1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,720 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Have you ever been forgotten? 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:06,480 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You know what it's like to be forgotten? 3 00:00:06,480 --> 00:00:11,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Maybe you grew up in one of those households that if you were not out at the car at 7 a. 4 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:12,160 Pastor Dale Tunnell: m. 5 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,200 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Or maybe you've missed the bus. 6 00:00:17,200 --> 00:00:19,200 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Is that what happened? 7 00:00:19,200 --> 00:00:21,279 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You know what it was like to miss the bus 8 00:00:21,660 --> 00:00:29,900 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You know what happened when you missed the bus, you saw it going down the road, and you had to turn around and go back and tell your parents that you had missed the bus? 9 00:00:30,540 --> 00:00:33,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That was not a good day. 10 00:00:37,059 --> 00:00:41,940 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I'm told about a couple that they were traveling across the United States. 11 00:00:43,500 --> 00:00:55,020 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And they, as they were traveling, the wife crawled into the back seat, and she lay down on the back seat, had a blanket over her, had a pillow there, and she went to sleep. 12 00:00:57,719 --> 00:01:02,600 Pastor Dale Tunnell: A husband pulled off at the rest area and said, We're stopping here at a rest area. 13 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:04,519 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Do you need to go to the restroom? 14 00:01:05,560 --> 00:01:08,200 Pastor Dale Tunnell: No comment was made. 15 00:01:09,159 --> 00:01:10,600 Pastor Dale Tunnell: See he was getting out of the car. 16 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:12,680 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He says, we're stopping at the restroom. 17 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:13,880 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Do you need to go? 18 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:15,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: No comment was made 19 00:01:16,220 --> 00:01:19,020 Pastor Dale Tunnell: So he goes in and he goes to the restroom. 20 00:01:19,020 --> 00:01:24,460 Pastor Dale Tunnell: While he is in the restroom, she gets out of the back of the car and goes to the restroom. 21 00:01:24,460 --> 00:01:28,540 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He comes out and he looks in the back and the blanket is still there 22 00:01:28,500 --> 00:01:29,700 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The pillow is still there. 23 00:01:29,700 --> 00:01:32,420 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It still looks like it's wrapped the way it was when he got out. 24 00:01:32,420 --> 00:01:39,620 Pastor Dale Tunnell: So he gets into the car and he gets back on the interstate. 25 00:01:40,860 --> 00:01:43,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Yeah, this is pre-sale phones. 26 00:01:46,780 --> 00:01:49,020 Pastor Dale Tunnell: How would you feel if you saw your 27 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:56,560 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Driver getting back on the interstate. 28 00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,119 Pastor Dale Tunnell: How could he forget about me? 29 00:02:02,240 --> 00:02:04,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Left behind. 30 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:08,080 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Two weeks ago we started a series talking about Elijah 31 00:02:08,820 --> 00:02:11,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We know the story of Elijah fairly well. 32 00:02:11,780 --> 00:02:17,220 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It's one of those stories Elijah is one of those heroes of faith that we have. 33 00:02:17,220 --> 00:02:19,940 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We like the story of Elijah. 34 00:02:20,220 --> 00:02:30,220 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But as we looked at a couple weeks ago, the parallels, and last week, the parallels between Elijah's time and our time today are striking. 35 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:43,560 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The immorality that was going on in Elijah's time, the immorality that's going on in in in our time, the infiltration of the world, how it had infiltrated God's people, God's church, and how today 36 00:02:43,500 --> 00:02:50,300 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It seems like the world has infiltrated God's people and and God's church. 37 00:02:51,820 --> 00:02:55,820 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We looked at the fact that Elijah was that man of prayer. 38 00:02:55,820 --> 00:03:00,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We read James chapter 5, where we saw that Elijah was that man of prayer. 39 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:03,040 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He was a man of prayer and he prayed so much. 40 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:05,280 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He was studying scripture so much. 41 00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:10,079 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He prayed, God, close the windows of heaven that it will not rain. 42 00:03:10,220 --> 00:03:12,860 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He was jealous for the cause of God. 43 00:03:12,860 --> 00:03:16,459 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He wanted the people of God to worship the Creator God. 44 00:03:16,459 --> 00:03:24,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And he was jealous because they were they were worshiping Baal and that they thought was the God of rain. 45 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:31,959 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God show them that you are more powerful than this this Baal God that they are worshiping. 46 00:03:31,959 --> 00:03:35,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And so he prayed, and God said, Okay, I'm going to shut 47 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,560 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The skies. 48 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:45,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And when God said that to Elijah, Elijah, this is where we went two weeks ago. 49 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,960 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You remember that the one verse that we looked at? 50 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:56,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Says, and Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead said to Ahab, 51 00:03:57,320 --> 00:04:08,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years except at my word. 52 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:11,560 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What a pronouncement. 53 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:18,760 Pastor Dale Tunnell: If you had been Ahab, if you had been listening to the pronouncement of Elijah, what would you have picked up on? 54 00:04:20,780 --> 00:04:25,740 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Elijah said there's not going to be dew or rain for how long? 55 00:04:28,120 --> 00:04:30,680 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Did you read what it said? 56 00:04:30,680 --> 00:04:35,159 Pastor Dale Tunnell: These years, plural 57 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:46,240 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Now you know what it's like to be without rain for a week, two weeks, a month? 58 00:04:46,240 --> 00:04:46,879 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Years 59 00:04:48,980 --> 00:04:50,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What happens? 60 00:04:54,340 --> 00:04:58,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Oh, you look at the the announcement that Elijah had the 61 00:04:58,240 --> 00:05:08,320 Pastor Dale Tunnell: the boldness, the courage that he had, the audacity that he had to walk right past those guards and to stand before Elijah and to say those words 62 00:05:08,420 --> 00:05:12,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And after that big announcement, he exits. 