Have you ever considered that the very things you possess, no matter how meager, could be the key to unlocking a life lived for the extraordinary purpose of glorifying God? Join me for an enriching dialogue with Ryan Scantling, leader of BCM at the University of Arkansas,as he takes a deep dive into the iconic battle between David and Goliath, unraveling how David's humble arsenal—a staff, slingshot, and stones—was all it took to secure victory when leveraged for the God's glory. We dissect this narrative, encouraging you to reflect on how your unique talents and resources can serve a divine calling within your own life and community.
Moving beyond the tangible, we navigate the often-overlooked battleground of the heart, where pride can be the adversary that prevents us from stepping into the roles carved out for us by God. Ryan shares insights on the notion that the ultimate 'why' of our existence is to honor God, challenging the misplaced values of abundance and conformity. As we explore the story of David, we find clarity in the truth that it's not the size of our armory but the strength of our faith and the willingness to use what we've been given that leads to true greatness.
The episode culminates with a heartfelt invitation, extending beyond mere discussion to a call for action. We delve into the transformative act of baptism and the importance of church membership. It's more than a message; it's a beckoning for you to step out in faith, whether you're taking the first steps toward a relationship with Jesus or deepening your involvement in ministry. Let this be the moment you decide to leverage your life for something far greater than yourself—His glory.
Have you ever considered that the very things you possess, no matter how meager, could be the key to unlocking a life lived for the extraordinary purpose of glorifying God? Join me for an enriching dialogue with Ryan Scantling, leader of BCM at the University of Arkansas,as he takes a deep dive into the iconic battle between David and Goliath, unraveling how David's humble arsenal—a staff, slingshot, and stones—was all it took to secure victory when leveraged for the God's glory. We dissect this narrative, encouraging you to reflect on how your unique talents and resources can serve a divine calling within your own life and community.
Moving beyond the tangible, we navigate the often-overlooked battleground of the heart, where pride can be the adversary that prevents us from stepping into the roles carved out for us by God. Ryan shares insights on the notion that the ultimate 'why' of our existence is to honor God, challenging the misplaced values of abundance and conformity. As we explore the story of David, we find clarity in the truth that it's not the size of our armory but the strength of our faith and the willingness to use what we've been given that leads to true greatness.
The episode culminates with a heartfelt invitation, extending beyond mere discussion to a call for action. We delve into the transformative act of baptism and the importance of church membership. It's more than a message; it's a beckoning for you to step out in faith, whether you're taking the first steps toward a relationship with Jesus or deepening your involvement in ministry. Let this be the moment you decide to leverage your life for something far greater than yourself—His glory.
Hi and welcome to the FBC El Dorado Sermon Podcast. We hope God will use this week's message to both inspire and challenge you as you seek to walk closer with the Lord. Now join me as we listen into this week's sermon. It has been a great privilege and honor to be with your students this weekend. My name is Ryan Scaling. I get to lead BCM, that's Baptist Collegiate Ministry at the University of Arkansas. Some of you knew it as BSU back in the day on campus when you went to school, and I just have to say a resounding thank you, thank you, thank you. You may not recognize it, but each and every Sunday when the offering plate is passed, a portion of that goes to a thing called the Cooperative Program and that feeds into what we do on the college campus where we reach 32,000 students at the University of Arkansas, 150,000 college students throughout the state. You've had the incredible privilege the last couple of weeks and months to hear from some great men Dr Rex Horn, marcus Brown, warren Gasaway over the last couple of months and I just want to warn you, all of those are my bosses, so today you're getting the bottom of the pile, but I'm really, really grateful to be here with you when you give. You are joining with 1,500-plus other Arkansas Southern Baptist churches that worship together each and every Sunday in 14 different languages, from Mandarin, chinese to Spanish, to English, and I guess you could add 15 if you go back to where I'm from. We speak Redneck in Yale County. So I'm just really, really grateful to be here with you. We're going to be in 1 Samuel, chapter 18, if you want to go ahead and turn there, flip there, scroll there, whatever it takes you to get there.
