[SPEAKER_00]: First Samuel chapter 17, verse starting in verse 1, and says, this, the Philicines gathered their forces for war at Soka in Judah and can't be between Soka and Ezekah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And F.S.
[SPEAKER_00]: Dam, Dam ends using this hall in the men of Israel gathered and camped in the valley of a law.
[SPEAKER_00]: They then lined up and battle formation to face the Philistines.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Philistines were standing on one hill.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Israelites were standing on another hill with the ravine between them.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then a champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was nine feet tall, nine inches tall.
[SPEAKER_00]: We're going to jump down a little bit.
[SPEAKER_00]: Next slide.
[SPEAKER_00]: Every morning and evening for 40 days, the Philistines came forward and took his stand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Philistines came forward and took his stand.
[SPEAKER_00]: One day, Jesse had told his son David, take this half-bushal of roasted grain along with these 10 loves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.
[SPEAKER_00]: Also take these 10 portions of cheese to the field commander.
[SPEAKER_00]: Check on the welfare of your brothers
[SPEAKER_00]: They were with Saul and all the men of Israel and the valley of Allah fighting with the Philistines.
[SPEAKER_00]: Next slide.
[SPEAKER_00]: So David got up early in the morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: He left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up and set out as Jesse had instructed him.
[SPEAKER_00]: He arrived at the perimeter of the camp as the army was marching out to its battle formation shouting their battle cry.
[SPEAKER_00]: David spoke to the men who are standing with him, what will be done for the man who kills that Philistine?
[SPEAKER_00]: And removes this disgrace from Israel.
[SPEAKER_00]: Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, that's some boldest beginning to speak, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: Next slide.
[SPEAKER_00]: David said to Saul, don't let anyone be discouraged by him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your servant will go and fight this filistine.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Saul replied, you can't go fight this filistine.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're just a youth.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's been a warrior since he was young.
[SPEAKER_00]: David answered Saul, your servant has been tending his father's sheep.
[SPEAKER_00]: Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, I went after it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I struck it down and I rescued the lamb from its mouth.
[SPEAKER_00]: If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your servant has killed lions and bears.
[SPEAKER_00]: This uncircum-sized philicine will be like one of them.
[SPEAKER_00]: for he has defied the armies of the living God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then David said, the Lord who rescued me from the Paul of the lion and the Paul of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this filestine.
[SPEAKER_00]: Saul said to David, go and make the Lord be with you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David.
[SPEAKER_00]: He put a bronze helmet on David's head and had him put on armor.
[SPEAKER_00]: next slide.
[SPEAKER_00]: David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk but he was not used to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can't walk in these David said to Saul, I'm not used to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: So David took them off and said he took his staff in his hand and he chose five smooth stones from the water and put them in the pouch and his shepherds bag.
[SPEAKER_00]: Then with his sling and his hand he approached the Philistine.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we conclude right here, when the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.
[SPEAKER_00]: David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine in his forehead.
[SPEAKER_00]: The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
[SPEAKER_00]: David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone.
[SPEAKER_00]: Even though David had no sword, he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hallelujah, come on somebody.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's so much here, I'm excited, this is gonna be good this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right, so if you're taking notes this morning, the title of today's message is, it's already in your hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, turn to somebody and tell them, it's already in your hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, look at somebody else and tell them, kind of tell them boldly, say it's already in your hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Glory to God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, let's pray, Father, we thank you, Lord, for your Word.
[SPEAKER_00]: We thank you, God, for teaching us something new today, God.
[SPEAKER_00]: We thank you for the revelation of your Word, for the truth of your Word, coming to life and unfolding before us today, God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, we leave here today, God fully equipped and trained, God, and ready, Lord, for what you would have for us, Father.
[SPEAKER_00]: Teach us something new, God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, give us, give us just a holy ghost download this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: Lord, from your Word.
[SPEAKER_00]: today God and we want to leave here change God.
[SPEAKER_00]: We want to leave here mark and transform by your word.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Lord do it today God and we thank you for it in Jesus' name.
