Sanctuary

Read 2 Samuel 6:1-13. How do you feel about the way that God dealt with Uzzah? Was it fair punishment?  Why or why not.

After this happened, we see that David was “afraid of God”. LisAnne talks about several passages of Scripture that refer to “fearing God”, what does a healthy fear of God look like?  Why is this necessary for us in our relationship with Christ?

Have you ever experienced these 4 results of a healthy fear of God? Share a time when this was true.

• Humility
• Repentance
• Holiness
• Joyful worship

Read 2 Samuel 6: 14-20. We see in these passages, that David seems to have a freedom from man.  How do you see that in this passage?  Where is His focus centered?

Where in your life do you get tangled in the perception of others opinions around you? Why do these opinions trap you?

Katelyn encourages us to ask the question “Who are you taking your questions to?” So who is it for you?

Read 2 Samuel 6:21-22. What does this passage mean? And how does this passage speak to you?

Charles Spurgeon says “Fear hath paralyzed the arm of the most gigantic Christian, stopped him in his race, and impeded him in his labors. Faith can do anything, but fear, sinful fear, can do just nothing at all, but even prevent faith from performing its labors.” Is there anything in your life right now that you feel God is calling you to, but fear has you at a standstill?

Read 1 Samuel 18.1-8. How do you see God’s love portrayed in this text? How do you see God at work? What, if any, of the text is hard to reconcile?

Verse 1 says, “The soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” In your own words, describe this kind of relationship. How does this relationship inspire you?

Jonathan was a warrior in his own right. Read 1 Samuel 14.1-14. How do you see Jonathan’s courage and initiative? Describe the relationship between Jonathan and his armor bearer.

Who in your life is with you, “heart and soul”? Who are you with “heart and soul”?

What’s the biggest battle you are currently fighting? How have you shared this battle with another?

What’s the biggest hindrance in inviting another into your battle?

What happens to a person when they battle alone? How do these two stories of Jonathan encourage you to continue to invite others in?

Read 1 Samuel 23.15-18. How does Jonathan act toward David, in love?

Read David’s tribute to Jonathan in 2 Samuel 1.25-27. Describe the intimacy David and Jonathan shared. How can intimacy be present in a relationship without the relationship being sexual? Describe.

Read the words of Jesus in John 15.13, and Matthew 22.36-40. How do you see the way Jonathan lived and loved in these verses?

Who is your Jonathan? For whom do you lay your life down? How are you growing to love yourself, and to love your neighbor as yourself?

Read 1 Samuel 17. How does this text draw you more deeply to the heart of God? How does this text help you see the character of God, the love of God? 

Goliath was a descendent of Anakim a people that were in the Promise Land during the days of Moses, Joshua and Caleb. Joshua and Caleb along with the 10 other spies explore the Promise Land. Joshua and Caleb explored the Promise Land and came back with a good report. Read Numbers 14.6-10 and answer the following questions. 

What did Joshua and Caleb see that the other 10 spies did not see? “The whole assembly talked about stoning them.” How does this strike you?Why would the Israelites want to “stone” Joshua and Caleb? Where do you sense the Church talks more than acts? 

Read Galatians 5.13-15. How does this text invite you to love your Faith Family more genuinely? According to the text what will happen to our Faith Family, what will happen to your family if we continue to hurt each other with our words and actions? 

Why didn’t King Saul engage the giant Goliath in battle? 

How do you see God at work in the choosing of David to fight Goliath? 

Reread 1 Samuel 17.38-40. How might this section be where David’s real fight occurs? 

Where are you most tempted to take on the ways of the world, instead of being who God created you to be? 

What giants are you currently facing? Who is joining you in the battle?

Read and reflect on the following from Rabbi Zusya: “In the coming world, they will not ask me: ‘Why were you not Moses?’ They will ask me, ‘Why were you not Zusya.’”

God, through Samuel calls David “a man after God’s own heart.” How do you believe God characterizes you? 

The text says David, “ran to the battle.” In your fight against your giants how are you running to the battle? How are you tempted to run away? How are you temped to believe you are not in a fight? 

David makes 2 pronouncements about the giant Goliath, and 9 pronouncements about God. Note each here. 

Read Psalm 23.1 How do you sense this truth alive in you today? Where do you struggle to fully live out this truth? 

The story of David and Goliath ends violently. Jesus says, “From the days of John the Baptist until now, the King of God is forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.” What does Jesus mean by this statement? What is the implication of this truth? 

How does Jesus break generational sin? How are you living in the freedom of His victory? 

Read and reflect on Revelation 19.11-19. Give Him praise for His victory won for you today. 

Read 1 Samuel 16.14-32. What does this text tell you about the character of God? What does it tell you about the nature of God? What does it tell you about love of God?

Why did God reject Saul as King and anoint David? How would you characterize Saul?

1 Samuel 16.14 says, “The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul.” Where else in the Old Testament does the Spirit withdraw from a person?

What’s the primary difference in the role of the Spirit in the Old Testament and New Testament? What does Jesus teach His followers about the Holy Spirit? Note your examples using chapter and verse. Where do you sense the Spirit at work in your life today?

David sees what happens to Saul. He sees what happens to a life where the Spirit has departed. Read Psalm 51.10-12. What does David’s confession include regarding the Spirit?

The Spirit of God is primary and pervasive. He is permeant in the life of every believer. Yet we have the capacity to “grieve” the Spirit and to “quench” the Spirit. Read 1 Thessalonians 5.19, and Ephesians 4.30. How have you experienced this in your life?

Scripture gives a prominent role to music in the Bible. Note a few ways music is evidenced as powerful in Scripture.

Read 1 Samuel 16.23. What happens to Saul when David plays his lyre?

Read Psalm 6.6 and 31.9-12. David writes both of these Psalms yet he is the “man after God’s own heart.” How do you reconcile such pain and anguish in David and yet he has the Spirit of the Lord upon him?

How does David’s example give you strength in the places and spaces of your own pain and anguish? How does it encourage you to reach out to others when you are in similar places?

How does it encourage you that while God sends the spirit that inflicts Saul, He also sends David who is able to play in which the spirit flees? What is the primary purpose of this text?

Read John 9.1-3. What does Jesus mean when He says, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” How might God use your places of pain and suffering to “display the works of God?”

How might others join you in this journey of healing, wholeness and holiness?

Spend some time praising Him for being at work in you and through you.