Sunday, July 26, 2009 
Scripture Reading: Daniel 17: 40-50
40Then he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
41 The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43The Philistine said to David, ‘Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?’ And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44The Philistine said to David, ‘Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.’ 45But David said to the Philistine, ‘You come to me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head; and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hand.’
48 When the Philistine drew nearer to meet David, David ran quickly towards the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in David’s hand.
Sermon Title: "RISING TO THE CHALLENGE" Sunday, July 26, 2009
1. Encourangement 2. Endurance 3. Enthusiasm
ASSOCIATE PASTOR STEELE: The scripture
reading tells of how a shepherd boy named David
volunteered to take on the giant, Goliath, when nobody
else was willing. When Goliath went down, God's
people won the battle that day. How could young David
prevail in such a hopeless situation? How could David
turn that apparent defeat into a smashing victory?
Well, I think the answer can be contained in
three words: Encouragement, endurance and enthusiasm.
These three great words are the special qualities we
can carry with us as we face the Goliaths of this
world, our modern-day giants like death, divorce and
depression. Let's talk about these words and consider
how to apply these words to our life.
Encouragement literally means to put the heart in
something. Coincidentally, discouragement means to
take the heart out of something. Because David
remembered how God had protected him in the past, he
was full of heart because he knew what God was capable
of and believed God would help him in the future.
Here in 1 Samuel, Chapter 17, young David walked
up to the front lines of battle and as he was hearing
the arrogant taunts of Goliath, he knew God was with
him and he was able to prevail. There was nothing
more God-like than David putting the heart back into
his people by defeating this giant. By the way, have
you ever noticed in scripture when an angel appears to
somebody that almost without fail the angel says don't
be afraid, take heart?
Second, endurance means being full of power.
Specifically it means having the strength to see
something through to the end. It is so important we
finish what we start, to see it through and complete
the task because sometimes we give up too soon. The
third word is enthusiasm which means being full of
God. David knew God was with him and he trusted God.
Several years ago a woman was cleaning her
parakeet's cage when she accidentally sucked her
parakeet up in the vacuum cleaner. Horrified at what
she had done, she ripped open the vacuum bag and found
the bird still alive but covered in dust and dirt.
The woman grabbed him and held him under cold water to
clean him off and then turned on the hair dryer to dry
him. To say the least, it was a traumatic experience
for that parakeet.
Later someone asked the woman how he was doing.
She said he doesn't sing much anymore, just sits and
stares. You know, there are lots of people in our
world today like that poor parakeet. They've been
knocked around and stunned. They've experienced some
awfully traumatic things, and they just don't sing
much anymore.
Let me ask you something: How is it with you?
Are you full of heart? Are you full of power and
perseverance?
Mighty God, as we prepare for a time to respond
to you today, I pray you would encourage us and give
us endurance and enthusiasm so we may face our giants
so like David we can experience victory in our lives.
We pray these things in the name of your Son and
our saviour, Jesus. Amen.