63 00:05:12,100 --> 00:05:15,460 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And as he exits, verse 2, we did not look at that last time. 64 00:05:15,460 --> 00:05:19,380 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It says, Then the word of the Lord came to him saying, 65 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:31,560 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Get away from here, turn eastward, and hide at the brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan, and it will be that you shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there 66 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:40,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: If you had been Elijah, what would you have said? 67 00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Excuse me, God. 68 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:49,520 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I just came in here and I made a big pronouncement for you. 69 00:05:49,520 --> 00:05:53,360 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I thought you had called me to be your spokesperson. 70 00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:55,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And you want me to do what? 71 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I've been working, Lord, on my courage. 72 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:05,039 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Do you know how much courage it took to walk and stand before Ahab? 73 00:06:05,039 --> 00:06:09,039 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You know how much courage it took to go past those security guards? 74 00:06:08,500 --> 00:06:12,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Do you know how much I had to muster up, Lord, to make this happen? 75 00:06:12,580 --> 00:06:14,740 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And you want me to do what now? 76 00:06:17,060 --> 00:06:20,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What was God calling Elijah to do? 77 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:28,760 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Hide, go off to the brook cherith in secret 78 00:06:31,159 --> 00:06:35,720 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, to me, that doesn't sound real logical. 79 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,080 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Here you have someone that's willing to be a spokesperson for you. 80 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:41,159 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, I would have told Elijah. 81 00:06:41,520 --> 00:06:49,280 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Go up and down all of Israel, just like Jonah later went up and down Nineveh 82 00:06:49,539 --> 00:06:58,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And and and proclaim that the the sky is going to be closed up and that these people need to repent and put on sackcloth and ashes. 83 00:06:59,560 --> 00:07:06,360 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, that would have been, excuse me, my logic. 84 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:09,240 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But I know God's ways are not my ways 85 00:07:10,560 --> 00:07:24,560 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean I remember in my homeletics class, my homeletics teacher telling us he was going to take us to downtown Chattanooga and he was going to put us on the corner of a street and he says, I want to see what kind of street preacher you are. 86 00:07:24,199 --> 00:07:29,400 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And we'll give you a grade according to the people you can get together. 87 00:07:29,400 --> 00:07:33,639 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And we'll give you a grade according to how long they stay. 88 00:07:33,639 --> 00:07:37,960 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And we'll give you a grade according to who's still there at the end. 89 00:07:38,699 --> 00:07:42,860 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Boy, can you imagine being called to be a street preacher? 90 00:07:42,860 --> 00:07:44,300 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Any volunteers 91 00:07:46,039 --> 00:07:49,720 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, Elijah just seems like that kind of person. 92 00:07:49,720 --> 00:07:51,720 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It seems like he could have done that. 93 00:07:51,720 --> 00:07:55,319 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I am thankful my homiletics teacher did not do that. 94 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,600 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Because I know at least one person in the class, he'd have failed. 95 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:02,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He had trouble just with homiletics. 96 00:08:02,640 --> 00:08:06,480 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Getting up there and preaching, boy, it was a short sermon he preached. 97 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:08,720 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I felt sorry for the man. 98 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:12,479 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Uh he's still pastoring today. 99 00:08:12,479 --> 00:08:16,560 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He he he learned how to go longer than five minutes. 100 00:08:18,820 --> 00:08:26,500 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But Elijah, it it it seems like telling him to go and hide. 101 00:08:27,140 --> 00:08:35,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Can you imagine what that was like as Elijah, maybe he had a friend that had gone with him there and Elijah said, I'm I'm 102 00:08:36,600 --> 00:08:39,160 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Leaving now and the friend says, Where are you going? 103 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:43,400 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He says, I'm going over to the brook Cherith. 104 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:45,320 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What are you gonna do over there? 105 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:50,040 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do, but I know that I'm going to be drinking water. 106 00:08:50,980 --> 00:08:52,579 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Well, what are you going to eat? 107 00:08:52,579 --> 00:08:57,380 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to eat, but I know that the birds are going to feed me. 108 00:08:58,620 --> 00:09:05,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, can you can you fathom that kind of conversation that Elijah has with somebody? 109 00:09:05,899 --> 00:09:07,420 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, maybe you've 110 00:09:08,100 --> 00:09:10,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: had a conversation like that. 111 00:09:10,180 --> 00:09:15,700 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Maybe you feel like there's been a time in your life, or maybe you feel like there's a time in your life right now where 112 00:09:16,060 --> 00:09:17,740 Pastor Dale Tunnell: where something like that's going on. 113 00:09:17,740 --> 00:09:24,540 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Where it seems like God has has called you to something and he he's told you what he wants you to do and then it's like he 114 00:09:27,000 --> 00:09:30,839 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He left you behind. 115 00:09:30,839 --> 00:09:34,200 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He set you aside. 116 00:09:34,200 --> 00:09:37,240 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He said, Just wait 117 00:09:40,300 --> 00:09:45,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You ever like it when God says just wait? 118 00:09:45,100 --> 00:09:48,860 Pastor Dale Tunnell: How long was Elijah there by that brook cherith? 119 00:09:49,180 --> 00:09:50,620 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What's your Bible say? 120 00:09:50,620 --> 00:09:51,740 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Three months? 121 00:09:53,500 --> 00:09:54,860 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Six months? 122 00:09:56,779 --> 00:10:00,060 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I'm not hearing anything. 123 00:10:01,019 --> 00:10:03,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Yeah, it's because it doesn't tell us, does it? 124 00:10:04,260 --> 00:10:10,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It doesn't tell us how long that he was there. 