What You Call Small

0:00:02.120 --> 0:00:04.680 Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.120 Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:10.520 you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope 0:00:10.520 --> 0:00:12.559 it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to 0:00:12.600 --> 0:00:15.280 see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:19.480 To get my point across, I'll give you the scripture, 0:00:20.360 --> 0:00:24.640 the story, and then the subject in that order. All right, 0:00:25.360 --> 0:00:27.600 So for all the linear thinkers, that's how this is 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:32.280 going to go down. The scripture, the story. But actually 0:00:32.320 --> 0:00:34.599 the scripture is a story, so listen to this. This 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:38.239 is cool. One Samuel sixteen, I'll give you just a 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:43.560 moment to find it in your Bible. Give you just 0:00:43.600 --> 0:00:45.800 a moment to give your kids some benadryl so you 0:00:45.840 --> 0:00:48.800 can fully or turn it on the kids YouTube channel, 0:00:48.840 --> 0:00:52.960 or whatever you need to do to occupy them. On 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:57.920 Samuel sixteen one, the Lord said to Samuel, how long 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:01.600 will you mourn for Saul since I have rejected him 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:06.000 as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and 0:01:06.040 --> 0:01:09.399 be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:13.960 of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:18.320 be king. Verse two. But Samuel said, how can I go. 0:01:19.120 --> 0:01:22.480 If Saul hears about it, he will kill me. The 0:01:22.480 --> 0:01:24.280 Lord said, take a hepper with you and say, I 0:01:24.319 --> 0:01:27.600 have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Invite Jesse to 0:01:27.640 --> 0:01:30.280 the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:33.240 You are too annoint for me, the one I indicate, 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:37.360 And Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:41.280 at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:45.360 met him. They asked, do you come in peace? And 0:01:45.440 --> 0:01:50.400 Samuel replied, yes, in peace, I have come to sacrifice 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:54.080 to the Lord. Now note this, he says, I came 0:01:54.120 --> 0:01:57.520 in peace, but the situation is chaotic. Peace is not 0:01:57.560 --> 0:02:02.080 a circumstance for the child of God. It's a part 0:02:02.080 --> 0:02:06.960 of your inheritance. It's part of your birthright to be 0:02:07.000 --> 0:02:14.760 able to have peace, even in the face of unthinkable problems. Yes, 0:02:14.880 --> 0:02:17.720 in peace, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:22.200 Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me. Then 0:02:22.200 --> 0:02:24.960 he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to 0:02:25.000 --> 0:02:30.200 the sacrifice. Here's where we're going to stop for a 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:36.320 little while. When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:38.880 surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord. But 0:02:38.960 --> 0:02:43.360 the Lord said to Samuel, do not consider his appearance, 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:49.680 or his height, or his profile picture. That's not in 0:02:49.720 --> 0:02:56.800 your version. Don't look at that, for I have rejected him. 0:02:57.440 --> 0:02:59.919 The Lord does not look at the things people look at. 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.840 People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.480 at the heart. Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him 0:03:07.520 --> 0:03:09.679 pass in front of Samuel, but Samuel said, the Lord 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:14.000 hasn't chosen this one either. Jesse then had Shama pass by, 0:03:14.040 --> 0:03:16.840 but Samuel said, nor has the Lord chosen this one. 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:23.440 Jesse had seven of his sons. Seven of his sons 0:03:24.639 --> 0:03:27.000 passed before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, the Lord 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:31.440 has not chosen these. We're running out of options. You 0:03:31.480 --> 0:03:36.880 ever feel like that, So he asked Jesse, are these 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:42.000 all the sons you have? They're still the youngest. Jesse answered, 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:46.600 he is tending the sheep. Samuel said, sin for him. 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:52.720 We will not sit down until he arrives. Are these 0:03:52.760 --> 0:03:56.480 all your sons? There is still the youngest. That's the 0:03:56.520 --> 0:04:00.160 Bible story. Now here's my story. I grew up in 0:04:00.160 --> 0:04:02.240 a small town. How many of you grew up in 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:05.520 a small town? Raise your hand. If you grew up 0:04:05.520 --> 0:04:08.480 in a small town, put a raised hand emoji in 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:09.800 the chat. If you grew up in a small town, 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:12.400 tell me the name of the town and the population. 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:16.440 Monks Corner, South Carolina was six six thousand people when 0:04:16.480 --> 0:04:20.520 I live there. It's bigger now. It's a lot bigger now. Actually, 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:23.440 when I go back. One time I went back when 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:25.239 I was in college. I took a friend of mine. 0:04:26.160 --> 0:04:28.680 I was showing them around, very proud to be for 0:04:28.800 --> 0:04:31.359 Monk's Corner. It's not something I'm embarrassed of. If I 0:04:31.360 --> 0:04:33.280 ever take you to Monk's Corner, I'm giving you the tour. 0:04:33.440 --> 0:04:35.720 I'm gonna show you little pathies. I'm gonna drive you 0:04:35.760 --> 0:04:38.159 out to Macedonia, show you where my band feather Humcomber 0:04:38.279 --> 0:04:41.040 used to practice. I'm gonna show you everything. I'm gonna 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:42.719 show you where I have my first dance. I'm gonna 0:04:42.720 --> 0:04:44.719 show you where I have my first kiss. Monk's Corner 0:04:44.839 --> 0:04:47.760 is the home of the tail Race Canal, the Berkeley Stags. 0:04:47.880 --> 0:04:49.520 I'm gonna show you where I had my first minister. 0:04:49.600 --> 0:04:51.400 I'm gonna show you all of it because I'm proud 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:53.120 to be from a small town. So to me, there's 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:54.920 no shame in that. And I used to tell people 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:56.800 all the time from when I would meet them, I'm 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.720 from a small town in called Monk's Corner, South Carolina, 0:04:59.760 --> 0:05:02.520 thirt miles from Charleston. This, that, and the other thing. Oh, 0:05:02.560 --> 0:05:05.080 I've heard of Charleston. Did you say Monk's Corner like 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:07.320 a monk, like a monastery monk. I said, no, it's 0:05:07.320 --> 0:05:09.400 got to see it at Monk's Corner. I said, oh, 0:05:09.440 --> 0:05:11.240 I never heard of that before. I said, it's a 0:05:11.240 --> 0:05:13.040 small town. You never would have heard of it before. 