The Fall of the House of You and Me

1 Samuel 2:12-36 September 21, 2025 Pastor Ricky Alcantar

Thesis You are more at risk of spiritual falling than you think because the corruption begins when something other than God becomes the weightiest thing in your life, but your hope is found in Jesus Christ, the faithful high priest who extends his hand to catch any sinner who calls upon him.

Series

—

Type

Expository

Tone

pastoralpropheticdidactic

Method

grammatical-historicalredemptive-historicalcanonicalapplicatory

What's in this sermon

The shape of the argument

11 units across exposition, application, illustration, theological claim, and conclusion. The pastor's argument is built from these moving parts.

Doctrinal loci· 8 surfaced

Anthropology · 1 Bibliology · 1 Doxology / Worship · 1 Ecclesiology · 1 Ethics / Moral Theology · 1 Hamartiology · 1 Pastoral Theology · 1 Providence / Sovereignty · 1

Bible citations· 7

Illustrations· 1

personal story · unit #5 — Extended personal story about hospital visits and the humiliating experience of being labeled a "fall risk." The illustration establishes the sermon's central metaphor and creates emotional connection around the concept of denial and resistance to warning labels.

Theological claims· 1

This passage is not primarily about Eli's fall but is a warning to every Christian that we are more spiritually vulnerable than we realize. unit #6

Quotations· 1

"All men at these times are compelled to hear the trumpet voice. Would to God they heard it to better purpose. Would to God all of us were roused to a searching of heart and above all, led to fly to Christ Jesus." — Charles Spurgeon (unit #1)

Read it

Full transcript

13,546 characters 11 units ~15 min reading time Listen instead →

0 · Opening welcome and self-identification

missed phrases. Welcome to the Lord's house this morning. If you're new here, my name is Ricky Alcantar. I'm one of the pastors here at the church.

1 · A pastoral digression addressing the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk

And before we jump into the preaching of the word, I want to give just one note, a pastoral note about how to process shocking events like the assassination of Charlie Kirk last week. Last week, most of our staff was wrapped up with the Love your Church conference and. And had limited time to try to follow what was going on. So this week I was trying to catch up. And so I read lots of articles, lots of analyses about where America is going, where it is, where it's now, all that stuff. But I want to share with you the most helpful thing I found. The most helpful thing I found on how to process events like that came not from any of the websites you were thinking of because you're thinking he's going to share my favorite website. No, it's from a pastor who died in 1892. That was one of the most helpful things I found this week. Charles Spurgeon, if you're familiar with him, lived through many crises. He lived through plagues and wars and church turmoil and shocking tragedies. And in the middle of one of those crises in London, Spurgeon shared the following picture with his church. He encouraged his church to think of shocking moments that intrude on our lives through the news. He encouraged his church to think of them like trumpets. Trumpets that God uses to rouse souls from slumber. Trumpets that God uses to rouse the church from its slumber. He says this, that in. In shock and tragedy. He says this. All men at these times are compelled to hear the trumpet voice, meaning it just cuts through. They're compelled to hear the trumpet voice. Would to God. They heard it to better purpose. Would to God. All of us were roused to a searching of heart and above all, led to fly to Christ Jesus. So he's saying, let's wake up. In these moments, it's the Lord blowing the trumpet to say. To say, wake up, church. Wake up, Christian. Wake up soul, and that we might process it. Well, hearing it and being led to Christ. Now, from what I understand, Mr. Kirk in particular would. Would agree with Spurgeon's sentiment. So as a pastor, here's my encouragement to you. In these moments, there are going to be moments like this that we're now and that will occur in the future. And I want you to think of these moments as the Lord blowing the trumpet. Using this situation to blow the trumpet that he might rouse us. It's far too easy for us to just sort of keep going through the motions of life. Just, okay, this is what we're doing. We've got to schedule this week, parent, teacher meetings, all that stuff. In these moments, it cuts through. And the Lord is saying, one of the things the Lord's doing is he's saying, wake up, church, wake up. Time is short, eternity is long. And the work of the gospel is more urgent than. Than we imagine. Right? Souls are at stake. Therefore, when we hit these moments, our response shouldn't be apathy like, ah, whatever, or panic. It should be, you know what, let's go to work. We hear the trumpet, let's go back to work. Amen. And the word of God then is all the more urgent for us today.

2 · Transition from the pastoral aside to the biblical text, reiterating the urgency established in the previous unit and directing the congregation's attention to 1 Samuel 2

So with that, let us open up the the Word to first Samuel, chapter two, that we might hear the voice of God. As I said, time is short, eternity is long. Souls are at stake. Therefore, we need the Lord's voice.

