Well, good morning again. Thank you guys so much for being here with us this Sunday here at Church at the Grove. If I haven't had the chance to meet you, my name is Nathan. I'm one of the pastors here. And if you're joining with us because of SummerJam, if your kids participated and you're joining with us today because of that, uh, I just want to say a special thank you to you. Um, it means the world to us that you entrusted your children to us. Um, even though it might have been a great like couple hours away from them, I totally understand it. If you were just using it as babysitting services, totally get that. Um, but we still take it as a great honor uh to be able to just uh partner with you um in helping your children follow Jesus, and so thank you for that opportunity. Um it was a great week, uh great weekend uh here for SummerJam. Uh tons of fun, tons of energy. I'm exhausted. I know all of our adult leaders are exhausted. And let me just say, I had somebody come up to me uh last night as we were kind of cleaning up everything and setting this room back up, and uh she just said, Nathan, she said, like, I don't know many churches uh that love kids the way that this church loves kids. And listen, I I know there are a lot of great churches in our community, and I know that there are a lot of great churches that love our kids and our children in this community. I'm not comparing by any stretch, but what she says is true that our church does love the children in this community. And so I'm so thankful for the volunteers and everybody that was a part of that. If you gave, if you uh served, gave, prayed, whatever, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. We couldn't have done it without you. Um, this morning we're continuing our series uh called The Story of David, and we're talking about the life of David over the course of this summer. And uh, you know, as we talked about this week, about how we're made for more. Um that was kind of the whole idea behind this weekend with Summer Jam, that we're made for more, that God has a plan and a purpose for our lives that's bigger than the plans and purposes that oftentimes we have for our lives. That he stretches us, he makes us grow, he takes us to new heights and new places that we never imagined going ourselves. And that's really the story of David. Uh but David, although he had made you, God had made your plans for David's life, that didn't mean that it was free of obstacles. Over and over again, David was someone that faced obstacles at the hands of Saul and the enemy nations. And today I want us to talk about that. I want us to talk about the obstacles or the giants that we face that oftentimes are impossible, it seems impossible to overcome, at least in our own power, our own strength. And we've all been there, right? We've all faced obstacles in our life. We've all had giants of some kind that have come up against us. It's the boss that's trying to hold you back. It's your finances that the bills just never seem to stop. It's a sickness or some health issue that you prayed for over and over and over again for the Lord to heal you, but that giant still seems to be in view. It's an addiction, a struggle, a sin pattern that you just can't seem to break through from. And it's just this giant that seems overwhelming. Every single one of us, no matter where we're at in life, whether we're young or old in the room, we all face giants. We all face obstacles in our lives. For some of you, you might be facing a giant right now. For others, if you live long enough, you're going to for sure face other giants in your life. And the giant's purpose is to come against us, to steal our freedom, to still our joy, to still our purpose, to steal the authority that God has placed within us. But here's the number one tool that these giants and these obstacles bring into our life oftentimes. It produces fear. It produces fear, it produces timidity on our part. But we know that if we're followers of Jesus, that we have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind, right? That we are called to greater things. And so I believe that God wants to meet us here this morning as we talk about a familiar story that probably many of us know and have heard and have probably even told to our children a time or two. But still, there's this incredible impact in our lives today. And so here's the big idea this morning. If you fall asleep and miss the rest of it, here's what you can take away. Because Jesus defeated the real giant, you can face every lesser giant. Because Jesus defeated the real giant, you can face every lesser giant. And so, Lord Jesus, would you come now and would you speak? Um, Lord, I don't have words, but Lord, we know that your words are the words that bring life. And so, Lord, would you just uh fill this place now? Lord, would your spirit come and would you speak to each and every heart in person? You know exactly where they're at. You know the struggles that they're facing, you know the pain that they're bringing into this room. And Lord, you are the one that can touch them right where they need to be touched and healed this morning. And so, Lord, we just need ears to hear from you, Lord, and hearts to obey whatever it is that you're calling us to do. And so come, Holy Spirit, be with us now. In your name we pray. Amen. If you have a Bible, um, you can turn to uh 1 Samuel chapter 17. That's where we'll be primarily all morning. Um but before we jump into that, just to make sure we're all kind of set up in what's going on in the story, um, you've got Saul, who is the first king of Israel. And he's the guy that looks the part. He's tall, he's mighty warrior, he's someone that kind of looked like a typical king would look, and yet he was someone that was marked by insecurity and fear, and he oftentimes uh did not wait on the Lord. He disobeyed God's commands and he walked in a different direction. And God gets so fed up at one point in 1 Samuel chapter 15 that he actually says, Hey, Saul is no more, like