Speaker 1:1 Samuel, chapter 17,. Sorry, I misspoke and this is an old, familiar story that many of you know. In fact, you were read it as a child in VBS and in Children's Church yourself. 1 Samuel, chapter 17,. This morning I want to talk to you about leverage. All weekend I've been spending time with your students talking about being truly free out of the book of Colossians, but this morning I want to talk specifically about leveraging everything you have for what God wants, what he longs to do in your life, in your church. Leverage can be defined as this it's the use of something to maximize an advantage. A basketball player leverages his height to dunk buckets on the other team, the Razorbacks, we hope, get a lot more here soon. And I mean, a baseball player leverages his speed, his velocity, all that arm strength so that he can put it right in the mid of the catcher. But for us, we leverage everything that we have, what God has given us, so that we can be used by him however he desires to use us.
Speaker 1:1 Samuel, chapter 17, is a crazy story. This is what's going down. The Israelites are at war, they've been facing a battle with the Philistines for quite some time, and it has reached a fever pitch. The battle is at a standstill because the Philistines are lined up on one side of the ridge and the Israelites are lined up on the other. And this is what they know that to fight they must go down into the ridge and then fight uphill. So whoever makes the first move is at a great disadvantage, because fighting uphill is never a good situation for the aggressor. And so they're at this standstill. And the standstill has reached this fever pitch and nobody's willing to make the first move. So a giant Goliath, standing nine foot nine inches tall, goes to the front of the battle lines and yells out a cry. He says you Israelites, send out your fiercest warrior to fight me. It'll be a one-on-one battle and whoever wins wins the entire war. If you win, the Israelite, then we, the Philistines, will submit ourselves to you in slavery forever, but if I win, then you will submit yourselves to us in slavery forever. The cry goes out and no one answers.
Speaker 1:There's a king on Israel's throne, the first king in the history of Israel. His name is Saul. For a while he ruled really, really well, but after some time he started doing things in his own way, outside of the Lord's will and outside the Lord's plan. And so, in the background of this story happening, the prophet of the Lord, samuel, has been sent by God to search out the new king. As he does, he goes to the household of Jesse and he surveys the boys in Jesse's house. He lines them up from oldest to youngest, and the top one doesn't make it. Now, this isn't the man anointed by God. The second one also doesn't. He gets to the end of the line and he says to Jesse surely there's another son somewhere? Jesse says, well, yeah, but David's out keeping up with the sheep. Like do you want him truly? He brings David in and Samuel lays eyes on him. This is to be the king of Israel.
Speaker 1:Saul is leading the battle against the Philistines, but he's not been willing to fight. No one's been willing to fight. David, just a shepherd boy, goes to visit his brothers who have been battle-trained and are fighting this fierce war. And as he goes to the battle, he overhears the cry of the giant and he asks one question. He says what's to be done with the man who slays this giant? He receives this answer there to be given a tax-free life. That's a pretty good perk. But also they're to marry the king's daughter. But thirdly, this fight will glorify the Lord. And so David answers and responds in this way 1st Samuel, chapter 17, starting in verse 34.
Speaker 1:All of this is not going to be on your screen. There's going to be one verse on your screen that we'll tackle a bit later and I have to warn you before we dig in. I read out of the CSB, the Christian Standard Bible. It's no more holy and inspired than any others, but it was translated on an eighth grade reading level and I grew up in Dardanale, so it just really, really helps. All right, here we are. It says.
Speaker 1:David answered Saul, your servant, has been tending his father's sheep Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock. I went after it, struck it down and rescued the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down and kill it. Your servant has killed lions and bears. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. Then David said 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 may the Lord be with you. Verse 38.
