Judges concludes on a chilling and deeply sobering note. But even now, as we look closely, we see Christ in the Chaos. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 19-21
TITLE: We Have the King of All Kings
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”As dark and raunchy as this story is, the true horror of this story  is found in the opening words. …these words exhort us to look beyond the horrors we are about to encounter to see our true enemy. If we don’t, this story shows us how bad things can get, even for God’s people. ”

“Our story begins with a Levite who has marriage problems. His concubine (wife) is unfaithful to him, and she leaves him to live with her father. After four months of separation from his wife, 3-10 tells us he travels to Bethlehem to work it out. He hits it off with Dad, and after staying with them for almost a week, the Levite and his concubine head home.”

“In 12-21, they spend the night in the Israelite town of Gibeah. With no one willing to provide hospitality, the Levite and his wife set up camp in the town square. An older man sees this, invites them to stay the night at his house, and puts on a clinic in hospitality. But the unthinkable happens—read 22-26.”

“I’m not sure there is a passage in all Scripture containing as much wickedness as this. Everything is twisted here! A mob of perverts want to engage in homosexual rape. The wickedness and vileness of homosexuality were too much for the old man, so he refused—good for him. But then he does the unthinkable: he offers his virgin daughter and the Levite's wife to, notice the language in 24—Violate and do with them what seems good to you.”

“The perverted mob refuses his offer, and the Levite, to save himself, hastily hands over his wife to them. And the perverted monsters take turns brutally raping her all night long. Undoubtedly, the host and Levite could hear all that was happening outside their door—and did nothing. Only when the sun comes up do they stop. By then, this woman is emotionally dead and physically destroyed. Emptied of all dignity, it takes everything this young lady has to crawl to the doorstep of the very home she should have felt safe in and die. This is Sodom all over again, only worse!”

“This is hard to hear. For some, it's unbearable because it brings back memories of their own sexual abuse. If that’s you, I’m sorry you have experienced the fallenness of our world in such a horrific way. Even more, the Lord wants you to know—that He knows. He sees the pain you carry. He is aware of the emotional scars. The suffering that lingers is not unknown to Him. He bids you today to come to Him with your burden. Find your value and worth in His Son Jesus, your peace and comfort in His Spirit. Your confidence in the limitless transforming power of the gospel. Trust in his justice, if not executed today, on Judgement Day. Know, see, and taste that God is good. If you are in danger today, go to a safe place. Tell someone. Call the authorities. Call your pastors. If you are safe but still hurting, reach out to your pastors. We want to help you. Our hearts break for you. We will gladly help you carry your burden to the cross of Calvary and throne above.”

“The unthinkable nature of this story continues. The Levite knows what happened to his wife. Yet, he gets up in the morning, opens the front door, finds his wife lying there, and says—Get up, time to hit the road. When she doesn’t respond, he loads her lifeless body onto the donkey and goes home. Once home, he chops her body up and sends a bloody token to each tribe of Israel to arouse the nation to punish the perverts. His appalling tactics work, stirring up the indignation of Israel.”

“The horror continues in Ch 20. 1-17 recounts how the ten tribes of Israel meet to review what happened in Gibeah. As they listen to the Levite recount the horrific events of that night, there is immediate unity to attack Gibeah and execute the perverted monsters. But the Benjaminites will have none of it, and a bloodbath ensues.”

“To make matters worse, when they convened in Mizpah (20:1), they made an oath not to give their daughters in marriage to any Benjaminite, seemingly sealing the extinction of their brother's existence. Their solution: More bloodshed. They send 12,000 men to the unsuspecting town of Jabesh-gilead, where they slaughter men, women, and children. The only ones spared are 400 virgins who are seized and delivered to the Benjaminites. All that extreme violence and the math didn’t work. They were 200 virgins short.”

“Call it kidnapping. Call it human trafficking. Call it what you want. Anarchy has engulfed Israel. They have abandoned God’s standard for marriage, morals, and anything else you can think of. This is not the story of the Canaanites. This is Israel—God’s chosen people.”

“And after all the stories, all the judges, all the geography, and 400 years of history, it is all owed to this one great problem—read 25. Israel’s problem is our problem. So what do we do now?”

“In Judges, God’s people were broken. Rape, genocide, and kidnapping. Heinous sins. I’m pretty sure those heinous sins aren’t on your spiritual resume. But do you know what is on all our resumes? Idolatry. Specifically, an idolatrous desire for independence from God.”

“The good news and the ultimate point of Judges is that WE HAVE A KING! In Christ, we have the King of Kings who loves us, teaches, guides, and intercedes for us.”

“Believe that God is faithful and will be faithful to you and His church. Don’t presume on that, but live in the good of that. How? Live a life of repentance. Embrace divine forgiveness. Rejoice in who you are in Christ. Live like you believe God controls your life and this world. Persevere in holiness, come what may, with your eyes fixed on the return of your King. God’s grace was powerful enough to save you, and it will be powerful enough to keep you to the end, where we will see our king and worship him alone in all righteousness, joy, and peace.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Revelation 21:1-4

QUOTES:
Dale Ralph Davis- “The problem is not so much with what each man was doing but with the standard that governed him. Hence, 21:25b expresses the ultimate perversity of every man, demanding the right to be his own lord, insisting on following the dictates of his own glands. The problem is not sins but sin, that declaration of independence—whether stated viciously or politely—which says, Yes I do want to be like God calling my own shots.”

Barry Webb - “Idolatry and immorality are bedfellows; where you have one, you also, sooner or later, have the other.”

APPLICATION:
There are three takeaways from this story and Judges I pray will be unforgettable for us:
1. Guard against underestimating the power of idolatry
You may not be able to identify with the horrors of Israel in Judges, but we can all identify with the root of their problem—We want to do what is right in our own eyes.

This is precisely what happened at the beginning when the Serpent tells Eve in Gen 3—You can be like God and Eve said Yes! Let me eat. As wicked as Israel was, we can’t separate ourselves from their problem. Our idolatry may seem respectable—personal morality, respect, achievement, acceptance—good things in themselves, but sinful idols when we want them more than we want God. That’s what idolatry is. The end of it is no different than Israel.

I believe one of the best ways, to guard against underestimating the power of idolatry—Community Group.

2. Remember who your King is
The effective refrain in Judges is found in its final verse—read 25. The idea of no king is that a king would have set things right. But there was no king to rule, lead, and exercise authority over the people. Instead, every man did what was right in their own eyes. This is important: Every man is a reference to the Israelite. Judges isn’t about Canaanites living like Canaanites. It’s about Israel living like Canaanites. The church's problem isn’t out there; it’s in here. You and I turning our backs on our King is the church’s greatest problem.

Have you forgotten who your King is? Turn back to him today in repentance and faith.