I'm going to remove my hand of blessing upon him. He's no longer going to be the rightful anointed king, and I'm going to choose a new king that is going to be a king that is a man after my own heart. And so we talked about this last week that God shows up in this little town of Bethlehem, and he shows up at the guy named Jesse's house, and he's going to anoint one of Jesse's sons to be the next king of Israel. And he goes through all the lines of Jesse's sons, and yet he starts with the oldest and goes to the youngest, and David is the one that's in the fields, the youngest son, forgotten about, not someone that was even brought into the house to meet with Samuel. Samuel has to ask for him, but yet God chooses him because he's a man that is after God's heart. And so we said last week that God is looking for people that don't have everything together, that don't have a perfect life, that aren't completely sinless and perfect. What he's looking for is a heart that is turned and directed towards him. And that same idea plays into everything that we're talking about this morning. Because Saul, one of his jobs as the ruler and the leader of Israel, was to defeat the enemy nations that inhabited the land that God had told them to possess. And so he's coming up against the Philistine army time and time again. And the Philistine army was technologically advanced, they were well armed, they were a constant thorn in the side of Israel. And that's where our story picks up this morning in 1 Samuel 17, verse 1. It says, The Philistines gathered their forces for war at Sakoth in Judah and camped between Sakoth and Azekiah, I don't know, in Ephiz Dammon. Saul and his men of Israel gathered and camped in the valley of Elah. Then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines. The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them. Then a champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet nine inches tall. And so this is the scene that you can kind of imagine. This is not a fictional story. This is something that truly happened, and it's a real place. You actually, I think we've got a picture of what uh this is actually uh Pastor Russ at our Walnut Grove campus. He actually visited here not too long ago. And so this is the actual Valley of Eloh. And this is where this battle would have taken place. So you can imagine for a second that on one side of the ravine you've got the Philistine army, and on the other side, you've got the Israelite army, and they're going to duke it out together. This is a real place, and they're going into real combat with one another. But this isn't modern warfare like we know it today. This isn't tanks and planes and all the military technology that we have today. This is hand-to-hand combat. And the most terrifying man steps forward for the Philistines. A man named Goliath, who in this translation it says was nine feet nine inches tall. I think we've got a picture that can kind of give you an idea of what we're looking at here. I mean, we've got Shaquille O'Neal, a massive human being at 7'1, and then you've got Goliath standing at 9-9. This is a massive guy. And you can just imagine just how much terror would come over the nation of Israel as Goliath steps forward. He's a champion military fighter. And he steps forward, and it says again in verse 4, then the champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet nine inches tall. He wore bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed 125 pounds. That's a massive amount of weight to carry around with you. There was bronze armor on his shins, a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders, his spear shaft was like a weaver's beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds. In addition, a shield bearer was walking in front of him. He stood and shouted to the Israelites, battle formation, Why do you come out to line up in battle formation? he asked them. If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I win against him and kill him, then w you you will be our servants and serve us. Then the Philistines said, I defy the ranks of Israel today. Send me a man so we can fight each other. When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistines, they lost their courage and were terrified. Now you can imagine, I mean, this man Goliath steps forward, nine feet, nine inches tall, carrying around all of this armor, a champion, victor in all these military battles, and he's saying, Hey, this isn't going to be a military fight like we typically would know it, but it's what's called as representation warfare, where they send their best person, we send our best person, they go at it, and whoever wins the army is conquered and becomes the servant of the other. And so Goliath is a picture for us this morning of the bigger enemy that we face. The real enemy that we talked about a few weeks ago from Ephesians chapter 6, that there's a real spiritual enemy that is out to steal, kill, and destroy. And as we see that Goliath says here that his goal is to discredit and defy the one true God. And so what we have to see is that the enemy, not just in this story, but in our life, that the enemy has invaded the territory of our lives. That the enemy is out to get us. The land belonged to Israel. It was given to them by God's promise, but the Philistines had moved in to enslave and erase God's people. He was trying to thwart God's plans, and this is what the enemy still does today. The enemy is never content with what has been taken. The enemy is always looking for more ground and more control and more traction in all of our lives. You have to understand that the enemy is never neutral, that he is always working to steal and kill and destroy. He does not have our best interests at heart. He has his own plans and purposes. And as Goliath stepped forward, and this is a real scene that is unfolding, but yet it's an illustration of something much bigger that paints a picture for how we face enemies today. The thing that strikes me is what it says