Just Be You

are here. It's worthy to be praised this morning. We love you. Bless your name, bless your name, bless your name. Come on, you guys can get out of your seats. We have a lot more work to do. Just build you an altar this morning, Lord. Let our praise and our worship be in the very place that your presence has established and you rule and reign in all authority. You're the throne of the praise of your people. So we lift it up across this place. Be lifted up, be lifted higher, be lifted up, be lifted higher. Be lifted up, be lifted higher, be lifted up, be lifted higher. Be lifted up, be lifted higher, be lifted up, be lifted higher. Be lifted up, be lifted higher, be lifted up, be lifted higher. Be lifted up, be lifted higher, be lifted higher. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. Let's sing that again. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly trust in Jesus' name. Christ alone, cornerstone, the weak made strong. In the Savior's love, through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all. ♪♪

♪ When darkness seems to hide His face ♪ ♪ I rest on His unchanging grace ♪ ♪ Through every high and stormy gale ♪ ♪ My anchor holds within the veil ♪ ♪ My anchor holds within the veil ♪ ♪ In Christ alone, cornerstone ♪ ♪ The weak make strong in the Savior's love ♪ ♪ And through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all ♪ ♪ We sing Christ, in Christ alone, cornerstone ♪ ♪ The weak make strong in the Savior's love ♪ ♪ And through the storm, He is Lord, Lord of all ♪ ♪♪ ♪ When He shall come with trumpet sound ♪ ♪ Oh, may I then in Him be found ♪ ♪ Dressed in His righteousness alone ♪ ♪ Faultless I stand before the throne ♪ ♪♪ ♪ When He shall come with trumpet sound ♪ ♪ Oh, may I then in Him be found ♪ ♪ Dressed in His righteousness alone ♪ ♪ Faultless I stand before the throne ♪ ♪ In Christ alone, cornerstone, the weak make strong ♪ ♪ In the Savior's love, and through the storm ♪ ♪ He is Lord, the Lord of all ♪ ♪♪ ♪ In Christ alone, cornerstone, the weak make strong ♪ ♪ In the Savior's love, and through the storm ♪ ♪ He is Lord, the Lord of all ♪ ♪ In the highest of things, highest of things, highest of things, oh Lord ♪ ♪ In the highest of things, highest of things, highest of things, oh Lord ♪

♪ In the highest of things, highest of things, highest of things, oh Lord ♪ ♪ In the highest of things, highest of things, highest of things, oh Lord ♪ Jesus, come here First hear us prayer Jesus, come here First hear us prayer Jesus, come here First hear us prayer Jesus, come here First hear us prayer Jesus, come here First hear us prayer Jesus, come here First hear us prayer Jesus, come here First hear us prayer Jesus, come here First hear us prayer Jesus, come here First hear us prayer Jesus, come here First hear us prayer Jesus, come here First hear us prayer I exalt Thee Oh Lord I exalt Thee I exalt Thee Oh Lord Oh Lord We sing in Christ alone

In Christ alone Cornerstone Your weak makes strong Into the storm He is Lord Lord of all We sing in Christ alone In Christ alone Cornerstone Your weak makes strong Into the storm He is Lord Lord of all He is Lord He is Lord He is Lord Lord of all In Christ alone Cornerstone Your weak makes strong Into the storm He is Lord Lord of all He is Lord Lord of all Cornerstone Your weak makes strong Into the storm He is Lord Lord of all

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen. ♪ ♪ Can't ever tell, it goes beyond the highest star. ♪ ♪ Then reaches to the lowest hell. ♪ ♪ The guilty pair bowed down with care. God gave His Son to win. ♪ ♪ His erring child He reconciled and pardoned from His sin. ♪ ♪ Oh, love of God, how rich and pure. How measureless and strong. ♪ ♪ Sick of evermore endure the saints' and angels' song. ♪ ♪ Years of time shall pass away and thrones and kingdoms fall. ♪ ♪ And the here refuse to pray on rocks and hills and mountains call. ♪ ♪ God's love so sure shall still endure all measureless and strong. ♪ ♪ Redeeming grace to Adam's race, the saints' and angels' song. ♪ ♪ Oh, love of God, how rich and pure. How measureless and strong. ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure the saints' and angels' song. ♪ ♪ ♪ Should we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made. ♪ ♪ Were every tree on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade. ♪ ♪ To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry. ♪ ♪ Nor could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. ♪ ♪ Oh, love of God, how rich and pure. How measureless and strong. ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure the saints' and angels' song. ♪ ♪ Oh, love of God, how rich and pure. How measureless and strong. ♪ ♪ And strong, it shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪

♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪

♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ ♪ It shall forevermore endure ♪ ♪ The saints' and angels' song ♪ In my understanding, I pray that you do it in all of us, God, that we would be made one as you and the Father are one. As you prayed in John 17, Lord, let it come to pass, let it come to fruition in this house, that we would be made one as you and the Father are one, that we would be made one in gratitude and in unity with our gratitude, that our thankfulness would bind us together and it would cover a multitude of sins. It would cover our offenses with one another. It would cover our sins, Lord. It would renew us, God. It would renew us and lift us up. Lift us up on eagles' wings, Lord, above all of our struggle, above every habit that we're trying to break in our own flesh. Let the flesh of Christ break every sin in this house. The blood of Christ, let it break off every lie in the name of Jesus. And bind us together as we were intended to be bound as you prayed, Lord Jesus. And I know that the prayers of Jesus will be answered. The prayers of the Son availeth much. The prayers of the righteous availeth much. Let it be so in this house. We give thanks to you. We give thanks to you, Jesus.