3. Celebrate the undeserved and unending grace of God toward you
The story ends with everyone returning home to their inheritance. To have an inheritance was to have a future. Israel, despite her sin, has a future. The time of the Judges was not the end of their story. And for only one reason—God’s faithfulness to pour out mercy and grace.

God will discipline you—but He will never abandon you! Our sin and idolatry are great, but God’s grace is greater.

DIY—Do It Yourself—has become very popular today. It has even crept into the church - DIY God, DIY religion. A DIY approach to God has been Israel’s problem throughout Judges, which is what our text is about today. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 17-18
TITLE: The Dangers of DIY Religion
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Our story begins with a man named Micah. In the opening verses of Ch. 17, we learn that Micah steals money from his mother. After hearing his mother pronounce a curse on the thief, Micah gets nervous and confesses, then returns the 1100 pieces of silver to her. …Mom consecrates the money to the LORD by telling her son to make an idol. Her son has quite a collection of idols. He has a shrine called the House of Micah filled with idols.”

“This is crazy. These are Israelites. Mom refers to God by the holy name Yahweh (all caps LORD in 2&3). She dedicates her blessing to the LORD. The name Micah means who is like Yahweh. Micah and his mom aren’t ignorant of God. Yet, they are carrying on—blessing the LORD by making an idol and self-appointing a priest over the shrine of idols—as if they are doing nothing wrong.”

“It gets crazier. In 7-8, we meet a real-life priest, a Levite looking for a job. …There is a lot wrong with this Levite. First, Levites don’t sojourn. As priests, they lived and served where and how they were appointed (Joshua 21:2). But this Levite is doing his own thing with no clear goal. He is a DIY priest. He allows Micah to do what Micah has no authority to do—ordain him. Now, the Levite is serving not in the house of God but in the house of Micah, a pagan shrine filled with idols.”

“This is DIY religion to the core. Make your own gods. Build your own shrine. Hire your own priest. Be the kind of priest you want to be. Worship how, when, and where you want according to your preferences and advantages. All in the name of Yahweh.”

“How does this happen? We don’t have to guess. The opening words of Ch. 18—In those days there was no king in Israel— remind us that DIY religion wasn’t an isolated situation in the hill country of Ephraim. Remember the tribe of Dan? The tribe that gave us Samson? They enter the story as nomads.”

“After not doing things God’s way—driving out Canaanites—Ch 18:1-11 shows us how Dan took a DIY approach to securing land. Wouldn’t you know it? They ended up at Micah’s place and recognized the accent of his freelancing Levite. Knowing he is a man of the cloth, they ask him to ask God if their mission will be successful.”

“In 7-13, the men went north with the blessing of the Levite, where they found Laish, a prosperous town that is unsuspecting and isolated, making it easy to conquer. They report back to home base. They get the go-ahead to attack. They grab 600 soldiers and head back to Laish. On the way, they stop off at Micah’s again.”

“Micah recognizes they have taken his idols and priest. He chases the Danite army down to get his idols and priest back. When Micah catches up to them, he complains that they took everything from him.”

“The identity of the rogue priest is finally revealed: Jonathan, Son of Gershom, grandson of Moses. Even the house of Moses, the man through whom God said—You will serve and worship me this way, has been corrupted with DIY religion.”

“There is the beginning of Judges, then the cycle of Judges in 3-16, the last being Samson. The third section, 17-21, serves as snapshots of Israel’s spiritual demise. Dan serves as the poster child of the DIY religion of Israel. They went out and got their own land, worshiped their own idols, established a rival worship center to Shiloh, and appointed their own fake priests. This went on for centuries until, as 29 says, Assyria captured them in 720 BC.”

“The DIY revolution began long before our time. Micah and his mother, Jonathan the rogue priest and the tribe of Dan, all God’s people, serving themselves by serving Yahweh their own way.”

“God is not a buffet offering Himself up for our preferences and ambitions. That’s the Do It Yourself religion. That’s what Micah, his mother, Jonathan, the tribe of Dan, and all of Israel were are guilty of. They aren’t atheists. They use the name Yahweh. They have a priest. They have a place to worship. But all that is just a veneer. In reality, they are living for themselves. They worship God according to their circumstances and their preferences.”

“Here are the questions we must ask ourselves: Who determines my beliefs? Who shapes my decisions? Who establishes my priorities? Who fuels my passions? Who decides when and how you participate in corporate worship? We just did a seven-week series from the Bible on The Sunday Gathering. Has anything changed in your worship, or are you still worshipping God in your own way?”

“God doesn’t give us that freedom in His kingdom. It’s His kingdom, not ours. In Matthew 6, Jesus taught his disciples to pray this way—Father, your kingdom come, MY will be done. He didn’t say that, did he? He said—Your kingdom come, YOUR will be done. [emphasis added].”

“Micah’s idols are gone, and his response is—Now I have nothing. Let that be a sober warning against idolatry in our own lives. Idolatry always leaves us empty-handed. Like Jeremiah 2:13 says—They are like broken cisterns that cannot hold water. In all their shininess and promise, the things of this world can’t give us what we need. They always fail us. They always leave us saying—I have nothing!”

“Jesus says there are only two ways to build your life: On the sinking sand of self or the solid rock of Christ. You either believe in Jesus, or you reject Jesus. You are either in the light or you are in the dark. You are either with God, or you are against God. You are either justified in a crucified and risen Christ, or you are condemned in your sin. If you build your way, verse 24 is what you get. Here is where Micah’s response in 24 is exceedingly hopeful. If you build God’s way, no matter what happens in this life, you could lose all you have but still have everything because Jesus is everything.”

“This is where the Book of Judges points us. We do have a king. He is sufficient. He is superior. He is all-satisfying. Of all the things we can do ourselves, Jesus did what we could never do ourselves. He did exactly what his Father asked him to do for our sake, even giving up his own life.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Philippians 2:5-8

QUOTES:
Barry Webb - “Judges 17 is full of religious words, objects, activities, and persons, but none of it is governed by respect for God’s Law or to honor him as an end in itself. Rather this has all been about people using religion to serve their own interests—a mother to indulge her son, a Levite to secure a better life for himself, and Micah to achieve prosperity by adding a veneer of orthodoxy to his idolatrous shrine.”

APPLICATION:
- Who do you serve? Who is running your life? Who determines how you live? 

The Christian confession can be reduced to three words—Jesus is Lord. He has brought his kingdom, of which he is the king. If you profess to be part of his kingdom, is he your King? Is Jesus your Lord? Or are you your own Lord cherry-picking the things Jesus taught and commanded? 

Where have you become a DIY Christian? Where is your life being led by your personal preferences, circumstances, convenience, and ambitions instead of Jesus? How are you writing your own script? That’s the challenge for us—we want to write our own script instead of submitting our lives to God’s script (Bible).