there, where it says, When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified. They were terrified. And you can imagine, it's intimidating for sure. But they aren't anchoring themselves in the God that they serve, but rather they are listening to the voice of the enemy. And as a result, it's not care core courage that is stirred up within them, but it drains out and fear takes over. And this is what happens anytime we allow the Goliaths and the giants of our lives to speak louder than the voice of God in our lives. Anytime we begin to listen and look to the circumstances that we face rather than the God of those circumstances, then we are going to do the same thing that Saul and the Israelite army do. That we are going to retreat. Our courage is going to drain from us. We are going to be terrified and live in fear. This will always lead to fear that keeps us from walking in God's purpose and plans for us. If it is true that you are made for more, that God has a big plan and purpose in your life, the enemy will try to sow seeds of fear into your life to keep you from walking into that destination. And so what must we do? We must tune our ears to the voice of the Lord instead of the voice of the enemy. The Lord, in his gracious mercy, sends someone to the battle, someone that wasn't listening to the voice of the enemy, that hadn't heard him speak day after day after day. And it was a young boy with a heart that was after him. Look at 1 Samuel chapter 17, jump down to verse 20. It says, So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had charged him. So David's brothers were fighting in this battle. They were in the army uh army uh line there that was there with Goliath. And David's dad, Jesse, says, Hey, I want you to go and deliver lunch to them, pretty much. So David got up early, he went out, he arrived at the perimeter of the camp as the army was marching out in battle formation, shouting their battle cry. Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other. David left his supplies in care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were. While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath the Philistine from Gath came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words, which David heard. When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated and were terrified. So David, this young teenager making a grocery run for his dad, sees this battle and sees Goliath, and he's just there to drop off lunch, but yet David is going to have a completely different response. Israelite and all of his brothers, Saul included, that they were all the ones that were terrified, but yet David's response is going to be drastically different because David had a different reference point. He had been alone. He had been out in the fields keeping watch over his father's sheep. He was a shepherd. He had gazed at all of the stars. He had a history of faithfulness to God. He had a history of God showing up and moving mightily in his life. When a lion came to attack the sheep, he chased the lion down and killed the lion. He wrestled a bear. He was somebody that had seen God come through time and time again. And because of that, he was coming from a different place from the rest of the enemy, from the rest of the Israelite nation. And this shows us that it's your private faithfulness that prepares you for your public calling. It's your private faithfulness that prepares you for your public calling. What many people would have said was just wasted time out in the field caring for the sheep was actually the training ground that God was going to use in David's life. David didn't just suddenly become brave once he saw Goliath, but this was something that was developed over time. Saul's army heard Goliath and thought, we're dead, but David heard Goliath and thought, God has done this before and he will do it again. Why the different responses? Well, Saul's army had been watching the problem for 40 days. 40 days they have stood there and they have watched Goliath come forward and mock them and mock their God. But yet David is new to the scene and he's been listening to a different voice. And I think this is one of the clearest descriptions and illustrations of discipleship and spiritual formation. That these little habits that David practiced over a long, extended amount of time determine how he responds in this moment. It's much like if you're trying to work out and get healthy. I mean, you can go to the gym and you can do the most intense workout that you possibly can imagine, but you're not going to probably see much of a difference in your physique. It's the thing that you do day after day after day that makes the difference. The problem is in our world, in our culture today, we're fascinated by the big displays, but yet we do not pay much attention to the small steps in the same direction, the long road to obedience. And that's what makes the difference. David is different because of the long road. The long time he spent out in the wilderness, the long time he spent with the Lord out in the fields caring for the sheep. It's the daily faithfulness over time that forms you. James Clear, I don't think he's a believer, but he wrote an incredible book called Atomic Habits. And he says, you do not raise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. And I find that to be so true, right? It's what you do day after day after day that matters. And then when the big obstacles come your way, that determines how you live and how you respond. When somebody gets the cancer diagnosis and they've been walking with Jesus and they have their faith in Jesus and they've seen Jesus work in their life time and time again, it doesn't minimize the pain, it doesn't minimize the symptoms or the hurt that they have to walk through, but man, they can walk through it with so much more courage and so much more faith because they've built this up over time. It's the habits of immersing ourselves in God's word, spending time in extended prayer, journaling, fasting, living