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Call of David - Immersed Series
37 Plays14 days ago
In this sermon, Ridley Barron preached about the concept of being ordinary people called to serve an extraordinary God. He emphasized the importance of focusing on the condition of our hearts over outward appearances or achievements, using the biblical story of David as an illustration. Barron encouraged the congregation to recognize their everyday roles and gifts as opportunities for divine purpose, reminding them that true significance and exceptionalism come not from human accolades but from being empowered by the Holy Spirit for God's glory. With inviting humility, he urged listeners to embrace their ordinariness as a platform for God's extraordinary work and to remain open to wherever He calls them, whether in public or private spaces.
Timestamps:
00:00 "Gospel Conversations Define Lasting Impact"
03:05 "Samuel: Last Judge, First Prophet"
06:11 Saul's Disobedience and Samuel's Rebuke
11:13 Samuel's Arrival: Fear and Sacrifice
13:39 "Embrace and Serve Your Faith"
16:24 "Prepare Internally for God's Use"
20:54 "True Humility Over Social Prestige"
26:10 "Parental Delusion in Sports Abilities"
26:54 Ordinary to Extraordinary Through God
31:42 "Divine Purpose in Everyday Tasks"
34:00 "Embracing the Extraordinary"
38:14 "Stop Excuses, Embrace the Call"
41:03 "Purposeful Callings Explored"
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Transcript
Community and Mission Work
00:00:02
Speaker
I want to tell you how much I love Grove Hill Church. Just for exactly what you saw up there, the the willingness to go to the ends of the earth. Last week, 20-plus people in Guatemala. Yesterday, 100-plus Grovers spread out from Petersburg all the way to Columbia and back to Chapel Hill.
00:00:19
Speaker
All those beautiful yellow shirts everywhere serving
Understanding Gospel Conversations
00:00:23
Speaker
this community. But it's a reminder to us, as we talk about here frequently as we are followers of Jesus Christ we are called to be sent right it's not about getting on a plane and going to Guatemala although some of us are called to do that it's not even about giving up a Saturday morning to go serve people although many of us are called and compelled to do that it's about living every single day of your lives recognizing that the only things that are done for Christ and his kingdom are the things that going to last
00:00:50
Speaker
And so we can be missionaries, we are missionaries, by every single day just waking up and saying, okay, God, where do you want me to be Jesus to somebody this week? Where can you put me in somebody's path so that I can have a gospel conversation with somebody?
00:01:04
Speaker
I was reminded by my staff this week, I don't talk enough about gospel conversations and what they mean. And many of you who are new to our congregation may be going, what is he talking about when he says a gospel conversation? Well, quite simply, a gospel conversation is just any opportunity you have to talk about Christ, Christ's kingdom, and what Christ has done for you.
00:01:22
Speaker
It might start off with a simple, hey, what are you doing on Sunday that turns into an invitation to come to church and hear about your Jesus? It could be serving somebody and them asking, hey, why did you do that? Saying, hey, well, let me tell you about the Jesus I do this for.
00:01:36
Speaker
It could be any number of things. But any opportunity just to have a conversation with people about what Jesus is doing or has done in your life is a gospel conversation. And it leads people closer to the cross.
Mission Trip Announcement
00:01:47
Speaker
And that's what we're here for, right? If you're interested in being part of Guatemala in September, right after this service over in Portable No. 1, go over, check it out. There's an informational meeting, no commitment required yet, just to hear more details about what's going on.
00:02:00
Speaker
It'll be a great place for you to engage and be a part of that.
Summary of Judges and Transition to 1 Samuel
00:02:04
Speaker
Last week, as we were going through our journey in the Bible, we went through the book of Judges. i started off the first service at 8 o'clock this morning and saying we we preached through the book of Judges. I can't really say that because it was one sermon in the book of Judges.
00:02:17
Speaker
But um truthfully, the sentence that we we read, the scripture that we read last week, the verse encompasses the entire book of Judges. It said, in those days there was no king, everyone did as they saw fit.
00:02:32
Speaker
And that's pretty much ah summary of the book of Judges. It was the darkest period in Israel's history, and even to the point where the last verse in the book of Judges is That same verse, everyone did as they saw fit.
00:02:45
Speaker
And as we saw last week, without any kind of authority, without any kind of teaching, without any kind of commands or instructions or principles, the world falls back into chaos.
