Introduction:
Characteristics of a Useful Servant: (1 Samuel 3:10-21)
- A Useful Servant: is Submissive to God's Word. (1 Sam 3:10-14)
- A Useful Servant:
Truthfully Speaks God's Word. (1 Sam 3:15-18)
Proverbs 30:56 - "Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar."
- A Useful Servant: is Blessed by God's Word. (1 Sam 3:19-21)
Steps we can take when Declining in Usefulness:
- Step Away
- Step Up
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-01:32
Well good morning church. I look around and I see there's actually a fairly large crowd here and it's not because of me rather it's because the world is closing in on 8 billion people. We've all got to go somewhere right? Well did you know that statistically and this number is highly debatable that there are 2 billion of those people that claim to be Christian right of the Christian faith. I all, you take the opposite of that, that means that three-quarters of the population on this earth is not Christian. Or to put it another way, they don't know who the Almighty Creator of this earth is, God. And to me that's a shocking thing, right? Because if the world were to end today, those six billion people would be destined for an eternity separate from God. Needless to say, there is much work to be done for advancing God's kingdom. Now to do that God uses servants. Servants who evangelize publicly through books, music, radio, television. Servants who go on missions and proclaim the gospel locally and in remote regions of the world. Servants who preach at their own churches and encourage their flocks, and servants that hold small groups at their homes, binding individual families together, servants at all levels.
01:34-02:49
God has called us to serve him and each servant has a specific purpose and impact for his kingdom. You don't have to be an R.C. Sproul, Chuck Smith, you don't even have to be a Jeff Miller, a Rich Sprunk, or a Dan Thompson. Serving God can take on many forms. The commonality though that all servants need to hold to, whether you're a large public figure, a local pastor, or just some guys in the back in an AV booth, is this. Are you useful? Are you useful? Is what you're doing useful for God's kingdom? This isn't a trick question, it really is a simple yes or no answer. Now for the majority of the people here at Harvest Bible Chapel, Pittsburgh North, the immediate and clear answer would be, "Yeah, what I'm doing here is useful. I'm an elder. I help guide the congregation in the direction of the church. I'm useful. I'm on the worship team. I play music or sing and lead the congregation in praising God. I am useful. I work in Children's or Arrow. I teach and lead the next generation in their understanding and personal relationship with God. I am useful.
02:50-03:09
Or I'm in assimilation. I greet and I welcome the congregation, helping people prepare themselves and their hearts for service. I am useful. Now I won't go through all the ministries that we have here, but you can take each one we have and understand they are purposefully at our church because they are useful.
03:11-03:14
This is why we don't have a glitter-throwing ministry or origami ministry.
03:15-03:18
There is no bring-your-pet-to-church ministry or bubble-blowing ministry.
03:20-03:24
Now, I realize those last examples are a bit ridiculous, but chew on this question.
03:26-03:31
What about the ministries and servants that think they're being useful but aren't?
03:33-03:38
How many people think they're doing God's will, but in his eyes, you're far from useful.
03:39-03:41
What about the more dangerous position to be in?
03:42-03:46
When you're not only not useful, but harmful to those around you.
03:47-03:56
The ones deceived, turning a blind eye to sin, or having their own agenda, thinking they're useful, but in actuality are a poison to those around them.
03:58-04:02
That's why today we're going to be focusing on characteristics of useful servants.
04:03-04:08
how we as servants of God can ensure that we are useful for his kingdom.
04:09-04:13
Our passage today is 1 Samuel 3, 10 through 21.
04:14-04:25
And in it, we're gonna be looking at two individuals, Samuel and Eli, both servants of God, but only one of them God saw going forward as useful for his kingdom purpose.
04:27-04:34
So as you're turning there, I want to provide some backstory as to who these two individuals are and what's already transpired in the book of Samuel.
04:35-04:40
So Samuel at this point is a young and upcoming boy who has been dedicated to the Lord by his parents.
04:40-04:43
He's under care of Eli, the priest at Shiloh.
04:44-04:48
And where we're picking up is right after Samuel's first encounter with God.
04:50-04:58
In the verses prior, the Lord verbally calls out to Samuel and he mistakes the Lord's voice for his master Eli's.
04:58-05:10
So he comes rushing over to Eli and he says, "Here I am." But then Eli's like, "I didn't call you." So this happens three times and Eli catches on and realizes that the Lord is speaking directly to Samuel.
