Do you know what a prophet is?

A prophet is someone who hears the voice of God and tells people what God has to say.  Sometimes people don't want to hear God's messages, and that can get prophets in trouble.  That's what happened to Elijah.  He told King Ahab that God wasn't happy because Ahab was following a false god instead of the one true God.  In fact, Elijah challenged the prophets who worshiped the false god to a showdown on top of Mount Carmel, and that's where we're going now.

(enter room)

Baalman:  Welcome, welcome, welcome, to today's Mount Carmel Meltdown between ol' Elijah here and me, Baalman: the False Prophet of Baal!  (pick up beach ball and toss it up) Yessiree, have a ball with Baal, I always say.

Elijah:  You actually call yourself "The False Prophet of Baal"?

Baalman:  Sure; it's a registered trademark of Baal Enterprises, Inc.  Perhaps you've seen our late-night infomercial on cable...

Elijah:  Uh, no...

Baalman:  You haven't?  Oh, well...  (to kids) Anyway, you all know why we're here: ol' Elijah here thinks that his God is the real God, so much so that he's challenged me to a duel right here on top of Mount Carmel!  But I'm gonna show him, yessireebob!  I'm gonna get Baal to send down his fire on this altar I've built and prove that he's the real god!

Elijah:  (shaking his head) Right.  You're going to call on a god who doesn't exist to send down fire from heaven onto your altar.  Riiiiight...

Baalman:  You'd better believe it, toga boy.  I've got my rock altar all piled up, I've got my wood for burning, and here!  My ace in the hole!  The piece de resistance!  Something that Baal can't ignore! (hold up fake hamburger and place it on altar)

Elijah:  What is that?

(start Spongebob music)

Baalman:  Why, it's a delicious, mouth-watering Krabby Patty!  No one can resist the taste-bud-tingling, tantalizing treat that is a Krabby Patty... even if it is a day old...

Elijah:  (muttering) I can't believe that King Ahab thinks this guy is for real...

Baalman:  You talkin' to me?  You talkin' to me?  Hey, I'm da man wit' da plan!  The prophet for profit!  The seer without fear!  I summon Baal without fail!  You challenged me to this duel, Elijah; well, if you wanna be starting something, toga-boy, you better be ready to finish it!  Come on, everyone, sing and dance with me!  We're gonna call down Baal by the tail!

(Dancin', singin' and carryin' on to Michael Jackson's "Wanna Be Startin' Something" for three minutes while Elijah shakes his head...)

Baalman:  This is it!  He's gonna answer!  I can feel it in my bones!  Baal's gonna send his fire just like I said!  He's gonna answer us any minute now!  ANY MINUTE NOW...

("Six hours later..." (spoken by assistant in faux-French Spongebob accent))

Baalman:  (extremely tired) A-aa-ny minute now... he's gonna answer us... any... hour?... now... any... day?... now... any... week?... now... any... month?... now... any... year?... now... (fall flat on floor)

Elijah:  (with a look of both pity and sarcasm) Yell louder.  Maybe he went on a trip and forgot to forward his cell phone.  Or maybe he's stuck in the bathroom without any toilet paper.  Or maybe Baal... is in jail... with no bail... while you rail... to no avail...

(pause for a few seconds, then lean over Baalman)

Elijah:  Hey!  Hey!  Wake up!

Baalman:  (flat on the floor) Did Baal send down his fire from heaven?

Elijah:  Uh... no.

Baalman:  Oh... I guess... ol' Baal's... not on the ball... after all...

Elijah:  (helping Baalman off the floor)  You know, you may have been wrong about Baal, but for a dancer, you're pretty good, ol' son; now just sit down in this chair right here and let me show you how it's done.  (walk back to the center of the room while mumbling, "Fire on the mountain, run, boys, run...")

(turn toward the kids)

Elijah:  Kids, Baal didn't answer because he isn't real.

Baalman:  (very tired) Yeah, yeah, rub it in.

Elijah:  But the God of Israel, the God whom I serve, is real, and we're going to build an altar with a sacrifice so that God can send his fire down from heaven and prove that he's real.  Now, I'm going to need your help.  Baalman...

Baalman:  You need a dancer?...

Elijah:  Uh, no.  Baalman, get that tub, turn it upside-down and put it into this wading pool for a table.  Materials Managers, I need twelve stones to build our altar, one stone for each of the tribes of Israel.

(build altar from stones)

Elijah:  Now we need some wood.  Prayer People, please get some of those sticks and put them on the altar.

(put sticks on top of altar)

Elijah:  Now, unlike Baalman here, we're going to offer a real sacrifice to the real God...

(open cooler, remove packaged meat and hold up in front of kids)

Elijah:  Eye of round... top sirloin...

