Sermons on 1 Samuel

Sermons on 1 Samuel

1 Samuel

A time to search our hearts

1 Samuel 11:14 – 12:25 Now that their search for an earthly king is over, Samuel challenged the Israelites to search their hearts before the LORD. God has been faithful in keeping the covenant. But will his people do the same? This passage calls us to examine our own hearts. Will we continue to serve God and obey his voice?

A hopeless situation

By the end of the book of 1 Samuel, Israel finds itself in a hopeless situation. Saul, the king upon whom they have pinned their hopes, is dead and humiliated, a failure. Israel could now see how hopeless things were apart from God’s intervention. Only once they understood this truth would they able to understand the hope that they had in David, the king in waiting. The Christian life is a little like the history of Israel at this point. In order to know the hope that Jesus brings we must first know the weight of the hopelessness of our situation before God. Our sin means we are distant from God. But there is a great source of hope in Christ. Is he your source of hope?

A Different Kind Of King

Leaders are generally rated by how they perform in a crisis. By this measure, King Saul was a miserable failure. But the king-in-waiting stands in stark contrast. When faced with yet another massive crisis, David showed his true colours by casting himself upon God for strength and guidance. And when God delivered him and his people, he was quick to give all the glory to God and share the rewards with others. Here was a king who would rule for God and under God, and for the good of his people. Compared with Saul the future looked bright. Unfortunately David was not the perfect king that Israel longed for, but 1000 years later that King did come ….. the Lord Jesus Christ. He rules with righteousness and justice, and He gives rather than takes from His people. In fact, He has given His life for them! We all need this King. Is He ruling in your life today?

Flirting With The Enemy

Tucked away in the stories of most people’s lives there are usually some details which we wish weren’t there. The heroes of the Bible are no exception …. Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses etc. In today’s message we read one of these chapters in David’s life. After years of faithfully holding on to God while on the run from Saul, he started to lose confidence in God and this led him to lie and compromise his integrity. He deserved God’s judgement. Instead, what God gave him was “amazing grace”. There is more than a bit of David in all of us, and we deserve to have our sins exposed and punished. But God’s grace is for us, too. Because of Jesus we don’t have to live with our guilt. That’s why God sent His only Son into the world …. to free us from our sin and give us a second chance. As you look at the story of your life, do you need to flee to the God of grace today?