Welcome to Fellowship! We're glad you're here! Please fill out our CONNECT CARD.

Celebrate Recovery is a safe place with kind people who are working together to deal with hurts, habits, and hangups. Have questions? Contact our CR Leader - Tim Hughey

Check our website for upcoming events and over lots of past teachings on many different topics.

Help us forward the mission of Fellowship to share Jesus with young and old, with people across the street and people across the ocean. GIVE ONLINE or at the Giving Boxes at each exit.

Step into a story where terrified soldiers, a thunderstruck battlefield, and one upright stone converge to prove God still rescues repentant people. Hear how that ancient “Ebenezer” can anchor your faith, silence today’s anxieties, and remind you that every impossible debt has already been paid in full.

The ark of the covenant was a wooden box overlaid with pure gold, housing the tablets inscribed with the 10 commandments along with a few other items including Aaron’s rod & a golden jar with manna Yahweh had provided during the Exodus (Heb 9:4). 

On top of the ark were 2 cherubim facing one another, covering the mercy seat/atonement cover with their wings (Ex 25:18-22). The mercy seat was the flat section that represented the footstool of Yahweh’s throne.

Welp, looks like it’s over for the Philistines, because the people have brought out Yahweh’s Presence & Power to fight for them. That’s what many of the Philistines thought too, as they heard the shouting from 2 miles away.

That Eli’s sons were the ark of the covenant - earlier called “wicked men” (1 Sam 2:12) whom God intended to kill (1 Sam 2:25), should cause pause for the reader.

Eli’s two sons died in fulfillment of what Yahweh had spoken through the man of God (1 Sam 2:34). Further, Israel was defeated and the result was almost 10x worse than the previous bloody battle. But most significantly, the ark of God - the box that housed the 10 commandments & several other sacred items - the item revered & represented the Presence of Yahweh in the middle of the people, was captured. 

Contrary to their hope, the ark of the covenant didn’t force Yahweh’s Hand, but proved that…

BIG TRUTH: Yahweh’s Powerful Hand is moved by Purity & Sincerity…not false promises or religious rituals. 

• God won’t be manipulated by our RELIGIOUS RITUALS including shouting, singing, and praying - that means NOTHING without a SINCERE ATTITUDE of obedience.
• God is not a magic wand we wave or a secret weapon we pull out of a box when we get in a bind.

The ark of the covenant - the symbol of Yahweh’s Presence & Power - is GONE. What would this mean on Yom Kippur, the day of Atonement? The high priest would no longer be able to fulfill what the law says about sprinkling the blood of the bull & goat on the ark. And all of this has come about because of wicked leaders & people who treat Yahweh and His laws with a quick wink rather than a bowed knee.

The word play from the Hebrew is not noticed in English but the word kabod is the word for both for “glory” and “heavy”.

So, as the mother had named her son, Ikabod, “Where is the glory?” or “no glory” - the answer is found in Ashdod among the Philistines where Yahweh’s Presence & Power can’t be denied!

1 SAMUEL 6:7-9

Now then, prepare one new cart and two milk cows that have never been yoked. Hitch the cows to the cart, but take their calves away and pen them up. Take the ark of the LORD, place it on the cart, and put the gold objects that you’re sending him as a guilt offering in a box beside the ark. Send it off and let it go its way. Then watch: If it goes up the road to its homeland toward Beth-shemesh, it is the LORD who has made this terrible trouble for us. However, if it doesn’t, we will know that it was not his hand that punished us—it was just something that happened to us by chance.”

According to vv 10-13, the cows pulling the cart never wavered as the Philistine rulers watched them go directly to Beth-shemesh. Beth-shemesh is a Levitical city - a place where Hebrew priests lived - people who should be VERY aware of God’s laws regarding how to treat the Ark of the Covenant. As the cows pulled the cart, the Hebrew people harvesting wheat were overjoyed at seeing the ark of the covenant.

The cart came to the field of Joshua of Beth-shemesh and stopped there near a large rock. The people of the city chopped up the cart and offered the cows as a burnt offering to the LORD. The Levites removed the ark of the LORD, along with the box containing the gold objects, and placed them on the large rock. That day the people of Beth-shemesh offered burnt offerings and made sacrifices to the LORD. When the five Philistine rulers observed this, they returned to Ekron that same day.

The people realize this is no game, that Yahweh is holy - different from all others, to be treated with the ultimate honor.

Yahweh’s Powerful Hand is moved by Purity & Sincerity…not false promises or religious rituals. 

Ultimately, the whole house of Israel longed for Yahweh and responded in real repentance - turning FROM sin and turning TO Yahweh. Are there any idols that you place above Yahweh? Job, money, family, or a hobby? Time to CHOP IT DOWN!

