More Than We Think | 1 Samuel

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Thank you for tuning in to the New Vision Podcast. Our prayer is that this message builds your faith, brings clarity, and gives you hope. Enjoy the message.

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Grab your Bibles, open it up to First Samuel. We're beginning a brand new series today. I'm so excited about that. I'm trying to shift gears, we'll move into it slowly. You heard in the announcements that we have groups that are kicking off this week. Make sure you jump in on a group. Don't just sign up, but show up. And there's one group that over this last weekend, I was like, well, we'll go ahead and do this. So I wanted to invite you to a group that will be continuing at least on Monday morning. So for the last 21 days, we've had prayer and fasting happening these last 21 days. And so on Monday through Friday, we've been meeting in here from 6 to 7 a.m. and just praying. And so we are going to continue that on Monday morning. So we'll have Monday morning prayer every Monday from 6 to 7 a.m. here in the auditorium. That will start tomorrow. And so as we were ending this last Friday, like everybody that was there was like, this is the last day, right? And I was like, yeah. And they're like, man. And so then I was like, all right, this is great. Let's continue on. So we'll start Monday morning prayer in here each Monday from 6 in the morning to 7 in the morning, 6, 7
That was just for those of you that they're like that. All right. So this last week is we have kickoff Sunday. The NFL season has kicked off. And I read this week a story on ESPN about a priest anointing the Steelers football field last year. I want to show you a picture of this because this is the end zone that he is anointing. And what people didn't know is at the end of the Steelers Ravens game, the Ravens were going to kick a field goal to win that game, to win the AFC North. But they were kicking at that end zone where he had anointed. And can I tell you that the Ravens missed that field goal and lost that game? The Steelers won. Social media blows up because once they found this picture, they were like, oh, this guy had no chance. Like, it's going all over the place. And then ultimately, the question that they begin to ask, and they were calling this priest for interviews, and they were like, hey, does God really take sides? Does he care about football? And I think, like, if he does, he probably cares about a football team that represents a kingdom, not a nation, and probably, and especially if that kingdom is known to represent a color that would be meaningful, like the color red.
OK, for real, though, God does not pick sides. We know this in football. But as I read this article, and as they were talking about, does God care about football and pick sides, it made me think, not just about, does God care about football, but does God care about us? And I think we quickly respond, if I ask you, like, does God care about you? Yeah, most of us are like, yeah, real quick, we don't think about it. It comes out really naturally, really quickly. But when we are continually knocked down, not just by life, but by disappointment, or failure, or broken relationships, I feel like then that answer isn't as quick and easy as it once was. So today, as we start this series in First Samuel, which is such an incredible book, I'm really excited to walk through this together. We're going to meet kings and prophets. We're going to watch people succeed and fail. We're going to see battles and giants and jealousy and friendship and leadership, disappointment and faith. And what we're going to be allowed to take notice is how it's happening, and people are trying to follow God as things around them consistently change. And hopefully, we will learn valuable lessons from their stories, stories that will teach us how to lead, how to follow, how to wait and trust God when things change. And we will most certainly discover the answer to that question, does God care about us?
Because over and over, we'll see not just in this book, but in the canon of scripture, or in your entire Bible, we will find out the answer that He cares more than we think, and often He is doing more than we think. And that's the title of our first week together in 1 Samuel, more than we think. Let's pray together. Jesus, thanks for today. We thank you that we get an opportunity to be in your house with your people. Lord, as we look into your word, would you speak to our hearts? How we thank you that your presence is in this room, and we ask for your word to speak directly to where we are, to who we are. It would challenge us, it would convict us, it would encourage us. Lord, let us hear your voice this morning. And God, I pray that you would anoint me to communicate your word and help me to do it in a clear way, to give it confidently, and Lord, in a way that we hear your voice more than my own. In Jesus' name. Amen.