Israel Demands a King
00:02:55
Speaker
Towards the end of Judges, though, we have the arrival of a new character, which leads us into a new book. If you've got your Bibles, turn to 1 Samuel this morning. We'll be there in chapter 16.
00:03:05
Speaker
And the book is named after the guy I'm talking about. Samuel is the last of the judges and really one of the first of the prominent prophets that served the nation of Israel once they entered the promised land.
00:03:18
Speaker
Samuel is called to be the voice piece for God. He speaks from God to the people. He even served in the temple from the i mean like the earliest of ages. Once he was weaned from his mother, he was taken to the temple where he served God over the course of his entire life.
00:03:35
Speaker
Just like all of us, he was an imperfect man, but he was a man who was devoted to doing what God asked him to do. 1 Samuel 8, which is a little bit little about a third of the way through the book,
00:03:49
Speaker
Israel comes to Samuel and says, we want to be like everybody else. you hear how tragic that is? God says, I've chosen you to be my people. And they say, we want to be like everybody else.
00:04:02
Speaker
Talk about your demotions. And this is literally what they asked for. And Samuel says, well, what do you mean? They say, well, we want a king, just like everybody else around us. We need a king. And God reminds Samuel, when Samuel comes to him, he says, listen, I'm supposed to be their king.
00:04:18
Speaker
That's the way this arrangement was supposed to work out. I'm the one that's been providing for them all the way through this time. I'm the one that's keeping my promises. They are the ones that have rebelled against me.
Saul's Disobedience and Rejection
00:04:27
Speaker
want king? they want a king?
00:04:29
Speaker
And as has been the case so many times in the stories we've read to this point, God finally relents and says, hey, you asked for this, I'm going to give it to you. Lesson number one today, be very careful what you pray for because God might just give it to you.
00:04:46
Speaker
So God says to Samuel, go, I'm going to let you anoint a king. Samuel goes and anoints a guy by the name of Saul who becomes the first official king of all of Israel. Saul is a train w wreck.
00:04:59
Speaker
In fact, Samuel's selection of Saul primarily was because of one characteristic trait. He was taller than everybody else. Right? Clint, you could be our king.
00:05:11
Speaker
We need a tall man to be our king. So yeah, I mean, there was more to it. He was good looking, strong, physical stature, those kinds of things. That's not the reason you want a guy to be your king, though. but And what happens is his character comes out.
00:05:24
Speaker
While Saul looked the part, he was more concerned about himself than he was God's glory. So over and over again, we see Saul tripping over his own fame and his own recognition to the point where chapter 15 in Samuel, we have this story where God says, I'm going to help you defeat the Amalekites. These were people who were kind of thorns in the flesh of Israel for a long time.
00:05:50
Speaker
God goes to them and says, i will help you defeat them. But here's the deal, Saul. When you defeat them, I want you to wipe them out completely. destroy the people, destroy their cows, destroy their sheep, destroy their goats, and kill the king.
00:06:03
Speaker
I don't want them remaining because they will be a problem for you. Saul says, great, got it. God does his part. The Malachites are defeated, but Saul doesn't destroy them all.
00:06:16
Speaker
And Samuel comes up, the prophet, and he comes up, and this is one of my favorite parts of the story because I love the sassiness of Samuel in this moment. He comes up to Saul and he says, Saul, how are things going? He goes, great, we won the battle, did exactly what God asked us to do. He goes, oh really, then why do I hear sheep in the background?
00:06:34
Speaker
whats What's the problem with this picture, Saul? Well, so me Saul immediately admits that the reason he did what he did was because he feared the opinion of the people more than he feared the opinion of God.
00:06:48
Speaker
Maybe this is what the proverbs writer of Proverbs had in mind in 29-25 when he said this, "...the fear of mankind is a snare, but the one who trusts in the Lord is protected." Can I just say this to you people? Anytime leader who is appointed by God fears man more than he fears God, you've got a problem.
00:07:08
Speaker
That's true then, it's true now. It's true in this church. Your leaders in this church, you should pray daily that your pastor, your staff, your elders fear God more than they fear the voice of mankind.
00:07:21
Speaker
Because we have too many churches who are running their churches based on the latest opinion poll, the latest trends in culture, the latest whatever. And what you need, what Grove Hill needs, is men who are selected and and who are directed by the fear and the respect they have for God Almighty.