0:05:13.120 --> 0:05:14.880 And I was taking one of my friends there and 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:17.600 I showed him all the things, and when we were 0:05:17.640 --> 0:05:21.039 about halfway through the tour I was giving him, he said, uh, 0:05:21.800 --> 0:05:28.400 I thought you said it was small. I said, it 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:34.560 is pretty small. And so he said, well, the town 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:36.400 I grew up in. I won't pretend to remember the 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:38.560 name of it, but it was another town in South Carolina. 0:05:38.600 --> 0:05:44.240 He said it was population forty five. I say, yeah, well, 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:46.400 we have like six thousand, forty five hundred I guess 0:05:46.440 --> 0:05:50.440 that is. He said, no, forty five, not forty five 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:55.840 hundred forty five. Wow, I thought you said it was small. 0:05:56.279 --> 0:06:04.640 He said, you got a warm and Applebee's like it 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:06.640 was Sacks, you know what I'm saying, Like it was 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:12.279 Nimn Marcus in Monk's corner, but it was to him. Today, 0:06:12.320 --> 0:06:13.800 I want to talk to you for a few moments 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:22.240 about what you call small, what you call small. Really, 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:26.760 what you call small is all about what you've seen before. 0:06:28.960 --> 0:06:31.720 What you call small has a lot to do with 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:35.200 what you've seen before. And in the passage that I 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:40.279 read to you, we have several indications of the reality 0:06:40.320 --> 0:06:43.640 that a lot of times what we call small is 0:06:43.680 --> 0:06:47.920 big to God. The flip side of that coin is 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:53.520 what we call big is small to God. But today, 0:06:53.560 --> 0:06:56.760 for the next thirty minutes, come on, let's be honest. 0:06:56.880 --> 0:07:04.039 Fifty minutes. You know, what you call a short sermon 0:07:06.320 --> 0:07:09.400 is really relative to what you grew up in At 0:07:09.400 --> 0:07:12.920 the Methodist church, that poor preacher got twelve minutes, and 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:17.080 that included the communion. Okay, so when I'm preaching fifty minutes, 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:20.560 fifty five minutes, it's like, Wow, this is like a series. 0:07:21.360 --> 0:07:27.040 If you grew up in a Pentecostal church, my whole 0:07:27.120 --> 0:07:31.520 sermon is an introduction, It's like that's all that's all 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:38.960 you've got keep going. So I thought i'd ask the 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:46.080 establishing question for you, what's your frame of reference when 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:49.920 you consider the challenges of your life, the gifts God 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:53.160 has put inside of you, and the resources that you 0:07:53.280 --> 0:07:59.960 have in this season what you call small? For instance, 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.600 in the text, I will admit to you that I 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:07.600 have only ever preached this text from David's perspective. It's 0:08:07.640 --> 0:08:10.280 easy to because this is the point in his life 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:14.120 where he is transitioning from shepherd to king. So I've 0:08:14.200 --> 0:08:18.720 always seen this text almost like a terrible or an 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:21.680 Old Testament illustration of the New Testament concept that if 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:24.120 you are faithful in little God will make you faithful 0:08:24.120 --> 0:08:28.240 in miche and I believe that, how many believe that? 0:08:28.240 --> 0:08:31.040 That if you start small and use what God has 0:08:31.040 --> 0:08:34.559 given you wisely and invest it wisely, whether it's your 0:08:34.600 --> 0:08:37.880 money or your energy, or your time or your skill, 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.439 whatever it is, if you invest it wisely, God will 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:46.440 multiply it. That's not the people say it's the prosperity gospel, 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:49.040 or it's the blabbit grab it or the see it 0:08:49.080 --> 0:08:51.439 and say it or whatever the people call it. No, no, 0:08:51.559 --> 0:08:55.559 no, no no, no no. That's just the principle of life. 0:08:56.160 --> 0:09:02.880 That what you invest well increases. So in my mind, 0:09:03.240 --> 0:09:06.480 the story was always about how this little shepherd boy 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:11.920 did a seemingly insignificant task, and while he was doing 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:13.760 the task, I read it to you a moment ago, 0:09:14.240 --> 0:09:17.839 God called him up for something more important. I kind 0:09:17.840 --> 0:09:20.400 of used it as an illustration, like, hey, you know, 0:09:20.559 --> 0:09:23.920 be a good employee and God might make you a supervisor. 0:09:24.720 --> 0:09:26.600 Be a good supervisor, and one day you might own 0:09:26.640 --> 0:09:28.480 your own company. Own your own company one day, and 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.120 you might end up on prescription pills because it's stressful 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:32.959 to be the boss, and nobody ever tells you that part. 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:35.240 That's what I that's what I should have told you, 0:09:39.160 --> 0:09:41.360 what I missed, and what I always seem to miss 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:44.800 when I just gravitate towards the parts of scripture that 0:09:44.880 --> 0:09:48.640 to me are big, right, Like on Samuel sixteen, is 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:52.200 is David annoying it as king? First? Samuel seventeen is 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:56.480 David killing Eliath first. Samuel eighteen and nineteen saw the 0:09:56.559 --> 0:10:00.320 king that we're seeing replaced here in this process, Us 0:10:00.880 --> 0:10:03.920 is throwing spears at David, so he's fighting for his life. 0:10:04.559 --> 0:10:06.959 But one thing I wanted to to stop and talk 0:10:06.960 --> 0:10:09.120 about for a moment today, I won't spend my whole 0:10:09.120 --> 0:10:12.599 time on this. But but look where God sent Samuel 0:10:13.000 --> 0:10:21.160 to find the king, Bethlehem. That's a very small detail 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:25.080 in the text, but the significance of it hinges on 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:31.680 understanding the context of Bethlehem Micah five two. But you, 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:39.240 Bethlehem Ephrath, though you are small among the clans of 0:10:39.280 --> 0:10:41.760 Judah in comparison to all the other clans, that the 0:10:41.760 --> 0:10:46.280 Messiah could come from you, the small one. Yes you, 0:10:47.440 --> 0:10:52.800 yes you, you, the little one you, the one with 0:10:52.840 --> 0:10:56.600 the ged you, the one with the one with the 0:10:56.640 --> 0:11:01.320 issue that's not mentionable on a stage like this. The 0:11:01.440 --> 0:11:04.280 term itself is diminutive in the context of Michael five 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:06.600 to two. It's not just a thing that means size. 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:10.840 It's not like, oh, I grew up in monk's corner. Wow, 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:16.880 it's like calling it the backwoods. It's actually not a 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:24.640 very commonly used word, but it means trifling, insignificant. Now, 0:11:24.679 --> 0:11:27.520 the one that God would raise up to change the 0:11:27.559 --> 0:11:34.400 world came from that same place that they called backwoods. 