Let today be the day we all come to our King on bended knee, repenting of our idols, embracing our blood-bought forgiveness, and holding fast to the grace and promises of our great Lord and King Jesus until he returns for us.

Samson’s story is the story of God’s people, which means his story is our story. As foreign and different as Samson’s world seems from ours, his life is a mirror for our own lives. In so many ways, we are Samson. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 16:1-31
TITLE: We Are Samson, But God Is God
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: We have nothing without God, but with God, we have everything.

POINTS:
1. The Faithfulness of God In Our Unfaithfulness
2. The Power of God in Our Weakness

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Samson’s story is the story of God’s people, which means his story is our story. As foreign and different as Samson’s world seems from ours, his life is a mirror for our own lives. In so many ways, we are Samson. But god is God. As tragic as Samson’s story ends today, we are provided one more opportunity to see our absolute need for God and His absolute sufficiency for us.”

“We know who Delilah is. We are familiar with the most famous haircut in the world. We have the children’s ministry images of a muscle-bound Samson bringing the house down etched into our minds. But all that has a greater purpose, and that is to help us see: We have nothing without God, but with God, we have everything.”

“The first three verses seem out of place with the chapter. But they do serve a purpose. They are a snapshot of what Samson gave his life to. Between the end of Ch 15, where God revived and refreshed Samson, and 16:4, nothing has changed with Samson. Samson keeps living for himself instead of serving the Lord and His people.”

“In 1, we learn that Samson is deep in enemy territory. Gaza is one of five capital cities in the Philistine empire. He has no business being there, and now he is trapped. But in 3, Samson outsmarts the Philistines by escaping town in the dark of night. On his way out, he rips the city gate off its hinges and carries it off, leaving Gaza unprotected. The point: Even in Samson’s foolishness, the Philistines are no match for him.”

“This is Samson, a man who possesses such incredible strength in the Lord (tearing out the gates) but who is incredibly weak in himself (fornicating with prostitutes). It is the same old story with Samson.”

“‘O mirror of our fickle state.’ Like Samson, we all struggle with besetting sin and weakness. 

• We willingly wander into that sin—AGAIN. 

• We choose our understanding over His wisdom—AGAIN. 

• We pursue our passions instead of His purposes—AGAIN.  

• We turn the gifts He gives us for His glory into instruments for our glory—AGAIN.”

“We are Samson, but God is God. Despite our unfaithfulness, in Christ, God convicts us instead of condemning us. He continues to discipline us instead of destroying us. God continues to use us instead of tossing us aside. We are unfaithful, but God is faithful in pouring out grace upon grace in Christ Jesus, even though we don’t deserve it. This is the ultimate blessing of the gospel that is anyone’s who believes in Jesus.”

“Of course, Samson is with another woman. Delilah proves to be a worthy opponent for Samson’s follies. She can get rich at Samson’s expense and runs with it. In turn, Samson teases and toys with Delilah. They were meant for each other.”

“Despite Samson’s pride and unfaithfulness to God, God continued to move Samson toward his destiny as an instrument of His faithfulness to His people. But now, for the first time, we read that the Lord had left Samson.”

“The visible symbol of Samson’s calling and relationship with God was his hair. His hair was not his strength; God was. What made him different than any other man was not his hair but his relationship with God.”

“In his pride, Samson ran his mouth. He thought his strength was his own. But when his hair was gone, God left him. And when God left him, he was powerless. The man who was not like any other man is now just like every other man. Now, shackled, bound, and blind, a prisoner of the enemy, the mighty Samson has been reduced to one of the tasks reserved for the lowest members of society: grinding grain into flour. The thud of Samson’s life couldn’t be louder. ‘O mirror of our fickle state’—Pride is always the source of the spiritual thuds in our lives.”  

“The man of faithlessness desperately cries out to God in faith one more time and God is faithful to provide His servant what he needs to accomplish His purposes. With the strength that only Yahweh could provide, Samson brings down the house of Dagon, bringing judgment on thousands of Philistines by taking them to the grave with him. ’O mirror of our fickle state.’ In his weakness and desperation, God was God making Samson strong. So it is with us.”

“God will leave us weak so we can remember He is strong. For this reason, we can boast in our weakness because, in our weakness, God manifests his power in ways our strengths could never do. We are Samson, but God is God.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 103:10
Proverbs 16:18
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

QUOTES:
Jon Bloom - “In sin, we turn from God to idols, which profanes God, destroys faith, and obscures God in the eyes of others. But weakness has the tendency to increase our conscious dependence on God, which glorifies him, strengthens our faith, and manifests his power in ways our strengths never do.”

APPLICATION:
Where are you weak today? 

• Faith in God for your future

• Contentment in Christ amid chronic pain and a persisting trial

• Courage in the Spirit to make a decision or confront someone

Wherever you feel your weakness today, don’t bury it. Don’t hide it from others. Don’t shield it from your fellowship with others. Ultimately, it is from God meant to drive you to the One who fulfilled his calling by becoming a freakshow for you on a cross. 

Samson’s death brought the walls of a pagan temple crumbling down. It wasn’t enough for Israel or us. A thousand years later, our Father in heaven, the eternal and perfect Father, sent the better Samson, His only Son Jesus, whose life and death brought the power of Satan, sin, and death crumbling down for good.

The good news of the gospel is this: As much as you identify with Samson, you identify with your perfect Savior, Jesus more. That means, Everyone who has faith in Jesus, no matter how weak you’ve been or how weak you are, you can never be defeated by the enemy—You always win in Christ Jesus! He is your unfailing hope in life and death.

The Lord mocks anyone who attempts to defeat Him, hinder His purposes, or squelch His people. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 15:1-20
TITLE:  Walking With God
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
Lesson 1: Living in opposition to God never goes well
Lesson 2: Holy Hatred guards our walk with God
Lesson 3: God is faithful to hear our prayers and provide what we need

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Three I Spy moments in our text are critical to walking with God individually and corporately.”

“This story is an odd mix of humor and tragedy. Tragically, Samson’s wife and father-in-law are murdered. At the same time, the relationship between Samson and the Philistines is humorous. Every time the Philistines think they have Samson, he blisters them. You can’t help but laugh a little at all this back-and-forth foolishness.”

“God uses humor in the Bible to make a sobering point. Here, the sobering point is about the Philistines. Samson repeatedly makes them look like bungling idiots. In a few verses, he will kill 1,000 Philistines with nothing but the jawbone of a donkey. From foxes to jawbones, the Philistines are on the wrong side of God, and that is not a good place to be.”

“The Philistines are enemies of God’s people. They are cruelly oppressing Israel. They do not fear God; they mock God. But they are no match for God.”

“Derision is mockery. The Lord mocks anyone who attempts to defeat Him, hinder His purposes, or squelch His people. Psalm 2 and Judges 15 warn that opposing God and His people is perilous. It’s always been this way. From Egypt to Canaan to Babylon to Rome, it never goes well for those who oppose God and persecute His people.”

