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[3:30] Thank you. Good morning, church. It is indeed a joy, a privilege, and a blessing to be able to come together and worship God. Amen? Amen. So whether you are joining us online or whether you are here in the sanctuary, it is indeed a blessed day to come together and praise our God, for he is worthy.
[3:47] For those of you who are fathers, happy Father's Day. For those of you who are fathers, happy Father's Day. For all of those of you who are father figures and a blessing in someone's life, Father's Day to you too.
[3:57] And for those of you for whom your relationship with your father or may have been particularly problematic, know that you are seen, you are loved, and this day also speaks to you as well.
[4:09] As we come to you as we come to you as we come to you as we come together. I'm excited to be connected to God, however the spirit is moving and working. My name is Scott.
[4:19] I'm part of the pastoral team, and it's my joy to greet you today. Here are these words as we come together this morning. There's a saying in life, says don't sweat the small stuff.
[4:33] But that implies that it's perfectly understandable to sweat the big stuff. So today we're going to be talking about maybe the big stuff doesn't deserve that much sweat either.
[4:45] Having come through a year like we've never seen, a year full of some pretty big stuff, we're excited about what the next part of our story might be. There will be blessings, big and small.
[4:59] There will be challenges, some big stuff and some small stuff. But we know this to be true, that God will be with us through all of it.
[5:11] Amen? Let's pray together. Lord, we know that all things begin and end with you. Let us come to this time of worship, believing that no matter what the next chapter of the story holds, you are with us and in control.
[5:30] Let our love and praise rise to you like the love of all your devoted children. Amen. Take a moment. Let our love and praise you like the Lord.
[5:41] Let your friends look at your neighbors, your siblings in Christ and offer them a wave. Share the peace of Christ with everyone this morning. Stand and worship our God together. God of grace and God of glory.
[5:56] Let your friends be with us and in the midst of the world.
[6:10] Let your friends be with us and in the midst of the world. Amen. God of grace and God of glory.
[6:21] God of grace and God of glory. God of my people for thy power. Round my ancient church's story. Bring her blood to glorious power.
[6:35] Grant us wisdom, grant us courage. Lord, the facing of this hour.
[6:47] Lord, the facing of this hour. Lord, the homes of evil around us. Lord, I Christ will sail his ways.
[7:00] Fears and doubts too long have bound us. Bring our hearts to work and praise. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage.
[7:15] For the living of these days. For the living of these days.
[7:26] Lord, the children's warring madness. Lord, the children's warring madness. Bend our pride to thy control.
[7:37] Shame our want and selfish gladness. Rich in things and warring soul. Grant us wisdom, grant us courage.
[7:52] Lest we miss thy kingdom's hope. Lest we miss thy kingdom's hope.
[8:03] Lest we miss thy kingdom's hope. Save us from the present nation. To the evil's leading war.
[8:14] Lest we miss thy kingdom's hope.
[8:27] The man's of courage Serving me, oh, we adore Serving me, oh, we adore You may be seated.
[8:52] I was just waiting. I was like, wait, is there a song? There is a song. A song is coming, but first I'm talking. This is the time in the service when we come to mind with all the blessings and the generosity of God, and you're about to experience some of those gifts and generosity in this song that you are about to hear during the offertory.
[9:19] There are many ways to provide gifts for the offering, and not just the offering of financial gifts, I invite you, I implore you to walk around the outside of this church and see what our youth have done.
[9:35] They have landscaped the entire perimeter of the church, and not just pulled weeds. They have created an incredibly beautiful space, and so we just can't thank them enough, and that's only the beginning of some of what they do.
[9:53] It's an honor to see leaders and youth who are young adults who are so incredibly generous, and they have a heck of a lot of fun doing it. Anytime you want to ride in the tractor, just make sure Joe's around, and he'll take you.
[10:08] As we hear this song, we think about, in the big picture, where do our blessings come from, whether they are our gifted and wonderfully generous and kind youth or their parents who help them to become that, whether they are our children who flourish in this environment, whether they are the friends and family we get to be here with, because they are part of our blessings on this day.
