Hannah and Samuel: One Mother's Journey from Pain to Peace

1 Samuel 1:10-20
Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears. Making a vow, she pleaded, "LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction, remember and not forget me, and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life, and his hair will never be cut." While she was praying in the LORD's presence, Eli watched her lips. Hannah was speaking to herself, and although her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk and scolded her, "How long are you going to be drunk? Get rid of your wine!" "No, my lord," Hannah replied. "I am a woman with a broken heart. I haven't had any wine or beer; I've been pouring out my heart before the LORD.  Don't think of me as a wicked woman; I've been praying from the depth of my anguish and resentment." Eli responded, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him."  "May your servant find favor with you," she replied. Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast. The next morning Elkanah and Hannah got up early to bow and to worship the LORD. Afterwards, they returned home to Ramah. Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her. After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, because she said, "I requested him from the LORD."

Background on this passage:

•               Hannah was married to Elkanah, who was both wealthy and deeply spiritual.
•               Elkanah had a second wife, which was a source of tension between the two ladies.
•               The other wife had children, but Hannah had no children. In that culture, this was considered a negative mark against the barren woman.
•               These verses take place when they made their annual pilgrimage to the tabernacle to worship.

Verse 10 - Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
•               Hannah had a strong faith, yet she still had deep hurts.
•               Our faith does not erase our hurts, it gives us strength to endure them.
•               Hannah dealt with her hurt through prayer and tears.
•               Prayer has the power to change our attitudes, our actions and our circumstances.
•               Prayer does change things but does not always remove all our tears.
•               God designed tears to be part of the healing process when we go through difficult times.

The Miracle of Tears
http://www.answersingenesis.org/creation/v15/i4/tears.asp
•               Biochemist William Frey spent 15 years studying tears and found that stress-induced tears actually remove toxic substances from the body.
•               Crying reduces the body’s manganese level, a mineral which affects mood and is found in 30 times greater concentration in tears than in blood.
•               Crying also reduces the endorphin leucine-enkephalin, which controls pain.
 
Verse 10 - Deeply hurt, Hannah prayed to the LORD and wept with many tears.
•               There is nothing wrong with having a good cry every now and then.
•               But after we have shed our tears, then what do we do?

Verse 11 - Making a vow, she pleaded, LORD of Hosts, if You will take notice of Your servant's affliction . . .

•               Hannah was not content to just wallow in her pain. She made a commitment (vow) to the Lord.
•               Hannah thought of some specific commitments she could make to the Lord and what actions she might take to follow through on those commitments.
•               When we are under stress, sometimes we make bad decisions that only make the situation worse.
•               In painful times we must pray, seek godly counsel and then consider our commitments to the Lord and to those around us.

Verse 11 . . . and give Your servant a son, I will give him to the LORD all the days of his life . . .

•               Hannah focused on a specific problem and made it a matter of focused prayer.
•               She made specific commitments to the Lord about that specific issue.
•               Sometimes when we are under stress we try to deal with too many issues at one time instead of focusing on the most significant issue at that moment.
•               Dealing with too many issues at once often makes both our thinking processes and our prayers too generic and our commitments less clear.
•               Specific prayer and clear commitments keep us focused during difficult times in our lives. 

Verse 12 - While she was praying in the LORD's presence, Eli watched her lips.

•               Eli was watching Hannah, though she probably did not realize it.
•               We may not realize it, but others are watching how we deal with our troubles.
•               They want to know if our faith helps us or not.
•               If our faith does not help us, why would they want to follow the faith either?

Verse 13 - Hannah was speaking to herself, and although her lips were moving, her voice could not be heard. Eli thought she was drunk.

•               Eli did not understand Hannah’s spiritual connection with God, which was sad since Eli was a priest.
•               People will not always understand how faith helps us in times of difficulty. Sometimes even our friends at church will not understand.
•               Eli thought she was drunk.
•               Sometimes people will think we are acting like a religious fanatic, or joined a cult or some other odd thing when it comes to how our faith helps us in times of difficulty.

