Heart Prep:
Israel sought the Lord after a period of disobedience, realizing the emptiness of their idol worship. Samuel instructed the Israelites to let go of their false gods and bring their full hearts to the Lord. The Israelites followed Samuel’s instructions, and they fasted and confessed their sins to God. They pleaded with Samuel to continue interceding for them and Samuel prayed and offered a sacrifice to the Lord on His people’s behalf. The Lord answered in helping Israel defeat the Philistines. Similarly, we are called to turn away from sin and to trust in Jesus who gives us victory over our enemies of sin and death.
Message:
Twenty years after the ark was returned from the Philistines, the Israelites began to cry out for God. Samuel told them, “If you are returning to worship the Lord, then you must
stop worshiping the false gods from the nations around us. If you dedicate yourselves to worshiping only the Lord, then He will rescue you from the Philistines.” The people obeyed and removed the statues and poles that were used to worship the false gods, and they only worshiped the Lord. Then Samuel said, “Gather all the people, and I will pray to the Lord on your behalf.” They fasted that day and confessed their sins to God. When the Philistines heard that all of Israel had gathered in one place, they decided to attack. The Israelites were afraid and said to Samuel, “Don’t stop crying out to the Lord our God for us. Ask him to save us from the Philistines!” Samuel made a burnt offering to the Lord and cried out to Him, and the Lord answered him. As the Philistines approached to fight Israel, the Lord thundered loudly against them and made them confused. Israel defeated the Philistines, chasing them away as they retreated. Samuel set up a large stone to remember what happened that day. He said, “The Lord has helped us to this point.” Israel took back the land and cities that the Philistines had taken from them, and the Philistines did not invade Israel again. Samuel led the Israelites as their judge, and the Lord’s hand was against the Philistines all of Samuel’s life.
Main Point:
God supplied the Israelites with victory over the Philistines when they returned to worship Him. God gives us victory over our sin through faith in Jesus.means “God with us.”
Discussion:
What does it mean to worship God with all your heart?
Explain that worshiping God with all our heart means we make God most important, seeking to love and honor Him in all we say and do so that He receives the glory. Remind kids that God will not give His praise to anything else. Tell kids that God is deserving of all praise and worship because He is the one true God who created us, sustains us, and saves us. (Read Ps. 86:12.)
What idols might we need to turn away from?
Recall how idols are anything more important to us than God. Tell kids we can often identify an idol by paying attention to how we spend our time, how we react when something doesn’t go our way or is taken from us, or what we tend to think about most. (Read Lev. 19:4.)
Samuel cried out to the Lord to save the Israelites. Do we need to cry out for God to save us? Why?
Tell kids that all people need God to save them from their sin. Explain that only when we acknowledge our sin, repent of it, and turn to Jesus will we be saved. (Read Rom. 10:9-10.)
