First Christian Church Cameron, MO

10/30/2026

God is faithful to us, even when we are not faithful to Him! We see God's faithfulness displayed to Samson when he was not living according to the standard of God’s Word.

For example, we read in Judges 15:1 One day Samson went to the Philistine town of Gaza and spent the night with a pr******te. 2 Word soon spread that Samson was there, so the men of Gaza gathered together and waited all night at the town gates. They kept quiet during the night, saying to themselves, “When the light of morning comes, we will kill him.”

3 But Samson stayed in bed only until midnight. Then he got up, took hold of the doors of the town gate, including the two posts, and lifted them up, bar and all. He put them on his shoulders and carried them all the way to the top of the hill across from Hebron.

Samson went to Gaza, a Philistine town, with less than pure intentions, and when the men of the city heard that he was there, they plotted to kill him. As the men of Gaza waited for the morning light, Samson went out at midnight to find that he was locked in. Samson took hold of the door and lifted them out of the ground, posts and all, and carried them all the way to the top of the hill across from Hebron.

We, like Samson, do not always have pure motives and we sin against God. Yet God does not stop loving us and He continues to protect and guide us through the dangerous circumstances that we create until we come to our senses and return to him.

It may be difficult for us to relate to Samson's actions. But chances are we can all think of a time when we made very poor decisions and sinned against God in an attempt to satisfy our selfish human desires.

Just because we have not sinned in the same way as Samson does not mean we are not guilty of many other sins. There are no degrees of sin! All sin and disobedience is an offence to God and yet he continues to love us and offer us forgiveness through faith in the blood of Jesus the Christ.

Accepting the blood of Christ as the atonement for our sins doesn't mean we are innocent. Forgiveness is knowing that we have been found guilty of sin and received a spiritual pardon from God!

Now that our sins are forgiven, let’s strive not to repeat the behaviors for which we have been pardoned.

Have A Blessed Day!

10/29/2026

The Cameron Ministerial Alliance is coordinating the Salvation Army Bell Ringing Schedule using the following link. https://signup.com/client/invitation2/secure/291973276063/false #/invitation

Please invite a friend and enjoy some fellowship while raising funds to help those in need. Eighty percent of the proceeds are entrusted to the Ministerial Alliance for utility assistance, food, medicine, and other needs of people in the Cameron community.

Thank you in advance for supporting our community.

SignUp.com makes it easy to coordinate school events & classroom activities, fundraisers, snack schedules, potlucks & more!

10/29/2026

God uses little things to humble us! Samson perceived that he was fighting the Philistines in his strength. The moment Samson bragged about all he accomplished, he was humbled by his thirst.

Judges 15:12 But the men of Judah told him, “We have come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.” “All right,” Samson said. “But promise that you won’t kill me yourselves.” 13 “We will only tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines,” they replied. “We won’t kill you.” So they tied him up with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.

14 As Samson arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came shouting in triumph. But the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon Samson, and he snapped the ropes on his arms as if they were burnt strands of flax, and they fell from his wrists. 15 Then he found the jawbone of a recently killed donkey. He picked it up and killed 1,000 Philistines with it. 16 Then Samson said, “With the jawbone of a donkey, I’ve piled them in heaps! With the jawbone of a donkey, I’ve killed a thousand men!” 17 When he finished his boasting, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was named Jawbone Hill.

18 Samson was now very thirsty, and he cried out to the Lord, “You have accomplished this great victory by the strength of your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of these pagans?” 19 So God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the ground at Lehi, and Samson was revived as he drank. Then he named that place “The Spring of the One Who Cried Out,” and it is still in Lehi to this day. 20 Samson judged Israel for twenty years during the period when the Philistines dominated the land.

This is the first time we read of Samson crying out to God for help! Humbled by an internal thirst, Samson realized, or at least admitted for the first time, that it was God working through his strength.

How often have we been like Samson? We accomplish great things without giving God the glory, only to be humbled by what we once thought was insignificant. It is always the small things that trip us.

