Yes…but that is not what I wanted to do.

November 10th 2024

Series: Yes!

Sermon Title: Yes…but that is not what I wanted to do.

Topic: A series about how we are ALL called by God into ministry and how to learn how to say YES to God’s call. Also, about funding 2025 missions and let people know about trips planned and missionaries we support.

Key Passages: 1 Samuel 16: 1-23, 2 Samuel 5: 1-4

Topic: Missions, timing, serving

Sermon Blurb: In today’s message, we discuss what we should do when we are qualified and ready, but it seems that the place we have to get involved is NOT where we want to.

***1st week ODD months add communion & target message at 15 pages.

***1st week EVEN months add space for dedication, baptism, or ministry highlight & target message at 15 pages.

***Green in sermons means illustration, something we are looking for a response from, and/or a picture that goes on the screens.

***Yellow means what is yellow will be on the screens and in the handout.

Dedication, Baptism, or Ministry Highlight (1st Sunday even months):

Sermon:

Campus Pastor

Hello Family Church!

Family Moment –

Start with something personal from your family life recently to help people get to know you.

Celebrate salvation / re-dedications / baptisms last week.

If you are new, or newer, to Family Church you picked a GREAT week to come!

Today, we launch a new sermon series called YES!!!!

This whole month is focused on God’s mission for our church and for each of you.

PAUSE

Let me remind you of what we are talking about this month….

Last week, we talked about what a lot of us say to God when we feel He is calling us to do something….

How, at times, we say to God…Yes….BUT….I’m not qualified.

And we looked at some people in the Bible who said that to God and how God helped them overcome that fear.

This week, we will look at another common response to God…

When we say….

Yes…BUT….God, that’s NOT the way I wanted to do!

Have you ever been at a place like that on a team, at work, or school?

When you DREAM of doing something GREAT!

You are qualified!

You are ready!

And then the coach says….or boss says…or teacher says…

Yes you are qualified and ready….BUT….

BUT….we are not going to put you there….

We are going to put you in a different role…or position…or place…

Does anyone want admit they have been there before???

I mean, EVERYONE wants to be the START quarterback…but only one person gets the position.

Everyone wants to be promoted to manager…but only one person is.

Everyone wants to get to the first chair in the band…but only one person is.

Today, we will look at some people in the Bible who were qualified, ready, and even called…but it was not their time yet…

And we will see how they process that reality.

Come back next week and in week #3, we will look at when we decided to say YES, God! Let’s Go!

We will look at some people in the Bible and how, when they finally said YES to Jesus, everything changed for them.

Then, at the end of the month, we will wrap up this series by looking at when we say YES! to God. But now, what do I do….

PAUSE

So that is the direction for messages this coming month!

In addition, you will NOT want to miss a week because, over the course of this month, you will learn about ALL the missionaries and ministries we support as a church!

You will also learn about ALL the mission trips we planned for 2025!

AND you will also hear about how we want ALL of you to get involved in all of that!

So, it will be a GREAT month, and you will not want to miss a Sunday this month!!!!

PAUSE

One of the other FUN things we do for Mission Month every year is TEAM PREACH!!!!

So, I would like to welcome Preacher #2

ADD a short blurb on the person preaching with you….

PAUSE

Preacher #2

Speaking about people we support; I want to share with you about one of the local ministries we support…. BOB ADD SHORT BLURB see how you can weave in how they or someone said yes but I am not qualified.

I also want to share about one of our international ministries…

BOB ADD SHORT BLURB see how you can weave in how they or someone said yes but I am not qualified.

PAUSE

Campus Pastor

I love how we are a church that is NOT internally focused!

How we ARE a church focused on helping other people and other ministries do what God has called them to do!

Grab your Bibles and open them up to the book of 1 Samuel 16.

And by the way…..

New Person Bible Connection:

If you do not have a Bible, that is ok!

After service, we will give you an AMAZING leather-bound study Bible!

Just go to ADD YOUR CAMPUS PLACE and get one for FREE!!!

PAUSE

Let me give you a little background on the guy we will read about in the Bible today.

Today, we are going to read about a guy named David.

David lived in ancient Israel.

At this point in time, in REAL human history, Saul ruled Israel.

Saul started as a good ruler, but he walked away from God’s path over time.

As a result of Saul’s choices in 1 Samuel 15, God removed his blessing from Saul.

Then God told his prophet, Samuel, that he was going to anoint a new king over Israel.

PAUSE

So, with that background, let’s pick up reading in 1 Samuel 16 verse 1.

1 Samuel 16: 1-23

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.”

I want to point something out here because someone needs to hear this.

Look at what God just said…

Samuel…STOP mourning…

Samuel…you have been down and out since the guy I, God, had you anoint to be king did not pan out…

Samuel…you need to stop with your pity party…

You need to move on…

You need to get back to work!

PAUSE

Maybe you are here today and you just stuck.

Maybe something happened to you and you do not know why.

Maybe you lost your job.

Maybe someone broke up with you.

Maybe you lost your job.

Maybe you didn’t make the team.

Maybe life took a turn that you were NOT expecting…

And if you are HONEST…

You have not been the same since then.

You have been depressed for a long time.

You have been negative ever since then.

Maybe you are here today because God is going to help you see that sometimes things do NOT go to our plan…

But that does not mean things never will be good again!

