All of our sin and the contempt of God is washed away by THE Deliverer, Jesus, in the waters of His forgiveness. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 3:12-30
TITLE: Certain Victory at the River
PREACHER: Tom Wilkins
BIG IDEA: All of our sin and the contempt of God is washed away by THE Deliverer, Jesus, in the waters of His forgiveness. 

POINTS:
1. God’s people turn away from him again
2. God’s utter contempt for His enemy
3. God’s certain victory for the ages

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Here we are again!  The repeating cycle in the Book of Judges turns again as we turn the page on God’s deliverer. After 40 years of rest, Othniel, the paradigm judge, has died, and the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD.”

“This is their constant shame. Their apostasy, their rebellion, and their cosmic treason against their Holy God (using the words of R.C. Sproul) will not be tolerated.”

“God sovereignly strengthens Eglon [and the Moabites] for the purpose of afflicting His rebellious people. He will not let them continue to sin in the face of His patience and kindness.His name, His holiness, and His justice are at stake. Therefore, He must move to correct them!”

“The Geography is important! Check out the maps in your Bible. This is happening in a real time in real places. These places are important. Moab is the kingdom located on the South/East coast of the Dead Sea. Eglon moves North, gathering armies from the Ammonites and Amalekites. They continue North around the Dead Sea, turn west and cross the Jordan River, and take possession of  Jericho (“the city of palms”)... rebuilding it to a degree, and, from there, ruthlessly rule the people of Israel.”

“God was still leaning in toward his people, longing for their return. We can see His providential hand on his sinful people has not been removed. He will not let His own go! And now we will see His sovereign hand of strength that was on Moab is now removed. Praise God that he has not let His own go! He raises up his ‘deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjamin-ite, a left-handed man.’”

“God’s Contempt of the Enemy was revealed in the stature and very name of King Eglon. It is here in the story that the satire, mockery, and coarse humor begin to emerge.”

“The laughter, the irony, the coarse humor, and the uncomfortableness are purposeful in revealing God’s utter derision and His mocking laughter that makes it clear that HE will not be mocked by man.” 

“You see, these “fords” (these SHALLOWS) in Verse 28 are strategic in cutting off the enemy’s escape. The enemy will be HALTED at the fords of Jordan, leaving no way of escape for any of them - not one of the 10,000 will escape.”

“Maybe you find yourself in the clutches of fear when you see what’s going on in the world. The wars, the death, the immorality, the terror, the economies. You fear that we will get caught up in the wars. You fear that we will get hit by another terror attack. You fear that you could lose it all and quickly. BUT! God is not a spectator on the world stage. God is Sovereign and Reigning from on high in and through it all.”

“From these same fords of the Jordan River, God’s certain victory reverberates across the ages… across all of Redemptive History. Fast-forward over another millenia through Salvation History and another deliverer will stand in the shallows of the Jordan River - THE Deliverer Jesus will wade into these waters and be baptized! Standing in the fords of the Jordan River would be the very Son of God on whom the Holy Spirit descends.”

“Repentance and faith in the Son of God brings salvation to all who will believe. THIS Advent Season we now head into includes that moment when Final Deliverer, Jesus, was dipped into the fords of the Jordan River! All of our sin and the contempt of God is washed away by THE Deliverer, Jesus, in the waters of His forgiveness.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Psalm 2:4
Psalm 139:7
John 1:10-11

APPLICATION:
This must drive us to our knees before our Holy God. 

God will not be mocked, either by His people in their sin and certainly not by the kings of this earth who seek to devour His own.

Unbelievers - God’s contempt of your sin is real, and your very eternal life is at stake. This is just a taste of what will happen in God’s final judgment when He unleashes HIS FULL DERISION! Cry out to God for Salvation!

Christian - let this text arrest your attention! Let it wake you up from your slumber! Are you caught in sin? Cry out to Christ in repentance!

Today, we will see in the text the Grand Pattern of Salvation - that marks all of Redemptive History. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 3:7-11
TITLE: Grace - God's Paradigm of Salvation
PREACHER: Tom Wilkins
BIG IDEA:  The only hope we have after forgetting our God is that in His mercy, He will not forget us!

