We’re going to start a new series today called Face Your Giants. And for the next few weeks, I want to talk about the giants in our lives, that things that are holding us back, the stuff that keeps from moving forward and in Jesus’ name, we’re going to figure out how to face the giants that keep us from the life that God has for us.

And so we’ve said, a giant is simply anything that stands in between you and the promises of God that feels impossible to overcome. Giants are things like anxiety, shame, guilt, jealousy, anger, bitterness, control, responsibility, religion. I mean, you name it. There is no end to the limit of the giants that can exist in our lives. Your future is on the other side of the giant that you are afraid to face. Just because he hasn’t fallen yet, doesn’t mean he won’t.

Over the next few weeks, we’re just going to go through these lessons, a manifesto, a guide book on how to face your giant. First lesson is simply this; admit that there are giants in your life. Really simple, huh? You’re like, “I was expecting something more than that.” I know. We got to start by admitting that there are giants in our lives. It’s okay to struggle. It’s not okay to lie about it. If there is a giant in your life, there is nothing wrong with you. It’s not okay to act like it’s not there like it’s not holding you back. You got to confess it. You got to bring it out of the darkness, into the light. Don’t let the giant of shame keep you from facing the rest of the giants in your life.

Now some of you is this side. It’s okay to not be okay, but it’s not okay to stay that way. Your giant is not your friend. Never be okay with something stealing, killing and destroying the life that God brought for you. Lesson number 2, we're going to face our giants, just remember who you are, you are not defined by the giants you faced but by the God that you follow. And you know who you are? A beloved son or daughter fearfully and wonderfully made, made in the image and likeness of God. You are a conqueror, you are victorious, you are an overcomer and you've been empowered by Jesus to destroy the works of the devil. You don't have to be afraid of your giant because your giant is terrified at you. The giants of darkness are just hoping that the people of God will never figure out who they really are. So stop looking at God through your giant. Start looking at your giant through your God.

Lesson 3, you have to get 1 and 1 to get 3 and this is huge. Know that your giant has already been defeated. Every giant you ever have or ever will face has already been defeated. It's just a matter of time until he falls. The moment Jesus said, “It is finished” every giant in your life has already been defeated. See, I realized some of you are sitting here you're like, “That all sounds really good bro, but my giant is really real. And every day he roars, and he growls, and he drools, and he is ruthless and he is relentless.” You're right. See, your giant wants to intimidate you to make you forget that you're already victorious. See, the story of David and Goliath is not about you. You're not David. Jesus is David. Do you know who you are? You're the afraid army that every day wakes up and can't defeat its giant and turns around and runs away. So am I. It's about Jesus. Come on, this is why 1 Samuel says, “The battle is the Lord's.” It's not your battle. This series is not called fight your giants, it’s called face your giants. I don't have to fight you. I don't have to defeat you.

You're not going to fall at my name, I couldn't do it. But you're going to fall at the name of Jesus. My job, is not to fight the giant, my job is to be focused on the hero and the champion of the story and his name is Jesus. Lesson 4. If you're going to face the giant in your life, whatever it may be, is simply this, discover and hold on to the promises of God. If you want to prosper and succeed over the giants in your life, you’ve got to arm yourself with the word of God. And it's really hard to experience the promises of God if you don't know what they are. The giants have got a lot to say, but you know who else does? God. And so my question for you is, “Are you discovering and holding on to the roar of the giants with a whisper of God? In this our promises for every giant you face. Every giant you face, there's a promise for it in in here. And when those giants show up and start roaring lies, you got to be able to knock down the lie and hold on to truth. If you are serious about facing your giant, at some point you are going to have to pick up the sword for yourself.

Lesson 5 is, be aware that God is with you. Giant killers are more aware of the God who is for them than the giants who are against them. In fact, if you read the scriptures, one of the most often repeated phrases all throughout the Bible, God constantly says, “Do not be afraid for I am with you.” If God is for us, who can be against us? That's a great question. If God is with you, it means he's for you and if God is for you, what giant can possibly be against you? The real question is not, “Is God with you? It’s are you aware that he already is?”

