Message Title:  David and Goliath

Series: Heavenly Heroes

Key verses:  Heb 11: 32-34, 1 Sam 17:45-49

Sermon Notes:

 Learning from a man after God’s own heart:

1. David doesn’t just see in the physical realm; he sees in the spiritual realm.
2. David doesn’t just see a giant, but a man taunting God.
3. David knew where the battle was and wasn’t.
4. David’s courage is rooted in remembering God’s faithfulness in past battles.
5. David knew that this fight wasn’t about him, but about God.

Follow-up questions from Sunday:

Icebreaker question:  Who was the tallest person that you have ever met and what did you feel like standing next to them?

1. Read 1 Samuel 17:45-4. David realized that his battle with Goliath was of a higher reality. Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you realized that what was happening was more spiritual than just physical?  Please share.
2. Read 1 Samuel 17:28-30. David’s older brother was trying to get in a fight with David over his motives for being there and in verse 30 it says that David turned away.  Have you ever experienced a time in your life when you were being drawn into a situation that wasn’t worth fighting for, but instead was a distraction to more important matters?  Please share. Have you ever seen this happen in a church?  Please share.
3. Read 1 Sam. 12: 24. What is Samuel’s advice to the people of Israel? Now read 1 Sam. 17:37. How was Samuel’s teaching applied in David’s life? How can this principle be applied in your life?
4. Read Ps 27:1. David wrote these words which came from a lifetime of trusting in God. Now read Ps. 27: 14. What is the most difficult situation for you to trust God in– the way that David suggests?
5. Many people in ancient times rode into battle to make a great name for themselves. Read 1 Sam 17:45-47. Why did David want to see the Philistine struck down? What does this reveal about his heart? How did God honor that in his life? What can God do in your life if you can make the same resolution?

Message Title: David
Series: Heavenly Heroes

Key verses:
Hebrews 11:1-2, 6, 32-34

Sermon Notes:

1. People place a priority on the outward appearance, but God places a priority on the inward appearance.
2. David was a somebody that nobody really noticed except God!

The inner makings of a heavenly hero:

3. He is humble.
4. He is hard-working and faithful.
5. He is ok to work in solitude; He is comfortable with himself before God.
6. He is a courageous person that loves and defends the sheep at the risk of his own life.
7. He is a person of integrity Ps. 78:71-72
8. He is authentically spiritual.

Follow-up questions from Sunday:
1. Read 1 Sam. 16:7. Share typical situations when you find yourself judging people in terms of their outward appearance. Now read 2 Cor. 5:16. How are we to look at people? What would that look like, practically speaking?
2. The world values people who are physically or materially powerful, but these things mean nothing to God. God sometimes chooses people who are materially well-off (Moses and Abraham) and at other times chooses people that the world would typically disregard (Gideon and David). In all cases, though, God uses flawed people to achieve His plan. Read 2 Cor. 4:7-10. Why do you think He does it this way?
3. Read Ps. 27:1. David’s faith in God was one of the key elements of his life. Share something that you have entrusted to God in the past, or need to trust Him with in the present.
4. Read 1 Sam. 13:14. Why did God seek someone to replace Saul as King of Israel? What kind of a person was God looking for? What was Saul’s failure, according to this verse? Now Read Ps 119:33-37. What do you learn about David, in contrast to Saul? If you were going to be a man (or woman) after God’s own heart, what should the first steps be on your journey?

Message Title: Moses
Series: Heavenly Heroes

Key verses: Heb 11:1-2, 6, 23-29

Sermon Notes:

1. Moses became a great man of faith because his parents were great people of faith. Heb.11:23

Moses had unique choices for his life:
2. Moses could turn his back on his people and enjoy being a prince of Egypt and all the pleasures that would come with that. Heb: 24-25
3. Moses could take another path having faith that God had him in this position for a higher purpose and stand with his people!

4. When Moses chose to follow God, he knew that there was a cost to being a follower, and a cost to not being a follower. Heb 11:24-26

A Moses life lesson:
5. God does His will in His way and in His time!

Message Title: The Kingdom: Our Place in His Plan
Series: Tell Me a Story

Key verses: Matt 13:24-46

Sermon Notes:

We miss God’s plan because we are in pursuit of our own plan.

God’s kingdom is His plan for the world—His power and His rule—as it unfolds across human history and in our lives.

1. The Parable of the Weeds: God’s plan is opposed by an enemy who is at work in the world.
(Matt 13:24-29, 36-43)

a. The weeds are those who reject the words of Christ and accept Satan’s lies.

b. Evil will not be fully dealt with until the end of the age, when those who trust Christ can be separated from those who reject Him.

c. The man who sows the seeds is Jesus. The field is the world. The wheat, hidden among the weeds until the end of the age, is the children of the kingdom.

2. The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast: God’s plan begins small, but over the course of time, grows and turns into something greater than we can imagine. (Matt 13:31-35)

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearls: God’s plan is not the plan you develop for your own life, but you are the reason behind his plan. (Matt 13:44-46)

Message Title: The Rich Man and Lazarus
Series: Tell Me a Story

Key verses: Luke 12:13-21

Key verses:
Luke 16:19-31

Sermon Notes:
1 Introduction:
1) Was this a parable or a record of a true event?
2) What subject is it that Jesus was intending to illustrate?

1. Contrast in Life
a) One man lived a bountiful life (v19)

The man lived a good life as far as material things were concerned, but it was a lost and meaningless life spiritually.
b) One man lived a burdened life (v20-21)
He lived a hard life in this world but found a real and meaningful life spiritually.

2. Contrast in Death
a.) One man died with attendants (v22a)
No one may have cared for him in this world, but God sent His angels to attend to him at his death.
b) One man died alone (v22b)
NO Angelic convoy to escort him.

3. Contrast in Eternity (v23-24)
a) One man is tormented (v23)
What is clear from our Lord’s description of the afterlife is that it is a state of conscious existence.
b) One man is Comforted (v25c)
A very interesting word “one who draws alongside, advocate, and comforter.” The same description given to the Holy Spirit.

4. The Conversation (v24-31)
Finally Jesus was killed but He rose again. With what result?
They tried to put to death all those who followed Him.

5. THE CONCLUSION
Jesus teaches here that what we experience in the afterlife is determined by what we do with Him in this life.
As we live we shall die.