kept saying, “You got way too many stories to tell.” I love to tell stories. But we’re kicking off the
summer stories today and uh standout stories in the scriptures that we’re
going to just bring them down to earth right where you’re at and why they might apply to us. And uh we’re going to dive
into it today. I’m excited about our first one that we’re going to talk about. And uh I had to do uh Samuel the
prophet because I love hearing the voice of God. And I believe that this is a
Summer Stories
life-changing message today for some of you in the middle of decisions you’re
making, the wisdom that you need uh in everyday life. We’re going to talk about
the summer story Samuel the Prophet, but I have to add
this to Samuel the Prophet and that is what does age got to do with it? What
does age got to do with it? So, all right, tell your neighbor, tell somebody. Say, what does age got to do
with it? Tell your other neighbor. Say, don’t miss a Sunday.
Dont miss a Sunday
Let me hear you say it again. Don’t miss a Sunday.
By the way, do you know that one out of three people in the world are extraordinarily
good-looking? So why don’t you turn to somebody and tell them, “I must be that one.” Go ahead, tell them, “I must be
that one.” I never heard that stat before, but I’m
going to claim it. All right. Since this is a Bible story,
Bible Story
if you have your Bibles, you can go to First Samuel. If not, we’re going to put it on the screen for you. Um, we got to
read the Bible story. It’s a Bible story. Summer summer story. We got to read the Bible story. So, we’re going to
put it on the screen for you. 1 Samuel chapter 3 verses 1-10. So, let’s read it
and uh you can follow along or if you want to read it out loud either way. Now the boy Samuel continued serving the
Lord under Eli’s supervision. Receiving a message from the Lord was
rare in those days. I’m not sure why, but they were rare in those days.
Well, the Bible tells us why, but right now we’ll just go with that. Samuel was lying down in the temple. The ark of God
was also there which you’ve heard it called the ark of the covenant.
It was there also Sam and we’re at verse four. The Lord
called to Samuel and he replied here I am.
Then he ran into Eli and he said Eli here I am for you called me. But Eli
said hey I didn’t call you. go back and lay down.
And so again, he went back and laid down. And the Lord again called Samuel.
So Samuel got up and he went to Eli and he said, “Here I am, for you called me.”
Verse number seven. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord,
and the Lord’s messages had not been revealed to him. So he got up in the the
verse number eight. Then the Lord called Samuel the third time. So he got up and he went in to Eli again and he said,
“Here I am. Here I am.” In verse 9, “So Eli said to Samuel, “Go
back and lie down, for it must be the Lord speaking to you. And when he calls
you, this is what you need to say. Speak Lord for your servant
is listening. Speak Lord for your servant is
listening. Verse 10. Then the Lord came and stood nearby calling as he had
previously done, Samuel, Samuel. And
Samuel replied, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”
Everybody say speak. Speak for your servant is listening. For your servant.
Say Speak
Why don’t you do it this way? Say speak for I am listening. I am listening. So
number one, you’re never too young to hear God’s voice.
I’m looking over here to the youth. There might be some other in the other part of the building, but in Yakama, in
Belleview, Dupant, I think you all gather there together. You try to sit together. Don’t ever underestimate
that you’re too young. I think I got a picture here of Samuel. Samuel was just
a little boy. His mama brought him in after she had weaned him. That’s what
the Bible says. So, she’d stopped breastfeeding him. Now he was a little
older and he was able to go be on his own, eat on his own, and she left him at
the temple as she promised God that she would do. And so I imagine he’s been
around, he’s been in the temple. And now he’s probably 11, 12, 13 years
old. And God decides to speak to Samuel.
What’s so great about this is first of all, Samuel was in the right place at the right time. He was surrounded by
some spiritual leaders. He was surrounded by a good pastor.
