My Lighthouse

Dr. Craig McMullen | March 30th, 2025

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Transcription

God bless you. I appreciate that. But now let's give it up for the Lord our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen and amen. Amen. Please be seated.

I'm so grateful that Dr. Tim would even consider me as his substitute on such a day. I'm grateful that we're in this place. Aren't you glad that he brought you into this house for this moment? So good to be with you. What a beautiful group of people you are. I love it. I rarely get to see you from this side. Wow. So that worship, I don't know about you, but just recanting the names and recalling the names of who God is, doesn't that just gird up here, Lord, just give you more strength and encouragement. Can we thank the Lord for the worship team? Thank you, Elijah. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful moment. So go with me for a few moments. We're going to look at just a few verses in the old testament. Find second Samuel, chapter 21. Whether it's in your paper Bible or your, your digital one, or the screens or however, whatever, we know how it works. We're only going to read a few verses. But what's really cool about these few verses is it actually recounts four battles. Pretty interesting. We're going to begin reading at verse 15. I'm reading out of the ESV version.

And here we go. There was war again. Somebody say again because we're going to do four of these. Okay. Between the Philistines and Israel. And David went down together with his servants and they fought against the Philistines. And David grew weary. And Ishbi-Benob. Do you like that? I practiced. Hebrew names are so cool. Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of the giants whose spear weighed 300 shekels of bronze and who was armed with a new sword. We'll come back to that in a minute. He had a new sword, thought to kill David. But one of the mighty men show up and his name is Abishai, the son of a Zeruiah came to his aid and attacked the Philistine and killed him. And then David's mighty men swore to him saying, I can almost see. Hey pops. David, we know you're tired. In fact, we got together here and we decided you're no longer to go out to battle less you quench the lamp of Israel. So let's read three more verses. Three more battles. Verse 18. And after this there was what again? A war with the Philistines at Gob. Then Abishai the Hushathite struck down.

The giant Saph who was one of the descendants of the giants. Verse 19. And there was again another war with the Philistines, at Gath and a mighty man by the name of Elhanan, son of Jaare-Oregim the Bethlehemite, struck down Goliath the Gittite, whose shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. Verse 20. And there was what? Again a war at Gath. At this time there was a man of great stature who had six fingers on one hand and six toes on each foot and 24 in all. Strange looking guy, right? And he was one of the descendants of the giants. And he was stepping out, taunting Israel. And then the last mighty man steps up. Jonathan, the son of Shimea, David's brother, struck him down. And this is the story of the four descendants of the giants of Gath and how they each were slain by David and his mighty men. Let's pray. Lord God, I thank you so much that you give us an opportunity to recount the stories of old and how you handpicked and selected individuals to take out certain giants so that even today we might be able to step up and just and in who we are in Christ Jesus, take out the giants that are coming against us in victory.

If there's an overcomer in this house, shout Amen. Amen. And Amen. And Amen. Praise God. Wow. So for a few moments, I have decided to speak on the topic of my lighthouse. Why am I using this term? Because we're talking about the light of David. But why lighthouse? Primarily because I grew up in Seattle on the Pacific coast and there were lighthouse on all these amazing beaches. Years later I moved to the east coast and I was in Boston doing my seminary training and again found all these lighthouses. And it was such a joy to travel to many of these places and learn about how a lighthouse operates. I did a little research and I realized that back in the day, even before electricity, the keeper of the lighthouse was called to a mighty task because they had to hike up all the stairs they need to polish the window and the brass and keep the lamps trimmed and burning. Why? Because the lighthouse served two purposes. Number one, very simple, the light guided them into a safe space. Has the light of Jesus brought you to a safe place called Embassy? The second purpose though, is the light is rotating around, trying to guard the people in the vessels against the stuff they don't see that's underground, the rocks that could destroy their lives.