We give thanks for you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ. Christ, His Son. Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ. His Son. And now, let the weak say, I am strong. Let the poor say, I am rich. Because of what the Lord has done for us. Let us give thanks. You're making us strong. Give thanks with a grateful heart. Give thanks to the Holy One. Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ. His Son. Give thanks with a grateful heart. Come on, that's it, just lift your voices. Give thanks, pour it on Him. To the Holy One. Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ. His Son. And every voice. And now, let the weak say, I am strong. Let the poor say, I am rich. Because of what the Lord has done for us.

And now, let the weak say, I am strong. Let the poor say, I am rich. Because of what the Lord has done for us. Because of what the Lord has done for us. Give thanks. Give thanks. ♪ Please, we give you thanks ♪ ♪ We give you thanks ♪ ♪ We give you thanks ♪ ♪ We give you thanks ♪ ♪ We give you thanks ♪ ♪ We give you thanks ♪ ♪ We give you thanks ♪ ♪ We give you thanks ♪ ♪ We give you thanks ♪ We give thanks to you for what you have done. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. All across this room, just tell him thank you. Just tell him thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you that I am not going to repeat the sins of my forefathers. Thank you, Lord, that you have made a new covenant with my family. Thank you, Lord, for giving us a new name. Thank you, Lord, for establishing your banner over us that is love. Thank you, Yahweh, for giving us new life, Lord.

Thank you for redeeming us, Lord. Thank you for redeeming our lives from the pit. Thank you for salvation. Thank you for healing. I pray that across this room this morning, you would release a full sozo salvation, healing of every part, renewal of our souls, renewal of our bodies, renewal of our minds, renewal of our spirit, full salvation. Come and break through in this place in Jesus' name. We thank you, Lord, for Jesus Christ, your son, your son, the hope of the nations lives inside of us, lives inside of us. So Yahweh, reveal to us this morning, we have so much to be thankful for. If we're watching on the live stream this morning from our beds, and maybe you're sick this morning, Jesus Christ, the son of God lives in you. He lives in you. He lives to make intercession for you at the right hand of the father, says the word of God this morning. And Romans says you are more than a conqueror in Christ who lives in you. Thank you, Jesus. Bless us this morning. Bless us this morning. Bless the children this morning that are encountering you. Allow our children to encounter you, allow our youth to encounter you,

allow our young men and women to encounter you, and allow those of old age to encounter you, Yahweh, afresh every day. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Amen. Thank you, worship team. Another beautiful morning. So good. Can you guys give it up for these guys? Thank you. Well, if you can find a seat, you can go ahead and do that. If the Lord is speaking to you, keep listening. Well, happy March. Happy March. It's March 1st, can you believe it? 28 days in February, and then March hits right away. This morning as we continue with our worship, I wanna share some powerful verses out of Proverbs chapter three. Proverbs chapter three, verse nine, gives us an incredible instruction and an incredible promise. Proverbs 3, nine says, honor the Lord with your wealth, with the first fruits of all of your crops. Then, everybody say then. That means something. It's about to happen. Then your barns will be filled to overflowing

and your vats will brim over with new wine. Then they'll be filled to overflowing. Then they will brim over with new wine. So as you honor the Lord with your first fruits, that is giving him the first and the best, the first taste, the first harvest, the first offering. You honor the Lord with your first fruits. He promises then to overflow, but not only overflow with what you had, he will give you new wine. It's his promise in the word in Proverbs 3 for us this morning. So as we continue with our worship, we're gonna continue in our giving to Yahweh this morning. So I'm so excited to give everybody the opportunity to give of your first fruits to the Lord so then your vats will overflow with new wine. How many wanna receive new wine this morning? I know I do. I need that this morning. I need a new one in Jesus' name. So right now I'm gonna invite you to go ahead and just stand to your feet this morning as we pray over the offering. And then we'll receive that both up front here and there's options for you to give online by scanning that QR code, going on the Altar Fellowship app, and there are envelopes in your seat back as well that you can fill out.

