What Does The Lord Require Of Me? (Sunday, June 21st, 2026)

Listen to this audio mesage: What Does The Lord Require Of Me?"

by Manoj MK

Heavenly Father, we praise you and thank you because you are the Eternal Father—the ultimate, perfect model of what every human father should aspire to become. We recognize that we are imperfect, wanting, and lacking, but we pray for the grace to truly listen to your Word today. It is a joy to worship you in both good times and bad, knowing that you are a good God who leads us into good things. As we meditate on your scripture, we ask that you speak directly to our hearts, communicate exactly what you want us to learn, and give us the strength to obey.

How many of you are ready to hear and receive the Word of God this morning? It is an incredible privilege and a godly responsibility for me to bring God's Word to you whenever I have the opportunity. On this Father's Day, I pray that what I share will deeply bless the fathers, the would-be fathers, those who still have their human fathers with them, and those who have spiritual fathers or are acting as a parent in the faith to someone else.

Confronting Superficial Religion

Let us turn first to one of my favorite chapters—a passage that serves as a powerful "kick in the back". In Matthew 23, Jesus strongly condemns the scribes and the Pharisees for their hypocrisy and false religion. An easy reference to remember is Matthew 23:23. The Word of God says:

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.”

The scribes were the teachers of the law, and the Pharisees are a group we speak about often because, if we look closely at our lives, we can find a little bit of Phariseeism in ourselves . Jesus called them out because they were meticulously tithing tiny, insignificant items like mint, dill, and cumin. It sounds like a modern spice jar!

Coming from India, most of us here know our spices well. In fact, one part of India is famously known as the spice bowl of the world. Spices are small in quantity but great in value, taste, and aroma, and we love to garnish our food with them. (As a side note, for those visiting today, we welcome you to join us for our potluck lunch after the service where we will enjoy some highly flavorful, fiery food—and we can assure you that we've managed to condition Brother Joel to tolerate about 60% of the Indian palate over the years! )

The Pharisees were incredibly precise about tithing these tiny spices because it was a commandment, but they used external religious behavior to mask the fact that they completely neglected the weightier matters of the law. When we think of the law, we think of Moses and the Old Testament. As a principle of scripture, the New Testament is concealed in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New. Non-Christians sometimes misread the Bible and assume the God of the Old Testament is angry and full of wrath, while preferring the loving God of the New Testament. That is a misunderstanding born from a lack of proper scriptural insight. God's core desire has always been consistent, and Jesus tells us what truly matters to Him: justice, mercy, and faithfulness.

The Ultimate Requirement

I never fully grasped the connection between Jesus' words and the Old Testament until I was a new believer. A visiting Bible college teacher pointed out to me that Matthew 23:23 directly connects back to Micah 6:8. This is a famous scripture that has been a guiding principle for numerous U.S. presidents—including George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, William Harding, and Harry Truman .

Micah 6:8 declares:

“He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?”

When scripture says "O man," it is speaking to all of humankind—husbands, wives, fathers, and mothers alike . If you wake up in the morning wondering what God wants you to do, the answer is right here: do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God. Jesus reiterated these exact weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. By the end of today, I want us all to know this verse by heart: He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

These attributes met perfectly at the cross of Jesus Christ. We sang earlier about Jesus being beautiful beyond description, and the song noted that "it pleased the Lord to crush Him". This comes straight from scripture. The strict justice of God required an atonement for sin, but the deep mercy of God recognized that we could never achieve this on our own. At the cross, holiness met compassion. Jesus became the ultimate, permanent sacrifice on our behalf. We cannot please God through our own acts of righteousness or good works; we please Him through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Because we are made righteous by faith, we then do righteous acts as the Spirit of God lives His life through us.

Practicing True Justice

What does justice look like in our daily lives? In common terms, justice is fairness, equality before the law, and restitution. It is often depicted by a blindfolded Lady Justice holding a scale, indicating partiality toward none. God’s justice is fundamentally fair. He does not judge us based on what we don't have, but on what we have been given. He doesn't expect the person given one talent to produce the same return as the person given ten.

In this broken, fallen world, there is rampant injustice. God has placed us here as instruments to restore fairness and righteous decision-making within our spheres of influence . Human technology, intellect, and wealth have failed to solve the world's systemic problems because of human fallenness . But God Himself is an unmovable rock of justice. As Deuteronomy 32:4 states:

“The Rock! His work is perfect, For all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He.”

To walk in this justice and avoid the wrong ways of judging, there are three key things we must avoid:

• Do not judge by appearance: The Pharisees looked incredibly godly on the outside with their long public prayers, unique garments, and constant presence in the temple, but Jesus called them actors and hypocrites . John 7:24 commands us: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” We have a human limitation; we cannot see into the heart like God can. Ever since the serpent tempted Eve with the ability to judge between good and evil, humanity hasn't stopped judging. We constantly judge everything—cars, food, and people—labeling them "good" or "bad" based on our narrow preferences . Righteous judgment means reserving judgment entirely and leaving it in the hands of God.

• Do not show partiality: James warns us against treating a wealthy person or a politician with high honor while looking down on a homeless person . To do so is to lose the essence of the gospel, which completely equalizes humanity. In Christ, there is no Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female—every soul is created in the image of God and is worth more than the whole world . Leviticus 19:15 instructs: “You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly.” God's law repeatedly calls us to defend the vulnerable: the poor, the widow, the fatherless, and the stranger.

