Ravens, Oil, Fire & Food // Here & Now
“The best is yet to come!” This statement has often been a popular rallying cry, especially for the Church. It’s a declaration rooted in the belief that God has great things in store for his people just beyond the horizon. And it’s a sentiment we’ve shared and stated here at Cornerstone...but, not anymore. Of course, we still believe the future is bright. But who has time for what’s to come when we’re too busy being blessed by what is? You see, the best isn’t “yet to come”—it’s here and now! God is on the move, and he is doing a new thing NOW, in the midst of our present circumstances. Instead of focusing on the future, we’re determined to follow God’s lead, right here and right now.
Trusting God in the here and now is easier said than done. That’s because God isn’t the only one that requires my present attention. Hectic schedules, mounting bills...how can I give God my time, talent, and treasure in the here and now - and still have anything left in the here and now? If I step out in audacious faith and give generously, will God see me through—not just in some distant future—but in the midst of my present sacrifices?
Message Notes
Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword.
1 Kings 19:1So 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.”
1 Kings 19:2Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there...
1 Kings 19:3...while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
1 Kings 19:4Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”
1 Kings 19:5He 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.
1 Kings 19:6The 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.”
1 Kings 19:7So 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.
1 Kings 19:8
“Ravens, Oil, Fire & Food”
Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “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 word.”
1 Kings 17:1Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah:
1 Kings 17:2“Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.
1 Kings 17:3You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”
1 Kings 17:4So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.
1 Kings 17:5The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook.
1 Kings 17:6“Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.”
1 Kings 17:9So 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?”
1 Kings 17:10As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”
1 Kings 17:11“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 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.”
1 Kings 17:12Elijah 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.
1 Kings 17:13For 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.’”
1 Kings 17:14She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.
1 Kings 17:15For 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 17:16At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, 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.
1 Kings 18:36Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
1 Kings 18:37Then 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.
1 Kings 18:38When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”
1 Kings 18:39He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.”
1 Kings 19:4Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.”
1 Kings 19:5He 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.
1 Kings 19:6The 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.”
1 Kings 19:7So 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.
1 Kings 19:8
