Kerry Shook - Raising Giant Killers
I get to talk this weekend about something Chris and I are so passionate about. In fact, it's really our life's passion, and that is to live our lives and to live out our faith in such a way that our kids and their kids see that God is real and they wanna follow Christ because they see that our faith is genuine and real, and they see in our lives, in our everyday life, that hey, God's real, and God cares about everything in our lives. That God cares about the ordinary things in our lives. God cares about our eternity. God cares about our schedules. God is real. And so that's really our life's passion, is to live our life in such a way that our kids see our faith is real and wanna follow Jesus, and our grandkids see that their faith is real and wanna follow Jesus, and that generations follow Jesus.
Now, it's only because of God's grace, because as parents and grandparents, we make all kinds of mistakes. Still do. But it's God's grace and his mercy, but that's our life prayer, and that is our life passion. And that's why at Woodlands Church, one of our greatest passions is to see this next generation coming up, seeing that our faith is real and genuine and building into them so that they can be raised up to follow Christ with all their hearts and change the world. That's our passion at Woodlands Church, to raise up this next generation in Jesus Christ, to stand against all the peer pressure, and all the things that our culture brings against them, and follow Jesus with their whole heart.
And that's why we invest so much, and that's why we do so much for our children and students and teenagers and young adults, because we want to build this generation to change the world. And so I want us to look at one verse. It a really short verse, but it is a haunting verse. This verse haunts me. I mean, this verse is a scary verse, so I want you to stand and just follow along with me. It's Judges chapter 2, verse 10. It says, "After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what He had done for Israel".
That's a haunting verse because it says that after this great God-loving generation, you know, died out, the next generation that grew up didn't know God or follow God. It's one of the saddest verses in all of scripture. You can be seated because I've got some good news for you. We're starting on a sad note, but we're gonna end on an exciting, joyful, powerful note because God wants this generation to change the world. Now, I'm talking about Joshua's generation. Joshua, the great leader who led God's people into the Promised Land. And it says after Joshua and his generation of God followers died off, the next generation grew up not knowing God and not following God.
Joshua's generation was the one that saw God knock down the walls of Jericho so they could defeat the city of Jericho. Joshua's generation saw God split the Jordan river in two when it was at flood stage so they could enter the Promised Land. Joshua's generation saw miracle after miracle after miracle, and yet their kids, the very next generation, grew up not knowing or following God. Somehow, Joshua's generation, of all the good things they did, didn't do the most important thing: they didn't pass on their faith. They dropped the baton somehow. And this is a stark reminder to me that Christianity is only one generation away from extinction. Did you get that?
Christianity is only one generation away from extinction. If we don't pass our faith on to our kids, if we don't live out of genuine faith that they want to follow, if we drop the baton, Christianity is extinct in one generation. It's over, it's history. We stand face-to-face with the giants of hopelessness, purposelessness, and emptiness that are trying to destroy the faith of this generation. And all I can say is: there's only one person who can change that; there's only one person who can stand against that, and that's you. All throughout history, we've seen how one ordinary person can take their stand in a defining moment, and it changes the course of history.
Just as Rosa Parks took her seat instead of her stand and it started the civil rights movement, we see over and over and over again throughout history and all the way through the scripture that when one person takes their stand and steps up to believe God and do what they know in their heart is right, God used it to change history. We're looking at scripture today at a young teenager, ordinary teenager named David who takes his stand and kills the giant that his nation is facing, and it changes the course of history. He changed his destiny because your destiny is determined by where you stand in the defining moments of your life.
And David, the scripture tells us, was just an ordinary teenager. He wasn't a warrior, he was just supposed to come to the front lines to bring lunch to his brothers, but the Philistine army and the Israelite army had gathered in the valley of Elah. In fact, I have been to the valley of Elah several times, and every time I go to the valley of Elah, I always get a smooth stone out of the dry river bed that's there. I get that smooth stone, you know, to remind me to be a giant killer, and I've lost every one of them when I get home, so I just replace them with a landscaping rock in my yard and just pretend like this is the real deal. And I think, too, that they're just bringing truckloads in for the tourists over there. That's what they're doing. You know, like you see a truck come in replacing all those rocks.
