All you need is Jesus. It really is as simple as that. You don’t need all the lights and glamour. You just need Him. As you listen to today’s message with Pastor Bill, you’ll learn about Naaman, a favored commander in Syria who brought victory and great hope. Naaman, however, eventually found himself with leprosy…a disease that was both isolating and humiliating. But the Lord provided a way for healing. It wasn’t flashy and it certainly wasn’t what Naaman expected. But it was real.

Think back to when you were a child, completely dependent on the adults around you to keep you alive. Think back on when you were dependent on them to teach you not only how to speak, but how to walk and eat. Without even thinking, you trusted that those adults were working everything together for your good. In today’s message, Pastor Bill will encourage you to trust in God the same way. Without question and with complete faith, trust that He is working everything together for your good. And He is.

Losing someone you love is devastating. It doesn’t matter if it happened quickly or was a process that took years. It’s a heart-shattering separation. Today, you’ll see Elisha’s grief as he prepares to let his friend and mentor go. He knows that Elijah, a man who was like a father to him, is going to be taken up to heaven soon. And his heart is broken. So, while he knows that it's a blessing for Elijah, he doesn’t want to let him go. Pastor Bill walks you through Elisha’s heartbreak and his closeness with Elijah.

Who do you go to when the storms of life come? Where do you turn when your circumstances are taking you down? Your first instinct might be to turn to other people. And while you should get help and support from others, God should always be your starting point. In today’s message, Pastor Bill encourages you to turn to the Lord first when hard times come. Jesus wants to be your first line of defense and encouragement. He sees what’s happening and will help you walk through everything that comes your way.

God is sovereign. Basically, this means that He’s in control. Nothing happens without His knowledge and His OK. But this reality can be hard to reconcile with how our culture defines kindness and love. You see, God doesn’t promise that hard things won’t happen. But He does say that He will harness everything you experience for your good and His glory. Today, Pastor Bill walks you through the last part of Elijah’s story. You’ll see how Elijah’s trust in God’s sovereignty carries him through hard times.

Have you ever thought that no one else gets it? That they just don’t understand what you’re going through? If you’ve had these thoughts then you’re just like everybody else, including the prophet Elijah. Today, Pastor Bill walks you through Elijah’s story of despair and depression. You’ll be reminded that feelings are real but they’re not always reflective of reality. Elijah thought he was alone, but that wasn’t true. Jesus saw him and came. He needed an encounter with the Lord to right His perspective and move forward.

Elijah’s story is really all of our stories in some ways. He had this amazing experience where God worked through him to do miraculous things. But, after that, life didn’t play out in the ways he expected and it left him dismayed. Fear and depression overwhelmed Elijah. But Jesus saw him and He came. Well, you, like Elijah, may feel like this today. Lost and hopeless. Maybe even wanting to die. Pastor Bill reminds you that Jesus is there. He SEES you… and He cares for you. He’ll come and give you what you need.

You may not love it when your children won’t stop asking questions or the dog keeps insisting to play, but persistence is a trait that’s highly valued by the Lord. God wants you to be persistent in your prayers, to keep coming to Him until you get an answer. Pastor Bill shares that the prophet Elijah models this in today’s message. He prayed for rain over and over again until the cloud finally appeared. Like Elijah, you can keep asking God to hear your prayers and then give Him the glory when He finally answers.

There are so many viral stories and videos about people who have helped someone else out in a big way. We love hearing about these moments because that kind of sacrificial love is uncommon in this world. Well, today, Pastor Bill points out that Jesus is the greatest example of this kind of sacrificial love. He willingly took the judgment we deserved. He was burned by the fire of God’s wrath so that you can be overwhelmed by the fire of God’s love. Jesus’ sacrifice paved the way for your restoration and blessing.

In a world filled with hazy lines and grey areas, it’s important to know what you believe. Today, Pastor Bill explains that the prophet Elijah didn’t beat around the bush when confronting the Israelites on what they believed. He cut right to the chase and told them they needed to choose if they were going to follow God or Baal. They couldn’t have it both ways and they couldn’t delay any longer. You’ll see that you, too, need to decide where you stand. Will you join Elijah and give your life to the one, true God?