WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:07.459 We are the church. I want to thank you for your participation in this series. This is our last 00:00:07.459 --> 00:00:13.859 sermon in this eight-part series on the church, and so I pray that God has used it in the life 00:00:13.859 --> 00:00:22.199 of our church to recenter us on what his purposes and plan are for our church. And we have been 00:00:22.199 --> 00:00:28.600 studying this idea of ecclesiology, the doctrine of the church. We get that big theological term 00:00:28.600 --> 00:00:36.280 from the Bible word for church, which is ecclesia, a called-out assembly or gathering of God's people. 00:00:37.020 --> 00:00:42.640 And so we've adopted a few statements into the life of our church. For the last time in this series, 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:49.380 let's try to read these together, every voice if we can. Ready? We don't just go to church, 00:00:49.640 --> 00:00:56.380 we are the church. Honestly, we should probably be able to say that without the benefit of the slides, 00:00:56.380 --> 00:01:02.840 but we'll go ahead and let you cheat again one more time here. Ready? Here we go. The church is not 00:01:02.840 --> 00:01:11.719 about me. Who's the church about? Church. That's right. It is. And then finally, don't let what is 00:01:11.719 --> 00:01:21.000 secondary become primary. We've identified some ideas in the life of our church that we are supposed to 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:30.480 accomplish. What do we do? Here we go. Ready? We gather, we grow, we give, and we go. Amen. And so if we 00:01:30.480 --> 00:01:38.519 can agree on these primary things about our church, then God can use us mightily, even if we have 00:01:38.519 --> 00:01:46.019 secondary and tertiary disagreements, we can agree on what is most primary and what our church is about. 00:01:46.019 --> 00:01:53.560 For this final segment of this series, I want to get this thought across to us that comes from the 00:01:53.560 --> 00:02:01.759 Bible. Little is much. Little is much. Anybody would know what comes after that? 00:02:05.039 --> 00:02:11.379 Miss June? That's right. Little is much if God is in it. 00:02:11.379 --> 00:02:21.199 Our church is not the largest church. We don't have the largest building. We don't have the latest of 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:28.039 everything. We don't have necessarily all the advantages that every church across America may have. 00:02:29.659 --> 00:02:37.900 We might be little compared to some. Our town and surrounding towns might be little compared to some. 00:02:37.900 --> 00:02:47.680 But little can be much when God is in it. And that is our goal. As individual believers, as followers of 00:02:47.680 --> 00:02:56.840 Jesus, to let God take over our lives so then we reap the fruit of God's efforts, not just our own. 00:02:57.939 --> 00:03:02.200 All right, let's get into the scriptures a little bit. Turn in your Bibles, if you would, to Judges 00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:07.579 chapter 6. Judges chapter 6. We're going back to the Old Testament today. We're going to hit a 00:03:07.579 --> 00:03:15.099 familiar story for some of you. The story of Gideon against Midian. One of my favorite things to say. 00:03:15.979 --> 00:03:22.859 Gideon against Midian. The Midianites were a mighty, mighty people, mighty warriors, and they gathered over 00:03:22.860 --> 00:03:38.040 300,000 soldiers to fight against around 135,000 give or take. I'm sorry. I got my numbers mixed up 00:03:38.040 --> 00:03:46.360 there and I need to start that over. About 135,000 Midianites against about 30,000 Israelites. 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:53.640 I know how much Wade Pierce studies the Bible and he would have called me on it after church if I 00:03:53.640 --> 00:04:04.580 didn't, if I got those numbers wrong. About 135,000 Midianites against about 30,000 Israelites. So 00:04:04.580 --> 00:04:16.080 needless to say, the advantage lay with Midian. Gideon was not a leader in the army. Gideon was 00:04:16.079 --> 00:04:23.300 anything but that. And so let's pick it up in Judges chapter 6. You can remain seated. Need your 00:04:23.300 --> 00:04:28.399 Bibles in front of you on your laps or whatever else. We don't have the verses on the screen today 00:04:28.399 --> 00:04:35.620 because of the length of this passage. So Judges chapter 6 in verse 1. The Israelites did what was 00:04:35.620 --> 00:04:42.519 evil in the sight of the Lord. Well, that's bad news. So the Lord handed them over to Midian for seven 00:04:42.519 --> 00:04:49.819 years and these Midianites oppressed Israel. Because of Midian, the Israelites made hiding 00:04:49.819 --> 00:04:56.159 places for themselves in the mountains, the caves, and strongholds. They had to flee to the mountains. 