Transcription
Hello. Hello everyone. Hello. Good evening, Rock Nation. Good evening. Good evening. Welcome everyone on Facebook Live and on YouTube. We're so glad that you are here. Put in the chat where you're joining us from. What city? What state? Take time to greet somebody. Welcome somebody in. Don't forget to like and share. Like and share. Like and share. Good, good evening. Good evening, Rock Nation. I am so, so, so excited to be here with you all tonight. Good evening. Come on in. Come on in. Greet somebody in the chat. Tell us where you're from, where you're watching, what city, what state. Yes. Yes. Yes. Good evening.
My name is Natisa Dale and I am super excited to be here with you this evening. And I bring you greetings from Portland, Maine. So, I'm way on the other side of this great nation and I'm super excited to be here with you this evening. Now, before we go any further, can we just light up the chat for our pastor and our first lady? Can you come on and help me tell them we love you, we honor you, we appreciate you. Can we just tell them how much we honor them? Listen, I know that I'm like John. Remember in John in the Bible, he said, "I know that I am the disciple in whom Jesus loved. I am the disciple in whom I know pastor and lady Nikia love. I know that they love me. Rock Nation, we are so so so blessed. We have a pastor and a first lady that's truly anointed called by God. They consistently consistently deliver the word of God. They labor before us. They pray over us. They cover us. And they shepherd this house with such integrity, with such excellence. But the part that I appreciate most about them, even with all of that, the part I appreciate the most is I can remember coming to the Rock Church and how it literally changed the entire trajectory of my life and my relationship with God.
You see, pastor was preaching about not practicing habitual sin, right? We don't practice habitual sin, meaning practicing persistent reoccurring patterns of sinful behavior. basically just having a lack of genuine uh repentance, right? So, we don't practice that. And then also, pastor was preaching about healthy relationships and healthy marriages and and being a health healthy single and how singleness is not like purgatory. It's his own season to be celebrated, to be honored, to be enjoyed. And sitting underneath Pastor Chris and Lady Nikia and listening to all these ch these these teachings, it literally changed my walk with Christ. And I recommitted myself to the Lord in the area of abstaining from fornication. And Rock Nation, can I tell you how significant today is? This day, today, can I tell you how significant today is for me? This makes nine years. Nine years that I have been abstaining from fornication and walking with the Lord, truly walking with God. And that is a direct result of being under this amazing leadership and being locked in. You can't sit under Pastor Chris or Laneia and you can't be, you know, plugged in if you're plugged into Rock Recharge and Rockstar Training and Ministers meetings and men's Mondays, women's Wednesdays, Growth Track, all of these things. You can't be plugged in and sit underneath Pastor Chris and your life not changed. So, I encourage you to get engaged, get involved, complete growth track, do all of those things so your life can be changed. It will never be the same. So, just light up the chat. I just I just I can't say how much I love and honor Pastor Chris and Lelay Nikia.
So, I'm gonna say a quick prayer so we can go into our word. Father God, we thank you for your goodness, your mercy, your grace. We just we're so grateful for your protection. We're so grateful that you're mindful of us, Lord. Your word of God says that you have every head on our head numbered. Not counted, but numbered. That's how much you're into the details of our life. And so, we thank you for being into the details. We thank you Lord for touching our hearts, opening our hearts to receive a word. Thank you Lord for speaking to me and through me, Father God. And bless every household that is represented on this live tonight in Jesus name. Amen.
