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Made to Worship | Week 4 · Rewind

Rock Point Church

73 min

Pastor Bill Bush · Nov 18, 2018 · 5 min read · 73 min listen

The big idea

Quoting the message: Giving is something God wants for us, not from us, end quote. — He made us to be givers, and that's an act of worship that brings us joy, not loss.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 7We were made to worship, and worship means embracing that we were made by God and for God — including in how we handle money.
Point 2 of 7Israel's 81 days of battle cries followed by running from Goliath pictures how we can worship loudly and still refuse to trust God with our finances.

Point 3 of 7Eliab's anger at David for merely asking about the fight reveals how we get mad at the mirror instead of facing our own fear and lack of faith.
Point 4 of 7David's faithfulness in small things (fighting lions and bears as a shepherd) qualified him to fight the giant, showing giving flows from a heart already trusting God in the little things.
Point 5 of 7There are concrete reasons to give: because Jesus asks us to, because giving makes us feel closer to Him, because we believe in the local church's mission, and because it teaches our children not to be selfish.
Point 6 of 7David ran quickly at Goliath instead of stalling, modeling that we shouldn't delay obedience by pretending to 'pray about' something God has already commanded.
Point 7 of 7Killing the Goliath of money in your life causes the surrounding army of other struggles — marriage stress, anxiety, selfishness — to fall too.
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

1 Samuel 17
1 Samuel 17:8
1 Samuel 17:16
1 Samuel 17:20
1 Samuel 17:28
Luke 6

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Bill Bush · Nov 18, 2018 · 73 min watch · 3 min read

Made to Worship | Week 4

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

1 Samuel 17
1 Samuel 17:8
1 Samuel 17:16
1 Samuel 17:20
1 Samuel 17:28
Luke 6

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Quoting the message: Giving is something God wants for us, not from us, end quote. — He made us to be givers, and that's an act of worship that brings us joy, not loss.

Giving isn't a demand God squeezes out of us — it's a gift He made us for, like a father inviting a scared kid down a water slide because he knows the joy on the other side. When we let go and trust God with our money, He catches us at the bottom, and what looked like drowning turns into closeness with Him and victory in areas we never expected.

Key points

1
1We were made to worship, and worship means embracing that we were made by God and for God — including in how we handle money.
Pastor Bill opens with the picture of kids afraid to go down a water slide, some eager, some frozen with fear, to describe how people respond to being told they were made 'for' something rather than just told to do it. He says giving is the topic in this series that makes people reach for their floaties and refuse to swim anymore.
2
2Israel's 81 days of battle cries followed by running from Goliath pictures how we can worship loudly and still refuse to trust God with our finances.
Working through 1 Samuel 17, Pastor Bill shows how Goliath taunted Israel twice a day for 40 days and Saul and the army, despite their worship rally cries, were terrified and ran. He connects this directly to churchgoers who sing 'hoorah' to Jesus but say 'oh no' the moment giving comes up, arguing that declaring God's glory means following Him, not just singing at Him.
3
3Eliab's anger at David for merely asking about the fight reveals how we get mad at the mirror instead of facing our own fear and lack of faith.
Pastor Bill unpacks David's older brother Eliab belittling him for asking about the king's reward, arguing Eliab was really angry because David's willingness exposed his own cowardice. He applies this to how people lash out at preachers or the church over giving messages, when the real issue is fear of losing control.
4
4David's faithfulness in small things (fighting lions and bears as a shepherd) qualified him to fight the giant, showing giving flows from a heart already trusting God in the little things.
He walks through David's resume to Saul — killing a lion and a bear with his bare hands — framing this not as cockiness but faithfulness, and ties it to his own story of learning to give as a young, underpaid youth pastor who made excuses until his heart changed.
5
5There are concrete reasons to give: because Jesus asks us to, because giving makes us feel closer to Him, because we believe in the local church's mission, and because it teaches our children not to be selfish.
Pastor Bill lists four (of seven) reasons his family gives, tying each to scripture and personal story — Luke 6 and Matthew 6 on giving being for us, John 3:16 on love always giving, the church's building and groundbreaking as shared victory, and his own kids' Christmas mission boxes teaching generosity.
6
6David ran quickly at Goliath instead of stalling, modeling that we shouldn't delay obedience by pretending to 'pray about' something God has already commanded.
He highlights that David 'quickly ran' at the giant rather than procrastinating, and challenges the common Christian delay tactic of saying 'I need to pray about it' when God has already clearly spoken about giving. He says you don't need to pray about doing something God already told you to do.
7
7Killing the Goliath of money in your life causes the surrounding army of other struggles — marriage stress, anxiety, selfishness — to fall too.
Pastor Bill closes by naming money as the biggest Goliath many believers face, and promises that defeating it, like David's kill routing the whole Philistine army, causes other issues to collapse as well. He returns to the slide picture: letting go, trusting God to catch you at the bottom, is what worship and giving actually require.

