SCRIPTURE TEXT: 1 Samuel 10:1-27  

The ancient story of anointing Saul to be the first king of Israel offers a plethora of present applications for followers of the Lord today, describing the power, provision, and prophetic potential for personal transformation that God affords His people. Yet it also offers a helpful reminder that though Saul began his reign well, his end was not so good because his heart was not so faithful. Walking faithfully in the anointing of the Holy Spirit will help us to live wisely today as well as to “finish our race” well in the future.  

SUNDAY SERVICE  

PREACHER: Lead Pastor Courtney Hall  

DATE: Aug. 21, 2022.  SERVICE TIME: 10:30 am (PDT) | In-Person & Online*  

SERIES: The Samuel Story (Pt. 6)  SERMON: The Anointing of Saul

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SCRIPTURE TEXT: 1 Samuel 8:1-22; 9:1-27  

When the people of ancient Israel clamored for a king to rule over them so “that we also may be like all the other nations” (1 Sam 8:20), Samuel the Prophet knew that the hearts & motives of the people weren’t fixed on God, who was already their Lord & King. Nevertheless, God told Samuel to follow the people’s wishes, for He had a man prepared who would be king. In looking at this section of Scripture today, modern believers must consider: who rules our world? Are we “in search of a king” to comfort us, win our battles, and make us more like other people around us? Or is the Lord Jesus Christ King of our hearts and enthroned in our lives?  

SUNDAY SERVICE  

PREACHER: Lead Pastor Courtney Hall  

DATE: Aug. 14, 2022.  

SERVICE TIME: 10:30 am (PDT) | In-Person & Online*  

SERIES: The Samuel Story (Pt. 5)  SERMON: In Search of a King

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Revelation 4:1-11  

While exiled on an island for his faith, John was called by Christ in a vision to “come up here” into the very throne room of heaven and granted an inside view of God’s glorious throne. Surrounded by the reverent worship of twenty-four elders casting down their golden crowns upon a sea of glass, with four angelic living creatures crying out “Holy, Holy, Holy,” praise and worship characterize the atmosphere of God’s throne from which emanates the sevenfold Spirit of God looking over all creation. This extraordinary insight into the nature of God’s rule and reign gives believers today an invigorating invitation into a lifestyle of praise, worship, revelation, and powerful purpose.  

SUNDAY SERVICE  

Pastor Ricky Raz  

DATE: August 7, 2022

SCRIPTURE TEXT: 1 Samuel 6:1-21; 7:1-17  

In the days of Samuel, the prophet-judge of ancient Israel, the Israelites & their pagan neighbors, the Philistines, were consistently at odds. Ostensibly, the Philistines engaged in idolatry while the Israelites worshiped the one true God. Yet God’s glory had departed Israel (1 Sam 4:21-22) because of the people’s lack of fidelity to Him as, in practice, they turned to other gods. Even today, followers of the Lord should examine how different our lives are from the ways of the world in which we live. No matter what the practices of people around us, it is always the right time to return to the Lord with all your heart & experience the victory of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29), none other than Jesus Christ.  

SUNDAY SERVICE 

PREACHER: Lead Pastor Courtney Hall  

DATE: July 31, 2022  SERVICE TIME: 10:30 am (PDT) | In-Person & Online*  

SERIES: The Samuel Story (Pt. 4)  SERMON: Return to the Lord with All Your Heart

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SCRIPTURE TEXT: 1 Samuel 4:1-22; 5:1-12  When a series of defeats to the Philistines enabled Israel’s enemies to capture the Ark of the Covenant and decimate tens of thousands of Israelite warriors, including the demise of the wicked priests Hophni & Phineas (just as God had prophesied), many in Israel felt “the glory of God has departed” (1 Sam 4:21-22). Yet the failures of the people, and the judgment of the Lord on the idolatry also among the Philistines, indicate that it was in fact the people who had turned away from God. In our own lives, there are times when we may feel God has failed or abandoned us—but if we’re willing to wait in real worship on the Lord and consider how our own behaviors may have contributed to our problems, we can realize the glory of God’s graciousness in the midst of even our most challenging circumstances.  