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.240 So do we see a principle already at work here 0:11:39.120 --> 0:11:43.440 that God brings things that he sees as great from 0:11:43.520 --> 0:11:49.520 things that we call small. That's my whole message. The 0:11:49.520 --> 0:11:52.400 rest of this message will just say that over and 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:56.720 over and over and over again, that God brings the 0:11:56.760 --> 0:12:02.120 biggest things out of the smallest places. I'm so passionate 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:05.439 about this that I spent some time analyzing my own 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:08.480 life in preparing for this message, not only coming from 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:11.640 Monk's Corner, but you know, thinking about our church right now, 0:12:11.679 --> 0:12:14.439 and how in some ways our church has never been 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:17.640 smaller when you count the people that are in the 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:22.520 room on a Sunday, I remember when those top rows 0:12:22.600 --> 0:12:24.920 used to be full with people. None of them were 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:27.680 wearing masks, none of them were in has mad suits, 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:29.680 none of them. You know, it's a whole different thing. 0:12:30.360 --> 0:12:36.040 It was a whole different thing. And yet if I 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:40.040 remember where we started as a church, Yes, this is 0:12:40.160 --> 0:12:46.400 actually like really big. Chad text me Julie every Sunday 0:12:46.600 --> 0:12:49.520 if the numbers were up and down from the week before, 0:12:50.720 --> 0:12:53.160 but the numbers he sends me for our online ministry, 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:55.160 like people come in from all over the world, like 0:12:55.200 --> 0:13:00.200 people watching from Japan and Indonesia, and people watching from Brazil, 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:06.679 and people watching from all kinds of foreign countries Alabama, Algeria, 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:10.160 all over the world. I'm saying, and he'll say we 0:13:10.320 --> 0:13:14.040 were down this week. But the number that he would 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:16.840 send me to say this is what we were down to. 0:13:20.400 --> 0:13:25.080 It's a number that my Monk's corner mine. Sometimes I 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:28.360 have to talk to Monk's corner me to get a 0:13:28.400 --> 0:13:33.320 frame of reference to remember this is actually pretty good. 0:13:34.520 --> 0:13:36.200 Do you ever have to do that to yourself, Like 0:13:36.840 --> 0:13:40.080 take yourself back to a frame of reference where you 0:13:40.120 --> 0:13:43.240 weren't jaded, where you didn't get used to things, and go, 0:13:43.760 --> 0:13:46.840 this is actually really good. What in the world am 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:49.840 I complaining about? What am I stussing about? This is 0:13:49.880 --> 0:13:55.480 actually awesome. Say it in the chart. This is actually awesome. 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:59.640 Whatever the devil tries to tell you all, this is nothing. 0:13:59.679 --> 0:14:02.160 This is just a little thing. This is just insignificant. 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.320 This is something you could have never imagined. This is 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:08.000 if he's just three twenty in real time. This is 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:15.920 above and beyond and deeper and bigger and broader. What 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:24.640 you call small today you thought was impossible yesterday. When 0:14:24.680 --> 0:14:27.720 you live in it, you this seems little to you. 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:32.800 Sometimes you'll see people come to Elevation Church and they'll 0:14:33.000 --> 0:14:36.800 have a camera, video camera recording the whole time. Let 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:41.960 me tell you something they flew to get here. They 0:14:42.040 --> 0:14:45.320 drove all night to get here, and it kind of 0:14:45.400 --> 0:14:48.200 checks all of us because we're like, Wow, this was 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:52.000 on your bucket list to be here, and it's in 0:14:52.040 --> 0:14:58.960 our backyard. The issue in One Samuel sixteen is not 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:04.160 only about where it happened, though, and it's not only 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.600 about who had happened to David. I want to spend 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:11.040 a few moments talking about who had happened through Samuel. 0:15:12.520 --> 0:15:15.040 Samuel was a seer, a prophet, He was never referred 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:17.680 to as a priest. He served multiple roles. You know 0:15:17.720 --> 0:15:20.160 how we all have to flow in multiple roles from 0:15:20.200 --> 0:15:24.280 moment to moment, trying to be a student and a son, 0:15:24.400 --> 0:15:27.920 or a parent and a husband, or a husband and 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:31.240 a pastor and a pastor and a husband and a 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:34.840 dad and a boss. And like for me, sometimes I'll 0:15:34.840 --> 0:15:36.720 go into a meeting in the church and I'm not 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:39.280 sure if I should be pastor Stephen or get this 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:40.680 crap done. I don't want to say it one more 0:15:40.720 --> 0:15:46.200 time pastor Stephen and switching all those multiple roles can 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:50.560 be confusing. But there's also a change happening here that 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.640 is beyond Samuel, in that God never really wanted Israel 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.840 to have a king. He wanted to be their king. 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:04.800 They insisted that they'd be like all the other nations. 0:16:04.880 --> 0:16:09.680 Not for no reason. They were under attack the Phoenician people, 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:11.920 we know them as the Philistines, who were really good 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:14.440 at making weapons and were seafaring people, so they would 0:16:14.440 --> 0:16:17.680 attack you where you had no defense, were pummeling them, 0:16:19.120 --> 0:16:21.880 and so as a protective measure, they wanted to build 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:26.680 their nation like the other nations as a protective measure. 0:16:27.680 --> 0:16:30.640 Not because they were seeking to disobey God, but they 0:16:30.640 --> 0:16:37.160 were seeking to defend themselves. Pause. When does our self 0:16:37.160 --> 0:16:45.160 defense become disobedience? Wow, it's when we implement something in 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:51.280 place to protect us that actually keeps us from experiencing 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:57.200 God's presence with us. The king they chose, and I 0:16:57.200 --> 0:17:00.480 don't have much time to talk about, Saul. Everybody say better, Saull, 0:17:00.480 --> 0:17:08.600 just get it out of your system, you heathens. They 0:17:08.800 --> 0:17:13.679 needed someone who could protect them. But you know, like 0:17:13.760 --> 0:17:19.600 we always do, we kind of you know, when we 0:17:19.640 --> 0:17:24.640 reach for the wrong thing, we don't really realize how 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:28.880 much it will cost us, because all we can see 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:33.280 is how much it comforts us. And it comforted them 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:35.200 to have a king it comforted them to have a 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:39.439 to have a tall king. Saul was tall, head and 0:17:39.560 --> 0:17:44.879 shoulders above the rest. Saul looked like a king to 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:49.120 everybody else, but he never really saw himself that way. 0:17:50.119 --> 0:17:53.920 Can I show you this? This is for Samuel? Fifteen? 