WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.179 I think often it's good to have a scripture that actually rather than take a bit of it we actually 00:00:04.179 --> 00:00:10.480 get to grips with it and I can't think of a better one for this morning as we 00:00:10.480 --> 00:00:15.720 think about our month where we look at heroines and heroes of the Bible. 00:00:17.960 --> 00:00:24.019 When I was eight I remember vividly that there was a thing in our house when my granddad was 00:00:24.019 --> 00:00:34.159 dying and we never mentioned the word cancer. In fact it was never ever mentioned. If we did we 00:00:34.159 --> 00:00:43.359 said it as we often did in a hushed and whispered barely audible tone and that granddad's sea was 00:00:43.359 --> 00:00:48.879 getting worse. What's that got to do with this morning's theme? I think it's got everything to do 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:54.500 because as we try to grasp what God is saying through this scripture for us we need to get 00:00:54.500 --> 00:01:01.040 real with the issues that we are facing and that's what this scripture is all about. You know where we 00:01:01.040 --> 00:01:09.520 often give in to the giants that somehow hold some power over us or we think they do. The Philistines 00:01:09.520 --> 00:01:16.060 were a threat. They were a very threat not to the existence of Israel but what they did what they 00:01:16.060 --> 00:01:25.260 needed what the Israelites needed was spiritual not just tactical leadership and David steps up to the 00:01:25.260 --> 00:01:33.540 plate. The Israelites knew that the Philistines had superior military might. They were. They didn't line 00:01:33.540 --> 00:01:39.820 up. The Israelites were more like a guerrilla. They liked to attack and go, attack and go. That wasn't 00:01:39.819 --> 00:01:48.559 their tactic to sit there in the middle and just face one another. Had Saul their leader forgotten God? 00:01:49.159 --> 00:01:56.459 I think he had. Where was God in the equation? Wasn't God big enough anymore? Had the whole of the 00:01:56.459 --> 00:02:06.000 Israelite army forgotten that God was bigger and could do what he said he did? And maybe we feel like 00:02:06.000 --> 00:02:13.639 that when the bullies of this world, when the voices get louder and louder, that almost we get to the 00:02:13.639 --> 00:02:21.300 point where we start to believe them. And this was in the position that they were in. And here comes David, 00:02:21.419 --> 00:02:28.439 the shepherd boy, the one that was seemingly overlooked when in the calling, yet he was the one 00:02:28.439 --> 00:02:38.079 that God was calling. And I don't know about you, David had come to visit his brothers. Why did he 00:02:38.079 --> 00:02:43.400 come to visit his brothers? He'd come to bring them food. I think he'd come to give them spiritual food, 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:48.680 which is what they needed more than actually the food in their stomachs, to give them some hope 00:02:48.680 --> 00:02:55.199 and a purpose in what he was calling them to do. Sometimes people, we've got to step up and we've got 00:02:55.199 --> 00:03:02.399 to take a lead. God was already building David up for this moment. He couldn't understand why his people 00:03:02.399 --> 00:03:13.759 didn't trust in God. Do you ever feel that frustration? Come on, stand up. There was Goliath proud and 00:03:13.759 --> 00:03:21.739 imitating, as some would say, taunting, goading, saying that he had more power over them. And they were 00:03:21.740 --> 00:03:33.240 believing it. And they were backing off. Enter David, already anointed. God is with him, chosen over 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:39.000 his brothers. There's something about this that really makes me value young leadership, something 00:03:39.000 --> 00:03:47.480 new that comes in that is exciting. And he is sent by his father to the front line. And here is this young 00:03:47.479 --> 00:03:56.620 shepherd boy important because he goes as he is. And we get this lovely picture of him, the king trying 00:03:56.620 --> 00:04:05.280 to put his armour on him to make him something that he isn't. This isn't him. Do you know what? The thing 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:11.479 about David is that he knows who he is. He knows his strengths. He knows where his strength is. And his 00:04:11.479 --> 00:04:19.159 strength is in God. He doesn't need somebody else to put stuff on him. How often do we go out into the 00:04:19.159 --> 00:04:27.219 world in our own strength? Trying to put stuff on to make us, it often makes me think, you know, 00:04:27.259 --> 00:04:33.360 sometimes we get these spiritual bursts of