“It isn’t going well for our nation today or any other nation that denies and defies God. God’s kingdom will come. His Church will be built. The gospel will go forth. Whether from sheer terror of the pits of hell or the absolute bliss from the heights of heaven, Phi 2:10-11 is clear—every knee shall bow, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the praise and glory of God!”

“No matter how well life is going for you if you oppose God, it will not go well, if not in this life, in the eternal life quickly approaching.”

“Israel is in self-preservation mode. Their desire for peace has moved them to be content in bondage. They can’t imagine being free. They will forsake Yahweh to serve pagan gods. They will serve Yahweh’s enemies as their lord. They will turn on the Lord’s chosen deliverer. They won’t kill Samson, but they will turn him over to be killed by God’s enemies.”

“The irony is rich: Israel delivers their God-given deliverer FROM the Philistines TO the Philistines. This is a dark day in the history of God’s people.”

“This story is a mirror for us. This will sound weird, but enmity is a gift from God. As Christians, we should experience holy hatred for the right things.”

“We should hate ungodliness. We should hate unrighteousness. We should hate injustice. We should hate opposition to God. We should hate any philosophy or ideology that denies God or prefers and exalts man over God. We should hate sin.”

“Jesus’ point couldn’t be more straightforward: Hate sin more than you love your life. It’s better to be physically crippled than comfortable with sin. Why? Because sin is opposition to God.”

“One man with one bloody jawbone exacts God’s holy and just judgment on 1,000 Philistine soldiers. The Book of Judges repeatedly reminds us we can never predict what God will do or who He will use.”

“You have granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant. For the first time, we see why Samson is listed among the people of great faith in Hebrews 11. Samson was thirsty, and he cried out to God in his need. Samson recognized that even though his hand destroyed Israel’s enemy, it was God’s doing—salvation belongs to the Lord alone.”

“He gave Samson what Samson could not give himself and what he desperately needed most; notice in 19—he brought forth water from a rock (wilderness—Exodus 17), and Samson drank it, and his spirit was refreshed and revived in the grace of the Lord.”

“This moment is a giant flashing neon arrow pointing us to the gospel. The true and better Samson, the one every judge in Judges and the entire book of Judges points to, Jesus, came a thousand years later to bring great salvation to sinners like us. We once opposed God and loved sin and evil. At one time, we were at enmity with God. But God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ. He did not negotiate with Satan. He did not entertain temptation. Jesus did not fool around with sin. Jesus guarded the divine enmity and destroyed the enemy at the cross so that we would not die but be refreshed and revived, walking with Him today and forever.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 2:1-2, 4
Philippians 2:10-11
Psalm 97:10
Matthew 18:7-9

QUOTES:
Dale Ralph Davis - “The Philistines are the enemies of Yahweh’s people. Here their stupidity is held up for ridicule; here, they are made the laughing stock. Why? To show us the peril of being an enemy of Yahweh’s people (even his sinful people), for Yahweh makes fools of those who seek to ruin and crush his people. His enemies—and theirs—are kid’s stuff for him; he toys with them and makes his people able to laugh at them. It is a ghastly thing to make oneself the object of divine laughter.”

Dale Ralph Davis - “Whether it is the evil or sin within us or some form of it outside us God does not call us to negotiate with sin and evil but to wage war on them, to nurse a holy hatred toward them in all their multicolored forms.”

APPLICATION:
- Are there certain sins you have become comfortable with? Are there sinful thoughts you are at peace entertaining? Where has the pursuit of personal comfort trumped the pursuit of personal holiness? Do you hate what God hates and love what God loves? These questions are critical because, to the degree we answer yes, we live as opposed to God. Not walking with God never goes well. 

- This story ends with God hearing Samson’s cry and providing for his needs. Today, God remains accessible and available to all who cry out to Him, regardless of their background or situation. 

• Do you need fresh gratitude for your salvation

• Do you need a humble and holy hatred for evil restored in your soul

• Do you need to repent of your friendship with a specific sin

Whatever you need to walk with God, God stands ready to provide. He wants to grow you. He wants to encourage you. He wants to use you. Cry out to God. He will hear your prayer because in Jesus, you are his precious child, and His ear is yours.

God’s purposes are bigger than us. God can use whatever and whomever he wants to bring about His purpose. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 14
TITLE:  The God Who Is There
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
1. God Always Has A Purpose In Our Chaos
2. God’s Strength Is Sufficient In Our Weakness

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”From his conception, Samson was being prepared to deliver Israel from the Philistines. Yet, Samson was a disaster. Our text is the first window into his life, and we see an arrogant and insolent hot-headed young man who does life big, bold, and exactly how he pleases. Yet, God is there, working behind the scenes using Samson in all his imperfections.”

“This is a terrible sign for Israel. Instead of following the word of the Lord, Samson follows his heart. He is his own god. The hope of Israel is acting just like Israel—Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.”

“In many ways, Samson’s life is an illustration of Israel’s own spiritual demise. Like Samson, Israel was supposed to be set apart as holy for God and His purposes. Like Israel pursuing foreign gods, Samson pursues foreign women. Both turned their back on their calling and their God and did what was right in their own eyes.”

“In the chaos, we are reminded—God is in control. There is nothing righteous that Samson is doing. Samson’s lust for a good time with a good-looking girl controls him. But God is in control of it all, working His unstoppable will. The Lord’s intentions for Samson revealed in chapter 13 still stand in chapter 14.” 

“God is bigger than any one person. God’s purposes are bigger than us. That’s hard for us to swallow, but it’s true. God can use whatever and whomever he wants to bring about His purpose. He’s the potter, we are the clay (Romans 9). Samson’s life illustrates this truth. Hebrews 11:32 says that Samson was a man of faith. He was, but he certainly wasn’t a faithful man. He wasn’t faithful to his parents’ teaching, his Nazirite vow, or the laws of the Lord. We will learn that it didn’t take long for Samson to lose almost everything the Lord had given him, except his great strength, and he finally lost that as well.” 

“God was using Samson’s lust for this Philistine girl to set the stage for the Israelite's liberation from the Philistines. He is in control, even of Samson’s chaos. This doesn’t mean God approves of Samson’s sinfulness.  Samson is exchanging God’s will for Him for what is right in his own eyes. That is idolatry and God hates idolatry. The point of verse 4 is this: Keep your eyes on God not on Samson.”

“Samson is on his way to marry a Philistine, something God has explicitly forbidden. Yet, God is with Samson, showing him—You can trust me. In my strength you can do what you could never do in your own strength. One would think this would get Samson’s attention. You would think he would have built a stone altar to Yahweh on the side of the road. He doesn’t.”