[10:56] This space, this space that you walked into freely this morning for the first time in so many months. Praise God.
[11:08] And this church depends on you to help us to keep it that way. So let us be mindful of our gifts and our offerings and all the abundant blessings from the Lord.
[11:22] Thank you.
[11:52] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[12:23] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[12:54] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
[13:24] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. For every sin on Him was laid, Here in the death of Christ I live.
[14:00] Here in the mountains God He lay, Light of the world by darkness slain, And bursting forth in glorious day, Up from the grave He rose again, And as He stands in victory, Sin's curse has lost its grip on me, For I am His and He is mine, Brought with the precious blood of Christ.
[14:53] No will to life, no fear in death, This is the power of Christ in me, From my first cry to final breath, Jesus commands my destiny.
[15:18] No power of earth, O sweet old man, Can ever cut me from His hand, Till He returns, or calls me home, Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.
[15:42] For every sin on Him wasyss about Jesus. In his words all means, This is the power of Christ just nudged by He. From his wife is�� and Thank you.
[16:33] Thank you.
[17:03] Let's pray. Oh God, we offer what we know and we offer even that which we do not know. Our hearts, our minds, our families, our gifts, our past, our present, and our future.
[17:21] Take it all, Lord. And may we live in you alone. Amen. Amen. I wanted to thank the team, music team, for doing that.
[17:33] I also wanted to introduce you to Angela Marino. Where did she go? There she is. Oh, right here. Thank you. Thank you. As her debut as the flautist for the song this morning, she's been with our church for the last few months.
[17:51] And we're just delighted to have her use her music still. As a part of our prayer time, I want to do a couple of things.
[18:02] One is a picture from yesterday, Sherry's commissioning. And as it says, the bishop told them, we, you, must be God chasers.
[18:15] Never lose sight of the real goal, living in and looking like the teachings of Jesus Christ. He used as an example that a dog chasing a rabbit.
[18:27] And the dog chasing the rabbit and chasing the rabbit and other dogs began chasing the rabbit and began chasing the rabbit. And eventually, only the dog in the front stayed with the rabbit.
[18:39] He did not mention whether it got the rabbit. We were all glad for that. But what he said was, one who went the furthest and lasted the longest was the one that saw the real thing.
[18:52] That the ones who didn't know what they were even running after fell off. And that's why a God chaser never lose sight of the real goal, living in and looking like the people of Jesus Christ.
[19:10] It was a great day for her and we will be celebrating her next weekend. And today's the last day to buy your tickets for the brunch, which will be right after church next Sunday outside.
[19:27] And so you can find information there. The other thing I have in this time of prayer is I know at least 100 people of the high school graduate who have not gotten her gift.
[19:44] Who else do we have here who is a high school graduate this year? Anybody else? All right. Sarah. Sarah Kim Kuvjak.
[19:55] Come up here and pick a color. There you go. Somehow I knew that's the color that you were going to pick.
[20:06] So congratulations. What she received is not your typical church high school graduate gift.
[20:20] Survival kit. Survival kit. Life beyond high school. You've already survived a pandemic, so you probably already have many survival skills. Here are some from your pastor.
[20:32] Put on the whole armor of God when you are nervous, facing new things, or have a difficult time. Maybe always. Ephesians 6. Ephesians 11 to 18. A first aid kit.
[20:43] Matthew 22, 36 to 40. Love your God with all your heart and soul and grace and mind. And love your neighbor as himself. It's a way of life, of being, and it will serve you well.
[20:56] And if in doubt, offer someone a band-aid or something else in this nifty little first aid kit and try it out. A tool kit. First Peter 4, 10.
[21:08] God gives you to be the one and only you there is. No one can be you better than you. If you need a different kind of tool, use a screwdriver. Flat and Philip.
[21:19] Philip's head. I sure hope it doesn't have to do with anything to do with someone named Philip losing his head. This screwdriver is when the top of the screwdriver, interestingly, has the pattern of the cross in it.