(place meat on top of wood and mutter disgustedly toward Baalman)

Elijah:  Day-old Krabby Patty... right...

(turn toward kids)

Elijah:  We're almost ready to call down the fire of God, but there's one more thing we need to do.  Just so there's no doubt that this is the real God who's sending down his fire on our sacrifice, we're going to pour water on top of our sacrifice.  You don't pour water on something you want to burn, do you?  But we're doing this so that when God sets our sacrifice on fire, we'll know that only the real God could have done it.  So, Coaches, bring a pitcher of water and pour it on top of the sacrifice.

(coaches pour water onto sacrifice)

Elijah:  Now... pour another pitcher of water on the sacrifice.

(coaches pour more water onto sacrifice)

Elijah:  One more time with another pitcher of water.

(coaches pour even more water onto the sacrifice)

Elijah:  Anyone can light a fire to a dry altar... but only the real God can set fire to one that's soaking wet.  And now...

(lift hands to heaven)

Elijah:  Lord, we pray that you would send your fire upon our sacrifice so that people will know that the God of Israel is the one true God and that I am your servant.  Help turn the hearts of the people back to you.  Please send your fire now...

(firefighter bursts into room)

Firefighter:  Everyone stay seated!  Stay calm!

(firefighter blasts altar and sacrifice with fire extinguisher, then removes helmet)

Elijah:  What are you doing?  We were just about to call down the fire of God on our sacrifice!

Firefighter:  I know!  That's why I'm here.  When Elijah called down the fire of God in the Bible, the fire burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the water and the ground around it.  We can't have you calling down the fire of God here in a crowded room.  It's a fire hazard.  (pulls pamphlet out of pocket and reads)  According to the Town of Culpeper Municipal Code, page twelve, section three, paragraph seven, "The fire of God shall not be called down within an enclosed space inside an occupied building standing within the established limits of the Town of Culpeper."  (puts away pamphlet)  Besides, you'll set off the sprinklers.  The session and the trustees wouldn't be too happy about that.

Elijah:  No, I guess not.  Okay, we'll be careful.

Firefighter:  Make sure you are.  Remember, kids: Only you can prevent forest fires!  Stop, drop and roll!  Happy Leif Erikson Day!

(firefighter exits)

Baalman:  Well, I'm totally weirded out now.

Elijah:  No kidding...

(Baalman and Elijah come out of character)

Doug:  Kids, our firefighter friend was right.  When the real Elijah prayed over his sacrifice, something amazing happened.

Michael:  All morning long and into the afternoon the prophets of Baal had prayed and screamed and danced and did everything they could to get the attention of their god.  And nothing happened because Baal was just a made-up god.  He wasn't real.

Doug:  But Elijah prayed, "Lord, let people know that you are God in Israel and that I'm your servant.  Help turn the hearts of the people back to you."

Michael:  And fire fell from the sky.  It consumed the pieces of meat.  The wood disappeared in a flash of heat.  The twelve stones disappeared in the fire.  Even the mountaintop was scorched, and the water turned to steam.

Doug:  And all the people who were watching fell on their faces crying, "The Lord--he is God!  The Lord--he is God!"  They believed because they saw the power of God!

(to Michael)

Doug:  You know, it's a good thing that Baalman crossed over from the dark side to help us build our altar to serve the one true God.

Michael:  Yeah?  How come?

Doug:  Well, just read in the Bible what the real Elijah did to the real prophets of Baal after their contest.

Michael:  Okay... (reads silently)  Did they really...?

Doug:  Uh-huh...

Michael:  Eewww... and then did they...?

Doug:  Uh-huh...

Michael:  Eewwwww... and then did Elijah...?

Doug:  UH-HUH...

Michael:  EEEWWWwww... (hand Bible back to Doug and sit in chair, trembling in fear)

Doug:  (speaking to Scuba Crews) Scuba Crews, circle up together now, knee to knee, and discuss the questions on today's "Diving Deeper" card.

(crews discuss while altar is disassembled for next session)

Michael:  Kids, Elijah wanted people to believe in and follow God.  That's what we want for all of you, too.  We want you to believe in God!

(kids say, "OK!")

Doug:  You know, it's great that you say "OK" when you hear us talk about believing in God... but maybe it's not OK.  Maybe you don't believe in God.  Or maybe you haven't heard enough about Jesus to decide if you believe yet.

Michael:  The "OK" that God wants is one that starts in our hearts and then comes out of our mouths.  Just saying you believe doesn't mean much if you don't really believe with your heart.

Doug:  We want you to know that this week it's OK to talk with us or your Scuba Crew Leader about God and Jesus and to ask any questions you may have.  This is a safe place to have questions and to answer them.

Michael:  Thanks for having fun and learning with us during our Deep Bible Adventure today.  We'll see you tomorrow for another adventure!