Facing Your Giants Study Guide
By Max Lucado
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About this ebook
Max Lucado
Since entering the ministry in 1978, Max Lucado has served churches in Miami, Florida; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and San Antonio, Texas. He currently serves as the teaching minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He is the recipient of the 2021 ECPA Pinnacle Award for his outstanding contribution to the publishing industry and society at large. He is America's bestselling inspirational author with more than 150 million products in print. Visit his website at MaxLucado.com Facebook.com/MaxLucado Instagram.com/MaxLucado Twitter.com/MaxLucado Youtube.com/MaxLucadoOfficial The Max Lucado Encouraging Word Podcast
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Facing Your Giants Study Guide - Max Lucado
FACING
YOUR
GIANTS
STUDY GUIDE
BY MAX LUCADO
Facing_Your_Giants_SG_0001_001FACING YOUR GIANTS STUDY GUIDE
© 2006 Max Lucado
The publishers are grateful to Terry Hadaway for his collaboration, writing skills, and editorial help in developing the content for this study guide.
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or other—except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail [email protected].
Scripture quotations are taken from:
The New King James Version (NKJV), copyright " 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT), copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
The Message (MSG) by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). Copyright©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
ISBN 978-1-4185-1415-0
Printed in the United States of America
07 08 09 10 11 RRD 10 9 8 7 6
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
1. Facing Your Giants . . . 1 Samuel 17:1–11
2. Silent Phones . . . 1 Samuel 16:1–13
3. Raging Sauls . . . 1 Samuel 18:1–16
4. Desperate Days . . . 1 Samuel 21:1–9
5. Dry Seasons . . . 1 Samuel 21:10–22:5
6. Grief Givers . . . 1 Samuel 24:1–15
7. Barbaric Behavior . . . 1 Samuel 25:14–38
8. Slump Guns . . . 1 Samuel 27:1–4; 30:1–6
9. Plopping Points . . . 1 Samuel 30:7–25
10. Unspeakable Grief . . . 2 Samuel 1:4–12
11. Blind Intersections . . . 2 Samuel 2:1–7
12. Strong Holds . . . 2 Samuel 5:1–12
13. Distant Deity . . . 2 Samuel 6:1–19
14. Tough Promises . . . 2 Samuel 9:1–13
15. Thin Air-ogance . . . 2 Samuel 11:1–17
16. Colossal Collapses . . . 2 Samuel 12:1–15
17. Family Matters . . . 2 Samuel 15:13–14; 30–31
18. Dashed Hopes . . . 1 Chronicles 28:1–10
19. Take Goliath Down! . . . 1 Samuel 17:32–51
Small Group Leader Guides
INTRODUCTION
When was the last time you really faced the giants
in your life? How long since you ran toward your challenge? We tend to retreat, to duck behind a desk of work or crawl into a nightclub of distraction or a bed of forbidden love. For a moment, a day, or a year, we feel safe, insulated, anesthetized, but then the work runs out, the liquor wears off, or the lover leaves, and we hear Goliath again. Booming. Bombastic.
This is a study of the life of King David—an unlikely hero who was consumed with an awesome God. David’s story encompasses both a life of incredible victory and of personal tragedy. In Facing Your Giants Study Guide, you will discover what David knew—that God is bigger than any giants you may face in life. Focus on your giants—you stumble. Focus on God—your giants tumble. The God who made a miracle out of David stands ready to make one out of you too.
As you work through this study, you will be challenged by David’s devotion and God’s provision, and you will learn to face your giants with confidence in God’s ability to overcome them.
Each lesson in this study guide features the following sections:
SCRIPTURAL FOCUS: This is the main passage of Scripture for the lesson. To get the most from the lesson, read the passage in its entirety.
LESSON OBJECTIVE: The lesson objective will help you know what to look for in the lesson.
REWIND: In this section, you will take a look at the biblical context for the passage being studied.
RETHINK: Drawing on the foundational principles in the Scripture being studied, you will be challenged to reconsider any thoughts or attitudes you have that might be inconsistent with the Bible.
REFLECT: What would happen if you put these principles to use in your daily life? Would your life change? If so, how?
REACT: Now what? Based on what you learned in this lesson, what will you change about your life?
There also are Small Group Leader Guides in the back of this book that contain additional information and discussion questions to guide you in leading a small group. These guides help make your group sessions easy, effective, and fun.
Giants. We must face them. Yet, we need not face them alone. Learn to focus first, and most, on God.
Let’s begin.
1
FACING YOUR GIANTS
Scriptural Focus: 1 Samuel 17:1–11
LESSON OBJECTIVE: To discover how problems affect our lives and commit to trusting God to overcome them
The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. (1 Samuel 17:3 NKJV)
REWIND: There was nothing about the situation that would have made for a good story line. David, the boyish shepherd was offering to go toe-to-toe with the behemoth, Goliath. It resembled one of those preseason baseball games that pit college players against major leaguers. The outcome usually is predictable; the only unknown is how bad it will be.
David’s preparation involves stopping by the creek to collect a few stones—a good idea if you are protecting sheep from predators; a bad idea if you are fighting a giant! But the size of the stones had nothing to do with David’s success against Goliath. David’s real strength came from his relationship with God. God knew that. David knew that. Goliath and the Philistines didn’t have confidence in God, they taunted him. Therein lies the real story. The battle isn’t a battle between a boy and a giant, but God-focus versus self-focus. Goliath thought he couldn’t be beat. And he was right. . . . at least from the world’s perspective.
RETHINK: Your Goliath comes in different shapes and sizes. To the casual observer, it looks as if you can’t win. Your giant taunts you publicly and you are left to gather rocks. Though the situation looks hopeless, you know better. The giant is too big and you are too weak. But you have a secret weapon—a power not understood by casual observers.
In what areas of life are you most taunted by giants
?
Il_Facing_Your_Giants_SG_0008_001 unemployment
Il_Facing_Your_Giants_SG_0008_001 abandonment
Il_Facing_Your_Giants_SG_0008_001 sexual abuse
Il_Facing_Your_Giants_SG_0008_001 depression
Il_Facing_Your_Giants_SG_0008_001 finances
Il_Facing_Your_Giants_SG_0008_001 morality
Il_Facing_Your_Giants_SG_0008_001 education
Il_Facing_Your_Giants_SG_0008_001 other: __________________
Just the mention of your giant has an emotional effect on you. Your giant elicits anxiety, shame, confusion, or anger. He might not stand in the Valley of Elah, but he calls to you at the most inopportune times. In David’s day, the focus always had been on the giant; but David’s strategy was different.
Think about the giants that concern you most.
How does the average day begin for you?
I think about the giants <———————————-> I think about God
This wasn’t the first time the Israelites had been dogged by the Philistines. History taught the Israelites that the Philistines would win, so going into battle against them was futile. Maybe you suffer with the same problem—you aren’t the first person in