[21:30] Put the screwdriver in and you are almost there. Here's a clue for using screwdrivers. Lefty loosey, righty tighty. Got it? Psalm 119, 105 and Matthew 5, 14 and 15.
[21:45] Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Keep these words near to your heart. Follow and shine. That's what you were made for. And while you are likely to never separate from your phone, sometimes you need an actual flashlight with batteries.
[22:01] If you go away from home, don't ever forget where you belong. This church will always be your church home. And we're here whenever you need us or just want to be with us.
[22:12] Thank you for giving yourself in faith and love. Pastor Kathy. Can I just say that there is no such thing as graduating from church?
[22:27] Enough said about that. In this time of prayer, we want to be mindful of all that our church family carries.
[22:41] The needs, the sorrows, the joys. I want us to be mindful of Jack Fisher. Jack Fisher. Jack Smith, who will continue to figure out how this new life goes.
[22:56] And Erin Fisher, who goes to Jordan and may already be on her way for an internship in the country of Jordan.
[23:08] So many things, so many places, so many needs, life, death, victories, triumphs, and failures. Let us bring them all before God.
[23:21] Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayers. You know us. You hold us. You know the places where we have strayed into anger or resentment.
[23:34] The places where we have felt weak and even like failure. You know the places where we are proud of ourselves in the best way.
[23:46] And you know the places where we speak about ourselves in the hope that someone will see us. Lord, make this land, make us the kind of people who see other people.
[24:02] For who they are and with no eyes to see who they are not. Lift up all the graduates. All the way from preschool, kindergarten, high school, middle school, all of it.
[24:19] College, graduate, post-doctoral work. And those of us adults who look back and wonder, do we remember what we learned?
[24:33] The textbooks? Or do we remember the people? Lord, may we be gifted in our care for others.
[24:44] In our care for those who are far from us. And those whose lives have changed dramatically. Because of surgery. Or the need to get stronger.
[24:57] Like Chet. And so many others. Julie, we just can keep the names going. And we ask you to hear them in our minds. And in our hearts.
[25:08] As we offer them up to you. Our ever faithful. Ever faithful. And ever present God. Amen. God. Forbear. And from God.
[25:34] Amen. Amen. Yunический Calc. David. Today's scripture is from 1 Samuel chapter 17 verses 20 through 49 and Mark chapter 4 verses 35 through 41. Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.
[26:27] David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines, and asked his brothers how they were. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. Now the Israelites had been saying, Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel. David asked the men standing near him, What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?
[27:31] They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, This is what will be done for the man who kills him. When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness?
[27:55] I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is. You came down only to watch the battle. Now what have I done, said David? Can't I even speak? He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter. And the men answered him as before. What David said was overheard and reported to Saul. And Saul sent for him. David said to Saul, Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine.
[28:28] Your servant will go and fight him. Saul replied, You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him. You are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.
[28:43] But David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth.
[28:59] When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it, and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine. Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord be with you. Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. I cannot go on these, he said to Saul, because I am not used to them. So he took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag, and with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
[30:11] Meanwhile, the Philistine with his shield bare in front of him, kept coming closer to David. He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. He said to David, Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?
[30:34] And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. Come here, he said, and I'll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals. David said to the Philistine, You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands. As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. And from Mark, that day, when evening came, he said to his disciples, Let us go over to the other side.
[32:01] Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
[32:17] Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, Teacher, don't you care if we drown? He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, Quiet, be still. Then the wind died down, and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? They were terrified and asked each other, Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him. This is the word of our Lord. Thanks be to God.
[33:14] Would you pray with me, please? Loving and gracious God, we give you thanks for the gift of this day. We give you thanks for the way that your spirit is already breaking through and moving in our space.
[33:30] And now, with our hearts open after having sung your praises, having heard your word, and having offered our prayers, Please plant a seed in us. A seed that will grow and bear fruit for the honor and glory of your name.
[33:45] Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen. So this morning, I want to talk for a few minutes about the God of big things.