• Do not seek vengeance: When we are wronged, our immediate human instinct is to pay the person back under the guise of "justice". I heard a story about a visiting pastor in Kerala who was preparing to serve communion. A church elder refused to take it because of an unresolved issue with a brother . When the pastor urged him to call the brother and reconcile right then, the elder admitted he didn't want to resolve it yet . He said, "Let him just suffer for some time because of what he did to me... Let him writhe in that pain for a couple of weeks, then I'll get it resolved" . We laugh, but how often do we hold grudges because we want to teach someone a lesson? Romans 12:19 clearly tells us: “Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord.” Taking vengeance destroys your own relationship and favor with God. Leave it to Him.

The Call to Loving Kindness

Justice must always be balanced by mercy. Zechariah 7:9-10 beautifully ties these two elements together:

“Thus has the Lord of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’”

We don't fail to do this because the scripture is hard to understand; we fail because our flesh wants to hold onto the right to be angry, grumpy, severe, or to hold a grudge . If we try to manufacture mercy through pure willpower, we will always run out of supply when dealing with co-workers, spouses, children, or relatives . We must yield to God's nature. Psalm 86:15 reminds us:

“But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, Slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness and truth.”

Some people are naturally predisposed to snapping, while others are quieter by nature. But the command to be slow to anger applies to everyone. This doesn't mean grinding your teeth and suppressing your rage ; it means being so overflowing with the love of God that you become genuinely difficult to provoke .

Look at Jesus in Matthew 9:36. When He saw the crowds, He felt deep compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited, like sheep without a shepherd. When you see hurting or spiritually lost people, does your heart ache for them? Do you feel a burden to do something about it?

Historically, we often viewed the father as the firm figure of justice at home, with the mother providing permissiveness, love, and compassion. Regardless of how those parental dynamics look today, both firmness and compassion are beautifully unified in Christ. He was fiercely angry at religious exploiters who used religion to make money and oppress others, but deeply compassionate toward the poor, the broken, and the lost.

Navigating the Political Divide

We live in a deeply polarized culture, and the church has unfortunately taken sides politically. The idea of "social justice" has been heavily hijacked by secular groups, causing many right-leaning Christians to view any ministry to the poor, the widow, or the foreigner with mistrust and derision. This is wrong. God explicitly commands us to care for the vulnerable willingly and out of our abundance.

On the other hand, the secular left has veered into total rebellion against God's creation. Scripture tells us God created mankind male and female. Today, culture rebels against this, claiming they don't even know what a woman or a gender is. While there is a legitimate medical condition called gender dysphoria that affects a tiny percentage of the population, our culture is celebrating and promoting it, deeply confusing impressionable children and leading many to destroy their lives. We must hate the evil agendas and teachings that promote this confusion, but the call of the church is to love, understand, and help the individuals who are caught in it, offering them a way out.

The Lord is neither right-wing nor left-wing. He is both perfectly just and perfectly merciful, and He calls us to be the same.

Conclusion: Walking Humbly

As we close, let us remember Colossians 3:12:

“So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;”

"Putting on" or clothing yourself with these traits means putting on Christ Himself . You cannot do this in your own strength, but by allowing the Holy Spirit within you to flow outward so that the character of Jesus is revealed.

The ultimate secret to sustaining justice and mercy is the third requirement of Micah 6:8: walk humbly with your God. Walking humbly is the expression of faithfulness.

This is my call to all of our fathers, and my call to every member of this congregation. Let us look out for the vulnerable, treat those outside with compassion, and resolve to bring true fairness into our community. Let us make a conscious decision today to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.

Let us pray.

Father in heaven, on this Father's Day, we thank you that our knowledge, training, and understanding come from the Father of lights, with whom there is no shadow of turning . You have shown us what is good and what you require of us: to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God. Forgive us for the times we have neglected the weightier matters of the law. We pray that you would change our hearts from the inside out so that our external behavior is transformed. Renew our minds by the power of your Word and your Holy Spirit, so that we may be a changed people who truly reflect the glory and the nature of Jesus Christ, our Lord. In Jesus' name, we pray.

Amen.

The Manifold Grace Of God (Sunday, June 14th, 2026)

Listen to this audio message: "The Manifold Grace Of God"

by Justin Thomas

Praise God. Thank you, servant of God, for sharing the pulpit. I know many of you here are teachers and ministers yourselves. I just want to encourage you that the Lord in His wisdom plants churches in every context and in every region for a purpose. The universal church, which we are all a part of, is a massive family. God, in His grace and His mercy, has allowed us to have different expressions of this universal church. India Full Gospel Church, you are one such beautiful expression of the universal church of God. It is an expression that goes beyond even our own understanding—existing before our time and ahead of our time until Christ returns. May the Lord continue to bless each one of you as you gather together in your various meetings, whether it is in your homes or in this place. May the Lord richly bless you all.

I know you have already introduced me, so I won't say too much about myself other than to say that we are from Oklahoma. It is a true joy to be back with you here in your previous building. My in-laws, Finny Jacob and Molly, send their warmest hellos to you all. They live with us in Oklahoma, and since they are currently in the U.S., I am certain they will come down to visit you sometime soon.

For today’s meditation, we are going to dive into a lot of scripture, so I ask each of you to track along with me. We are focusing on a very familiar topic, but it is something that we as believers often forget. Although it is familiar, my prayer today—as Sister Archana was saying earlier—is that the Lord will enable us not just to gain head knowledge, but to be truly transformed by the truth and washed by the Word of God.

We need this washing because there is a lot of dirtiness in this world that hits us and sticks to us throughout the week. We come together on Sunday morning, and we leave rejuvenated, excited, and ready to say, "God, I am going to do this for You, or I am going to do that for You". But then we step out into our workplaces, our schools, and our various other contexts, and we quickly realize that we fall short of the decisions we tried to make within ourselves. That is precisely why we gather like this as a fellowship of brothers and sisters in Christ: to hear directly from God’s Word.