00:07:42
Speaker
So, God says, okay, I have rejected Saul. He's not doing what I've asked him to do. Didn't figure he would, but I've rejected him. And I've decided I want somebody else.
David's Anointment
00:07:53
Speaker
So we come to David. David, who will become probably one of the greatest stories in the Old Testament, at least, if not the whole scripture. He was described as a man after God's own heart.
00:08:06
Speaker
But his entry into the story of God is hardly impressive. He is a very, very, very ordinary guy.
00:08:19
Speaker
Samuel decided to look for a king at the instruction of God, and he was looking for a guy who would be faithful to God and to God's people. Someone who would trust God and teach Israel to do the same. Someone who would use his power to bless and to serve others and would earn the love and the loyalty of his people.
00:08:41
Speaker
So as we join the story today in 1 Samuel 16, Samuel is very discouraged because of Saul's rebellion. And God comes to him in verse 1 and says, How long are you going to mourn for Saul since I have rejected him as king over Israel?
00:08:59
Speaker
want to stop there for just a second, and I want to challenge you to think about something. How often do you and I mourn over things that God has intentionally removed from our lives?
00:09:10
Speaker
People, material things, successes, promotions, things that God says, you don't need this in your life because it's not getting you closer to me. Relationships that we need to throw away or move away from.
00:09:24
Speaker
First reaction for most of us is, but isn't God a loving God? Doesn't he love everybody? Absolutely. Aren't we commanded to love everybody? Yes, but just because you love everybody doesn't mean they have to be in your life.
00:09:36
Speaker
And there are some people, some things, some events that God takes out of our lives and we fall into depression when God says you should be in celebration because I have taken away from you something that would have harmed you.
00:09:48
Speaker
And we can't get lost in that. So he comes to Saul and he says, so i mean to Samuel, I'll probably we'll do that about a thousand times a day. He comes to Samuel, he says, Samuel, get up, dude. this is This is not a time to be mourning. I've got something I need you to do.
00:10:02
Speaker
He says, fill your horn with oil and go. i am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected a king from his sons. Samuel asked, how can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me. What he was about to do was literally treason.
00:10:17
Speaker
For him to anoint another king while Saul is still on the throne? Absolutely against the law. and The Lord answered, take a young cow with you and say, i have come to sacrifice to the Lord.
00:10:29
Speaker
Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let you know what you are to do. You are to anoint for me the one that I indicate to you. Now, I've been asked by people, was God telling saul Samuel to lie here, to make up a story? No.
00:10:44
Speaker
It was common for the prophets to do this in other villages, to take a sacrifice and to do these kinds of things. God just uses a regular event to do something a little extraordinary in what is about to happen happen here, okay?
00:10:57
Speaker
So it says, samuel did what the lord directed and went to bath bethlehem when the elders of the town met him they trembled and asked do you come in peace normally when samu would show up it was a cool thing i mean to have this great prophet come to your town was a blessing it was really wonderful so why are these people shaking and scared at this moment Well, because if you go back to the end of chapter 15, the end of that story, it says that Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
00:11:28
Speaker
Okay, if you know this story and you know that Samuel has just finished butchering the king of Agag and he shows up at your house, you're going, what's next? Am I next on the agenda? You know?
00:11:40
Speaker
So they're a little afraid and they ask, do you come in peace? And he says, in peace, he replied, I've come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.
00:11:50
Speaker
Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and he invited them to the sacrifice. When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, Certainly the Lord's anointed one is here before him.
00:12:02
Speaker
Samuel is about to make the same exact mistake. He looks at Eliab and says, He's a good-looking dude. I bet he could do this king thing, right? And God says, No, no, no, no. I'm going to save you from a really bad mistake again.
00:12:15
Speaker
He says to Samuel, um Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.
Ordinary to Extraordinary: God's Purpose
00:12:30
Speaker
Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. The Lord hasn't chosen this one either, Samuel said. Then Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, the Lord hasn't chosen this one either.
00:12:42
Speaker
After Jesse presented seven of his sons to him, Samuel told Jesse, the Lord hasn't chosen any of these. Basically what we have is a Cinderella story going on. Every one of the brothers is coming on and trying on the slipper of kingship and it's just not working. It's not fitting.
00:12:58
Speaker
Samuel asked him, are these all the sons you have there is still the youngest he answered but right now he's tending the sheetep samuel told jesse send for him we won't sit down to eat until he gets here so jesse sent for him He had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance.
