Blessings to you, family and friends of Bartimaeus Baptist Temple.  Here’s your update for this week.

We had a short service last Sunday because Priscilla was with Kim after her fall and Pastor David wanted to get back to them.  Keep praying for her recovery.  Pastor David taught us about the goodness of our Father God through the story of Hagar and Ishmael.

This Sunday, I want to continue a series of lessons I’ve been working on over the past couple of years that show us how the stories of many of our Old Testament heroes point to Jesus.  I am going to talk about Samuel.  I struggled a little with how to present his story in light of the overall theme.  Though he did preside over a defeat of the Philistines after the nation repented in the pattern of the judges who came before, that is not how most would remember him.  If you grew up in Sunday school, you probably learned how he came to the temple as a young boy and heard the call of the Lord, first thinking it was Eli the priest.  As long as you stop before the actual message, where the children’s story typically does, it’s a cute story.  It is found in 1 Samuel 3:1-10.  I think it illustrates Samuel’s defining virtue.  He learned to hear the voice of God and to speak what God told him.

Are we listening for the voice of God?  Are we willing to obey?  Are we willing to share the message He gives us, even if it isn’t pleasant?  Join us as we examine the life of Samuel.