in community with other believers. This is all necessary. If we're gonna come up against the giants that will come at some point in our lives if we're not currently facing them, if we don't have the small habits that have been built over time, then I think, maybe I'm wrong, but I think in most circumstances we're gonna respond like Saul and his army rather than like David. It's not about just bettering ourselves, but these are tools and training practices that help develop faith and trust in our Lord. It isn't just that we become stronger, it's because it's that the Lord becomes stronger in and through us, and our faith rises. Day after day, he's watching the sheep, he's seeing the stars, and he's remembering the faithfulness of God. His faith here in this situation, his courage that we're gonna read about in a second, is built on spiritual memory. We need spiritual memory. We need to be able to see what God has done. We need to be able to remember the story of how God stepped into our story and how he rescued us, how he made us new. We need to remember the miracles that we've seen. We need to remember the stories that we've heard. We need to be people that are regularly uh hearing and remembering the works of God. Jump into verse uh 31. Lose my voice. What David said, what David said was overheard and reported to Saul. So uh David has has heard Goliath come. Uh Goliath has said, Hey, who's gonna come out and fight me? And so David is provoked at this point. So when he overheard and reported to Saul, so he came to David brought to him. David said to Saul, Don't let anyone be discouraged by him. Your servant, talking about himself, will go and fight this Philistine. But Saul replied, You can't go fight this Philistine. You're just a youth. And he's been a warrior since he was young. Again, what is Saul looking at? Saul is looking at the circumstance. He's looking at the giant, but David is going to be looking at the Lord working through him. Listen to what he says in verse 34. 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 the one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. So notice what he's doing here. It's not that this guy is just an enemy, but it's that he's defied the army of the living God. He's gone against the Lord that they're serving. Then listen to verse 37. This is key. 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 the Philistine. So who is it that's going to rescue the Israelite army? It's not David, but it's the Lord working through David. See, courage is not the absence of fear, it's knowing who fights for you. This doesn't mean that the circumstances always go our way. This doesn't mean that everything in our life works out the way that we want. It doesn't matter, it doesn't mean that we're just super strong and we can just kind of muster up enough strength. Rather, it's knowing who fights for us. And David builds this case. Listen, this is what the Lord has done in the past. This is how he's rescued me. This courage is built on memory. And so David says in verse 45, if you jump down, David said to the Philistines, so now he's talking to Goliath. And he says, 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, so that all the world may know that Israel has a God, and so that this whole assembly may know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord. David is not coming in his name, but he's coming in the name of the Lord. He's not saying, I'm going to win, but his confidence is in the Lord who will hand you over. And so when he steps into battle, it's not about his strength, but it's about God's strength through him. And this is true in our lives too. When we face the obstacles and the challenges and the setbacks and the giants that are coming at us, the things that make us terrified and afraid. It's not about your strength, but it's about reliance on the God who is over all. David is angry. He's angry here. He's angry because Goliath has defiled the Lord. He's defied the Lord. He's pushed back against the Lord. He's mocked the Lord and the God that Israel serves. And David cared. Listen to this. David cared more about God's reputation than he did his own. Notice as we didn't read this passage, but the Philistine, the Goliath, he's mocking David. He's mocking him for being young and just carrying around the sling and the stone and not having the military armor all over him. He's mocking him, but David doesn't even address that. David cares about the Lord's reputation more than he cares about his own. That's what a heart after God looks like. It's a heart that says, Lord, be glorified in and through my life, no matter what that looks like. And that's easier said than done. Because sometimes for the way that the Lord will be most glorified in and through us, actually oftentimes, is having to walk through those difficult circumstances and come against those giants. We want comfortable, easy lives, but that can't be the case if we want the Lord to be maximized and glorified in our lives. We've got to embrace the battle that's in front of us. There's a lady who goes to our Walnut Grove campus, and she's a member of the city council up at uh in the city of Walnut Grove, and she just got diagnosed with a pretty um uh rapidly uh you know growing uh breast form of breast cancer. And so we had an elders' meeting this past week, and she had asked for the elders to anoint her with oil and just to pray for her healing. And as we're praying for her on Monday night, like this is the thought that was raising in my mind that God, like, yes, I want you to heal her. I want you to work and move like only you can. We're praying, we're asking you for that, but more than that, Lord, we want you to be glorified in and through this situation. And so if that means that you heal her and that you touch her body and you magically and miraculously remove the cancer from her, then great, fantastic. If that's going to be how you're most glorified, but if it means that you're gonna be most glorified to see her walk faithfully