Latest / Voice of Rick warren / The Story of David The Most Human Hero

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The Story of David The Most Human Hero · Voice of Rick warren

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  Speaker 1: This is the day to start the new dream. This
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  Speaker 1: is the day to go after it. And when everybody
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  Speaker 1: else is saying, you can't do it, discouragement. And when
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  Speaker 1: you're full of doubt, you're going to trust God. And
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  Speaker 1: when there's been a delay and people have held you back,
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  Speaker 1: and when people disapprove, you just say, sorry, I've got
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  Speaker 1: to do what God's.
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  Speaker 2: Asking me to do.
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  Speaker 1: Now, your ability to dream is a God-given gift. It's
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  Speaker 1: what makes you different from animals. Animals cannot imagine the future.
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  Speaker 1: God gave you as a human being, made in his image,
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  Speaker 1: the ability to see the past, that's called memory, and
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  Speaker 1: to visualize or imagine the future. That's called dreaming. You
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  Speaker 1: gotta have a dream. If you don't have a dream
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  Speaker 1: for your life, you're literally just drifting. You're just drifting along.
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  Speaker 1: You're letting life happen to you. And by the way,
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  Speaker 1: when you're coasting, you're always going downhill. So you need
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  Speaker 1: a dream for your life. It is the greatest gift
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  Speaker 1: that God has given you, the ability to dream. We
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  Speaker 1: are most like our creator when we are creative. Nothing
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  Speaker 1: happens without a dream. Everything you see, every piece of art,
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  Speaker 1: every business, every architecture, every product, everything happens because somebody
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  Speaker 1: thought it up first. Everything begins as a dream. Napoleon says,
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  Speaker 1: imagination first.
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  Speaker 2: Rules the world.
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  Speaker 1: And Einstein said, imagination is more important than knowledge. It's
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  Speaker 1: that ability to dream that makes us creators in the
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  Speaker 1: image of God. Now I've invested my life encouraging people
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  Speaker 1: to discover God's dream, God's purpose for their lives, and
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  Speaker 1: then helping them fulfill that dream. And what I've discovered
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  Speaker 1: is that for every person who figures out their life dream,
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  Speaker 1: their life work, which is far more important than your job,
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  Speaker 1: because your jobs are gonna change. But your life work
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  Speaker 1: is the dream that God gives you for your life.
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  Speaker 1: For every person who figures that out and heads after
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  Speaker 1: their dream, there are nine people who are afraid to
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  Speaker 1: get started. And what causes us to be afraid to
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  Speaker 1: go after our dream are what I call the giants
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  Speaker 1: in the pathway.
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  Speaker 2: These are giant problems. These are dream busters.
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  Speaker 1: That stand there in your path saying you will not
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  Speaker 1: pass by, you will not go any further than this,
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  Speaker 1: and if you.
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  Speaker 2: Believe it, you get stuck in mediocrity.
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  Speaker 1: These problems can be financial problems, they can be emotional problems,
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  Speaker 1: they can be relational problems, they can be problems with
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  Speaker 1: your health. What do you do when you face these
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  Speaker 1: giants in life? How do you face the giants in
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  Speaker 1: your life and work? Well fortunately, we have a wonderful
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  Speaker 1: story in the Bible that shows us how to deal
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  Speaker 1: with the giants in our lives. It's called the story
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  Speaker 1: of David and Goliath. Now it's unlikely that you're ever
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  Speaker 1: gonna have to face a physical giant.
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  Speaker 2: Like David did.
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  Speaker 1: But it is highly likely that you're gonna have to
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  Speaker 1: face a whole lot of other common giants. These giants
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  Speaker 1: of financial problems, relational problems, marriage problems, work problems, problems
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  Speaker 1: that keep you from going after your dream.
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  Speaker 2: And in this story, 1.
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  Speaker 1: Samuel 17, David actually had to fight four other giants
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  Speaker 1: before he gets to Goliath. They weren't physical giants, but
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  Speaker 1: they were giants in here, in his mind. You are
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  Speaker 1: far more likely to have to face those giants than
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  Speaker 1: the Goliath, but they can be just as big and
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  Speaker 1: just as intimidating and can keep you from becoming who
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  Speaker 1: God wants you to be and fulfilling the dream that
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  Speaker 1: God has put in your heart.
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  Speaker 2: Let me give you a little background.
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  Speaker 1: The chapter before this chapter in the Bible, chapter 16,
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  Speaker 1: here's an interesting story. A man named Samuel, this book
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  Speaker 1: is called 1 Samuel because it's named after the chief
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  Speaker 1: religious leader that day. Samuel was the prophet of Israel
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  Speaker 1: in that day. And in 1 Samuel 16, God says
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  Speaker 1: to Samuel, I want you to go to the town
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  Speaker 1: of Bethlehem, and I want you to find a guy
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  Speaker 1: named Jesse. And you're going to anoint Jesse's son as
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  Speaker 1: the next king of Israel. Now, the existing king was
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  Speaker 1: still alive, very much alive, Saul, but God had already
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  Speaker 1: decided Saul's days were over.
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  Speaker 2: So this is a secret plan.