Here is the point I want us to see right out of the gate…write this down…

Sometimes, events in our lives that feel WRONG are God preparing us for something better.

Repeat

Samuel could not figure out why things went wrong with Saul.

He was mourning it.

He was stuck….

I mean look at what he says next….

2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”

He knows the king is NOT happy about what God did…

And the king will NOT be happy if he sees this man of God seemingly turn on him as well….

So, God says…

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.”

Note those words….Anoint the one I…GOD…indicates…

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 (E-Lie-Ab) and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

Stop there…..

Remember verse 3….

Anoint, who God says to…

Because see, we tend to look at appearances to determine who should lead….

But God looks at something else…

What does God look at….let’s see verse 7….

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 people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”

9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.”

10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.”

11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

Stop reading there for a minute….

Have you ever been there in life?

Your father overlooked you.

Your mother overlooked you.

Your teacher overlooked you.

Your boss overlooked you.

You were NOT EVEN considered…

That is David…

Not even a potential consideration…

Verse 12…

12 So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this 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 powerfully upon David. Samuel then went to Ramah.

The person who was not even a consideration…

Dad got it wrong.

Samuel, a great man of God, got it wrong.

PAUSE

And now it gets even more interesting…Preach #2: can you share with everyone how this story ties to Pastor Bob, our AMAZING missions pastors story…

I would love to!

Family Church Pastor Bob ADD STORY BOB of the call…and it NOT happening…stop before the FC 19 years later part…that will come later…

PAUSE

Now, I want you to remember what we are talking about today…

What do we do when we are qualified…

What do we do when we are called…

What do we do when God even calls us…

But what happens next ISN’T what we imagined!

What about what we end up being called to do is below us…

Below our ability…

Not what we want to do!

Let’s see how, like Pastor Bob, this happened in David’s life…

And let’s also see what we can learn from it.

14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.

15 Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you.

16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.”

17 So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.”

18 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre.

He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.”

Sounds like anyone we just met church?

19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”

20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.

21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers.

22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”

23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play.

Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.

Stop there….

Put yourself in David’s shoes…

You were anointed by God’s man to be the next king!

And the current king calls you in!

I WOULD BE SO EXCITED!!!!

Here it comes!

He is going to turn the kingdom over to me!

THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!!!

PAUSE

Then David gets there…

Look at this picture…this is his job…

Look at verse 18…he is a WARRIOR…

And this is his job!

To play the lyre…

Anyone besides me thinking he would NOT want that job!

He was suppose to be the king!

And he gets to carry the amour around for the king.

He gets to put the amour on the king.

And when the king is having manic depression issues, he gets to play the lyre for him….

If David was a man’s man…which we know he was…

That would be the WORST job in the world!

PAUSE

So…

What do we do…

What do we do when we are called by God to do something and it does not pan out?

What do we do when we feel like our talents are NOT being used?

What do we do when our boss overlooks us?

What do we do when our parents overlook us?

What do we do when it seems like life does not give us any breaks?

PAUSE

Here is what we do church…write this down…

Even when our lives feel like they are going the WRONG way, trust God’s timing and serve where you are.

Repeat

PAUSE

Campus Pastor

That is sooooo good and soooo true.

And I want to show you how that is a Bible principal and how it played out for King David…and also Pastor Bob…

See, Pastor Bob felt that call to be a Mission’s Pastor in ADD YEAR

And 19 years later!

As Pastor Adam likes to say…Pastor Bob came to Family Church one day and laid across a row of chairs wrapped in a Snuggie…

And his boldness amazed Adam so much that he hired Pastor Bob to be our Mission’s Pastor!

19 YEARS Pastor Bob had to wait on God’s call…

19 YEARS of serving in other roles…

And want to hear something crazy…

For King David, it was over 20 years!!!!

Flip to

2nd Samuel 5: 1-4 All the tribes of Israel came to David at Hebron and said, “We are your own flesh and blood.

2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns.

And the Lord said to you, ‘You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.’”

3 When all the elders of Israel had come to King David at Hebron, the king made a covenant with them at Hebron before the Lord, and they anointed David king over Israel.

4 David was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years.

He was anointed as a young boy…

He was called by God as a young boy…

And it did NOT happen until he was 30 years old.

And if you read the story of David later today…

For those 20+ years he faithfully served Saul.

Even when Saul wanted to KILL him…he still served Saul…

Even when Saul tried to get others to turn on David…he served Saul.

He faithfully followed God’s call on his life.

He waited on God’s timing in his life.

And that can be SO HARD!

I am sure it was hard for David at times!

I know it was hard on Pastor Bob!

I know it has been hard in my life…

Preacher #2 You want to land this plane…

Let me share your life application with you today….

For those of you who are new, or newer, to Family Church.

We end our messages with a Life Application.

It is simply something to help you go home and process this message with someone else.

Something to help you continue to ponder how you can apply today's message to your life.

So here is what I want you all to spend some time processing and talking with someone about.

Life Application: How could you change how you view the challenges of life as God shaping you? Is there an area of your life that you need to serve and wait on God’s timing? As a result of today’s message, I will _________________________.

Prayer:

Make sure to do salvation call!

Offering:

BOB ADD BLURB ON WHAT PICTCH MONEY WE ARE RAISING!!!!