When God Changes the Meaning

All right. How are y’ all doing this morning? I’m so glad that you could take your time out of your day and come to Salt Church. For those of you that are new with us or have not been here, I want to thank you for coming. On the seat next to you is a connection card.

We’d love to know who you are, you and what brought you here and any prayer requests that you may have. We would love that. If you would fill that out on your way out. You’ll hand that off to Ms. Tammy and Ms.

Tammy’s got a special gift for you and she’ll go ahead and take care of you. We’re going to do something a little bit different this morning. I am going to ask my daughter and my son in law and my grandson if they could bring them up. And then I’m also going to ask Alex, TJ and Mikayla and my wife to come up as well. They gotta grab him.

There he is. Today we’re gonna do I get the honor and the privilege to dedicate my grandson today. And Colton, Isaac Albert, great name. Cie sie. Hi, buddy.

We have an amazing day today. Want to thank Isaac’s parents and his brother for making a trip all the way up from Texas. Give them a hand. They are great, great people. Get to know them before you guys leave.

We are absolutely blessed to be a part of their family. We all know that. Baby dedication. We do things a little bit different, especially here at Salt. The reason why you’re probably saying, well, why all these up here?

Because there’s an old saying, it takes a village to raise a child. Well, the way we look at it is it our church is invested in your children. And it comes down to not just the Kidstown where we call it containment. Okay. Some churches will call it containment.

Mikayla is our pastor of Kidstown and she puts a lot of effort and prayer into those kids. These guys right here to my right, my assistant, obviously my wife who pastors with me and tj, we have a vested interest in this life as well as their marriage to make sure that they succeed whenever the absolute succeed and absolute success. And we, that’s where we believe as a church. It is the, it’s the epitome and pinnacle of a good marriage. Yeah, bud, that’s right.

That’s you, that’s you. So this is why we do things a little bit different is we have the staff come up and we’re going to have them stand in the middle and we’re going to pray for not only the Family. But I get the honor, obviously, of dedicating my grandson and Colton. So if you wouldn’t mind, would you all stand with us? And we’re going to go ahead and we are going to pray for the family first and foremost, and then we are going to.

I’m going to go ahead and dedicate cold Colton. And so if you would just stretch your right hand to fellowship, I’m going to ask if you would hold the mic for me. Heavenly Father, we pray for Hannah and Isaac right now as parents as they enter into a new chapter of their life. Father, we stand by them as a church. We have their backs, Father.

Touch them and minister to them and anoint them for your service. Keep them safe, Lord God, bind them together stronger than any three stranded cord. Lord God, Father, we thank you. Help us, Lord God, in being wise to help them guide through life. Hold us as a church responsible, Lord God, into their character.

Father, may we pour into their lives. Lord God, may we always be here for them. We thank you for them in your name. Amen. All right, come here, buddy.

Come here. Come here, buddy. Isn’t he great? You want to just lay your hands on him and we’re going to pray for him. Heavenly Father, we thank you right now for Colton.

Father, we just pray for him right now, Lord God, and we pray that your anointing would be upon him. We pray, Father, that you would touch him and minister to him. Father, we anoint him for your service. We pray, Father God, biblical and divine health, prosperity over his life. Father God, may he have want for nothing, but may he know you in a way that no other has.

Father, we thank you for him. We praise you for this little life, Lord God, we dedicate him as Hannah rightfully in the Bible, dedicated her son to Samuel and said, here, take him. I dedicated to you. And so we do that right now. We lay him at your feet, Lord God, and we thank you for this precious gift we get but 18 years and father, I pray that they would make the best of it.

And we thank you for Colton, in your name. Amen. Amen. Give him a hand. He’d be great.

Yeah, we’re fine. We’re good. You guys can be seated as they sign this church. I do want to reiterate and you could say this by saying I do do we as a church, as salt church, dedicate to making sure that this family will succeed biblically, spiritually, mentally, and physically, as well as being a responsible church for Colton. Amen.

