Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 2:12-36

Outline:

  1. DEPLORABLE REPRESENTATION (12-17)
  2. DESPISED BY GOD (22-36)
  3. THE HOPE OF A FAITHFUL PRIEST (18-21, 26, 35)

Reflection Questions:

  1. What matters more to you… simply being in the presence of a person, OR the perks and provisions and presents that can be procured from that person?
  2. Which of the following questions do you find yourself asking more frequently and fundamentally:  (a) What am I getting out of this relationship?  OR (b) Who do I have the pleasure of being with in this relationship?
  3. Eli should have expelled his sons from the their priestly positions, but he “went easy on’em.”  How come God doesn’t interpret Eli’s leniency as love?  Why is God absolutely committed to killing Eli’s sons (1 Sam. 2:25)?  *Bonus:  read 1 Cor. 5:1-6… What are 3 ways in which Paul loves the Corinthians in this passage?
  4. What are 3 things you can do to embrace the slow and quiet (botanical growth) style and manner of PROGRESS that the LORD is pleased to employ? (e.g. pick the longest line at the grocery store and force yourself to wait and practice patience; identify someone you don’t have “productive conversations” with [i.e. someone who bores you] and invite them to have lunch or coffee; etc.).