A lighthouse purpose is to guide and to guard. And it was a mighty task really for the lighthouse. The keeper of the lighthouse to keep this thing going day and night so that people would know of a safe place. But what got me thinking was that verse 17, verse 17 again asks a very interesting question. Where the mighty men come, and they swear to king David, you shall no longer go out with us to battle, lest you quench the lamp of Israel. So a question came to mind. Are they talking about David as the light of Israel? Like if the king gets snuffed out, Israel's no more? Or were they even considering themselves as the people of Israel? That if we go back out, one of these giants might take us out and there will be no more nation of Israel? Curious question. So I go to the author, Samuel, and I ask Samuel, hey, Samuel, which is it? Is it King David or the mighty man? And you know what he told me? No, he's not alive. I'm joking. I sincerely believe that Samuel wrote it in that kind of ambidextrous kind of moment, that it could be this hand or that hand.

Why? Because Samuel's a prophet and he's actually prophesying to who we will receive in our light, our king David, as those who are believers have the light of Christ within us. And yet when we come together like this in this beautiful array in this lighthouse that we love and we call embassy, we. We're shining a light collectively that if we go out, will anybody even notice that we're not here? Let the light be quenched. So I'm the newest staff member here in embassy, as Dr. Tim just said. And you know, on your job description, you have all these tasks, and then there's that one line at the very bottom that kind of reads and all other duties that will be assigned. So I'm thinking those all other duties that will be assigned is for me, for I take it personally to be the keeper of this lighthouse. As the chief of staff, I'm overseeing some amazing people, and I know that I need to help them keep their light on. And in fact, my other job is to keep the light on in Tim, Janice, Zara, who's next? Do you know what the next one? Zion and Zane.

It's easy. It's three Z's. Just say the Z-Kids, how do we keep their light on? We love them, we pray for them, we support them, we serve them, we take care of them. In fact, anybody want to join me this week and just promise to pray for the three Z's and for Tim and Janice, we've got to keep the light on lest this place go out and wow. What would happen to this community? What would happen to the DFW if there was no Embassy City? I praise God that we've been brought together and we are acting like a lighthouse. So the challenge today is I need some people to sign up and join me as a keeper of this lighthouse. It's not one person's job. It's all of us collectively together to keep the lamps trimmed and burning, because Jesus is coming back soon, and we have to be ready, but we have to be that beacon of light that's rotating around this city and reaching out the love of Jesus Christ for all those who are in need. Did somebody shine their light? This little lot of mine. I'm gonna what? Because you let your light shine.

Somebody came to this safe harbor. Nobody just shows up here because they woke up in the morning and, like, hey, let me just come this way. No. People come to this fellowship because you're showing your light the light of Jesus Christ that's within you. So this whole story is about becoming. Remember Hotel Six. Their motto? We'll keep the light on. Turn to somebody and just say, hey, you're a Hotel Six. You gonna help me keep the light on in this place?

Now, it's really, really hard to do because I was reading a book by an author by the name of HB London, and the reason why the book caught my attention is because it was entitled Pastors as Endangered Species. I wrote it decades ago, but there's this one little stat that he put in there. It may not even be correct today, but it jumped off the page because the statistic said that in the United States, 1500 pastors leave the pulpit each month. So what's our job as the lighthouse? First of all, we got to proclaim that we are a lighthouse. In fact, would you join me just for a moment of affirmation? Say this is my lighthouse.

Oh, that was pretty cool. Let's do it again. This is my lighthouse.

Third one for the Holy Spirit. This is my lighthouse.

Yes. This is yours. It's not Pastor Tim's to lift. It's not any one of the pastors on this team. It's ours. And when we get together, we become a powerful, like, supernatural laser that could just take out any obstacle, difficulty that would be in a person's way to come into this safe harbor. Aren't you glad that you came here today? In fact, let's just thank the Lord for providing the lighthouse. It's called Embassy City. So before we get into the four.

Battles, I gotta Ask the question. What about the first battle? You know, they make a... I think there's a movie out right now about David, right? And he's a kid. Basically takes out the giant. But you remember the story. If not, you can go back and look at it. And Samuel thinks about chapter 17 or whatever. He goes to the brook and how many smooth stones does he pick up? Anybody? Five. Okay. How many did he use to kill Goliath? One. Okay. He had four more to go. Huh. Do you suppose he knew that there were five giants in the land and he used one for Goliath? And in case any of those other ones that pop off, he. He got them.