[33:57] The God of big things. So to help us get started, I want to share that in my family, we not only have my wife, myself, and three daughters, but we also have two dogs.
[34:12] And they are beagles. And they are kind of short. They only come to about here. And one is about 20 pounds.
[34:23] The other is about 30 pounds. Feels like about 70 pounds. But it's only about 30 pounds. Their names are Kurt and George. And they are loud.
[34:36] Now, when we got these dogs, that was one of the things that I, not being an experienced dog owner, did not expect. I swear I have the loudest dog in the world. Now, sometimes we will let them have run of the yard as dogs do.
[34:52] So if they go out in the front, and I live on a corner lot, and we have this picket fence around our yard. So they will have run of the yard. But what will happen is sometimes there will be someone who is walking down the street innocently.
[35:06] And George especially likes to assert himself when he thinks he can actually take charge of a moment.
[35:17] So, so, I'm thinking of one day in particular when this woman and her children were coming down the street. And this happens far too regularly.
[35:29] But I'm particularly thinking of one day where George kind of saw what was going on. And this woman was innocently having conversation with her children. And sure enough, he took off to do his thing.
[35:40] And before I knew it, he was up against the fence in the face of this toddler, full throat, barking howl.
[35:51] Scared this poor kid to death. Now, kid's freaking out. And I'm looking at this moment, and I'm thinking, you know, calm down. It won't be so bad.
[36:02] But when I reflected on that for a minute, especially in the context of the conversation we're having today, it occurred to me that with George up on the fence planks, that he's actually staring this kid in the eye.
[36:20] And so, this little toddler is terrified. Because there's this dog. He can see the teeth.
[36:31] And he can hear this full throat bark and howl. And he's literally in his face. So, this kid is scared. And it's understandable that this kid is scared.
[36:43] I want you to hold on to that thought. Because what was happening here is a matter of perspective. And I want us to think about our own journey and our own lives and how easy it is for us to lose perspective.
[37:03] Because when you consider who God is to you, when you consider the things you have seen God do, it's amazing how quickly we who love God and who have seen God at work can lose our perspective.
[37:26] Okay? So, with that thought in mind, I want to go into the story. Because it's easy, especially after all we have just been through as a people, to forget that we serve a God who is bigger than the things we go through.
[37:46] And we can look at both the story of David and Goliath and the story of Jesus calming the storm to remind us of that truth.
[38:01] And David actually gives us some really practical advice on how not to lose our perspective. So, let's go into the story of David and Goliath.
[38:12] Now, this is one that we're all familiar with. If you've been in the church for a minute, you've probably heard this story. This is a good one for Sunday schools and kids all know this one and it's easy to learn. And so, there's a good guy, there's a giant, and the good guy wins.
[38:26] Real easy to stick with that one. But there's some really deep stuff in here, which is one of the reasons why I wanted to make sure we heard the whole story again. And we didn't actually hear the whole story, but we heard a lot of it today. And I wanted to make sure we heard all of those pieces.
[38:39] Because the lessons shine through in what we hear and see David do in this moment. So, let's set the stage a little bit. Now, we've got Saul, who's the king of Israel.
[38:53] Saul became king essentially because he was tall. Okay. Now, so we've got Saul doing his thing. And Saul has seen a little bit of success as king, but Saul has not been faithful.
[39:05] So, God has already said, Saul's not going to stay king. So, David has been anointed as the future king. But David is still essentially a shepherd in his father's house.
[39:22] David's older brothers go to fight the Philistines under King Saul. And while they are gearing up for another battle with the Philistines, David's father sends him with supplies for his brothers while they are at the front.
[39:40] This is where we come into the story. Okay. This is where we come into the story. Which is why you heard in verse 20, early in the morning, David left the flock in the care of the shepherd, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had directed.
[39:56] That's where we came into the story. Okay. So, he goes and he finds his brothers. Now, when he gets there, you've got to picture this scene.
[40:07] Because what's happening is essentially you've got a valley with two big hills. And the Philistines are on one side and the Israelites on the other side. And what's happening is that the Philistines are on this one side and they send out their biggest, baddest guy.
