This is a very special day for Christians. It's the day we remember the painful death Jesus suffered on the cross of Calvary; a death He willing accepted in order to save us from an eternity separated from Him. It truly was the greatest act of love ever performed in all of human history.

Compromise can be a wonderful thing in certain contexts. For instance, when two nations have differences that are miles apart, compromise is often needed. And of course, we all know that compromise is often times important in family matters. There is one case however where compromise is simply worthless and unacceptable. That is in our relationship to God. In every case we're to obey Him. Today on Bridging the Gap, we'll meet a man who failed to do that.

You might have heard this expression before - Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. When a person suddenly assumes power or position - it can easily lead them to do things they would never dream of. That was the case with the first King of Israel, Saul. After some time in power he soon began to feel as though he was in control, and not God.

For the last few weeks we've been looking at First Samuel and today, we return to chapter fourteen. In this passage, we see that King Saul displayed an outward expression of religion, but his heart was totally consumed with self. The same can happen to us if we're not careful. We'd do well to see where Saul went wrong, so that we don't go down a similar path.

Today on Bridging the Gap, we'll introduce you to a man named Saul, and his story is recorded for us in First Samuel thirteen. As King, Saul should have been looking to God for guidance and seeking to give Him the glory. But instead, he was more concerned with himself and being recognized.

Saul was the first King of Israel, and God provided Him everything that was necessary to be a great King. But he ended up a terrible failure. He allowed insecurities and bad decision-making to govern his life, and that's a recipe for disaster. God has a calling for us too, but will we try to hide from it, or allow something to keep us from that?

Pastor Lloyd Pulley has framed today's study around chapters eleven and twelve. Let's say someone lashes out in anger against you, and for no good reason. Or, someone falsely accuses you of something at work, and you end up losing your job as a result! When we're hurt like this, the world would say we have good reason to exact a little revenge. But pastor Lloyd is going to suggest a much different approach.

The people Israel wanted to make a change. They wanted a king. We might have a reaction to that like, "huh? You already have God as your King"! God was their king for sure, but now they wanted a man to fill those shoes! A big difference and a big mistake to be sure. And as we know, in today's world, people are looking in all the wrong places for a King as well.

You've no doubt heard the timeless truth, "Don't judge a book by its cover." Judging things by their outside appearance is something we often do, instead of learning what's on the inside. But to judge a book - you have to read it - and that takes time. The same is true with a person. It takes more than a first impression. Today on Bridging the Gap, we take a second look at Israel's first king.

To agree with God we must know what He thinks about things. We're in First Samuel chapter seven, and a message titled, "Steps to Revival and Victory".