Before we judge Samson for boasting on his accomplishments, let’s reflect on the words of Proverbs 30:32 If you have been a fool by being proud or plotting evil, cover your mouth in shame.

Let’s not repeat Samson’s mistake. Let’s give God glory for everything in our lives so that we are not tripped up by pride!


Have A Blessed Day!

10/28/2026

There are always unintended consequences for our words and actions. There is no way that we can anticipate or control how other people react to our actions. Sometimes the unintended consequences result in irreparable harm to others. We see this illustrated in the Philistines' response to Samson burning the fields and destroying the vineyards and olive groves.

Judges 15:6 “Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. “Samson,” was the reply, “because his father-in-law from Timnah gave Samson’s wife to be married to his best man.” So the Philistines went and got the woman and her father and burned them to death.

7 “Because you did this,” Samson vowed, “I won’t rest until I take my revenge on you!” 8 So he attacked the Philistines with great fury and killed many of them. Then he went to live in a cave in the rock of Etam.

9 The Philistines retaliated by setting up camp in Judah and spreading out near the town of Lehi. 10 The men of Judah asked the Philistines, “Why are you attacking us?” The Philistines replied, “We’ve come to capture Samson. We’ve come to pay him back for what he did to us.”

There is no way Samson could have known that his actions would result in the death of the woman he wanted to marry and her father. Samson responded to this murder with even more fury and killed more Philistines before going to live in a cave.

Rather than searching for Samson, the Philistines retaliated by threatening to attack the men of Judah. Judges 15:11 So 3,000 men of Judah went down to get Samson at the cave in the rock of Etam. They said to Samson, “Don’t you realize the Philistines rule over us? What are you doing to us?” But Samson replied, “I only did to them what they did to me.”

The men of Judah feared the Philistines and wanted all the fighting to stop, so they went to capture Samson and turn him over to the Philistines. The men of Judah only wanted to stop the fighting. They didn’t realize that God was using all the events in Samson’s life to break the philistines rule over them.

We may not see that God is working in our lives because we are too busy trying to please others and keep the peace. When our comfort is threatened and the future is uncertain. Let’s trust that God is in control, and the messes in our lives today are our opportunity to hear God’s message of love and lean upon the assurance that God is always with us. Let’s listen to God’s still small voice in the midst of our messy lives.

Have A Blessed Day!

10/27/2026

The truth is stranger than fiction! The Bible is filled with real people who have real emotions and often act on impulse without regard for how their words and actions reflect their relationship with God or their impact on the lives of others.

We see this in Samson’s life. Samson was born into a Nazirite vow, and his parents never cut his hair, nor did they allow him to have forbidden food. Yet throughout much of his life, there is no record of him praying or seeking God.

At times it appears that Samson is making decisions based on his human nature. For example, Judges 15:1 Later on, during the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat as a present to his wife. He said, “I’m going into my wife’s room to sleep with her,” but her father wouldn’t let him in.2 “I truly thought you must hate her,” her father explained, “so I gave her in marriage to your best man. But look, her younger sister is even more beautiful than she is. Marry her instead.”

3 Samson said, “This time I cannot be blamed for everything I am going to do to you Philistines.” 4 Then he went out and caught 300 foxes. He tied their tails together in pairs, and he fastened a torch to each pair of tails. 5 Then he lit the torches and let the foxes run through the grain fields of the Philistines. He burned all their grain to the ground, including the sheaves and the uncut grain. He also destroyed their vineyards and olive groves.

Samson said right up front that he was not responsible for the damage he was about to cause because of what had been done to him. Before we judge Samson, let’s honestly evaluate our own life to determine if we have ever done or said something because “someone made us mad”.

No one can make us mad! We choose to get mad and then we use being mad as a justification to say or do what we know is hurtful to others. We may not have ever burned fields or destroyed vineyards but our words and actions may have cut others to the quick or burned down a relationship that took years to build.

Like Samson, God does not leave us when we act on emotion or behave badly. God loves us, and He will always help us to work through the circumstances we create in our lives.