So let's pray that the Lord would bless our house with that. Yahweh, I thank you for the promises in your word this morning, that as we honor you with our wealth, as we give to you our first fruits, the first and the very best of all that you have given us. Lord, I thank you, Lord, for the new wine that you're pouring out for families on this house. I thank you, Lord, for overflowing resources, Lord, for the families and individuals represented in this house as we honor you with our first fruits, as we honor you with what you have first entrusted us with. So Yahweh, we give this to you and we bless this offering in Jesus' name. Let it be for your glory, for the establishing of your house across the nations, for the blessing of your children across the nations, and the expansion of your word in the gospel to the very ends of the earth, as your word says. And all God's people said in Jesus' name, amen. Love you, Pastor David. Thank you so much for the warm welcome. Guys, as always, it is such an honor and privilege to be able to be with you this morning. Becky and the kiddos are on the baseball field in Mobile today. So unfortunately, I'm solo. They were not happy when we looked at the schedule and saw, but for the month of March, we play baseball 24 out of 31 days.

We have games. I've got four kids, for those of you who don't know, I'm from Mobile. Our oldest son is 14, so he's doing middle school baseball now. We've got a 12-year-old that's doing travel ball and then an eight-year-old doing rec ball. And we're just those crazy parents that love Jesus and love baseball. And it feels like every time I come up here, I talk about three things. I talk about Jesus, I talk about my family, and I talk about baseball. So I feel like I would disappoint you if I did anything different than that today. So no, I'm so honored to be here. Just being here, seeing the smiles on your faces is absolutely incredible. And today, I really just want to bring a word of encouragement to you. And I just wanna tell you how the way the Holy Spirit speaks to me is not very deep, but it's very often. I tend to find him in a lot of the little things of my life. I rarely have these moments where I'm just like undone in the sky parts and he reveals himself. But through creation, I hear these whispers that I feel like I am just in tune with. And those places draw me

into a degree of communion with him. And so the way that I felt like I got this message for you guys is just a word of encouragement. The title of the sermon today is Just Be You. Okay, so I wanna talk to you about authenticity. But the way that this came about is that I went to the DMV to get my star ID. Anybody ever had to do that, right? You go in and you have to prove who you really are. And fortunately, my wife did all the due diligence and I had to bring mortgage paperwork, social security card, driver's license, birth certificate, all of these different documents, utility bills, just to basically prove who I am. And I come in and I feel like for a majority of my life, that was the message that religion presented to me is that you always have to come up with another document to prove who you really are, right? And so I walk in and the first poster that I see said, Alabama star ID, Just Be You. And I was like, yes, Lord, just be you, right? I wanna read this scripture to you. It's found in Romans chapter eight, verses 15 and 16. If you guys could bring that up. While I'm getting there, I come in and I've got my paperwork together and they have everything they need for me. So I sit down, grab my ticket, wasn't there long. They did an amazing job pushing me out, but there was a gentleman that came in behind me

and on his birth certificate, it said his name was so-and-so junior, but his social security card didn't have the junior on the end. And they gave him fits over this. And I'm thinking, man, like they were telling him, you can't get your star ID today. You've got to go back to the social security administration. You've got to get it changed out. They need to add junior because your father doesn't have junior on the end of his name, but you do. So we don't know if you're using his social security card. So it kind of made sense, but the guy was not having it. Like he went off and I'm just sitting there praying for the workers, like, oh Lord, no one should have to endure this, you know? And in the middle of doing this, I just kind of feel this grace. He finally said like, this is who I am. And he was in frustration. And I just heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me, like, Parker, who are you? And so I'm sitting there in the middle of the DMV, like nervous about how my picture is gonna turn out because I've got a big head anyway. And so, and it was as bad as you would think, they seemed to zoom in on my nose, my whole face. It looked like I had like a five o'clock shadow

because they chopped off the rest of my beard. They were like, you ain't sneaking away from us, Joker. We're gonna capture you here. And I'm sitting there and I'm thinking about who am I? And there's a book that has been really special to Damon Thompson, which is the pastor that I serve in Mobile. And the name of the book is called Abba's Child. And it's written by a gentleman named Brennan Manning. And in this book, he talks about the imposter. And I look back and I couldn't really identify with an imposter, which is when you project something that you're not for the sake of like kind of protecting your identity, so to speak. But I can tell you that what I've dealt with in transparency is maybe not the imposter syndrome, but the chameleon syndrome. And it was that I never even really knew what I wanted to project. But I allowed the people that I was around to have such an influence on who I was that it actually influenced my identity to a degree that I was not true to myself. So, you know, Pastor Matty is one of the most, you know, just excited, expressive, amazing, passionate, loving individuals that you could ever meet. Whenever I got around him, I felt like my delivery needed to be that, right? And so I would see that kind of come into play whenever I was around Apostle Aaron,

I would become more mystical in the realms of the spirit. I wanted to be, have all this revelation and speak on the deep things and the mysteries of God. Whenever I was by myself though, I was just this boring guy that wore penny loafers. Nobody thought I wore socks because they're no shows, but I promise I'm wearing them. And the ankles are always exposed, right? Because like, if I was as handsome as Pastor John, I could wear baggy jeans. Like I'm trying to prove to you, skinny guys can wear baggy jeans. Big guys like to wear skinny jeans because it's like, I just want you to see how big my legs really are. Like I've been working on it. It's a process, right? But I would find that like, I'm that guy that doesn't run around the room and get everybody hyped up. Like I just like to be seated. I like to be at rest and I like to be myself. And it was until probably four years ago that I never really felt permission to be me. And I feel like for many of us in this room, like you just need to hear this morning that number one, you are loved by God for exactly who you are. And number two, this body and this family has need of you to just be you.