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  Speaker 1: And God just tells Samuel, you're gonna go anoint the
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  Speaker 1: next king of Israel. So Samuel goes to Jerusalem. He
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  Speaker 1: finds this guy named Jesse. He says, do you have
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  Speaker 1: a son? Jesse says, not only do I have a son,
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  Speaker 1: I've got eight. And so Samuel goes, well, then I'm
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  Speaker 1: gonna have to look at them all. So Samuel brings
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  Speaker 1: his seven oldest, excuse me, Jesse brings his seven oldest
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  Speaker 1: sons to parade them before the prophet to see which
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  Speaker 1: one's gonna become the king of Israel. And he shows
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  Speaker 1: him the oldest son, and Samuel goes, not the guy, next.
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  Speaker 1: He shows him the second oldest, not the guy, next.
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  Speaker 1: He shows him his third oldest son, not the guy, next.
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  Speaker 1: He's going, no, no, pass, no, five, six, seven. And
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  Speaker 1: none of the guys are it. Samuel goes, you got
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  Speaker 1: any other kids? Jesse goes, oh yeah, there's one more,
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  Speaker 1: the youngest, the runt, little David. But he's like a
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  Speaker 1: piff squeak, and I didn't even mind bringing him in.
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  Speaker 1: He's out tending the sheep. He said, bring him in.
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  Speaker 1: He brings in the youngest. Samuel takes one look at
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  Speaker 1: him and says.
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  Speaker 2: That's the guy. And he anoints him as king of Israel. Now,
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  Speaker 2: you know what happens after this? Nothing. Nothing happens.
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  Speaker 1: Jesse says to his youngest kid, okay, now get back
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  Speaker 1: out there and start tending the sheep. Nothing at all
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  Speaker 1: changes in David's life. He has been given the dream.
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  Speaker 1: He's been told, you're the next king of Israel, but
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  Speaker 1: get back out there and tend the sheep. And there
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  Speaker 1: is actually quite a long delay between when David is
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  Speaker 1: anointed as king and he actually sees the fulfillment of
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  Speaker 1: his dream years later. There's a big delay, and David,
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  Speaker 1: I would say that this is exactly what happens in
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  Speaker 1: your life. And the first giant in facing your dream,
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  Speaker 1: you might wanna write this down, is delay. The no
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  Speaker 1: dream is fulfilled instantly. God gives you the dream on
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  Speaker 1: one day and he doesn't fulfill it the next day. No,
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  Speaker 1: it's years later that you see the fulfillment of your
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  Speaker 1: life dream. There is always a time delay, there is
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  Speaker 1: always a time lapse, there is always a waiting period.
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  Speaker 1: And in David's case, his dad holds him back from
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  Speaker 1: the dream. In David's case, his dad held him back
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  Speaker 1: and said, David, you need to get back out there
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  Speaker 1: and start tending sheep. He didn't think David was old
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  Speaker 1: enough or experienced enough to be the king of Israel.
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  Speaker 1: And in verse 12 to 15, it says this. Now,
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  Speaker 1: David was the youngest of Jesse's eight sons. and his
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  Speaker 1: three older brothers enlisted in Saul's army. But David was
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  Speaker 1: held back, circle that, held back to care for the
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  Speaker 1: sheep in Bethlehem. The first barrier of your dream is this.
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  Speaker 2: There are gonna be people who hold you back.
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  Speaker 1: There are gonna be people in your life who hold
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  Speaker 1: you back from the dream that God has given you.
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  Speaker 1: Some of you know what I'm talking about. You have
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  Speaker 1: been held back. from what you want to do with
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  Speaker 1: your life because of your age. Some of you have
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  Speaker 1: been held back because of what you want to do
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  Speaker 1: with your life and what the dream God's given you
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  Speaker 1: because of your race. Some of you have been held
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  Speaker 1: back because of your gender. Some of you have been
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  Speaker 1: held back because you weren't pretty enough or handsome enough
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  Speaker 1: or smart enough or whatever enough. Discrimination in any form
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  Speaker 1: is a barrier that you have to break through. And
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  Speaker 1: there will be people who want to hold you back.
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  Speaker 1: Now here's the sad part. Sometimes the people who hold
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  Speaker 1: you back the most are those who love you the most.
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  Speaker 2: In this case, it's David's dad. His dad isn't going, go.
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  Speaker 1: For it, my son's gonna be the king of Israel.
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  Speaker 1: He said, no, get back out there and tend the sheep.
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  Speaker 1: Because Jesse would just as soon not have his son
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  Speaker 1: be the king of Israel.
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  Speaker 2: He'd lose a worker.
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  Speaker 1: You see, God has a plan for your life, but
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  Speaker 1: so does everybody else. And when God's plan contradicts somebody
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  Speaker 1: else's plan, there's going to be a delay, and people
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  Speaker 1: are going to try to hold you back. Others have
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  Speaker 1: plans for your life too. David's dad just wanted him
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  Speaker 1: to be a shepherd. And there's this delay, and you're
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  Speaker 1: going to see this delay in your life. Sometimes even
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  Speaker 1: people who love you will hold you back from the
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  Speaker 1: dream God has given you. Now, at one point, Jesse goes,
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  Speaker 1: you know, my three favorite sons, they're out on the
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  Speaker 1: front line with Saul fighting the battle.
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  Speaker 2: And he tells David, I want.
