1 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:09,920 Well, good morning, Englewood Baptist Church. 2 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:14,040 My name is not Pastor John. I'm Pastor Dylan, our student 3 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:15,480 pastor here at Inglewood Baptist Church. 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:20,880 And this was not planned. But Pastor John, as you know, if 5 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:23,920 you were here last week, had planned on sharing his testimony 6 00:00:23,920 --> 00:00:25,960 this morning. And I promise you, there is no 7 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:28,760 place that he would rather be right now than right here. 8 00:00:29,360 --> 00:00:33,600 But last night our pastors received a text message at about 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:37,920 7:30 that Pastor John had come down with a fever and had a 10 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:40,400 terrible cough. And then it progressed into 11 00:00:40,480 --> 00:00:46,480 chills and full on flu symptoms. So that means he can't be here. 12 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,080 So here we are. But we did not show up this 13 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:52,720 morning to hear from Pastor John. 14 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:54,960 And you are not here this morning to hear from me. 15 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:57,880 We are all here this morning, hopefully to hear a word from 16 00:00:57,880 --> 00:01:00,360 the Lord. And so last night whenever we 17 00:01:00,360 --> 00:01:03,080 got that text, I immediately came straight up here to my 18 00:01:03,080 --> 00:01:06,200 study. And whenever a pastor gets a 19 00:01:06,200 --> 00:01:11,440 text last minute like that, that you always joke about having one 20 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,320 ready. And I've had a got a couple of 21 00:01:14,320 --> 00:01:16,840 sermons that I've not preached here that I've preached in other 22 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:19,040 places. And so I broke those out and 23 00:01:19,040 --> 00:01:21,200 laid those down and just got on my face before the Lord is like, 24 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:23,320 Lord, what do you, what do you want to say? 25 00:01:23,800 --> 00:01:26,200 Because all of us as pastors, we've all got our kind of 26 00:01:26,200 --> 00:01:28,280 routines that we go through whenever we're preparing a 27 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:30,120 message. We've kind of got these steps 28 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:32,000 that we take and some of us do it in different orders and 29 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:33,400 stuff. Everybody's kind of got their 30 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:34,960 own way. They go about preparing. 31 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:38,080 Most of the time that takes longer than a few hours. 32 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,480 But last night I was here and I had those two passages of 33 00:01:42,480 --> 00:01:45,640 Scripture in front of me and I was praying, Lord, just what do 34 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:48,320 you want to say? Lord, what do you want to say to 35 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:49,440 me? What do you want to say to 36 00:01:49,440 --> 00:01:51,200 Inglewood? Because while we didn't plan 37 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:55,440 this, God did. And so this was a surprise to 38 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,560 us. But God has a plan. 39 00:01:58,000 --> 00:01:59,840 He knew Pastor John was going to be sick. 40 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,600 He knew we would be right here. All of us would be right here in 41 00:02:03,600 --> 00:02:05,160 this place together this morning. 42 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,560 And so I desperately just wanted Lord speak. 43 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:14,440 And so this phrase just kept coming to mind over and over 44 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:20,560 again as I was praying. And it's speak, Lord, for your 45 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:24,480 servant is listening. And so I began to pray that out 46 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:27,720 loud verbally before the Lord thinking he's going to lead me 47 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,480 one of two directions in one of these two passages of Scripture. 48 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,480 And then it almost felt like the Holy Spirit said, dummy, just go 49 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,080 to that passage of Scripture. And so I flipped over to first 50 00:02:39,080 --> 00:02:42,080 Samuel chapter 3, which is where we're going to be this morning. 51 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,520 So if you've got your Bible, go ahead and open it up to first 52 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:48,680 Samuel chapter 3. And if you're used to texting 53 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,760 notes to get or getting on the app and getting on the notes 54 00:02:51,760 --> 00:02:54,280 section for sermon notes, those will not be there this morning. 55 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:56,560 Or they might still be there, but they're wrong. 56 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,720 They're Pastor John's because we didn't have time to get in and 57 00:02:59,720 --> 00:03:02,080 change all that this morning. But the tech team did have time 58 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:06,080 to get in and add a title in, title slides in and the points. 59 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:09,600 So you guys will have that, but you will not have the passage of 60 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:11,120 Scripture on the screens in front of you. 61 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:14,840 So you will need your print Bible or your phone, whatever it 62 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,800 is that you use. And I also am going to be 63 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,520 reading from a different version than Pastor John normally does. 64 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:22,560 Normally Pastor John's reading from the English standard 65 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:24,880 version, but I'll be reading from the Christian standard 66 00:03:24,880 --> 00:03:26,560 Bible. And so if you've got an English 67 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:28,520 standard version there in front of you, it may be a little bit 68 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,840 different. But so as I came to First Samuel 69 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:38,560 chapter 3 last night, it's a familiar passage to me because 70 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:40,800 at the end of last year, the beginning of this year, I was 71 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,680 studying the life of Samuel because on Wednesday nights and 72 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,200 the spring, our students, we walk through the life of Samuel. 73 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,240 And so this is a key moment in Samuel's life. 74 00:03:50,240 --> 00:03:53,240 It's the call of Samuel. And then you've got that 75 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:55,880 favorite, that famous phrase that the Holy Spirit brought to 76 00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,840 my mind and my heart that Eli tells Samuel, go back and and 77 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,920 say to the Lord when he calls to you, speak Lord, for your 78 00:04:02,920 --> 00:04:05,720 servant is listening. And so the question that kept 79 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,760 popping up in my mind over and over again last night as I was 80 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:10,960 back in this passage of Scripture is, am I listening? 81 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:17,640 As Pastor Jordan just said, this is the last Sunday of 20252026 82 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,800 is right around the corner. And while New Year's Eve is just 83 00:04:20,800 --> 00:04:23,480 another date on the calendar and nothing magical is going to 84 00:04:23,480 --> 00:04:26,520 happen at midnight other than you got to write a different 85 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:30,200 date down on your checks, most of you probably don't even write 86 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:32,680 checks anymore. Teenagers probably don't even. 87 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:37,680 Know what a check is? But other than just having to 88 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:41,600 change your dates on things, nothing really magical has 89 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:43,760 changed. But it's a transition point in 90 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:48,000 the calendar that helps us to take a moment and take a step 91 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,400 back and to reflect on everything that has happened in 92 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:56,120 2025 and to look forward to what we hope God is going to do in 93 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:58,760 2020. 6. Both individually and then 94 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:02,600 corporately and as families. And so I hope that in this in 95 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:06,560 between season between Christmas and New Year's, where all of you 96 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:08,520 are trying to figure out what day of the week it is, 97 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,240 especially if you have kids at home and you're just praying for 98 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:12,320 the day that they go back to school. 