Naboth's Vineyard

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 21:1-29
July 14, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. The exchange between Ahab and Naboth

• Ahab’s offer

• Naboth’s refusal

2. Back at the palace

• Ahab sulks in his room

• Jezebel promises a solution

3. Jezebel’s murderous scheme

• The letters

• Who was blasphemed: Jehovah or Baal?

• The trial and the verdict

• Ahab takes possession

4. The exchange between Elijah and Ahab

• Elijah confronts Ahab in the vineyard

• Jehovah’s verdict on Ahab and Jezebel

5. God’s amazing grace

• Ahab’s change

6. Lessons

• Naboth is a picture of the lot of God’s people

• Such injustice is often inflicted by the government

• God’s servants must be prepared to pay a price for standing for justice

• God will intervene to bring justice to His wronged people

• God delights to exercise mercy while imposing his justice

Ahab Versus Ben-Hadad

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 20:1-43
July 7, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. The thread

• Ben Hadad’s invasion

• Israel’s desperate condition

• Ben Hadad’s intimidating demands

2. The first battle

• An unnamed prophet advises Ahab

• An Israelite victory stuns Ben Hadad

3. The second battle

• Both sides regroup

• Arameans march to Aphek the following year

• Why does Ahab pardon Ben Hadad?

4. A prophet condemns Ahab

• The story

• What was Ahab’s sin?

5. Getting clear about God

• Getting clear about God’s grace

• Getting clear about God’s power

• Getting clear about God’s judgment

What God Promises for Those Who Repent

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Speaker: Clint Estes
Scripture: Joel 2:18-27
June 30, 2024

Joel 2:18-27: Then the LORD became jealous for his land and had pity on his people. The LORD answered and said to his people, “Behold, I am sending to you grain, wine, and oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among the nations.

I will remove the northerner far from you, and drive him into a parched and desolate land, his vanguard into the eastern sea, and his rear guard into the western sea; the stench and foul smell of him will rise, for he has done great things.

Fear not, O land; be glad and rejoice, for the LORD has done great things! Fear not, you beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness are green; the tree bears its fruit; the fig tree and vine give their full yield.

Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before.

The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.

You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, who has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never again be put to shame. You shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God and there is none else. And my people shall never again be put to shame.”

Sermon Outline

1. What God will remove

• Judgment

• Shame

• Application

2. What God will restore

• Land

• Prosperity for Judah

• Application

3. What the result will be

• Satisfaction

• Certainty and experience of God never before had

• Worship

Recruiting Elisha

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:19-21
June 23, 2024

1 Kings 19:19-21: So Elijah went from there and found Elisha son of Shaphat. He was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, and he himself was driving the twelfth pair. Elijah went up to him and threw his cloak around him. Elisha then left his oxen and ran after Elijah. “Let me kiss my father and mother good-by,” he said, “and then I will come with you.”

“Go back,” Elijah replied. “What have I done to you?”

So Elisha left him and went back. He took his yoke of oxen and slaughtered them. He burned the plowing equipment to cook the meat and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out to follow Elijah and became his attendant.

Sermon Outline

1. Elijah goes to Abel Meholah

• The journey

• The destination

• The family of farmers

2. Elijah recruits Elisha

• A hard-working heir

• A silent summons

3. Elisha’s response

• He chases after Elijah

• He asks to kiss his parents goodbye

• He breaks all ties with the past

4. What the day’s events meant for the people affected

• Elijah

• Elisha’s parents

• Elisha himself

Elijah Restored on Mount Horeb

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:9-18
June 16, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. The Story

• The place

• God and Elijah address one another

• Three dramatic elements

• The voice in a low whisper

2. God’s twice-asked question

• Some suggest God’s question is a rebuke

• A better suggestion is God’s question is an invitation

3. The meaning of it all

• The meaning of the earthquake, wind, fire, and low whisper

• God encourages Elijah with a promise

Zion Secure

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: Psalm 48:1-14
June 9, 2024

Psalm 48:1-14: Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
    in the city of our God!
His holy mountain, beautiful in elevation,
    is the joy of all the earth,
Mount Zion, in the far north,
    the city of the great King.
Within her citadels God
    has made himself known as a fortress.