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  Speaker 1: You to take a care package of food to your
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  Speaker 1: older brothers at the battlefield. So he gives David all
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  Speaker 1: this food and he sends him off. And this way,
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  Speaker 1: David gets to see the battle. And when he's there
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  Speaker 1: delivering the foods to his older brothers, he hears Goliath
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  Speaker 1: coming down every day and shouting these taunts and saying,
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  Speaker 1: we're gonna whip your rear and we're gonna win the
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  Speaker 1: battle and you guys are all gonna be defeated. And
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  Speaker 1: David notices nobody's doing anything about this guy. And he
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  Speaker 1: notices everybody around here is scared to death. They're all embarrassed.
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  Speaker 1: They're all afraid. They're all terrorized. They're all traumatized. Nobody
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  Speaker 1: wants to do anything. They're all scared to death. And
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  Speaker 1: this is the second barrier you will face in finding
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  Speaker 1: and fulfilling your dream, and it is this, discouragement. You
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  Speaker 1: will face discouragement because everybody around you is scared to death.
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  Speaker 1: Nobody thinks you can do it. Nobody has hope, nobody
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  Speaker 1: believes that you can take down this giant. And they're
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  Speaker 1: all scared to death and they're all convincing each other
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  Speaker 1: that it's impossible to make any difference. You see, Goliath
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  Speaker 1: had created a climate of fear in Israel, and everybody
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  Speaker 1: had concluded, we're gonna lose this battle, and nobody can
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  Speaker 1: beat Goliath. In verses eight to 10, it says this.
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  Speaker 1: Each day, Goliath would stand and shout at the ranks
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  Speaker 1: of Israel's army. He would say, why do you come
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  Speaker 1: out here and line up for battle? Choose one man
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  Speaker 1: to fight me, and if he's able to kill me,
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  Speaker 1: we'll become your subjects, but if I kill him, you'll
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  Speaker 1: become our subjects.
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  Speaker 2: And serve us.
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  Speaker 1: Day after day, circle that, day after day, Goliath taunted
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  Speaker 1: them saying, this day I defy.
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  Speaker 2: The ranks of Israel.
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  Speaker 1: And when Saul, that's a king, and Israelites heard this,
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  Speaker 1: everyone was deeply shaken and paralyzed with fear.
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  Speaker 2: And notice the situation. They're all demoralized. They're gripped with anxiety.
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  Speaker 2: They're terrified. They're traumatized. They feel hopeless.
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  Speaker 1: One translation says, They were so frightened, they couldn't do anything.
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  Speaker 1: You ever been in a situation where everybody around you
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  Speaker 1: thought this is hopeless? Maybe you have been at work
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  Speaker 1: and in your office say, hey, in this economy, nobody
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  Speaker 1: can grow anything. We can't solve this problem. It's going
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  Speaker 1: down the tubes. And everybody around you is saying it
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  Speaker 1: can't be done, it can't be done, it can't be done,
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  Speaker 1: it's never gonna happen, it's never gonna happen. And they're
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  Speaker 1: all discouraged and they're all convincing each other because they're
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  Speaker 1: all filled with fear. And they say, there's nothing we
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  Speaker 1: can do about this problem.
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  Speaker 2: Let me tell you something.
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  Speaker 1: Conventional wisdom is often wrong. It is often wrong. Everybody
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  Speaker 1: there was wrong. It says there twice in that passage,
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  Speaker 1: Goliath challenged the ranks of the Israeli army. Sometimes the
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  Speaker 1: solution has to come outside the rank and file. What
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  Speaker 1: you need is a little kid from a village to
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  Speaker 1: come and go, we can do this. What you need
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  Speaker 1: is a fresh set of eyes because the professionals were wrong.
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  Speaker 1: The crowd was wrong. Just because everybody says it so
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  Speaker 1: doesn't make it so. The crowd is often wrong. Just
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  Speaker 1: because the crowd says it's true doesn't mean it's true.
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  Speaker 1: And so somebody had to challenge the status quo. Now
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  Speaker 1: why had everybody given up? Why had they all gotten
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  Speaker 1: so discouraged from this one giant? The answer is they
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  Speaker 1: were listening to the wrong voice. They were listening to
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  Speaker 1: this guy every single day. Look at the next verse,
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  Speaker 1: verse 16. For 40 days, twice a day, morning and evening,
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  Speaker 1: the Philistine giant loudly berated the Israelite army.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's no wonder. They got discouraged.
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  Speaker 1: They're listening to this guy day after day after day
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  Speaker 1: after day. Question, who are you listening to? Who are
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  Speaker 1: you listening to who says it can't be done? Who
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  Speaker 1: is poo-pooing your dream, putting down your dream, saying it
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  Speaker 1: won't ever happen, forget it. Who is telling you that
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  Speaker 1: you're not the person to do it? You know, if
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  Speaker 1: you listen to negative people long enough, you know what happens?
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  Speaker 2: You get negative. Because it's highly contagious.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe one of the best things you should do is
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  Speaker 1: stop listening to talk radio. Because it is negative, negative, negative, negative, negative.
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  Speaker 1: And you know what, if you listen to it negatively,
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  Speaker 1: you know what you're gonna become? A negative, bitter person.
