Rev. Danny Morgan - September 24, 2023
1 Samuel 3:1--4:1a
Christianity is a religion of renewal. The Christian life is spent learning to move away from what is displeasing to God and toward the restoration of our love and affection for him and our neighbor. In other words, Christianity is about repentance. It’s a religion of restoration and redemption: revival and regeneration. Christianity, without this basis, that our hearts are bent away from what is pleasing to God and good for our neighbor to serve our own purposes, will ultimately miss that Christianity tells us our deepest problem exists within us. And, we need to be re-shaped and re-made into entirely new creatures. This renewal and restoration is given to us when we rest and receive Christ alone for our salvation, in which we have freedom from the power and guilt of sin and are made into a new people, not just given a new way to live. Christianity is not a religion of replacement but the restoration of what is bent and broken. 1 Samuel shows us the need and basis for this renewal both corporately, in the life of Israel, and individually, in the life of Samuel and Eli. In the call of Samuel, we see the birth of a new prophetic voice calling Israel to repentance and the certain nature of God’s Word to begin this work in the hearts of those ready to receive a new life.
From Series: "The Gospel According to Samuel"
This week, we begin a new sermon series in the Old Testament book of First Samuel. Eventually, we will hear the stories of King David and Solomon, the building of the Temple, and the glory of Israel under God’s blessing in the land of promise. But we begin during the time of the Judges when “everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”