And so they were the ones that helped him recognize
Samuel, that’s God right there. What you just heard, that’s
God. And I also have a feeling that
because he was in the proximity
of the presence of God that every day in the temple hanging out
at church where he slept there next to the area where God’s covenant ark was
watching over that that nobody would take or harm it. I believe because
Samuel was right there in the proximity. He was so near to God.
Keeping watch that he was ready to hear from God.
Now, I’m not saying you have to sleep at the church all the time.
I’m not saying that, you know, uh you can’t ever leave and you can’t ever have
a life. But I am saying wherever you go, you have God’s presence with you
wherever you’re at, you’re in tune to God’s presence wherever you go. And I
can imagine that being in that proximity that he was able to hear from God and
also be led by others around him. He wasn’t brought to church just when it
was convenient. I don’t think it was very convenient for him to be dropped off at church.
And then she only saw him once a year. Now, some of y’all might think, “Oh, that’d be heaven if I got rid of my kids
for a whole year.” But Hannah wasn’t able to have children.
And this meant the world to her for her to have a child. And then all of a
sudden, she realized, I promised him back to God. You know how you dedicate
our babies? You bring the babies and we dedicate them. We pray over them and we say, “God, lead them and guide them and
give wisdom to the parents that they know exactly how to lead and guide.” And
then it’s kind of funny that sometimes parents will say, “You know, the traffic’s really bad. It’s kind of late.
I got to do dinner. I can’t bring them to youth tonight.” Hello.
Got a little quiet in here. But in the proximity, if we just make
that special effort to have the child in the temple at the right time, at the
right place, in the right space, that God is going to speak to them. God is
going to do some divine uh words being planted and seeds into their heart and
into their spirit, showing up and being on a team. Even I love when I see the
young people on a team. I I I I know they’re not going to be perfect. I know
that they’re going to make mistakes, but that’s all right. They’re young and we’re going to surround them. We’re
going to help them in those times. You know, even when they can’t sing maybe, but they can praise and worship and they
can get up here and bounce. Turn the mic off. Let them get up here and praise and worship. Let’s do it. Let’s get some
energy in here.
Energy
this week in youth camp. And I I I I’m referring to that maybe a little bit,
but you can put this in in any any of your everyday life. There’s going to be points where we have dads on duty and we
have mo what do they call them? Foodie moms. Foodie moms. Food moms.
We have security. We have people out there. I believe at just the right time,
some of them are going to have the right words to speak at the right time to some of our kids.
There was a young boy that was in um depression several years ago and uh I
remember his mom praying that he would come to church more. He was about 15 and a half,
16 and uh they hadn’t made it a habit for him to actually come to church.
And I’ll never never forget we were uh a little bit over in this area and I
finally got my first time to meet him and uh I’d been praying for him. She
told me the story about his deep depression and uh I was so excited to be
in his airspace and I said, “Hey, what do you enjoy doing? What what do you
like doing? Do you like sports? Do you watch baseball teams? You know, what do
you like? Hockey or are you a tech guy? What do you like to do? And he grinned.
You know, a little grin came out and he said, “I’m kind of nerdy.” And I’m like, “I got the perfect thing for you. We
need some nerdy cool people to be in our children’s area running the light and
the soundboard.” and they got to really know technology and know what to do and how to work a computer. Would you come
in and do that? Maybe one Sunday out of the month, come and volunteer. And he
kind of shrugged his shoulders, but I don’t know how we did it, but we got him in there. And it was about four months
later that I’ll never forget right here in this aisleway.