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  Speaker 1: And if you listen to people who are against, against, against,
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  Speaker 1: against every day of your life, guess what? You end
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  Speaker 1: up being against everything. Negativity is contagious, and so is fear,
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  Speaker 1: and so is discouragement. And if you listen to somebody
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  Speaker 1: who said, America's going to hell in a handbasket day
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  Speaker 1: after day after day, pretty soon you start acting like it.
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  Speaker 1: And you believing it. Now, sometimes you just need a
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  Speaker 1: fresh voice. You need a kid from the village with
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  Speaker 1: fresh eyes. This guy's nothing. We can take him down.
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  Speaker 1: It's a slam dunk. Look in the next verse. Verses
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  Speaker 1: 23 and 24. As David talked with his brothers on
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  Speaker 1: the front line.
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  Speaker 2: He saw.
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  Speaker 1: Goliath starts shouting his usual threats to Israel's army. And
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  Speaker 1: when the army heard Goliath, they all ran away in terror.
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  Speaker 2: They all ran away.
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  Speaker 1: Let me give you some advice. Don't hang out with
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  Speaker 1: fearful people. Don't hang out with fearful people. Because if
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  Speaker 1: you do, you will become fearful. If you hang out
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  Speaker 1: with cowards, you become a coward. You hang out with
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  Speaker 1: bitter people, you become bitter. You hang out with angry people,
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  Speaker 1: you become angry. You hang out with negative people, you
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  Speaker 1: become negative. It's highly contagious. The first barrier to your
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  Speaker 1: dream is delay. Somebody's trying to hold you back. But
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  Speaker 1: the second barrier to your dream, the second dream buster
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  Speaker 1: is discouragement because everybody around you is telling you that
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  Speaker 1: life sucks and it can't be done.
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  Speaker 2: And they're wrong. They're wrong.
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  Speaker 1: Now there's a third dream buster, and I call it
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  Speaker 1: the giant of disapproval. And David had to handle this one,
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  Speaker 1: is he had to be willing to face the disapproval
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  Speaker 1: of people around him in order to go after his dream.
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  Speaker 1: And you will too. Now here's the problem. The reason
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  Speaker 1: why most people don't ever go after their dream is
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  Speaker 1: they are afraid of disapproval. They are afraid of rejection.
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  Speaker 1: In this case, David's own brother questioned his motives. David's
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  Speaker 1: own brother questioned his motives and disapproved of David even
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  Speaker 1: going after the giant. We want everybody to like us.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, we really do. We want everybody to approve
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  Speaker 1: of everything we do. But if you go after God's
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  Speaker 1: dream for your life, I'm guaranteeing you this, there will
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  Speaker 1: be naysayers, There will be critics. There will be misunderstanding.
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  Speaker 1: There will be attacks. There will be people who are
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  Speaker 1: judging you for what you do because they don't get it.
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  Speaker 1: And that is the disapproval giant. In this case, David's
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  Speaker 1: own brother questions David's motivation and he treats his younger
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  Speaker 1: brother with disdain and disgust and he demeans him and
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  Speaker 1: he disregards him and he belittles him. In verse 28
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  Speaker 1: and 29, notice this conversation between the older brother and
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  Speaker 1: the younger brother. And David's there on the front line,
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  Speaker 1: and he asks the soldiers, what's the reward for killing
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  Speaker 1: this Philistine and ending this disgraceful abuse?
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  Speaker 2: What's the reward?
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  Speaker 1: Now, when David's older brother heard David, and even asked
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  Speaker 1: this question, he burned with anger at David. And he said,
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  Speaker 1: now listen to this conversation and see if you can
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  Speaker 1: identify with it. David's older brother says, why are you
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  Speaker 1: here anyway? Why aren't you taking care of your scrawny
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  Speaker 1: little flock of sheep, you cocky little brat?
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  Speaker 2: I know how conceited you are.
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  Speaker 1: And David, the younger brother goes, now what have I done?
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  Speaker 2: Can I even ask a question?
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  Speaker 1: Do any of you vaguely relate to this conversation? Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: it's called sibling rivalry. And it's happened in every single
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  Speaker 1: family because the older brother and the younger brother, the
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  Speaker 1: people closest to you can't see what you see. They
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  Speaker 1: can't imagine you accomplishing something that they've never imagined themselves.
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  Speaker 1: They think they know who you are, but they don't
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  Speaker 1: know you like God knows you. And so they come
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  Speaker 1: out with this demeaning, demoralizing disapproval. You hear the family
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  Speaker 1: dynamics going on here. The sad truth is this, sometimes
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  Speaker 1: it is your own family that doesn't want you to
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  Speaker 1: accomplish God's dream.
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  Speaker 2: It may be envy, it may be jealousy, it may.
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  Speaker 1: Be they think they know you better than you do
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  Speaker 1: and they know your weaknesses, but they don't know God's strength.
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  Speaker 1: It may be that they would be embarrassed. It may
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  Speaker 1: be that they would resent you being successful and it
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  Speaker 1: would make them look bad. I don't know really what
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  Speaker 1: it is, but sibling rivalry often leads to resentment. Did
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  Speaker 1: you know that even Jesus had to deal with this?
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  Speaker 1: You know, Jesus was born of a virgin. Mary and
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  Speaker 1: Joseph hadn't had sex because God was the father of Jesus.
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  Speaker 1: But the Bible tells us very clearly that after Jesus
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  Speaker 1: was born, later on, Joseph and Mary.
