Listen or watch this guest sermon on 1 Kings 17:8-24 from Joe Yu entitled “Resurrection vs. Resuscitation.” Joe Yu is a missionary with Ripe for Harvest World Outreach. He has served in different parts of the world including Southeast Asia, India, Europe, and the United States. His main work has been in helping to develop ministry visions for indigenous ministries. By God’s grace he has been able to help develop a Bible College in Myanmar and also to develop a satellite campus in tribal regions involved in orphan care. He has also traveled to remote villages to teach and preach. In some locations, he was the first foreigner ever to visit. Through this work God has allowed him to make connections with different ministry leaders from around the world.
Discussion Questions:
- What feels normal and safe to you and how might God be calling you forward?
- What change or transformation is God bringing to our lives as a church body?
- As you reflect on yourself, do you see any places God is already transforming?
- What fears of transformation do you have that keeps you from embracing God’s will?
- How can you stir your imagination for the greater hope that God wants to give?
- How did God transform the widow’s faith through tragedy and crisis?
- When the widow was eating the miracle bread and oil she likely returned to a sense of normalcy and routine. Why do you think God gave her the extra trial of the death of her son? What transformation was he working in her life?
- God told Elijah that the widow was going to feed him, but God didn’t tell the widow anything. She probably didn’t even know the God of Israel. What does this tell us about God’s ability and character?
- We all want to go back to normal. We want to get back to life after COVID-19. But what if God has something greater in store? How does this change how we live today?
- If Jesus can resurrect himself and all who trust in him from the dead, what else can he do?
- God allowed the widow’s son to die and rise again to bring her to a saving faith in him. God allowed his own Son to die and rise again, Christ Jesus, to bring us to a saving faith in him as well. This is the gospel, the good news. What does this stir in your heart? How does it make you feel and think about God?
- Are you hungry for what God can do? Do you want to see his greater power? How might you carry on this conversation with God and your church family?
Thanks for discussing these questions. Take a moment to pray and ask the Lord to apply this sermon to your life our church’s life going forward.