Speaker 1:Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David's head and had him put on armor. David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to wad, but he was not used to them. I can't walk in these. David said to Saul. I'm not used to them. So David took them off Instead this is verse 40,. He took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the waddy and put them in the pouch in a shepherd's bag. Then, with a sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
Speaker 1:The Philistine came closer and closer to David with the shield bear in front of him. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a youth, healthy and handsome. I got a pause for a moment. There are some of us that would love to be described as a youth, healthy and handsome. Now, have you ever noticed in the Bible that it doesn't often give physical descriptions? I mean Jesus, the most influential man in human history, especially in Christian history. Jesus, the very Son of God, is not described physically in the Bible. We don't have an instance where it says that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan and his piercing blue eyes shot in the distance, his long, flowing brown hair behind him waving in the wind. We don't have anything that describes the physical attributes of Jesus but about David. He was just a youth, healthy and handsome. Now some of you may be envious of that right now, but that's not the point.
Speaker 1:This giant was making fun of David. He's saying you don't have any dirt underneath your fingernails. You haven't been through battle training like all the other boys. You got some fat on your bones. You're a young guy. Do any of you remember back to middle school or high school? You in the middle certainly do. Do you remember when a fight would break out in a middle school hallway. Now it wasn't an intense fight, it was usually like a hair pulling type fight, but there is always a section in front of the fight that is the most fun to observe. As an adult, it was the smack talk section. It's when these kids start mouthing off of each other before they ever throw the first punch. Now, in sports I was not very good, but I was really good at smack talk, talking myself up. You know how that goes. I'm about to read to you the smack talk section of this story.
Speaker 1:It says in verse 43, he, this is the giant, said to David am I a dog that you come against me with sticks? Then he cursed David by his gods. Come here. The flistening called to David and I'll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts. David said to the flistening you come against me with a sword, spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the ranks of Israel. You have defied him. Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I'll strike you down, remove your head and give the corpses of the flistening camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God singular, and this whole assembly will know that it's not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord and he will hand you over to us. Let's pray, god. We love you and we trust you, and we pray that through this story you would bring some things to light in our life so that we can leverage everything that we have for all that you are. We pray that you would speak to us, lord, and we pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:I want to give you three things, three points of leverage. They're going to be on the screen right here. The first is this that God uses who you are. You may not be the current king, but God uses who you are. You may not be the eldest of all the sons, but God uses exactly who you are and he wants to leverage all of that for his purposes, his plans, his glory. There's some of you in this room who you think God could never possibly use me. I don't have the training of that person, the training of this person, I don't have the resources of that person over there, I can't speak eloquently, I couldn't possibly be used. But let me tell you this truth from Scripture God uses you exactly as you are and he has knit you together so that he can leverage everything about you for his plans and his purposes. But it's not just that God doesn't just use who you are, he uses exactly what you have.
Speaker 1:Did you notice? When David showed up and volunteered to fight, the first thing that happened is Saul said okay, let it happen, and he put his own military clothes on David. But you recall what David said I can't walk in these, I'm not used to them. There are some people who will spend the entirety of their lives trying to be somebody else, but God has uniquely made you exactly as you are and given you exactly what you have. And so what did David do? He picked up a staff in his hand. He picked up a slingshot and five smooth stones and put them in his satchel. Now, I'm not sure the last time you've been in a street fight. I hope for all you good church folks, it's been quite a while. But here's the thing if you were in a street fight, there would be something really unintimidating about a man walking up with a staff, some stones, a slingshot and a satchel. If you're walking up to a person in a street fight and they're wearing a fanny pack, you instantly think you're gonna win. I mean, you do. You absolutely do. And that's what David has around his waist he has a fanny pack with stones and a slingshot in it.
Speaker 1:But let me give you this truth. There are some of you who think that God couldn't possibly use you because you don't have the money in the bank that other people have, because you don't have the capacity, the resources that somebody else has. But here's the truth God uses who you are and he uses exactly what you have so that you can leverage it all for his purposes, his plans, his glory. I believe this that God gave you this church. He led people to build this building in 1922. Why? So that he could leverage it all to reach this city, to reach Union County, for the good news of Jesus. And he has placed you, the members of this church, right here. Why? So that he can use you for something more incredible than you could ever dream or anticipate. But here's the underlying principle and you have to know this it's not just that God uses who you are and it's not just that God uses what you have, but God always, always, always gets the glory.