125 00:10:10,180 --> 00:10:17,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But it does tell us that he had water to drink and food to eat. 126 00:10:23,560 --> 00:10:28,839 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Verse 5 tells us: So he went and he did according to the word of the Lord. 127 00:10:28,820 --> 00:10:34,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He went and he stayed by the brook Cherith, which flows into the Jordan. 128 00:10:34,660 --> 00:10:43,460 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. 129 00:10:43,380 --> 00:10:50,340 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And our words are hallelujah, God provides 130 00:10:54,839 --> 00:10:58,199 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Is this the kind of provision Elijah had in mind? 131 00:10:59,560 --> 00:11:02,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Is this the kind of a provision that that 132 00:11:03,140 --> 00:11:08,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God, I mean Elijah had negotiated with God before he stood in front of Ahab 133 00:11:11,500 --> 00:11:14,860 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Scripture doesn't tell us what that conversation was. 134 00:11:14,860 --> 00:11:22,139 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It just tells us that after he said this to Ahab, the word of the Lord came to him and told him to go to this brook. 135 00:11:25,759 --> 00:11:32,079 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Boy, have you ever gone out and been out in the wilderness? 136 00:11:32,079 --> 00:11:33,759 Pastor Dale Tunnell: How long do you last? 137 00:11:37,240 --> 00:11:49,320 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You know, I have a friend that he he decided he was going to hike the Appalachian Trail and he put on his backpack and he got out there by himself and started hiking. 138 00:11:49,940 --> 00:11:54,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And he did about two weeks and he says that's all I could handle. 139 00:11:54,580 --> 00:11:57,860 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I couldn't handle more than two weeks. 140 00:11:57,860 --> 00:11:59,779 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He said, it was terrible being out there. 141 00:11:59,779 --> 00:12:02,420 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I said, you lasted two weeks longer than I would have 142 00:12:04,340 --> 00:12:16,900 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, I I've had days where I said, you know, the been challenged and then they they told me as a you know, as a pastor, you need to get out into the into into nature and you need to have some quiet time communing with God and to 143 00:12:16,940 --> 00:12:29,500 Pastor Dale Tunnell: to read and to write and and not have the distractions of of of phone and and family around or or people able to get a hold of you and and I go out and I I try that and I last until I'm hungry 144 00:12:35,420 --> 00:12:43,339 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It it it's I'm thankful that Elijah at least had the ravens to bring him something to eat. 145 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:52,480 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Verse 7 says, and it happened after a while that the brook dried up. 146 00:12:54,220 --> 00:12:56,220 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Because there was no rain. 147 00:12:57,100 --> 00:12:59,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It doesn't tell us how long that took took. 148 00:12:59,180 --> 00:13:01,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It doesn't tell us how many months he was out there. 149 00:13:01,300 --> 00:13:08,339 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It doesn't tell us how many months he was going through this process, but sometimes we get comfortable even in our quietness 150 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:12,399 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We get comfortable with the fact that, well, God is providing for me. 151 00:13:12,399 --> 00:13:13,519 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I'm not sure I like this. 152 00:13:13,519 --> 00:13:15,040 Pastor Dale Tunnell: This isn't what I had in mind. 153 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:21,760 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But God provides, God provides, and then when God seems that God's provision dries up, what do we do? 154 00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:27,200 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God, you you gave me this job. 155 00:13:27,200 --> 00:13:29,280 Pastor Dale Tunnell: How can it dry up? 156 00:13:31,780 --> 00:13:34,740 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God, you gave me this spouse. 157 00:13:34,740 --> 00:13:38,020 Pastor Dale Tunnell: How could they die? 158 00:13:38,020 --> 00:13:39,940 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God, you gave me this 159 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:50,280 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What's happening? 160 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:53,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Think about the emotions. 161 00:13:53,880 --> 00:14:02,360 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That Elijah had when he woke up and the brook was dry. 162 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: How did he feel? 163 00:14:08,120 --> 00:14:13,800 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I'm gonna tell you, there's been a few times when I thought my brook was dry. 164 00:14:13,800 --> 00:14:15,960 Pastor Dale Tunnell: A couple things I've learned. 165 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:24,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: For me, I'm going to share with you when you feel like your brook is dry, when you feel like God has 166 00:14:24,779 --> 00:14:31,980 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Exited and gone back on the interstate and left you at the rest area. 167 00:14:31,980 --> 00:14:37,019 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Something that I need to remember, that you may need to remember, God is still alive 168 00:14:39,100 --> 00:14:41,420 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Yeah, I should have got more than just three there. 169 00:14:41,820 --> 00:14:43,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God is still alive. 170 00:14:44,380 --> 00:14:46,380 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We need to remember that. 171 00:14:46,860 --> 00:14:53,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: In our darkest hour, in our deepest trial, when it seems like the brook is dry, God is alive. 172 00:14:53,660 --> 00:14:57,500 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And secondly, he's still on the throne. 173 00:14:57,500 --> 00:14:59,500 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You know what that means? 174 00:15:00,960 --> 00:15:03,920 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He's still in control of things. 175 00:15:03,920 --> 00:15:07,360 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He still has all power. 176 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:10,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He can accomplish things. 177 00:15:10,640 --> 00:15:12,800 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He knows what's going on. 178 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:19,880 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Sometimes I forget that. 179 00:15:19,880 --> 00:15:22,360 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You know what we do when we forget that 180 00:15:24,580 --> 00:15:30,339 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I complain often loudly. 181 00:15:30,339 --> 00:15:32,339 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Why me, Lord? 182 00:15:32,860 --> 00:15:41,740 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What did I do to deserve a dry brook at this point in time in my life? 183 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,400 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Put a bookmark there in 1 Kings 17. 184 00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:47,680 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We're going to come back to it. 185 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:51,280 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Turn over to Isaiah chapter 49. 186 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:55,680 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Sometimes we need some promises in times like this. 187 00:15:55,680 --> 00:15:57,360 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Isaiah chapter 49 188 00:16:04,180 --> 00:16:05,700 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Oh, let's see. 189 00:16:05,700 --> 00:16:09,380 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Come down to verse fourteen. 