Keion Henderson - The Cost of a Cut

First Samuel chapter 1, verse 22. If you got to say amen, here’s what the Bible says: But Hannah went not up. See, we’re picking right up where we left off. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving service, by the way; the Lord was in this place. That 's another thing I wanted you to know. I’m just saying the end of the year is coming, and I want to make sure that I preach to you what I actually pass on to you. Don 't just come to church on Sunday, and if we have service on Thanksgiving and Christmas, that ain’t your day. That 's the Lord’s Day. So when we have services like that, that’s not a day off; that’s a day to give God glory. It would have probably helped that argument that happened in your house that you ain’t telling nobody about. It would have helped your heart that you’re upset about sending out 25 invitations for 50 people, but only 15 showed up because 10 of them didn’t come, and you’re mad at them right now, thinking, «Wasting my money, and I got this turkey…» We left here with our hearts so full of joy. We care about who is at the house, right? Anytime we have church, which is not often, you should find your way here. Here 's what the Bible says: Forsake not the assembling of yourselves with other believers. I don’t care how far you live; I don’t care what side of town you’re on. God always has a word for you. When we were in school, we had to have perfect attendance. I mean, y’all think you get a certificate? If I were giving out perfect attendance certificates, some of y’all would get one. I know some of you are thinking, «What? I’m going to get mine next year.» I’m stealing my wife’s look at me like, «Move on.» So, let me. All right, verse 22: But Hannah went not up, for she said unto her husband, «I will not go up until the child is weaned.» Oh, I love the Word of God! I will not go up until what I have is ready because if I go up before he’s weaned, neither of us is going to win. So I have to wait until he’s weaned. I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him that he may appear before the Lord and there abide forever. And Elkanah, her husband, said unto her, «Do what seems good; tarry until thou have weaned him.» In other words, take your time. Stop! Somebody say, «Take your time.» Only the Lord establishes His word. Stop doing things just because people tell you you should. You ought to preach because you got a word? No! You need to keep talking and keep going to work because except the Lord build the house, they that build it, build it in vain. Verse 24: And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of wine, and brought him unto the house of the Lord in Shiloh. And the child was young, and they slew the bullock and brought the child to Eli and said, «O Lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman that stood by here praying unto the Lord for this child. I prayed, and the Lord hath given me my petition, which I have asked of Him.» Somebody say, «Lord, give it to me!» Therefore also I have lent him to the Lord, and as long as he liveth, he shall be lent to the Lord. And he worshiped the Lord there. I want to talk about the cost of a cut. High -five somebody on your way down. You seem to say, «It’s going to cost you, but God’s going to cut it.» You need to… since some of you were inundated with libations and food on Thursday. Lest I do this precursor to catch you up on what you missed while you were entertaining your family, we are talking about a young lady. Her name is Hannah. Hannah was a young girl. The Bible lets us know that she is the fourth barren woman in the scripture. The first woman who was barren according to the Bible, her name was Sarah. She was married to a man named Abraham, but you may recognize them by their previous names: Abram and Sarai. God changed their name. This thing is so interesting because Sarah, the first barren woman, had her name changed from Sarai to Sarah. She had her children; the first one she had was really a stepchild because she couldn’t really wait on God. So she went around God and hired her maid to have a child with her husband, and then after she sanctioned it, she got jealous. It wasn’t God’s promise! God told them that they were going to have a baby, and it didn’t matter how old they were. God told them to wait on Him. They didn’t wait because they believed their age more than the Rock of Ages. And so what they did was go around God, and they had a baby. His name is Ishmael. It’s not the promise! Then God kept His word; they had a baby. His name is Isaac. He is the promise. How do we know that Isaac is the promise? Because Isaac turns around and has two children with his wife, Jacob and Esau. Now Abraham and Sarah-Sarah was the first barren woman. Isaac marries a girl named Rebecca. Guess what? She 's the second barren woman. It’s all in the family! After that, Jacob and Esau are born. Jacob was out there working at a well; he meets a girl named Rachel. Guess what? He marries her, and guess what? She 's barren. She 's the third barren woman. Look at this; Jacob’s name has changed.