POINTS:
1. They forgot Him (Vs. 7-8)
2. He did not forget them (Vs. 9-11)

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”There is a larger repeating cycle (for at least 6 of the judges). Each repeated cycle is broken about 7 basic parts:

• The people sin against the LORD - turning away from Him and turn to idol worship

• The LORD disciplines them by selling them into the hands of their foreign enemies

• The people cry out for deliverance

• A divine word is spoken to the people

• The LORD raises up a judge/deliverer to save His people from the oppression of their enemies

• Peace reigns for a time

The judge dies bringing an end to the cycle and the setting up of the next. In today’s story in 3:7-11, the theological pattern in Chapter 2 now begins to take on flesh, names, places, and times.”

“This forgetting of the LORD is described in Vs. 7 as “evil in His sight” and in Chapter 2:17, likened to an unfaithful woman who has turned away from her faithful husband and ‘sells’ herself to other men. …The biblical language is stark. The imagery is revolting, and when they beheld what was out there, THE LORD becomes to them unattractive, unsatisfying, undesirable… in their minds that have turned to worldliness, their very Creator and Sustainer and Provider and Protector has become to them unnecessary, uncaring, not providing enough for them and weak… THEY FORGOT HIM, their living Holy God, and ran after dead and filthy gods.”

“The text is clear - “forgetting of the LORD” = their serving of the idols, namely the Baals and the Asheroth. The result: God’s Anger. We cannot miss this. In all of history. In all of creation… there is someone that we do not want to anger – the Holy God!”

“We forget Him! But the good news is that His discipline is an act of His remembrance of us! They forgot the LORD their God, but God will now move to deliver them and grant them rest… He has NOT forgotten them!”

“God’s retribution in judgment (for those who are outside of His covenant) is unmitigated by grace. Yet, His judgment for those who are His covenant people is not retribution but, rather, corrective, and it is tempered by grace. THIS is why He will not forget them! They belong to Him, and He keeps them as His own. He will not break His covenant with them.”

“This deliverer is, by and large, a mystery. What does seem clear, though, is that not much is said of this man for the purpose that much will be said of THE DELIVERER. God is the one who is saving!”

“In our text, we see it is God who is at work, and while the King of Double Wickness is God’s ‘agent of discipline,’ Othniel is God's ‘agent of grace!’”

“Recall the cycle/spiral that today’s story follows. Verse 11 includes the death of the first judge/deliverer. The death of Othniel is a clue that the cycle is about to restart… the downward spiral into moral depravity, and this will include both a decline in the people and a decline in the judges. BUT… THIS CYCLE HAS BEEN INTERRUPTED BY THE GLORIOUS GOSPEL. Jesus, the Son of God, comes and does what no other deliver can! And Othniel begins to present a pattern that ultimately points us to the Great Deliverer, Jesus!”

“At the end of Verse 11, we have the death of our 1st deliverer, the death of Othniel… and the death of the judges to come will mark in the cycle the people returning to their sin, BUT the death of THE Great Deliverer, Jesus, will mark the END of their sin. Instead of a judge dying and the people turning away to sin, Jesus takes away their sin upon Himself. God’s anger burns again our Sin Bearer instead of us. He dies AND WE LIVE!”

QUOTES:
C.J. Mahaney - “The epitaph on the gravestone of the people of Israel often read: “They Soon Forgot”

Barry G. Webb - “They are not snatched from God’s hand (no tyrant has the power to do that), but (literally) ‘sold’ by him in a deliberate transaction that he initiates and controls. It is a carefully measured act of discipline, in which the punishment fits the crime. Those who ‘serve’ foreign gods are made to ‘serve’ a foreign ruler (vv. 7,8), and those who do ‘evil’ are handed over to one who is ‘wicked.’”

Dale Ralph Davis - “Our primary problem is that verse 9 moves us only to yawn. After all, we already know the theological truth of verse 9 - we’ve read that sort of thing often before. So we respond with a please, nodding ho-hum. Isn’t God nice? What’s for supper? If we fail to see, to feel, to delight in the miracle of God’s own nature, are we not strangers to rather than partakers  of such unbelievable grace?”

APPLICATION:
Q. Have you forgotten the LORD your God? Are you in bed with other gods?

Q. Has the world become so attractive to you that you are forgetting the beauty and steadfast love of the LORD your God?

We’re not advancing the narrative chronologically today. Instead, our text parallels what we have already seen, focusing on the five-alarm emergency of Israel’s spiritual condition. While finding anything to smile about here is hard, we will find something if we look close enough. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 2:6-3:6
TITLE: My Sin, God’s Mercy, And Everyday Life
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
1. Faith Matters
2. Sin Is Serious
3. God Is Merciful

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”The author begins by providing a contrast. The details of Joshua’s death and burial are essential. In 7, we learn how God’s people thrived spiritually under Joshua’s faithful, God-centered leadership. Then, in 9, the author tells us Joshua was buried in his promised inheritance. The point is that God rewards the faithful.”