A story from life

Pastor's own backyard waterslide and observing children's fearful and courageous responses to it

Application

Pastor Bill frames the ask as running quickly at the giant instead of stalling with excuses about not being ready.

Stop making excuses and start giving now
Don't wait until you feel financially ready or 'have the armor' — take what you have, like David's sling and stones, and begin giving this week rather than delaying.
Give first, not from the leftovers
Decide a percentage to give to God before paying bills or spending elsewhere, letting your giving determine your standard of living rather than the reverse.
Make Rock Point your primary place of giving
If this is your church family, give here first rather than scattering gifts elsewhere, since God called you to be part of this local mission and its victories, including the upcoming groundbreaking on December 8.
Invite your kids into your giving
Don't give secretly — explain to your children why you're giving and let them participate, as Pastor Bill's family did with mission boxes and saved coins, so they learn generosity instead of selfishness.
Stop delaying with 'I need to pray about it'
Recognize that stalling on something God has already clearly commanded is an excuse, not spiritual caution — run at the decision to give instead of talking yourself out of it.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“So here we go. It's the story is found in first Samuel 17. It's near the front of your Bibles. And like I said, you had Israel, which were called to be the people of God”
From the transcript
“so I wanna pick up in chapter 17, starting in verse eight. It says, Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across the Israelites. Now, he's nine feet tall”
From the transcript
“But this giant comes out, and he says this, and many of heard the story before, but you realize this was not a one time thing. If you go down to verse 16, it says, for forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army”
From the transcript
“So now David shows up right when something interesting happens. He it's verse 20. It says, so David left his sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts as Jesse had directed from his dad”
From the transcript
“if you go down to verse 28, what happens is they come back, they act all scared. David probably goes, this is weird. And he watches, and they're like, did you see the giant”
From the transcript
“he was angry. What are you doing here anyways? I said that like I knew a brother would. He's he hears him asking, what would the king give if someone goes and fights him”
From the transcript
“you go into Luke six, Matthew six, Luke six says, give and it'll be given to you. Meaning giving is something that's for us, not just from us”
From the transcript
“you go into Luke six, Matthew six, Luke six says, give and it'll be given to you. Meaning giving is something that's for us, not just from us. And then in Matthew six, he talks about store up treasures in heaven, not just here”
From the transcript
“John three sixteen, the verse that most everybody, at least you've seen on a sign at a football field, says this. For God so loved the world, he what? He gave his son”
From the transcript
“And when he comes out there, Goliath laughs and gets mad at him. In verse 44, he says, come over here and I'll give you your flesh to the birds and the wild animals”
From the transcript
“he says, and everyone assembled here in verse four forty seven will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with a sword and a spear. This is the Lord's battle, and he will give you to us”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Every generation has its Goliath — something that stands in the open field and dares you to come out and face it. For Israel, it was a literal giant. For most of us, it is something quieter but just as paralyzing: the gap between what we say we believe and what we actually do with our lives. Pastor Bill pointed out something worth sitting with: Israel's army knew God. They had songs for Him, history with Him, testimonies about what He had done. And yet when Goliath stepped out and issued his challenge, they stood still. Forty days of stillness. Fear has a way of freezing exactly the faith we claim to have. Financial trust is one of the places this freezing shows up most honestly. We worship on Sunday and worry on Monday. We sing about God's provision and then grip our bank accounts with both hands the rest of the week. The sermon isn't asking you to feel differently about that tension — fear is real and money stress is real. It is asking you to notice the gap. Because noticing is where things begin to shift. Israel's problem wasn't that Goliath was too big. It was that they had forgotten who was standing behind them. That is the invitation of this week: start looking at what — or Who — is at your back.

For reflection

Where in your life right now does your behavior not quite match what you say you believe about God's faithfulness?

Pray

Pray for honest eyes to see the gaps between your stated trust in God and the places where fear is actually calling the shots.

