1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,160 It's now time for Children's Church. If we got any little tykes, I don't think we do, 2 00:00:10,160 --> 00:00:17,060 but sometimes I miss them. So if you're hiding somewhere, now is the time. For the rest of 3 00:00:17,060 --> 00:00:31,520 you little tykes, we're going to hang out in here in Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 4 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:44,280 11, verses 3 and 4. And we're actually going to look kind of at two sections of scripture 5 00:00:44,280 --> 00:00:52,280 today and we're really not going to look at either of them in the context necessarily. 6 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:57,080 You can read Romans 9 through 11 this week if you'd like to if you want to get a little 7 00:00:57,080 --> 00:01:03,160 more of the context about what's going on there. But there's one little part in Romans 8 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:11,560 chapter 11 that's going to take us back to a story from 1 Kings chapter 18 and 19, which 9 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:16,800 you guys have heard me preach probably ten times. I probably preach it at least once 10 00:01:16,800 --> 00:01:22,720 a year. And we'll hit it today kind of along the same lines that I've preached it in the 11 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:30,320 past, but really focusing on one little part of this passage, which I will admit is somewhat 12 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:37,600 out of context, but I don't think it's irrelevant. And so we'll look at Romans chapter 11 and 13 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:44,800 then we'll talk about 1 Kings 18 and 19. You can make a mark or a note of that and I encourage 14 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:49,720 you this week to go back and read the story. I won't go through it verse by verse just 15 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:54,780 for time's sake, but we will talk about it. But those are some good homework for you this 16 00:01:54,780 --> 00:02:01,000 week, 1 Kings 18 and 19 and Romans 9, 10, and 11, so you can kind of understand the 17 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:11,400 context a little better. So Romans chapter 11 verses 3 and 4. This is Elijah speaking 18 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:18,880 here that it's referencing in this verse. Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn 19 00:02:18,880 --> 00:02:27,800 down your altars. I am the only one left and they are trying to take my life. But what 20 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:35,320 was God's reply to him? I have left 7,000 men for myself who have not bowed down to 21 00:02:35,320 --> 00:02:42,100 Baal. Let's pray. God, we come to you. We thank you for being good to us. We thank you 22 00:02:42,100 --> 00:02:46,440 for the freedom we have in this country to come and to hear your word. And I pray, dear 23 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:50,840 Lord, that your Holy Spirit would be among us today. I pray that you would help us to 24 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:55,280 listen to your word. I pray that you would meet us where we are, dear Lord. There are 25 00:02:55,280 --> 00:03:01,040 days that we feel like Elijah does in this story. And so I pray that as we look at this 26 00:03:01,040 --> 00:03:06,640 story and see what happened and see how you responded and see how he responded, dear Lord, 27 00:03:06,640 --> 00:03:11,360 that we can make some connections in our own life and that we can be strengthened in this. 28 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:15,720 So I pray, God, that you would keep me humble today. I pray that you would take away any 29 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:20,400 fear that I have, that you would let your words come into my mind and out of my mouth, 30 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:26,280 dear Lord, that today we hear from you because, God, there is no good words that I can say 31 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,840 unless they come from you. So, dear Lord, I pray that you'd help us to be free of our 32 00:03:29,840 --> 00:03:34,740 worries and distractions today and that we know that there is nothing else that matters 33 00:03:34,740 --> 00:03:40,480 more than your word and drawing closer to you today. So I pray that your Spirit would 34 00:03:40,480 --> 00:03:46,560 work. And I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen. 35 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:53,040 In Romans chapter 11 here, there is a brief reference to the story of Elijah when he took 36 00:03:53,040 --> 00:04:00,160 on the prophets of Baal. Now, Baal was a false god that some of the people had begun to worship. 37 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:05,160 Now, they certainly should have worshiped God, Yahweh, as he's often referred to in 38 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:09,040 the Old Testament. That's the God that we come to worship today. And they should have 39 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:14,640 been worshiping Yahweh. And God gave them lots of instructions through the years from 40 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:18,720 Exodus onwards. And they would hear those commands and instructions. And they would 41 00:04:18,720 --> 00:04:24,320 say, God, we're going to do what you tell us to do. And much like you and I, when we 42 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:29,800 say that, it doesn't take long until we fail. And they had failed pretty greatly. There 43 00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:38,960 were a lot of people that had begun to worship Baal. And Elijah was kind of a lone ranger. 