SESSION ONE

RUN! — THE PASSION OF ELIJAH

Each of us is passionate about something. Whether it's biking or golf, music or gardening, hunting or travel, photography or our grandchildren, we strive to devote as much time and energy to what fires up our passion as is appropriate ... and sometimes more than is appropriate. When we speak of the things we're passionate about, excitement dances across our faces and echoes in our voices.

But how many of us are truly passionate about our walk with Jesus? Although we may devote considerable time to worship, Bible study, prayer, and similar activities, is our daily walk with Jesus — how we live out our faith through personal discipleship — our deepest passion? Do we devote our best effort to our walk with Jesus? Does our relationship with him animate our conversations and energize our steps? Do other people notice our devotion, and does how we walk with Jesus inspire them to do the same?

For most of us, it's all too easy to have plenty of passion for some things but little zeal for our walk with Jesus. Our less-than-zealous obedience to God and his Word communicates that our spiritual walk is not something that excites us, and that influences how we live out our faith. We become complacent and apathetic about our relationship with God.

Yet God desires that his people live for him with passion. The religious Jews of Jesus' day understood intense devotion and zeal for God. They honored the passion and zeal of the ancient heroes of the faith — Moses, Phinehas, Hezekiah, Elijah, and so many more. They sought to emulate the fire these heroes showed in their walk with

God, their devotion to Scripture, and their commitment to obedience. And they readily recognized those among them who lived with a passionate zeal for God.

Jesus the Messiah was not a laid-back, unemotional, matter-of-fact teacher. He lived with an intensity for God that few have ever known. He clearly fulfilled the ancient prophecy: "zeal for your house consumes me" (Psalm 69:9). In fact, he displayed such great zeal for God that he was even mistaken for Elijah — the zealous Old Testament prophet who gave God everything he had. Jesus too gave everything, even his very life, in obedience to God.

Jesus challenges those who believe in him to become his disciples — his talmidim — to follow in his steps and become like him. So to be a disciple of Jesus is to walk zealously with God and make disciples as he did. The Jewish disciples of Jesus — including Peter, John, and Paul — understood this call for passionate discipleship. And they lived it. But Jesus sent his disciples out of the Jewish world and into a Hellenistic world that did not know Jesus and that had never heard of the passion of Elijah. It was a world not unlike the world into which he sends us today.

So in this session, amidst the spectacular ruins of the Roman city, Aphrodisias, we'll see how the disciples translated Jesus' call to passionate discipleship into the language and images the Roman culture already understood. We'll see how they used the people's knowledge of sports and the arena games to communicate the total dedication and intense passion needed to "run" the spiritual race in order to win. To give everything you have, your whole self, in order to win the prize is an image the Greek and Roman world understood. It is one our culture understands as well.

Opening Thoughts (4 minutes)

The Very Words of God

I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty.

1 Kings 19:14

Think About it

Close your eyes for a moment and imagine that you could see Jesus as he walked and taught in the villages of Galilee. How would you describe his appearance and demeanor — the way he sounded as he spoke, the look in his eyes, the way he moved as he walked? What do you think you would notice about him? Which heroes of the Bible, or our own time and culture, do you imagine as portraying some of the characteristics or qualities of Jesus?

DVD Teaching notes (22 minutes)

The passion of Elijah

DVD Discussion (4 minutes)

1. What did you learn about the prophet Elijah, Jesus, and the disciples that you had never before realized?

In what ways do the images Ray Vander Laan presents of these men change your idea of what it means to walk as Jesus walked?

2. What was the point of the Olympic games played in stadiums, such as the one at Aphrodisias, throughout the Roman Empire?

How does this knowledge help you to better understand what Paul intended to convey through references to athletic training and competition in his descriptions of what it means to walk as Jesus walked?

3. How often have you thought that the way you run your spiritual race today is a witness to those you leave behind? What does it take to run your spiritual race in such a way that you make a powerful statement of who God is and encourage others who see you to run well?

Small Group Bible Discovery and Discussion (19 minutes)

The Zeal of Elijah

God loves his people with great passion and devotion and has always called those who say they love him to live for him with zeal — with a consuming passion to do his will and vigorously main- tain his honor in all circumstances. That's what it means to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" (Deuteronomy 6:5). So whether they lived during Bible times or live today, godly people are consumed by an ardent zeal to be faithful to God's Word and exalt him in everything they do, say, and think. Their intensity is obvious to everyone they meet.

Elijah was a servant of God who is still remembered for his passionate devotion to God. Let's look at how Elijah walked with God during a key event in his life recorded in 1 Kings 18 – 19. His story will help us better understand the ancient Jewish desire to be zealous — totally devoted — to God.

1. Read 1 Kings 18:15 – 29. What do you notice about Elijah's boldness in speaking to King Ahab, the people of Israel, and the prophets of Baal?

What level of commitment would be necessary to do and say these things? In other words, what motivated Elijah?

3. Read 1 Kings 18:30 – 40. How much physical effort did it take for Elijah to prepare the bull, build the altar, dig the trench? What does this tell you about his zeal for the Lord?

As you read Elijah's prayer, what do you see as the consuming passion of his heart? How much effort do you think it took to capture and execute the false prophets of Baal?

4. Read 1 Kings 18:41 – 46. Where did Elijah go after the false prophets were killed?

What did he do when it started raining? What does this tell you about the intensity of his passion and commitment to honor God?

4. What...