00:13:18
Speaker
Then the Lord said, anoint him, for he is the one. So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David from that day forward.
00:13:30
Speaker
Then Samuel set out and went to Ramah. want to talk to you today about some things from this story that I hope will encourage your heart. I want you to hear something today. If you do not have a relationship with Jesus Christ, if he is not the king of your life, the Lord of your life, the one who sits on the throne of your life, that is the first order of business for you here today.
00:13:53
Speaker
You need to correct what is an eternally bad decision for you. You need to recognize that Jesus Christ is the only hope that you have for a restored relationship with the Creator God.
00:14:06
Speaker
For the rest of you, you need to understand that you have once been called from darkness into light, but now you are called again to serve the Creator God that you have bowed your knee to by taking your talents, your gifts, and giving them to God and being used by Him, sometimes where you are, sometimes where He's preparing you to go.
00:14:27
Speaker
You with me? Get ready because we're fixing go on a ride here. All right? First thing I want you to see this morning is that, obviously, God looks on the heart. And for most of us, this is really good news because there ain't much to look at on the outside.
00:14:43
Speaker
Amen? Right? I knew there was somebody who related to me here. Listen, most of us have tried to measure up to the world's success, and we just don't. We constantly feel like we're having to do something else to earn approval or to match up or to fit in.
00:14:58
Speaker
We want the perfect body. We want a successful career. We want a conflict-free family. We want everybody to look at us and go, oh, look at that sweet little family that's so perfect. Good gracious, that ain't ever going to happen.
00:15:10
Speaker
Right? But God is not concerned with your earthly success. While our outward appearance may not be top-notch, our heart's condition is what God really is focused on. Now, let me ask you something.
00:15:24
Speaker
Be real honest with yourself this morning. and How much time do you spend working on your heart compared to how much time you spend working on the outside? We spend lifetimes working on our resumes, don't we?
00:15:38
Speaker
We spend lifetimes trying to earn awards and rewards and promotions. Some of us spend 30 minutes to an hour a day working out the body that's going to deteriorate.
00:15:51
Speaker
Some of you haven't spent an hour this year working on it, but for some of us, there's more, right? We stand in the mirror and we spend hours putting on makeup or tightening our face and losing oils and lotions.
00:16:04
Speaker
All those things are going to go away. They're going to go away. ah feel like there's signals being sent across the room while I'm talking.
00:16:14
Speaker
But think about it. How much time do you spend sitting before God and saying, God, i I know the outside is wasting away and the inside is what you really care about. What do you need to do in me before you do something on me?
00:16:29
Speaker
what What do you need to do in me before you do something through me? Some of you have been sitting here for years going, I want to be used by God and I don't know why he won't call me. It's because he is calling you.
00:16:39
Speaker
But the first thing you got to do is go into the classroom for orientation. You've got to get your life redirected to a place where he can use you because he won't use you until you're ready to be used.
00:16:54
Speaker
And so you're working and and trying all your best to do all this stuff on the outside. And God goes, really, I'm just concerned about your heart. How many of us spend hundreds, thousands of dollars sending our kids to the best training programs, the best schools, the best travel teams, the best whatever, trying to get them ready for all those things, and yet we don't spend time working on the Word of God in their heart?
00:17:23
Speaker
Again, none of those things are bad. None of those things are bad. But there comes a place where you have to go, of whack? I out of whack? Am I way out of balance?
00:17:36
Speaker
My kids spent 25 hours this week working on being the best clarinet player band, but they we haven't spent five minutes together talking about the Word of God?
00:17:47
Speaker
There's a problem with that picture. and and And the reason we're that way with our kids is because we're not even that way with ourselves.
00:17:54
Speaker
Most of us, most of us, because I asked Wednesday night, and i think John actually asked Wednesday night the Bible study, how many of you are caught up on the reading? Oh, well, I've fallen behind. How many of you have fallen behind on eating dinner this week?
00:18:09
Speaker
Not a one of you. You made time for what was important to you. How many of you fallen behind on catching up on Yellowstone or whatever your show is this week? Some of you will sit and binge watch for days where they have to pry you off the couch because you've been sitting there that long watching a TV show, but you can't find time to get in God's Word.
00:18:31
Speaker
Okay, let's move to number two.
00:18:35
Speaker
Good news for all of us, including your pastor, David is an ordinary guy. David is very, very ordinary. Two things I'll point out just to give you an example why I say that. The question of whether or not he really is fit to be king. Number one, he's a shepherd.
