SERMON SPOTLIGHT * 2/4/24
In a few weeks, we will witness God use Gideon and his 300 men to defeat an army of 135,000 strong. But we are not there yet. Today, God continues to prepare Gideon. In the words of the anonymous poem—God is drilling and thrilling, molding and hammering him. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.
SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 6:25-32
TITLE: A Divine Mic Drop
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Because God is for us, we have all we need to live for God.
POINTS:
1. What Do You Serve?
2. Who Do You Fear?
SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”I believe God wants to break down idols this morning. God wants to relieve us of the fears that keep us from pursuing Him as His loyal subjects.”
“We are all Gideons in need of a greater vision for the sufficiency and faithfulness of God. We need Christ elevated in our minds and hearts. Today, Gideon’s drilling and thrilling, molding and hammering is our drilling and thrilling, molding and hammering, so we will know and believe and trust that: Because God is for us, we have all we need to live for God.”
“It’s been quite a day for Gideon, but as verse 25 indicates—That night the Lord said to him—the day is far from over. Before Gideon goes into battle with Midian, God calls him to battle with Baal in his own backyard.”
“What we see here is nothing short of shocking: Gideon’s dad built a shrine to Baal with an Asherah pole, a wooden pool with Asherah, the goddess of fertility, carved into it. That’s shocking—Gideon’s family dedicated space on their property for idol worship. Throughout Judges, God deals with Israel’s idolatry, but this is the first time we see it.”
“The message is unmistakable: Israel’s root problem was not pagan nations; it was their own idolatrous hearts. Their problem isn’t with Midian; it’s with God. They are forgetting about God. They are refusing to serve God. God has lavished blessings on them. He has been gracious beyond measure to them. His patience has known no bounds with them. Time and again, He has been faithful to them despite their unfaithfulness to Him. God has mercifully made them His people and called them to live as a light and testimony to His power and glory. And yet, they are chasing idols.”
“I’m confident no one here has pagan altars and poles in their backyard. But we all have them erected in our hearts. Politics and popularity, reputation and respect, money, and success, fashion and looks, accomplishment and education, personal comfort and convenience, no matter how public or private, be it traditional, family, or cultural gods, these and more are the 21st century Baals and Asherah’s. What is yours?”
“No one can serve two masters. It can’t be done. God’s nature won’t allow it. God’s glory won’t tolerate it. God will not share your heart.
You can’t put your hope in Christ for eternity but your hope in money for this life.
You can’t serve God, then put your trust in good health.
You can’t say Jesus is my all-in-all, but find satisfaction in stuff.
We can’t say Christ is my purpose but find our identity in politics, relationships, and work.
You can’t be on mission for God but in love with the world.
You can’t say I trust God when things are good but look to the world's ways when times are tough. “
“The fear of man is one of the most common and, I would submit, the ultimate expression of self-worship. It loomed large in Gideon’s heart—people were big, and Yahweh was small.”
“When we address the idols of our heart, whether it’s bringing them into the light where others can see them or it’s the new priorities and passions present in turning to God from our idols, i.e., repentance—what people may think about us, say about us, or do to us can rule our hearts. Gideon’s story reminds us that, like him, we must learn that overcoming the fear of man is critical to trusting God.”
“Our mission is to unashamedly, unequivocally, and unapologetically share Christ, live for Christ, and, in the words of Jude 3—contend for the faith.”
“In the divine Father’s mercy and love, Joash, this was his pagan shrine, had his eyes opened to the greatness of Yahweh. And he torpedoes the pagan gods by challenging the people to allow them to contend for themselves—(31) If he is a god, let him contend for himself. It’s a divine mic drop. The situation is over. The people have no answer. Their gods are no God at all, just empty and useless idols made of wood and stone by the hands of man.”
“…in time, God’s sufficiency and faithfulness and glory would be revealed in His son Jesus, whose work on the cross would reduce the power and penalty of sin to nothing but rubble.”
QUOTES:
David Jackman - “You cannot have an altar to YAHWEH and an altar to a false God on the same property. The Lord is a jealous God. He will not share His territory or His glory with any other. Syncretism is an impossibility.”
CJ Mahaney - “Fear of man is an excessive, sinful concern with what others think about us. An inordinate desire for human approval or intense fear of being rejected.”
Ed Welch - “However you put it, the fear of man can be summarized this way: We replace God with people. Instead of a biblically guided fear of the Lord, we fear others.”
ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Matthew 6:24