“Faith precedes blessings”
Mother’s Day 2020
A mom was talking with with her 6 year old daughter:
"Mom, there are five things I want to be when I grow up."
"Oh, yeah? What are they?"
"I’m going to be a model, a movie star, a traveler and travel all around the world, and an artist and a singer."
"What about a mom?"
"I don’t know... I think that’s too hard for me."
Later that same day...
"Mom, it’s too bad you didn’t get to become anybody when you grew up."
"But I am somebody," she explained. "I’m your mom! If I weren’t a mom then you wouldn’t be here right now dreaming of what you want to be someday!"
(Kewanee Star Courier, May 5, 2004 via sermoncentral.com)
Today’s message is about a God fearing mom:
Who prayed to God for a child, believed God and trusted God
Was blessed with a son, who then served the Lord all his life
Who kept her promise even when it hurt
But you’ll have to wait to hear about that mom…..
This sermon is going to be like Jeopardy:
I’m going to tell you the second part first, then the 1st
Stick with me through three movements
Movement 1 - is getting to know Samuel
Movement 2 - the story of Samuel’s mom
Movement 3 - Lessons from Samuel’s mom.
Movement 1 - It is my pleasure to introduce to you Samuel…..
Samuel faithfully served God and the nation of Israel his entire life:
You could read the 1 and Samuel to find out
For now, I’ll give you a birds eye view
300 years after Joshua, God began molding Samuel:
To be a Prophet, Judge and spiritual leader of Israel
Ever since he was a toddler:
Samuel learned under Eli the High Priest
Samuel was faithful servant to God
continuing in this role “all the days of his life
Samuel’s relationship with God started when he was young:
When he was age of 5 or younger
Sometime later God began to speak to him.
God’s first prophecy for Samuel was message was for Eli, his teacher:
It wasn't good news
It was an announcement of
God’s punishment coming on Eli’s two wayward sons,
Hophni and Phinehas,
Samuel served as a prophet:
Samuel grew and faithfully DELIVERED messages from God,
Israel respected Samuel and followed him
it became obvious that God was working through him.
Samuel:
Called the nation to repentance and
God was pleased with his servant Samuel
Samuel served as God’s:
Priest, Judge, teacher, prophet
at times he would intercede for Israel through deep prayer
More about Samuel:
the elders Respected him
The people trusted Samuel
Anointings:
He anointed Saul King and
later told Saul God was taking the Kingdom from him
He also anointed King David
You might think “Isn’t this mother’s day?
Aren’t we supposed to get a sermon about Proverbs 31, or
at least on the topic of a woman in the Bible”
Many of you guessed already, but for the rest….
Surprise, Hannah is our hero!
Samuel was an impressive man of God,
but without his mother he would have literally been nothing.
Movement #2 - May I introduce Hannah
Hannah is Samuel’s mother:
Hannah is my favorite mother’s day sermon topic
I’ve probably preached about her 8-10 times
And I’ve always come at it straight ahead
Kinda like this:
Look how faithful Hannah was
Be like Hannah,
Be faithful and good things will happen.
Today I’m want to come at Hannah sideways:
To see the fruit of her faithfulness first
So 1st I showed you Samuel, Now his mom Hannah
Hannah trusted God and God gave barren hannah a child
Because faith precedes blessings.
Someone recently wrote:
“The most significant thing you do in your Christian life may not be something you do, but someone you raise.”
That is certainly true of Hannah:
The story of Samuel’s life begins:
with the very touching scene of Hannah
wife of Elkanah, praying to God at the tabernacle in Shiloh.
She was pleading with God to allow her
to have a son because she was barren.
Elkanah was a Levite of the region of Ephraim:
His other wife, Peninnah,
had many children and
she made Hannah’s life miserable
“So Peninnah (the mean wife) would taunt Hannah and make fun of her because the Lord had kept her from having children. 7 Year after year it was the same—Peninnah would taunt Hannah as they went to the Tabernacle. Each time, Hannah would be reduced to tears and would not even eat.” 1 Samuel 1:6-7
Hannah made a vow to God:
that if He would allow her to bear a son,
she would return the boy to God's service
11 Then she made a vow and said, “O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a male child, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life….” 1 Samuel 1:11a
That year, God answered Hannah’s prayer:
One year she was barren, the next she was a mother!
Prayer changes things (AMEN??)