0:17:55.119 --> 0:18:01.120 Where is it? Guys? Fifteen fifteen? Uh? Did I give 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:03.399 you this one? Yeah? I don't think I gave you 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:05.639 this one. I'm have to find it myself, y'all. Give 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.480 me a second. This worth fine? Here it is fifteen seventeen. 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:10.640 I didn't give you all that one, did it? Yes? 0:18:10.680 --> 0:18:13.760 I did? Fifteen seventeen. Samuel told Saul. Listen what he 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:15.480 told Saul. This is so good. I put it in 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:18.600 last minute. So I said, although you were once small 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:23.119 in your own eyes, did not you become head of 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:28.160 the tribes of Israel. Here's why that's important. God had 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:37.560 promoted promoted Saul beyond Saul's perspective of himself. Sometimes you 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:41.640 are living in a role or responsibility that you have 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:45.800 not fully caught up to mentally yet to realize this 0:18:45.880 --> 0:18:51.720 is who I am now. So Saul looked like a 0:18:51.800 --> 0:18:54.960 king to them, but he didn't feel like a king inside, 0:18:55.119 --> 0:18:58.080 and that became a problem. Because for all of Saul's reign, 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:02.040 he overreacted. He it's hasty. He did the thing that 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:04.919 made sense instead of the thing that pleased God. He 0:19:05.000 --> 0:19:07.320 did the thing that made sense instead of the thing 0:19:07.400 --> 0:19:10.240 that pleased God. He did the thing that made sense 0:19:10.640 --> 0:19:14.080 instead of the thing that pleased God. He went by 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:20.720 what he saw instead of what he heard. He went 0:19:20.760 --> 0:19:26.160 by his senses instead of by his spirit. And by 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:29.399 the time you get the first Samuel sixteen, God is 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:34.840 removing Saul from his position of authority. The transition will 0:19:34.840 --> 0:19:42.400 not be immediate, but it's underway. Saul is out. It's 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:44.480 gonna take everybody else a while to figure that out. 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:52.399 But God tells Samuel, I'm done with Saul. It's not 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.680 a matter of you praying more for Remember, Samuel had 0:19:55.680 --> 0:20:01.320 invested a lot in Saul. He had tried to coach him, 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:06.440 correct him, and there came a point where God got 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:12.200 tired of Saul. Before Samquel, did you know some stuff 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:15.480 God takes out of your life while you're still trying 0:20:15.520 --> 0:20:22.120 to hold onto it that was too deep for him. Boy, 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:25.600 I'm gonna run it back. Some stuff you're not ready 0:20:25.640 --> 0:20:32.800 to let go of yet. God's just gonna take it away. 0:20:33.800 --> 0:20:37.240 That's what he did here. He said, how long will 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:42.600 you mourn over what I've rejected? And the crazy thing 0:20:42.640 --> 0:20:46.399 about it was Samuel didn't even like Saul to begin with. 0:20:48.160 --> 0:20:51.480 It wasn't like they were friends. It wasn't like he 0:20:51.640 --> 0:20:56.199 was a good competent king. He made more messes than 0:20:56.200 --> 0:20:59.840 he cleaned up, He tore down more than he built, 0:21:00.960 --> 0:21:06.280 He costs more than he was worth. And yet there's 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:13.840 something about losing what you know that doesn't even take 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:17.119 into account if you really wanted it to begin with. 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:24.399 He tells him to go to the smallest place, Bethlehem, 0:21:24.520 --> 0:21:28.040 same place Jesus was born. That's the place where David 0:21:28.160 --> 0:21:31.560 would be waiting. He tells him to do the smallest thing, 0:21:31.920 --> 0:21:35.640 fill your horn with oil, because that was the instrument 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:39.840 that the prophet used to signify change through anointing. Something 0:21:39.920 --> 0:21:43.760 so small as fill your horn with oil would lead 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:48.960 to something so big, David, the king through whom came 0:21:49.480 --> 0:21:56.680 our Messiah, Jesus Christ. But Samuel has to go all 0:21:56.680 --> 0:22:01.080 the way to Bethlehem, and yet there's one thing he 0:22:01.119 --> 0:22:05.439 doesn't know as he travels. Who am I gonna annoint 0:22:05.440 --> 0:22:09.840 when I get there. It's like God left out the 0:22:09.880 --> 0:22:12.400 one tiniest little detail that would have been so helpful. 0:22:13.160 --> 0:22:15.800 And so for me, this is confusing God. If you're 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:17.840 gonna tell him to fill the horn with oil, if 0:22:17.840 --> 0:22:19.840 you're gonna tell him how to get past the gates 0:22:19.880 --> 0:22:21.960 with the heifers and all of that, somebody say bring 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:25.600 the heifer. If you're gonna tell him bring the heifer, 0:22:25.800 --> 0:22:28.760 then why not tell him? And by the way, is David. 0:22:30.760 --> 0:22:32.640 And so when you get there, skip all the other 0:22:32.720 --> 0:22:37.760 seven and ask for David. You know, we would do 0:22:37.840 --> 0:22:40.480 this much just to recommend something to somebody. When you 0:22:40.520 --> 0:22:42.760 go to the restaurant, order this off the menu, right, 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:45.000 we would do that for somebody if we knew what 0:22:45.160 --> 0:22:48.480 was good on the menu. And yet it's like God 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:54.919 wanted Samuel to have to go through the process of elimination, 0:22:56.560 --> 0:23:02.639 the process of elimination. Sometimes God will take you through 0:23:03.320 --> 0:23:08.080 the process of elimination. Now, this isn't just a multiple 0:23:08.160 --> 0:23:11.040 choice test in fifth grade where you're crossing off the answers. 