Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] Hey, guys, this is Naim, and you've reached the Mosaic Church Podcast. So excited that you're part of our listening community and love for you to be even more connected. So check out our website. There's more content there and there's more opportunities for you get connected in our ministries and events as well. Also, love for you to share this content. If this is blessed to you. I know that God wants to use you to bless other people with it, so share this podcast you will. Lastly, would you consider supporting this ministry? This is made possible by other people's generosity, and I'd love for you to pay it forward. Join us to reclaim the message and the movement of Jesus together. So would you consider giving to this ministry? I know that God is able to do immeasurably more through us when we come together. Thank you so much. God bless you. Enjoy.
[00:00:54] All right. Well, man, look at the energy here. Hey, 9, 9:30 service, meet the 11:00. You know, this is it. Yeah. If you looked around, you're like, you go here. Yeah, they did. They do. They do. And those of you who could not make it and you're online, thanks for being here, too. Can we give a shout out to them as well? They're joining us.
[00:01:14] Yes. Some of them like the 9:30, and they're kind of upset about it. But sorry. So sorry. But, yeah. Well, friends, we are in week two of a series called you'd move, and we're talking about moving into this year with confidence. And last week, if you missed it, oh, I brought this out. Remember this guy right here, some of you guys, like, I was uncomfortable then, and I'm uncomfortable now, but so this is. Anybody know what this is? I kind of talked. Yes. Yes. Thank you. A Pulaski. Now, here's the deal with this thing. It's not a weapon. It's not an ax. It's a Pulaski. And what it does is it is used as a tool to forge a path, like to clear trails in the woods. And as I was thinking about this, even this week, I thought, you know, this is a great analogy for even using your faith to forge your future. And so if last week you missed it, basically, it was that. It was that what's in your hand gives you confidence to move forward. And for some of us, we're not holding something in our hands that will last. And so I propose to you that you use. You hold the knowledge of God in your hands to forge your future. And so I want to take the same vein of that talking about how do you do this? Because last week we talked about moving from, like this. We went to an Old Testament story talking about grasshoppers. You guys remember that? Anybody? Grasshoppers and I. So. And I proposed the idea of, like, moving from a grasshopper mentality to a, like a giant slayer mentality. Like, how do you move from there? And we have to move away from comparison because comparison corrupts everything. It just corrupts everything. And so comparison cannot be the source or the supply of your confidence. And so this week, I wanna move us forward, talking about, okay, identifying and defeating your giant. Your giant. So turn to your neighbor and say, I'm gonna slay some giant. I'm gonna slay a giant giant today.
[00:03:09] I'm gonna slay a giant. Slay giant.
[00:03:13] By the way, did someone, like, give you a wise crack after that? They're like, no, you're not.
[00:03:20] Did someone say, just take out the trash, buddy. Just take out the trash. Okay. Okay, so let's start with that. So here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go back to the Old Testament. Now, the good thing is we have an app. And the app gives you just the outline of all the verses I want to use today. And in fact, it gives you points as well. Because guess what, people? This serm with points. Yes. Like I said before, most of my sermons are pointless. But this time I got points, people. I got four points. Okay, so what we're gonna do is we're gonna jump in. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. Felt the love. Maybe. I don't know.