05:11-05:12
So here we are in verse 10.
05:13-05:17
Samuel is anticipating the Lord and we see God is about to speak again.
05:18-05:19
So we'll pick up here, verse 10.
05:21-05:25
"And the Lord came and stood calling us at other times, "Samuel, Samuel.
05:26-05:36
"And Samuel said, 'Speak, for your servant hears.' "Then the Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.
05:37-05:42
On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.
05:42-05:52
And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.
05:52-06:07
Therefore, I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever." So again, we're talking about characteristics of a useful servant, right?
06:08-06:18
That's our theme. So what do we see here? So on your outline, first point to be made is a useful servant is submissive to God's Word.
06:20-06:25
So we kind of launched into that passage, and it's kind of a bit of a meatball to digest, right?
06:26-06:30
God's declaration to Samuel sent things from 1 to 10 super quick.
06:31-06:43
But I'd like us instead to break this into two chunks and focus instead on God's servants in this passage, Eli and Samuel, and what they did, how each of them responded to God's word.
06:44-06:45
Did they fully submit?
06:47-06:49
First, let's take a look at Samuel.
06:50-06:55
In verse 10, in the fact the verses prior, Samuel is called by God and each time he responds.
06:56-06:58
He responds immediately and declares that he is listening.
07:00-07:06
Now, this might seem like a simple step of obedience, but as any parent can relate, it's a thing of beauty.
07:07-07:10
It shows he's eager to be used and to be useful as a servant.
07:12-07:18
Eli, on the other hand, is receiving a rebuke here because he did not fully submit to God's word.
07:19-07:24
See, in the last chapter, you get an introduction to some family issues Eli has.
07:24-07:26
two worthless sons.
07:27-07:28
And those aren't my words, by the way.
07:28-07:30
Those are God's written in his word.
07:31-07:38
They don't know the Lord and they were serving in the temple not with Eli, doing some things that they ought not to.
07:38-07:41
You can read about that in the chapter prior.
07:42-07:47
I mean, you know, this kind of reminds me of certain American politicians that we have in their sons, right?
07:49-07:55
But anyways, so Eli knew what they were doing but he didn't fully deal with it.
07:55-08:00
He told them, "Cut the malarkey, Jack." But when they didn't listen, he didn't pursue any further.
08:01-08:09
He received instruction from God to reign in his sons, but chose not to fully submit and accomplish the instructions the Lord had given to him.
08:10-08:12
This is why Eli received such a harsh rebuke.
08:13-08:14
He was disobedient to God's word.
08:16-08:17
Samuel, on the other hand, listened.
08:18-08:20
He was ready to hear from the Lord, right?
08:20-08:21
He is a zealous and eager.
08:22-08:32
And I know in my own walk, I can recall this time, the on-fire phase where I was eager to learn, to dig into God's word, to join every Bible study I could and dedicate myself fully, right?
08:32-08:33
Good old days.
08:34-08:35
But life has gotten busy.
08:36-08:40
You know, the areas that I serve the Lord across my life has expanded.
08:40-08:42
I've got responsibilities like Eli.
08:42-08:45
I'm married, I have three kids and a developing career.
08:46-08:48
I'm not just learning the ropes like Samuel.
08:49-08:52
And I have more than just myself to take care of.
08:53-08:57
You know, I don't always seem to have the time and tend to put God on the back burner.
08:58-09:01
And I'm sure there's a bit of personal laziness involved.
09:02-09:06
But the zealousness and eagerness to be a useful servant isn't always there.
09:07-09:13
Whether it be within my family, job, or serving in AV, is my service to God always useful?
09:15-09:18
Am I truly listening to God's words to guide my actions?
09:18-09:21
Or am I slipping into Eli territory?
09:21-09:30
Am I tricking myself into thinking I'm doing enough or just ignoring what God wants me to do because I have my own agenda to fuss over?
09:32-09:40
You know, some of you might be in that same reality, feeling like you've been walking with God a long while, but after a while, that spark kind of fades.
09:41-09:44
Like when you get a new car, right?
09:44-09:45
You're all excited about it.
09:45-09:47
At first, you take care of it.
09:47-09:48
You get the ultra car wash.
09:48-09:51
you armor all the dash and you vacuum the floor mats.