I saw him again. I hadn’t seen him since then. And the smile on his face was I
mean he was handsome but he was really handsome. I’m like you have got a smile
on your face and have you been volunteering? Have you been here on Sundays? Have you been helping? And his
mom said yeah he wants to come all the time. He wants to help in there. And I’m like that’s fantastic. You know in a in
in just a few months we have Scrooge. why don’t you come along, volunteer, and
you can just like hang around more than just on Sundays. Well, his father was nearby and he
looked me in the eye and he said, “No, he can’t volunteer like that all the time. He’s got to get a job.” And I just
felt that like shut him down. His beautiful smile, handsome smile left his
face and he looked down. And I have to tell you, it’s been about six years
since I’ve seen him and even his family in the house of
God. And I wonder sometimes if we have a good
we we we mean good with our children. We mean good in some decisions, but we
don’t realize we’re stepping back rather than stepping forward and letting them
rise up in the house of God and do what they need to do to be close to God.
what we as a community work so hard to get him out of the dark.
My heart is one day he’s going to walk through these doors and he’s going to find his home again here at Champion
Center and his life will be changed forever. I believe in that today.
You know what’s age got to do with it? Everybody say, “What does age got to do with it?”
Age
because I want to show you there’s some people in the Bible here that not only were they young, but they were old, too.
So, I think we got some uh ages up here. We have David who was a teen. He was
just a teenager, and he was called to be a king. Now, that doesn’t mean that he
became a king right at that age, but he was anointed by Samuel.
When Samuel came to pray for the brothers, he said, “No, there’s got to be somebody else.” And they called for
him. And everybody else had taken a shower and was looking all like they were going to be the king. And he said,
“The none of these guys work. Like, there’s got to be another brother for me to anoint.” This is Prophet Samuel, who
was just that little boy. Now he’s the prophet, and he’s praying over, you know, trying to pray over the king. And
then comes they said, “Well, we got a shepherd boy out here. May we’ll go get him for you.” He walks in the door and
he wasn’t dressed like a king. But as soon as he walked in the door,
there was a nudge. There was something inside of Samuel, Prophet Samuel, that said, “He’s the one.” And then he prayed
for him. Then he he was a teenager, but Mary, the mother of Jesus, she was 15 or 17 when the angel appeared. Jo Joseph in
the Old Testament, he was a teenager when he dreamed that he was going to be the ruler helping ruling the food and uh
ruling over his brothers, which uh that was a dream and that dream came true.
And then we have Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They decided that when they went to college, they weren’t going to
bow to all the cultural all the thinking and idolatry and uh all the stuff that
was trying to come through their ears. They said, “We’re not going to bow to this.” And they were only teenagers. And
then Josiah was a king named at 8 years old. Timothy, he was very hesitant like,
“No, God, I can’t speak. No, there’s no way I can speak.” And then God said,
“I’ll speak for you. I’ll I’ll be there for you.” And then Elizabeth, she was a senior citizen. She was having John the
Baptist who was the forefront of Jesus. So, how many senior citizens that we
have? Some of y’all don’t want to raise your hand. I’m a senior citizen. God speaks to senior citizens. And then also
we have Anna Anna the prophetus. She was a senior citizen. Uh Daniel uh senior
citizen. Uh John wrote the book of Revelation. He was like in his 90s.
Anybody in their 90s here? God speaks to the 90 year olds.
Uhhuh. And then we have, who have we got here? Moses. Moses was 80 years old when
he had the burning bit bush experience. It’s like, you know, God, I’m a little
old for this, but he chose Moses. You know, some of you all have decisions
that you’re making in your life and you’re thinking, “I’m too old for this.”
God is nudging you
No. God is still talking to you. You’ve got some things that you’re supposed to
do. You’ve got some wisdom that you’re supposed to give out. God is trying to
talk into your spirit. He’s nudging you. And it doesn’t matter if you’re 80 or if
you’re 12 years old. God speaks to us. What does age got to do with it? God is
here and he’s wanting to speak to you. And so Samuel was 11 or 12 years old. So
number two, what happens? What do you need to do? You need to just be available. This is what Samuel was. He
was available. Samuel said, “Okay, I guess I’ll obey
you. You must know what you’re talking about, Eli. and he goes back into his room and that
verse uh 10 where he says okay speak Lord for your servants listening he just
repeated what he was told to do so no matter no matter your age older person
doesn’t matter the experience that you have can help someone like a Samuel
you know I out out I I got to thinking of Andy Walls Andy are you here you give
me a and and he’s a military guy and uh he decided to be out there in the camp
one year and I think he goes every year but uh uh he literally
was a military guy that saw that our shower room at the camp needed some
organization. Like he needed to encourage the young men to come and take showers.