[00:04:00] So what we're gonna do is we're gonna go to the Old Testament, first Samuel, and we're gonna talk about a story that's pretty classic. Okay? It's a class. It's a story about a giant, about David and. Okay, for the first time, if you get this answer right in church, you're like, this is a big deal for me. It's David and Goliath. Yes. Everybody knows that we're talking about David and Goliath. But what we're going to find is we're going to find tools to really defeat our giants, our Goliath. So let's jump right in. Okay, we're in. First Samuel. And before I read this passage to you, okay, I want to. If you want to find it, you can find it. Let me give you the context. Okay, so it says, then Goliath, right? Then Goliath, a philistine champion from Gath came down of the Philippines ranks to face the forces of Israel. And he was nine feet tall. Let's stop right there. He was nine feet tall. Now let me give you the context. What's happening? Who is Goliath? What's up? So we know he's a Philistine, but why is he coming down from the ranks? What is he talking about? So what's happening? Here's the context. The context is, is that the Philistines are coming against the Israelites. So in modern day, if you, if you look at the geography of Israel, you've got, you've got mountain, a mountain range, and then you got a coastal plain, and then you have a valley. And the coastal plain is right now modern day Tel Aviv. And the mountain range modern day right now is Jerusalem. But in the valley is called, is called the, I think shepherd Lefaha. Yeah, I think it's Shephalah. It's called the Shephelah and the Shephalah valleys is the connection between the coastal plain and the mountains. The Philistines were in the coastal plain, the Israelites were in, on the mountaintop. And what the Philistines were trying to do was conquer them. But they didn't want to go down to this valley neither the Israelis wanted to come down to the valley as well, because it was a very strategic point. It was kind of a kill zone. So what happens is that the armies basically are like, they're in a standstill. Like no one wants to do come down and fight because they know that whoever comes down first is going to get destroyed. And so they kind of hold their ground and hold their ground. And people are going to wondering what's happening. What's really interesting is you remember last week, if you don't remember last week, if you remember the scriptures at all, that the people who surveyed the land, the spies that went to survey the land, they went and they surveyed for how many days? Anybody remember that? 40 days. They did that for 40 days. And because they didn't step into what God had for them, they wandered for how many days?
[00:06:47] 40 days. So now what's happening is again, this is interesting that these two armies are at a standstill for guess what, how many days? 40 days. So what's happening here is finally, finally Goliath suggests a single, single, you know, person combat. You know, basically you take one person from each army and will fight and will determine the war. Obviously the guy is how many feet tall? Nine feet tall. Some, you know, some translations say he's a little bit less. Regardless, he is a big guy. So the context is that you find Is that you have these two armies. And Goliath comes down and says, hey, anybody will fight me. If anybody fights me, you can you win the war. So that's what's happening right now. It's been a long time. The verse, though, continues to describe who Goliath was and how. What would he. What. What he looked like. So it says you in the next sentence. It says he wore a bronze helmet. His and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. Now, don't ask me what a coat of mail is. That's a lot of mail, apparently. Okay, then he also wore a bronze letter. Le. Sorry, leg armor. And he carried a what? Bronze javelin on his shoulder. Okay. But it keeps on going. Guess what? The shaft. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver's beam. Who knows what that means? Okay, okay. Tipped with an iron spearhead. Weighed about how many pounds? 15 pounds. His armor bearer carried ahead, walked ahead of him carrying another thing. A what shield. So the picture is this, this giant, this Goliath is decked out. He looks just intimidating. Not all. He is a mountain of a man. And now he's covered with hundreds of pounds, like a hundred pounds of weight, and he's walking. No one in their right mind would want to fight a Goliath like that. But what you realize is that you and I have to figure out who. What a Goliath really looks like. The first thing I would say is you and I have to pick our giant. See, we think that giants pick us, but we pick our giants. And so if this scripture tells us anything, it tells us that we need to look at what is our giant made of.
[00:09:17] See, for some of us, we think our giant is debt. We have a giant debt that we need to get rid of. We have a giant habit, a giant addiction that we got. We need. We have a giant goal. We have a giant purpose that is not your giant that you gotta slay. Some of us are like, you know what? I really need to get my weight in check. This is the year. This is the year that is not your giant.
[00:09:39] You have to identify your giant because you're gonna pick it. If you pick the weight loss as your giant, you've picked the wrong giant.
[00:09:48] See, I recently posted that I that my second book is now on pre order on Amazon. I know, I'm excited. Thank you. You guys are too kind. Now I'll tell you why it was a big deal for me. Because my first book that came out about 10 years ago, I did not write Like, I didn't physically write it. I had a collaborator. Her name is on the book, and I didn't write the book. And so I just told the story. And she was an experienced, talented writer that wrote a book. And it was amazing. Sold a lot of copies. Amazing. It was a memoir, My Story. It was great. It was awesome. It was awesome. And, man, people were like, man, I can't believe it. You are an author. And I'm like, yeah, but not really. You know what I'm saying? Yes. And then real authors, people who actually write their own books, they're like, you're not really an author. I'm like, whatever. I got a book, it sold more than yours. You know, whatever. Okay, I knew this. I knew that if I was going to write a second book, I'm going to have to conquer a giant. And my giant friends is my disabilities. So I have a learning disability. Okay. Apparently I have a few, but.
