Redeemer Church Of Waterford

The Apostle Paul assumes that within any local congregation of believers there will be "weak" believers and "strong" believers. But what is the standard by which a Christian is weak or strong? And what is the basis upon which we are to "welcome" or receive one another when we differ on nonessentials?

On May 6, 2023 the world witnessed the Coronation of King Charles III. When the crown was placed upon his head, the gathered congregation in Westminster Abbey shouted, "God save the king!"In the providence of God, the series we began in 1 Samuel more than six months ago brings us to 1 Samuel 10:24 on this day after the coronation of King Charles where another congregation gathered for the coronation of the first king of Israel. They were the first to shout, "God save the king!"But there are some troubling differences between the coronation of King Saul and the coronation of King Charles III.

In 1 Samuel 10:17, Samuel calls the people of Israel together at Mizpeh. The last time he called them to Mizpeh (1 Samuel 7), he prayed for them as an intercessor. This time he will preach to them a three point sermon as their prophet/pastor: what God did for them, what the people did in response to what God did for them, and what God will now do in response to the people.The sermon seems to have Saul under conviction, because when it comes time to introduce him to the people as their first king, he's no where to be found. What is Saul running from?

There was an issue in the church at Rome which threatened its unity. There was a group in the church who, because of conscience and personal conviction, wanted to refrain from certain foods and "esteem one day better than another" (14:2, 5, 21). This group was described as weak by the majority of the congregation who had no qualms about what to eat and what days to observe.How are we to respond to others in the church who don't share our personal convictions on issues which the Bible has no clear prohibition?

At the end of chapter 9 of 1 Samuel, Samuel has a private conversation with Saul to show him the word of God as it relates to "the matter of the kingdom. We are not privy to the details of that word, but what follows in chapter 10 are three encounters Saul will have in one day which will serve as signs validating the word of God spoken to him by Samuel.

Saul has been commissioned by his father to crisscross the land in search of lost donkey's, unaware that God is ordering his steps in a way that even he will find unimaginable. While we are going about the mundane routine of our lives, God is always at work in mysterious ways to bring us to His eternal purposes for us.

When the Apostle Paul says that "Christ lives by the power of God," he wants his first-century readers to see the distinction between the worldly power on display in their polytheism and the power of the one true and living God who raised His eternally generated Son from the dead.Is your faith resting in worldly ideas of power, or in the power of God?

As early as 480 years BEFORE the birth of Christ the Persians had introduced a novel form of punishment for slaves and criminals which came to be known as crucifixion. The cross is the ultimate expression of weakness. And weakness is the badge that all followers of Jesus wear so that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.

1 Samuel 9 is a vignette of sorts which introduces us to the protagonist in the story of 1 Samuel, the man who will eventually become king, Saul the son of Kish. This chapter is a story within a story: the story which is visible to us and seems to concern only a mundane search for lost donkeys; and the story which is invisible to us, the story of God's providential ordering of the steps of Saul to Samuel and to the throne.

Technical issues affect the quality of this recording.In view of the second coming of Christ, the believer is to "cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light." What are the works of darkness? What is the armor of light?

The people have asked for a king, but the kind of king they will get is not the kind of king God desires for them to have. In 1 Samuel 8 the leaders of Israel are looking for national security in the person of a human king rather than in the covenant promises of Yahweh.

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 simply by being loving?

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 the Bible says Samuel "judged" Israel, that word "judged" doesn't mean what you think it means.

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.