Let’s turn together to John chapter 1, verses 14 through 16. This is John's powerful prologue regarding Jesus Christ:

“And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John testified about Him and cried out, saying, ‘This was He of whom I said, “He who comes after me has a higher rank than I, for He existed before me.”’ For from His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” (NASB 1995)

Let us look also at verses 17 and 18:

“For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (NASB 1995)

Look at verse 16 again: “For from His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace.” For the time we have ahead of us, we are going to slowly and methodically meditate on this incredible truth: that from the limitless fullness of Jesus comes grace upon grace. That is my title for today: Grace Upon Grace.

The Illusion of Individualism and True Grace

We live in a world—and specifically here in the United States—where we easily get assimilated into a cultural mentality of rugged individualism. We celebrate self-made people who pull themselves up by their bootstraps. We applaud those who come from absolutely nothing, work hard, and rise to the top through sheer self-determination and self-confidence. We love to watch someone face negativity, find a positive angle, work tirelessly, and reach a high level of success. This shapes the "happily ever after" narratives we tell one another and read to our children. We like to think that even if there are bad days, we can step into good days purely through self-realization and time spent working alone.

This is the secular narrative we have to walk in every day. That is why it is so important that in the church, we intentionally take time to meditate upon the deep truths of the gospel. We gather here and praise God for everything He has done. But the moment we walk out those doors, we face a world that insists you must work hard to earn your success and gain your acceptance.

Then, this biblical word enters our lives: grace. Unfortunately, there is a massive amount of misunderstanding surrounding this term. On one end, if you speak to those who do not know Christ, they might define grace simply as physical beauty, elegance, or social formality.

The best example I can think of—which is a bit humorous—is a dog show. The dog gets perfectly groomed, looks spectacular, and does a little walk or run around the ring. You will hear the commentators quietly say into their microphones, "What grace, what grace! Look at how this dog prances and struts along!" Now, the dog handler running behind doesn't usually show much grace at all because they are frantically chasing the animal, but they describe the dog using the word grace.

Let me be clear: this is absolutely not the grace I want to talk about today. In the Christian life, biblical grace is not about physical posture, how we stand, how we talk, or our dining manners. That is just beauty, manners, and formality. What scripture is talking about is something infinitely deeper and wholly transforming. A proper understanding of biblical grace changes the entire equation of how we live and how we serve. It completely transforms how we treat other people and what we say to them. Ultimately, a true understanding of grace fundamentally changes our perspective on suffering.

Two Dimensions of Grace: Common and Special

In Christianity, we see two distinct operations of grace. The first is common grace, which God gives freely to absolutely everyone. As the scriptures declare, God causes His sun to rise and shine on the evil and the good alike. God is so profoundly gracious that He demonstrates patience and mercy to the wicked and the evil just as much as He does to those doing good.

I actually believe those of you living in this region have been granted a little bit of extra common grace! When you step outside, you see a spectacular natural beauty that we simply do not have back in Oklahoma. You can drive out an hour and be right at the beach, looking at the trees, or going on nature walks. We are quite jealous of that back home! Whether a person believes in God or not, everyone here enjoys this extra common grace.

However, today I want to focus intently on the second kind: special grace. This is the specific grace given exclusively to those who have faith in Jesus Christ. As we read in John chapter 1, the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth, and from His fullness, we have all received grace upon grace. Jesus is entirely full of grace, and He has poured it directly into our lives.

For the next several minutes, we are going to walk through four different expressions of this grace. I have framed these using four words starting with the letter S so that each of us can easily remember them when we leave this place. This will help us understand what we have already received and what we will continue to receive until we see Jesus face to face. These are the four S's: Grace in Salvation, Grace in Suffering, Grace in Service, and Grace in Scripture.

1. Grace in Salvation

We are going to look at a lot of scripture passages now, and I will read them for us. Let’s look first at grace in salvation. As your minister already highlighted during the opening prayer, this is a core emphasis of this church, so I can go through it a bit quicker, but it remains a vital reminder for us all.

A passage we know exceptionally well is Ephesians chapter 2, verses 4 through 9. Scripture reminds us that because of His great love for us—and make no mistake, His abundant love is the exact source from which this grace flows—God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were completely dead in our transgressions. Paul emphasizes: “it is by grace you have been saved.” God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. Stop and think about that incredible privilege: you were completely dead in your transgressions, and now He has raised you and seated you in the heavenly realms! That is absolute, pure grace.

Why did He do this? He did it so that in the coming ages He might display the incomparable, surpassing riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Then we see those foundational words in Ephesians 2:8-9:

“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (NASB 1995)

This is the grace by which we are saved, accessed through faith. Sometimes a subtle mentality creeps into our hearts where we think we can boast about our faith. We might think, "I chose the faith on my own," or "I went through so many tribulations to maintain this faith." But what is faith, essentially? Faith is mere trust. If I say, "I trust my doctor, I trust this person, or I trust this bridge," do I take personal credit for that trust? No, we don't assign personal credit or boast about trusting a bridge. Yet, in our spiritual lives, we somehow still try to boast.

We desperately need to remind ourselves of exactly where we were. We were dead in our transgressions and sins. We were utterly lost and completely outside the kingdom of God. As Stebby was praying beautifully at the start of our service, we were trapped in the kingdom of darkness. But a total transfer occurred. Out of the heart and mind of God, driven by His immense love, He poured out His grace so that those who had no claim, no spiritual family, those who were alienated and orphaned, could be brought directly into the family of God.

Grace is a gift, but it is not just a simple, ordinary gift. It is a gift that goes far beyond anything we could ever earn. Grace found us when we least deserved it. Grace found you and me when we were nowhere close to wanting or seeking it. Grace found us while we were still sinners. It reached us when we were weak, helpless, empty-handed, and desperate—when we thought our lives were over and completely devoid of meaning or worth. Grace found us.