[SPEAKER_00]: Everybody said Amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Amen.
[SPEAKER_00]: All right.
[SPEAKER_00]: So momentum in and of itself is truly a wonderful thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: But to have great momentum means that it's a above average.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's an abundant kind of momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: But the key to having any type of momentum is that there has to be some movement that occurs.
[SPEAKER_00]: Momentum doesn't happen without movement.
[SPEAKER_00]: Eric did such a wonderful job yesterday at Men's Bible study explaining a little bit more about momentum and talking about traction.
[SPEAKER_00]: And how we have the first kind of get some traction so we can get the ball moving or maybe the car has to start going the wheels have to get some traction on the ground.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so movement and momentum play rolls together and if you want to have some momentum you got to have some out of about some movement.
[SPEAKER_00]: In other words when it comes to this for our church and the word of the Lord for our church we just can't sit back.
[SPEAKER_00]: We just can't be still.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can't relax.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can't take the sideline, and we certainly just can't wait around.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we got to move.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got to move.
[SPEAKER_00]: Turn to your neighbor and tell him, you got to move.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I don't know about you, but I don't want to be the kind of church that does nothing.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's good at having a church service, but not good at having the power of Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's good at preaching, but life's aren't being changed.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to be the kind of church that does something and that is always experiencing movement and always experiencing forward progression, forward movement.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I'm afraid that in the church today, we've done a great job at a bunch of things, but not a great job at forward movement.
[SPEAKER_00]: And here's the problem with that.
[SPEAKER_00]: People these days are less interested in the version of church that is doing nothing and has no vision.
[SPEAKER_00]: has no goals, has nothing to accomplish.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because listen, we've got routines, but there routines without revelation.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've got activities, but there are activities without true discipleship.
[SPEAKER_00]: We've got every type of church service, but there are services without the real, raw demonstrations of the power of the Holy Spirit.
[SPEAKER_00]: We think street evangelism is only for the evangelist, but in reality it's for the church.
[SPEAKER_00]: We think that intercessory prayer is for the most spiritual people in the room, but the reality is it's for the whole church.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if we're gonna do something, we better do it with some expectation attached to it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Knowing that what we're doing is going to create some movement, therefore we are going to experience some momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: And for some people in this room, maybe you weren't born in church, you know, maybe you grew up in church.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't know.
[SPEAKER_00]: And for some of you, you grew up in church and you've seen kind of how churches kind of unraveled and just how it's gone in different directions over the years.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we see how things have become so big and productiony, if you will.
[SPEAKER_00]: be instructed by deacons and elders.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you know the kind of church that
[SPEAKER_00]: The old school kind of church that had the pews and had the choirs and all of that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when service was starting, the whole choir would come in and their robes and they would come and they line up on the stage and they take their formation and all of that.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it was wonderful for that time and there's still plenty of places like that today and I'm not coming against that, I love it.
[SPEAKER_00]: but it started a trend of things becoming so organized and so structured and all of those kind of things and just hear me when I say this this morning, we gotta be so careful that we don't get so addicted to the tradition of church that we lose our yes and that we lose our why.
[SPEAKER_00]: Yes, that we said to God when he met us, and we gave our life over to him, and our yes, that we gave to the Lord when he called us unto a church, and said, serve this house, and be a part of this family.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can't lose that idea.
[SPEAKER_00]: We can't lose that heart, and that understanding.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's our, it's our yes, and it's our why that will keep us in a state of motion.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it will keep us in a state of experiencing constant true momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that comes not just in our vision and our goals, but most importantly, it comes by keeping his presence number one, keeping what Jesus wants to do at the forefront, and keeping him the main focus.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if he's not in it, we don't want nothing to do with it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Keeping Jesus at the center of everything that we do, every decision that we make.
[SPEAKER_00]: At the restaurant, I was telling her about our word of the year for this year and I was telling her about our vision and I told her, I said, I said, this is what I communicated to the church that if what we do throughout the year doesn't point back to what God spoke to us, then what are we doing it for?