All right, guy. Love you, buddy. Bye bye. All right. Thank you guys appreciate it.

Michaela, you got another one. All right, all right. God is good. Hey, look, we’ll grow the church by one way or another. Amen.

Amen. I’m out. Don’t, don’t. Yeah, I’m out. No, no more from me.

No more from me. If you have your Bibles today with you or your phones, would you turn with me to 1st Samuel 17, 41 51. It’ll probably pop up here on the screen. We’ll go here. So the sermon today, and this is something the Lord kind of dropped in my heart when God changed the meaning.

There are things that happen in our life that we can’t explain as to why. And yet during life we bear the scars of those tragedies or those things that happen to us, and we don’t necessarily understand, well, well, God, why did you allow that happen? Or why did this happen? I’m sure Job always might have asked God, but he never questions God’s sovereignty. So one of the things that kind of dropped in my heart is when God changes things.

There’s a scripture that says what the devil, what the enemy meant for evil, God will use for good. Okay? And that is nowhere more shown than in the life of David. And so we could start with David at the beginning at 1st Samuel 17. And we’re going to go to verse 41.

And I didn’t bring my glasses, so I’ll read it through here. Getting old. It says Goliath. And all of us know this story, but we’re going to just, we’re going to take it from kind of a different angle here. So just, just pay attention.

We’re going to get there. Goliath walked out towards David with his sheer bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at his ruddy faced boy. Am I a dog? He roared at David that you come at me with a stick. And he cursed David by the names of his gods.

Come over here and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals. Goliath yelled. David replied to the Philistines, you come at me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come at you in the name of the Lord of the heaven’s armies, the God of the armies of Israel who have you defiled today? The Lord will conquer you and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and the wild animals.

And the whole world will know that there is 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 it to us. As Goliath moved closer to the attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Reaching into his shepherd’s bag, he took out a stone and he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead.

The stone sank in and Goliath stumbled and fell to the ground. So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from his sheep. David used it to kill him and cut off his head. Now, most of us know that that’s kind of where the story ends or starts with David.

And David begins his trek on to become the new king of Israel. However, this is where I kind of want to put a pin in that, but I want to pick it up somewhere else in 1st Samuel in 21:9. Now David, after some time, has been running for his life from Saul, the very person that he was sent to comfort during, who was tempted and troubled by demons that Saul, that he. That David would play in his presence and his. The spirit from his music would soften Saul’s heart and help him sleep.

But soon what happened is that Saul became very jealous. And now we find that David is literally running for his life because Saul is being sought out to kill him, because he realizes now that Saul is no longer the anointed chosen one for the king of Israel. Now David is. And it says in 1st Samuel 21:9, David asked Abimelech, now Abimelech is the high priest, as he goes into the sanctuary because David’s running towards the temple. So he says, do you have a spear and a sword?

The king’s business was so urgent that I didn’t even have time to grab a weapon. I only have the sword of Goliath, the Philistine whom you killed in the valley of Elab. Remember that who you killed. The priest replied, it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. Take it if you want it.

If there is nothing else here, there is nothing else like it. David replied, give it to me. I think there is more going on in 1st Samuel 21 than simply David needing a weapon. The fact that Goliath’s sword ends up in the sanctuary of who of those details that can carry out theologically in symbolic weight of that the very object that was meant to wipe out Israel is now being sought after by David to save his life. See, when we look at the Passage, and it says, the priest said, the sword of Goliath, the Philistines whom you killed.

See, he’s reminding David you killed him. The sword that you used to kill him is right here. But David answers him and says, there is none like it. Give it to me. So what are we looking at here?

Well, number one, the sword now has become a testimony of God’s victory. David isn’t receiving a weapon, he’s receiving a reminder. The important thing to note here is whose sword it was and who wielded it. Goliath’s sword represented Philistine strength, intimidation and military power. But yet Goliath is now dead.

And the weapon was lying inside and placed behind the ephod and in the sanctuary of Yahweh. One can almost imagine David looking at the sword and remembering, I’ve seen God do the impossible. Maybe as he walks behind the ephod and he picks up the sword. And as he’s. He’s contemplating, man, I got to run for my life.

