1-2samuel

1 Samuel 11-12 reminds us that we do have an enemy who is trying to steal our affections and allegiance away from God. However, we also have a Savior who restores us and brings us back to the Lord. 

What is our response to God's faithfulness to deliver us? How can we truly be faithful to Him? 

1 Samuel 9 and 10 introduce us to Saul, God's first chosen king for Israel. Although the events of this passage seem random, we know that they are all pieces of God's plan to appoint a king. 

How do we see God directing us toward His plans in our own lives? How is He changing our hearts to prepare us for what He has before us? 

In 1 Samuel 8, Israel grows tired of the system of judges that God had set in place and demand a king. 

Their dissatisfaction challenges us to consider ways we may be discontent with our own lives and how that can impact our view of God. 

Does anything happen by coincidence? These chapters in 1 Samuel reveal God's providential hand in all things -- for His glory and for the good of His people. 

This week's passage challenges us to remember that God's plans are sovereign, even when they don't play out in ways we expect or desire.

We live in a world where the truth of God has been abandoned, and the absence of God feels as real as it did in the opening verses of 1 Samuel 3. However, we know God desires to be known, and He graciously gives us the means to know Him. Where do we find our own hearts as we exist in this culture? How can we seek God's presence through His Word?  

This week's passage contrasts the rebellion of Eli and his sons with the righteousness of Samuel and his family. How does God respond to unrepentant hearts? What hope can we find in the midst of a dark story? 

We begin our sermon series on 1 & 2 Samuel by exploring some important context of these books and how they point to the coming of the True King. Additionally, the beginning chapters of 1 Samuel show us the pain of Hannah and how the Lord met her in that pain.