[SPEAKER_00]: So everything that we do has to point back to the Word of God that's been spoken.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it ultimately obviously has to point back to Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: If not, then we're doing it for other motives and other agendas and maybe some of our flesh or our selfishness kind of begins to creep in.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't want to be that, I don't want to be in that position, I don't want to be in that posture.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to be in a constant state of obedience that with the Lord said, hey, this year is going to be a year of great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: We need you to go and do some more community outreach events, then my answer is yes, Lord.
[SPEAKER_00]: and it's not going to be like going off or deriving off of that or kind of steering off that chorus or steering off that path.
[SPEAKER_00]: But all of the things that the Lord spoke to us, we got to say yes too, but we got to also remember and we got to point it back to him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when we do that, I truly believe will stay in this great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, first seeing me on chapter 17, it really has so much to offer us, and there's so much revelation that's hidden throughout these scriptures that we read this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, I want to give you this morning if you're taking notes, I hope you are.
[SPEAKER_00]: I want to give you three keys to great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we're going to really break this down really over the course of the next few weeks, but today's more of like a foundational message to this whole thing, but three keys to great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: Number one is this, is that you have to know the ground you're standing on.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have to know the ground you're standing on.
[SPEAKER_00]: First Samuel chapter 17, beginning in verse one, it immediately gives the location in the place of where they were at.
[SPEAKER_00]: And oftentimes, I've just kind of read over that.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you want to kind of get into the heat of the story when David wants to go and he wants to fight the giant.
[SPEAKER_00]: But we skip over the first couple of verses that kind of lay a foundation and kind of give us some important information that we need to really understand what's happening.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so immediately, it gives, and it highlights in pinpoint the location of the battle.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says that this battle was taking place in Soka in Judah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And what you have to understand about Judah is that the area and the tribe and the region of Judah was actually David's tribe.
[SPEAKER_00]: His family was a part of that tribe.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so they were standing, the Philistine army had come and they had infringed upon a land that was not theirs.
[SPEAKER_00]: They took step in a territory on a piece of ground that wasn't theirs to begin with.
[SPEAKER_00]: They had no right standing in Judah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the only person that recognized that happened to be David.
[SPEAKER_00]: because King Saul and the army that they could have recognized the fact, what are you doing coming onto our place and to our territory, onto our land?
[SPEAKER_00]: If you had somebody in the middle of the night try to open your door, come into your house, you were gonna do something about it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Are you not?
[SPEAKER_00]: You're gonna take action.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, you're gonna do something because they don't belong there.
[SPEAKER_00]: The Philistine army never belonged in the land that they stepped foot into.
[SPEAKER_00]: They should have never been there to begin with.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so we see right off the bat, specifically when it comes to Goliath in this part of the story, he comes in front of the Philistine army and he makes his way down into this valley area.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he's standing in Soka in Judah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And when we understand this, it points me in the direction of covenant.
[SPEAKER_00]: That was their covenant land.
[SPEAKER_00]: It belonged to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: God gave them their land.
[SPEAKER_00]: When God gives something, he doesn't strip it away from us.
[SPEAKER_00]: He gave them that land and certainly God was not going to give them that land and then allow a Philistine army with a nine foot giant to come and take that land away from them.
[SPEAKER_00]: God would have never allowed that to begin with.
[SPEAKER_00]: Therefore that goes to tell me that the Israel, like army, we're already in a position of victory.
[SPEAKER_00]: We look at the story and we look at, oh my God, and it's set up like, man, how are they going to overcome this army?
[SPEAKER_00]: They just had a new, they just had to know, excuse me, the ground that they were standing on.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they had to understand covenant, which tells me that the battle, when it came to David, he understood that the battle had already been won.
[SPEAKER_00]: David had so much confidence in so much boldness of forever, of often wondered, why was he so bold?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why was he unlike anybody else, all the other soldiers?
[SPEAKER_00]: And then nobody would go fight him.