But now he picks up the sword and he remembers that God was with him and God delivered him. See, the sword that was intended to destroy Israel had now become a memorial of Israel’s God delivering Israel. In other words, what was once a weapon of the enemy now has become witness to the victory of God. The sword wasn’t there because Goliath was being honored. It was there because Goliath had been defeated.

Number two, the sanctuary where it was placed is significant because often it was biblical practice that it was a precedent that they would take the weapons from the enemy and they would also, they would place them, these objects, in sacred sanctuaries as a reminder of, look what God has done. See, Israel maintained a memorial of God’s interventions. We see this as the stones that were taken from Jordan and Joshua and, and they were intended to provoke the question. In Joshua 4, 6, 7, we see we will use these stones to build a memorial in the future. Your children were asked, what do these stones mean to you?

These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever. So they became a teaching tool. It’s the same principle with Goliath’s sword. See, imagine an Israelite later on down the road coming into the sanctuary and seeing this sword. And he says, what is this?

And the priest would say, oh, well, that’s. That’s Goliath’s sword. And maybe they don’t know the story or they’ve only heard the story. And the priest would say, well, the Israelite may say, well, where’s Goliath and he said, well, Goliath is dead. Oh really?

That’s the sword that killed him. See, it once belonged to Goliath, but now it belongs to Yahweh. See, the God of Israel delivered Goliath to the hands of David. Suddenly, the sword isn’t merely a weapon, it’s a sermon without words. In Psalm 103:2 we read, Blessed is the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.

There’s a powerful irony in the location. See, there’s something that’s almost prophetic about the sword being behind the ephod. In ancient near east, it was common practice to dedicate the weapon of a defeated enemy to a deity as a thank offering. However, placing the specific trophy behind the high priest’s sacrament garment created a powerful intersection of Israel’s history. The ephod was associated with priestly ministry and seeking God’s direction.

The sword represented human warfare and military power. Here’s the this is a living moment of God’s faithfulness. It was a tangible proof that God honors faith and delivers his people from the impossible odds. The transfer of divine authority to David. This is prophetic, a prophetic handoff.

See by David receiving the sword from behind the very object used to discern God’s will. David was not just getting a weapon, he was receiving God’s endorsement. The contrast that we see here is that the ephod represents absolute dependence upon God, God’s word humility and spiritual alignment. The sword represented the pinnacle of human military might, worldly imitation and fleshly strength. Reclaiming this weapon, taking the sword from the sanctuary meant taking the weapon that had been purified by its dedication to God.

David was no longer a helpless shepherd. He was now the rightful king of Israel and he was reclaiming a tool that got him there. So now we look at, we got a sword, we have the ephod, we have war, and now we have worship, we have human strength, and now we have divine guidance. Now follow me. I know I’m kind of going a little bit here and there, but trust me, we’re going to get to that.

David’s statement in 1, in 1st Samuel 21:9 is especially interesting. David said, there’s nothing like it. See, that’s not necessarily David, meaning that this is a really good sword. He knew exactly what that sword represented, the sword of the enemy that he had defeated. And now, years later, David is fleeing Saul and and it finds himself standing in the house of God.

Think about the psychological and the spiritual contrast. David is now hunted. He’s no longer standing on the battlefield and being celebrated as a giant killer, he’s running for his life. The priest handed him the weapon associated with his greatest victory. It’s almost as though that the sanctuary is reminding David, don’t forget what God has already done for you.

But here’s the even deeper theological irony. See, Goliath trusted the sword. David trusted in Yahweh. The actual Central contrast of 1st Samuel 17, where we see that Goliath came with his spear and his javelin and David came in the name of the Lord. David explicitly said that the battle is the Lord’s.

He gave a mandate right then and there. See, the weapon that God that Goliath trusted in ultimately became the object sitting in the house of God whom Goliath defiled. The word didn’t say the sword didn’t save Goliath. Yahweh defeated Goliath. See, God can take the very thing the enemy used against you and turn it into a testimony of faith.

