Teaching/Preaching: Stand Alone:
Notes
Transcript
Where are the warriors?
Where are the warriors?
We are going to do a three week series on the family. Usually we go through a book of the Bible: we finished Chronicles and after this series we are going to go into John.
But why? Some states and observations about the family.
The growing complexity and diversity of families
The growing complexity and diversity of families
📷The share of children living in a two-parent household is at the lowest point in more than half a century: 69% are in this type of family arrangement today, compared with 73% in 2000 and 87% in 1960.
The rise of single-parent families, and changes in two-parent families
The rise of single-parent families, and changes in two-parent families
📷Despite the decline over the past half century in children residing with two parents, a majority of kids are still growing up in this type of living arrangement.7However, less than half—46%—are living with two parents who are both in their first marriage. This share is down from 61% in 19808 and 73% in 1960.
The shrinking American family
The shrinking American family
📷Fertility in the U.S. has been on the declinesince the end of the post-World War II baby boom, resulting in smaller families. In the mid-1970s, a 40% plurality of mothers who had reached the end of their childbearing years had given birth to four or more children.14 Now, a similar share (41%) of mothers at the end of their childbearing years has had two children, and just 14% have had four or more children.15
This could be serious because when families don’t reproduce there are some very real consequences.
EOT-David is willing to go to battle against the greatest enemy of God.
EOS-Men fulfilling their callin
Introduction:
What is your picture of a Christian man?
We are formed even at a young age many times by our father, lack of father or other influential men in our lives of what a man is.
I remember one of my best friends growing up his dad was highly successful as a worker. But when he would come home each night he brought a 12 pack of beer and would watch sports and TV. He was there, but he wasn’t really present. This was forming his idea of what a man was even from a young age.
What my friend witnessed growing up is a stereotype of what a christian man is supposed to be.
He goes to church.
He is a good guy.
I believe that God has created men to be spiritual warriors who have a desire to know God and make him known.
But this is not the picture most people have of what a Christian man is.
But then there are tons of pictures of men who are highly driven achievers in their families, work and society. Eric Langan-
There is a disconnect between men are great achievers outside of church but are just benchwarmers in church.
God does not need any more bench warmers he needs men who seek to become all that god wants them to become.
It is time for the men of God to step up.
The First thing spiritual warriors must possess is:
The humility to realize we naturally drift towards complacency and disobedience (1 Samuel 17:1-11)
The humility to realize we naturally drift towards complacency and disobedience (1 Samuel 17:1-11)
Isn’t this Adam in the garden.
Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines.
The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.
Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze.
He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders.
The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; his shield-carrier also walked before him.
He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.
Goliath knew his identity.
Am i not the Philistine.
Then he viewed the Israelites as Servant of Saul.
He was not scared for two reasons:
He knew his identity and he knew the Israelites identity.
We have to be rooted who we are in Christ.
Galatians 2:20 ““I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
No one in this army knew their identity including King Saul of Israel in this moment.
“If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.”
Again the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together.”
When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
When we do not know our identity we will be greatly afraid to be a spiritual warrior.
But here is what happens when a man or woman knows his identity.
Just like Goliath knew his identity: David was the one man in Israel who knew his identity.
Just like Goliath knew his identity: David was the one man in Israel who knew his identity.
David was talking trash back to Goliath!
Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.
“This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”
Here is the thing we can be a spiritually warrior and still fall.
Here is the thing we can be a spiritually warrior and still fall.
Then it happened in the spring, at the time when kings go out to battle, that David sent Joab and his servants with him and all Israel, and they destroyed the sons of Ammon and besieged Rabbah. But David stayed at Jerusalem.
This is a life long battle:
Application:
The gospel is not a past tense thing.
If we want to be a spiritual warrior we need to:
Preach the gospel to yourself every day
The next thing spiritual warriors must possess is:
2. A mission centered on the glory of God.
2. A mission centered on the glory of God.
Some men are like my friends dad I shared about earlier. But you know what happened to my friends dad, he got sober and now he had a mission, he really plugged into AA and served others.
I know so many and even have friends who have a mission and it drives them and they are successful with it.
But could you picture having a mission your whole life that in the end you realize is not the mission that God had for you.
Story of man who at the end of his life was building a building only to get to the end of his life to realize he had put his ladder on the wrong building and no one in his family would take it over.
God equips the called, he does not call the equipped
God equips the called, he does not call the equipped
What this means is that God uses everything in your life to prepare you for the mission he has for you.
It could be something good in your life it could be something bad in your life, it could be a skill, it could be a talent.
David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.”
But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,
I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.
“Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.”
And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
What are some things in your life that God could be using to prepare you for the mission he has for you right now.
God is known for turning our mess into messages.
Walk through the story of David and Goliath:
“This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”
Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.
Application:
1. His perspective differed from others. He didn’t see what everyone else saw, an invincible giant. He saw an opportunity.
2. His methods differed from others.
He decided to use proven weapons that he knew would work, not the conventional ones.
3. His conviction differed from others. He recognized Goliath had no covenant with God, while he felt passionately committed to God’s covenant.
4. His motives differed from others. He heard Goliath’s threats against the God of Israel and knew God could beat him.
5. His vision differed from others. He wanted to make Yahweh known to the world as the most powerful God on earth.
6. His experience differed from others. He brought to the battlefield past victories over a lion and bear, not months of paralyzing fear.
7. His attitude differed from others. He saw Goliath not as a threat too big to hit, but as a target too big to miss!
Maxwell, John C.. NIV, The Maxwell Leadership Bible, eBook . Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
The last thing spiritual warriors must possess is:
3. A team to journey with.
3. A team to journey with.
Lance Armstrong story and Gladiator picture
Isn’t this the vision of making disciples.
We first must grow as a disciple then we must make disciples.
We must either be on a team or buidling up a team.
David raised up mighty men!
So David departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam; and when his brothers and all his father’s household heard of it, they went down there to him.
Everyone who was in distress, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him; and he became captain over them. Now there were about four hundred men with him.
Here is what David’s team looked like.
1 Chronicles 11:10-47,