44 00:04:38,960 --> 00:04:42,720 There really weren't a lot of other prophets. There wasn't really anybody standing up for 45 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:49,080 the Lord there. And Elijah, this was going to be his calling. This is what the Lord wants 46 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:56,480 him to do, is to stand up against these false prophets, the prophets of Baal, and this false 47 00:04:56,480 --> 00:05:04,960 god. And so, in 1 Kings chapter 18, we see Elijah do just that. Now, the scripture tells 48 00:05:04,960 --> 00:05:13,040 us that there are 450 of these false prophets. So here's this one man, Elijah, by himself. 49 00:05:13,040 --> 00:05:20,440 And here are these 450 men. And Elijah challenges them. He says, here's what we're going to 50 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:28,960 do. We will determine today whose God is real and whose God is fake. He said, what I challenge 51 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:35,960 you to is let's both take us a bull and we'll get it all cut up. We'll get it the way it 52 00:05:35,960 --> 00:05:41,160 needs to be. We'll get some wood laid out. We'll make a little bit of an altar here. 53 00:05:41,160 --> 00:05:49,440 And you can call out to your God, and I will call out to my God. And whosoever God answers, 54 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:54,360 we'll know once and for all that that is the true God. And this seemed like a good idea 55 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:59,440 to them. They said, this is good. We can agree to these terms. And so, they both began to 56 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:05,440 prepare their animal for the sacrifice, and they got their wood ready. And Elijah said, 57 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:11,200 you guys go first. And so, these 450 prophets of Baal and all these people were gathered 58 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:15,800 around that were worshiping these false gods. Obviously, they want to see what's going to 59 00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:20,800 happen. And Elijah said, we're going to get all of our stuff ready, and we're going to 60 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:27,560 call for our God. And whichever God comes down and sends fire from heaven and consumes 61 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:32,720 this altar we've made, we'll know that that's the true God. They say, sounds good to us. 62 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:39,120 Works for me. So, he says, y'all go first. They get everything ready. And they start, 63 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:46,080 oh, Baal, we call out to you. Come on and light our fire. We call out to you. And nothing 64 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:51,120 happened. And they kept going. And they kept going. Hour after hour. They kept going through 65 00:06:51,120 --> 00:07:00,080 all this stuff and praying and all this hollering out. And Baal did not do a single thing. And 66 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:06,480 so, Elijah, having a little sense of humor, begins to mock them a little bit. He says, 67 00:07:06,480 --> 00:07:11,600 well, just talk a little louder. Maybe he can't hear you. He might be out on the road 68 00:07:11,600 --> 00:07:16,480 traveling. He might be asleep. He might be busy doing something else. Maybe he stepped 69 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:22,240 away for a while. Just keep on calling out. So, he's kind of poking fun out. Well, you 70 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:26,960 know that's probably got to get them a little upset. But they keep on, oh, Baal, we praise 71 00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:33,200 you. Come on, hear our calls. Oh. And he don't listen. And so, they start dancing around. 72 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:37,440 They dancing around. They shaking their hands. They getting their knives and their spears. 73 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:43,120 And they start cutting themselves. Oh, Baal, listen to us. And blood's running down from 74 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:48,760 them. And for hours and hours and hours, they jump around and they scream like a bunch of 75 00:07:48,760 --> 00:07:54,720 fools and nothing happens. Because there ain't no God that they're praying to. They praying 76 00:07:54,720 --> 00:08:00,280 to nothing. Because there ain't no other God. There's one God. Well, evening comes and ain't 77 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:07,000 nothing happened. So, Elijah says, it's my turn now. So, Elijah, he dug him a little 78 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:11,800 trench around where he had his animal there and he had his wood. Everything was chopped 79 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:17,520 up and poured about, scripture says, approximately four gallons of water all over the top of 80 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:22,560 it. It was soaked and wet. And the water run down and filled a little trench around it. 81 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:33,280 And Elijah says, y'all watch this. And he calls to Yahweh. He calls to God. And as soon 82 00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:39,560 as he does, guess what happens? Boom! This fire comes down and consumes everything. The 83 00:08:39,560 --> 00:08:47,120 animal, the water, the wood, the rocks, everything there, it says, was consumed in an instant. 