Car ran perfectly, went to store, parked in driveway, shut it off, went to lunch, came out engine cranks, but won't start. Never did it before.

look at this link..
Troubleshooting Car That Won Start dummies .
or this one might help you out...
Problem 5 Engine Cranks But won Start
see if any of these links helps you out.

Year make and model might help a bit. Things to check for are starter, alarm, spark, fuel. Does it make any noise while cranking, does it crank. The more info you supply the better the answer

run the fault codes and look for faulty cam/ crank position sensor as this is indicated by the backfire/hard start and lower idle RPM. Check that battery terminals are clean and tight..

check the shift cable i'll bet its disconnected at the shifter or the trans if not broken completely

Your car is 18 years old. It's likely history. Sell it as is for what you can get.

That sounds like the fuel pump may have lost it's prime. Does it have fuel injection, or a carburetor on the engine? How much gas was in the tank while it was parked on an incline? Have you tried any starting fluid sprayed into the air intake hose, toward the engine? Warning! Don't use much starting fluid! Perhaps a one or two second burst, and have someone crank it immediately after you have stepped back at least 6 feet from the engine. If it fires, then it is definitely a fuel delivery problem! But it won't run long like that unless the fuel pump starts working again ... which is most likely when the engine is cold!

if it shuts off while driving and will not start back up for at least 10 minutes, then it may be the crank sensor doing this. is check engine light on! if so get it scanned to find problem code. if no scanner, auto-zone will scan for free. if light is on. CPS symtoms are: car dies and won't re-start till it cools down, or won't start at all. good-day ! crank sensor timing will be out of sync. it controls timing and sends info to pcm.

It probably ran the alternator too and without it the battery ran down so the engine went dead without any power.

could be the timing