Experience Our Extraordinary God By Faith | Peter Tan-Chi | August 16, 2026

0:00 Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you don't exactly know what to do? Or you are encountering difficult situations and you do not know how things going to work out? Well, I have good news for you. The life of Elijah will teach us biblical principles on how to experience the guidance of God and to experience our God who is extraordinary. Watch this video. It will change your life forever. As the youngest of four daughters who grew up loved, cared for, and precious in the eyes of our parents, I believed

0:46 that someday my prince would come and we would live happily ever after. When Adrien came along, he ticked all the prince charming boxes. a supposed Christian. Parents approved, made my heart flutter, and treated me like a princess. In December 2000, we exchanged ideas and look forward to living the fairy tale ending I had dreamed of. Not long after, my happily ever after quickly turned into horrible ever after. A misplaced hope and security on my husband and our possessions resulted in disappointment resentment and hopelessness. Shortly after our first child turned one

1:33 year old, my husband's construction business folded up with several million unpaid debts. We were stripped of our pride, our security, and our future. Seeing the despair in our situation, my sister invited us to attend Sunday's service at CCF in St. Francis Square. Tears welled up in our eyes the moment we heard songs of praise and worship. As if finally experiencing relief and rest in the loving arms of my heavenly father. From that moment on, I recommitted my life to follow Jesus and serve him as an overflow of my gratitude for his saving grace. No turning back.

2:21 No turning back. One would think that my obedience and commitment to follow God would somehow make life easier. On the contrary, I was not exempt from facing giants in various shapes and sizes. But through all these, I learned to seek God, listen to him, and trust him by faith, even when his answers were not what I expected. To face the pain of paying off our debts with resources we didn't have, I prayed desperately for a winning lottery ticket. But God said, "Trisha, be a helpmate to your husband." Whatever it meant, however it meant, I obeyed. I

3:07 supported my husband wholeheartedly and sacrificially with the little that I had, and God multiplied it in his hands to deliver us from our debts. To face the pain of restoring a broken relationship with my daughter who had grown distant and aloof because I was a tiger mom, God said, "Homeschool your children. I obeyed and this step of faith became the gateway to healing old wounds and starting over a relationship rooted in love, not fear. To face the pain of my husband's past infidelity and the lies I believed as truth for 20 plus years. I thought it

3:54 was just right to make him pay for his indiscretions. But God said, "Forgive as I have forgiven you." By faith, I chose to forgive. And I must say, our relationship now has never been better and keeps getting better each day. These are just some of the memorial stones I have come to experience through the power of prayer and fasting. stories of God's love, faithfulness, provision, and grace that I choose to hold on to when the going gets tough. Even my husband's surrender to Jesus Christ was a breakthrough during prayer and fasting. After praying and fasting for him to quit smoking, the same Sunday in January

4:42 2008, he gave his life to Jesus and told me to throw away his cigarettes and lighter. But there's more. God was not done with me yet. Two years ago, I was diagnosed with stage 2 orareneal cancer after a lump in my neck would not go away with antibiotics. It was only by God's grace that my heart was at peace. As I process the news, I thought if God allowed it, then it was his good, acceptable, and perfect will for me. What I thought was going to be a walk in the park became the longest, darkest, and most painful period in my life. I

5:29 lost my sense of taste. I lost my strength. I lost my voice. I lost my desire to pray and even my will to live. I woke up with extreme pain down my throat in the middle of the night and begged my oncologist repeatedly to give me something for the pain only to be told to endure it because there was no medicine to ease it. But God was faithful. When I couldn't find the words to say to him, God sent people, many people to pray on my behalf. When I couldn't swallow a morsel of rice without wincing, God sent containers of soup and aroscalo to ease the ardoous process of

6:16 eating. And when I was low in spirits and felt betrayed by the god I served and angry, I cried to him and I said, "This is hell." To that he replied, "Trisha, how could this be hell? Hell is the absence of my presence. Yet I have always been with you. It was a sobering reminder of my heavenly father's promise never to leave me nor forsake me. His nearness is my good. Last June 21, 2026 marked the second anniversary of my last day of radiation therapy. My recent PET CT scan and endoscopy

7:04 showed that I am clean and negative of any illness in my body. Praise God. The journey is not over yet. I still need to be closely monitored for the next three years before I can be declared cancer free. Two years postsurgery and radiation therapy. I wish I could say that I am intact in every sense of the word. The treatment came with long-term collateral damage that has left my body and my spirit scarred, weakened, lonely, and afraid. Trisha, fight for your joy is what my mentor would often tell me. When I look at myself in mirror and no longer see the person I used to be, I tell

7:52 myself, "The Lord has healed me. I should be thankful." When dark thoughts come about getting sick again, I choose to trust my heavenly father and thank him for the hope in spending eternity with him. A kind-hearted relative once offered to cover the cost of plastic surgery, should I want to conceal the scar on my neck. While I appreciated the gesture, I declined. I said, "This will be my battle scar." Not a scar to erase, but a promise to keep. A reminder from a brought from a battle where my heavenly father never left my side. A keepsake from a season of darkness where by faith

8:40 I found his light and joy. Through every giant, every painful act of obedience, every unanswered question, every dark valley, I have learned that faith does not mean knowing exactly what God will do. Faith is trusting who he is, listening when he speaks, and obeying when I cannot see what comes next. And as I trusted him, I experienced again and again that my God is faithful, present, and able to do far more abundantly before beyond all that we ask or think. To him be all the glory forever and ever. Amen. >> What is our series? Our series has been

