The Driven Church

Luke 2: 1-20. Christmas Story. Trent Evans

Study 37: 1 Samuel 26: 1-25: Trent Evans

Saul and David part ways           

 

Study 36: 1 Samuel 25: Trent Evans

 Offenses           

In 1 Samuel 25, Scripture reveals how David, worn down by grief and pressure, is pulled into a dangerous response to Nabal’s insult. Though David’s men had protected Nabal’s shepherds, Nabal repays their kindness with contempt, and David moves impulsively toward bloodshed. God intervenes through Abigail, whose discernment and courage stop David from acting out of offense and burdening his future with needless violence. The chapter becomes a study in how God rescues His people from themselves, inviting us into humility, self-control, and a willingness to let His voice redirect our course.

Study 35: 1 Samuel 24: Trent Evans

Saul Deceives David

This sermon walks slowly through 1 Samuel 24, tracing David’s encounter with Saul in the cave at En Gedi and inviting listeners to pay close attention to how God forms His people through tension, danger, and restraint. The message highlights God’s ongoing protection over David even when threats are near, the danger of acting on human logic instead of God’s word, and the discipline of resisting voices that sound wise but do not align with Scripture. It examines David’s sensitivity to conviction, his refusal to harm the Lord’s anointed, and his willingness to honor God even when surrounded by people urging him toward compromise. The passage becomes a study in discernment, humility, the difference between genuine repentance and manipulation, and the wisdom of extending forgiveness without stepping back into harm. It ultimately points to the covenant faithfulness of God, showing how David’s mercy flows from an already-established promise, and how Christ fulfills this pattern by mediating a better covenant that extends grace, cleansing, and restored relationship to all who come to Him.

Study 34: 1 Samuel 23: 14-29: Trent Evans

Saul pursues David 

This message walks through 1 Samuel 23 and traces how God sustains David in a long season of pursuit and pressure, showing that opposition may persist “day after day,” yet God’s rescue meets David with the same consistency. The passage highlights how God strengthens His people through His presence and through others, as seen when Jonathan arrives to fortify David’s faith and remind him of God’s promises. The text reveals the contrast between Saul’s destructive intent and Jonathan’s role as an agent of spiritual repair, urging believers to anchor their counsel and courage in God’s word. The narrative also shows how God provides refuge, pictured in “the rock of escape,” and teaches that strength is not found by avoiding the wilderness but by encountering God within it. David learns to dwell at ease in difficult places because God is with him, offering a steady refuge for all who trust Him

Study 33: 1 Samuel 23: 1-13: Trent Evans

Any room on your plate?         

This sermon study from 1 Samuel 23 explores David’s obedience and faith during a season of danger and self-preservation. When David learns that the Philistines are attacking Keilah, he seeks God’s direction rather than reacting from fear or self-interest. God instructs him to fight for His people, showing that obedience, even when risky, brings freedom—not imprisonment. The message calls believers to resist the pull of self-preservation, to keep room on the “plate” of life for God’s purposes, and to trust that surrender always leads to increase. Through David’s example, we learn that faith is not passive; it listens, acts, and holds fast to the “rope” of trust in God, especially when life feels uncertain.

Study 32: 1 Samuel 22: Trent Evans

Can you say "Be safe with me?"         

In 1 Samuel 22, David retreats to the cave of Adullam after one of the lowest points in his life. Isolated and desperate, he cries out to God in Psalm 142 for mercy and deliverance, acknowledging that only the Lord can be his refuge. In response, God surrounds him with his family and 400 distressed, indebted, and discontented men—people society had written off. Through David’s leadership under God’s Spirit, these outcasts are transformed into mighty men of valor. The passage contrasts David’s humility and dependence on God with Saul’s paranoia and rebellion, showing how a heart aligned with God brings restoration while disobedience leads to ruin. Ultimately, David’s story becomes a picture of Christ’s redemptive refuge—calling us to trust God in our own caves, to find freedom from fear, and to become a place of safety for others.

 

Study 31: 1 Samuel 21: Trent Evans

Don't let fear block your sight of God   

In 1 Samuel 20, the sermon traces the deep covenant friendship between David and Jonathan amid Saul’s growing jealousy and David’s flight for survival. The teaching reveals how God’s protection often works through human relationships—Jonathan, Michal, Samuel, and even the Spirit Himself—while reminding believers that such agencies always point back to the Lord as the true source of refuge. As Saul’s envy escalates into violence, David and Jonathan’s loyalty becomes a model of covenant faithfulness rooted in God’s purposes, not personal gain. Their final parting underscores how seasons of loss and separation draw God’s people into deeper dependence on Him. Through David’s “running years,” the sermon calls listeners to recognize that when every earthly support is stripped away, God remains the unshakable source of strength, comfort, and direction.

Study 30: 1 Samuel 20: Trent Evans

The running begins      

This sermon on 1 Samuel 20 traces David’s final days in Saul’s court and his covenantal friendship with Jonathan as a study in God’s protection, human loyalty, and dependence on divine strength. The message highlights how God uses various “agencies” of protection—people, prophets, and the Spirit Himself—to sustain His anointed servant. As David faces betrayal, fear, and separation from every earthly comfort, his bond with Jonathan models covenant faithfulness rooted in God’s promises rather than personal gain. The narrative reveals the cost of obedience, the danger of envy, and the refining work of suffering that shapes David into a king after God’s heart. Ultimately, even as David enters his “running years,” the sermon calls believers to rest in God’s unfailing presence, to encourage one another toward faithfulness, and to find strength in Him alone.

 

 

 

Study 29: 1 Samuel 19: 11-24: Trent Evans

The King is always there

 

This sermon on 1 Samuel 19 examines how God’s providence protects David amid Saul’s jealousy and rage, revealing divine purpose even in chaos. Through Jonathan’s loyalty, Michal’s warning, Samuel’s counsel, and the direct intervention of God’s Spirit, we see layer after layer of God’s protection shaping David’s journey. The message calls believers to recognize similar grace in their own lives—how God often shields us from ourselves and works through unexpected means for our good. The speaker emphasizes that while human deceit or fear may appear to protect us, true safety and deliverance come only from trusting God’s sovereignty. The chapter closes with Saul humbled under God’s power and David’s heart laid bare in Psalm 59, modeling a response of prayerful dependence: “You are my strength; I watch for You.” This study invites listeners to run toward God in times of fear, to rest in His refuge, and to trust His discipline as an act of grace leading to deeper faith and obedience.