Emphasis Preaching Journal

Object: This message includes a game to play together. Have fun with having the children shout out their answers. It makes the message memorable.

* * *

Hello, everyone! Are you ready for our story today? (Let them respond.) But instead of just telling you the story, I thought it would be more fun if we played a game that told the story. Are you ready to play the game? (Let them respond.)  

Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” (v. 4)

Back in those days dark was dark.

Really dark.

In a moonless sky, the stars would shine brighter than most of us have ever seen, all the more awe-inspiring their majesty, paradoxically emphasizing all the more the darkness that reigned.

1 Samuel 3:1-10 (11-20)
The call to prophecy came directly to Samuel. We all have a calling from God and living out that call is what life is all about. Billy Graham once made that point:

Our world is obsessed with success. But how does God define success? Success in God’s is faithfulness to his calling.

John Calvin offers reflections on how responding to God’s call makes life easier and meaningful, no matter how routine the job seems to be. The Genevan reformer wrote:

From one point of view in his time, Jesus played fast and loose with the law. We, who believe in his deity, might easily explain that he was superior to all human institutions. While that element is present in his teachings, he did not intend his uniqueness to destroy the proper role of law.

Deuteronomy 5:12-15
Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.
-- Deuteronomy 5:12

There's something about someone who knows you really well. It is a state of grace that slices across all other interactions. Sit across the table from a spouse of twenty years, a best friend of half a century, a sister or brother who has grown with you through the victories and the defeats. It's an amazing moment to look into the eyes of such a person and know ... that they know.

Out of darkness the light shall shine! God's glory shining in the face of Christ. Yet we who have this spiritual gift are like common clay pots.
-- 2 Corinthians 4:6-7 (paraphrased)

It was a time of distrust and disillusionment in the land of Israel. People did not trust those who governed them. Those in positions of leadership were thought to be inept or corrupt, and often both. There was a lack of vision about the future of the people. Because those in leadership seemed helpless, hopeless and corrupt, God looked outside the tents of power to find new leadership with vision.

A few years ago, I was asked to serve as the worship leader at a regional church conference for teenagers. The enthusiastic recruiter told me about the wonderful experience I could expect from the gathering. "Every summer," she said, "the conference brings together about a hundred or so young people at a camp that has no swimming pool. We gather during the dog days of August. The conference is so much fun, nobody misses the pool!"