Pursuing God with Dave and Gene

As we conclude this weeklong journey through David as recorded in 1 Samuel 17, remember your story is still being written. The giants you face today are no match for the God who has already proven His faithfulness in your life.

The same God who helped a shepherd boy defeat a champion warrior is the same God who walks with you daily. Choose courage in the everyday crossroads, and watch how God transforms ordinary faithfulness into extraordinary victory.

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

​​We’ve been exploring David's life as a young man and what made him able to slay a giant that threatened his entire nation. Today we are going to learn the key to giant-killing faith.

Look at 1 Samual 17: 33-37. Giant-killing faith develops slowly and gradually, day by day, month by month, year by year as you discover the trustworthiness of God in the little challenges of life. 

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

The whole course of his life, Israel, and even the church was dramatically altered because there was a Goliath in David's life. 

How you handle the giants of adversity and opportunity may very well determine the entire course and direction of your life. The Goliath crossroads changed David's life. 

What will you do with your Goliath?

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

This week we are exploring a young David as recorded in the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel. 

As a result of David's victory over Goliath, he was catapulted to national stardom. God blessed him and prospered him greatly.

Would anybody know who David was today if there had not been a Goliath in his life?

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

The story of David and Goliath is probably one of the all-time classic Old Testament stories. 

We’re going to look at this story deeply this week, so today let’s get to know David himself.

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

We’ve spent this week diving into how we invest what God has given to us. In Matthew 25, we’ve already looked at four principles to live by. The last principle is compensation: If I use it wisely, I will be rewarded. 

Talent is cheap, but dedication is costly. When you use whatever talent God has given you for Him, God rewards you in three specific ways.

What gifts are you going to give to God this summer?

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

As we explore a story Jesus told in Matthew 25, we review a fourth principle: It’s wrong to bury your talents. 

Why do we bury our talents? Why are we afraid? What fears keep us from using our talents? Satan can fill us with at least three different fears that keep us from investing our lives in God.

The more you use something, the more it grows. But if you don't use it, you lose it. Pray for opportunities to use your talents.

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

We are looking at how God blesses everyone with talents. We have already looked at how He owns everything and how He gives each of us talents to invest. The third principle in Matthew 25 is accountability; God expects us to use our talents. 

May we never get so caught up in doing church that we forget to be the church, because God expects us to use our talents.

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

Jesus’ story in Matthew 25 reminds us that everything he gives us is an asset to manage, not a possession to control. The second principle is allocation.

God has given each of us talents. There are three different varieties of talent: abilities, resources, and opportunities. These are gifts from God. We don't own those things, but they are allocated to us.

We are all equally loved by God and equally important to Him, but we each have different measures of talent. Even though the amount of talent differs, everybody gets something, and God would not make you who you are and entrust you with what you have without a plan and a purpose for it. 

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.

While we focus a lot on God’s incredible gifts to us through the good news of Jesus, we should also consider our gifts to God. 

In Matthew 25, Jesus told a parable showing how to make your life count regardless of how limited your abilities and gifts appear to be. 

We’ll review five principles for investing your life this week. Today we’ll talk about ownership. God made it all, and since God made it all, He owns it all.

Pursuing God with Gene Appel is designed to help you pursue God, build community, and unleash compassion. Grounded in Scripture and shaped by Eastside’s conviction that God’s grace is for everyone, each episode invites you to discover God’s presence and activity in your life.