God knows our hearts! He understands the emotions that He gave us. When we are tempted to act on an emotional impulse. Let’s pause and ask God to help us manage and work through our feelings so that we don’t make an already bad situation worse. We can’t control how others treat us but we can control how we treat others. Let’s treat everyone God allows into our lives with love.

Have A Blessed Day!

10/26/2026

Choosing sides in an effort to please people ensures that someone will be upset with us. We see this illustrated in Samson’s wife's decision to please “her people” and betray her new husband.

Judges 14:16 So Samson’s wife came to him in tears and said, “You don’t love me; you hate me! You have given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”

“I haven’t even given the answer to my father or mother,” he replied. “Why should I tell you?” 17 So she cried whenever she was with him and kept it up for the rest of the celebration. At last, on the seventh day he told her the answer because she was tormenting him with her nagging. Then she explained the riddle to the young men.

18 So before sunset of the seventh day, the men of the town came to Samson with their answer:“What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” Samson replied, “If you hadn’t plowed with my heifer, you wouldn’t have solved my riddle!”

19 Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to the town of Ashkelon, killed thirty men, took their belongings, and gave their clothing to the men who had solved his riddle. But Samson was furious about what had happened, and he went back home to live with his father and mother. 20 So his wife was given in marriage to the man who had been Samson’s best man at the wedding.

There were no winners in this situation! Samson doesn’t appear to have consulted the Lord before choosing to use his God-given strength to kill thirty innocent men and take their possessions. Nor did Samson seek God’s wisdom before breaking his engagement and going back to live with his parents and allowing the best man to take his place in the wedding.

When betrayed, let’s step back, take a deep breath, and seek the Lord’s comfort and guidance before taking action. With God’s help, let’s strive to react to betrayal more like Jesus and less like Samson. Jesus reacted this way in Matthew 26:49 So Judas came straight to Jesus. “Greetings, Rabbi!” he exclaimed and gave him the kiss. 50 Jesus said, “My friend, go ahead and do what you have come for.” Then the others grabbed Jesus and arrested him.

Let’s trust that God is with us when we are betrayed. God will protect us, and in the end, He will work all things out for His glory and our good.

Have A Blessed Day!

10/25/2026

Welcome to Worship
~ Octoberr 25, 2026

10/23/2026

Competing with others to be the best or brightest is a double-edged sword! Competition can motivate us to push ourselves beyond what we believed we could accomplish. Or competition can push us to win at any cost. We see the impact of competition illustrated in Samson’s life.

Judges 14:8 Later, when he returned to Timnah for the wedding, he turned off the path to look at the carcass of the lion. And he found that a swarm of bees had made some honey in the carcass. 9 He scooped some of the honey into his hands and ate it along the way. He also gave some to his father and mother, and they ate it. But he didn’t tell them he had taken the honey from the carcass of the lion.

10 As his father was making final arrangements for the marriage, Samson threw a party at Timnah, as was the custom for elite young men. 11 When the bride’s parents saw him, they selected thirty young men from the town to be his companions.

12 Samson said to them, “Let me tell you a riddle. If you solve my riddle during these seven days of the celebration, I will give you thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing. 13 But if you can’t solve it, then you must give me thirty fine linen robes and thirty sets of festive clothing.”

“All right,” they agreed, “let’s hear your riddle.” 14 So he said: “Out of the one who eats came something to eat; out of the strong came something sweet.”

Three days later they were still trying to figure it out. 15 On the fourth day they said to Samson’s wife, “Entice your husband to explain the riddle for us, or we will burn down your father’s house with you in it. Did you invite us to this party just to make us poor?”

Samson’s riddle was impossible to solve, as he was the only one who knew about killing the lion and later finding honey in the carcass. We don’t know the monetary value of a fine linen robe and a set of festive clothing. All we know is that it would have made the thirty elite men poor, and so they resorted to using extortion to solve the riddle.

This was a difficult place for Samson’s new wife. Save her own life and her parents’ home or betray her husband. The young woman had to make a choice without faith in God to help guide her decision.