Verse 15 -. . . Hannah replied ‘I am a woman with a broken heart….’

•               Hannah may not have been understood by others, but she understood herself.
•               One of the things prayer does is help us sort our own thoughts and emotions so that we can hear what God is trying to say to us about our situation. 

Verse 15 -. . . Hannah replied . . . I've been pouring out my heart before the LORD.”

•               As a believer, Hannah realized the first person she should share her heart with was the Lord.
•               Hannah needed to get her frustrations off her chest so she shared them with the Lord.
•               God is always happy to listen to our frustrations.
•               We need to learn the importance of pouring out our heart to God FIRST.
•               We tend to pour out of troubles to other people first.
•               Though it is good to have family and friends to share our burdens with, our FIRST response should be to go to the Lord and share it with Him.
•               When we share our hearts with the Lord first, it helps us be more clear when we share it with others. And then they can offer more focused support.
 
Verse 17 - Eli responded, "Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant the petition you've requested from Him."
•               Though at first Eli did not understand Hannah, he finally realized the depth of her pain and the power of her faith.
•               People can seldom understand the depth of our pain unless they have experienced the same thing in their own lives.
•               Eli joined her in prayer and sensed God was going to answer it soon.
•               Having a prayer partner is one key to finding peace in the midst of pain.
•               Therefore, we must not write off those who do not understand our pain the first time we share it.
•               They will eventually realize our deep need and join us in praying through it.

Verse 18 - . . . Then Hannah went on her way; she ate and no longer appeared downcast.

•               Hannah worshipped, she prayed, she poured out her heart and it really helped!
•               Then she had to go on with her life. Though her problem was not “solved” she found peace and strength to keep going.
•               Prayer, worship and sharing our burdens with others in appropriate ways can do the same thing for us. 

Verse 19 - . . . Then Elkanah was intimate with his wife Hannah, and the LORD remembered her.

•               Hannah was loved by her husband, which helped her find a great deal of peace.
•               Having people in our lives who love us is very important for our emotional health.
•               Hannah was also remembered by God.
•               Realizing that God has not forgotten us is also very important for our emotional health. 

Verse 20 - After some time, Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son….

•               It took time for Hannah’s problem to be solved.
•               It takes time to find real solutions to the problems we face in life.
•               God gave Hannah a son, which was an answer to her specific prayer.
•               God will give us answers to our specific prayers if we do not try to jump ahead of God. 

Verse 20 - . . . She named him Samuel, because she said, "I requested him from the LORD."

•               The name Samuel has two interpretations. “God has heard” or “a son of God.”
•               However we want to interpret it, God heard Hannah’s prayer and gave her a son.
•               Hannah gave the glory to God by the name she gave her son.
•               Will we give God the glory when He answers our prayer & meets our need? 

Conclusion:

•               Our faith does not erase all our hurts, but it does give us strength to endure them.
•               Prayer and commitment to God changes our attitudes, our actions and our circumstances.
•               We should talk to God about our problems FIRST, and then find a godly prayer partner.
•               God’s timing is not always our timing, but it is always the right time.
•We should give God the glory in all things.

Fathers and Sons and Worship

In my role as a denominational leader, I visit a wide variety of churches. A few of the churches have great worship services, a few not so great, and the majority are somewhere between great and not great. Recently I visited a church that has a more robust service with an excellent worship leader. As I was singing I was blessed to see many families around me worshipping as well. Then I made a startling observation that I have never noticed before. In all the families in which the father was singing, all their sons were singing too. In the families in which the father was not singing, neither were the sons. Once I noticed this in a couple of families, it caught my attention and I tried to observe as many men as possible to see how they were interacting in worship and what impact it was having on their sons. The more I looked, the more my initial observation was proven correct.

