David, A Hero Who Defeated His Giant Series

MAYBE - your giant has to do with money, finances and the lack there of.

MAYBE - your giant is fear, loneliness, self doubt, insecurity, lack of confidence or belief in yourself…

MAYBE - your giant is something that you know you need to do A conversation that you need to have,

A person you need to talk to,

Something you feel you need to do for God…

BUT – there is this huge giant in the way telling you,

that you…

“can’t do that”

“will never be that…”

“go there”

“you should not give up that”

B/S GIANTS – paralyzes us, they keep us in the hills, they keep us from living the life God created us to live.

THEY - keep us from experiencing the mighty hand of God moving in our lives…

NOW – I’m pretty confident that most people in this room know exactly what I’m talking about…

YOU KNOW – what’s in your valley…

YOU KNOW - what keeps you living in the hills…

I MEAN - you’ve heard their taunts more then once.

TELLING YOU – that you’re better off where you are.

TELLING YOU – to forget about life in the valley, to forget about the dreams, to forget about living the awesome life that God has laid out for you… BECAUSE – for that to happen you’ll have to get past them and they are just too big…

They are Goliath and you are just a shepherd.

NOW – we don’t really like being stuck up in the hills…

I MEAN - we grow weary from all the fear and doubt… We are tired of seeing our dreams fade and our hope for a better way dim. AND – every now and then we are able to dig down deep and find enough strength to pull ourselves up and head down to the valley… BUT – just as we reach the valley’s edge… OUR – giant (who seems to be getting bigger & bigger all the time) begins his taunting…

YES – for some, your giant has been taunting you

NOT… for days, weeks or months… BUT – for years (for a lifetime)… AND – you’ve been living in the hills for so long that you are pretty confident…that you like your dreams will die there.

BUT LISTEN – God brought you here this morning,

SO THAT – a guy named David could jog a lap beside you and tell you how he stepped into the valley 3000 years ago, and in one incredible moment (that makes all the sports examples I mentioned earlier seem like a defeat in comparison) took out the giant in his life…

His story is recorded in 1 Samuel chapter 17;

We’re going to read his story together… It’s a familiar story.

BUT – try to hear it with fresh ears today.

BECAUSE – I’m convinced that God had Samuel put this event down on paper….

SO THAT - you and I could discover how we can defeat our giants and run free in the valley as God intended.

In the beautiful valley of Elah, there are 2 armies encamped on two hillsides with a valley between them. The diplomacy was over, the negotiation have failed. AND - these two armies are about to engage in battle. During this time, armies would give a signal and rush each other (think Brave Heart). AND - whichever army was left standing would win all the spoils -- land, money, possessions, people, everything.

NOW THIS - wasn't the first battle between these armies (in fact they had been fighting for years).