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  Speaker 2: Had many kids.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, we're given their names in the Bible. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: Mary and the kids followed Jesus around during his ministry.
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: Now what is interesting is that none of Jesus half-brothers
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: or sisters accepted him as Lord and Savior until after
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: the resurrection. And then they all became believers. Because when
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: your brother has died on the cross and then three
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: days later he's walking around talking to you, that would
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: make me a believer. But I have to, you know,
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: show a little grace to these guys because I wouldn't
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: want to believe in my brother either.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: You know, if my brother said, by the way, I'm God. Yeah,
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: you and who else? Okay. How would you like to
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: have Jesus as your old brother? Mr. Perfect.
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: I mean, there's noise going on and the mother, mom
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: walks in and Mary goes, what's going on in here, kids?
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Well, Jesus did it. No, you guys know he didn't
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: do it. Mom, he lied.
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: Jesus never lies. But mom, how would you like to
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: have a brother who was always right? That would be
• 20:53
  Speaker 1: hard growing up in that family. And so I can
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: see every reason why they would not accept him as
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: the Messiah until after his death and resurrection. But even
• 21:03
  Speaker 1: Jesus had to deal with the sibling rivalry. Because a
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: brother or a sister will often say, who do you
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: think you are when you have a dream? I'll never
• 21:17
  Speaker 1: forget when this church, many years ago, bought this piece
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: of land, 120 acres. And Saddleback was a much smaller
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: church at the time. And word got out of the
• 21:27
  Speaker 1: community that this little church was gonna go buy 120
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: acres in Orange County and said, yeah, who else? And
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: the word got out around this community, those people over
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: there at Saddleback Church Who do.
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: They think they are?
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: And I remember having to address it in a service
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: and I had to stand up and say, folks, you've
• 21:45
  Speaker 1: heard this rumor going around. People said, who do those
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: people think they are? They think they're special or something?
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: And I had to say, that's not the question. That's
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: the wrong question. The question is not who do we
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: think we are? The question is, who do we think
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: God is? You let the size of your God determine
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: the size of your goal. And if you have a
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: big God, you better have some big goals because God
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: doesn't give you piddly dreams. If a dream is from God,
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: how do you know if your dream's from God? It's
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: so big, you're bound to fail unless God bails you out.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: The dream will be so big, you are guaranteed failure
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: unless you totally depend on God to see it happen.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: It's just outrageously big.
• 22:30
  Speaker 1: Enormous. It's a big dream from a big God. The
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: wrong question. The right question is who do we think
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: God is? Let the size of your God determine the
• 22:39
  Speaker 1: size of your goal. Now listen, when God gives you
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: a dream and it's a dream that other people are
• 22:47
  Speaker 1: afraid to attempt or afraid to accomplish, or afraid to
• 22:53
  Speaker 1: even step out and try, if you take that dream
• 22:57
  Speaker 1: and you go for it, you will be misjudged, you
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: will be maligned, you will be misinterpreted, and you will
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: be misunderstood. That is the giant of disapproval. And you
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: have to decide what matters more to you, the approval
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: of other people or the approval of God. I decided
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: a long time ago that the approval of God is
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: more important to me than the approval of other people.
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: And it's not my job, it's none of my business
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: what you think of me. It is my business what
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: God thinks of me. But then there's the fourth dream
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: buster that David had to face even before he faced Goliath,
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: and it is the giant of doubt. First, there is delay.
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: Then there's discouragement. Then there's disapproval. And then there's doubt.
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: Am I capable for this? Am I up to the
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: task for this? Can I actually do what God is
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: asking me to do? And then there are people all
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: around you who tell you you can't. And in David's case,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: the expert doubted his ability. Now there was nobody who
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: was a greater expert on war than King Saul because
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: Saul had been in battle his entire life. And when Saul,
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: King Saul, hears that this little kid is willing to
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: take on the giant who's paralyzed the nation, he invites
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: David to come see him at the palace. So David
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: goes to see King Saul, and here's the conversation, verse
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: 32 and 33. David says to the king, don't worry
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: about a thing, king. David told the king. I'll fight
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: this Philistine. And by the way, let me just stop
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: right here. Confidence as God is often misinterpreted as cockiness
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: by other people. A lot of people might think a
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: person is cocky when they're just a person of faith.
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: It's not that they think that they can do it.
• 25:00
  Speaker 1: It's that they know God can do it. That's confidence
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: in God, not cockiness. David says, don't worry about a thing, king.
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: I'll fight this Philistine. Don't be ridiculous, Saul replied. There's
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: no way you can go against this Philistine. You're only
• 25:16
  Speaker 1: a boy and he's been a professional warrior all his life.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: Now that expert is saying you can't do it. And
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: there's enough to make you start doubting yourself. I will
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: say it about experts that I said about conventional wisdom.
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: The experts are often wrong. They're often wrong. I remember
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: when I, I'm a Californian, but I went to seminary
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: in Texas.
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: And when I went to seminary in Texas, while I.
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: Was there, God gave me a dream of moving to
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: Southern California to a city I'd never been in and
• 25:51
  Speaker 1: to start a church with no money, no members, no
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: building and no support.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: And I'd never been a senior pastor.
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: And so I called up an expert on starting churches
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: in Texas.
