Tag Archive for: Sermon
A Heart Shaped by God
David – humble shepherd boy, courageous warrior, beloved king, gifted poet and musician, betrayed father, sinful adulterer, and faithful friend. Next to the story of Jesus, the story of David is the greatest and most influential story in the Bible. Sixty-two chapters in the Old Testament are devoted to his biography, and he is mentioned no less than fifty-nine times in the New Testament.
Christians all over the world love the story of David. Young children gleefully sing, “Only a boy named David…” (with the actions, of course!), and believers of all ages learn from his life and derive daily comfort and encouragement from his psalms.
Why do we love David’s story so much? Why do we identify with this man who lived in a world so vastly different from our own? I believe that we do so for two reasons. The first being David’s godliness. Twice in Scripture he is referred to as a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14; Acts 13:22). His passion for God stands out in many of his actions and in the words of his psalms. We want to love God as he did. We want to be women and men after God’s own heart.
The second reason why we love the story of David is because it does not seek to conceal David’s humanness – his earthiness. David had a heart for God, but he also had feet of clay. He was one of God’s greatest men, but, like us, he was anything but perfect. He frequently blew it. At times, he blew it royally! As saved sinners who often mess up, we identify with David and are given hope by the fact that despite his failings God did not cast David aside but continued to work in him and use him.
In this brief series on the life of David, we will look at some of the ways God worked to shape David’s heart to make it like his own. This will help us identify how God is at work in our own lives, shaping our hearts to be more like his.
Series Outline
Preaching series from 10 June – 22 July, during both morning and evening services.
1. SHAPED BY CALLING
David and Samuel (1 Samuel 16:1-13)
2. SHAPED BY JEALOUSY
David and Goliath (1 Samuel 17)
3. SHAPED BY FRIENDSHIP
David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18-20)
4. SHAPED BY CHOICES
David and Saul (1 Samuel 21-24, 26)
5. SHAPED BY BEAUTY
David and Abigail (1 Samuel 25)
6. SHAPED BY DESPAIR
David at Ziklag (1 Samuel 27-30)
7. SHAPED BY MERCY
David and Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11-12)
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Are the sermons we listen to in church always relevant? The truthful answer is ‘no’. Or, at least, many don’t seem relevant at the time. We leave church after listening to a sermon either not thinking at all about what we’ve heard, or battling to understand how it applies to our lives today. Sometimes the preacher (or God!) is spot on and scratches where we are itching at that very moment, but not always.
The other day in my devotions I read John 16 and was struck by what Jesus said to his disciples just before his arrest and crucifixion. Referring to what he had just told them about the persecution they would face after he was taken from them, he said, “I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember that I warned you. I did not tell you this at first because I was with you” (John 16:4). The “time” did indeed come. And they did remember. They found strength and guidance and peace in their time of trouble as the Holy Spirit helped them recall what he had said to them earlier.
Many truths we hear in sermons are tucked away in our minds and hearts by the Holy Spirit “so that when the time comes (we) will remember.” And “the time” does come—times of temptation, challenge, opposition, sorrow, danger, failure, loss, decision, etc. When my first wife was killed in a car accident over thirty years ago I discovered that, beginning several years earlier, the Lord had been depositing truths in my life that equipped me to face that “time.” This has happened countless times since then.
So . . . go to church regularly and listen to sermons attentively. As you leave, remember Jesus’ words, “I have told you this, so that when the time comes you will remember.”