Facing The Giant.

First Church of God in Harvey

Sunday Morning - August 24th, 2008

Welcome.......

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it....(repeat)

Are you glad to be in the house of God......elaborate..

Let us pray

Our theme this year is, Say It In Love. The scripture verse is, Ephesians 4 verse 29. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

In The Living Bible Paraphrased, this is what it says, Don't use bad language. say only what is good and helpful to those you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing.

Sometimes as Christians we say the right thing, at the wrong tine, and without love, so let us all be careful as to what we say, and how we say what we are saying...................

Please turn with me in your bibles to 1 Samuel 17 verses 32 through 37 from the King James version. (Later on you might want to read the entire passage 1 Samuel 17 verses 32 through 49) Right now we will be reading 1 Samuel 17 verses 32 through 37.

My to-pic for today is, Facing The Giant.

The story of David and Goliath is one of the most familiar stories of the Bible. We read about it, we talk about it, and we sing about it. You remember that little song Only A Boy Called David (Quote song......) This story is shared with little children to teach the lesson of overcoming great odds, and how they can do great things. Adults also can learn from this story of how to overcome the odds.

Let's look at the situation for awhile, let's see what is going on. The Children of Israel, God's People; and the Philistines who are their enemies are at war. A proposal or an offer is given to Israel to send their champion to fight against the Philistine's champion. In 1 Samuel 17 verses 8 and 9 we hear Goliath, the Philistine's champion speaking, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistines, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.

This proposal sounds fair, it was a one and one combat, but there was only one problem, the man who was making the offer was a giant. This giant was about nine and a half feet tall. He wore a helmet of brass, and he was armed with a coat of mail weighing at least ninety pounds. The head of his spear was made of iron and weighed at least eleven pounds. Walking before him was a shield bearer. This giant was well protected, and apparently Israel did not have a man who was willing to fight against this giant.

When life seems hopeless, when it seems there is no way out, God is able to make a way out of no way. For forty days, Goliath called for a challenger, for forty days he taunted God's people, God's people were afraid, when the most unlikely thing happened when a boy called David showed .up. David was no soldier; he was just a boy. He had no helmet; he had no spear; he was just a boy, but this boy was not afraid to fight.

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My first thought is, Don't be afraid. David came to the king and said to him in verse 32 of our text, Let no man's heart fail because of him: thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. He was saying to king Saul don't worry about a thing, I will take care of that Philistine. When we are faced with our giants, you and I want to hear some good news. Saul was hearing some good news, the people were afraid, but it seems the good news was coming from the wrong source, it is coming from a boy who is not trained in warfare. David was about to do something extraordinary, but in verse 28 his eldest brother tried to stop him.

When you are about to do something for the Lord, something that might seem impossible to man, don't let anyone stop you. Oh yes, they will laugh at you, but don't let them stop you. Oh yes they will talk about you, but don't let them stop you. David might have thought, yes you are my big brother, but there is a giant to face. He might have thought that there is a battle to be won, and he will not allow anything to stand in the way. When the Lord is on your side, you don't have to be afraid, and you will be able to face the giant, and destroy the giant.