00:04:56.399 --> 00:05:01.620 They had to go find hiding places because of the might of this army that was against them, 00:05:01.740 --> 00:05:07.659 oppressing them. Verse 3. Whatever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, the Amalekites, 00:05:07.660 --> 00:05:13.700 and the Ketamites came and attacked them. They encamped against them and destroyed the produce 00:05:13.700 --> 00:05:23.560 of the land even as far as Gaza. They left nothing for Israel to eat, as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:30.800 For the Midianites came with their cattle and their tents like a great swarm of locusts. They and their 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:36.580 camels were without number and they entered the land to lay waste to it. So Israel became poverty-stricken 00:05:36.579 --> 00:05:43.300 because of Midian and the Israelites cried out to the Lord. When the Israelites cried out to him 00:05:43.300 --> 00:05:50.219 because of Midian, the Lord sent a prophet to them. He said to them, this is what the Lord God of Israel 00:05:50.219 --> 00:05:56.159 says. I brought you out of Egypt and out of the place of slavery. I rescued you from the power of 00:05:56.159 --> 00:06:01.479 Egypt and the power of all who oppressed you. I drove them out before you and gave you their land. 00:06:01.480 --> 00:06:07.080 I said to you, I said to you, I am the Lord your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites whose land 00:06:07.080 --> 00:06:15.560 you live in. But you did not obey me. That's where we leave off that part of the story. 00:06:17.259 --> 00:06:25.080 It's a dark, bleak picture. Israel has no hope. They're surrounded by enemies. 00:06:25.079 --> 00:06:33.240 And they do not have any military might. Then we have a scene change. Verse 11. 00:06:35.339 --> 00:06:43.039 The angel of the Lord came and he sat under the oak that was in Oprah, which belonged to Joash, 00:06:43.659 --> 00:06:50.740 the Abiezrite. His son Gideon was threshing wheat in the winepress. 00:06:50.740 --> 00:06:58.300 Why was he in the winepress threshing wheat? In order to hide it from the Midianites. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.120 Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said, 00:07:04.280 --> 00:07:07.639 the Lord is with you, valiant warrior. 00:07:10.060 --> 00:07:15.100 And Gideon looks around behind him like who's, what valiant warrior is in this room hiding right 00:07:15.100 --> 00:07:19.720 now that I didn't see when I came in. Verse 13. Gideon said to him, 00:07:19.720 --> 00:07:28.740 please, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened? Where are all his wonders that 00:07:28.740 --> 00:07:35.360 our fathers told us about? They said, hasn't the Lord brought us out of Egypt? But now the Lord has 00:07:35.360 --> 00:07:44.320 abandoned us and handed us over to Midian. Verse 14. The Lord turned to him. Do you see how first it was 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:51.339 the angel of the Lord? And now we have the Lord, all caps, Jehovah God himself. He says, the Lord turned 00:07:51.339 --> 00:07:59.939 to him and said, go in the strength you have and deliver Israel from the grasp of Midian. I am sending 00:07:59.939 --> 00:08:09.259 you. He said, Gideon, go in the strength that you already have and deliver your people. I'm sending you 00:08:09.259 --> 00:08:17.639 to do this. And Gideon says, yes, God, I was feeling strong when I woke up today. 00:08:19.519 --> 00:08:27.920 No, not exactly. Verse 15. Gideon says to the Lord, please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? 00:08:27.920 --> 00:08:36.139 Look, my family's the weakest in this tribe of Manasseh. And I am the youngest in my father's 00:08:36.139 --> 00:08:44.940 family. I'm the lowest of the low here. I'm not trying to make any excuses for my family. Like, 00:08:45.200 --> 00:08:52.180 we're weak. We are not impressive, me and my family. I'm well aware of that. And I'm the weakest and 00:08:52.179 --> 00:09:01.019 youngest in my family. So you really couldn't find anybody less equipped to lead the people of Israel 00:09:01.019 --> 00:09:14.959 than I am. God says, verse 16, but I will be with you. The Lord said to him, you will strike Midian down 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:22.200 as if it were one man. Gideon would have had a hard enough time