Samuel has been used by God to lead them back to Him, to judge the actions of their previous 20 years as sinful & demand true repentance - turning from sin and turning to Him - as we have seen at the beginning of today’s passage (1 Sam 7:2-4).

• Mizphah “watchtower” or “lookout” -this particular place is thought to be 8 miles north of Jerusalem - 2,572 ft high.

Pouring water out in Yahweh’s presence is likely imagery for the people weeping before Yahweh in repentance as in Lamentations 2:18: “The hearts of the people cry out to the Lord. Wall of Daughter Zion, let your tears run down like a river day and night. Give yourself no relief and your eyes no rest.” 

Fasting was sign of seeking Yahweh rather than seeking food. This was a sign of SINCERITY as the people confessed their sin against Yahweh. 

This young lamb would have its neck slit and its life leaked away. Sin brings DEATH, and this unblemished lamb was a substitute sacrifice for the sin of the people. The lamb’s body would be laid on an altar and this whole burnt offering was entirely consumed as an offering to Yahweh, with no parts left over for the people - it was a picture of being totally dedicated to Yahweh, as were the people. 

Baal - the false god the Hebrew people had wrongfully worshiped - is the supposed god of storms, but it is Yahweh Who thundered loudly against the Philistines, sending them into full retreat mode to be slayed by the ones they came to slaughter.

The Hebrew “Ebenezer” is a word meaning literally “stone of help”. There’s an old hymn“Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” with the phrase:

“Here I raise mine Ebenezer

Hither by Thy help I’m come.”

In other words, “I raise my stone of help which reminds me how I’ve come this far with God’s help.”

This stone was a physical reminder of God’s faithfulness - the ROCK of His people. Every time they walked past it and saw it, they were reminded of what God had done that day. Further, the stones were meant to prompt the question among their children, “What do these stones mean?”

• Without a reminder like this, it’s easy to forget God’s faithfulness in the past. How many times has God provided for you, and yet…somehow…we forget his faithfulness in the past when we get blinded by the difficulties that now lay in our path.

The Amorites are the people who lived in the land before Israel got there, people they used to war with on the regular. No more! Now there is PEACE!`

These open-ended questions are designed to help you LIVE what you LEARN with your Family, Friends, or Small Group.

1. Unexpected Defeats: Read 1 Samuel 7:2‑4.

• What concrete actions showed Israel’s repentance was genuine and not merely emotional?
• How does authentic repentance differ from regret in your own life?

2. Idols Then & Now

• Samuel told the people to “get rid of the foreign gods.” What modern‑day “Baals or Ashtoreths” (career, comfort, approval, possessions, etc.) most often compete with your devotion to Jesus?
• What would it look like in practice to “chop them down”?

3. Ritual vs. Relationship

• Compare Israel’s arrogant use of the ark in 1 Samuel 4 with their humble plea in 1 Samuel 7:7‑8.
• Where are you tempted to treat religious activity like a lever to move God rather than an expression of love for Him?

4. “Yahweh’s Powerful Hand is moved by Purity & Sincerity.”

• Describe a time you saw God work when motives were pure and sincere.
• What safeguards can help keep our hearts aligned with His?

5. The Substitute Lamb (1 Samuel 7:9).

• How does this whole‑burnt offering foreshadow Jesus’ sacrifice (cf. John 1:29; Hebrews 10:10‑12)?
• In what practical ways does remembering Christ’s “paid‑in‑full” work free you from guilt or self‑effort?

6. Thunder & False Storm‑gods (1 Samuel 7:10‑11).

• Baal was supposed to control storms, yet Yahweh thundered instead. What “powers” does our culture trust that God alone truly controls?
• How does this passage fuel your confidence when facing opposition?

7. “Here I Raise My Ebenezer” (1 Samuel 7:12).

• Share a personal “stone of help”—a memory, verse, or tangible item that reminds you of God’s past faithfulness.
• How can we build rhythms of remembrance so we don’t forget when new challenges appear?

8. Peace on Every Side (1 Samuel 7:13‑17).

• God granted Israel peace with former enemies. Where do you long to see God bring peace or restoration in your context?
• What role does obedience and ongoing accountability (Samuel’s judging circuit) play in sustaining that peace?

9. Cast All Your Anxiety (1 Peter 5:7).

• Why is recalling God’s past provision essential for battling present anxiety?
• Spend a few minutes together casting specific worries on the Lord and thanking Him for past help.

10. Feet‑to‑Faith Challenge

• Identify one step this week that will move a truth from this passage “from head to feet.” Write it down, share it with the group, and plan to follow up next meeting.

Leader tip: Close by having each person place a small stone in their pocket or on their desk this week as a physical “Ebenezer,” prompting daily gratitude for the Rock of our help.