Just. Just thinking. Yeah, it's a preaching trick. Suppose. Can't find it in the Bible. But now we fast forward verse 15. There's actually four giants and they all come from the same family. And big probability that they're the brothers of Goliath. Look at verse 15. These four dudes are coming at David one at a time because we did it. And again, right. They're coming after David because they are seeking revenge. They're like, I got unfinished business with this guy. And so they step into him. Okay, so we're Back to verse 15. Look at it. And there was a war again, right? Say it again. Between the Philistines and Israel. And David went down together with his servants and he fought against the Philistines. But David grew weary. And then the first giant shows up and his name is Ishbi-benob. Do you like that? I've been practicing all week. Hebrew is a best to learn, man. Ishbi-benob.

You almost feel like the giants coming. Up with like a, you know. Where's Sarah? Come on. That's so funny. I was waiting for the rhythm section to when we were all doing the. For a minute I thought it was Morris day and time. Nobody even knows that. Nobody knows that. Nobody knows that. You're too young for that.

Oh my God. Go look at a movie called Prince. Anyway, so this giant shows up with a new sword. Why does he have a new sword? Remember when David was a kid and he took out Goliath? He didn't have anything to kill him with, so he took out Goliath's sword and hacked his head off and then carried that back with the sword. And you can read throughout the Old Testament. Who continues to have the sword? David. So this joker showing up with a new sword, like, yeah, you got one? I got one too. Come, I'll show you what I got. You show me what you got and we'll see who's left standing. Wait, that's not in there. But the mighty man name is Abishai and he looks at these four brothers and the first one, he realizes what his name means. When we look at the name Abishai, in fact, you can do it. You don't have to be a scholar. You don't have to get all the books. I got tons of Josue knows my library is full of theological books, but we have Google now and there's so much revelation in the Bible if you just take a moment and do a little word study.

In fact, did you understand we just did a half hour worship around the study of all the names of God. If you want to increase your prayer life, just pray the names of God. It'll take you three hours, but it'll. Be a great prayer meeting. So much fun. I do a minds group on Saturdays. We call ourselves the wise men because we're trying to unearth these treasures that are in the Bible. And we started praying the characteristics of God. And these guys who aren't like verbose, they're, they're all dudes. I mean, I got two Nigerians in there who are so jacked, they just come in there they're showing their guns and they started praying and we couldn't turn it off.

Why? Because when you exalt the name of who God is, he'll show up large in your life and even the big Nigerians began to shrink a little in his presence. But we gotta know the name. So what does the giant's name, Ishbi-benob mean? He's a sucker. He means it means to sit, retire, withdraw, retreat, to quit. Have you ever been attacked by that kind of a giant? I mean, where you're like, to the point where like you want to do this kind of a symbol and walk out? I didn't do. Just went like that. But have you ever been to that place? Were you just done? You want to quit? Come on. Am I the only honest one in the house? Okay, so we've all been to that place when those giants come, and yet this giant, which I call the giant of defeat, right, who comes into our lives.

No matter how badly you've been beat up and what pool of blood you're in, I serve a God who can resurrect you in the midst of that moment. So he sends this mighty man by the name of Abishai. He's one of the leaders of all the of David's armies. And we've all been in a place where we wish the Cavalry would come in and help us when we're flat on our back. I have such a story. Do you want to hear it? I was fresh out of college. I was this long haired, like I could hold it back here so long, jean jacket Chuck Norris. Want to be kind of skinny as a rail. Not as chubby as I am now, but I thought I was all that and a bag of chips. But when we got our first job out of college, I was a case manager working with truant junior high kids.

I mean seriously, like 10 year olds who stopped going to school. And my job was in this Christian ministry to help them get back into school. So I created this youth group. We'd meet in the community center and you know, little young guys and I'm teaching them about the word of God and helping them get back into school. We're inside the community center and then one day the door just gets kicked in and walks. This man walks in and he was literally a giant, think NFL linebacker. He was a Samoan. In fact, all the gang tags all around the High Point housing project said SOS and at that moment I was. Like, oh, it's called.

