Richvale Community Church
Sunday, August 16, 2026
  • Good morning!
    It was so good to hear from our missionaries, Bob and Nobby. Make sure you take a moment to speak with them after the service.
    Today is our Fall Kickoff!
    we are —getting back into the rhythms of church life , Sunday worship, and Sunday School.
    We have Alpha 
    and GriefShare starting this week..
    to day.. Family Feud—church edition!
    With potluck lunch it is going to be amazing
    Today starting a new sermon series…

    Hearing God Through the Noise

    When I was about ten years old, our family doctor, Dr. Bob, gave me a hearing test.
    It’s Kind locked into my childhood memories.
    He pulled out a tuning fork, he held it at different distances from my ear.
    Struck it..
    “Can you hear this?”.
    Sometimes the sound was faint. Sometimes it was a little louder.
    Thankfully, I passed the test.
    A tuning fork is a really simple instrument,
    What makes it effective is
    it produces — a perfect pitch.. one clear, pure, steady tone.
    That is why its main use … is to tune musical instruments… —
    Scripture tells us that God has spoken.
    Hebrews 1:1–2 says,
    “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke…
    God spoke through the prophets.and
    In these last days
    ..God has spoken to us through His Son…Jesus.
    The issue isn't whether or not God has spoken.
    The question is really Are we tuned in?
    WE live in a noisy world.
    There are voices everywhere—voices telling us
    what to believe,
    what to value,
    what to fear,
    what to pursue.
    And sometimes the problem is that there is to many voices that creates… white noise..
    Over the next several weeks, we're going to looking at the life and ministry of Elijah.
    And Elijah's story is one of the most dramatic stories in the Bible…
    It is a story of Contrasts..
    On one side, you have Ahab, one of the most wicked kings Israel ever had, along with his wife, Jezebel.
    And on the other side, you have Elijah, one of the most powerful prophets in Israel's history.
    But to understand Elijah, you have to understand the world he stepped into.
    It was a chaotic time in Israel.
    After the period of the Judges,
    Israel looked at surrounding nations and said, “We want to be like the them. We want a king.”
    So God gave Israel their wish and they chose King Saul…
    (that didn’t work out to well)
    Then there was King David.
    Followed by Solomon.
    But after Solomon, everything began to unravel.
    The kingdom divided into two.under .— Rehoboam and Jeroboam…
    You had the Northern and Southern Israel..
    10 tribes in the North and Two tribes
    And two in the South -
    And in the northern kingdom, something tragic began to happen.
    You began to see pattern emerge...
    One bad king followed another.
    One compromise led to another.
    One generation followed another.
    Until finally, you come to Ahab.
    And Ahab didn't just continue Israel's spiritual decline
    .He accelerated it.
    He formed an alliance with the Sidonians and married Jezebel, who brought her culture and her religion into Israel…
    This is when..God raises up Elijah as a voice to bring Israel back to true worship ..
    —-what learn is the importance of being tuned in to God.. when culture goes upside down..