And so I wanna look at a passage of scripture here that I'm sure you're all familiar with, but we're gonna go there anyway, found in first Samuel chapter 17. And this is the story of where David enters the battlefield and he goes to fight Goliath, right? And there's something that's fascinating about how it introduces the giant of Goliath here in first Samuel 17. So we're gonna start, I'm sorry, I had y'all pull up Romans 8, 15. Let's lead with that. Romans chapter eight, verse 15. And if you see my neck move back, that's just the effects of being 40 years old. I do it with menus. I do it with my Bible. This lighting is helping me. It's amazing. So verse 15 says this, and you did not receive the spirit of religious duty, leading you back into the fear of never being good enough. But you have received the spirit of full acceptance in folding you into the family of God and you will never feel orphaned. For as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying these words of tender affection, beloved father, for the Holy Spirit makes God's fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being,

you are God's beloved child. So the reason why I never felt permission to be myself is because I was honestly afraid that I wasn't enough. And I feel like this degree of expectation and desire to be received and accepted and celebrated in our lives oftentimes cripples us because it convinces us that who we are is not enough and we either need to one, change who we are or number two, not express the fullness of who we are. And so my encouragement today is that I just wanna come up and just encourage you to just be you. I wanna encourage you to be who you are, the way the father created you because that's what we have need of. So 1 Samuel chapter 17, if we could go there, we're gonna start in verse four. And this is basically Goliath's introduction. And it says this in verse four, and a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And I guess if you're almost 10 feet tall, that span is important. He had a bronze helmet on his head and he was armed with a coat of mail. The weight of the coat was 5,000 shekels of bronze and he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam and his iron spear had weighed 600 shekels

and a shield bearer went before him. Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel and said to them, why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. If he's able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day, give me a man that we may fight together. So before David ever even steps into the valley, we're given a detailed description of the giant's armor, right? And it used to annoy me that they were so fascinated by his armor that they would document how big he was, how strong he was. It's like the tells of the tape, you know, at the beginning of a UFC fight, they wanted to see his reach, his strength, his height, his weight, all these different things. And so it says that he had a bronze helmet, a coat of mail, a spear like a weaver's beam, an iron spearhead. He stood nine foot nine inches tall is what most theologians agree on. And then it also says that he was carrying armor that could have weighed more than David himself.

David wasn't a grown man at this point, like he was the least considered, right? So he shows up, but layer by layer, the spirit of God lets us feel the weight of the threat of Goliath. And have you ever asked yourself the question, why? Like, why is that important? And I think it's because scripture is honest about what we face, but the turning point in this chapter is not the stature of Goliath. It's not what he was carrying. It was that when David showed up, he said, the battle is the Lord's. This is fascinating to me because it changes everything. And even when we read in the New Testament, we discover something deeper that the Lord has already won the battle for us. And I just want to kind of come in and break this story down for you in a very practical way. And in doing so, I hope it encourages you to receive permission to be exactly who God created for you to be. So in the New Testament, it doesn't tell us to ignore spiritual opposition, right? It doesn't tell us that we defeat our giants by simply ignoring them. It doesn't mean that we pretend that they don't exist. It's that we come into agreement with a truth that they've already been defeated.

Yahweh called David to slay one giant. And church culture has taught us that we need to continue to slay multiple giants in our lives. I want to let you know that it was very important for David to do what he did. It was very important, even more, for Yeshua to do what he did. But now that the giants have been defeated, I have... really good news for you. We don't have to battle anymore. We don't have to war. When I was in college, believe it or not, I played in this band and I felt like every worship leader probably did the same thing. Our band was terrible, but it was called the Lovers and the Fighters. I love the music, but I let my kids hear it recently and they just roasted me. That's our love language. Like they made, they humiliated me. And I was like, I'm never letting you hear me play again. You know, the counselor is still helping walk me through that process. But I was in a band called the Lovers and the Fighters and we were really the fighters, but I was the one person who has never been in a fight in my life. Like I was the lover, right?

So we were just gonna be the fighters and then we had to name ourselves. They were like, we don't wanna embarrass you. So we're not gonna be called the Lover and the Fighters. We'll be called the Lovers and the Fighters, right? But they knew it was me. I'm the soft one that like smiles when things get awkward and very confrontational, you know? And it's just the love of God. Like I was afraid to allow that to be expressed through my life because I always associated that as weakness. The love and the joy that I've carried my entire life, I thought was not masculine enough for me to be the man of God that he's called me to be. And I'm telling you that love does something that's fascinating. It creates confidence. And I told the men this morning, I made a statement, confidence doesn't have to be proven. And there's a degree of tenderness that love produces in your life. That doesn't mean that you make yourself susceptible to lose battles. It means that you can remain in a place where the battle has already been won on your behalf and you rest in the finished work of the blood of Christ. And I'm telling you this because I want you to receive a grace to fully express you in the most authentic way possible.