84 00:08:47,120 --> 00:08:53,760 Now, all the people saw that. And then Elijah said, all these frost prophets need to be 85 00:08:53,760 --> 00:08:58,020 killed. What a powerful story. What a wonderful story. It's one of my favorite stories in 86 00:08:58,020 --> 00:09:03,240 all scripture. And then you flip the page. Now, Elijah has just experienced the power 87 00:09:03,240 --> 00:09:10,960 of God. Could you imagine today that if you said, God, would you rain fire from heaven 88 00:09:10,960 --> 00:09:16,240 to show me your power so that everyone can see that you are real and you exist and God 89 00:09:16,240 --> 00:09:21,720 does that in an instant? Could you imagine what that feeling must feel like? Holy smokes. 90 00:09:21,720 --> 00:09:26,480 Even if you trust God and know God could do it and believe God could do it, that would 91 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:32,360 probably be so... I'd be left standing still like, oh, wow. God has just shown up in a 92 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:37,640 powerful way because I called on him. God called me to serve. I was obedient to him 93 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:43,440 and I called out to God and God responded to me. Now, this would have been, I would 94 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:53,040 assume, a powerful moment in the life of Elijah. And you turn the page and, well, King Ahab's 95 00:09:53,040 --> 00:09:59,600 wife Jezebel is not really happy with this. Not happy that these prophets of Baal had 96 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:08,000 been killed. Not happy with what Elijah had done. And so she sends word, I want Elijah 97 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:15,200 dead. I want him dead. Now, Elijah becomes afraid, which is pretty normal, I guess, when 98 00:10:15,200 --> 00:10:22,280 somebody's trying to kill you. And after all that God has done, after he's seen the power 99 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:30,080 of God, he goes and he wants to give up. He goes and he's ready to give up and he lays 100 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:35,720 down under a tree and says, God, I just want to die. I just want to give up, God. Well, 101 00:10:35,720 --> 00:10:39,040 God doesn't let him give up. God sends an angel and gives him some bread, gives him 102 00:10:39,040 --> 00:10:44,240 some water, lets him rest up, ministers to him, and begins to speak to him. And he speaks 103 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:50,880 to him in a still, small voice. And Elijah says to him, and that's what we just saw in 104 00:10:50,880 --> 00:10:59,000 Romans chapter 11, and we see it also in 1 Kings chapter 19, Elijah says to him, he says, 105 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:09,480 God, I've done everything you have asked, but I alone am left. I'm the only one. God, 106 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:17,120 I am alone and I am afraid. I am by myself. And God responds and we see God's response 107 00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:25,240 in Romans chapter 11. He says, not so Elijah. There's a remnant. There's 7,000 more. You're 108 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:31,040 not alone. There are other people other than you who want to stand up for me and who are 109 00:11:31,040 --> 00:11:38,040 willing to stand beside me. Now here's where we're going to get a little out of the context 110 00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,960 of what the passage says. Now I told you the story. We kind of understand what the story 111 00:11:41,960 --> 00:11:46,320 says, but there was one part of that when I was reading through Romans this week, there 112 00:11:46,320 --> 00:11:53,760 was one part of that when I read that verse that made me think, do we ever feel like Elijah? 