“Samson is weak in so many ways. He can’t say no to a drink. He can’t say no to a hustle. He can’t say no to a seductive girl. He can’t control his anger. He even loses the girl. He is self-absorbed, self-centered, and void of self-control. Samson is weak. But again, in his weakness (19) The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, empowering him to do what he could never do in his own strength. This savage act by Samson was more than a personal revenge tour—It was the power of God.”

“We are just like Samson. Through the gospel, not through a Nazarite vow, but through the Nazarene, Jesus, God has called us, saved us, and set us apart for His eternal and glorious purposes. But, like Samson, we get distracted and misdirected. The grass always seems greener on the other side. We don’t want to miss out on the world’s pleasures. We become enamored with the ways of our culture. Like Samson, we start heading in the wrong direction, away from God doing what is right in our own eyes.”

“This riddle draws us to the gospel. That’s you and me. We think we are strong in ourselves, but we are not. The truth is we are weak, hopeless, and spiritually dead. But in God’s love and mercy, His Spirit rushed upon us, bringing us salvation and making us the object of God’s divine attention.”

“Now, every day, He is forming us into something sweet and desirable in His eyes (sanctification). One day in heaven that work will be complete (glorification). But until that day, you have the promise that you can rise to any occasion God puts you in. You can resist the temptation that presents itself. You can accomplish what God calls you to. You can fight the sin that wars in your heart. Your life can bear spiritual fruit in keeping with your calling as my beloved. Not in your own strength but in the unmatchable and all-sufficient strength and power of the Spirit God provides.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Ephesians 1:11
Hebrews 11:32
John 15
Ephesians 3:20
1 Corinthians 10:13

QUOTES:
Dale Ralph Davis - “Yahweh can and will use the sinfulness or stupidity of his servants as the camouflage for bringing his secret will to pass.”

George Schwab - “The riddle of the world is this: What is life about? What is the meaning of life? Samson gives the cosmic answer: it is about God forming something sweet and desirable from something that seemed strong, but is spiritually dead.”

APPLICATION:
- We must never view God’s providence as permission for our disobedience. We must never assume that just because God uses me, I am right with Him.

- Parents of spiritually wayward Children: When your child’s sin and chaos and your disappointment and heartache dominate the scene—don’t lose hope. Keep your eye on God, who has a purpose, even if you don’t know what it is. Your child is still breathing, and that means God isn’t done with them yet.

- Do you need a spiritual redirecting today? What part of your life is at odds with your calling as a Christian? You’re a Christian called to live for Jesus, but you look more like a Philistine living for yourself. Where have you exchanged God’s will for you for what is right in your own eyes?

Following our Easter Service and 7-week Series on the Sunday Gathering (check out Tim’s recent blog post regarding the Gathering series), today we have returned to the book of Judges. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES:  Judges: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 12:8-13:1-25
TITLE:  The Faithfulness of God on Display
PREACHER: Tom Wilkins
BIG IDEA: The Gospel opens our eyes to behold the faithfulness of God.

POINTS:
1. God’s faithfulness on display
2. Our sin that blinds

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”The people did what was right in their own eyes as we witness the cycle of them returning to grievous sin. This is the way of the world. YET, through this book of Judges, we can marvel at the shocking Grace of God as we witness His mercy that meets His people’s sinfulness, immorality, rebellion, idolatry, and loss of innocence.”

“In the face of all of the CHAOS, the LORD mercifully raises up judge after judge… deliverer after deliverer… savior after savior… each chosen and sent by God. We witness the repeat cycle: the people turn away from their God and run after idols and sin. Yet, all of this has been pointing to their (our) need for THE Deliverer… THE Savior… the book of Judges has been revealing CHRIST in the Chaos!”

“Chapter 12:8-15 reveals three Judges that ruled over a combined 25-year period - Ibzan of Bethlehem, Elon the Zebulunite, and Abdon of Pirathon. This stretch of 25 years can be summarized as one of peace. Following the death of Abdon in Verse 15, we find in Chapter 13:1 that the people of Israel return to their sin. The peace that they were enjoying had come to end. They were at it again! This time they are lower than ever before. They were suffering dearly for their sin and this time the oppression lasted longer than ever before (40 years)… under the hand of the Philistines (13:1). Forty years and no one cried out to the LORD!”

“Manoah’s wife was barren (vs 2). This would have been of double concern for them, being both Hebrew and intertwined with the Canaanite culture and gods. For the Israelites, to be barren was to be in a sense bearing under God’s curse. She and Manoah would have believed themselves to be suffering under God’s reproach. Others would have believed the same. AND to make matters worse, they had become one with their pagan Canaanite worldview. Being barren would carry with it the stigma and self-judgment that somehow you had offended one of the gods that ruled over reproduction and were now bearing under their punishment. In both worldviews, their hope of their family continuing on would die with them. This was judgment on judgment!”

“How the husband and wife must have felt regarding this personal matter is not recorded here. But we can imagine how difficult this must have been. They likely ached privately and likely over time their hearts could have given up. BUT what we do know from the text is that like the people of Israel who were so lost, they had not cried out to the LORD for help.”

“Their child was to “be a Nazirite to God from the womb until the day of his death”: A Nazirite vow (literally - “oneself in dedication/consecration”) was voluntarily made by the individual to God for a season of time. During this time, the individual would “separate” themself apart to God (consecrate themselves to God). During this brief period of time, they were to abstain from three things: no wine/alcoholic beverages, no cutting of the hair, and no contact with a corpse. (Numbers 6:1-21) If you failed at this… if you became defiled during this vow (read Numbers - if some guy “dies very suddenly beside” you) - your vow time clock starts all over again - your previous time is voided!”

“The point of the Nazirite vow was to call God’s people to wholehearted dedication to God!”

“There is a beautiful truth in God’s calling of Samson’s whole life to this “wholehearted dedication to God!” Yes, Samson was to exemplify this for the people as God called them back to himself (Samson will fail miserably at this), But God's faithfulness to his people, even in the face of their terrible sin, is on display because of God’s own “wholehearted covenantal dedication” to his people!”

“Enter the woman’s husband…We find in the unfolding verses Manoah clamoring for center stage, seeking to manipulate the messenger of God - struggling for control.”

“Manoah requests to have the ‘man of God’ return. He is blinded by unbelief that this man is divine (certainly refusing to acknowledge it). This is the first step in trying to gain control of the situation - I want to hear this for myself and understand what is happening. (vs 8) This is way outside his wheelhouse of understanding so he is now going to get to the bottom of this and get on top of what is happening. Hold this man to account…”

“The husband declares what is truth for us all - In the presence of the holiness of God, we see clearly that we deserve the fires of hell! …YET… God who is faithful to His promise gives them GRACE and MERCY.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Romans 12:1
Ephesians 4:1
2 Peter 1:3-11

QUOTES:
”Christ Our Wisdom” by Sovereign Grace Music -
Christ our wisdom, we will follow
Though the way ahead is veiled
As we journey through the shadows
Grant us faith where sight has failed
Help us cling to Your commandments
Strengthened by Your faithful Word
We will never be abandoned
You are God and we are Yours

APPLICATION:
- Marvel at the grace of God. God comes to us when we have not come to him, for He is Faithful!! While our eyes were on ourselves, His looked upon us, because He is faithful! Christian - are you at a new low? God will meet you there! He has not and will abandon you! He is faithful to you. 

