Whom do you listen to when the culture around you keeps repeating: follow your own heart and build happiness your own way? This sermon opens a new series on the prophet Elijah and the days of King Ahab (1 Kings 16-17), an age of economic success and spiritual compromise, when faith was conveniently reshaped to fit people’s tastes. Elijah received no new revelation; the word God had already given was enough for him to stand in the truth and pay the price for it. Listen to how God provides for those he sends, sometimes through ravens, sometimes through a destitute widow, but always faithfully.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- What did Israel under Ahab look like on the outside compared to its spiritual condition, and what did it mean that Baal worship became the official religion in Samaria?
- Elijah announces a drought, yet we do not read that he heard a voice from heaven. On what basis could he speak, and why was announcing no rain a challenge to Baal?
- The sermon describes Israel's religion as "a bit of Yahweh, a bit of Baal". Where do you see this kind of comfortable modification of faith today, including in your own life?
- Maria's story shows that standing in the truth can cost friendships and opportunities. What helps you stay faithful to God when people around you say to fit in because everyone does it?
- God fed Elijah through unclean ravens and then sent him to a poor pagan widow. How do you respond when God's care comes in a way you do not expect or would not choose?
- Where this week can you be God's voice for others around you, and what small step of trust do you want to take, even if it leads to a quiet brook rather than a great victory?