113 00:11:53,760 --> 00:12:01,160 Do we ever feel like we are alone? There are days in our life that we feel that we are 114 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:09,280 alone and maybe we have experienced the power of God in a mighty way like Elijah did, but 115 00:12:09,280 --> 00:12:13,880 there are things in our life, there are days in our life that it is hard and that we feel 116 00:12:13,880 --> 00:12:20,040 like we are alone and that nobody understands what we are going through and nobody can relate 117 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:26,880 to us and nobody can help us and we are ready to give up. Sometimes even when we sit in 118 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:33,440 a room like this full of people, we still feel alone, surrounded by people. There are 119 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:42,440 days in our life that we are not so unlike Elijah, that we feel alone. Maybe you felt 120 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:47,040 that way, maybe there are some in here today and you feel that way, maybe there are a couple, 121 00:12:47,040 --> 00:12:50,880 maybe there are ten of us, maybe there are half of us that came in here today and there 122 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:56,440 is something you are going through in your life and for whatever reason you believe God, 123 00:12:56,440 --> 00:13:01,520 you trust in God, you know that there are people here that love you, but there are days 124 00:13:01,520 --> 00:13:08,600 that we just feel that we are alone. Well I want to tell you today that you are not 125 00:13:08,600 --> 00:13:15,080 alone. God told his people as he was getting ready to lead them into the promised land, 126 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:25,320 he told them, I will never leave you or forsake you. God cares about you today. He cares about 127 00:13:25,320 --> 00:13:31,200 you and sometimes we need to be reminded of that, sometimes it is hard for us to see God, 128 00:13:31,200 --> 00:13:35,020 sometimes we are overwhelmed with the things that are going on around us in the same way 129 00:13:35,020 --> 00:13:41,020 that Elijah was, his life was in jeopardy, he was overwhelmed by the threat, whatever 130 00:13:41,020 --> 00:13:46,320 it may be there are things in our life that sometimes are so overwhelming to us that even 131 00:13:46,320 --> 00:13:52,600 if we have just experienced the power of God and know the power of God, that in our feeling 132 00:13:52,600 --> 00:13:59,440 of being alone that that kind of depresses us and draws us into our self and away from 133 00:13:59,440 --> 00:14:04,640 the power of God and away from the people of God who love us and I think that that is 134 00:14:04,640 --> 00:14:13,200 a great tactic of the enemy that he tries to make us feel alone, that he tries to make 135 00:14:13,200 --> 00:14:19,520 us afraid, that he tries to make us believe that nobody else understands, that nobody 136 00:14:19,520 --> 00:14:25,400 else will understand, that nobody else cares, that God himself doesn't care and I will tell 137 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:32,700 you today that that is a lie from the devil. He is a liar and he desires to steal your 138 00:14:32,700 --> 00:14:40,320 joy and to steal your hope and so if you come into this building today and you feel alone, 139 00:14:40,320 --> 00:14:49,800 I want to tell you today that you are not alone, that God has not left you. Oftentimes 140 00:14:49,800 --> 00:14:54,920 when we feel alone we probably really don't feel like seeking out to God, it is kind of 141 00:14:54,920 --> 00:15:00,040 weird at least in my life, maybe in yours too, I don't know but sometimes it seems as 142 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,720 though the times that I need to call out to the Lord the most, it is like there is something 143 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:09,960 there, it is like that is what I should be doing but I am so kind of caught up in myself 144 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:15,440 and I just feel so alone and I feel so depressed and I feel like God doesn't care and nobody 145 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:21,560 else cares and it seems like in those times it might be harder to pray to God but what 146 00:15:21,560 --> 00:15:27,240 I find and maybe what you will find too is that this, is that the times that we are most 147 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:34,360 alone are the times that we need to seek God the most, that we need to seek brothers and 148 00:15:34,360 --> 00:15:40,480 sisters in Christ. One of the best things we can do is read God's word when we feel 149 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:48,000 alone or when we feel afraid. There is a good passage in Psalm 25, Psalm 25 verse 16 and 150 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:52,320 17 says this, it is a good prayer, maybe you say I don't know what to pray, well these 151 00:15:52,320 --> 00:15:58,880 words might sound pretty good to you. Turn to me and be gracious to me for I am alone 152 00:15:58,880 --> 00:16:04,280 and afflicted. Anybody ever felt like that before? Have you ever felt alone and afflicted? 153 00:16:04,280 --> 00:16:10,440 Have you ever wanted the grace of God to be showered upon you? Then that is our prayer, 154 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:18,120 God be gracious to me because God I am in a mess. I feel alone, I am afflicted God and 155 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:23,760 I need your help and it goes on to say the distresses of my heart increase bring me out 156 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:30,360 of my sufferings. What a powerful simple couple of sentences that is. Maybe we need to make 157 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:35,160 a mark of that verse. Maybe we say I don't know the words to pray, maybe we can say the 158 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:40,600 same words that David said, God be gracious to me for I am alone and afflicted God in 159 00:16:40,600 --> 00:16:49,360 my distress, I need you to deliver