[00:10:59] So I am dyslexic. Any dyslexics in the house? Okay. Okay, one. Okay, good. You're like, I don't know. I don't know. Maybe one. Okay.
[00:11:08] I've got dysgraphia. If you're like, what is dysgraphia? Look it up. I also have dyscalcia, which I confuse reading numbers and words. So if you ever got a text from me, you're like, what is he saying?
[00:11:23] That's me in full effect, people. In full effect, okay? And I knew that this second book, I really felt that I needed to. And the people, my agent and all that, they were like, you need to write this book. And I was like, oh, God, how? Oh, God, how? Let me tell you what my giant was. My giant was not 40,000 words that I had to write. Not this book that I had to write. My giant was my insecurity.
[00:11:52] I mean, I don't know. Have you ever tried something that the voices in your head, like, they throw a party and they get. Find friends, and they all start talking negative things to you. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, this one voice finds friends. Like, there's a committee now. There's a committee of people. Like, they're having conversations of how terrible you are. You know, like, they're in your head.
[00:12:12] I had to. I mean, it was crippling sometimes. Crippling. Especially when you type and you're like, oh, God, I can't even type. What is wrong with me? Like, what's. How am I gonna do this? How am I gonna do this? And so I just wanna propose to you. So that maybe your weight loss has nothing to do with the actual weight loss. Not on the giant. The giant is your self worth.
[00:12:35] That's your giant that you've gotta tackle. It's your depression, it's your self loathing because of a habit, because of something. It's this paralyzing anxiety in your life.
[00:12:55] It's the cutting, it's the self harm that we do because we want to slay a giant. We have a big goal.
[00:13:05] We have a big goal, but the giant is more sinister.
[00:13:14] It's so complicated. And so if this story tells us anything, it tells us, it describes the details of a giant. And I think knowing what you are wrestling with first is a game changer for some of you. You, you have to identify and pick the giant you are going to slay. It is not this goal. It is something deeper. It's emotional, it's something else. It's self confidence, it's depression, it's despair, it's grief. It's this sadness that you've been holding onto for a very long time. It's this distrust of people that you're like, I don't trust anybody.
[00:13:59] It's like this idea of like, I don't want to be vulnerable. I like to keep things under wraps. And everybody, I'm just. It's all good. And you don't want to share your secrets. That is your giant that you have to pick. So if you pick your giant, then what do you have to do? Well, this passage tells us what happened. So it describes Goliath. And then it says here that David, David shows up and starts asking around. And the people tell him. So let's just jump into that. So basically the people are like, have you seen? Have you seen what? The giant, the man asked. They're asking David, like he comes out each day to defy Israel. The king has offered a huge reward, a huge reward to anyone who kills him. In fact, he will give him, check this out. He will give that man one of his, what, daughters for a wife. And the man's entire family will be exempt from paying what taxes? Wow. This is crazy, right? This is crazy. Now let's stop right here. So what's happening? What's happening is, is that because of this stalemate, in a sense, no one's doing anything.
[00:15:20] And David shows up to the scene. Now why is David there? He's not in the military, by the way. He is in fact one of eight brothers. His two brothers are in the army. He shows up seriously on a doordash Mission, I kid you not. He's bringing food and dropping it off to his brothers. That's the story. He shows up and he goes, what have you guys been doing for 40 days? And they go, have you seen the giant? Have you seen the giant? He does this. He does this. So David finds out there what's really happening. What's happening is, is that these people who have been rescued from and come out of Egypt, these people who have found their first King Saul, are now fighting their first battle. And the stories of old is like, hey, God has been with us and with generations in the past, and he is with us. He's with us. But now we are fighting this one first big war, and we are just not doing anything. David is going, what is happening? Why is no one wanting to fight this guy? And they're like, have you seen him? Have you seen the guy? And what we realize here is this, when you read this, he says this. He says, who is this? What?
[00:16:42] Uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? That is David's response. Who is this guy? Who would do this? See, what's funny, though, is I would think, like, if David was going to pick his giant and volunteer, he would say, I'm going to get free taxes, number one. Hey, hey, that's awesome. And I'm gonna get a wife out of that. But guess what? The wife means I'm going to be in. I'm gonna be in line for the kingdom here. Like, I'll marry the king's daughter. I mean, I'm in line, so my future is set. But his motivation, or what he says is, how is it possible? How is it possible that this guy defies us? Us? We're not special people, but they're. God, who is behind us is special. How. How is this? See, the second thing that I think the story tells us is, number one, pick a giant. But number two, you have to know your why. You gotta know your why. And his why was not, like I said, all the benefits. His why was. How is this possible? Like, how, like, he is. He is. He is disturbed by that. I think for some of us, I think I want to just say this. I mean, for me, it's just sometimes it's just easy to live in disappointment.