00:18:51
Speaker
Okay? Shepherds in that day were typically either slaves, social rejects, or the runt of the family. And in this case, that's what David was. He was the baby, and so he was given this and assignment.
00:19:03
Speaker
And if you don't think that didn't matter at that point in time that he was just the runt, go back to the story. Samuel says, hey, I've seen seven of your sons. Is that all of them? And you can just picture Jesse going, one, two, three, four. Oh, yeah, I forgot that that kid out in the field.
00:19:18
Speaker
Yeah, he's out there. And Samuel says, hey you need to bring him in because I wanted to see all of them. And so David comes in. And the second reason we know that he is very, very ordinary is because of the way his father describes him here.
00:19:34
Speaker
First of all, he says, there is still the youngest. That word in Hebrew literally means he is the runt of the family. How would you like that description? But going even further, that description at the very end where it says in verse 12, he had beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance, we would cast him as the big, rugged Hollywood star.
00:19:57
Speaker
But what that phrase literally means as it's describing him is, oh, he's not much of a warrior. He's too cute. It was an insult to David. It wasn't meant to be a compliment. David was fair-skinned. He was too cute. you know Picture chubby little cheeks. or whatever you know That's the guy they're talking about. We're not talking about a great warrior who's about to lead the nation of Israel.
00:20:21
Speaker
Now it's easy to rush past this fact, especially if we know the whole story of David, because we know all of those extraordinary events that happened in his life. But what we need to understand is that david David became very extraordinary because every extraordinary event in his life was in spite of his ordinariness.
00:20:43
Speaker
Not because he was exceptional, but because he was very common and God can use common people to do uncommon things.
00:20:55
Speaker
David had access to the power of an extraordinary God primarily because he didn't think he was all that special.
Character over Accomplishments
00:21:02
Speaker
Our society today wants us to be more like Saul than it does to be like David.
00:21:07
Speaker
The first question you're asked is, where does you where's your work? What do you do? right We identify with the things we do. We identify with the things we are rather than the condition of our heart.
00:21:23
Speaker
Our society pushes us to be like that, and sadly, the church has become that way. What do i mean by that? Well, we've Christianized and sanitized our promotion of accomplishments.
00:21:37
Speaker
Somebody writes a good book about Jesus and suddenly they're elevated and put on a pedestal and they're given a podcast and they're given an Instagram feed and suddenly we think they're this amazing teacher about God. And some of them are, but many times I'm afraid that they find themselves to be bigger than they really are.
00:21:56
Speaker
Christian artist, writes a good song, sings a good song, and suddenly we worship them for their music, for their voice, for their instrumental abilities. We worship for all those things, and suddenly we've elevated them to the place where we're worshiping them rather than the God they sent us to worship.
00:22:14
Speaker
And we can get so caught up in these things and, again, present our resume over and over to God, and God says, I'm not concerned with your resumes.
00:22:27
Speaker
Shocking news for you this morning. In a very profound sense, none of you are special.
00:22:35
Speaker
Feel encouraged. Have a good day.
00:22:40
Speaker
You're not. Make no mistake about it, we are fearfully, wonderfully made in God's image, which means we are all on equal ground before God. Every single one of us, red and yellow, black and white, they are all precious in His sight.
00:22:56
Speaker
This may not make you feel special, but the gospel was not written to make you feel special. The gospel was written to remind you that you're without Jesus, not special at all.
00:23:08
Speaker
You're ordinary. You're common.
00:23:14
Speaker
You're unlovely. You're broken.
00:23:19
Speaker
You see, God is special. We aren't.
00:23:24
Speaker
We make much of him because he makes something out of us. We are ordinary and accepting this is huge because, again, shocking news to the world.
00:23:38
Speaker
Christianity is just the world's largest collection of nobodies worshiping a very great big somebody.
00:23:47
Speaker
Third thing I want us to learn. Ordinary people are made extraordinary by God's spirit for his purposes. Ordinary people are made extraordinary by God's Spirit for His purpose. You see, the Holy Spirit makes the extraordinary possible.
00:24:01
Speaker
Joseph, all because of the Holy Spirit. Gideon, because of the Holy Spirit. Samson, because of the Holy Spirit. Moses, because of the Holy Spirit. Even the early church, after Jesus leaves this earth, all the way through the book of Acts, every accomplishment because of the Holy Spirit.
