Sunday Message - Mike Silva (January 7, 2018) | Life Bible Church

Well, obviously, Pastor Brad is out of the country

right now, and we have a very, very special treat

for us this morning. So it's my pleasure and

honor to introduce to you our guest speaker.

And this couple has traveled from India to Africa

to Indonesia to Asia, Brazil, Europe, Central

and South America. And the list goes on and on.

They speak three languages, English, Portuguese,

and Spanish. And between those three languages

and those countries, they have devoted their

lives as missionary evangelists to the less fortunate.

And they have given themselves and their families

and they've traveled and their time. And they

carry a powerful message. And through the anointing

that is on this couple, they have been able to

witness and experience thousands and thousands

of lives come to the Lord. But not just lives,

but generations. And so God has been using them

to go back to these nations and to continue to

pour into these nations. So they're the couple

that go into all the world. You know, and they're

not just... preaching the gospel, but they're

making disciples. And so I want to introduce

to you and honor our friends, Mike and Crystal

Silva. They are coming here all the way. Why

don't you stand and welcome them this morning?

Come on up. Crystal, wave. Mike Silva. Amen.

We've known this wonderful couple for about,

you can be seated, for about five years. We've

met them through Ministers Fellowship International,

which is our local fellowship with churches.

And I just believe God's put a powerful word

on his heart for our church. And they're very

good friends. And Pastor Brad felt the Lord spoke

to him and said that they needed to be here to

minister the word today. So great expectation.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank

you so much. Thank you so much. What a privilege

for us to be able to be here with you. Again,

we've been here for conferences and come with

the MFI family when they're here. But what a

joy for us to be able to be here. And, of course,

you got to see my bride 40 years. We've been

married 40 years. We have four great daughters,

adult daughters, three son -in -laws, eight grandbabies,

and so here we are together. So sweetie, she

is, by the way, she fits very well in Harrisburg.

She is from Silverton, multi -generational, literally

traces back to the Oregon Trail, multi -generational

farm family from this valley, Crystal Roth. Would

you welcome her? We're glad she's here. You know,

we all face giants, don't we? I mean, all of

us have giants that we face in our life. You

know what giants are? Giants are anything. I

was inspired this morning in the prayer time.

Giants are anything that seek to keep us from

his presence, from his touch, from his grace.

Giants are anything that would become an obstacle

as we seek to pursue the presence of Almighty

God. Does anybody know what I'm talking about?

Do you know what in the world a giant is? Now,

giants can come in. multiple forms. Not long

ago, a pastor friend of mine in this valley,

he had his shop broken into. A lot of his tools

were taken. In fact, he wrote and he said, I

had four cordless drills taken. I mean, a giant

came against me and took my battery charger,

my belt sander, an electric planer, and a router,

for goodness sakes. He said, as I began to be

in my shop that day and I was working that day

doing different things in my shop and every time

I realized one of the tools that I needed had

been stolen from me, I began to get angry. This

is my pastor friend. He said, but then it came

to my mind. It came to my mind that, you know,

Jesus said, you ought to love your enemies. You

ought to pray for those who persecute you. So

he wrote, and he sent it out to several of us.

He said, so I came under such unbelievable conviction,

I began to pray for this individual, whoever

it was. And he said, I began to pray prayers

like this. Oh God, whoever stole my stuff, I

prayed that his hair would fall out. I pray,

God, that his car would blow up, that his teeth

would turn black, and that his neighbor's dog

would bite him. And God, my last request for

this individual, give them excessive diarrhea

for six months. Yeah, well, some of my friends

are a little rough around the edges, but they're

good people. They're good people. See, the point

is, church, we all face giants. Do we not? We

all face giants. And giants can come in many

forms. Giants can come in physical forms. We

pulled in yesterday and there was a very largely

attended funeral happening here. I found out

that cancer, the giant of cancer, had taken the

life of a precious woman. You see, that strikes

home with us because when you think about...

giants and what they are and how they are and

all of those things, I remember, we remember

our youngest daughter having a lemon -sized malignant

cancerous tumor in her throat. And I'm telling

you, that was a physical giant for us. She's

28 years old today, has two children, and she's

absolutely cured, and we praise God for that.

I said that we have eight grandbabies, and we

did. But two of them, twin girls, full -term

twin girls at a hospital in Eugene, went home

to be with the Lord on Mother's Day. And so we

have eight grandbabies. Six are with us. Two

are in heaven waiting. That's a physical giant

for us. Many of us here this morning in a church

this size, many of us have physical challenges

and those are like giants. There's physical challenges,

there's emotional challenges. I remember for

myself, my first emotional challenge when I was

six years old, my daddy was killed and I grew

up in a single parent home, two older sisters.