99 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:16,920 There's kind of this weird low point where people are off work 100 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:20,520 and the excitement of Christmas is dying down some and then New 101 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:22,680 Year's is coming. And so I hope that you'll take 102 00:05:22,840 --> 00:05:26,720 advantage of these days to really reflect on what the, what 103 00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:30,520 your walk with the Lord has been like in 2025 and to look forward 104 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,960 to 2026 and to be able to say, man, there's some new 105 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:37,040 commitments that I need to make to the Lord to walk more 106 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:39,600 faithfully with him in 2026 than in 2025. 107 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,640 And the question that has been haunting me since last night is 108 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:47,560 am I listening? And so that's really the 109 00:05:47,560 --> 00:05:50,800 question that I want us to deal with together this morning is 110 00:05:50,800 --> 00:05:52,040 are we listening to the voice of the. 111 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:54,920 Lord. As we walk through this story of 112 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:58,200 the call of Samuel in First Samuel chapter 3, we're going to 113 00:05:58,200 --> 00:06:02,120 look at 10 truths that are going to help us, that we pull out 114 00:06:02,120 --> 00:06:05,240 from this story, that are going to help us as we prepare for 115 00:06:05,240 --> 00:06:08,120 2026. And so let me pray for us as we 116 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:11,400 look at God's Word together and also pray for Pastor John and 117 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:15,520 his family and all of the other ones that are dealing with this 118 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:17,640 crazy illness that's going. Around right now. 119 00:06:18,120 --> 00:06:22,640 Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we've 120 00:06:22,640 --> 00:06:26,000 already said, you know that we didn't plan this. 121 00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:32,000 But Lord, we trust in your plan, and God, we trust that you have 122 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:35,320 a purpose and that you have all of us. 123 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:40,120 Here for a reason, and I believe that that reason is to worship 124 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:44,440 you and then for your church to be edified, to be built up to 125 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:48,200 hear a word from you. And so, Lord, thank you for 126 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,000 Pastor John, for his leadership. Lord, I just pray that you would 127 00:06:51,000 --> 00:06:52,920 be with him right now. I know that he there's no place 128 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:55,680 he'd rather be than right here. And so, Lord, would you ease his 129 00:06:55,680 --> 00:06:57,880 mind and his heart? Would you help him to rest? 130 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:01,680 Would you heal his body? Would you protect Miss Teresa, 131 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,680 Lord, and help her not to get ill as well? 132 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:07,080 And Lord, for the so many others that are sick in our 133 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:09,240 congregation, Lord, would you bring healing to them and to 134 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:11,760 their families? Lord, I know many of them still 135 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:14,200 have not celebrated Christmas yet because so many loved ones 136 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:16,720 have been sick. And So what would you be with 137 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:18,600 them and comfort them during these days? 138 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,840 But right now, Lord, I know that You would desire to speak to all 139 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:26,880 of us through Your word. And so I pray that you would do 140 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:30,120 just that, that by the power of Your Holy Spirit, that you would 141 00:07:30,480 --> 00:07:34,200 illuminate our minds and our hearts to be able to hear Your 142 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,680 word and to respond to it in the way that you call us to in the 143 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:44,120 name of Jesus, Amen. So hopefully you're already 144 00:07:44,120 --> 00:07:47,000 there in First Samuel chapter 3. We're going to jump in right 145 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:51,160 here at the beginning of the chapter with the first truth. 146 00:07:51,760 --> 00:07:56,880 Parents, you cannot save your children, but you can put them 147 00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:00,480 in the best position to succeed. These first couple of points 148 00:08:00,480 --> 00:08:03,000 help us with some of the background information to help 149 00:08:03,000 --> 00:08:06,520 set the stage for where Samuel and Eli are right now. 150 00:08:06,520 --> 00:08:10,200 First Samuel chapter 3, starting in verse one, the boy Samuel 151 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:12,280 served the Lord in Eli's presence. 152 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:14,840 In those days, the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic 153 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:18,600 visions were not widespread. So Samuel is a young boy at this 154 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:21,680 point. Eli is the is the priest there 155 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:25,960 in the temple. And Eli, or I mean Samuel had a 156 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:29,280 really, really, really incredible mother by the name of 157 00:08:29,280 --> 00:08:31,520 Hannah. And if we go back to the very 158 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,200 beginning of the book of First Samuel, we see that Hannah was 159 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:36,960 barren. She was not able to have 160 00:08:37,159 --> 00:08:39,799 children, and she was death. She so desperately wanted 161 00:08:39,799 --> 00:08:41,679 children. And every year when they would 162 00:08:41,679 --> 00:08:44,159 go up to the temple, she would cry out before the Lord. 163 00:08:44,360 --> 00:08:46,760 And there's an interaction in First Samuel chapter 1, starting 164 00:08:46,760 --> 00:08:50,000 in verse 12 between her and Eli in the temple as she's crying 165 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:52,120 out before the Lord asking for this child. 166 00:08:52,560 --> 00:08:55,200 And verse starting in verse 12, while she continued praying in 167 00:08:55,200 --> 00:08:57,200 the Lord's presence, Eli watched her mouth. 168 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,760 Hannah was praying silently and though her lips were moving, her 169 00:09:00,760 --> 00:09:04,480 voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk and he 170 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:06,560 said to her, how long are you going to be drunk? 171 00:09:06,560 --> 00:09:10,080 Get rid of your wine. No, my Lord, Hannah replied, I'm 172 00:09:10,080 --> 00:09:13,400 a woman with a broken heart. I haven't had any wine or beer. 173 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,600 I've been pouring out my heart before the Lord. 174 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:17,520 Don't think of me as a wicked woman. 175 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:19,920 I've been praying from the depths of my anguish and 176 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:21,960 resentment. Eli responded. 177 00:09:21,960 --> 00:09:24,680 Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the request that 178 00:09:24,680 --> 00:09:27,680 you have made of him. Hannah was praying so 179 00:09:27,680 --> 00:09:31,200 desperately before the Lord that Eli thought she was intoxicated. 180 00:09:31,880 --> 00:09:34,720 But once Eli figured out what the situation was, he blessed 181 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:38,480 her and sent her on her way. And soon after, Hannah becomes 182 00:09:38,640 --> 00:09:41,440 pregnant with her first son, Samuel. 183 00:09:43,160 --> 00:09:46,120 And before too long, once Samuel is old enough to be weaned off 184 00:09:46,120 --> 00:09:50,240 of his mother, she takes him back to the temple and gives him 185 00:09:50,240 --> 00:09:53,160 to the Lord. She dedicates him there in the 186 00:09:53,160 --> 00:09:57,080 temple and leaves Samuel there with Eli for Eli to be able to 187 00:09:57,080 --> 00:10:00,240 take care of him and for him, for Samuel to be able to serve 188 00:10:00,240 --> 00:10:03,280 the Lord and to grow up there in the temple under Eli's 189 00:10:03,440 --> 00:10:05,840 leadership. And so Hannah takes the very one 190 00:10:05,840 --> 00:10:08,800 thing that she prayed for, the most precious thing to her in 191 00:10:08,800 --> 00:10:11,840 her life, and she gives it up. To the Lord. 192 00:10:12,960 --> 00:10:16,760 And so, parents, if you're here this morning, many of you are 193 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,560 praying desperately for the salvation of your children. 194 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:23,120 Man, you so desperately want them to make that step of faith 195 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:26,560 and follow Jesus, but you can't do it for them. 196 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:31,360 You cannot save them, but you can put them in the best 197 00:10:31,360 --> 00:10:34,240 position possible in order to be able to hear from the Lord. 198 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:38,880 You can decide that 2026 is going to be different dads. 199 00:10:38,880 --> 00:10:41,960 You can take more ownership over the discipleship of your homes, 200 00:10:42,080 --> 00:10:45,080 and you can take your faith seriously and begin to disciple 201 00:10:45,080 --> 00:10:49,080 your family there in the home. And you can bring your kids here 202 00:10:49,080 --> 00:10:52,920 to what Pastor John calls the core to come to worship and to 203 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:58,160 connect group and to midweek and to serve and to steward well. 204 00:10:59,960 --> 00:11:02,760 And we can have our kids spend time with the Lord in His word, 205 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:04,280 and we can pray together as families. 