0:23:11.480 --> 0:23:14.359 This is the process of God bringing you to things 0:23:14.400 --> 0:23:16.399 in your life and going no, not that. But I 0:23:16.400 --> 0:23:19.000 thought it was that, No, not that. How about this, Well, no, 0:23:19.040 --> 0:23:22.280 that's not that either. That's not that. So what we 0:23:22.320 --> 0:23:25.720 always think is that the first thing God shows us 0:23:29.280 --> 0:23:33.600 it's going to be his final answer. So then we 0:23:33.720 --> 0:23:38.399 get frustrated when the first thing doesn't work. If Samuel 0:23:38.440 --> 0:23:42.160 would have gone home after looking at Eliab, Saul would 0:23:42.200 --> 0:23:47.640 have stayed king and the nation would have perished. So 0:23:47.720 --> 0:23:50.879 I'm thinking about now, what must it be like to 0:23:50.920 --> 0:23:56.080 be Samuel. This is not a small moment. It's not 0:23:56.240 --> 0:24:00.520 small to us. It's just this little annoying say ceremony. 0:24:00.800 --> 0:24:03.399 To him, this is everything, this is the nation he 0:24:03.440 --> 0:24:06.200 gave his life to serve. And you know what's weird, 0:24:06.640 --> 0:24:10.399 Sometimes people have no idea how big the burden that 0:24:10.440 --> 0:24:19.800 you're caring is because to them it seems small. It okay, 0:24:19.800 --> 0:24:21.679 there's two tendencies that we all have. Let me go 0:24:21.680 --> 0:24:24.240 and teach your mode for a moment. We either have 0:24:24.320 --> 0:24:30.760 a tendency to dramatize. I don't think you should look 0:24:30.760 --> 0:24:33.520 at your husband or wife right now. I think you 0:24:33.560 --> 0:24:36.760 should look straight ahead. I'm just giving you a marriage seminar, 0:24:38.040 --> 0:24:47.760 or to downplay. Both are dangerous to dramatize. Oh, this 0:24:47.920 --> 0:24:51.000 is the worst ever. It's never been like this before, 0:24:51.119 --> 0:24:54.600 and nobody ever said anything nice to me. Yes, seventeen 0:24:54.640 --> 0:24:56.800 people did just not the one that you wanted to 0:24:56.840 --> 0:24:58.280 say it the way you wanted them to say it. 0:24:59.400 --> 0:25:06.720 That's drama. Ties over generalize. They always they never dramatized. Dramatized, 0:25:06.800 --> 0:25:08.399 So that's to make it bigger than it really is. 0:25:08.440 --> 0:25:11.720 And that's a problem. That's the problem. Trust me from 0:25:11.720 --> 0:25:13.639 firsthand experience. I know, I'm not talking about what I 0:25:13.640 --> 0:25:15.520 studied in a textbook. I'm talking about what I relived 0:25:15.520 --> 0:25:21.679 out in my own psychosis of sanctification to go. That 0:25:21.720 --> 0:25:26.359 really wasn't that big. What was wrong with me? You know, 0:25:26.160 --> 0:25:28.199 you watch old film of yourself in your mind and 0:25:28.240 --> 0:25:31.680 you're like, God, that's embarrassing. Please let's delete that off 0:25:31.680 --> 0:25:37.280 the hard drive of history. I'll tell you what else 0:25:37.400 --> 0:25:41.840 is just as bad as dramatizing, though, is downplaying stuff 0:25:45.200 --> 0:25:52.320 to go like, oh, it didn't bother me. So I 0:25:52.440 --> 0:25:56.560 was encouraged that God allowed Saul or Samuel rather to 0:25:56.600 --> 0:26:03.400 go through a grieving process his disappointment. He wasn't saying 0:26:03.440 --> 0:26:07.240 you're not allowed to mourn, you know, God the eleventh 0:26:07.280 --> 0:26:12.920 commandment is not thou shalt not be disappointed. But if 0:26:12.920 --> 0:26:19.880 the disappointment becomes a dead end, that's a problem. So 0:26:19.880 --> 0:26:21.479 what I'm having to learn to do in my adult 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:23.119 life right now? How many grown ups do we have 0:26:23.200 --> 0:26:27.640 watching the message or grown ups in the making and metamorphosis. 0:26:27.880 --> 0:26:30.480 How many potential future hopeful grown ups do we have 0:26:34.320 --> 0:26:37.520 in my adult life. I'm having to learn how not 0:26:37.600 --> 0:26:42.280 to dramatize it while at the same time don't downplay it. 0:26:43.560 --> 0:26:45.920 How long will you mourn over what I've rejected? There 0:26:45.960 --> 0:26:47.399 comes a time where you've got to put it in 0:26:47.400 --> 0:26:49.359 his place and move on. But there also comes a 0:26:49.400 --> 0:26:53.879 time where you've got to say that sucked. Normally, I 0:26:53.920 --> 0:26:55.960 tell you to touch your neighbor and say things like 0:26:56.160 --> 0:27:01.480 God is good and glory to his name, you know 0:27:01.640 --> 0:27:05.960 all this, look at somebody and say that sucked. That 0:27:06.119 --> 0:27:09.280 sucked when they lied to me, That sucked when they 0:27:09.280 --> 0:27:11.000 said they had my back and they actually did have 0:27:11.080 --> 0:27:12.680 my back, but they had a knife that they used 0:27:12.680 --> 0:27:17.600 in my back. That sucked. That sucked. I gave so 0:27:17.720 --> 0:27:23.040 much and received so little. That sucked. The funny thing 0:27:23.119 --> 0:27:25.040 is some people can't even hear the message that I'm 0:27:25.080 --> 0:27:29.840 saying right now because I said the word sucked. Something 0:27:29.960 --> 0:27:33.760 so small is that word and the holes in my 0:27:33.880 --> 0:27:36.199 jeans will keep somebody from here in the message that 0:27:36.240 --> 0:27:41.639 I'm trying to preach, because watch this, we not you. 0:27:42.000 --> 0:27:47.240 We have this tendency to make big what God calls small, 0:27:48.560 --> 0:27:56.080 and to make small what God calls big. So the 0:27:56.200 --> 0:28:01.080 trick of it is, don't ever diminish anybody else's it's pain. Ever, 0:28:03.119 --> 0:28:07.439 don't ever try to tell them things like ah, I mean, 0:28:07.480 --> 0:28:09.280 you can give them a little tough love, like come on, 0:28:09.440 --> 0:28:11.440 let's go, let's do that, come on heavy, all right, 0:28:11.520 --> 0:28:14.280 you can do that, But don't ever look at somebody 0:28:14.320 --> 0:28:21.440 like that's all you're going through. That's all. I used 0:28:21.440 --> 0:28:24.760 to get frustrated when people would I call them toppers. 0:28:24.760 --> 0:28:26.119 I don't know what you call them. Do you call 0:28:26.160 --> 0:28:28.440 them that? Toppers? Like you have a good story, they 0:28:28.440 --> 0:28:31.280 have a good story. You want a trophy, they want 0:28:31.280 --> 0:28:35.040 a Grammy everything, there's nothing you can do. You have 0:28:35.080 --> 0:28:40.120 a house, they have a neighborhood. Right, you went to 0:28:40.240 --> 0:28:43.200 the beach, they went to Mars. They bought an island. 0:28:44.600 --> 0:28:47.920 But we also sometimes not only we try to top 0:28:47.960 --> 0:28:50.520 each other with accomplishments, but it can be like, oh 0:28:50.560 --> 0:28:56.040 you went through that, I went through this, right, we 0:28:56.360 --> 0:28:59.520 do it mentally, like we kind of make what other 0:28:59.560 --> 0:29:05.600 people go through small and something that we don't realize 0:29:05.720 --> 0:29:09.320 is we are only seeing it. Remember, what you think 0:29:09.400 --> 0:29:12.160 is small is relative to what you've seen. Do you 0:29:12.200 --> 0:29:16.680 remember that from them a few minutes ago. That's also 0:29:16.760 --> 0:29:20.520 true when it comes to people's pain. Sometimes you're only 0:29:20.560 --> 0:29:23.520 seeing it on the surface and you're like, why is 0:29:23.560 --> 0:29:26.960 that so hard for them? There is a history to 0:29:27.000 --> 0:29:32.080 why that's so hard for them, and something knocks them 0:29:32.120 --> 0:29:34.920 off balance and you're like, well, you know I went 0:29:34.960 --> 0:29:37.200 through that and I didn't act like that at all. 0:29:40.240 --> 0:29:45.880 That's a small thing. Now, that's what you call small. 