9:26 ordinary people, extraordinary God. Now we keep using the term extraordinary. What do we mean by our God is extraordinary? This is what we meant. Everybody please read with me. Our extraordinary God is the incomparable God who does what only God can do. Nothing is impossible for him. I hope you understand what kind of God we have. Extraordinary. He works through ordinary people who trust and obey him. So today our topic is very simple. Everybody whisper to your neighbor, experience our extraordinary God. Can you repeat after

10:14 me? Experience our extraordinary God. Why did I use the word experience? Because Christianity is not just about head knowledge. It is experiential. It's real. Many of us know about God, but you have not experienced the reality of who God is. You need to have an intimate encounter with God. Is our God extraordinary? >> How do you experience him? By faith. What do you mean by faith? Faith is not something theoretical. It is something very real. Faith always has an

11:00 object. The object of your faith is God. It is not faith on faith. It is not faith in faith. Faith always has an object. What are you doing now? What are you doing now? Sitting. Where are you putting your faith? On the chair. You believe the chair will hold you. So your faith is in the chair. When you take an airplane, do you know who is a pilot? No. But do you trust the airplane to bring you to your destination? >> Yes. Why? It's called faith. You exercise faith every day, but you don't realize it. Question is, what is the

11:45 object of your faith? In my life, I've decided not to put my faith on people, on things, on money, but on the Lord. That is the meaning. Everybody, one more time, experience our extraordinary God by faith. We will look at the life of Elijah. How this became real, how he lived a life of faith. Are you ready? All right. Who is Elijah? You will read this as he was introduced from the Bible. Let's read together. Elijah that this bite who was of the settlers of Gilead said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel

12:31 lives before whom I stand, there shall be neither Jew nor rain these years except by my word." If you look at these verses, you you will say, "My goodness, this Elijah is so proud. He's telling the king, there will be no rain except by my word." But if you read the entire Bible, you begin to see why he said what he said. Elijah only says things because God told him to say it. Elijah will only do things because God told him what to do. It was never his own initiative. Do you know Elijah is mentioned 30 times in the New Testament?

13:19 Are you aware that the most mentioned Old Testament prophet in the New Testament is Elijah? Let's look at the Bible how he is described. Everybody read this together. Together. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. The example given is Elijah. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours. The emphasis is Elijah is like you, like me, like us. But what made him different is

14:04 his prayer. Let's read this together. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain. It did not rain on the earth three years and six months. Then he prayed again and the sky poured rain and the earth produced its fruit. Superficially you will think it was Elijah responsible for no rain and Elijah responsible for rain. But you must learn to read the Bible. You must read the entire Bible, Old Testament, New Testament. And then when you put it together, you begin to understand the power of Elijah's prayer. Let me ask you a question. Who was responsible for stopping the rain? Who

14:50 was responsible for sending the rain? Who? Elijah or God? >> Let's find out. All right. Is it God? Of course. Was it Elijah? Why are you quiet? Because you don't know the answer. Am I correct? Let's find out. What's the topic today everybody? Experience >> our extraordinary God. How? By faith. The faith described here in the life of Elijah has four components. Number one,

15:37 the faith that will experience extraordinary God. The acronym is Lo Ts. Lots. Lots of extraordinary blessing. What is the first L? >> Everybody. >> Listen. So look at your neighbor. Tell your neighbor listen. Learn to listen. Number two. Obey. >> Obey. >> Not just listen. Obey. Number three. >> Obey. >> Trust. >> Number four. >> Pray. Supplicate. Four simple principles from the life of Elijah. Are you ready? All right. Principle number one is what? Listen. Let's read. The word of the Lord came to Elijah.

16:23 Everybody please read. Go away from here. Turn eastward. Hide yourself by the brook chariot which is east of the Jordan. It shall be that you will drink of the brook I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there. What do you notice? The first thing you notice the word of the Lord came. God took the initiative to speak to Elijah. God told him, "You hide yourself." Why was he asked to hide? Because Elijah became the number one most wanted person in the entire land of Israel. The king was looking for him because the king was

17:11 blaming Elijah for no rain. Blaming Elijah for the famine. So he wanted to capture Elijah. So God told him, "You hide yourself." Can I tell you something? The safest place to be is in the center of God's will. You want to be safe, follow God's instruction. So what did Elijah do? He went to the brook chariot. And what will he do there? God said, "You will drink. You won't die of thirst. And I will give you food." Who will provide food? the ravens. Quickly, where is Cheri? Elijah is from this bit.

18:00 So Cher is east of the Jordan. Once you know this place, God then told Elijah, you go to Saraphat. And then later on, you'll discover God told him to go to Mount Carmel. And then you will discover at the latter part of his life he got so scared he run to Bersa. So these are the places I like you to have a mental picture. Principle number one everybody say listen. If you want to experience our extraordinary God you better learn to listen. What do I mean? The Bible tells us everybody read together. Faith comes

18:47 from her >> hearing and hearing the word of Christ. You see, faith is never in a vacuum. Faith comes from the word of God. The source of your faith is the word of God. That's why I ask you to study and read the Bible. Without the Bible, your faith is shallow. Your faith is weak. How did Elijah understand the principle of listening? Well, before I tell you, I want you to listen to the first principle. Everybody say that with me. Listen. Tell your neighbor. Listen. Are you good in listening?

19:34 All right. Let's find out. >> The book of Isaiah tells us, everybody read, "Why do you spend money for what is not bread? your wages for what does not satisfy. You know what God is saying? You guys are spending so much time, so much effort to live a life of satisfaction. But God is saying you won't be satisfied because material things will never satisfy your innermost longing. How will you really be satisfied with life? Well, the Bible tells us, everybody read, "Listen carefully to me." Listen, eat what is good. Delight

20:20 yourself in abundance. God wants to give you real life. But what is the secret? Everybody incline your ear. Come to me. Listen that you may live. Will you tell your neighbor listen? Now my friend, how do you listen to God? Number one, you listen to God through his word. God speaks. How many of you believe the Bible is the word of God? Raise your hand. You believe the Bible is God's word? Raise your hand. Higher. >> Now bring it down. So how many of you have read the entire Bible? Raise your hand.