[00:18:03] I mean, you know, it's just easy to live in sadness sometimes.
[00:18:08] It's mentally exhausting sometimes. But then you're just as. Some of us are totally at peace with our anxiety.
[00:18:18] Like, basically, you've said it's not gonna get any better. You're at a standstill. It doesn't matter. It's not gonna get any better. So let's just. It is what it is in life. And for some of us, you don't have a strong enough. Why? That's why. That's why you have tried to wrestle this battle. You've tried to accomplish the goals that you have, the businesses you want to start, the weight that you want to lose, the debt you want to get out of, the career, the relationships, the love that you want to find, the family that you want to create, all those things. The reason why possibly you've failed before those is, number one, you haven't picked the right giant. Number two, you just don't have a strong enough. Why?
[00:19:01] Like, I want to be in a relationship. Why? Because everybody else is in a relationship. Really. I want a house, and I want this. Why? Why? Why do you want a house? Because that's what you do. You get a house.
[00:19:16] We want to have kids. Why do you want to have kids? Oh, that's what you do. No, that is not a strong enough. Why? Like, why do you. Because I'll tell you what, Your insecurity or your depression, your despair, your resistance, your little small demons, your negative thoughts, they're gonna come at you, and you and I better have a strong enough why to go, no, no, no, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. Because when you pick your giant, when you pick coming against insecurity and failure, when you pick coming against negative thoughts, I'll tell you what, those negative thoughts will, like I said, they'll find friends. They'll recruit people to discourage you. They might even recruit your family.
[00:20:01] Hello.
[00:20:03] They might even recruit your family. You decide to do this, and your family goes, why are you doing this? Check this out in the story. What happens to David? So David's like, he wants to pick his. Pick this battle, right? He wants to do this. And so what happens is he meets his older brother, right? And his brother knows that David has been asking around, what's happening? What's happening? And his older brother and David have a conversation. And I just really wanted you to see this and hear this conversation, because I feel like this will just some of you brothers will be seen right here. Younger brothers will be seen right here. Okay, check this out. Okay, so when David, oldest brother Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was what? Angry? He was like, what are you doing talking to the guys? You're not. And then he says this. Then he says this. He says, what are you doing here anyways? What are you doing on here? What are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing? Okay. So then he says, hey, by the way, what about those few sheep you're supposed to be taking care of?
[00:21:02] Like, oh, my gosh. Have you ever experienced that? Oh, man, this is. That is a Whoo. That's like, hey, aren't you supposed to do something so important to go somewhere else? Don't you have a few, few, few goats and sheep? Why don't you just do that? Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. And then he goes, I know. I know your pride, man. I know your pride and your deceit. Have you ever had family misunderstand you? Can I get an amen?
[00:21:28] Okay.
[00:21:31] Oh, my gosh. Oh, my gosh. And then his older brother is now mad at him. He says, you just wanna see the battle. Like, you just wanna see bloody stuff going on.
[00:21:42] And David's like, what? No, no, what? He's like. And then he says this. He said, what have I done now? This is a classic older, younger sibling response. I was only asking a question.
[00:21:57] I was only asking a question, like, what's up? What's up? Why? Why?
[00:22:03] See, I think for some of us, once you go after a giant, not everybody is going to understand.
[00:22:11] And so what happens? So now you've got Goliath waiting. David finds out what's going on. He goes, you know what? I want to fight him.
[00:22:20] I should fight them. I should fight him. And so he's talking to people. His brother is upset. But what happens is news spreads. News spreads of this guy who's volunteering because no one else was volunteering to fight this giant. So news spreads to the king. So the king calls him in. He's like, hey, hey, hey. So I hear that you want to fight this giant, okay? And this is what the king said. This is what Saul said. He said, don't be. What?
[00:22:49] Ridiculous. He's like, don't be ridiculous. There is no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win. You will possibly die, but there is no way you're going to win this. And then he says, you are only a. What? A boy?