206 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:08,280 We can put our children in positions to where they can hear 207 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:10,040 from the Lord. We need to put them in the best 208 00:11:10,040 --> 00:11:13,600 position possible so that the Lord might speak to them and 209 00:11:13,600 --> 00:11:15,160 change their hearts and their lives. 210 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:19,960 But you can't do it for him. So I challenge you this morning 211 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:22,160 to be like Hannah, maybe not literally. 212 00:11:22,160 --> 00:11:24,960 Don't bring your child up here and leave him, please. 213 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:32,480 We will call CPS. But but dedicate your children 214 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,360 to the Lord and realize they're not yours. 215 00:11:35,720 --> 00:11:38,480 They're a gift from the Lord that you have the responsibility 216 00:11:38,480 --> 00:11:42,480 to steward. And so steward it well as we 217 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:46,520 lead into 2026 and trust the Lord to do what only He can do 218 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:48,240 in their heart and in their life. 219 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:51,560 That's what Hannah did. And then in the second part 220 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:56,960 there of First Samuel chapter 3 verse one that we just read. #2 221 00:11:56,960 --> 00:11:59,800 when there is a lack of godly leadership, there is a lack of 222 00:11:59,800 --> 00:12:03,400 the Lord's blessing. The second-half of verse one 223 00:12:03,400 --> 00:12:06,360 there says in those days the word of the Lord was rare and 224 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:09,280 prophetic visions were not widespread. 225 00:12:09,840 --> 00:12:12,560 You see, Eli's sons were not good people. 226 00:12:13,240 --> 00:12:16,640 In fact, in First Samuel chapter 2 verse 12, it says Eli's sons 227 00:12:16,720 --> 00:12:18,480 were wicked men, and they did not. 228 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,200 Respect the Lord. And then it goes into detail 229 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:25,400 about all of the different really abuses that Eli's sons 230 00:12:25,400 --> 00:12:28,800 were doing in the way that in which they led, stealing from 231 00:12:28,800 --> 00:12:32,240 the Lord, abusing people, abusing the sacrificial system. 232 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,760 They were just not good people. And so when there's a lack of 233 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:38,240 godly leadership, then there's then there's a lack of the 234 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:40,240 Lord's blessing. The way that the Lord used to 235 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:43,560 speak to people as he would talk to them through prophets, he 236 00:12:43,560 --> 00:12:45,480 would come to a prophet, he would speak to them. 237 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:47,720 That prophet would then deliver God's message to the people. 238 00:12:47,840 --> 00:12:51,000 But in these days, the book of Hebrews says in these last days, 239 00:12:51,120 --> 00:12:55,200 he has spoken to us past tense by his Son. 240 00:12:56,080 --> 00:13:00,080 And so us today wanting to hear a voice from the Lord, this is 241 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:04,160 where the Lord chooses to speak to us today through his word. 242 00:13:04,680 --> 00:13:07,560 But in those days, there was not a prophetic vision or a 243 00:13:07,560 --> 00:13:10,160 prophetic voice because there was a lack of godly leadership. 244 00:13:10,200 --> 00:13:13,840 I am so blessed to be able to be a part of a wonder, wonderful 245 00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:15,760 pastoral team that loves the Lord. 246 00:13:15,760 --> 00:13:19,400 Well, here at Inglewood, you've got men of great character that 247 00:13:19,400 --> 00:13:22,360 I get to serve alongside on a regular basis that are godly 248 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,080 leaders. But some churches, I'm afraid, 249 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:30,840 choose leaders based on charisma and not character, and every one 250 00:13:30,840 --> 00:13:36,440 of us have the temptation to look for other leaders outside 251 00:13:36,440 --> 00:13:40,960 of our church. To Paul Warren's Temp the the 252 00:13:40,960 --> 00:13:44,080 Young preacher Timothy and Second Timothy chapter 4, he 253 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:46,840 says preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, 254 00:13:46,840 --> 00:13:49,320 correct rebuke and courage with great patience and teaching. 255 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:52,000 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound 256 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:54,040 doctrine, but according to their own desires. 257 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:57,080 They will multiply teachers for themselves because they have an 258 00:13:57,080 --> 00:13:59,160 itch to hear what they want to hear. 259 00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:02,360 They will turn away from hearing the truth and turn aside to 260 00:14:02,360 --> 00:14:04,400 myths. You see, in the digital age that 261 00:14:04,400 --> 00:14:07,720 we live in, we have access to all kinds of teachers. 262 00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,720 We have access through social media and through the Internet 263 00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:13,120 to all kinds of people that will tell us anything and everything 264 00:14:13,120 --> 00:14:17,080 that we want to hear. And so we have a temptation to 265 00:14:17,080 --> 00:14:19,800 look for people that will just confirm what we already think 266 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:22,120 and what we already believe in our own minds and hearts. 267 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:25,320 And we'll begin to listen to them and to look to them more 268 00:14:25,320 --> 00:14:28,600 than we look to the people that God has placed in our lives to 269 00:14:28,600 --> 00:14:32,280 actually help shepherd us together as the body of Christ. 270 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:35,440 And so I challenge you this morning to think about what who 271 00:14:35,440 --> 00:14:38,640 are you listening to? What leaders are you looking to 272 00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:40,880 and listening to out there in the world? 273 00:14:42,160 --> 00:14:44,720 Because it's a huge temptation for us just to be able to pull 274 00:14:44,720 --> 00:14:47,480 up Instagram Reels or to be able to pull up Facebook Watch, or to 275 00:14:47,480 --> 00:14:50,280 be able to pull up YouTube or TikTok or any of those things. 276 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:53,360 And to find people that claim to be pastors or preachers or 277 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,800 Christians and they're saying all kinds of things that are not 278 00:14:56,800 --> 00:15:02,680 the voice of God. And so who is it that you are 279 00:15:02,680 --> 00:15:04,440 listening to? Because if you're not following 280 00:15:04,440 --> 00:15:10,120 godly leadership, there will not be blessing because the Lord has 281 00:15:10,120 --> 00:15:13,080 called. US as a church, he's called us 282 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:18,600 pastors to help equip the Saints for the work of the ministry, to 283 00:15:18,600 --> 00:15:23,320 equip you to be able to go out and to live out your faith among 284 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:25,120 the people that you live, work and play with. 285 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:35,920 And so without godly leadership, there's a lack of blessing #3 we 286 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:39,120 must position ourselves to hear from the Lord. 287 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:42,480 In first Samuel chapter 3, picking up where we left off in 288 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:47,080 verse 2, one day Eli whose eyesight was failing, was lying 289 00:15:47,080 --> 00:15:50,800 in his usual place before the lamp of the Lord had gone out. 290 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:53,800 Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord where the ark 291 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:57,280 of God was located. Then the Lord called the Samuel 292 00:15:57,280 --> 00:15:59,160 and and he answered him, Here I am. 293 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:03,120 He ran to Eli and said, here I am, you called me, I didn't 294 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:05,120 call. Eli replied, go back and lie 295 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,440 down. So he went and lay down South. 296 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:10,800 Samuel is a servant of the temple. 297 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:13,520 He's helping out Eli. So he has various jobs around 298 00:16:13,520 --> 00:16:15,920 the temple, and part of his duties involve him having to 299 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,800 sleep close to the interior of the temple. 300 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,440 And so in those days, the ark of the Lord was where God's 301 00:16:22,440 --> 00:16:25,800 presence resided. And so Samuel was in a position 302 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,240 where he was as close as he could possibly be to the Lord's 303 00:16:29,280 --> 00:16:31,560 presence. He was in the best possible 304 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:33,400 place to be able to hear the voice of the Lord. 305 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:36,880 He was close in proximity to God's presence. 