W3: A Humble Shepherd (MS: 1 Samuel 17:32-37; SS: Ephesians 3:11-12; Hebrews 4:16)

Capture: Grab their attention with an illustration.

• Illustration/Story: Share a story about a time when a very humble person responded

with incredible boldness. Illustrate how humility is not measured by how quiet or

invisible a person is. In fact, humility and boldness go hand-in-hand!

Teammate Mike

• Humility is not self-deprecation. It is boldness and accuracy. When we are humble, we

don’t think too highly or too lowly of ourselves. We are confident in exactly who God

has called us to be.

Context

We are continuing our story with David and that he is getting ready to fight Goliath! 

A word came up in Israel’s camp that Goliath wanted to challenge and Saul heard from them. Saul went to David but was not impressed with David youth and lack of military training. 

He was thinking David is to youthful and was no match for Goliath. But David had been training in the art of combat since he was a youth. 

But in verses 34-37, David responded to Saul was admirable. David had some major private victories in his life. David had faced against lions and bears as a Shepard. 

When a lion attacked David’s flock and took a lamb, David pursued the lion! 

So basically, when people/shepherd lost a lamb they will just take it as a lost and move on. But not David! He will attack that lion and rescue the sheep from its mouth! If a lion decided to fight back, David would grab it by its mouth and kill it! 

In Saul eyes, he saw just a young boy, but David was a protective, steadfast, and courageous in caring for his father’s sheep. David was more than just a shepherd, he had the Lord on His side! 

The Lord had delivered David from the lion and the bear, and we will see that God will deliver David from Goliath! 

1. Humility Can Produce Confidence & Boldness! 

Connect: Connect them to God’s word.

• Tension Question: Are you bold and confident in humility? For some of us, this feels

like an oxymoron! Scripture, however, encourages us that humility can produce

boldness in our lives!

Scripture: Ephesians 3:11-12 —

Paul is writing to the people in Ephesians and he wrote this letter to offer general instruction in the truths of God’s redemptive work in Christ, the unity of the church among diverse peoples, and a proper conduct of the church, the home, and the world. 

So in these focus verses in 11 and 12, we can be boldly and confident in God because Jesus is the headship of our lives! The eternal purpose has accomplished in Christ already so because of what Christ has done, we can walk in boldness and confident in His name! Not in culture or influencers name! 

This is the beauty of this, remember Paul is also talking about the diverse of the people in the church, but under God it is a demonstration of a beauty Kingdom for His Will!

He is sticking people from every race, gender, background together into a beautiful work of art. The church, is the masterpiece, the big C church and demonstrate to a spiritual world and the physical world comes together, which overall is God’s ultimate will. To bring heaven on earth! 

Because of God’s plan of salvation through Jesus, we have access to come into God’s presence with boldness and confidence!

2. A Humble Heart is Bold! 

• Scripture: 1 Samuel 17:32-37 — We often think of David as a little shepherd boy

playing the harp in the fields while his brothers attempted to fight Goliath. This

passage of Scripture reminds us exactly how bold David was, although he was

humble!

• David, the young and humble shepherd, makes a bold declaration that he will fight

the Philistine champion Goliath. This boldness is not grounded in a prideful self-

confidence. It is a boldness in the goodness of God.

• David speaks from experience because he has faced lions and bears with his own

hands. He saw how God protected him and walked in the perfect faith that believed

God would do it again.

David was full of courage, zealous to protect those under his cares nd bursting with trust in his covenant God. 

To the point where God even Saul tried to give David armor, but he didn’t take it because he knew one he had God and two God created him to be him! He was bold being himself, not what man think of him. He thought of what God created him to be! 

• David had experienced God as a shepherd protecting his sheep. In boldness, he

defended his flock from animals and now trusted God to do the same with men.

• Humility fosters boldness when our faith is set on God. When we focus on ourselves,

we stop living in humility. Humility says, “I know what I’m capable of, and I know what

God is capable of!”

Bottom Line: A humble heart is bold.

3. Seek God for Boldness! 

Scripture: Hebrews 4:16 — 

The author here is talking with the Jewish Christians. 

The author them of this whole book is Jesus is greater than any angel, religious practice, pastor, priest. We as followers of Jesus should not forsake the great salvation that Jesus has brought us! We must keep our faith in the true Christ! 

So the author here is speaking to the audience that because Christ is our high priest, our authority, that He lived the life we could not live, He was tempted like we did, but His way is better because it is God’s way, we need to point to Him and fully to Him! 

Because of what Jesus had already done, we can be boldness of what He has already done! So this mean when we are in temptation from sin, it is actually a invitation to draw near to the King’s throne so we may receive mercy and find grace in Him! 

Mercy is not getting what we deserve; grace is getting what we don’t deserve. 

But if you want to lay claim to these wonderful gifts that God has given to His people, you have to approach Him! It is an invitation!

We have an open invitation through relationship with Jesus Christ to approach God with boldness in His presence.

Ask yourself: “Has humility produced boldness in my life?” We are all tempted to

take humility to one of two extremes: an inappropriate confidence in ourselves or an

inappropriate disbelief in ourselves.

• Again, humility is not thinking too highly or too lowly of yourself. It is thinking

accurately of yourself and accurately of God!

When you understand that you follow a way that someone came and lived a perfect life that we could not lived and died the death that we should of died, you understand and have confidence that His way is the best way! 

• One key element that must be present for us to see ourselves in the right light is that

we must seek God with boldness.

• If we are called to boldness in our faith, we first must seek God with the boldness His

word commands us to!

• Application: Seek God with boldness.

Call: How do we respond to the message?

• Altar moment: Seek God boldly this week. Allow God’s perspective of you to create

humility in your heart. Walk in the confidence of exactly who you are in Christ!