Brian's Sermons

1 Samuel 3:1-10 3:1 The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions. 2 One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the house of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel. Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down. 6 Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” “My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been rev...

1 Samuel 1:12-18 I have grown up in an achievement-oriented society. We are known by what we accomplish. We want to be known as competent and strong.   Last week we looked at the story of Hannah, and we met Eli, the high priest of Israel, who loved to sit in his chair at the entrance to the Tabernacle in Shiloh. We saw Eli in direct contrast to Hannah — she was a nobody, yet she knelt in the presence of Yahweh. Eli was the high priest, yet he had no real relationship with Yahweh! Eli would have been the competent and strong man; he was the high priest.   But the contrast does not end here. Hannah dedicated her child to God, quite literally; he was raised in the Tabernacle. But look at Eli’s own sons — 1 Samuel 2:12 describes them this way: Now the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. Worthless. Can you imagine? In 1 Samuel 1:16, Hannah pleads, “please don’t think I’m a worthless woman.” We remember that it was she who was in positio...

1 Samuel 1:9-20 We have been looking at some characters from the Old Testament. Some are true heroes of the faith. Others have demonstrated how flawed and sinful humans are. In today’s text, we begin a new chapter in the story of God’s people. They have lived through the times of the judges, times where Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit. But the book of 1 Samuel provides a transition to the times of the kings. The immediate context of what we read this morning is this: There was a man named Elkanah who had two wives. Hannah and Peninnah. Hannah was barren. In those days, it was customary for a husband to take a second wife if his first wife could not give him a son/heir. The second wife, Peninnah, had sons, and she tormented Hannah day and night. Hannah was greatly grieved. So at the point of this scripture, the entire family went to the Tabernacle in Shiloh for worship.   Hannah goes to pray. When she goes, we meet Eli, the high priest. Here he sits,...

Ruth 1:1-17 Who is a hero? We can think of many people who have been heroes in our lives. Usually athletes, freedom fighters, politicians, musicians, talented evangelists… But today’s hero was none of these. She wasn’t rich or famous. She wasn’t politically connected. She wasn’t even a leader. Our hero is a poor widow from an enemy nation. We read the beginning of the Book of Ruth, but here is a summary of what happens next. At the beginning of the book Ruth is living in her home nation, Moab. These were traditionally Israel’s enemies. Ruth’s husband died without giving her a child, and so she lives with her widowed mother-in-law. She could have simply given up. But she did not. There are probably some among us who have gone through significant struggles, much as Ruth did. She suffered loss. She moved far away from her people. She could have defined herself by her failures and her struggles. But she did not allow her past to dictate her future .   God crea...