“And in due time Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel, for she said, “I have asked for him from the Lord.” 1 Samuel 1:20 (ESV)
So, one year Hannah prays so hard for God to bless her with a baby:
Eli the priest thought she was drunk and
Rebuked her
She respectfully explained,
“No, my lord, I am a woman of sorrowful spirit” 1 Sam. 1:15
She makes a vow to give her son back to the Lord’s service
Eli was near and told her that God would grant her a son:
“Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant(s) your petition which you have asked of Him” (1 Samuel 1:17).
Movement #3 - Faith brings fruit, lessons from Hannah’s story
HOW DID SAMUEL SIGNIFICANT IN THE BIBLE?
How did Samuel become to powerful, influential and faithful
IT ALL STARTED WITH Hannah’s Belief in God
Samuel wasn’t born in a barn:
In today’s terms we’d say
Samuel was raised not only in Church,
But He literally spent his life at God’s tabernacle
Hannah could not have known what God would:
Do with her son
That God had big plans for Samuel
That her faith was a key piece in God’s scheme to save the world
She didn’t know, but knowing isn’t our job - obedience is our job
Our job is not to know the future, but to trust the one who holds the future
Sometimes the blessing you receive belongs to the Lord (X2)
Samuel was a blessing to Hannah, but for the Lord’s use
She carried and received Samuel, but Samuel belonged to the Lord
It’s the same way with everything in our lives,
The life God gives you belongs to Him
The money the Lord gives you is for your stewardship not ownership
Breaking her vow to God was not an option:
Might seemed good her
Leaving Samuel with Eli and going home
Must have broken Hannah’s heart,
She fulfilled her vow, nonetheless
“If you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.” - Deuteronomy 23:21
It is better not to make a vow,
than to make it and break it
We can learn a lot from Hannah’s:
Fervent prayer,
Strong belief in God
Keeping our vows
Throw a rock into a lake….effect goes farther than you'd expect
Mom’s do not underestimate your influence...
Remember there is a Ripple effect of faithfulness:
Hannah was faithful to God, who used her faith to make Samuel a great leader
Hannah got the honor of being Samuel’s mom, seeing the blessing of God, and Samuel became a great man of God who influenced the whole nation of Israel
Here’s a question:
“Are we missing out on blessings because we are unfaithful?”
Consider ways you could be more faithful
Here’s another ?:
“Is God having to work around us because we won’t let Him work through us?”
How many mothers do we have that:
Make sacrifices for their children
Giving up their sleep
Giving up their money
Saying they’re no hungry so the kids get enough
That was
How many of us are as faithful to God as Hannah?
Who pray so intensely
trust in God’s promise when the situation seems impossible
Who fulfill their vow to God, even it would so easy to abandon
Who are faithful to God, even when it hurts?
Because God is looking for men and women just like Hannah:(x2)
Ordinary people with extraordinary faith
God is not looking for good looking, young, talented people
He’s impresed with this.
“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 NIV
Mother's:
Give their last dollar
Work a job and then work some more
Lose sleep over their children
Give and love
That’s just what mother’s do….Hannah was no different
Hannah couldn’t keep Samuel at home, but she supported him where he was:
“Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy clothed with a linen ephod. 19 And his mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.” 1 Samuel 2:18-19
Mother’s never stop loving and giving!
We should all learn from that steady love
Note that we can never out give God (X2)
Hannah gave up what might have meant the most to her
To be given a son, the very things she begged God for
And then to give him back to the Lord.
And God blessed her with even more
You just can’t outgive God:
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” John 3:16-17 (KJV)
God is no one’s debtor, we can never give more than He’s given…
God gave Hannah Samuel, and she gave Him back to the Lord’s service
In return God gave Hannah 3 sons and a 2 daughters
“And the Lord visited Hannah, so that she conceived and bore three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile the child Samuel grew before the Lord.” 1 Samuel 2:21
Hannah isn’t the only one who gave up a son….
God sent his only son into the world to save the world, that's what love looks like
Jesus came into the world to seek and save the Lost:
We cannot save ourselves
We are all sinners
Jesus paid the price for our sin on the Cross
There is no salvation without faith in Jesus Christ
Salvation cannot be purchased
Salvation cannot be earned
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV
Invitation:
In salvation we trade our sin for salvation
We get salvation, while Jesus is the salvation
The Hymn of Decision is so true “No one Ever cared for me like Jesus”