SOS no, but SOS actually meant Sons of Samoa. They were the gang. And this guy evidently was the OG and he breaks into my little Bible study looking for his little bro. And he's huge. And I'm a tiny little squid in the middle of it. And this guy is so enraged and inebriated, he's carrying this 40 ounce bottle. And I'm thinking, oh my God, let me use my best Chuck Norris wannabe And I'm gonna block because it's in his right hand. I'm thinking like, I don't want that bottle over my head. So I'm going for the block with the bottle. Come to find out he was left. Handed and the guy clocked me in.

My mouth, knocked me out cold. I'm lying on my back, blood all over the place. Oh my God. And I had my Jesus moment. Have you ever been knocked out where the point where like, okay, I think I got called of God to do this, but it's clearly beyond me. Jesus, if you can get me out of this, I really need a real SOS and you can take this call of God thing and because I can't do this. And then I realized I was their Abishai. Abishai Was this amazing guy, the first mighty man named ishai. Ab, the first part of the word means father, or the one with authority or one with gray hair. I like to think, right Abishai means they're the father of a gift, they have something to give. And in that moment I'm thinking if I don't get up for the rest of their life they're gonna think that somebody who comes in and punks somebody is one who runs the house. Or am I gonna stand up and say, okay God, you gotta do even if I'm gonna get clocked again.

And I stood up because I knew that they needed a gift. And that gift was Christ Jesus to come into their lives and to save them in this place. I think the OG was like taken by surprise that I actually got off the mat and he was so drunk anyway, he grabbed his little brother and he takes off. And months later I'm still in the doing this weekly Bible study in this community center. I hear the commotion breaking out outside the rec center and it is going crazy outside. I'm like, what in the is going on out there? I mean it was like he double hockey sticks because it was like it was a full on gang war. And I'm stepping out of the youth center thinking, oh my God, it's another come to Jesus moment, right?

And I witness the battle between the gangs and they take the big Samoan OG and throw him through the a plate glass window. And he's so enraged, probably hides a kite. He comes out of the glass raking his arm across the shards of glass and his arm just turns into ribbons. And at that moment I was reminded that Abishai had a gift. And if I was going to be the gift, even though he's the guy who took me down, I needed to bless him. And all I can remember is that I took off my hoodie and I kind of wrapped it around his arm and did my best first aid, kind of hold his arm together until the EMTs came.

Now I didn't see him for months later. I remember that we're doing this weekly Bible study thing. Next time I see him, he comes into the Bible study and he gives his life to Christ. It was amazing. But the best part of it was. Because he was the OG, every member. In the gang had to come with him. Oh my God. In that moment, he becomes the Abishai to the entire community. He becomes the lighthouse for that community. And I kind of joke, I think if I go back to the high point Housing project. And I see the spray painted tag. On the wall that says sos I'm going to say it doesn't mean Sons of Samoa anymore. It means the sons of salvation. Yeah.

However. I'm looking around this amazing auditorium and there's a bunch of guys that need an Abishai type warrior spirit to rise up in them. I don't know how many guys in this room are feeling intimidated by some boss who's actually intimidated by the destiny that's inside of you. I don't know if there's a father. Here who's trying his best to keep.

His family together, but it just seems not to be working out and they need a call in their life to be that Abishai one more time. I don't know if there's a stepdad. He's trying his best to kind of do this mix family, mixed caring of these kids. I don't know if you're ready. Just. Oh, my God, it's too hard. I've got to quit. Don't quit, man. Maybe you're not a father, maybe you're not a stepdad. Maybe you're just a mentor to some kids. Maybe you are the one guy that could turn a young person's life around if you take a stand. I wanna pray for somebody. If you're feeling like it's time, I wanna stand up and be an Abishai. I wanna pray for you right now. Wherever you are, stand up. If you feel that's in you, stand up. Come to the altar.

