Samuel: A Study In Character - Week One "Hannah's Prayer"
For the next several weeks our preaching team will be preaching and teaching on the life of Samuel, the great Hebrew prophet from the book of 1 Samuel . This is part of our ongoing journey through the Old Testament ---a journey that is bound to surprise even the most "churched" church-y person. Our study of Samuel is entitled, "Samuel: A Study in Character." Samuel was called by God to lead the people of Israel during a critical time in her history. The people of Israel had begun to desire to be like the other tribal peoples around them, who were led by "kings" or more specifically "elected" kings who were chosen by the gods, recognized by the religious leaders of the tribe and then affirmed by each of the tribal leaders themselves. The people of Israel had worshipped God as king up to this point, so this was a serious departure from the covenant they'd been living under for hundreds of years. But the Philistines (tribes from the...