09:52-09:54
But then you go on a long road trip, right?
09:54-10:05
You get some muddy shoes on the floor, you spill Chick-fil-A fries down the side of the driver's seat and the center console, and that's where all the places where crumbs go to die, and you never reach down there, right, unless you drop your keys or your phone down there.
10:07-10:15
But the point is, months go by, and the dedication and care you have towards that initial thing is gone.
10:16-10:18
Other priorities fill up, right?
10:18-10:20
I'll get the dent in the door fixed eventually.
10:22-10:25
My point here is life changes.
10:25-10:30
People get married and have kids, responsibilities grow and shrink in different areas.
10:31-10:34
We can easily get wrapped up in are we doing enough?
10:35-10:40
But instead we should be asking ourselves, are we doing what God wants us to do?
10:41-10:45
Are we submitting to his word and therefore being useful?
10:46-10:48
I mean, we have his word with us in the Bible.
10:49-10:53
His eternal words that help shape and mold us in whatever phase of life we're in.
10:55-11:04
There's so many families here, and I see young couples like Matt and Lexi that's serving children's ministry or serve on missions trips together and pour into kids.
11:05-11:38
But I also see couples like the Howells that pour not only into their own children, but invite other children into their household to pour into them and to serve God in that capacity. Both families in very different phases of life, but usefully serving God because they submit to his instruction. Eli had his own instruction from God as to what he needed to do. So did Samuel. But we can't compare God's actions based on their current life situation. Rather, we look at their responses to God.
11:38-11:49
Clearly, Samuel had the right one. Where we are in life and our ability or Capacity to serve will change, but our response to God ought not to.
11:50-11:53
For us to be useful servants, we need to submit to God's word.
11:55-12:04
Coming back to the passage, Samuel is given this judgment on Eli and his household, and in the next verses, we'll see how he breaks the bad news.
12:05-12:09
So let's pick back up in the next part of the text, verses 15 through 18.
12:10-12:11
Verse 15.
12:13-12:20
Samuel lay until morning, then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli.
12:21-12:28
But Eli called Samuel and said, "Samuel, my son." And he said, "Here I am." And Eli said, "What was it that he told you?
12:29-12:30
"Do not hide it from me.
12:30-12:39
"May God do so to you and more also "if you hide anything from me of all that he told you." So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him.
12:40-12:42
And he said, "It is the Lord.
12:43-12:53
"Let him do what seems good to him." On your outline, point number two to be made about a useful servant is they truthfully speak God's word.
12:56-13:00
So after the Lord speaks to Samuel, Eli wants to know what God told him, right?
13:00-13:31
And I found this part a little bit tongue-in-cheek, well, almost kind of a dark humorous, 'cause Eli goes hard after Samuel, and I'm paraphrasing here, but he's like, "Listen, you need to tell me what God told you, and you better do it now, and you better not leave anything out, because if you do, I want God to do to you tenfold more." And Samuel's just sitting there, probably gave a awkward pregnant pause, and was just like, "Well, Eli?" And then he just lays it all out there, right?
13:32-13:32
Kind of awkward.
13:34-13:50
But Eli takes it like a champ, to his credit, and says, "Okay, let the Lord do what's good to him." I do find Eli's response a bit mature in knowing that God is harshly rebuking his entire family, but it's not like he didn't see it coming.
13:51-13:55
After all, he was a priest/judge of Israel for decades at this point.
13:55-13:59
He received fair warnings from, and clear instructions from the Lord prior.
14:00-14:04
We saw in the previous verse that he did not submit to God's words fully.
14:05-14:07
But let's focus in on Samuel.
14:07-14:10
And how do you think he felt in this situation?
14:11-14:17
He was given the weighty judgment from God on someone that he was training under, his mentor and teacher.
14:18-14:30
The passage says he was afraid, but I can't imagine the full breadth of anxiety and stress he could have been under knowing that he was about to deliver a bombshell on Eli and his entire family.
14:31-14:34
However, to his credit, Samuel didn't lie.
14:35-14:37
He told him everything and hid nothing away from him.
14:37-14:45
He spoke God's truth to Eli, did not compromise, did not shy away, did not sugarcoat it, just gave it straight up.
14:47-14:50
Full stop, no cap, as the kids would say today.
14:52-14:55
You can tell there's a generational gap just by the responses there.