I don't care. I'm just going to pray for some guys right now. If you're an uncle, a mentor, a coach, let me pray for you. Anybody want me to pray for you right now? They want that Abishai spirit, man. You stand right now and I'm going. To pray for you and ask for God's great grace to fall upon you because we don't want you to quit. This man knows there's a blessing right here. This man knows there's a blessing right here. There's a moment. Because like Abishai, the authority that is in Christ Jesus is in you. And you need to walk in that strength. Don't let anybody punk you. Allow God to build in you. Hey, is there a giant killer in this house? Are you a giant killer? You got it. The Holy Spirit that's in you. If you are a giant killer, I want you to say out loud, as loud as you can, I will never be defeated. Ready?

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hey, turn around. And face everybody. And say that again. And say it like you just did. 1, 2, 3. I will never be defeated. Praise God. The light of the Holy Spirit is in each one of you gentlemen. And I proclaim and command you, go. Back into the enemy's camp and steal back all the enemy stole from you.

Would you do that? Praise God. You can be seated. Thank you so much. Wow. Praise the Lord. Come on, let's praise the Lord for these mighty men in this lighthouse. They're the keepers of the light. That was powerful, huh? Okay, ladies. I'm coming for you next. I know the Bible says it's mighty men, but I'm going to shift just for a moment. Go to verse 18. Check it out. Sometime after they have another war. And the second giant is called Saph. And then the mighty men that comes to take him out, his name is Sibbechai. Somebody say Sibbechai. Isn't that kind of cool? Sibbechai. Maybe one of these babies next to dedication will be a Sibbechai.

Sibbechai, The Hushathite struck down Saph, who's one of the descendants. So what is again? We got to find out what their name means, right? I googled it. You could google it too. Some really cool revelation if you actually do homework Bible study, it's a really cool thing now. So I looked up Saph and I was extremely disappointed because it has such a lame meaning. I'm like, that's not going to work for my sermon. I had really good stuff on the last giant. Man that was cool. What's Saph mean? Sea moss. So another trick when you're doing Bible study, Scripture interprets scripture. So if you don't know what it means, find that same word and see where else it applies in the Bible. So sea moss. Guess where it shows up? The story of Jonah, where the sea moss is entangling him, trying to choke his life out. Oh, okay. Now it's on. There are other meanings for Saph. It kind of talks about dividing division. So I'm just going to. For the alliteration of D's. I'm going to call this the giant of division. That works, right? So how'd that work for me?

You know, so I do this street work in Seattle, and I'm completely overwhelmed at the magnitude of systemic racism, poverty, gang violence. And I moved to Boston for my seminary training. They had a whole program in complex urban settings. And I'm like, I'm going to learn how to do this. Let me figure it out. And so part of the seminary Training is you must do an internship in a church. And I found this amazing youth pastor, Bruce Wall, and he invites me to come and work with him at this historic black church called the Twelfth Baptist Church.

Built in 1805, one of the oldest black church in America. Amazing history in the church. In fact, that's where Martin met Coretta. So my trial sermon, I'm preaching from the pulpit that Dr. King preached from. So why is a white kids from the west coast. Doing in this place? Well, the Twelfth Baptist Church had this cool little motto tagged onto their stationery that said, we're the light in the ghetto. That's pretty cool because it was in Roxbury, and Roxbury was one of the poorest places impoverished. And then it was '80s. The fool who created crack cocaine just turned it into gang warfare. In fact, it was so violent, we had a wall that we built and we put up every kid who died before their time. I mean, it was. We were doing a funeral a week for a teenager. I'm completely spent. So I said, lord, send me my Sibbechai. Guess who he sent? This woman from Jamaica. Everybody, this is my wife, Sandra Angela Brown McMullen.

Come on, stand just for a minute, honey. Just for a minute. Yay. So Sibbechai has a really strange name. It kind of means it's a place that healing place next to a springs or something. Think hot springs, think healing. That's why I think every time I was in my most difficult place that I found somebody. And in fact, I've got some leadership coaching right now. And it's all women helping me figure my life out again.

