Be A Champion For Christ!

Be a Champion for Christ!

1 Samuel 17:15-47

Sermon by Rick Crandall

McClendon Baptist Church - April 29, 2007

*David went out to face the giant...

-And there are even bigger giants in our world today.

*A big part of the problem is mass media. By the time the average American child reaches 17, they will have spent more than 60,000 hours with mass media entertainment, only 11,000 hours at school, 2,000 hours with their parents and only 900 hours at church, if they attend every week! (1)

*When I was a kid, it was shows like “Gunsmoke,” “Bonanza,” “The Andy Griffith Show,” and “I love Lucy.” Today’s line-up is filled with shows like “Sex in the City,” “Will & Grace,” “I Love New York,” “The Girls Next Door,” and “The Riches.”

*Currently, Americans rent 800 million pornographic videos and DVDs per year. 87% of all 15 to 17-year-olds have had multiple exposures to hardcore pornography. (2)

*Because of media influence, family disintegration, political correctness, and the largely successful attempt to remove God from the public schools, moral values in America continue to nosedive. A 2003 survey by George Barna compared moral values by generation. What did the different generations consider to be morally acceptable? Here are some of the results comparing “Elders” (basically people over 60) with Mosaics (people in their early 20’s):

-Living together without being married is accepted by only 41% of the Elders, but by 75% of the Mosaics...

-Having an abortion? 36% of the Elders say O.K, but for the Mosaics it’s 55%

-Approval of sex outside of marriage goes from 24% to 54%...

-Approval of profanity goes from 20% to 60%...

-Approval of getting drunk goes from 15% to 50%...

-And approval of homosexuality goes from 14% to 40%. (3)

--There are giants in the land.

*Many families are falling apart at the seams, mostly because of stubborn selfishness, and an almost willful ignorance about God’s plan for a happy home.

--There are giants in the land.

*Millions of radical Islamists long to kill all who refuse to submit to their false god. They are totally dedicated to imposing their cult of hate on the whole world. They would take the greatest pleasure in killing you, gladly willing to die in the process. And they are not going away in your lifetime.

--There are giants in the land.

*All of us will face giants in life. Sometimes they will come from the outside: The loss of a loved one, the loss of a job. Someone deserts us, or we face a problem we can’t seem to solve.

*Other times the giants come from inside: Depression, discouragement, a dangerous disease, a habit you can’t seem to break, overpowering temptation.

*All of us will face giants, but with God’s help, we can defeat the giants in our lives! We can be giant-killers. We can be champions for Jesus Christ.

-How can we do it?

1. Make the most of your life right now. Fully invest your life where the Lord has put you. Seize the day!

*David was making the most of his life in vs. 15-27. First we see him taking care of his father’s sheep. And when Dad told David to check on his brothers and take some food to them, David obeyed. In fact, vs. 20 tells us that he was eager to obey his father, because he got up early to do what Dad had asked him to do.

*It’s important to notice that David was faithful to take care of the sheep. That was his assignment from his earthly dad, but it was also where the Lord prepared David to kill the giant. What if David had been a slacker when he was out in the middle of nowhere taking care of those sheep? He never would have been ready to kill the giant.

*And when David’s dad told him to take food to the army, David was faithful to obey his dad. That’s when the Lord opened the opportunity for greatness.

*Whether he was with the sheep or carrying the cheese, David was making the most of his life. And that’s what God wants you to do. So fully invest your life right where the Lord has put you. God has an assignment for you right now. Life does not start when you get out of high school or college. Now is the time to be faithful to God.

*The average lifespan in the US in 2004 was 77.8 years. That’s 2,455,181,280 seconds! What are you going to do with that precious gift of time?

*Think about it this way: What if your life was only 24 hours Long?

*Assuming that lifespan of 77.8 years...

-If you are 20, it’s 6:10 am. If you are 40, it’s 12:20 pm.

-If you are 60, it’s 6:31 pm. If you are 70, it’s 9:35 pm.