Well, they're taking all the rocks out of the river, you know, so. But the valley of Elah is a real place, and this battle really took place. And both armies were getting ready to attack, and just before the attack, this giant steps forward from the Philistine lines, a gargantuan of a man. The Bible says he was 9 feet, 6 inches tall. And Goliath steps forward, and he issues a challenge to the Israelite army and he says, "You send out your best warrior, and I'll face him in the ultimate cage match". And Goliath sends out this challenge. He says, "If you defeat me, then our Philistine army will surrender to you. If I kill your best man, then you, the Israelite army, must surrender to us and be our slaves".
Now, King Saul, who stood head and shoulders above everyone else, should have been the one to face Goliath, but he had missed his defining moment a long time ago. He missed his moment, he missed his miracle. He had long since shrunk back in fear rather than stepping forward in faith. And so there was no leadership in the army at the time, and everyone on the front lines was looking to see what they were supposed to do next. Everyone was confused, and they retreated in confusion because there was no leadership. And this generation growing up is a confused generation.
You have so many voices coming at them and telling them how to live their life and "This is what you do," and "This is how you follow others," and "This is how we all conform to the culture," and the pressure is there in such a great way, but it's a confused generation, because once you give up the foundation of God's Word and there's no foundation and say, "Well, whatever's true is what's true for you. You do whatever you feel like". If that's your truth, well, then there's no solid foundation, and everything gets confusing. But David was sent by his dad to bring supplies to his older brothers, and as he's coming to the front lines, the army was retreating in confusion.
And David is like, "Where's everyone going? I thought the battle was up ahead". And he grabbed someone and he says, "What's going on"? And they say, "Haven't you heard? There's a giant in the Philistine camp. We've never seen anything like this guy. He's challenging us to send out our best fighter to face him in man-to-man, hand-to-hand, fight to the death combat. And there's no one who can stand up to him, and we don't know what to do". And David decided right then and there that he would stand up to the giant. That's hard to believe just an ordinary teenager would have that kind of courage. He wasn't part of the confused generation, he was gonna lead the courageous generation. I love that. He says, "I've got a great God, I'm gonna step up. I'll take that on".
Well, everyone else saw Goliath as a giant problem, David saw Goliath as a giant opportunity to bring hope to a whole nation. It was all because he had this healthy perspective on God. He had a healthy perspective on the greatness of his God, and because he had this healthy perspective on the greatness of his God, he looked at life from a God-level. He had a God-level perspective. Most people have a ground level perspective, but he had a God-level perspective. And from a God-level perspective, Goliath looked like a little ant to God. And David knew his God was the true giant, and his God could take down any earthly giant.
And so David said, "I'm gonna take my stand". And that's why I'm so excited to be alive in this defining, critical moment of all history. As we look out and we see all these giant problems, what I see is a giant opportunity to take our stand and change the world. A giant opportunity to take our stand against the giants of our day as ordinary people, trusting an extraordinary God. I look at it from a God-level perspective, and I just thank the Lord God that I get to be alive during this time. I thank God that I have kids who are now adults in this time, and they have grandkids that are growing up during this critical, chaotic, crazy time. I am so grateful for that.
You know, so many people I know say, "Oh, it's so terrible. Our kid's growing up, I don't know what's gonna happen to them. This next generation, next generation. I mean, it's awful. It's just getting worse. Everything's awful. Everything's horrible". That's a ground level perspective. What I see is the giant problems we face today are really just giant opportunities to take our stand and let our great God change the world through ordinary people like you and me. That's what it's all about. There is no doubt that this generation coming up is facing greater giants than ever before, and the enemy is determined to extinguish their faith. Without a doubt, if we don't do anything about it, that's what will happen. But here's the thing, we're raising giant killers in Woodlands Church. We're raising giant killers in a culture that's filled with giants that kill.
We see that God wants to do something amazing through ordinary people, and if we don't take our stand and step up at this time, realizing that this generation is facing giants that are trying to destroy their faith, then that's exactly what will happen. But when you take your stand in the defining moments of life, and by the way, I think most individuals have maybe three or four defining moments in their whole life, and it really determines their whole destiny. It's those historical hinge points where you come to this place where if you take one step forward in faith, you go to a whole another level; it changes your destiny.
