Summer Service Project - Day 3

You all know the story of David & Goliath. I could put you in front of a group of kids right now and you could tell them the story. But there are so many details we often overlook.

In the Ladies Bible Study, we’ve been watching a video series by Louie Giglio called Goliath Must Fall. It’s a pretty interesting study. This morning we looked at overcoming the giant of rejection. Read this section of the story from 1 Samuel 17 so you can see it: 28 But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!” 29 “What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!” 30 He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. 31 Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him. 32 “Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!” 33 “Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.” 34 But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35 I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36 I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37 The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the LORD be with you!” 41 Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42 sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43 “Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44 “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. 45 David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47 And everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD ’s battle, and he will give you to us!”

That was rather long, but hopefully you made it the whole way through... David faces rejection three times in the passage. First, his brother rejects him by questioning why he’s even there and tells him to go home. Second, King Saul rejects him when David offers to step up and fight the giant. And last, Goliath rejects him when he mocks him as an opponent. If I were David, I think I may have given up after being rejected more than once. However, David didn’t give up. Each time David responds with confidence to the other men. He is confident because he trusts God.

We are commanded throughout the Bible to serve others. In order to do that, we need to trust what God says about us over the comments of anyone else. When we are afraid people are going to reject us or our ability, we limit God’s ability to work through us. The enemy is looking for ways to destroy us so that we are ineffective (1 Pet. 5:8). Don’t let him make you feel rejected or unloved or forgotten or lonely. God says you are loved, chosen, valuable. The more your confidence is in God, the less the enemy can use others to get you feeling down about your life.

Reflection:

1. We have all felt rejection from family or friends, intentionally or unintentionally. How do you deal with those emotions?

2. Do you feel rejected or unloved or forgotten or lonely? Find a verse that will remind you of God’s truth when you are feeling that way.

This week: Find a friend who is feeling rejected or unloved or forgotten or lonely and then find a way to serve them.

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This summer the youth group plans to do weekly service projects in lieu of a week-long missions trip. This is a devotional the teens were given after arriving to serve one day.

READY - Yield to God's Will

Yield is not a word we use in everyday conversation. What does it mean?
The place you most frequently see it is on a road sign. “In road transport, a yield sign indicates that each driver must prepare to stop if necessary to let a driver on another approach proceed.” - wikipedia
Keep that in mind as we look into what it means to yield to God’s will.

Background for today’s passage: Saul is currently king. David has been anointed as his successor, but hasn’t taken his place yet. We’re looking at a chapter in the midst of when Saul is angry with David and trying to kill him.

Read 1 Samuel 24:1-4. (I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read about Saul going to the bathroom in the cave and I chuckle every time! But anyway...) So we see Saul was off fighting the Philistines and as he returns someone tells him where he can find David. We could talk a lot about how Saul is living his life and has not yielded to God’s will because he’s lost his focus. Instead of serving God and leading the nation of Israel, he’s off chasing down David for some personal vendetta. To yield to God’s will, we need to put our own will to the side. (deny ourselves)


Read 1 Samuel 24:5-7. Here we see that David feels bad about what he did and we learn why David felt bothered by what he had done. The Lord, through Samuel, had anointed David as the next king, but David realized that he needed to wait on the Lord’s timing. He felt that since God hadn’t told him to kill Saul it was wrong for him to do so. David could have easily killed Saul and justified his actions with a litany of excuses: “It’s self-defense, Saul’s out to kill me.” “It’s all right, because God promised me the throne anyway.” “It’s all right because I am in the right, and even Jonathan knows that I deserve the throne.” “This is a God-given opportunity and I should take it.” Or even, “I’m just so tired of running and fighting Saul. This can end all of that now.” But David knew they were all just excuses and he shouldn’t kill Saul. David put his will to the side and submitted to God’s will. To yield to God’s will, we need to do what’s right and quit making excuses. David felt convicted that what he had done was wrong and he doesn’t make excuses. He doesn’t take matters into his own hands.
David trusted God and waited on His timing. When God promises us something, we can be sure that He will follow through on that promise. If we try to take things into our own hands, we can make God’s promises happen, but it doesn’t turn out as well as if we waited for God to do it His way. David trusted that God’s will was better than his own will.
(An easy excuse for us to make is that we don’t know God’s will. Much of God’s will for our lives can be found reading the Bible. More specifically though in Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus tells us 7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. So if you are unsure about God’s will for your life, pray and ask Him and He will reveal it to you.)