3 · Public reading of selected portions of 1 Samuel 2:12-36, providing the congregation with an overview of the passage's major movements: the corruption of Eli's sons, Eli's weak response, and God's prophetic judgment

Now, I'm going to read selections of this very large unit of text. So try to track as I'm calling out the verse numbers. I'm going to give you a tour of this passage and then we'll kind of back up and walk through it together. So first Samuel, chapter 2, verse 12. This is God's word. Now, the sons of Eli were worthless men. They did not know the Lord. Verse 17. Thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt. Verse 22. Now Eli was very old, and he kept hearing all the things his sons were doing to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. And he said to them, why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all these people. No, my sons, it is no good report that I hear from the people of the Lord spreading abroad. If someone sins against man, God will mediate for him. But if someone sins against the Lord, who can intercede for him? But they would not listen to the voice of their Father, for it was the will of the Lord to put them to death. Verse 27 and there came a man of God to Eli, and said to him, thus says the lord, did I reveal myself to the house of your Father when they were in Egypt, subject to the house of Pharaoh? Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priests, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel. Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel? Verse 31. Behold, the days are coming when I will cut off your strength and the strength of your father's house so that there will not be an old man in your house. This is God's word.

4 · Brief invocatory prayer asking God to enable the congregation to hear and receive the word with earnestness given the urgency of the times

Lord, we pray for the ability to hear and receive your word today, Lord. As we have said, the time is urgent. Life is short, eternity is long. May we receive the word of God with earnestness. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

5 · Extended personal story about hospital visits and the humiliating experience of being labeled a "fall risk

Well, I have been in the hospital a number of times at different points. And one of the things about the going into the hospital is as soon as you enter into the hospital, you are subjected to a number of embarrassing things. It just. You just. Just sign up for it. When you walk through the doors of the hospital, you're just entering into a world of embarrassment. And they kind of prepare you for this. They. They kind of clue you in when they make you put on the little gown, you know what I'm talking about? Like, made out of paper or something, or something less than paper. And you can't even tie it yourself. Like, that's humiliating in and of itself, right? You're like, I'm trying to tie it, you know, and you just feel naked and exposed, and you're going, what? What are we doing, guys? And they're just saying, oh, you haven't said nothing yet. This is just the beginning. Now, as you try to avoid all these indignities, I have found there is one particular phrase that I have been trying to avoid every time I go into the hospital, and that is the phrase fall risk. You guys familiar with the phrase fall risk? Okay, fall risk is one of those phrases that as soon as somebody writes it on your chart or says it, a doctor says that to the, you know, the nurse or whatever. As soon as you're labeled a fall risk, oh, man, all of a sudden, there's like a flashing sign outside your front door. You know, your door in the room. Fall risk. This person is a fall risk. And then it's on your chart. Fall risk. And then it's. They give you a wristband. That's the worst part. The wristband basically lets everybody know anytime you enter a room. You know how humans can walk. This guy can't look at this guy. He can't do what humans do. He's a fall risk. And you're like, you know, you're trying to hide it, like, hey, I'm fine. You know, so every time I've gone to the hospital, you know, I'm okay with the indignities. I'm at least going to try to walk. Okay, So I avoid the fall risk phrase right? Now, this passage is something of a warning label that says fall risk.

6 · Core interpretive claim about the passage's intended audience

Now, here's the problem, though. We, like, like you, I think, like me, want to avoid that phrase fall risk. You don't want to be labeled a fall risk, do you? And so when you. You and I come to a passage like this, we go, oh, I do see a fall risk. It's for terrible people like Eli and his sons. Tis, tis, Tis, you know, those people, oh, my goodness, they're such bad people. And then we read it, and we feel better about ourselves in contrast, and we're like, I'm not that bad. And then I kind of move on. And yet, this passage is not mostly a warning about the fall of the house of Eli. This passage is actually more of a warning about you and me. It is the Lord this morning saying, hey, Christian, look down at your wrist right there. You see that? You see what? I just put on a little label that says fall risk. And we might resist. We might go. I don't. I don't. I don't want that. I'm trying to cover it. Nope, it's there.

7 · Formal introduction of the sermon's governing thesis and outline

And we're going to learn this morning why it's there, how to avoid it and what our solution is in the ultimate sense. So the big idea is this. You're more at risk of a fall than you think, but you have a better comfort than you think expect. You and me were more at risk than we think, but we have a better comfort than we expect.

