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Hi everyone! I hope the week is going well for you all.

And I hope your summer plans are coming together nicely. Can you believe we’re approaching the official start of summer and the longest days of the year this weekend?! It has come up quickly for me - though I suspect that there are some in our community who’ve been eagerly waiting for this weekend and feeling like the school year is crawling to a conclusion faaaar tooooo slooowly.

Either way, it’s a great time of year! I enjoy going out without having to wear a jacket, being confident that most days will be sunny and not rainy, being able to take in evening concerts on the lawn at the local park, watching the BBQ from outside on the deck rather than through the patio doors, and hopefully having a little less traffic during the morning and afternoon commute. There’s a relaxed feeling in the air. And friends have new stories to share from their most recent trips and adventures. It’s a great season! May it be a time of joy, relaxation, and pleasant activity for all of you, whatever you have planned.

Perhaps the spirit of summer has already caught up with me, because I don’t have much by way of news to share this week. Not much local news, anyway. I know we’re all painfully aware of the elevated tensions in other parts of the world, particularly in Ukraine and the Middle East. I won’t belabor the point this morning, except to offer the reminder that there is much for us to pray about these days. May our Lord remind us to intercede faithfully for brothers and sisters who are facing a much more stressful and dangerous summer, for leaders at home and abroad, for peace and de-escalation of tensions, and for Christ’s speedy return to bring His gracious Kingdom in its fullness, which is the only real hope for a final resolution to all these tensions.

I’ve actually been thinking quite a bit about prayer over the past few days. This coming Sunday, our study in the Old Testament prophets arrives on the doorstep of Elijah. I suspect that Elijah is a favorite Bible character for many of you, as he is for me. He’s one of the most colorful leaders in the history of Israel, and he is associated with some of the most memorable stories in Scripture.

What we sometimes overlook in the midst of all the drama is just how much Elijah was a man of prayer. Some of the most important lessons he has to teach us relate to our prayerful interaction with our Heavenly Father. After all, it’s not likely that many of us are going to be involved in a mountain-top showdown with a bunch of pagan prophets. We might wish that we could pray for a 3-year period without rain, but I don’t expect that to happen either. And it would be quite a surprise if any of us were taken to heaven in a fiery chariot at the end of our lives. So, as delightful as these stories are, they have limited value for us as practical examples of the things we should do in our own daily lives. However, in the midst of it all we find Elijah praying. And I think his prayers have some very practical things to teach us, as we commune with God day by day and week by week in our own journeys of faith.

If you’re wanting to read ahead in anticipation of Sunday’s study, we’re going to focus our attention on Elijah’s most famous moment: the confrontation with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, found in 1 Kings 18:17-40. It’s a delightful narrative, well worth reading and reflecting. If you want to take more time to review the larger Elijah story, that begins at 1 Kings 17:1, runs to the end of 1 Kings 19, picks up again at 1 Kings 21:17, and then concludes in 2 Kings 1-2. The account isn’t really all that long, but it has a lot packed into it—certainly there are more lessons there than we’ll have time to cover even in 3 or 4 messages.

I’ve been looking forward to this stage in our series. As I said last Sunday, I believe it’s important for us to get better acquainted with all the parts of Scripture, including some of the sections that are little-known, hard to understand, and frequently overlooked. Having said that, there’s something enjoyable about digging into the famous, favorite passages that we all remember and love. This week’s passage falls into that category, and I’m excited to explore it together.

In the meantime, have a wonderful week. Enjoy the long hours of sunshine. If you or your loved ones are finishing the school term, may it go smoothly and end well. May your days be blessed, and may your times of prayer be rich. There are hard things as well as joyful things for us to pray about, as always. But we have the privilege of conversing with a Heavenly Father who is good, gracious, loving, present, and all-sufficient, and I trust that your times with him will be a delight.

See you soon!
Pastor Ken