Calvary Foursquare Church
Sunday Service 2-1-2026
  • That's Who I Praise
  • I Choose To Worship
  • Trust In God
  • Worthy Of It All
  • Pursuing God’s presence… Passing the flame… sharing the gospel with those around us.
    And possessing the land.
    Those are the things we know we are called to. That has been our focus this year so far.
    We started last week looking at possessing the land.
    And that has to start by realizing that it is our land.
    That God has given us the places that we go, to take for his glory.
    Your room at home. Your house.
    Your car.
    Your station at work.
    Your community.
    This church.
    Your family.
    The very ground you walk on.
    We claim the promise of Joshua 1:3
    Joshua 1:3 CSB
    3 I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses.
    This land is my land.
    But going back to that story from Numbers 13, when we look at what we are supposed to be possessing, it doesn’t look easy.
    Sometimes - our scouting report goes a lot like theirs was.
    Numbers 13:27–29 CSB
    27 They reported to Moses, “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit. 28 However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev; the Hethites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.”
    The land is already inhabited.
    And they look tough.
    There are giants in the land.
    The cities are fortified.
    Gates and stuff.
    And that is an honest report.
    You can’t look at the world around us and say - yep, looks like Jesus is already reigning in all of Keokuk.
    A couple of years ago we moved from one side of town to the other. If you don’t know, we live up on Blondeau st. and across the street, there is an abandoned brick house, and an empty lot to it.
    That empty lot was a walking path for people to access the house on the alley.
    There are a lot of people going to the house on the alley.
    Too many people going to the house on the alley.
    Everyone knows what it is. We can’t do anything about it.
    Except this.
    I bought the empty lot.
    And the brick house next to it, is scheduled for demolition this year, and I am going to try to get that too.
    Because we are taking ground.
    And you know what.
    The foot traffic in front of my house isn’t zero.
    But its less.
    Some crazy guy comes rushing off the porch across the street to invite you to use the sidewalk if you walk through that lot now.
    Identify the Giants.
    Who are they? 1. What are you afraid of?
    2. What feels overwhelming?
    3. What’s in the way of Holiness?
    Those things are likely giants.
    In the land - it was easy to see who the giants were. They were visible. Just out doing the things that they wanted to do.
    There will be invisible battles, too.
    But we can occupy the land just by dealing with the big stuff.
    And we have to ask ourselves...
    Who are they really? Eph 6:12
    Ephesians 6:12 CSB
    12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens.
    Even if it feels like we are struggling against people - we aren’t.
    Even if we think - that guy just won’t quit messing up my life!
    Our battle is with evil.
    Isaiah 48:22 CSB
    22 “There is no peace for the wicked,” says the Lord.
    Romans 12:21 CSB
    21 Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil with good.
    Psalm 34:14 CSB
    14 Turn away from evil and do what is good; seek peace and pursue it.
    Ephesians 5:11 CSB
    11 Don’t participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead expose them.
    We don’t hang out with evil.
    The giant in front of us is evil.
    And it looks strong.
    In fact, it is strong.
    When it comes to evil. Evil is really good at being evil.
    Evil does some really evil things.
    When they saw the giants in the land, the scouts said we are like grasshoppers to them.
    When facing the giant Goliath of Gath - the Israelite army was terrified.
    Because he was 9 ft 9 inches tall. And he taunted them. His armor was over a hundred pounds. His spear was as thick as a weavers beam. The point of his spear weighed 15 pounds.
    He was literally throwing ballista bolts. Goliath was not a soldier, he was artillery.
    And he taunted them.
    We assume that we would be david. But there were men of God standing there. Terrified.
    Because the threat they felt… was real.
    And he taunted them.
    What are our Giants? We don’t do battle, literally, the way that the nation of israel did.
    Though there might be those circumstances, too. There may come a time and a place where actual violence is actually necessary. The Lord did tell his people to take a sword. This does get bloody once in a while.
    APATHY. Apathy doesn’t attack your faith, it just makes you indifferent. It tells you the juice aint worth the squeeze. The grapes aren’t worth the fight.
    Revelation 3:15–16 CSB
    15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth
    Ephesians 5:14 CSB
    14 for what makes everything visible is light. Therefore it is said: Get up, sleeper, and rise up from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
    ISOLATION The enemy might try to convince you that you are the only one fighting, or you don’t need community. Ecc 4:12
    Ecclesiastes 4:12 CSB
    12 And if someone overpowers one person, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not easily broken.
    Hebrews 10:25 CSB
    25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.
    The giant might be fear. If the enemy can get you to look at yourself instead of God, its going to be really easy to focus on Josh 1:9
    Joshua 1:9 CSB
    9 Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
    Disconnection.… This giant works to ensure Paul never meets timothy. That you don’t do the spiritual work that it is to connect with others.
    Judges 2:10 CSB
    10 That whole generation was also gathered to their ancestors. After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works he had done for Israel.
    Intentional mentorship. Cynicism - it wonk work… Hebrews 3:12
    Hebrews 3:12 CSB
    12 Watch out, brothers and sisters, so that there won’t be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.
    Tell your story, and hear the stories of others. Comparison. Looking at what everyone else has can take you out. John 21:22
    John 21:22 CSB
    22 “If I want him to remain until I come,” Jesus answered, “what is that to you? As for you, follow me.”
    Understand your own place in the kingdom and how wonderful it is.
    Exist at the ready.
