 cornerstone connection lesson, but to be here on our panel today, we have Elsie, Misati, and Jabari together with our teachers, Chamonalisa and Chayugin. On the instruments, we have Amy on the violin and Cid on the piano. I am very reprecious. I'll be taking you through the mission before we start. Let us pray. Oh, God, we thank you for this day. Thank you for being with us this far. Now, as you're about to start, may spirit guide us. Be with us. In Jesus' name, I pray and believe. Amen. So, our title for today will be, Scared of the Night. Mother called out to little five-year-old Adama in their home in the African country of Guinea. It's time to go to bed. She said, Adama didn't want to go to bed. No, she said, looking up at mother. I don't want to go to bed. Mother didn't look happy. Come on, Adama. She pleaded. It's time to go to bed. No, Adama said, I don't want to go to bed. Now mother was angry. Go to bed, she demanded. But Adama still didn't want to go to bed. Fear showed on her face. She began to cry. No, she whimpered. I don't want to go to bed. Adama didn't want to go to bed because she was scared. She was scared of the night. Every night for the past week, she had had the same bad dream at night. She couldn't remember the dream when she woke up, but she always woke up screaming and crying. Now Adama looked at her mother's stand face and saw there's no point in arguing with her anymore. She had to obey. With great reluctance, she slowly made her way to bed, but she was too scared to sleep. She tossed and turned for what seemed like a long time. Finally, she fell asleep. Then, in the dark of night, she woke up screaming and crying. Mommy, come here. She shrieked. Help me. Two years past, every night it was the same. Adama grew weak and sick from a lack of sleep. She was scared of the night. She didn't know what to do. Mother didn't know what to do. Then auntie heard about Adama. She lived far away in the big city of Konakri, the capital of Guinea. Auntie had an idea. Let me take the child to the Seventh-day Adventist Church, she told Adama's mother. The pastor can pray for her. Mother was not a Christian. Adama was not a Christian. Auntie also had not been a Christian at one time, but she had been terribly sick and an Adventist missionary had prayed for her. Jesus healed her and she had given her heart to him. Now she leaves his neck down to the Adventist Church. Mother agreed to allow Auntie to take the girl. Adama packed her small bag and went with Auntie to Konakri. The pastor looked kindly at Adama as Auntie told him the story. He was sad that the little girl hadn't been able to sleep for two years. He asked all the church members to pray for Adama. If these are demonic attacks, we will ask in the name of Jesus that the attacks stop, he said. That night, the pastor and the other church members prayed for Adama. That night, Adama slept soundly. She didn't have any bad dreams. She was so happy when she woke up in the morning. Jesus had her prayers. For the first time in two years, she had slept the whole night. A year has passed since Adama had had her last bad dream. She is now eight and is no longer scared of the night. She lives with Auntie next to the Adventist Church and now studies at an Adventist school. I am no longer afraid, she says. I am living a good life. Jesus has answered our prayers. Part of the 13th Sabbath offering three years ago helped add new classrooms to a seventh-day Adventist school in Konakri, Guinea. So many children like Adama can learn about Jesus, who answers prayers and takes away bad dreams. Grace and peace to you from wherever you are. This is Cornerstone Connections and today we're looking at lesson seven titled Giant Faith, the famous story of David and Goliath. To begin, I'd like to introduce my panel. The very far right we have Mona Lisa and next to me on my right we have Jabari. On my left we have Misati and at the very end we have Elsie Dama and she will be taking us through the key text and the what do you think section. I'll see. For the what do you, I'm sorry, for the key text we will be reading from past Samuel chapter 17 verse 55 and it says that David said to the Philistine, you come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Now we'll straightly, we'll go on to the what do you think section. So if you took a test that measured how much faith you have in God, what grade do you think you deserve? Yes, start with Mona Lisa. Thank you. I think I'd be a B because I believe my faith is still childlike and matured. Thank you. Personally, I think I'd say C because sometimes well, you know, there are things you can't necessarily control, but again, what much does it mean if you don't care too much? So even if I'm not necessarily believing in or rather trusting in God over that thing, if I don't care too much, it just, well, I just let it pass. So it's kind of like a 50-50 thing where I'm not worried, but not because I have faith in God, but maybe just because I don't care. Yeah, I would really love an A on my scorecard, but I think I would give myself a C and the reason why is sometimes, especially during tough times, it's very hard to believe in God and in his promises. I remember the story of the man who wanted his son to be healed. He said, I believe, but help my unbelief. So I'd give myself a C. So looking at it, I'd give myself a B on that. Like me and A, something like that. But then for real, if I want to be objective, it's like, I'll give it a B, just looking at recent events. If I just blot out a year, I'll go ahead and say recent, recent, I'll give it a B. I think if they could have provided more grading, I'd give myself a B minus, a C plus, like in between B and C. It's a journey, it's confusing. I don't know. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's way. It's a journey. Alright, if your friends graded the test, what grade do you think they would be? So my friends graded the test. I suspect that the friends I'm hand selecting, they would be the answer to give me an A, because the thing is, you see that aspect when the adagio info say you fake it till you make it, the sort of stuff. The thing is, I say things, very positive things, until I believe them. So that's the point. I'm going to say them until I believe them. So I think generally, because people will judge from what they see or what they hear, from what they see and what they hear, they'll give an A, yeah. I would say the same. I fear to have a lot of faith. It's not always the case, but I think from their judgment, they would probably give me an A. Well, maybe a B, okay, because sometimes I'm using my friends in school as an example. Sometimes you have a test and usually sometimes I'm not the only one who's rushing back and forth these books. Sometimes it just reaches a point where I just sat down there. So maybe I think either this guy has read or number two he doesn't care or that he trusts himself and God. So maybe a B, but if they see a different reason as to why I just be sitting there, they'd probably give me maybe a C. Okay, Mona Lisa. Thank you for the question. For me, I believe it depends because I have layers of friends. If you were to ask my mom, she'd give me an A because I love to come off as the one with the strongest faith so that she doesn't give up. If you were to ask my friends or people my age, they'll give me, like Elsa said, probably a B plus they're about because I don't share much of what's happening in my life. But if you were to ask the person that I often go to and I'm struggling, man, I think they'd give me a D. Because there are the people who see me when I'm crying, I'm down, I'm feeling defeated. So I think them they'll give me a D. Okay. Now that I think about it, I also have layers of friends. And I think my friends in school would give me an A because they think when you go to church on Saturday, you spend a whole day in church. What are you doing? Like, are you going to heaven? I don't even know what you're still doing here. But if I picked my friends from church, especially my close friends, they might give me a B. Friends from home would obviously give me an A because they don't understand what I'm doing in church a whole day. Maybe my family would start giving me C's and D's and spreading my scorecard. But that's about it. And then for the last part, supposed to rank the following Bible stories in order from the person who demonstrated the greatest faith to the one who showed the very least. So to make this easier, I will ask each of you to give me your number one and your number ten. So from Jamona. Thank you. This was a hard one to pick. But I, on the first number I picked Daniel in the lion's den because that was literally death waiting to happen. You know, being thrown in the lion's den, you don't know what to expect. And faith is kind of shaky. And for him to walk into that den believing God will, you know, get him out of it, to me that's number one. Knowing there is a 99% chance that I'm going to die here, but I'm still going to walk in there because that 1% of God is enough to hold the lions accountable. And at number ten, I'll pick the father of faith, Abraham, sacrificing his son, Isaac, because he'd worked with God. So he had a lot of situations where faith worked for him. So him going to sacrifice Isaac, he had a huge percentage that God will come through. If he was able to keep that promise of giving me a son and providing my needs, then even this one he'll come through. So he really had that experience. So I'll put him at ten. Thank you. Thank you, Jabari. The one who shows the most faith, I think I'd say Abraham offering his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice because number one, Isaac was Abraham's first son, right? Which he'd really waited for. Right, he had Ishmael here. So second. Okay, so, well, yeah, his second son, he clearly doesn't have too many children because how many were there? Two. Two, right. And then it's also the same God who doesn't want you to kill. So, yeah, that's why Abraham would be number one. Turn for number ten, the least faith. I think I'd say Peter walking on water because Christ is telling him to walk on water and is right in front of him. Like Christ is right there