21:06 What's the problem? You just raised your hand. You believe the Bible is the word of God. And yet when I ask you, have you read the entire Bible? Why not? Do you see spiritual warfare? Satan is deceiving you. Your head and your heart don't connect. That's the problem with Christianity. That's why they call us hypocrites. You believe one thing, your heart does not believe and your action follows. Do you realize I love to read the Bible? I read the Bible not because I'm forced

21:53 to live to read the Bible. In my heart, I believe with all my heart, God speaks. Therefore, I want to read the Bible. How does God speak to me? Often times when I pray, most of us pray. Yes or no? How of you pray? Raise your hand. You pray. But do you know prayer is also listening to God? When I pray, I speak to God and then I keep quiet. I let God speak to me. You see, prayer is a two-way street. When you talk to God, you need to learn to listen. But the problem is this. We are so busy with our agenda, you're not able to listen because you don't take

22:40 time to quiet down and listen. The importance of listening is such that you need to understand God speaks. Question, do you listen? Let me give you example. My wife and I, we were coming out of the airplane in one of the busiest airport in America. And then as we were walking out of the airplane, we were walking already. Then I heard from the loudspeaker a small voice. Peter Tanchi, go to gate five. Peter Tani. Now the airport is noisy. Okay. But I'm quiet. I'm walking with my

23:25 wife. I told my wife, "Did you hear my name?" You know, I praise God. I listen to that announcement. So, I went to gate five. I said, "Did you call? Did you call for me?" Oh, the person said, "Yes, you left your laptop on the airplane." Oh my goodness. You know, all my messages, all my powerpoints are in the laptop and I'm speaking that day. Can you imagine going to a conference without my computer? Praise God. I heard and I responded. Now, God is doing the same with you all the time. If you don't listen, you're lost. So, my

24:13 question, are you learning to listen to the Lord? You know how God speaks to us? Sometimes through Sunday messages, but many times it is through designated authorities. How many of you are your parents are still alive? Raise your hands. They're still alive. How many of you are living with your parents still? Raise your hands. You see the afternoon crowd, we have more younger people. Okay? Because the morning it's the older people. But this afternoon, we have a lot of young people staying with their parents. Young people, I want to tell you something. God speaks to you many times through your parents. 90% of God's will is discerned from

25:02 authorities, parental authorities, employer authorities. God speaks through them. Are you listening? I remember when my daughter was falling in love with somebody that my wife and I totally disagree. I praise God for my daughter. We had a dinner with her. I sat down with her, my wife and I, and I told her, "What's wrong with the boyfriend?" You know, my daughter cried. After crying, she listened to us. She broke off with her boyfriend. It was never easy. But praise God because she

25:49 listened to us. You can see my children, my daughters, especially that daughter is happily married now to the right person, not to the wrong person. So young people, you want to listen to God, listen to your parents. Listen to those who are in authority. The reality is this. The greatest obstacle. You know, I do not know why they don't follow my PowerPoint here. Okay, I'm the one in control now. Okay, everybody read this. The greatest obstacle to listening to God is often not that he is unwilling to guide us, but we

26:38 that we already have a will of our own. In other words, you are not able to listen because you have decided already what to do. One of my heroes of faith is George Mueller. You know what George Mueller said? How do you know God's will? How do you know the will of God? Do you want to know? He called this the principle of surrendering your will. Everybody read. I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own. What does that mean? No will of its own. to get his heart to the place where he was willing to accept whatever God

27:25 wanted rather than asking God to approve what he had already decided. What does that mean? If you want to know God's will, you come before him honestly. Lord, whatever you want, it's okay with me. Let me repeat. Until you surrender your own preference, your own personal desire, it's very hard to discern God's will. One of the reasons why I praise God for CCF, the board of elders, we are basically unanimous in almost all decisions. Let me tell you why. Because the elders have no personal agenda. When we meet

28:11 together, we discuss an issue. You know what's our heart? Lord, what is best for your kingdom? What is best for CCF? We don't have personal private agenda. The elders, all of us are not paid by CCF. We can look at an issue and decide objectively. Why? Because our heart is surrendered. You will never be able to hear what God wants you to do if your heart is already made up. So let me ask you a question. Are you able to do what God wants you to do? Do you know what is God's will for your life

28:57 today? Are you able to hear him? I am very sad if you are not able to be able to listen to God speaking to you. What kind of a Christian life will you be living if you are not able to listen to the Lord? Do you know God speaks to you? The problem is you are too busy probably with Netflix, with social media, you are not able to quiet down. That's why quiet time is the most important. I quiet myself. I read the Bible. I pray then I listen. God speaks. I'm telling you in my life I hear not audible but many times from my heart it's very clear from my mind. This is what God wants you

29:44 to do. One of my best example is CCF right here. Ortigga center. Do you know there was a time we wanted to have CCF in San Francisco. We were going to buy that place. We were offered a fantastic deal. The next building was offered to us which we which I wanted but I praise God when I brought it before the elders they said are you sure this is God's will for us why are we going to abide there just because it is a good deal you know I praise God I listen to the to the elders can I tell you why if we have given them the down payment there we would have been stuck because that place was

30:31 eventually foreclosed by the bank. The next building was foreclosed by the bank. What will happen to us? We would have been stuck. But because God protected us, we all learn to listen. Where are we now? CCF Ortigas. Praise God. You know why? God speaks. God guides. But are you listening? Next principle, everybody say obey. >> Obey. If you want to experience God's extraord if you want to experience our God, who is extraordinary? When I say extraordinary, is God good?