306 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,520 And so we have to be in a place where we must position ourselves 307 00:16:40,640 --> 00:16:42,760 in proximity in order to be able to hear from the Lord. 308 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:47,920 Now, spatial proximity is not the only thing that is a factor 309 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:49,320 in order to be able to hear from the Lord. 310 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:51,120 Because I don't know about you, but whenever I travel on 311 00:16:51,120 --> 00:16:54,520 airplanes, I'm real close to the person to my right and my left, 312 00:16:54,640 --> 00:16:56,920 but I don't have a close intimate personal relationship 313 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:00,640 with them. So being able to hear from the 314 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:06,040 Lord is not just spatial proximity, it's not just walking 315 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:08,720 into church, it's not just opening your Bible in the 316 00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:10,640 morning to be able to hear from the Lord. 317 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:13,480 It takes more than that, but it's certainly not less than 318 00:17:13,480 --> 00:17:17,160 that. And so in 2026, why don't we 319 00:17:17,160 --> 00:17:20,000 commit to be in the Lord's presence more frequently? 320 00:17:20,560 --> 00:17:23,119 Why don't we commit to be around the Lord's people more 321 00:17:23,119 --> 00:17:25,960 frequently? To be here for worship, to be in 322 00:17:25,960 --> 00:17:29,160 a connect group, to be here for midweek, to serve alongside 323 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:32,040 others in the body of Christ and to steward His resources well. 324 00:17:32,320 --> 00:17:35,520 And then to spend time with Him and His Word in our homes. 325 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:38,320 To open up His Word, to read His Word, to study His Word, to 326 00:17:38,320 --> 00:17:46,480 meditate on His Word, to be in a the best possible position, to 327 00:17:46,480 --> 00:17:51,640 be able to hear from Him. But even though Samuel was as 328 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,640 close as he could possibly be to the presence of the Lord, and 329 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:58,040 the Lord began to call out to him, he didn't recognize the 330 00:17:58,040 --> 00:18:04,040 Lord's voice #4 I want us to ask ourselves, do we recognize the 331 00:18:04,040 --> 00:18:08,360 Lord's voice? Do we recognize the Lord's 332 00:18:08,360 --> 00:18:11,640 voice? Going back to verse four in 333 00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:15,200 first Samuel 3. Then the Lord called Samuel and 334 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:17,680 he answered, here I am. And he ran to Eli and said, Here 335 00:18:17,680 --> 00:18:20,640 I am, you called me. I didn't call, Eli replied, Go 336 00:18:20,640 --> 00:18:22,880 back and lie down. So he went and lay down. 337 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:25,280 Once again the Lord called Samuel. 338 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:28,760 Samuel got up, went to Eli and said, Here I am. 339 00:18:28,760 --> 00:18:31,360 You called me. I didn't call my son, he 340 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:32,800 replied. Go back and lie down. 341 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,520 Now Samuel did not yet know or did not yet know the Lord, 342 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,720 because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 343 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:42,960 Once again, for the third time, the Lord. 344 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:44,880 Called Samuel. He got up and went to Eli and 345 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:51,720 said, here I am, you called me. The Lord called out to Samuel 346 00:18:51,720 --> 00:18:54,440 multiple times over and over and over again. 347 00:18:54,440 --> 00:18:57,200 But when Samuel heard someone calling his name, he just 348 00:18:57,200 --> 00:19:00,560 immediately thought, hey, Eli must have woken up and he needs 349 00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,600 something from me, so I need to go check with him. 350 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:04,880 And so Samuel would go and he would check with Eli and Eli's 351 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:07,120 like, no man, you're crazy. Go back to sleep and he'd go 352 00:19:07,120 --> 00:19:10,120 back to sleep and then he would hear again his name being 353 00:19:10,120 --> 00:19:11,480 called. He would go check in with Eli 354 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:14,600 because God's Word tells us that he did not yet know the. 355 00:19:14,600 --> 00:19:20,120 Lord. Samuel didn't yet know the Lord, 356 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:23,080 and so he didn't recognize his voice. 357 00:19:24,880 --> 00:19:27,360 I think many of us say that we would desire to hear from the 358 00:19:27,360 --> 00:19:31,040 Lord, but maybe the Lord has been calling and we just don't 359 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:36,480 recognize his voice. Jesus uses an analogy, A 360 00:19:36,480 --> 00:19:40,960 metaphor, a parable In John chapter 10, starting in verse 361 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:44,720 24, the Jews surrounded him and asked, How long are you going to 362 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:46,480 keep us in suspense if you were the Messiah? 363 00:19:46,480 --> 00:19:49,440 Tell us plainly, they wanted to know, Are you the Christ? 364 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,040 Are you the one that God has anointed to bring salvation to 365 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:53,000 his people? Are you the one? 366 00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:56,760 Just tell us. And Jesus says in verse 25, I 367 00:19:56,760 --> 00:19:58,400 did tell you, and you don't believe. 368 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:01,200 Jesus answered them. The works that I do in my 369 00:20:01,200 --> 00:20:04,560 Father's name testify about me, but you don't believe because 370 00:20:04,560 --> 00:20:08,880 you are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. 371 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:13,680 I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and 372 00:20:13,680 --> 00:20:17,000 they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of 373 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:20,880 my hand. Jesus gives them a picture that 374 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:24,920 they will be familiar with of a shepherd and his sheep and a 375 00:20:25,040 --> 00:20:27,960 certain flock of sheep would know and listen to. 376 00:20:28,040 --> 00:20:31,440 The voice of their shepherd. And if another shepherd came 377 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:34,720 around to try to to try to give the sheep commands or to try to 378 00:20:34,720 --> 00:20:37,360 move them in one way or another, they would not listen to that 379 00:20:37,360 --> 00:20:40,040 shepherd because they would be looking for the voice of their 380 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,480 shepherd, and they would know the voice of their shepherd 381 00:20:44,480 --> 00:20:48,440 well. We live in a digital age where 382 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:55,400 we've got voices of all kinds coming at us at all times, and 383 00:20:55,400 --> 00:21:02,640 sometimes if we're not closely walking with the Lord, we can be 384 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:06,920 deceived and we can think the voice of another is the voice of 385 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:11,000 our Shepherd. And we can begin to follow 386 00:21:11,000 --> 00:21:13,600 things that are not true and that are not the word of the 387 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:17,440 Lord, and they're not His voice. And So what about you? 388 00:21:17,440 --> 00:21:19,760 Do you recognize the voice of your shepherd? 389 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:24,000 If the Lord was calling to you right now, asking you to do 390 00:21:24,000 --> 00:21:26,880 something through His Word by the nudging of His Holy Spirit, 391 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:29,800 would you know that it was of the Lord? 392 00:21:30,480 --> 00:21:32,600 Some of you may be here this morning and He's not your 393 00:21:32,600 --> 00:21:35,160 shepherd. You have never come to a place 394 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:37,920 in your life where you have recognized that you are a 395 00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:41,560 Sinner, that you have committed an offence before God and that 396 00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:44,600 you are separated from Him, and that you desperately need that 397 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:48,160 relationship to be restored. And that the only way that it 398 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:52,280 can be restored is because God gave us His best gift in Jesus, 399 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:55,720 His one and only Son lived a perfect life and offered His 400 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:58,800 perfect life up on the cross as a sacrifice for our. 401 00:21:58,800 --> 00:22:03,160 Sins, He paid the debt that we owed. 402 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:08,560 He died in our place so that if we would believe and trust in 403 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:12,240 him, if we would repent, turn from the way that we're living 404 00:22:12,240 --> 00:22:16,720 our life, believe in Him that He would save us. 405 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:20,600 Some of you, this morning God is calling you to salvation. 