0:29:48.760 --> 0:29:55.360 And you've got your own little petty your own little 0:29:55.360 --> 0:30:01.880 petty problems too. We all do. We all do when 0:30:02.040 --> 0:30:07.600 in the passage, Samuel has this moment that for us 0:30:07.720 --> 0:30:10.480 is so you're just going to pour some oil on 0:30:10.520 --> 0:30:12.600 somebody said, no, it's much bigger than that. To him, 0:30:13.960 --> 0:30:17.440 this is a big moment for him. Like even what 0:30:17.480 --> 0:30:20.760 we've been going through the last year, since our lives 0:30:20.800 --> 0:30:24.000 changed so much, I think there's this tendency to just 0:30:24.040 --> 0:30:26.040 be like, oh, it's not that big of a deal. 0:30:26.720 --> 0:30:32.920 It is. It's weird. I'm kind of worried about, like 0:30:32.960 --> 0:30:37.640 what it will do to us as a society that 0:30:37.680 --> 0:30:40.720 we're kind of not touching each other. Like that's not 0:30:40.800 --> 0:30:44.800 a small thing. You understand that. And sometimes we downplay it. 0:30:45.000 --> 0:30:47.920 Sometimes when I'm excited about something that's in my life, 0:30:48.080 --> 0:30:50.280 I will downplay it. And there's a reason that I 0:30:50.360 --> 0:30:56.880 do it. If I make it seem small, I feel safe. 0:30:57.680 --> 0:31:00.080 The other day you called me out on this. Know 0:31:00.120 --> 0:31:02.360 what I'm gonna say. I was telling somebody about a 0:31:02.400 --> 0:31:04.040 song I wrote, and I was showing it to them, 0:31:04.040 --> 0:31:05.920 but I was scared they wouldn't like it as much 0:31:05.920 --> 0:31:08.000 as I did. So as I'm planning, and I'm like, 0:31:08.240 --> 0:31:10.760 it's not really that good of songs. Just a little song, 0:31:10.920 --> 0:31:13.200 just a I mean, I'm not saying it's a big 0:31:13.240 --> 0:31:15.760 song or anything like that. What was I doing. I 0:31:15.880 --> 0:31:19.760 was making it small while I showed it to them, 0:31:20.000 --> 0:31:23.160 so I could beat them to the punch of putting 0:31:23.200 --> 0:31:30.000 it down. Come on, come on, if I call it small, 0:31:30.240 --> 0:31:34.000 you don't get the chance to. So now sometimes we 0:31:34.080 --> 0:31:36.960 go around just saying stuff about ourselves, you know, just 0:31:37.040 --> 0:31:40.840 putting ourselves down. The problem with that is Christ is 0:31:40.880 --> 0:31:46.239 in you. So when you put down what He made, 0:31:46.680 --> 0:31:50.280 you insulf a manufacturer and you don't get to do that. 0:31:57.240 --> 0:31:59.360 But see there's a danger in down playing it too. 0:32:00.320 --> 0:32:02.240 And Elijah said to me afterwards, he was like, I 0:32:02.240 --> 0:32:06.040 thought we liked that song. Were we talking about the 0:32:06.080 --> 0:32:09.280 same song or we listened to the same song. I said, 0:32:09.280 --> 0:32:12.440 you caught me. I admitted to him. I confess to him. 0:32:12.600 --> 0:32:14.920 I said, forgive me, Father, I have sin. I do that. 0:32:15.000 --> 0:32:18.640 Sometimes I'll put stuff. I'll make it small because it 0:32:18.640 --> 0:32:23.800 makes me feel safe, because somehow I believe that for 0:32:23.920 --> 0:32:31.000 God to be big, I have to be small. God 0:32:31.120 --> 0:32:36.480 is not like Saul. God is not insecure. In fact, 0:32:36.520 --> 0:32:40.760 this is worth putting on your refrigerator. God doesn't need 0:32:40.800 --> 0:32:47.760 you to be smaller for him to be big. God 0:32:47.840 --> 0:32:51.560 is not gonna get any bigger because you shrink yourself 0:32:51.600 --> 0:32:54.680 down smaller. Oh, I'm just a worm, I'm just an 0:32:54.720 --> 0:32:59.800 I'm just a sinner. That's already established. Okay, all of 0:32:59.800 --> 0:33:02.560 that is already a fact. We already know you came 0:33:02.560 --> 0:33:05.800 out of Bethlehem. We already know you're limited, we already 0:33:05.800 --> 0:33:07.960 know you're human. But the thing about the thing about 0:33:07.960 --> 0:33:12.600 when you bring yourself down to that level, it doesn't 0:33:12.600 --> 0:33:17.760 acknowledge your humanity. It diminishes the divinity that God has 0:33:17.760 --> 0:33:25.480 put inside of you. We think God is like our 0:33:25.520 --> 0:33:30.080 insecure friends from middle school who had to bring us 0:33:30.160 --> 0:33:32.240 down for them to climb up. God's not like that. 0:33:32.920 --> 0:33:37.840 So religion is like that. Religion treats God like the 0:33:37.880 --> 0:33:40.400 worst friend or worst boss you've ever had. The only 0:33:40.440 --> 0:33:43.440 way they can feel big is to belittle you. So 0:33:43.480 --> 0:33:46.640 then we bring that same mentality into our relationship with God. 0:33:48.400 --> 0:33:50.720 We think that for God to be great and glorious, 0:33:51.080 --> 0:33:54.680 we have to be screwed up and horrible and oh God, 0:33:54.800 --> 0:33:58.080 I'm so sorry. I just everything about me is wrong. 0:34:00.880 --> 0:34:08.280 That's how Saul was. That's not how God is. Saul 0:34:08.360 --> 0:34:10.520 was so insecure. Remember he didn't think he was a 0:34:10.600 --> 0:34:13.440 king in his own eyes. So when David came out 0:34:13.440 --> 0:34:18.319 to fight Goliath, Saul said, you can't fight him, You're 0:34:18.360 --> 0:34:24.320 too small. Can I ask you something? Was Saul talking 0:34:24.320 --> 0:34:32.440 about David or was Saul talking about Saul. That's the 0:34:32.520 --> 0:34:37.279 same thing David's big tall brother said, Eliah. He was 0:34:37.360 --> 0:34:42.279 still salty that Samuel didn't annoy him. Remember Samuel was 0:34:42.280 --> 0:34:45.960 walking around, He's like, oh, the tall one. The tall 0:34:46.040 --> 0:34:50.160 one reminded him of the sul one. So we gravitate 0:34:50.280 --> 0:34:55.799 toward what's familiar, right, even if it's not right. Oh, 0:34:55.880 --> 0:34:57.440 this must be, this must be how it is, This 0:34:57.520 --> 0:35:00.319 must be how it is. And the Lord said, I 0:35:00.320 --> 0:35:04.200 don't look at what you look at. I don't see 0:35:04.200 --> 0:35:09.680 what you see. I don't measure like you measure. I 0:35:09.719 --> 0:35:12.560 don't take stock like you take stock. I don't count 0:35:12.560 --> 0:35:19.800 like you count. What you call small, I call sacred. 0:35:23.960 --> 0:35:29.760 Aren't you glad that what you call small? Your little 0:35:29.800 --> 0:35:34.879 life running around barely getting the to do list done 0:35:34.920 --> 0:35:39.319 on a good day, And I mean barely. I didn't 0:35:39.320 --> 0:35:41.000 even say you got it done well. I just said 0:35:41.000 --> 0:35:42.640 you kind of got it through it enough to call 0:35:42.680 --> 0:35:49.160 it a day. And all of that adds up. TIF 0:35:49.239 --> 0:35:51.560 David was asking about a Rhythm album the other day. 0:35:51.719 --> 0:35:53.840 I sent him a screenshot of every single that Rhythm 0:35:53.840 --> 0:35:57.600 has released. I said, you already made the album. You 0:35:57.680 --> 0:35:59.440 just didn't know it while you're doing it. You've released 0:35:59.440 --> 0:36:02.880 eleven songs. That's an album, But to you, it was small. 0:36:06.719 --> 0:36:12.640 You're already building a legacy in your kids. And if 0:36:12.640 --> 0:36:14.239 your kids are not yet at the stage or age 0:36:14.239 --> 0:36:17.279 where they're telling you thank you, that doesn't matter. It 0:36:17.280 --> 0:36:20.880 doesn't matter. The kids started reminiscing the other day about 0:36:20.880 --> 0:36:23.279 things that we did for them. They remembered stuff I 0:36:23.280 --> 0:36:27.200 didn't remember. They remembered stuff that while I was doing it. 0:36:27.200 --> 0:36:33.799 I was like, you, ungrateful angels. Remember when you took 0:36:33.840 --> 0:36:35.239 us out of school and took us to the thing. 0:36:35.280 --> 0:36:36.960 I'm like, no, I don't remember that. It was a 0:36:37.000 --> 0:36:45.359 blur to me what I thought was small. They were 0:36:45.400 --> 0:36:50.920 getting it. The words we speak, the good ones, the 0:36:50.960 --> 0:36:55.200 bad ones. Sometimes you just say something to somebody and 0:36:55.239 --> 0:36:58.000 you think nothing of it. You tell them, oh, that 0:36:58.040 --> 0:37:02.200 looks good on you. Change their whole day. Even if 0:37:02.200 --> 0:37:03.799 you got to lie to somebody once in a while, 0:37:03.880 --> 0:37:06.359 just take take five seconds and that looks great on you. 0:37:08.760 --> 0:37:10.560 It's like a rehab lie. You know what I'm saying. 0:37:10.560 --> 0:37:12.000 It's like the Lord will forgive you for it. It's 0:37:12.040 --> 0:37:16.399 a greater good kind of issue. But even the little things. 