So we come into this thing, lovers and the fighters, right? But whenever we're doing this, like we look at this, it doesn't tell you to ignore the battle. It doesn't tell you to ignore the adversary. So there has to be a truth in facing the giants, but it's important that we don't allow ourselves to get wrapped up in warfare. It's fascinating to me that David, we'll get there. David didn't even carry a sword. He continued to use a sword. He actually finished off Goliath with Goliath's sword that probably weighed as much as he did, but he didn't even carry a sword into the battlefield. But in Ephesians chapter six, I'm just gonna reference these. We're not gonna go there. Ephesians chapter six, Paul says, let's put on the armor of God so that we can stand against the schemes of the devil. In 1 Peter 5, verse eight, it says that we are told to be sober-minded and watchful because our adversary prowls like a roaring lion. And we analyze the armor of our enemy because denial is not faith. In recognizing, it's not meant that we allow ourselves to perceive what is before us to intimidate us. It's to remind us that we may not be capable of winning these battles on our own. And that is the perfect place to find rest. It is the perfect place to find peace,

to know that I'm not the one who has to make this happen. I can hand this over and Yahweh has my back. So there's something here that's important in Ephesians chapter six. Four times, Paul says one word, stand. Paul says stand four times in Ephesians six. He doesn't say win the war. He doesn't say defeat the enemy. He doesn't say slay the giant. He doesn't say get wrapped up in all this commotion and become offended and fight this battle and know that there are principalities and powers working against you. He says what? Stand, to remain. Why? Because in Colossians 2 15, we're told that Christ has already disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame. He hasn't already just won the victory, but he's already created public humiliation to let us know we don't have to fight these battles anymore. The only time the kings show up on a battlefield is after victory has already been declared. So don't think that this is about warfare or me trying to encourage you to become who you are so you can slay your giants. We're gonna get there, I promise. It was the fact that the decisive blow had already been struck.

The cross was not a narrow margin of victory. The resurrection wasn't a close win. It wasn't a close call where Yeshua almost got swallowed up by hell or the end. and he prevailed over against him, it was never close. It was never, failure was never an option. Yahweh doesn't take L's, right? Like, I know that sounds goofy, but like my boys, when Eli struck somebody out the other night in a really intense area game, and he was like, take that L. And like, I'm like, dude, like, what are we doing up here? That's not the love of God, you know? But you know, sometimes you get wrapped up in that. But Yahweh does not take losses. Like, he doesn't, he's never been defeated. He's undefeated. And so, when we examine the armor of our enemy, we do that not to determine whether or not we can win, but to remind ourselves that even when things look intimidating, they've already been disarmed by Jesus. Yeshua has already disarmed the things that try to present themselves against us. And here's what's beautiful to me about 1 Samuel 17 is that the Israelite army does not fight Goliath. Have you ever thought about that? Like, we're talking about a company of people. Goliath is standing before Israel saying, give me your best to come and battle against me.

And the entire army doesn't go out and fight him. They have a representative that does. David steps up. Just from bringing meals to his family, right? He comes up and he says, is there not a call? But David wins alone. And then the people share in a victory that they didn't accomplish. Does that sound familiar? That's the gospel. That is the good news of the finished work of the blood of Christ that we get to rest in. Jesus is the true and better David. So Romans five verse eight says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. In the passion translation, it says, but Christ proved God's passionate love for us by dying in our place while we were still lost and ungodly. Hebrews chapter two verse 14 says that through death, he destroyed the one who has the power of death. And in the passion it says, since all his children have flesh and blood. And so Jesus became human to fully identify with us. He did this so that he could experience death and annihilate the effects of the intimidating accuser who holds against us the power of death. It goes on to say that he embraced basically that death to set us free. But it's that he experienced death to annihilate the effects of the intimidating accuser.

So he stepped into your valley. He stepped into my valley. He defeated your giant. He defeated my giant, right? He crushed what we could not. And we get to live from this victory, not for it. Sometimes I feel a pressure that I've got to fight these battles and overcome these wars. But there is a peace that is manifested in our lives when we just trust him enough to know that he's already taking care of this forest. So I don't want you to become distracted because there are plenty of giants that exist, right? But they don't have to exist in your world unless you give them a voice. It's also fascinating to me. I've often wondered how this story would play out if no one heard Goliath's accusations. Because it said that he could not capture the Israelites unless he defeated one that they put before him. Could they have gone another 200 years and not be held captive if they would have ignored just a barking voice? It's a thought. I have no scripture to back that up. I just, I think weird thoughts. I think about these things like in a very practical sense. Like what happens when the enemy loses his voice in your life?