190 00:16:09,380 --> 00:16:12,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But Zion said, Who is Zion? 191 00:16:13,560 --> 00:16:15,720 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That's the people of God. 192 00:16:15,720 --> 00:16:21,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God's people say, The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me. 193 00:16:21,740 --> 00:16:30,380 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God replies, verse 15, can a woman forget her nursing child and not have compassion on the son of her womb? 194 00:16:30,380 --> 00:16:33,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Surely they may forget 195 00:16:34,840 --> 00:16:40,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Yet I will not forget you. 196 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:49,160 Pastor Dale Tunnell: See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands, your walls are continually before me. 197 00:16:49,319 --> 00:16:57,480 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, we can look at the the hands of Jesus and we can know that he has tattooed, if you will. 198 00:16:57,980 --> 00:17:01,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Your name there on his hands. 199 00:17:01,100 --> 00:17:05,020 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He knows you and he will not forget you 200 00:17:07,059 --> 00:17:09,539 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Hallelujah. 201 00:17:09,539 --> 00:17:11,620 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We serve a God that's alive. 202 00:17:11,620 --> 00:17:17,699 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We serve a God that's that's on the throne, and we serve a God that will not forget us. 203 00:17:19,339 --> 00:17:23,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That's news we need to know. 204 00:17:23,580 --> 00:17:31,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: There are times when God is going to set us aside and we're going to be at that brook cherith. 205 00:17:33,420 --> 00:17:39,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We may wonder what's going on, but I'm just letting you know that's going to happen at times 206 00:17:41,399 --> 00:17:45,159 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I remember when I was at Georgia Cumberland Academy. 207 00:17:45,159 --> 00:17:48,279 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I was so excited to be at Georgia Cumberland Academy to be 208 00:17:48,519 --> 00:17:51,240 Pastor Dale Tunnell: working as a as a pastor with the young people there. 209 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,080 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But there was a a man there that at the academy, he had a 210 00:17:58,740 --> 00:18:01,460 Pastor Dale Tunnell: An interesting job. 211 00:18:04,340 --> 00:18:07,300 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Made sure the industries that the academy had 212 00:18:07,820 --> 00:18:11,420 Pastor Dale Tunnell: wa had the right people to fill the positions that were needed. 213 00:18:11,420 --> 00:18:17,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And he was the go-between for the Academy and these industries that the Academy had. 214 00:18:17,580 --> 00:18:22,460 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He was also the head elder of the the Academy Church. 215 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:28,240 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And as a head elder I had him preach sometimes, and man, that man was a good preacher. 216 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:30,960 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And I can remember thinking the first time I heard him 217 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:38,560 Pastor Dale Tunnell: His skills are just being wasted here as a work coordinator at Georgia Cumberland Academy. 218 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:41,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He's got he he he's gifted 219 00:18:42,140 --> 00:18:48,860 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He ought to be doing something other than the work coordinator. 220 00:18:48,860 --> 00:18:51,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: A few years later, Cheryl and I took a call. 221 00:18:51,180 --> 00:18:53,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We went to Mongolia 222 00:18:53,340 --> 00:19:01,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The next thing I knew, this man had taken a call and he was now the president of a mission field. 223 00:19:01,100 --> 00:19:06,940 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Next thing I knew he had left the presidency of the mission field and he had gone to the general conference. 224 00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:10,800 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And I was thinking, that's more like it. 225 00:19:10,800 --> 00:19:13,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That's the kind of character he had. 226 00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:14,880 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That's the kind of qualities he had. 227 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:15,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That that's 228 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:23,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But the time that he was at GC, when I look back at it, I think that must have been his quiet time at the Brook. 229 00:19:25,580 --> 00:19:29,019 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You know what God does when you're sitting at the brook? 230 00:19:29,340 --> 00:19:31,500 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He is developing your character 231 00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:38,400 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The things that are going on inside. 232 00:19:38,400 --> 00:19:47,200 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Elijah may have been the spokesperson for God, but he was going to become the man of God. 233 00:19:49,200 --> 00:19:56,240 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And part of that becoming the man of God took place at the Brook Cherith 234 00:19:58,159 --> 00:20:04,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You can praise God and you can thank God for those quiet times. 235 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:07,600 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Those times you don't understand what is happening. 236 00:20:07,600 --> 00:20:12,080 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You don't know what is going on or why it's going on. 237 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:20,639 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We need to remember at those times God's direction includes his provisions. 238 00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:25,240 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We need to learn to trust God. 239 00:20:25,240 --> 00:20:28,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I'm going to say this phrase, and you're going to think, oh, I've heard that before. 240 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: One day at a time. 241 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:33,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Have you heard that before? 242 00:20:33,440 --> 00:20:36,240 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Trust God one day at a time. 243 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:36,960 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Why? 244 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:41,760 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Because you can't live tomorrow until tomorrow is 245 00:20:43,240 --> 00:20:46,280 Pastor Dale Tunnell: So what do we do worrying about tomorrow? 246 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:47,799 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean Jesus said something. 247 00:20:47,799 --> 00:20:50,919 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Don't worry about tomorrow. 248 00:20:50,919 --> 00:20:53,080 Pastor Dale Tunnell: When do we need to trust him? 249 00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:55,880 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Today. 250 00:20:55,880 --> 00:21:01,080 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What has he given you to do today? 251 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:06,680 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Sit by the brook cherith, drink, eat what the ravens bring you 252 00:21:08,900 --> 00:21:11,620 Pastor Dale Tunnell: May or may not be pizza. 253 00:21:11,620 --> 00:21:15,060 Pastor Dale Tunnell: May and not may or may not be burritos. 