Brothers and sisters, whether you are a recent believer who has newly come to the faith, or you have walked in the faith for many decades, I ask you to examine your heart today. Has any part of your heart quietly taken hold of the prideful thought that you are part of this church because you earned your place, or because you made it here on your own strength?

When we study salvation in the scriptures, we see that it spans three distinct tenses or phases: past, present, and future.

• Justification (Past Tense): The moment we placed our trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation, we were saved and declared righteous, clothed entirely in Christ.

• Sanctification (Present Tense): We are being saved. Even though we are legally clothed in His righteousness, we are actively working out our salvation daily by the power of the Holy Spirit, putting remaining unrighteousness to death and claiming victory over it.

• Glorification (Future Tense): We look forward to the day when our salvation will be made completely full and we will be glorified to be exactly as He is. That final phase is also pure grace—the grace of glorification.

Because salvation encompasses the past, present, and future, we can never treat faith as a one-time past decision. The scriptures explicitly warn us that we must endure. There must be an endurance in our faith. We have to maintain our absolute trust to the very end, because this world will constantly present opportunities to lead us astray and cause us to make a shipwreck of our faith.

Eventually, our faith will become sight. We will no longer need faith when we see Him face to face. You might have had an incredibly difficult journey coming to the faith, or maybe your initial decision was smooth but life has hit you hard since then, leaving you wondering, "Can I even maintain this faith when it brings so many challenges?" Yet, even through the heaviest trials, you still love Him and trust Him, even though you cannot physically see Him.

The Apostle Peter marveled at this exact reality. Peter had walked with Jesus and seen Him face to face, but he wrote to a suffering community of believers who had never seen Jesus physically. He looked at their lives and marveled, saying, "You possess the exact same faith, trust, and love that I have, even though you do not see Him." That is what salvation is all about: the supernatural grace God gives us to clearly see Him despite living in a fallen world full of darkness and suffering.

Before moving to my second point, I want to highlight a passage that became deeply profound to me because of my wife Benita Shalu’s grandfather. Before he passed away, one of his absolute final wishes was for a specific scripture reference to be written on a piece of cloth and placed directly over his body in his casket. That verse was Titus chapter 2, verses 11 through 13:

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus…” (NASB 1995)

This single passage perfectly captures justification, sanctification, and glorification. It describes grace not merely as an abstract theological concept, but as a person: Jesus Christ has appeared and brought salvation. And notice that this grace does not just alter our legal status before God; it provides a teaching grace. It actively instructs us to say "no" to ungodliness.

I say this to remind myself just as much as I say it to you: through His grace, God has given you the actual power to say "no". We are not helpless victims. We live in a world overflowing with intense pressure, darkness, temptation, and trials, but because God’s grace has saved you, He has also fully equipped you with the grace to say "no" to anything that violates His Word. If you have successfully said no to things that would have dragged you down a path of destruction and ungodliness, take comfort in knowing that was the secure grace of God actively at work within you.

2. Grace in Suffering

Our second point is grace in suffering. Suffering is an incredibly uncomfortable topic to discuss, largely because of the worldly narrative that has heavily saturated the modern church. We have cultivated an expectation that following Jesus means a permanent "happily ever after" on this earth. We love testimonies that say, "My life was terrible, then I met Jesus, and now everything is perfect and easy."

Sometimes we even base our entire evangelism on this framework, asking people, "I found so much peace, joy, and fulfillment when I came to Jesus; don't you want that too?" But if you say that to a wealthy, successful person who feels entirely satisfied and has built a great life without God, that message will go completely over their head. They will simply look at you and say, "I am genuinely glad you found that fulfillment, but I am doing great where I am. I don't need your Jesus."

We must thoroughly examine and rethink the foundation of our message. The core of our message must be the gospel itself, because the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. We must place our absolute trust in the exact same message the original apostles preached—the life, death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ. In some places, thousands accepted their message; in other places, they were violently kicked out of town. But regardless of the immediate results, they trusted the intrinsic power of the gospel.

The true gospel message does not promise a fairy-tale "happily ever after" on this earth right now. We are currently groaning in a world corrupted by sin, decay, and brokenness. Our ultimate "happily ever after" belongs to the day when Christ returns in glory with His saints, renews the world, and lifts us into the new heavens and the new earth.

Let us look at the Apostle Paul’s personal experience in 2 Corinthians chapter 12, verses 2 through 10. Paul begins by speaking of himself in the third person, describing a man who was caught up to the third heaven and heard things that cannot be humanly uttered. But then, he shifts to a raw, first-person narrative to describe his intense suffering:

“…Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.” (NASB 1995)

Think deeply about this context. Paul was the greatest evangelist the world has ever known, the apostle to the Gentiles, and the writer of over a dozen New Testament books. Yet, to explicitly keep him from becoming prideful or conceited due to the staggering revelations he received, a painful thorn in the flesh—a literal messenger of Satan—was permitted to relentlessly harass and torment him. He went to Jesus and begged three distinct times for it to be removed, and Jesus responded, “My grace is sufficient for you.”

Jesus explicitly states that His divine power is made perfect in our human weakness. The way His power manifests in us gives absolutely no glory to us; it ensures that all the glory goes to Him alone. The more you openly boast about your weaknesses, your hardships, and the spaces where you feel harassed or empty, the more the magnificent grace of God is revealed to the world. It is a sufficient grace. It is completely enough.