For behold, the kings assembled;
    they came on together.
As soon as they saw it, they were astounded;
    they were in panic; they took to flight.
Trembling took hold of them there,
    anguish as of a woman in labor.
By the east wind you shattered
    the ships of Tarshish.
As we have heard, so have we seen
    in the city of the Lord of hosts,
in the city of our God,
    which God will establish forever. Selah

We have thought on your steadfast love, O God,
    in the midst of your temple.
As your name, O God,
    so your praise reaches to the ends of the earth.
Your right hand is filled with righteousness.
    Let Mount Zion be glad!
Let the daughters of Judah rejoice
    because of your judgments!

Walk about Zion, go around her,
    number her towers,
consider well her ramparts,
    go through her citadels,
that you may tell the next generation
   that this is God,
our God forever and ever.
    He will guide us forever.

Sermon Outline

1. In the Bible, God actually praises Zion

• What is meant by “Zion?”

• Zion is praised for its beauty

• Zion is is the “far north”

2. Zion is wonderfully protected by God

3. God’s protection of Zion is meant to help its citizens experience him for themselves

• People need to go through hard times to experience God’s help

• God wants us to remember what he did

• We’re to rejoice in God’s judgments

4. To aid our recall, God urges us to ponder the church we are in

5. He will guide us even to death

Elijah, Depressed in the Desert

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 19:1-18
June 2, 2024

1 Kings 19:1-18: Now Ahab told Jezebel everything Elijah had done and how he had killed all the prophets with the sword. So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah to say, “May the gods deal with me, be it ever so severely, if by this time tomorrow I do not make your life like that of one of them.”

Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 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.” Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep.

All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.

The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night.

Sermon Outline

1. Immediately after Carmel

• What Ahab said

• How Jezebel reacted

• What Elijah did

2. Elijah’s flight to the desert

• Leaves servant in Beersheba

• Weeps in a wadi

• Sleeps in the shade

3. Commentators’ criticism of Elijah’s despondency

4. How we should see Elijah under the broom tree

• What the text implies about Elijah’s heart

• What the text shows about God’s heart

5. What should we make of all this?

• God is tender toward discouraged servants

• God’s tenderness ultimately comes through Jesus

Rain, Grace, and Second Chances

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 18:41-46
May 26, 2024

1 Kings 18:41-46: And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.” So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

“Go and look toward the sea,” he told his servant. And he went up and looked. “There is nothing there,” he said. Seven times Elijah said, “Go back.” The seventh time the servant reported, “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”

So Elijah said, “Go and tell Ahab, ‘Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.’” Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

Sermon Outline

1. Ahab and Elijah

2. The text’s first great lessons come by watching Elijah pray

• Prayer in public must be fueled by prayer in private

• Prayer must follow (not just precede) our spiritual accomplishments

• Prayer should major on God’s agenda, not ours

• Prayer should be in earnest

3. The text’s final great lesson comes by watching Elijah run

• Ahab’s ill-desert

• God’s grace

Jehovah Versus Baal on Mount Carmel

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 18:1-40
May 19, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. Elijah and Obediah

• Severe famine

• Obediah’s fear and courage

2. Elijah and Ahab

• Ahab blames Elijah

• Elijah issues a challenge

• Why does Ahab agree?

3. The setting and the stakes

• The beautiful setting

• The wavering people

• Application

4. The prophets of Baal call on their god

• Their first attempt

• Their second attempt

5. Elijah calls on his God

• He slowly rebuilds Jehovah’s fallen altar

• He prays to the real God

• God answers with fire

6. Elijah slays the false prophets

Elijah Raises the Widow's Son

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 17:17-24
May 12, 2024

Sermon Outline

Part 1: The ways of God are mysterious

1 Kings 17:17-18: Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”

• Things got worse, not better, for the widow

• Things got worse, not better, for Elijah

• An infinite God can be baffling to finite creatures

Part 2: If God is going to use you, it will cost you

1 Kings 17:19-21: “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to the LORD, “O LORD my God, have you brought tragedy also upon this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, “O LORD my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”

• Believers move toward others

• Elijah got involved with his body

• Elijah got involved with his prayers

• Ministry to others is being a bridge between God and them

Part 3: The result

1 Kings 17:22-24: The LORD heard Elijah’ cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived. Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth.”

• The God who gives life to the dead

• We gain faith, and grasp truth, in stages

• Does this mean we can expect healing?

• Doubting Thomas

Where Are You Hiding?

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Speaker: Dr. Rick Horne
Scripture: Psalm 11
May 5, 2024

Psalm 11: The LORD Is in His Holy Temple

To the choirmaster. Of David.

In the LORD I take refuge; how can you say to my soul, “Flee like a bird to your mountain, for behold, the wicked bend the bow; they have fitted their arrow to the string to shoot in the dark at the upright in heart; if the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”

The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven, his eyes see, his eyelids test the children of man. The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence. Let him rain coals on the wicked; fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup. For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

Sermon Outline

1. David wants to hide

• Why so much attention to hiding?

• David hides when there are threats... he was at war; so are you at war

• Many descriptions of the Christian life have reference to spiritual warfare

2. David finds his safety “in the LORD”

• YHWH — the Redeemer

• Jesus identifies Himself as YHWH

• “Refuge” is for those who are in Christ, not those who just know about him

3. David gets misleading advice

• Their advice was sincere

• Their advice was logical

• Their advice was filled with urgency

• Their advice was contrary to trust in God’s promise

• Who do you look to for your counsel for hiding?

4. David hides by faith — in the secure refuge of God’s provision

• YHWH is secure

• YHWH has a plan and a timetable

• YHWH treats His people with parental love

• This leads to a sobering teaching

Elijah, the Ravens, and the Widow

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 17:2-24
April 28, 2024

Sermon Outline

Elijah at the Kerith Ravine

• God tells Elijah to hide

• Hide for Elijah’s safety

• Hide for discipline on King Ahab and Israel

• God’s provision for Elijah

2. Elijah at Zarephath

• The place

• The widow

3. Lessons

• God has His own where we least expect them

• God’s promises can be trusted

The Rise of Ahab and Elijah

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 16:29-17:1
April 21, 2024

1 Kings 16:29-17:1: In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab son of Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned in Samaria over Israel twenty-two years. Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the eyes of the LORD than any of those before him. He not only considered it trivial to commit the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, but he also married Jezebel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and began to serve Baal and worship him. He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he built in Samaria. Ahab also made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than did all the kings of Israel before him.

In Ahab’s time, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of his firstborn son Abiram, and he set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, in accordance with the word of the LORD spoken by Joshua son of Nun. Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD, the God of Israel lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.”

Sermon Outline

1. Ahab’s day didn’t seem evil

2. Alliance with Sidon

• King Ethbaal

• Princess Jezebel

• Canaanite religion

• Jezebel’s unholy mission

3. Two brief episodes

• The sons of Hiel at Jericho

• The prophet Elijah at Samaria

4. Lessons

• Sin usually presents itself as “no big deal”

• Sin always progresses

• God is always working even while evil rages

Story of Three Dynasties

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 16:25-28
April 14, 2024

1 Kings 16:25-28: Omri did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did more evil than all who were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in the sins that he made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger by their idols. Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the might that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? And Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Ahab his son reigned in his place.

Sermon Outline

1. Elah: The carousing king

• His degenerate reign

• His sad end

• A warning about the worship of pleasure

• The double evil of pulling others into our own sins

2. Zimri: The tough-guy king

• He ends Baasha’s dynasty the same way it began

• His dynasty ends in a blaze of defiance

• The ultimate expression of self-determination

3. Four years of civil war

4. Omri: The winner who was a loser

• Politically a winner

• Spiritually a loser

Problem, Prayer, Promise, and Paradox

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Speaker: Tyler Estes
Scripture: Psalm 12
April 7, 2024

Psalm 12: Save, O LORD, for the godly one is gone; for the faithful have vanished from among the children of man. Everyone utters lies to his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak.

May the LORD cut off all flattering lips, the tongue that makes great boasts, those who say, “With our tongue we will prevail, our lips are with us; who is master over us?”

“Because the poor are plundered, because the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the LORD; “I will place him in the safety for which he longs.” The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver refined in a furnace on the ground, purified seven times.

You, O LORD, will keep them; you will guard us from this generation forever. On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man.

Sermon Outline

1. David laments the problem of living in a lying society

• David observes part of the problem is that something absent should be present

• David observes another part of the problem is that something present should be absent

• David observes that the flatterers are arrogant

• David observes that the problem is pervasive

2. David prays for God to intervene

3. The promise and provision of God’s word

• When God says He will act, it is as good as done

• Consider your Bible: God speaks to you through this book

• The word of God is pure

• The word of God is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness

4. Note the paradox at the end

• God’s promise and the present reality

• What do we make of “I will now arise?”

5. Applications

• Do not despair

• Do not abandon the word of God

• Do not exalt wickedness

• Instead of exalting wickedness, exalt goodness

Adam, Christ, Easter, and You

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:19-23
March 31, 2024

1 Corinthians 15:19-23, NIV: If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.

1 Corinthians 15:19-23, ESV: If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as all die in Adam, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.

Sermon Outline

1. The Bible acknowledges: When viewed a certain way, Christians appear pathetic

• Not many early Christians were high-achievers

• Many Christians appear to miss out

• Jesus’ followers sometimes lack the skills that seem to matter in this life

• If this life is all there is, Christians are to be pitied

2. The resurrection of Jesus is what guarantees the resurrection of His followers

3. Our link to Christ’s resurrection is illustrated by our link with Adam

• All human beings have moral weaknesses

• We are morally flawed because we are all descended from Adam

4. A defense of the doctrine of original sin: “My fate is affected by others"“

• Everyone agrees with this principle when it works in our favor

• Everyone agrees with this principle in situations where we must often be represented by others

• It makes sense that the same principle applies in spiritual matters

5. Death through Adam, life through Christ

6. One final thought

Benediction

May the God of life who raised our Lord Jesus raise you on that great day because you believe in His Son. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. Amen. — paraphrased from Romans 8:11

The Fall of the House of Jeroboam: Nadab and Baasha

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 15:25-16:7
March 24, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. Nadab’s evil reign

• His sins

• His assassination

2. Baasha’s usurpation

• Background

• God’s summary of Baasha’s reign

• Same idolatry, same judgment

3. A doctrine we are familiar with

4. A doctrine we may be unfamiliar with... and find puzzling

• God predicts Baasha will destroy Jeroboam’s dynasty

• God will punish Baasha for doing this

• God’s sovereignty over sin.

  • God is too holy to sin (Habakkuk 1:13)

  • God is too holy to cause anyone else to sin (James 1:13-14)

  • God controls every sin to ultimately further his own righteous purposes

  • God will bring sinners into judgment

5. God’s sovereignty in Christ’s crucifixion

Jeroboam's Dying Son and Dying Kingdom

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 14:1-20
March 17, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. Sorrow in Tirzah

• Jeroboam’s son is gravely ill

• Jeroboam sends his wife to inquire of Ahijah the prophet

• Jeroboam’s message travels ahead of his wife

• Ahijah’s message looks backward

• Ahijah’s message looks forward

2. God wants us to feel the loss that comes from rejecting him

• We learn Abijah’s name

• The story grows gradually darker

• Tragedy is told through the sad experience of the mother

• A short summary of Jeroboam’s life

• The point

3. This tragedy exposes the horrible nature of sin

• Sin = ingratitude for mercies God has shown

• Sin = attempting to manipulate God

• Sin = Thrusting God behind one’s back

• Result

4. God’s mercy in a message of judgment

• Mercy to David

• Mercy to Abijah

• Mercy to readers of 1 Kings

Young Prophet, Old Prophet

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Speaker: Steve Estes
Scripture: 1 Kings 13:1-34
March 10, 2024

Sermon Outline

1. The young prophet denounces Jeroboam

• The grand opening for Jeroboam’s religion

• A voice from the crowd

• A supernatural sign

• Jeroboam’s response

• Jeroboam’s chastening

2. The young prophet meets the old prophet

• The sons’ report

• The old prophet’s deception

• The young prophet’s punishment

3. Questions the writer deems unimportant

4. Theme of the passage

• What does matter to the writer?

• Jeroboam and the Word of the Lord

• The young prophet and the Word of the Lord

• The old prophet and the Word of the Lord

Learning to Distrust Ourselves

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Speaker: Rich Goswiller
Scripture: Luke 22:28-34
March 3, 2024

Luke 22:28-34: “You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign to you, as my Father assigned to me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said to him, “Lord, I am willing to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

Sermon Outline

1. The setting for the evening

2. The first declaration of Jesus

• “Satan has demanded”

• “To have you”

• “To sift you like wheat”

3. The second declaration of Jesus

• “I have prayed for you”

• “When you have turned again...”

4. Peter’s declaration and Jesus’ prediction

• Peter’s misplaced confidence

• Our misplaced confidence

5. What shall we say to these things?

• There is potential for serious lapse and/or declension

• We have an all-sufficient savior

• Always be wary of deadly self-deception

Benediction

Jude 24: Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time, and now and forever. Amen.