This chapter ends with David revealing to Saul everything that had happened, then Saul goes home and David continues wandering around.

Read 1 Samuel 26:7-11. Saul heads out again to try and find David. When he takes break and makes camp, David finds him, again has the opportunity to kill him. Again his men encourage him to do so. Again he denies himself, and yields to God’s will and doesn’t kill Saul. To yield to God’s will, we need to repeat the process. David didn’t decide just once to follow God’s will. His decision was an ongoing decision, a daily process. Every day (sometimes every minute) we need to choose to yield to God’s will.

And we know that David wasn’t always successful. We know he married multiple wives, he committed adultery with Bathsheba, he murdered Uriah. Everyday yield to God’s will, even if you messed up the day before. Being in process doesn’t mean being perfect.

The beginning of the Lord’s prayer summarizes these ideas. Matthew 6:9-11 “This, then, is how you should pray: “ ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. To yield to God’s will, we need to pray for Him to help us. The only way that we will successfully yield to God’s will is if He helps us. Jesus taught the disciples to pray and to ask for God’s will to be done (not their own will) and figuratively asking for daily bread is showing that it is an ongoing process.

(Oh and I should probably cite my sources, as to not be accused of plagiarism :) I took the list of excuses David could have made from http://www.enduringword.com/commentaries/0924.htm.)


GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1. What does it mean to yield to God’s will? What does that look like in your life? 
2. Can you think of a time that you did what God wanted instead of what you wanted and you saw positive results? 
3. What is the toughest part of yielding to God’s will for you personally? 

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This is the fifth lesson of a 5-part series I was asked to write for the middle school ministry at my Hawaiian Church, New Hope Leeward. The series is on the acronym READY.

Setting the Stage for What's to Come

Recap: Hannah prayed for years for a son before the Lord gave one to her. She gave Samuel to Eli the priest so he could serve the Lord.

Read verses 1-10: These verses are Hannah's prayer (or song) and would have been tied to the sacrifice she made in regard to Samuel's birth – well, God's answer to prayers more so than the actual answer itself. Some commentators feel that her prayer shows the themes of 1 and 2 Samuel. We see God's sovereignty, and the expected Messiah.
Hannah shares a lot of theology in her prayer. What attributes of God does Hannah rejoice over? Or what things does she praise him for?

• The salvation He gives (v1)
• His holiness (v2)
• His strength (rock- v2)
• His knowledge (v3)
• He is just (v3)
• He is sovereign which means He controls all things and He is omnipotent or all-powerful (v5-9)

Also, verses 4-5 seem specific to Peninnah and Hannah's situation. Verses 9-10 we see a little bit of eschatology, meaning there are  prophetic remarks about what's to happen in the future. As we read Samuel, we will see that they were fulfilled immediately but also will be filled in the end times.

Read verse 11: Elkanah (and although unstated, Hannah) go home, Samuel remains with Eli to minister to the Lord.

Read verse 12a: "worthless men" - From seeing this phrase repeatedly in the book of Judges, we should know this is foreshadowing something bad is about to happen… And it's especially terrible because we know Eli's sons are what? Priests!

Read verses 12b-17: Phineas and Hophni didn't know the Lord and continually broke ruless and really stole what belongs to the Lord. Their sin is causing others to sin because their sacrifices are not being done properly. Their sin of Phineas and Hophni is very great. We don't understand a lot of the meaning behind what's going on with the sacrificial customs, but the fat portion belonged to the Lord, and that's what they're stealing. So this is a huge issue because it's sin being committed against the Lord!!

Read verse 18: Samuel is actually serving… Also it says he's wearing an ephod, which in Exodus 28 we learn that it's a garment worn by priests.

Read verses 19-21: Hannah and Elkanah continue to sacrifice yearly. Hannah brings Samuel a homemade robe each time. Because of this, Eli asks the Lord to bless them with more children, and he does with five more. Again it emphasizes that Samuel continues to grow.

Read verses 22-25: Eli is getting old. He knows that his sons do terrible things (both the stuff with the sacrifices we saw previously and now it also mentions that they sleep with women at the temple). Eli pleads with his sons to repent because their sins are against God, not men. They refused to listen and God is going to put them to death.
Depending on what version you read, it says God desired to put them to death or that he longs to put them to death. Ultimately, God longs for each of us to repent, however sin has consequences and if we refuse to repent, God will punish us for our sins.