One family in particular caught my attention because there was no mother present. Perhaps she had to work that day, or maybe she was serving in the nursery, or perhaps it was a divorced family. I had no way of knowing where the mother was, but the father was there with his two sons, who appeared to be young teenagers. I noticed all three of them singing and taking part in the prayers and following along with the sermon quite well. In a day in which it seems that most men have checked out of being the spiritual leader of their home, here was an example of a dad who was succeeding, at least in some small measure, in being a spiritual example to his sons. And he was not just doing it because his wife was poking him in the ribs, since she was not even there. It was clear that he was there because he wanted to be, and from what I could tell, the sons did not seem to mind being there either, which is a miracle in itself if you know much about teenage boys and church!

I have wondered since witnessing this if the father and sons have openly discussed the importance of worship and why one should be actively engaged in it, or did the sons just learn by the father’s example? Either way, that dad has done something right and we need more dads like him.

So what about it men? Are we content to stay home while our wives and children go to church? Are we content to attend the service but mentally be planning our next round of golf or thinking up the roster on our fantasy football team? Perhaps it is time for us to reengage in active worship. Let us show our children, especially our sons, what it means for a godly man to approach the Heavenly Father in a God-honoring way. Let’s be men!

 

For tips on how to help your children or grandchildren enjoy church, read Dr. Dorsett's book, Mission Possible: Reaching the Next Generation through the Small Church.

Book Review - Jesus is His Name

In a culture that is quickly forgetting its rich Christian heritage, Rev. Drzymala writes an easy to read yet comprehensive book explaining who Jesus is. Entitled, Jesus Is His Name, the book starts with various Christophonies in the Old Testament and then moves through the life of Christ as recorded in the four New Testament Gospels. The book helps readers understand who Jesus is from the biblical perspective.

When I recently asked Rev. Drzymala why he wrote this book, he said, "I decided to write the book simply to point people to the person and work of Jesus Christ." He goes on to say "the main point of this book is that Jesus and Jesus alone can save us from our sins."

That kind of exclusiveness is not popular in our postmodern culture. Rev. Drzymala points out that though some modern scholars want to debate the historical Jesus by suggesting that the biblical account is inaccurate, but he refutes that using numerous scriptures. The book then jumps to the end of the New Testament to discuss the return of Christ as predicted in the book of Revelation. Unlike many discussions of the Revelation, Rev. Drzymala does not get into time lines and charts; instead he focuses on who Jesus is throughout that last book of the Bible. Finally, the book closes with an invitation for readers to make a personal commitment to following Christ. Though some readers may be taken aback by such an invitation in book form, what else would one expect from an author who describes himself as "an old fashion Baptist preacher?"

Rev. Drzymala told me in our interview that he was "hoping that unsaved will read the book and find Christ, and that new believers will read it and grow in their faith in Christ." He believes that his "readers will learn more about Jesus and who he is and what His plans are in the future regarding as His return." The book does a great job of dealing with those issues, so I join him in that hope.

I asked Rev. Drzymala if he could add another chapter to the book, what would it be? He replied, "If I added another chapter it would be titled "How will you respond to Jesus?" and would include all the different ways people respond to the Gospel." At the moment, Rev. Drzymala does not plan on writing additional books, but he also adds, "unless the LORD leads me too."

Copies of the book can be purchased at this link:
http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Is-His-Name-ebook/dp/B008DZDSAI/

Processing the Boston Marathon Bombing - Guest Post by Bruce James

 

I’ve lived in New England since 1998 and I have to admit New Englanders are a tough, hardy people.  There’s a certain pride that comes from living in this area.  There is a heritage of independence, a respect for higher education, diversity, and free thinkers not to mention some of the best sports teams in the world. Work hard, better the community, play by the rules, do what you want but do no harm seems to be the general rule.   When bad things happen,  like the shooting in Sandy Hook, CT, and the bombing at the Boston Marathon, folks come together to help each other through the difficult days.  Resilient?  Yes.  And you can count on it that, in response to these tragedies, there will be many hours invested in making things safer and better so in the future the traditions we love will be preserved and the community will remain.