31:17 >> Extraordinary good. Extra good. Is God kind? >> Extra kind. Is God merciful? is extra merciful. If you want to really experience the extra goodness, kindness, grace of God, it's by faith. How? Number one, everybody listen. What's number two? >> Obey. What do you mean obey? Everybody read. Prove. Everybody prove yourselves. You prove yourselves. doers of the word, not hearers who delude themselves. Do you know there are

32:04 millions of people today deceiving themselves every Sunday? They go to church, they go to a place like this, they listen, but they don't obey. They continue to live in sin. They continue to disobey God. Even though God is speaking, they just put it aside. The Bible says you are deceiving yourselves. My job is to speak to you in love. Learn to listen and learn to what? Obey. You know, the Bible recognizes no faith. That does not lead to obedience. You don't find that in the Bible. nor does it recognize any obedience that

32:50 does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin. What Toaster is saying, faith and obedience are the same. When you have faith, you will obey. Compreh if you say you believe but you don't obey, that's not faith. To believe is to obey. To have faith is obey. So tell your neighbor, obey. Question. Are there anything that you are doing right now that God is telling you not to do? Is there anything you are supposed to do but you are not doing it?

33:36 Example, God asks you to forgive. Are you forgiving? God tells you, "Break up that sinful relationship. Break that bad habit." I don't know what it is, but God is speaking to you. Are you obeying? God is not asking you to live a perfect life, but God wants you to obey him moment by moment. Let's look at Elijah, the principle of obedience. He went, everybody read, he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherret,

34:24 which is east of the Jordan. Notice the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, bread and meat in the evening. He would drink from the brook. What can you learn about obedience? There are certain truth and promises you will never experience until you obey. I always tell women and men the power of forgiveness. If you obey and you forgive, you will experience deliverance that you will never know. God wants you to experience the supernatural life. That can only come by

35:11 obedience. How did you know? How did I know? How did Elijah know that the revenge brought him bread and meat in the morning? bread and meat in the evening. See, my friend, he will never know until he obeyed. Ravens are not clean birds. They are not classified as clean. In the Old Testament, you have clean animal and you have unclean animals. The Jewish people have nothing to do with unclean animals. like pigs, like ravens, scavengers. And yet God in

36:00 his amazing wisdom told Elijah, "The ravens will be the one to take care of you." I realize God is not limited by our own ideas. God can use anything. God can use anybody to accomplish his purpose. But do you notice something? It's day by day. God will provide for your needs day by day. Not week by week, not month by month, not year by year. It's what? Day by day. Notice it happened after a while that the brook dried up. There was no rain. Huh?

36:49 Eventually the brook dried up. But what's amazing, read the next sentence. Then then the word of the Lord came to him. Only then see God did not tell him in advance what will happen. God does not usually tell you in advance what will happen. You obey him step by step. Next step he will tell you. But until you obey, there's no next next step. Look at this verse. Go to Saraphat, which belongs to Sidon. Stay there. Behold, I have commanded a widow to to provide for you. This is crazy.

37:35 First time raven. And now who will take care of you? Do you know who are widows? If you know the Bible, widows are the poorest of the poor. They are so helpless. And God is saying, Elijah, the widow, the poorest of the poor will take care of you. Now, if you are Elijah, what will you do? Will you go to Saraphat or no? Yes or no? You see, obedience does not always mean you feel like doing it. Obedience is you do it in spite of how you feel. Amen. >> You see, many times you obey because you feel like obeying. Uh-uh. You obey

38:20 because God says so. >> I've done that many times. Not because I want to, but because God says so. One step at a time. Say that with me. One step at a time. And you know the Bible tells us he arose, went to Saraphat. When he came to the gate of the city, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her, "Please get me a little water in a jar that I may drink." She was going to get it. He called again. Please bring me a piece of bread and kapal kapal. You know my friend won't you won't you

39:06 be embarrassed if you see a poor widow and then you are asking her give me water give me bread. Why did Elijah do that? Elijah was simply being obedient. You see it takes faith to obey. You need to trust the Lord one step at a time. You know I love the meaning of the word safat. Many times God will send you to cherit. I call that high school cherit. Then you need to go to the university. University of Saraphat. It's a higher testing ground. Not easy. Saraphat simply means a place of refinement. The

39:52 place of testing. The place of purification. Elijah's faith was being purified in this place. It's being tested. Ladies and gentlemen, your faith will be tested. Listening to God is not always how you feel. It's in spite of how you feel. And then she said, "As the Lord your God lives, I have no bread, only a handful of flour in the bowl and a little oil in the jar. Behold, I am gathering a few sticks that I may go in and prepare for me and my son that we may eat it and die. In Tagalog,

40:40 this poor widow says, "I have not much. If I cook for you, I want enough to eat. I'm going to die." What can you learn about God? Elijah, obey me step by step. You go to Saraphat, you go to see this lady widow. Is this story true? Yes or no? What do you think? You know Jesus confirmed the story. Jesus says, "I say to you in truth, everybody read, there were many widows in Israel, in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut up for three and a half years, six

41:25 months, a great famine came over the land. And yet, everybody read, "Elijah was sent to none of them, only to Saraphat in the land of Sidon to a woman who was a widow." One step at a time. Friends, you will never know what is the next step until you obey the first step. Let me give you an example. Many of you know my wife is the most wonderful lady. Yes or no? Do you know she was a stewardist? The most beautiful stewardist in the entire world.