I can tell you what has happened in my life and it's that the voice of Yahweh becomes much clearer. For years the church had been on the defensive, right? That we have to stand and take guard and put on our armor and take our weapons up and we're gonna fight in war. And I think like that's just not a good way to gain ground. It's a good way maybe to protect what you've had. But we're not invited into war. We're invited into intimacy and peace. We're invited into this place where we can be at rest. And so this changes how you fight. It changes how you live. It changes how you see yourself. And for me, it's changed how I see God. That he's much more loving, his. nature is much more kind than I could have ever imagined. And there's something powerful about someone being able to walk into a room where you know you already belong. Right? This is the baseball part. You knew it was coming. We'll go ahead and get out of the way so we can get back to Jesus. But a few weeks ago, Easy is Becky and I, it's our youngest son. He just turned eight last weekend. We went to Buffalo Wild Wings. We watched this cartoon basketball movie I was telling Kashif called Goat.

And I just had a fun day celebrating him. At Buffalo Wild Wings now, like they have this cookie skillet. Yeah. If I quit eating those, I could be with Pastor John and wear those really cool baggy jeans, but I just love cookie skillets too much, I guess. I don't know. So we had a great time, but he went out for Little League tryouts. They had evaluations, but he showed up with a little secret. Right? And the secret was that he was gonna be the number one overall pick in the draft at Westside. Right? The head coach that had gotten the number one slot approached me before we even tried out. And he said, hey, Parker, I just wanted to let you know, I'm coaching the Reds this year. We're gonna take Easy with the number one pick. And I was like, sweet, man. He said, I want you to tell him that. And I was like, Jim, you're an idiot. We are not. We're not gonna tell Easy before he goes into tryouts that he's already the number one pick, right? That would defeat the purpose. And he said, I don't want him to go in and feel like he has to make an impression.

I want him to just show up and be free. This dude's not saved. He cusses it. Our 12 year old crew, like we coach travel ball together. And I'm like always, and he's like, I'm sorry, Pastor. And it's like, dude, you call me Parker in the middle of everything else you do. But when you cuss, you apologize and call me Pastor. Like I appreciate the respect. Maybe that's a Southern thing. I don't know, I don't know. But so Easy shows up for tryouts. Jim tells me this, before we go, like I told Easy, okay, buddy, you're gonna be the number one pick in the draft. So I just want you to go out there and have fun. And he was like, sweet, like fun to him means a reward. This was a few weeks before his birthday. But we have this local coffee shop called Brew Y'all. And they have these kids drinks. And so like for the fearless crew, y'all may wanna think about this as a business idea. They have like little blue raspberry smoothies that they call frozen. And they do like a whipped cream snowman on the top. That's like they're frozen, let it go, Olaf drink. Then they have like a pink unicorn that has like a little pinch of cotton candy on the top. And then they have another one called the shark tail. Now the shark tail is Easy's favorite drink.

And it's got like Sprite with grenadine and some kind of blue syrup, but they put gummy sharks in it. So when you get the drink, it's like blue water on the bottom, little blood on the top, and then the gummy sharks in. So it looks like jaws, right? And that sounds pretty like morbid right now. I don't know why I buy that for him, but this shark tail drink, right, is Easy's favorite. It's Easy's favorite, okay? And so he says, daddy, can we get a shark tail on the way home? And I just wanna be real with you guys. I said, buddy, if you go out there and make me proud, we'll get a shark tail. And I felt grieved by the Holy Spirit as soon as I said that because I made him feel like I would celebrate him if he went out there and hit the ball as hard as he could hit it, run as fast as he could run, throw it as good as he could throw, make all of his catches. And so we got there, man, and I'm just dealing with this. And I'm very open with my kids. Like, I apologize when I get things wrong, which happens very often. And I said, hey, Easy, we pulled up. I said, you know what, buddy? You're already the number one draft pick.

Number one draft pick gets a shark tail after tryouts. I don't care how it goes. I said, you can swing and miss at every pitch, but we're just gonna have fun because you're the number one pick. That means you're the best ball player at Westside. So like, I'm just hyping him up. He goes out there and before a ball was thrown, before a single pitch was taken, before a swing had taken place, like it had already been decided. You can't get higher than number one overall, right? And you know what happened when he went out there? He had the best tryout of his life. He crushed the ball into the outfield. All the coaches were lined up in this area in the outfield and his first hit line drive into all the coaches' chairs. And they're like getting out of the way. And you see those pens start to get frantic on the paper and they start writing down. And it was because he went. out there and he didn't have to work for acceptance. He just got to be himself because he knew that he already was. And this is the gospel that has transformed my life as I knew that I was loved by God. But until I began to realize that he liked me also enough to celebrate who I am and give me permission to be myself, I still felt like I had to earn his approval. And through the life of an eight-year-old boy

on a baseball field, I just feel the love of God being poured out on me to say like, hey, Parker, let's go get a shark tail. You know, I probably won't do that. Like, you know, give me a sweet tea or something. But it's like being able to realize this. So whenever he was out there, you know, he wasn't trying out for a team because he was already chosen. So when he was on the field, he smiled more. He laughed, he was comfortable. He was himself. He was able to be everything that he knew he was designed to be because he had already been accepted. And this is absolutely amazing, but I noted this. Pressure forces performance, but security releases it. Pressure forces performance, but security releases it. And I've been thinking just about how many of us are living our lives at spiritual tryouts. Like how often do we try to swing our hardest? How often do we try to run these drills and we look up to heaven after every mistake we make, wondering like, do you still love me? Do you still want me? Do I make you proud? Am I worthy? You know, and I just wanna say that what if the reason why we feel so anxious or so exhausted or so inauthentic is because we're trying to earn something that God has already given us.