- Marvel at the Cross of Christ 
The LORD has wholeheartedly dedicated Himself to His people - to the point that His son, Jesus, would die in our place to save us!

- God’s faithfulness toward us now calls for our faithfulness to Him
In a sense, we have been called by God into a “Nazirite Vow.” He has called us out / “separated” us from death into life and calls us to respond by “separating” / consecrating ourselves unto Him… to wholehearted dedication to Him!

Spiritually speaking, that is God’s desire for us: that we would be ALL IN. He saved us to be His own, and He desires that we make Him our all-in-all. This has been the calling of God’s people from the beginning. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 10:1-12:7
TITLE: All In!
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”The Bible is brutally honest. It does not cherry-pick the best examples but gives us warts and all. Nowhere is that more evident than in the Book of Judges. Over and over, we have witnessed an idolatrous Israel. Today is no different. What is different is the degree of Israel’s idolatry.”

“One thing Judges has repeatedly shown us is that idolatry always leads us away from God and into oppression. Pick your idol: Money, looks, lifestyle, position, the praises of people, or the perfect family; it doesn’t matter; the effect of idolatry is always oppression.”

“You may be blind to it, but whatever you want more than you want God will oppress you. Whatever you serve, meaning live for, becomes your master (Matthew 6:24), leaving you empty and dry because it’s not meant to replace God—it’s meant to point you to God!”

“We are all guilty of bombshell religion to some degree—It’s a reality of living in a fallen world. But there are some whose relationship with God is characterized by a break-the-glass-in-case-of-emergency attitude. If that is you, you are not a healthy Christian. You need help, so turn to the Lord in repentance now. God is merciful.”

“They didn’t earn God’s rescue. They didn’t deserve God’s deliverance. The text makes it clear: it’s not their repentance; it’s their misery that moves God to mercy. The God who loves His people with steadfast love hates to see His people in misery.”

“God’s mercy is expressed in Chapter 11, where we are introduced to the next Judge—Jephthah. In 1-3, we get Jephthah’s bio: He is a mighty warrior. He is the son of a prostitute. For this reason, he was disowned and disinherited by his family. As an outcast, he started hanging with the wrong crowd. All this to say, Jephthah is an unlikely candidate to be the deliverer of God’s people. And yet, he went from the banished son to the ruler over all.”

“Jephthah negotiates with history, theology, and precedent. Good diplomacy, right? In 28, the king of the Ammonites didn’t buy it.”

“We know Jephthah will win the battle because 29 says the Spirit was upon Jephthah. That means the Lord’s power was with him to win the fight. And win he does, but his victory is overshadowed by a foolish and unbiblical vow—to offer whatever (whoever) was first to walk out his door and greet him as a burnt sacrifice. To his great dismay, that person was his only child, his daughter. And after a time of mourning by his daughter, Jephthah offered up to the Lord as a burnt sacrifice. Tragic. Hard to imagine. Hard to stomach. How bad can things get in Israel?”

“Some have tried to soften the moment by offering alternative views of how Jephthah fulfilled his vow. But they fail under the scrutiny of the broader context of Scripture and the clarity and purpose of the immediate context. The text is clear: Jephthah offered his daughter as a human sacrifice. How should we think about this? The passage never says God or the writer approves of or endorses this. On the contrary, God strictly forbids human sacrifice.”

“God says you must never worship me this way. So, how could Jephthah do this? Remember Chapter 10. Israel is steeped in pagan worship. It’s the air they breathe; it’s the life they live. This tragic moment illustrates the disintegration of their relationship with God and their assimilation into the world around them.”

“Jephthah’s story ends with another tragedy in 12:1-7, where, like with Gideon, the Ephraimites want to know why Jephthah didn’t include them in his battle, a fight breaks out, and Jephthah kills 42,000 fellow Israelites.”

“…it’s an imperfect salvation that points us forward to the perfect Savior—another man who was also forsaken and rejected by his people. In eternity past, God chose to offer up His only Son a sin for sacrifice. Jesus was all in (Phi 2:8), coming to us, giving His Father total loyalty and obedience by offering himself a once-for-all sacrifice and enduring righteousness for his enemies.”

“Jephthah would do anything for his power and success, but Jesus gave himself up for the eternal good of others. From the right hand of God, Jesus now holds forgiveness and righteousness out without price to all who come to him by grace through faith.”

“Come to Jesus today with your bombshell religion and syncretistic faith. Lay it at his feet. Repent. He is merciful, and His grace is sufficient for you be ALL IN on loving and living for him like you have never loved and lived for him before until he returns for us and we will indeed be ALL IN!”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Romans 12:1-2
1 John 2:15-17
Philippians 3:20-21
Isaiah 63:9
Deuteronomy 12:29

QUOTES:
Dale Ralph Davis- “The theology of bombshell religion teaches that—of course—God will help you in your need, that he is—helpfully enough—incredibly naïve and hopelessly soft. He’s like a great warm vending machine in the sky into which you need only drop a token or two of repentance before he spits out the relief you currently crave. Religion is a great game—you only need to know a few rules. And Yahweh is a great God—if you happen to need him and want to use him.”

Robert Chisholm Jr. - “It is shocking to see that even a Yahweh-worshiper has become so paganized in his thinking that he would resort to human sacrifice to assure his success.”

APPLICATION:
What should be our takeaway from this tragic story?
1. We must vigilantly guard against being conformed to the world
Jephthah and Israel were completely conformed to Canaan. They looked more like Canaanites than Israelites. Jephthah knew redemptive history. He understood the theology of God’s sovereignty. Yet, he was living a syncretistic religion— professing Yahweh but living as a pagan—and it is devastating! We need to ask ourselves—where am I living a syncretistic religion? Where do my profession and my living not line up? Where are you blind to your syncretistic religion? TIP: Guarding against being conformed to the world is more about pursuing Christ than is resisting the world.  The more we pursue our glorious Savior the less attractive and satisfying this world becomes.

2. We must continually breathe the air of grace
We try to smuggle character into our relationship with God—If I do _______, you fill in the blank, God will pour out His favor on me more. The books of Job and Galatians remind us we don’t earn God’s blessings with our works. Are called to vigilantly guard against being conformed to the world—Yes! Is holiness our calling in Christ—Yes! Does our obedience matter to God—Yes! But how we live isn’t a bribe for God’s grace—it’s a grateful response to God’s grace, and that transforms our obedience into joyful, God-pleasing, Christ-exalting, Spirit-empowered worship!

