Manifest Destiny

What is manifest destiny?

In the early days of the US of A, one of
the things that was a really big deal for
us was something called manifest
destiny; We lived on a vast, untamed
continent, and so, we thought, it was our
destiny to fill it from one end to the
other. So, we got together our entire
families, dropped whatever lives we had,
and loaded up everything we had into
covered wagons, setting off on a journey
that could take months, looking for a plot
of land that we could hack out a life in.
For this destiny, our People were willing
to brave all kinds of hardships, and many
were hurt, or even killed along the way.
We are standing here, and here is in
America, and that is made possible by
people back then recognizing their
destiny, and refusing to give up because
it was hard.
The Bible also talks about destiny
In the bible, we read about Samuel,
a boy who was called to be a
prophet in a time when even the
leaders of the Israelite nation had
strayed from the path god had
prepared them.
Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord: The word of the Lord
had not yet been revealed to him. A third time the Lord
called, Samuel! And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said,
Here I am; you called me. Then Eli realized that the Lord was
calling the boy. So Eli told Samuel, Go and lie down, and if he
calls you, say, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. So
Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord came and
stood there, calling as at the other times, Samuel! Samuel!
Then Samuel said, Speak, for your servant is listening. And
the Lord said to Samuel: See, I am about to do something in
Israel that will make the ears of everyone who hears about it
tingle. At that time I will carry out against Eli everything I
spoke against his familyfrom beginning to end. 13 For I told
him that I would judge his family forever because of the sin he
knew about; his sons blasphemed God,[a] and he failed to
restrain them. Therefore I swore to the house of Eli, The guilt
of Elis house will never be atoned for by sacrifice or
offering. Samuel lay down until morning and then opened
the doors of the house of the Lord. He was afraid to tell Eli the
vision, 16 but Eli called him and said, Samuel, my son.
Samuel answered, Here I am. What was it he said to you?
Eli asked. Do not hide it from me. May God deal with you, be
it ever so severely, if you hide from me anything he told you.
So Samuel told him everything, hiding nothing from him. Then
Eli said, He is the Lord; let him do what is good in his eyes.
The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of
Samuels words fall to the ground.


We also have a destiny
Our heavenly father has a
plan for us; a destiny,
which, in its own way, is
just as important as the
one that the settlers had,
or even the one that
samuel had.
For those whom he
foreknew he also
predestined to be
conformed to the image
of his Son
Small group questions

1: Our destiny is to live a godly life, and to one
day join our God in heaven; can you think of a
time in your life where you lost sight of that?

2: How can you improve?