LIFE IN SERVICE (2 SAMUEL 1:11; 2:18-21,26)

 

LIFE IN SERVICE

BIBLE PASSAGE: 1 SAMUEL 1:11; 2: 18-21, 26

Picture taken from Google

Lesson Prepared by: Krisha of Solomon’s Wisdom FB page

Lesson ideas taken from: https://becomingchristians.com/

AUGUST 28, 2022

MEMORY VERSE

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

EPEHSIANS 5:16

 

INTRODUCTION:

Let me ask you a question, when did you start in the ministry? Let’s see who among here has been in the ministry for so long and also who has just started. I’ve asked that because I have a second question – “Have you thought that ‘Life in God’s Service’ is already your life?  This is a hard question because you don’t know what will be your attitude in the next season of your life but I know all of us would agree that is what we pray for, right? Bible says in Psalms 27:4

“One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple.”

 

 

 

To achieve this, Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:14, “But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;” DON’T JUST SAY that I’ll be in the ministry all the days of my life, DO IT. Bible warns us, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” Pastors, preachers, leaders and teachers of the Bible are not exempted to this. They fail and so do we.  Let’s always remember that we can’t do it in this life without GOD.

 

In our passage today, you already know the character we’re going to talk about. Just for recap, Samuel’s story began with his mother Hannah who was a barren or childless woman. Hannah could not have a child and became very distraught over the fact that she could not conceive children. She begged God to give her a child and in return she would place the child in his service. God honored her request and allowed her to become pregnant. After she had given birth to Samuel, she took care of him for the early years of his life. By the time Samuel was a teenager, he was given to the care of a priest named Eli. Once he was placed in Eli’s care, he learned about God’s ways and by the time he was a teenager God had appointed him to his future position as a prophet and leader in Israel.

 

In Samuel’s service, we can see that things weren’t always smooth in the service for God. Today, let’s learn some lessons we can get from his service.

LESSON OUTLINE:

1.  LIFE IN SERVICE HAS NO AGE LIMIT

“And she vowed a vow, and said, O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.” (1 Samuel 1:11)

 

If you notice at the last line of this verse, “…then I will give him unto the Lord all the days of his life…” That caught my attention and I’ve come up to this question – who among here wants her or his children to be found in the service of the Lord all their lives?

But how can parents do that if they, themselves, are not in the service? I imagine a life of a family who takes the ministry for granted and that is a failure. For sure, the enemy gives you so many hindrances in life in order for you to say “I can’t commit on this.”

 

Parents have the great responsibility in leading their children in the right path. This should be the joy of all Christian parents, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 1:4). One of the ways to be aware of spiritual matters in early age is bring them in Sunday School, that’s the first step. At early age teach them the Bible and don’t teach your kids principles which is against the teaching of the Bible.

 

In Samuel’s case, Hannah, his mother, prepared him in the ministry. The life of Samuel shows us that we can never be too young to serve God. Surely, God has given us talents and the abilities that we can use to play a role in God’s work. The words of King Solomon should ring true in our lives today:

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them;” (Ecclesiastes 12:1)

 

Service at work or outside the church has age limit but in God’s vineyard, there’s no age limit. We can serve GOD whatever age we have, therefore, don’t say, “I am old I can’t make it in the ministry” because whatever your situation or your age, there are ministries fitted for us in the vineyard.

 

2.  LIFE IN SERVICE HAS UPS AND DOWNS

God doesn’t promise that life in the world is peaceful and so in the ministry but the best thing is, He’s with us. In Samuel’s service had ups and downs:

v Samuel received favor from God and man: 1 Samuel 2:26 “And the child Samuel grew on, and was in favour both with the Lord, and also with men.”

v God anointed Samuel to the position of prophet and judge (1 Samuel 3:4-11)

v Samuel became a famous prophet throughout Israel:  1 Samuel 3:20 “And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the Lord.”

v Samuel led the forces of Israel against the Philistines at Mizpah: 1 Samuel 7

v Samuel as judge of Israel: 1 Samuel 7:15 “And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life.”

v Samuel was rejected: 1 Samuel 8:7 “And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”

v God anointed Saul as king and told Samuel about his decision: 1 Samuel 9:17 “And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people.”

v God told Samuel to reject Saul as king: 1 Samuel 15:26 “And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.”

v Samuel anointed David as king: 1 Samuel 16:13 “Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.”

We know that in the ministry has ups and down and we can see that in the life of Samuel. Time comes that when people see that he was no longer needed as a prophet and judge in Israel and they wanted another. Imagine the feeling of rejection but God comforted him in 1 Samuel 8:7. So you see that’s part of the ministry.

