Thursday Bible Study

  [Elijah] WHEN THE BROOK DRIES UP_   1 Kings 17:5-24_     [Group discussion] Describe a time when you were in need and tell how God provided for you in that situation.     Following on from what we looked at last week, the next step in God’s plan for Elijah was to watch as a brook dries up and being in need.   God is using difficult circumstances to cultivate radical faith in God’s servant...     [Read 1 Kings 17:5-7]     Why did God supply Elijah with food twice a day?   Why not just stock a cave with a year’s worth of food?       Do you think Elijah was encouraged or discouraged as he watched the brook dry up?   Why?       What “drying brook” have you experienced?   How did God demonstrate His presence and care as you moved through that time?       Next God sent Elijah into the enemy’s territory – right into the region Sidon, where Jezebel’s father was king!...   ...

  [Elijah] OBEYING GOD_   1 Kings 16:29 – 17:4     Jesus was very clear about what it would mean to follow him.   In John 16:33 he said, “In this world you will have trouble...”   Jesus knew that we would live in troubling and insecure times.   He knew that being his disciple would mean opposition and persecution.   Jesus didn’t promise to change our circumstances... but he DID promise to give us strength to face whatever the world throws our way.   “...Take heart! I have overcome the world!”     [Group discussion-starter] What recent news story or life experience made you feel insecure or threatened? Why?     Elijah lived in a threatening world. Ahab, the king of Israel, had pushed God’s people deep into idolatry. He had married Jezebel, a pagan who promoted Baal as the new god in Israel. The prophets of Yahweh were hunted down and killed, while the prophets of Baal were supported by taxpayers.   One faithful family ...