with one man. 00:09:24.600 --> 00:09:33.080 God says, I will be with you. You will strike them down. You will win a great victory. You will 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:38.259 liberate your people. For sake of time, this story continues on through the rest of chapter six 00:09:38.259 --> 00:09:43.980 and chapter seven. And we don't have time to dive into the whole story, but I encourage you when you go 00:09:43.980 --> 00:09:49.980 home today or tomorrow, parents, even with your kids, maybe at a family devotion time, take some 00:09:49.980 --> 00:09:55.639 time and study out this story of Gideon. It's incredible what God did, the stages, the Gideon 00:09:55.639 --> 00:10:01.420 questioning God and asking for signs and saying, God, how do I know that this is really you? And 00:10:01.420 --> 00:10:06.460 how do I know that you're really the one sending me to do this? That this is really your will for my 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:10.740 life. Anybody ever been there questioning, is this really God's will for my life? Does he really want 00:10:10.740 --> 00:10:18.299 me to do this? Maybe I'm just alone. I've been there a lot of times. And so Gideon's laying out 00:10:18.299 --> 00:10:24.019 fleeces and saying, God, if it's really you, then make the fleece wet on one side in the morning and 00:10:24.019 --> 00:10:28.600 dry on the other side and then reverse it the next time. I got to really see that this is for real you. 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:35.480 And God comes through patiently, didn't have to, didn't have to honor Gideon's requests, 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:42.680 but he came through patiently with this man that he called time and time again until Gideon finally 00:10:42.680 --> 00:10:51.580 said, okay, God, I'll do what you called me to do. I am little. I am not much, but little can be much 00:10:51.580 --> 00:11:02.159 if God is with him, if God is in it. So I read a quote that says, there is no doubt 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:10.559 God is going to come through. The only question is how good a seat we will have when he does. 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:19.620 There's no doubt God's going to come through. The only question is how good a seat we will have 00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:25.959 when he does. Will you get to be front and center when God comes through like he did with Gideon? 00:11:25.960 --> 00:11:35.540 Or will you be back far away because you didn't let God use you, work through you? 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:46.120 Will God work through you or will he work in spite of you? God calls fearful servants. 00:11:47.139 --> 00:11:50.960 This is kind of the first thought I want to leave with you today from the story of Gideon. 00:11:50.960 --> 00:12:00.440 God calls fearful servants. It's very difficult to search the pages of scripture and find times 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:09.100 when God called bragging, self-confident, powerful individuals. Sometimes in the case of someone like 00:12:09.100 --> 00:12:16.280 Samson, who's maybe the closest we can find to that, God often had to humble him and break him down 00:12:16.279 --> 00:12:24.620 before he could use him ultimately in the way he wanted to use him. It is hard to find when God calls 00:12:24.620 --> 00:12:31.720 those who are strong in themselves. God often goes for the weakest, the most fearful 00:12:31.720 --> 00:12:39.539 before he says, I want to use you. Why? Why does he do that? Anybody want to take a guess? 00:12:39.539 --> 00:12:43.839 Why does God call the fearful servants? Yeah, Ray? 00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:50.139 Because what? 00:12:53.259 --> 00:12:59.240 Little can be much. That's right. Anybody want to elaborate on that, adults? Come on, jump in here. 00:12:59.240 --> 00:13:09.840 Depending on God. Then everybody knows it wasn't this person who accomplished something great. It was God 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:16.180 working through them, just like he did with Gideon. So if you read on through this story, 00:13:16.340 --> 00:13:22.299 it's an incredible story. What happened in the life of Gideon? What did God do with this fearful 00:13:22.299 --> 00:13:33.000 servant? 