And I'm telling you, I feel like church that

I'm recovering from that. From that incident

to this very day, I'm still recovering from that

one. You see, there's a lot of giants in our

lives, and there are physical giants and emotional

giants. There's battles in our mind. Some of

us fight with self -deprecation. Some fight with

worry and anxiety and loneliness and self -doubt.

May I say something about our minds, church?

May I say something about our minds? Your mind

will usually believe everything you tell it.

So here's a clue. Feed it faith. Feed it faith.

Because normally our minds will believe everything

we tell it to. Well, there's physical giants

and emotional giants. There's relational giants.

Oh, my soul. Relational giants. Relationships

can be painful. Can they not? Someone said that

there are two kinds of people in life. There

are those who try to lift you higher and there

are those who seek to tear you down. Has anyone

met any of my relatives? Someone else said that

I wrote that... Almighty God puts into our lives

people that fit in generally three categories.

God brings people into our lives for a reason,

for a season, or for a lifetime. So when you

think about your friends, which category do they

fall? A reason, a season, or a lifetime? You

see, there's physical giants and there's emotional

giants and relational giants and spiritual giants.

I think if we were honest, we would say, people

would agree and say, you know, I've got some

unmet spiritual expectations. I've had some disappointments

in my life. There is unforgiveness in my life,

maybe towards somebody else. There's also economic

challenges. Loss of job, inadequate finances.

So church, I'd like to speak to us today from

a passage of scripture that deals with how do

we overcome giants? What does the Bible teach

us and instruct us about how we can conquer and

overcome our giants? So if you have your Bible,

please get your Bible and turn to 1 Samuel 17.

1 Samuel 17. May I just encourage us about this.

Old time, wonderful biblical story. Remember?

David and Goliath. But what are the principles

that we can learn from through this passage about

how we can overcome giants in our lives because

we all face them on a regular basis. 1 Samuel

17. You'll remember. First of all, that the Philistine

army was facing off against the Israeli army.

Do you remember that Philistia was a... It included

five cities. There were five cities that made

up Philistia. And they were called the Philistines.

Well, these people were massive, massive rivals.

I mean, we're talking so much more than ducks

and beavers. We're talking major, major rivalry

going on. So the story takes place with those

individuals. In fact, verse 2 jumps in and says,

Saul, that was the king of Israel, of course,

he gathered his entire Israelite troops near

the valley of Elah. Let me show you a picture

of the valley of Elah. This is a real place.

It's still there today, and this is what the

valley looked like. So the Bible says that the

Philistine soldiers were on one side of the valley.

probably that hillside, and the Israelites were

on the other side of the valley, probably on

that hillside. And they were looking at each

other, and when the Bible says that Goliath was

shouting across the valley, taunting the armies

of Israel, and then when the armies of Israel

would say something back, they were yelling and

shouting across this valley at that time. Verse

4 says, Goliath was the Philistine champion.

In fact, biblical scholars say that's what Goliath

literally means, is champion. He came out to

face the forces of Israel. It talks about how

tall he was. He was over nine feet tall. And

that he wore a bronze helmet. It talks about

what he wore. But just his armor was 125 pounds.

Not counting his spear. And it talks about his

spear weighed 15 pounds. Goliath stood and he

shouted and he taunted the Israelites. And he

says, why are you all coming out to fight? He

called, I am the Philistine champion. And you

are only servants of Saul. Let me say something

to us, church. Here's one of the things I learn

about this passage. When you look down in verse

9, he simply says this. He says this. He said,

we're going to do a winner -takes -all battle.

And if I win, Goliath says, if I win, then all

of the Philistines will be your slaves. But if

you should win, I can imagine Goliath looking

back at his friends back here saying, but if

you all should win, if you do, I'll tell you

what. We'll become your servants. If you win,

you become our, if we win, you become our servants.

If we lose, we'll become your servants. And I

can imagine they were all laughing and jeering

and poking themselves. You know, do you know

that there are still giants today? I don't know

if you've ever heard the name, but if you haven't,

you will. Let me show you a picture of somebody

who used to play in the NBA. His name was Manute

Boll. Does that name mean anything to anyone

here? It should. Do you know why? Because the

son, Manute Boll, played NBA basketball, the

tallest individual to ever play the game, seven

foot, seven inches tall. Do you know that his

son has just signed the contract to come to Eugene

to be able to play for the Ducks, but his son

is just, he just, it's his little son, he's only

seven foot two, but he'll be there this fall

on campus, University of Oregon, wearing the

Ducks uniform, playing basketball for the Oregon

Ducks, his son. Do you know that Manute, by the

way, this giant, do you know that he's the only

one to ever play NBA basketball who literally

killed a lion? Like David, he sued knees. He

killed a lion with a spear. Nobody, can you imagine

Kobe Bryant killing a... When I found out this

fact, I thought to myself, I need to talk to

my son -in -laws because Manute Bull, Mr. Bull,

he had to pay 80 cows for his wife. And I thought,

okay, three son -in -laws, eight times three

is 20. Man, I could have a hurt. I could be in

the beef business today. Instead, I paid them.

