Sermon - Longing for God’s Power - 1 Samuel 4-7:1

Power is a funny thing, and we see it come up in different ways in our world.

When I think of power, I think of superheroes.

And one of the things about superheroes that intrigues me is not that they can do powerful things, it's actually what they can't do.

For example, Spider-Man can leap across buildings, but he can't go back in time.

The Flash can run really fast, but he can't actually fly.

Superman can fly, but he can't walk through walls.

All the superheroes with this kind of power are also limited.

Sometimes it's fun to imagine, if you were a superhero, what kind of power you might choose for yourself.

Maybe you would want to fly.

Maybe you'd want to be invisible.

Maybe you'd want to talk to fish like Aquaman.

Anyone ever dreamt of talking to fish? Probably not.

It's a pretty weak power, isn't it? But what if we didn't need to choose from amongst all the powers? What if we could choose all of them? Every single power of every single superhero all wrapped up in one person.

I think at that point, we're really talking about a kind of divine power, aren't we? We're talking about God.

I think that our interest in superheroes is kind of a small kind of taste.

for our interest in God.

But it's pretty hard to imagine having all of that power all at once.

Even in our kind of wildest dreams, to be able to do all these things, it's hard to imagine, I think, being God.

But what makes you long for that kind of power? What makes you long for the power that only God has? What would change in your life if you had the power of God? Maybe you're in business and if you had God's power, you could have all the inside knowledge that you would need to succeed.

Or maybe if you're a student, you could have God's power to get you through the HSC.

Let me tell you, I'm sure many kids would want that power.

Give me an easy exam.

At least make me a really good guesser.

Small dreams are still good dreams, aren't they? And I'm sure all of us have wished for God's power to change our personal circumstances.

Maybe lying in a hospital, wouldn't it be good if we didn't need a doctor at all? Wouldn't it be good if we didn't need a doctor? Today I want us to ask this question, where do we find God's power? So far in 1 Samuel, we've seen God's people and we've seen that God's people really do need God's power.