[00:23:07] And he has been a man of man, not a boy, a man of war, since his youth.
[00:23:14] But David's persisted. He said, listen, listen, listen. Let me just tell you. And I hope my brother's listening, too.
[00:23:21] I've been. I've been taking care of my father's sheep and goats.
[00:23:27] So that's there. So that's that right there. So. Whoo. Beat that, beat that, beat that. And what happens after that story, after he says that is that Saul goes, you know what?
[00:23:40] You know what? Just. Just, okay, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. Just. Just. Just do it. And. And he tries to say, okay, you know what? At least wear my armor. Like you don't even have anything. Just wear. Wear my armor. You know, wear my armor. But what we find here is, is that, David, the story tells us that you got to pick your giant. You got to know your why. But then you, you, you, not me. For you, you have to have a strategy, A unique strategy that is true to who you are. A unique strategy that's true to who you are. Your weight loss or my weight loss. My getting out of debt and your getting out of debt. My breaking this habit versus your breaking this habit. My overcoming insecurity looks very different than your overcoming insecurity. My self worth getting over that and feeding that looks very different from yours. Everybody's looks different. But I'll tell you what everybody's going to try to do. They're gonna tell you, this is how I did it. So do it this way.
[00:24:51] Saul did the same thing. He was like, if you're gonna fight this, here's what you need to do. You need to wear my armor. So he gives him this. And here's what David said, because he had his own unique strategy. He says this. He says, I can't go in these. See, he wears the stuff. He says, I can't, I can't, I can't. He says, I'm not. What?
[00:25:14] I'm not used to them. This is not me. See, I think some of us have been trying someone else's strategies.
[00:25:23] Someone else's strategies? No, hey, do this, and you'll get over this. Really.
[00:25:28] I mean, I tell you what, I would give people advice to get over or go through grief until I actually had to go through it. And now I'm like, I'm not going to say anything. I don't know.
[00:25:42] Because no one goes through grief really? Well.
[00:25:46] No one will be like, you know, grief. I got that down.
[00:25:50] No, Everybody is unique. And so it's so easy for us to look at other people and go, hey, I got over this. Why don't you, hey, I don't feel this way. Why don't you, hey, spouse. Hey, spouse, why don't. Hey, spouse, why don't you. Why aren't you, like, just like me and David's like, hey, hey, King, I'm not like you. And guess what? I'm not gonna fight this giant like you would fight this giant. I'm not even gonna fight this giant. Like, the giant thinks I'm gonna fight him.
[00:26:24] I have my own. What?
[00:26:26] I got my own strategy. So what was his strategy? Okay, which is. Would be hilarious to be there when Saul sees this. What did David do? He picks up, what, five smooth stones from the stream and puts them into the shepherd's bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd's staff and what?
[00:26:46] Sling. Remember that word? Sling?
[00:26:50] Sling. He started across the valley to fight the Philistine. Now, the sling that we think of. I'm not quite sure what you think of. If you think of one of these guys right here, this is not the sling that he picked up. In fact, when he picked up those stones and his sling, historically, that.
[00:27:12] That move right there, it was, in fact, a military move. You see, back in those days, there were three groups of military. There were these people on horseback or animal. Back then, there was just like, ground soldiers, like, dressed up in armor, you know, who'd go and have battle one on one. And then there were the slingers or archers.
[00:27:35] The archers would not be, like, fighting one on one. Regardless of all the cool movies we see. Okay, they'll be up in the distance, safe.
[00:27:46] They're the slingers. Slingers were so accurate back in the day, and history tells us this, they're so accurate. And the way they would rotate the stones in a particular stones, when it hit their target, it was so accurate, but also so deadly. In fact, some research say it. It was the speed, the impact power of a gun, a bullet.
[00:28:18] And so when the slingers would sling their stones and hit, it would be like shooting someone from a distance. So when David picked up that, and when he said, hey, I've taken care of goats and sheep, what he also said was there were lions and bears, and I took care of them. And I did that because I'm a slinger.
