COME AND BE WITH ME, Part 2 by Mike Cunningham - June 21, 2026

From our 4 Invitations of Jesus into Discipleshipn Series 

Two Sundays ago, we took our first bite into the second Invitation of Christ. “Come and Be with Me.” 

We unpacked that from the earliest moments of creation it was God’s desire to “walk with us”, and for us to “walk with him.” Invited to come to God as children run to someone they trust and give themselves freely…to love and be loved. 

Last week, Sven opened up that great truth that God provides the “hot coal” through Jesus to cleanse us and cover whatever lacks in us that we might be free from condemnation in order that we might run to God like this! 

Today, I would like to look at a few other places where we see God’s desire for a relationship with us! As you may know, the Old Testament is the history of how God revealed himself to his newly created world. In a sense it is the story of God relating to humankind, and humankind’s successes and failures in relating to God. It’s a fascinating study of us and God. 

This morning I want to look at 4 different characters that help us see the heart of GOD’S DESIRE TO RELATE TO US! Which is the VERY FOUNDATION of our CONNECTION TO GOD.

1. ABRAHAM 

Did you know that Abraham is considered the Father of our Faith?? What did he do to deserve that honor? 

a) God approaches him with a promise and a calling. 

b) He receives the promise. 

c) He believes in the God who makes it. 

Hebrews 11: 8-10 “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” 

What did God have for him? A promise. Gen 12:1-4 

1 ”Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. ²And I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. ³I will bless those who bless you, and he who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  ⁴So Abram went, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 

Also in Genesis 15:1-5: 

1 “After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” ²But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue^[a] childless, and the heir of my 

house is Eliezer of Damascus?” ³And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” ⁴And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son^[b] shall be your heir.” ⁵And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

And God confirmed with a covenant in Gen 15:9-11, 17-18: 

He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” ¹⁰And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half. ¹¹And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.” 

¹⁷When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. ¹⁸On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”

Here we see God confirming this to ABRAHAM. Night falls and the smoking firepot appears. 

God makes you a promise this morning. I have a place for you in my family! I promise to make you my child. I will give you a purpose and a calling. You will be my concern forever. Come be in my family! 

HAVE WE LEARNED THE LESSON OF ABRAHAM? Have you received God’s promise of bringing you into his family? 

Fathers. On the earthly side, isn’t this the blessing you get to give? “You are mine. No matter what happens!” 

ABRAHAM TEACHES US….God Call Us Into His Family

HAVE WE LEARNED THE LESSON OF ABRAHAM? Have you received God’s call to you to believe and receive his promise and invitation to you into God’s Family! (John 1:12) 

2. MOSES 

Moses is a pretty big name with tons of significance. But I want to look at one aspect in particular….regarding relationship. Moses reveals God’s desire to be PRESENT WITH US. Moses has God’s eye on him through his entire life! With his mother, as a baby, as a child, as a fugitive, as a deliverer, as a leader. 

God calls Moses by name, and relates to him personally. Exodus 3:2-5 

² And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. ³ And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” ⁴ When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” ⁵ Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.”

Exodus 33:12-17 Here is one theme of Moses that seems to be a theme that is repeated over and over again in many ways. GOD IS WITH US! 

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “See, you say to me, ‘Bring up this people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, ‘I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.’ ¹³ Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people.” ¹⁴ And he said, “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” ¹⁵ And he said to him, “If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here. ¹⁶ For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?” ¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.”

Through every stage of Moses’ life he is near to God or being used to lead others into being near to God. 

Moses and the Burning Bush 

Moses and God’s Staff 

Moses on Mt. Sinai 

Moses and the Pillar of Fire and Cloud 

Moses and the Ark of the Covenant, the Tabernacle, the table of Showbread, and the Golden Lampstand. 

MOSES TEACHES US… GOD IS WITH US.

Lev. 26:12 “I will live among you, and I will not despise you. I will walk among you; I will be your God, and you will be my people. I am the Lord Your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck, so you can walk with your heads held high.” 

Proverbs 3:5,6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” 

HAVE WE LEARNED THE LESSON OF MOSES? God is with you! Are you developing the daily habit of practicing the presence of God? Invite him into wherever you are. Whatever you are facing. 