[40:24] Essentially, it says, hey, if any of you guys think you can take me, then you can win. Okay. That's essentially what's going on.
[40:36] Goliath does this, if you follow the entire story, for 40 days. And he's shook the entire Israelite arm. Now, his description gets a little weird, which makes people think this might be a legend.
[40:50] Because if you read the translation, it tells you that he was more than nine feet tall. However, biblical scholars have looked at that in a couple of different ways. And what they have concluded is that translation is most likely off.
[41:03] If you look at the translation in a different language, it says he would have been about 6'6", which is believable. Okay. Would have been about 6'6". So that's doable.
[41:15] Now, this is still a pretty formidable warrior. Okay. He's a professional soldier. He's big. And he's got a ton of armament on. Okay.
[41:25] So you can understand he's casting a pretty intimidating shadow. But the fact that you would shake an entire army says something about you, right? So, anyway, David shows up.
[41:39] David shows up, and he gives his stuff to his brothers. But Goliath shows out to do his thing. Comes out, starts talking trash again. And David's like, who's this fool?
[41:52] And he kind of looks at everybody else. He's like, what's wrong with y'all? Because he reminds them of who they are. He reminds them of who they are.
[42:06] Not only who they are, but who their God is. And what God has promised them. And the minute he does that, his brothers kick in, as siblings are wont to do.
[42:21] He says, don't start. We know who you are. You ain't fancy. You ain't special. We know what you've been.
[42:32] Okay. And they just want to check him, because they know what had happened. They saw the anointing. They know this story. And so they got their own issues with David. But David, after having done that, word gets to Saul.
[42:47] And since nobody else is volunteering, Saul sends for David. This is where the lessons kick in. And that's why this is important.
[42:59] This is where the lessons kick in. But you need that context to appreciate what's happening. You need that context to appreciate what's happening. So I'd bring us to verse 34.
[43:10] Bring us to verse 34. Because when we get into verse 34, here's what's happening. David has volunteered to go and fight. But Saul is like, now let's get clear here.
[43:26] Okay. David's probably 14 to 16 years old. He's not an experienced soldier. And essentially Saul is saying, you don't exactly have the skill set we're looking for here. And this is what David says to him.
[43:40] But David said to Saul, your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth.
[43:55] When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it, and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them.
[44:09] Because he has defied the armies of the living God. The lesson for us, friends, if we want to hold perspective when you are facing your own giant, is remember what God has already done for you.
[44:27] We often forget that, right? Because what happens is we find ourselves facing a new challenge. Something shows up in the world that we have not yet seen.
[44:40] And because something shows up we have not yet seen, it's bigger than we thought. It's scarier than we thought. And all of that perspective just kind of goes away. We forget that the God that's already brought us through some things is still God.
[44:59] And it's real easy for us to get shook. It's real easy for us to get intimidated. But if God has already brought you through some stuff that scared you then, and you're already here, maybe, just maybe, that God is still God and can see you through this too.
[45:25] But we forget that. The story goes on. So after having heard that, Saul says, well here. He literally takes his armor and his tunic, gives it to David.
[45:39] Remember, David shows up as a shepherd, not ready to fight. So he gives him his stuff. Starts putting all the stuff on him. Okay? Here's what happens.
[45:51] Okay? Verse 38. Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around because he was not used to them.
[46:10] I cannot go in these. He said to Saul. Because I'm not used to them. So he took them off. He took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag, and with his sling in hand, approached the Philistine.
[46:31] The lesson, friends, is don't trust the world's advice. Trust what God has given you.
[46:45] Don't trust the world's advice. Trust what God has given you. Because Saul's plan made sense. Remember, David shows up as a shepherd.
[46:55] He says, okay, well, if you're going to face this guy, because remember earlier in the story, if you go back and read this, it says that Goliath has on more than 120 pounds of armor.
[47:07] Think about that for a minute. He has more than 120 pounds of armor. That's a whole other person of shielding. He's got on more than 120 pounds of armor.