God’s Goliath’s sword was created to kill. But after God gave David the victory, the same sword became a memorial for God’s power. We see this also in Genesis in 1520, where Joseph says to his brothers, the evil that you meant for me, God used it for good. We see this also in different examples which we’re going to get to. There’s something about that’s fascinating about where David gets the sword.

He didn’t retrieve it from the battlefield. He retrieved it from the house of God. That says a lot. See, sometimes the very thing you need for your next battle isn’t waiting in the place is waiting in the place where God preserved the testimony of your last victory. What’s the last thing that God did for you?

And how soon have we forgotten about what God did? Because we’re walking through new battles and we sometimes question and say, God, where are you? But yet the very thing that helped you win that battle is right here. Sometimes we need to get back to the word. We need to get back to the basics of where God is and say, God, remind me what you did for me.

There is a caution. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the Bible explicitly tells us why the sword was deliberately placed there, other than a theological symbol. The text does explain why the sword. It said that David they took the sword to Neob, to Nob. It could have been to preserve it simply as a trophy memorial of David’s victory.

The sanctuary was an appropriate place for important objects. But the biblical author deliberately tells us where it was and whose sword it was and then has David take it. That makes a huge, highly suggestive. In 1st Samuel 17, David takes Goliath’s sword and uses it to finish Goliath. But yet jump over several chapters and.

And David is now running from Saul and Saul’s Goliath sword is waiting for him in the house of God. The giant weapon has gone from being the symbol of Goliath’s power to a reminder of David through the victory of Yahweh. The sword didn’t testify to how powerful Goliath was. It testified to how faithful God was. See, there are some things that God allows you to keep, not because you need to fight with them again, but because you need to remember that you already survived the last battle.

God takes something associated with defeat, death, shame and the enemy’s purpose and turns it into a testimony of his victory. Where can we see examples of this? Well, number one, it’s the cross. This is the ultimate example. See, the cross was an instrument of Roman execution, humiliation and death.

Yet God transformed it in a central salvation symbol. The cross was one of the most. It probably still today would be counted as one of the most brutal and excruciating ways to die. They would hang you there just to basically to make an example of you. And you would literally suffer the most excruciating death.

Every bone in your body would become dislocated, all the tendons would be torn. You would sit. They would make you sit there for hours as you’re gasping for breath. The only way that you could gasp and even get breath was to go ahead and push up on your legs to try to breathe. That was it.

And when the Romans got tired of waiting, then what would they would do is they would break your legs and then you could no longer push up and you would literally die of asphyxiation. See, but the cross was just. It was more than that. It was humiliation. And see, it wasn’t so much as Rome.

It was the Pharisees and Sadducees that wanted to send a message to those that followed Jesus. This is what will happen to you and they’re going to humiliate him. And this is the person you deem as God. Because, see, the cross was intended to be Christ’s humiliation and ultimate defeat, but God in turn made it Christ’s triumph. See, in Deuteronomy 21:23, it says for anyone who was hung on a cross is cursed in the sight of God.

But see, we go further into the New Testament and in Galatians 6 and 14, Paul says, but God forbid that I should accept the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Even in Colossians 2:15, he says, I have disarmed principalities and powers. He. He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them what they meant to disrupt, to destroy and criticize and humiliate Christ. Christ took it on himself and he triumphed over it.

He basically took his finger and stuck it in the enemy’s eye and said, not today. I’ve got this battle. I won. Number two is the scars of Jesus. And I really found this interesting.

And this question didn’t hit me until I was doing this study. So the resurrection. Jesus deliberately showed his disciples his wounds. See, when he came back, he came back with scars. And I just.

It didn’t hit me until now. And I’m like, he could have come back completely whole, no scars. But he came back with scars. And even Thomas said, unless I see the hands, the print of nails, I will not believe. And Jesus responded to him in John 20 and 25 and 27 and said, reach your finger here and look at my hands.

