Redeemer Church of Waterford

We must never respond to our difficult circumstances without regard to God. Samuel's response to the leaders' request for a king is an example to us of how to properly respond to our difficult circumstances.

Did the Apostles believe that they would live to see the Second Coming? If not, why did they say that the day of the Lord's return was "at hand" and "near"?

Chapter 8 begins a new section of 1 Samuel which runs through chapter 16. Here in this chapter we are face to face with the anxious circumstances which led the leaders of Israel to approach Samuel with a demand for a king like all the surrounding nations. This story illustrates for us what happens when we let our circumstances dictate our responses without regard to our faith in God.

There are five characteristics of Samuel's leadership which made him a faithful and compassionate shepherd of God's people, leading them back to a prosperous and vital relationship with God.

If "love is the fulfilling of the law," does love replace the Old Testament law (the Ten Commandments or the Mosaic Law)? And is there a contradiction between what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:3-4 about "the righteousness of the law being fulfilled in us" by the Jesus Christ condemning sin in the flesh and what he says in Romans 13:8-10 about love fulfilling the law? Can I become righteous si...

In the comparison of the pathetic spiritual condition of Israel in chapter 4 with the revived spiritual condition of Israel in Chapter 7, God is painting for us a portrait of true revival. The theme of 1 Samuel is leadership, and here in chapter 7 God gives the nation of Israel a faithful shepherd in the person of Samuel to remedy the failed spiritual leadership of Eli, Hophni, and Phineas. When t...

Jeff Totten has been the Chaplain for the Detroit Tigers since 1991.

In this examination of the phrase, "he bears not the sword in vain," we uncover what the Bible says about capital punishment in the context of the state taking a life in order to preserve life.

The Book of 1 Samuel is God's answer to the leadership crisis at the end of the Book of Judges. Here in chapter 7 of 1 Samuel, God gives to the nation of Israel the leader they need to bring them to a place of repentance and renewal of their relationship with him. And it all begins with the Gospel according to Samuel.

In these closing verses of 1 Timothy, the Apostle Paul is concerned with Timothy's sanctification - his personal holiness. Paul communicates this to Timothy with five specific words: flee, pursue, fight, take hold, and keep. These are the five things we also must do to pursue personal holiness and sanctification.

After a 7 month exile in enemy territory, the people of Bethshemesh are surprised to look up from their working in the wheat fields to see the ark of the covenant of the Lord making its way back to them on a cart driven by two cows. But their rejoicing soon turns to lament after the Lord strikes dead 50,000 of the Levites for their mishandling of the ark. In the wake of this terrifying sight the p...

Three times in Romans 13, the Apostle Paul describes government officials as "ministers of God." In what sense can secular agents of the state be said to be ministers of God? How does their role as ministers of God obligate them to serve their constituents? And are we obligated to pay taxes when secular agents of the state use our tax dollars for evil purposes?

How did Jesus come into the world, and why? Christmas is always filled with surprises. And the answer to how Jesus came into the world, and why is just as filled with surprises.

Who are the "higher powers" the Apostle Paul refers to in Romans 13:1? Are they the same as the invisible "principalities, powers, and rulers" he frequently references in his other letters? Or are they human governing authorities? If the latter, is he commanding that believers be subject to secular governments in everything those governments decree?

The glory of the Lord is departed, but it isn't defeated. God has allowed the ark of the covenant to be captured by the Philistines so that His chastisement might fall against His people Israel and so that His glory might be made known in the pagan cities of the Philistines. Both Israel and the Philistines will learn that God cannot be placed in a box in temples of our own making, a lesson we need...

Where is the glory? That is the question permeating the entire narrative of Chapter 4, ending with the plaintive cry of a mother who, with her dying breath exclaims, "Ichabod! The glory of the Lord is exiled!" 1 Samuel 4 is a drama in two acts. Act One (4:1-11) recounts what happens when we use God for our own selfish ends rather than submit to Him and obey His covenant. Act Two (4:12-22) is the r...

With the tragic outcome of Israel's battles with the Philistines, recounted in the first 11 verses of 1 Samuel 4 we are met face to face with the reality of what happens when we presume that the presence and protection of God will always be with us, even when we are unfaithful to His word. Israel thinks that they can use their religion to control God, to make Him do whatever their sinful wills des...

Samuel has been awakened by the Lord with a troubling message for Eli, an event which marks a stark change in the way God will communicate with His people: no longer through Eli the Priest, but through Samuel the Prophet. Samuel opens the doors to the temple, signifying that after a long absence, God is once again prepared to offer reconciliation for His people.

When Samuel was a little boy, serving Eli and the Lord in the temple at Shiloh, there was no word from God. When that word finally comes, it comes to Samuel in the form of a pronouncement of final and irrevocable judgment on the house of Eli. How can this boy who has served Eli now convey this word of judgment to Eli? How does Eli respond? What are the lessons for us when we experience the chastis...

What is the "good" which we are to return for evil, and thereby overcoming the evil?

The opening verses of 1 Samuel 3 present the familiar story of the call of the boy Samuel to be God's prophet in Israel. But don't let what you think you know about this story keep you from seeing the spiritual contrasts which are woven through the narrative.