That's a whole other deal. Anyway, you know what

I think the passage, the critical point of this

passage is, church? I think it's this. When King

Saul and the Israelite army, when they saw Goliath

the giant, and they saw the masses of the Philistine

army, they trembled with unbelievable fear. Well,

you know, as we summarize, you know the passage.

David, young David, he was out taking care of

his father's sheep. His father said, I want you

to take these barley loaves, this bread, this

French bread, and jerky, teriyaki I'm sure, and

I want you to go take this to your three brothers

who are in the Israeli army, and I want you to

give it to them, bring them my greeting, find

out how they're doing, and encourage them. And

so that's what David did. When David comes up

on the scene, he's hearing, he happens to be

there, and he hears the giant haunting the armies

of Israel. Do you know why? Because the scripture

says for 40 days, 40 days, they faced each other

across that valley, 40 days. And King Saul and

the Israelite army tried to muster the courage

to take on this enemy. And it hit me. A principle

of God hit me. Church, when it comes to fear,

I don't know about you, but I see it in this

passage and I've seen it in my own life. Fear

paralyzes our progress. For 40 days, they knew

what they should do, but they were paralyzed.

paralyzed by fear. This is the year to say enough

is enough with the fear. We are going to move

ahead in the name of the Lord and the strength

of the Lord to be able to conquer and have victory

over whatever giant we face. Physical, emotional,

spiritual, economic. We are not going to stay

in a standoff because of fear any longer. Man,

I wish somebody could hear me say that. You know

the difference between David and everyone else?

King Saul and the Israelite army, they looked

across the valley and they saw Goliath. And they

were so afraid because, church, they compared

themselves with the giant. David walks up on

the scene. He hears what's happening. And immediately,

immediately, David says, I want to know what

the problem is here, gentlemen. Because here's

the deal. You all are comparing yourselves to

the giant. I'm comparing the giant to my God.

no comparison. Are you with me there? Whatever

kind of giant you face, my friend. Whatever kind

of giant you are facing today, tomorrow, next

week, next month, I beg you, church, do not compare

yourself against that giant. Compare that giant

against Almighty God and you will have victory.

I'm telling you, I guarantee it. That's what

the scripture teaches here. So you know what

happens. The story goes on down to verse 32.

Don't worry about the Philistine, David said.

I'm going to go to fight him. and King Saul says,

don't be ridiculous, David. Can you imagine that?

Here's a goal for 2018. Don't be ridiculous,

David. Goliath has been trained from his youth

to be a man of war. You are a young man taking

care of your father's sheep. Verse 34, but David

persisted. There are some men and women listening

to me here right now, and you are facing a giant,

and I'm here to speak a word to you, and that

is this. This year, it is because of your persistence,

you will absolutely conquer your giant that is

before you. It's because of your persistence.

So David persisted. And David went on to say

what I said to you before. David said, King,

but you don't understand. I have killed lions.

David probably said, I killed a lion with a spear

like Manute Bull. I have killed bears. I have

killed lions. I have killed cougars. And just

like I have killed those wild beasts, I will

kill this individual because I'm comparing him

to you, to God, not to the army or to myself.

So that's what he said, and to me, that's the

game changer. The key word there is this, experience.

David knew, watch this, church, David knew that

God was faithful to him yesterday, and today,

that gave him the power and the confidence and

the courage to take on a brand new enemy in the

future. You see, because God has been faithful

to you yesterday, you can go after your enemy

today. Because God was faithful to you yesterday.

Yesterday. Well, you know, there's a rendition

that artists have done. Did we show that one

yet about Goliath? That's probably similar to

what Goliath looked like. But church, when I

think about this passage, here's what I think

about. The question to me is this. Is the presence

and power that gave David victory, is it available

to us today? That's what I want to know. To me,

that's the bottom line in this passage. Is the

presence and power that gave David victory, is

that presence and that power available to me

and to you today? That's what I want to know.

You know, the scripture says that when David...

