Zoe Dallas

Guest speaker Jared Lawson shares what it means that God is our shepherd, and that he is a God of provision, protection, and communion.

How is it that God sometimes seems to not be present with those who trust him and are walking in his ways? The story of David as he goes on the run causes us to pause and ask: where is God when hardships come? Can we trust that God is really there and doing something?

In the aftermath of David vs. Goliath, we see how the nation of Israel responds to this newly minted hero. The responses of devotion, displeasure, and distress reveal to us the ways we also may respond to the will and the work of God. Are we willing to surrender all to align ourselves with God's will, or by our attitude and actions do we choose to defy him?

When we encounter problems of any size in our lives, what do they reveal about who God is, who we are, and who God wants us to be? Do we respond in fear or in faith? The story of David and Goliath challenges us to rely on the Lord, believing and trusting that God will do what he wants for his glory.

For the rest of 1 Samuel, the lives of Saul and David will be intertwined as scripture compares and contrasts one against the other. Here, Saul and David meet face to face for the first time, and while they are surprisingly alike in many ways, there is one marked difference: the presence of God.

In a culture that spends far too much time caring about appearances, the Bible tells us plainly that what God sees goes beyond what we see. As we are introduced to David, we learn that what sets David's heart apart is his unique devotion to God. Our call is likewise to love what God loves, desire what God desires, and do what God intends for us to do.

What we do matters. Our decisions and actions have a lasting and even eternal effect. What does this mean for our parenting? Consider what it truly means to train up a child, what way is the right way for our children to go, and whether we are on that way ourselves.

Money is important, but it is not the most important thing. It can be used wisely for what truly matters or it can be used foolishly to our destruction. The wisdom of the Bible presents us the correct view of money and guides us in how we earn, borrow, save, spend, and give.

In this life there will always be reasons for conflict, and the reality of disagreement is inevitable. But there are more important things than winning arguments and wanting to be right. According to wisdom, peace is a goal worth striving for.

This world has trained us not to trust anyone, or if somebody at all, only ourselves. The Bible tells us that we can't even trust ourselves because of our sinful hearts. The good news for the believer is that God alone is trustworthy, and he is fully trustworthy.