And so he got the organization all together and he decided we’re going to get this right. And it was just a nudge.
And you know what? Now I think he’ll probably be there again this year. He’s going to be there. He’s giving high
fives. He’s encouraging them. He might give a word to some of them, you know, like wear deodorant or, you know, or
maybe it’ be a God word. You never know. But and then I think of Dave Rich. Everybody knows Dave Rich.
You know what? I think God nudged him and said, “Hey, you got to find some showers.
You got to find some toilet trailers. You got to find some chef trailers. We
got to get something going out here. Nobody told him what to do, but something in his spirit said, “We got to
make this better. We got to do something better.” In his spirit, he got nudged and he moved on it. Sometimes you just
take a step and you just say, “God, I hope you’re going to be there because I don’t know.” But that’s how it happens.
Number three.
All right, I got to keep moving. Where’s my number three? Give me a number three here. Number three. Faithfulness in the
small things leads to greater things. You know what he had to do? You know what Samuel had to do in the in the in
the in the temple there? He had to keep the candle lit at night to make sure no
one was going to come and steal the ark of the covenant. Can you imagine? And I can I can just I can before he goes to
bed, he’s like, “Okay, how how tall is that candle? You know, how many hours can I sleep? Okay, I got to be careful
that this candle doesn’t go out.” Just faithful in the small things. It was it
was then he was honoring God, daily obedience, doing chores, being kind,
staying honest, and then in the long run, Samuel was faithful in the small things, faithful
in doing what he’s supposed to do. And then God began to know, I can trust you
with the big things. He became the most influential
the most influential person in all of Israel. and in the nations. God used
him. And still today, we’re talking about the little Samuel. But it all started with just the little things. I
know we don’t like to take the garbage out, youth, right? We don’t like to just do the little things like taking the
garbage out. But when we start right there, God does see our faithfulness. Sometimes in
the parking lot, you’re like, “Oh yeah, it doesn’t matter that I’m here in the parking lot.” Your faithfulness in the
small things matter. You’re helping over there in the kids department. Yeah, I’m
signed up. This is my Sunday. But your faithfulness, just being there, showing up, it makes a
difference. And then having the right word at the right time. You might have the right word to speak into some young
child’s heart that can totally change and pivot where they’re going to go in
what direction because you were there at the right time. And this is what happened to Samuel. And number four,
stay close to God’s presence. Now, Samuel literally,
he was sleeping right next to the Ark of the Covenant. it. I think it was behind the curtain there. But he had to make
sure that nothing would happen to it. And some people go, “Well, what does
that mean every day?” You know, how do you do that every day? You wake up in the morning and you say, “God, I welcome
your presence with me. You’re brushing your teeth. You’re w you’re driving down the driving down the road.” You know
what I like so much about now? Years ago, when we didn’t have phones in our car, people would think that you’re
talking to yourself. when I was praying, you know, putting on my armor. I put my
feet in peace. I put my belt of truth. I put my breastplate of righteousness. I put my helmet of salvation, my shield of
faith. And I’m thinking, oh, we’re getting ready to go to a red light there. I got to stop talking because, you know, they’re going to think I’m
crazy. I’m talking to myself now. We got cell phones. I can go down the road. I’m saying no weapon formed against me shall
prosper. God, you got good things in my life today. And I know that good things are coming my way to my family. Come,
thy kingdom be done, thy will. So, how do you stay in the presence of
Staying in the presence of God
God? You just talk like it. And if you have to act like you’re talking to someone on
the phone, just make sure your phone’s on silent because I did that one time.