Also, times come that we are used the systems in the ministry and we are not careful in our attitude and something caught you off guard. The enemy surprises you and you need to be careful. Bible warns in 1 Corinthians 6:3

2 Corinthians 6:3 – “Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:”

Tagalog: Na di nagbibigay ng kadahilanang ikatitisod sa anoman, upang ang aming ministerio ay huwag mapulaan;

 

Sad to hear to see or hear that after 39 years in the ministry, you found yourself trapped in the things you were not careful. It’s impossible to get out of that situation, unless the power of God overshadowed that situation. We see pastors, leaders and teachers are trapped and so everyone are not exempted. The enemy tries everything in order for us not by God properly in the field of God’s ministry.

 

If you do your best in the ministry and lean on God everyday of your life, the Bible encourages us in 1 Corinthians 15:58 (Let’s recite).

 

3.  LIFE IN SERVICE MEANS ‘TILL THE END

 

We need to realize the importance of redeeming the time. May I ask young people here to stand. As young people in the Church, you will never know when your life ends. You will never know what tomorrow will bring. Also, please stand to those who are not young people anymore. The same is true for everyone. Planning our lives apart from God is like aimlessly sailing in the middle of the vast ocean.

 

We need to develop a SENSE OF URGENCY. Remember that today is the first day of the rest of your life. Each passing day brings us closer to God’s coming Kingdom. It is a tragedy to chase the wrong things in life because, at the end, the only thing that will matter is the relationship we build with God.

 

All the physical things in this world will just fade away and be dissolved (II Peter 2:11). With this being said, the Apostle Peter asked a question, “What manner of persons ought you to be?”

 

Pastor said, “I have heard a lot of older people in the church who wished they have been called in the church in an earlier age. I am one of them. I have seen first-hand the joy and blessings of living God’s way of life in a very young age and how I wish that I was in the church during an earlier time.”

 

Each day of our lives, we are getting older. There is no better way to spend the prime of our years than to do God’s work. We should not delay answering the call of God because each passing day we waste is an also opportunity to live a blessed life.

“There is no better way to spend the prime of our years than to do God’s work.”

I hear some young people that they would serve God after finishing their studies; after they are stable enough to start a family; and after they have enough money to be independent. This is a HUGE delusion that Satan has cast on the minds of our young people! There is no better time to serve God than TODAY!

Samuel had been in the service since the day his mother offered him in the temple and until the day of his death (1 Samuel 28:3).

CONCLUSION:

Have you asked yourself, “How would you rather be found?” If time comes that your life ends what are you doing? Bible says in Matthew 24:26,

“Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.”

 

JOURNEY AS GOD'S PEOPLE (EZRA 8:1 - 36)

 

JOURNEY AS GOD’S PEOPLE

Picture taken from Google

 

BIBLE PASSAGE: Ezra chapters 7 - 8:15-21

INTRODUCTION:

When we were a child, we had no responsibilities to think about. We just focused on ourselves and we were dependent to our parents. But now, as adults we have so many things to think about especially to our future. We think about plans and decisions we need to do. Whether we like it or not we need to stand for ourselves. We need to be independent. In our journey in life, we just don’t do anything we think in instant, we need to sit down and think about the plans.

 

Just like in our own personal life, spiritual journey is hard when we don’t have plans ahead. In my own experience, I’ve been in the church for so long since 1991 so I saw how leaders and pastors manage the church or the ministry in different ways. Truly Proverbs 29:18 which says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he,” is a great verse to consider for leaders.

 

This chapters give us a more particular narrative of Ezra's journey to Jerusalem. Ezra's mission was to further the spiritual and religious restoration of the Jewish community in Jerusalem and to rebuild the temple. Ezra is introduced as a skilled scribe and a priest, "a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses, which the LORD, the God of Israel, had given." Let’s see what preparations Ezra considered in their journey.

 

LESSON POINTS:

1.    THE IMPORTANCE OF CAREFUL PLANNING (Ezra 8:1-21)

We know the importance of careful planning but most of the times we don’t do it. Some of us we have the attitude of doing the planning when it’s already near and so we are in a rush situation. In Ezra’s case, they were preparing for a 900-mile journey from Babylon to Jerusalem. Approximately, it was a four-month journey. They gathered all the people (who was all making the journey) and approximately, 5000 people who would include in the journey. When they were in a three-day journey, Ezra discovered that no sons of LEVI included in the journey. Levites were needed to assist the priests in the temple. We don’t know exactly what are the possible reasons why there were no Levites in the journey but King Artaxerxes made a decree in the previous chapter, 7:13, that anyone of the Israelites who were willing to go with the journey were allowed to go. It means that the Levites didn’t volunteer themselves in that important journey. Maybe they prefer to remain in Babylon rather than fulfill the role in the temple. Possible, they were already comfortable in Babylon and they think of the hardness of long trip.

 

It's never okay to abandon God’s purposes in our lives in this journey. What did Ezra do? He sent a group of men, men of understanding unto IDDO, the chief of the place (Ezra 8:16-17) to send them workers of what they needed; God provided In verse 18, Ezra recognized God’s hands in their journey.

 

And by the good hand of our God upon us they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli, the son of Levi, the son of Israel; and Sherebiah, with his sons and his brethren, eighteen;

 

Ezra understands that God is sovereign over everything even in individual decision of Levites. He understands their dependence on the Lord that every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord.

