Learning from 1 Samuel 13 - The Contrast Between Saul and David

Acts 13:20-22 - “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years. After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’”

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Learning from 1 Samuel 11 - Nahash and Spiritual Blindness

1 Samuel 11:2 – “But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel…”

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Learning from 1 Samuel 3 - Responding to God’s Voice

1 Sam. 3:9-10 - “Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening…”

In this story, Samuel is a little boy who lives at the Tabernacle in Israel and helps with chores. This was the twilight of the period of the Judges in Israel, a time of great spiritual confusion. The priests in that day had lost connection with God. The Bible says that it was very rare then for anyone to hear directly from God. The people had stopped listening. The priests themselves were unfaithful. There were awful scandals surrounding the new generation of priests, and the old generation had grown weak, lazy, and ineffective.

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Joshua & the Day the Sun Stood Still - Sunday morning, 6.21.2009

Joshua 10:12-14 - On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel:  “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”  So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar.    The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a man. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel!

This was a major battle for Israel as they entered the Promised Land.  Up to this point, the Israelites had fought and won only two localized battles (Jericho and Ai).   Continue reading Joshua & the Day the Sun Stood Still - Sunday morning, 6.21.2009 »