I hope that you hear the permission for you to just be who you are this morning, that you don't have to make this happen. I wanna look back at Romans 8, 15 and 16 again, just to kind of pull this together. The mature children of God are those who are moved by the impulses of the Holy Spirit. And you did not receive the spirit of religious duty, leading you back into the fear of never being good enough, but you have received the spirit of full acceptance and folding you into the family of God. And you will never feel orphaned for as he rises up within us, our spirits join him in saying the words of tender affection, beloved father, for the Holy Spirit rises up within us, sorry, for the Holy Spirit makes God's fatherhood real to us as he whispers into our innermost being, you are God's beloved child. So what if the gospel isn't an invitation to try harder, but an announcement that you and I have already been chosen? And when we know that we've been chosen, we're free to finally be who we are. So I want us to come back in 1 Samuel 17, we're gonna start in verse 38 and just look at David trying on Saul's armor, we know it didn't fit. We know how this story plays out, but what does that look like in life? So in verse 38, it says this, so Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put on a bronze helmet.

He also clothed them with a coat of mail, and David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, I cannot walk with these for I have not tested them. So David took them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and he chose himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in a shepherd's bag in a pouch which he had and the sling was in his hand and he drew near to the Philistine. So we know here that Saul's armor represents performance based identity, right? It represents fighting like someone else in order to measure up, but David had something better than armor. But before David could take what he was in possession of, he had to stand before Saul before he ever stood before Goliath. And have you thought about the courage that it must have taken for him to stand before a king after he had just been anointed king and say, I'm not gonna fight this the way that you would. There's some weight on that y'all because the leaders that I've had in my life and the people that I've looked up to, I've been guilty of trying to fight those battles the way I think they would fight them. And I'd continue to struggle with those giants. I'd continue to fight those battles.

I'd continue to be just in a restless state, not be at peace in my own life. And so before David ever was able to stand before Goliath, he had to take. off something before Saul and say like, hey, I know this fits you, but it doesn't fit me. But if you can just trust me to be who I am, I promise I'm not gonna let you down. And I think that that is a degree of relation that Abba is inviting us into, is that if you can just put these, even if it's protective armor, even if it's walls, Michael Turley came up to me in worship and just said, he was talking about laying down a fence as he felt lead this morning. And I think that that identifies this whole piece that I wasn't even mindful of until I started reading it, man. But I honor the prophetic gifting and mantle upon your life. That anointing is to say that like, there may be armor that you're wearing that prevents you from being able to receive the tenderness that God desires to pour into your life. It may be protection and it may make you feel safe to know that nothing can get you as long as you're wearing this stuff. But I'm telling you that you were never designed to wear armor, it was always a robe. It was always a robe.

You are the royal diadem, you are the crown jewel, you are the king priest, you are exactly who Yahweh has created for you to be. And it isn't just to go around there fighting and feeling like you've got to make something happen. It's the fact that you were called to rule and reign, but we can't do that if we're busy just wearing ourselves out chasing giants. I wanna say this and then I'll get to this other part, but David had assurance because he knew who he was. And he had that confidence in himself, not from his experience on the battlefield, but from his experience in the field, being a shepherd. When the lion and the bear came, he took those out, like he was proud of that. He even told Saul like, did you not know that this is what I've done? And I think there's some weight on that as well because that is what happens when you allow yourself to rest in the presence of God is it creates confidence that drowns out insecurity. It fills every broken place of your heart with wholeness. It makes you realize that you are enough. It makes you realize that you are exactly who Yahweh created. I think I've shared this before guys, but I think it's important to just remind you this morning, like in our household, I'll tell the kids and Becky all the time, I love you E-A-Y, which stands for everything about you. There's not a thing that Yahweh would change.

And I feel like we've walked in places where we felt like we need to become who Yahweh wants us to be. And we've missed the fact that he already delights in who you are. My kids, when I told E-Z like, if you go out there and make me proud, his shoulders dropped, right? He was like, I don't know why, like, they've already chosen me, daddy, why can't you? He didn't say that, but like, this is the way I process things. And it's like, son, I want you to know that like my greatest honor and responsibility in life is just to equip you to know that who you are is exactly who I love. And I don't think that we've been able to understand the nature of God to a degree to know that he feels the same way about you and I. He still loves everything about us. And so when you're unsure of God's love, you wear borrowed armor. You imitate, you strive, you perform, you compare yourself, and you don't have to preach like someone else. You don't have to lead like someone else. You don't have to parent like someone else. You don't have to spouse like someone else. You don't have to, whatever the goal is, whatever it is that you're doing, like anyone else,

