Sunday School Lesson 10.12.2008

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Love Dare Moment
—The Heart with two Rooms
—First Room- the Appreciation Room
—Its where you go when you encounter positive and encouraging things about your spouse
—On the walls are written kind words and phrases describing the good attributes of your spouse.
—When you go into this room, your appreciation for your spouse begins to increase and the more grateful you are for your spouse.
—Spent a lot of time in this room early in your relationship- maybe not quite as much now


—There is another room- the Depreciation Room
—On its walls are things that bother and irritate you about your spouse.
—These things were placed there out of frustration, hurt feeling, and the disappointment of unmet expectations.
—If you stay in this room long enough, you get depressed and start expressing things like “ My spouse can be a jerk” or “I think I married the wrong person”
—People fall out of love in this room

—Spending time in the Depreciation Room kills marriages.
—It begins the moment you walk in the door, and your care for them lessens with every second you are in there.
—You may say “But these things are true!”
—Yes, but so are the things in the Appreciation Room.
—Unfortunately, we tend to downplay our own negative attributes while putting our spouse’s failures under a magnifying glass


—Love knows about the Depreciation Room.
—Love does not live in denial that it exists.
—BUT, love chooses not to live there.
—We can’t keep running to this room and lingering there after every frustrating event.
—Love chooses to believe the best about people.
—And when our worst hopes are proven true, love makes every effort to deal with them and move forward.
—As much as possible, love focuses on the positive

—Maybe its time we start thinking differently
—Its time we let love lead our thoughts and our focus.
—The only reason we should glance in the door of the Depreciation Room is to know how to pray for our spouse.
—And the only reason we should ever go in this room is to write “COVERED IN LOVE” in huge letters across the walls.
—We must develop the habit of reining in our negative thoughts and focusing on the positive attributes of your spouse.

—This is a crucial step as we learn to lead our hearts to truly love our spouses.
—It is a decision that we make, whether they deserve it or not.

—Embrace God's Perspective

—1 Samuel 16:1- 17:58

—Introduction

—Today marks a transition in 1 Samuel. The focus leaves King Saul and turns toward David.
—We will see his anointing by Samuel as well as his encounter with Goliath.
—Today’s lesson in entitled “Embrace God’s Perspective” and we will see that from Samuel as well as David.

—1 Sam 16:1
—16:1 The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king."
—NIV


—I think we can all relate to Samuel.
—He is depressed and deeply disappointed.
—He must feel like his life is a failure.
—The people of Israel had rejected him as their leader because he was to old.
—They didn’t want his sons to rule because they accepted bribes.
—And now God had rejected Saul as their king because of his disobedience, a man Samuel had anointed and was the spiritual mentor to


—Saul must have felt he was a failure as a father, a spiritual leader, and as a mentor to the new king.
—We all will have disappointments.
—Sometimes they are due to our own failures or due to other people letting us down.
—Sometimes it is due to things beyond our control. (Examples)
—Stock market crash
—Natural disasters- Katrina
—Lose your job due to slow down in economy

—Samuel let this disappointment effect his service to God.
—He just sat around and mourned and did nothing.
—God had a answer for Samuel as well as us.


—Eccl 3:1-8

—There is a time for everything,
—and a season for every activity under heaven:

—2 a time to be born and a time to die,
—a time to plant and a time to uproot,
—3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
—a time to tear down and a time to build,
—4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
—a time to mourn and a time to dance,
—5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
—a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
—6 a time to search and a time to give up,
—a time to keep and a time to throw away,
—7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
—a time to be silent and a time to speak,
—8 a time to love and a time to hate,
—a time for war and a time for peace.
—NIV


—There is a time to mourn.
—But now its time to act. Its time to move on.
—We cannot allow ourselves to let our circumstances, failures, etc effect our relationship with God and service to Him
—God said, “How long are you going to mourn”
—“Its time to anoint a new king!” GO
—The big question becomes: from whose perspective are we looking at things?

—From our perspective, things are terrible, I am a failure.
—From God’s perspective. I am GOD. I am in total control of everything that happens. Nothings happens that catches me off guard. I have a plan that includes you.

—Rom 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.



—Application
—We all have disappointments and failures
—We have to keep our eyes on Jesus.
—One of the best ways to get through difficult times is to serve the Lord.
—That’s what God prescribed for Samuel
—So should we.

—1 Sam 16:2-7

—2 But Samuel said, "How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me."
—The LORD said, "Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.' 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what to do. You are to anoint for me the one I indicate."
—4 Samuel did what the LORD said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, "Do you come in peace?"
—5 Samuel replied, "Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me." Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
—6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, "Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD."
—7 But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."


—Note that God made all the plans for Samuel.
—He told him what he wanted him to do
—He had a plan not to raise suspicion by King Saul
—He told Samuel “You are to anoint for Me the one I INDICATE TO YOU”
—When God calls us to service, he will lead us and guide us and supply our every need.

—Samuel made the mistake that we all make.
—We judge people by their outward appearance.
—He assumed Eliab would be the next king
—He was the first-born
—He was tall and handsome like Saul
—But God had rejected him. Why?
—His heart was not right!

—Application of these verses are enormous.
—How many times have we judged someone based only on our perspective, i.e looks, dress, external things
—Picking your spouse
—Hiring employees
—Hiring Staff positions at church
—Deciding who your kids will date
—Point is a lot of times we make mistakes because we use the wrong criteria for making decisions.

—We cannot look at someone’s heart.
—We should not allow ourselves to make decisions without getting God’s perspective.
—He knows best!!!


—1 Sam 16:11-13
—11 So he asked Jesse, "Are these all the sons you have?"
—"There is still the youngest," Jesse answered, "but he is tending the sheep."
—Samuel said, "Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives."
—12 So he sent and had him brought in. He was ruddy, with a fine appearance and handsome features.
—Then the LORD said, "Rise and anoint him; he is the one."
—13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah.



—Samuel learned his lesson
—He let all the sons pass before him and waited on the Lord. The Lord didn’t pick any of them.
—I’m not sure what I would have done at this point.
—Samuel showed faith.
—He knew God was going to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the new king
—He knew that there had to be another son.
—Jesse felt that David was too young to be considered.
—Again judging people by outward characteristics- age.
—As the songs says, when others see a shepherd boy, God may see a king.

—God selects David and Samuel anoints him.
—The Spirit took control of David from that day forward.
—Once again the application is strong.
—God uses the weak, the young, the unpopular for his purposes.
—Why do you think that?
—Because they more completely understand the importance of depending on God for everything versus their own strength.

—Why do you think that David is described as having beautiful eyes and a healthy, handsome appearance when God had just said that he looks at the heart?

—David and Goliath
—Chapter 17 tells the very familiar story.
—With the theme of today’s lesson on looking at things from God’s perspective, lets quickly look at this story in this light.
—From the Israelites perspective, Goliath was unbeatable. He was over nine feet tall and was very intimidating in both his appearance and his words.
—Why did David have a different opinion about Goliath?

—David had a close relationship to God
—He had seen God deliver him out of hostile situations before- bears and lions. He knew God was faithful.
—He had learn to trust God in every situation.


—From our perspective, we may be facing giants in our lives. They are unbeatable.
—But we have to look at them from God’s perspective.
—He is faithful.
—That giant that may be in our life right now may have been placed there by God to see if you will trust Him to deliver you.
—Remember, when we are weak, he is strong

—2 Cor 12:8-10
— 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak , then I am strong.
—NIV