[SPEAKER_00]: King saw himself when nothing to do with Goliath.
[SPEAKER_00]: So why would a shepherd boy, a shepherd boy of all things, want to take on Goliath?
[SPEAKER_00]: Listen, church, it's not that he wanted to take him on.
[SPEAKER_00]: He already knew that the victory was won.
[SPEAKER_00]: The giant, the Philistine Army, infringed, instead, on a land that didn't belong to him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if David went into the battle with the understanding of his people's covenant with God, then that's why David was confident to know that the battle would be won.
[SPEAKER_00]: So God was giving us the key to victory, but it's really a key of momentum in verse one.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's already given us the territory.
[SPEAKER_00]: We just got to know the ground that we're standing on.
[SPEAKER_00]: God has given us the city of Bedford.
[SPEAKER_00]: We just got to understand and know the ground that we're standing on.
[SPEAKER_00]: We got to know that when we go outside of these walls, like, it belongs to God.
[SPEAKER_00]: It belongs.
[SPEAKER_00]: This church is taking territory.
[SPEAKER_00]: This church is taking ground, right?
[SPEAKER_00]: And that's how this thing works.
[SPEAKER_00]: And we see how David really understood this.
[SPEAKER_00]: In the way I often understand this as well as that, I've always wondered why did David never call him by his name?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why did David never say Goliath?
[SPEAKER_00]: Read it, read throughout the whole thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: He never, he never calls Goliath by his name, but he calls Goliath by what he is.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he says an uncircum-sized Philistine.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why would he say un-circum-sized Philistine?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why would he go for it out there and say that and broadcast it and call him by that name?
[SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't calling him a name.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was reminding Goliath that he was not in covenant with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: David was in covenant with God and David understood, I'm in covenant with God, you are not.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm not even gonna give you credit by giving you your name.
[SPEAKER_00]: I'm just gonna tell you where you belong right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: So David made it a point to call Goliath by the phrased un-circum-sized Philistine, because it was a sign of covenant, and if we could simply understand that the ground we're stepping on is already ours, because it's already the fathers, let me tell you, this is the starting point of
[SPEAKER_00]: We have to ask ourselves, how can we get the momentum going?
[SPEAKER_00]: It starts out right here, knowing the ground we're standing on.
[SPEAKER_00]: Understanding the authority that we have in Christ Jesus, and standing in that place and being in that position, it's amazing to me that of all the hundreds, or thousands of people that we're standing upon that hillside, only one understood their covenant with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us never be that way.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let us be the ones who understand who we are.
[SPEAKER_00]: And understand the ground that belongs to us, and the territory that God has given us, and may we always understand our covenant with Him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if God says, go, we go.
[SPEAKER_00]: God says, do, we do it.
[SPEAKER_00]: And no questions asked.
[SPEAKER_00]: So number one, you have to know the ground you're standing on.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have to remember what God has already done.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember what God has already done.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now what he's doing right now, he's doing something great right now, I get it, but we have to remember what he's already done.
[SPEAKER_00]: We have to understand that we've got a past with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And it's a good thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: You know, oftentimes people bring up their past and they turn it into a negative thing.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now listen, your past with God is good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your past with God is great.
[SPEAKER_00]: He doesn't look at you and defy you and identify you for the things that you have done.
[SPEAKER_00]: He identifies you for who you are in him.
[SPEAKER_00]: And David understood this.
[SPEAKER_00]: David remembered what God has already done.
[SPEAKER_00]: How do we know that?
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, first Samuel chapter 17, starting around verse 40, the scripture says that he went to the stream and he gathered those five smooth stones.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember?
[SPEAKER_00]: And then he approached, he approached Goliath, but I don't want you to miss something that it says right before the fact that he gathered the stones.
[SPEAKER_00]: It says that he took his staff.
[SPEAKER_00]: He took his staff, he gathered the stones, and he approached the Philistine.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I read that this past week, and I was like, wait a second, there's something in this.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because why in the world, if David knew that he was going to take out the giant, if David knew that his weapon of choice was the sling and the stones, why did he still have his step in his hand?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because he wasn't tending sheep at this time.