Someone once said—We have seen the enemy, and the enemy is us. Welcome to Judges 9. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 9:1-57
TITLE: When Our Greatest Enemy is Us
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA:

POINTS:
1. Abimelech’s Rise
2. Abimelech’s Fall

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Abimelech breaks [the] cycle. Before we hit the repeat button once again, we get a close-up of just how evil Israel had become. Everyone in this story is an Israelite. They had become their own worst enemy.”

“My prayer is this close-up will produce 1) an appropriate fear of the Lord in everyone here 2) a deeper gratitude for God’s saving mercy toward us, and 3) a resolve to pray for the lost.”

“We learned at the end of Chapter 8 that Abimelech was Gideon’s son. He was an Israelite. He was part of God’s people. He wasn’t a judge, but he did hold a position of power—He became a regional king. The man whose name meant, My father is a king, had strong ambitions to be a king himself.”

“The trees went to the bramble—You reign over us. The bramble, a thorny, useless plant known for one thing—pain and destruction (think cactus) accepted the offer to rule over them. But with conditions. First of all, the bramble offered no shade—false promise. Second, the bramble says—Sure, I’ll be your king, but don’t cross me because I will reign down fire on you. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that making the bramble your king is pretty stupid. The bramble has no qualification; it brings no benefit to the trees and doesn’t care about the other trees, just itself.”  

“The point is that the leaders of Shechem have not acted in good faith but have been unfaithful to God by making an evil man like Abimelech king, and they, along with Abimelech, will face God’s judgment.”

“God is only mentioned three times in this story, but every time confirms it is His invisible hand that is behind the scenes, judging evil by using human rebellion against those who rebel.”

“Scripture teaches us that God cannot do evil (James 1:13), and Scripture never charges God with evil. God is infinitely good. The Bible also affirms that God is always in control and always at work, fulfilling His perfect purposes, here’s the mysterious part—even at times, bringing about evil through the voluntary acts of people in a way that never commits an evil act or compromises His holy character. Nowhere is this reality more clear than at the cross, where Jesus was killed by men to fulfill the saving purposes of God (Acts 4:27-28).”

“Abimelech is dead. The leaders of Shechem are dead. God has brought justice on Israel’s evil. Jotham’s fable fulfilled.”

“Hebrews 12 says God will discipline those He loves. Discipline is never pleasant, but it expresses God’s fatherly love for you and His promised faithfulness to draw you back to Himself and bring your life in line with gospel truth. It was a hard lesson, but just as Israel benefited from God’s fiery judgment on the bramble king and his makers, so we benefit from God’s discipline that draws us closer to Him and makes us more like him.”

“History shows the church survives and even thrives under persecution and oppression. What eats the church up is the church. It's our sin. It’s our civil wars. It's not the world’s fault and certainly not some failure on God’s part—it's our own evil.”

“While Abimelech’s story doesn’t make for a pleasant read, it is a gift to us. It teaches us that sin is serious and presuming on the grace of God is dangerous. More than that, it shows us we need God. And He has been faithful in giving Himself to us in His Son Jesus Christ. He disciplines us in this life, but one day, He will judge evil fully and finally one day. And if you believe in Jesus, your judgment has moved from the future to the past.”

“None of us are faithful to God, but He is faithful to us. God is for us. Look to Him today to find mercy and grace in your time of need.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Galatians 6:7
James 4:6

QUOTES:
Barry Webb - “Evil appears to be running rampant in Judges 9, but the truth is that God is directing it to a particular and just outcome. Men who have chosen evil are given evil in full measure as their just punishment.”

Augustine - “Save me from myself, O Lord. I’m my own worst enemy.”

APPLICATION:
Why are we spending time on this story? Why does it matter for our lives today? 
1. Warns us against testing God
Judges 9 is very much about man’s evil and God’s justice. The truth is God is not obligated to show any sinner grace. He owes us nothing but His eternal judgment. Yet, He gave His only Son to save us mercifully. That’s why we call it Amazing Grace! 

Now, in Christ, we exist to live for His glory. And God will stop at nothing to make Himself the center of our affections and the focus of our worship. So when we test God by pushing the envelope of idolatry and disobedience, God will act, not because He is a megalomaniac but because He is holy. 

Q) Is there an area of sin and rebellion you choose to ignore in your life? Don’t test God by choosing evil—Repent today.

2. Comforts us with God’s faithfulness

Guess how Chapter 10 begins—God sends a judge to save Israel. Who is God saving them from? Israel isn’t under oppression from any surrounding nation. Who does God deliver them from—Themselves!

Judges 9 isn’t about the surrounding nations—they aren’t in the story. It’s about God’s people. Their sin. Their idolatry. Their evil. Their unfaithfulness. They need to be saved from themselves. And because God is faithful, He does just that. They don’t deserve it from God. God doesn’t owe to them. God loves them because He loves them, and He promises to be faithful to those whom He loves.

Q. Where are you drifting away from God today? Repent and allow God’s love for you to draw you back to Christ.

Q. Where is God’s Word not informing your values, priorities, and fears? Repent and allow God’s saving grace to once again take center stage in your heart.

The Christian life isn’t complicated, but it is difficult in a world of distractions for hearts prone to wander from God. We live in a world constantly competing for our affection and demanding our loyalties. This makes the risk of spiritual amnesia real. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 8:29-35
TITLE: The Joy of Remembering
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Remembering is Worship—Remembering the Lord, who he is, and all he has done and allowing that to shape our lives is worship. 

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”I would submit that remembering is critical in the Christian life. The Bible repeatedly calls us to remember.”

“In verses 29-32, the sun sets on Gideon’s personal life and ministry. Though he did not finish well, Gideon made his mark in redemptive history as God used him to deliver Israel from the Midianites and usher them into forty years of rest. But in verse 33, we learn what has now become a predictable cycle: Israel plunged headlong back into the idols and ways of the world. And verse 34 tells us why—Israel did not remember their God and all he had done.”

“They didn’t literally forget God. They just didn’t care about God. They had no regard for God. Their experiential and intellectual knowledge of God no longer affected them. It played no part in determining how they thought and lived. God’s character, provision, and promises did not influence them. It didn’t matter to their lives. They refused to honor, trust, and obey the Lord. Simply put—They forgot God.”

“Before we’re too hard on Israel, what about us? How forgetful are you? How forgetful am I? To what degree do you suffer from spiritual amnesia?”

“The truth is, we can read God’s active and living Word, sing theologically rich songs, and sit under sound preaching but have our minds and hearts somewhere else.”

“That is the careless forgetfulness of God, and it is destructive to our walk with Jesus. But it leads to an even more destructive forgetfulness.”