8 · Structural transition announcing the first major movement of the sermon and directing attention to the exposition of Eli's household

So section number one. The fall starts somewhere different than you'd think. Let's look then at the inner workings of this house of eli.

9 · Detailed exposition of 1 Samuel 2:13-17 explaining the mechanics of Eli's sons' corruption

In verse 13. The custom of the priests with the people was that when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant would come while the meat was boiling with a three prong fork in his hand, and he would thrust it into the pan or kettle or cauldron or pot. All that the fork brought up, the priest would take for himself. This is what they did at Shiloh to all the Israelites who came there. Moreover, before the fat was burned, the priest's servant would come and say to the man who was sacrificing, give meat for the priest to Roast, for he will not accept boiled meat from you, but only raw. And the. If the man said to him, well, let them burn the fat first and then take as much as you wish, he would say, no, you must give it now, and if not, I will take it by force. And thus the sin of the young men was very great in the sight of the Lord, for the men treated the offering of the Lord with contempt. Now, this passage would have been shocking to people in ancient Israel, and it may have lost some of its shock value to us because we are less familiar with the context. Now, this place, Shiloh, was the place where God's tabernacle was set. So imagine the backdrop to this passage is the tabernacle itself, this special tent of meeting where God's people were meant to gather in God's presence and offer sacrifices and be near the Lord. And these Israelites would. Would make journeys in from the surrounding tribe areas to offer the sacrifices that they were supposed to offer. And this would be a holy moment. They would be on this journey, praying, thinking about the Lord. They would enter into this moment. They would be recalling who the Lord was, what he had done for his people, trying to get their heart posture right as they offered this sacrifice. And what was supposed to happen in that moment is that the priest was meant to facilitate them and this encounter with the Lord. They were meant to. Yes, they were meant to take a small portion of the offering for themselves. And this was because they didn't have a land. Notice this. Out of the tribes of Israel, the, the tri. This tribe did not have land to itself. The other tribes had land. They facilitated the. The. The worship of God and therefore would take small pieces of the offerings that they might live and, and serve the Lord. But what's happened here? Well, it is perverse. So two things going on. First, rather than saying, okay, this small part that we're meant to have, we're going to take that at the end of the sacrifice. No, they've sent a servant out with a big. Imagine like a pitchfork, okay. And, and, and basically the servant, what they told the servant is, all right, we're not going to take the little part anymore. We just stick the fork in there. Whatever you can bring up is ours now. Rather than allowing it to be for the Lord, they took all that they could gather, in a sense, from that sacrifice. And then it gets worse. Not content with doing that, they then interrupt people who are about to make a sacrifice before the meat is even burned, and they take the meat before it's even offered to The Lord and, and you just think, okay, these guys were the worst. They, they are sitting, They've got the servant out there that they're sending and they're sitting in the back and going, okay, you didn't bring up enough this time. You got to get some more next time just get it, get it really in there and then really bring it out. And then they go a step further and go, you know what? Ooh, ooh, that cut of lamb does look good. But I think they're going to ruin it with the sacrifice. Let's, let's tell them we're going to take it before now. Or, you know, a cut of something else like, ooh, that, that, ooh, that looks delicious. And I think a nice dry rub over a number of hours would be lovely with that. Let's get it before they offer it and mess it up. Do you see this, this, this tribe that was meant to. This house that was meant to help people worship God is interrupting the people and taking for themselves to feed their flesh.

10 · Exposition of 1 Samuel 2:22 addressing the sexual immorality of Eli's sons

And it doesn't even stop there. In verse 22, we learn as we read earlier that these sons lay with the women who were serving at the entrance to the tent of meeting. Now, we don't know all the background or details here, but it very well could imply that they were taking advantage of these women who had been sort of set apart to serve the Lord and facilitate the worship of the temple, abusing their position to do this. And so they're feeding their flesh in every sense, and we're meant to be shocked by it.

Where this fits

Recent preaching context

The three sermons immediately preceding this one in the preaching schedule.

Aug 17, 2025

Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ

The great need of every human heart is to be welcomed to Jesus Christ, and the church exists to extend that radical invitation and welcome to the world.

John 6:35-37

Aug 24, 2025

Living a Welcome Home Life

The heart of Christ revealed in John 17—that we would know God, be united as his people, and live on mission—should become the heart that shapes our daily and weekly patterns, writing a eulogy that reflects his priorities rather than our own.

John 17:1-5, 20-26

Sep 7, 2025

The Turn

History turns on those who turn to the Lord and align their lives with His purposes rather than doing what is right in their own eyes.