135,000 Midianites, give or take. Some 30,000 or so Israelites. Did God let Gideon go to 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:39.419 battle with all 30,000 of those Israelites as overmatched as they were? No, he didn't, did he? 00:13:40.019 --> 00:13:45.979 He had to trim that number down. Because maybe the historians could look back and say, wow, 00:13:45.980 --> 00:13:54.320 what an impressive battle, outnumbered four to one. The Israelites still overcame the odds and won an 00:13:54.320 --> 00:14:00.820 amazing battle that day under this mighty leader Gideon. That could have been what the historians wrote. 00:14:01.539 --> 00:14:09.620 But instead, God had Gideon go through a series of trials that would whittle down that number to 300 00:14:09.620 --> 00:14:23.360 men. 300 soldiers against 135,000 Midianites. Powerful, well-trained warriors against the ragtag 00:14:23.360 --> 00:14:31.159 bunch of Israelite refugees scattered throughout the mountains, 300 of them. So what happened? 00:14:32.600 --> 00:14:39.080 God used the element of surprise. In the dead of night, Gideon 00:14:39.080 --> 00:14:46.420 following the instructions of the Lord. And these men had come to now respect this man who used to be 00:14:46.420 --> 00:14:53.200 the laughingstock of Israel. The weakest family in the tribe of Manasseh, the youngest of this weak 00:14:53.200 --> 00:15:00.960 family. And now they see God's hand on him. God's starting to use him. God's starting to move him to 00:15:00.960 --> 00:15:08.580 attract those who would truly follow God and not run in fear, but follow the word of the Lord. 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:17.759 And so as this group of 300 people has passed these tests, and now God is ready to use them in the 00:15:17.759 --> 00:15:25.320 dead of night, he had them surrounding the camp of the Midianites up on the mountains. And he had them 00:15:25.320 --> 00:15:35.040 holding jars, holding trumpets, and holding torches for light. And according to the Lord's instructions, 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:43.419 they blew the trumpets, they smashed their jars on the ground with the lights inside them, the torches. 00:15:44.039 --> 00:15:54.019 And it produced this mass confusion of sound and light. In the middle of a dead sleep, the Midianites, 00:15:55.459 --> 00:16:02.659 whatever few watchmen were on duty there, couldn't help at all. They weren't sure what was going on. 00:16:02.659 --> 00:16:08.539 And the rest of them woke up out of their dead sleep, grabbed their swords and their spears, 00:16:08.740 --> 00:16:13.939 and started turning on each other in the confusion, thinking that they were under severe attack. 00:16:15.399 --> 00:16:23.679 And what happened? They defeated themselves. God didn't need those 300 men to go down and wage war 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:30.220 against them. He just needed them to obey his instructions, and he was going to win the day. 00:16:30.220 --> 00:16:40.200 God will always win the day. What part will you play in his victory? God calls fearful servants. 00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:52.800 So don't let it discourage you if you're a fearful person. Don't let it keep you from following Jesus 00:16:52.799 --> 00:17:00.979 if you have a problem with fear, with uncertainty, with discouragement, with being down on yourself, 00:17:01.079 --> 00:17:08.899 a lack of confidence. Boy, that's most of us, isn't it? That's most of us. Even those who seem to be 00:17:08.899 --> 00:17:16.940 the most confident, I can promise you, struggle with their own insecurities. We all struggle with our own 00:17:16.940 --> 00:17:22.279 questioning of questioning of whether we're really good enough, whether we're going to mess up, 00:17:23.279 --> 00:17:29.580 whether we've really got this or not. Sometimes we try to present a bold front. We try to be the rock 00:17:29.580 --> 00:17:35.220 for those who need us the most, but the truth is there's only one rock, and that's Jesus Christ. 00:17:35.220 --> 00:17:46.500 We all crumble unless we are building our lives on that rock. That is the rock. He is the rock that will 00:17:46.500 --> 00:17:55.200 weather the storms. Sometimes we get off that rock, and sometimes the winds come, and they blow, and our 00:17:55.200 --> 00:18:03.880 house starts to crumble. But that's the kind of people that God calls. He calls fearful servants. Look 00:18:03.880 --> 00:18:09.780 back again at Judges chapter 16. It's the only verse we put up here on the screen from Judges 6. Let's 00:18:09.780 --> 00:18:15.860 check this out together. He said to him, please, Lord, how can I deliver Israel? My family's the weakest. 