David, A Hero Who Defeated His Giant Series

David, A Hero Who Defeated His Giant

#heroes

Hebrews 12:1 says,

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

UNDERSTAND – that is the verse that God breathed right after He breathed the awesome roll call of the faithful that we find in Hebrews 11… A roll call that tells of the faith journeys of Old Testament Heroes like: Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Gideon, Rahab, Moses and many more including today’s Hero, David.

NOW – I have always found Hebrews 12:1 to be incredibly inspiring because of the power picture that it paints…

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

OKAY - I want you to envision a stadium or a coliseum that is filled with thousands of cheering fans, kind of like you would see at a professional sporting event or at the summer Olympic Games, that btw begins in less than 2 weeks.

AND LISTEN – the point that God is making through the writer of Hebrews is that in a very real way, just as those Olympians are surrounded by cheering fans, you and I also have a huge crowd of fans, of people, of faithful men and women cheering us on as we run the race of faith.

UNDERSTAND – that is exactly the picture God wants us visualize in our hearts and in own minds. A STADIUM - full of great men and women of faith who have gone before us and who are rooting for our successful race through life.

YOU SEE – they have run their race. AND NOW - it is time for us to take the baton and continue the race that they have already run.

UNDERSTAND – we are on the track and they are in the stands cheering us on empowering, inspiring us, encouraging us, challenging us, offering us wisdom.

John Maxwell writes:

“Do you wonder what those heroes of the faith might be saying? When a crowd cheers, you can’t distinguish one voice from another.

But what if individuals could step out of the crowd, come down onto the track where you are running, and jog a lap with you?

What would they say to you?

Their time with you would be limited so how could they share, in just a few words, the most important lesson they had learned from their own life? What words of wisdom would they give you to encourage and empower you?

MGCC - This is the purpose of our Summer of 2016 series… ‘Heroes, Amazing Stories Of Faith.

UNDERSTAND – since June 19th as we have stood on the track of faith (in the middle of this great crowd of witnesses…

HEROES LIKE – Noah, Moses, Daniel, Ruth and Gideon have left the stands and jogged a lap with us…

Inspiring us, challenging us, warning us, encouraging us and empowering us to never give up, to never quit…

BUT – to keep running with perseverance this race that God has marked out for us.

AND LISTEN – they know all about the obstacles and the difficulties that will come against us…

BECAUSE – they’ve been and run through that.

B/S

We need to hear what these great men and women have to say, because the race you and I are running is so much more important than the summer Olympic Games or any other sporting event.

UNDERSTAND - our race is one that has eternal impact.

NOW - this morning we are going to be unpacking a story that I am confident is very familiar to you. IN FACT – it is a story that almost everyone knows about whether they have ever been to church or not, or whether they know anything about the Bible, —the story of David and Goliath.

The story of a great and very unexpected victory

IN FACT – this 3000 year old (one on one) contest is still used to summarize great upsets today…

I MEAN - the mere mention of these 2 opponents that faced off in 2 Samuel 17, lets everyone know without a doubt that an undergo has just won a huge upset…

NOW – this week I googled greatest sports upsets of all time and here are some of the ones I found…

Many you probably know about.

Sea Biscuit and War Admiral

(November 1938… War Admiral was a triple crown winner who odds makers thought would crush Sea Biscuit. My mom was 10 years old and lived across the street from the race track)