“Amid difficulty and crisis, Joshua was faithful to God personally and in his leadership. And God rewarded him. But it’s a new era in Israel. An entire generation did know the Lord and what He had done for them.”

“Not knowing isn’t innocent ignorance or memory loss. They had been taught of God’s love, holiness, and faithfulness. They had been taught about Egypt, the Red Sea, and crossing the Jordan into the Promised Land. They just didn’t care. They had no regard for God. They weren’t atheists—they were agnostic.”

“Our faith matters. The Israelites had all the knowledge in the world about God. But knowledge saves no one. The demons know exactly who God and Christ are—they are still demons. Faith in Jesus is everything. Without it, you have nothing. That’s not to say our hope is in our faith. Our hope is the object of our faith, Jesus—He alone saves. But faith is the God-ordained conduit by which we receive the gospel's life, blessings, and promises.” 

“The author could have simply said—They did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. But he is hammering away at, in a word—Idolatry. …They didn’t combat the culture around them. Instead of evangelizing, they assimilated. Instead of being an influence, they were influenced. Their loyalty was horizontal, not vertical. Now, they don’t look like God’s people. They look like Canaanites.”

“We may not be joining ourselves to sacred prostitutes, but as John Calvin famously put it—Our hearts are idol factories. An idol is whatever you allow to become more significant in your life than God. I need IT for happiness. I want IT for status. I have to have IT for sanity. Whatever IT is, even if IT is something good—family, leisure, marriage, children, convenience, godly reputation, health—if you want IT more than God—that will be evident in your priorities—if you are willing to sin because you don’t get IT or to get IT, IT is an idol. Idolatry is loyalty to self and this world. Idolatry is sin. The sin of idolatry is with us every day!”

“Be assured that the penalty of sin was paid at the cross. Be assured that the power of sin was defeated in the resurrection. But be equally assured that sin is still present and powerfully deceptive. If we ignore it, like Israel, our hearts will be hardened as we spiral downward spiritually.” 

“Was this an overreaction by God? I thought God was always faithful to His people? He is—read verse 15. God’s anger is an expression of His faithfulness. It’s a faithful anger. Israel was not innocent. God is doing exactly what He promised to do so many times in the past. …God’s anger is an expression of His holy love.”

“Astonishing! Discipline—Yes! Abandon—No! God is faithful. He is a covenant-keeping God. And despite Israel’s utter failures, God was merciful. God, who rightly casts Israel down, lifted them up! Through individual stories and as one BIG story, this is how Judges reveals the gospel to us. It points us to one who would do what no earthly judge could do.”

“God disciplines those He loves. He knew what Israel needed. But He was merciful through it all. He sent judges to save them. He was longsuffering with them. He loved them with an undying love to restore them as His covenant people.”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Hebrews 3:12-13
Deuteronomy 28:25
Leviticus 26:17

QUOTES:
Dale Ralph Davis - “Love divine is not soft laxity but blazing intolerance and absolute claim. Such is the God of Israel whose jealous love makes him faithful in his anger toward you. Who ever heard of love and fidelity like that?”

Our Marriages Needed the Redeeming Power of God.

Thursday night was our Community Group. It so happens that our group right now has six married couples. Our topic for discussion last night was based on the role of the husband and this was strategic and will be followed by our next meeting that will discuss the role of the wife. These two meetings follow our church’s recent Sermon Series – The Final Word: Gender, Marriage, and Complementarian Roles According to Scripture (what a gift God’s word is to us regarding these issues has been and what a gift these sermons have been to our church).

So, the agenda for our meeting was set. The Bible text was Ephesians 5. Our guide for discussion was Chapter 2 from the book, “Love that Lasts – When Marriage Meets Grace”, by Gary and Betsy Ricucci. The title of the chapter is “Leading with Love – The Role of the Husband.” 

Yet my heart for our group was one of desperation, a desperation for the Holy Spirit to minister to these couples… to Lisa and me. I knew that this meeting was coming at a time that met the various couples right in the middle of life’s suffering, bewilderment, conflict, trouble, failure, sin and more. Our meeting was not filled with starry-eyed newlyweds. Together we needed instruction, help, encouragement, correction, conviction, repentance, forgiveness, mercy, grace, and most definitely real and lasting hope, hope we knew but have often forgotten could be found only in Jesus. Our marriages needed the redeeming power of God. 