42:11 >> She was flying. When she went to Japan, she saw the masses of people, lots of Japanese. You know in Japan you have Japanese, right? And her heart was so touched. God spoke to her. These people need Jesus. God gave her a heart for Asia. Because 90% of people who do not yet heard the gospel are in Asia. So what did she do when she went back to the States? She obeyed the Lord. She decided to quit her job. They were surprised. she decided to join a Christian organization called Campus Crusade for

42:58 Christ. So she got trained. She became a missionary in uh San Jose, San Francisco area. But God gave her that desire to go to Asia. Step by step from San Jose there was an opening to go to Asia. But you have to be qualified. you you they were they were forming a singing group to come to Asia. So you must sing, you must play at least one instrument and you must have the money to travel. God prepared her. So she had everything. So she came to Asia. Can you guess where was the headquarter of campus state at that time in Asia? Where Philippines.

43:45 And who was in the Philippines? >> PTC. Now, step by step, I want to show you how God guides us. I was offered a job to go to Atlanta, Georgia to work for Coca-Cola. That's the headquarter. You know why I did not go? Because I know my weakness. I have a weakness for beautiful blonde ladies. and in Georgia a lot of blonde ladies. So I told myself, I cannot stand the temptation. I'm going to fall. So I said, "No." So I stayed. I got involved in helping Compass Crusade for Christ in

44:31 an evangelistic gathering. I brought my business friend and guess there was a special number. In that special number, a group of these people were singing and I saw the most beautiful singer in the world and you know after the concert she came to approach me. >> Oh no no no no and the rest is history. Is God amazing? And you know my friend, we would not have met if we did not follow step one, step two, step three. Some of you are in the wrong step.

45:16 God wants you to move. You're not moving. God wants you to go left. You're going right. You're not able to listen to God. How in the world will you experience the extraordinary God in your life when he wants to bless you but you keep on being disobedient? No shortcut my friend. You know we celebrated our 53rd anniversary last week. We were in St. Edward Church. This is in England. one of the oldest churches in the world, 1,000 years old. But I proposed to my wife again, "Honey baby,

46:02 will you marry me?" Anyway, make a long story short, God guides us. How? Step by step. So, what are the principles? You want to experience God's extra You want to experience our extraordinary God, number one, listen. Number two, obey. What's number three? trust. You know, it's hard to obey if you don't trust. Be honest. How will you obey somebody you don't trust? Not easy. Especially when it doesn't make sense. And how can you trust somebody if you don't know him? Do you see our problem? You have a problem obeying because you don't really know the Lord.

46:49 You have a problem obeying God because you don't really trust him. In fairness, you don't trust him because you don't know him. You see, with all my heart, I believe God is good. Extra good. Do you believe God is good? >> Louder. >> Do you believe God loves you? >> Do you believe God wants what's best for you? >> Really? >> Then obey him. But you see, you don't connect. You doubt him. You doubt his wisdom. You doubt his intention. And you think you are smarter than God. Look, Elijah said to her, "Don't be

47:36 afraid. Do as you have said, but make me a little bread cake from it first. bring it to me and afterward you may you make one for yourself and for your son. Is Elijah Bakapal? Look at what he's saying. Hey, hey, hey, hey, look. Don't be afraid. Don't say you have no no more flour, no more jar. Trust me. Make a little bread cake from it first. Bring it to home to me, my friend. You know why Elijah did what he did? Because he trusted in God. What did God tell Elijah? God told Elijah to tell

48:22 this girl. Thus says the Lord God of Israel, the bowl of flour shall not be exhausted, nor shall the jar of oil be empty until the day that the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth. You know what Elijah is saying? Amazing mathematics. This is the economics of God. The bowl shall not be exhausted. The oil shall not be empty. You keep trusting God. Ladies and gentlemen, such is the extraordinary God that we worship. When he promised something, he will do it. But you will never experience the reality of that

49:08 promise until you what? Trust and obey. Let me repeat. There are many things in the Bible you will never experience and you will never know until you trust and obey. And the reason why many of us are living a mediocre Christian life is because we keep compromising. You never allow God to prove himself real in your life by complete surrender and complete submission. You keep doing shortcuts. God is telling you give up this sin. You don't give it up. God is telling you stop lying. Stop cheating. Pay your

49:56 taxes properly. Trust me. Be honest. Live a holy life. But you keep compromising. You need to trust God. I remember this girl when she attended our Bible study, she was convicted. She was a mistress of somebody very rich. She was dependent on a sugar daddy. The Lord convicted her. The Lord said, "Put your trust in me, not in this man who is married. You are destroying the family." You know what she did? By faith, she gave up that relationship. Did God take care of her? God took care of her. She became a part owner of a security agency. And God is blessing

50:43 her. But she broke that relationship. Until she broke that relationship, she will never know what God can do. What about you? Is God asking you to do something radical but you're afraid? You know it's normal to be afraid. Lord what will happen? You know what this truth is amazing economy of God. The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jar of oil be empty. You know what happened? Everybody read. She went and did according to the word of Elijah. She and he and her household ate for many days. We do not

51:29 know how long. It could be one year, one and a half year. We do not know. The Everybody read please. The bowl of flour was not exhausted, nor did the jar of oil become empty according to the word of the Lord which he spoke through Elijah. You know the Bible tells us, ladies and gentlemen, we walk by faith, not by sight. You have to walk by faith, not by sight, not by feeling. Faith, everybody read, does not operate in the realm of the possible. There is no glory for God in that which is humanly possible. Faith begins when

52:14 man's power ends. We live a supernatural life, a life of faith. God wants you to experience his faithfulness, but you need to trust him and obey him. I'm not talking about presumptuous faith. I'm talking about faith anchored on God's truth. You know, trust is very important. It happened after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah in the third year saying, "Go show yourself to Ahab and I will send rain on the face of the earth." This is what I call the university of Mount Carmel. They are now in Mount Carmel. After college, you now take a master's

53:01 degree. This is now a harder test. You are to appear before the king. Elijah, trust me. Speak to the king. If if you're Elijah, will he be afraid? Of course. Enemy number one, Elijah. You know when Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to Elijah, "Is this you, traveler of Israel in Tagalog? You are the cause of all the problem." Elijah. Elijah said, "Everybody read, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father's household because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the ba."