When David said, okay, I'm going to take on this

giant, the Bible says that David actually stopped

in a brook. Do you know that the brook is still

there? As David crossed from the side of the

hill that he was on to be able to go into the

valley, in fact, the scripture says there that

when it was time for David to engage the enemy,

watch this, he ran to him. I love that. I always

have. The Bible clearly teaches that every Israeli

warrior had a sling. You see, a sling wasn't

just a little boy's tool. It was a weapon of

war. Now when boys received a sling, they received

a sling when they were young and they used to

play with it and they would put their rocks in

it and you would think, what is a little sling

with... Listen, if you get one of these from

an early age, much like in our culture, we give...

Little boys, whether it's a slingshot or whether

it's a BB gun and you begin to use it proficiently,

all of a sudden you get pretty good later on

in life. And that's how David was. On one of

the strings, they would tie it around their index

finger and the other one was left loose because

when they began to whirl the sling and when it

got to the right speed and they felt like they

had adjusted it correctly in their aim, they

would let go of the one string and the rock would

fly out. Do you know that it has been measured

the speed of those rocks would leave a sling

of a talented individual at 80 to 90 miles an

hour? an hour. My friend, there is no doubt in

my mind that when that rock, like the Bible says,

hit Goliath exactly in the forehead, that it

dropped that big boy down. 80 to 90 miles an

hour? It's not just a boy's toy, it was a weapon.

And that's what he used. You remember the story,

the king, King Saul said, oh, use my sword and

oh, use all of my armor. But David couldn't move.

He had to do what he knew he could do, what he

was skilled at. And so David stops, as the scripture

says, David stops in this, I thought it was so

interesting how the Bible is so unbelievable.

The scripture says David stops in a brook and

he picks up five smooth stones. Commentators

have argued forever, why did he pick up five

smooth stones? Well, we know that one of them...

One of them, and they would have been different

sizes, but the Bible says they were smooth. Why

is it significant, church, that the stones were

smooth? Answer, because the stones were in the

bed of the stream that went by. And after tumbling

years and years of tumbling, tumbling, tumbling,

would the stones be rough or would the stones

be smooth? That's right, they were smooth. He

picked up those stones. Biblical scholars say

one, of course, was for Goliath. We also know

from 2 Samuel 21 that Goliath had a brother.

We also know historically, biblical fact, we

know that Goliath's brother had three sons. All

three of them were giants. In fact, one of them

says kind of a freaky giant because he had six

fingers and six toes. Maybe that's why he chose

five. I don't know. But I do know this, when

the Bible speaks, it is accurate, it is on the

money, and it is exactly the truth. And here's

the principle that I want to share with you that

I think I learned from this passage, and that

is simply this. When we think about our giants

this year, church, watch me. Whatever kind of

giants they are, economic, financial. spiritual,

physical, emotional, whatever thing. Here's what

I want you to know. Every single thing you need

to take on your enemy, it's in the bag. Boom.

That's the game changer. Everything that you

need to face your enemy this year, it's already

in the bag. When you stoop to grab the smooth

stones out of the brook, then all of a sudden

everything you need, it's already in the bag.

Let me give you some observations about this

passage. Church, do you know that this book,

this book and this story specifically, but everything

in this book, this story is our story. In fact,

the Bible says in Romans 15 and verse 4 that

David's victory becomes a picture of all of the

future victories that we will fight from this

moment on. This story is our story. David's story

about taking on this enemy, Goliath, his story

is our story. And Romans 15, 4 tells us that

everything recorded here has been recorded to

help us, inspire us, equip us as we live our

own lives. What was the difference, church, between

David and everyone else? Answer? Perspective.

While everyone else measured the size of the

giant against themselves, David's measuring the

giant against his God. And David says, no contest.

Do you see how that mindset all of a sudden transforms?

Bam! All of a sudden, that's the secret in our

lives. You see, David knew from experience what

the Israeli army didn't know. David knew that

everything that he needed to face that giant,

everything that he needed, help me church, everything

he needed was, it was in the bag. See, the experience

of David's past with God, the experience of David's

past with God, it built his confidence for the

present. You see, David knew that he could trust

God. Why? Experience. Let me give you a practical

example. I did not inspect this chair before

I sat in it. But I just want you to know that

I have sat, listen, like you, thousands upon

thousands, millions of times, we have sat on

chairs. And they hold us. Why? Because experience

tells me that. Listen, I've seen different people

sit on this chair. I knew this chair would hold

me. And so I sat on the chair. I didn't have

to investigate it. Because experience taught

me I can trust that this chair is going to hold

my weight. You see, church, if we would begin

seeing God like that, bam, everything changes.

