4.3.30 6.21.2020 How to Rebound 1 Samuel 7

Here we Go again...

Entice: Here we go...again. The doors are open. The seats are filled. The building resonates with joy. We are on the rebound from months of separation. I have a couple of lingering questions that I hope you can help me with this morning.

Engage:

How do we do this?

What is the point?

What have we learned?

Where do we go from here?

Do we just go back, or should we move forward in a new and different way? Today we will look at an OT story, another story from the life of Samuel and he will help us understand

How to Rebound.

To benefit from this story we have to understand the relationship between the testaments and how to apply the inspired Hebrew Scriptures accurately in the light of the resurrected Messiah.

Expand:Israel was both a spiritual and political reality. Facts & events from Israel’s history inform unfolding Biblical principles. These principles reach full maturity in the NT; particularly in the incarnation of Jesus and the redeeming acts of His passion. To really benefit from the OT and it’s unfolding story we have to be able to make this leap from the particular events to the underlying principle relating that principle to the final revelation of God…Jesus Christ

Hebrews 1:1–2 ESV

1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.

1 Corinthians 10:11 ESV

11 Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.

Today's text begins with Israel in difficult circumstances. They were oppressed. The ark of the Covenant had been lost, and then returned to Israel. But beyond a short-lived celebration Israel was in a funk. They needed a comeback. They needed revival. They needed to rebound.

1 Samuel 7:1–17 ESV

1 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. 2 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord. 3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only. 5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at Mizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered at Mizpah and drew water and poured it out before the Lord and fasted on that day and said there, “We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. But the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites. 15 Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would return to Ramah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. And he built there an altar to the Lord.

Excite: I am thrilled to have our congregation back on site. I am grateful that we gather relatively unharmed. I want more. This should be more than just restarting. It can revolutionize our ministry. It can elevate our vision. It can recalibrate our entire experience of Church.

Explore:

Don't settle for just restarting this needs to be revival!

Explain: Real revival occurs when God’s people acknowledge of several key realities.

1. Recession. 1-2

Whether economics or faith; recession is a slow-down, stoppage, or interruption. To get out, you begin by acknowledging you were in recession.

These first two verses establish the parameters for what a "spiritual" recession looks like it comes down to

1.1 Form and Function

without

1.2 Purpose and Passion

Our recession was imposed and external rather than internal and self-generated. We must take care that our return is not just to forms and functions we admire, treasure, and exult in. We must return with purpose and passion or we risk another kind of recession; the kind Israel faced in our text.

2. Repentance. 3-4

2.1 Expectation

2.2 Action.

3. Renewal 5-11

3.1 Prayerful worship.

3.2 Assurance in the midst of cultural conflict.

Philistines were technologically superior but culturally integrated with Canaanites...

They seemed to resent Israel’s stance on religious purity, cultural distinction, social distancing.

3.3.Dynamic faith.

4. Restoration 12-14

To be restored meant that Israel had a....

4.1 Relationship of trust with God.

(If you don't trust God then you are in need of restoration)

4.2 Relationship of integrity with in its culture.

(if you are too deeply wedded to or ingrained in your culture you are in need of restoration)

4.3 Relationship of subordination with Samuel.

(If you rebel against or fail to follow God's chosen leader(s) you are in need of restoration)

Shut Down:

Virtually every area of our society is going through this process of rebounding, of re-engaging, of resurfacing. And we really don't know how it will go! How exciting is that? There is no script. There is no precedent. There is no guide...except the biblical record of faithful people in the past who have made a similar journey.

So Samuel's story, and Israel's gives us guidance for how we live lives of transformative faith...on the rebound and in revival so that the energy we feel now transforms our experience of faithful living going forward. Recommit your self today. Reaffirm your faith. Realign your priorities. Recalibrate your path. If you have not yet responded to Jesus make this the day, make this the place, make now the time.