1. I Samuel 7:9-12 (NKJV) 9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. Then Samuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the Lord thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day,

2. I Samuel 7:9-12 (NKJV) and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. 12 Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”

3. I Samuel 7:9-12

4.  There is probably nothing more frustrating than when something breaks  Our kids got a trampoline for Christmas…  We obviously only fix things or work on them if they are broke

5.  You don’t spend money to work on or replace something that is working just fine  The same goes for most everything in life  If your system of doing things works, then why change it?

6.  How about our spiritual life?  There may be times when things aren’t going like they should  That’s usually when we spend some time in self examination  We find what’s wrong and do our best to fix it

7.  The Israelites were often broken  They have never been credited as being the brightest bunch  They also have never been tagged as the most faithful to God in their existence upon this earth  There was often a formula there

8.  We see that formula laid out in I Samuel 7  Israel’s disobedience to God had given place to the Philistines  Following 2 prior defeats at the hand of the Philistine army, the Israelites were told what to do to be victorious

9.  They followed the command from Samuel and God gave them the victory over the Philistines  Following this Samuel raises up a stone and calls it Ebenezer  “Thus far the Lord has helped us” (v. 12)

10.  As long as the Israelites were obeying God, He was with them and helped them  When they turned from Him, He also turned away from helping them  God had helped the Israelites through so much in their existence

11.  Just a few chapters earlier, the Philistines were recounting; something that the Israelites should have been doing  The Philistines recognized that God had helped the Israelites against the Egyptians (4:8; 6:6)

12.  It’s a shame that others saw what God had done, but the Israelites seemed to always forget it  When God defeated the Philistines, the COI were grateful  So the stone was set up to signify God’s help

13.  A quick look back would have revealed: God led them out of slavery God led them through the Red Sea God destroyed the Egyptians God sustained them in the wilderness God brought them to the Promised Land

14.  The Israelites would not have been where they were had it not been for God  As long as they were willing to serve God faithfully (and Him alone), He was willing to help them  This stone was set up to memorialize that fact

15.  What Israel must have recognized that day was that God’s plan always worked  Never could they look back over their history and see where God’s way didn’t work  Yet they continued to try to change the plan to suit themselves

16.  God said to worship Him alone, but they brought in foreign gods  God commanded adherence to His law, yet they followed it only when it suited them  God prescribed certain ways to do things, yet they changed it over and over

17.  It’s clear to us that God had a plan that worked  God commanded, they obeyed, He blessed them  We can see where they went wrong…it always happened when they strayed from His commands

18.  Are we guilty of trying to fix what isn’t broken?  God’s will was established 2,000 years ago, yet it’s still relevant today  However, it seems as though most are itching to change God’s word and will

19.  Many are trying to change the way God is worshipped  Many more are changing the way salvation is achieved  Those claiming to be God’s children are eliminating commands of God because they aren’t popular

20.  Is it the gospel that changes people’s lives today (Rom. 1:16) or is it the show we put on to attract them to come and hear a watered down version of it?  Many wish to change what isn’t broken because they simply haven’t tried it

21.  God has brought His church forward for 2,000 years  His church will continue through adherence of the plan He laid down  Are we wasting time trying to improve what is already perfect, or will we continue with what works?