53:50 You see, faith, trust will make you courageous, not afraid to speak to the king. Now then, Elijah told the king, "Gather all Israel at Mount Carmel together with 450 prophets of Baal, 400 prophets of the Asera, the the lady version of the goddess." Understand this is Baal, 450 prophets plus 400 prophets of Asera, the lady version. Any false religion will have a queen goddess. They worship

54:37 a male god plus a female god. In almost all religion, they want to worship a female godhead. And then you have to understand how bad it was. King Ahab and the entire government of Israel became apostate. They began to worship Baal. It became a state religion where they supported the false prophets, gave them money. On the other hand, they began to kill real prophets. That's how bad Israel has become. In the midst of chaos, God raised up one ordinary man called Elijah. And the Bible tells us Elijah challenged

55:25 the entire nation. Elijah challenged all the people. Everybody read. How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him. If if the Lord is God, follow him. But everybody read, "If Baal, follow him." You know what's shocking? The people did not answer a word. How come? You know, this reminds me of many of us. God is asking you today all of you if Jesus is our Lord commit your life to him follow him if not follow something else you know why the people are silent

56:10 because they are playing games just like many people today the people believe in God at the same time they believe in ba some people today they believe in Jesus they believe in funu Hey, some people believe in Jesus but they do other things. You go through the ritles because your heart is not made up in English. Canoing in two rivers. You want both cannot be. You make up your mind. So my challenge to you is this. Who is your God? If

56:58 Jesus, follow him. If not, follow yourself. But you can have both. Many of us wanting you want both. And that is the problem. That is exactly the problem of Israel. So you know what Elijah did? He challenged them. He gave them a proposal. Give us two oxmen. Let them choose one ox for themselves. Cut it up. Place it on the wood. Put no fire under it. I will prepare the other ox and put wood under. I will not put a fire underneath. And then this is the challenge. You call on the name of your God. I will call on the name of the Lord. And the God who

57:44 answers by fire, he is God. There was a test. And the people said that is a brilliant idea. Why was the test based on fire? You know why? Baal is supposed to be the God of thunder, God of fire, God of the harvest, God of the rain. So if Baal is God, he will send fire. If not, I will pray to the Lord. And the God who sent by fire, he is the Lord. Guess what happened? I tell you the false prophets, they prayed like crazy. From morning they jump up and down. By noon time they use their sword, their knives to cut

58:30 themselves. So they began to bleed in order to convince their god to answer their prayer. That is the problem with false religion. By the way, don't laugh at them. In the Philippines every year, people do that in Pampanga. They fragilate themselves. They want to bleed to convince God to listen to them. That's false religion. And they pray long prayers. They kept chanting and chanting and chanting. The Bible tells us nothing happened. Now, what's the principle? You want to experience the extraordinary God? Well, let me tell you what you must do. You must learn to pray. You know Elijah simply prayed.

59:15 You know how he prayed. True prayer does not have to be long. You don't have to dance around. Elijah simply prayed. At the time of the offering of the evening, Elijah took Elijah the prophet came near. Look at how he prayed. Everybody read. Oh Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known that you are God in Israel. I am your servant and I have done all these things at your word. Elijah is telling the people everything he's doing is from God. Answer me, oh Lord. Answer me that the people may know you are you, oh Lord,

1:00:01 are God and that you have turned their heart back again. You know the Bible tells us true prayer does not have to be long. And you know what happened? Fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood and the stones. A supernatural happening. Extraordinary power manifested. You see, when you learn to listen, you learn to obey, you learn to trust, you learn to pray, you supplicate, you experience the extraordinary protection of God, extraordinary

1:00:47 provision and extraordinary power. And you know what happened? The people were convinced. When all the people saw it, everybody read, they fell on their faces. And what did they say? The Lord, >> he is God. The Lord, he is God. You see, the Bible tells us Elijah was used mightily by God. An ordinary man convinced the whole nation. Now, you will think the Bible should stop here. Ah, not yet. Because what about the rain? So Elijah said to the king, "Go up, eat and drink." There is the sound of the roll of a heavy shower.

1:01:32 The rain is coming. A statement of faith. There was no rain yet. You know what Elijah did? Elijah went up to the top of the mountain again. He crouched down on the earth, put his face between his knees. He prayed like crazy. He said to his servant, "Go up now. Look toward the sea." He went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." He said, "Go back seven times." You know, if you go with me to Israel, I always bring people to Mount Carmel. Mount Carmel will overlook the Mediterranean Sea. And that is what happened. Elijah said, "Look at the sea." And the servant said, "Nothing."

1:02:19 Ladies and gentlemen, what does it take in order to have brain? Tell me what does it take in order to have brain? Hello. Did you study your science? What do you need to a brain? >> You need clouds. Somebody said you need umbrella. No, no, no. To pray for rain, prayer is asking for rain. umbrella is faith. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about you need cloud to have rain. Elijah was asking them, "Look at the sea." And they said nothing. But he kept praying. And you know what happened?

