Ordinary People Extraordinary Faith.pptx

Editor's Notes

• #2 At times we think wala tayong magagawa kasi wala tayong kakayahan. Kahit ayaw mo ang nangyayari, we just let it pass. Knowing we cannot do anything [Today as you hear the word of the Lord] Ordinary insignificant person can have extra ordinary faith. You may not be that famous and righteous person but God is the One who chooses the one that He will task to do extra ordinary things (There are times we thought this person is most qualified because of his status) God uses unlikely people to do impossible tasks through their extraordinary faith Even the unnamed and insignificant person can be chosen by God to do significant tasks for Him  
• #4 1 Kings 17:8-16  [The first part of chapter 17, Elijah proclaimed draught because the people of Israel under king Ahab is living a sinful life. And as he said this, the draught came and God spoke to Elijah, pinapunta sya sa batis ng Kerit malapit sa ilog Jordan. Nang matuyo ang batis, dito sinabi ng Diyos sa verse 8; (NKJV) 8 Then the word of the LORD came to him, saying, 9 “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you.” 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, “Please bring me a little water in a cup, that I may drink.” 11 And as she was going to get it, he called to her and said, “Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.” 12 So she said, “As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.” 13 And Elijah said to her, “Do not fear; go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me; and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD God of Israel: ‘The bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry, until the day the LORD sends rain on the earth.’ ” 15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run dry, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by Elijah.   Here, we find an ordinary widow, nameless and hopeless. She got nothing to offer. In fact, nung dinatnan sya ni Elijah, ay namumulot sya ng kahoy para pagluluto ng kaunting natitirang harina at Langis, at hihintayin na lamang nilang mag ina ang kamatayan. Subalit sya ang pinili ng Diyos na tutulong kay Elijah. Maaring madami ang maka relate sa atin na, kaunti na nga lamang meron tayo pero kailangan pa nating ibigay o I share pa sa iba na nangangailangan din It will take a lot of extra ordinary faith from an ordinary person para makasunod tayo sa pinag uutos ng Diyos. SO, PAANO TAYO MAGKAKAROON NG EXTRA ORDINARY FAITH? ANO ANG MANGYAYARI SA ATIN KUNG GAGAMITIN NATIN ANG EXTRA ORDINARY FAITH?
• #5 [Una, we must be] 1.0 GUIDED BY THE WORD OF THE LORD (v9) “v9..See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you..” A person with extra ordinary faith is guided by the word of the Lord despite being unlikely recipient [For us to have extra ordinary faith, we must be guided by the word of the Lord. We can receive His word, thru devotion, thru worship and by hearing His word. Romans 10;17 says “..so faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of the Lord..] So bakit tayo pipilin ng Diyos na pagsabihan ng kanyang command? [Di naman ako pastor, bago pa lng ako na nakakilala sa Diyos, di ako worthy na piliin Nya..] The widow was not an Israelite but a foreigner (Phoenician) living in Zarephath (a Baal-worshipping territory), making her an unlikely recipient of God's word. And its difficult for the widow to trust someone she did not even know.   (Elijah does not even introduce himself and he asked for things which the widow needed the most) It will take an extra ordinary faith to obey the Lord at times we are not capable of.  God will pour out discerning spirit to those exercise their faith    The word of the Lord will guide us and strengthen our faith Without the word from the Lord, it would be difficult to have faith and obey   It takes unshakable faith when we fully commit our situation with the Lord “.. as Yahweh our God lives..” (v12).  
• #6 [Pangalawa] 2.0 UNCONDITIONAL OBEDIENCE (v13-16) “.. 15 So she went away and did according to the word of Elijah; and she and he and her household ate for many days.    A person with extra ordinary faith obeys the Lord’s command without condition or asking anything in return.    (The widow got nothing to last for her and her son (v12). Asking for a water during drought is a seemingly impossible or hard to do. How much more to use up what is remaining provision and give to a stranger   Elijah (if without the word of the Lord) will no way ask from a poor widow, but because he has the word of the Lord, he ask (v13-14) It is with faith that would make us to ask (v11) and it is by faith that will move us to act (v15-16) and unconditionally obey   Great faith is the one coming from greatest loss In verse 12, the widow said , “…As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”. The widow only have the last bit of oil and flour, barely enough for her and her son, and to give it for someone totally stranger will be a real test of faith   What happened was God response to an extra ordinary faith. (The widow “…did just as Elijah asked. And it turned out as he said- daily food for her and her family”.. (MSG).)  God did not pour out a lot of flour and oil at one time but daily provisions. Faith is spent every day.   
• #7 Great faith is tested from the condition of greatest loss In verse 12, the widow said , “…As the LORD your God lives, I do not have bread, only a handful of flour in a bin, and a little oil in a jar; and see, I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”. The widow only have the last bit of oil and flour, barely enough for her and her son, and to give it for someone totally stranger will be a real test of faith It is easy to give out of comfort and convenience but not out of our loss. This is a genuine test of faith The poor widow giving all she have (Mark 12:41-44), Zacchaeus giving half od his wealth to the poor and returning what he cheated four times (Luke 19:1-10) and Abraham offering Isaac (Genesis 22) Despite the loss, the widow obeyed what Elijah said. God responded to an extra ordinary faith of the widow, just as Elijah said… (The widow “…did just as Elijah asked. And it turned out as he said- daily food for her and her family”.. (MSG).)  And notice - God did not pour out a lot of flour and oil at one time but on daily provisions. This would mean that, Faith is spent every day.   
• #8 [Lastly, an person with extra ordinary faith will be] 3.0 COMMENDED BY THE LORD   Our Lord Jesus commends person with extra ordinary faith   What the widow’s extra ordinary faith and her obedience to the command of the Lord was not forgotten nor hidden by years and history. In Luke 4:24-26, our Lord Jesus spoke of the widow about what she has done to Elijah. He said that God has specifically chose the widow (of all people in Zarephath) to help out Elijah during great famine   Luke 4:24-26 (NKJV) 24 Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow.   It takes faith to ask for miracle but it takes extra ordinary faith to make us serve other Our Lord Jesus takes notice of our extra ordinary faith. Our Lord Jesus honors a nameless ordinary widow who got nothing to offer but her extra ordinary faith to obey the command of our God.  
• #9 Challenge Can we have faith and not obey? Can we obey without faith? Sometimes, we obey even without faith. But we cannot have faith if we don’t obey It is faith that moves us. Obedience is the fruit of our faith [Hear this] The widow not only exercise her faith while living with Elijah but also developed her character especially humility and contrite heart She now acknowledge that she is sinner and that bad things can happened because of her sins in the past (v18) An extra ordinary faith results a transformed life [Just like the widow, an ordinary person, we must] Exercise our extra ordinary faith despite most trying times.