If I ask you will you do it?

Sunday Sermon
March 7th 20x
Rhema Community Church

Sermonic Skeleton

Sermonic Pericope: ESV 1 Kings 17:8-16 Then the word of the LORD came to him, 9 "Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you." 10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks. And he called to her and said, "Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink." 11 And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, "Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand." 12 And she said, "As the LORD your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now 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 first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make something for yourself and your son. 14 For thus says the LORD the God of Israel, 'The jar of flour shall not be spent, and the jug of oil shall not be empty, until the day that the LORD sends rain upon the earth.'" 15 And she went and did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days. 16 The jar of flour was not spent, neither did the jug of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD that he spoke by Elijah.

Sermonic Theme: The Word of the LORD (The sustaining power of God.)

Sermonic Subject: The Doctrine of Faith (The Lord is able to sustain you in a drought.)

Sermonic Tension: A non-Israelite was prepared to risk her life for Elijah. (This widow is a Phoenician/Gentile believer.) 1 Kings 17.24

Sermonic Literary Device: Hypallage; or, Interchange (Interchange of Construction)
Hy-pal´-la-gee, ὑπαλλαγή, from ὑπό (hypo), under, and ἀλλάσσειν (allassein), to change.
An underchange or interchange.

Sermonic Sentence: Life’s fulfillment is obeying the word of the Lord. (Consider the generosity, hospitality, and compassion demonstrated by this widow from Zarephath.)

Sermonic Question: Will you obey? (Obedience gives birth to miracles.)

Sermonic Help: FAITH from the Greek pistis, “firm persuasion,” The word “faith” appears only 2 times in the OT ESV Deuteronomy 32:20 And he said, 'I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, For they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness. NLT Habakkuk 2:4 "Look at the proud! They trust in themselves, and their lives are crooked; but the righteous will live by their faith.

It appears 307 times in the NT. Biblical faith has two essential components: (1) trust or acceptance, belief that Jesus is Lord with acknowledgement of His resurrection, and (2) intellectual content, the revealed truth that is firmly believed and is reflected in the life of the believer.

John Stott explains faith as “a reasoning trust, a trust which reckons thoughtfully and confidently upon the trustworthiness of God.” The NT in no way teaches we should have a blind faith.

NLT Hebrews 11:1 What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is the evidence of things we cannot yet see.

The Greek word translated as “evidence” in the KJV literally means “proof,” or “proving.” The NIV brings out this meaning when it says: NIV Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Even the aspect of trust in faith is not blind; there is proof, evidence for belief. In the Christian sense, faith may be defined as a conscious mental desire to do the will of the God of Scripture.

Sermonic Title: “IF I ASK YOU, WILL YOU DO IT?”

Sermonic Structure:

I. Consider the Word (Verses 8-9)

II. Consider the Widow (Verses 10-14)

III. Consider the Will (Verse 15)

IV. Consider the Witness (Verse 16)
A. The jar
B. The jug