Speaker 1:A couple of years ago there was a student that came into my office and he put this rock on my desk and I picked it up and I'm like, well, thanks, did you just go pick this up outside? And he said no, ryan, you remember, this summer I traveled to Israel. And I said, oh yeah, so I become a bit more curious, obviously. And I said so what's the rock from? He said, well, this is one of the rocks that David didn't pick up. Okay, and he said, but they took me on this tour to the ravine, the wadi, that they think this battle would have probably taken place around. And so I went and I scooped up a rock and I'm bringing it back here to you.
Speaker 1:There's something about this rock. It is incredibly smooth, the same as any rock that you would pick up from any brook where water is constantly going over it. Let me tell you this If I'm fighting a giant, I'm grabbing the nastiest, gnarliest, meanest rock I can find. I mean, I'm grabbing it with shards of glass and like chips of bone stuck in it so that if I miss a slingshot shot, I can just go and like, drive this thing into the heel of a giant.
Speaker 1:But not David. He grabbed the five smoothest stones because he knew that God had given him exactly what he has so that he can leverage it for his glory. Students, have you found that thing that is the undergirding principle in all of your life, that thing that is worth living and giving everything for? You see, david knew that it was all for the glory of God and because of that he could do anything, knowing that God was leading and guiding him. You have to find your why in life, the reason that you're living, the reason that God has placed you exactly where he has. And David knew for him, it was to continue to glorify him in everything, just as he's called all of us to. But this is the place we're gonna spend the most on. These are three principles for leverage, but there are three things that kill leverage in a person's life. They kill you from leveraging everything for God's glory. The first is pride. The whole pride kills leverage in our life.
Speaker 1:What was it that kept all these Israelite fighting men on the sideline? Now, some of you would say it's fear, and that's logical, but I wanna argue that it was pride from the start, the thing that kept these men from moving forward and fighting in the battle that God had placed them in. You say, ryan, how is it? Pride. It was pride that kept these men from moving forward. Not a single soul wanted to say I'll fight, because they had a fear in the back of their mind that they would mess it up. You see, pride will keep a lot of us stuck in the pew. It'll keep a lot of us from risking big things for God, because we think what if I mess up? What if I blow it? And the consequences had never been bigger For these Israelite fighting men if they messed up their families and eternal slavery to the Philistines. The consequences were huge.
Speaker 1:There are some of you that you know that God has called you to do something, but pride keeps you from doing it. You're scared to fail. You're scared to attempt big things for God because what if you mess up? What if you blow it? Pride kills leverage. Pride keeps you from picking up the stones and instead leads you to kick the stones. Oh, pride destroys our heart. Pride keeps us focused on ourselves rather than what God has for us. Pride leads us to question a lot of things in our own life to over-evaluate, instead of doing exactly what God's asked us to do. But the second one may strike you even more in the heart.
Speaker 1:It's not just pride that kills leverage, it's also poor planning. You may say, huh well, ryan, that may be true for these students, but it's certainly not true for me. I'm older in my life, I've got this planning thing figured out. I keep my New Year's resolutions, or I've learned not to make them because I don't keep them at all, and all that's okay. But it's not just pride that kills leverage, it's also poor planning.
Speaker 1:Did you notice this? That David, when he went down into that wadi, he scooped up not one or two or three or four, but five smooth stones. Did you know that some people say David had little faith? If he would have had actual faith in God, he would have just picked up one, believing that that stone would land in the forehead of the giant and take him down. But let me tell you this it wasn't because of a lack of faith that David picked up five smooth stones. It was because, from the start, he planned to finish what God had called him to do.