1 Samuel 1

September 21 · This sermon

The Fall of the House of You and Me

You are more at risk of spiritual falling than you think because the corruption begins when something other than God becomes the weightiest thing in your life, but your hope is found in Jesus Christ, the faithful high priest who extends his hand to catch any sinner who calls upon him.

1 Samuel 2:12-36

Take it further

Discuss · apply · pray

Small groups

6 discussion questions

What does 1 Samuel 2:12 tell us about who Eli's sons were, and what does the phrase 'did not know the Lord' suggest about the root of their…

Daily readings

5-day reading plan

This week we walk through the spiritual danger Eli's house reveals—not as ancient history, but as a warning to us. Each day's reading shows how the corruption begins inwardly, spreads outwardly, and finds its answer only in Christ.

Prayer

Prayer: From Falling to Being Caught

Father, we come before you in awe of your holiness and in fear of our own capacity for spiritual drift. We confess that we are more at risk…

Family table

What's at the Center of Your House?

This prompt invites kids to think about what matters most in their own family—what takes up the most space, time, or attention. Help them na…

Couples

When God Becomes Secondary

What in your life right now is tempting you to put something—or someone—in the center that belongs only to God? How did the sermon help you…

Memorize

1 Samuel 2:30

This verse is the hinge of the sermon's warning: it names the non-negotiable reality that God will not share his place of weightiest importance in your life with anyone or anything else. It is the theological spine that explains why Eli's house fell—not because of isolated moral failure, but because something other than God became the center of gravity—and it anchors the sermon's claim that every Christian is spiritually at risk until Christ is truly first.

Small-group discussion

6 questions for your group this week

What does 1 Samuel 2:12 tell us about who Eli's sons were, and what does the phrase 'did not know the Lord' suggest about the root of their later actions?

1 Samuel 2:12

→ How is 'not knowing the Lord' different from simply breaking rules or making bad choices?
According to the sermon, what was the deeper problem beneath Eli's sons' contempt for God's offerings—and what does that reveal about how spiritual corruption actually begins?

1 Samuel 2:13-17, 1 Samuel 2:22-25
Eli knew about his sons' sin and confronted them (1 Samuel 2:22-25), yet the passage suggests he did not stop them. What does the sermon identify as Eli's core failure—and how did his love for his sons become a kind of spiritual danger?

1 Samuel 2:22-29

→ Where in your own life might love for someone be subtly repositioning God from the center of gravity?
The sermon teaches that 'you are more at risk of spiritual falling than you think.' What specific warning does this passage give to those of us who think we are spiritually secure?
Even in the collapse of Eli's house, God was at work raising up Samuel as a faithful priest. What does this detail tell us about God's character when our spiritual houses are falling apart—and how does this connect to Jesus as the faithful high priest?

→ How does knowing that Jesus is the 'faithful high priest who extends his hand to catch any sinner who calls upon him' change the way you respond to your own spiritual vulnerability?
If something other than God has become the weightiest thing in your life right now—whether a person, a role, a dream, or a fear—what would it mean this week to consciously reposition God at the center of gravity?

→ What is one concrete step you could take in the next few days to signal to yourself and to God that you are turning back to him as the weightiest thing?

Draft · pending review

Daily readings · Monday–Friday

5-day reading plan

Monday Hebrews 5:1-6

Eli was called to be a priest—a mediator between God and Israel. But he failed to guard his own heart, and his sons treated God's offerings with contempt. The passage shows us what faithfulness looks like: a high priest who is merciful, who understands weakness, who offers himself. This is the job Eli could not do. This is the job only Jesus can do.

Tuesday 1 John 2:15-17

Eli's sons desired the meat of the offering more than they feared the Lord. Eli desired his sons' presence and approval more than he feared God's judgment. Both men had allowed something—appetite, family affection—to become heavier than God himself. The passage reminds us: if we love the world and the things of the world more than the Father, we are already falling. The question is not whether we will be tempted, but what we will make heavier than God.

Wednesday Romans 1:18-25

Paul describes the human heart as prone to suppress the truth and exchange God's glory for something lesser. Eli and his sons knew the Lord—they lived in his house, handled his offerings—yet they progressively chose appetite, status, and family loyalty over obedience to God. The darkening was gradual. We are vulnerable the same way: not through a single catastrophic decision, but through a thousand small exchanges where we make something other than God the center of gravity in our lives.