406 00:22:21,920 --> 00:22:25,960 Some of you God is calling to himself to come and take a hold 407 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:30,080 of a new shepherd, to stop living your life your own way, 408 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:33,920 and to submit to Jesus. But some of you are here this 409 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,200 morning and the Lord, and you already know the Lord. 410 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:43,080 You are his sheep, but you strayed and you don't recognize 411 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,840 His voice like you used to. And He's calling to you to take 412 00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:50,520 another, another step of obedience, but you don't 413 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:56,240 recognize His voice. But the good news is number 5, 414 00:22:58,240 --> 00:23:00,880 the Lord is persistent in His pursuit of us. 415 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:04,640 You see, when he was calling out to Samuel, he didn't just call 416 00:23:04,640 --> 00:23:07,000 one time. And when Samuel walked away and 417 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,400 went to Eli and didn't recognize the Lord's voice, that the Lord 418 00:23:10,400 --> 00:23:13,000 just washed his hands of it and gave up and step back and didn't 419 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,920 call again. No, again and again and again 420 00:23:16,920 --> 00:23:17,640 and again. The. 421 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:21,680 Lord called out to Samuel. He was persistent in his pursuit 422 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:25,200 of Samuel, just as he was persistent in his pursuit of 423 00:23:25,200 --> 00:23:27,440 Samuel. He's persistent in his pursuit 424 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:28,120 of. US. 425 00:23:29,040 --> 00:23:30,960 The Lord loves us, He cares for us. 426 00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:32,880 If you're here and you don't have a relationship with God 427 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,240 through Jesus, He is pursuing after you. 428 00:23:35,240 --> 00:23:38,440 He wants to save you. He wants a relationship with 429 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:41,760 you. In fact, in building on the 430 00:23:41,760 --> 00:23:46,840 shepherd parable that Jesus that we just read from Jesus again in 431 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:52,400 Luke chapter 15, starting in verse 2, he goes back to that 432 00:23:52,400 --> 00:23:55,920 shepherding analogy. The Pharisees were complaining 433 00:23:55,920 --> 00:23:59,280 that Jesus was spending too much time with people that were 434 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:03,840 unsightly and that were evil. And so Jesus answered them in 435 00:24:03,840 --> 00:24:06,480 this way in Luke 15, three, He told them this parable. 436 00:24:06,880 --> 00:24:10,480 What man among you who has 100 sheep and loses one of them does 437 00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:14,080 not leave the 99 in the open field and go after the lost one 438 00:24:14,080 --> 00:24:17,320 until he finds it. When he is found it, he joyfully 439 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:20,280 puts it on his shoulders, coming home and coming home he calls 440 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:23,680 his friends and neighbors saying to them, Rejoice with me because 441 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:26,080 I found my lost sheep. I tell you. 442 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:29,280 In the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over 1 Sinner 443 00:24:29,440 --> 00:24:32,400 who repents than over 99 righteous people who don't need 444 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:34,840 repentance. You see? 445 00:24:34,840 --> 00:24:38,880 Jesus is that Good Shepherd, and all of us at one time in our 446 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:41,440 lives or another, we're like lost sheep who'd gone astray, 447 00:24:43,320 --> 00:24:47,320 desperately in need for the shepherd to come and find us, to 448 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:52,560 save us, and to bring us home. And if you're here this morning 449 00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:56,600 and you don't have a personal relationship with Jesus, he is 450 00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:01,120 like the Good Shepherd who is persistently pursuing after you. 451 00:25:02,080 --> 00:25:06,360 He's calling to you and wants a relationship with you, but 452 00:25:06,360 --> 00:25:10,080 you've got to respond to him. And then you may be here and 453 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,240 you, you may have already chosen to follow the Lord. 454 00:25:14,360 --> 00:25:17,680 And I said, man, I've been a church member for decades, been 455 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:19,400 a follower of Jesus since I was a kid. 456 00:25:20,840 --> 00:25:23,520 But maybe you're dealing with sin in your life. 457 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:27,560 Maybe there's a sin issue that just keeps coming back up that's 458 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:29,480 caused you to drift in your relationship with the Lord. 459 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:33,920 Or maybe you're running from him, and maybe you're too 460 00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:35,960 ashamed to even be here this morning. 461 00:25:38,200 --> 00:25:40,400 But man, I want to tell you that you're Good Shepherd loves you, 462 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,000 and He cares for you, and He's also pursuing after you, and He 463 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:49,480 wants you to come back to Him. And so listen to his call to 464 00:25:49,480 --> 00:25:57,480 return to Him this morning. And oftentimes, number six, the 465 00:25:57,480 --> 00:26:00,200 Lord uses others to help us hear from him. 466 00:26:01,920 --> 00:26:05,480 The Lord is in the habit of using other people as 467 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:09,320 messengers. In first Samuel chapter 3, 468 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:13,920 starting in verse 8 once again for the third time the Lord 469 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:15,920 called Samuel. He got up and went to Eli and 470 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:19,480 said, here I am, you called me. Then Eli understood that the 471 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:24,120 Lord was calling the boy, so he told Samuel go and lie down if 472 00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:27,800 he calls to. You say speak, Lord, for your 473 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:32,560 servant is listening. So Samuel went down and lay in 474 00:26:32,560 --> 00:26:37,560 his place. See, I wonder if Eli had not 475 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:40,240 been present, would Samuel have ever recognized the voice of the 476 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:42,800 Lord? You see, this interaction 477 00:26:42,800 --> 00:26:45,880 happens multiple times of the Lord calling out to Samuel, 478 00:26:45,880 --> 00:26:49,080 Samuel running to Eli thinking it's Eli, and then Eli telling 479 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:50,760 him to go back. And it's back and forth, back 480 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:54,520 and forth, back and forth, until finally Eli recognizes what's 481 00:26:54,520 --> 00:26:57,160 going on. Man, the Lord is trying to speak 482 00:26:57,160 --> 00:26:59,800 to this young man. So he gives him instructions on 483 00:27:00,000 --> 00:27:03,200 to go back, to lie in this place, to wait until the voice 484 00:27:03,200 --> 00:27:07,000 calls out again, and then to say, speak Lord, your servant, 485 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:13,120 He's listening. You see, God uses people 486 00:27:13,120 --> 00:27:17,440 strategically. He desires to use you. 487 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:20,920 In Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20, some of the last 488 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:26,440 words that Jesus ever said in the Great Commission when Jesus 489 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:28,840 is talking to his disciples, he said, Jesus came there and said 490 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,920 to them, all authority has been given to me in heaven and on 491 00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:34,240 earth. Go there for and make disciples 492 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:36,600 of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of 493 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:39,680 the Son of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe 494 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:42,960 everything that I've commanded you and remember I'm with you 495 00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:48,440 always until the end of the age. Jesus is called and commissioned 496 00:27:48,440 --> 00:27:53,200 us as followers of Him to go and make more followers of Him. 497 00:27:53,840 --> 00:27:57,200 It's our responsibility to go take the good news of Jesus, to 498 00:27:57,200 --> 00:28:01,280 take God's Word and to proclaim it to those in our lives and to 499 00:28:01,280 --> 00:28:02,560 proclaim it to the ends of the earth. 500 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:08,040 And so God wants to use you in the lives of the people around 501 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:13,080 you to help them hear from him. And so are you going to take the 502 00:28:13,080 --> 00:28:15,640 responsibility that God has given you to go and make 503 00:28:15,640 --> 00:28:20,040 disciples and actually do something about it in 2026 and 504 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,520 not just think, man, that's somebody else's job, man, the 505 00:28:22,520 --> 00:28:24,240 pastors of the staff are going to handle that or our 506 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:25,520 missionaries are going to handle that. 507 00:28:25,680 --> 00:28:28,040 I've just got to get up and go to work and just try to make it. 508 00:28:29,680 --> 00:28:35,720 You know, God desires to use all of us to make disciples who love 509 00:28:35,720 --> 00:28:39,880 God, love others, and join God's mission. 510 00:28:40,360 --> 00:28:42,000 That's our vision here in Inglewood Baptist Church. 511 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:45,360 That's what we want to see. We want to see all of us making 512 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,400 disciples, disciples making disciples. 