Listen, tonight we are focusing on the widow of Zerapath. And before we dive in, I just want you to get your hearts ready because God has a word for us tonight that's going to shift how you see yourself, shift how you see your circumstances in your capacity to trust him in hard places. Tonight, we're looking at a woman in scripture who had no name, no resources, no status, no hope, yet God used her to release a mighty miracle in the Old Testament. And we're going to be going into First Kings. Before we meet the widow in Zerap, the scripture talks to us about Elijah, right? It's a mighty prophet who God raised up during one of Israel's darkest spiritual seasons. And Elijah carried a bold nation shaking assignment to confront idolatry, challenge corrupt leadership, and call Israel back to the true and living God. And at Elijah's word, God sent a drought across the land as judgment and the entire region fell into severe famine. So with water drying up and resources scarce and people desperate for its survival, God is instructing Elijah on how to get provision, right? So God instructs Elijah to leave Israel and travel to Zarapath, a foreign pagan territory in Son. This is the very homeland of Jezebel. So he sent him into the enemy's camp and it's there in the middle of the famine in the least likely place, right, that God chooses a widow to sustain the prophet and partner in a miracle that will change both their lives. So let's go ahead and jump in. We'll jump in at first Kings 17 8-9. And it reads, "Then the Lord said to Elijah, go and live in the village of Zerapath near Sidon. I have instructed a widow to feed you. So God tells Elijah, I've instructed a widow to feed you. Right? So a widow's going to sustain the man of God. A widow. So I was thinking about this text. I was like, she doesn't even have a name in this text. She's identified only by her condition, a widow. And if we slow down a little bit and think about what did it mean to be a widow during this time, right? So more than likely as a widow, she'd be in poverty because she wouldn't have a husband. So there'd be no primary income. She would be powerless, right? There's no voice, no advocate for her. She'd be vulnerable. She would have no legal protections and she would have social marginalization. You know, she'd be considered low value, low value. And she would be dependent on charity. But this is a famine. So in this case, charity would be pretty scarce. So she is literally as this widow, she is literally one of the most vulnerable people in society. And this is who God chooses to sustain the man of God. A widow. Literally one of the most vulnerable people in society. And she is going to sustain the man of God. This is a situation that doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense. Somebody help me out. Put in the chat. It don't make sense. It don't make sense. And what can even one could even argue that it's not fair, right? And I'm wondering, have you ever been in a situation and found yourself where you felt like this don't make sense? Lord, this don't make sense. This doesn't even seem fair. Type yes in the chat if you've ever felt, you know, like this doesn't make sense. You felt out of your depth. You felt unqualified or you've ever uh felt overwhelmed or carrying something that's too heavy. Now I don't know what your situation might be tonight but I do know that we all go through different things you know some of us have gone through divorce some of us have gone through death and grief some of us have struggled with depression some of us have all kind of financial pressures financial strain you know some of us are stressed out over politics right now the president people stress I some some people are stressed out tonight over the Diddy documentary and y'all need to stay out of Netflix we just stressing over all kind of of just stressing to be stressing. But seriously, I don't know what your situation is tonight that you may be going through, but here's the encouragement. Despite your circumstance, no matter the situation you might find yourself in, God can still use you. And God knows that you are more than your circumstance. You're more than your circumstance. Type in the chat, "I am more than my circumstance. You're more than a widow. You're more than a divorce you might have gone through. You're more than loss you might have suffered. You're more through a financial situation you might find yourself in. You're more than a job that you may have lost. You're more than a season of singleness. You are more than the struggle that you have found yourself in or going through. Type in the chat, I am more than my circumstance.
Okay, so we're going to keep on moving on. Verse 10 it says chapter 10 excuse me verse 10 it says so he went to Zerapath as he arrived at the gate of the village he saw a widow gathering sticks and he asked her would you please bring me a little water in a cup as she was going to get it he called her bring me a bite of bread too so Elijah asked a widow for water which in normal circumstances that would be completely fine it was it was common courtesy it was considered basic hospitality quality when travelers are coming through to bring them water. But this is a drought. This is a drought. So I'm like, bro, you asking for water and then you asking for bread, too. It's a drought and it's a famine. And to be fair, at this point, she has no idea. She doesn't know that God sent him. All she knows is that there's a drought going on right now and you asking me for water. You asking me for water and you asking for food. And as I looked into the text, it says, "Now the word reads, as she was going to get the water, right? As she was going to get the water." So even in the drought, even when there's not a lot, she was still willing to even try to go even just to get the water. So this is a glimpse of her willingness, her willingness to share even when resources are scarce. Anyone can give out of abundance. Anyone that don't cost you nothing. Anyone can give out of abundance. But how many of us can share when we have little, when it's scarce? And the interesting thing is it was in her willingness, right? Her willingness that positioned her for a miracle because as she was going to get the water, that's when he began to ask for just a little bit more and ask for some food. Now, I want to pause cuz some of us wouldn't even got Elijah wouldn't even been able to get to the food. He wouldn't have been able to say and grab me a bite. Cuz as soon as Elijah said, "Bring me some water," we would have popped off. We would have been like, first of all, first of all, we would have been talking with our hands. First of all, we would have told him where to go, how to get there, how long to stay there, and what to do with it when he found it. We wouldn't have even got to the second part. Some of us just would have reacted. And if you've ever been in a situation where you reacted instead of responded, instead of responding, just go ahead and type for me guilty. Put in the chat guilty. I know I have. I've been in situations where I just reacted when I should have responded. I didn't pause. Take a moment. So, just put in the chat guilty if you've ever done that. Don't tell us the situation. Don't tell us Don't tell us all your business. Just put it just put in the chat guilty if you've ever been in the situation that you would have popped off cuz I can see some of us would have been a little spicy. You It's a drought and you asking you asking for a little bit too much, sir. But let's see how the widow responds.