energy, don't we? We're facing something, so we top up with 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:40.360 a bit of spiritual energy just to try and get, rather than this thing of, yeah, we'll stand and we face 00:04:40.360 --> 00:04:48.860 this in God's strength. And that's how David came to the battle. He trusts in God. Maybe it's something 00:04:48.860 --> 00:04:55.980 that we lose from our youth in that confidence of, I can do this. Maybe that is something that David is 00:04:55.980 --> 00:05:06.480 moving in, in God's strength. We see the Philistines army and Goliath. When I read this scripture, I think 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:13.800 David's not fazed by that at all. He's not fazed at all. He knows what he's facing and he knows that 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:20.740 God is with him. Now Saul the king may have a very reduced faith, but I think that says many about, 00:05:20.740 --> 00:05:29.680 you know, you are only a boy. You are only, you are only. And maybe some of us have had that spoken 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:41.699 over us. And that's very powerful words to shake off. You are only this. We have the strength of God 00:05:41.699 --> 00:05:49.860 with us to face those situations that God calls us to face. And David lays out his credentials in verse 37. 00:05:49.860 --> 00:05:59.819 The king caves in and then the king says, but you have to do it my way. No, your way doesn't work. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:10.080 This is the way God has called me to do this. So perhaps lesson one, God sends some amazing people 00:06:10.080 --> 00:06:18.379 to do some amazing work. Don't write people off because they don't fit with your way of doing it. 00:06:18.379 --> 00:06:27.360 How often do we do that? Lesson two, when someone comes to you in the power of God, 00:06:27.659 --> 00:06:30.600 especially to dig you out of a hole to save you, 00:06:31.740 --> 00:06:39.420 don't slap your own rules and regulations on them. Allow God to do what God is going to do. 00:06:40.719 --> 00:06:46.300 We know it, don't we? I'm sorry you can only do this if you've been in church for so many years. 00:06:46.300 --> 00:06:55.340 I'm sorry you can only do this if you conform to our rules and regulations. No. David is coming in the 00:06:55.340 --> 00:07:03.000 power of God and people are hearing and need to listen and they do. You see in this story there is 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:09.920 a new freedom, there is a new trust that's around, a new sense of the Spirit's power at work, you know, 00:07:09.920 --> 00:07:20.439 that will rock this impotent army that have been sold this lie that they are useless and that God 00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:27.540 isn't with them. They've come to believe that. David comes, he is clothed in the power of God 00:07:27.540 --> 00:07:35.220 and he trusts. And David chooses what he normally works with to get the job done. How often do we move 00:07:35.220 --> 00:07:40.780 to things like programs and things like this that we think are going to be the next thing that's 00:07:40.780 --> 00:07:46.060 actually going to achieve what we feel that God wants us to achieve? And what does David come with? 00:07:46.300 --> 00:07:53.020 Five smooth stones. Because this is what I work with. This is what I know. This is what I do to get the job 00:07:53.019 --> 00:08:05.519 done. And people laugh at him and I'm sure they did. Yet God has given us all the resources that we know 00:08:05.519 --> 00:08:15.560 that we need often to do what he's calling us to do. Maybe it's our time. Maybe it's our money. 00:08:15.560 --> 00:08:22.740 Maybe it's whatever it is. Maybe it's whatever it is. But God is giving us what we need. And we need to 00:08:22.740 --> 00:08:31.000 believe that, people, more and more and more and trust as David did. I don't know what the giant is 00:08:31.000 --> 00:08:36.460 that you're facing in your life at the moment or the giants, but it was pretty big for David. 00:08:36.460 --> 00:08:50.800 David, but David trusted. Lesson three. Don't be intimidated. You know, we have these fears, 00:08:50.980 --> 00:08:56.800 don't we? Earlier at Terb Fact, we had these five things that we did and we either wrote them down 00:08:56.800 --> 00:09:03.420 or we scribbled or we pictured or whatever they were, these five things. And then we screwed them up 00:09:03.419 --> 00:09:10.659 and we threw them at Goliath because they weren't going to hold, have any hold over us anymore. 00:09:11.419 --> 00:09:20.339 And how often do we hold on to those fears? So lesson three is let go of your fears and trust in God. 