513 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:53,880 And so God wants to use us in the lives of others in 2026 to 514 00:28:53,880 --> 00:29:01,520 help them hear from the Lord. But #7 we must respond to the 515 00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:06,800 Lord's call. You see, we don't have the power 516 00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:10,040 to make anyone respond to the word of the Lord. 517 00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:13,600 It's our job to be faithful, to teach in the proclaim it. 518 00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:18,160 But God by the power of His Holy Spirit is the one that's got to 519 00:29:18,160 --> 00:29:20,280 do the work in the minds and hearts of others in order to 520 00:29:20,280 --> 00:29:25,720 help them to respond to Him. You see in first Samuel chapter 521 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,600 3 verse 10, the Lord came and stood there again and called as 522 00:29:28,600 --> 00:29:31,480 before. Samuel, Samuel, Samuel 523 00:29:31,480 --> 00:29:35,800 responded, speak for your servant is listening. 524 00:29:36,920 --> 00:29:39,800 Samuel responded to the call of the Lord. 525 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:45,000 And so for us, for you and your life, if the Lord is calling out 526 00:29:45,000 --> 00:29:48,560 to you, you have to take a step of action and respond to 527 00:29:48,560 --> 00:29:50,280 whatever it is that He's calling you to. 528 00:29:50,840 --> 00:29:52,680 Whether he's calling you to repent and believe and be 529 00:29:52,680 --> 00:29:55,560 baptized, or whether you've already made that step and maybe 530 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,640 he's calling you to a new area of service in 2026, or maybe 531 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,240 he's calling you to go on a mission trip somewhere in 2026. 532 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:05,280 The Uganda mission trip applications closed today and 533 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:08,280 next Sunday we've got an information meeting for some 534 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:12,160 more mission trips at 3:00 right here in this room. 535 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:15,160 And so maybe for some of you, he's calling you to go on 536 00:30:15,160 --> 00:30:19,680 mission in 2026 somewhere. Or maybe there's somebody in 537 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:21,960 this room that he's calling into vocational ministry. 538 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:27,760 Or maybe he's just calling you to take whatever that next step 539 00:30:27,760 --> 00:30:32,720 of obedience is to him. You see in Acts chapter 2, when 540 00:30:32,720 --> 00:30:35,920 Peter preaches this incredible sermon at Pentecost, after he's 541 00:30:35,920 --> 00:30:38,360 done preaching to thousands of people, listen to the way that 542 00:30:38,360 --> 00:30:42,040 they respond in verse 37. Of Acts chapter 2. 543 00:30:42,840 --> 00:30:46,480 When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to 544 00:30:46,480 --> 00:30:48,440 Peter and to the rest of the apostles Brothers, what should 545 00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:50,240 we do? Peter replied. 546 00:30:50,240 --> 00:30:52,880 Repent and be baptized, each one of you in the name of Jesus 547 00:30:52,880 --> 00:30:56,520 Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive 548 00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:01,080 the gift. Of the Holy Spirit, See, Peter 549 00:31:01,080 --> 00:31:02,560 told them. They've been pierced to the 550 00:31:02,560 --> 00:31:03,920 heart. They had heard the message, they 551 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:07,360 had heard God calling them. But now it was their turn to do 552 00:31:07,360 --> 00:31:11,920 something, to respond to God's call to repent, to turn from 553 00:31:11,920 --> 00:31:14,400 doing things their own way, to turn from living their life for 554 00:31:14,400 --> 00:31:17,240 themselves, to turn to living for the Lord and following Him 555 00:31:17,240 --> 00:31:20,040 and believing and trusting in Him and submitting to His 556 00:31:20,040 --> 00:31:24,200 lordship over their lives. But we've got to be careful 557 00:31:25,360 --> 00:31:29,320 because #8 sometimes the word from the Lord will be difficult. 558 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:33,960 Actually, I wish I would have put oftentimes the word from the 559 00:31:33,960 --> 00:31:38,360 Lord will be difficult because Samuel's here now where he's 560 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:40,960 gone back and forth with Eli and the Lord calling out to him 561 00:31:40,960 --> 00:31:43,360 again and again, and he hasn't recognized the Lord's voice. 562 00:31:43,600 --> 00:31:47,160 Well, now he's here, he's laying down, he hears the Lord's voice 563 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:49,000 again. He says speak, your servant is 564 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,560 listening, but now he doesn't know what to. 565 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:55,200 Expect he doesn't know what it is that God wants to communicate 566 00:31:55,200 --> 00:31:57,920 to him. And so I would imagine there's 567 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:01,280 an ounce of fear and maybe some excitement knowing that, hey 568 00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:03,800 God, God wants to speak to me. He wants to tell me something. 569 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:06,400 He's calling out to me. What might that be? 570 00:32:08,800 --> 00:32:13,560 Well, let's look first Samuel chapter 3 starting in verse 11. 571 00:32:13,560 --> 00:32:18,560 Look at the Lord's response. The Lord said to Samuel, I'm 572 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:21,080 about to do something in Israel that will cause everyone who 573 00:32:21,080 --> 00:32:23,440 hears. About it, to shudder on that 574 00:32:23,440 --> 00:32:26,480 day, I'll carry out against Eli everything I said about his 575 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,800 family from beginning to end. I told him that I'm going to 576 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:32,360 judge his family forever because of the iniquity that he knows 577 00:32:32,360 --> 00:32:35,480 about his. Sons are cursing God, and He has 578 00:32:35,480 --> 00:32:39,000 not stopped them. Therefore, I have sworn to Eli's 579 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:41,560 family. The iniquity of Eli's family 580 00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:45,680 will never be wiped out by either sacrifice or offering. 581 00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:47,960 Samuel lay down until the morning. 582 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:50,120 Then he opened the doors of the Lord's house. 583 00:32:51,080 --> 00:32:53,080 He was afraid to tell Eli the vision. 584 00:32:54,080 --> 00:32:59,160 No kidding. The message that God had for 585 00:32:59,160 --> 00:33:05,760 Samuel was a message of judgment against his boss, his mentor, 586 00:33:06,720 --> 00:33:08,440 the one who had been helping to raise him. 587 00:33:09,840 --> 00:33:12,120 You see, we talked about Eli's sons all the way back at the 588 00:33:12,120 --> 00:33:13,520 beginning and how evil they were. 589 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:17,680 And now God has proclaimed a judgment upon Eli and his family 590 00:33:17,680 --> 00:33:20,800 because Eli has let this go on and has not done anything about 591 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:27,080 it. And so here's young Samuel with 592 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:28,720 a message of judgment from the Lord. 593 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:34,320 And now fear in his heart, he's afraid of communicating to Eli 594 00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:38,480 what God has said to him. And so instead of going to see 595 00:33:38,480 --> 00:33:41,240 Eli, he just lays back down where he's at and he waits till 596 00:33:41,240 --> 00:33:43,160 in the morning. And he just does his normal 597 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:45,600 duties the next morning to open the temple up like always, and 598 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:48,160 thinks, hey, maybe Eli will just forget about all this. 599 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:56,800 Because sometimes we say we want to hear a voice from the Lord, 600 00:33:58,320 --> 00:34:00,760 but really what we want is for the Lord to give us what we 601 00:34:00,760 --> 00:34:04,760 want. Man, there's so many people in 602 00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:09,159 this world that claim to follow Jesus but are just trying to use 603 00:34:09,199 --> 00:34:12,520 Jesus as a get out of hell free card and just live their life 604 00:34:12,520 --> 00:34:14,159 whatever way they want to live their life. 605 00:34:14,920 --> 00:34:17,159 Well, that is not what following Jesus looks like. 606 00:34:17,960 --> 00:34:20,679 Listen to what Jesus told his followers in Matthew chapter 16 607 00:34:20,679 --> 00:34:23,880 starting in verse 24. Then Jesus said to his 608 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,480 disciples, If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny 609 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,159 himself. Take up his cross and follow me. 610 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:32,719 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever 611 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:34,840 loses his life because of me will find it. 612 00:34:35,600 --> 00:34:38,360 For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet 613 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,679 loses his life? Or what will anyone give in 614 00:34:41,679 --> 00:34:46,120 exchange for his life? What Jesus tells his followers 615 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:48,560 is, hey, if you're going to come up after me, you've got to deny 616 00:34:48,560 --> 00:34:50,639 yourself. You've got to take up the cross 617 00:34:50,639 --> 00:34:54,080 and instrument of. Death every day. 618 00:34:55,120 --> 00:34:57,760 You've got to deny yourself, you've got to die to the flesh, 619 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:00,640 you've got to die to your old self and choose to do things 620 00:35:00,640 --> 00:35:04,000 Jesus's way instead of choosing to do things your own way each 621 00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:08,400 and every day. If you're going to follow me, is 622 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:09,680 that what your walk with Jesus looks? 