me. Don't let the devil get the best of you. Don't let 160 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:56,920 the devil convince you to fight your battles alone. First and foremost seek the Lord. Secondly, 161 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:03,920 seek other people. That is sometimes hard for us to do. It is hard for us to do because 162 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:08,240 maybe we say I don't want to tell anybody what I am going through, they are probably 163 00:17:08,240 --> 00:17:12,280 not going to have anything good to tell me, I don't want to be a burden. Because here 164 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:18,640 is the thing, a lot of times when these things hit us the most, it is at night, right? It 165 00:17:18,640 --> 00:17:24,040 gets dark, there is nobody else around, the TV is off, it gets quiet and then our brains 166 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:29,320 begin to work and then the stresses of our life begin to play into our head and we begin 167 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:34,460 to play out the situation and it always ends, the worst it possibly could, very seldom do 168 00:17:34,460 --> 00:17:37,800 we lay there and say everything is great, tomorrow is going to be a good day, we lay 169 00:17:37,800 --> 00:17:42,120 there and we say man I am alone and I am hopeless and I am afraid and this is never going to 170 00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:49,240 get any better. And we feel like Elijah and we say I am just ready to give up. But sometimes 171 00:17:49,240 --> 00:17:53,840 we just need to pick up the phone and we need to call a brother or sister and say look I 172 00:17:53,840 --> 00:18:02,960 am having a tough night, could we talk for a second? Would you pray for me? It is a bad 173 00:18:02,960 --> 00:18:07,160 feeling when you feel alone. Some of you may have felt it, I would venture to say maybe 174 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:14,720 that everybody has felt that. You feel alone, that is a bad feeling. But the cure often 175 00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:20,440 times for feeling alone is feeling the presence of a friend, it is feeling the presence of 176 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:25,320 the Lord, it is seeking the word of the Lord and letting God speak to you through his word. 177 00:18:25,320 --> 00:18:31,280 There is no shame in calling up a friend and saying look I am having a bad day, I am having 178 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:37,000 a bad night, I need a little help. Praise the Lord that God gives us community. That 179 00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:42,880 is one of the greatest blessings that I think God gives us is he gives us one another. Yeah 180 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:47,000 we go straight to God, praise the Lord. We seek God, we know he is in control but he 181 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:51,440 gives us one another I believe as a community of brothers and sisters in Christ so that 182 00:18:51,440 --> 00:19:00,480 we can be there for one another. And we need to make sure that we do that. There are a 183 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:05,360 lot of people in this world that feel alone, maybe you do not, maybe you are doing pretty 184 00:19:05,360 --> 00:19:10,080 good, praise the Lord that is good, maybe you will one day, maybe you will not. But 185 00:19:10,080 --> 00:19:17,080 I go see a lot of people and it happens a lot of times that when I go see older people 186 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:25,160 the story is the same. Usually they are shut up in a room or in their home and they get 187 00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:34,640 very little company and often times they feel alone because the world has passed them by. 188 00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:40,040 They used to live a life like you do. They used to get up and go to work, they used to 189 00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:45,140 go on vacations, they used to get in the car and go wherever they wanted to go and do whatever 190 00:19:45,140 --> 00:19:49,400 they wanted to do and there comes a point in your life and you will get there should 191 00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:57,280 you live long enough that life is going to get hard. And one day you are going to be 192 00:19:57,280 --> 00:20:05,240 in a room by yourself looking at four walls and is anybody going to come see you? Is anybody 193 00:20:05,240 --> 00:20:12,760 going to care about you? Are you going to spend your years feeling alone and forgotten 194 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:19,520 and afraid and depressed? Is anybody going to come see you? Well let me ask you this 195 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:27,400 question, do you go see anybody? There is a lot of people out there that are alone, 196 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:34,040 do you go see anybody? I challenge you church this year, I challenge you to go see some 197 00:20:34,040 --> 00:20:42,000 folks because a lot of us probably are at a point where we do not really know what it 198 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:47,680 is like to be