But he sent me this amazing woman to bring God's healing and grace in my life. 'Cause Sibbechai could also mean kind of this doorway into restoration. And so, hey, are there any warring warrior women in this house? I mean, we just heard a bunch of mighty men say we're. Never going to be defeated. Is there any warring women in this house? Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. The men did it better than you. What about some warrior women? Come on, Sibbechai Yes. You guys are ready to slay a giant right now. I'm like, oh my God, I can't wait to see what's going to happen out in that parking lot after service. My God. In one of our anniversaries, I did this little do it yourself crafty project. It was pictures of my wife and I and I wanted to have her nice little keepsake. But I looked up her name. The meaning of her name, Sandra. And I put it underneath the picture because I wanted her to understand one more time what she has been for me. You know what Sandra means? Defender of humanity.

That's a strong woman. I needed a strong woman because I'm a little out of control. She's the best defender for my family that I could ever ask for. She is that mama bear. And my kids will say, yeah, little helicopter kind of parent. But the point is, she loves them so much. In fact, media folk. Can you put up a picture of my amazing, gorgeous blend of family? You know, so we have two daughters, Carissa. Since we're doing meanings of names, right? Carissa Karis, God's grace, right. And her husband, Sterling, who's really the shining star of our family. And then you've already met Sandra and me in the back. And then next is Christihannah. I kind of made up a name. It was like, okay, I want her to be a Christian when she grows up, and I want her to be a woman of prayer.

Who's a woman of prayer? Hannah. Oh, Christihannah. So she's a Christian woman of prayer. And she got so upset at me. Because every first day of school, they couldn't get out of the car until I say, tell me your name. And what does it mean? Dad, I'm tired of this. I mean, they're, like, in high school, and I'm still saying, before you get. Out of this car, tell me your name. Why? Because I wanted them to know who they were. And when anybody else was coming against them, they could say, I know who I am. This Christian woman of prayer. If you want a miracle, come and ask her to pray for her. She prayed that God would work it.

Out, that she would not have to pay for college. I was like, good, I'm down with that. And then she gets a full ride. And then she's a musician, and the music department says, oh, hey, would you audition? Oh, good, we're gonna give you a scholarship on top of the scholarship. I'm like, yeah, that's awesome. And then. Then she does her college stuff. And then she says, dad, I'm going to grad school. She's a opera singer, by the way, and she's I'm gonna go into grad school.

And now she's in Denver. And I'm thinking, what are you thinking? She says, oh, don't worry about it. God has told me I'm not gonna have to pay for school again. Yeah, keep praying, honey. And a few other. A few other elders in My church got around. They started hearing from God, and they said, we're praying with Christihannah that she will not have to pay for grad school. But now we're feeling like it's not just a scholarship. We're hearing something that's even more. And I didn't know that you could pray for something that's more than a scholarship. It's called a fellowship. She won a fellowship, which means the school paid her to go to grad school. Whoa.

Name your kids with some meaning they'll grow up in, and they will know how to slay some giants. And of course, then she married this Puerto Rican dude, man, he's got his Boston socks. His name is Josue. And today he is taken because his family, because he believes that he heard from God. He's taken his entire family. And if you don't know what Josue means in English, Joshua, he's taking his family. They just moved from Denver to the promised land. Like Joshua, he's bringing them to Texas. So what does your name mean? I hope if you don't do anything.

After this message, at least go home and Google what your name means or do a word study and see there's more in the word of God. So, ladies, look at the open door the Lord has brought for our lives. But this blended cultural mixed bag of spice and Irish cream in the middle God actually used it. I was a youth pastor. Yes, the white guy in an all black church. And we were ministering probably to the largest youth group. And it was crazy. I could use my whiteness and go to the suburbs and say, hey, you want to join us in the ghetto? And they would come in the ghetto and the black folks, like, hey, you want to go to the suburb youth group? Because they own their own camp in the woods. Let's go to their camp, you know?

And I started bringing black and white and Asian and Latino youth groups together before we realized that, we had over 60 youth groups all throughout New England. And yes, God was doing a miracle. And they began because of all the craziness and the violence, they began to. March through the city carrying banners. Stay alive for the summer. Stay alive in Christ. Come together. We're the Christian Youth Leadership Movement. Join us. Their testimonies brought a revival. Listen, listen, listen. The revival, I already told you, we were burying a kid a week. Stopped teenage homicide completely. Not for a week, not for a month, for two and a half years, not one kid was killed by homicide in this entire city of Boston. Now, if it's too much to believe.