• 26:02
  Speaker 2: His name was Gene.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: And I called him up and I said, hey, I'm
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: thinking about graduating, going to Southern California, starting a church
• 26:10
  Speaker 1: with no money, no members, no building, no support, and
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: I've never been a senior pastor.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: What do you think?
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: And this gene said, expert said, that's the dumbest idea
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: I've ever heard. He said, Rick, if you do that,
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: you will never be heard from again.
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: Hmm.
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: 20 years later, he called me back. He said, that
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: was the dumbest advice I ever gave in my life.
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: I was dead wrong, dead, dead wrong on that.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: Okay?
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: Now, I remember when I wrote Purpose Driven Life, I
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: got a letter from the editor. I framed it. It said,
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: this book will never work. Nobody's gonna read 40 chapters.
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: The experts are often very wrong, right? Very, very wrong.
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: So, there's this doubt that comes.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: Now, how do you defeat these giants that are keeping
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: you from being the man God wants you to be?
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: How do you defeat these fears that are keeping you
• 27:21
  Speaker 1: from being the woman God wants you to be? To
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: be a person of great faith with a great dream
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: and a great life work. How do you overcome those
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: giants you do the very things that David did. Quickly,
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: let me just give them to you. The four things
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: that David did to defeat these giants before he gets
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: to Goliath. Number one, I remember how God has helped
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: me in the past. That's the first thing you do
• 27:54
  Speaker 1: to face God. the giants and to fulfill your dream.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Remember how God has helped me in the past. This
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: is a confidence builder. When I recall, when I recollect,
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: when I remember ways that God has helped me in
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: the past, it gives me confidence for the future. I say,
• 28:11
  Speaker 1: remember those time I thought I wasn't gonna make it,
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: but I did. And I remember that time I thought
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: it was but it wasn't and remember I thought I
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: was at the bottom and I was never gonna climb
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: out but I did and remember when I thought I
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: was all alone but I wasn't and you remember how
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: God has helped you in little times and realize he's
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: gonna help me in big times in the future because
• 28:30
  Speaker 1: God never changes. God doesn't love you one day and
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: not another day and if he helped you in the
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: past in little ways, he will willingly help you in
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: the future in big ways. You remember how God has
• 28:42
  Speaker 1: helped you in the past. This is what David did,
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: verse 36. David says, when everybody tells him it can't
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: be done, he says, you know, in protecting my sheep
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: as a shepherd, I've killed both a lion and a bear.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: And the Lord who delivered me from the teeth of
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: that lion and the claws of that bear will surely
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: now deliver me from this Philistine too. That's confidence. I
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: remember how God's helped me in the past. Number two,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: I use the tools that God has given me now.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: I use the tools that God has given me now.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: I don't wait for something I don't have. I don't
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: have enough money. I don't have enough education. I don't
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: have enough connections. I don't have enough opportunities. I don't
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: have this or.
• 29:27
  Speaker 2: I don't have that. No, you use the tools you've
• 29:30
  Speaker 2: got right now.
• 29:37
  Speaker 1: Now, Some people are just waiting for something to happen.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: You don't wait for your ship to come in. You
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: swim out to it. Because if you wait for it
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: to come into the harbor, you're going to wait a long,
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: long time. You use the tools God has given me now. Now,
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: David goes to see Saul, and Saul says, well, if
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: you're going to fight this guy, you may as well
• 29:57
  Speaker 1: use my armor. How ridiculous is that? David is a short,
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: small boy. Saul is a tall, big, grown man. To
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: take his armor and put it on David, his hands
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: probably didn't even show through it.
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: It would be comical.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: And David says this, verse 38 to 40. Then Saul
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: dressed David in his own armor. But David said, if
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: I can't go out in these, he said, I can't
• 30:27
  Speaker 1: go out in these because I'm not used to them.
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: So he took them off. Instead, he chose five smooth
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: stones for his sling. He goes, this is what I'm
• 30:36
  Speaker 1: used to. I know how to use a slingshot. I
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: don't need your armor. I'm gonna just do this. Now,
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: let me just say this. When you start going after
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: your dream that God has given you, some people are
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: gonna pose you on it. They're gonna be opposition. But
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: other people say, oh yeah, go ahead and go after
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: your dream, but do it my way. And they're gonna
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: try to condense you to do it their way, but
• 31:00
  Speaker 1: you're not them and it's gonna fail. I see this
• 31:04
  Speaker 1: Saul's armor syndrome in businesses everywhere. Well, they're doing it
• 31:08
  Speaker 1: that way, so we should do it that way.
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: Well, not necessarily. Because God doesn't create clones. God made
• 31:14
  Speaker 2: you to be you.
• 31:15
  Speaker 1: And God's gonna use you to fulfill the dream he
• 31:17
  Speaker 1: has for you, your way, not the way somebody else
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: did it. And if you try to do it the
• 31:22
  Speaker 1: way somebody else did it, you.
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: Are bound to fail. It's like trying to wear Saul's armor.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: You can't wear it because you're not Saul. You just
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: need to use the tools you got. He had a slingshot,
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: so he picks up some stones and he's gonna go
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: after it. Often people will try to load some things
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: on you that are just too heavy for you and
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: you're not gonna fulfill your dream that way.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: I love this verse in Ecclesiastes 11. Look up here
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: on the screen.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: Verse four says, if you wait for perfect conditions, you'll
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: never get anything done.