telling him to walk and he's still doubting. He's right there. So, yeah, that's why I'd say Peter. For me, I would say the person with the most faith was Rahab because she never saw any of the wonders of God being in Jericho. She only heard stories and she believed them even more than the people who saw them. So I think that was just, that's a lot of faith. I think faith is when you can't see and you still believe. And then the person with the least faith, I would say, I would say Esther. I mean, she's the queen. So going to see your husband shouldn't be that hard. I don't know. I'm just saying, but I think Esther would be the least for me. So myself, I'm looking at Noah. This guy had a lot of faith because 120 years is a long time. Like God shows up and it's like you, my guy, are the holy one. You and only you are holy. So let's do this. Build a huge ark that will accommodate every animal on this earth. Other than fish, I think. Other than fish, it will accommodate every animal other than fish. Now you're going to do this, this, this, and the other. And he says, I will bring rain. I think first guys were used to rain. We're used to like seeing moisture come from down, come down and hit us on the head. But now I think imagine like if you saw water rise. Like we're used to rain. Now imagine if God says tomorrow morning with your own eyes you will see water levitate from the seas and the lakes and going water there. I think I would look like crazy. Like someone goes on news today night and it's like tomorrow morning at dawn water shall levitate from the depths and shall water the plants. I think of course you think someone is perfectly crazy. You know, and then just imagine that someone says that for 120 years that water will levitate from the deep. So water shall come from down, come to the earth. I mean that looks like a law of faith to me. Like even holding on to that fact of like it's so long. Then on the other end, I'd look at the person with the least faith as Moses. Like for me, Moses, it doesn't seem like a law of faith. So just leading them through the Red Sea. Because this was a man who chucked his rod and it became a snake. He was told grab that slippery, slippery thing and it became a rod. And he'd grab it and it became a rod. There was a man who put his hand in his coat and his hand became leprous. Literally rotting before his eyes. Then he put it back and like boom, my hand is great. So I think it was maybe like baby. Like for me, like the Red Sea looks like baby steps. He was like yo, lift that stuff and whee. He was like baby steps considering his past. Thank you guys. For me, person with the least faith was Peter. Because Peter had seen many other wonders that Jesus had done. And I don't even feel like he showed any faith. Because he didn't even believe at first. He was thinking at first. So he didn't even think he should be here. But giving my benefit of God maybe had faith. This wasn't enough. So for me, he didn't show at all. Like even if you were to drown, you just put him down if he was to drown. But he did not. He was supposed to think of the things that Jesus had done before. And that should have given him confidence to be like he can't let me go down. He can't, he just can't. And for me, the person who showed the most faith was Noah and the Ark. Because you've never seen rain. You don't even know how it's supposed to happen. It's supposed to start when the sun is shining or when there are clouds. Because it's supposed to be there when, I don't know, like he had no idea. And the moment he had that God had told him it would rain, he believed. Which it's like, I don't know, it's like being told the sun will be coming down. It stays here for a moment then comes back up. You're supposed to believe that as a person. Like in this day and age, with all the space, such that has been done, that can never happen. How can the sun come in the middle of the atmosphere then go back? It was that bizarre, like, what is rain? Why is it falling? See, we have dew. Why is it? Why is there rain? But Noah still believed that. And for 120 years, that's patience. That's a lot of patience. Back to Eugene. Right. You know how they give awards and there's always an honorable mention. I think we can do one for Naaman. I mean, being told to dip seven times in the Jordan River for your skin to be healed. It's not even a clean river. It's not a clean river at all. It's one of the deadliest rivers. Something wonderful about Naaman's story is it shows us that sometimes yielding to the spirit does not yield instant rewards. I mean, he had to obey seven times. Seven acts of obedience led to a miracle. So some would have given up on the third dip. We love it when the children sing that song. But there's a story there. Like, God will test you with small obedience. And then eventually, He'll give you the big one. So now we go into the story. Jabari. Okay. So into the story. The Lord said to Samuel, how long will you mourn for so? 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. Samuel did what the Lord said. Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they arrived, Samuel so early up and thought, Surely the Lord's anointed stands here before the Lord. 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. Jesse had seven of his sons passed before Samuel. But Samuel said to him, the Lord has not chosen these. So we ask Jesse, are these all the sons you have? There is still the youngest. Jesse answered, he is tending the sheep. Samuel said, sent for him, we will not sit down until he arrives. 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. 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. Then David took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the part of his shepherd's bag and with his sling in his hand approached Goliath, the Philistine. David said to the Philistine, you come against me with a sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands and I will strike you down and cut off your head. As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead and he fell face down on the ground. Well, so... there are things this story teaches us about a few things. So competition. Nusrati, would you like to answer that? Do I see this story right here? If we take the huge scope, it's actually showing two events, particularly, but I'd like to focus in between. So what happens is Eliab is the oldest son. Then someone is like, ah, God, this is the one. Then God says, no. So someone has to give Eliab the L. Like, no. God has said no. And he's like, what don't I have? You know, he's like, what don't I have? I look dashing, I look whatever. Then his youngest brother is the one who's given the mantle. He's like, ah, God, what are these? Then before someone actually goes to... might go live, he shows up in the camp, and Eliab is like, so you're just here for the cinema. You're just here for the show. What are you doing here? You go and stay with those few sheep in the wilderness. That is... And I think Eliab was act. He was like, man, how can this little boy be the king while I'm here? You expect me to bow to this midget, so to speak, young man, this small boy. That sort of thing. That sort of competition may have made his heart pretty bitter for him to lash out at David like that. I think it's sad. It's really, really sad. God says in the book of 1 Corinthians that he has chosen the foolish things to put to shame the wise, and he has chosen the weak things to put to shame the mighty. So whenever you have a weakness in your life, it is actually an advantage, because God loves to be at a disadvantage. He likes to select people who are weak so he can get more glory. And it is interesting in the story that even a man of God like Samuel can be deceived by looks. A prophet of God can be deceived by looks. Like he showed up to Jesse's house and he's like, this is the guy. He didn't even think it through. He's careful about looks. Looks can be deceiving. And then secondly, he says something so powerful. God says something powerful. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. So that means that we are being seen or viewed by two people primarily. There's people and there's God. Even though it is true that God looks at the heart, I want to say that it's also important to know that people look on the outward. So for you guys when you go for job interviews and you're applying for something, remember that people look at the outward appearance. You know, life is very competitive. I mean, I heard about a job that was being advertised a few months ago and 2,000 people showed up. So for you to stand out in the competition of life, yes, you can have a good heart, but you also have to have a good suit if you're going to get employment. So we should not sideline outward appearance. But another way competition arises is Saul later on envies David, right? When the women start singing, you know, where you guys, if you remember sports games, the game was dull till the girls showed up, isn't it? When they were in the stands, guys started doing tricks you never thought they could do. So after the battle when the women showed up, they started saying, you know, Saul has killed his thousands. He was happy for a moment and then he had David has killed his 10,000. So he got a bit envious. He felt some type of way. And competition comes even later in life. They say high school never ends. So now he's trying to be a king. And the king who is currently on the throne hates him and is trying to do everything to make sure he doesn't become king. And you should expect that. Sometimes God will put you under people who don't like you and still expect you to submit. And the lesson we can draw from this is exaltation comes from the Lord. When a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. So you can expect that as well. If you're going through life, sometimes you will be required to submit to people you don't even like. But God is testing you. God put David under Saul because of the Saul in David. And there's a Saul in each of us that we can only overcome through submission. Okay. So for the next question, what does this story teach us about Papus in life, Mona Lisa? Teacher Mona Lisa. Thank you for the question. One