Dealing With Giants

Dealing with the Giants

1 Samuel 17

Good morning everyone, glad you are here. Glad to have our online family joining us also.

Turn to 1 Samuel 17

This morning I want to take a look at familiar passage of Scripture. David and Goliath!

The fight of the big guy against the underdog.

The fight of good against evil. It makes for a great story

It is not so great when you are the little guy and the bully keeps taunting you and you are fearful for your life.

Jesus talks about believers (us) being the salt and the light in this dark world that needs Jesus. We feel like we cannot defeat the powers that be- that we cannot change the world. That we have to just live with it.

How about this morning we look at how we can defeat the giants in our lives?

How we can become the modern day David’s that fight for the kingdom of God.

I want to tell you this morning that anytime opportunity collides with life there will be a battle.

There will always be fallout when the two collide because life here does not want you to have opportunity, God does but life does not. Life here is corrupted and life here has a lot of baggage. Some we make and some we bring.

Life in Christ is not easy but the difference is that life in Christ has the Lord working with you rather than life against you.

Life in Him brings opportunity and at the very least brings strength and endurance and hope that this is not all there is. (Aren’t you glad?)

There will be giants in the land. Amen.

There will be things bigger than you and stronger than you and smarter than you to take you off track, discourage you, to try to bring you down.

Let me sit up the text.

Jesse had many sons and he was a sheep herder. His older boys were sent off to war in the neighboring towns and Jesses sends his youngest son David with rations and to see if his boys were ok. David his youngest son goes to deliver food and report back to his father how the sons were doing. When David gets there, his older brothers don’t want him there and are ready to send him back. But while he is there he observes that the whole nation of Israel is taunted by one giant of a man that challenges the whole nation of Israel to a winner take all match.

Not one taker, no one steps up and this 9 foot giant who was groomed for war taunts, ridicules and makes joke of the king, his God, and the weepy people of Israel.

David, who could not bear that nothing was done to this giant for his words and his actions approaches King Saul and says that he is willing to fight this giant- He is willing to step in the gap that no one else would go.

Text-

1 Samuel 17:32-40- Read from bible

Let me stop here a minute there-

God was looking for and He is still looking for people or a group of people who will stand in the gap and not let the giants defeat God’s people and hinder the work of God.

Martin Niemoeller- 1892-1984

Penned these words-

“In Germany they first came for Communists, and I did not speak up because I was not Communist. Then they came after the Jews, and I did not speak up because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came after the trade unionist, and I did not speak up because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came after the Catholics, and I did not speak up because I was Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time, no one was left to speak up.”

How significant are you?

In ourselves we are often made to feel like we do not matter. Small. Unimportant. little power or position to make a difference.

In Christ, we are more than conquers. We are victorious.

We are in the throne room of the king because we were adopted into the royal family because of what Jesus has done for us.

We do not have to worry about who we are in ourselves but who we are now in Christ.

We must not allow the giants to hinder the work God wants to do in you and through you.

Two different things and both bring God honor and glory when we allow Him to do it.

I have been at Rosedale 18 years. That is a long time to give to one place and one job. Many of you have done the same in your place where God has placed you. The first or second year I was here after a morning sermon, a man met me at the back door and said “Better preachers than you have tried! (Pause)They all tried to change us.”