alone in that way because we all come here today, we got in our car, we 199 00:20:47,680 --> 00:20:54,960 drove today. But there is a lot of people in this world that may go days at a time, 200 00:20:54,960 --> 00:21:05,000 weeks at a time, months at a time and do not see a soul and they are alone and afraid at 201 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:12,920 the end of their life. We need to go see those people. We come up with a lot of excuses why 202 00:21:12,920 --> 00:21:16,200 we do not want to, I do not want to hear your excuses, they are not good enough. You say 203 00:21:16,200 --> 00:21:19,840 well you do not even know what they are, no I do not, but they are not good enough, I 204 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:26,040 do not have time, wrong, that is a lie. You make time for whatever you want to do, every 205 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:31,600 one of us do, every one of us make time to do whatever we want to do. So do not tell 206 00:21:31,600 --> 00:21:37,280 me you do not have time. Do not say well they would not come see me or they never come see 207 00:21:37,280 --> 00:21:44,880 me, I am not going to see them, well who cares? Maybe they did not come see you, maybe they 208 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:51,480 are an old curmudgeon and they are not worthy of a visit, but you know what, I have seen 209 00:21:51,480 --> 00:22:00,000 it, old curmudgeons get lonely, they feel alone, they feel afraid when life is drawing 210 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:07,960 to a close. Go see them anyway, because maybe one day you are going to be an old curmudgeon 211 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:16,920 and people are not going to want to come see you, but maybe they will. Do not say I cannot 212 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:22,040 go see them because they are not in good shape, I just cannot stand to see them like that. 213 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:28,920 No you have got to be tougher than that, you have got to be tougher than that. We cannot 214 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:34,000 say of our loved ones that are in their worst shape, that are alone and afraid and feel 215 00:22:34,000 --> 00:22:39,040 abandoned, we cannot say, oh I just cannot bear to see them, it hurts me too much. Well 216 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:44,800 you do not think that it hurts them to lay there day after day and week after week and 217 00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:50,640 no one pay them attention? You do not think that they are hurting? You do not think that 218 00:22:50,640 --> 00:22:54,760 they are lonely? You say well their minds gone, they are not even going to remember 219 00:22:54,760 --> 00:23:03,760 me, I do not even need to go see them. Wrong. Yeah people's minds, they decline, they deteriorate. 220 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:08,580 You might have the same conversation with some people a thousand times in the visits 221 00:23:08,580 --> 00:23:14,800 you go see them. But you know what I believe? I am not a doctor, I am just some country 222 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:21,020 preacher. But here is what I think, I think that somewhere in there, there is probably 223 00:23:21,020 --> 00:23:26,780 a part of them that knows what is going on. And they may not be able to tell you and show 224 00:23:26,780 --> 00:23:31,240 you that they remember that you came five minutes before, but I think that there is 225 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:36,960 a part of them that in that moment that knows that you love them, that knows that you came 226 00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:44,380 to see them, that they know that they are not alone. So there are days in our life that 227 00:23:44,380 --> 00:23:51,600 we feel alone, that we need to call on the Lord, that we need to call on a friend and 228 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:57,560 praise God if we do that. Praise God and consider it a blessing if somebody in this church calls 229 00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:04,000 you at two o'clock in the morning and says brother, sister, I am having a bad night. 230 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:12,120 Could you just talk to me for a moment? Could you just pray for me? I feel alone and afraid. 231 00:24:12,120 --> 00:24:20,080 We should praise God if somebody would call us and need us in a time of feeling alone. 232 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:26,760 And we should not be too proud to allow the devil to attack us night after night in the 233 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:35,920 darkness and in the quiet when we feel alone. Because often times just hearing the voice 234 00:24:35,920 --> 00:24:43,480 of a friend is enough to restore our souls. So there are days that we are those who are 235 00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:52,400 alone and there are days that we feel like Elijah and we may say God, I alone am left. 236 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:58,460 And maybe in this story and in these passages we looked at today, God can remind us you 237 00:24:58,460 --> 00:25:04,880 are not alone. There are thousands of other brothers and