But if you shrink back in fear and take a step back in fear, it changes your destiny. It's like the people of Israel, the generations on the doorstep of their destiny getting ready to go in the Promised Land, but then when the spies, ten of them that came out said, "Oh, we can't take those guys, they're giant. The land's amazing, but we can't do it". They took one step back, and guess what? God allowed that step to be 40 years in the wilderness, and all that generation died out in the desert before Joshua led the new generation of giant killers into the Promised Land. You see, we have, I know in my life I've had three or four defining moments where I could have stepped forward in faith or stepped back in fear, and I'm so grateful God has allowed me, in his grace, to take a little step forward in faith, even when I'm afraid, and it's taken me to new levels.
God has a destiny for each one of us. If you've missed your defining moments so far, I know he's got one left, I know he's got one left. You wouldn't be alive if you didn't have a defining moment left in your life. They can take you to a whole new level. We see that God wants to do something amazing through ordinary people like you and me. And when King David, who would be later King David, came to King Saul. David, a little shepherd boy, comes to King Saul and says, "I'm gonna fight this giant". And so King Saul, who should have been fighting, he brings David in to see him and he talks to him, and here's what David says in 1 Samuel 17: "Don't worry about this Philistine," David told him. "I'll go fight him". "Don't be ridiculous," Saul replied.
"'There's no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You're only a boy, and he's been a man of war since his youth.' But David persisted. 'I have been taking care of my father's sheep and goats,' he said. 'When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I've done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it again to this pagan Philistine, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!' Saul finally consented. 'All right, go ahead,' he said. 'And may the Lord be with you!'"
Saul's first response to David's faith is, "Don't be ridiculous. Don't be ridiculous. I mean, you're just a boy. You're ridiculous. What are you doing? Don't be ridiculous". But I would say ridiculous faith is the only kind of faith that changes destinies and changes the course of history, and that's the kind of faith it's gonna take. And that's the kind of faith God loves, when we have ridiculous faith. When it's ridiculous faith in him, it's not ridiculous at all. Ridiculous faith is the only kind of faith that slays the giants that are in your life right now. And when you stand up for your faith, when you stand up for the greatness of God, then there are gonna be people who say to you, "Don't be ridiculous. You have ridiculous faith. Don't be ridiculous".
Whenever you stand up and reflect the greatness of God, to choose to step out in faith, to believe him for great things in your life, there will be people who say, "That's ridiculous". You see, really, King Saul had a ridiculous perspective. He thought he was being sensible and David was the one being ridiculous, but David had a sensible faith because he saw the truth: he saw the greatness of God. Goliath looked like a little ant running around compared to the greatness of God. But Saul, Goliath was overwhelming. It was impossible. We see Saul running from an ant. That's ridiculous, but whenever you place your faith in a great God, you step out to believe him for great things in your life, and you stand up and proclaim your faith in the public square, there will be people that say, "You're ridiculous," but you're just being sensible. They just don't know. They just don't have the true perspective.
And if we're gonna raise a generation of giant killers, we can't be afraid to stand out and reflect God's greatness. We stand out not to stand out, but to reflect God's greatness. When you come to those defining moments, don't be afraid to stand out, but when you do stand out, you stand out reflecting the greatness of your God through your life. And you will be criticized, without a doubt. Anytime you do anything with your one and only life that reflects God's greatness. Whenever you step out as an ordinary, imperfect person to allow God to do something great through you, you're gonna be criticized, without a doubt.
David gets it from his own family in 1 Samuel 17:28. "But when David's oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking like that, he was angry. 'What are you doing around here, anyway?' he demanded. 'What about the sheep you're supposed to be taking care of? I know what a cocky brat you are; you just want to see the battle!'" So his brother accuses him of just wanting to see the blood and the gore of the battle. He says, "What are you doing here anyway? You're not doing your job. You're a shepherd boy, you're not a warrior. Who do you think you are? You're just a cocky brat. You're just proud". So he questions David's motives.
Now, whenever you stand out to reflect the glory of God, there will be someone that will question your motives. There'll be someone who criticizes you because whenever you stand up and you stand out, all the people sitting down that have missed their defining moment in their life, they're gonna criticize you and tell you to sit down 'cause it makes them feel a lot better. "Sit down. You're making me feel bad. Sit down". There are always people that will cut you down and say, "Who do you think you are? Why are you doing this? I mean, who do you think you are, anyway? You're getting too big for your britches. Why are you standing out like that? Sit down". But don't ever be afraid to stand out for the glory of God. You don't stand up for selfish reasons.
