When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4 while he himself went a day's journey into the desert. He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors." 5 Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep… 1 Kings 19:3b-5a

HOW TO GET DEPRESSED IN 4 EASY STEPS

1. WEAR YOURSELF OUT.
2. SHUT PEOPLE OUT.
3. FOCUS ON THE NEGATIVE.
4. FORGET GOD.

Listen as Pastor Matt shares our perscrption to overcome depression.            Click on this link to listen.

17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.  James 5:17

What you pray for reflects what you believe about God.
What you pray for, or what we could say what you don't pray for, reflects what you believe about God

WHAT DID YOU PRAY ABOUT LAST WEEK?
Join Pastor Matt as he shares about the power of prayer.

Please click on this link to watch the sermon:  ELIJAH PRAYS

Sunday Recap -Elijah Chronciles, Which God do you Serve?

ELIJAH CHRONICLES
PART 2: WHICH GOD DO YOU SERVE?
Sunday, February 5, 2012
I Kings 18

Click on this link to watch and listen:

The First-Place Issue
You shall have no other gods before me.  Deuteronomy 5:7

That word before mean :- to clear everything out of the way.. not just controlling interest

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.” Luke 10:27

God does not want most of me  . .He wants all of me!

Key Thought:

FALSE GODS PROMISE WHAT ONLY THE TRUE GOD PROVIDES.

• For example if you were only given thirty days to live.  Money will not be any good for you.  If you lost a child, money will not bring that child back. 
• Sex, drugs, alochol only promise pleasure for a short time.  Only God provides and  if we put him first, we live in reality. We can handle and get through the good and hard times.

In Elijah's day they worshipped many gods.  He lived in a polytheism culture.

Monotheism—belief there is one God.

Polytheism—belief there is multiple gods.

In our context we believe in the one true God, however we live a polytheistic lifestyles.  Anything we put ahead of God is god in our life.

It is time to quit wavering!
Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel's table." So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing. 1 Kings 18:19-21

The Cry of the Deer

Fáed Fíada - The Cry of the DeerI arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the
Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession
of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.

I arise today through the strength of Christ with His Baptism,
through the strength of His Crucifixion with His Burial
through the strength of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
through the strength of His descent for the Judgment of Doom.

I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim
in obedience of Angels, in the service of the Archangels,
in hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
in prayers of Patriarchs, in predictions of Prophets,
in preachings of Apostles, in faiths of Confessors,
in innocence of Holy Virgins, in deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through the strength of Heaven:
light of Sun, brilliance of Moon, splendour of Fire,
speed of Lightning, swiftness of Wind, depth of Sea,
stability of Earth, firmness of Rock.

I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me,
God's host to secure me:
against snares of devils, against temptations of vices,
against inclinations of nature, against everyone who
shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in a crowd.
I summon today all these powers between me (and these evils):
against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose
my body and my soul,
against incantations of false prophets,
against black laws of heathenry,
against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry,
against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
against every knowledge that endangers man's body and soul.
Christ to protect me today
against poison, against burning, against drowning,
against wounding, so that there may come abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right,
Christ on my left, Christ in breadth, Christ in length,
Christ in height, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the
Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the
Oneness of the Creator of creation.
Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of Christ. May Thy Salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

Staying Focused on Christ

Frank Laubach, a missionary to the Philippines in the early 1900s hit rock bottom one night. Looking at his life’s work, it seemed as if it all amountedto nothing. He and his wife had lost three children to malaria. Now, in his mid-40s, he was sickand had to sequester himself from his wife and only remaining child. He was completely alone.That’s when he met God. He had an encounter with God where he surrenders and says, “Myplans have gone to pieces. Drive me out of myself and come and take possession of me andthink Your thoughts in my mind.” From that moment onward, Laubach devoted the rest of hislife to seeking to live each moment in conscious awareness of God’s presence and carrying on arich friendship with Him.Laubach’s extraordinary practice of focusing on Christ, begun in his mid-forties, led to a remarkable life. He became perhaps the most influential literacy advocate of his time, travelingto 103 countries to lead a worldwide literacy program. He founded the World Literacy Crusade,which is still in operation. He developed “Each One Teach One” program that continues to thisday. Without formal appointment, he became an influential foreign policy adviser to the USpresidents during the post-WWII years. He wrote books about focusing on Christ that have sold hundreds of thousands of copies. He walked on water.


But the art that he really mastered was focusing on Christ.

❖ Practice “double vision” as Christ does—see people, not as they are or how you perceivethem to be, but how Christ wants them to be. They are his creation.

❖ While reading an email, a book or newspaper or, read it to Him. Laubach asks, “Have

you opened a letter (or email these days) and read it with Jesus, realizing that He smiles
with us at the fun, rejoices with us in the successes, and weeps with us in the tragedies?

❖ When problem solving at work, instead of talking to yourself about the problem, developa new habit of talking to Christ.

❖ Keep a picture of Christ, or a cross, or a word from Scripture someplace where you willsee it as a reminder of God’s provision and His desire to speak into your life. Use

symbols in your life to focus your mind.