sisters in Christ that love me 238 00:25:04,880 --> 00:25:10,640 and that love you. You are not alone in your struggles. You are not alone in your pain. 239 00:25:10,640 --> 00:25:16,680 You are not alone in your suffering because I, the Lord your God, will never leave you 240 00:25:16,680 --> 00:25:25,500 or forsake you. And may it be said of us, as children of God, that we would not leave 241 00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:34,080 and forsake those whom we love. That we would not leave them alone and afraid. That we would 242 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:39,560 reach out to those who are lonely. That we would reach out when we need help and that 243 00:25:39,560 --> 00:25:45,160 we would reach out to help others in their loneliness. You can throw your excuses out 244 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:53,680 the window today. They are not sufficient. There is a community of people who need you. 245 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:58,460 If you do not go visit people who aren't able to get out, then you need to start going to 246 00:25:58,460 --> 00:26:03,660 visit people. You can pick one person a month. Start out simple. Pick one person that is 247 00:26:03,660 --> 00:26:07,560 shut up that is not able to get out. It is probably somebody that already came to your 248 00:26:07,560 --> 00:26:13,160 mind that you had not seen in six months and in two years and you asked me how so and so 249 00:26:13,160 --> 00:26:17,120 doing. Well here is what I tell you. Next time you want to ask me how so and so doing 250 00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:23,240 because I had not seen them in a while, go see them. Get in the car and go see them. 251 00:26:23,240 --> 00:26:31,200 And I guarantee you, I guarantee you, they will be glad to see you. You know why? Because 252 00:26:31,200 --> 00:26:36,400 nobody goes to see them. You know how you know that. Because I go see them and they 253 00:26:36,400 --> 00:26:44,000 say nobody comes to see me. That is not a good thing. That is not a good thing that 254 00:26:44,000 --> 00:26:48,840 there are family members and that there are church members that some of you have not seen 255 00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:55,680 in years. And all they see are four walls. And very seldom get a call and very seldom 256 00:26:55,680 --> 00:27:01,180 get a visit and they feel alone and afraid and many of them are at the end of their life 257 00:27:01,180 --> 00:27:11,880 and they need the love of a friend. So pick somebody. Pray about it. Say God put somebody 258 00:27:11,880 --> 00:27:17,920 in my path. Maybe somebody we have forgotten about. Even those old cranky curmudgeons that 259 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:25,280 aint done you right. They are alone and afraid to. And ask God to give you the courage to 260 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:29,680 go and to visit with them. You say I do not know what to say. You do not got to say nothing. 261 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:34,000 You say well that will be awkward. Well maybe it will be awkward but I guarantee you this. 262 00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:40,800 They will not care. It aint about what you say. It is not about what you say. It is about 263 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:47,440 that you take the time and the effort to go. Do not just do it once. You go see them. You 264 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:53,480 check on them. You tell them you love them. Ask them if you can do anything for them. 265 00:27:53,480 --> 00:27:57,440 You know it is something we take for granted. We can do stuff for ourselves. Most of us 266 00:27:57,440 --> 00:28:01,520 in here can do everything we want to do. Anything we want to do. We get a little older. We kind 267 00:28:01,520 --> 00:28:08,400 of slow down. But for the most part we can do what we want to do. Some people can. Ask 268 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:15,040 people how you can help them. Pray for them. Now I know I am a long way. I would probably 269 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:19,360 get a failing grade for this sermon and seminary because I am a long way from the context of 270 00:28:19,360 --> 00:28:27,120 what these passages are talking about. But maybe not. The point is this. Or at least 271 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:32,280 this is what the Lord spoke to me. And that is there are days that we feel alone like 272 00:28:32,280 --> 00:28:41,100 Elijah. And God reminds Elijah in this passage, you are not alone. If we take nothing else 273 00:28:41,100 --> 00:28:49,960 from this today, let us remember that. You are not alone today. And maybe, just maybe, 274 00:28:49,960 --> 00:28:55,280 God can use you to encourage somebody else with that same message. There are plenty of 275 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:59,320 people around here that feel alone. You say, I don't know who they are. Well come ask me. 276 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:03,160 I can tell you some people. I can tell you somebody to go visit. But you don't need me 277 00:29:03,160 --> 00:29:09,520 to. You know people. You already know people. So we have got to do a better job. If we don't, 278 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:13,720 go check on those who are alone. We have got to do a better job. We have got to take the 279 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:19,360 encouragement we get from God's word in our life and take that encouragement to others. 