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: How many of you agree with that verse? Yeah. Yeah.
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: If you wait for perfect conditions, you're never gonna get
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: started on your dream. Someday I'll, one of these, no,
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: today's the day. And when everybody else is saying, you can't.
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: Do it, discouragement.
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: And when you're full of doubt, you're gonna trust God.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: And when there's been a delay and people have held
• 32:13
  Speaker 1: you back, and when people disapprove, you just say, sorry,
• 32:16
  Speaker 1: I've gotta do what God's asking me to do. Number three,
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: the third thing he did is ignore the dream busters.
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: You must ignore the dream busters in your life. Now
• 32:29
  Speaker 1: it is interesting to me that as David's going to
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: take on a giant that everybody else is scared to
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: death to take on, he didn't get any encouragement from anybody.
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: Not a single word of encouragement as he's going out
• 32:42
  Speaker 1: on this giant. His dad didn't encourage him. His mom
• 32:46
  Speaker 1: didn't encourage him. His brothers didn't encourage him. The army,
• 32:50
  Speaker 1: the soldiers who are scared to death didn't encourage him.
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: The king whose reputation is on the line didn't encourage him.
• 32:57
  Speaker 1: Nobody gave David any encouragement.
• 33:02
  Speaker 2: What did he do?
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: He had to encourage himself in the Lord. Look at
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: the next verse. First Samuel 30 verse six. When others
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: were speaking against him, David, read it with me, encouraged
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: himself in the Lord. Circle, in the Lord.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: Do you do that?
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: Sometimes nobody else is gonna encourage you. And you're gonna
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: have to encourage yourself.
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: In the Lord.
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: Now this is very, very different from simply having a
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: positive mental attitude.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: No, no, this is far more deep.
• 33:36
  Speaker 1: When you encourage yourself in the Lord, there is a
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: bedrock trust in God's faith, God's grace, God's provision, God's security,
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: God's kindness, God's power. You're trusting in God. It's not
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: just a positive mental attitude. Now, I'm not against positive thinking.
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: I mean, considering the alternative, I think you ought to
• 33:55
  Speaker 1: be a positive thinker. Because the alternative is negative thinking,
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: and that's worse. So between negative and positive thinking, you
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: ought to be a positive thinker. But friends, there are
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: some problems in your life that are so significant, and
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: some giants so big, all the positive thinking in the
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: world isn't going to make a difference at all. The
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: sun will come out tomorrow, have a nice day. It's
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: just pretty shallow when you're facing the deepest problems darkest
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: problems of life. And you've had a son who struggled
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: with mental illness for 27 years. All the positive thinking
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: in the world is worthless. Well, just feel better. Put
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: a smile on your face. Think good thoughts. Believe, have fun.
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: No, no, you need something far deeper than that.
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: In the deepest, darkest days of life, you need a
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: bedrock trust in God's grace, in God's love, in God's power,
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: in God's sovereignty, in God's plan. And you have to
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: encourage yourself in the Lord because nobody else can give
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: you that encouragement. Number four, fourth thing David did, I
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: expect God to help me for his glory. I expect
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: God to help me for his glory. This is what
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: David did. This is what you must do in going
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: after your dream. It is the faith factor. I love
• 35:35
  Speaker 1: what David says to Goliath as he runs onto the battlefield.
• 35:40
  Speaker 1: David runs onto the battlefield shouting and he says this,
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: David shouted to Goliath, you come at me with sword
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: and with spear and with javelin, but I come to
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: you in the name of the Lord Almighty. And today
• 36:00
  Speaker 1: the Lord will conquer you. Not me, the Lord will
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: conquer you. And the whole world will know that there
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: is a God. And everyone will know that the Lord
• 36:11
  Speaker 1: doesn't need weapons. To rescue his people. It is his battle,
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: not ours. Are you fighting God's battle and that's why
• 36:19
  Speaker 1: you're tired? It is his battle, not ours. And the
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: Lord will give you to us. What are you expecting
• 36:29
  Speaker 1: God to do in your life? Without even knowing you,
• 36:32
  Speaker 1: I can tell you this. God is doing exactly what
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: you expect him to do. No more and no less.
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: Because every time God moves out of heaven and moves
• 36:40
  Speaker 1: on earth and does a miracle, it's because somebody believed.
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: The Bible says according to your faith it will be
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: done unto you. The Bible says the just shall live
• 36:49
  Speaker 1: by faith. The Bible says without faith it is impossible
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: to please God. The Bible says whatever is not of
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: faith is sin. According to your faith it will be
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: done to you. You get to choose how much God
• 37:01
  Speaker 1: does in your life. It's based on how much you
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: choose to trust him. I don't have to be the
• 37:06
  Speaker 1: smartest person in life. I don't have to be the
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: best looking person in life. I don't have to be
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: the wealthiest person in life. I have a choice to
• 37:16
  Speaker 1: trust God. And you do too. Whatever is not a
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: faith is sin. He said, I expect God to help
• 37:25
  Speaker 1: me for his glory. I made this decision when I
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: was a young man. And in the mountains of Northern California,
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: one night I got down on my knees and as
• 37:36
  Speaker 1: a young man, I said, God, I'm not the smartest guy.