Speaker 1:This is what I want to challenge you with. God is calling each and every one of you to continue faithfulness in your life, to continue to leverage your life for his life, for his glory, far beyond anything you could perceive. Are you planning now to finish what God's calling you to do? Let me give you a couple of examples. God's called this church, placed it in the heart of Union County, for one reason to reach folks for the good news of Jesus. Are you planning now to do what it takes to reach more people in your community? Did you know that if this church would baptize every student that made a decision this weekend, plus the several baptisms scheduled for next week, you will baptize more folks than you've baptized in a decade in this year? That's an crazy thing. If you baptize 14 people this year, you'll baptize more folks than you've baptized any single year for a decade. What has God called you to do? That he's calling you to carry to completion right now.
Speaker 1:David picked up five smooth stones, and you know why? Because David knew something that in Bible history we've often forgotten. If you were to turn later I'm not going to read it now to 2 Samuel, chapter 21, verses 18 through 22, you would see that ultimately there are four sons of Goliath, four children of Goliath that are also slain. It happens many years after this event. But, david, as he goes into that wadi and picks up five smooth stones, he is planning from the start then I'm not just going to take down this giant, but I'm going to take down four baby giants that Goliath has raised up to hate God and to conquer his enemies. So right there, from that moment, he is saying I will finish the task that God has called me to. It will not be deterred by any situation around me. So he picks up not one or two or three or four stones, he picks up five stones, one for Goliath and one for the children that he's raised to hate and defy the people of God. Can you imagine walking into that battle, walking straight ahead to this giant and knowing that you don't just have a rock for him, you have a rock for everybody that he's raised up in his image to tear down and destroy the people of God?
Speaker 1:Let me challenge you with this church. There are some of us that tend to be so short-sighted, so short-sighted on what God can do here and now. And it's true, god's done an incredible thing, even this weekend, in the lives of these students. He's done an incredible thing in your life, but what is it that God could yet to do in the future that he still has planned and has ahead right now? There are three things that kill leverage. Pride is certainly one of them, but poor planning is another that oftentimes we just don't plan to plan to finish well, to be faithful through the end and to finish the task that God has given each and every one of us. But oh, this third one is so pressing in our hearts and lives. It's not just pride that kills leverage, and it's not just poor planning, but it's also pessimism. Pessimism is this it's the thing that causes us to kick the rocks instead of pick up the rocks. Pessimism is the thing that believes that everything is bad and everything's crashing and burning around us. And in the hearts and lives of so many people, pessimism rains. Pessimism is that thing in the back of our mind that says, ah, god can't possibly accomplish that, our heydays are behind us and there is no possible future ahead. The pessimistic person doubts the leadership of God. The pessimistic person questions that God could possibly move.
Speaker 1:Now, it's not in this Bible story, but you and I can imagine what happened as David went to the front lines. You and I can imagine what happened as David went and approached King Saul and said to him I'll fight this battle. And everybody else in the army sees David in Saul's tent, trying on the armor, walking about. It doesn't quite fit me. And then rejecting the armor, picking up a slingshot, a staff, a fanny pack and five smooth stones. Can you imagine the jeers and the sneers from the sideline? Oh, you can, because you've heard them before. You can imagine the people who would question this guy is the one fighting A sin word back? My wife's about to become a slave to the Philistines. You mean, this man without any military training is the one who is gonna go and fight the battle.
Speaker 1:Can I tell you, one of the most dangerous things in the heart of a young person that's trying their best to follow the Lord Jesus Is when a person pours a bucket of cold water on the fire. That got his birthing in their heart. And I say that and some of you know it, because it happened to you a long time ago. You were trying to follow the Lord's dream for your life and somebody poured that bucket of cold water as if to say God could never work like that. There are a couple things that have happened on college campuses over the last year. Some people have used the word revival, spiritual awakening, to describe them, and it's been an incredible thing. Thousands and thousands of students across different campuses have come to know Jesus. It's a really fun and exciting time to be doing ministry on a college and university. But here's what I'm observing also the moment God starts working in a significant way and it happens like this all throughout history there are plenty of people to say God couldn't possibly do that and God wouldn't move in this way or that way, and everybody seems to have a defined box on how they really, really want God to move.
