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Faith in a Famine

Bishop Terry L. Hill, Jr.Sunday, November 2, 20259am
📖 1 Kings 17:8-16
The message turns to Elijah and the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17:8–16 to consider faith when resources are scarce. It calls for trust and obedience even when circumstances make the instruction uncomfortable or inconvenient. The widow’s limited flour and oil become the setting for a challenge to fear, hesitation and the desire to stay comfortable. The message emphasizes God’s provision through a season of shortage and the way one person’s obedience can sustain others. Speaker attribution fo
Key Points
1.
God requires obedience from everyone, and His commands do not change simply because our circumstances are difficult or uncomfortable.
2.
True faith during a famine requires moving past fear and contradiction to obey God's voice, even when we feel completely depleted.
3.
When we trust God with our little and give Him our obedience first, He guarantees our provision and sustains us through seasons of suffering.
📖 1 Kings 17:8-16
[8] ¶ And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, [9] Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. [10] So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. [11] And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. [12] And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. [13] And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. [14] For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth. [15] And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. [16] And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
Sermon Summary

The message turns to Elijah and the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17:8–16 to consider faith when resources are scarce. It calls for trust and obedience even when circumstances make the instruction uncomfortable or inconvenient.

The widow’s limited flour and oil become the setting for a challenge to fear, hesitation and the desire to stay comfortable. The message emphasizes God’s provision through a season of shortage and the way one person’s obedience can sustain others.

Speaker attribution follows the church’s archival default to Bishop Terry L. Hill, Jr.; the source captions do not directly identify the preacher by name.

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