Author: Andrew Griffin

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1 Samuel 15:1-35 To regret or not to regret Saul as king

Sunday 23rd March 2025

Read: Philippians 1:27-2:13; 1 Samuel 15:1-35

Sermon: 1 Samuel 15:1-35

Samuel and the Bible

1 Samuel 15:1-9 The faithless success of the king

1 Samuel 15:10-15 Samuel confronts Saul

1 Samuel 15:16-23 Samuel confronts Saul (take 2)

1 Samuel 15:24-31 Whose glory?

1 Samuel 15:32-35 Samuel grieves, the LORD regrets concerning Saul

Philippians 1:27-2:13 The better king

 

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1 Samuel 14 The God who saves by many or few

Sunday 16th March 2025

Read: Psalm 3; 2 Corinthians 5:7; 1 John 4:1-6; John 14:25; 1 Samuel 14

Sermon: 1 Samuel 14

Introduction: Israel’s predicament: two perspectives, faith and sight

Samuel 14:1-15 Jonathan’s faith and its outcomes

Samuel 14:16-23 Yahweh saves

Samuel 14:24-35 Saul’s foolishness and its consequences

Samuel 14:36-46 The king who does what is right in his own eyes

Samuel 14:47-52 Saul Fights Israel’s Enemies

Conclusion: Trusting the God who saves by One

 

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1 Samuel 12:1-25 Renewing the kingdom in light of kingship

Sunday 2nd March 2025

Read: Psalm 27; Matthew 7:24-29; 1 Samuel 12:1-25

Sermon: 1 Samuel 12:1-25

Samuel and the Bible

1 Samuel 12:1-2a Summarising the transition to kingship

1 Samuel 12:2b-11 The righteousness of the old order

1 Samuel 12:12-13 The foolish wickedness of the new order

1 Samuel 12:14-18 Covenant choices and kingship

1 Samuel 12:19-25 Repentance and renewal of the kingdom

 

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In Wrath Remember Mercy – Nathan Rogers

Recorded at church camp February 2025

Verse 1:
O Lord, I’ve sinned before your face;
In wrath, remember mercy.
I’ve spurned your law and mocked your grace;
In wrath, remember mercy.
My pain and misery are earned;
For I’ve rebelled against your Word.
But now in faith to You I turn:
In wrath, remember mercy.

Verse 2:
Behold my pain, Lord, hear my woe!
In wrath, remember mercy!
You sap my joy and crush my bones.
In wrath, remember mercy!
How long, O Lord, til you relent?
Beneath Your heavy hand I’m spent.
To cast off is not your intent;
So, God, remember mercy.

Verse 3:
O Lord, please hear my humble prayer:
In wrath, remember mercy.
Though I am tempted to despair,
My God, I plead your mercy.
My High Priest knows my weaknesses
And intercedes as my Defence
So now I pray with confidence:
“My God, remember mercy!”

Verse 4:
What justice calls for has been done;
The cross secured your mercy.
You poured your anger on Your Son
And poured on us your mercy.
So teach us to despise our sin,
Which caused such agonies for Him;
Yet, even in your discipline,
O God, remember mercy.

Repeat:
So teach us to despise our sin,
Which caused such agonies for Him;
Yet, even in your discipline,
O God, remember mercy.

 

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Church camp 2025 – Session 4: Prayer (Lamentations [4 &] 5)

Sunday 16th February 2025 – Lindsay Wilson

Read: Lamentations 4-5

Chapter 4 as the background to chapter 5
– a series of horrors (4:1-10)
– the destruction of Jerusalem (4:11-12)
– the religious leaders (4:13-16)
– scattered and caught (4:17-20)
– a glimpse of reversal and rescue (4:21-22)

• ‘What is missing in Lamentations 4 is any direct prayer to God. For that we must await the next chapter, which is an extended prayer for salvation.’ (Parry)

Prayer to God (chapter 5)
– the opening plea (5:1)
– economic poverty (5:2-10)
– social humiliation (5:11-14)
– community sorrow (5:15-18)
– an appeal for help: declaration, accusation and prayer (5:19-22)

So, what can we learn from the book of Lamentations?

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Church camp 2025 – Session 3: Hope (Lamentations 3)

Sunday 16th February 2025 – Lindsay Wilson

Read: Lamentations 3

Verses 1-18: Suffering
Dwelling in darkness (3:1-6)
Movement restricted (3:7-9)
Traps and dangers (3:10-18)

Verses 19-21: The transition from despair to hope

Verses 22-24: An affirmation of trust

Verses 25-39: General wise advice
How the sufferer should posture himself before God (3:25-30)
The reason the sufferer can hope: God’s loving kindness (3:31-33)
The Lord sees injustice and is behind the punishment of sin (3:34-39)

Verses 40-41: A call for corporate repentance

Verses 42-47: Corporate lament

Verses 48-51: Weeping at the suffering of his city

Verses 52-66: Weeping for his own suffering
Hunted by enemies and death seemed inevitable (3:52-54)
He called on God and was rescued (3:55-58)
God knows all the evils committed, and is called on to judge (3:59-63)
God will punish his enemies (3:64-66)

Lament and hope

 

 

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Church camp 2025 – Session 2: Faith (Lament as a Prayer of Faith)

Saturday 15th February 2025 – Lindsay Wilson

Introduction: Lament has been neglected in the Christian church

What is lament?
– widespread in the Old Testament
– a form of petitionary prayer
– addressed to God, and moves towards him
– includes complaint, strong emotion, protest and even accusation
– can include repentance but need not do so

What is the value of lament?
– expressing raw honesty before God
– talking to God rather than taking timeout
– believing that God is big enough to take our pain
– an alternative to ‘false repentance’

Lament is not overridden by the death and resurrection of Jesus
– it is not sub-Christian
– lament in the New Testament

Lament is still pastorally useful in the church and world today

Conclusion

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Church camp 2025 – Session 1: Judgement (Lamentations 1 [& 2])

Saturday 15th February 2025 – Lindsay Wilson

Read: Lamentations 1-2

An introduction to the book of Lamentations
– 5 mainly alphabetic acrostics
– an interpretation of the exile, trying to make sense of 587
– purposes of the book:
1. Explain to God’s people why the fall Jerusalem occurred.
2. Instruct God’s people how to handle this disaster and move beyond it.
3. Provide a way for the people to complain to God and express their pain.

A look at chapter 1
1:1-6 – Jerusalem’s tragic reversal
1:7-11 – Jerusalem’s sin and humiliation
1:12-17 – Zion accuses God
1:18-22 – Zion concedes her rebellion

A quick look at chapter 2
2:1-10 – What God has done to Jerusalem
2:11-19 – The children; the religious leaders; and a call to return
2:20-22 – Calling on God

The nature of their suffering – 5 aspects:
1. The scorn of the enemy (1:7-9, 21)
2. the anguish of the people of God (1:6, 17)
3. the scope of the destruction (1:1, 4, 10)
4. famine and starvation (1:11)
5. ‘there is none to comfort her’ (1:2, 7, 9, 16, 17, 21)

Two theological keys
a. God is the enemy (1:5, 12)
b. Those living in Jerusalem were sinners (1:5, 8, 18, 20, 22), and God judges sin