 

The search for the bombing suspects kept us riveted to the news for days.  An unprecedented city lockdown, a massive manhunt, and the take down and capture of the suspects were epic and the responses from the crowds were naturally those of thanksgiving and relief.   Now Bostonians could lay their loved ones to rest and bring healing to the wounded and grieving.    The day after the arrest, one person interviewed borrowed an insightful line from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, “This morning brings a gloomy peace.”

 

You have to admit that it is “gloomy” and I’m sure we will move on quickly…but not too quickly.  We will get tired of the talking heads and political wrangling.  We will tire of the constant reminders and get back to the better things of life and the dream of peace.  If only these conflicts of life could be limited to the playing field of Fenway or the basketball court of the TD Fleet Center we could all manage them better.

So where does the gospel fit into all of this?    We may want to consider first that there is no story without conflict.  Try as we will, life will never be a place without conflict.  As long as there are humans, you can count on us to hurt and maim one another.   That in itself is a “gloomy” fact.  Both man and nature were jettisoned into chaos when Adam pulled the sin trigger in the Garden of Eden--Act I of the prototype of all stories.  Paradise was overshadowed by darkness, as was that sunshiny day on Boylston Street.   Lives were indelibly marked on both days. Evil slithered away, cowards ran, and heroes rose.  In every great story someone rises to meet the challenge and to confront the chaos caused by evil. In the gospel God sends a Savior--Act II--who confronts and defeats sin by giving His life.  

 

I love the story of the Forum Restaurant’s staff, located at the epicenter of one of the blasts, who quickly began to assist those maimed by the bomb.  In an interview one of them said, “We were at the wrong place at the wrong time but we did the right thing.”  As believers we may look around our world and say it’s all wrong, it’s not the right time,  but let us by God’s grace do the right thing. Cowards run but heroes arise.  Another classic line I heard regarding how parents can talk to their children about tragedies came from our old friend Fred Rogers, whose video went viral this week as he quoted his mother’s advice, “When bad things happen, look for the helpers.  You will always find people who are helping.”

 

As we look for closure, it’s a whimsical dream to think there will ever be a time in this life where there will be no evil, no death, sorrow or pain.  Try as we may in this life there is no return to Eden.  But there is the promise. We need to remember the story is not over and the conflict has yet to play itself out.  Few of us find joy in the battles of life, but in these days while our faith is tested and our characters purged let us remember the promise.  Remember the selfless acts of bravery by those created in the image of God bearing his image as they do the right thing.   As Christ arose victorious over the grave, he left us the promise that in the Father’s time He will bring us into the final act and that glorious day of restoration--Act Three.   In that day when peace is restored and mankind is brought into the fullness for which it was created, there will be no end to the celebration of the Savior, for in that day “the gloom” will be no more.

 

 

Bruce James serves as the Evangelism Director for the Baptist Convention of New England, a network of over 300 churches working together to share the love of Christ in their region.

Our Changing Culture and the Ever Present Need for Jesus

I almost missed seeing it as I set the newspaper aside. But something about the picture caught my eye. I picked the paper up and looked at the picture again of the couple that was embracing and realized it was a same sex couple. The article was about love and family and I realized that the editor has chosen a picture of a same sex couple to illustrate the article. It was not an article about same sex marriage, the article did not address that issue at all. It was just a stock picture that was chosen to go with the story.

Twenty years ago, such a picture would have never have been published. Ten years ago, depending on the newspaper, it might have been published in an article about same sex marriage. Even two years ago such a picture would have produced a flurry of letters to the editor, both pro and con. But now, in our rapidly changing culture, it was just a stock picture in a mundane article that did not appear to stir up controversy at all.

Regardless of where a person stands on that particular issue, we can all agree that our culture is changing. Pick about any topic or issue, and it seems that the public opinion is drifting to the left. Things that only twenty years ago would have been unthinkable have no become so common that we almost miss noticing them when they show up in daily life.