“…our hearts are prone to forget God and pursue the idols of respect, reputation, money, success, power, comfort, and convenience. Oh, church, how we need the Spirit’s help to remember because when we forget God, we forget the very one we need to remember most.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
1 Corinthians 11:24-25
John 14:26
Ephesians 2:11
Judges 2:10
Deuteronomy 4:9

ARTICLE LINK:
Click here to read “Forgetting God” - by Benjamin Shaw

In his article, Benjamin Shaw identifies two types of spiritual forgetfulness. 
1. Careless Forgetfulness - This forgetfulness is fueled by distraction and busyness, leading to a lack of intentionality and focus that fits the moment.
That is the careless forgetfulness of God, and it is destructive to our walk with Jesus. But it leads to an even more destructive forgetfulness. 
2. Deliberate Forgetfulness

APPLICATION:
So, how do we guard against spiritual forgetfulness? Motivated by Christ’s love for us and in the strength he supplies—we Remember.
1. Remember who you are
Ephesians 4:17-24 reminds you that you no longer have to think and live as you did before Christ. Why? Because in Christ you are a new creation created in the righteousness of Christ, forgiven by and justified before God who has filled with His Spirit so you may walk in His ways for His glory!
2. Remember God forgives
The work of Jesus in the gospel paid the debt and broke the power of sin, but the presence of sin remains and will until Christ returns. That means ongoing repentance is part of the believer's life, and John 1:9 reminds us that when we are faithful to confess our sins, the Lord mercifully and freely forgives. 
3. Remember the nature of God’s Word 
2 Timothy 3:16 reminds us that God breathes out all Scripture. The Word is God’s words that are profitable for us in every way, making us competent and equipped for everything God calls us to. And there is great joy for the one who walks according to it.
4. Remember why we gather
Hebrews 10:19-25 reminds us that the gathered church is not to be neglected because it is the fruit of the gospel that every believer needs to strengthen their faith and fuel their perseverance to the end. Church is about remembering and beholding the glory of our Savior!

We are about to witness the deterioration of a leader’s relationship with God. Gideon started well but finished badly. He went from courageously obeying the voice and trusting the promises of the Lord to pursuing his own agenda with no fear of the Lord. As we walk through Gideon’s story, we find two warnings for our lives and ministry. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 8:4-28
TITLE: A Tragic Ending
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

THE TWO WARNINGS:
1. Stay close to Jesus
2. Don’t idolize leaders

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”When Gideon follows them across the Jordan, he leaves the Land. That’s a problem. Midian has retreated. Israel has defeated the Midianites. As the Lord commanded, Gideon killed the enemy and drove the survivors from the Land. Mission accomplished! So, crossing the Jordan and leaving the Land goes beyond what God called him to do.”

“The second clue that something has changed with Gideon is how he treats his own people. …Gideon’s leadership isn’t helping them. He doesn’t give them a word of assurance from the Lord. He doesn’t challenge them to join him in trusting their all-powerful God. He doesn’t encourage them to stand with him for the glory of the Lord. He threatens them.”

“For the first time in Judges, we witness Israelite on-Israelite violence. Their unity is fraying, another sign of the depths of their spiritual decline.”

“It doesn’t say the Lord handed the Midianite kings into Gideon’s hands; it says Gideon captured them. It doesn’t say God threw the entire army into a panic; it says Gideon threw it into a panic. Now, we know this victory belongs to the Lord. The victory always belongs to the Lord. The point of the change in language is to draw attention to the change in Gideon.”

“Gideon’s agenda has changed. The fear and glory of God no longer drive him. His passions drive him. This isn’t God’s agenda; it’s Gideon’s agenda. The moment he crossed over the Jordan, Gideon was more committed to personal vengeance than the Lord’s holy cause.”  

“The men of Israel respond by trying to make Gideon king. You saved us. You defeated mighty armies with few men. You killed kings. Rule over us. Be our king. Establish a dynasty. We want a guy like Gideon ruling over us. We can follow this man! He is worthy!”

“Don’t miss the irony: this was the whole point of dwindling Gideon’s army to 300—7:2 lest the people boast! Again, God is nowhere to be found. This is about Gideon. Instead of a song of great praise like Deborah and Barak, the praises of Gideon are sung. Instead of saying isn’t our God awesome, they say isn’t Gideon awesome!”

“The ephod was holy. It was unique. It was central to Israel’s worship and the high priest's office. It was part of the high priest's mediation between God and His people. And Gideon decides to make his own. He is acting like a high priest. He is authorizing unauthorized worship in an unauthorized place led by an unauthorized man.”

“…in his God-given success and the misguided praises of people, two things happened: Gideon abandoned God’s agenda for his own and lost his fear of the Lord.”

“The road from starting well to finishing badly is subtle. It’s not one sudden giant leap away from Jesus; it’s many tiny steps over time. We become what we are becoming. Gideon’s story reminds us that between our own sinful hearts and the praises of people—it’s hard to finish well.”

“Leadership is God’s idea. We need leaders. Most of us want to be led. Eph 4 makes it clear that leaders are a gift to the church. In his letters, Paul calls us to follow, submit, emulate, pray for, and honor our leaders. But we don’t make them kings. We don’t turn them into personal ephods. We don’t idolize them. In the words of Paul—We follow them as they follow Christ.”

“Gideon’s story reminds us no earthly leader is good enough. There is only one man who started and ended perfectly. There is only one deliverer who always satisfies and never disappoints. There is only man whose life gives glory to God in every way at all times. Only one man has made God’s agenda his agenda without fail—Jesus! We look to Jesus. Gideon is meant to move us to Jesus.”

“Leader, lead with zeal, passion, and excellence. By the grace of God, allow His agenda to be yours. Christian, follow, submit, honor, imitate, and pray for your God-given leaders. Above all, look to the one who never disappoints, who is all your hope and alone gives you eternal purpose—Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lamb of God.” 

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 12:2

APPLICATION:
In the strength of the Lord, we must stay close to Christ in our personal lives and our ministries. His agenda through his church must always be our agenda. Leading in the church doesn’t begin with leading others toward Christ; it starts with the leader following Christ—Godly leaders follow before they lead. We don’t build others into ourselves; we push them onward and upward into Christ as we press onward and upward into Christ.

• Am I leading from a heart that is growing in knowing, loving, and boasting in Christ more and more, or am I just getting things done? Ask that of yourself and of those you have the privilege to lead.

When leaders sin, we treat them like we do others—humbly correct and encourage them to repentance. Sometimes, a leader's sin is so egregious we must remove them from leadership. In these situations, we shouldn’t mindlessly look away; we should act according to God’s Word with humility and faith. 

But in those moments, we also don’t allow our leader's failures to shipwreck our faith and taint our perspective of the church. How many people have left the church, even the faith, because they were disappointed by their leaders? 

• I encourage you to talk to a pastor if you struggle with leadership.