0:37:16.440 --> 0:37:18.120 I was talking to a friend the other day. I said, 0:37:18.160 --> 0:37:20.080 remember when you told me blah blah blah blah blah 0:37:20.120 --> 0:37:24.360 blah blah. And he goes, huh huh. I said, really, 0:37:24.920 --> 0:37:27.319 it was a turning point for my life. He said, yeah, 0:37:27.320 --> 0:37:30.400 that's cool. Don't remember it. I'm glad about it. I 0:37:30.400 --> 0:37:33.920 figure he must be in such the habit of just 0:37:34.040 --> 0:37:39.200 doing the small thing and letting God count and letting 0:37:39.200 --> 0:37:45.520 God do the math. Because God doesn't look at what 0:37:45.560 --> 0:37:49.080 you look at. You look for immediate results. God looks 0:37:49.080 --> 0:37:53.280 for eternal impact. Yeah, God doesn't look at what people 0:37:53.320 --> 0:37:58.439 look at, right God, God does not. God doesn't see 0:37:58.480 --> 0:38:02.680 the situation. He doesn't see the challenge. He doesn't see 0:38:02.840 --> 0:38:05.720 I think the reason David could kill Goliath is because 0:38:05.760 --> 0:38:10.000 he saw him with fresh eyes. Everybody else had been 0:38:10.040 --> 0:38:14.640 out there for forty days. The longer they looked at 0:38:14.640 --> 0:38:18.600 the challenge, the smaller they fell. The smaller God seed, 0:38:18.840 --> 0:38:22.320 the longer they The longer you think about it, whatever 0:38:22.400 --> 0:38:26.280 it is, the bigger it gets, the smaller God gets 0:38:26.280 --> 0:38:30.240 in your mind. On the other hand, when you worship 0:38:30.960 --> 0:38:33.320 like you are right now, this is not a small 0:38:33.400 --> 0:38:36.279 thing that you're spending an hour listening to the Word 0:38:36.320 --> 0:38:40.080 of God. This is not a small thing. This word 0:38:40.239 --> 0:38:45.600 is seed. This seed of this word implanted is able 0:38:45.880 --> 0:38:50.000 to save your soul. It can be grafted into your 0:38:50.120 --> 0:38:53.759 grief and give you joy. It can challenge and read 0:38:53.760 --> 0:39:01.880 direct one word. James compared it to a rudder of 0:39:01.880 --> 0:39:05.480 a ship. The rudder is small, the ship is big. 0:39:06.920 --> 0:39:10.839 The little thing affects the big thing. A horse can 0:39:10.880 --> 0:39:14.719 weigh two thousand pounds, the human tongue weighs less than 0:39:14.719 --> 0:39:17.880 a quarter of a pound. James makes the argument in 0:39:18.000 --> 0:39:21.120 James three that the tongue is to the ship what 0:39:21.160 --> 0:39:23.040 the rudder is. The tongue is to the life, what 0:39:23.080 --> 0:39:26.040 the rudder is to the ship, the tongue is to 0:39:26.280 --> 0:39:29.600 your life, what the bit is to the horse. What 0:39:29.719 --> 0:39:32.840 you call small stuff you just say in anger people 0:39:32.920 --> 0:39:43.080 live with for a decade. What you call small you 0:39:43.120 --> 0:39:46.520 gotta watch what you speak in moments of frustration. My 0:39:46.640 --> 0:39:48.680 mom taught me don't ever tell me when you and 0:39:48.680 --> 0:39:51.200 Holly get in a fight. She told me this before 0:39:51.239 --> 0:39:53.520 I married her. She said, y'all will get over it 0:39:53.560 --> 0:39:56.719 by Tuesday, and I'll still be hating her about it 0:39:56.760 --> 0:39:59.759 on my deathbed, because you're my baby. I don't want 0:39:59.760 --> 0:40:03.920 to know. I thought, that's great advice, because it'll be 0:40:03.960 --> 0:40:10.040 a little thing to y'all. It's small to y'all, but 0:40:10.120 --> 0:40:15.440 it's big to me. That's why I got used to 0:40:15.440 --> 0:40:18.000 get hurt when I'm preached and I go, well, I 0:40:18.040 --> 0:40:19.360 go up to somebody and I'd be like, did you 0:40:19.440 --> 0:40:21.680 like the sermon? Yeah? Yeah, I mean, what'd you get 0:40:21.680 --> 0:40:28.360 out of it? Uh? That part where you said the 0:40:28.400 --> 0:40:33.759 thing about God was you know, doing stuff? I like 0:40:33.840 --> 0:40:39.160 that I was doing stuff. It's like I studied so hard. 0:40:39.200 --> 0:40:43.280 That's what you got out of it. It was small 0:40:43.320 --> 0:40:46.960 to you. There's a sacrifice for me and vice versa. 0:40:47.160 --> 0:40:49.520 There's volunteers in the church, and you start feeling like 0:40:49.680 --> 0:40:52.120 nobody ever even cares i'd do anything. No, that's fine, 0:40:52.280 --> 0:40:54.439 I'm moped. I'll get my mansion in heaven. But deep 0:40:54.480 --> 0:40:59.000 down inside you're wondering, does anybody care? Like j Max 0:40:59.000 --> 0:41:05.480 said that I'm here, does anybody see that I'm here? Oh? 0:41:06.040 --> 0:41:09.240 I know it seems small. I know it seems unappreciated. 0:41:09.360 --> 0:41:11.439 I know it seems like people just trample over top 0:41:11.440 --> 0:41:16.080 of you to something they think is more important, good 0:41:16.120 --> 0:41:25.319 thing that what men call small, God calls big. We 0:41:25.360 --> 0:41:27.879 need to feed this big crowd, Jesus, and they need 0:41:27.920 --> 0:41:31.239 to go away. The crowd is big. Okay, what do 0:41:31.320 --> 0:41:35.319 you have with you? John six ' nine, Get ready 0:41:35.320 --> 0:41:37.160 to shout over the small stuff in your life. Get 0:41:37.200 --> 0:41:40.320 ready to shout over the small assignments. Get ready to shout. 0:41:40.520 --> 0:41:43.080 Don't shout yet, just get ready to shout, here is 0:41:43.120 --> 0:41:50.640 a boy with five what kind of barley loaves? Big 0:41:50.680 --> 0:42:03.480 fat barleylows? Huh, five small barley loaves, two small fish. 0:42:03.560 --> 0:42:05.560 Of all the ink that God needed to use to 0:42:05.600 --> 0:42:08.319 write the Bible, he wanted to make sure you knew 0:42:08.320 --> 0:42:19.520 it was small stuff that he blessed and multiplied. He's tall, 0:42:20.320 --> 0:42:25.080 but no, that one he looks like a king. But no, 0:42:26.320 --> 0:42:33.600 that one's got cool sneakers. But no, you got any Jesse, 0:42:33.680 --> 0:42:35.640 do you have any this is this is Samuel now said, 0:42:35.960 --> 0:42:37.680 do you have any sons you're not telling me about? 0:42:41.640 --> 0:42:46.440 He said, there's the the one that we're hiding from you. 0:42:48.360 --> 0:42:52.840 He's the youngest one. Is that eleven? Yeah, the Hebrew 0:42:52.920 --> 0:42:58.720 doesn't say youngest. It's the smallest. Look it up, test 0:42:58.760 --> 0:43:00.400 me on it. I wish you would. I wish you 0:43:00.400 --> 0:43:06.319 would look it up on a Bible dictionary. Just like 0:43:06.400 --> 0:43:13.040 Bethlehem was the smallest. The one God wanted was the 0:43:13.120 --> 0:43:18.040 small one. Quit telling God you'll do big things for him. 0:43:18.400 --> 0:43:25.200 He don't want it. Quit parading all the stuff in 0:43:25.280 --> 0:43:27.240 front of God that you think will make him proud. 0:43:27.280 --> 0:43:32.799 He's not insecure enough to need to be impressed by us. 0:43:34.239 --> 0:43:39.200 Oh you've got a small loaf. You've got a small fish. 0:43:40.200 --> 0:43:45.320 Now we're in business. Oh you've got a mustard seed faith. 0:43:46.120 --> 0:43:50.560 Oh you have a little strength, now we're in business. 0:43:52.960 --> 0:44:05.000 What Jesse called small Samuel crowned as king because God 0:44:05.160 --> 0:44:10.520 doesn't see what people see, and God doesn't count like 0:44:10.600 --> 0:44:15.600 people count. By the spirit of God, I say to 0:44:15.640 --> 0:44:24.520 someone today, wait for David. There's gonna be temptation in 0:44:24.560 --> 0:44:28.000 your life to always crown the first thing you see 0:44:28.000 --> 0:44:31.880 that looks good, and settle for something that reminds you 0:44:31.960 --> 0:44:35.640 of Saul, and get in bad relationships just so you 0:44:35.719 --> 0:44:38.799 won't be alone, and take shortcuts just so you can 0:44:38.800 --> 0:44:41.840 get it now. But if you can hear what I'm saying, 0:44:41.880 --> 0:44:47.400 by the spirit of God, wait for David. He's not 0:44:47.480 --> 0:44:49.880 the one that you see who's paraded out in front 0:44:49.880 --> 0:44:51.960 of you. He's not the one that makes sense. He's 0:44:52.000 --> 0:44:54.480 not the one that reminds you of how it's always been. 0:44:55.760 --> 0:45:00.000 He's the one keeping those little sheep in the field. 0:45:01.680 --> 0:45:06.400 He's the smallest one. God's asking like he's in the 0:45:06.440 --> 0:45:12.279 department store trying on stuff. You got anything smaller. I 0:45:12.320 --> 0:45:15.799 appreciate all your big faith. I appreciate you want to 0:45:15.800 --> 0:45:17.680 make a difference. So I appreciate you want to break through. 0:45:17.680 --> 0:45:22.520 I appreciate you got a small prayer, you got a 0:45:22.600 --> 0:45:24.439 detail of your life you think I don't care about. 