14:58-15:01
That kind of got me thinking, what if he didn't?
15:01-15:04
What if he added or removed from God's words?
15:05-15:14
Well then he wouldn't have been a useful servant. God doesn't say something with the intentions for it to be minced, abridged, tweaked, condensed, or modified.
15:15-16:03
You can't be a useful servant if you're not going to speak truthfully speak God's Word. So put yourself in Samuel's place. Have you ever had to deliver bad news? Something as weighty as what Samuel had to do with Eli? Well if you've ever shared the gospel with someone, that's pretty much the worst news our flesh can hear. We all fall short of the glory of God. We all are destined to hell because of our sin. I can't do this on my own. I need to submit to a Savior. You yourself might have heard that bad news before from someone, but really you're hearing exactly what God needs you to hear his pure unadulterated promises and salvation through his son Jesus Christ.
16:05-16:12
And not to spoil the surprise, but once our flesh gets over this, the gospel is the greatest news we could ever hear.
16:14-16:26
Like Eli, we have a choice. Believe and be saved or punt it down the road over and over again until it's too late. That's what happened to Eli. He refused to act upon what what the Lord told him to do.
16:27-16:33
So God decided he was going to fulfill all that he had spoke against his household.
16:34-16:35
Now that can happen to us.
16:36-16:41
We get the invitation over and over again until our hearts get too hardened or we tragically pass away.
16:43-16:51
Today is the day you can accept the truth of salvation through Jesus Christ and start your path forward as one of God's useful servants.
16:53-16:57
Coming back to speaking his word truthfully, you might wonder, what's the big deal?
16:58-17:02
I might've tweaked something slightly to earn favor with someone, but it worked out, right?
17:03-17:08
Well, no, God is serious about the precision and correctness of his word.
17:09-17:14
Proverbs 30, five through six says, "Every word of God proves true.
17:14-17:16
"He is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
17:16-17:23
"Do not add to his words, lest he rebuke you "and you be found a liar." You see that?
17:24-17:24
Add nothing.
17:25-17:30
Conversely, if we leave things out, it's kind of like adding through subtraction, right?
17:30-17:31
Negative numbers.
17:32-17:35
But the point is you're changing the intention of his word.
17:36-17:55
I can imagine when we misuse God's words, he's pulling his hair out, metaphorically, and saying, "You know, that's not what I said." And bringing up another parenting example, in my household we have two young speaking kids, And the one thing often worked on is listening and repeating instructions.
17:57-17:58
I'm sure many parents can relate to this.
17:59-18:08
But when you tell a four-year-old anything, it often enters their ear, goes around the brain, back out the other side, and then jumps into oblivion.
18:10-18:17
Right after that happens, you're either left with a blank stare or a pondering child trying to recall what you just told them five seconds ago.
18:19-18:19
So what happens?
18:20-18:21
Well, let me set a scene for you, right?
18:22-18:24
This is between me and my son.
18:24-18:27
So here I am, getting things ready to go, and this is my son.
18:30-18:32
Don't act like you haven't used the TV as a babysitter.
18:32-18:33
Come on.
18:34-18:35
(audience laughing)
18:36-18:39
But I'm there and I go, "Silas, you need to turn that off.
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"We're getting ready to go.
18:40-18:41
"We're going to the store.
18:41-18:48
"We need to pick up a few things and we'll be back." No, "Silas, did you just hear what I said?" Yeah, okay, what did I say?
18:49-18:50
No, we're not going to grandma's house.
18:50-18:52
No, just turn.
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I said when we come back, you can finish it.
18:55-18:57
What, no, you don't have to go to bed.
18:57-18:58
What are you talking about?
18:59-18:59
(audience laughing)
19:00-19:01
Can anybody relate to this?
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I mean, I think our Lord can, right?
19:09-19:14
He gives us his word written down and we still aren't always able to speak it truthfully.
19:15-19:20
Like my son, we aren't listening or willfully come up with their own interpretation of what's being said.
19:21-19:29
Whether you're a parent, a boss, a teacher, a leader, placing a takeout order, you want your words to be heard and not changed.
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Like imagine if you contracted out Ryan Stroop to do some caulking.
19:35-19:39
And you want neutral white, but instead he puts in a Pepto-Bismol pink.
19:40-19:41
And his reasoning?