He carried the scars into the resurrection. See, think about this. God doesn’t always erase the evidence of what you went through. Sometimes he transforms the evidence into a testimony of what he brought you through. See, Goliath’s sword was the evidence of David’s battle.

Jesus scars were evidence that he conquered death. The scars tell the testimony. Then we can look at the tomb. The tomb was supposed to be the final destination, Satan’s final seal that he defeated Jesus and he defeated God. But after the resurrection, the empty tomb became a testimony.

The angel that sat on the tomb as the disciples showed up and said, he’s not here. He’s written, he’s risen. Think about this. The tomb equaled death, but now the empty tomb equaled resurrection. The place that appeared to end became the evidence that the end wasn’t the end.

Another one we could look at is Paul’s chains. Paul repeatedly talked about his imprisonment. He noticed how he interprets it. I want you to know, brethren, he talks about this in Philippians 1 and 12. I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the Gospel.

The very pain and the chains and the scars that Paul beared became what would be the furtherance of the gospel. Later he says in Philippians 1:13, My chains are in Christ. This is fascinating. The very thing that was supposed to restrict Paul to become something God used to advance the Gospel. Again, enemy the enemy’s intention equals God’s purpose.

And then we talk about the man who was born blind, because that problem became the testimony. John 9 gives us another beautiful example. The disciples asked, why was the man born blind? And Jesus simply responded, neither this man nor his parents sin, but by the work of God that should be revealed in him. And then the man eventually just looked, as we go on in John 9:25, and he says, though I was blind, now I see.

Notice what happens here. The blindness had been the defining feature of his entire life. But after Jesus intervened, the very thing that had marked his life became the backdrop against which God’s power is demonstrated. He doesn’t have to manufacture his testimony. His former condition now adds credence to his testimony.

And then we talk about Lazarus. Jesus said, the sick is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the God, the Son of God may be glorified through it. Lazarus does eventually die. He’s buried, he’s in the tomb. And Jesus calls him out.

The grave that represented loss becomes a place where Jesus reveals himself as the resurrection and the life. And we can go on. There’s so many principles that we can look at that when we look at what appeared to be defeat, what eventually God would produce eventually of victory, we see that we’re talking about that with Goliath’s sword became a testimony of victory. The cross is testimony of salvation and triumph. Jesus wounds are now evidence of the resurrection.

The tomb is evidence of resurrection life. Lazarus grave is resurrection power. God is not merely interested in giving you a victory. He’s interested in what you’re gonna do with that victory as it will testify to him. See, the sword was no longer telling a story about Goliath.

It was telling God’s story. The cross is not telling Rome’s story. It’s telling redemption story. The scars aren’t telling the story of Christ’s defeat. They tell of his resurrection.

Paul’s chains are ultimately telling the story of Paul Aren’t telling the story of Paul’s imprisonment. They’re telling the story of the gospel bringing forth despite his imprisonment, the weapon became the story. See, here’s what I want you to grasp. What was meant to destroy you can become the evidence that God sustained you. What was meant to shame you can become the evidence of his grace.

What was meant to bury you can become the place where the resurrection power is revealed. And what the enemy meant to use against you. God can turn it into the testimony for him to use and get the glory. Don’t be ashamed of the evidence of the battle that God brought you through. There may come a day when the very thing that reminds you of your greatest struggle will become the very thing that reminds somebody else of.

Of God’s faithfulness. Don’t ever discount what God has brought you through. Because though the enemy may sit and he may look and go, well, look what you went through here or look at what you went through there. How often do we do this where we sit back and we forget what God has done? How many times have we gone and going, you know what?

God met that need, he met that bill, He. He healed that pain. But then all of a sudden, somehow, a new battle comes and we. We have amnesia. We forget that.

That the same God that did that can do it again. We need to get back in the word and allow God to remind us of the victories that he has already brought us through. We make the choice that the weapon can become a testimony. Don’t forget the weapons that you have. David walked into the house of God carrying a history.