280 00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:23,720 Let's pray. God we come to you. We thank you for your good word. And I pray dear Lord that 281 00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:29,000 you would help anyone in this place today that is coming here and they feel alone dear 282 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:34,320 Lord. There may be some sitting on the pews this morning that feel that way. Even right 283 00:29:34,320 --> 00:29:41,480 now as I pray. God even right now surrounded by these brothers and sisters in Christ, they 284 00:29:41,480 --> 00:29:47,720 just have a loneliness that they feel. And God I pray. I don't have any magic words to 285 00:29:47,720 --> 00:29:52,720 tell them. I can only tell them God that you have not forgotten them. And I pray that they 286 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:58,760 would find hope in that today. That you have not abandoned them in their time of distress. 287 00:29:58,760 --> 00:30:03,360 That you have not abandoned them in their pain and in their struggles. I pray God that 288 00:30:03,360 --> 00:30:08,440 they would know that you are with them. To walk with them every step of the way. And 289 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:15,320 they may not always feel it. They may not feel it today God. But you are there. God 290 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:22,800 I pray that you would meet us in our loneliness. God sometimes those attacks are serious. Sometimes 291 00:30:22,800 --> 00:30:29,400 they are serious God and they hit us at the worst times. And God it's just tough when 292 00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:36,600 we go through those feelings of being alone. But I pray that we find comfort in you. And 293 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:41,080 I pray that we find comfort in one another dear Lord. I pray that as a church family 294 00:30:41,080 --> 00:30:45,880 we would go stronger in sharing in our sufferings dear Lord. That we would call out to our brothers 295 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:53,320 and sisters in Christ to help us on the days that we feel alone. God I pray that you would 296 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:59,680 help us to be able to help others. Dear Lord there are a lot of people in this world that 297 00:30:59,680 --> 00:31:06,680 feel alone. Many of which are stuck in a room somewhere in a nursing home or confined to 298 00:31:06,680 --> 00:31:14,040 their home dear Lord with very little attention given to them. And in a world that they believe 299 00:31:14,040 --> 00:31:17,600 it's forgotten them. And maybe God if we're honest a lot of times that's the case dear 300 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:25,040 Lord. But God let us be those that change that. That we can go to those dear Lord who 301 00:31:25,040 --> 00:31:30,320 feel alone and let them know that they are not forgotten. That you are with them and 302 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:36,080 that there are people in this world that care about them. That just in the few moments we 303 00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:41,320 can sit down and just talk with them and visit with them dear Lord. That they would experience 304 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:46,840 your love and your joy. That would give them that little bit of glimmer of hope dear Lord. 305 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:52,120 That little extra boost. So God I pray for those that feel alone today. Those that are 306 00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:57,360 not here. Those that are struggling. I pray God that we would be a light to this world. 307 00:31:57,360 --> 00:32:04,240 Dear Lord I thank you for these words. I thank you for this story of Elijah. Dear Lord maybe 308 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:08,960 some days come in our life that we feel kind of like him. We know you and we've seen your 309 00:32:08,960 --> 00:32:13,360 power and we've experienced it. And maybe there's some in here today and they came in 310 00:32:13,360 --> 00:32:18,240 here kind of with the same attitude of Elijah and just ready to give up dear Lord. They're 311 00:32:18,240 --> 00:32:23,280 just tired and they're ready to give up and they just feel alone. But I pray God that 312 00:32:23,280 --> 00:32:29,440 just as you met the needs of Elijah you restored him and you encouraged him to let him know 313 00:32:29,440 --> 00:32:34,400 that he wasn't alone. God I pray that those who might have come into this place today 314 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:40,600 with that feeling would have that same experience. That you would restore them. That you meet 315 00:32:40,600 --> 00:32:43,800 them where they are. That you give them some encouragement today and that you remind them 316 00:32:43,800 --> 00:32:48,680 God that you are with them and that they are not alone. That there are brothers and sisters 317 00:32:48,680 --> 00:33:03,680 in Christ in this room to care for them. And I ask these things in Jesus name. Amen.