How should churches engage such a changing culture?

Some churches have chosen to adopt the culture as their own. Such churches jumped in with both feet and happily accepted the culture's view on such things. They assumed it would swell their ranks with left leaning parishioners. That did not happen. The majority of liberal churches remain in steep decline. Tony Robinson, president of Congregational Leadership Northwest, speaks and writes, nationally and internationally, on religious life and leadership. He concluded:  It may be that relatively comfortable liberals … simply feel little need for religion.

Other churches have adopted more of a fortress mentality. They have withdrawn from public life and huddle in their basement hoping the world will just leave them alone. Recently I had a conversation with the leader of a major fundamentalist religious organization that has taken often this approach. He lamented, "We once had 50,000 people at our events, now we consider 20,000 to be a good year." The fortress mentality is clearly not working either.

Churches that want to remain vibrant must look for ways to engage the culture, without adopting it. Though there may be many ways to do that, it seems that the best way is to focus on the life changing Gospel. When we focus on passing legislation for the community as a whole, or internal regulations for the organizations we serve, we miss the point. The human heart is sinful. It will remain sinful regardless of what the law or the rule book says. The only thing that can change the human heart is the Gospel. As we lift up Jesus and expose men and women, boys and girls, to the Gospel of Christ, they are drawn to Him. As His Spirit enters them, they are transformed. That transformation is far more powerful than all the rules and laws.

It is time to emerge from our holy huddles in the church basement and start engaging our friends and family with the Gospel. Let's talk about Jesus. Let's sing about Jesus. Let's replace those political bumper sticker with ones about Jesus. Let's pack up our t-shirts promoting sports teams and musical groups and start wearing ones that talk about Jesus. It may be counter-cultural, but let's make faith once more about Jesus and just see what happens.




To learn more about how churches can engage the culture, read Mission Possible: Reaching the Next Generation through the Small Church.

Five Steps for Helping Small Churches Reach a Changing Culture

A seminar presented by Dr. Terry W. Dorsett

Introduction:
For generations small churches have cared for the spiritual needs of our nation. Small churches kept our nation focused on what was really important and our nation was stronger because of it. In the past 20 years our culture has changed and suddenly small churches are no longer having the impact they once had.

Stereotypical Small Communities:
 Everyone knows everyone and there are lots of connections through school, church, and community organizations. Many people are related by blood or marriage to a significant portion of the local population. Small communities often have low levels of racial diversity. Everyone knows the unofficial rules of how to get things done. Often more conservative politically than urban areas. More respectful of religion in general, though not everyone goes to church. Lower crime rate than urban areas. Often have a lower educational level than the national average.

Small communities are rapidly changing:
Though the small stereotypes can still be found, they are increasingly the minority culture. As well educated and politically active families have grown frustrated with urban life, they are increasingly moving to small towns and outlying areas. Sometimes native people who once lived in the area move back with new ideas they learned in the big city. With the advent of technology, people can now live anywhere and keep the same job they used to have to live in the city to get. But it is not just these “outsiders” who are changing the nature of small communities. That same technology has brought the ideas of the world to small communities. Teenagers from smaller communities can now be just as connected and up to date on music, clothing styles and ideological concepts as their urban counterparts. Adults are now being exposed to more progressive ideas and concepts than ever before and some of them are buying into these new ideas.

How Does This Impact Small Churches?
The influx of new people and ideas is rapidly transforming the mindset in most communities into a more postmodern way of thinking. Postmodernism is the idea that individuals have both the intelligence and the right to decide for themselves what truth is without any objective standards. Postmoderns decide what truth is based on individual experiences and relationships. They do not recognize absolute truth. However, many postmodern people are actually interested in learning about spirituality, they just want to do it on their own terms. To learn more about how to reach postmodern people, consider reading, Mission Possible: Reaching the Next Generation through the Small Church.