[00:28:41] No one kind of caught that until he picked up those. David, I mean, sorry, Goliath. Didn't catch that at all. So he had a unique. What strategy? He's like, I'm gonna fight this. I'm gonna do it my way. So he just has his regular stuff, his bag, five stones. Which, by the way, historically, it tells us that where he picked up those. In that valley, where he picked up those stones, those stones, ironically, were so dense. They were like, not regular stones. They had. They're very different. They wouldn't shatter. They were intense. So he picked them on purpose. And so he Had a strategy. He also, he also knew not just his own strengths, he knew Goliath's weaknesses. You see your insecurity has weaknesses.
[00:29:40] You're like, what? Yeah. Your negative thoughts has weaknesses if you counteract them. Like if you do certain things, like there are certain things you can do to give your insecurity, your self hatred a upper hand. There are activities, there are people that you have chosen to still continue to allow in your life. And I'll tell you what they're doing. They're feeding your giant.
[00:30:08] They're feeding your giant.
[00:30:11] You're like, name, but they're feeding your insecurity. Are there people in your life? Come on, you walk into the room or you have a conversation with them and you feel amazing. You're like, oh my gosh, this is awesome. And then there are people. You have a phone conversation. Forget the phone conversation. You get a text message. And in that text message you're like, I'm a loser.
[00:30:35] Because that text message has something else in there. See what they're doing is they're feeding your giant. David knew his strengths and weaknesses. He also knew his giant strengths and weaknesses. So what he does is he picks up those horns and what happens then? And then it says, Goliath walks out towards David with his shield bearer ahead of him. Which remember why? That's the question. Why? And now he's staring in contempt at this ruggedly faced boy. Like he looks at the looks at David and he is flipping out. So what he does, he says this. Am I a what am I a what am I a what Am I a dog? Like, am I a dog?
[00:31:17] Is it that you come at me with a stick?
[00:31:22] Am I a dog? And then he says, and he cursed David by names of his gods. And then he says this, he says, what? He says, what?
[00:31:31] Come over. Come over here and I'll give your flesh the birds and the wild animals, come over here now, right there in this passage, there is so much that is that that can be found out about like a giant's weakness, for example, okay, he was how many feet tall? You guys remember? Nine. Nine feet tall. Now giantism is not a good thing. It's a disease.
[00:31:59] Giantism, like some of the famous giants that we know, Andre the Giant being one of them, right? The tallest man in the world that ever lived was about 8ft 11 inches. And he was 24 years old when he died and he was still growing.
[00:32:17] Giantism is a tumor in the brain that your growth hormone just runs wild and it keeps on. Couple of things it does if you're that tall. That tumor affects your mobility and your vision.
[00:32:36] When Goliath was like, come here so I can see you because I can't see you.
[00:32:45] He didn't say that. The reason why he's walking with another person holding this could be that he has to make sure he's going the right place. He's the mountain of a man for sure. He's massive. Massive.
[00:33:04] Okay. I mean, just horrifyingly, you know, big.
[00:33:09] But I don't know if he can see.
[00:33:12] And guess what? What does he think is going to happen? He thinks the battle is going to be what, one on one. He assumes David's going to be a man with armor, with a sword. Not a boy. No, armor, with a stick.
[00:33:29] So he's like, am I a dog? What's happening? Am I a dog? So here's what happens, right? And if you know the story, this is, this is amazing. So then David runs, he goes after him. Goliath moves closer to attach, but David runs quicker. Why is David running quicker? Because Goliath can't move that fast. And he takes, reaching into his shepherd's bag and taking out what, A stone? Because he was good at this. He hurled it with his what? Sling Weapon, people. And then he hit the Philistine in the forehead. And then the story gets R rated. Okay, if you know the story, Goliath goes down. David runs up, takes Goliath's sword and someone loses their head.
[00:34:22] Okay, it's the kid that laughed. That's the, that's disturbing.
[00:34:29] I'm just joking, just joking.
[00:34:32] So, wow. What?
[00:34:37] This is David and Goliath. He's the underdog. Was he?
[00:34:43] Was he the underdog? I don't know. He just knew how to take down a giant.
[00:34:49] See, for some of us, all you have to do now knowing all these things is the last thing. As a fourth point, for those of you who are like, I need the fourth point.
[00:34:58] You need to step into the arena. You need to head towards Goliath quickly with a strategy, armed with your why and knowing that you picked Goliath.
[00:35:15] Goliath didn't pick you.
[00:35:17] See, friends, for some of us, our goals and our dreams are so big.