I'm going to ask us today. I'm going to ask us

today to be able to make a decision on this first

Sunday of January to be able to say, this year

I will be a different child of God this year

than I was last year. In part, because I will

no longer compare my giants to myself. My giants,

and I will have them. My giants are going to

be compared to him. And when I compare what I

face that challenges me to him, Then experience

and the past tells me I can trust him. Man, I

wish somebody could hear me say that. I wish

somebody could hear me say that. Here's another

way to say it. All the experiences of God's faithfulness

in our yesterdays, they strengthen our resolve

and faith for the giants of today. Did you catch

it? I don't know who it was, but somebody said

this. Fear has two meanings. You can forget everything

and run, or you can face everything and rise.

I want to face everything and rise. How about

you? Bump the person next to you and say, I'm

counting on you to do that this year. Go ahead.

I'm counting on you to do that this year. You

see, church, faith is not the absence of doubt.

Are you with me? Faith is not the absence of

doubt. It's the means to overcome it. It's the

means to overcome it. Our faith is directly proportionate,

watch this, to the God that we know. May I just

say something here for anyone? ¿Hay alguien que

hable español? ¿Hay alguien que hable español?

Entonces, excelente. Entonces, excelente. Excelente.

Mi familia, mucho gusto. Con placer. Con placer.

Estar aquí es un gran placer. Lo siento porque

realmente mi idioma es portugués, pero estoy

aprendiendo su hermoso idioma. Entonces, ok.

Entonces, mucho gusto, querida. Mucho gusto.

Mucho gusto para tocando su guitarra. What I

basically said is, anybody here that didn't get

a chance for coffee, Pastor Jen's going to treat

everybody here after. One of the things I love

about Spanish is that there are two words when

it comes to Spanish for the verb, two verbs that

are to know. But here's the difference. One of

them is saber. Saber es solamente pensamientos

en tu cabeza. Saber is only to be able to have,

only to have knowledge in your head. Y otro,

ay mi madre me encanta este idioma. Otra palabra

es conocer. Conocer. Una palabra es saber y otro

es conocer. Ay, mi madre, me encanta conocer.

I love that word, conocer. Saber is just to know

things in your head. Pero saber, saber is to

experientially know something. Listen, I can

tell you, I'm almost sure that the willamette

is wet, but once you jump in, and as you're floating

down, I could say with reality, I told you. Do

you see the difference between saber, just in

your head, just to know something in your head,

and conocer, to have a knowledge experientially.

If I said to you, Everybody that takes the 21

-day fast journal, everyone that takes that,

the church is going to send you all on an all

-expense pay. Let's wait until it really gets

rainy. Let's wait until February when we have

six more months of rain. No, just kidding, just

kidding. Everyone who, what if I said, everyone

who takes a fasting journal, everyone who takes

one, the church is going to provide an all -inclusive

paid vacation round trip to Kapalua, Maui. One

person's going to take the journal. And then

if I said, oh, wait a minute. I just wanted you

to know that the church was doing that. I didn't

want you to actually experience that the church

was doing that. Church, do you see how powerful?

To know something in your head and to experience

something in your life. You want to know why

David was so, so energized and empowered to take

on the giant? Because he knew in his heart that

he was comparing that giant to Almighty God and

there was no comparison. David knew that because

of experience. He knew with lions yesterday that

God would give him victory over this giant today.

He knew because of bears. In a contest with a

bear, in fact, I didn't have even a chance to

be able to share it, but David said to Saul,

he said, look, I have fought bears before and

lions before. I have taken my club and I have

grabbed those animals and clubbed them to death

like Manute Bull. And if God has given me victory

yesterday over those... over those giants, God

is going to give me victory today over this giant.

You see the difference? David knew. He knew.

He knew experientially. That's the key. He knew

experientially. In other words, we believe him.

Listen, church, we believe him only as much as

we daily experience him. I love that. class that

is going to happen here for the next 12 weeks

of studying the Bible? Can I just tell you this,

church? I don't know if you have finished your

2018 goals, but if you don't have a spiritual

goal, let me just speak prophetically today.

If you don't have a spiritual goal written down

in writing, I can tell you this, I guarantee

you'll accomplish it. If you want a goal, you've

got to write it down. You've got to publicize

it. You've got to say it. You've got to commit

to it. You've got to look at it over and over

and over. If this is your year to know him better,

you have got to take action on that. That's what

David did. That's what David did. You see, in

other words, we believe him only as much as we

experience him daily. This year I want to experience

him. This year I want to pursue him. This year

I want. In Spanish we say, I want more. I want

more. More of him. More time in his presence.

More power. More victory over my enemies. I want

more. How about you? You say, well, how do I

know the difference between saber and conocer?

