SERVE – The Characteristics of a Servant
In 2020 our focus word for Superstition Foothills Baptist Church is SERVE. Just like in our focus word was BEYOND in 2019, we will be focusing all year long on serving. This sermon is the second sermon in our SERVE sermon series entitled The Characteristics of a Servant.
In this sermon we explore a passage from 1 Samuel 3. In the story we see a boy who hears God calling out to him but didn’t yet know God’s voice. When his mentor, the High Priest of the time, Eli realizes that it was God calling to Samuel he tells Samuel to go back and wait for God to call him again. Then he told Samuel to tell God “Speak Lord, your servant is listening.” What happens next would be difficult for any servant to obey.
Serve Sermon Featured Passage
“And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. So he arose and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you did call me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord had called the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and it shall be, if He calls you, that you must say, ‘Speak, Lord , for Your servant hears.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. Now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel answered, “Speak, for Your servant hears.” Then the Lord said to Samuel: “Behold, I will do something in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. For I have told him that I will judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knows, because his sons made themselves vile, and he did not restrain them. And therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” So Samuel lay down until morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord . And Samuel was afraid to tell Eli the vision.” –1 Samuel 3:8-15
What’s The Point?
A good servant has many good characteristics. Samuel displays many just in this one passage of scripture. Among the characteristics of a servant, serving when it is difficult is one that important and one that Samuel definitely had – even as a young boy.
Miss Last Week’s Sermon?
To listen to the first sermon in our SERVE series you can listen to it now: Serve Sermon
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