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:26.759 Hand him to them. See what God wants to do with those things. Ask his guidance. 00:09:26.759 --> 00:09:35.240 Maybe for you it's Brexit. My goodness, Brexit, Brexit, Brexit. Just might as well all pack up and 00:09:35.240 --> 00:09:42.559 go home, haven't we, and sit in a hole. You know, maybe it's the bully that shouts. Maybe it's somebody 00:09:42.559 --> 00:09:49.460 that's bullied you for years. Whatever it is. Maybe it's an attitude. What do you need to face your 00:09:49.460 --> 00:10:00.519 giant? It's knowing that power element from God that David has and knows and gives us in order to do that. 00:10:01.660 --> 00:10:09.080 There's another lesson in this. Remember, God is always bigger. God is always bigger than your giant. 00:10:09.500 --> 00:10:16.240 And the giant sneers and spits insults at this young lad. But most giants are weak. 00:10:16.240 --> 00:10:25.440 This man who they bring out every morning to intimidate fear into a whole army. And it takes 00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:29.460 a young lad to come out and say, who do you really think you are? 00:10:32.180 --> 00:10:38.720 You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, yet I come against you in the name of the Lord 00:10:38.720 --> 00:10:45.259 Almighty. How often do we need to say those words again and again and again? 00:10:45.259 --> 00:10:51.879 The things that we are struggling with. He also is quite graphic about how this will happen. 00:10:52.240 --> 00:11:01.039 Lesson six. If God gives you a job, finish it off. Don't just keep putting it off. David had a job to 00:11:01.039 --> 00:11:05.340 do. He could have stepped back into the army and he could have thought, no, I'll go back and think 00:11:05.340 --> 00:11:12.720 about this. God had given him a job to do that day and he got it done. What is the job that God has 00:11:12.720 --> 00:11:18.800 given you that you've been putting off? I had a very dear friend of mine went to a church 00:11:18.800 --> 00:11:27.320 with a very clear God-given vision. I think five people in the church held the checkbook for that 00:11:27.320 --> 00:11:38.139 church and wanted to keep it small, personal and very closed. That church had been kept bound up for years 00:11:38.139 --> 00:11:45.740 and they thought he was a bit of a lightweight. The five people left with their checkbooks 00:11:45.740 --> 00:11:54.840 and the church is now about 550 people and growing because he is moving in the power of this. Don't be 00:11:54.840 --> 00:12:02.100 intimidated by your giants. A dear friend of mine, Bob, faced cancer every step of the way. He died four 00:12:02.100 --> 00:12:09.080 years ago. He never backed down. He trusted in God and brought people to faith in his journey with 00:12:09.080 --> 00:12:16.220 cancer. That was his journey. He knew that God had asked him to bring people to faith through his 00:12:16.220 --> 00:12:23.200 illness and he died in the faith of Christ. Face your giant and finish the job. 00:12:23.200 --> 00:12:31.980 Let's just remind ourselves of maybe what God's asking of us this morning. 00:12:35.720 --> 00:12:43.860 Don't write people off because they don't fit with you. Celebrate the gifting of the body of Christ. 00:12:45.800 --> 00:12:52.900 Two, don't slap your way of doing things on others and therefore hinder God's purpose. 00:12:54.160 --> 00:12:58.080 Encourage and build one another up in what you've been called to do. 00:12:59.720 --> 00:13:07.720 Three, face your giants in God's strength and power and don't live in fear. 00:13:09.080 --> 00:13:12.720 I love that thing in the Bible, wherever an angel appears to people, it says, 00:13:13.120 --> 00:13:20.720 do not be afraid, do not be afraid, do not be afraid. We get it. Do not be afraid. 00:13:20.720 --> 00:13:31.300 And remember, God is always bigger than your giant. Whatever that might be for us, for if you're 00:13:31.300 --> 00:13:39.200 listening on a podcast, whatever that is today, whatever your giant you think is, God is bigger 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:49.860 and trust in him. And finally, coming to land. If God has given you a job, you may have put it off. 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:55.259 You may have put it on the back burner. You may have thought, this isn't for me. It's too large. 00:13:55.259 --> 00:14:06.240 It's too big. It's too grandiose for me, this small person. Do the job that God's given you. 00:14:06.860 --> 00:14:14.939 Because he has given you the strength and the power to do it. Trust in God, who is mighty and powerful. 00:14:14.940 --> 00:14:20.860 The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.