Sunday, October 18, 2026
Scriptures: 1 Kings 19
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In the fifth sermon of our current series Learning to Listen, Bobbi looks at Elijah’s story in 1 Kings 19 to reflect on living in a brutal, noisy world. Following his dramatic victory on Mount Carmel, Elijah faces Jezebel’s death threat and flees into the wilderness, sinking into profound burnout, exhaustion, and despair. God does not lecture Elijah in his collapse; instead, God meets his physical needs with food and rest before speaking to him not through wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a gentle whisper. Like Elijah, Bobbi says that we are invited to pay attention to the quiet invitations of God and nature, recognizing that grace often draws near in stillness and subtle metamorphosis rather than overwhelming force.
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Community is shaped by the conversations we share.
These questions are just a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.Connect: When last did you have a comforting or distressing experience in nature?
Share: In 1 Kings, Elijah reached a point of complete burnout where he sat under a broom bush and prayed that he might die, feeling he had done enough and failed.
How do you typically recognize when you are reaching your physical, emotional, or spiritual limit, and what practices help you slow down and receive rest before reaching absolute exhaustion?Reflect: Bobbi highlights how Elijah catastrophized his situation by claiming, "I am the only one left," even though Obadiah had previously hidden a hundred prophets. Why do you think it is so easy for us to default to a victim mindset or view our struggles as entirely unique and isolated when we are overwhelmed?
Engage: Consider this quote from Bobbi:
"God was not in the wind. God was not in the earthquake. God was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. It turns out God is not a yeller; God is a close, quiet truth.”
How does this view of God operating in a "gentle whisper" challenge your expectations of how God responds to your problems? Where in your life might God be speaking to you through quiet, easily overlooked moments rather than big, dramatic interventions?
Take away: What is one thing that you're taking with you into your week, either from the sermon or our conversation?
Prayer
Creator God,
It’s really beautiful to think about your relationship to nature.
In Christ, we imagine your divine reach through human flesh and into the web of organic life.
What an intricate affair between what we can see and what we cannot.
So we pray for a wider imagination for our interconnectedness.
We pray for discernment to see what you’re saying through the world around us.
We pray we would take so much care in our collaboration with all that you have made.
Spirit of the living God, present with us now.
Enter the places of our burnout and our spiritual longing,
And heal us of all that harms us.
Amen. -
Worship Songs
Curated by Rebecca KS.
Bethel Music - Raise a Hallelujah
Brooke Ligertwood - Greatness
All Sons and Daughters - Great Are You Lord
Elevation Worship - Jesus Be The Name
Liturgy
Written by Yelena Pakhomova
A blessing is to extend the life giving presence of God to others. I invite you in this community prayer of blessing to think of someone you’d like to bless today, near or far. Let's pray together:God of endless grace,
Sometimes we forget that we live in a world blessed by you.
The beauty we see around us, the gift of each new day,
the very fact that we are here - breathing living human beings,
loved by you and others -
all these are signs of wholeness we can experience even now.
So as we extend our blessing to one another,
may our prayers rise from the place of gratitude
and from the deep awareness of your love
at the source of everything we have and who we are.God, today we bless all who long for a fresh start,
those who are desperate for a new beginning,
those who are waiting for things to change.
May they find the courage they need to pursue change,
May their hearts resist the waves of despair,
May they trust that your goodness is encircling them and they are not alone.We bless all who are grieving today,
those who cannot find words for their loss and their anger,
those who are suffering and who are exhausted.
May they find quiet encouragement in a trusted friendship,
May they experience healing and hold on to hope,
May they be surprised by the care that wants nothing in return.And we bless all who seek belonging,
those who navigate the complexity of division,
those who work to build bridges across tension.
May they know that their empathy is a gift of grace,
May their compassion come back to them,
May they recognize your kindness in the kindness they share.
Loving God, wherever this week may take us,
would you help us be awake to your grace in our lives,
and share our blessings freely,
In the name of Jesus we pray,
Amen.