SUNDAY SERVICE  

PREACHER: Pastor Courtney Hall  

SERIES: The Samuel Story (Pt. 3)

DATE: July 24, 2022  

SERVICE TIME: 10:30 am (PDT) | In-Person & Online*

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SCRIPTURE TEXT: 1 Samuel 3:1-21  

In the days when the priest Samuel was still just a child serving in the Lord’s Tabernacle, “the [prophetic] word of the Lord was rare; there were not many visions” (1 Sam 3:1). The near blindness of Samuel’s guardian, Eli the priest, seemed to symbolize the darkness of that age when “everyone did what was right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25) including Eli’s wicked priestly sons, Hophni & Phineas. But “the lamp of God had not yet gone out” (1 Sam 1:3)—for God’s light shines in the darkness, & the darkness can’t snuff it out (John 1:5). Even as a young boy, Samuel learned that to listen for & to the Lord is to open to His light of wisdom & revelation, igniting & enlightening us as attentive servants of God equipped to minister His word to a darkened world in need.  

SUNDAY SERVICE  PREACHER: Lead Pastor Courtney Hall

DATE: July 17, 2022  SERVICE TIME: 10:30 am (PDT) | In-Person & Online*  

SERIES: The Samuel Story (Pt. 2)

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SCRIPTURE TEXT: 1 Samuel 2:12-17, 22-36  

SUNDAY SERVICE PREACHER: Lead Pastor Courtney Hall  

DATE: July 10, 2022  SERVICE TIME: 10:30 am (PDT) | In-Person & Online*  

SERIES: The Samuel Story (Pt. 1)  SERMON: A Patient Priest

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SCRIPTURE TEXT: Isaiah 61:1-3; Luke 4:16-21  

In this Independence Day Weekend message, Associate Pastor Ludy Faulan provides a Biblical examination of freedom, liberation, & liberty from the perspectives both of our social interactions and of God’s deep spiritual truths. The pivotal Messianic passage of Isaiah 61 preached from by Jesus in Luke 4 demonstrates a core priority of Jesus’ mission & message that remains pivotal to our Gospel commission today. As the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.”  

SUNDAY SERVICE  

GUEST PREACHER: Assoc. Pastor Ludy Faulan  

DATE: July 3, 2022

SERVICE TIME: 10:30 am (PDT) | In-Person & Online*  

2022: The Year of Patience  

SERMON: Freedom, Liberation, & Liberty

SCRIPTURE TEXT: 1 Samuel 1:1-28; 2:1-11, 18-21  

Throughout the Bible, several significant women of faith experience challenge in conceiving a child yet receive a promise from God—or call out in an appeal to Him—that they will not only bear a child but also that the child will grow up to be a person of significant faith & influence themselves. One such woman in the Old Testament is Hannah, whose desperate prayer to God finds fulfillment in the birth of Samuel, one of Ancient Israel’s greatest prophets. And the song of praise that Hannah raises to God when her patient faith is rewarded proves to be a precursor for another miracle mother: none other than Mary the mother of Jesus, whose Magnificat to God in Luke chapter one draws inspiration from the patient praise of Hannah in First Samuel chapter two. But the story of Hannah & Samuel—like that of Mary & Jesus—speaks not only to mothers but also truly to all humanity of how God works wonders in the lives of those who wait on Him in faith, even when their situation may feel hopeless.

SUNDAY SERVICE  

PREACHER: Lead Pastor Courtney Hall  

DATE: June 26, 2022  SERVICE TIME: 10:30 am (PDT) | In-Person & Online*  

SERIES: People of Patience (Part 8)  

SERMON: The Patience of Hannah: In the House of the Lord

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SCRIPTURE TEXT: Luke 24:45-53; Acts 1-2; Joel 2  A fair amount of the Apostle Paul’s prolific & influential epistolary ministry (half the books of the New Testament are attributed to him) was composed while in prison. Paul faced repeated incarceration as he travelled the ancient world evangelizing people to the Christian faith that was so persecuted in that era of the Roman Empire. Acts chapters 23-26 describe a period when Paul spent over two years imprisoned in the Praetorium (the Governor’s complex) in Caesarea awaiting trial, despite having committed no crime. Rather than despair, Paul saw an opportunity to demonstrate patient faith & to give vibrant witness of God’s Good News to his Roman captors.  

SUNDAY SERVICE  

PREACHER: Lead Pastor Courtney Hall  

DATE: June 12, 2022. 

SERVICE TIME: 10:30 am (PDT) | In-Person & Online*  

SERIES: People of Patience (Part 6)  SERMON: The Patience of Paul: In the Praetorium Prison

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