    We know the enemy is there.
    We exist at the ready.
    David was a young man with a sling and a lot of time on his hands. He got really profficient with that weapon.
    It wasn’t a sling shot, like you might buy at walmart. It was a sling. It is more like snapping a towel than pulling back a rubber band.
    Only that hurls the stones at over 60 miles per hour.
    Use what You have. What you know.
    Acts 4:13 CSB
    13 When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus.
    Have you been with Jesus?
    Change your perspective.
    Understand that we exist in victory.
    God had already given them the land.
    He had already defeated Goliath.
    He has already defeated death and the grave.
    Caleb had the right perspective Numbers 14:9
    Numbers 14:9 CSB
    9 Only don’t rebel against the Lord, and don’t be afraid of the people of the land, for we will devour them. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us. Don’t be afraid of them!”
    Listen - these guys are lunch.
    Davids statement is so powerful.
    1 Samuel 17:26 CSB
    26 David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
    Just who is this? Standing in the presence of the almighty.
    Defying God’s army like you’re somebody.
    1 Samuel 17:45 CSB
    45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel—you have defied him.
    Luke 10:19 CSB
    19 Look, I have given you the authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; nothing at all will harm you.
    Take the authority we have been given. Stand in it. Bless others in it.
    Identify the weak spot
    Some of these things we literally just have to find the spiritual opposite.
    For every lie that the enemy tells, there is a truth in the scripture to fight it with.
    We defeat the enemy with the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony.
    If the giant you are facing is apathy, the weak spot is purpose. If the giant is isolation, the weak spot is hospitality. IF the giant is fear, the weak spot is the promise of the Lord.
    What are we fighting? How does it fall?
    Speak truth into the darkness. 1 Sam 17:46-47
    1 Samuel 17:46–47 CSB
    46 Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, 47 and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord’s. He will hand you over to us.”
    KNOCK THEM OUT.
    A knock out is when the enemy is left in a capacity that they are no longer able to retaliate.
    Goliath was knocked out.
    We can’t play with it.
    We aren’t dabbling with it.
    We need to know that when we move to occupy the land.
    It isn’t a special military operation, it is a war. It isn’t police action. It’s war. It isn’t a conflict, it is a war.
    Our goal is total and complete defeat of the enemy and it’s allies.
    So we take the mike tyson approach.
    Hit hard. Hit fast. And don’t let this thing go on forever.
    In Sunday school we have made it seem like it was such a miracle that David hit goliath with a rock and goliath fell down. But that isn’t really what happened.
    A more honest telling of the story would look like this: David took the field. He knew who his God was. He knew what he needed to do.
    He had trained. He took his weapons - the ones he was comfortable with. He couldn’t stand in someone else’s faith. It was his. And he slung his stone.
    That rock moved at over 60 MPH. into the skull of a man. A big man, but just a man.
    It would have fractured that skull, and caused internal bleeding and more.
    And then, David made sure he wasn’t getting back up. He celebrated his victory, and removed the head of the philistine. You might fight one giant, or you might be standing before an army. Remember God told the nation of israel that it would be little by little. And that’s enough. each day of sobriety is a victory.
    Each day without a drink is a victory.
    Each day with Jesus is a victory. Claim it.
    There is more to this.
    When David defeated Goliath, he changed the world around him. He won victory that day, by defeating the enemy that was in front of him. Goliath of Gath.
    But it changed everything.
    Over the next several years, others would also slay giants.
    there were four more of them.
    David’s 5 stones could have been ready for the other 4 in the family to step out and want to start something.
    They didn’t. But that didn’t mean they were safe. David’s friends and family would bring those giants down.
    David gave opportunity to his mighty men. He revealed to everyone that the giants could be killed.
    He opened the door for those who would follow after him to have their own victories.
    And it goes the other direction too....
    David had to fight goliath.
    Not because there wasn’t anyone else that could do what he did..
    there was no one else who WOULD do what he did.
    If you consider the reality of the situation.…
    There is no good reason that David. The youngest. The one left behind to watch the sheep. should have ever had to fight that giant.
    And the only exception to that is for God’s glory.
    Trust me when I say - that there are plenty of other giants available for the next generation to glorify God by destroying.
    If you handle these…
    Then they know they can handle those.
    Take ground.
    Slay your giants.
    Or your kids will be fighting that same battle.
    We see it with things like alcohol and cigarettes.. they are generational, until someone deals with it. There are plenty of things that we don’t see, too. Fight your giants. Don’t let them through.
    Do you believe what God has said? This morning we come to the communion table. Knowing, what we have been told. Pursue his presence. Pass the flame. And possess the land. Do you believe that God has given you the land? This we do. In remembrance of him. We proclaim the lords death until he comes.

      • Joshua 1:3CSB

      • Numbers 13:27–29CSB

      • Ephesians 6:12CSB

      • Isaiah 48:22CSB

      • Romans 12:21CSB

      • Psalm 34:14CSB

      • Ephesians 5:11CSB

      • Revelation 3:15–16CSB

      • Ephesians 5:14CSB

      • Ecclesiastes 4:12CSB

      • Hebrews 10:25CSB

      • Joshua 1:9CSB

      • Judges 2:10CSB

      • Hebrews 3:12CSB

      • John 21:22CSB

      • Acts 4:13CSB

      • Numbers 14:9CSB

      • 1 Samuel 17:26CSB

      • 1 Samuel 17:45CSB

      • Luke 10:19CSB

      • 1 Samuel 17:46–47CSB

Calvary Foursquare Church
pastor.adam@calvaryfoursquare.church
3195243517
http://calvaryfoursquare.church
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