Read verse 26: The atrocity of Eli's sons is book-ended by reports of Samuel's growth and favor. It is a huge contrast between how these men who are supposed to be priests are portrayed versus this boy growing up. The wording here is also very reminiscent of the wording used to describe Jesus in Luke 2:52.

Read verses 27-34?: "Man of God" – a human messenger sent by God with this message (paraphrased of course):

• You know me (v27). 
• You know I choose your tribe (v28). 
• Why do you to file me (v29)? 
• Punishment is coming for the defilers (v30-33). 
• Sons die same day (v34). 
• But God will raise up a faithful priest (v35). 
• He will be over Eli's household (v36).

Application:

• Don't let your age hinder you. (1Tim. 4:12) Samuel was a boy and yet the one who was doing the right thing. Just because people are older, it does not mean they are automatically correct or more spiritual. Don't fear serving thinking that there are people more qualified than you because of their age.
• Decisions have consequences. Hophni and Phineas are living is sin and seem like they are getting away with it, but it catches up with them. 
• Repent while you can. Even when your decisions have consequences, God longs to forgive us. (Jer. 18:8-9, 1 John 1:9)

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We are currently going through 1 Samuel in the youth group Sunday School class. These are my lessons turned into posts.

Samuel's Birth

This past Sunday we started studying the book of 1 Samuel in Sunday School. The books of 1&2 Samuel are really one book but it was too long to fit onto one scroll, so that's why it's split as we have it today. The book is next in line chronologically after the book of Judges. We will see that Samuel becomes the last of the judges before Israel then has kings in authority over them.

Read verses 1-2: Elkanah is an Israelite living in Ephraim. If we look in 1 Chron. 6:33-34, we see he is a Levite. Elkanah also has two wives, Peninnah and Hannah. Peninnah has children but Hannah does not. In biblical times this is a big deal; much of a woman's worth was tied to being able to provide children (particularly sons), to her husband.

Read verse 3: Elkanah goes to sacrifice and worship yearly at the temple, which shows us he follows the Lord. Remember in Judges we saw that people do whatever they want, including Levites. So we are being shown that Elkanah was different in this regard – he obeyed the Lord.
We are also introduced to Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phineas. All three are priests at the temple.

Remember

In Judges 16:28, Samson cries out in prayer to the Lord and asks God to remember him. A number of years ago, I was teaching a Sunday School class on the life of Joseph and had made a worksheet up for the teens to do as homework. (It was a small group of solid kids and 4 of the 5 of them did the homework.)

The homework was a word study of sorts on 'remember' because the verse we would be looking at the following week was Genesis 40-41: when the cupbearer remembers Joseph and tells Pharaoh about him... Here's the homework I gave them:

Remember

What does remember mean? (look it up in a dictionary or something.)

Some possible definitions from dictionary.com…

            …to keep continually in mind for attention or consideration

            …to be continually aware or thoughtful of

            …to bear (a person) in mind as deserving a gift, reward, or fee

Grab a Bible and check out these verses. From what you know about these passages; jot down what happened before and after each verse.

Genesis 8:1- ___________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Genesis 19:29- _________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Genesis 30:22- _________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Exodus 2:24- __________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

1 Samuel 1:19- _________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Psalm 106:44-45- _______________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

There are many verses that God says, “I will remember my covenant…” or the people are told that they will “remember the days of their youth.” What do you think it means or what will happen when these things are remembered?

Any conclusions you can draw from these passages?

So for those of you who aren't going to look up the verse, I'll give you my answers.

• Genesis 8:1- Noah is in the ark, God remembers him and causes a wind to make the waters subside.
• Genesis 19:29- God remembers the promise He made to Abraham and saves Lot.
• Genesis 30:22- Rachel had no children. God remembers her and opens her womb so she conceives a child.
• Exodus 2:24- The Israelites are in slavery. God remembers the covenant He made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In the rest of the Old Testament, He is working to fulfill that covenant.
• 1 Samuel 1:19- God remembered He had closed Hannah's womb and He opens it.
• Psalm 106:44-45- God hears the cries, He remembers them, and He relents because He is merciful.
• “I will remember my covenant…” God will act on the promises He's made, whether good or bad thing (saving people, punishing people, etc). If He said it, He will do it at the right time.
• “remember the days of their youth” They often did not remember and acted sinfully because of not remembering.