19:42-20:08
He got a whole bunch of this stuff on discount at Ollie's, and he felt it better to substitute it something that would give it a nice pop. I don't know about all of you, but I would be furious. So why do we think that when we make these executive decisions to modify what God says that he too wouldn't feel this way? Eventually you're gonna get to the point where God says, "Listen, you need to get back on the bench. You aren't listening because you're not speaking my word truthfully.
20:08-20:17
So I'm going to use a servant who will." Who cares if people are getting offended, Right? My word is truth and is what everyone on this entire planet needs to hear.
20:18-20:22
You get your act together, then fine. You can get back in the game, but right now, I cannot use you.
20:24-20:26
That's a trap we can all fall into, right?
20:26-20:29
Deciding to be people-pleasing instead of God-pleasing.
20:30-20:39
Now I know it's a challenge when talking about God to a complete stranger, but it's even harder when delivering a rebuke to a fellow brother or sister in Christ.
20:40-20:45
But understand the authority to speak God's words truthfully is not from us.
20:45-21:06
It's from the Lord himself. Sure, people can get mad at you for delivering the truth, you know, they call that shooting the messenger, but the real problem isn't with you, it's with the author of the message. So stand firm. Speak God's words truthfully. It's how we become and stay useful as servants for his kingdom.
21:08-21:13
Finally, let's wrap it up with the last bit of text and conclude with verses 19-21.
21:15-21:21
Verse 19, "And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and let none of his words fall to the ground.
21:22-21:27
And all Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord.
21:28-21:44
And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord." Our last characteristics of a useful servant today is they are blessed by God's Word.
21:47-21:54
So the last bit of text is different from the first two because this is a result or an outcome of following the first two points.
21:55-22:02
So God has chosen to use Samuel instead of Eli in his household now, so God chooses to bless Samuel.
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not in a generic like blessings, blessings, you know, type of way, right?
22:07-22:51
There are very specific things in this verse that God does in his life as a result of submitting to and truthfully speaking his word. He grew, the Lord was with him, Samuel words were listened to by others, he became a well-known and established prophet of God, right? There's very clear and direct evidence in Samuel's life. And it's the same for all useful servants. You know, I will take a a little bit of a cop out here because I can't say exactly how each and every useful servant will be blessed, but if you're following his words and speaking it truthfully, his blessings will show up in your ministry, your household, your workplace, and in your relationships.
22:54-22:58
You know, I can imagine Samuel exuded God's presence, right?
22:58-23:01
I think we all know a couple people like that.
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Ones that you like being around because they elevate you to a higher standard than you normally keep yourself at.
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People who help you hold your tongue better, make wiser decisions, and keep God in the forefront of your thoughts.
23:15-23:20
See, when you're a useful servant, being blessed by his word leads you to be that kind of person for others.
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So where's Eli at this point?
23:24-23:27
Well, him and his family are on their way out.
23:28-23:31
They were rebuked and God no longer has his blessing upon his family.
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What a tragedy.
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It's not just Eli.
23:38-23:44
Sure we all heard of pastors, friends, and other servants that lose their usefulness and subsequently their blessing from God.
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It doesn't have to be that way.
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There's always forgiveness in Jesus Christ that gets us back on track.
23:54-24:07
First, ask for forgiveness and seek reconciliation event or behavior caused you to lose your usefulness. Then change your behaviors and recommit to submitting and speaking truthfully His Word.
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So what do we do with these points? We want to be useful servants, so how do we submit and speak truthfully and be blessed by God's Word? Well, each point makes a reference to an authoritative source, God's Word, a wonderfully unchanging and eternal source of truth and and wisdom, read it.
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You can't speak truthfully, submit to, or be blessed by God's word if you don't know anything about it.
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But what else?
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How can we tell if we're useful or maybe we're slipping down that path of uselessness?
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Well, first we need to take stock in where you're at.
24:49-24:50
Are you submitting to God's word?
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Are you speaking it truthfully?
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And do you see God's blessings?
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If so, great.
24:57-24:59
probably a good indication that things are good.
24:59-25:02
You are useful and you're seeing God work through your servitude.
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Keep that up.
25:04-25:07
Be an encouragement for others in the faith.
25:08-25:11
But what if you aren't seeing his blessings, right?
25:11-25:15
There's struggles or hardships or it's just a missing of his presence.
