Grace Community Church

Yesterday we worshiped at Grace Community Church, 9160 Marshall Road, Cranberry Twp., PA 16066, 724.779.7997, www.mygcc.org, Matt Kaltenberger, Lead Pastor.

 

Scripture – 1 Kings 18:17-39 NIV

When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”

“I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”

So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

But the people said nothing.

Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only one of the Lord’s prophets left, but Baal has four hundred and fifty prophets. Get two bulls for us. Let Baal’s prophets choose one for themselves, and let them cut it into pieces and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and put it on the wood but not set fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire—he is God.”

Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”

Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one of the bulls and prepare it first, since there are so many of you. Call on the name of your god, but do not light the fire.” So they took the bull given them and prepared it.

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come here to me.” They came to him, and he repaired the altar of the Lord, which had been torn down. Elijah took twelve stones, one for each of the tribes descended from Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “Your name shall be Israel.” With the stones he built an altar in the name of the Lord, and he dug a trench around it large enough to hold two seahs of seed. He arranged the wood, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he said to them, “Fill four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood.”

“Do it again,” he said, and they did it again. “Do it a third time,” he ordered, and they did it the third time. The water ran down around the altar and even filled the trench.

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

 

Bob’s thoughts:

It was special to be back in a corporate worship service today. So many things about church have changed, so many things are gone and won’t be back. But I believe God is using the changes to move us in a new direction.

Our focus had been more of our overall sense of a church; we tried to communicate what we as first-time visitors experienced. Now from the scare of Covid, the church, His Church, has changed and will never revert to what it was. It is time to cease lamenting what has been lost and rejoice in where Christ is leading His Church.

The message today was from a favorite Scripture, 1 Kings 18. After a prolonged severe drought, Elijah met with Ahab and called him to bring 450 prophets of Baal and 400 prophets of Asherah to Mount Carmel. He let them choose an oxen to cut up to be sacrificed, placed on the wood they prepared, and call on their god to bring the fire. After a day of their pleading and Elijah’s taunting, Elijah called for water to soak the wood and the offering. Three times to completely soak the sacrifice.

When Elijah called up the Lord and the fire from God came down consuming wood, ox, the stones, and water, the people fell to their knees to worship God. Elijah was strong in his faith. It made me think of the Garth Brooks video, “Standing Outside the Fire”…time to be the fire for Christ.

When Christ called me to faith, it reminded me of my childhood. One of my jobs was to shovel coal into the coal bin. I was soon the same color as the coal I shoveled. When Christ claimed me, I became as white as fresh fallen snow, impossible for the filthy coal bin boy I was.

A fair amount of my time in Vietnam I was sweat covered, stinky, dirty, but then the monsoon rains came and I was washed clean beyond my control.

We need to regain the fire of a new Christian. People are quick to try to make us tone down, but we should be as quick to reignite the old flames in them. We cannot and must not hide our light under a basket.

Think of the step of faith to call three times to soak the sacrifice with water during a time of severe drought. We need that faith. Guilty as charged with being less than He wants me to be, but no longer!

I was delighted to spend a few minutes with one of the pastors after the service and rejoice that he is a new grandpa, a joyous title to achieve.

There is a lot of construction going on and people are excited to worship in their new church. I pray they come refreshed and convicted in Christ’s fire, ready to do His will.

 

Jan’s thoughts:

So, it’s been almost a solid year since we’ve blogged. Although the break has been welcome, it’s been a bit of a struggle to get back into the groove.

This morning we decided to start back with Grace. It seems appropriate. Our world has changed so much in the last year and a half that grace is what we all need. I was grateful for the warm welcome when we entered the building.

This church is in the middle of a huge renovation/expansion project, so there were announcements about what to expect next Sunday and beyond. Everything was clean and signs provided clear directions, so it did not feel like an inconvenience to this visitor, at least.

The message was the first in a new series called “Forged In Fire” and focused on one of my favorite stories in the Old Testament: Elijah on Mount Carmel.

But first the pastor asked the question: “Why are we here?” and reminded us that church is not about checking off a box, but having a relationship with Jesus Christ. After establishing that he was talking to those present who had yet to commit to such a relationship, He spoke of the passion believers should have for their relationship with Christ and made four points about conviction and belief:

1 – conviction shapes our conduct;

2 – conviction ignites confrontation;

3 – conviction sparks a decision; and

4 – conviction fuels transformation.

He ended with the question similar to Elijah’s question to the people of Israel: “How long will you waver?”

It was a genuine treat to encounter a friend and have a chance to catch up some. What a blessing!

 

Our prayer for this church:

Lord, bless Your church. Open the ears of worshipers to Your message. Guide them to grow Your church. Help them to be the church wherever they are and come to You to be refilled and encouraged. Amen.