcote let the proverbial cat out of the bag.
He told me last Wednesday night.
/“Greg, did you hear about Cedar Point’s new roller coaster opening in 2013?”/
Well, let’s not just talk about it – let’s live it!
*Introducing - the Gatekeeper! (Gatekeeper @ Cedar Point Video) *
Who wants to go for a ride?
*Check out this press release.
/“/*/T//he GateKeeper will be the world's longest winged coaster.
It will also go into the record books for having the longest drop of its type -- 164 feet.
Winged coasters feature pairs of riders sitting on either side of a track with nothing above or below them, simulating the feeling of flight.
The attraction will feature drops, loops, a 360 degree spiral and a move called the Zero-G-Roll which will take riders through two support towers located near the park's entrance.”*[i]*/
Who likes rollercoasters?
Who does not?
/Truth is Greg the carrousel at the Columbus Zoo makes me nervous!/
I am partial to the Blue Streak, but truthfully the Blue Steak is nothing compared to the Gatekeeper.
God has been speaking to Elijah in 1st Kings 17. Today he’s about to say to Elijah! /“Elijah, let me take you for a ride!”
If you think fast food bird delivery is special, wait to you see what I’m about to do next!”/
*Let’s find out!
Open up your Bibles to 1st Kings 17. Let’s go for a ride!
Do you need a Bible?*
1st & 2nd Kings are about KINGS! Namely kings who led God’s people either toward or away from God.
Most led them away from God.
One of those kings was named Ahab!
Ahab worshipped Baal.
/“Baal idols are often //portrayed as a man with the head and horns of a bull.
His right hand is raised, and he holds a lightning bolt, signifying both destruction and fertility.”*[ii]*//
/Ahab’s wife Jezebel worshipped Baal.
In order to please his wife Ahab constructed a temple to Baal that led the entire nation of Israel to sin!
Do you like contests?
I want you to meet 35 year old Tim Janus.
Tim Janus won the 2012 World Burping Championship held at Hudson Station in New York City this past June 12th.
Janus won the contest with an amazing 18.1 second belch.
He said this about his accomplishment, /"It's beautiful, really."*[iii]*//Here’s
a better contest.
God vs. Baal.
/I used to always think the contest between Elijah and the 450 prophets of Baal began in chapter 18.
Not true.
The contest has already begun – it starts right here in chapter 17! Either Baal will make it rain or God will make rain!
One will RAIN supreme! *Read 17: 1-6.* *The accommodations are pretty good*.
Despite the drought, Elijah eats twice a day and apparently can drink water anytime he wants!
Plus, God did more than just provide food and water.
God gave him protection!
I’m speculating here, but at first I bet Ahab did not give Elijah’s words a second thought!
But then a week passes by – then 2, then a month, then 6 months!
No rain.
Don’t you think King Ahab would have sent his soldiers out to look for Elijah?
I can see the posters now – /“Wanted, Elijah, Dead or Alive”, but preferably alive! /
God sent Elijah to this ravine to completely protect him.
I wonder what Elijah did?
He was all alone, right?
Well, yes and no.
Physically yes, but no, God was with him!
I wonder if this alone time was some sort of training.
I imagine Elijah had a lot of time to reflect! Did God speak to him to reassure him or did seeing ravens come with bread and meat every day twice a day do the trick?
That’s not how it’s supposed to work.
*Birds don’t bring people food (they are food) and big fish don’t swallow people alive – unless God tells them to! *
Elijah is in a ravine, alone with God!
He has time to reflect!
If your walk with God has stalled.
If things seem dry or dull than I encourage you to do what Elijah did.
Find your ravine and get alone with God and reflect!
Time passes by.
I don’t know if Elijah felt great comfort behind these huge rock walls or if he felt confined by these huge rock walls, *I just know God decides to take him on a ride he will never forget.*
*Go to 1st Kings 17:7.*
At this point it’s been less than 3 years but longer than 6 months[iv] without rain!
My guestimate - 18 months!
Crazy question, but could God have kept the brook flowing?
YES!
But he doesn’t!
So is Elijah in trouble?
*Let’s keep reading.
Find verse 8. Read 8-9.*
* Now two women are involved here.
One is a widow and one is married.*
One has no power and the other has more influence than you can imagine.
Let’s take the widow first!
Next week we will see her response to Elijah, but for today let’s focus on Elijah’s response to her.
I bet Elijah is scratching his head right now. *Look at this map.*[v]**
/God, you want me to go from here to here.
/This area to the east is modern day Syria and this area to the north is modern day Lebanon.[vi]
And of all the people in the world you are sending me to a widow and worse than that a non-Jew widow?
This lady is a gentile.
* If you are experiencing drought in your life, consider doing what Elijah did.
*Take a risk and go help someone who’s not like you! Let me tell you a story about Kary Oberbrunner.
Kary Oberbrunner shared a story about his encounter with an older man named Bob.
While Kary was at the local gym, trying to stay focused on his exercise routine, he noticed an elderly man fumbling with an MP3 player and headphones.
At first, Kary tried to ignore the man, but as the man was becoming more frustrated with the technology, Kary reluctantly introduced himself and asked if he could help.
The man dejectedly explained, "Hi, I'm Bob, and I love jazz, but I can't get it on this dumb player."
Against his initial wishes, I visited him at his apartment.
Turns out his wife had died a couple years before, and all his earthly possessions were crammed into a small apartment.
She had been their main breadwinner, so the bank repossessed his house when he was unable to make payments.
Bob and I made a makeshift space in his back room near his desktop computer.
One at a time I imported his jazz CD collection onto his hard drive, intending to transfer the MP3s eventually to his player.
While importing his music, Bob and I talked about life, his wife, and God.
The weeks following I checked in on Bob often.
Kind of funny how two guys who are complete opposites can become the best of friends, all because of an MP3 player.
Bob is 71.
Kary is 32.
Bob is black.
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