Sermon Outline

Havasu Christian Church,        

Series in I Samuel          

April 28, 2024 

I Samuel 3:1-21                       

“Samuel gets a call” 

INTRO:  In the 1970s, when my Dad was in Ministry in Tucson, we started getting “Prank calls.”  “Is John boy there?” they would ask.  At first, my Dad just hung up.  But after a while, he started saying “Yes, he’s here!” and he’d call me to the phone.  One night it got so bad that Dad just left the phone off the hook.  That night, there was an emergency with one of the Church families, and all they got was a busy signal.  That was a call that Dad always regretted not having come through. 

We’ve all probably “missed a call” of one kind or another.  At least with caller I.D. we don’t have to leave the phone off the hook anymore. 

Today, we read about Samuel getting a call, long before Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone.  I suspect he was very glad he answered! 

1. Samuel is doing his job. 

I Samuel 3:1-4   Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the LORD before Eli. And word from the LORD was rare in those days, visions were infrequent.  

          2      It happened at that time as Eli was lying down in his place (now his eyesight had begun to grow dim and he could not see well),  

          3      and the lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD where the ark of God was,  

          4      that the LORD called Samuel; and he said, “Here I am.” 

1. Apparently, he is doing it well. 
2. Samuel is “ministering to the Lord. 
3. He is doing whatever jobs that Eli gives him in the temple/tabernacle 
4. Apparently, Eli has learned something from the mistakes he made with his sons. 
5. Samuel is “ministering to the Lord” but he is doing it “before Eli.” 
6. He is working under Eli’s supervision. 
7. This is a time when God isn’t speaking very much to Eli, or anyone else. 
8. But this is about to change! 
9. What can we learn from this part of Samuel’s life? 
10. We may not be called to do big things. 
11. But we ARE called to be faithful in whatever it is that God gives us to do! 
12. If we are faithful, who knows what God will have for us to do next. 
13. If we are not, we’ll never know what we missed out on! 

1. Samuel is given a great responsibility. 

I Samuel 3:5-15  Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, lie down again.” So he went and lay down.  

6      The LORD called yet again, “Samuel!” So Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he answered, “I did not call, my son, lie down again.”  

7     Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor had the word of the LORD yet been revealed to him.  

8      So the LORD called Samuel again for the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli discerned that the LORD was calling the boy.  

9      And Eli said to Samuel, “Go lie down, and it shall be if He calls you, that you shall say, ‘Speak, LORD, for Your servant is listening.’ ” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.  

10    Then the LORD came and stood and called as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for Your servant is listening.”  

11      The LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle.  

12      “In that day I will carry out against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.  

13      “For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.  

14      “Therefore I have sworn to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.”  

15      So Samuel lay down until morning. Then he opened the doors of the house of the LORD. But Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. 

1. Samuel is “recruited” by God for a bigger project. 
2. This is a principle in Scripture that we can expect to play out in our own lives. 

Matthew 25:20–21 “The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.’  “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ 

1. Samuel has been faithfully doing what he has been given to do. 
2. God sees his faithfulness and he gives him a much bigger job to do. 
3. We see this principle play out over and over in Scripture. 
4. Abraham grew in his faith… 
5. Moses has to be faithful with sheep for 40 years before God moves him to his “big job!”   
6. David had to be prepared to be king. 
7. Sheep, Goliath, being on the run, leading men.  
8. Solomon followed David’s example. 
9. Jesus’ disciples followed Him and learned for 3 years before they were given their “Big Job!” 
10. His bigger job was a blessing to Samuel, not a curse. 
11. In our society, people often look at work as a “necessary evil.” 
12. Sometimes, it can be. 
13. Having more responsibility is to be avoided if at all possible. 

Woman at work…  “We want to make you a customer service manager.”  “Great!  How much extra will I be making?”  “Oh, we don’t plan to give you a raise.”  “Well, I think I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing then. Thanks anyway.” 

1. But in a Godly life, it’s different. 
2. Your Lord and Master trusts you! 
3. It is an honor to be entrusted with a bigger responsibility by Him. 
4. With this bigger responsibility comes some sadness as well. 
5. God tells Samuel that Eli is on his way out. 
6. Samuel may not have felt bad for the brothers, Hophni and Phinehas. 
7. I suspect that he did have a “soft spot” in his heart for old Eli. 
8. But in spite of all this, it was time for him to “step up” and serve God as High Priest. 
9. Samuel doesn’t “sugar coat” the Word of God! 

  I Samuel 3:16-21   Then Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.”  

          17      He said, “What is the word that He spoke to you? Please do not hide it from me. May God do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the words that He spoke to you.”  

          18      So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him.”  

          19      Thus Samuel grew and the LORD was with him and let none of his words fail.  

          20      All Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was confirmed as a prophet of the LORD.  

          21      And the LORD appeared again at Shiloh, because the LORD revealed Himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the LORD. 

1. I’m sure that it must have been VERY difficult for Samuel to give Eli the full report about what God had told him. 
2. Eli might have gotten mad at Samuel. 
3. Eli might have tried to hurt him. 
4. He had evil sons who I’m sure would gladly have hurt Samuel. 
5. Then, there’s the pain of being the bearer of bad news. 
6. That’s never easy unless you are just plain mean! 
7. Seeing the pain in someone’s eyes is tough. 
8. Eli made it easier. 
9. He asked to be told. 
10. He told Samuel to tell him everything. 
11. He responded by saying “It is the LORD; let Him do what seems good to Him.” 
12. He doesn’t “shoot the messenger.” 
13. It’s often hard to be faithful to the Word of God. 
14. Sometimes it would be easier to simply sidestep things that aren’t quite so palatable to the people in our lives. 
15. But we can’t do that!!! 
16. People NEED to know the truth! 
17. Perhaps they will repent! 
18. Even if they don’t, it’s our job to tell them the whole truth! 
19. When Samuel served God well, God used him more. 

Conclusion:  What can we take home with us today because we learned about Samuel? 

• BE FAITHFUL! 
• In big things! 
• In small things! 
• In the things we love to do! 
• In the things we hate to do! 
• JUST BE FAITHFUL!!!! 
• Be listening for the call of God! 
• It may not be a voice in the darkness like it was for Samuel. 
• It may sound a lot like a trusted friend or mentor. 
• It may be an persistent feeling that I should be doing something. 
• When you truly allow God to use you, He will use you even more. 
• It’s just better to work with someone who WANTS God to use them. 

I have a pair of wire-cutters that don’t operate easily.  I almost never use them. 

• Be brave and say what needs to be said. 
• Not in a hateful way. 
• With love and respect. 
• But don’t omit anything that God would want you to say.