1:03:05 At the seventh time, behold, a cloud as small as a man's hand is coming up from the sea. And he said, "Go up. Say to Ahab, prepare your chariot. go down so that the heavy shower does not stop you. In a little while, the sky grew black clouds and wind and there was a heavy shower. But what do you notice something? Who was responsible for sending the rain? Was it the prayer of Elijah or was it God? Remember I asked you that question in the beginning. Can God send the rain without Elijah? answer. >> Yes. But why did God ask Elijah to pray?

1:03:54 Think about it. That is what I call the amazing grace of God. God is giving you and me the privilege of being his partner. There are many things God can do, but he chooses to do it through his people. Someday you'll be amazed at what God has done because of your prayer. Not because he needed it, but he's giving you the privilege. Seven times. What does it mean? You keep praying. You keep praying. If you know it is God's will, the more you should pray. You know, some people are opposite. I don't need to pray. It's God's will. Ah, the fact that it is

1:04:41 God's will, God wants you to keep praying. You know, I prayed for my father 20 years non-stop, morning and night. Morning and night. You know how I prayed? I said, "Lord, it is your will to save my father because you promise. You want to save everybody, but he's not yet your child. So, I claim your promise. Do something." I do not know how. I do not know when. After 20 years, God sent somebody whom my father respected and shared the gospel with him. And my father gave his heart to Jesus. 20 years. My friend, I'm asking you not to give up on prayer. Are you

1:05:26 praying for your husband, praying for your wife, praying for your children? Don't give up. You keep praying. Like Elijah, it is God's will to send rain. But he kept praying and praying and praying. Amazing. God is asking you keep praying because God wants you to understand dependence upon him is expressed through prayer. Faith is expressed through prayer. You know the Bible should have stopped here but the Bible did not. You know why? Something happened. Here's what happened to show you that Elijah is like us.

1:06:12 You are human. You will fail. But failure is never final. Did you know Elijah failed at the highest point of his life? Huh? Look, Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done. How he had killed all the prophets with the sword. You see, you don't want to have somebody I'm sorry if your name is Jezebel. I hope you're not angry at me, but may I advise you, maybe you should change your name okay? Don't have a daughter or a wife called Jezebel. You know why? Jezebel is bad news in the Bible. He's pure evil. Ahab was under Josiah. Who was wearing the pants? Jezebel.

1:06:59 Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah. The message is very simple. I am going to kill you. You know when Elijah heard Mrs. Ahab threatening him, what happened to Elijah? Gentlemen, look at me now. All the men, you are not afraid of the king. You are not afraid of 850 false prophets. Will you be afraid of a girl? You know what shocked me? I discovered something. Men are afraid of women. You know Elijah was so afraid. He was afraid and run for his life. Huh?

1:07:49 Imagine Elijah at the height of his career, he got discouraged. He ran away. He became defeated. What does that tell you? Christians, none of us are invulnerable to failures. We can all fail. Elijah failed right here. You know how he failed? He not only got discouraged, he became depressed. He was suicidal. He requested for himself that he might die. In fact, he said is enough. Lord, take my life. That guy felt sorry for himself. Now,

1:08:35 what did God do? If you are God, what will you do? You want to die, see, I will let you die. You know, I praise God. He does not always answer our prayer. I praise God. He is not discouraged with our failure. You know what God did? Amazing. God did not scold him. God did not kick him out. God did not reject him. You know what God did? Extraordinary grace. The Bible tells us he laid down and slept. God allowed him to sleep. There was an angel. God sent an angel to touch him. Why? Because God sent the angel to cook for Elijah. He looked, behold, there was

1:09:21 at his head a bread cake baked on hot stones, hot pandisal, and a jar of water he ate and drunk and laid down again. Is God amazing? Instead of scolding him, God showed grace. God cooked for him. God allowed him to sleep. Ladies and gentlemen, sometime the best thing you can do if you're discouraged, go to sleep. Relax. Take a break. Nothing wrong. But sleeping, taking a break is part of the answer. You must understand God loves you. God cooked for Elijah not just once, twice.

1:10:07 The angel of the Lord came again. Second time, arise and eat. Here's the lesson. Our extraordinary God meets us in our weakness. He restores us. God meets us where we are even in our failures. You see our failures do not limit God from working in our life. God is extraordinary gracious, extraordinary faithful, extraordinary patient because he is extraordinary. And you know what God did? The word of the Lord came to him in tenderness. And God said to him, >> "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

1:10:56 God is now talking to you. What are you doing? God was trying to speak to Elijah in Tagalog. You know sometimes we do stupid things and God is telling Elijah what are you doing? So God is asking you today what in the world are you guys doing? You know God did not reject Elijah. Our extraordinary God is not only present in our spiritual heights. He's also present in our deepest lows. When you feel you have failed, when you feel like you are useless already, God is still on your side. Amen. Because God

1:11:43 loves you and he cares for you. Praise God. You know what the Lord said to Elijah? Go return. >> Elijah, I have a job for you. I don't give up on you. Go back. >> Amen. >> Return. You shall appoint Hezel three jobs. Appoint the king. Appoint Ju as the new king. He was to appoint two new kings. One for Aram and one for Israel. And the third one, the most important, you shall appoint Elijah to be your successor. And the Bible tells us Elijah did all of them. Do you want to know how Elijah died?