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: I'm not the most educated and I'm not the best
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: looking and I'm not the most talented, but God, by
• 37:48
  Speaker 1: your grace, I'm gonna trust you.
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: And I don't have.
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: To know or understand why you tell me to do
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: what you want me to do, but I will do anything, anytime, anywhere,
• 38:03
  Speaker 1: in faith, even when it doesn't make sense to me.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: And what an adventure my life has been. I would
• 38:16
  Speaker 1: have never imagined as a teenager that one day I
• 38:18
  Speaker 1: would stand and speak to a crowd like this, much
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: less to all of our campuses around the world. Because
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: this group right here is about five times bigger than
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: the town I grew up in. I'm a country boy
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: with a slingshot. And God says, I will use anybody
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: who will trust me and say, I expect God to
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: use me, not because of who I am, but for
• 38:47
  Speaker 1: his glory that God knows and the world knows that
• 38:51
  Speaker 1: there is a God. I'll never forget looking into my
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: wife's eyes many years ago as we were finishing up
• 39:09
  Speaker 1: school in Texas. And I said, okay, I think God
• 39:14
  Speaker 1: has given me a dream and it is to be
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: a pastor. And I think we're supposed to go to
• 39:21
  Speaker 1: Southern California, to a place we've never been and start
• 39:25
  Speaker 1: a church with no money, no members, no building, no support.
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: And I've never been a senior pastor. And I said,
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: what do you think about that dream? And she looked
• 39:39
  Speaker 1: into my eyes and she says, it scares me to death.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: But I believe in God.
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: I believe in God. And I believe in you. So
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: let's go, let's go for it.
• 40:03
  Speaker 1: I've often thought, how would history be different if my
• 40:07
  Speaker 1: wife had said no, if she'd been afraid and scared
• 40:12
  Speaker 1: and said, let's don't do it. There would be no
• 40:15
  Speaker 1: Saddleback church. There would be no purpose-driven life. There would
• 40:19
  Speaker 1: be no movement of churches in 160 nations. There would
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: be no peace plan. Thousands of people that are going
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: to heaven now would not be headed to heaven. You
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: have no idea how much your unbelief could be limiting
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: somebody you love. Is your unbelief limiting your wife? Is
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: your unbelief limiting your husband? Is your unbelief limiting your child?
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: Don't be Jesse. Don't hold them back when God has
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: a great dream for their life. It's not your dream
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: for them. It's God's dream for them. And you need
• 41:01
  Speaker 1: to say, I'm not gonna let anybody else's unbelief hold
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: me back and I'm not gonna let my unbelief hold
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: anybody else back. Let's bow for prayer. There are a
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: lot of things in your life you don't have control over.
• 41:19
  Speaker 1: You didn't choose your natural talent. You didn't choose when
• 41:23
  Speaker 1: you would be born, where you would be born. You
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: didn't choose your race. You didn't choose your gender. You
• 41:29
  Speaker 1: didn't choose your talent. But you do get to choose
• 41:33
  Speaker 1: how much you're gonna trust God. And it is that
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: faith factor that will defeat the giants of delay and
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: discouragement and disapproval and doubt, and if you will say
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: yes to God, he will take you on the adventure
• 41:52
  Speaker 1: of your life. It doesn't really matter what's happened in
• 41:57
  Speaker 1: your life. If you say, I want the rest of
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: my life, no matter how many years I've got, to
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: be God's, 100%. I want you to pray this prayer.
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: Dear God, you have helped me many times in the past.
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: You've helped me through things I thought I'd never get
• 42:16
  Speaker 1: out of, but you did help me. And if you've
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: helped me in the past, I know you're going to
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: help me in the future. Help me to remember that
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: and draw my confidence from that. Even when people discourage
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: me or disapprove of me, or even when people misunderstand me,
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: help me to use the tools that you've given me now.
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: to not wait for a perfect time and a perfect
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: place and a perfect tool, but.
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: To use the.
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: Slingshot and the stones that I have right now. Help
• 42:57
  Speaker 1: me not to wear somebody else's armor, but to just
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: go in your strength.
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: And Lord, help me to ignore the dream busters.
• 43:08
  Speaker 1: And help me to start every day with a time
• 43:11
  Speaker 1: alone with you so that I will encourage myself in
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: the Lord, that I don't need the encouragement of other
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: people because I'm encouraging myself.
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: In the Lord and spending time with you.
• 43:28
  Speaker 1: Help me to expect you to help me, not for
• 43:32
  Speaker 1: my glory, but for yours, that the whole world will
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: know that there is a God and that everyone will
• 43:39
  Speaker 1: know that the Lord doesn't need weapons to rescue his people. Lord,
• 43:44
  Speaker 1: I've been tired because I've been trying to fight battles
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: as if they're mine. It's your battle. I want to
• 43:51
  Speaker 1: relax and trust you to give me the victory. Jesus Christ,
• 43:57
  Speaker 1: I invite you into every room in my life. The
• 44:02
  Speaker 1: living room, the bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen. I want
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: you to run every area of my life. I want
• 44:10
  Speaker 1: you to be the manager and the Lord from this
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: day forward. And I thank you in advance that the
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: giants will fall and the dream will come true.
• 44:21
  Speaker 2: And I pray this in your name. Amen.