❖ Other ideas include meditating on and memorizing Scripture. To mediate merely meansto think about something over and over. Let it simmer in your mind. Reflect on it fromdifferent angles until it becomes a part of you. Tape a scripture verse to the dashboard ofyour car or bathroom mirror as a way to keep your mind focused.

❖ Or what about fasting and prayer? Depriving yourself of food is a way that you can turnyour attention and focus away from yourself and tune into what God may be trying to

say to you.

All these practical ways help keep our minds focused on hope in the midst of the storm. These ideas require focused attention and discipline of not looking down, but looking straight into theprovision of Christ Himself.

Sunday Recap, Elijah Chronicles

   The Making of a Man of God

1 Kings 17


Here is a link to the sermon:  Elijah Part 1


I kings 17 opens with introduction of man named Elijah. All that is said about him, is that he is from Tishbe. We dont know if God appeared to him in avision or God stirred up something in his soul that spurred him to action. His first order of business was to confront an evil king named Ahab. The Bible says he was the most evil king Isreal had ever had. Interesting enough after he confronts the king, God tells him to run.


Why run? Why disappear? God had to humble him privately in order to use him publicly. God had to prepare him privately so he would be ready for what future God had for him. Often in order to become the person God calls us to be, pain is involved. Elijah went through a time of isolation and had to be broken. 

ISOLATED PAIN (In the Mean time)


Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. 1 Kings 17:2-3


Kerith—cut off (from the blessings), or cut down. Elijah went to this ravine to be cut down. But something specail happens to hjim in this ravine.


“It is doubtful that God can bless a man greatly until He has hurt him deeply.” A.W. Tozer


And you could almost sense what God is, is saying here. It’s as if God is going to say, “I’m going to take you through a season of breaking. I’m going to cut you down. I’m going to humble you. I’m going to teach you to be totally dependent on Me, and I’m going to humble you privately before I use you publicly. I’m going to do something in you that’s very, very deep, so later on, you can do more than you ever thought possible. I’m going to take you down privately, so I can use you publicly.”  A lot of times, people are in what I call the Kerith Ravine. They’re in a season of pain. They’re going, “Where is God? Where is God?” and the reality is, oftentimes God is right there doing a deep work in you.  Some of you right now, you, you would say, “Man, I’m living in the Karith Ravine. I’m, I’m there. I’m being broken. It’s like I’m being cut down.  Those things that I used to depend on, I no longer can depend on. I’m in the Karith Ravine,” and God may say, “No, you’ve got to understand. I’m doing something in you. There’s a preparatory work going on.   Why did this happen? Because God took him to the Karith Ravine, where he was cut down. God took him to a season of total dependence, where he couldn’t depend on anything at all but God, and God alone. Then, God dried up the brook, so that he would leave where he was, to go to where God ultimately wanted him, so once again, He could perform a miracle and raise the dead back to life. God used the horrible things to shape him into a true man of God.


Total Dependence- Elijaj had to totally depend on God in that ravine. We see in this passage that God gave him water and ravens brought him food. Notice is was not a large suppply at once. But just enough for each day. God used that to remind him that God is provider. He is all that Elijah needs.God tells him, You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there." So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.

Unconditional Obedience
Elijah also learns unconditional obedience. God causes the brook to dry up in order that he would move on. A lot of times, people will say this.
They’ll say, “God guides by what He provides,” and, and He does. Preachers will say, you know, “Where there is vision, God gives the provision,” and God will often guide by what He provides.
But, I believe with all my heart, God also often guides by what He does not provide.


God, the same God who gives water, may cause the brook to dry up to give us the courage to take a step of total obedience.   Some of you right now, you are in a season of, of deep pain, and God may just say, “I’m doing something in you, because one day, I’m going to do more through you.”  Verse 1, Elijah was described as Elijah the Tishbite.  He was known with where’s he’s from.  Twenty-three verses later, he’s not known for where he’s from, but instead, for whom he’s from.  And look at how the story changes.  Verse 24, the end of the story.  “The woman of God, He’d just raised her son.  She, she says to Elijah, “Wow!  Now I know that you are a,” what?  “Now I know you are, you are a man of God and the word of the Lord from your mouth is truth.” God may allow you to go through the Karith Ravine, so one day, someone could look at you, say, “Now, I know.  I see it.  I see it.  I see.  Wow!  You are a woman of God.  Now, I see it.  You are child of God.  Now, I see it.  You are a man of God.” And, I’ll tell you right now, I praise God for all the pain and all the shaping experienced, and all the hurt, and all the brokenness, and all the supernatural provision, and all the unconditional obedience, because I pray that when people look at me today they wouldn’t say, “Oh, yeah, there is Matt Maloney, that guy from Indiana.”  But instead, they say, “Oh, there’s Matt  Maloney.  He’s not perfect, but we know he is a man of God.”

Secret Sister Ministry

Do you have the gift of encouragement? Do you need some encouragement? Wish you knew other ladies better? Sign up today to be a Secret Sister! It’s easy! It’s great! It’s fun! It is a blessing to those involved. Detailed information and forms are available at the Welcome Center. Please see Chris Hurt for details.