Now, I am not fully qualified to explain the complex cosmic purpose behind all human suffering. But I can tell you with absolute certainty from my own life what suffering accomplishes: it keeps us entirely humble. And if there is an infallible formula for receiving God's grace, it is humility. First Peter chapter 5, verse 5 clearly states: “God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

Look directly into your own heart today. How many times have we personally blocked the flow of God's grace in our lives because we took our eyes off Jesus, looked at ourselves, and began swelling with pride over our own accomplishments or who we think we are? Experiencing "grace upon grace" requires growing in deep, authentic humility. If you truly understand the sublime beauty of grace, you will actively ask God for more of it. In His perfect wisdom, He will guide you through situations that break your pride and keep you completely humble before Him so that He can pour more of Himself into you.

The Sympathetic High Priest and Unending Grace

The absolute best visual illustration of this unending grace is the ocean waves. Those of you who live near the coast know exactly what this looks like. Imagine standing right on the shoreline, watching the waves continuously and relentlessly crash over your feet. It never stops. You stand there knowing that there is an entirely limitless, inexhaustible supply of water rushing toward you. That is the exact image of how God pours His grace into our lives—wave after wave of grace upon grace.

Let’s anchor our hearts in Hebrews chapter 4, verses 14 through 16:

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (NASB 1995)

Jesus is our great High Priest and our eternal Intercessor who has passed through the heavens. The author of Hebrews uses this truth to exhort us to hold fast to our confession and endure in our faith to the very end. Our High Priest is not a distant, blind, unfeeling deity like the idols this world worships. He is Almighty God who stepped into human flesh, took the massive weight of human sin upon Himself, and completely satisfied the righteous wrath of God on the cross. He died, rose victoriously from the grave, ascended into heaven, and is seated in absolute authority at the right hand of the Father, living forever.

Because of this, He is fully able to sympathize with your weaknesses. Have you ever looked at the painful circumstances of your life, cried out in tears, and asked, "God, where are You? Do You even understand the depth of what I am going through right now?" Jesus can look directly at you without batting an eye and say, "Yes, I completely sympathize with your weakness." For those of you who are desperately wrestling with temptation and think, "Lord, it was easy for You; You don't know how heavy this pressure is," He reminds you, "No, I have been tempted in every single respect just as you are, yet I remained without sin."

Therefore, we can approach His throne with bold confidence. He calls the seat of His cosmic power a throne of grace. We can run to it with boldness, knowing that the God of heaven understands our trials in a far deeper way than we can even comprehend ourselves. Every single temptation you face is understood by the One who endured the ultimate temptation and conquered it.

I am not quite finished with my message, but I feel strongly that we need to pause right here. If this reality of the throne of grace and the intercession of Jesus Christ is not actively engaging your heart this morning, it absolutely should right now by the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us close our eyes for a moment and fix our spiritual gaze on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the agony of the cross, despised its shame, and is now seated in power and majesty at the right hand of the throne of God. He is reigning right now, waiting until every single enemy, including death itself, is placed under His feet.

This is the One we worship. This is the One we pray to. This is the exact reason we are gathered together today. We are gathered in the matchless name of Jesus, our sympathetic High Priest who promises to give us fresh mercy and sufficient grace in our exact time of need. My deepest prayer for you this morning is that even if you lose sight of every other human being in your life, do not lose sight of who Jesus is. Human beings will inevitably disappoint you, and human beings will hurt you, but Jesus never, ever will.

Remember the profound words of Robert Murray McCheyne: "If I could hear Jesus praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me." Think about the sheer depth of Christ's active intercession for you. If you want to see a clear picture of what this looks like, look at the life of Peter. Peter was boasting in his own strength, saying, "Lord, everyone else might deny You, but I will never deny You! It's never going to happen!"

Jesus looked at him and said, "Peter, you are going to deny Me three times tonight. Satan has explicitly demanded to sift you like wheat to destroy you completely. But I have prayed for you, Peter, that your faith will not fail." Jesus was so utterly confident in the power of His own intercession that He added, "When once you have turned back and been restored, go and strengthen your brothers." He knew Peter would return because He had prayed for him. It is the deeply loving, protective heart of Jesus to pray that your faith will not fail, because He invested His very blood and life for you.

When you truly realize that Jesus is praying for you, it completely casts out fear. If God is for us, who can possibly stand against us? A million enemies can stack up against me, the entire world can oppose me, but if my Jesus is for me, and if my Jesus is actively interceding for me at the right hand of the Father, who can conquer me? And even if challenges break through into your life, you can rest assured that they have not bypassed the sovereignty of your God. If He has allowed it, it is never meaningless, and it is never purposeless. There is a distinct divine purpose behind it.

Cling to the words of 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 10:

“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” (NASB 1995)

Your suffering in this life is very brief, light, and momentary. But the God of all grace has called you to an eternity of glory. Even when you feel like your feet are slipping and you are about to fall, He is actively holding you and keeping your footing secure. Hold on, church, it is just for a little while!

3. Grace in Service

Our third point is grace in service. Romans chapter 12, 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and 1 Peter chapter 4 teach us a powerful lesson about what God does for those He has saved and sustained by His grace. God does not intend for us to merely absorb or consume His blessings. He pours out supernatural gifts of grace into the body of Christ so that we will actively use them to serve one another. Romans 12:6 states: “Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to exercise them accordingly…” Every single person sitting in this room has been handed a specific proportion of God's grace to use.

Many of us fall victim to a consumer mentality where we just want to sit back, absorb resources, and consume sermons without ever giving back. But God gave you your gifts to be spent. And here is the beautiful paradox of grace: the more you spend it, the more He supplies. You might feel physically exhausted or mentally drained from pouring yourself out, but as you empty yourself for others, He faithfully pours more grace back into you.