To be able to just know about him, pensamientos,

solamente pensamientos en mi cabeza o conocer,

experimentarlo a él. ¿Cómo yo puedo saber? It's

answering this question. When you think about

Almighty God, is he limited? The Israeli army

thought so. Or is he limitless? There is a massive

difference. And do you know how you get from

one to the other, church? Experience. Experience.

With other lions and other bears on a daily basis,

on a regular basis in your life, experience.

Is he limited or limitless? Is he pretty strong?

Or is he like the scripture says, is he the strongest

strong one? Can he be trusted fully or partially?

Here's the bottom line. My brothers and sisters,

Do you spell his name with a little G or a big

G? That's really the bottom line. Do you spell

his name with a little G? Church, word. If you

spell his name with a little G, I would be fearful

of every single giant that taunts you if I were

you. But if you spell his name with a big G,

come on church, help me. If you spell his name

with a big G, there is no longer any fear essential,

necessary for whatever giant you face. Because

my God. will overpower whatever giant or obstacle

you face. You see, David did not have a supernatural,

abnormal dose of faith. Did you know that, church?

I am convinced that David did not have a supernatural,

abnormal dose of faith. I believe it was David's

everyday experiences with God that fortified

tomorrow because of today. That fortified today

because of yesterday. It was his faith that resulted

in the actions that day. Church, I came here

to Life Bible. We came here to be able to announce

to the church today. Every single one of us.

Every single one of us. Every single one of us.

We are all capable of giant killing courageous

faith. In fact. In fact. Like David, I want to

be a David. Have I told you that? I want to be

a David. In a few minutes, in fact, I'm going

to ask whoever's here, male and female, I'm going

to just ask, this is the first Sunday of 2018,

and who wants to say today, by coming forward,

I want my church to know, I want him to know,

I want the Holy Spirit to know, I want the Heavenly

Father to know, I want my Jesus to know, count

on me, I want to be a David. That's coming. That's

coming. I want to be a David. We're all capable

of that kind of faith. And it's not how much

faith David had. That wasn't the issue. How much

faith David had. It was using what you've got.

And I can prove that to you because the Bible

said, Jesus said, in fact, it's one of the red

letter zingers in Luke 17 in verse 6. Jesus said,

and I quote, if you had faith the size of a mustard

seed. Have you ever seen a mustard seed? My soul,

they are so tiny. Why would Jesus then take something

so small in size and say to his hearers, if you

had faith, that's right there. You could say

to this tree, be uprooted and planted in the

Willamette, and it would, I'm quoting Jesus,

and it would obey you. That's not faith like

this. That's using the faith that you have. Church,

the issue is not how much faith do you have.

The issue is using what you got. Bump the person

next to you, please, and say, would you just

use it? Go ahead. Would you just use it? Use

what you've got. Church, like one Bible teacher

said, I beg you, believe that God is who he says

he is. Believe that God can do what he says he

can do. Imagine, men and women, imagine if we

lived a life like that. What if we lived a life

like that? Believing that God could do exactly

what God says he can do. Can you imagine what

our lives would be like this year? Can you imagine

the transformation? You see, one of the most

transformational studies that I've ever done

in my life are the names of God. I love studying

the names of God, church. I love studying the

names of God because the names of God reveal

the character of God. May I just share some of

them with you? This is why we need to study and

know the names of God. Did you know that one

of the names is that God is the hope of Israel?

Now that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel,

may I officially, may I just say something here?

Have you ever stopped to think about the nation

of Israel is approximately the size of our New

Jersey? Can you imagine a state like the size

of New Jersey, Israel, can you imagine the size

of a state like that could exist, not only take

on the United States, watch me, but the entire

world? How can that be? There's only one thing

that I can think of. It's because God has said

to that nation, here's one of my names, I am

the hope. of this nation. Have you ever done

the math to find out how many Arab speakers there

are in the world compared to Hebrew speakers

in Jerusalem and be able to say that number doesn't

pencil out? Have you ever looked at the land

mass in the Middle East compared to the land

mass in Israel? My brothers and sisters, how

does Israel survive and thrive? Answer, because

the character of God is I have put my stamp of

approval on that nation right there. That's a

faithful God. That's a faithful God. He's a shelter

from the storm, and we know that because we've

all faced storms. He's a stronghold in time of

troubles. We know that because we've all faced

trouble. He is a defender of widows, and I know

that because I grew up with one. My God is a

defender of widows. He is the God of all comfort.

I know from personal experience, he is my advocate.

He is my confidence. I know because of my own

life experience, I know that when I have been

in a position where I have felt God does not

know me, see me, care about me, I know that his

name, his DNA, his character is this. I am the

God who sees you. I'm the God who sees you. You

can't hide from me, run from me. Kenny, Kenny,

what's his face was right. You can't outrun,

what's his name? You can't outrun the long arm

of the law. Or of the Lord. Or of the Lord. I

am the one who sees you. He's the one who sustains

me. Watch this, church. You want to counter me

on this one? My God says, I am the God. Of the

fatherless. I can tell you. From experience.

