Skip to main content

Elijah #3

 [Elijah] STANDING ALONE_ 

1 Kings 18:1-40_ 

 
In the film Dead Poet’s Society there’s a scene where the teacher, played by Robin Williams, takes his class outside into the courtyard and ask three of his students to simply walk around. Initially, they walk at their own pace, but eventually, they fall into a pattern of all walking to the same rhythm and beat. 
The teacher uses this exercise as a way to show how easily and quickly we “fall in line” with the people around us. 
It’s hard to think outside the box. 
It’s even harder to stand alone for what we know is right. 

 
[Group discussion] Where you encouraged as a child to think and act independently or to be more of a conformist?  
What effects has that influence produced in your life? 

 

Elijah had waited three years for this confrontation, and the scene couldn’t have been more dramatic. One man took on the king, 450 pagan priests and the storm god!... 

 
[Read 1 Kings 18:1-40] 

 

Look at (King Ahab’s official) Obadiah’s actions in verses 1-16. From this, would you characterise Obadiah as courageous or cowardly? 
Why? 

 

 

[Activity] Based on Obadiah’s response to Elijah (in verses 9-14), describe the effort that had been made to find Elijah and the reasons given as to why he couldn’t be found... 

 

 

If you had been told to face up to King Ahab, after three-and-a-half years of drought, how would you have felt? 

What would’ve given you the confidence to obey? 

 

 

Ahab called Elijah “the trouble of Israel”, but Elijah explained Israel’s problems differently. How might Elijah’s words, in verse 18, relate to some of the problems in our culture / nation today? 

 

 

What are some of the false gods in today’s society? 
And how do people ‘sacrifice’ to these gods? 

 

 

In verses 30-35, why does Elijah expend such effort to prepare the altar and douse the sacrifice? 

 

 

On what basis does Elijah ask God to answer his prayer (verses 36-37)? 

How might Elijah’s prayer change how you ask God to work in the world? 

 

 

What has God used in your life to convince you that He is real and powerful? 

 

 

Do you think that spectacular public miracles will convince the unbelieving world of God’s existence? 
Why or why not? 

 

What other means may God use to bring a person to faith? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

{SEVEN CHURCHES} #3

  {SEVEN LETTERS}    The Attractiveness of Suffering_   Revelation 2:8-11     In the year AD 177 persecution broke out against the Christians living in what is today the French city of Lyon. Christianity had raised the suspicions and hatred of the Roman  bureaucrats who governed the city. The vicious persecution that raged, touched Christians at every level of society. After the persecuti on subsided, church father Irenaeus, arranged for a letter to be written to Christians in other parts of the Roman Empire describing the faithfulness of the  martyrs...   We  can’t  even begin to put into words, much less describe in detail, the  magnitude  of the persecution here: how the pagans raged so terribly against the saints, and how the ble ssed martyrs endured so patiently... To begin with, they nobly endured all the abuse the whole mob collectively piled on: screaming  at them, punching them, dragging them through the stre...
Post a Comment
Read more

{SEVEN CHURCHES} #1

  The Lord Who Speaks_   Revelation 1:9-20   We  don’t  tend to get many letters these days. We get emails, text messages,  WhatsApp  and other electronic messages, but rarely  a handwritten, pen-and-paper letter.    I tend to save any good ones I get... notes from when Leah was little. Letters that encourage or bless me.   I’ll keep them in my  bedside  drawer or  tucked  into books on our shelves. Then I get to read them again and feel loved and blessed by their words. ..     [Discussion starter]    Tell the group about a significant letter you have received and why it meant so much to you.     Revelation 2-3 records seven letters written by Jesus to seven churches.   It must have been a thrill for an early church congregation to receive a letter from the apostles Paul, Peter, or James... but here were letters from Jesus himself . And we all get to read everyone else’s ma...
Post a Comment
Read more

David #12

  [DAVID] Generous giving_   1 Chronicles 29     Giving has become a sore spot for many Christians. Every day we are bombarded with appeals for money – from TV and radio evangelists, from missionaries, from parachurch organisations , from charities and from our own churches. Sometim es we might feel like shouting, “Enough is enough!” How can we adopt godly attitudes toward giving so that we don’t live with a closed fist but an open hand and a generous heart?     [Group discussion starter] How do you tend to respond when people ask you for money? Explain.     David had a refreshing attitude toward giving. In this chapter he illustrates what it means to give joyously and generously to the Lord...     [Read 1 Chronicles 29]     What does this chapter reveal about David’s perspective on giving?       In verses 1-5, how does David provide an excellent example of what it means to give generously to God?    ...
Post a Comment
Read more