Look at 1 Peter chapter 4, verse 10:

“As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” (NASB 1995)

We serve one another so that in all things God may be fully glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs all glory and dominion forever and ever. Ephesians similarly reminds us that grace was given to each one of us according to the specific measure of Christ's gift. When Jesus ascended on high, He led a host of captives and gave varied spiritual gifts to the church—providing apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds, and teachers. These leadership gifts and callings do not operate because someone has a magnetic natural personality or an innate human talent. They function strictly because of the absolute, unmerited grace of God placed upon them.

Now, how do we balance intense hard work with the reality of grace? How do I labor with everything in me while acknowledging that everything is a free gift? Paul masterfully walks this tightrope in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 9 and 10:

“For I am the least of the apostles, who am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain; but I labored even more humbly than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me.” (NASB 1995)

Paul lived with a deep sense of his own unworthiness. He remembered with grief that he had stood by and approved while Stephen was brutally stoned to death. He felt completely unfit to even be called an apostle or to tell people how to believe in Christ because of his past as a violent persecutor of the church. Yet he declares, "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain."

When I look at Paul's life, it challenges me deeply: can we live in such a way that we resolve to pour out our lives as a completely spent drink offering before God, ensuring that the grace He has given us is never in vain? Can we lay down our lives in such profound thankfulness and gratitude that not a single ounce of God's grace toward us is wasted?

Paul states, "On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them." This is where hard work and divine grace beautifully collide. He labored to the point of absolute physical exhaustion, yet he maintained the radical humility to say, "It wasn't actually me working; it was the grace of God operating and powering within me."

This is the ultimate example of true humility and self-forgetfulness that God wants to produce in us. When we look back and realize, "I was completely dead in my transgressions and sins, and I was justly condemned. But when I came to the Lord, He absolutely transformed everything about my life—He changed the way I think, He changed what I value, and He redefined my identity by His grace," we become fully surrendered to His service. Whatever He wants to do through me, I will do it with all my might to love others and serve His church. I can pour myself out completely without fear of running dry, because I know that the more I pour out, the more grace will be supplied.

When we appeal to Jesus Christ, our sympathetic High Priest, He will continually pour out His sufficient grace in our exact hour of need. We will never be left lacking, and He will keep us deeply content in every circumstance.

4. Grace in Scripture

Our final point is grace in scripture. If you read carefully through the New Testament letters, you will notice a fascinating, intentional pattern: at least fifteen of the New Testament books explicitly begin and end with the word grace. They open with apostolic greetings like "Grace to you and peace," and they close with powerful benedictions like "Grace be with you."

I want to remind you that the written Word of God preserved in these letters is a literal vehicle of divine grace. It was granted first to the early church audience and has been meticulously passed down generation after generation to us today. Every single time you open the Bible and read it, grace is being actively communicated to your soul. When we finish reading and meditating on these pages, we walk away with a greater, transforming knowledge of who Jesus is.

The authors of scripture desired that the grace received through the word would abide with the readers. In fact, the very final sentence of the entire Bible in Revelation chapter 22, verse 21 seals the entire scriptural narrative with this exact theme: “The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.”

Let me leave you today with this beautiful apostolic blessing found in 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 18:

“…but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (NASB 1995)

Let us bow our heads and pray together.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You so deeply for this time You have granted us in Your presence today. Father, help us to truly remember where we once were, and help us to realize every single day that we are entirely products of Your unmerited grace. Open our eyes to see the stunning, majestic beauty of Your grace shining in the face of Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Lord, our minds are sometimes so hard and dull, and it is incredibly difficult for us to fully comprehend the immense depths of Your grace. But we trust that Your Holy Spirit will open these scriptures to our hearts in a far greater magnitude in the days ahead, so that we would walk this earth fully recognizing that we are vessels of Your mercy and Your grace. We once deserved to be vessels of Your wrath, but by Your cross, You have made us vessels of Your grace. Therefore, pour out Your grace in an even greater measure in our lives, O God.

Lord, if there is any part of our hearts today that proudly thinks we have made it on our own, or that we don't need anything because we are good in ourselves, I pray a very dangerous prayer this morning: tear down every self-reliant structure, every haystack, and anything we have foolishly built up by our own power and might. Tear it down, O Lord, so that You can build us back up again by Your grace alone.

I pray that by Your grace, as this congregation goes out into their workplaces, into their schools, and into their local communities this week, people will look at them through a completely different lens. Help people to see a distinct grace upon them that is clearly not of themselves—an otherworldly grace that comes from another place entirely. Let it be vividly manifest in their daily conversations, in their service, in their financial giving, and in their deep selflessness. I pray that You will grant them this special, transforming grace.

Finally, Lord, I pray for the teachers, leaders, and servants of God in this congregation. Pour out a special, surpassing grace upon Your servants. Let it not be because they have achieved great things by human standards, but because they continually come before You at the throne of grace—asking, asking, and asking for more and more of Your grace. Please plant Your divine presence here and grant them a passing, sufficient grace to victoriously accomplish every single task You have called them to do. We give You all the praise, all the glory, and all the honor. In the matchless and holy name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

God Needs A Samuel (Sunday, June 7th, 2026)

Listen to ths audio message: "God Needs A Samuel"

by Robin John

I want to thank God, our Pastor, and all of you for this privilege and opportunity to stand before you today and share what the Holy Spirit has placed on my heart.

The other day, I was sitting in my car scrolling through Instagram. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes get caught up in those quick reels. Now, there is a feature called auto-scroll where the videos just keep changing automatically without you even lifting a finger. As I sat there in my car, one particular video caught my attention because it just kept going on and on. It was an advertisement for a prescription drug, and the narrator spent several minutes listing an incredibly long, terrifying list of side effects.

