10 Tweets

Here's last weekend's sermon in 10 Tweets: "Courage," 1 Samuel 17, The David Story: Finding Strength in God

1/ Opening sets the scene in a way that draws the reader to another important scene in the story of God. W/out context, miss the meaning.

2/ SOG connections: Israel's fear of giants in Promised Land, Joshua driving them to Gath, Goliath of Gath, 40years/40days

3/ What's at stake? God’s promises and God’s plan for his people. Courage to take hold of them.

4/ David was likely aware God could prevail even if he were to die in this battle but the situation didn’t call for hedging and balance.

5/ One of the clear purposes of this account is to correct our mindset.

6/ What matters most to you matters most. God and his glory matters most to David.

7/ David has a plan. He knows how to use a sling & stone, he knows Goliath's vulnerabilities (i.e., his forehead & overconfidence)

8/ Arm yourself well. In your battle to take hold of God’s promises, God will provide the victory, but he will use his means to provide it

9/ Take a step to take a stand. David runs...

10/ Representation precedes inspiration. What inspires - be/ of Christ, the grace & love of God, the truth that sin & death no power over us

One More Thing

Hi Five Oakers, The weekend is almost here and I have a few things I want to share with you.

The Weekend

This weekend we look at David and Goliath. It is the quintessential children’s Bible story, at least for most boys (and a few girls, too). David is only a kid, there's a menacing enemy, and he's a  giant. It can hardly get any better than that, yet it does. There's a sling and a stone. What kid doesn't go through a slingshot phase in life. Best of all, though, is the decapitation. What boy doesn’t want to see the picture of David holding Goliath’s head? Yes, it's morbid, but many boys (and, I'm sure, some girls) are fascinated by the whole scene.

But the children's version (and most popular uses of this story) are not enough. The real story goes so much deeper than you can imagine. If you understand it within the story of God it will give you so much more than you bargained for when it comes to needed courage. And rightly understood, this account will help you focus and face the most important giants and then take on the most crucial opportunities that your fears now block.

FYI

Jonathan Malesic on "Don't Search for 'Purpose.' You Will Fail. The big lie behind a Venn diagram meme"

Few of us will ever find our meritocratic purpose, much less “OWN it!” That shouldn’t mean we’re failures. Often, just standing in the PAID circle is a triumph. That’s certainly true for day laborers, whose purpose on the job is to make each other’s work bearable. Their rule is, “Carry your end of the load.” If we all adopted that rule, then once we’ve carried our end, we can meet at the water cooler, share a laugh, and scheme to knock off early. Being human together is purpose enough.

Joshua Reich on "Praying for Your Kids"

Let me say something that is hard to hear and doesn’t get said enough: God might be most glorified through your child’s rebellion. He might draw more people to Himself that way. He might draw you as a parent to Himself that way, and ultimately His plan to draw your child to Himself might be through a long, dark season of rebellion.

One More Thing

Malcolm Gladwell in his book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants:

Courage is not something that you already have…Courage is what you earn when you’ve been through the tough times and you discover they aren’t so tough after all.