00:18:16.080 --> 00:18:23.720 I'm the youngest in my family, but God says, I will be with you. The Lord said to him, you will strike 00:18:23.720 --> 00:18:36.319 Midian down. So, 2 Timothy, Paul wrote it this way in his second letter to his son in the ministry, 00:18:36.460 --> 00:18:45.500 Timothy. God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment. You have to 00:18:45.500 --> 00:18:51.779 take this in context with the rest of Scripture. So if you look at the story of Gideon, and you see how 00:18:51.779 --> 00:18:58.299 fearful he was, and if you read on through the rest of chapter 6, and see how many times he questioned 00:18:58.299 --> 00:19:07.099 the clear instructions of God, he made it hard on God to call him. He didn't jump up and say, 00:19:07.460 --> 00:19:17.139 absolutely, God, let's go. Some time ago, I preached on Peter going out fishing again after Jesus said, 00:19:17.140 --> 00:19:22.280 Peter, you didn't catch anything all night, but let's go fishing now that it's morning. 00:19:23.720 --> 00:19:33.240 And Peter said, oh, we have done that already, and it didn't work. But at your word, I will do it. 00:19:34.660 --> 00:19:39.900 Peter's also the one who stepped out by faith, walking on water to Jesus, and then he looked 00:19:39.900 --> 00:19:45.500 down at the waves around him and started to get scared and started to sink, and Jesus reached out 00:19:45.500 --> 00:19:55.240 and pulled him up. And later we see Peter filled with the mighty power of God, the Holy Spirit of God, 00:19:55.660 --> 00:20:01.700 preaching in the temple at the day of Pentecost, and thousands giving their lives to Jesus in that 00:20:01.700 --> 00:20:14.019 moment. God uses fearful people of little faith. Are you one of those? Do you qualify for God's use? 00:20:14.019 --> 00:20:25.420 Are you a fearful servant? I am. I have a hard time always doing exactly what God wants. I have a hard 00:20:25.420 --> 00:20:38.259 time being sure that I can do what God is telling me to do. But I have to remember, that spirit doesn't 00:20:38.259 --> 00:20:46.400 come from God. And his spirit can overwhelm it. His spirit can win the day. God has not given us that 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:55.319 spirit of fear, but he's given us a Holy Spirit of power and love and sound judgment. And that is what 00:20:55.319 --> 00:21:02.960 we rely on. I guarantee you those 300 men that followed Gideon into battle that dark night, not sure 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:07.660 if they would ever come back. They didn't exactly know what God was going to do. They didn't really 00:21:07.660 --> 00:21:12.799 know what the plan was going to be. All they knew is they had these weird instructions and they weren't 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:18.799 supposed to use their swords or their spears that night. So I'm sure when they kissed their wives 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:30.599 goodbye, they didn't know if they would be coming home. But I bet you they looked at Gideon, full of 00:21:30.599 --> 00:21:38.000 power, love, and sound judgment, and said, I'm going to follow that guy. Where did he get that? Because 00:21:38.000 --> 00:21:46.139 all he had before was a spirit of fear, an unholy spirit of fear. But then God replaced that spirit 00:21:46.140 --> 00:21:57.500 with a spirit of power and sound judgment. God conquers with faithful soldiers. God calls 00:21:57.500 --> 00:22:04.500 faithful servants. You have to be willing to say, okay, fearful, I'm sorry, God calls fearful servants. 00:22:04.620 --> 00:22:10.220 You have to be willing to say, okay, I'm going to put my fear aside and by faith, I'm going to step 00:22:10.220 --> 00:22:17.500 forward and follow Jesus. And then God can turn you into a conquering servant full of faith. 00:22:18.279 --> 00:22:24.700 That's what God can do with you and me. Isaiah chapter 55 and verse eight, my thoughts, the Lord 00:22:24.700 --> 00:22:32.240 says, are not your thoughts. Your ways are not my ways. As heaven is higher than the earth, so are my 00:22:32.240 --> 00:22:38.059 ways higher than your ways. And my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. We have to remember, 00:22:38.059 --> 00:22:42.679 we're serving one who is greater than we are. Boy, that should be a comforting thought. 