254 00:21:15,060 --> 00:21:17,700 Pastor Dale Tunnell: May or may not be the food that you are in 255 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:25,799 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Desiring from home. 256 00:21:25,799 --> 00:21:28,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God will take care of you. 257 00:21:35,020 --> 00:21:43,900 Pastor Dale Tunnell: A dried up brook does not mean that God is displeased with you. 258 00:21:47,539 --> 00:21:52,340 Pastor Dale Tunnell: A dried-up brook does not mean God is displeased with you. 259 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:54,039 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Think about it. 260 00:21:54,039 --> 00:21:59,480 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Joseph was sold by his brothers because God was displeased with him, correct? 261 00:22:00,360 --> 00:22:05,159 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Joseph was thrown into jail because God was displeased with him, correct? 262 00:22:05,660 --> 00:22:14,059 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Each one of these, what we think are low points in Joseph's life, at that point it says, and God was with him. 263 00:22:16,799 --> 00:22:22,399 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Abraham, God says, go and and and sacrifice your son. 264 00:22:22,399 --> 00:22:23,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It seems like that's 265 00:22:23,760 --> 00:22:25,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That the brook is drying up. 266 00:22:25,120 --> 00:22:28,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean the sun is supposed to be everything God has promised. 267 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:31,919 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The entire promise that God has given him is through Isaac. 268 00:22:31,919 --> 00:22:36,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And now God is saying, Go and sacrifice your son just because 269 00:22:37,340 --> 00:22:44,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It seems the brook is drying up does not mean God does not have a provision for us 270 00:22:51,220 --> 00:22:54,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Chapter 17 of 1 Kings continues. 271 00:22:56,900 --> 00:23:00,419 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Arise. 272 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:04,880 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Go to Seraphith, which belongs in Sidon, and dwell there. 273 00:23:04,880 --> 00:23:08,720 Pastor Dale Tunnell: See, I have commanded a widow there to provide for you. 274 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,760 Pastor Dale Tunnell: So he arose and went to where? 275 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:13,400 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Where? 276 00:23:22,539 --> 00:23:28,299 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Just because the brook had dried up does not mean that God was not still providing. 277 00:23:28,299 --> 00:23:30,220 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God had another plan. 278 00:23:30,419 --> 00:23:32,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God was moving to phase two. 279 00:23:32,660 --> 00:23:35,539 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He had been at Cherith where it was it was quiet. 280 00:23:35,539 --> 00:23:37,140 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It was out in in in the woods. 281 00:23:37,140 --> 00:23:38,179 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It was out in nature. 282 00:23:38,179 --> 00:23:41,620 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He was being taken care of by by the brook and by the ravens. 283 00:23:41,620 --> 00:23:43,620 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And now he was going to 284 00:23:44,780 --> 00:23:46,300 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Where does it say? 285 00:23:46,300 --> 00:23:47,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Zareaph. 286 00:23:47,180 --> 00:23:49,900 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And where's Zarephith? 287 00:23:49,900 --> 00:23:51,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Yeah. 288 00:23:51,180 --> 00:23:55,740 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And that's up there where we kind of talk about these places together, Tyre and Sidon. 289 00:23:57,500 --> 00:24:03,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: This this Zarephath, that was the hometown of Jezebel's father. 290 00:24:03,580 --> 00:24:05,740 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Do you remember Jezebel? 291 00:24:06,100 --> 00:24:16,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The one who had introduced the the the extreme Baal worship to the people of Israel, the one who had enticed Ahab to to to worship the Baals? 292 00:24:16,580 --> 00:24:17,539 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The one who has 293 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The root of the problem. 294 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:30,200 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God is saying to Elijah, I want you to go from this brook here, and I want you to go all the way over here to 295 00:24:31,260 --> 00:24:32,700 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Zarephath. 296 00:24:32,700 --> 00:24:34,220 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I know you've been in the country. 297 00:24:34,220 --> 00:24:38,299 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I know you've had that country living, but now I want you to go to the inner city. 298 00:24:40,180 --> 00:24:44,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And I want you to go to a widow. 299 00:24:44,180 --> 00:24:49,940 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, if you're you're playing this in your head, if you are Elijah. 300 00:24:51,100 --> 00:24:55,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What are you thinking? 301 00:24:55,580 --> 00:25:03,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God, why in the world would you want me to go to the den of iniquity? 302 00:25:04,159 --> 00:25:07,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Why would you want me to go to a country like that? 303 00:25:07,440 --> 00:25:09,919 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Why would you want me to go to a city like that? 304 00:25:09,919 --> 00:25:12,799 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Why would you that's what I'm preaching against, God? 305 00:25:12,799 --> 00:25:14,720 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I can't go to a place like that. 306 00:25:14,720 --> 00:25:16,480 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That's that's that's that's 307 00:25:17,740 --> 00:25:21,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We don't stand for that God. 308 00:25:22,220 --> 00:25:23,820 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That's pure paganism. 309 00:25:24,380 --> 00:25:25,500 Pastor Dale Tunnell: We can't. 310 00:25:25,500 --> 00:25:27,900 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God, what are you doing? 311 00:25:29,260 --> 00:25:38,460 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God, isn't there an Adventist family that has like a a a fifty acre farm that I could go and help on the farm with them and 312 00:25:38,860 --> 00:25:47,419 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And you could just provide water for that farm and and they could have a well and and we could just produce crops just just 313 00:25:47,880 --> 00:25:54,600 Pastor Dale Tunnell: A nice advent, I mean Israelite family that that still worship you, that has not been the need to bail. 314 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:58,520 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Can't can't you just provide something like that for me, God? 315 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:04,920 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God I I I've kind of gotten used to the the the the Raven food here. 316 00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:07,160 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The ravens is they're they're not so bad. 317 00:26:07,160 --> 00:26:07,320 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It's 318 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:09,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The the brook is dried up. 319 00:26:09,000 --> 00:26:10,040 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I realize that. 320 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:15,480 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But God and the with the the children of Israel in the wilderness, you were able to get water out of a rock. 321 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:17,080 Pastor Dale Tunnell: There's a a stone here. 322 00:26:17,080 --> 00:26:19,400 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It's a it's a it's a nice stone 323 00:26:19,340 --> 00:26:23,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It's uh I know that you can make water come from this rock, Lord. 324 00:26:23,580 --> 00:26:27,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I'll just stay here at Cherith and you bring forth water. 