One of the most popular Christian songs of recent years has a line about God ‘roaring with power’ and ‘fighting our battles’. But does God really fight our battles? If God fought for Israel, why did they lose to the Philistines in 1 Samuel 4? In this passage we see what changed for the Israelites, and what that has to teach us about how God does (and does not) fight our battles.
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Ancient churches and cathedrals give a sense of the awesome majesty and splendour and holiness of God. By contrast, modern church buildings are often much more functional and lack that sense of awe. Perhaps this is simply a reflection of the modern church. In this sermon we look at the holiness of God, and see what it means for how we should relate to him.
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Many people have noticed that things in the world seem to be getting worse: it seems to me even that the darkness looks like it’s winning at the moment. How should we as Christians respond? This passage teaches us that the Lord is a warrior, and that he is able to fight with weapons beyond the reach of human beings. If we want to see victory, we need to seek his will and direction.
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Have you ever heard people saying, “Christianity isn’t a religion — it’s a relationship with Jesus?” It might be a cliché, but it does have an element of truth about it: Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s about walking with God and trusting him. In this passage we see how even those who are most ‘religious’ can get things wrong.
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Communication is one of the most important things in the world: being able to listen to a message and relay it accurately is vitally important in almost every sphere of life. This is especially the case when it comes to God: God wants people who are prepared to listen to him. What does that mean for us?
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People sometimes say “family is everything”. But what does the Bible say about how we should see families? In this passage we see both the importance of families, but also how families shouldn’t come before God. We are warned not to take our salvation for granted but make sure that we are seeking to live by faith every day.
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Parenting is one of the hardest things that you can do in life — and it is also often a thankless task. It seems to be valued less and less by society. Yet, God values it hugely. In this passage we see the contrast between Elkanah and Hannah and Eli in the way they brought up their children, and what difference it made.
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In Andrew Lloyd-Webber’s musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”, the message people come away with is: ‘dreams can come true.’ It doesn’t mention God at all! Perhaps people might read this story of Hannah and Samuel and think that the message here is the same. But here, as with Joseph, the Bible’s message is something very different: God has to be central.
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If you wanted to change the world, how would you go about it? Become an activist or a politician? Try to get rich? The world is full of people trying to do just that — but God’s ways are very different to our ways. In fact, they are almost the complete opposite. God chooses to use people who look nothing like what the world would expect.
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