Today, there's so many people that just wanna stand out. In fact, this generation, one of their number one desires is to be unique, to stand out, to be noticed, to be different, and in that, they just become like everyone else, and they don't realize that if you're a Christ follower, you're already different. You're already unique. He made you unique for a unique purpose that no one else can fulfill, and they don't understand their identity in Christ. It's not to stand out just so you can stand out and have a lot of followers and have a lot of influence, and just do whatever it takes to get some influence and some followers and get famous because this generation thinks that, hey, that'd bring happiness. It does just the opposite. You stand out for the glory of God. That's what we're called to do.
And it's so interesting to me that David doesn't shrink back. In fact, after his older brother criticizes him and says, "Who do you think you are"? And David just doesn't even answer him, he just turns and goes, "Now tell me how I can fight this guy". I guess he was used to being criticized by his older brother because he doesn't even listen to him, he just goes on. And this is really important: to have courage to be a giant killer, instead of being confused in a culture filled with giants, to have courage, you gotta hang around people that encourage you. This is really important. You see, David realized, "I can't hang around my brother. He's bringing me down, he's discouraging me". And discourage means to take away courage. To take away courage. To take away courage. To take away courage.
So if you're hanging around someone who says, "I don't know why you're trying that, you can't do that. You're no good at that. You'll never be able to do that, that's impossible. What are you doing that for"? If they're not your spouse, you need to get away from them. Yeah. And if they are your spouse, that's a ten-part message series that'll be coming later, so that's gonna take me a while to break that one down. But, I mean, if you don't have to, if they're not in your family, and you don't have to, don't hang around them, hang around people that encourage you. That live life from a God-level perspective, that see what God can do, that encourage you, that fill you with courage.
Well, David, he just keeps standing out and reflecting the glory of God, he refuses to sit down. And don't let anyone ever keep you from believing God for all that he wants you to believe him for in this life. Don't ever let anyone keep you from stepping out in faith to believe God for great things in your life because our God loves it. God loves it when his kids believe that he can do anything, because he can, nothing is impossible with God. Don't let anyone ever tell you, "Sit down, shut up, stop talking about your faith, stop believing God for great things".
Don't be afraid to stand out and reflect the glory of your great God. If you never get criticized, it just means you're not doing anything with your one and only life that's making a difference because any time you step out to do anything, not just for God, but any time you step out just to do anything, you're going to get criticized. And definitely any time you step out to do anything in God's power and God's strength for his glory, you're gonna get criticized. The only people that never get criticized are those who don't do anything. They just sit on the sidelines up in the bleachers and just criticize everyone else, but they never do anything with their one and only life, and they miss their defining moment.
And that's the reason why there are a lot of criticizers out there, because it's people that have missed their defining moments. They sat down when they should have taken a stand, and they don't want anyone else to stand up because they're bitter about it. So don't be afraid to stand out. Don't be afraid to step up and believe God for great things. So don't be afraid to stand out and reflect God's greatness. That's what happened with David. He stepped forward to face Goliath, and Goliath said, "I'm gonna feed you to the birds". And Goliath was incensed that they would send out a teenager with no armor to face him, and here's what David says.
1 Samuel 17:45, "David replied to the Philistine, 'You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven's Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. Then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there's a God in Israel! And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues His people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord's battle, and He will give you to us!'"
I love that that ordinary teenager had an extraordinary faith in God because he knew he had an extraordinary God. So he tells Goliath, "Okay, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna kill you, then I'm gonna cut off your head. Then we're going to kill everyone in your army and, we're gonna feed their bodies to the birds. That's how it's going. That's what's gonna happen because you defied the Lord of heaven, and the Lord of Heaven is in my life, and he's going to show everyone that he is God, for his glory".
Don't you know that God loved that. Don't you know that your God loves it when you step out and face giants, knowing that he's gonna win the victory. He was able to speak those words because his faith had already been built when it faced the lion and the bear, and how God had come through over and over again as he kept stepping on in faith. And the only way we're gonna slay the giant of hopelessness is by proclaiming the hope in Christ, by proclaiming loudly, never quieting down, never watering down the gospel, but proclaiming it boldly with all our hearts.
In Romans 1:16, Paul says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power that brings salvation to everyone who believes". Woodlands Church will never be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we believe the only way we're gonna slay the giant of hopelessness that pervades this next generation is with the gospel of hope.