That it's true. I am the God of the fatherless.

I am a defender of widows. How do I know that?

Because experience has proved it to me. Our God

is Jehovah Jireh. I've experienced his provision.

That's his name. It's who he is. David didn't

have to prepare for the battle. Do you see the

power of this? Do you see the power of this church?

You go through 21 days of getting after God.

You get after that class that's going to be taught.

You go after that class, that Bible class, for

12 weeks. And I'm telling you, when an enemy

pops up, you don't have to run away and prepare.

You're already ready. I love what Stephen Furtick

says. You don't have to wait for a move of God,

church. You are the move of God. I love that.

You don't have to wait for the move of God. You

are the move of God. Believe that. Act like that.

Move like that. Let's have this be the year when

Life Bible says, man, I'm not waiting for a move

of God. That river doesn't wait for anyone. That

river moves. And this fellowship and this church

moves, not only in our community, but around

the world. There's experience we have of that.

They're in Cambodia at this moment. David didn't

have to prepare for battle, man. He showed up

ready for it. Our regular disciplined time with

God, it means that we show up ready. My brothers

and sisters, when an enemy pops up this year,

there is no need for you to step away and prepare.

Just show up ready. Why? Because we stay ready.

We stay ready. We stay ready. May I just share

this with us? While it may look like things in

your life are out of control, I'm here to say

to you by experience, it may look like and feel

like things in your life are out of control.

May I say from experience, behind the scenes,

there is a God who refuses to surrender his authority.

How do I know that? Answer, daily experience.

Let me give you some practical applications,

just a couple, and then we're done. Here's number

one. What do we need to do? If you have yet to

memorize Philippians 3 .10 in this new year,

I beg you to do so. I beg you that Philippians

3 .10 would be your number one goal, your resolution,

your passion, and your prayer this year. Philippians

3 .10 says this. It's on the screen. I want to

know Christ. By the way, in Spanish, they do

not use the word saber. I just want to know about

him. I just want to know if Jesus is kind of

nice and kind of strong. No, no, no. The word

they're talking about is I want to know him so

intimately. I want to know that when I face my

enemies, I know that I know that I know that

I know. Like Paul wrote in Timothy, I know that

I know that I know that I know. My God. will

see me through. Imagine if we lived a life like

that. I want to know Christ. Experientially,

the mighty power that raised him from the dead,

I want to know that. We sang that song and I

thought that is so wonderful because church this

year, I want my faith to show off my Savior.

I want my faith to show off my Savior this year.

How am I going to do that? Number one, my word

time. There's nothing more important. Nothing

more important than my word time. If you do not

have a good fitting translation, then I've already

been to your bookstore. Get a good fitting translation.

You have them out there. You say, well, what's

a good fitting translation? It's what, unless

you speak like thou, therefore thou whoremonger,

thou shalt not cast outeth from the inner sanctumeth

of all of that whicheth is endureth. If that's

not how you speak, then get a translation that

is a good fit. Start, if you would say, I'm going

to start this year with 21 days of getting after

God. Pick a New Testament book. Go to your concordance

and find a word that you're struggling with.

Fear or hate or unforgiveness or joy or comfort

or sin or whatever it is. And do a word study

on a word. Just do something. Get into the book.

Check out your concordance. Tap into GodQuestions

.org. People ask me all the time, how do I know?

How many angels can fit on the head of a pin?

I don't know. Go to gotquestions .org. Ask Bible

Gateway. And then here's number two. Not only

your word time, but your memory time. You know,

there's nothing more important than memorizing

the word. I don't know about you. Now, some of

you can just look at words and get it. But I'm

such a visual person, so I use this little ministry.

But it's called Memlock. And this is how I memorize

verses. I memorize them by images. Because, you

see, when I see a bee holding a coin, I know

that that's Jeremiah 32, 27. And so do you. Because

Jeremiah 32, verse 27 says this. Behold. I am

Jeremiah 32:27

the Lord God, creator of all the earth. Question,

is there anything too hard for me? And then I

see a can in my mind with a huge I in the middle.

Everybody knows that's Philippians. Everybody

knows that that's the Philippians passage where

Paul said himself, I can do all things through

Christ who strengthens me. I'm telling you, church,

the word is number one. Scripture memory is number

two. And then you've got to get a prayer journal.

you've got to get a prayer journal. If you don't

have a prayer journal yet, I beg you to get one

right here after the service. Get a journal.

