Quiz:

SALT FINAL QUIZ

Key Idea:

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are never alone! God is with you and will help you battle your giants in His strength.

GAME:

MINESWEEPER

EXPLAIN:

In life we sometimes feel like we've been maneuvering around our own version of minesweeper. We sometimes wish someone would remove all the obstacles in our life so we'll never hit a bomb that might mess up our lives. But the obstacles along our lives don't just disappear for us. We have to face them and learn how to maneuver through them so we can come out stronger on the other side.

EXPLAIN:

Yet taking on real life challenges isn't always fun. They can sometimes leave us feeling helpless, hopeless, alone and overwhelmed. So that's what we are going to be talking about today as we start our new series based on the life of David. When David was a teenager he battled a Giant Warrior Goliath. The obstacle David faced was a literal giant, but giants actually come in all shapes and sizes. So we often face giants of our own in everyday life.

Group Question:

What are some giants that teenagers may face in life?

EXPLAIN:

There is no doubt that in life sometimes you will have your back against the wall, as you face giants in your life. But there are a few key secrets to conquering life's giants. For the next four weeks we'll be unpacking these key insights from the life of David. So first we will start with the familiar story of David and Goliath.

Back Story:

It's roughly 1000B.C. The era when the weapons of war were swords and spears, bows and arrows, seige and starvation. The Philistine and Israeli armies are at war.

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Now close your eyes a picture this:​

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​These two armies are camped out on opposite sides of a wide valley. Smoke is rising from hundreds of early morning campfires. Flies buzz. With so many soldiers encamped in the same place for weeks on end, the smell of horse and human dung is in the air. Why have they been stuck in the same place for so long? Because the war is stalled out.

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For the past 40 days, the Philistine giant Goliath has been stepping out onto the battlefield between the two warring camps and taunting the Israelite army. Each day he’s challenged the Israelites to send one man forward to fight him. And the rules of engagement are that whichever side wins that single man-to-man combat will be the total victors, while everyone on the loser’s side will become life-long slaves of the victor’s side.

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​But Goliath is a HUGE, battle-tested, trash-talking, God-insulting giant of a man. So for 40 days, no one on the Israelite side has been willing to step up and take him on.

Now imagine yourself as young David—who is most likely a teenager at this point in time. You’re running an errand for your father that’s brought you to this battlefield on this particular day. Basically you’re functioning as the Domino’s pizza delivery boy, taking bread and cheese to your older brothers who are serving in Israel’s army.

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During your delivery run, you hear Goliath hurling his daily taunts, insults and battle challenge. But the Israelite soldiers around you do nothing! They’re immobilized by their fear of this giant. How would you react? Would you feel frightened? Confused? Outraged? Or something else?​

EXPLAIN:

David took the challenge against Goliath and what makes this so phenomenal is that 3000 yrs later this story is still being told and is one of the most well known stories of the Bible. So lets pick up the story in 1 Samuel. As we read, see if you can spot the secret to David's courage when battling this giant. The key that many of the soldiers completely missed.

40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a 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.

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48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 46 This 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 host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.” - 1 Samuel 17: 40-51

EXPLAIN:

The secret is found in verse 47, when David says, "For this battle is the Lords, and He will give you into our hand"

David took on Goliath with an unshakeable faith in His God. He stepped out with full confidence that the battle was the Lord’s, and that God would be with him. So David’s first secret to battling giants well is this: You need UNSHAKEABLE FAITH in God, so that you can face your giants knowing that you are not alone, knowing that God is with you.​

EXPLAIN:

And like David could face his giant because he had unshakeable faith that God was with Him, you can walk in that certainty too! How do I know? Because God tells us in the Bible that if we’ve put our faith in Him, He will always be with us

MEMORY VERSE:​

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4  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

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EXPLAIN:

If you’ve put your trust in Jesus, you have a personal and permanent relationship with the One who made you, died for you and is coming back for you. Stop and think about what this means for a minute: You are not alone, and you never will be. In the midst of school and sports and struggles and sadness, you can know that God goes with you. You never face ANYTHING alone. The Father is right there to hear your prayers, the Son is at His right hand to intercede for you and the Holy Spirit is living inside you and is ever-present to encourage you, coach you and strengthen you.

"I will never leave you nor forsake you"

Group Question:

··         How does knowing that God is always with us help us battle our giants well?

EXPLAIN:

Unshakeable faith gives us strength and courage. Unshakeable faith is the engine that drives our prayers as we lay our struggles before God and ask Him to intervene. It’s what gives us confidence to walk by faith and not by sight, even when the going gets tough. Faith fuels our trust in God. Hold onto God and know that He walks with us regardless of the situation we are in. Does it mean we will always walk in total victory over our giants? No. Like David, there will be times where we mess up, but God will always be at our side giving us the strength to face our giants bravely. So with expectancy, ask God for help, so we can say, like David, “This is the Lord’s battle…”

VIDEO:

(411) WHEN ADVERSITY STRIKES - Best Motivational Video - YouTube

So how do you get this kind of unshakeable faith? It comes from regularly spending time with God. The more you get to know God, the easier it gets to trust Him. And the more you consistently ask for His help, the more you’ll see His hand at work in your life. So to help you do this in your own life on a daily basis, I’m providing each of you with a handout of daily devotions to take home with you. The devo entries you’ll be reading each day will be drawn from David’s life and will help you drill down further into these four “secrets” we’ll be talking about in youth group across the next four weeks. These devos will help you more fully understand God and experience His presence and power. They’ll also give you practical ideas for how to apply what you’re learning to your daily life.

My challenge to you is to read the Intro and the devo for Day 1 tonight before you go to bed, and then read one entry each day after that. That way you’ll be on track for the content we’ll be covering in our next youth group meeting. Daily time with God might be a big step for you, but trust me, it is one of the most powerful things you and I can do when it comes to learning how to lean our lives on God and learning how to battle our giants

​THE END.