40 Days of Shame
Notes
Transcript
What Do You Do When The Enemy Is Too Powerful?
What Do You Do When The Enemy Is Too Powerful?
The deck is stacked against you, and you can’t see a way to overcome?
Cancer patients
Suicide
Abuse
Poverty
The enemy does not always look the same
The enemy does not always look the same
You may defeat one enemy only to succumb to another
We are constantly facing new challenges
Today we are going to take a look at responses to a seemingly undefeatable foe
So, rise with me in the honor of the reading of God’s Word
He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”
And 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.
Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.
The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul,
but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
Don’t Let the Enemy Define You
Don’t Let the Enemy Define You
Goliath tells the armies of Israel that they represent Saul
The enemy loves to define our positions
They want to claim that they are right and we are wrong
They want to claim the moral high ground
If he is able to fight with me and kill me
He mocks the disparity
He ridicules their weakness
He is like the cool kid bully in High School
I defy the ranks of Israel
I defy your beliefs
Your right to exist
How you define yourself
Now David
Now David
Goliath says “Give me a man”, God says Now David
More highlights of age and stature
More insignificance in the eyes of man
God’s Response Highlights the Difference in perspective
God puts them in an impossible situation
He allows them to experience the shame and humiliation for 40 days
He orchestrates a way for a boy to fight the overwhelming enemy
Now You
Now You
Are You Facing an Overwhelming Enemy?
You cannot imagine victory
Maybe you have already fought the enemy and lost so many times you have given up hope
How have you responded?
Don’t let the enemy define you
Don’t let the enemy define you
Choose who you represent very carefully
You are not weak if you are in Christ
No human can defeat Satan
Draw closer to the victor
You are not the sum of your failures
Faith is Not Easy
Faith is Not Easy
We can grasp a physical workout and its impact on our strength
Can we grasp a spiritual workout and its impact on our strength?
When we have our seasons where our faith is tested we must exercise our faith
God is telling us the story of David’s great moment of faith.
It is also the story of a nation that had lost faith.
They all lived through it, (except Goliath) but many lived it without faith and one lived by faith alone.
Even Spiritual Giants have moments where their faith is small.
The night in the garden for Jesus was a moment of great difficulty
Elijah went from calling down fire in the face of the many prophets of Baal to being afraid and alone as he ran from Jezebel.
Where is faith found?
Where is faith found?
In moments of great trial when we draw near to God and refuse to let go.
In times of tribulation when we resign our physical ways to the will of the Father.
In the resurrection of Jesus.
Gospel
Gospel
All of us fall short of loving as we were created to love
We all sin and do evil
Our unloving ways separate us from God and bring His wrath
We all need someone to save us from the eternal consequences of our sinful ways
Jesus came to the earth, born of a virgin, as wholly man and wholly God, lived a perfect life without sin, and then, in love, sacrificed his life and took on himself the wrath of the Father on all sin, and purchased our redemption.
So that all who acknowledge their sinfulness before God and repent, or turn from those unloving ways, and believe in Jesus can have eternal life.
If you are ready to make that decision, let us know today.
Let the person who brought you know of your desire to repent.
Let us know by telling us on FB that you want to repent.
Let someone know that you want to walk a new and better path in this life, because no one walks the path alone.
In this moment we are going to take some time to worship God Almighty
During this time if you have a need, make that need known, interrupt your neighbor, our service time, come to the altar and visit with me.
Worship
Worship
To the church, I invite you all to bow in worship and respond to the message as you feel led.