Knowing this, I began the meeting by reading the final word’s in Chapter 2. Gary wrote:

“Men, I could have easily filled this chapter with the examples of my failures to love, lead, understand, and honor my wife. But that wouldn’t serve you.” He went on. “Instead, I want to draw your attention to the glorious gospel of the Son of God who cleanses us from our past and then moves us forward to grace-filled future.” 

Each husband (and their wives) so needed to be reminded about the redeeming power of God in the glorious gospel! The time flew by, and we seemingly barely scratched the surface, yet nearing the end of our time, one of the wives highjacked the last several minutes of the meeting and each of wives encouraged their husbands in specific ways that God was at work in them as they fulfilled their roles husbands. 

Our marriages so needed this Community Group! God has been at work redeeming husbands’ and wives’ roles, redeeming their marriages, and our marriages so needed to hear it. Instead of being left to the condemning nature of a litany of failures, each husband was encouraged forward by the truth of God’s redeeming power that is at work in their marriage. 

Let this simple retelling of a single Community Group’s story direct your gratitude, and your worship to your Savior, Jesus, who loved His bride so much that “He gave himself up for her.” Ephesians 5:25 (ESV)

-Tom Wilkins

Compromise can be good. It can also be bad—really bad. Bad compromise happens when one chooses to live below the standards they know are true for an intended effect. Spiritual compromise is the worst kind of compromise. It’s the Christian’s kryptonite. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 1:19b-2:5
TITLE:   Compromise Kills
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: Spiritual compromise jeopardizes the full realization of God’s promises and blessings to us.

POINTS:
1. Israel’s Compromise
2. Our Warning

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”The Bible repeatedly warns us about spiritual compromise, and for good reason: When we compromise our faith, we forfeit experiencing the Lord’s promise and blessing as we should.” 

“Israel’s compromise is front and center in Judges. Today, it is a warning for us as we follow Jesus in a messed-up world.”  

“The author's message is impossible to avoid—they did not drive the enemy out of the Promised Land.”

“Here’s the deal—It’s not up to Israel or us to determine what happened. A question we must learn to ask is—What is God’s view? And that’s precisely what we get next.”

“What God says here, He has repeatedly said in Exodus and Deuteronomy. First, He reminds them how He delivered them from Egypt, expressing His covenant faithfulness. Second, given redemption, He commands and warns them not to covenant with the Canaanites but to drive them out of the land and destroy their pagan liturgy, break down their altars of worship, lest they turn from God to the idols of Canaanites. Israel failed to obey God. We have an explicit example of this at the beginning of our passage—read 1:22-26.” 

“The root of Israel’s problem was not military strategy, physical might, or pragmatic policy. It wasn’t that iron chariots were insurmountable or that God’s power was less effective in the plains than in the hill country. It was spiritual—Spiritual compromise. As we will see in next week’s text, Israel’s spiritual compromise led not only to the accommodation of the Canaanites but an assimilation of the Israelites to the Canaanite's paganism.”

“Israel’s compromise is a warning for us. Like Israel, our compromise is often gradual, subtle, and not always black and white. Joseph acted “kindly” to the man and his family fleeing Bethel. But their kindness was a spiritual compromise in that situation because it disobeyed God.”

“Whether it is inconsistent with His Word or a conscience calibrated by His Word, compromising our faith is simply doing something inconsistent with being faithful to God.”

“As Christians, we want to love others. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. But here’s what we must never do: No matter how right, kind, innocent, or socially acceptable something may seem, we must never place our desires, convenience, comfort, or reputation over God’s Word.”

“Christ gave his life for us. By the grace of God, you are what you are in Jesus. Forgiven, righteous, kept, and EMPOWERED to live for Jesus. What God calls you to, He will provide grace to walk in.” 

“Christian or not, never presume on God’s grace. He will not be mocked. The Bible is clear: When we compromise our faith, He will discipline us (Hebrews 12). When we yoke ourselves to unbelievers (2 Corinthians 6), He will oppose us in our pride (James 4). To compromise our faith is to NOT abide in Christ, and when we don’t abide in Christ we miss out on the promised joy that is ours in Christ (John 15).” 

