Crossroads - Weekend Messages

Jesus taught us to count the cost. But let’s be honest, sometimes we just want what we want, consequences be what they may. Unfortunately, we have all made what had the potential to be catastrophic mistakes. In some cases, the consequences were absolutely awful. Yet, if our hearts are open and humble before the Lord, He can teach us the most profound lessons in these types of situations.

Life can be such a mixed bag. I know it’s hard that way. But there are times of great joy and overwhelming sorrow. There are times of tremendous trust and crippling fear. And sometimes, all of these different things can happen in a very short span of time, leaving us feeling like a boat being tossed about by a tremendous storm. This is not only true for us. It was also true in Elijah’s life. This weekend we will see Elijah being truly human and the Lord’s provision to help the process.

In every season of our lives, we look forward to events. Concerts, tournaments, games, parties, weddings, births, you name it –– it often seems like we spend our lives moving from one season of anticipation to the next. Most events have the potential to become defining points in our lives. Anytime something out of the ordinary happens, we have opportunities to choose, sometimes in insignificant ways and sometimes between right and wrong. For the prophet Elijah, big events in his life were a platform for God to show up big time...and they are for us too!

“Speak the truth, even if you voice shakes.” That’s a popular quotation with a very important reality attached to it. Sometimes speaking the truth is hard. Sometimes telling the truth comes with severe consequences. It is especially hard to speak truth to power. In this week’s study, we will see the prophet Elijah confronting the evil king of Israel. This study is packed full of important applications for our lives.

There’s something about tough times that really brings out the best and the worst in us. Our true character shines (for better or for worse) in the midst of suffering...but so does God’s. When we choose to trust the Lord in the midst of the messiness of life, He does His most cherished work. We will see this on display as we watch how God works through Elijah in the life of the widow of Zarephath. And the great news for us is, then and now, God is and always has been in the miracle business!

So everything is going all kinds of wrong –– right? It’s falling apart in every imaginable direction…We’ve all been there. And when that happens, it's easy to blame God or wonder where he is and why he didn’t do anything to stop this from happening to us. The prophet Elijah had some of the same questions, and as we journey with him we’ll learn God is always multitasking: working in miraculous ways we maybe just haven’t seen…yet.

We all want everything to be “up and to the right.” We always want things to be smooth sailing and getting better. We want to take the shortest distance between points A and B. But that’s not real life. Life is full of ups and downs, ins and outs. Even though we try hard to make things nice and clean, the journey of life is a jagged one. And so is our walk of faith as we hope in Jesus. Do not miss this message on what it means to walk in settled confidence.

Suffering is part of life –– that’s a tough reality to embrace! But the crazy thing is, with Jesus, suffering is often the context for our hope...In suffering, we come face-to-face with what we really believe in our hearts about who God is. Few stories depict this reality more beautifully than the story of Job. Even in the midst of tremendous suffering, Job walked in unstoppable hope –– something we can all learn from, with equally beautiful results in our lives.