We all face competing priorities and have to make difficult decisions! We don’t have to make decisions alone. We can ask God to guide us to make decisions that glorify Him. Let’s seek God’s help with all the choices we make today.

Have A Blessed Day!

10/22/2026

God has a plan and purpose for each of our lives. He knew us in our mother’s womb, and He recorded the number of our days on earth before we took the first breath into our lungs. The plans we have for our lives, and the lives of the young souls entrusted to our care, are not always God’s plans. We see this illustrated in the conflict between God’s will and Manoah and his wife’s plan for Sampson’s life.

Judges 14:1 One day when Samson was in Timnah, one of the Philistine women caught his eye. 2 When he returned home, he told his father and mother, “A young Philistine woman in Timnah caught my eye. I want to marry her. Get her for me.”

3 His father and mother objected. “Isn’t there even one woman in our tribe or among all the Israelites you could marry?” they asked. “Why must you go to the pagan Philistines to find a wife?” But Samson told his father, “Get her for me! She looks good to me.” 4 His father and mother didn’t realize the Lord was at work in this, creating an opportunity to work against the Philistines, who ruled over Israel at that time.

God was at work in Samson’s life and allowed Samson’s desire for a young Philistine woman to be an opportunity to work against the Philistines and free Israel from over forty years of oppression. Notice that God didn’t tell Samson to marry a Philistine woman. Rather, God worked through Samson’s desires and decision to pursue a relationship with a woman who didn’t share his faith.

Even though they objected, Judges 14:5 As Samson and his parents were going down to Timnah, a young lion suddenly attacked Samson near the vineyards of Timnah. 6 At that moment the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him, and he ripped the lion’s jaws apart with his bare hands. He did it as easily as if it were a young goat. But he didn’t tell his father or mother about it. 7 When Samson arrived in Timnah, he talked with the woman and was very pleased with her.

Was the lion attack a warning to turn around and go home or an opportunity for Samson to display his great strength to his parents? This question is not for us to answer. It is a reminder that God gives us the freedom to make choices, and He continues to love us and go with us no matter what choice we make.

As we reflect on our past choices. Let's keep in mind that we made this decision with the information we had at the time, following the desires we used to have, and God still loves us and is helping us work through the consequences.

Have A Blessed Day!

10/21/2026

Only in reflection do we see and understand God’s presence in our lives! Let’s read together about a time when Manoah and his wife entertained angels without realizing it.

Judges 13:15 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please stay here until we can prepare a young goat for you to eat.” 16 “I will stay,” the angel of the Lord replied, “but I will not eat anything. However, you may prepare a burnt offering as a sacrifice to the Lord.” (Manoah didn’t realize it was the angel of the Lord.) 17 Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, “What is your name? For when all this comes true, we want to honor you.”

18 “Why do you ask my name?” the angel of the Lord replied. “It is too wonderful for you to understand.”19 Then Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and offered it on a rock as a sacrifice to the Lord. And as Manoah and his wife watched, the Lord did an amazing thing. 20 As the flames from the altar shot up toward the sky, the angel of the Lord ascended in the fire. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell with their faces to the ground. 21 The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the Lord, 22 and he said to his wife, “We will certainly die, for we have seen God!”

23 But his wife said, “If the Lord were going to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn’t have appeared to us and told us this wonderful thing and done these miracles.” 24 When her son was born, she named him Samson. And the Lord blessed him as he grew up. 25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him while he lived in Mahaneh-dan, which is located between the towns of Zorah and Eshtaol.

Manoah’s wife spoke both faith and reason to her husband to help him understand that they were blessed to be selected by God as Samson’s parents. Being Samson’s parents came with heartache and uncertainty. Through it all, they were faithful to God and accepted His will for their son.

Let’s take some time to reflect upon the sacrifices made by our parents and others to help us become the person we are today. If you are blessed to be a parent, let’s praise God for the gift of our children and entrust them to His care, even when we don’t understand or even agree with decisions. We know that we can trust God to speak to them and to us through the circumstances of life in this world.

God never gives up on us! Let’s never give up praying for the next generation.

Have A Blessed Day!