Preparation for Greatness

We opened up 2012 with a challenge: God has a purpose and a plan for each of us:

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Peter 2:9)

As His special people, God calls us to be set apart, different from the rest of the world.  Not so that we can think we are better or more holy, but so that the world can see the peace, beauty, and love in our lives, in contrast to the conflict, carnage, and pain of the rest of the world.

God calls on us to live in such a way that our very lives, and the lives of our family and children, would be lights to a dark and dying world.  That everything in our life: our possessions, our career, our relationships, even our checkbook, these things would be a testimony to the God we serve.

But as we move forward in our purpose, there will be many twists and turns along the way.  There will be challenges, and there will be difficulties.  There will be events and situations that God will use as a honing stone in our lives, to prepare us for the things we will face in the future.

David was anointed as king as a young boy, but he was far from walking in the fullness of who God had called him to be.  Starting on the day that he stepped into the valley of Elam to face Goliath, David would face many challenges, each one an important part of Gods preparation for the role that David was going to fulfill as King of Israel. 

As we walk through this series, I believe its important for not to see this as simply a study of David’s life.  We need to see these challenges, and how David responds to them, in the context of our own lives.  We need to understand how God will use the events and situations in our lives, especially the negative ones, to prepare us for the future roles that God has planned for us.  

Join us Sunday as we begin the next phase of our 1 Samuel series:  “The Rise of the Kings:  Preparation for Greatness”

...till the whole world hears,

Pastor Clay