623 00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:16,080 Like what is your so-called relationship with the Lord? 624 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:23,680 Only change your plans for Sunday morning because in 2026 625 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:28,080 and I want to see a group of people that are sold out for 626 00:35:28,080 --> 00:35:32,760 following Jesus that man. We're taking our faith 627 00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:39,400 seriously, and we're not afraid of a difficult word from the 628 00:35:39,400 --> 00:35:42,520 Lord that's going to make us uncomfortable because as our 629 00:35:42,520 --> 00:35:46,840 culture consistently drifts away from what we would call 630 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:52,720 Judeo-christian moral values, which is arguable how deep that 631 00:35:52,720 --> 00:35:58,520 ever ran anyways, the more you live for Jesus and follow Him, 632 00:35:59,920 --> 00:36:02,600 the more countercultural your life is going to be. 633 00:36:03,680 --> 00:36:06,960 The more things are not going to be easy for you, the more people 634 00:36:06,960 --> 00:36:08,640 are going to be hostile towards you. 635 00:36:11,920 --> 00:36:12,960 So what are you going to do with it? 636 00:36:14,680 --> 00:36:16,440 Do you really want to hear a word from the Lord? 637 00:36:17,600 --> 00:36:19,360 Do you really want to hear His voice? 638 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:23,720 His odds are what He's got to say is going to involve you 639 00:36:23,720 --> 00:36:28,400 being uncomfortable and involve you doing something difficult. 640 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:33,440 But He promises, as we read in Matthew chapter 28, that He will 641 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:37,040 be with us always and that we don't do any of this on our own 642 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:39,760 power, but we do it by the power of His Holy Spirit living inside 643 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:42,320 of us. And so if you're here this 644 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:44,400 morning, you don't know Jesus, man, and He's calling you to 645 00:36:44,400 --> 00:36:47,160 come to him. It's not going to be easy. 646 00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:50,800 Your life is not magically going to get easier. 647 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:53,280 In fact, your life, the your relationships around you make it 648 00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,200 make it more difficult. It may get harder. 649 00:36:57,600 --> 00:37:00,600 Jesus tells us that because the world hated him, it's going to 650 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:05,400 hate us. And if you're here and you're a 651 00:37:05,400 --> 00:37:07,440 follower of Jesus and you're like, man, I just, I want to 652 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:09,520 hear a word from the Lord. I want to, I want to know him. 653 00:37:09,520 --> 00:37:10,960 I want to be able to hear his voice. 654 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:14,120 Maybe whatever he's calling you to next is going to be a big 655 00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:16,920 change, man. Maybe it's going to be 656 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:19,920 difficult. Maybe it's going to involve 657 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:22,720 giving up some of the things that you've been holding on to 658 00:37:22,720 --> 00:37:25,960 so tightly. Are you ready for that? 659 00:37:28,040 --> 00:37:34,160 Samuel was #9 We must speak the word of the Lord with boldness. 660 00:37:37,840 --> 00:37:42,400 Well, Eli didn't forget soon as Samuel opens up the temple the 661 00:37:42,400 --> 00:37:45,320 next morning in First Samuel chapter 3 starting in verse 16. 662 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:49,440 But Eli called him and said, Samuel, my son, here I am, 663 00:37:49,440 --> 00:37:52,240 answered Samuel. What was the message he gave 664 00:37:52,240 --> 00:37:53,880 you? Eli asked. 665 00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:57,000 Don't hide it from me, May God punish. 666 00:37:57,000 --> 00:38:00,680 You and do so severely if you hide anything from me that he 667 00:38:00,680 --> 00:38:05,200 told you so. Samuel told him everything and 668 00:38:05,200 --> 00:38:08,720 did not hide anything from him. Eli responded. 669 00:38:08,720 --> 00:38:12,200 He is the Lord, let him do what he thinks is good. 670 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:17,800 Eli backed Samuel into a corner where he had two, really two 671 00:38:17,800 --> 00:38:22,760 choices to make. Either lie to his mentor, to the 672 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:29,400 priest of God, or to tell him the truth, to boldly proclaim 673 00:38:29,400 --> 00:38:33,520 God's word with clarity and completely. 674 00:38:34,560 --> 00:38:36,200 And that's exactly what Samuel did. 675 00:38:37,200 --> 00:38:41,280 You see, as the culture continually drifts away from the 676 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:46,560 Lord and gets more and more crazy out there, it's going to 677 00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:48,960 be more difficult. We're going to need more 678 00:38:48,960 --> 00:38:52,760 boldness. So we've talked time and time 679 00:38:52,760 --> 00:38:55,160 again over the over the last months about a situation 680 00:38:55,160 --> 00:38:58,960 overseas where one of our M's was put into prison for sharing 681 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:03,680 his faith. The Apostle Paul was no stranger 682 00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:09,280 to a prison cell, and as Paul is writing here towards the end of 683 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:13,040 Ephesians chapter 6, he tells them not to pray that he would 684 00:39:13,040 --> 00:39:18,240 be released from prison, but to pray also for me in verse 19, 685 00:39:19,600 --> 00:39:22,600 that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make 686 00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:25,920 known with boldness the. Mystery of the Gospel. 687 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:28,760 For this I am an ambassador in chains. 688 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:33,200 Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should. 689 00:39:34,600 --> 00:39:37,040 And if you're a follower of Jesus here in this room, and God 690 00:39:37,040 --> 00:39:41,160 has called you to talk to other people about your faith, He's 691 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:43,400 called you to make disciples. He's taught, He's called you to 692 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:47,600 proclaim the gospel to others. And so when you do that, when 693 00:39:47,600 --> 00:39:50,000 you live your life for Jesus, and when you tell other people 694 00:39:50,000 --> 00:39:52,600 about Jesus, there's going to be persecution. 695 00:39:53,440 --> 00:39:56,680 They might not throw you in a prison cell, but man, they may 696 00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:59,760 treat you differently. You may not get invited to all 697 00:39:59,760 --> 00:40:01,440 the places that you want to be invited to. 698 00:40:02,040 --> 00:40:03,880 You may not get the promotion you want. 699 00:40:06,480 --> 00:40:09,680 But you. Are called to be bold. 700 00:40:13,040 --> 00:40:16,760 And So what are you going to do in 2026? 701 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:18,760 Are we going to value our comfort more than we value 702 00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:22,800 obedience to Jesus? Because that's really what the 703 00:40:22,800 --> 00:40:24,680 deciding factor is going to be about, whether we're going to 704 00:40:24,680 --> 00:40:26,400 stand on God's Word with boldness or not. 705 00:40:27,120 --> 00:40:30,480 And this world desperately needs us to stand on God's Word with 706 00:40:30,480 --> 00:40:35,600 boldness, not to hide and just be in a corner and to just never 707 00:40:35,600 --> 00:40:38,320 leave this room, but to go out in the places that God has 708 00:40:38,320 --> 00:40:40,280 called you to be in and to live boldly for Him. 709 00:40:43,600 --> 00:40:49,960 Lastly #10 the Lord will bless obedience. 710 00:40:51,280 --> 00:40:53,720 Now that blessing may not look like what you're imagining it 711 00:40:53,720 --> 00:40:56,440 imagining it to look like. The Lord never promises us that 712 00:40:56,440 --> 00:40:59,800 we're going to have financial peace and security and and 713 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:02,320 material blessings from Him if we're obedient to Him. 714 00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:07,400 But there are all kinds of other blessings that come along with 715 00:41:07,400 --> 00:41:13,040 being obedient to Jesus for Samuel in first Samuel chapter 716 00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:16,680 3, starting in 19, Samuel grew. The Lord was with him and he 717 00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:20,120 fulfilled everything that Samuel prophesied all Israel from Dan 718 00:41:20,120 --> 00:41:22,720 the Beersheba knew that Samuel was a confirmed prophet of the 719 00:41:22,720 --> 00:41:25,040 Lord. The Lord continued to appear in 720 00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:29,160 Shiloh because there he revealed himself to Samuel by his word. 721 00:41:29,400 --> 00:41:34,080 See the rest of Samuel's life, Samuel was a great example of 722 00:41:34,080 --> 00:41:39,080 faithfulness and of boldness and what it looked like to be a man 723 00:41:39,080 --> 00:41:40,960 of integrity and to follow Jesus faithfully. 