0:45:24.480 --> 0:45:30.160 Know what you call small is big to me. And 0:45:30.200 --> 0:45:35.759 what you think is so big. I got that. The 0:45:35.800 --> 0:45:40.200 stuff that you're up at night about, I was working 0:45:40.239 --> 0:45:42.720 on that, but you keep getting in my way go 0:45:43.200 --> 0:45:52.960 to sleep. That's the little thing. But the little thing 0:45:53.040 --> 0:45:56.160 that you think doesn't matter. Your character, your integrity, the 0:45:56.200 --> 0:45:58.560 way you treat people when no one's looking, the way 0:45:58.600 --> 0:46:03.879 you carry out your responsibilities, that's big to me. So God, 0:46:04.760 --> 0:46:11.120 show me what's big to you that's been too small 0:46:11.160 --> 0:46:16.479 to me, what I've been neglecting. Oh, it doesn't matter 0:46:16.520 --> 0:46:19.080 if I say I'm sorry, Oh, it doesn't matter. It 0:46:19.120 --> 0:46:22.799 doesn't matter. It does matter. What's small to us as 0:46:22.840 --> 0:46:26.800 big to God. I never try to text my wife 0:46:26.840 --> 0:46:30.399 like she's my assistant. I always try to remember that's 0:46:30.440 --> 0:46:33.600 my wife, because if our communication gets down to just 0:46:33.640 --> 0:46:36.759 getting stuff done, I feel like that's very dangerous to 0:46:36.840 --> 0:46:39.719 our love for one another. Always try to talk to 0:46:39.760 --> 0:46:42.520 her like a human being, even on text. And I'm 0:46:42.560 --> 0:46:44.840 sure I miss the mark sometimes, but that's important to me. 0:46:45.160 --> 0:46:47.440 Oh that's so small. Why are you bringing that up 0:46:47.480 --> 0:46:50.520 at the end of the sermon, Because what is small 0:46:50.680 --> 0:46:56.880 to us is big to God and marriage As he 0:46:57.000 --> 0:47:05.160 rode one text at a time, what's small to you? 0:47:05.560 --> 0:47:08.040 That little thought that you give place to Oh, it's 0:47:08.080 --> 0:47:10.440 not hurting anybody. It's just a thought, just a thought. 0:47:12.280 --> 0:47:14.480 Everything that is seen is made from things that are 0:47:14.520 --> 0:47:19.919 not visible. Hebrews teaches us that you are one thought 0:47:19.960 --> 0:47:24.240 away from ruining your life. You are one thought away 0:47:24.280 --> 0:47:26.919 from moving on into a great future that God has 0:47:27.000 --> 0:47:32.520 planned for you. No, it won't be the big thing 0:47:33.520 --> 0:47:35.400 that will stop you from becoming what God wants you 0:47:35.440 --> 0:47:39.040 to be. He'll do that part. Yeah, it's what you 0:47:39.120 --> 0:47:49.040 call small. Yeah, what you call small? Samuel said, sin 0:47:49.160 --> 0:47:53.560 for the small one. That's the one I want. God said, 0:47:53.560 --> 0:47:57.879 go to Bethlehem, the small one. What step is God 0:47:57.960 --> 0:48:02.680 calling me to take next in my life? The small one? 0:48:02.920 --> 0:48:07.440 But I thought we had a big God. Maybe I 0:48:07.440 --> 0:48:11.240 should preach a sermon called the God of the Small, 0:48:14.960 --> 0:48:18.920 just to let you know that God sees little. You 0:48:22.200 --> 0:48:24.720 be so good. If I could know your name right now, 0:48:25.520 --> 0:48:27.719 But I don't need to, because somehow, some way, God 0:48:27.800 --> 0:48:31.759 is connecting to you right now to let you know 0:48:31.800 --> 0:48:37.360 he sees it and it's significant. You call it small 0:48:40.239 --> 0:48:44.080 compared to God. None of us are that big and strong, 0:48:46.440 --> 0:48:50.319 But I promise you from where God sits, there is 0:48:50.400 --> 0:48:58.520 nothing small about your faithfulness, nothing small about your integrity. 0:48:59.200 --> 0:49:00.959 And I just want to say this to someone who's 0:49:01.000 --> 0:49:07.279 been flirting with the idea of suicide. You can't die 0:49:08.000 --> 0:49:10.200 because even though you feel like your life doesn't matter 0:49:10.320 --> 0:49:16.239 right now, if you don't break this generationally, if you 0:49:16.239 --> 0:49:19.279 don't stand up and decide to live and survive and 0:49:19.360 --> 0:49:22.560 move forward and find a way into the next season 0:49:22.600 --> 0:49:26.120 of your life, you will pass along the same spirit 0:49:26.160 --> 0:49:31.279 that has tormented you. And that's not just if you're 0:49:31.320 --> 0:49:34.239 on the edge. That's anybody who feels like quitting, not 0:49:34.400 --> 0:49:36.839 just quitting life, but quitting the thing that God has 0:49:36.880 --> 0:49:42.360 called you to. It's not small. You call it small 0:49:42.400 --> 0:49:46.000 because you can't see it for what it is. You 0:49:46.040 --> 0:49:48.279 call it small because you haven't lived to the other 0:49:48.400 --> 0:49:52.560 side of it yet. You call Bethlehem small because you 0:49:52.600 --> 0:49:57.560 don't yet know that kings come from Bethlehem, that great 0:49:57.640 --> 0:50:01.560 things come from small decisions, and that breakthroughs come from 0:50:01.600 --> 0:50:04.839 small beginnings. So I want you to stand right now, 0:50:04.880 --> 0:50:09.640 and lift your hands to the God of the small loaves, 0:50:12.040 --> 0:50:16.719 to the God of the small fish, to the God 0:50:16.719 --> 0:50:23.040 of the smallest, the smallest need that you have. He knows, 0:50:23.040 --> 0:50:26.799 and he sees, and he cares. Jesus taught us that 0:50:26.840 --> 0:50:31.560 He numbers the hairs on our head. We think God 0:50:31.640 --> 0:50:34.120 is only someone we can come to with the big things. 0:50:35.880 --> 0:50:42.360 I want to tell you that he cares about the minutia. 0:50:42.520 --> 0:50:47.880 Wait for David. I know you're tempted to replace Saul 0:50:48.000 --> 0:50:52.279 and go back to the things which are not meat, 0:50:52.360 --> 0:50:56.239 are not bread, are not water. Do not satisfy, but 0:50:56.320 --> 0:51:08.839 wait for David, for David, wait for the unseen. Thank 0:51:08.880 --> 0:51:14.239 you Lord that as I have preached today, people have 0:51:15.440 --> 0:51:17.880 once again been reminded and stirred up in small ways 0:51:17.920 --> 0:51:20.279 to remember the dignity of their one life and their 0:51:20.280 --> 0:51:24.480 one act of faith. There's no prayer that we can 0:51:24.520 --> 0:51:29.719 pray that is too quiet for you to hear. There's 0:51:29.760 --> 0:51:31.840 nothing we're worried about that we can mention that you 0:51:31.880 --> 0:51:36.000 would be too busy to listen to. That's amazing about you. 0:51:36.000 --> 0:51:40.600 You're a big God. When we bring all of our 0:51:40.640 --> 0:51:45.280 problems into your presence, something amazing happens. They look smaller 0:51:45.320 --> 0:51:48.920 to us. We want to look at what we're going 0:51:48.920 --> 0:51:54.560 through from Heaven's perspective today. What you call small we 0:51:54.640 --> 0:51:58.680 place under our feet. What you call big will have 0:51:58.719 --> 0:52:02.680 first place in our life. Enable us Lord to seek 0:52:02.680 --> 0:52:09.040 first your kingdom, and all these little things will be 0:52:09.120 --> 0:52:14.640 at it as well. In Jesus' name, I prayer, Amen. 0:52:17.760 --> 0:52:21.279 That prayer was for you. We're praying for you. There's 0:52:21.320 --> 0:52:23.719 nothing our God can't do. And I just want to 0:52:23.719 --> 0:52:26.239 thank you for every little thing that you do. You know, 0:52:26.680 --> 0:52:30.359 we have people who share these messages, who give to 0:52:30.400 --> 0:52:32.479 this ministry, who are really a part of our church, 0:52:32.520 --> 0:52:35.560 and it takes every single one of us giving what 0:52:35.600 --> 0:52:37.960 we have for the gospel to go forward. Just want 0:52:38.000 --> 0:52:40.839 to say thank you. Make sure you're subscribed, make sure 0:52:41.360 --> 0:52:43.919 what else is just let us know that you're here. 0:52:44.400 --> 0:52:46.000 Most of all, we want to be here for you. 0:52:46.280 --> 0:52:48.839 And so until next time, May the Lord bless you, 0:52:49.120 --> 0:52:52.000 keep you, make his face shine upon you, be gracious 0:52:52.040 --> 0:52:54.400 to you. May the Lord turn his face toward you 0:52:54.920 --> 0:52:57.200 and give you his peace. I'm