elijah was a man just like us. james 5:17

Elijah was a man just like us.

James 5:17

So what?

If we are unable to shape the idols of our culture, our witness is undermined.”

Wright

“The western churchis an advanced case of synchretism.”

Lesslie Newbigin

Synchretism:The mixing together of gospeland idolatry in such a way that

the gospel is compromised.

So what?

...so we can foresee where we’re going by looking at where Elijah’s culture went.

Three Types of Culture

1. Pagan2. Partial Pagan3. Post-Pagan

Elijah

“Yahweh is God”

“There is no other God than Jehovah”

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the

land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a

widow in that place to supply you with food.”

1 Kings 17:7-9

So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was

there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a dirnk?” As she was going to get it, he called,

“And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”

1 Kings 17:10-11

“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 oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and

die.”

1 Kings 17:12

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and

your son.”

1 Kings 17:13

“For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says: ‘The jar of flour will not be

used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord gives rain on the

land.’”

1 Kings 17:14

She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So 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, in keeping

with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

1 Kings 17:15-16

Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and

stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food.”

1 Kings 17:8-9

Lessons from Elijah & the Widow

1. God is working on yourbehalf in the background.

“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 oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, so that we may eat it and

die.”

1 Kings 17:12

“I will be with you;I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Joshua 1:5

“And behold, I am with you always,even until the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:13

Lessons from Elijah & the Widow

1. God is working on yourbehalf in the background.

Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and

your son.”

1 Kings 17:13

Lessons from Elijah & the Widow

2. Use what you have.

“Thinking outside the box.”

“Thinking outside the box.”

“Think inside the box.”

[what you can control]

[what you cannot control]

[what you can control]

[what you cannot control]

Elijah said to her, “...first make a small cake of bread for me from what you have

and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son.”

1 Kings 17:13

[what you can control]

[what you cannot control]

God’s strength

Your weakness

Exactly enough=+

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.”

II Corinthians 12:9

[what you can control]

[what you cannot control]

We can always control:

1. Our perspective2. Our actions

She went away and did as Elijah had told her.

1 Kings 17:15

Lessons from Elijah & the Widow

3. God’s promise + your actions = miracle.

She went away and did as Elijah had told her.

1 Kings 17:15

So 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, in keeping with the word

of the Lord spoken by Elijah.

1 Kings 17:16

Do I really believe this?

Lessons from Elijah & the Widow

1. God is working in the background on your behalf.

Am I waiting for outside circumstancesto change, or do I believe that what

God’s given me is already more than enough?

Lessons from Elijah & the Widow

2. Use what you have.

Are my actionslining up with God’s promises?

Lessons from Elijah & the Widow

3. God’s promise + your actions = miracle.