[47:17] Okay. Now, so he gives him his own stuff, but David puts it on. He's like, this ain't right. I can't walk in this.
[47:29] I can't move in this. I can't fight. No. No, this isn't going to work. Now, I want you to think about what David is doing here, because he's looking in the eyes of his king and against the logic that all of us would also have, right?
[47:46] Because everybody else outside this tent has on armor. But David says, I can't do this. This ain't going to work for me. I want you to think about the stuff you've already been through.
[47:58] I'm willing to bet that there have been times that you got some really good advice from some very well-intentioned people, but it didn't work. I'm willing to bet that there were times that it made perfect sense to do X or Y, but that's not what happened, and that's not how you got through your problem.
[48:17] Because God is still God. And what David knows is, I'm going to trust what God has already given. You notice, he took his staff in his hand.
[48:33] I'm going to trust what God's already given. I'm going to trust what God has put here for me to use. He took five stones from the stream. It all makes perfect sense.
[48:46] But sometimes you have to trust what God is doing and not the wisdom of the world. Last part. Now, I was teaching this in a Bible study a couple years ago, and it actually blew my mind.
[49:04] It may not have been a couple years ago, but anyway. It actually blew my mind, because this verse leapt up off the page and kind of smacked me in the face. Because I could not believe what I was reading.
[49:16] And when I think about the problems we face, what a difference it might make in our lives if we could model what David models here. Listen to this.
[49:27] So we're going to enter the story at verse 41. Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.
[49:42] He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome. And he despised him.
[49:55] He said to David, Am I a dog that you have come at me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. Come here, he said, and I will give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals.
[50:14] And here's the thing. And David said to the Philistine, You have come against me with sword and spear and javelin.
[50:24] But I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
[50:36] This day, the Lord will deliver you into my hands. I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day, I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals.
[50:50] And the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it's not sword or spear that the Lord saves.
[51:07] Hear that for a minute. You notice that in that speech, David doesn't talk about how great David is at all. He doesn't talk about how special he is.
[51:20] He doesn't say, hey, I'm the king of Israel in a few years. I'm special and I'm cool. What David says is, you, Goliath, have defied the Lord God.
[51:37] And this day, it is the Lord who will deliver you into my hands. How different might you feel if you know, going up against the next giant you have to face, that you trusted that it was indeed God who was at work in your moment?
[52:02] How different might you go through your next storm if you trusted that God who made storms, God who made giants, was actually still God and in this moment with you?
[52:22] Because that's the lesson. Did you hear David even give you the words? It's like it's not sword or spear that's going to save us today.
[52:33] It's God who's going to save us today. What a difference there might be if we approached our stuff with that level of trust, that kind of faith.
[52:50] Because that's not usually what we do. We fall into our own patterns and we start to think in our own human brains and then all of a sudden, the giant looks like a giant again.
[53:03] And what your brain tells you is there's no way that I can defeat this giant. And you're right. There is no way you're going to defeat that giant.
[53:16] But do you think that God is scared of Goliath? Really, ask yourself that question. Do you think that God was intimidated by Goliath?
[53:31] Because if you believe that, I'm not sure what God you believe in. Because the God I know is God who made Goliath. And he's certainly not scared of him.
[53:44] So, if you are trusting in that God, why would you not trust that God to see you through?
[53:59] Now, having said all of that, we know how that story ends. But then let's fast forward. Because when you see the disciples and Jesus in the storm, you can bring the same logic to the story.
[54:16] Right? Because the disciples watched Jesus do his thing. And that's the piece that I want to remind you of. Right? That the disciples had seen Jesus be extraordinary.
[54:28] They'd seen him heal. They heard him teach. They knew that God was with him. And yet, when they get into the boat and the storm starts to rage and all of this is going on, they don't remember that God has already brought them through some stuff.
[54:54] That God has already done some pretty extraordinary things. But this whole thing is new. This whole thing is big.
[55:05] And we have forgotten. And so, we've got some experienced sailors out here. Remember, half this crew was fishermen. So they knew the lake.