I act like I’m talking to somebody and then the phone rang, you know? Oh, yeah. Sorry.
Surround your things that will keep you near to
God. The word, the worship, the music. I have
a playlist and it’s my anthem. Like for this month, every It seems like every
season that my husband and I go through, we have these few songs that we we know
we’re going to click on. And they’re the songs that really help us through that
season. When we’re making decisions, when we’re wondering which way to go,
we turn on that playlist. That’s our way of welcoming God’s presence.
And yeah, we have our love list uh playlist, you know, our love playlist.
And that’s worshiping God, too. So, having a good relationship with your
husband, God desires that. for you that are seeking a husband and you watch I
always told Jody I’m like Jody I don’t care what music you listen to this when she was a child you just got to know
what the words are and know what they’re saying
so there was a popular song out and you know I she caught herself singing it
kind of underneath her breath because we went into some store and it was honor. I’ll make love to you like you. And I
looked over and I’m like, “Girl, you’re only 14 years old.”
And so it was so funny. I think it was her. She just said, “I’ll make coffee for you.” And she’s not that kind of
person either, but it was better than making love.
I’m teasing Jody. So I don’t care what words is they’re
uplifting and keeping the presence of God in your
life. Number five, surround your life. Your life can influence others when you
are surrounded by that praise and worship by the right people.
I’m not just speaking about people going to youth camp. I’m talking to some of you adults.
This is a season when some people need to shift from their friendships
and find some better friends. And God’s been nudging you and telling
you
Being an influencer
the little things like that, God will speak to you, but he wants you to be an influencer in your world. Right. I think
the story of Eddie Anderson, uh, he and Mary went to a 30th school, high school
reunion, and, uh, connected with one of the gals there that he went to school
with and invited her to church and, uh, she came to church
and immediately started attending CR, Celebrate Recovery.
and um she got on a team, started being a hostess, an usher,
and it was less than a year I think that um she passed away and she was young.
Wonder if his influence to invite
and to bring her, tell her she need to be in church. Wonder if he wouldn’t have stepped out on the water
and invited her. Where would she be today? She wrote the email saying, “I’ve never been the same
since I walked into Champion Center.” And then when here when she had her funeral, the people were saying, “We’ve
never seen her so happy like she’s been the last year.” And it was all because
the influence that he had and they had by the invite that they gave. It was
just a nudge that he had like you need to come to church. Check out Celebrate Recovery.
Youth, don’t underestimate your influence on a sports team,
your influence on your neighbor, your influence on the students you go to school with. I believe God’s got you
there at just the right time, and you were made for this. God knows who’s
going to be in your world.
I really felt today that there’s decisions being made.
And these things that I mentioned today, being close to God. I don’t care what
age you are, God talks to you. God nudges you. Sometimes it’s in your
stomach because you’re like, “Oh, I’m just sick to my stomach.” Sometimes it’s here like you know in your knower you’re
in the wrong place. Sometimes in your heart it’s broken.
You’re like, “Okay, God, I I I’m I know I I need to change.”
And sometimes it’s a it’s a voice that you hear speaking through somebody else
and God is nudging you. That’s how he talks to us. He whispers sometimes.
And so you got to be still sometimes. I sat by the water the other day and I
just said, “God, I moved too fast sometimes.
Just speak to me.” And I just felt this peace come over me.
And you have to understand, I don’t like to just sit. I’m a little hyper.
You know, I lose things all the time. I have the gift of ADD and it’s so fun. We
play hide-and-seek all the time.
And you know what? God always shows me some things like,
“God, I don’t know where I put it.” And I know I’m not stupid, so I’m not going to tell myself I’m stupid. I put it
right where it is.
And God, you’re going to show me. So, I’m going to go about my day today.
God cares about the little things, you guys. God really does care about you in your
decision.
Maybe you’ve thought about, you know, maybe this isn’t the right
place for you. God cares about your decision. I know Washington can be pretty crazy.