00:22:44.039 --> 00:22:51.099 God is better, bigger, smarter, wiser, more perfect, more loving, more forgiving, more powerful than I 00:22:51.099 --> 00:22:58.039 ever will be. And I really need him to be that. Because if he's not, we're all in trouble. I'm building 00:22:58.039 --> 00:23:04.980 my life on something I can't rely on. But God is higher than we are. God is greater than we are. And we 00:23:04.980 --> 00:23:10.120 can turn to him. We can trust him. Maybe you're going through something right now that you need 00:23:10.120 --> 00:23:16.039 to turn to God for. Maybe you are having trouble forgiving someone for something. And you can't, 00:23:16.099 --> 00:23:21.240 in your own heart, bring yourself to do it. But you fall on the instructions of God and the Holy 00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:29.039 Spirit of God and say, God, forgive them because of you. Not because of me. Not because of them. I need 00:23:29.039 --> 00:23:36.819 your spirit to work through me and forgive that person. Maybe you need to step out by faith and 00:23:36.819 --> 00:23:42.759 you're full of fear. Maybe God is asking you to do something. Maybe he's asking you to step forward 00:23:42.759 --> 00:23:48.379 in your church and start serving in an area that you're uncomfortable with. You're just not sure that 00:23:48.379 --> 00:23:55.440 you're really cut out to do that. But God is saying, go. Just like he told Gideon, go and I will win a 00:23:55.440 --> 00:24:00.740 mighty victory through you. Whatever it is. Y'all, we got needs all over this church. We got needs in 00:24:00.740 --> 00:24:06.460 nursery. We got needs in pre-K. We got needs in children's classes. We have needs in youth ministry. 00:24:06.900 --> 00:24:14.440 We got needs in choir. We got needs in instrumentals. We got needs in the welcome team, ushers, deacons. 00:24:14.980 --> 00:24:21.200 We got needs on committees and ministry teams. All over this church, there are needs. Who's going to fill 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:28.220 those needs? Who's going to fill those places? We are. We are. It's our church. We are the ones who 00:24:28.220 --> 00:24:32.960 are going to step forward. God's going to call just like he did with Gideon and say, you serve. 00:24:33.240 --> 00:24:39.080 You step forward. Go with me and I will do something great through you. 00:24:41.759 --> 00:24:46.640 Howard Hendricks, longtime professor down at Dallas Theological Seminary said, how big 00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:56.540 is your God? How big is your God? The size of your God determines the size of everything else. 00:24:59.640 --> 00:25:04.980 My God's pretty big. I've seen God do some amazing things in my life. 00:25:06.720 --> 00:25:12.180 There's nothing my God can't do. There's no mountain he can't move. 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:26.799 How big is your God? God calls fearful servants and God conquers with faithful servants, faithful 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:38.560 soldiers. So what's our takeaway today? Our takeaway is this. God's plans might take me beyond my comfort 00:25:38.559 --> 00:25:54.559 zone. What do we mean by that? God has a plan for your life. God has a plan for your kids. God has a plan for your 00:25:54.559 --> 00:26:06.639 church. God has a plan for your workplace, in which he's put you a leader. God has a plan, teenagers, for your youth group. 00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:19.259 God has a plan. God has a plan for your comfort zone. God had a plan for the people of Israel. He had a plan for 00:26:19.259 --> 00:26:27.359 those 300 men. He had a plan for Gideon and all of them, it was beyond their comfort zone. It took them way out. 00:26:27.700 --> 00:26:35.679 If they had sat down and brainstormed God's plan that day, if they had sat down and had it come before the 00:26:35.680 --> 00:26:41.180 committee and they all sit down and talk it through before they bring a recommendation, it might not have made it out of 00:26:41.180 --> 00:26:50.039 that committee. They might have landed on a different plan. Say, listen, we know we serve a God who is powerful. We know that 00:26:50.039 --> 00:26:59.900 God can do anything. But why don't we put our best foot forward? Why don't we give ourselves the best chance of success and 00:26:59.900 --> 00:27:07.660 then God can pick up the rest? Let's arm ourselves to the teeth, pick the strongest, tallest, biggest, 00:27:07.880 --> 00:27:13.259 baddest, scariest guys in our bunch here, and we'll go down and take on those Midianites because we know 00:27:13.259 --> 00:27:18.220 we've got God on our side. That's probably the kind of plan that they would have come up with. 00:27:19.660 --> 00:27:23.519 Would it have been out of their comfort zone? Well, sure, going down to take on Midian, absolutely. 