Thursday Proverbs 4:23

Eli did not guard his heart. He allowed his love for his sons to eclipse his fear of the Lord, and that disordered heart produced disordered action—enabling sin, failing to rebuke, placing his sons at the center of gravity instead of God. The proverb is not sentimental: out of the heart flow the issues of life. We are spiritually at risk not because the world is wicked, but because our own hearts are prone to idolatry. The Christian life requires relentless vigilance about what we treasure most.

Friday Hebrews 4:14-16

Where Eli failed, Jesus succeeded. He is the high priest who never wavered, who offered himself once for all, who extends his hand to catch any sinner who calls upon him—no matter how far you have fallen. You are vulnerable, yes. But you are not abandoned. In your weakness, in your temptation, in your fear that you might collapse as Eli did, you have a high priest who has already paid the price and now sits at God's right hand, interceding for you. Run to him.

Draft · pending review

Pray together this week

Prayer: From Falling to Being Caught

Father, we come before you in awe of your holiness and in fear of our own capacity for spiritual drift. We confess that we are more at risk of falling than we want to admit. Like Eli, we know how easily the things we love—our children, our reputations, our comfort, our plans—can become heavier in our hearts than you. We place them at the center of gravity in our lives, and we do not even notice the slow corruption beginning in the spaces where you should reign supreme. Forgive us for the contempt we show your word through our divided affections, and for the ways we enable sin in ourselves and those we love by refusing to name it and turn from it (1 Samuel 2:12-17).

Yet here is the good news: we do not fall into an abyss. Jesus Christ, the faithful high priest who knew the Lord relationally in a way Eli never did, has extended his hand to catch every sinner who calls upon him. He offered himself—his body, his blood, his righteousness—so that when we stumble and fall, we are caught not by our own strength but by his grip (Hebrews 4:14-16). He welcomes us into God's house not because we have kept ourselves upright, but because he has made us clean.

We ask you, Father, to awaken us to the places where something other than you has become our weightiest treasure. Give us the courage to name those idols and lay them down. Help us to know you relationally—not as a distant judge, but as the Father who runs toward us when we turn. And as we walk forward this week, teach us to be faithful guardians of the faith in our own homes and churches, speaking truth in love rather than enabling the sin we see. We commit ourselves to you as our first love and our sure foundation. To you alone be the glory.

Draft · pending review

Sunday-evening family table

What's at the Center of Your House?

For the parent

This prompt invites kids to think about what matters most in their own family—what takes up the most space, time, or attention. Help them name concrete things (sports, screens, work, relationships, church) without judgment, then ask what should be at the very center instead. The goal is to help them notice that every family has a 'center of gravity,' and to plant the question: Is God ours?

If you looked at our family this week—where we spent our time, what we talked about most, what we got excited about—what would you say is at the very center of our house? Like, what's the thing that everything else circles around? And then, where do you think God fits in that picture?

works for ages 8+ — younger kids can listen and offer observations; older kids and parents will engage the deeper implications

Draft · pending review

Couples · three questions over coffee

When God Becomes Secondary

What in your life right now is tempting you to put something—or someone—in the center that belongs only to God? How did the sermon help you see it?
Where do we, as a couple, drift into making each other or our family the weightiest thing instead of Christ? What would it look like to realign together this week?
How can we pray for each other to remain spiritually awake and to call one another back when we sense the other drifting toward spiritual complacency?

Draft · pending review

Memory verse this week

1 Samuel 2:30

Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, declares: 'I promised that your house and the house of your father should go before me forever,' but now the Lord declares: 'Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.'

Why this verse: This verse is the hinge of the sermon's warning: it names the non-negotiable reality that God will not share his place of weightiest importance in your life with anyone or anything else. It is the theological spine that explains why Eli's house fell—not because of isolated moral failure, but because something other than God became the center of gravity—and it anchors the sermon's claim that every Christian is spiritually at risk until Christ is truly first.

Draft · pending review

Where this was preached

About the church

Cross of Grace Church

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# Cross of Grace Church

A church preaching expository sermons through the books of the Bible.

## Sermons
- [Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ (John 6:35-37, 2025-08-17)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/08/come-and-welcome-to-jesus-christ)
- [Living a Welcome Home Life (John 17:1-5, 20-26, 2025-08-24)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/08/living-a-welcome-home-life)
- [The Turn (1 Samuel 1, 2025-09-07)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/09/the-turn)
- [The Fall of the House of You and Me (1 Samuel 2:12-36, 2025-09-21)](/CoGElPaso/sermons/2025/09/the-fall-of-the-house-of-you-and-me)

## About
- [About the church](/about)
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