Where is your strength currently aimed — at your own glory, or at God's glory and the good of others? Name one specific gift or area of competence and ask honestly whose name it is serving.

Everything about Goliath says, 'Look at me.' Look at how big I am, how strong I am, look at what I can do. He stands nearly ten feet tall. His armor weighs more than some middle schoolers. The tip of his spear alone weighs fifteen pounds — imagine carrying around a bowling ball on the end of a stick and throwing it as a weapon. He is huge, and he is terrifying. But Goliath's real problem was never his size. It was his pride. His strength existed for one purpose: his own glory. That is what the Bible would call toxic masculinity — strength without God. And it is worth saying plainly, especially in a culture that often treats strength itself as the problem: strength is not the issue. Goliath's sin was not that he was powerful. It was that his power had no master above it. He answered to no

Where have you been passive — waiting for someone else to lead, pray, or step up in a place God has assigned to you? What is one responsibility you will stop outsourcing this week?

There is a second man in the valley, and he is easy to miss because he is doing nothing at all. Saul hears Goliath and freezes. Which is astonishing, because Saul was literally the biggest man in Israel with the most battlefield experience. He was the king. He was the warrior. He was the leader. He was the one man who should have stepped forward to protect his people. And yet, for forty days, he doesn't move. Why? The fear of man instead of the fear of God. Saul's whole life had quietly become about protecting Saul — his reputation, his safety, his position. 'The fear of man lays a snare,' the Proverb says, 'but whoever trusts in the LORD is safe.' Saul was snared. And before we are too hard on him, we should admit that this is the trap many men fall into today. Drake put it bluntly: the

What 'pasture' has God placed you in right now — an unseen, unapplauded season or duty? How would you live this week if you truly believed God was using it to prepare you?

When David finally steps forward, he sees the exact same giant everyone else sees. The difference is never what David sees. The difference is what David believes. While the whole army measures Goliath against themselves and despairs, David measures Goliath against God and is unbothered. His confidence is not in David. It is in the Lord who has delivered him before and will deliver him again. And notice where that confidence was forged. Most people assume David was prepared in the valley. He wasn't. He was prepared in the pasture. Out in the fields, alone, a lion came, and then a bear, and David fought them off to rescue a single lamb. Nobody saw the lion. Nobody saw the bear. Nobody applauded. No one posted about it online. But God was quietly preparing him in the ordinary, unwitnessed mo

Who is one person a step or two behind you that God may be calling you to invest in? What is one concrete thing you could do this week to encourage or disciple them?

Let me ask you the question Drake asked the men in the room: who helped make you into the man or woman you are today? Was it a father, a coach, a pastor, a teacher, a mentor? Because none of us becomes who we are alone. God almost always uses faithful people to shape the next generation of faithful people. That is not a detour from His plan; it is His plan. Drake told the story of Dr. Lyle Dorsett. Before he was a seminary professor, he was a Marine. And before he was a Marine, he was a broken man in need of grace — who, after an argument with his wife, drank himself to a stop on the side of a mountain road and woke up looking over a cliff that could have ended his life. As he sat there, Billy Graham came on the radio, and right there on the roadside Dorsett surrendered his life to Christ

What is your giant — the thing the Holy Spirit has been naming this week? What would it look like to stop hesitating and 'run toward it' in the next few days?

Here is the twist we don't expect. We all want to be David in this story — the hero, the giant-slayer, the one God uses to deliver His people. Sign me up. But if we're honest, that's not us. We are much more like Israel: afraid, powerless, unable to save ourselves, huddled behind the battle line — until a Champion steps forward on our behalf. Because Jesus is the greater David. David defeated a giant; Jesus defeats sin. David defeated a warrior; Jesus defeats death. David won a victory and shared it with Israel; Jesus won the victory and shares it with His people. The hope of Christianity is not that you become David. It is that Jesus becomes your Savior. And that changes how you face your own giants. Look at what David does in verse 48: he runs. He doesn't walk. He doesn't hesitate. He d

James found three men in this chapter — a giant, a king, and a shepherd. Goliath used his strength for himself; Saul, the biggest man in Israel with the most battlefield experience, heard the taunt and did nothing. Which of those two failures do you see more of where you live and work?

What does it mean to be a man? On Father's Day — preaching from his deployment in the Middle East — Pastor James Drake walks through David and Goliath and finds three men, but only one who understands…

David's own brother Eliab accused him of a proud heart and evil motives, and David simply turned away and kept going. James said not every battle deserves your attention. How do you tell an Eliab fight from a Goliath one?

What does it mean to be a man? On Father's Day — preaching from his deployment in the Middle East — Pastor James Drake walks through David and Goliath and finds three men, but only one who understands…

James kept repeating one line: strength surrendered to God for his glory and the good of others. Set the word masculinity aside for a minute — what would that look like applied to whatever strength you actually have?

What does it mean to be a man? On Father's Day — preaching from his deployment in the Middle East — Pastor James Drake walks through David and Goliath and finds three men, but only one who understands…

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What About? (Week 11)

What About Manhood? · Group Guide

Name: Christchurch Miami
Address: 8485 SW 112th Street, Miami, FL, 33156, US
Telephone: +13052715262
Price range: Free

1 Samuel 17

James Drake Sunday, June 21, 2026

Icebreaker

Think of something you have been putting off — a phone call, a repair, a conversation you know you owe someone. What finally moves you to do a thing like that, or is it still sitting there?

Discussion Questions

1
James found three men in this chapter — a giant, a king, and a shepherd. Goliath used his strength for himself; Saul, the biggest man in Israel with the most battlefield experience, heard the taunt and did nothing. Which of those two failures do you see more of where you live and work?
2
David's own brother Eliab accused him of a proud heart and evil motives, and David simply turned away and kept going. James said not every battle deserves your attention. How do you tell an Eliab fight from a Goliath one?
3
James kept repeating one line: strength surrendered to God for his glory and the good of others. Set the word masculinity aside for a minute — what would that look like applied to whatever strength you actually have?
4
James said we all want to be David, but we are much more like Israel — afraid, unable to save ourselves, standing behind the battle line until a champion steps out. What changes in this story when you read yourself as Israel instead of David?
5
Dr. Dorsett sat down with James after he had failed an exam and told him not to quit, and James says he wonders whether he would still be in ministry without that one conversation. Who has done something like that for you? Do they know it?
6
James asked, what is your giant? He said most giants do not live in valleys — they live in homes, marriages, habits, fears, and excuses. Name yours out loud. What is one step toward it you could take before next Sunday, and who here will ask you about it?

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What About Manhood? · Group Guide

1 Samuel 17

Discussion Questions

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What is your Giant

How the Gospel Changes the Way You Handle Difficult People

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