1 & 2 Samuel Series
In God's upside-down kingdom, the last or the overlooked may end up being the best choice. What would it take for us to learn to see our leaders through God’s eyes?
1 Samuel Chapters 1-3: The Calling of Samuel (23 minutes)
Samuel receives one of the few audible calls from God recorded in the Bible. It is interesting to note that Samuel’s call was not a call to a type of work or ministry. Samuel’s audible call from God was to a specific task, namely to tell Eli that God had decided to punish him and his sons. The story of Eli’s sons demonstrates the perils of inherited authority.
1 Samuel Chapters 4-7: The Perils of Treating God Like a Good Luck Charm (27 minutes)
From the closing words of the book of Judges and the opening chapters of 1 Samuel, we know that the Israelites are both leaderless and disconnected from God. The closest thing that they have to a national leader is the priest Eli, who with his sons runs the shrine at Shiloh. The Israelites’ political, military, and economic prosperity depends on their faithfulness to God. So the people bring their offerings and sacrifices to God at the shrine, but the priests make a mockery of their interaction with God.
1 Samuel Chapters 8-9: The Heartbreak of Wayward Children (16 minutes)
There are many institutional and workplace situations where leadership must admit to people's poor choices, yet at the same time try to provide opportunities for growth and grace. In our fallen world, our aspiration is to love God and treat other people as God commands.
1 Samuel Chapters 16-17: How to Choose a Leader (23 minutes)
In God's upside-down kingdom, the last or the overlooked may end up being the best choice. What would it take for us to learn to see our leaders through God’s eyes?
1 Samuel Chapters 24-25: Defusing a Crisis (22 minutes)
In 1 Samuel 24-25, Abigail resolves a life-threatening crisis by dressing a major rebuke in a respectful dialogue. The incident shows that you don’t have to have authority status to be called to exercise influence. It also demonstrates that showing respect, even while making a pointed criticism, provides a model for challenging authority.
2 Samuel Chapters 11-12: Successes and Failures of Leadership (22 minutes)
The Bible regards David as the model king of Israel, and the books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles describe his many successes. Yet even David, "a man after God's own heart," abuses his power and acts faithlessly at times.