And behind the ephod was the sword of Goliath. That sword that once represented fear and intimidation and death is now sitting in the presence of God. Why? Because God had changed the story. So what I come to tell you today is that God can change the meaning of what you’ve been through.

What was meant to destroy you can become your testimony. What was meant to shame you can become your witness. What was meant to bury you can become the place where God reveals his resurrection power in you. In other words, the enemy should have killed you when he had a chance. Because now you have the chance to stick it in his face and go, this is what God’s done for me.

He’s done everything he can to bury you. He’s done everything he can to remind you of your physical, mental, or whatever anguish he buries you in, depression and anxiety. Why? Because he wants you to forget of what God did for you here. Because he’s the same God here.

They thought the wound, that the wounds would be evidence of death, but Jesus carried them into the resurrection as evidence that death had been defeated. Your scars are not proof that God has abandoned you, because they’re proof of what God had already brought you through. See, your battle isn’t your identity. Your failure is not your final chapter. Your wound is not your destiny, and the weapon is not your ending.

Understand this. The Bible does say, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. It doesn’t say there’s no weapon that’s going to be formed. It says, no weapon that is formed against you will prosper. So the weapon may have been formed, the battle may have been real and the pain may have been deep, but it didn’t prosper.

You’re still here, you’re still standing, you’re still believing, and you’re still praising. That is your testimony. So don’t make giant the hero of your story. Don’t make the pain or the battle that you’re going through the hero of your story. Remember who brought you through it.

The sword is still here, but Goliath is gone. The scar is still there, but the wound doesn’t own you. The memory is still there, but the pain doesn’t have the final word. The testimony remains because God remains faithful. So you need to lift up your head.

We need to lift up our voice. We need to lift up our testimony. Because the weapon became a testimony, the battle became a testimony, the scars became a testimony. My life will be a testimony. God did it and brought me through.

And God is going to ultimately get the glory. So I want to issue you a challenge today. And as the worship team comes up, here’s the challenge. I want us to move from simple celebration of what God brought us through to ask God, what are you going to do with my testimony? What are you going to do with the sword that you have?

See, David didn’t just see Goliath’s sword as an artifact or a past. He picked it up and carried it into his next season. Let me give you these three things. Number one, stop letting your past define you. You may have a sword in your history, but you’re not defeated in the battle.

You were wounded, but you’re not just wounded. You failed, but you’re not a failure. Stop saying, this is who I am because it’s not who you are. See, the facts may say this, but what you need to grasp is God says this. Whose truth are you going to believe?

God brought you through it so you could so it could become part of your testimony. In the definition of your identity. Your identity is in him. It’s not in what you think you have. It’s not in your depression.

It’s not in your anxiety. It’s not in your sickness. It’s not in your disease. You are a child of God. Realize that your disease, your sickness, your ailment does not define who you are.

It doesn’t change that meaning. Number two, stop hiding what God brought you through. The sword was in the house of God. Your testimony belongs in the presence of God, but it also needs to be held heard by somebody who is still fighting Goliath, there’s people who went, who are going through right now what you’re going you went through. They need to hear your testimony because somebody needs to hear.

If God brought me through this, I know he can bring you through it. Your scars may be somebody else’s encouragement. Your survival may become somebody else’s hope. Your testimony may become somebody else’s turning point. Number three, your testimony.

Take your testimony into battle. Sometimes God leaves the evidence of yesterday’s victory in the house of God so that when tomorrow’s battles come, you can remember what he’s already done. Don’t leave your testimony at the altar. When the next battle comes, remember, I’ve seen God do it before. When fear comes, say, I’ve seen God do this before.

When anxiety hits, say, I’ve seen God do this before. Your testimony is faith for your future battles. Don’t focus on the giant that’s in your life. Focus on the God who defeated the giant. So here’s what I want you to ask yourself.

What is the sword from that battle? What evidence remains? What did God teach you? What did he deliver you from? What did he restore?

What did you survive that you thought would ultimately destroy you? That’s your testimony. Use it. Tell somebody. Encourage somebody.

