1/18/2026 - Church Planting in Pueblo - 2 Samuel 9:1-13

``We're going to go to an obscure passage, a really obscure passage to some of you. Now, want to argue that most of you would really know this passage quite well if it weren't for one of its characters having a completely unmarketable name, the name of Mephibosheth. Imagine, I have to stand up here in front of you for the next thirty five minutes and say that name multiple times. If his name was Jonah or Noah, this would be in every children's storybook. But I assure you, it's a story of the same import and power. [00:04:33] (36 seconds)  #HiddenGospelStory

Now, we're at a time in David's life that I would argue is the pinnacle of his reign. He is acting, if you will, the most like the God who has saved him. If you know the story of second Samuel, that pinnacle doesn't last very long. In chapters ten and eleven and into 12, we see the sinful decisions of David start to take over his life, his children's lives, and crumble his kingdom. [00:07:16] (33 seconds)  #PinnacleThenFall

This is a story about King David and about Mephibosheth and this servant Ziba. It's a story of great authority and great poverty. But the true underlayment of the story, like all stories in the scriptures, are actually a story about God. A story about what God is like, the nature and character of God. This story is clearly about kindness. [00:12:03] (38 seconds)  #LoyalLove

He's been affected and impacted by God's relationship to him, and in kind, his character goes forward. Yesterday, my son Samuel was going off to a play date with another one of his friends, little Ziki. And as he was walking out the door, I said, Samuel, yes sir, no sir, yes ma'am, no ma'am, please and thank you. He said, I know. Now my dad just happened to be at the house yesterday, and I turned around and he was smiling at me, and I looked at him and I said, what? He said, those are my lines. [00:13:47] (37 seconds)  #WeBecomeWhatWeReceive

Isn't it true that those who impact us, we tend to impact others in the same way, for better or for worse? What kind of God is there? That's the most important question you have to consider for yourself, is what you think God thinks about you. Is he a mean God on an anthill with a magnifying glass and worthy ant? Is he distant? He presses play on all of the universe and he's just watching from afar with his feet up on the ottoman. What kind of God is there? I believe that this story gives us insight to his relationship with us through David's relationship to Mephibosheth. That's where we're going today. [00:14:24] (45 seconds)  #WhoIsYourGod

Used to play in the temple or in the king's court with his grandpa. Used to sit on his dad's lap at the king's table. He was a prince in a great land with a great king as a grandfather who knew that one day he would reign, and it all evaporates. Now, he's an expat, a political enemy in a nowhere town, and he can't even walk. Oh, how far he has fallen. [00:17:57] (38 seconds)  #FromPrinceToExile

Now, he calls for this man to come. Mephibosheth is brought to the king's court. Can you imagine what it would be like for him? Verse six, seven, eight, nine in your Bibles. Just put yourself in the scene. He's been in hiding for twenty years. He can't even have his own house because he can't walk. He's not a political threat. What kind of cripple can go to war in that day? He knows that he's been found out. And can you imagine him being dragged into the court of his youth? And when he's let go, he can't stand and he falls to his face. There it is, all the authority in the world, and he has nothing to offer what's gonna happen. [00:18:35] (47 seconds)  #SummonedAndHumbled

You see the tension in the story? Look with me right to verse six. And Mephibosheth, son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, Mephibosheth, the king calls him by name. He knows his name. And he says, Do not fear. How many great times in your bible do you hear those words from an agent of God's kingdom? Don't be afraid. There's a lot of power here. There's a lot of authority here. There's a lot of cosmic energy here, but don't be afraid. Why? Because God is a God of steadfast love, a God of kindness. [00:19:22] (52 seconds)  #DontBeAfraid