325 00:26:27,100 --> 00:26:30,380 Pastor Dale Tunnell: This is gonna be like my my canteen rock. 326 00:26:30,140 --> 00:26:38,300 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I just drink out of it whenever I'm thirsty, and you can do your miracle, God, but to go to Zarephath, that's that's 327 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:47,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean you start thinking the way Elijah might have been thinking, and he he he starts walking for a hundred miles to get there. 328 00:26:47,840 --> 00:26:50,880 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You wonder what kind of thoughts were going through his head. 329 00:26:50,640 --> 00:26:57,920 Pastor Dale Tunnell: as he was trying not to get caught, as he was going through parts of Israel, and he was trying not to be seen, because they were looking for him. 330 00:26:57,920 --> 00:27:02,080 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He might have heard there were wanted posters out for him. 331 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:09,600 Pastor Dale Tunnell: How does he get from there to there without getting caught and and and and the things that are going through 332 00:27:10,900 --> 00:27:22,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God in there, I've read Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers there, God, and you you tell us that we're supposed to be taking care of widows 333 00:27:23,600 --> 00:27:27,520 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Not widows taking care of us. 334 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:29,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God surely there's 335 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:35,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Oh, surely there's something else we can do. 336 00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:39,160 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I don't want to go live with the widow. 337 00:27:39,160 --> 00:27:41,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I don't want to go to the inner city. 338 00:27:41,919 --> 00:27:47,200 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I don't want to go into the the darkness of of heathenism. 339 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:53,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: This is this is God, do you know what you're doing? 340 00:27:54,460 --> 00:27:57,420 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Have you ever asked God that question? 341 00:27:57,740 --> 00:28:01,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Oh, let me tell you, there are times I've asked God that question 342 00:28:02,179 --> 00:28:08,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And I think this may have been one of those times where Elijah was talking to God, and God, do you know what you're doing? 343 00:28:08,100 --> 00:28:12,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Because logically, this doesn't make a lot of sense. 344 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:24,880 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Elijah's preaching against this, and yet, and yet God is sending him to the root of this problem where it came from. 345 00:28:25,640 --> 00:28:32,600 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Prophets and Kings, page 129, tells us this woman was not an Israelite. 346 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:38,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: She had never had the privileges and the blessings that the chosen people of God had enjoyed 347 00:28:38,480 --> 00:28:47,680 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But she was a believer in the true God and had walked in the light that was shining on her pathway. 348 00:28:49,580 --> 00:28:51,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Think about that. 349 00:28:51,180 --> 00:28:58,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: She was a believer in the true God that had walked in all the light that was shining on her pathway. 350 00:28:59,440 --> 00:29:04,480 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What light had been shining on her pathway? 351 00:29:04,480 --> 00:29:05,920 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Oh, yeah 352 00:29:07,419 --> 00:29:14,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That territory, Tyre and Sidon, that's that David had a connection with the the the king of Tyre there. 353 00:29:14,780 --> 00:29:15,340 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He he 354 00:29:15,700 --> 00:29:28,820 Pastor Dale Tunnell: he connected with them and he got he got cedars from there and and brought 'em to to build his palace and and and Solomon connected there and got cedars from there to to build the the 355 00:29:29,700 --> 00:29:37,060 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Temple and oh man, they they must have surely they had seen the truth 356 00:29:37,260 --> 00:29:41,419 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Surely there had been opportunities for David and Solomon to share the truth. 357 00:29:41,419 --> 00:29:47,020 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Surely those people had learned about the Creator God. 358 00:29:47,020 --> 00:29:47,900 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Maybe 359 00:29:51,299 --> 00:29:55,139 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Maybe some of it had trickled down. 360 00:29:55,139 --> 00:29:58,500 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean this was was a hundred years past that now 361 00:29:59,740 --> 00:30:06,140 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And the people of God, the ones that had the temple in front of them, they were not doing what they were supposed to be doing. 362 00:30:06,140 --> 00:30:10,539 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But maybe those heathen out there, maybe they they 363 00:30:13,539 --> 00:30:14,980 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Hmm. 364 00:30:15,139 --> 00:30:24,500 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Prophets in Kings 1:29 says, But she was a believer in the true God and had walked in all the light that was shining on her pathway. 365 00:30:31,899 --> 00:30:32,620 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Maybe 366 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:40,160 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You have your finger there, your Bible open to 1 Kings 17. 367 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:45,520 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I want you to turn to the New Testament, Luke chapter 4. 368 00:30:46,460 --> 00:30:54,940 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Jesus talking about this story, Luke chapter four. 369 00:30:54,940 --> 00:30:57,340 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Verses twenty-five and twenty-six 370 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:06,039 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Luke chapter four, verse twenty-five and twenty-six. 371 00:31:06,039 --> 00:31:08,200 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But I tell you truly 372 00:31:08,419 --> 00:31:18,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout the land. 373 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:26,320 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But to none of them was Elijah sent except to Seraph in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 374 00:31:27,460 --> 00:31:37,700 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Jesus lifts up this woman, this widow, as more, do I use the word holy? 375 00:31:38,680 --> 00:31:52,760 Pastor Dale Tunnell: As more walking in the in in the sight of God, walking in the pathway of God, walking in the desires of God, living up to all the light that she had, than were the people of Israel. 376 00:31:58,060 --> 00:31:59,420 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What is Jesus saying? 377 00:31:59,420 --> 00:32:04,300 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He says that there are many widows in Israel, but God passed by them all. 378 00:32:04,300 --> 00:32:06,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Rather to choose this widow. 379 00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:12,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: who was living up to the light she had. 380 00:32:12,000 --> 00:32:21,360 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Maybe it's not so much that God had passed them by, it's that while God was looking for someone living up to the light they had, 381 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:29,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: even though he was going through the people of Israel that had the the the testimonies of God, even though he was looking at the people of Israel that 382 00:32:29,360 --> 00:32:42,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: were in the proximity of the temple of God, even though he was looking at the people of Israel that had the prophets that had been sent to them, one after another after another, these individuals were not living up to the light they had. 383 00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:51,799 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And the person that was most living up to the light they had was in Seraph. 