Lesson 6. Worship is a warrior’s greatest weapon. You will not find one giant killer in the Bible that didn't have a heart for God and didn't have a heart for worship. Moses, Joshua, David, the disciples, the people in our church that find victory over their giants. They’re all worshippers. Do you know what Jesus did right before he went to the cross to face the giant of sin, death and the grave? And since they worship together, Jesus worshipped before he faced the giant of death. If he needed to worship to face his giant, how much more do we? You say, “Well, what’s worship?” Worship is taking your heart and it's just turning it towards God and that's the greatest weapon you have. Not your intellect, not your effort, not your plan, worship is your greatest weapon against the giants in your life.

Lesson 7. If you want to face your giants, change your thinking and change your living. And if we're honest, our thoughts are often more influenced by our giants than they are by our God. The battle is not out there; the battle is in here. Anxiety is not out there, it’s here. Stress is not out there, it’s here. Depression is not out there, it’s here. When you believe a lie, you empower the liar and you're allowing him to shape your thoughts which ultimately shapes your life.

He says, “You have strongholds in your life.” You say, “What’s a stronghold?” It’s anything that has a strong hold on you. What would that be? The giant has a strong hold on you. It keeps you from moving forward and experiencing the life that God has for you. And he says, “We have divine power to demolish strongholds or to defeat the giants in our life.” How? By taking captive of our thoughts and bringing them into submission and surrender to the finished work of Jesus. When you think of the giants or your thought life, every time you have a thought you can ask yourself these two questions, “Is this thought glorify God? And is it in alignment with the finished work of Jesus?” And if it’s not, you got to capture it. Here’s what you got to do, you got to remove it, release it, replace it.

Do your thoughts glorify God? And are they in alignment with the finished work of Jesus? If not, remove, release, replace. Half the time we’re waiting for Jesus to defeat the giant in our mind when he says, “No. I’ve given you divine power to take him down by capturing that thought and bring it into submission to what I’ve already done out there.” It’s not just about changing your thing; it is actually by changing your living. We got to learn to starve our giant. When you stop feeding something, eventually it dies. So stop feeding your giant and start defeating your giant in Jesus’ name.

Lesson 8. Hang out with giant killers. Hang out with people who have found victory and are battle-tested and are warriors and know how to use the weapons of God and have stories to tell and scars to show and have a faith to move forward. That’s who you got to hang out with.

When you got a giant in your life, who do you gather around? You gather around people who face their giants or run from their giants. You say, “Where do I find them?” Right here. This church is full of giant killers. But you know what that means? You’re probably going to have to get in a group, join a team, go to first step, come early, stay late, whoever you hang out with, you're going to become like. So look into people you hang out with, do you want to be like them?

Lesson 9 is this. Get up again, because guess what? Some days it feels like the giant won. You may have lost that battle but remember Jesus has already won the war. When you get knocked down go back to lesson 3 that says, “Know your giant has already been defeated in Jesus’ name.” His mercies are new every morning. Every morning there’s a fresh mercy and a grace from God. There’s no shame, there’s no condemnation. God’s not out to get you, he’s not mad at you, he’s saying to you, “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Come on, let’s get up again. Let’s do it again today.” Come on. We got this thing today. So even when I’m knocked down, I will get up again. Get up again. Hey, get up again.

Bonus lesson, deal with your giants so the next generation doesn’t have to. David should’ve never had to fight Goliath because Goliath should’ve been defeated by his father’s generation. When you refused to deal with the giants in your life, you have to understand that they multiply in your children’s life. Some of you are in this room, you have to spend your entire life fighting giants that your parents should have defeated. Don’t make that same mistake for your children. And yes it’s going to cost you something now, but it could cost them everything later.

Come on, don’t hand your kids a battle that God has empowered you to win. It’s time to face our giants. It’s time to rise up. It’s time to say, “I’m tired of you squatting on my life. That is mine, it belongs to me, because of the finished work of Jesus. And I’m going to take these lessons, I’m going to apply them to my life and I’m going to be victorious in Jesus’ name.” Whether that giant falls today or at the end of my life, I don’t really care, because I know I’m going to stand and endure. I will overcome because of what Jesus has done.