Just go back to your Google search or Safari and Google the Boston Miracle. It's a documented story of revival Boston. If you don't know Boston, when I moved there, it was really kind of sketchy for a white guy to be on the black side or even for a black person to walk to the white side Southie. But God opened and killed this giant of division and brought a Sibbechai of healing, of restoration that created a miracle. But maybe there's somebody here who's feeling like that Saph spirit has been choking out your voice. Like you lost your opportunity to have a voice or to vocalize some great idea. Or maybe that door slammed in your face and you thought it was the. The ideal opportunity for you to walk in and receive not only a great employment, but a benefit. And all of a sudden you're thinking like, oh, my God. Well, I gotta remind you, when man. Slams a door in your face, my God opens one that cannot be shut.

In fact, women, I believe you are the open door. That when you allow the light of Christ to pour out of you, that may be all that the prodigal needs to come home for mother to open the door one more time and say, come, I got you. So what's the second point? If you're taking notes that division can be restored by the, I'll say, the healing light of the Holy Spirit, he'll bring reconciliation. So you're ready to kill a couple more giants? We're coming down to the home stretch here. You ready? Verse 19. Here we go. And I'll just paraphrase it. Now we know there was a war again. Philistines, at Gath. And the mighty man that comes out is Elhanan. He's a Bethlehemite. Where's he from? Bethlehem. What does Bethlehem stand for? It stands for the house of bread. Crazy. Because he's taken on this other giant. We're not quite sure what it is in that passage, unless you understand that Samuel's leading, showing this little Easter egg, there's a spear. Well, what giant had a spear? Well, you have to go. And again, you want scripture. Scripture. So I look up, where else is there a giant that has a spear? And we see that in 1st Chronicles, chapter 20, verse 5, there's a giant with a spear.

And he's got a name. His name is Lamhi. And now I'm really psyched because I looked up what Lamhi means. Guess what it means to eat your bread. What a setup. The guy who's the devourer is facing down the Bethlehemite. The man who comes from the house of bread. Ooh, this is getting good Now I'm like, okay, you think you can take this out of... This giant I call, the one who devours? That happened to me and my wife countless times. This amazing woman at the point. She was 28 years in banking and finance at the top of the game, literally, as a woman of color. She was only five at that glass ceiling level in the entire city of Boston. And then 2008 came, everything shut down. She was a VP at this wonderful investment bank. Whatever, blah, blah.

It didn't matter. First hired, last. What is it? Last, hired, first fired. She's out of work. So we've been through this, and we saw God provide. Well, guess what happened to me a year ago, about this time, I was working in a tech firm. It was God's blessing into our lives. And all of a sudden, it shifted. Tech firms do that. Hey, product works here. Now let's change it, do it again. And when they did one of those, I was over there. And so my whole department got axed, me included. Now I'm without a job, and I'm, like, running, crying like a punk to my wife. I'm like, okay. And she's warrior woman, right? And she comes and goes like, let's pray we've seen this giant before. In fact, we know that weapon, so we can take this one out again. And so she reminded me, hey.

It may be a different giant, but we're gonna believe in the promises that no weapon formed against us will prosper. And we went a whole year and didn't miss paying for a bill, a Mortgage payment, or don't ask me. It was, like, absolutely miraculous that God took care of us. And one day, I had three job offers on the same day. She took me out to dinner and said, you're finally Jamaican. I'm like, if you don't know, that's an inside joke. To be a Jamaican, you have to. Have three jobs, man. And one of the jobs was a writing research project for the good Dr. Tim Rivers.

And after a few months, he sat me down and said, I would love for you to not just write and research, but I'm really wanting to know, can you come in and be full time with us? He became my Elhanan. He was the man from Bethlehem that restored the bread. The word Elhanan means the one who gave one who's gracious. I didn't understand how this was working until my wife was saying in that time of lack, I went to her like crybaby. I'm like, okay, honey, I know you're helping with the finances, but obviously we can't tithe the way we used to because I'm not bringing anything else. I'm feeling like, shame, right? I'm a dude. I can't provide. You know what she said to me? She said, don't change the tithe limit. Just continue to tithe. Like, he's already going to give you a return on our investment.

