Rev. David Holwick F
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
February 11, 2006
1 Samuel 17:4-10, 40-45
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I. Everybody has their giants.
A. Intractable issues:
1) Fears.
2) Problems.
3) Temptations.
4) Conflicts.
B. They come in all shapes and sizes.
C. How do you kill a giant?
II. David, the giant-killer.
A. Summary of his confrontation with Goliath.
1) Israel at war with Philistia.
2) Tradition of settling wars by a contest of champions.
B. Goliath's attributes.
1) Very big, very loud.
2) Israelites were intimidated by him.
3) They had a committee meeting to discuss the problem.
C. David took him on with five smooth stones.
1) He was little, but determined.
2) We can learn principles from his story.
III. Rock #1 -- Assess your giant.
A. Don't overestimate him.
1) Your giant may not be as tough as you think.
Back in 2000 an Israeli neurologist offered a medical
explanation for how David slew Goliath.
Goliath, who the Bible indicates was about 10 feet tall,
was afflicted by a disease of the pituitary gland called
acromegaly, the doctor suggests.
"This is the only disease where sufferers can grow to such
a height," he says.
The wrestler Andre the Giant had the same disease.
Berginer said Goliath had an advanced form of the illness,
causing a tumor to swell against an optic nerve and
damage his vision.
He suggests Goliath couldn't even see little David, who
the Bible says was running.
Goliath never knew what hit him.
#5317
a) Your giants may also have hidden weaknesses.
b) Don't blow your giants out of proportion.
1> Rebecca studied for a science test at the county
college this week.
She was so discouraged she decided to skip the
class.
Celeste reviewed some questions with her and found
she did pretty well, and ordered her to go.
Becca got a 96 on the test, blowing away everyone
else.
2> What if she had quit before she ever tried?
B. Don't underestimate yourself.
There is a great story about George Dantzig.
As a college student, George studied very hard and always
late into the night.
So late that he overslept one morning, arriving 20 minutes
late for class.
He quickly copied the two math problems on the board,
assuming they were the homework assignment.
It took him several days to work through the two problems,
but finally he had a breakthrough and dropped the
completed homework on the professor's desk the next
day.
Later, on a Sunday morning, George was awakened at 8 a.m.
by his excited professor.
Since George was late for class, he hadn't heard the
professor announce that the two equations on the board
were famous unsolved problems in statistics.
But George Dantzig, working without any thoughts of
limitation, had solved not one, but two problems that
had stumped mathematicians for hundreds of years.
Simply put, George solved the problems because he didn't
know he couldn't.
#26895
1) God has given you assets that you don't even realize.
2) Usually you defeat yourself before the giant ever shows up.
IV. Rock #2 -- Take action.
A. Just talking doesn't solve problems.
1) Saul's anti-Goliath committee was not effective.
2) Action was required.
a) But procrastination is a giant for many people.
b) Get busy and do something -- now.
B. The J-D-I strategy: JUST DO IT.
1) Quit talking, planning, daydreaming.
a) Losing weight, following a dream - just do it.
2) Take the first step.
After listening to a patient's problem, psychoanalyst
Alfred Adler often asked them,
"And if you are cured, what will you do?"
When the patient answered, Adler got up, opened the door,
and said, "Then go and do it!"
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V. Rock #3 -- Attack the first giant you meet.
A. Philistines were not their only enemy of Israel.
1) Most people have multiple giants.
2) Attack the first one you meet.
B. Focus on your biggest problems first.
1) Job, marriage, kids, addictions...
2) Prioritize and attack them one by one.
3) Don't fret over long-term giants.
a) Just start now and work defeating them.
b) In God's time they will be dead and gone.
VI. Rock #4 -- Use the weapons at hand.
A. Everyone has ideas on how to kill your giant.
1) Some thought David didn't have a chance.
2) Saul gave the boy his own armor, but it didn't fit.
3) David used what he had -- a sling and five stones.
B. Use what you have.
1) Jesus used the human material that was available.
a) He had a motley collection for apostles.
b) He molded them into world-changers.
2) You have special gifts from God.
a) Discover them.
b) Develop them.
c) Use them.
C. Don't wish for what you don't have.
1) Wishing doesn't make it so.
2) Start today with what you have now.
VII. Rock #5 -- Remember that it is God's fight.
A. David had great courage because he had a great God. 17:45,47
17:45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with
sword and spear and javelin,
but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty,
the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
17:47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by
sword or spear that the LORD saves;
for the battle is the LORD'S,
and he will give all of you into our hands."
1) We can tackle any giant when we know the battle is God's.
2) Victory doesn't depend on being rich or strong or smart --
it depends on knowing Him.
B. Our Father knows how to protect his kids.
Jeris Bragan knows firsthand that prison is a dreadful place
to be.
He was sentenced to life in a Tennessee prison for
first-degree murder (later overturned).
Prison is especially hard for young men who are small in
physical stature.
They're easily victimized by the bullies who roam every
prison like a pack of wild animals in search of fresh prey.
Bragan was surprised one day when he saw two young brothers,
both small in stature, fearlessly walking the prison yard.
When he asked another prisoner why nobody ever bothered them,
the man laughed: "Have you ever seen their father?"
Their father was a tough mountain man from East Tennessee who
intentionally got himself arrested and sent to prison so
he could look after his sons.
He didn't baby them; he expected them to conduct themselves
like men.
But he also let it be known that anybody who attacked his
sons would have to deal with him.
After three years, the father was paroled and left his sons
behind.
But they were safe: Nobody doubted the father would come
back if his sons needed him.
This remarkable, self-sacrificing father presents a good
image of what our heavenly Father is like.
We're all "prisoners," trapped in a world of powerful,
threatening giants.
But in the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God the Father has
joined us in our "prison" to help us fight and defeat
those giants.
If you have accepted Christ as your Savior, he is fighting
for YOU.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
[*] This sermon is adapted from the article "Giant-Killing 101" by
Jeris E. Bragan, Discipleship Journal #59, Sept-Oct 1990, pages 6-11.
# 5317 "A Pushover After All!" by Rev. John Gillmartin, Gillmartin's
Sermon-illustrations-each-week (SIEW), February 19, 2000;
#000214-5. Adapted from "Was Goliath, After All, Just a
Pushover?"; Reuters -- Jerusalem; February 17, 2000.
#15574 "Then Go and Do It!" by Robert Hastings, Fredericksburg Bible
Illustrator Supplements, 3441, 8/1997.101. Adapted from
October 24, 1993, devotional in Our Daily Bread, Radio Bible
Class, Grand Rapids, MI 49550.
#26895 "He Didn't Know He Couldn't," by Vic Johnson, Internet: Messages
From the Masters, editor Jim Rohn; February 21, 2004.
#34139 "Their Father Joined Them In Prison," by Jeris E. Bragan, from
article "Giant-Killing 101", Discipleship Journal, #59,
Sept-Oct 1990, page 9.
These and 30,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
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