Community vs. Isolation
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego:
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego had _________________.
This passage is found just before the faith chapter in Hebrews 11. They are included in a section of Scripture titled A Call to Persevere in Faith (in the NIV):
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (Hebrews 10:24-25, NIV)
Solomon describes it like this in Proverbs:
As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. (Proverbs 27:17, NIV)
Staying in community with other Christians strengthens our ability to have resolute faith by keeping us ________ and ________.
Elijah:
Elijah had been doing life _________________.
If doing life in community keeps us encouraged and sharpened, then doing life in isolation has the potential to make us ____couraged and ____sharpened.
Believing Lies:
Elijah believed a lie against his________ and against __________.
Elijah said this to King Ahab on Mt. Carmel:
Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets.” (1 Kings 18:22, NIV)
And Elijah said this to God TWICE after he runs for his life:
The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” (1 Kings 19:10b & 14b, NIV)
In Elijah’s encounter with Obadiah, Obadiah had also told him this:
Haven’t you heard, my lord, what I did while Jezebel was killing the prophets of the Lord? I hid a hundred of the Lord’s prophets in two caves, fifty in each, and supplied them with food and water. (1 Kings 18:13, NIV)
The ______ he had believed was so loud that he couldn’t even hear the ____ when it was told directly to him.
Elijah believed a lie against __________________.
He came to a broom bush, 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.” (1 Kings 19:4b, NIV)
The accuser (Satan) comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus came to give ________! (John 10:10)