I was so curious that when I got home, I decided to look it up myself. I want to read you what was actually on that warning label. It listed serious risks: possible thyroid tumors and cancer, lumps in the neck, hoarseness, difficulty swallowing, shortness of breath, pancreatitis, severe abdominal pain, kidney failure due to dehydration, gallbladder problems, intestinal blockage, severe constipation, worsening of diabetic eye disease, low blood sugar, and even depression or suicidal thoughts.

When I finished reading that, I had to find out what this drug actually cured. Do you know what it was for? It was simply to fix snoring and help people get a good night's sleep.

I sat back and thought, “Who in their right mind would willingly take something with those kinds of consequences just to fix snoring?” But then it hit me: the only reason a person would ever take a medication like that is out of sheer desperation. They reach a point of misery where they say, "All of the potential side effects and consequences are nothing compared to this one agonizing thing I need fixed right now." Church, that place of desperation—where you are at the end of your rope, where you don’t care what it costs, how long it takes, or what people think—is exactly the environment where God operates. Desperation is the birthplace of a breakthrough. It is the birthplace of radical change. And most importantly, desperation is the catalyst where we give birth to Samuel. The title of my message today is: God Needs a Samuel.

The Divine Equation

When we look closely at the scriptures, from the pages of Genesis all the way to Revelation, we can see that God repeatedly uses a specific, four-step equation whenever He encounters an individual to bring about a divine breakthrough. This equation is consistently mapped out like this:

1. God has a Need

2. God looks for a Vessel

3. God uses a Catalyst

4. God brings a Resolution

We see this exact pattern play out in the life of Job, in the rise of David, and in the fiery trial of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Today, I want us to look at how God executed this precise equation in the lives of a broken woman named Hannah and a boy named Samuel.

Step 1: The Need of the Hour

To understand Hannah’s story in 1 Samuel, chapter 1, we first have to examine the dark spiritual backdrop of what was happening in the house of the Lord at Shiloh. Eli was the high priest, and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were serving as priests. But the Bible tells us these men were deeply wicked; they did not know the Lord.

Whenever the Israelites brought their sacrifices to offer to God, Eli's sons would show up with a three-pronged fork, plunge it into the cooking pot, and forcefully steal the best portions of the meat for themselves before the fat was even burned as an offering to God. To make matters worse, they were committing sexual immorality right at the doorway of the tent of meeting. They were corrupting the very presence of God at the altar.

Eli knew exactly what his sons were doing, but he failed to restrain or remove them. He honored his sons more than he honored God. Because the priesthood had become entirely contaminated, God made a sovereign, administrative decision: He was going to wipe out Eli’s lineage and start completely fresh.

God had a profound need. He needed a holy replacement—a prophet and a priest who would rise up and serve Him with a devoted heart, moving in alignment with His full intention.

Step 2: The Chosen Vessel

When God has a corporate need, He begins looking for an individual vessel. This is where you and I come into the picture.

Hannah didn't audition for this assignment. She didn't get a detailed backstory or an explanation from heaven. She had absolutely no idea that the priests at the temple were corrupt or that God was planning a reformation. Similarly, you and I may never know the full backstory of why God allows us to go through heavy, crushing seasons. But it is a privilege to be chosen by Him. God doesn’t just choose anyone; He chooses those He knows will be faithful to endure the pressure, fulfill His vision, and birth a "Samuel" at the end of the trial.

The Bible tells us two critical things about Hannah in 1 Samuel 1:5:

"But to Hannah he would give a double portion, for he loved her, but the Lord had closed her womb."

Notice that Hannah was deeply loved by her husband, yet her womb was closed. Her childlessness wasn't a biological accident, a medical anomaly, or a marital issue—the text explicitly says the Lord had closed her womb.

If the Lord is the one who shut the door, then only the Lord can open it. Why would a loving God intentionally shut a door and cause His beloved vessel to suffer? Because He knows that under the right environment, with the right amount of divine pressure, a perfect condition is created within our hearts. It forces us to transform, shifting us from wanting a blessing for our own reputation to being willing to surrender that blessing back to Him.

A "Samuel" in your life might not be a physical child. A "Samuel" represents your breakthrough—your medical healing, deliverance from an addiction, peace in a fractured home, or a radical encounter with God. God borrows our time and applies pressure to birth something magnificent through us that will ultimately serve His purpose.

Step 3: The Catalyst

You can be a wonderful, willing vessel, but without a catalyst, you will always remain an empty vessel. A catalyst is an agent that initiates or accelerates a reaction. The catalyst itself doesn't change, but through the process, you are completely transformed.

Hannah’s catalyst was Peninnah, her husband's other wife. Peninnah had children, but her character was incredibly cruel. Year after year, whenever the family went up to worship at the house of the Lord, Peninnah would mercilessly ridicule, mock, and provoke Hannah about her barrenness. She did it intentionally to make her miserable, until Hannah wept bitterly and could not even eat.

Have you ever wondered why God allowed such a toxic, cruel person into Hannah's immediate circle? Because God is in total control of your catalyst. He knows exactly who and what circumstances are required to stir up a holy desperation inside of you. If Hannah had been comfortable, she would have never made the vow that changed Israel's history.

Often, a catalyst feels like heavy oppression, a difficult boss, a strained relationship, or an unanswered prayer. Think about the Israelites when God hardened Pharaoh's heart. Every time Pharaoh's heart grew harder, the taskmasters became more brutal, and the Israelites’ lives became significantly more uncomfortable. It felt like suffering, but it was actually setting the stage for them to witness the parting of the Red Sea and the glory of God like no generation before them.

