Sermons

1 Kings 2-3

  • 1 Kings 17:8-16 Giving Our Best (Butler)

    Today we’ll take a little tour of a passage from 1 Kings that you might remember from Sunday School because . . . it is SUCH a good story. Times were hard in the village of Zarepheth.

  • 1 Kings 17:8-16 A Matter of Trust (McLarty)

    This story concerns the prophet Elijah and a nameless widow of Zarephath, up north of Palestine, in what is now Lebanon. It runs contrary to logic. Let's think about how, as people of faith, we’re called to trust God even when God leads us in directions we wouldn’t otherwise go.

  • 1 Kings 17:8-24 What Real Players Do (Hoffacker)

    This is what prophets do. They disclose the abundance that God provides. They struggle against the powers of death and in time they prevail. They announce that everybody matters, whether insiders or outsiders.

  • 1 Kings 17:8-24 Trusting God (Wagner)

    Could you give a total stranger your last dollar? Could you give your neighbor your last box of cereal? Can we trust that God will always provide for us in every circumstance? I can’t imagine anyone giving away their last meal like the widow did for Elijah.

  • 1 Kings 18:20-39 The Real Players (Hoffacker)

    In this over-the-top story, Ahab appears powerless against prophetic truth. His impotence is dramatically manifest in front of the entire nation. Elijah the prophet is revealed as the one who helps a suffering nation flourish again.

  • 1 Kings 19:1-18 Dealing with Depression (Leininger)

    The Bible is not afraid of the truth, even the sometimes sordid truth about its heroes. Abraham was a liar. Jacob was a thief. Moses had a murderous temper. King David was an adulterer. Today we find another “wart” in one of the greatest prophets – Elijah.

  • 1 Kings 19:1-15a Hearing the Silence (Hoffacker)

    It was late at night when the young minister answered the phone. The voice on the other end threatened him with death, then hung up. That young minister was Martin Luther King Jr. The year was 1956.

  • 1 Kings 19:1-8 All Alone (Donovan)

    Elijah was afraid. He had just stood toe-to-toe with the prophets of Baal, and had won. God came breathing fire from heaven, and vindicated Elijah’s faith. Now, Elijah was afraid. A woman said, “I’m going to get you, Elijah,” and she had scared him silly.

  • 1 Kings 19:4-8 Bread for the Journey (Kegel)

    Elie Wiesel writes of an auto accident that shattered the left side of his body. But his friends said it could have been worse. “How could it be worse?” His friend said, “It could have happened to me.”

  • 1 Kings 21:1-10 Deal or Else (Anders)

    I could not help but think of this game show when I read our text for today. Ahab was playing a similar game except his title would be, “Deal… Or Else!” In Ahab’s game, it was deal or die! And Naboth decided not to deal.

  • 1 Kings 21:1-29 The Hollywood Syndrome (Hyde)

    Though Ahab is the king of Israel, he has gone through life choosing poorly, and one of his worst choices was to marry Jezebel. And with Jezebel, when it comes to devotion to one’s god, there was no compromise.

  • 1 Kings 21:1-21a Kings and Corporations (Hoffacker)

    A double crime occurs. First, the murder of Naboth. Second, the illegal seizure of his ancestral property. When the king acts like this, is it possible to appeal to a higher authority? The biblical answer is a resounding yes.