The conclusion I drew from these passages? When it says God remembers, it's not that He had forgotten about the people and where they are. Instead, when God remembers, an action immediately follows.

The afternoon after I taught this lesson. I picked up my copy of Beth Moore's Believing God Bible Study and opened up to the day's homework and it was titled "How God Remembers." It said to look up Genesis 8:1 and then asked "Whom and what did God remember?"

And then it talked about how it's unsettling to think about God forgetting us. However God assures us in Isa. 49 that we never leave His mind (Can a woman forget her nursing child and have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, but I WILL NOT FORGET YOU. Behold, I have inscribed you on the palms of My Hands; your walls are continually before me. v15-16)

Beth goes on to say that the opposite of God remembering is not God forgetting. And has a page set up to have you study 3 of the exact passages we had on the Remember worksheet I gave the teens, as well as two other very closely related ones.

She then concludes the section with this paragraph: 

The vast majority of references to God remembering also record a subsequent action or promise of action. Beloved, God never forgets His people. When the Word of God says that God remembers, we can assume a subsequent action on His part, even if its not specified. Almost every time we see a reference to God remembering, He is about to stretch out His mighty arm and swing into action. And when He stands, His enemies scatter (see Ps. 68:1). Glory! As you discovered in the previous Scriptures, most of the action is included, if not implied, in the context of God's remembrance. Hear this carefully: God acts on what He remembers. (Moore, Beth. Believing God. LifeWay Press: Nashville, TN. 2004. p147-149.)

This is a lesson that I haven't forgotten. The pre-chorus of Chris Tomlin's song "Your Grace is Enough," sings "Remember Your people, Remember Your children, Remember Your promise, Oh God." Every time I hear it I get a expectant joy in my heart thinking, "Yes God, please remember us and immediately act on our behalf."

One last thing, there are also verses that state, "God will remember no more..." For instance, in Jeremiah 31:34 the Lord declares, "I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more." It doesn't say God just forgot about it. No He chooses not to remember, meaning He knows but chooses to show mercy and not act upon it.

You’re Keeping Me Going

Ever watch White Wolves?  My new goal in life is to incorporate this movie every time I write a devo… since starting I’ve got a 50% success rate… not too bad ;) I’ve already given you a brief synopsis of the movie in case you haven’t seen it. So after the trip has become a rescue mission, there is yet another injury and it gets to the point that the whole group just can’t travel on anymore. In the middle of the night, Benny decides he’s going to go off alone and get help. Pandra catches him as he’s packing up and asks him what he’s doing. He explains his plan is to hike an old lava flow, cross an old bridge then white water raft the Lone Pine. Pandra tells him he can’t do it alone that it’s class 4 rapids and she’ll join him. As they are hiking along, Pandra trips and Benny tells her they can stop for the night and she says she’s fine and she doesn’t want to slow him down. To which he replies, “You’re not slowing me down, you’re keeping me going.” After awkwardly glancing at each other, she says, “Then let’s keep going.” And they continue on.

More Than You Can Handle

There is SO much good stuff in Perry Noble’s book and there is SO much more we can learn from David’s life too. So I only got to write two of the devos this week, but I easily could have written more! I wanted to share with you a little bit more that you can maybe go and do once you return home. Maybe it will help the spiritual high of this trip to last a little bit longer. If you read through this, share your thoughts with me. Send me an email or fb message or a good old fashioned phone call :)

Did I ever tell you about the crazy adventures Jeff, Hil and I had going to Georgia for the Catalyst conference last October? Jeff ‘borrowed’ a pumpkin from outside this gift shop we went to… we found the CRAZIEST/STRANGEST yard with all sorts of monsters/creatures/body and even helped the owner move a 6-ft tall hand into a guy’s truck… we had dinner in Alabama so I could add another state to my list of visited states (which means I’m currently beating my brother and father)… Hil and I rode a pirate ship… We had sushi with Sharla Megilligan (one of the missionaries we support)… But most of you probably didn’t hear about those things.

Your Heart’s Desire

I love the Chronicles of Narnia! I think The Magician’s Nephew is probably my favorite (with The Voyage of Dawn Treader being a close second). Towards the end of book Aslan (who is the God character in the book) sends Digory (young boy from our world who ends up in Narnia) on a mission to get an apple from this garden at the far end of Narnia. Once this apple is planted it will protect Narnia from the evil empress. However, when he gets to the garden he sees this sign: