DAYS OF ELIJAH - Joining God’s Work

Pray – (1/2 minute)

Read – (2 1/2 minutes) – “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 year. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James 5:17-18)
     Passage: Psalm 145:8-13

 What kind of people does God use? He uses people who are available and willing to join Him in His work. There is no such thing as a “super saint”. If there was, a person like Elijah would seem to qualify. However, James explicitly was inspired by the Holy Spirit to tell us that Elijah was a normal person like you and me. He heard God’s call and he responded by faith to be God’s prophet in his day to confront King Ahab and call the nation of Israel to turn back to God.

Our local church, First Baptist Church, Grand Prairie, just celebrated our tenth anniversary at our current location. God gave a vision to relocate from the to a strategic area in our city in order to be better positioned to reach people for Christ. We celebrated the goodness of God and the results of that decision as I shared a comparison of the year prior to the move with this past year. The year prior, we had 41 additions to our church family with 17 coming by their profession of faith for baptism. Our church ministry budget receipts were approximately $1.1 million and we were only able to give around $60,000 to missions. This past year, we have had 124 additions with 65 professions of faith for baptism. Our church ministry budget receipts were a little over $1.8 million and we gave around $330,000 to missions outside our local church. In addition, our church facility and campus, which has cost over $17 million, is debt free. It is all the work of God, who used people willing to join Him. People just like you.

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Pray - (1 1/2 minutes)