And Samuel said, Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king. 1 Samuel 15: 22-23 Obeying God is better than sacrifice. Obeying God comes from a true heart. Obeying God is better than the outward form of worship, service, or personal gift. Saul’s sin was placing his ideas over God’s. People will…
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Lay Down One’s Life
“There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:13-15. What kind of friendships do you have? Or maybe I should ask, “What kind of relationships do you have?” Do you have friends from childhood? or high school, college? Or how about adult life? Ones that pray with you? Friends that would be willing to do anything for you? Do you have that one friend that you know would lay down their life for you? What do the following verses say about Christ’s death for us and what was the motivation behind His sacrificial death? John 10: 11-18 John 12:23-24,27…
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Loved By God
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:8-10 “As the Father…
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A Look At Shepherds: Part 1
I am the Good Shepherd. John 10:11 Read Genesis 4:1-9. Who was the first shepherd mentioned? What word described the animals Abel brought to sacrifice to the Lord in verse 4? Why did God prefer Abel’s sacrifice here in Genesis? Read 2 Samuel 24:24. We need to remember the type of sacrifice that we are bringing to the Lord. Let’s jump to Hebrews 11. Here we learn more about the brothers’ sacrifices. In verse 4, who was mentioned first? Why was his sacrifice acceptable, according to this passage? It was his faith. Abel brought the best part of his animal to the Lord. He did this out of faith. We…
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Voice Of Thanksgiving
But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” Jonah 2:9 Do you give thanks to God as a sacrifice? Jonah gave a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God, while he was in the belly of the fish. Here God intervened in his desperate situation. In verse 10, “And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” In Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Sacrifice is used symbolically to…
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Faith And Sacrifice – Part One
He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now, I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me. Genesis 22:12 Read the full passage of Genesis 22:1-14. Abraham had faith and commitment to God that showed when he was being tested. He was tested to the maximum when God asked him to sacrifice his son, Isaac, His promise from God. This went against what Abraham knew about God. Abraham’s story shows three extreme tests of faith: God told Abraham to leave his people and country without knowing where he was going. God required…
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Passover Supper/Holy Communion
Luke 22:7-23 Matthew 26: 17-29 Mark 14: 12-25 John 13: 1-38 This is the first day of the feast of unleavened bread. The disciples made ready the passover. They prepared this meal as they did every year. John and Peter prepared it. The hour came and they ate. Jesus wanted to eat with his disciples before he suffered. This last supper on earth, was the beginning of us doing communion. For one, we do this because he told us too. We do communion as a remembrance of Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:24). In remembrance, we observe all Jesus did for us in his life, death, and resurrection. He took the place…
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God Desire Of Mercy
But if you had known what this means, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, you would not have condemn the guiltless. Matthew 12:7 Hosea 6: 8 – For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice and the knowledge of God more than Burnt offerings. Micah 6:6-8 – With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, O man, what is good;…