[SPEAKER_00]: Remember the scripture told us that he left the sheep to somebody else.
[SPEAKER_00]: He left him in somebody else's hands.
[SPEAKER_00]: At this point, it would have been needed.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't tending sheep, but it's because of this very reason.
[SPEAKER_00]: And that day, shepherds would literally carve into a staff, stories, and pictures, and different life experiences, and different things that they would go through.
[SPEAKER_00]: I can guarantee you on David's staff was a picture of him taking out a lion.
[SPEAKER_00]: was also a picture of him taking out a bear and carved into that staff from the top to the bottom of it were words that God spoke to him in revelations that he received as he was spending time with God on the hillside and tending to the sheet.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so, shepherds of the day, they would have all of their history if you will carved into their staff.
[SPEAKER_00]: And so when David went to the battlefield, when he went to face the Goliath and he went to face the Philistine army, he wasn't thinking about how big the giant was.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't focused in on how big the army was.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had his staff and his hand, and he was looking at it, and he was remembering, I don't know how I made it through when that lion came and attacked me.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I was able to get through it, I was able to conquer it.
[SPEAKER_00]: I don't understand, I really doesn't make sense how I was able to kill a bear that took some of my sheep and I was able to just strip it down and kill it.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I'm looking upon that now and I'm looking at the face of the giant and if I can take out a lion and if I can take out a bear, I know for a certain, my God will be with me to take out this filistee.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he remembered his history with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: You have a history with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: There's stuff that God has done for your life that's mind blowing.
[SPEAKER_00]: That if He didn't do it, you wouldn't be sitting here this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: And He didn't deliver you from that drug addiction.
[SPEAKER_00]: If He didn't get you out of the mess that you were in, come on somebody, if He didn't save you and rescue you and redeem your life and restore your family, all of those wonderful things that He has done.
[SPEAKER_00]: Listen, you have a history with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And your history allows you to be in a position of victory every time the enemy tries to attack.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because it's a reminder of what God has done.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a reminder of His faithfulness.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a reminder of His word.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a reminder of His grace and His mercy upon your life.
[SPEAKER_00]: So David said, if I'm going to go and I'm going to take out this Philistine, I'm not just going to take my weapon, but I'm going to take my history with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: because nobody else will understand it, but I will.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody knows what I've been through, but God does.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody knows the hell that I faced, but God certainly does.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody knows the times that I cried myself to sleep, but God certainly does.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody knows the turmoil in the trauma and the despair that I faced, but God certainly does.
[SPEAKER_00]: David looked at his staff, and he remembered all of the things that God has done,
[SPEAKER_00]: So listen, church, sometimes in life, all you got is your history with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: And let me tell you, your history though is enough.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a reminder that you've already faced the lions and you've already won.
[SPEAKER_00]: It's a reminder that you've already faced those bears and you came out on the winning side.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if all you've got is your history with God, that's enough to remind you that you can't be defeated.
[SPEAKER_00]: You can't be taken out.
[SPEAKER_00]: You may be six feet smaller, but you still can't lose.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because you have history with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, somebody.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if he was faithful with the lion, and he was faithful with the bear, then praise God, he will be faithful with the giant that is standing in front of you.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So if you want to experience great momentum, you cannot forsake what God has already done
[SPEAKER_00]: But you've got to take that into this year with some confidence.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got to take your history with God into this year with some security.
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me tell you, it's job security when it comes to the kingdom.
[SPEAKER_00]: People wonder all the time, am I going to get let go?
[SPEAKER_00]: Do I have true job security?
[SPEAKER_00]: Let me tell you, with God, it's always secure.
[SPEAKER_00]: And your history with him proves the fact that it's secure.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not going to change his mind about you.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not going to change his mind about the situation that you're in.
[SPEAKER_00]: But I believe that God is a God of great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I believe that he wants to get us going into this place of great momentum that we experience constant movement.