Men, write down men. So many men tell me, I've

worked with men for so many years, so many men

say, well, I'm just not good at communicating.

Here's a way that you can do it. Can I tell you

why this is important? I personally have seen

in my life not only hundreds and hundreds, but

thousands upon thousands upon thousands of prayers

answered. In fact, church, I just want you to

know I've never prayed a prayer that has not

been answered. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes,

like if my grandsons came up to me and said,

hey, Papa, that's what they call me, Papa. Hey,

Papa, you want to play football in the highway?

I would say, no. No. The answer is no. You asked

a request, I'm giving you my response. And the

response, watch me, church, whether you like

it or not, the right response is no. And with

our Heavenly Father, our prayers are the very

same way. I've never prayed a prayer that has

not been answered. You know why I love to pray

prayers where I get the request and I put the

date that I begin and I... pray and I put the

date that it's answered and then I do the math

from when I begin praying it to when it became

answered and I see one week, six hours, six months,

six years, 26 years, 36 years, whatever it is

but I'm able to put a time frame in there when

I began, when it was answered and how many days

I prayed for that request. Can I tell you something

church? Those of us that have lost loved ones

and many if not most in here have. We all go

through the same stuff. I can't tell you how

long after my dad died, I can't tell you how

long we had his shirts and pants hanging in the

closet. I remember seeing a 31 -year -old widow

grab his clothes and breathe in deep and just

weep because of his fragrance on those clothes.

I remember the construction silver helmet that

he wore in the oil fields. I remember my mama

smelling inside, smelling his fragrance in that

helmet. I can't tell you how long we had his

blood -stained wallet. I can't tell you how long

we kept his blood -stained Boots. I can't tell

you how long. And all of that stuff is now gone

after all of these years except one thing. The

journal. Very simple. It's just blank pages.

But when he fought in the Korean conflict, he

was away from my mama. He wrote prayers. If I

ever get home, this is how I'll be. If God gets

me through this, this is what I will do. All

of his thoughts are recorded here. Everything

else is gone, thrown away, except his words.

When I read his words, life, life comes back

to my soul. Have you ever stopped to realize?

that if you do this 21 -day fast, it's not just

a journal for 21 days. You are going to pass

this on to the next generation. When God talks

to you today, your children and your children's

children will benefit from the fast and the pursuit,

the pursuit of God. They will benefit. I beg

you, church, to do that. Because I can tell you

by experience, your prayers will... Outlast you.

Why is it that we put more emphasis on physical

training than on spiritual training? When the

Bible says itself, physical training is good,

but training for godliness is much better. Why?

Because it promises benefits in this life and

in the life to come. My friend, I'm telling you

something. When it comes to giants, man, they're

big and they're intimidating and they're real.

And they're a fact of life. However, your God

is bigger, and you need to know that today. David

teaches every single one of us from this passage

that there is no giant you cannot defeat in his

name with his power. Church, help me. Every single

thing you need is in the bag. So I pray for a

touch of God on your life. I pray that this new

year, that everything you need would be in the

bag and you would be able to say with me, this

year is a year that I will overcome my giants.

Would you stand with me, please? And the team

is going to lead us now. And as they do, then

I'm just going to ask you to come. And by coming

right now, as they lead us right here, I'm just

going to ask you to come. And by coming, male

or female, you're going to say, I want to be

a David. Man, I want to get after him. You know

that 21 -day pursuit? I'm in. Not just for me.

I'm in for my children and my children's children's

children. Because my brothers and sisters, that

journal will outlive you. Experience has proven

that to me. I want to pray a prayer for you right

now as you come. Father, in the name of the Lord

Jesus, we want you to know that we love you,

we bless you, we honor you. Amen, church, men

and women? There is nobody like you, Lord. We

want you. More of you. We want to be Davids.

Men and women, we want to be Davids. We will,

from this moment, we will compare our giants,

our obstacles, our challenges, We will compare

them to our God and not to ourselves. Not to

our resources. Not to our limited knowledge.

Not to our friends. Not to circumstances. We're

going to compare them to you and you alone. Almighty

God, I believe that this church is going to be

a lighthouse and a spark for the entire valley.

It is positioned where it is positioned so that

it can reach north, reach south, reach east,

and reach west to change not just a community,

but a state, but a nation, and a world. And we're

not going to get there by comparing our giants

to our resources. So we commit ourselves to you

in a fresh way. Men and women, would you just

say with me, and Lord, everything that I need,

it's in the bag. It's in the bag. I want to be

a David. This year, I get after you with a great

pursuit. In the name of Jesus. Amen and amen.

Or call us at 541 -995 -8282.