Nametag – Downfall // Week #4 // September 4, 2022
In week four of our Downfall series, we continue through 1 Kings to ask a hard but honest question: if God is so good and powerful, how did God’s people end up in such a mess—and what does that reveal about us today? Looking at the long slide from Saul, David, and Solomon into a divided kingdom, corrupt leadership, and eventual exile, this message shows how persistent disobedience, misplaced trust, and idolatry (especially around power, material wealth, and comfort) led Israel away from the God who had rescued and covenanted with them. Against this backdrop we meet Elijah and Ahab, see how false gods like Baal promise much but deliver nothing, and watch God quietly but powerfully provide hope and life—even to outsiders—through His word and faithfulness. Ultimately, the sermon points us forward to Jesus, the true and perfect King, and calls us to root our identity as “chosen and redeemed” in Him, to obey even when it’s uncomfortable, and to live as people of resurrection hope in a broken world.