14 Feb Elijah | Part 1 “Is there really ONE WAY to God?”

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Key Verse: 1 Kings 17

Just as it was in Elijah’s age, the theme of this age is ‘choose your own god’ the kind you want to believe in.  Today we live in a time where we celebrate other religions.  This is not a new thing, it happened in Israel and has been tried and test and found wanting.

The theme of Elijah’s day: PLURALISM = all RELIGIONS are basically the SAME

“One of the biggest mistakes humans make is to believe there’s only one way. Actually, there are many diverse paths leading to God.”-Oprah Winfrey

Icebreaker question:

Q. What other religions have you believed in and how did that religion come up short?

Four Problems with Pluralism:

1. Pluralism is IGNORANT – assuming all RELIGIOUS people are the SAME.

This is like saying all Asian people are the same, or all black or white people are basically the same.  We could not get away with saying this.  This is an uninformed statement.

2. Pluralism is ARROGANT – concluding it alone is the RIGHT POINT of VIEW.

This like saying every way is equally valid, as if there is no absolute truth, but the same people that say this are making a statement that is exclusive and doing the very same thing they are claiming religions do. They are claiming there is no absolute truth therefore they are making an absolute statement.

Q. Why is it impossible for all religions to be right?

3. Pluralism is IMPOSSIBLE – not considering the CONFLICTS among RELIGIONS.

There are enormous differences between all religions.  None agree and the conflicts are innumerable.   All religions say all the other religions are wrong.

4. Pluralism is DANGEROUS – this is about ETERNAL LIFE.

We should not want to get this one wrong.  Our life here is short, but we are talking about eternity.  As Christians, we are about absolutes we want facts and truth.

Q. What are some things you need to do according to facts and truth (going by the book so to speak)?

Q. Why would it be a bad idea not do these things ‘by the book’?

3 Answers to a Pluralistic Age:

1. The Lord is SOVEREIGN over the CREATED ORDER.

1 Kings 17:1 – 3 (ESV)

“Elijah” = “the LORD is GOD”

God sends Elijah to the nations to wake them up.  Elijah shows up when Israel least deserves for him to show up and challenges the king of the nation.  The king was the most powerful man on the planet but Elijah knows that God is in charge of whoever looked like was in charge.  He knew God was sovereign over his life.  He knew God overruled nature so he could be provided for.  Jesus is Lord over whatever is wrong in our lives right now.

Genesis 1:1 (ESV); Psalm 24:1 (ESV); Isaiah 66:2 (NLT); John 1:3 (ESV)

God is sovereign over everyone. God can do miracles in peoples lives and he is sovereign over the world order.  Elijah listened to God.  Our Savior is sovereign over our situations.

Q. What are some areas of your life where God showed up and proved to you He was sovereign over that situation?

We need to be people who magnify the Lord not magnify our situations. Jesus is not just sovereign over the world but he is our friend.

1 Kings 17:5-6 (ESV)

We need to learn to rejoice when God takes something out of our life.

We can experience the power of life in Jesus Name.  God wants to cut away things in our life and set us free.  We need to depend on His word, it is alive!  We need to be people who magnify the Lord not magnify our situations.  Jesus is not just sovereign over the world but He is also our friend.

Q. What is something God cut out of your life that set you free?

Q. What are you obsessing over rather than rejoicing in and how can you flip that around?

2. The Lord is SAVIOR of the OUTSIDER.

1 Kings 17:7-9 (ESV)

God sends Elijah to the outsider, a widow, who were outcasts in those days.   He sent him there to bring the Word to a foreigner.

Luke 4:25-28 (ESV)

1 Kings 17:12-15 (ESV)

This woman had nothing but God can turn the natural and social order upside-down.  Jesus went to foreigners because the Jews rejected Him.  Their rejection is our acceptance.  God has a heart for the outsider.

Q. Why do we tend to gravitate toward people that are like us rather than those that are not?

Q. What are some ways you have reached out to the outsiders?

3. The Lord is our SECURITY in the face of DEATH.

1 Kings 17:17–24 (ESV)

The widow (the weakest member of society in the ancient world) knows she is a sinner and believes her sons dying is a result of her sin.   She thinks it is her fault, but it is not.   God revived her son.  Because of God, her loss is not final.  The Good News, in the Christian faith, is that death is not the end!

Revelation 1:17–18 (ESV)

Jesus is the EXCLUSIVE WAY to the Father, and He’s available to EVERYONE who receives Him.

Challenge 1:  Rejoice in a bad situation.

Challenge 2: Reach out to someone who is not like you.