[SPEAKER_00]: God's not trying to pull us back.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's actually trying to push us forward.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's trying to push us into greater this year.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_00]: So number one, number one, you got to know the ground you're standing on.
[SPEAKER_00]: Number two, you got to remember what God has already done.
[SPEAKER_00]: And number three is this, title of today's messages.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your momentum is in your hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: So it's one thing like all of this is like super powerful, super amazing, there's all kinds of stuff and chapter 17, but beyond the staff, we get to go a whole new step further.
[SPEAKER_00]: The story goes even deeper.
[SPEAKER_00]: The battle happens in the valley, in the midst of Judah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you've probably heard Judah translated to the word what anybody, praise.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Judah doesn't actually mean praise, but it's derived from the same meaning of the word.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you put it on the screen there, Judah's derived from the Hebrew root word, Yadah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And Yadah is what is translated to the word praise.
[SPEAKER_00]: So Judah doesn't actually translate to praise, but I'll tell you what it does translate to.
[SPEAKER_00]: When you really dive deep into what the meaning of Judah is, it means this, next slide.
[SPEAKER_00]: It means to extend the hand, to extend the hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: But Judah doesn't just translate to extending the hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you dive even deeper, it goes beyond that.
[SPEAKER_00]: He who throws the stone, he who throws the stone.
[SPEAKER_00]: He got his stones.
[SPEAKER_00]: Why in the world did David not pick up a sword?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why in the world did he not pick up a spear?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why did he not take a some sort of armor and some sort of something that he could use to take out the fill scene?
[SPEAKER_00]: Why in the world did he take a sling and a stone?
[SPEAKER_00]: Because he knew, he knew who he was.
[SPEAKER_00]: He knew that he was from the tribe of Judah.
[SPEAKER_00]: He knew that he was from the tribe that extends the hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: He knew that he was from the tribe of the ones who throw the stone.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he knew who he was, so therefore he used the resource to identify with who he was.
[SPEAKER_00]: In God blessed him with the sling and the stone to be able to take out the Philistine because that who God created him to be in the first place.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was from the line of the tribe of Judah, come on somebody, hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was from that line.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was from that heritage.
[SPEAKER_00]: He was from that group of people.
[SPEAKER_00]: And they were the ones that threw the stones.
[SPEAKER_00]: He knew who he was.
[SPEAKER_00]: He knew David recognized it.
[SPEAKER_00]: If I pick up a sword right now, it might not work.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got to go back to my heritage.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got to go back to my roots.
[SPEAKER_00]: I got to go back to what God has said about me.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he forced, look, everything else in that moment.
[SPEAKER_00]: And he remembered the calling that was upon his life.
[SPEAKER_00]: He wasn't just a shepherd, tending to the flock.
[SPEAKER_00]: But he would be the one that would extend the hand and sling the stone.
[SPEAKER_00]: The battle was won before he even got in it.
[SPEAKER_00]: Glyeth was defeated before David even stood in front of him.
[SPEAKER_00]: Because David was coming into his rightful place with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: David was coming into the right position with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: God called him to be one that would sling a stone.
[SPEAKER_00]: And David knew that.
[SPEAKER_00]: The revelation was there.
[SPEAKER_00]: They're understanding the wisdom was there.
[SPEAKER_00]: Nobody else got it.
[SPEAKER_00]: His whole family, not his brothers who was there in the midst of the battlefield and just waiting there.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were all in fear.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were all in turmoil.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were all in constant state of how are we going to defeat this giant?
[SPEAKER_00]: And not one of them remembered who God had called them to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: Listen, you got to remember who God's called you to be.
[SPEAKER_00]: You got to remember your identity and Christ Jesus come on that is the most important thing
[SPEAKER_00]: Because when you remember who you are, you will always win.
[SPEAKER_00]: That's just the way it works with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: When we get off course and we get away from that, that's when we start getting beat upside to head.
[SPEAKER_00]: And the whole Israel-Li army was getting beat up in their minds.
