re:collect Sermon Title: “The Voice” Sermon Text: 1 Samuel 3:1-4:1 Pastor Carlton P. Harris on June 21, 2015
Use the following questions to help you assimilate into your life the truths taught in Scripture. Each question is meant for both personal reflection and as a catalyst for discussion with your family, friends, or small group. Selectively choose the questions that you want to answer – there is no need to answer them all!
Reveal Your Heart 1. Are you a light or heavy sleeper? What does it take to wake you? 2. How did you sleep as a child? Did you have many nightmares?
Look into the Bible 1. Read 1 Samuel 3:1‐4:1 2. Retell the story in your own words. 3. What does this chapter reveal about young Samuel’s character? 4. Compare the call of Samuel in 1 Samuel 3 to the call of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:4‐10. Like Samuel, Jeremiah was called at an early age. What do both of these passages reveal about the call of God? 5. How is Samuel’s character and growth described in chapter 3? 6. Samuel did not yet know the Lord (verse 7). To know someone in the Hebrew culture signified intimate, direct relationship. After his experiences in chapter 3, in what sense did Samuel know the Lord in a way that he had not before? 7. How does God’s revelation to Samuel in 3:11‐14 compare to what He had already revealed to Eli through the man of God in 1 Samuel 2:27‐36? 8. How do you think God wanted Eli to respond to His warnings in 2:27‐36 and 3:11‐14? 9. What is most significant in the statements made about Samuel in 3:19‐21? 10. One of Samuel’s first assignments came when he was just a boy: It was the difficult task of “speaking the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15) to Eli, his beloved foster‐father. Surface the key principles from Matthew 18:15‐17 in regard to solving difficult personal relationship challenges. Is there someone in your life to whom you should “speak the truth in love”? 11. What does God’s severe judgment of His own priests (Eli, Hophni, and Phinehas) mean for Christians today who persist in sinning? 12. How would you summarize what Samuel learns most about God in this chapter? 13. From what you have seen in 1 Samuel 1‐3, what would you say are the most important ways that God has laid a foundation for Samuel’s future ministry?
Stop – Think ‐ Do 1. From what you have seen in 1 Samuel 1‐3, what would you say are the most important ways that God has laid a foundation for Samuel’s future ministry? What are the most important ways that God has laid a foundation for your future ministry? 2. Samuel was extremely sensitive to what God was saying to Him. Are there any ways in which you are refusing to listen to God? 3. What are some things you can do specifically and practically this week to be more in tune with God’s direction in your life? 4. List five spiritual leaders for whom you will commit to pray this week – that they might live and serve for the glory of God.