{"href":"https://api.simplecast.com/oembed?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhope-sermons.simplecast.com%2Fepisodes%2Felijah-matt-hartman-walk-on-gVLc1Ftk","width":444,"version":"1.0","type":"rich","title":"Elijah - Matt Hartman | Walk On","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_url":"https://image.simplecastcdn.com/images/2c6f53ca-88e9-4464-a8b1-a17014278c1f/4c574d15-8472-4f43-b96e-f5f07faa6a0b/hope-sermons-podcastlogo.jpg","thumbnail_height":300,"provider_url":"https://simplecast.com","provider_name":"Simplecast","html":"","height":200,"description":"This morning, Missional Pastor Matt Hartman continued our sermon series, Walk On, with a message on Elijah – a prophet called to lead the people of Israel back to the Lord.\n\nDuring Elijah’s time, civil war had divided Israel and the hearts of many had wandered and began to worship different gods and idols. Elijah, called by God, challenged the people for their divided loyalties and urged them to return to the Lord. Their pursuit of multiple gods left them aimless, hopeless, and without clear purpose. Rather than relying on the Lord, they placed their trust in idols and their self-sufficiency—seeking from themselves what only God could provide.\n\nIt is not so different for us. How often do we turn inward to ourselves instead of upward towards God? How often do we allow our attention to drift and linger on earthly things instead of the things of above? How often do we place our trust and rest our security on things that will tarnish and fade?\n\nJust as God used Elijah to turn Israel’s hearts back to Him, He worked through Jesus to do the same for us. He restores us, often disrupting our path to redirect our hearts towards Him. He finds us in our darkness and our sin and because of His great love and mercy, makes us new through the blood of Christ."}