So, in verse 12, we're in verse 12 now. It says, "But she said, I swear by the Lord your God that I don't have a single piece of bread in the house, and I have only a handful of flour left in the jar and a little cooking oil in the bottom of the jug. I was just gathering a few sticks to cook this last meal, and then my son and I will die." So, listen, she like, "I don't have bread. I don't have no bread. I only have a handful of flour and a little oil." And I was preparing a last meal for my son. and then we gonna die. This the end of the road. Listen, although we've got to the This is the end. But what I like about her response is that she didn't pretend, right? She didn't pretend. She didn't mask it. She didn't try to do the churchy thing that we do sometimes and we like, I'm blessing, highly favored. I'm blessing. How you doing? Bless and highly favored. Cuz sometimes I want to tell people the way they look, you look sad and highly tired. You looking sad and highly tired. Why you talking about you blessed and highly f you look sad and highly tired. Okay, but she was honest. She was honest, right? She was honest with where she was and what she had. And some of us need to start right there. Put in the chat for me, be honest with God. Be honest with God. God knows where you are. God knows what you He knows what you have before he asks you to give it. God created us. He knows the intricate details. He knows our ins and outs. Be honest with God and if he asks you for it, be bold enough to give it to him. Have enough faith to do that.
Let's keep on walking. Let's keep walking. We're going into verse 13. But Elijah said to her, "Don't be afraid. Go ahead and do just what you've said. But make a little bread for me first. Then use what's left to prepare a meal for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says, "There will always be flour and olive oil left in your containers until the time when the Lord sends rain and the crops grow again." So Elijah's telling her, "Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Make bread for me first, and God will ensure that your flour and oil never run out until it rains again." And that's what God is saying to us. You know, God says, "I know you're I know you're afraid, whatever situation you're going through. I know you feel like you at the end of your rope. I see you crying. I know it feels too heavy. I know it feels impossible. I know. I know. But trust me. Trust me. And be obedient. Release what you think you need and watch God sustain you. No matter the drought, no matter the the economic situation, no matter who's president. Hello, somebody. No matter the circumstance around you, trust God's word and obey. Be obedient. If God is giving you an inkling to release something, you need to release it and watch him. He will sustain you. He will sustain you. And and I can attest to this because I can remember literally having just the clothes on my back. Literally just having the clothes on my back. I had wick stamps. I had food stamps. And not like today. Today y'all got these cute debit cards. I didn't have a debit card. I had to have real I had to have stamps so people knew I was coming. Okay. And I remember not having enough to pay my bills. But I remember God, you know, calling me just to give, just to give. And I literally gave myself out of poverty. Literally. Literally. Now, of course, I had to work hard. I went to school. I did all those things. But God made provision for me to be able to pay for it. I had to trust him semester after semester that the finances was coming and God gave me the strength to do it. So just be obedient and give it to him and watch. He will sustain you.
So let's keep walking. Verse 15- 16 says, "So she did as Elijah said and she and Elijah and her family continued to eat for many, many days. There was always enough flour and oil left in the containers just as the Lord had promised through Elijah. So she obeys and there was always always enough. So somebody put that in the chat for me. Always. Just drop a always. Always. But I want us to slow down a little bit and really sit with this just for just for a minute. Just for a minute. Let's just take a moment and think about this and really understand the gravity of this widow's obedience. Imagine believing you only have one meal. Just one meal left for you and your child. You have one meal left for you and your child. Yet, you have to trust God to give first. You have to trust God to give first. Right? One meal. You have only one meal left. No, really think about that. One meal and then you and your child is going to die. You plan on dying and then God says, "Release it and give me some first. Give to the man of God." This is radical obedience. Radical radical obedience. Radical obedience. And the beautiful thing on the other side of radical obedience is radical blessings. radical blessings await you on the other side. Sometimes you have to do something radical to receive something radical. And you we know we know when God is is tugging at us and asking us to do something. Sometimes we we be like, "Is that you, Lord? Is that you?" But you know it's God. Quit playing. You know it's the Lord. You know it's the Lord. Radical obedience. Radical obedience. And as I said before, I promise you this is not just something that I'm saying, but something that I have literally walked through. I've walked walked out myself outside of um poverty, outside of wick stamps and food stamps and being in line and getting the wrong milk and somebody on the register saying, "Could you get the wick brand milk?" Radical obedience. Radical obedience because you know it's not enough anyway. And sometimes it's not even financial. Sometimes it's giving your time, right? is serving. It's your service. Sometimes it's helping somebody that you don't want to help. Sometimes it's being kind to somebody and you tired and exhausted. So, whatever it is, just radical obedience. Put that in the chat. I see some of y'all. I see y'all. Radical obedience. God is calling us to radical obedience. And her story teaches us that God doesn't need conditions to be perfect. He don't need our conditions to be perfect. He only needs a willing vessel. And what he did for her in a drought, he can do for you in whatever drought you're facing. Whether it's an emotional drought, it's a financial drought, it's a spiritual drought, it's a relational drought, it doesn't matter. Release what God, you release what you have to God first and watch him work.
