03 Mar I Was Next | Part 3 ‘1 New Message’
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First Wednesday this week! March 6! 6:00p prayer and 7:00p worship!
Hosting Interns: If anyone is interested in hosting interns from different colleges this summer, please let us know!
The Deep End Podcast: airs live Wednesdays @noon on Facebook @thedeependtv ! Text in your questions anonymously to (508) 316-9333 to have them addressed on the show. And you can catch up on past episodes anytime on our Deep End page or on our Youtube channel @ waterschurchmedia
Looking for your testimonies! If you have group wins to share, please email them to me! maparsons@waterschurch.org
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We offer two types of classes. Please familiarize yourself with what these classes are about. Feel free to sign up for one so you can better explain what they are to your group members.
Starting Point: What is Christianity all about? Is the Bible really more than just a book? Who is Jesus? No matter where we are in life, we all have questions. Starting Point is a great place to explore the faith and have safe and open discussions about some of life’s toughest questions.
Growth Track: In this 3 part class; Discover, Deepen, & Dedicate; you will get answers to the most frequently asked questions about Waters Church and have an opportunity to ask your own. This is the perfect place to get to know the “Why” behind the “What” of who we are as a church.
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Key Verse: 1 Samuel 3:1-11
Samuel and Eli were two very different people with two very different backgrounds. Eli was a High Priest in charge of hearing from God and Samuel was under his charge learning from Eli. Samuel wanted badly to hear from God and Eli did not recognize God’s voice.
Noah told us of how he was like a ‘Samuel’. Noah grew up in the church and he went to Christian schools and Christian camps. He grew up believing he was ‘next’ because people consistently told him he would do great things for God but he never heard God’s voice for himself. Even the nurse on the day he was born told his parents that his hands were so big because he will do great things for God. Noah wanted to do a good job and do things the right way and please his leaders but the leaders were not directing him and helping him understand the voice of God.
It is difficult to know where God is calling us if we do not hear His voice.
Ice-breaker question:
Q. If you had grown up in the Church, what was your experience like? Even if you had not grown up in the Church, as a youth, did you ever hear God’s voice? (not audible voice but Him speaking to your heart)?
1. GOD NEVER STOPS SPEAKING… WE STOP LISTENING.
People can tell us that God has a plan for us but we may not understand or see what this plan is and wonder ‘is this really what I am suppose to be doing?’
Samuel was worshipping God while Eli was watching. Samuel knew he was supposed to be something for God, but did not know what. Like Samuel, Noah was always looking to see what God wanted but not looking to God.
Eli was suppose to be hearing from God and teaching Samuel but he was losing his sight. The lamp had not yet gone out. His time was not yet over but Eli was giving up. Eli still had time, but was too blind to realize it. Samuel had to figure out God’s will on his own.
The lamp is not out for us either. The next generation still needs to hear from God. The young people need leaders who hear from God. Young people struggle to hear God’s voice like Samuel. He wanted to hear it but couldn’t because his teacher was too blind to realize there was still time to lead Samuel. The voice of God gives us purpose.
Q. Which of these people can you relate to and why? If you relate more to Eli, what can you do to have a better understanding of God’s plan and purpose for yourself and others? If you are more like Samuel, why do you think you are not hearing God’s voice?
Eli’s are not too old. Even if we have messed up or have ‘been there done that’ we can still hear God’s voice!
2. WHERE GOD’S PRESENCE IS…REST IS IN IT.
Samuel was lying down. He got up everyday to worship God. Eli went to his own place, while Samuel went into the presence of God. Instead of going home, he sat next to the Ark of the Covenant. If we want to hear from God we have to rest in His presence. Eli was burning out and Samuel wanted to know God’s plan.
Samuel didn’t know it was God’s voice, but was in perfect place to hear it…in His presence.
We can still worship God and not know what God wants, we must rest in His presence. God never speaks to us when we are ‘doing’ but it is when we are resting that he speaks to us. Samuel kept going to his leader to figure out what to do. Eli kept sending him back into the presence of God without realizing this was the perfect place for God to speak.
Q. Do you find it easy to sit in God’s presence or do you get distracted easily and why? When you do rest in His presence, do you hear him speak to you and what is something specific God has spoken to you?
3. SAMUEL ESTABLISHED, ELI RESTORED.
Finally, Eli realizes and perceives this is God speaking to Samuel. Samuel finally got to hear from God because Eli recognizes God’ voice. Samuel becomes a hearer of God’s voice.
Noah went on to explain that it was when his leader finally realized that he had a gift for speaking into young children’s lives that he finally realized his calling. Noah is the Active (middle school age) Youth Director. He was put into a position where God had been calling him to and he was able to hear God’s voice.
Q. Is there a specific time you heard from God that was a turning point for you?
PRAYER FOR EACH OTHER, THE LOST, WOONSOCKET AND OTHER UPCOMING CAMPUSES, THE ROOF AS IT HAS SEVERAL LEAKS AND WILL COST MUCH $$ TO REPLACE , THE CHURCH, THE NATION AND LEADERS.
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