Thursday, January 24, 2008

By Faith... Samuel, Part 2 of 10

TEXT: "What more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets" (Hebrews 11:32).

IDEA: Faith is displayed in different ways in the lives of different people.

PURPOSE: To help listeners see that one mark of living by faith is that we are unique.

Do you ever watch the antique show on public television?

People bring different objects to have them evaluated by experts. Occasionally someone will bring an old lamp and the antique expert will say, “I think this is the only one in existence. In fact, these lamps were handmade and there is only one of a kind.”

What does that tell you about the value of that lamp?

I. God specializes in making one-of-a-kind people.

What is the writer doing in Hebrews 11? When you look at that list, two things strike you:

God worked through these people in different ways and in different times in history.

The people are noted because they were called to do things that were very unusual.

Noah

Abraham

Moses

II. There were also people who were unusual in the list because they were usual.

The writer of the letter to the Hebrews mentions a man named Samuel.

What spectacular events characterized his life?

Why would the writer of the letter to the Hebrews include him in this list? Samuel’s faith was demonstrated in his utter loyalty to Yahweh in a time when people all around him were disloyal to God.

III. Do you think that there is a lesson we can learn about the life of faith from the people in Hebrews 11?

God deals with one-of-a-kind people.

It takes great faith to stand up for God when people around you are falling for everything.