Day 2

There is a small detail in the story of David and Goliath that is easy to skip past. Before David ever picked up a stone or faced the giant, he left something behind — he rose early, left the sheep with a keeper, and went. He showed up. He was in the field before he was in the fight. Pastor Bill's challenge throughout the sermon is rooted in this same ordinary obedience: stop waiting for conditions to be perfect and simply show up. David didn't wait until he felt fearless. He didn't wait until someone gave him a better weapon. He got up, loaded the supplies, and arrived. A lot of our financial paralysis lives in the waiting room. We tell ourselves we'll start giving when the raise comes through, when the debt is paid down, when the kids are out of the house, when the numbers finally make sense. But David's story suggests that the showing up often comes before the sense-making. The obedience precedes the clarity. You don't have to have it figured out to take a step. You just have to rise, leave what's comfortable, and go. What would it look like today to simply show up — to take one concrete step in the direction of trusting God with your resources, even before everything feels settled?

For reflection

What is one practical, specific step you have been postponing — and what would it look like to take it this week?

Pray

Pray for the courage to take one step of obedience today, even while the outcome is still unclear.

Day 3

Pastor Bill anchored the whole case for generosity in four words: because God loved, He gave. It is that simple and that demanding. Giving isn't primarily a financial strategy or a religious obligation — it is a portrait of the character of God. Love gives. It cannot help itself. John 3:16 is so familiar it can wash over us without landing. But read it slowly: God so loved that He gave His only Son. The giving wasn't the transaction — it was the expression. The gift revealed the depth of the love. That is the logic Pastor Bill is working with: when we give, we are not paying God back or buying His favor. We are participating in the same movement He has always been making — love flowing outward, generosity as a way of being. This reframes everything. The question is no longer 'How much do I have to give?' It becomes 'How deeply do I love?' And if love gives, then generosity becomes one of the most honest answers we can offer to that question. Not a guilt-driven one. Not a performance for anyone to see. Just a quiet, personal act that says: I have been loved extravagantly, and I want my life to look a little more like that. That is worship at its most practical.

For reflection

When you think about your own generosity — with money, time, or energy — does it feel more like love or more like obligation? What might be behind that?

Pray

Pray for a fresh sense of how deeply you have been loved, and ask God to let that love work its way outward into how you live and give.

Day 4

David's older brother Eliab saw him arrive at the battlefield and immediately questioned his motives. 'Why have you come down here? … I know your pride and deceit.' He assumed the worst. He tried to send David back to his sheep. Criticism and discouragement rarely come from enemies first — they come from the people closest to us. And when we begin to make a significant shift in how we handle money, we can encounter a version of Eliab's voice. Sometimes it comes from family members who feel anxious about changes to the budget. Sometimes it is an internal voice that sounds surprisingly like a trusted person from our past, telling us we are being reckless or naive. Pastor Bill's call to invite your family — especially your children — into the practice of giving is partly an answer to this reality. Generosity practiced in isolation is harder to sustain. But generosity practiced as a household, talked about openly, modeled in front of kids, becomes something that has roots. David didn't argue with Eliab for long. He turned away and kept moving. There is wisdom in that: you don't have to win every debate about your convictions. Sometimes you just keep moving toward the thing God has put in front of you.

For reflection

Who in your life has the most influence over how your household thinks about money — and have you ever talked openly with them about giving as worship?

Pray

Pray for unity in your home around generosity, and for wisdom about how to begin that conversation if it hasn't happened yet.

Day 5

David ran quickly toward the giant. That detail matters. He didn't shuffle forward reluctantly. He didn't inch his way out, ready to bolt if things went sideways. He ran. And he ran with a declaration already on his lips — the battle belongs to the Lord. Pastor Bill used this moment to push back against the instinct to delay. We are experts at waiting for the right moment. The right financial season. The right amount of margin. The right feeling of readiness. But David's example is not a careful, calculated advance. It is a sprint rooted in a conviction he had already settled in his heart before the giant ever came into range. The practical application from the sermon is honest and direct: decide on a percentage, give before the bills are paid, and trust that God will catch you. This is not recklessness — it is what faith in motion actually looks like. It is deciding the question before the moment of pressure, so that when the moment comes, you already know what you are going to do. David had already settled who his God was long before he stood in that valley. The run was just the outward expression of a conviction that was already formed. That is the invitation: let this week be the week you settle the question, so the next step is simply the run.

For reflection

Is there a specific act of generosity you have been thinking about but haven't taken yet — and what has been keeping you from running at it?

Pray

Pray for the settled conviction that the battle belongs to the Lord — and for the courage to let your feet follow what your heart already believes.