God cares about your decision. God’s going to nudge you. God’s going to
speak to you. And I always say in the mouth of two or three witnesses, God has always
confirmed it for me.
God, right now, I know that [Music] it’s Sunday morning. We have a lot of
things on our mind. But Samuel was near to you.
Eli was there to help him just to wait on you.
You have people right here in this place in Yakama, in Dupant, in Belleview,
online, wherever they’re sitting. You have them right where they’re to be. And
you want to speak to them. There’s wisdom that needs to come in some of
these places. There’s wisdom that needs to come in a decision,
God. There’s some parents that need to get in the car and drive a student out to one of the nights at youth camp this
week because they didn’t sign up. And I just speak that a parent will get that
nudge and not worry about the sleepiness the next day. But I just speak that we
don’t miss this week, God. that every young person that is supposed to hear
from God that they hear from God this week. I speak for wisdom to come in this
decisions that people are making even this week. Jobs that are needed, God, that
decisions are made that you can provide the jobs. You can make decisions and corporations for people that need a job
this week, God, because you’re that good. You can
whisper and you can change a situation.
Thank you, Jesus. If you’re ready to hear whispers from
What a God
God, hear from God, why don’t you stand to your feet? Let’s sing that song. What a God. What a God. I believe that God is
here and we just want to pause. Try not to leave. Don’t Don’t It’s a good time
when God just wants to talk for just a moment.
God, speak to us, God. What a God. What a
God. Speak to us, God. We’re right here. Speak to us, God. What a God. What a
God. Speak to us, God. Thank you, Jesus. What a God. What a
God. What a God. What a God.
What a God. What a God to sing your name. What a God. What a
God. God. God.
What a God. What a God.
What a God. What a God who you are. What a God. What a God.
Yeah. What a God. What a God.
What a God. What a God. Father, I thank you that you’re speaking to lives today.
I thank you that this week they’ll never be the same again.
They will hear the voice of God.
I will tell you that my husband and I, we would not be here.
We were just two young kids.
If our parents didn’t bring us along, making sure as kids we were where we to
be at the right time, because of that, we were set up. We were set up to hear
God’s voice when we came to the Northwest.
Well, first of all, when I I went out on the first date with him.
I didn’t tell him, but I felt this nudge.
I played hard to get for a long time, but I knew that I knew.
We came to the Northwest. I said, “God, I don’t know. I don’t fit here. I don’t fit here.”
God said, “This is home.” got some people that need
to hear that we’ve sent you here.
And it all started two young kids, Kevin and Sheila,
who parents made sure first and foremost that we listened. We could hear God’s
voice. Some of y’all say, “Well, I wasn’t raised in it.” That’s all right.
You can still hear God’s voice. You’re at the right place at the right time right now and we’re teaching you. We’re
showing you you can hear God’s voice.
Maybe today your eyes closed. Those that might be here, you’ve never
you say like, “I feel something, but I’ve never prayed the prayer. I’ve never given my life to Jesus.”
If you died today, this week, you wouldn’t know for sure if you were
have him as your maker and your savior. And before you leave today, we want to
pray this prayer with you of salvation. The nudge that you’re feeling right now,
that’s the Holy Spirit. He’s drawn you. If you’ve never prayed this prayer, I want you to pray it with us. We’re going
to pray it together. because we’re going to give you the confidence that you might need. If you’ve never prayed this
prayer before or if you’ve left the left God and you know that you need to come
back into his community, I want you to pray this prayer with us. Say, Lord
Jesus, welcome to my world.
Forgive me of all of my sins. I believe
that you are Lord of all. That you died on the cross and you rose again
and that I might be saved and that I might have salvation
and I accept it in Jesus name and may I never be the same
in Jesus name. Amen. And amen and amen. And let’s keep listening for God’s voice
this week. Thank you, Jesus.