thing that is clear in the Bible is our life is already predestined by God. The Bible says God knows our beginning to our end. And in Jeremiah, he says, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you. And even in Jeremiah's case, we see he was anointed by God to be a prophet over his people before he was even born. That shows God already predestined how Jeremiah's life was going to materialize. And from the story again, we see someone like David was born to lead. He's out there attending to his father's ship. You know. And one thing I believe is predominant in the Bible is those who stuck by God and remained obedient to his course, they lived out their Papus, that Papus that they were called to. And as human beings, we go through life looking for our Papus in life. That's something that we all yearn for. That's something that we all wish we could have. And Job says, Job says in the book of Job 22, 21, Agree with God and be at peace. Thereby good will come to you. And Jeremiah 29 says, For I know the plants I have for you, plants for prosperity and no despair. And the Psalmist in Psalm 572 says, I cry out to God, most high, to God who fulfills his Papus for me. So until you've met God, you can't figure out your Papus. Until you've met God, you can't leave that Papus. So for you to get your Papus and leave it, you have to meet God first. Thank you. So, talents and spiritual gifts, what does this story teach us about talents and spiritual gifts? Elsie. Okay, I don't know if this is a talent or a spiritual gift, correct me first of all. But you know those people who they believe, in Paka, they make you believe. Somewhere you're in this situation where you feel like, actually, there's no hope. But then there's this person who is with you who, Annamini, she's so positive, she's so pessimistic, optimistic. She's very, yes, we can do this, we can do this. Paka, she makes you the person who you are just crying, you are just on the floor, you don't know what to do. Paka, she makes you believe that you guys have got this. And those people who always bring things together or bring groups together towards a common goal, same thing with David here. David, number one, he is a shepherd. Number two, he's not at it all, at yakuana mussels, he has none of that. Three, he's not even had any training, any military training, you can say, he went to this boot camp somewhere for six months and now he can fight. He had, by the judgment then, he was unsuitable, unsuitable, unsuitable. Like, even the lowest person in that military, I don't know, parade could not do what he wanted to do, yet he's there. Ajawei Kwaami and he's over there saying, I can bring this guy down. So he goes there and he tells them that you might come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord. And he actually, he killed Goliath. Even though people thought he never could, so I don't know if it's a talent or a spiritual gift, but there's that person, I know you can think of that person, who's always, I mean, not here, what's with the pessimistic thing, who's always optimistic, who always thinks that these things are possible and they influence other people to believe the same thing. And I feel like you should strive to be that person. Even though, I don't know, in school, things don't seem like they'll pick up. Just be that person who always has something positive to say. Always bring that other person up because you never know how low someone is. So if you're over there, people are low and you're also being low, you're pulling everyone down. It's better you pull people up. You never know what you can do to someone. I know people joke about it a lot in school. Like, you get into an exam room with no content and you're like, oh, you come to me with cigarettes and test tubes and all these things, but I come to you in the name of the Lord. Do not use that. Like, you need to work so that God can also help you. It takes human effort and divine intervention for things to work. So don't let he go there with no content whatsoever, but you're saying, you know, God will help me. He will not help you. But don't use that against him. He will not help you, but you need to work to achieve your main goal. Thank you. Okay, lastly, what does the story teach us about faith in God teacher Uji? Thank you. Let me just segue from what Elsie has said. It's a balance before we get to fear. It's a balance of talents and spiritual gifts. David had talents, but there were nothing until the spirit came upon him. And for us, it's the same. We may have many talents and many things we are able to do, but they don't have power until God comes into our lives. One of my favorite texts in the Bible is the Korayah 4, where God tells the rubable, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit. So you can be intelligent, you can be a great singer, but without the Holy Spirit, there is no spiritual power. We should not think that just because someone else can do it, we can. One of my favorite examples with this is the Red Sea was a way for the Israelites, but it was a trap for Pharaoh. People will see you do things and think they can do it as well and get swallowed up by the waters. And we see that that was the temptation that David was given. Before he went to fight, he was offered souls armor, isn't it? Let me just ask you guys, if he did take the armor and won, who would have gotten the glory? Saul would have said you won because of my armor. So we should be careful to know ourselves, to know our lane of grace and our gifts and to stick to that lane. And then on the issue of faith in God, I would like to approach it from a different perspective, fear is the opposite of faith and faith in God is a spiritual gift. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit actually is faith. So we get faith from God. Faith is not something innate. Then secondly, fear, the opposite of faith, is faith in the devil. It is negative faith. And just like Elsie told us, faith is contagious, but so is fear. It spreads like fear. I don't know if you've ever been in a place and you saw people running and you just started running and you didn't understand why you were running. That's because fear is contagious. And we are also told that fear is a spirit. We've not been given the spirit of fear but of power, of love and a sound mind. So whenever you feel fearful, you can rest assured it is not of God. And then finally, to close out the story, the element that Misati brought out, David was viewed as a young person, a youth. And sometimes you can be this prejudice that comes with age. People may think you're too young to have a position, too young to do this, too young to do that. And Timothy is told by Paul, let no one despise your youth. And I think you should take that away as well. As you go through life, God may bless you with position or God may bless you with gifts and privileges. Don't let anyone tell you you're too young to handle them. If God gave it to you, he gives you the ability to handle them. And in one of the punchlines, Proverbs 3, there's five and six. Read the following. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways submit to him God only comes into our lives when we acknowledge him in all our ways and trust him with all our heart. So it is important for us to not have a half-hearted approach to the things of God but to be fully fully in his hand. That is when he intervenes in our lives. If there's anything anyone would like to add before we move on to Patrick's and Prophets. Okay, so Sati, go ahead. Our Patrick's and Prophets our snippet for this week is David in the beauty and vigor of his young manhood was preparing to take a high position with the noblest of the earth. His talents as precious gifts from God were employed to extol the glory of the divine giver. The love that moved him, the sorrows that beset him, were all things for his active thought and as he beheld the love of God in all the providences of his life his heart throbbed with more fervent adoration and gratitude his voice rang out in a richer melody his heart was swept with more exultant joy and the shepherd boy proceeded from strength to strength from knowledge to knowledge for the spirit of the Lord was upon him. Amen. The thought from Monday as we close personalized the key text to carry with you as a promise this week when you battle temptation. Yes, there was a war between David and Goliath, but the war the real war of the Christian is a very spiritual war and it's a war against temptation. This is kind of similar to what Elsie had alluded to. You can see the pipettes right here. So here's the lesson writer writes Satan you come to me through pornographic internet sites but I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied this battle belongs to the Lord. And that's wonderful. Just one nugget I would give you is that spiritual warfare is not really about learning how to submit. That's why in Ephesians 6 we're told to stand strong in the Lord. We need to see Christ as our savior yes, but also as our Lord. Because only in submission do you get power from your king. But when you're out of line you won't get supplies. So spiritual warfare is really about submitting to God. And once we are in submission we can personalize these Bible verses and we can be victorious in any temptation we are faced with. Maybe we can have a last word and then we'll close. Let me just read one more punchline and then we can finish. Let's read Deuteronomy 31 verse 8. Maybe else you can read it as we close. Okay and it says that the Lord Himself goes before you and He will be with you. He will never leave you. Nor will He forsake you. Do not be afraid, do not be discouraged. Amen. What a promise from our Lord. May the Lord bless you all. Let's pray. Our Father and our God we come before you once again. And we thank you for the lesson we have learned today from your servant David that if we believe in you we can slay the giants of our lives. Lord may these words be power over sin for those who will tune in to watch our brief study of this story. May the lessons we have taught others be manifest in our own lives. May they give us grace to overcome the giants that we face. This is our prayer in Jesus name.