384 00:32:55,179 --> 00:33:01,020 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You think about that for a moment. 385 00:33:01,020 --> 00:33:04,059 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What does this story say to us today? 386 00:33:06,180 --> 00:33:10,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Are we living up to the light they have that we have? 387 00:33:10,900 --> 00:33:15,380 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Are we listening to the prophets that God gives to us? 388 00:33:15,519 --> 00:33:22,559 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Are we spending time in God's Word, getting to know Him so that we have an insight and understanding? 389 00:33:23,780 --> 00:33:27,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Testimonies, Volume 3, page 274, fleshes it out a little bit more. 390 00:33:27,780 --> 00:33:34,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It says, a heathen woman living up to the best light she had was in a more acceptable state with God. 391 00:33:34,060 --> 00:33:43,340 Pastor Dale Tunnell: than the widows of Israel, who had been blessed with special privileges and great light, and yet did not live according to the light which God had given them. 392 00:33:43,620 --> 00:33:53,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: So it wasn't so much that God had passed them by, it was that they were not interested in God. 393 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:01,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That's pretty strong, isn't it? 394 00:34:04,380 --> 00:34:05,500 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Two weeks ago. 395 00:34:05,500 --> 00:34:13,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I I went on on Saturday night down to to ASI and and go went through the booth there with my my grandchildren. 396 00:34:13,260 --> 00:34:15,740 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That was just a lot of fun. 397 00:34:16,800 --> 00:34:22,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: to see them get excited about what ASI had to to share. 398 00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:26,320 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Uh while I was walking through the booth though, there were lots of people that wanted to talk to me. 399 00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:27,280 Pastor Dale Tunnell: There were individual from the 400 00:34:27,559 --> 00:34:30,039 Pastor Dale Tunnell: the global mission department that wanted to talk with me. 401 00:34:30,039 --> 00:34:39,159 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And he he took me aside, he took me back away from the the crowd and and uh he said, Dale, you wouldn't believe what is happening. 402 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:42,760 Pastor Dale Tunnell: In some of the African countries right now. 403 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:47,159 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He said, there are hundreds. 404 00:34:47,159 --> 00:34:50,600 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He said, I'm using the word hundreds of people. 405 00:34:50,940 --> 00:34:57,580 Pastor Dale Tunnell: That are having dreams and visions in Muslim lands 406 00:34:58,900 --> 00:35:09,140 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I was talking to a man yesterday with gospel outreach and he was telling me stories uh about a a different continent, a different place, but about Muslim people. 407 00:35:09,140 --> 00:35:11,780 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He said, There I can tell you about a a a 408 00:35:12,340 --> 00:35:16,420 Pastor Dale Tunnell: a s a village, over three hundred people in this village. 409 00:35:16,420 --> 00:35:22,820 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And on the same night all three hundred people have the same dream. 410 00:35:22,820 --> 00:35:27,060 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And the next day all three hundred people become Christians. 411 00:35:31,420 --> 00:35:33,980 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And my mind is thinking about the 412 00:35:35,380 --> 00:35:39,619 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Dale, I'm God, I'm I'm I'm praying for some people. 413 00:35:39,619 --> 00:35:44,900 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I God, I ask you to give them a dream, to give them a vision. 414 00:35:44,620 --> 00:35:50,220 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I ask you to send an angel to them, to reveal yourself to them some way. 415 00:35:50,220 --> 00:35:56,380 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Lord, I I I beg you, and yet you're sending it to I don't understand, God 416 00:36:04,200 --> 00:36:10,600 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Maybe it's that some people are more willing to follow the light they have. 417 00:36:12,400 --> 00:36:15,280 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And some people have rejected it. 418 00:36:22,040 --> 00:36:27,080 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Are we living up to the light we have? 419 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:29,240 Pastor Dale Tunnell: First Kings chapter seventeen 420 00:36:35,960 --> 00:36:39,160 Pastor Dale Tunnell: When he came, verse nineteen. 421 00:36:39,160 --> 00:36:40,600 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Sorry about that, ten 422 00:36:40,680 --> 00:36:52,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: So he arose and went to Zareph, and when he came to the city, the gate of the city, indeed a widow was there gathering sticks, and he called to her and said, Please, bring me a little water and a cup, that I may drink 423 00:36:53,120 --> 00:37:00,880 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And as she was was going to get it, he called out to her, and said, Please bring me a morsel of bread in your hand. 424 00:37:00,880 --> 00:37:05,840 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You can imagine that he was probably thirsty after walking the hundred miles to get there 425 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:09,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You can imagine that he was probably hungry. 426 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:17,520 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You can imagine that that if God had sent him there, that he had some expectations of the reality of what was going to happen 427 00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:21,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And her reply probably probably startled him just a little bit. 428 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:26,039 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It says so he she said, as the Lord your God lives, I do not have bread. 429 00:37:26,140 --> 00:37:36,059 Pastor Dale Tunnell: only a handful of flour and a bin, and a little oil in a jar, and see I'm gathering a couple sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it and die 430 00:37:38,260 --> 00:37:43,460 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Can you imagine what Elijah thought when he heard those words? 431 00:37:43,460 --> 00:37:45,940 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God, what are you doing to me here? 432 00:37:49,859 --> 00:37:54,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I thought she was the one that was going to take care of me. 433 00:37:54,660 --> 00:37:57,220 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I thought she was the one that was supposed to provide for me. 434 00:37:57,220 --> 00:37:58,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And she doesn't even have 435 00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:05,720 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Oh, you'd like to know some of those conversations that are not recorded, wouldn't you? 436 00:38:07,560 --> 00:38:13,240 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I'd like to know how those prayers went, how how fast Elijah was praying at this time. 437 00:38:13,940 --> 00:38:19,700 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But my guess is this was not according to expectation. 438 00:38:19,700 --> 00:38:23,140 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But the words that come out of his mouth. 439 00:38:23,140 --> 00:38:26,180 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Oh man, the audacity of Elijah. 