00:24:19
Speaker
That's why Zechariah the prophet wrote in Zechariah 4, verse 6, these words. He said, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by strength or by might, but by my spirit.
00:24:33
Speaker
You see, it's only when you stop trying to be like Saul that God can be extraordinary inside you. There can only be one person who's greatest in your life.
00:24:46
Speaker
You are God.
00:24:50
Speaker
Now, this is a challenging thought. This is a challenging thought because most of you, just like me, have been fed a steady stream all your life of how special you are.
00:25:02
Speaker
Right? It started when you were a kid. Your mom and dad told you you were the most amazing thing in the world. You're not. Love your mom and daddy, but they lied to you. You're no more special than the person sitting next to you.
00:25:13
Speaker
Now, in their eyes, to them, yes, you're unique, you're different. But as far as the outli of the world outlay of the world, all of us are very, very ordinary, very, very common.
00:25:26
Speaker
But we have been taught all our lives by teachers and parents and coaches. How many educators I got in here? Have you ever had that moment where somebody came to you and said, oh, my child could never do anything like that?
00:25:40
Speaker
My child's never made a grade like that until you became their teacher. all your fault, right? I have coached for years. Ever since I stopped playing the games myself, I have coached as much as I could, whether it was at schools or, you know, in volunteers and leagues. I love coaching, and I also love it when every parent comes to tell me their child's the best kid on the team.
00:26:02
Speaker
And you want to go, oh, my word, open your eyes before you walk into traffic and get Right? This is just, your no your kid no. Your kid wouldn't recognize the difference between a home run and a three-point shot, and you're trying to tell me they're the best baseball player out here.
00:26:18
Speaker
When I was young and sassy, one time, a parent came to me and said, hey, what do I need to do to make him a better ball player? I said, the best thing you could do for your son as a baseball player is buy him a piano.
00:26:31
Speaker
He is not any good. he doesn't know what to do with the bat or the glove. It's best if you just quit trying to feed him these lies. And many of us are running dead end into a wall over and over again trying to live out something that was projected on us, not by God, but by some well-meaning person who says, they're ugly as all, get out, but let's make them a beauty queen.
00:26:54
Speaker
That wasn't literal, okay? I'm just saying that as an example. We do that over and over and over again when the best thing we can say to our children is, you are ordinary until the Spirit of God arrives in you, and then you become something exceptional.
00:27:12
Speaker
wish we could get that. The world tries to tell us all that we're all so great and so awesome. How dare us question the the talents, the character of anybody.
00:27:25
Speaker
And the gospel says, for all of of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. And without God's grace, the eternal destination for us all is death. And the only life that comes is from an exceptional God who grabs ordinary people and turns them into extraordinary things.
00:27:47
Speaker
this is why This is why David, who gets anointed as the king of Israel, still has the ability to write a very familiar psalm.
00:27:59
Speaker
Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I have what I need because the Lord is my shepherd. Not because of what I've done, but because the Lord is my shepherd. Catch the language here. Listen to this.
00:28:12
Speaker
He lets me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He renews my life. He leads me along the right path for his name's sake. In other words, I can't do any of this without him.
00:28:23
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I can't make it without him.
Dependence on God
00:28:29
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He sees himself as a dumb sheep. Welcome to the flock.
00:28:36
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You see, every predator in the world can kill a sheep.
00:28:42
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Think about it. Sheep are or the one animal out of all of the animal kingdom that really just can't, there's no defensive mechanism. Okay? So if a sheep makes it, who has to get the credit?
00:28:54
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shepherd. shepherd.
00:28:58
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If a sheep survives, the shepherd has to get credit. If a sheep makes it into old age, he can't look at all the other sheep and it's because I'm shifty.
00:29:10
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He can't look at them and camouflage. Have you ever seen sheep on the hillside? They stand out everywhere for miles. Why? White against green. Just no way of hiding you.
00:29:22
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So if a sheep makes it, it's because they got a really good shepherd. And the only reason you and I are here today is because the Lord is my shepherd and I have nothing I need.
00:29:39
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Next, God uses pastures as training grounds. God uses pastures as training grounds. You see, David is anointed as king in this story. And what happens next is not training sessions on how to be a king.
00:29:54
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There's no press conference. There's no big media day to say, hey, here's the new king of Israel. It says that David is anointed as king, and the very next scene we see, he's back in the field with the sheep.
