At a Glance
Series: Life in the Cave
Scripture: 1 Samuel 16:1-13, 1 Samuel 16:14-23, 1 Samuel 17, 1 Samuel 18:1-4, 1 Samuel 19, 1 Samuel 18, 1 Samuel 22:1-2
Summary: When It All Falls Apart is a sermon outline centered on 1 Samuel 16:1-13. Life in the Cave, Week One I grew up near Mammoth Cave in southern Kentucky, on farmland that featured numerous sinkholes, all of which led into massive cave systems beneath the earth. Review flags: dated-context.
Source: Adapted from Brandon Cox sermon outline notes from 2020. Transcript, audio, and video files were not used for this draft.
Review labels: dated-context
Sermon Notes
This resource draft preserves the outline movement of the source file and is staged for Brandon review before any public update.
Extracted Outline
When It All Falls Apart
Life in the Cave, Week One
I grew up near Mammoth Cave in southern Kentucky, on farmland that featured numerous sinkholes, all of which led into massive cave systems beneath the earth.
I LOVE caves! But when I find myself living in a spiritual cave, I don’t love them so much:
• Caves of loneliness.
• Caves of depression.
• Caves of isolation.
We’re all in a bit of a cave, aren’t we?
DAVID’S LIFE, PRE-CAVE
• Chosen from his family and anointed by Samuel. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)
• Invited to the palace to serve King Saul. (1 Samuel 16:14-23)
• Defeats Goliath and wins the attention of the King. (1 Samuel 17)
• Meets his best friend, Jonathan, Saul’s son. (1 Samuel 18:1-4)
• Receives his first wife, Michal, Saul’s daughter. (1 Samuel 19)
• Gains popularity, power, and prestige. (1 Samuel 18)
David, at this point, is a rising star with a fantastic future ahead of him. He’s on a growth track to success. Everything is going extremely well!
Then…
• Saul turns on David out of jealousy. (1 Samuel 19)
• David is exiled from the palace and from his wife.
• He is released from military service to Saul.
• He sees his best friend, Jonathan, for the last time.
• He loses contact with his mentor, Samuel.
Now, David has gone from palace-living to cave-dwelling. And God begins the real work of preparing David for a great calling to a great purpose.
1 Samuel 22:1-2 NIV
David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their commander. About four hundred men were with him.
It is in the spiritual caves of your life that God will prepare you for his greatest purposes for you!
In the next message, I’m going to talk about the lessons David learned in the cave and the lessons you and I learn in the caves in which we stay sometimes.
For today, know this…
God is at work in you, right now, in the cave. You may not see him or understand what he is doing, but in your loneliest, darkest hour, God is with you and is getting you ready for the fulfillment of his purposes for your life!