[55:17] They knew what they were doing. And this scared them. And so the water's clicking over and into the boat. And so then all of a sudden, they turn around and they go, Hey! Jesus! Jesus! Don't you care what's going on here?
[55:31] I mean, Jesus has had quite the day. But check what I said before. You think God was scared of Goliath?
[55:43] Notice what's happening. Does Jesus appear afraid of this storm? He's literally in the back of the boat asleep. He's asleep. So he gets up.
[56:01] And he calms the storm. And Jesus' question to the disciples echoes across all that time and space and lands on us today, right here, right now.
[56:12] Why are you so afraid? Do you really have so little faith? Why are you so afraid?
[56:27] Do you really have so little faith? Because what Jesus is trying to get them to understand is that, look, if you trust in God, if you know in your heart that God has a plan, if you know that God has you on the way, if you know that God is with you, and if you know you have given yourself into God's hands, then either this storm is your story's end and you will transition and you will go on to your reward.
[57:04] That's not entirely bad news. Or, this storm is just one day on your journey. And God will see you through it.
[57:19] You either believe that or you don't. And the problem is, is that we lose our perspective. Because the storm seems so scary.
[57:33] The storm seems so big. Goliath is nine feet tall when he's really not. See, here's the thing.
[57:44] Going back to the fence with George barking in this kid's face. Remember what I told you at the beginning. I love these two knuckleheads. I really do.
[57:54] But they work my last nerve. Like every pet does. And of course, I'm standing there mortified. But what's going through in the back of my mind is, I know this dog.
[58:06] I love this dog. He's not going to hurt this kid. And I know he's not going to hurt this kid. But I'm also 5'10". This kid is this tall.
[58:16] And George is looking him in the eye. Howling, barking. And the kid is terrified. Now also on the other side of the fence is this kid's mom.
[58:28] And the kid's mom, while she's kind of not happy with me, really, but at the same time, she too understands that the dog is on the other side of the fence.
[58:42] The dog is just making a lot of noise. The dog's really not going to hurt him. Not only that, she's there.
[58:55] She is there. She will make sure that nothing happens to him. Think about that for a minute.
[59:06] So having gone through all we have gone through in the last 15 months, and now we're at this place in our lives, and we don't know what the next phase is going to be, we don't know what the next chapter is going to be.
[59:24] But I'm willing to bet we're going to still go through some stuff. And because we're still going to have to go through some stuff, one day we're going to wake up and there's going to be a Goliath in front of us.
[59:38] One day we're going to wake up and there's going to be another storm, whether that storm is a new health crisis, whether that storm is a financial challenge, whether that storm is a car bill you're not sure how you're going to pay, all those sorts of things.
[59:50] But there will be another thing. The question is, will you lose your perspective? or will you trust in the God of big things?
[60:08] Because as I said, no matter how big and scary it is to you, it's not big and scary to God. And if you trust that, and you trust that God is with you, then you can hang on.
[60:28] you can go through and you can stare that giant in the face and declare, I have come in the name of the Lord God Almighty whom you have defied.
[60:48] And this day the Lord will deliver you into my hand. trust it.
[61:00] Trust the God of big things. He will not abandon you. Amen and amen. Almighty and gracious God, we thank you that you simply are who you are.
[61:17] That sometimes we get scared. We get scared of what happens in life. We get scared of what we see coming. We get scared of things that fall in place and knock us off our path.
[61:30] But Lord God, you are who you are. You have seen us through. You have brought us so far on the way. You have given us what we need to be okay.
[61:43] And because you have given us what we need and your presence continues to abide with us, there is nothing, no thing in your creation that is bigger or more powerful than you.
[61:59] Let us trust who you have always promised you would be. Let us live as people, as children of the most high God.
[62:12] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.
[62:29] The Lord be with you. And also be with you. Lift up your hearts. We lift up the Lord. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to the Lord our thanks and grace.
[62:42] It is so right and a joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth. You formed us in your image.