Fathers. God is with you! Will you acknowledge the help he has for you in the trenches of your role and responsibilities? 

3. SAMUEL 

Next in our Bible stories comes the boy Samuel. He too heard God’s voice as just a young lad. “Samuel, Samuel” God called his name in the middle of the night. And he followed God with his whole life. 

1 Samuel 3:1-21: 

“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

²At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. ³ The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 

⁴ Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” ⁵ and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. 

⁶And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” ⁷Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. 

⁸And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. ⁹ Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place. 

¹⁰And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. ¹²On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. ¹³And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God,^[a] and he did not restrain them. ¹⁴ Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli's house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.” 

¹⁵Samuel lay until morning; then he opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel was afraid to tell the vision to Eli. ¹⁶But Eli called Samuel and said, “Samuel, my son.” And he said, “Here I am.” ¹⁷And Eli said, “What was it that he told you? Do not hide it from me. May God do so to you and more also if you hide anything from me of all that he told you.” ¹⁸So Samuel told him everything and hid nothing from him. And he said, “It is the Lord. Let him do what seems good to him.”

¹⁹And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. ²⁰And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord. ²¹And the Lord appeared again at Shiloh for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel at Shiloh by the word of the Lord.” 

- In fact, Samuel was used as a special messenger for God. “God let none of his words fall to the ground.” When all the nations around him were obeying their Kings, God wanted to lead the people through Samuel. God would speak to Samuel, and he would tell them what God wanted them to know! 

SAMUEL TEACHES US...GOD WANTS TO SPEAK TO US. 

1 Sam 3:19 “The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.” 

Will we daily listen at his door for his wisdom in our life? 

HAVE WE LEARNED THE LESSON OF SAMUEL? If we will watch and wait at his doors for his “words”, God’s wisdom and direction can appear. 

Proverbs 8:32-35 

“And now, O sons, listen to me: 

 blessed are those who keep my ways. 

³³Hear instruction and be wise, 

 and do not neglect it. 

³⁴Blessed is the one who listens to me, 

 watching daily at my gates, 

 waiting beside my doors. 

³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life 

 and obtains favor from the Lord,”

Fathers: Will you seek to share God’s Word with your family? 

4. LASTLY, DAVID. 

One of Samuel’s last messages from God was to go out to a farm where there was a young boy out tending some animals. This was a DIVINE APPOINTMENT! God was about to give the world the biggest gift outside of Christ himself. The anointing of the Shepherd King. 

Acts 13:20-23 

²⁰And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. ²¹ Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. ²² And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ ²³ Of this man's offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.”

DAVID TEACHES US….That God wants our hearts! 

This was SO big Jesus picked it up and said “I am the Good Shepherd”. 

David was not perfect. David made huge mistakes. What David did however, was to love God with all his heart! It was from this that flowed so many of the Psalms that he wrote. It was this that he was commended for, “A man after God’s own heart.”

 1 Sam 13:14 

¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

David was the “type” for how to relate to God. 

Open, honest, searching, seeking, worshipping, trusting, dancing, grieving, falling, falling harder, eventually repenting. Great victories! Great defeats. What was David’s secret? He heard God’s invitation. “Come and Be With me.” Come close to me. Live close to me. Let me be close to you! 

HAVE WE LEARNED THE LESSON OF DAVID? 

Fathers: How are you shepherding your family? Are you in step with the Good Shepherd? He wants so much to DO IT WITH YOU! 

Get into a good shepherding relationship with God, and it will get really clear how to do that with your family. 

Let’s close with the Shepherd Psalm. 

Here’s one of my favorites Psalms that captures the heart of God that deeply desires relationship with us! 

Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. 

² He makes me lie down in green pastures. 

He leads me beside still waters. 

³ He restores my soul. 

He leads me in paths of righteousness 

 for his name's sake. 

⁴Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,  I will fear no evil, 

for you are with me; 

 your rod and your staff, 

 they comfort me. 

⁵You prepare a table before me 

 in the presence of my enemies; 

you anoint my head with oil; 

 my cup overflows.

⁶Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 

 all the days of my life, 

and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”

Application: 

1. Like Abraham, will you believe that you are chosen? 

2. Like Moses, will you live like GOD is with you? 

3. Like Samuel, will you listen for his Word to you? 

4. Like David, will you give him your heart?