He's going to restore what the devourer. Is trying to take from us. As much as we're stretching now in. Our generosity, we didn't change our tithe. Because in faith, we knew he was going to restore our income. And so in that moment of three jobs, Man, one of them's Tim. And Tim's like, saying, I want you to come and be part of this team. I pinch myself every morning when I wake up to come to this place that he is entrusting me to be the chief of his staff. I don't know how you feel about the bread that comes from this pulpit every Sunday, but there's never leftover. It's always fresh baked. My pastor, Tim Rivers, could cook up a menu. The man feeds me every week. I am so grateful to be in his midst. You know, there's almost 70 men who are showing up on Wednesday morning for.

A Bible study with Dr. Tim. Why? Because the man can cook. Okay, so he's not here, but can we just say, thank you, Pastor Tim, for always feeding us even more? Praise be to God. In fact, keep, keep, keep applauding for Pastor Sarah Benibo, this woman who leads us to the throne of grace. Come on, come on, come on. Okay, okay. How about Pastor Dante Cole, who helps us serve in all his own ministries? How about Crystal Walker, who takes care of all our kids and our youth? Wow. And Pastor Susan, who hasn't been hugged by Pastor Like. Yeah. And Marcus Kenny, who makes all the lights shine bright.

I'm so grateful that we have a pastoral team. So, okay, so your third lesson on this whole thing is that when you're faced with a giant that devours, it can be eliminated by the bread of life. Who is Jesus? We're down to the last battle. You ready? Okay, here it is. Verse 20. Now, there was a war again, right? But this time it's a really crazy, deformed guy. It's got, like, six Fingers on each hand and six toes. And I'm like, what is this? And they're saying he's a descendant from this Rephaim giant. How many deformed things have found their way into your life? No, I'm not talking about the DNA stuff, but I'm talking about the stuff that comes at you spiritually. Preachers love to use generational curses, right? Well, there is some stuff that's handed down, and sometimes it's just alcoholism, abuse, abandonment, or somebody who spoke into your life and was so distorted in their own sense of who they were, they wanted to distort your divine identity that God uniquely created you for. So I found this funny word for a person with a bunch of fingers. Polydactyl. This Polydactyl giant shows up, and who does the mighty man face? Jonathan.

There's some wonderful Jonathan's in this church. Jonathan's the nephew of David. And what's so cool about this Jonathan? He knows who his name means. His name means Yahweh has given. Who did we just sing about? Yahweh, The I am. I believe. We know this Yahweh, and we know that he can be the great I am. Probably because John 3:16. Let's say it together. For God so loved the world that he what gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Jesus, right, never perish but have everlasting life. We know that gift. Wow. So the final point is, whenever something comes out to you that's distorted, understand, you can terminate it when it comes back and says, I'll be back, because it'll come and mess with your mind, understand? You've got the gift of Jesus in you. The light of Jesus is with you. See, this whole message is a setup to say, Jesus is the light in.

The lighthouse, in the lighthouse. Jesus is my lighthouse. His light will never be quenched. You have this. Whether you're a mighty man or a warrior woman, the light of God will cast out any darkness. So listen to me when I say what Jesus said. I am the light of Christ, and you are a lighthouse. Amen. As the band comes to help close in this moment, I just want to remind you that we just killed four giants. So if there's a giant of defeat, it can be slain right now at this altar by understanding who you are and the authority of Christ. Maybe it's the giant division that's pulling your family apart. Well, it can be healed right now and restored by the Holy Spirit. Number three, the giant that devours. I already told you that. It's so cool. He provided for a whole year. And now I'm blessed to be a blessing in this house. And the final giant of distortion. Hey, the Terminator. Next time it comes, you can stand there and say, SOS. Not sons of Samoa. I'm the son of salvation. Let's stand to our feet. And I just want you to repeat this phrase. You are a lighthouse.

Do it again. You are a lighthouse.

Wow.