Speaker 1:The pessimist doubts everything, and here's the reality. All of us are a bit pessimistic Because life wears us down, because all of us have fought in the battle and it's tough. Here's the hopeful thing, you see, in this story. We all wanna perceive that we're David, that we're the one that charges ahead when nobody else will. But the reality is ain't none of us David? All of us are the scared Israelites with our knees shaking on the sidelines. But here's the really good news we don't have to be pessimistic because, just as David went ahead into the battle to fight the giant that none of us could slay.
Speaker 1:Jesus went ahead in the battle to fight a giant that none of us could slay. You see, god gave David during this season and he gave us Jesus for all the seasons. He sent Jesus into this world, born of a baby, or born as a baby of a virgin, and he lived a pure, sinless life that none of us could live. This Jesus, though, died a horrid death. That death was to pay the penalty and the punishment for all of our sin, our pessimism, our pride, our poor planning. And he paid that punishment, dying fully. But here's the reality, jesus, he didn't stay dead. No, he raised again, proving that if we would trust in him, we could have new life.
Speaker 1:And so, when David marches into that battle, it is a picture of the Jesus who is to come, who marched into a battle that we could never fight on our own. When David picked up that stone and threw it at Goliath's forehead, it is a picture of Jesus who had come to roll away a stone over a grave. When David defeated Goliath, he stood atop him, put his heel on his neck, cut off his head and showed it to the Israelites in victory. In the same way that Jesus rose from the dead, as if to say the enemy has been defeated, the threat is done, hell and death are conquered. You have a life in my name. David then led the people into battle to take the land that God had promised them, just as Jesus now leads us forward into the places that he would have us to go.
Speaker 1:Here's the reality. You don't have to be pessimistic, because Jesus has given you a reason to be optimistic. There is hope for the future. There is hope for the church, there is hope for this next generation because of what God has done. In just a moment, we're going to move into a time of invitation and God may be doing some things on your heart.
Speaker 1:It may be that there are some of you in the room that you have never made the decision to trust Jesus as your Lord and Savior for the first time. And here's what the Bible says about you. If you're in a situation where you've never made the decision to trust the Lord Jesus, the Bible calls you lost. That means you're separated from the hope, the peace that comes from trusting in Jesus. But there's good news. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. He came on the greatest rescue mission of human history so that he could bring you from death to life, from hopelessness to hopefulness, to pessimism to optimism. And you can have that by trusting in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Today, romans chapter 10 says it clearly if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Like today, you want to make the decision to trust Jesus during this time of invitation. If you would just meet me right here, I would love to talk to you about that.
Speaker 1:But there's a whole swath of you who you've made the decision to trust Jesus in the past, and today God's placed on your heart that he's calling you to do something specific. It may be to volunteer in a ministry in this church. It may be to step up in a way that leverages your life in a more significant capacity for the things that God's called you to do. It may be to have that gospel conversation with your friend or your family member, with your teammate, with that person in the band with you. And can I say this If today God's challenged you to leverage a portion or a whole of your life for what he's called you to do, in complete surrender. Would you just put your yes on the table? Here's how God often works. He doesn't show you what the end result is, but what he does is he asks you to take one step in faith and he continues to reveal what's down the road. Would you take that one step of faith today?
Speaker 1:There are some of you who need to join the swath of students in the next couple of weeks and get baptized to publicly proclaim your faith in Jesus. Some of you happened in this church today and you're like I don't have a church home, but this seems like a good enough place. I'm going to join this church right here, right now, if that's, you come forward during this time of invitation. Let's pray, god. We love you, we trust you, god. We know that you have incredible things in store for the students in these seats for 1st Baptist Church El Dorado, arkansas, and we believe, god, that you're leading us and guiding us, and we so went to leverage our whole life for your glory, your plans and your purposes. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen, stand with us when you come. There will be passers and staff down front If you need to make a decision for the Lord today. Would you meet me down here and I would love to talk to you about it.