724 00:41:41,920 --> 00:41:44,080 God blessed him. God was with him. 725 00:41:44,080 --> 00:41:46,600 God used him an incredible and mighty ways. 726 00:41:47,720 --> 00:41:51,880 But Samuel's life wasn't easy. God never promises us that our 727 00:41:51,880 --> 00:41:58,440 life is going to be easy. You see, I hope 2026 for myself 728 00:41:58,440 --> 00:42:03,120 and for my family and for Englewood and for all of you is 729 00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:09,440 the best year yet. And what I mean by that is that 730 00:42:09,440 --> 00:42:11,720 we're the most faithful to the Lord that we've ever been. 731 00:42:13,440 --> 00:42:15,880 See, I told you at the very beginning that there were kind 732 00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:17,920 of a couple of passages of Scripture that I thought the 733 00:42:17,920 --> 00:42:20,360 Lord was going to lead to this morning. 734 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:22,840 And one of those passages is one of my favorite passages of 735 00:42:22,840 --> 00:42:26,640 Scripture, Psalm 1. And I want to read that to you 736 00:42:26,640 --> 00:42:28,120 this morning as we get ready to close. 737 00:42:30,240 --> 00:42:34,080 Psalm One says this. How happy, or depending on your 738 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:37,880 translation, how blessed is the one who does not walk in the 739 00:42:37,880 --> 00:42:41,760 advice of the wicked, or stand in the pathway with sinners, or 740 00:42:41,760 --> 00:42:45,640 sit in the company of mockers. Instead, his delight is in the 741 00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:49,080 Lord's instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. 742 00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:52,800 He's like a tree planted beside flowing streams that bears its 743 00:42:52,800 --> 00:42:55,920 fruit in its season, and it's leaf does not wither. 744 00:42:56,560 --> 00:43:00,320 Whatever he does, he prospers. The wicked are not like this. 745 00:43:00,320 --> 00:43:02,800 Instead, they're like the chaff that the wind blows away. 746 00:43:03,360 --> 00:43:05,360 Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment, nor 747 00:43:05,360 --> 00:43:08,120 the sinners in the assembly of the righteous, for the Lord 748 00:43:08,120 --> 00:43:09,880 watches over the way of the righteous. 749 00:43:09,880 --> 00:43:12,360 But the way of the wicked leads to ruin. 750 00:43:13,080 --> 00:43:19,720 You want to have a blessed, You want to have a happy 2026. 751 00:43:19,720 --> 00:43:22,080 You want to be fulfilled. You want to be content. 752 00:43:22,080 --> 00:43:23,960 You want to have joy in your life. 753 00:43:26,560 --> 00:43:28,280 Are you listening for the voice of the Lord? 754 00:43:30,040 --> 00:43:32,680 Because in God's Word, in Psalm one, it tells us how to have a 755 00:43:32,680 --> 00:43:37,560 happy life. Don't walk in the advice of the 756 00:43:37,560 --> 00:43:40,160 wicked. Don't stand in the pathway with 757 00:43:40,160 --> 00:43:42,600 sinners. Don't sit in the company of 758 00:43:42,600 --> 00:43:46,200 mockers. Instead, delight yourself and 759 00:43:46,200 --> 00:43:50,200 the instruction of the Lord. Meditate on it day and night. 760 00:43:51,280 --> 00:43:54,600 And if we love God's Word, if we're seeking desperately to 761 00:43:54,600 --> 00:43:59,040 hear from Him and to respond to Him in obedience, then we'll be 762 00:43:59,040 --> 00:44:03,600 like a tree firmly planted beside all of the nourishment 763 00:44:03,600 --> 00:44:07,360 that we will ever need, and we'll grow up and be who God has 764 00:44:07,360 --> 00:44:11,880 called us to be. And so I want to do something 765 00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:14,040 with you this morning that I do with our students often. 766 00:44:14,040 --> 00:44:17,480 I want to ask you to bow your head and close your eyes. 767 00:44:17,480 --> 00:44:19,560 I'm going to tell you the same thing I tell our students. 768 00:44:20,360 --> 00:44:23,840 There is nothing mystical that happens just because your eyes 769 00:44:23,840 --> 00:44:28,200 are closed. But we are very distracted 770 00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:33,040 people, and sometimes it helps us focus. 771 00:44:34,040 --> 00:44:36,960 If we'll just take a moment, we'll close our eyes. 772 00:44:37,960 --> 00:44:39,240 Here's what I want you to do. I want you to have a 773 00:44:39,240 --> 00:44:42,920 conversation with the Lord. I want you to begin a 774 00:44:42,920 --> 00:44:44,360 conversation with the Lord right now. 775 00:44:45,200 --> 00:44:47,960 Maybe this is the first time you're ever talking to the Lord. 776 00:44:50,520 --> 00:44:56,160 I want you to call out to Him, and I want you to look back and 777 00:44:56,160 --> 00:44:58,520 think about your walk with Him in 2025. 778 00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:07,800 Can your walk with the Lord in 2025 be defined by you regularly 779 00:45:07,800 --> 00:45:10,000 listening to the voice of the Lord? 780 00:45:13,240 --> 00:45:17,360 Or have you been distracted by other voices and maybe even the 781 00:45:17,360 --> 00:45:20,680 voice of your own heart that's leading you astray? 782 00:45:27,480 --> 00:45:29,560 Are you truly listening for the voice of the Lord? 783 00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:36,800 And I want you in your conversation with him, to repeat 784 00:45:36,800 --> 00:45:40,200 the words that Eli told Samuel to say. 785 00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:47,560 Speak Lord, for your servant is listening. 786 00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:55,320 And as we get ready to sing this final song, I want you to spend 787 00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:59,760 some moments in reflection. And I want you to ask the Lord 788 00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:04,080 to speak to you. What is it that the Lord is 789 00:46:04,080 --> 00:46:07,000 calling you to this morning and in 2026? 790 00:46:09,040 --> 00:46:12,200 And maybe the Lord is calling you to to take the next step of 791 00:46:12,560 --> 00:46:16,600 faith or obedience right now. And maybe he's calling you to 792 00:46:16,600 --> 00:46:18,080 salvation. Maybe he's calling you to give 793 00:46:18,080 --> 00:46:21,280 your life to him, or maybe you've already given your life 794 00:46:21,280 --> 00:46:22,800 to him. Maybe he's calling you to take 795 00:46:22,800 --> 00:46:24,800 the next step of obedience through baptism or through 796 00:46:24,800 --> 00:46:27,560 church membership. Or maybe he's calling you to a 797 00:46:27,560 --> 00:46:29,400 new area of service. Or maybe he's calling you to go 798 00:46:29,400 --> 00:46:30,920 on mission. Or maybe he's just calling you 799 00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:35,840 to just be more faithful, to be that bold witness in the places 800 00:46:35,840 --> 00:46:41,640 that he's placed you in. Speak glory. 801 00:46:42,920 --> 00:46:48,400 Your servant is listening, and then as the Holy Spirit moves on 802 00:46:48,400 --> 00:46:50,760 your mind and heart, I don't want you to take that away from 803 00:46:51,080 --> 00:46:52,600 from here without doing anything about it. 804 00:46:53,560 --> 00:46:55,480 I'm going to pray here in just a second that the Lord would give 805 00:46:55,480 --> 00:46:59,000 you boldness and courage to act on whatever it is that He's 806 00:46:59,000 --> 00:47:02,560 calling you to. There's going to be pastors down 807 00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:06,440 here in the front, as well as some volunteers in our Next 808 00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:08,600 Steps room that would love to be able to have a conversation with 809 00:47:08,600 --> 00:47:11,880 you about what it looks like to follow Jesus or to take whatever 810 00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:14,000 that next step is of obedience for you. 811 00:47:17,280 --> 00:47:19,640 Or maybe you just need to make these stairs an altar. 812 00:47:21,680 --> 00:47:23,560 And maybe you just need to come up here this morning and spend 813 00:47:23,560 --> 00:47:28,720 some time in prayer with the Lord, crying out to him, laying 814 00:47:28,720 --> 00:47:34,560 2025 at his feet and asking Him to help you be more intentional 815 00:47:34,560 --> 00:47:40,120 in 2026. To listen for His voice, to hear 816 00:47:40,120 --> 00:47:43,960 it, to respond in obedience to it. 817 00:47:46,360 --> 00:47:49,920 Let me pray for you, Heavenly Father, Thank you so much. 818 00:47:51,440 --> 00:47:53,440 As we've already said, Lord, we didn't plan this. 819 00:47:55,000 --> 00:48:00,160 We actually could have had no idea that we would be here right 820 00:48:00,160 --> 00:48:06,080 now in this place like this. But Lord, I believe that you're 821 00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:09,360 sovereign over everything. I believe that nothing catches 822 00:48:09,360 --> 00:48:14,480 you by surprise or off guard. So I believe you wanted me and 823 00:48:14,480 --> 00:48:19,160 you wanted us to be able to hear from First Samuel chapter 3 this 824 00:48:19,160 --> 00:48:22,320 morning. For whatever reason, Lord, only 825 00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:28,880 you know. And so, Lord, I pray that 826 00:48:28,880 --> 00:48:34,480 collectively we can say, speak, Lord, for your servants are 827 00:48:34,520 --> 00:48:42,920 listening and then all around this room and online that you 828 00:48:42,920 --> 00:48:45,360 through the power of your Holy Spirit are speaking and nudging 829 00:48:45,360 --> 00:48:48,280 the hearts and the minds of these people to take whatever 830 00:48:48,280 --> 00:48:50,160 the next step of obedience is for them. 831 00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:53,520 And Lord, it's my prayer that you would give them the boldness 832 00:48:53,520 --> 00:48:57,240 and the courage this morning to come talk to a pastor, to go 833 00:48:57,520 --> 00:49:01,000 talk to someone in the Next steps room, or maybe just to 834 00:49:01,000 --> 00:49:04,760 come here and to lay at the altar and to cry out to you. 835 00:49:07,120 --> 00:49:13,040 But Lord, for all of us, help 2026 to be the year for all of 836 00:49:13,040 --> 00:49:16,000 us. That marks the year that we 837 00:49:16,000 --> 00:49:20,440 sought your voice more than any other, that we were more bold 838 00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:25,840 and more obedient to You than we ever have been, and that we pray 839 00:49:25,840 --> 00:49:29,800 that you would bless that and that You would use us in only 840 00:49:29,800 --> 00:49:37,520 ways that you can imagine. So Lord, help us to respond to 841 00:49:37,520 --> 00:49:43,160 You, in fact faith and obedience this morning in Jesus name, 842 00:49:43,160 --> 00:49:43,320 Amen.