[SPEAKER_00]: They were in a constant state of fear, but David said something is different about this situation.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I'm supposed to be up there on the hill, tending to this sheep and watching this battle unfold.
[SPEAKER_00]: I know I'm supposed to be doing that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But here I am.
[SPEAKER_00]: And if I'm the only one who understands who I am in Christ, then that's OK.
[SPEAKER_00]: Listen, if you're the only one, that's all right.
[SPEAKER_00]: Your family might not understand it.
[SPEAKER_00]: They might not get you.
[SPEAKER_00]: They might write you off, hello.
[SPEAKER_00]: But it's all right.
[SPEAKER_00]: You're your co-workers.
[SPEAKER_00]: My think that you are annoying.
[SPEAKER_00]: That you are this, that you are that.
[SPEAKER_00]: But if you understand who you are, then it'll matter.
[SPEAKER_00]: He remembered that he was from Judah.
[SPEAKER_00]: He remembered that he was from the tribe who through stones.
[SPEAKER_00]: The territory was his already.
[SPEAKER_00]: He had his history and he knew who he was.
[SPEAKER_00]: This year, if you're gonna have great momentum, you gotta know your territory, you gotta remember your history and you gotta know who you are.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you're gonna get some great momentum this year,
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got to know the ground you're standing on.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got to remember your history with God.
[SPEAKER_00]: You've got to know that your history with God is good.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_00]: And you've got to know what's in your hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: And of all things, the reason why this points to momentum is because you can't sling a stone without having momentum in your hand.
[SPEAKER_00]: and David had that, and he understood, and he took a weapon that was all a weapon a momentum, and in a moment when they thought it wasn't gonna work, it wasn't gonna happen that they were gonna be defeated, that they were gonna lose their ground that already belonged to them.
[SPEAKER_00]: David said, this is my moment of great momentum and I'm going to take this sling and I know I grabbed five stones but I only need one and I'm going to sling this sucker and I'm going to take this giant out because I am in a position of great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: That word for us today, I'm
[SPEAKER_00]: God wants us in a position of great momentum, knowing the ground that we're standing on, knowing our history with him, and knowing who we are in Jesus.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hallelujah, worship team.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you want to come up, praise God.
[SPEAKER_00]: This year, we will experience great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: This year, you, personally, will experience great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: You, personally, will experience great momentum in every area of your life.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you can remember these foundational pieces to this word this morning.
[SPEAKER_00]: If you can remember it, if you can stand upon this truth, if you can look back and recall what God has said, you will experience great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: And I prophesied, I declare that over our lives personally right now.
[SPEAKER_00]: that you're going to experience great momentum, and it's going to be in every area of your life.
[SPEAKER_00]: Now, just for the person next to you, not just for the person on the other side of the room, but you, you personally will experience great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: What does that look like?
[SPEAKER_00]: Great momentum in your health.
[SPEAKER_00]: Great momentum with your family.
[SPEAKER_00]: Great momentum in your finances.
[SPEAKER_00]: Come on, somebody.
[SPEAKER_00]: Hallelujah.
[SPEAKER_00]: Great momentum in your businesses.
[SPEAKER_00]: I mean, God wants to do this.
[SPEAKER_00]: He's not in this state of, well, you know, let me just sit back and see what happens.
[SPEAKER_00]: No, God is ready for some great momentum.
[SPEAKER_00]: And nothing would probably delight him more right now for him to see us experience that and go in that direction.
[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Lord.
[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for listening to today's message.
[SPEAKER_01]: We pray you were inspired, challenged, and marked by the word you heard.
[SPEAKER_01]: If this message blessed you today, we encourage you to subscribe to the Church of the City Podcast.
[SPEAKER_01]: There you can find more faith-filled messages to uplift you and help you on your journey of faith.
[SPEAKER_01]: For more information about Church of the City, head on over to www.cotcdfw.com.
[SPEAKER_01]: And until next time, remember this, the best is yet to come.