SO EXCITED to be sharing God’s Word TODAY – Superbowl Sunday!
We will have tailgating, shaking off the pregame jitters, a good huddle, the HALFTIME SHOW, hunkering down in the 3rd quarter, chariots of fire and angel reinforcements in the 4th, OVERTIME!
Let’s cheer for Prophet ELIJAH!!! E – L – I – J – A – H ! ELIJAH! It’s a God Thing…
PREGAME – The Children’s Message
So – let’s start with TAILGATING WITH GOD! Yeah, we love game day food. Here’s an amazing story INTERESTING way food was provided by God! Even in a drought! God called upon a man named ELIJAH – to be a prophet – which is God’s way of sending out information and advice – to talk to people thru a prophet who would tell them what is going to happen and how it would go down.
Well – God needed ELIJAH to do a lot of things – but there were people who were not supportive of either Elijah or any prophets of God – they wanted to hold the power and do their own thing…
Two people, a couple, Ahab and Jezebel were king and queen of Israel, in the time well before Jesus came to earth. Jezebel – you may have heard that name as a troublemaker – and she and and Ahab stopped listening to our One True God, in favor of the worship of Baal and Asherah – false made up gods. Jezebel was responsible for the deaths of many of God’s prophets. Prophets were holy people who listened to God and tried to help the people by telling them what God wished. Prophet Elijah – a good guy – was trying to do God’s work. But there were people chasing him… It was a bad scene – but God got him thru it and kept him safe.
Do you think it is a good thing to talk to God and trust God when we feel unsafe or scared or lacking something? Yes – we all have jobs to do – and if God asks us to go somewhere or do something – surely we are to remember that He is with us – just like now.
God said to Elijah: “… I am sending you to the children of Israel who have, as a nation, rebelled against Me; – do not be afraid of them – nor be afraid of their words – You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or not… “
So Elijah did go talk to Ahab!!! Elijah was to Announce a Great Drought – he said directly to Ahab the king, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my [God’s] word.”
So Elijah did what God asked even it was unpopular – and God protected him – then God told Elijah to hide in a Ravine. God sent THE BIRDS! Yes – football birds? NO – RAVENS – God said “You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”
What??? – YES! The ravens – which are black birds like crows – brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
God took care of ELIJAH – God sent him “into the game” – Will God take care of us in whatever tasks He asks? Yes, He will – and He will use AMAZING ways – sometimes even the birds – All creation is in His Power – used for Good. Amen Let’s pray: Lord – you won the coin toss of this game of life before we even stepped onto the field – you have us safe and already headed home – we have the home team advantage with You, Lord.– may we always trust You – AMEN
SERMON 1st Quarter…
Now – like Football – ELIJAH is feeling out how he is going to play in this game – of course it is not a game but you know Elijah had those pre-game jitters (and middle of the game jitters too – but he hit the field!
YIKES – that football and farmer’s field would have been BONE DRY – remember God send a drought – surely to teach king Ahab a lesson about His Almighty power. – SO that brook dried up – where the ravens were bringing Elijah food and he was drinking – so God sent him to on a journey.
God said: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” 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 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.” YES THINGS WERE DIRE !!!
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: ‘The 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.’” 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.
AWESOME… ELIJAH surely was strengthened in both his travels and in his assurance that God would take care of Him – and whatever God’s plan was with him and the people…
This is great because the Second Quarter? – oh – now the game was getting tougher – and tragedy struck for the widow – and it was time for Elijah to have a really important HUDDLE with God!
Second Quarter… breathing life into the game…
Here is the story: “Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. The woman said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”
“Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”
The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and HE LIVED. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!”
Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”
Now this huddle of Elijah and God was so key – Elijah could see the problem and questions God – and we too must regroup = this might seem like a retreat into the locker room sometimes and not come out until we are rehabilitated – like from an injury – or sometimes we play hurt… We see Elijah has performed a miracle for the boy – and his mother – this is reminiscent of the miracles that Jesus performed healing the sick and raising the dead like Lazarus and Jarius’s daughter = these acts are for the people watching to understand the mercy of God and the POWER of God. We too must realize that God can breath life into our lives = into our game plans – and often uses our friends to get us rallied and back onto the field…
HALFTIME !!!!!!!!!!
Woohoo!!! It’s TIME FOR THE HALFTIME SPECTACULAR!!! This grandeur is unparalleled – for God’s got something to show Ahab (and Jezebel and the false prophets) by – through the real Elijah devotion of working on God’s behalf. !!!
Let’s set the stage for this powerful production! Elijah is daring enough to talk to King Ahab directly – he does not believe in the almighty God of the Israelites – think Elijah is the trouble maker. But really Elijah is the truth teller – a prophet sent from God: he said to Ahab “I have not made trouble for Israel,” – “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. [that’s the fake god they worship] – Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Queen Jezebel’s table.”
And they gathered on the mountain – Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing. Then Elijah said to them, “Get two bulls for us – cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”
WOW WOW WOW – what a challenge – and the false prophets of the false god called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made. THAT is quite the half time spectacular song and dance but with no fire – NOTHING HAPPENED with a fake god… At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” – So they shouted louder – continued until evening – But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.
Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”
WHAT???? Did you ever see Prince doing the half time show in the POURING RAIN? Playing purple rain? This is 4 LARGE jugs of water poured all over the altar and all that dry wood he just placed!
“Do it again,” he said, “Do it a third time,” he ordered – water ran down the altar and even filled the trench.
Elijah prayed: “Lord, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
This was not just a show – this was a SPECTACULAR POWER DISPLAY OF GOD – WOW !!!
*** THE POINT IS GOD WANTED THEM TO TURN THEIR HEARTS BACK TO HIM ***
3rd Quarter = time for Elijah to hunker down
WOW – you can imagine that Ahab and Jezebel are not happy with Elijah now!!!!
And Elijah had one of those “are you sure Lord that this is really the way? Am I really OK? Can I really go on? God surely gave Elijah the knowledge and the protection – to keep moving – and the power of the Lord came on Elijah and he ran down the field – he kept moving!!!!! Yes –
Elijah is back on the field, bit oh, the other team is chasing Elijah, YIKES
19 Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and even killed false prophetss – So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”
Elijah was afraid and ran for his life – went a day’s journey into the wilderness… Elijah said: Wait, time out time out!!!
Elijah needs a break…
He came to a bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life” Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep.
All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.
Elijah is so exhausted, all this running! The chase and the people are against him… he has no strength, who does God send? The sideline crew comes running onto the field. Gatorade and medical care. Actually ANGELS came at God’s request to tend to Elijah. Food and sleep…
Then Elijah rested… isn’t that us too, an awful day, people chasing us or maybe we just perceive the fight and our minds run away from us – it’s awful, awful. God wants us to rest, calls a time out to sleep, eat something, God says His mercies are fresh each morning.
Elijah is watching the world in turmoil – God says well, yes, but you’re still on my team and I need you… and the people, they need you…
And here is that scripture that gives me chills –
We are to remember that the Lord is ON the field with Elijah – and us – again from 1st Kings
The word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
Elijah replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came. When you get there, anoint a new king – and anoint Elisha as a new prophet to succeed you…
The Lord gave instructions to keep moving… think of the whisper- maybe in football terms Elijah and we have the best in helmet headset microphone system that connects us directly to God.
May we yield to the Holy Spirit even and especially in a whisper, listening close…
Let’s get back on the field, it’s the 4th quarter…
4th Quarter – 2nd Kings 1-2 NIV
Elijah needs no “Hail Mary” football toss – Elijah is instructed by the Lord to keep running the ball – which you may know runs out the clock on the other team…
Elijah had a continuous mission to show the others who worshiped the false gods that the One True God was the ONLY God.. and even if others were worshiping – or wanting to worship false gods like Baal – again and again, Elijah was clearly gifted with responses that came from God’s Power. The fire of God fell from heaven and consumed more than just altars and sacrifices now – it consumed Elijah’s enemies too.
SO – here is the last game play in this earthly superbowl of Elijah –
ELIJAH PASSED THE BALL – NOT TAKING CONTINUED GLORY FOR HIMSELF – knowing he was a team player: ELIJAH PASSED THE BALL TO ELISHA – ANOTHER PROPHET –
Here is the scripture: As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.
Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.
Yeah – God’s power was still on the field… and Elisha continued God’s work – Elisha even had a second experience of seeing God’s chariots of fire – the Angel Armies – later on the servant prophet Elisha would pray for another servant to see: “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
YES – we too have angel armies all around us – they are fighting for us in today’s world – fighting an invisible-to-us fight in the heavenly realms – remember that God is with you and He IS fighting for you!
FOREVER OVERTIME !!!!
SO WHAT ABOUT THE END OF THIS GAME? IT WAS A SUPER SPECTACULAR SUPERBOWL RIGHT?
BUT ELIJAH WAS TAKEN UP TO HEAVEN – HE DIDN’T DIE BUT GOT RELOCATED – GOD SENT ELIJAH INTO FOREVER OVERTIME!!!
Let us rework the song lyrics now – “FLY ELIJAH FLY!!! God has won this Victory…”
‘So in conclusion to my sermon of a prophet man who stayed in the game with God’s grace and mercy – encouraging us that we can do this too!
And it is written in the scriptures that Elijah is the messenger for Jesus to come – it is
Overtime for Elijah – and we do see him again – a special guest appearance in the transfiguration of Jesus – from Matthew 17 – Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
And all of them saw a bright cloud covering, and heard a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” – WOW –
Jesus said: “To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him” – the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist. John the Baptist like Elijah was calling for people to repent – to ask forgiveness for going astray – and that is us too – Jesus asks us to believe in Him – in the power of God – to worship the Almighty…
So please pray with me:
Lord, it is not a victory lap that Elijah is having in heaven but still working the sidelines of earth inside the real workings of Heaven. As Elijah is in overtime – may we also be in our bonus time – the real life experiences of living for God and keeping moving up the field… May we know that there are sometimes turnovers and intentional grounding of strenuous times of life – but God has got this – and we will overcome with His help = with His angels tending to us too. May we, Lord, Trust and obey You – AMEN
Debbie Upper 