Though we do not have to give up our biblical values to reach postmoderns, we may have to change some of our man-made traditions. Many churches will struggle with giving up their man-made traditions, but for the sake of the Kingdom, we must. The challenge will be in praying through what is a man-made tradition that we can let go of and what is a biblical mandate which we must retain no matter what.

Five Suggestions for How Small Churches Can Impact Changing Communities:
1. Embrace technology
2. Embrace bivocationalism and lay ministry
3. Embrace racial diversity
4. Use church buildings as much as possible
5. Get outside the walls of the church into the community

1. Embrace technology
Postmodern people are more “virtual” than ever before. That means they often socialize via technology more than in person. Churches must discover how to use Facebook, Twitter, text messaging, blogs, websites and other technological innovations. People no longer look in the “yellow pages.” Many people are less open to a home visit.

Embrace technology in public worship services without losing the sacred aspect of church. Invest in a projector and screen but also learn to light a candle and say the Lord’s Prayer or quote Psalm 23. Merging technology with ancient liturgy appeals to postmoderns, because they like to “experience” different things. This is particularly effective when we explain the meaning behind the rituals.

 
2. Embrace bivocationalism and lay ministry
Funding for small churches is going to be diminished in the future for a variety of reasons. Therefore, to have sustainable churches we must accept the reality of bivocational ministry and lay ministry. Most churches will not be able to afford multiple-staff members. Lay ministers are going to have to fill roles we used to pay people to fill. Churches that do not have high levels of commitment might not even be able to afford to pay their pastor a livable wage, therefore he may have to work another job in addition to the church. We may not like using lay ministers or having bivocational pastors, but it is a growing reality in many small churches.

The great challenge of bivocational ministry is burn out. The key to helping bivocational ministers avoid burn out is to help them learn the art of delegation. Pastormust train lay people to accept the duties that the pastor delegates to them. Consider the book, DevelopingLeadership Teams in the Bivocational Church. 

God NEVER intended for the pastor to do all the ministry on his own. Shared leadership is the biblical model –  Acts 13:1-3, 2 Timothy 2:1-2

3. Embrace racial diversity
Some churches may resist reaching out to people of other races, but this is essential, especially if we want to reach a younger audience. Do not misunderstand, there are places where “ethnic” churches are essential because of language barriers. But the “second generation” will not have those barriers.

4. Use church buildings as much as possible
Many buildings only get used two or three days a week. Is this  good stewardship of the facility? Many unchurched people see a church building as the place where weddings, funerals, family reunions, 50^th anniversary receptions, Boy Scout troops, AA meetings, etc., are held. When a church lets the public use the building for such a things, the public begins to think of it as “their” church. Postmodern people want to “belong” before they “believe.” This does not mean they want to join the church organizationally, it means they want to feel a part of the group relationally. Providing a building and appropriate ceremonies for postmodern people to participate in is very important to helping them feel like they belong.

Make sure the building looks good from the road. Make sure the sign is easy to read and has the main service times and phone number prominently displayed. Most postmodern people do not care about the church’s denominational affiliation, or the pastor’s name, or highly religious descriptive phrases. That does not mean those things are not important, it just means they do not care.

5. Get outside the walls of the church into the community
Practice the faith outside the building that is preached inside through involvement in community organizations and activities that address community needs. Show Christian love through compassion ministries to the hungry, homeless and hurting. This is what postmodern people think Christians are supposed to do, so do it! Recover personal evangelism through sharing our own difficulties in life and how our faith gives us hope instead of just giving a religious sales pitch. Consider using Malachi: Finding Hope in the Midst of Adversity.

Work hard to let the community know anyone is welcome to attend any church services or activities regardless of religious affiliation or lack thereof.

Small communities are changing rapidly and churches are going to have to adapt to those changes. Those adaptations include:
1. Embracing technology
2. Embracing bivocationalism and lay ministry
3. Embracing racial diversity
4. Using church buildings as much as possible
5. Getting outside the walls of the church into the community