I challenge you today. I’m challenging you. Think about this. Stop looking at your sword as a reminder of what almost killed you and start looking as the evidence of what God brought you through. Pick up your testimony, carry it into your next season.

And when somebody else is facing a Goliath, just don’t tell them. Don’t, don’t let. Listen to them and how big their giant is. Start telling them how big their God is because the sword is still there. But Goliath is gone.

Your story isn’t over. The battle wasn’t wasted. The tears aren’t meaningless. Your testimony is still being written. So the challenge today is what have you been through in your life?

Some of us are going through things right now, and you feel overwhelmed and you feel like, you know what? I’m alone in this. This sucks. This hurts. I don’t want to do this anymore.

And then the enemy wants to keep you in that darkness. He wants to keep you in that clouded place of your life because the longer he can keep you there, the less you’ll think about what God had already did in the past. Your God is not forgotten about you, but what he is, is, is he’s waiting for you to pick up the sword of your testimony and start wielding it. David looked at the opportunity, he killed Goliath. He knocked Goliath down with a stone, but he picked up the sword and ultimately cut his head off.

That very sword wound up behind the altar. God saying, come to the altar. Pick up your sword. It’s time for us, for a new battle. Stand with me.

If you’re here today and you’ve got something going on that you feel like it is so overwhelming, I’m here to tell you the battle’s not yours. It’s not. God said, I have been watching over you time and time again. But what I need you to do is I need you to rely enough in me and trust in me that we’re gonna. I’m gonna get you through this.

Because victory is right around the corner. I haven’t left you. I won’t leave you. I’m here to walk through it with you. I know the pain’s great, but you know what?

What we do is we wear it and we say, you know what? Because God, ultimately, there’s somebody who’s going through what I went through that I’m going to be able to minister to. If you wallow enough in your pain, nobody look. Psychologists and counselors get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to try to decipher somebody’s problem. I’m here to tell you now, as somebody that used to go through counseling, the greatest help I’ve ever had is when I have another brother or sister that stands in front of me and go, I know exactly what you’re going through.

I’ve been there. I’ve done that. But let me tell you what my God did. And that’s the greatest encouragement. Because then I know if God can do it for them, God is going to do it for me.

Because God says, I’m no respecter of any person. Red, yellow, black and white, purple, pink, a dot. He doesn’t care. You’re still a child of him. His blood flows through your veins.

Your father looks at you from heaven and says, you’re my child. And the enemy will not have the last word. He will not. So with every head bowed and every eye closed, if there’s something that you’re going through when you say, pastor, I’m tired. I’m exhausted.

Brother, sister, I’m with you. But we’re here to encourage you. Salt is here to add a little bit of flavor and healing power to that wound and tell you that, you know what, Healing’s on its way. Deliverance is on its way. I want you to think about that Goliath in your life.

Think about it. And now I want you to begin to just give it over to God. It’s okay. You can tell God. God, I’m angry.

God, I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask for this to happen to me. But, God, ultimately, I want you to get the glory. Heavenly Father, I pray right now, Father, as needs are being lifted up to you right now, Lord God, I pray for these needs. I pray, Father God, that your spirit would wash in like a flood.

Father, I pray that this message would prick somebody’s heart, Lord God, in such a way that. Lord God, they realize that I need to go find that sword again, God, they need to be reminded that you haven’t forgotten about them. Father, I pray right now for deliverance. I pray for prosperity. I pray for healing, Father God, I pray for lives to be changed.

I pray for marriages to be healed. We come against, as a church, against every. Everything that the enemy has tried to do to bring destruction and dismay, we come against it right now. In the name of Jesus, Father, I praise you and I thank you. As TJ and the band lead us in this song, What I want you to do is I really want you to use this little bit of time before we.

Before they dismiss us. Pour your heart out to God. He’s not forgotten about you. He’s just waiting for you to call on him. He’s telling you right now, son, daughter, I’m right here.

I’ve never left you and I never will.