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Ebenezer’s God, who helps us until the end

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Bible verse : 1 Samuel 7:12 (NIV)

Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen.
He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."

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During the time of Eli the priest, the Israelites did not fully serve God.
In particular, because the two sons of the priest Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, did not serve God properly, Israel was severely defeated in the war with the Philistines and even suffered the humiliation of having the ark of God taken away.

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God brought a great disaster on the Philistines who took the Ark of the Covenant.
He broke the statue of Dagon into pieces and punished them with various disasters in each land where the Ark of the Covenant stayed.
The Philistine leaders returned the Ark of the Covenant to the land of Israel.

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After returning to Israel, the Ark of God was stored in a place called Kirjathjearim for 20 years. The Ark of God returned to the land of Israel, but Israel did not fully serve God. Israel, without God, suffered greatly from the surrounding countries. In their suffering, the Israelites earnestly prayed to God to help them.

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God chose Samuel as a judge for them and had him lead Israel. Samuel, who became the leader of Israel, spoke to all the people.
“If you truly want to return to the Lord, you must destroy the foreign gods and the Ashtareth idols that are among you.
You must dedicate yourself completely to Jehovah and serve him alone.
Then the Lord will save you from the Philistines.”
The first thing Samuel asked them to do was get rid of the sins that God hated.

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The Israelites obeyed Samuel’s words. All the idols of ‘Baal’ and ‘Ashtaroth’ that had been worshiped were destroyed.
The Israelites were restored to being a people who only served God.

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Samuel spoke to the people again. “Gather all the Israelites to Mizpah. “I will pray to Jehovah for you.”
After hearing Samuel's words, the Israelites began to gather at Mizpah.

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The people gathered at Mizpah drew water and poured it before God.
And that day, they did not eat anything and prayed before God, repenting of their sins.
“We have sinned against Jehovah God.” Samuel ruled the people at Mizpah.

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The news that the Israelites had gathered at Mizpah was relayed to the Philistines. The Philistines came up with their army to attack Israel.
When the Israelites heard that the Philistines were coming to attack them, they were very afraid.

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The Israelites, fearful of the Philistines, said to Samuel: “Never stop praying to Jehovah God for us. Pray for us to be saved from the Philistines.”

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After hearing what the people said, Samuel worshiped God as a sacrifice.
He took a lamb and offered it as a burnt offering, a whole sacrifice to the Lord. Samuel earnestly prayed to God to defeat the Philistines.

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While Samuel was offering burnt offerings to God, the Philistines came closer.
And they started attacking Israel. At that moment, God let out a loud thunder from the sky. The Philistines were greatly confused by the thunder that God made.
God used supernatural power to stop the Philistines.

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When the Philistines heard the thunder and panicked, the Israelites attacked them. The Philistines began to run away without even using their strength properly.
The Israelites pursued the Philistines from Mizpah to Bethkar and killed them.
On that day, the Israelites achieved a great victory.
God was with Israel and gave them a great victory.

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After Israel was victorious, Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. Samuel called the name of the stone he had set up Ebenezer.
And he said: He said, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.” Samuel declared and confessed to the people that it was the God of Ebenezer who made them win the war.

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After this day, the Philistines did not dare enter the land of Israel. Furthermore, Israel succeeded in regaining the lands taken from Israel by the Philistines.
During Samuel's reign over Israel, peace was restored to Israel.
The God of Ebenezer was with and helped Israel under Samuel.

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The God of Ebenezer, who was with the Israelites who repented of their sins, wants to be with us too. The people whom Ebenezer God is with and helps, no matter what they do, God enables them to succeed.
A child of God is someone who always confesses the God of Ebenezer.
When God does something good for us, we must exalt Him by confessing, “Jehovah God has helped me this far.”

(This is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)