[62:55] You breathed life into us, the breath of life. When we turned away and our love failed, your love remained steadfast. You delivered us from captivity, made covenant to be our sovereign God and spoke to us through your prophets who look for that day when justice shall roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
[63:18] when nations shall not lift up sword against nation and neither shall they learn war anymore. And so, with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn.
[63:36] Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.
[63:46] blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. Holy are you and blessed is your son, Jesus Christ.
[63:57] Your spirit anointed him to preach good news to the poor, release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed and announce that the time had come, the time had come when you would save your people.
[64:14] He healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners and by the baptism of his suffering, death and resurrection you gave birth to your church. You delivered all of us from slavery to sin and death and made with us a new covenant by water and the spirit.
[64:33] At his ascension you exalted him to sit and reign with you at your right hand. On the night in which he gave himself up for us he took bread and he gave God thanks and he gave it to those who were around the table.
[64:52] Take and eat this. This is in remembrance of my body given for you. Do this as often as you can.
[65:04] When the supper was over he took the cup. He gave thanks to you and gave it to his disciples and he said to them drink from this all of you as we remember the blood of the new covenant poured out for every one of us and for all for the forgiveness of sins.
[65:25] Do this as often as you can in remembrance of me. And so in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice in union with Christ's offering for us as we proclaim the mystery of faith.
[65:47] Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again. Pour out your Holy Spirit on all of us gathered here and on these gifts of bread and wine.
[65:59] Make them be for us the body and the blood of Christ that we may be for the world the body of Christ redeemed by his blood. By your Spirit make us one with Christ one with each other and one in ministry to all the world until Christ comes in final victory with the Holy Spirit in your holy church.
[66:22] All honor and glory is yours almighty God now and forever. Amen. Let us join in the prayer that Jesus taught us.
[66:34] Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us and lead us not to temptation but deliver us from evil.
[66:58] for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen. This is the last Sunday that we will be doing communion like this.
[67:12] You may have you will still have access to these cups should you choose but they will be up front unless you want them to bring them to you. There will also be bread both gluten in and gluten out at separate stations and there will be more instructions available to you for that beginning next week.
[67:37] As we open the side with the cracker we proclaim body of Christ broken for you and for all. the blood of Christ shed for you He will also be open into this kingdomulative God of Christ shed for you in the blood of Christ shed for you if you're able stand and join us in praising our great God as pastor Scott said he is not afraid he is with us and let's praise him together guitar solo into the darkness to shine out of the ashes we rise there's no one like you our God is greater our God is stronger
[69:38] God you are higher than any other our God is healer awesome in power our God our God into the darkness to shine out of the ashes we rise there's no one like you there's no one like you our God is greater our God is stronger God you are higher than any other our God is healer awesome in power our God our God our God is for us and who could ever stop us and if our God is with us then we could stand against what could stand against our God is greater our God is stronger God you are higher than any other our God is greater our God our God is stronger our God you are higher than any other our God is
[71:24] Son in power, our God, our God. Our God is greater. Our God is stronger.
[71:35] God, you are higher than any other. Our God is healer. Oh, son in power, our God, our God.
[71:48] And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us? And if our God is with us, then what could stand against? And if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us?
[72:02] And if our God is with us, then what could stand against? What could stand against?
[72:17] What could stand against? Amen. So on this day, we take a moment and we honor dads.
[72:40] Now, for many folks, their father is that image of provider, protector, and that's a good thing. But whether that's a dad for you, whether that's not your dad, whether it's a mom for you, no matter who it is for you, take that thought, however you have known it, and make sure you understand that God is that for you.
[73:03] No matter the next storm, no matter the next giant, trust that God is with you as provider and protector.
[73:16] And he will see you through. Now, in the name of God, our creator and king. In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and our savior.
[73:29] And in the name of the Holy Spirit, our counselor and our sustainer. May God bless us now as we leave the love and serve God and all God's children. Amen.
[73:39] Amen. Amen. God bless you.
[74:10] Amen. Amen. Thank you.
[74:47] Thank you.
[75:17] Thank you.
[75:47] Thank you.