Friendship video - Cletus Take the Reel (by Tim Hawkins)

God's heart makes deep friendship possible

As we continue to follow the David story through 1 Samuel, we encounter David's deep friendship with Jonathan. In that friendship, we see a meaningful connection, someone who will be for David, a risk-taker. Here's the audio:

Friendship

Omnipresence, election and incarnation (pt. 1)

This week we looked at the story of David and Goliath. This story is a story of courage, a story of God with his people. It’s a story that raises questions, questions of justice, questions about the nature of God.

As David and Goliath circle each other, exchanging taunts, David cries out: “the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.” What does it mean to claim that there is a God in Israel? What does it mean to claim that God is with his people? What does it mean to claim that God is with us?

Christians have long talked about God’s omnipresence. God is fully present in all places at all times. There’s no place to hide from him, no place where he can’t find you. This thought is comforting, frightening, and believable. If God is spirit and is not like us, why can’t he be everywhere?

But if God is everywhere and is fully everywhere, then we have a problem. The incarnation of God in Jesus presents us with Emmanuel, God with us. The doctrine of election (across the theological spectrum) seems to indicate that God has a special people (Israel, the church). If God is everywhere, isn’t he with everyone? If God’s presence is promised to the elect and he is all-present, isn’t everyone elect?

God is with us

God is with us. As we watch David face off with Goliath (1 Samuel 17), we see courage on display, a conviction that God is with his people. Here's the audio from tonight's talk:

Courage

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God wants you to share his heart

At last night's Large Group, we talked about the story of David and his anointing by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:1-13). What really came out of my study of the passage was a conviction that God wants us to share his heart. Here's the audio from last night's talk:

Heart

Check out this talk, where Eugene Peterson tells the story of David and Samuel:
Run with the Horses