through this whole process and witness and minister to the doctors and the nurses that she comes in contact with, then Lord, let that be the case. See, in sickness, we do not only ask for healing and our comfort, we ask for Jesus to be honored. When the job opportunity, we're not just asking for a better situation, but we're asking for greater influence so that God can be glorified more and more in our lives. This should be the number one priority that we have, and this was David's motivation. I'm coming at you in the name of the Lord. He's going to hand you over so that everyone would know who he is. And so how does the story end? Verse 49. David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down to the ground. David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword. Later on in the story, he actually, as the giant lays there on the ground, David goes and takes the sword of Goliath and chops his head off. It's pretty brutal and awesome all at the same time. Don't tell me the Bible's not interesting. One stone, one shepherd boy, one giant, face down on the ground. This wasn't because David was just some great shot, but it was because the Lord was with him. And the Lord takes down the biggest and the baddest giant, not only that David faces, but he did it for us as well. And so, what's the point of this story? There's several things that we could say. Some people would say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Or believe in yourself, and you can do anything. If you just have enough faith that God will remove every obstacle from your life, that is not what this story is teaching. What this story is teaching is it's a picture pointing to Jesus. David, I think a lot of times we like to think of David as who we would be in the story. Like, you know, you kind of pick out who you would be in the story. Well, like I like to think of myself as I would be David. I would have the sling and the stone, I would go against the giant. But David is not pointing to you. David is pointing ultimately to Jesus. He's pointing to Jesus. King David points to King Jesus. This whole story about a small shepherd boy, the kid that nobody expected, the one that everyone overlooked, is not a mirror for you to see yourself, but it's a window for us to see Jesus. Jesus was the unlikely champion who stepped forward when no one else would. He looked the real enemy in the face, which was sin and death and separation from God, and he says that the battle is the Lord's. He walked out onto the battlefield alone when his brothers abandoned him and the crowd mocked him, and he fought for us anyway. He was our representative in place. We stood on the sidelines, unable to help, and he provided the way. The real Goliath that we're talking about is sin that separates us from God and the death that that brings. And Jesus defeated the giant for you completely on his own. And because he defeated the greatest giant, we can see victory over the lesser giants. Tim Keller said, it is not a collection talking about just Bible stories and this one in particular. It's not a collection of heroes whose examples you are to emulate, but it's about a savior to follow and worship. David lived a life. Jesus pictured the same life that you were supposed to live. He died the death that you were condemned to die. But when he did, he defeated the greatest enemy that we face. And because Jesus defeated the real giant, you can face every lesser giant. In Christ, we don't have to be afraid. One of David's most famous writings that many of us might be even able to quote is Psalm 23. Psalm 23 is this incredible poetic passage of Scripture that is talking about a God that is a shepherd, that is leading and guiding us by still waters. But in Psalm 23, verse 4, David wrote these words, and I think that you know he's writing this over the course of his life. It's not necessarily reflecting this story in particular. But he says, Even when I go through the darkest valley, I fear no danger. For you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Even as David was walking through the valley of the shadow of death, it seemed like death was going to be imminent with him, but yet the Lord was with him in the midst of that. That his rod and his staff comforted David. I heard a story one time, it was about a dad, and he was driving home with his 12-year-old daughter, and they had just lost their mom in a tragic car accident. And so they had just buried the mom. They were in the car coming home, they were on the interstate coming home, and the car's super quiet, no one's saying a word, until finally the daughter kind of spoke up and she said, Dad, what does it mean to walk through the valley of the shadow of death? And the dad just kind of thought for a minute to how he should respond to this. And at that time, a massive 18-wheeler was passing by them on the highway, and the sun was at just the right angle. That for a moment their car was overtaken by the shadow of the truck. And the dad asked, Would you rather get hit by the truck or the shadow? And the girl said, The shadow, of course, that's easy. And he said, Well, that's what Jesus, Jesus got hit by the truck of death, so that your mom only had to walk through the shadow of death. And this is the gospel. This is the picture that we see in this story that Jesus took the full impact so that everyone that places their faith and trust in him only has to walk through the shadow of death. In Christ, you do not have to fear. You do not have to worry about the failure or your lack of control. You don't have to fear about losing a job or a broken relationship or not knowing what's next or the giant that is coming up against you. Because Jesus has defeated the greatest enemy, we can face the lesser enemies, the lesser giants of our lives. In Christ, we do not have to fear rejections. As I was praying through this this morning, I thought of Romans chapter 8, passage I oftentimes come by. But this is what it says in Romans 8.31, talking about the believer's triumph. It says, What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He did not even spare his own son, but gave him up for us all. How will he not also with him grant us everything? Who can bring any accusation against God's elect? God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is the one who died even, but even more has been raised. He also is at the right hand of God and intercedes for us. Who can separate us from the love of Christ can affliction or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Verse 20 37. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor anything present, nor anything to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depths, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because he has defeated the greatest enemy sin, death, shame, the grave. We can face the lesser enemies of life because he is with us. His rod and his staff, they comfort us. And so I don't know where you're at this morning. I don't know if you're facing giants currently. I don't know if you see one maybe coming out of the ranks in the distance. But 1 Samuel is telling us a picture of something that is pointing to something far greater. It's not just about a little boy that overcame great obstacles, but it's about a God that has saved his people from the greatest obstacle. And the beautiful thing is that David was anointed king. We looked at that this last week. But he doesn't take the throne for many, many, many years later. And from when Samuel came, we talked about this last week, when Samuel came to anoint David as king, seven years, they estimate have passed by from this moment. So David has been sitting in the waiting for seven years, living in the ordinary obscurity of life, in this pasture time, and it's here that God is building up and preparing him, forming him into the man that he needed to become. Our theme this year for SummerJam was level up. But you level up by being faithful where you are right now. And so I don't know what it is that maybe the Lord is speaking to us this morning, but I would just love for us to respond to him together. And so if you want to just close your Bibles or notebooks, and let's just ask the Lord to meet us this morning. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you're a God that moves mightily in our midst. And Lord, so often we are inundated with the giants of this world. Financial issues, relational issues, crisis after crisis, a death, a breakup, job loss, health issues, whatever it is, Lord, the giants that always are coming. And Lord, I know that just in my own life, Lord, it's easy to become overwhelmed. It's easy to lose sight of who you are in the midst of a crisis like these. Sometimes it's just like we're fighting just to kind of keep our head above water. But Lord, what we see from this story this morning is that you're a God that meets us where we're at. You prepare us for the battles that we're faced. And Lord, that because you've defeated the greatest of giants in our lives, Lord, and the greatest obstacles, Lord, we can face the lesser ones. Because you are with us. Your rod and your staff, they comfort us. And so I don't know where everyone's in the room. I don't know everybody's story. I don't know what you're currently walking through. And maybe no one knows what you're walking through. And it's just the Lord this morning that knows. But I would love just, man, if you just feel like you're facing a giant in life, an obstacle that's just so overwhelming right now, would you just kind of lift your hand? I just want to pray for you. I'm not going to call you out. I just want to just pray just for you this morning. Just pray over you. Anybody in the room? See a couple of hands. Lord Jesus, I pray for these that are just walking through difficulties, walking through challenges, and you know exactly what those are. You know exactly what need is needed in that situation. And so, Lord, would I just ask that your hand would just be upon these people's lives. Lord, that they would be able to listen to your voice more than the voice of the enemy or the circumstances that they face. Lord, that you would just stir up and provoke deep faith within them. Lord, where they can be able to stand. They can be willing to, being able to stand against the obstacles that are in their lives and the obstacles that they face. And so, Lord, would you give them the power and the strength that they need? Would you allow them to overcome, Lord? Would you allow them to rest in your love? Would you allow them to be people that are just experiencing your presence over and over again? That you are true to your word, that you will comfort those that mourn, and that you are near to the brokenhearted. Lord, would that prove to be true in their lives as they walk with you? And so, Lord, give them the faith that they need. Give them the faith that they need. And maybe you're in the room and maybe, you know, just hearing that Jesus has defeated your greatest giant is maybe something that you've heard before, but maybe there's something that's just being stirred within you this morning that you've never surrendered your life to that truth. And maybe today's the day that you make that first step of faith where you just say, hey, I'm facing giants, and I'm facing this life, and it's hard and it's difficult. But I'm looking to a savior. I need a savior that can come in, that can rescue me from my sins, that can make me into a new creation. And so I want to give him my life. I want to surrender. I want to walk and submit to him. Maybe that's the step you need to take. We'd love to have a conversation with you afterwards. You can tap the tap tag in front of you if you want and fill out a card. We'll follow up with you this week. But Lord Jesus, would you just come now as we respond to you? Lord, you help us to be the people that focus on what you have done. And Lord, would that motivate us and allow us to walk in the power and the faith that you've called us to walk in? And so come, Holy Spirit. Your name we pray.