Last Week’s Message
Books of Samuel
2 Samuel 21-24
May 31, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
The final chapters of the Books of Samuel serve as an Epilogue to David’s reign, combining two narratives, two lists, and two poems. As we considered each of these elements in our message, we created five epitaphs that described David’s life: 1. “Here lies David: He sought the Lord in every circumstance.” (21:1-14) 2. “Here lies David: He worshipped the Lord with the deepest reverence.” (24:1-25) 3. “Here lies David: He was a mighty warrior for God.” (21:15-22; 23:8-39) 4. “Here lies David: He trusted in God completely.” (22:1-51) 5. “Here lies David: He knew that everything good comes from God.” (23:1-7) We arrived at a Big Idea that summarized David’s life: David was an imperfect man who loved and served his perfect God.
2 Samuel 15-20
May 24, 2020
Today’s message traced the insurrection lead by David’s eldest son, Absalom. This text presents a David who is deeply conflicted. He has a blind spot toward his son and he is blind-sided by the conspiracy Absalom mounts against the throne. This entire incident, which culminates in Absalom’s death, is a fulfillment of the punishment pronounced on David by the prophet Nathan for his sin with Bathsheba. But even while God allowed the difficult circumstances to punish David, God consistently showed David mercy and kindness. We can observe this at several key junctures in the story. This led us to the big idea of the passage: God is both just and merciful and uses times of chastening to change our hearts.
2 Samuel 13-14
May 17, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
This week, we work through two chapters that record some of the consequences of David’s sin as experienced in the lives of his children. We discover three life lessons in the wake of sinful choices: 1. The sin of one person clears a path for similar sins in the lives of those that follow. 2. When sexual desire is left unbridled, it leads a person to make rash decisions that will ultimately leave the person unsatisfied. 3. When anger is left unsettled it devolves into bitterness, and the slow burn of bitterness will erode a person’s moral compass. The Big Idea of the message was that one devastating effect of tolerating of sin in your heart is that you are less able to see and to deal with sin in the lives of people within your care.
2 Samuel 10-12
May 3, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
This week we study three chapters which detail David’s great sin with Bathsheba. In these passages, we discover three principles about sin: 1. You are never so spiritually strong that you cannot fall into sin. 2. The impulse to hide our sin is the enemy of true repentance. 3. Sin promises us the illicit bliss of secret pleasure mixed with the illusion of control; but, while we can choose when we sin, we don’t get to choose the consequences. The Big Idea of the message is that when believers give themselves to sin, God lovingly does whatever it takes to draw them back to Himself.
2 Samuel 8:9-9:13
April 26, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
This week’s message focuses on an act of Uncommon Kindness that David showed to Mephibosheth. As we work through the passage, we uncover four attributes of Uncommon Kindness: 1. Uncommon Kindness is rooted in the love of God. 2. Uncommon Kindness is blessing another person with no thought for yourself. 3. Uncommon Kindness, at times, involves doing for others what they cannot do for themselves. 4. Uncommon kindness at times involves helping a person by enlisting others in the effort. The Big Idea of the message is that Uncommon Kindness places us in partnership with God as He blesses others.
2 Samuel 5:6-8:8
April 19, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
As we return to the books of Samuel, we observe that God firmly establishes David’s kingdom in chapters 5-8. In this week’s study, we uncover several truths from David’s life and kingship that allow him to be a platform for God to display his greatness and glory: 1. Through David’s obedience, God brings military victory (5:1-25; 8:1-8) 2. In light of David’s reverence, God blesses David’s house forever (6:1-7:29) 3. Through David’s line, God continues his plan to rescue humanity. The Big Idea of this passage is that David’s obedience to and reverence for God allow David’s life to become a platform for the display of God’s glory.
2 Samuel 2:1-5:5
March 29, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
In this study, we follow David’s life during the five years from Saul’s death to David’s coronation as king over Israel. This period of David’s life describes an “in-between” phase where David experiences uncertainty waiting for God’s plan to come to fruition. From this story, we identify three steps for navigating the in-between times of life: 1. Continue to seek God’s direction. 2. Remain loyal to your commitment to God, even when it would be very convenient not to. 3. Don’t succumb to the temptation to pursue your own agenda by sinful means. Our Big Idea draws on Psalm 40 and David’s experience in this passage: Wait patiently for the Lord, because the in-between times will come to an end in His time.
1 Sam 27 - 2 Sam 1 (Part 2)
March 22, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
In this message, we trace Saul’s final days as king of Israel. Saul’s life functions as a cautionary tale. In other words, by analyzing Saul’s life, we find out what not to do. Here are two truths we can draw from this text and what it says about Saul’s heart: 1. A heart that is away from God seeks to maintain the appearance of spiritual uprightness, while breaking God’s law privately. 2. A heart that is away from God wants the direction of God without submitting to God. The Big Idea we glean from Saul’s life is this: The way of transgressors is hard.
1 Sam 27 - 2 Sam 1 (Part 1)
March 1, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
This message follows the life of David during the final period of Saul’s kingship. Throughout this period, David continues to exhibit an upright and godly character. The Big Idea of the passage is: Godly character is showing the characteristics of God to others in every circumstance.
1 Samuel 23-26
February 23, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
This longer passage contains four stories that occur while David is on the run from Saul. The first, second, and fourth stories occur when Saul is chasing David, and God delivers David. The third recounts David’s interactions with foolish Nabal and his wise wife, Abigail. From these stories, we gather three lessons about God and living for Him: Lesson One: David learns that God is our refuge, whom we trust for protection even from ourselves. Lesson Two: David learns that right is still right, even when you are being treated wrong. Lesson Three: Saul demonstrates that moments of spiritual clarity do not guarantee a change of spiritual direction. The Big Idea of the message is we learn about God as we journey through life with Him.
1 Samuel 20-23
February 16, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
In this text, David discovers in earnest that Saul is out for his life. This sends David on the run from the court of Saul. But through this period in David’s life, God is building David’s faith through the difficulties he is experiencing. You see, God uses difficult times to produce distinguished faith. (See Heb. 11:32-34 and James 1:2-4.)
1 Samuel 18-19
February 9, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
This week, we trace the rise of David amidst the opposition at the hand of King Saul. In this passage, we observe three character keys in David's response to Saul’s opposition and how God watches over him: kindness, humility, and faith. The Big Idea of our text is this: "The key to staying grounded when others oppose you is grounding yourself in the God who is for you."
1 Samuel 16-17
February 2, 2020 • Dr. Peter Radford
This week’s message comes in the form of a first-person narrative. The goal of such a sermon is to help you understand the events of the text by hearing from someone who would have experienced them firsthand. The sermon covers the private anointing of David by the prophet Samuel (1 Sam, 16) and the battle of Elah, where David kills Goliath (1 Sam. 17). This section of the text is written in such a way that it contrasts Saul (the current king of Israel) and David (the newly anointed king-to-be). The Big Idea of the narrative sermon is that God’s choicest servants are those who step out courageously with hearts of devotion to God and His glory.