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A pretty good name for today's sermon would be: "Not in Appearance, but in Love. Not in Fear, but in Courage." Ooh...or maybe "Would God Choose You For His Team?"

The sermon today was basically a scripture analyzation of Samuel's encounter with Jesse and his seven sons. Make that eight, for the eighth was chosen to be the new king of Israel, King David.

So...you pretty much know the typical cliched situation: You're in gym class and the most athletic and most popular kid is choosing teams for kickball, along with the other most athletic and most popular kid. Now you know as well as everbody else that they choose the other OTHER most athletic and most popular kid, and so on and so forth down the ranks until they're left with the kids who have NO athletisism or popularity to their name. Thank goodness that this is not the case in God's kingdom, or else heaven would be a pretty ugly place.

Rest assured that all who have the HEART, not the appearance, will be allowed entry into God's world. Samuel could have chosen the first son, what's-his-face, to be the new king for he had the looks, he had the height. But not him, nor his other six brothers made it by God's standards. For they did not have what it takes on the INSIDE to lead Israel. Little David, "the runt," "the shepherd" was chosen by Samuel (with God's guidance) to become the king of Israel.

Now the other part to this scripture lesson, this sermon today, was not to be driven so much by fear. Samuel had fear for proclaiming a new king when the old was still in reign. Jesse had fear in Samuel's visit, for he was a very high and powerful man.

But we should not let fear drive our lives. True, it does enter unwillingly sometimes and can influence our actions. But we should not let it get to us. Rest assured, just as Samuel did in the end of the lesson as he poured the oil, that all will end well. For if we have a steady heart and unbreakable courage, God will grant us the best of situations with the best of results. Not in all cases, but we still need to act courageous and keep an open heart.

So my challenge to all of you this week is to not be the self-centered athletic and popular captain who picks the obvious well-built person to be your teammate. Pick the ones with good heart, and you will be rewarded with friends who you can depend upon, rely on, and form an unbreakable bond with. It is in these actions that you could better yourself in your life now, and your life after death.