Day 6

Jesus makes an observation in Matthew 6 that sounds almost too simple: where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Not 'where your heart is, that's where you'll put your treasure.' The other direction. Your heart follows your money. This is one of the most practical and least comfortable things Jesus ever said about our inner lives. He is telling us that financial decisions are not just financial — they are formational. Every time you direct resources toward something, you are training your heart to care about it more. Generosity toward God's work doesn't just reflect trust; it actually builds it. The giving shapes you. Pastor Bill's challenge to give first — before the bills, before the expenses, before the impulse purchases — is grounded in exactly this logic. It is not just about the money leaving your account. It is about what happens inside you when it does. When you give first, you are placing your treasure somewhere specific, and Jesus says your heart will follow. Over time, that reordering changes what you worry about, what you want, and what feels like 'enough.' It is one of the slower and quieter ways that God reshapes us from the inside out. Not by telling us to care less about money, but by inviting us to put it somewhere that draws our hearts toward Him.

For reflection

Looking at where your money has gone over the last month, what does it tell you about where your heart has been?

Pray

Pray for the Holy Spirit to gently reorder your heart's desires, and for the practical wisdom to let your giving lead your affections rather than follow them.

Day 7

The story of David and Goliath is bigger than one battle. Pastor Bill traced through the whole arc: a shepherd boy, overlooked and underestimated, walks onto a field where everyone else has given up — and kills the giant that had paralyzed an entire army. Then he pointed forward: this is a picture of Jesus. The One who stepped into our valley, faced the enemy no one else could face, and won a victory none of us could earn. This is where the whole week lands. Generosity is not ultimately about budget percentages or financial discipline, though it involves both of those things. It is about living in light of a victory that has already been won. We give because we have been given to. We run toward the giants in our own lives because Someone already ran toward the biggest one on our behalf. The small acts of trust — the percentage decided, the gift given first, the conversation had with a child about why your family gives — are all ways of saying: I believe the battle belongs to the Lord, and I want my life to reflect that. This is worship. Not the kind confined to a Sunday morning, but the kind that moves through a whole life — the kind you were made for. You don't have to have it all figured out. You just have to keep moving toward the One who already has.

For reflection

As you look back at this week, what is one thing that shifted — even slightly — in how you think about giving, trust, and worship?

Pray

Pray with gratitude for the victory Jesus has already won, and ask God to make your everyday life — including how you handle money — a reflection of that reality.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

David's story in 1 Samuel 17 is one most of us have known since childhood — but this message asks us to look at it with fresh eyes, as a picture of something much bigger than one shepherd boy and one giant.

Discussion questions

1
In 1 Samuel 17:8-11, the whole Israelite army hears Goliath's challenge day after day and nobody moves. Pastor Bill drew a connection between that paralysis and the way people can worship wholeheartedly on a Sunday and still hold back from trusting God with their finances. What do you think keeps people stuck in that gap between what they sing and what they actually trust God with?
2
Pastor Bill pointed to John 3:16 and made the observation that because God loved, He gave — and that love, by its nature, gives. What does that pattern, God's love expressed through giving, suggest about what generosity is actually supposed to be?
3
In 1 Samuel 17:45-48, David doesn't wait, calculate, or suit up in Saul's armor — he runs quickly at the giant. Pastor Bill used that image to describe a posture toward giving: act now, trust God to show up, and let your standard of giving set your standard of living rather than the other way around. What makes that kind of movement feel risky, and what might make it feel like an act of worship instead of just a financial decision?
4
Pastor Bill described generosity as a weapon against two specific enemies: selfishness and materialism. How do you think the practice of giving — especially when it's not comfortable — actually does battle with those things in a person's life?
5
Pastor Bill specifically encouraged parents to invite their kids into the practice of giving, so that generosity becomes the culture of a home rather than just a personal decision. What might it look like, practically, for a family to build that kind of culture together?
6
By the end of the message, Pastor Bill framed an act of giving not as a transaction with God but as a statement of trust — a way of saying, 'I trust You more than I trust my bank account.' How does that framing change the way we might think about what worship actually is?

Pray together

Courage to run at the giants we've been circling — and a growing trust that God is already out ahead of us

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Made to Worship

Week 4 · 4 messages

Where these passages are preached

1 Samuel 17 Luke 6 Matthew 6 John 3

Explore related topics

David and Goliath Financial Generosity Overcoming Selfishness Trusting God Worship Through Giving

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