00:27:23.519 --> 00:27:29.319 But they might have been a little more comfortable with that than the plan that God actually enacted 00:27:29.319 --> 00:27:41.359 with them. So God's plan might take us out of our comfort zone. It might be scary. It might not do 00:27:41.359 --> 00:27:50.559 much to comfort your fears. But just like God did with Gideon that day, he wants to win a powerful 00:27:50.559 --> 00:27:57.039 victory in Henrietta, Texas. He wants to win a powerful victory for his name in Clay County. 00:27:58.399 --> 00:28:03.700 He wants to win powerful victories through the people of First Baptist Church. 00:28:05.579 --> 00:28:10.960 He wants to win a powerful victory in the life of your family, with your loved ones, 00:28:11.399 --> 00:28:16.740 with the people in your family that don't know Jesus. He wants to conquer the power of sin 00:28:16.740 --> 00:28:23.380 and call them as his children. God wants to do something mighty. 00:28:25.539 --> 00:28:27.440 But it might take you out of your comfort zone. 00:28:30.180 --> 00:28:35.559 You know what we can rely on, though? We can rely on the power of the gospel. 00:28:36.599 --> 00:28:45.140 We can rely on the saving power of the Holy Spirit of God working on a dark heart and turning us 00:28:45.140 --> 00:28:52.980 away from darkness, away from sin, and to Jesus. Whether that needs to be for salvation, 00:28:53.380 --> 00:28:58.900 or whether that needs to be for sanctification. Meaning you don't know Jesus and you need to turn 00:28:58.900 --> 00:29:05.080 to Jesus for the first time. Or you are a child of God and you need to turn from sin back to Jesus. 00:29:05.220 --> 00:29:11.160 Maybe you need to turn from self back to Jesus. Maybe you need to turn from sanctimoniousness. 00:29:11.160 --> 00:29:16.600 I needed another S word there that meant something along the lines of pride. 00:29:17.800 --> 00:29:21.460 Those word-a-day calendars that I had when I was a kid come in handy every once in a while. 00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:28.300 You need to turn from your own ego, your own pride, your own self-confidence and say, 00:29:28.740 --> 00:29:35.820 I surrender all to Jesus Christ. He is my strength. Might take you beyond your comfort zone. 00:29:35.819 --> 00:29:45.579 But a long time ago, Jesus willingly allowed himself to be hung on a cross. They killed his body that day. 00:29:46.720 --> 00:29:53.579 But Jesus didn't stay dead. They buried him in the tomb and then he arose. And he came back to life. 00:29:54.599 --> 00:29:59.799 Fully proving to all that he is God. He is different. There's been all kinds of people say, 00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:04.139 follow me. I'm a great religious leader. There's been people who called themselves God. 00:30:04.140 --> 00:30:09.460 People who called themselves divine tried to attract followings on this earth. But Jesus Christ is the 00:30:09.460 --> 00:30:14.560 only one who died and came back to life and said, you can trust me. You can follow me. 00:30:15.300 --> 00:30:20.840 And if we put our faith in him, and if we follow the directions and the instructions in the word of 00:30:20.840 --> 00:30:27.040 God that say we must repent and turn from our sin and turn to Jesus and put all of our faith in his 00:30:27.040 --> 00:30:33.720 forgiveness, his cleansing of his blood, then we can be redeemed. Meaning we can be brought out of that 00:30:33.720 --> 00:30:39.519 sinful darkness and brought into the light of the family of God. God will become your father. You 00:30:39.519 --> 00:30:44.559 will become his child. And I'm confident there's someone in here today who needs to make that decision. 00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:49.960 Who's got to make that decision. I'm not talking about coming to church. I'm not talking about being 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:57.019 a good person. Those are all good things. But the most important thing is becoming a child of God. 00:30:57.019 --> 00:31:05.900 God. And there's a very specific way in the Bible for how to do it. And then you get God on your side. 00:31:06.440 --> 00:31:11.720 Then you get God to fight your battles for you. And can I tell you, like he proved to Israel and 00:31:11.720 --> 00:31:21.359 Gideon that day, he wins. My God always wins. He never loses. I want to read you this and we'll be done. 00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:30.319 Every power on earth and in heaven is a shadow in his light. No authority, law, or government 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:37.579 challenges his sovereign might. His reign and rule have no boundary. All that is his hands have wrought. 