Clark's Compelling Catwalk

What are you thankful for? What are the habits of gratitude that we can practice on a daily basis? And what are the benefits of living a grateful life?

Sacrifice is not a popular word in our culture today. But it's a word that is at the core of the Christian faith and it's an action that is at the center of meaningful lives. Why is sacrifice so important? And how we can we live it out as part of our daily lives?

In this episode, we look at four of the keys ideas that we find in the Bible related to generosity.

We come to the end of our series on Shaping our Souls. We have been walking through the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, looking at the lives of the prophet Samuel and King Saul. In this message, we look at the tragic end of King Saul's life. He started off with so much potential, but he never reached it. He fell short. What held him back? What did he struggle with? And what lessons can we learn from his life that we can avoid so that our lives don't end up like his did?

In the Old Testament, King Saul that going through religious rituals was more important than obeying God. He was wrong. He tried to control God through these rituals rather than submitting to His commands. Many people today are trying to do the same things. These stories are shared to help us avoid the mistakes that King Saul made.

When we look at the life of King Saul in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, we see that his reign as king never lived up to its potential. It was held back by Saul's impatience, his running ahead of God, his superstition, and his disobedience. We struggle with the same tendencies today. We can learn how to avoid some of our mistakes today by learning what King Saul did wrong.

The story of the prophet Samuel anointing Saul to be the first king of Israel, show that the three key things we need to lead are Character, Calling, and Courage.

1 Samuel 3 is the story of God's call on Samuel's life. As we read about how God called Samuel, it helps us understand how God might be calling us today.

Religious leaders have not always acted morally, ethically, or appropriately. In today's reading from the book of 1 Samuel in the Old Testament, we see how Eli's sons, who were priests in the temple, were scoundrels. They were guilty of abuse and apathy. It was a sad and tragic time that hurt many people. But, in the seeds of their wrongdoing was the anticipation of a new and better priest whom God would raise up to correct the situation. In the short-term, that person would be Samuel. In the long-term, the story points us ahead to Christ, who is our ultimate prophet, priest, and king, who makes everything right again.

The book of 1 Samuel begins with the story of Hannah, Samuel's mother. It's a story about her Pain, her Prayer, and her Pledge. It's a story about how God moves her from Heartbreak to Hope.