1:12:29 Did Elijah finish well in spite of his failure? God used him. You know how he died? I pray that this is how all of us will die. You know why? Gloriously. You know how he died? He did not die physically. The Lord sent a Mercedes-Benz. Oh, no. Sorry. BMW. No, no. Rolls-Royce. What's the most expensive car? No. >> Whatever. BYD. No, no, no. The Lord sent amazing a chariot of fire. Horses of fire which separated the two of them. Elijah went up by whirlwind to

1:13:19 heaven. Special delivery to God. Did Elijah end up gloriously? Yes or no? My goodness, God brought him to his presence. That is our extraordinary God >> using ordinary people to live an extraordinary life and to die an extraordinary death. And the truth is he did not die. You know why? Look at the New Testament. The Bible tells us when Jesus was on mount the high mountain he was transfigured. His face became different. The clothing became white. Two men were talking with Jesus.

1:14:06 Who were they? Moses and Elijah. Appearing in glory were speaking of his departure. Elijah was given the privilege to speak to Jesus before he died on the cross. I can guess what they were discussing. You know what they were discussing? Probably about you and me. Jesus, after you die on the cross, who will you send to proclaim the good news of your salvation? And you know what Jesus said? I'm going to send all of you. God will use ordinary people to do something extraordinary for his glory. Amen. So my friend, how do you experience the

1:14:53 extraordinary God? Listen, >> obey, >> trust, and supplicate. As we bow our heads, I want to ask you a question. Do you want to experience our extraordinary God? You need to surrender. You need to commit your life to him. You see, some of you are in the wrong place. Some of you is not where God wants you to be. You need to repent and God is telling you, "What are you doing?" Let's bow our heads. If you want to return, if you want to complete what God entrusted you, you humble yourself today and you

1:15:38 surrender to him. You say, "Lord, I will do what you want me to do. I surrender my all." Raise your hands. Praise God. If God is speaking to you and you are willing to admit you have turned away from him, maybe you got discouraged, you are disappointed by other Christians, you feel like not following God anymore because you are deeply hurt. God is telling you don't give up. What in the world are you doing? God is saying I have a job for you. And that job God wants you to finish. Remember you are immortal. on earth until you finish God's mission. How many of you want to fulfill God's mission for your life? Raise your hands.

1:16:24 Learn to listen. Obey moment by moment. You know, I want to give all of you a chance to surrender to God. Wherever you are, stand up. I'll pray for you. Stand up. And then you make this prayer silently with you as a sign of surrender. You need to surrender. Our problem is we don't surrender. You want to insist on controlling your life. You need to learn to listen. You need to learn to obey. You need to learn to trust. Anybody else? Some of you are still fighting God. You need to surrender. You need to give your life to the Lord Jesus who died on the cross for your sins. You will never know what God can do in your life through your life until you

1:17:12 surrender your all. And you will never know what you will missed if you don't obey him. There are many things in your life you may be missing out because of your self-will. You want to cling to your sin. You want to cling to your self-will. I'm asking you today if God speaking to you, if you need to surrender any sin in your life, stand up. I don't know what is your private life doing, but if God speaking to you, you learn to listen. Anybody else? Praise God. You see, it's never too late to change. Anybody else? Okay, pray with me. Lord Jesus, here I am. I surrender my life to

1:18:00 you. I surrender my all to you. I surrender my stubbornness. I surrender my self-will. Thank you Jesus for being my extraordinary God. In Jesus name I pray. Amen and amen. God bless you. Good day CCF family. Welcome to Sunday FastTrack where you ask real life questions and we give you biblical truths. I am Bianca Kadderon from the Elevate Youth Ministry and we're here today with Dr. Peter Tantry to answer some of your questions. Good day, Pastor Peter. Thank you for sharing God's message today about our extraordinary God in the life of Elijah. Are you ready

1:18:47 to answer our questions? >> Yes. Yes. >> God. For our first question, why does God seem to show up dramatically for some people but seems to be quiet or doing nothing for others who are praying just as sincerely? Does God play favorites when it comes to answering prayers? >> The reality is God does not always show up dramatically. In fact, if you read the story of Elijah, the Bible says God was not in the earthquake. God was not in the wind. God was not in the fire. but in a gentle small voice. That shows you God does not always speak to us in a very dramatic way. So the assumption that is always dramatic is

1:19:33 not true. God speaks to us many times in the quietness of our heart because his spirit speaks. But the truth is if you're so stubborn, God can speak to you in other dramatic ways. In my case, I have to get sick in the hospital >> to listen. For some people, it can be trials. But either way, God speaks. >> Praise God. For our second question, what should someone do if they are praying for direction, but they genuinely don't hear anything from God? Should they wait or should they just make a decision? If you are sincerely open to God, God will make it clear. If it is not

1:20:18 clear, I will say wait. >> In my encounter with God, I make sure I'm open-minded, I ask God, Lord, show me. In my experience, if I'm open, he will show me because I can tell. But if I made up my mind, sometimes even if he will tell me no, I won't be listening. So the truth is this. God speaks. >> Amen. >> God indeed speak. >> Let me add. If you are not sure, wait. >> If you're not sure, we wait. >> For our third question, how would you encourage someone who has obeyed God yet still things don't work out for them? How can we assure them that their obedience was worth it? Once you are sure it is of God, then

1:21:07 keep trusting, keep expecting. The problem with many of us, we are presumptuous. We think it is God's will. It was never God's will. George Mueller himself said he's very suspicious of feeling. He does not base his decision on feeling. >> It is to be objective, God's word. And that is the problem of many Christians. we become presumptuous. That's why it's important you know the Lord, you walk with the Lord, and you know his word. >> Praise the Lord for those insightful answers. Thank you so much, Pastor Peter, for answering our questions. And that's it for CCF Sunday Fastrack. God bless everyone. >> God bless.

1:21:57 Heat. Heat.