    How do we develop listening heart? First we learn

    1. RECOGNIZE GOD'S VOICE

    Today we are so dependent on Internet ..…
    We have become used to it being apart of every day life…. when we lose the connection, it almost feels like an emergency
    And if you doubts…
    You can test that theory. Just unplug your router at home and wait…see what happens!..
    I guarantee you someone will respond..!
    The point is..
    when something is present it is less noticeable — when it is absent—we take note..
    And I think that’s a helpful way to look at our text in 1 Kings 16.
    Before we ever meet Elijah in chapter 17,
    chapter 16 gives us a snapshot of the world he’s stepping into.
    And when you look closely, you begin to see What was present and what a sent in Israel…
    There was political power.
    There was wealth and prosperity.
    There was human achievement.
    And there was religion—
    From the outside, things could look pretty good.
    What is Absent?
    ….is that
    the voice of God.. is missing
    ..
    in fact the
    the priesthood… was slowly being dismantled..
    You see..
    Earlier in Israel's story, priests played significant roles in life of the nation..
    You had Samuel and Nathan.. and others.
    But as the kings come and go,
    faithful spiritual leadership fades into the background.
    And with each generation, Israel drifts further from God.
    Thats is how
    Spiritual decline ..often happens …..slowly.
    By the time we get to Ahab, apostasy isn't some radical departure from the culture.
    It the norm.
    Let’s read our text
    1 Kings 16:29–30 ESV
    29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.
    Notice how this passage begins—with a contrast.
    On one side, you have Asa, king of Judah in the Southern Kingdom.
    1 Kings 15.. we told that
    1 Kings 15:11 ESV
    11 And Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as David his father had done.
    King Asa (south)was a good king . followed in the foot steps of David.
    David certainly wasn't perfect. He made enormous mistakes
    . But David had a heart after God. He wanted to see the temple rebuilt..and during his reign he restored worship.
    And Asa followed David..
    He removed idols, and called the people back to God, and Judah experienced a remarkable period of peace
    But then you look north…as the some time..its a different story..
    Ahab followed in the ways of Jeroboam — (two different paths)
    Now Jeroboam started well..
    when he saw corruption in leadership..
    he dealt with it.
    REHOBOAM (Solomons sons..
    had put high taxes on people) .. which led to much suffering.
    Jeroboam sided with the people and social Justice..
    The king som split in two..
    Gods established as king in the North..
    But unfortunately his own insecurity got the best of him..
    When the people
    wanted to worship in Jerusalem in the South, Jeroboam became jealous and afraid of losing their loyalty.
    So Instead
    He made golden calves and gave Israel something
    to worship.
    Ahab followed in the way of Jeroboam…
    And Ahab didn't just continue Israel's spiritual decline.
    Accelerated it..
    Ahab became fascinated with the gods of the nations around him.
    Especially Baal worship
    The Baal god
    was associated with rain and fertility.
    If you wanted rain for your crops and fertility for your land, you prayed to Baal.
    — You have leaders and a nation loosing sight of God.. going off track..
    Israel lost sight of Gods word..
    WE live in a world filled with voices.
    And the voices we listen to often shapes us..
    As believers we are called to listen to one the voice of one
    …
    In John 10 - Jesus was at the temple and was confronted by some Jews.. Who said to Jesus — convince is you are Messiah the Christ…make if plain..
    Jesus had already given many proofs… he simply says this ..
    John 10:27 ESV
    27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
    Being a follower a disciple of Jesus — a believer …
    is simply this knowing the voice of Jesus…
    .. it is about relationship… — It is about knowing God..
    One of my professors, Dr. Timothy Laniak, —lived among the Bedouin shepherds for a whole year.. He had tons of stories … but one that stood out was.
    The story of A Jordanian shepherd .. her named Mrs. Aref ..
    She lost one of her sheep. She searched for everywhere , she asked neighboring shepherds, but weeks turned into months with no sign of it.
    Then one day.., a large flock came through the village.
    Mrs. Aref asked the shepherd if he had seen her missing sheep. As they talked, one of the sheep suddenly lifted its head.
    It recognized her voice.
    After two months, surrounded by unfamiliar sheep, that sheep knew the voice of the shepherd who had cared for it.
    Mrs Arif.. ran through the flock, found her sheep, and embraced it….
    The wheel lost but now it was found…
    The sheep
    know the shepherds voice…
    and the way we know h is voice is We tune our hearts into his word
    The way we learn God voice.
    We tune our hears in worship.. in worship and word..
    We make the adjustments...
    How do we develop a listening heart?
    1. RECOGNIZE GOD'S VOICE

    2. RESIST COMPETING VOICES

    I'm thankful for Tim and Pam, who run our A/V and help make sure everything is working every week.
    And if you've ever worked with sound, you know it can be tricky.
    It's not just about turning the volume up. It's about knowing what to turn down.
    You can have a great microphone, great speakers, great music—but if the mix is wrong it impacts everything.
    And I think that's exactly what was happening in Ahab's world.
    God's voice had not disappeared… But there was so much noise in the room that His voice had been drowned out.
    —- First we told that Ahab walked in the Way of Jeroboam..
    But When he married jezebel the noise intensified
    Let’s read
    1 Kings 16:31–33 ESV
    31 And as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, he took for his wife Jezebel$the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal and worshiped him. 32 He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made an Asherah. Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
    Not only did he follow in the steps of Jeroboam —
    —- Ahab ignored some major red flags..
    “He took for his wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians…”
    The reason this was bad.
    ..—There was a prohobition in the mosaic law to intermarry with foreigners and especially Cannaites -
    For their protection.
    (He broke the law)
    On top of that jezabels father was King of Tyre who murdered his own brother to take over the throne…
    AHAB MISSED ALL THE WARNING SIGNS
    And then:
    “He homself went and served Baal and worshiped him.”
    What amazing Compromise…from God to statue.
    —
    Ahab isn't simply exposed to another voice .He gives that voice influence.
    And eventually that influence becomes worship.
    Verse 32:
    “He erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria.”
    Think about how far this has gone.
    He is now building a house of worshipfor Baal.
    He's putting the worship of another god right in the middle of the nation.
    No wonder.
    And verse 33 tells us:
    “Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.”
    Ahab officially got the title worst king ever.
    The big point ..
    the people followed blindly…. No longer seeking God To where the y on longer recognizable as Gods people..
    This is what competing voices can do.
    The voices we
    listen to eventually become the values we live by.
    We need to guard what we listen top
    Because what gets our attention gets our affection.
    What gets our affection begins to shape our decisions.
    And our decisions eventually shape our lives.
    There is always pressure trying to conform you.
    The world is constantly saying:
    “This is what matters.”
    “This is what will make you happy.”
    “This is what success looks like.”
    “This is what you should fear.”
    “This is what you should desire.”
    That's why Romans 12:2 says:
    Romans 12:2 ESV
    2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
    How do we develop a listening heart?
    1. RECOGNIZE GOD'S VOICE
    2. RESIST COMPETING VOICES

