10 Tweets

Here's my sermon from last weekend in 10 Tweets, "Influence," 1 Samuel 16:1-13 (The David Story: Finding Strength in God):

1/ God majors in using ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things.

2/ God sees a king in David. His father doesn’t see him at all.

3/ God rarely calls the clergy, the rich, the person voted most likely to succeed, the smartest, the firstborn, to do what needs to be done.

4/ It’s not in spite of but because of your ordinariness that God will work through you.

5/ God has looked into David's heart & concluded that he can work with what he sees.

6/ Don't make too much of David's heart. Faithful people falter. Don't make too little. Character is king.

7/ What God wants to do though you can’t be done in your own power, not even the power of your character or faith. You need to be filled.

8/ Dale Ralph Davis: “The gift of the Holy Spirit is not merely gracious; it is severe."

9/ When you receive the Spirit, it puts us on a collision course with the world that doesn’t share our values.

10 Character is developed, not decided. And without trouble, there is no transformation. So treasure your troubles.

Sermon on Vimeo.

The David Story - Week 4 from Five Oaks Church on Vimeo.

10 Tweets

Here's last weekend's sermon in 10 Tweets, "Security" (The David Story), 1 Samuel 8

1/ Right words don’t trump wrong motives. The elders asked for a king like all the nations. They were quoting the Law with wrong motives.

2/ When you are afraid or feeling insecure, you may say you trust in God, but God sees and God knows what you really trust.

3/ You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. (James 4:2-3)

4/ When it comes to our personal sense of security, what competes with God for our trust? Here’s a clue: It says In God We Trust on it.

5/ 3 trust tests: Takes away your money. Gives you a lot. Watches how you steward for him what you've got now—whether a little or a lot.

6/ Don’t waste God’s warnings.

7/ But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us” D.R. Davis: “Our immunity to wisdom.”

8/ Thank God for unanswered prayers.

9/ Grace: Our dumb decisions don’t determine our destiny.

10/ Grace: God redeems even the bad consequences of our sins.