 

In our journey, we have plans on where we’re going and how to get there but we need to include God in our journey. WE can plan, we can prepare, we can lay out the best vision BUT WITHOUT THE LORD IT IS NOTHING.

 

2.   THE NECESSITY OF FASTING AND PRAYER (Ezra 8:21-23)

Everything was ready: materials, people and others and in verse 21, Ezra proclaimed a fast. In fact, Ezra didn’t ask the king for soldiers and horsemen in order for them to defend from enemies. He thought that God would defend them. So, he asked the people to fast. They did this to humble ourselves before God and ask Him for a safe journey for them and their children, with all their possessions. He turned to the ONE Who is far more capable; he turned to the Lord. Only the hand of the Lord can make our goals happen. In verse 23, God answered their prayers.

 

In our church, our pastor planned to build a three-story building. The church and the prayer team are busy including this plan in prayers. There are plans, and preparations are doing but only God can make this plan happens.

 

Personally, whatever our plans, ask God and trust Him. Include him in everything we do.

 

3.   THE WISDOM OF FINANCIAL ACCOUNT (Ezra 8:24-34)

In chapter 7, King Artaxerxes loaded with them up with all their needs in travelling and their purpose in Jerusalem – in rebuilding the city and most especially the temple. When they arrived, they weighed all their valuables and listed all and gave to the right people in the temple.

 

CONCLUSION:

In verse 35, they don’t forget the Lord. They burnt offerings unto the Him. They grew up in Babylon but the very first time, they are in the temple and having the opportunity to worship. We can see in their journey that there so many things we need to do to make our journey successful but the most important thing to do is don’t forget God. Consider Him in our journey. He will give wisdom on how our journey becomes smooth.

 

Whatever part of our journey of life we are in at this moment, always be sensitive to God’s call and don’t ever neglect the reminders of God on His Word. KEEP ON!

 

 

WHO'S MORE IMPORTANT?

 

 

 WHO'S MORE IMPORTANT?

                                                  (Lesson ideas got from Pastor Mike Mislan’s devotion)

 

picture taken from Google

 BIBLE PASSAGE: 1 Corinthians 3:1-11

 INTRODUCTION:

Paul confronts their condition in Corinthian Church. They are not behaving like a spiritual people, but like carnal or like immature Christians. They thought of themselves spiritual but their divisions, envy and strife show that they are living in the flesh.  Another thing is, the Corinthian people arguing about who was better. The first one said “I am of Paul” and another said “I am of Apollos.” This thinking shows that they are carnal.

 Remember the verse in Matthew 18:1.

“At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

 The same happens in our society today. Sometimes we think more highly of a pastor graduated in a famous bible college than a pastor graduated in a Church Bible institute. The pastor is chosen as the speaker because of the quantity of his members. Sometimes when a church is replaced by a new pastor and it becomes successful, we tend to think that the previous pastor is better than the old one which we don’t think that the first might be used by God to prepare the ministry. Either the first or the second is better because both serve the Lord.

 

LESSON POINTS:

1)   THE RESULTS IN YOUR SERVICE FOR CHRIST IN THE MINISTRY DOES NOT DETERMINE YOUR WORTH (1 COR.3:7)

 

·       The Christian worker who plants and the Christian worker who waters the plant are the same worker of God. We can’t gauge that the other is better because they serve the same LORD. Remember is it GOD who gives the increase.

·       If you only have a small group, don’t let that discouraged you. Remember your labor is not in vain in the Lord. One may prepare the soil and the other waters and harvests them but God who gives the increase.

  2)    AREAS OF SERVICE DOES NOT DETERMINE YOUR STATUS AMONG THE BRETHREN (1 COR.3:9-10)

 

·       No one should brag himself how great he is because we are all laborers of God.

·       Paul became effective because of God. Without HIM we are nothing.

 

·       In Ephesians 3:7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power

 

·       Having gifts according to grace given to us by God. He gifted us in a different way. So, there are some things we can’t do but others can. Also, there are some things we can do and others can’t.

·       Romans 12:5-6 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;

·       1 Corinthians 4:7 For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?

 

·       Anyone who is serving God and has been gifted in that specific area of service, does not determine their status because that’s the way God is gifted them; that’s the way God has called them to serve.

  3)    It’s WHO and HOW we serve is always more important than where we serve (1 COR. 3:10-11)

 

·       It’s not where you serve is more important. You can serve as a Sunday School Teacher, flower arranger, in the kitchen as a kitchen crew, and many more.

·       More than the social status is WHO and HOW you serve.

·       WHO’S THE MOST IMPORTANT IN THE MINISTRY? – It’s actually THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

·       It’s should be our privileged and honor to serve God in whatever capacity He calls and gifts us.

 

CONCLUSION:

 

2 Corinthians 4:1 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;

 

No ministry should be look lowly or unnecessary.