May 25, 2025 Sermon Notes and Questions

Posted on May 22, 2025 Posted By: Jenni Nikolakakis Categories: Message Notes, Weekly Program

Kings of Israel-David

WK 2 – Goliath Part 1 “A Big Challenge”

1 Samuel 17:1-30

May 25, 2025

John Arobio

was selected as the first king of Israel. As Justin told us last week, _ was selected as the second king by Samuel. Now we are looking at the first real big thing that was to happen in David’s life.

1 Samuel 17:1-2 ESV

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. ²Saul and the men of Israel were assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah, and they drew up in battle formation to confront the Philistines.

Saul and the Philistines had faced off for _______ days. Forty in the bible is often used as a time of judgement or preparation. We can see this in Genesis in the flood.

Genesis 7:12 ESV

And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

Matthew 4:1-2 ESV

¹The Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ²And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

1 Samel 17:4-7 ESV

⁴Then a champion came forward from the army encampment of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span. ⁵And he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze. ⁶He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze saber slung between his shoulders. ⁷The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-carrier walked in front of him.

Goliath was a giant. Most of our scriptures list his height as 6 cubits and a span. A cubit was about 18 inches, and a span was about half of that or 9 inches. So, Goliath was about 9 ft 9 inches tall. Some scriptures and the dead sea scrolls list him as 4 cubits and a span. Which is 6 ft 9 inches. In either case he was a giant compared to the average height of that time of about 5 ft 5 inches or less. Even his armor was huge. The armor weight about 5,000 shekels of bronze (this is between about 125 – 156 lbs.) and his spear head was 600 shekels of iron (about 16 lbs.)

1 Samuel 17:17 ESV

¹⁷Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers.

Now David’s father Jessie called David to himself, and he commanded David to take some supplies to his brothers and their commander. This was to check on them and see how they were doing and to come back and tell his father who was worried about them.

When David got there he saw the armies forming up and he left the baggage and ran to his brothers.

1 Samuel 17:8-10 ESV

. ⁸He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle formation? Am I not the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man as your representative and have him come down to me. ⁹If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.” ¹⁰Then the Philistine said, “I have defied the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man, so that we may fight together.”

When David hears this he asks the men near him. “Who is the uncircumcised Philistine that he would challenge the army of the Lord God?” David was alarmed and could not understand why no one had the faith in God to fight this challenger and be able with God’s help to defeat him.

Now when David’s older brother heard this, he got angry with David. He asked David, “Why have you come here?” I know you only have come because you are a wicked boy who left the sheep in the wilderness and has only come to see the battle. But David did not want to go and turned back to the other people he had asked questions of. David said the same thing and they replied in the same way.

The Bottom Line:

Do you trust God and have enough faith to face challenges?

The Pastoral search committee has found a candidate. They will be presented before the church in the coming weeks for a day of teaching and a vote.
Please continue to pray for God’s will to be done for this next phase of our church.

Church Wide BBQ

Mark you calendar for after service on June 1^st! After service @ 365 Cabrillo Lane. (Sean/Kari’s house about 5 miles north of the church—same location as last years BBQ) Sign up for a side, dessert, or drink to share! See Paulette or Jen for more details.

Aces Baseball Faith & Family Night

July 25^th at 6:10 PM. 50 tickets are booked, more available if needed. Tickets are highly discounted at $24 for seats in the shade. Please let Paulette know if you are interested. More details to follow as we get closer to the event.

Zelle

Zelle is up and running! Zelle is a digital option for giving your tithes or offerings to support the church to fulfill the Great Commission.

If you would prefer to give digitally:

Go to your bank app on your phone or computer. Go to the payments section. Go to the Zelle payment option. If available, scan the link below in the payment section that lists Zelle as an option. There should be an icon asking to “scan the pay” or something similar.

Zelle Link (scan from your bank app)

Account email is: accounting@thebridgespanishsprings.com for the Account “The Bridge Church Spanish Springs”. As a security measure, your bank may want to send you a text to verify your first payment.

Who is the king in Israel during the battle with Goliath? Who will be the second God ordained king in Israel? Bonus question, who will be the 3^rd?
Read 1 Samuel 17:1-8, who are the Philistines in the Bible? Using a Bible map, where is “Gath” where Goliath is from? how far away would Gath be from where this battle is? Using a Bible map, locate Bethlehem where David is from. Approx. how far away is Bethlehem from where this battle is?
Read 1 Samuel 17:9-11, what are some things you recall about king Saul? Why do you think he would be “very fearful” in verse 11? As Christians, are there any things we should be “very fearful” of?
Read 1 Samuel 17:12-19, is there anything that we do for God that is more or less important that other things?
Who is Samuel in the Bible? What are some things you know about him from scripture?
What are some things that happened before the events of chapter 17 in 1 Samuel?
Some numbers in the Bible are symbolic. John mentioned the number “forty”. What is the symbolism of that number? What are some uses of the number 40 in the Bible? Read a few of the scriptures that reference that number.
Read Numbers 13:32-33, what is the context of those verses?
What are some “giant” problems that God has allowed in our life that you may have thought were insurmountable? Do you have a personal story you are willing to share of how God worked through you/that situation?
Please continue to pray for the church and God’s guidance as we move forward. Pray for unity in our mission to be a bridge to people who don’t yet know Jesus.