The hardest part of dealing with a catalyst is that we don’t know the expiration date. Hannah went through this agonizing, repetitive cycle year after year. We, too, hunker down and pray for a breakthrough, wondering why the misery continues, not knowing when it will end. But remember: only God knows when the spiritual condition inside our hearts is perfectly ready.

Step 4: The Resolution

This brings us to the final part of the divine equation: the resolution. Let us look at how Hannah handles her breaking point when she finally takes her pain to the altar. Look at 1 Samuel 1:9–16:

"Then Hannah rose after eating and drinking in Shiloh. Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the temple of the Lord. She, greatly distressed, prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly. She made a vow and said, 'O Lord of hosts, if You will indeed look on the affliction of Your maidservant and remember me, and not forget Your maidservant, but will give Your maidservant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and a razor shall never come on his head.' Now it came about, as she multiplied praying before the Lord, that Eli was watching her mouth. As for Hannah, she was speaking in her heart, only her lips were moving, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. Then Eli said to her, 'How long will you make yourself drunk? Put away your wine from you.' But Hannah answered and said, 'No, my lord, I am a woman oppressed in spirit; I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord. Do not consider your maidservant as a worthless woman, for I have spoken until now out of my great provocation and bitter vexation.'"

Church, there are three profound, liberating truths we can extract from Hannah’s moment of resolution at the altar:

1. Her Anguish was in Secret

Before this moment, Hannah’s husband Elkanah had tried to comfort her by saying, "Hannah, why do you weep? And why do you not eat? And why is your heart sad? Am I not better to you than ten sons?" This shows us that even the person closest to her didn't truly grasp the depth of her agony.

She didn’t retaliate against Peninnah, she didn't post her complaints for the world to see, and even the high priest Eli completely misjudged her character. Her true anguish was kept entirely secret between her and God. Many of you are carrying secret pain right now that your spouse, your children, your coworkers, or your friends know absolutely nothing about. The altar is the only place left where you can safely lay it down.

2. Her Cry was in Silence

Hannah was making a massive, nation-shaping vow to give her future child back to God, yet her voice could not be heard on earth. Her cry was completely silent to human ears, but it was thunderous in the courts of heaven.

If you are feeling voiceless, weary, and completely exhausted today, know this: God hears your silent whispers and your heavy sighs. You do not have to be loud, obnoxious, or put on a performance to move the hand of God. He moves in the quietest, deepest depths of your surrendered soul.

3. Her Trust was Secure

After Hannah explained her grief, Eli answered her in verse 17: "Go in peace; and may the God of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of Him." And look at how she responds in verse 18: "So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad."

Think about that. What had actually changed in that exact moment? She hadn't given birth yet. She wasn't even pregnant yet. Eli was just a human priest giving a verbal encouragement, but Hannah recognized the voice of the Lord speaking through him. She knew heaven had responded to her agony, and her trust became instantly secure.

We often wait for a massive sign, an extravagant revival, or a spectacular emotional goosebump to believe our healing has begun. Hannah simply took God at His word, stood securely upon it, changed her countenance, and went home.

Following Through on the Covenant

The story concludes beautifully: they returned to Ramah, Elkanah cohabited with his wife, and the scripture states that "the Lord remembered her." That was her exact prayer—"Lord, remember me." She conceived, gave birth to a son, and named him Samuel, saying, "Because I have asked him of the Lord."

But church, the absolute hardest part of this entire journey is the final act of the resolution: surrendering your Samuel.

It is very easy to bargain with God when we are sitting in the ashes of desperation. We say, "God, if You just give me this corporate job, if You just heal my body, if You just fix this broken marriage, I will dedicate my life to You! I will tithe, I will serve, I will give You the glory!" Then, heaven moves miraculously, we receive the blessing, and suddenly it becomes incredibly difficult to actually let it go. We want to hoard the blessing.

Think about the staggering personal sacrifice Hannah made. Samuel wasn't just her child; he belonged to Elkanah too, yet she made a bold, unilateral covenant to give him away. She looked at the heavy "side effects" of her vow—knowing she would never get to tuck him into bed at night, comfort him when he scraped his knee, or watch him hit his childhood milestones—and she decided that keeping her word to God was worth the cost.

When it came time to fulfill the vow after the child was weaned, look at her husband Elkanah’s godly response: "Do what seems best to you... Only may the Lord establish His word." When you remain fiercely faithful to your covenants with God, He will cause even the potential areas of friction, misunderstanding, and chaos in your family to settle into perfect peace. Hannah took her young boy to Shiloh, walked into the temple, dropped him off with Eli, and remained entirely faithful to her word.

Conclusion and Prayer

My prayer for you today, church, is that when God shows up and answers your desperate cries, you will have the spiritual courage, integrity, and boldness to follow through on your promises to Him—even if the personal cost turns out to be higher than you ever anticipated.

Let us bow our heads and pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You for this divine moment. Lord, we may not always understand the backstory or the reasons why You allow us to experience heavy trials, long seasons of waiting, and crushing pressures. But God, we thank You that You see us. Just like Hannah, You see our anguish when it is hidden in secret, and You hear our prayers when we are completely silent and out of words. May our hearts be found so faithful that our trust in Your promises remains unshakable.

I pray for everyone listening today—whatever their unique journey, whatever their private trial, or whatever storm they are navigating—that they would rest in the assurance that You are in absolute, total control. Walk with them, comfort them, lead them into their places of supernatural victory, and let Your Word be an enduring anchor to their souls. In the mighty, matchless name of Jesus we pray, Amen.

Remember this as you leave today, church: God always uses ordinary human vessels for His extraordinary divine acts. Even when He seems totally silent, His presence is right there with you in the middle of the trouble. Call upon Him, trust the process, and watch Him bring forth your breakthrough!