How do you ensure you don’t get taken out, wiped out, or knocked out of living the amazing, beautiful, brilliant life God created you for?”
In this talk, we’ll look at Samuel’s encounter with God which set him up to become Israel’s most beloved prophet and judge.
We’ll briefly remind people of the story so far:
- God created us to thrive in a healthy and whole relationship with Him, with each other, with ourselves and with creation.
- We rejected God and choose our own way and as a result, all those four relationships are broken - and we cannot fix it
- God chose Abraham to be the father of the Jewish people through whom Jesus would eventually come.
- Abraham became the father of Isaac, who became the father of Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel and whose 12 sons became the 12 tribes of Israel.
- The whole family moved to Egypt, rescued from a terrible famine, but after 100s of years, the Israelites sadly became slaves in Egypt.
- God used Moses to rescue the Israelites from 400 years of Egyptian slavery.
- Despite this incredible rescue, the Israelites were very rebellious towards God and ended up walking in the wilderness for 40 years.
- During this time of wilderness walking, God gave His people a way of life to live (these included the famous Ten Commandments).
- Joshua, Moses’ protege, eventually led the people into the Promised Land.
- We’re now around 1375BC and a period of around 300 years where Israel appears trapped in a cycle. Rebelling against God. Being attacked and oppressed by enemies. Crying out to God for rescue. God then raising up a leader (called a judge) to rescue Israel. But then, once rescued, Israel rebel against God again and so the cycle continues.
- This brings us to the 9th book of the Old Testament as God’s story unfolds, and we’re introduced to the last, most famous, and beloved of Israel’s judges - Samuel.
As a young boy Samuel, Israel’s last judge learns how to listen and respond to God's voice. This nighttime encounter changes the direction, impact and influence of Samuel’s life and he becomes the link between the age of judges and the age of kings.
Key Scriptures: 1 Samuel 3:1-21
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