    3. RESPOND TO WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY SAID

    Have you ever made a bad decision? ..
    When I was seminary, ..Pam support us while I was in school.
    She carried much of the financial weight so I could focus on my studies.
    She worked at a daycare..that unfortunately treated her poorly. on top of that They would adjust her timecard to avoid paying overtime…
    One day she came home discouraged,
    and I told her, “You have to go back. We need the income.”
    Worst decision ..
    Looking back, I see I was driven more by fear than faith.
    Pam was gracious went back to work —-
    Not so long after this a .family approached Pam .. about by being their nanny — and turned out leaving job 100 time better..
    I’ve thought about that moment many times …
    because sometimes we know what faith requires, but fear speaks louder…
    The voices we listen to are important…

    Faith Trusts What God Has Spoken

    There’s one more detail tucked into the end of 1 Kings 16 that, at first, seems almost out of place.
    We’ve been reading about Ahab—his wickedness, Jezebel, Baal worship, the spiritual collapse of Israel—and then suddenly the writer tells us about a man named Hiel rebuilding an ancient city.
    Jericho.
    You might read that and think, Why is that here? What does Jericho have to do with Ahab?
    But go back for a moment.
    Years earlier, when Israel entered the Promised Land,
    Jericho was the first great city they encountered. The walls came down, the city was destroyed, and afterward Joshua gave a very serious warning.
    Joshua said that anyone who rebuilt Jericho would come under God's judgment.
    God had spoken.
    And then you come all the way forward to the days of Ahab.
    And now, in the middle of this spiritually dark generation, someone decides to rebuild Jericho.
    1 Kings 16:34 ESV
    34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
    We learn something chilling… Things were so dark that there no fear of consequences .
    Hiel laid the foundation at the cost of his firstborn, and he set up the gates at the cost of his youngest son.
    And then comes that phrase that I don't want us to miss:
    “According to the word of the LORD, which he spoke by Joshua.”
    Why does the writer include that?
    Because in the middle of a generation that has forgotten God's Word, God is reminding us:
    His Word has not forgotten us.
    Ahab may have ignored God's Word.
    Jezebel may have challenged God's Word.
    Israel may have turned away from God's Word.
    But God's Word was still true.
    Faith doesn't begin with, “What does everybody else think?”
    Faith begins with a much simpler question:
    “What has God said?”
    And then faith says,
    “If God has said it, I can trust it.”
    Because God's Word doesn't become true because we believe it.
    We believe it because it is true.
    And that's important for us, because we live in a world where voices are constantly changing.
    Opinions change. Culture changes. Values change.
    But the Word of God doesn't move with the culture.
    God has spoken.
    .. faith is choosing to stand on what God has spoken—even when everything around you is telling you something different.

    CONCLUSION

    This morning God word is like that tuning fork… it is about hearing and alining our heart with God.
    Hearing comes up often in scripture both in the OT and Nt.
    Jesus often began his teachings with Hearing — He would say things like
    “He who has ears let him listen..}
    In the parable of the sower.. Jesus says.
    Matthew 13:18 ESV
    18 “Hear then the parable of the sower:
    Then he describes how different hearers receive God’s word — by the kind soil the seed fell on
    — some of rocky soil -
    some on thorny ground
    some on the good soil - bore a 100 fold harvest.
    —- Authentic hearing demands more than auditory hearing—it requires understanding, faith, and obedient response
    In chapter 17 begins
    With God giving Elijah boldness to speak the word..
    He stands before Ahab and says,
    “There shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.”
    All of a sudden the rain stops…
    God challenges the very heart of Idolatry…
    The very thing had caused them to fall..
    One thing we need know is God word is powerful.
    Hebrews tells us:
    “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword…”
    God's Word is not dead.
    It's not outdated.
    It's not powerless.
    It is living. It is active. It cuts through the noise.
    when God speaks, everything changes.
    So whatever you're facing today—
    fear,
    uncertainty,
    family struggles, a decision you don't know how to make—
    God still speaks…
    And His Word still has power.
    One word from God can change everything.
    Bible says in
    Romans 10:17 ESV
    17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
    that where Faith begins..
    Let’s take a moment… maybe you to hear from God today...
    tune in to Him
    Amen..

      • 1 Kings 16:29–30ESV

      • 1 Kings 15:11ESV

      • John 10:27ESV

      • 1 Kings 16:31–33ESV

      • Romans 12:2ESV

      • 1 Kings 16:34–17:1ESV

      • Romans 10:17ESV

Richvale Community Church
brendenbridges@gmail.com
5308453694
http://richvalechurch.com
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