The Hallows Church

In a step away from our study of 1 Samuel we are going to examine a story in Genesis 16 with Stephen Searles, our Church Planter in Residence. While it may be out of our current book of study, we'll find that today's passage still sheds light on when our mess meets God's mercy.

Abram was a man with whom God had made a unique covenant: God would make of Abram’s descendants a great nation to be a blessing to every nation on earth. Just one minor problem arose, Abram had no children and his days to do so seemed to be coming to an end. In a moment of impatience Abram’s wife, Sarai, decides to give her slave Hagar over to her husband to use as a tool to conceive.

This was not God’s plan, and her impatience would cause heart ache and conflict for everyone involved. Hagar conceives and immediately she begins to resent her master which in turn creates great conflict between Sarai and Hagar. So much so that Hagar runs away.

Our impatience with God often brings about unhelpful conclusions to problems we face. Waiting is hard. Waiting makes us feel alone–like no one sees us, hears us, or knows us, not even God.

In this story everyone involved feels like God has abandoned them, Sarai and Abram in childbearing and Hagar in everything. But just as God always does He shows up at just the right time to remind us that we are not alone. He went so far as to send is only Son, Jesus, so we would never have to feel alone again.

The kingdom of God is a kingdom occupied by people who have grown disenchanted with the world around them. They’ve experienced the world as an inhospitable place that is influenced far more by those who take from them than give to them. At some point, they found in themselves a desire in which no experience in this world could satisfy. That led them towards the king and the kingdom that had already come for them.

When Jesus showed up in the world, he proclaimed the good news of God saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Jesus is saying make a decisive break from this disenchanting world and turn from the tyrannical kings who take everything from us and give nothing to us that lasts. And turn instead towards the true and better king who rules the eternal kingdom of God.

Outcasts find in relationship with Jesus the life and the purpose what their hearts have clamored for all along.

Join Pastor Andrew Arthur today in studying this portion of King David’s story in 1 Samuel 22, which anticipates this reality. He takes refuge in a cave and there he would soon be joined by his family and by a ragtag group of Israelites. He proves the be a king for the outcasts because he understands, welcomes, leads, and cares for them in ways Saul never could or would. Once again, David’s story anticipates the story of Jesus, the ultimate king for the outcasts.

Questions to Consider:

1) Do you often feel like this home is not your home? What are signs in your life that yourt heart and mind long for more?

2) Do you struggle with remembering this world is not your home? How can you tell if you are living as if you are an outcast or a permanent dweller?

3) Who has been sharing with you that they feel and sense that something is not as it should be with this world and they are looking for more? How can you help them discover the difference Jesus makes in all of life–including giving us a home in His Kingdom?

Sermon Outline:

1) A King who understands the outcast (v. 1a)

2) A King who welcomes the outcast (v. 1b)

3) A King who leads the outcast (v. 2)

4) A King who cares for the outcast (vv. 3-5)

How does 1 Samuel 21 help us understand what faith looks like–particularly when it is hard to see what's really going on beyond what we can see? Study this passage with Pastor Andrew Arthur to understand better how faith is a deliberate act of a defiant will–one that sees what’s really real in the midst of what’s real.

In today’s sermon, we are reminded of a profound truth that sets the gospel of Jesus Christ apart–God’s grace flows to the desperate not the deserving. Consider Jesus’s beatitudes: He says blessed are the poor in spirit, who mourn, who are humble, who hunger and thirst, who are persecuted for righteousness. Consider now 1 Samuel 21 where we find a desperate David. He’s a fugitive on the run desperate to survive. He makes questionable moral decisions–some that he would later regret because they put others in harm. So why does God still give David what he needs? This is the most scandalous truth about the gospel of Jesus. It may even be the hardest truth for the human heart to grasp. World religions demand that provision be earned or deserved, but this is not the case with Jesus Christ.

Join Hallows Church Planter in Residence, Stephen Searles, in studying 1 Samuel 20 and the friendship between Jonathan and David and, ultimately, the friendship Jesus offers you and me.

Our story continues in 1 Samuel with David going through a hard time. Having finally been classified as an enemy to King Saul, his circumstances seem grim compared to Psalm 121’s promise. His friend Jonathan’s advocacy, though noble and sincere, is limited in its effectiveness. David’s wife, Michal, pretty much takes every wrong approach to helping her husband, and leaves David in a marital hot mess. Lastly, when David seeks the safety of Samuel’s company, Saul sends swarms of agents to kill him. So if David–and ultimately us–are to believe our help comes from the Lord, how is any of this helpful? As we’ll discover, the Lord alone is our help, using all sorts of people and circumstances to fulfill his plans. Join us for today's worship gathering to see the Lord’s merciful help on full display in messy situations.

Psalm 91:1 sets the thematic tone for 1Samuel 18 when it says, “The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.” As believers live out their faith today, what does it mean to live under the protection of the most high and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty? 1 Samuel 18:17-30 is the description of this reality. Join Pastor Mark Smith in studying today's passage. As we witness in David’s life, living under God’s protection and dwelling in His shadow is to be covered from schemes, carried through snares, and cast into success. On this side of the cross, we are ultimately placed in the success of Christ’s resurrection. To dwell in God’s shadow is to live reassured that we can trust Jesus to lead us, knowing there are dynamics at play in our lives now that may be hidden and potentially revealed later through the opening of our eyes. It is resting in the assurance that though schemes and snares persist, unbeknownst to us, God is actively near and at work, continuing to lead us into the ultimate success we have in Christ Jesus.

In last week’s studied Bible passage, the young shepherd David did the unimaginable when he "singlehandedly" defeated an enemy of God’s people who appeared to everyone to be undefeatable. David became a national hero virtually overnight. Yet, in this week’s passage, not only do we read about the celebration that followed that great victory, we also see that not everyone was celebrating David’s success. In Saul and Jonathan, we will see two very different responses to David’s growing popularity. In Saul, we will see the signs and seriousness of envy taking root in the human heart. In Jonathan, we see a response of faith to David’s success and a humble recognition of and submission to the will of God in his life.

The story of David and Goliath is the story of redemption in a nutshell. An enemy too big for Israel to handle threatens to unwind the covenant blessings God bestowed upon His people. A descendant of the Anakim, a people group Joshua drove out of the land during the conquest of Canaan, has returned (Num. 13:33). His name is Goliath. The fear that once paralyzed God’s people from wanting to enter the Promised Land has also returned has returned with an enemy seemingly too big to defeat. Facing an enemy too big to handle, grappling with familiar fear, or feeling the need for a hero? Then, study this passage with Pastor Andrew Arthur, and allow Israel's story of redemption to resonate and provide hope for you as well today.

When Jesus saw the crowds in Galilee, he felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dejected–like sheep without a shepherd. In that moment, He knew there was not enough of Him to go around. He turned to the disciples and said, “The harvest is abundant, but the workers are few. Therefore, pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” When confronted with an afflicted world, Jesus’s resolved to summon and to send out more servants like Himself. At the time, only He was filled with the Holy Spirit; but He anticipated a day when that would change. Soon after ascending to His eternal throne, King Jesus would send the same Spirit who anointed Him to serve an afflicted world to anoint us to do the same.

1 Samuel 16:14-23 provides us with an Old Testament picture of this New Testament reality. God’s newly anointed king, David, serves the soon-to-be former king and severely afflicted Saul. Like David and because of Jesus, we have been anointed by the Holy Spirit to serve an afflicted world as stewards of creation, students of experience, stalwarts of peace, and servants of God’s Kingdom.