As we continue to walk through and and look through these scriptures, I'm going to summarize verses 17- 23. So, as you continue to read, and I encourage you to go back and read it. This is one of my favorite uh chapters, one of my favorite books and one of my favorite chapters. So, her son, the widow's son becomes sick and he dies. So, she's done this radical obedience and her son becomes sick and dies. She cries out in pain and confusion like many of us have, right? And a lot of us, we've done the thing you've asked, Lord, right? we've done everything we can and the marriage still ends in divorce or we've done everything we can and we've done the radical obedience and the unthinkable happens. So she cries out in pain and confusion and Elijah takes the boy to the upper room. He prays, he stretches himself over him three times and God returns life to the child. So here's a revelation. Because the widow sowed sustainment, she reaped sustainment because she sold life, right? She gave life. God sent Elijah there for the widow to sustain him and she literally fed him. She gave him water. She gave him food when she didn't have anything. So, she sowed life. She gave life and God returned life to her. Some seeds we sow don't just bless us. Don't just bless us. Some seeds we sow bless our children. They bless our nieces, our nephews. They bless people that are connected to us. They bless generations after generations after generations. Think about that. Your obedience today might save a life connected to you tomorrow. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Your radical obedience might be the exact seed needed to save the life of somebody connected to you tomorrow. Your obedience might be the exact seed, the sa the lifesaving seed that is needed to save somebody that you love tomorrow. So, some things God asks us to do, it's not even about you. Somebody put in the chat, "It ain't about you. It's not even about you. It's about the next generation and the next generation and the next generation." Somebody that's connected to you. Type in the chat, "Don't be selfish." Don't be selfish. Don't be selfish. Your radical obedience is not always about you. I know often times I hear pastor, you know, we ask for a boo bay and a Bentley. [laughter] Our radical obedience can save a life. Hallelujah. We're not just talking about booze, bays, and Bentleys. We know we we receive sound word. We are not on milk. We We are up to meet. Our pastor feeds us weekly. Weekly. So, we know we not just looking for booze, bays, and Bentleys. We are saving lives. We are changing generations. Hallelujah. We are changing generations. And some of us are living in blessings today because our parents or our grandparents were obedient yesterday. Thank you Jesus. Hallelujah. Someone need to say thank God for generational obedience. Generational obedience. Right? We are literally walking in blessings and living this life because of the radical obedience. our parents or our radical obedience, our uncles or aunts or someone from the generations prior that sold to make sure that we can be able to be blessed and be taken care of. Thank you, Jesus. So, we receiving and we giving. We receiving and giving. We pass boos and bentley. Now, listen. I I do want a boo. Now, I don't want to miss I don't want to miscommunicate. I make sure y'all praying the right thing. I want a boo. I I definitely want a boo. But it's so much more than a boo. Hallelujah. Our radical obedience is changing generations. Changing the trajectory of generations.