[00:35:22] So big, so big. The life that we imagined, the life that we feel like we were created for is so beautiful.
[00:35:30] That's not your giant. The giant is the insecurity and the discipline and the despair and the sadness and the grief and the distrust and the comparison, the negative thoughts, those of the giants. And you, my friends, get to pick Them. But if you don't want to live a life bigger, if you don't want to live a life more fulfilling, you don't have to fight a giant.
[00:35:54] You could just live just there, existing not for 40 days, maybe for 40 years.
[00:36:04] And so my prayer for all of us is, hey, your giants are not as big as you think they are. Your insecurity, your anxiety is not as big, as bad. It might look daunting. It's not your addictive behavior. It's not. You have unique skills. There's something you have that your insecurity does not. And all you have to do is figure out how not to feed that Goliath and know what is true to yourself and have a strategy, and that might involve other people. For some of us, you're like, I wanna reach this. I reach this. Your strategy might be, hey, I got to know other people in the faith. You want to have the deeper faith. Guess what you're missing out on? Community. You're like, no, no, I've tried other things. No, that's what you have to try. You gotta try something that you haven't tried before, but still be true to yourself.
[00:37:02] And so my question is, what?
[00:37:06] Have you picked a giant?
[00:37:08] Pick one.
[00:37:11] Have you already picked a giant? Then don't quit. Don't quit.
[00:37:16] Do not quit on this. You're like, name. It's so many Goliath has brothers. I get it.
[00:37:23] I understand that. I understand that. But I can just tell you from.
[00:37:28] From overcoming insecurity and just negative thoughts to writing this book. I haven't.
[00:37:40] I've won a battle.
[00:37:43] I haven't won the war.
[00:37:46] I haven't won the war.
[00:37:48] I just. I just. I just. I just want a battle because I wanted to get to a place. I haven't won the war. What that means is I'm gonna have to war again and again because my giants don't quit. How about yours?
[00:38:03] They don't quit. But what's amazing about it is in a place like this, it reminds us that there's a God who does not quit. That there's a God who's bigger and badder than all the giants that we think of and does not have weaknesses. A God who wants to be with us, who wants to give you the faith and. And the life that he. That you want. He wants the closeness you want to feel with God. He wants you to feel as well. And so here's what I want to do. I want to pray for us. Is that cool? Let's stand together.
[00:38:39] So Lord God, we come before you and we're just grateful to be here. We're grateful, God, in light of what's going on in our world and light of what's going on in LA and in other parts of the world, God, we feel so fortunate that we can be in this space.
[00:38:57] Yes, we have our own struggles. Yes, we have. But we are in a. In a place, God, that we can. We can hear you, God. We are. We are. We're grateful because other people right now, they're not in a place where they can just.
[00:39:12] Just breathe because of things that have happened in your life, the devastation. But, God, we can so, God, we don't take. We feel for them.
[00:39:23] Our hearts break for them. But, God, you are doing something in our hearts right now in this moment, God, I pray.
[00:39:30] I pray that for some of us, we will be reminded, God, that the giant is worth slaying.
[00:39:38] It is worth slaying. And our why has to be how. How is it possible that the God who gave his son for me and bought me with a price of.
[00:39:52] And gave me a life, a new life, how can I keep on living a life defeated?
[00:40:01] How can I do that? How is it possible for me to continue to live the life that Jesus, you rescued me from, Spirit? How is it possible, Spirit, that you can be in us and yet we allow ourselves to be led by our emotions?
[00:40:27] How is it possible? It cannot, cannot be so, God, I pray that today we enter into the battle, we enter into the arena looking at our giant, knowing God, that there is no way possible to the God who has rescued us, who has so much for us, who wants all good things for us. There's no way he's not going to help us slay the this giant, God, remind us, God, remind us that you are the God.
[00:41:04] You are the God who wants all things good for us.
[00:41:12] God, as we respond this morning, let us experience that deeply, deeply, God, deeply. And then. And let us whisper or maybe shout within ourselves to our giants. You will not conquer us.
[00:41:33] You will not conquer us, God. Today we declare war against our Goliaths, against our insecurities, against our fear, against our worries.
[00:41:50] We thank you, God. We thank you. Let's respond.
[00:41:55] Thanks for listening to this message from Mosaic church in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more audio and video content, visit us at MosaicChurch TV.