440 00:38:27,700 --> 00:38:40,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Elijah said to her, Do not fear, go and do as you have said, but make me a small cake from it first, and bring it to me, and afterward make some for yourself and your son. 441 00:38:40,420 --> 00:38:51,300 Pastor Dale Tunnell: For thus says the Lord God of Israel, the bin of flour shall not be used up, nor shall the jar of oil run dry until the day of the Lord, until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth. 442 00:38:56,600 --> 00:39:01,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Which one was harder to ask a woman that knew that she was 443 00:39:02,040 --> 00:39:14,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Preparing the last meal for herself and her son, and they were going to die, to ask her for food, or to go and stand before Ahab and say, It's not going to rain for years until I say so. 444 00:39:16,819 --> 00:39:23,460 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Which one took more courage? 445 00:39:23,460 --> 00:39:27,140 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Yeah, I think both of them would have been difficult 446 00:39:27,460 --> 00:39:34,420 Pastor Dale Tunnell: The audacity though to say, and make mine first. 447 00:39:34,420 --> 00:39:38,740 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I want to spin out of this and start my stewardship sermon. 448 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:40,960 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Because there is some stewardship here. 449 00:39:40,960 --> 00:39:45,119 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Do we put God first in our life? 450 00:39:45,119 --> 00:39:46,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I'm serious. 451 00:39:46,000 --> 00:39:48,319 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Do you put God first in your life? 452 00:39:48,319 --> 00:39:51,760 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Matthew 6 there tells us to seek his kingdom what? 453 00:39:52,600 --> 00:39:55,800 Pastor Dale Tunnell: First. 454 00:39:55,800 --> 00:40:01,960 Pastor Dale Tunnell: First twith our tithe, first with our offerings, first 455 00:40:03,440 --> 00:40:07,120 Pastor Dale Tunnell: With our lifestyle first. 456 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:08,320 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Everything in life. 457 00:40:08,320 --> 00:40:11,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Put his kingdom first. 458 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:13,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Is that the way we operate? 459 00:40:15,060 --> 00:40:17,540 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Ah, Pastor, I can't do that. 460 00:40:17,540 --> 00:40:20,500 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I got a limited income. 461 00:40:20,500 --> 00:40:22,900 Pastor Dale Tunnell: You talk about a limited income here 462 00:40:23,720 --> 00:40:27,880 Pastor Dale Tunnell: This woman's expectations was I'm making our last meal for us. 463 00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:36,040 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I don't know how long it had been since the previous meal, but this meal she knew it was going to be her last, and what she was dreading was going to take place 464 00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:42,960 Pastor Dale Tunnell: She and her son were going to die. 465 00:40:42,960 --> 00:40:44,160 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And when this 466 00:40:46,480 --> 00:40:53,440 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Man of God says, Make mine first. 467 00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:55,359 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What difference does it make? 468 00:40:56,660 --> 00:41:00,339 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Okay, I'll do it. 469 00:41:00,339 --> 00:41:03,059 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I I I don't know if she did it because of her faith. 470 00:41:03,059 --> 00:41:05,700 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I don't know if she did it because of of his faith. 471 00:41:05,700 --> 00:41:07,299 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I don't know if she did it because 472 00:41:07,820 --> 00:41:09,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It didn't matter anyway. 473 00:41:10,700 --> 00:41:15,020 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Well, I just have a lot of questions about this. 474 00:41:15,020 --> 00:41:19,980 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It says, but she went away and did according to the word of Elijah. 475 00:41:20,440 --> 00:41:27,560 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And she and he and her household ate for many days 476 00:41:30,339 --> 00:41:31,779 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It just says many days. 477 00:41:31,779 --> 00:41:33,779 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It doesn't tell us how long he was at the brook. 478 00:41:33,779 --> 00:41:37,779 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It doesn't tell us how long he was here in this inner city work that he was doing. 479 00:41:37,779 --> 00:41:42,579 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It doesn't say if he was taking care of her or if she was taking care of him or if 480 00:41:44,700 --> 00:41:50,220 Pastor Dale Tunnell: God was taking care of both of them. 481 00:41:50,220 --> 00:41:54,380 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But when we put God first, God says 482 00:41:55,480 --> 00:42:00,360 Pastor Dale Tunnell: He will take care of us. 483 00:42:00,360 --> 00:42:07,800 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, I like to think that Oh, this this verse here says, so she went away and she did everything according to 484 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:16,000 Pastor Dale Tunnell: According to the word of Elijah, she and her her household for many days, and the bin of flour was not used up, nor did the jar of oil run out. 485 00:42:16,000 --> 00:42:17,200 Pastor Dale Tunnell: According to the word of Eli 486 00:42:17,340 --> 00:42:20,220 Pastor Dale Tunnell: the Lord which he spoke by Elijah. 487 00:42:20,220 --> 00:42:25,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: This woman, I believe she met God there in the kitchen. 488 00:42:27,700 --> 00:42:34,660 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Day after day after day, my guess is she poured all the oil. 489 00:42:34,660 --> 00:42:35,220 Pastor Dale Tunnell: My guess is 490 00:42:35,540 --> 00:42:38,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: She shook the bin every day. 491 00:42:38,260 --> 00:42:42,100 Pastor Dale Tunnell: There wasn't a day where she got up and the bin was full. 492 00:42:42,100 --> 00:42:45,540 Pastor Dale Tunnell: There wasn't a day she got up and the oil was full 493 00:42:46,460 --> 00:43:00,859 Pastor Dale Tunnell: But it was an everyday thing for her to meet God there in the kitchen by pouring the oil out all the way, shaking the bin out all the way, and coming and saying to her son and to Elijah, this is all we've got. 494 00:43:00,800 --> 00:43:05,280 Pastor Dale Tunnell: And what happened the next day? 495 00:43:05,280 --> 00:43:10,480 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Somehow there's a little bit of oil. 496 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:17,360 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Somehow that bin that she had shook all the flour of, she shakes it and bangs on it again, and there's still more flour. 497 00:43:17,360 --> 00:43:22,960 Pastor Dale Tunnell: It comes out and she bakes it again and she says, That's all that's in there. 498 00:43:23,859 --> 00:43:27,779 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I don't know what we're gonna do tomorrow. 499 00:43:27,779 --> 00:43:31,299 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Tomorrow comes and what happens? 500 00:43:31,299 --> 00:43:34,420 Pastor Dale Tunnell: I mean, what do you think this did to her faith? 501 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:41,760 Pastor Dale Tunnell: What do you think it did to the faith of Elijah? 502 00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:44,640 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Okay, God, if you can do it at the brook. 503 00:43:44,440 --> 00:43:53,960 Pastor Dale Tunnell: If you can do it with the birds, if you can do it here in Zarephath with the oil, if you can do it with the flower, God, you can do it 504 00:43:59,100 --> 00:44:01,260 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Can God do it for us? 505 00:44:03,980 --> 00:44:06,540 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Can God do it for us today? 506 00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:14,400 Pastor Dale Tunnell: Oh, let's put God first, and God will take care of you.