like when you're secure in Yahweh's love for you, you can authentically be who you are. And so Ephesians 1 says that we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. So before you ever stepped onto the field, before the tryout, before the valley, before the battle, I wanna remind you that you were chosen. This is the deepest freedom in the universe. And here's the truth. When you know the battle is the Lord's, when you know that the victory has already been won and that the Father's love is already settled in your heart, you're free. You're free to obey. You're free to live. I don't know. There may be someone in this room. that has this live, laugh, love thing in the kitchen of your home or something. But like, I just say that, like you're free to laugh, you're free to love. These are all like additional fruits of the spirit, right? It's that righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. You're free to obey, but you're also free to take risks. You're free to go for it. You're free to make mistakes. You're free to mess things up. Like I tell our boys all the time, I coach Little League Baseball. And I tell these guys like,

that's why we're on the practice field. This is a safe place for you to make mistakes. And the more that you make those mistakes, the better experience you have to overcome them. So when we're on the field and it really counts, you're through it. But a lot of people are afraid to face those mistakes because it's uncomfortable to admit that I may not be perfectly rounded in this area of my life. But faith, it doesn't come by denial. The scripture is very clear about us being truthful and facing what is before us. So this thing, I just wanna tell you this, and I don't wanna stir the pot too much, but I do wanna share one last thing with you before I close. I was on a walk recently, and I'll close my Bible so you really believe me. I was on a walk recently and the Holy Spirit asked me a question. When did Saul's armor fit David? Don't worry, it stumped me too. And I heard never, and I'm not calling anybody out. That was my response. I said, it never did. Like David never wore the armor of Saul. But in 1 Chronicles 28, it tells us that David was incapable of building the temple from what? The amount of blood shed on his hands. So at some point in this,

like I just asked myself the question, like when did David's identity shift from becoming a worshiper, an authentic worshiper to an experienced warrior? And I think it was probably that he allowed the victories that were shouted on the battlefield to celebrate him after his defeat of Goliath to basically become more prevalent than the whispers of his communion. David was called to defeat Goliath. He wasn't called to fight any other battle. He brought that upon himself. And I just wanna make sure that whenever you and I are in this place that we don't let the celebration of our victories grow louder than the whispers of our worship. Because what happens when you feel like you're not enough is you begin to entertain voices that may give you what you think you want to hear. And you decline an invitation to hear the affirmation from the Lord that he desires for you to hear. And those shouts on the battlefield are a lot louder than his time of communion where it's just him and the father. Sometimes at some point that sword got more comfortable to carry than the harp. And I just wanna encourage you that as we're finding permission and we're finding grace to authentically be who God has created for us to be, that we don't allow ourselves

to get more comfortable carrying the sword than we do the harp. Because you and I were designed for union. We were designed for oneness. We were designed to be with the father and know that he delights in us and know that that's where we were created to be. So family, I just wanna close in this if we can before we finish this thing up, I just wanna pray over you this morning because I feel something really weighty about what's made available. And this is not being forced on you. And I hope you don't take it that way, but gifts can never be earned. But they do have to be received. And I feel like everything that you have need of, the father is just patiently waiting for you to receive of, but he's not gonna give it to you until you're confident in knowing who he is and who you are. And whenever we come into the revelation of those two things, we receive permission to fully express ourselves the way that he created us to be. So Abba Yahweh, I thank you father for your children today. I thank you for every heart in life that's represented not only in this building, but also tuning in by live stream today. Lord, and I just ask that you would allow us a grace

to receive of your love. I thank you for the spirit of full acceptance that enfolds us into your family. Lord, I thank you that you celebrate who we are. I thank you that you delight yourself in us, not just our praise, but in our being. And Lord, I just thank you for permission today to authentically be who you've created for us to be. I thank you for the silly people in this room. I thank you for the joyous people in this room. I thank you for the spontaneous people in this room, the adventurous people in this room. And Lord, I thank you that every step we take on this path with you, we can fully be at peace in the freedom that this is the life that you have intended for us to live. Father, I thank you for joy that's unspeakable and full of glory, and I thank you for the opportunity for us to be called your sons and daughters. We thank you, Lord, for not just what you're doing in our lives and in this ministry, God, but I thank you for who you are. I thank you that you are revealing yourself to us. I thank you that this morning through the person of Yeshua, we have a better understanding of your nature. We have a better understanding of who you are, Lord. And I just thank you for your goodness and your love in our lives in Yeshua's name, amen, amen. Guys, this is absolutely amazing.

At this time, we're gonna have a tremendous opportunity to be able to take communion together. My brother Kashif is gonna lead us in that with some of the elders. And I just want you to really shift the posture of your hearts in this moment. Communion has become one of the most sacred things that I have been able to do in order to worship Yahweh is to be able to receive of the gift of his son for us. And as we partake of the body and blood, don't let this just be something that you've began to do on the beginning of each month. Like let this be an expression of your worship, of your gratitude for the ultimate price that has been paid for our lives.