So family, as I as I'm summarizing this right now, I really just want to leave this with you. I want you to hear this. Hear it in your spirit. If God can take a woman with no name, with no husband, with no resources, no protection, no hope, and use her to sustain his prophet, release supernatural provision, and resurrect her son, then surely, somebody, somebody help me teach. Put surely in the chat. Surely God can use you. Your circumstances does not disqualify you. Your drought does not define you. Hallelujah. And your lack does not limit God. You're not worried about your lack. This is the gut. A God. Listen, your lack does not limit God. In fact, the very place that you feel empty may be the place where God is preparing to prove himself. Tonight, God is reminding somebody that you are more than the worst chapter you've lived through. Hallelujah. You are more than the worst chapter you've lived through. You are more than the label life placed on you. You more than that label. You are more than your drought. You are more than your drought. So, just like the widow, all God is asking for us to do is be honest. Tell him where we at. God is asking for your obedience. And God is asking for your willingness to trust him with what feels like your last little bit. Just your willingness to trust him. And when you release it to him first, first. When you release it to him first, he will sustain you always. Type always in the chat. Y'all help me tonight. Always. He will always sustain you. I never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging bread. Hallelujah. Always your obedience today is going to bless generations connected to you. And I want you to put in the chat, "Lord, I trust you with my little. Lord, I trust you with my little." And I know some of y'all think like me, like, I don't I'm not I don't have little. I'm not declaring little. But listen, God can bless you exponentially more that in the future, what you have now seems little. Hallelujah. Whatever it is that you got where God is taking you, it's going to be little. So Lord, I trust you with my little whatever the little time because some of us are highly productive. I trust you with a little time, Father God. I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to serve in the Rock Church. I'm going to serve in my community. I trust you with my little. It might be a little time, but I trust you with my little. Hallelujah. I trust you with my finances. Father God, we've already passed 10% the tithe given back to you, Lord. We we do that in our sleep because we have been we've been trained. We've been walking this thing with you and we trust you. We giving you offerings. We giving limitless offerings. Father God, we can trust you, Lord. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Look, I'm getting myself excited. [laughter]
Rock Nation, I hope I hope and pray that you were blessed tonight. I hope you heard something that touched your heart and that encouraged you. Please, please, please put in the chat something that that resonated with you, something that encouraged you, something that you want to share tonight. Put something in the chat. Let me know. Let me know that you got something out of this. I am super super excited. Listen, it's giving time, y'all. It's giving time, Rock Nation. You know, this is good, good ground. And you know, we have receipts. You have seen Rock Church give away cars. We have given away countless countless giveaways. Whether it's Thanksgiving, whether it's just random acts of kindness, literally handing out gift cards. And we have a building, y'all. We got a big building. We purchased a building and we renovating it. Listen, I'm I am from old school. So, I have been at a church that had a building fund for 20 years and we didn't put a doorork knob up. I'm like, where what are we building and when is it coming? It's Listen, my son was two and he's 28. We haven't put a a door knob. We have receipts. We have a building. You hear me? We have a building. We have purchased a building. And it's because of your generosity that we're able to do these amazing things in our community and renovate God's house. And I want to let you know, get excited. Get excited. It is not too late. If you have not had an opportunity to participate in our end of the year limitless offering, you can still do that. Get excited. Get excited. Trust God with your little in this limitless offering. You hear me? If you had not had a chance, don't miss this opportunity to sew into what if God is doing you. We are manifesting things. This is good ground. And if you're giving tonight, listen, you can give through push pay. You can be sure to use the drop- down menu. You can select Limitless Giving. If you want to um participate, I'm telling you, don't miss out. Don't miss out. Rock Church, don't miss out. Don't miss out. Don't miss out on this Limitless. Listen, don't miss out. You can text to give. Text TRCBA to 77977. You can do pushpay the rockchurch bay area.org and you can uh click to give.
I'm going to say a quick prayer. Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord, Lord. Thank you. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Lord, thank you for your strength to be obedient when it's not convenient. When the situation looks impossible. When you ask us to release before we feel ready. Teach us to trust you like the widow did, Lord. And let your obedience bring life to our families for generations to come. And as your word says in Luke 6:38, "Give and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back. Lord, we thank you because we know you're faithful to your word in Jesus name. Amen.
Rock Church, it's been an honor. Let's go ahead and go into some announcements. Hey Rock family, thanks for rocking with us today. My name is Ashanti and before we head out, let's take a look at the exciting things that are happening at the Rock Church. As you can see, I am currently in the Growth Track room. We want to invite you to attend Growth Track. This is where you have the opportunity to learn more about yourself, to learn different ways that you can connect with the church. We would love to have you. Jesus is the reason for the season. Yeah. Rock fam, December 21st. You don't want to miss it. We are having Christmas at the Rock. Come to 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. to celebrate Jesus, the reason for the season. We are going to have a hot cocoa stand. It will be a candle light service. [music] And we are also having rock mart. As we go into this season of giving, we're partnering with Angel Tree. Angel Tree Christmas gives incarcerated parents a way to provide a Christmas gift and a personal message delivered by caring local volunteers as a tangible representation of their love. Every Angel Tree family is also given access to a free and easy to read copy of the Bible. Rock Nation, I am so excited. We are having our first New Year's Eve watch night service on December 31st at 10:30 p.m. Listen, anytime we do something, you know, we're going to do it big. It is going to be an incredible night of fellowship and just being thankful of all the things that God has done in 2025. You don't want to miss it. Be sure to come. Let's celebrate together as we walk into 2026 together. All right, Rock Nation, that's it. Be sure to join us next week at 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. Have a blessed week. [music]