Attributes Of A Believer

God is looking for people with:

• Courage

• Conviction

• Character

You may be sitting in your seat thinking: I don’t have courage...

Today, I want to encourage you – God wants to use you!

I Samuel 16

(Paraphrase vs. 1-11)

12 ...then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."

13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power.

• We know that God chose David, but why?

GOD IS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WITH CHARACTER

What is character?

• When I was a kid

• Being a person of character means doing what is right, rather than what is easy. (integrity)

D.L. Moody

Character is what you are in the dark.

How does God define “character”

Acts 13:22

22After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: ’I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’

John Wooden

Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation. Your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

• I think that’s true. If you read only certain portions of David’s story, you would think he was a womanizing, hot-headed, war monger!

But David’s character is evident in his writings:

• Psalm 17

Are you a person of character?

• If a camera...

• Would God consider you a “man after my own heart?”

Luke 6:43-45 (MSG)

"You don’t get wormy apples off a healthy tree, nor good apples off a diseased tree. The health of the apple tells the health of the tree. You must begin with your own life-giving lives. It’s who you are, not what you say and do, that counts. Your true being brims over into true words and deeds.

• God is looking for people with character, but next

GOD IS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WITH COURAGE

• When God choose David as future king, he didn’t just see a boy of character, but also a person of courage.

• Adrian Rogers tells about the man who bragged that he had cut off the tail of a man-eating lion with his pocket knife. Asked why he hadn’t cut off the lion’s head, the man replied: "Someone had already done that."

I Samuel 17:34-37

34 ...when a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

• God needs people who are courageous! – those who are willing to share their faith, who are willing to go the extra mile, who are willing to stand up for Him!

• You will most likely never be confronted with a bear or a lion, but if you make yourself available to be used by God you will confront the enemy!

• I like to fancy myself as someone who is courageous. Have you ever had one of those times where you catch yourself daydreaming that you are in a store...

Take time to imagine how you could be courageous for God.

• Defend his name when used in vain

• Stand up for something you believe in

• Defend your faith against attack

• Are you a person of courage?

• God is looking for people of character and of courage.

GOD IS LOOKING FOR PEOPLE WITH CONVICITON

DEF: an unshakable belief in something without need for proof or evidence

In the events of the bridge collaple here in Minneapolis this past week, you have probably heard of countless examples of people acting with conviction.

• Ed Nelson M.P.D. - when you encounter a situation like that, you just do it.

• Shannon Hanson E.M.T. - "It’s just part of the job,"

• Jay Reeves, Red Cross - "What I did," he said, "that’s what I do. I’m a public servant."

• Jeremy Hernandez, helped on the bus - "They are like my brothers and little sisters. They are part of me,"

• Lori Peterson - "Then, I really got this deep-seated feeling that I needed to ask people if they wanted to pray," she said. She hesitated, but then she shouted out, "Does anyone want to pray for the people on the bridge?"