Faithfulness is important because extraordinary lives are lived one day at a time.
Sermon Title: CALLED TO BE FAITHFUL
Sermon Text: 1 SAMUEL 7:15-17 (NIV)
By: PTR NESTOR SY
Sermon Notes:
1 SAMUEL 7:15-17 NIV
15 Samuel continued as judge over Israel all the days of his life. 16 From year to year he went on a circuit from Bethel to Gilgal to Mizpah, judging Israel in all those places. 17 But he always went back to Ramah, where his home was, and there he also judged Israel. And he built an altar there to the LORD.
To pursue a remarkable life is to take a thousand unremarkable steps.
MATTHEW 25:21 NIV
21 His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
1 CORINTHIANS 4:1-2 NIV
1 So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.
BE FAITHFUL IN THE SHADOWS
1 SAMUEL 2:26 NIV
26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the LORD and with men.
The most important moments in life may be those that nobody sees and nobody applauds.
EMBRACE REPETITION
When a big event results in a significant change, it’s is generally because of what we do after the event, not what happened during the event.
SEEK AN AUDIENCE OF ONE
“That’s the goal, isn’t it? To try to get to the platform before the applause dies out.”
Steve Martin
1 SAMUEL 8:4-7 NIV
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” 6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”
1 SAMUEL 8:6-7 MSG
6 When Samuel heard their demand – “Give us a king to rule us!” -- he was crushed. How awful! Samuel prayed to GOD. 7 GOD answered Samuel, “Go ahead and do what they’re asking. They are not rejecting you. They’ve rejected me as their King.”
1 SAMUEL 12:23 NIV
23 As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you. And I will teach you the way that is good and right.
“I live before the audience of One – before others I have nothing to gain, nothing to lose, nothing to prove.”
Os Guinness
“I doubt if any party could travel in such weather.”
Journal of Robert Falcon Scott
“It has been an unpleasant day – storm, drift and frostbite, but we have advanced 13 miles closer to our goal.”
Journal of Roald Amundsen
What is your 20-mile march?
Faithfulness is important because extraordinary lives are lived one day at a time.