00:30:10
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And then the next scenes of his life come from either the pasture or a cave where he's running from a maniacal king who wants to kill him. The reason we don't see much of David during this period is because it would be like reading the back of your shampoo bottle.
00:30:25
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Lather, rinse, repeat. Lather, rinse, repeat. For David, it's get up, sheep, go to bed. Get up, sheep, go to bed.
00:30:37
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So why would we even talk about this guy? Because it's there in the pasture where David learned the greatest skills of his life. So that when the day came and God called him out of the field, he was ready to enter the throne room.
00:30:58
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Slingshot.
00:31:00
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Learned it in the field. And we might go, well, what in the world does a king need with a slingshot? Just in case a giant comes along.
00:31:11
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What about his courage? Lions and tigers and bears, oh my. They're everywhere. Humility? Yeah, it's hard to be very proud when you're sitting amongst sheep in a field by yourself.
00:31:26
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And this is why the psalmist in chapter 78 would write these words about David. He chose David as his servant and took him from the sheep pens. He brought him from tending ewes to be shepherd over his people, Jacob, over Israel, his inheritance.
00:31:42
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He shepherded them with a pure heart and guided them with his skillful hands. By the way, all of verse 72, God's work, not David's.
00:31:58
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And guys, today the encouragement for you, I want you to hear this, is that God still does this today. Takes ordinary people and makes them extraordinary in his hands.
00:32:12
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Stay-at-home moms, people working at dead-end jobs, students in a classroom. This is why Paul, hundreds of years later, would write Colossians 3.23 where he says, Whatever you do, do it from the heart as something that's done for the Lord and not for people.
00:32:32
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So if you're sweeping the hallway at work, it ought to be the cleanest hallway the world has ever seen. If you're changing paper towels in the bathroom, they should be stacked nice and neat and high.
00:32:43
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And if your boss tells you to go out back and wash his car, you should say, How many times? Because I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for God. And what I'm doing will be used by God for his glory, not for my own.
00:32:59
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You know one of the things I love about your church staff here? This may surprise some of you. I'm actually the only one that's trained to be a church staff member. Kyle? Kyle was trained to arrest teenagers, not lead them through the word of God.
00:33:14
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And he's done both. John? John was working for the city of Laverne. He was doing things that city workers do. Might have led a Bible study every now and then, but I don't know if it was really on his radar to be what he's doing today. If it was, he might have run in the other direction.
00:33:36
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Lori, probably the most prepared. Lori was a school teacher for several, 17 years before she came to be a children's minister. Ari, Ari was a stay-at-home mom when we pulled her out ah ah of retirement.
00:33:54
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Even Jaden. I remember my conversation with Jaden the night I called and talked to him. Incredible heart. You could tell it from the minute the conversation started. But I remember hanging up the phone with my wife looking at me and going, so what do you think? I said, I'm not even sure he's shaved yet.
00:34:10
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So we're going taking a chance with a young man, but he's got a great heart.
00:34:15
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Every one of those people. Every one of the ones who lead this church serve this church. Ordinary people called by an extraordinary God to do amazing things.
00:34:27
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I'm glad you said amen because that leads me to you. You're just as ordinary. Your God is just as extraordinary. Now what are you prepared to let him do with you?
00:34:40
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You ever seen somebody who's really physically fit? Their body's like a machine. I mean, somebody who just, there I mean, you you can just tell they everything about them clicks like it's supposed to.
00:34:51
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I had the pleasure one time with my wife to go visit the University of Georgia. I was invited to go up there and speak in Athens, and so God got me into the the locker room. And walking around those guys, I was like, oh, my gosh. I mean, it's like every fiber of their body works the way it's supposed to.
00:35:06
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I can only dream of that.
00:35:10
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Can you imagine what God desires out of this body? can Can't you imagine there's a place where God says, if I could get every single one of you followers of God to take the gifts I have given you and the passions I have given you and use them for his kingdom, then this body would work like a machine.
00:35:32
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And this town would be absolutely obliterated in a good way. Their world would be rocked. They would see a Grove Hill member and go, man, there's Jesus in that person.
00:35:43
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Man, there's Jesus in that church. Man, God's being glorified over there that little skating rink. I don't know what's going on, but I want to be a part of it. Why? Because that body looks good.
00:35:55
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Because people are responding to the call that God has put on their life.