25:17-25:35
Well again, I can't speak to every individual situation because some of us will go through some short-term trials, But if there is a persistent long-term waning of evidence, chances are there's something wrong with your submission or your truth speaking of his word.
25:36-25:38
And that's where I wanna leave us with some action plans.
25:39-25:40
What we can do in this situation.
25:41-25:43
Because again, not all is lost.
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We have two potential responses when we see ourselves declining in usefulness.
25:49-25:54
So again on your outline, letter A, we can step away.
25:56-26:01
So this involves situations where you've been potentially stretched too thin, right?
26:01-26:09
You aren't being fully useful in any one of the given areas of responsibility that you have in God's kingdom, right?
26:10-26:23
And in this category, I wouldn't say people are trying to be malicious or doing beyond their means because they want to do a subpar job, but perhaps it's done out of obligation.
26:24-26:34
Maybe other things in life have stretched you and you haven't quite yet reigned in other areas so that you can be more useful in that new area that God has put you in.
26:35-26:42
But no matter the reason, there is no shame in trimming the fat and letting go of things that God is closing the doors to.
26:44-26:54
You know, I've seen many examples in my life and in others where things happen and people can't fully commit to the excellence required in an area of service for God's kingdom.
26:55-26:56
And that's okay.
26:56-27:05
You know, you need to make sure that your servitude and those more permanent areas of your life, or like your personal relationship with God and your family, those are taken care of.
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And maybe one day you'll be able to come back and serve in that particular area again.
27:12-27:15
But a quick callback to our scripture, and in particular, Eli.
27:16-27:23
You know, I don't think he really had that luxury to just step away from being a judge and priest of Israel.
27:23-27:26
Probably not something he could have done, right?
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You know, he had to deal with his sons.
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And that can be the case for us too, which is why we have a second response.
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Letter B, we can step up.
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Step up.
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I have no statistic on this, but you can, and you can quote me, and I'm just using a gut feeling, But I think the solution for many of us of not seeing the evidence of God in our life and being a useful servant, I think the solution is that we simply just need to step up.
27:56-28:00
See, being a servant of God involves all aspects of our life.
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Not just in ministry or the church, right?
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We have our jobs, our family, and personal walk with Christ.
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And in those areas, we can't just simply get rid of them.
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Right?
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which leaves us with no choice but to step up.
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So what do I mean by that?
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Well, it can involve a deeper commitment to praying with your spouse, more time spent with your children in God's word, personal prayer time every morning, every morning, and getting rid of useless time on YouTube or Facebook, they call it meta now, whatever.
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I know I feel convicted in this manner, and there are plenty of opportunities for me to substitute something I want to do with something I need to do.
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So I encourage each and every one of us to be aware of those opportunities, to realize, you know, re-watching the Goonies again this week probably isn't the best use of my time.
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So why don't I give God's word its rightful dues?
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You know, I said that there are two responses because those are the ones that I think we should take, But there is a third response, Eli's response.
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What is that?
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Do nothing.
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Wait for it all to fall apart.
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But church, there shouldn't be any reason for us to do that.
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See, even if you're struggling in a season of life, when things are changing, submit to his word.
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You will become a useful servant.
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If you're being asked about your faith or trying to reach the lost, Speak truthfully His word.
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You will be a useful servant.
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Finally, rejoice in God's word, knowing you'll be blessed as a useful servant.
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Let's pray.
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Lord God, we thank you for today.
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We thank you for your word and for the ability to serve you, God.
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We aren't just around because we are your creation.
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You have a purpose for us and a drive for us to work and to serve your kingdom.
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Please help us to maintain that focus, to understand where you want us to be, where you don't want us to be, so that we can be useful for every purpose that you've ordained for us.
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Thank you, God, or I thank you, God, rather, for this opportunity to deliver your word.
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and pray God that we take this message to heart, find areas where we can better serve you in your kingdom.
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Thank you, Lord.
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We ask this all in your son Jesus's name, amen.
Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Samuel 3:10-21
What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
Why do you think Eli didn’t fully submit to God’s instruction?
In what areas are you lacking useful servitude to God and how can you be better?
What are some ways you’ve seen God’s blessings in your life when serving Him faithfully?
Step away vs Step up… when should each approach be used? Specifically to Step Up, what are some examples of doing this?
Breakout
Pray for one another.