00:31:38.119 --> 00:31:45.419 Nothing ever can, nothing ever will overcome the Lord our God. We are well aware we were orphans once, 00:31:45.740 --> 00:31:51.279 bent and broken in our shame. Then he sought us out. He adopted us. Now we bear his 00:31:51.279 --> 00:31:59.160 royal name. Every sin or crime we have ever done is no match for Jesus' blood. Nothing ever can, 00:31:59.539 --> 00:32:06.399 nothing ever will overcome the Lord our God. We are rescued out of darkest night, free from Satan's 00:32:06.399 --> 00:32:12.579 evil hold. And the kingdom of our Savior's light is our soul's eternal home. Though the enemy tries to 00:32:12.579 --> 00:32:19.819 steal and kill what the death of Christ has brought, nothing ever can and nothing ever will overcome the 00:32:19.819 --> 00:32:28.980 Lord our God. Because our God is victorious. He always wins. In love he reigns over us. He always wins. 00:32:30.220 --> 00:32:39.579 We the church declare that Jesus Christ is King. For he conquered death once for all. We will live in light 00:32:39.579 --> 00:32:48.019 of his victory following his gospel call. And when the story ends, we know that Jesus wins. For his power 00:32:48.019 --> 00:32:56.059 cannot be stopped. Nothing ever can, nothing ever will overcome the Lord our God. Would you bow with me? 00:32:56.900 --> 00:33:04.940 Heavenly Father, we celebrate your victory. We stand in it. We claim it. We receive it. We believe it. 00:33:04.940 --> 00:33:08.119 It is not us. It is you. 00:33:08.119 --> 00:33:22.959 So many years ago, you came through in a powerful, powerful way for the smallest of the small, the weakest of 00:33:22.959 --> 00:33:33.159 the weak in Gideon. And your people, the children of Israel, you came through in a powerful, powerful way. 00:33:33.160 --> 00:33:48.200 God, we are fully confident that you can do the same for us. We are fully confident that this church, 00:33:48.900 --> 00:33:58.420 these people, through your Holy Spirit, can accomplish every bit as much as Gideon and those 300 Israelites did. 00:33:58.420 --> 00:34:06.220 We may be small, but you are mighty. We may be little, but you are much. 00:34:07.800 --> 00:34:14.260 I pray that we would not believe Satan's lies. I pray that we would walk in your strength with your 00:34:14.260 --> 00:34:23.320 confidence, saying, my God is great and he can do great things through me. Help us to not settle for 00:34:23.320 --> 00:34:30.900 less than the best. Help us to not get distracted by all of Satan's arguments, all of Satan's lies, 00:34:31.700 --> 00:34:38.620 all of his doubts that he tries to weasel into our minds. I pray that the Holy Spirit of God would 00:34:38.620 --> 00:34:43.360 resist it, that through prayer, through reading the Bible, through the fellowship of believers, 00:34:43.780 --> 00:34:46.600 we would strengthen ourselves against those attacks. 00:34:46.599 --> 00:34:54.619 God, if there's someone in this room this morning who hasn't personally turned to you, 00:34:55.980 --> 00:35:04.239 put all their faith in you, repented of their sin, and accepted you as their Savior, 00:35:05.239 --> 00:35:11.400 let them not leave this room today without making that most important decision. I'm going to ask that 00:35:11.400 --> 00:35:16.339 question now. If that's you, would you slip your hand up right now? Say, I need to turn to Jesus. 00:35:17.460 --> 00:35:25.799 Would you slip your hand up? Thank you, and put it down. Anybody else? Anybody else? 00:35:28.199 --> 00:35:35.199 Thank you. God, I pray for these that raise their hand, that you would give them full understanding 00:35:35.199 --> 00:35:43.440 of their need for a Savior. And if you'd like to come talk to me after the service, I'd love to sit 00:35:43.440 --> 00:35:49.940 down and share with you how you can know for sure that you are forgiven. For the rest of us in the 00:35:49.940 --> 00:35:54.340 room, we're going to have a moment of invitation, and we'll go on with our business meeting, but we're 00:35:54.340 --> 00:35:59.460 going to have a moment of invitation first, where you can come down to this altar and you can pray. 00:35:59.460 --> 00:36:08.800 I'd love to see as many as God is working in your hearts right down here at this altar, praying before God 00:36:08.800 --> 00:36:16.099 together as a church. That's what it's here for. I'll be down here if you need to talk to me, but as many as God 00:36:16.099 --> 00:36:22.179 is working on your heart, would you come down and would you say, God, work through me, whatever it is. Let's stand 00:36:22.179 --> 00:36:28.799 together. Let's stand together. Now is the moment to step out, come down and do business with God. 00:36:29.099 --> 00:36:30.299 I'll be down here if you need me.