00:36:02
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Lastly, God alone is the extraordinary here extraordinary hero of this story. He should have been Israel's king. He should be your king.
00:36:17
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You see, these stories are never about us. Sure, we see glimpses of our ourselves in the stories of Abraham and Jacob and Joshua and Isaac, Rachel, all these people who are part of the Bible. Yeah, we see ourselves in them.
00:36:31
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But this is never, this book is never about pointing to anything in us. It's always about reminding us of someone who is far greater than we are.
00:36:45
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Let me remind you that just like David, Jesus spent most of his life in obscurity. He lived for 33 years. Only three years of that was his ministry.
00:36:57
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In fact, the day he was baptized signifying the beginning of his ministry, he wasn't ushered into a
Parallels Between David and Jesus
00:37:04
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throne room. He was taken into the wilderness for 40 days to finish prepar preparation.
00:37:11
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What I want you to understand is David's calling is not an antidote telling you to hang on until God puts you on your throne and elevates you to some primarily great place that you can be exalted because it's not about you.
00:37:25
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It's about a throne that's already occupied by a man named Jesus. It's about our acknowledgement that only way we will ever taste true victory is to align our hearts with the one who has already conquered everything that we need conquered in our lives.
00:37:41
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That we can't take that throne from him. We can't take victory from any other place. The only place we will ever find peace, the only place we will ever know victory is to let go of our glory and grab hold of his.
00:38:02
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So what are you prepared to do?
00:38:06
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For some of you today, God may be saying to you, hey, I'm ready to anoint you as my child.
00:38:14
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I'm ready to call you as my own. It's time for you to quit running and quit making excuses.
Call to Accept God's Assignment
00:38:24
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For some of us, it's time for us to quit making excuses about, oh God, if I had a little bit more time, or maybe next week, or are you sure I'm qualified? Because David had all those excuses.
00:38:36
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He was a very, very very very busy shepherd. He was a small boy, and he was not really from the line of what we would consider royalty.
00:38:50
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For most of you in this room today, the call is simply this, though. Are you willing to sit still in the pasture while I get you ready to call you out?
00:39:01
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Are you ready just set aside your resume and quit telling me about all your great talents and gifts and acknowledge that the one thing you need is the one thing that's missing and that's me?
00:39:14
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Or maybe some of you need to say, you know what? I've been really, really scared. I know what God wants me to do. I know God's calling me out to do this or that or whatever.
00:39:28
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I don't want you to misunderstand me. Not everybody's called to pack up their family and go to Guatemala. Not everybody's called to become part of a paid staff of ministry at a church.
00:39:40
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Some of you are called to be the most incredible godly school teacher that Marshall County's ever seen. Some of you are called to be the incredible businessman that you are by showing the ethics that God has given you to lead that business.
00:39:58
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And for some of you, the greatest call in your life right now is to show up down the street at your neighbor's house who needs to know Jesus.
00:40:08
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And for many of you may be asking the question, well, how do I get to greater glory? How do I get the bigger things? I'm ready to move on because I just know I need to do something more for Jesus. Well, it may be that Jesus is saying, when you do the small things, then I'll hand you to the bigger assignments.
00:40:25
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And oh, by the way, let me take you all the way back to the very beginning of our morning.
00:40:31
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Saul did not kill all of the Amalekites. He killed most of the Amalekites.
00:40:39
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Partial obedience is total disobedience.
00:40:44
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Will you pray with me this morning?
00:40:47
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Father, we thank you for the call that you have placed on our lives and for the directions you've given us to follow those callings. Lord, we ask really honestly, truly this morning that your spirit would speak clearly and distinctly to each one of us.
00:41:03
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It's not a question of if we've been called. The question is what you are calling us to. For some of us, it may be a throne room.
00:41:14
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For others of us, it may be a pastor.
00:41:19
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For some of us,
00:41:23
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it may be that you elevate us to a place where our testimony can be used for your glory.
00:41:32
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For others, you're going to take us behind the scenes where we can serve you faithfully. And the only person who will ever know what we did was you. And that's enough.
00:41:46
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Father, I pray for us as a church body that we would be your body. Always obedient, always trusting, always willing to take that next step to go beyond what the world says is normal so that we can see you constantly honored and praised and worshiped because of what we do in this place.
00:42:10
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Give us courage to respond however you're leading us this morning. It's in Jesus' name I pray. Amen.