“How is the Spirit convicting you of compromise? No fear or condemnation. Just grateful and sincere repentance followed by joyful gratitude that Jesus cleanses you of all your sins and He never leaves or forsakes you despite your sin.” 

“That’s our prayer through this series. That God, in His kindness, would grant us fresh affections for Christ and a renewed desire to live for Him and him alone, so that we will experience all He has for us to the praise of His glory!”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Romans 12:1-2

QUOTES:
Unknown - “The chief danger of the Church today is that it is trying to get on the same side as the world, instead of turning the world upside down.”

Daniel Block - “This reaction on God’s part is neither impulsive nor arbitrary nor capricious; it reflects his own fidelity to past pronouncements.”

Barry Webb - “Doing something that is inconsistent with being faithful to God.”

Randy Smith - “Compromise with the culture is often the result when we lose a reverence and respect for the Lord. It’s the “Jesus won’t mind” attitude. To overcome compromise we need to remove our fear of offending the world and recapture a healthy fear of the Lord that our God expects and demands.”

APPLICATION:
Three things about compromise:

1. Compromise can be subtle; often, you don’t even notice it

2. Compromise happens when we lose focus on our true calling. We don’t drift into holiness; we drift into compromise.

3. Compromise is a hard habit to break

In light of this, here is our application—Prioritize Community Group. 

If you don’t have one—find one. If you have one, but no one in it knows you—start going. We all need help identifying, avoiding, and defeating compromise. You shouldn’t go the Christian life alone because you can’t go it alone because God didn’t intend you go it alone. The answer to compromise is refocusing on Jesus, getting back to the Bible, and renewing our affection for Jesus. That’s what happens in CG.

At our Prayer Night this past Sunday we prayed together as a church, confessing our anxieties and casting them upon the Lord (1 Peter 5:7). We do this not only because it is a command from God’s Word, but because scriptures like Psalm 93 remind us that God is ruling and reigning on His throne and is worthy of our trust. As we ended the evening, we sang a song called The Lord Almighty Reigns (Psalm 93) which proclaims that very truth. 

As God’s people, we need to sing this song together. Why? Because it is so easy for us to forget: As we encounter trial and sorrows, as we fight the sin of anxiety, and especially in the midst of the chaos and busyness of life, we need to be reminded that God is ruling and reigning on His throne. 

We often come on Sunday mornings distracted by the chaos of life. What a joy to be able to gather together as God’s Church and remind one another of this truth as we sing. In the Lord’s kindness, He often works to encourage His saints this way when we gather to sing. I encourage you to listen and learn this song as we look forward to singing it throughout our Judges Series (Christ in the Chaos). 

God’s people needed this reminder in the Book of Judges and we need it today. 

Title: The Lord Almighty Reigns (Psalm 93)
Album: Unchanging God - Songs from the Book of Psalms, Vol. 1
Link to listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfG0Efz49VU

When things get chaotic, where do we find hope? The Book of Judges is in the Bible for a reason: to point us to and ground us in our hope in life and death, especially in times of chaos. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: Christ in the Chaos
TEXT: Judges 1:1-19a
TITLE:   A Hopeful Start
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet

POINTS:
1. The Supreme Sufficiency of God
2. The Unfailing Hope of Christ
3. The Irreplaceable Value of Unity

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Judges shows us how God forged a people for Himself in a chaotic time, described in the final words of Judges as a time when—Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That was chaos then, and it’s chaos now. Doesn’t it seem like we live in a world that is more and more chaotic? Increasingly, everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes. So then, the question for believers is this—When things get chaotic, where do we find hope? The Book of Judges is in the Bible for a reason: to point us to and ground us in our hope in life and death, especially in times of chaos.”

“Today may be the happiest day of our series as we look at Israel’s response to the death of Joshua. As our sermon title suggests, it was A Hopeful Start. In this Hopeful Start, we find three unchanging truths that we must not lose sight of amid the chaos.”

“As we come to the Book of Judges, Israel was in crisis. Their leader is dead. The mission incomplete. The future very uncertain. What will Israel do? What would you do? Maybe you’re experiencing the uncertainty of life right now: 

• New season of life (marriage, fatherhood/motherhood, retirement, empty nest). 

• Uncertainty of the future (country, finances, health)

• Unimaginable loss (death of your Joshua, a towering presence and force for good in your life—father, mother, mentor)

Where do you turn? Where is your confidence? What is the source of your hope? Notice Israel’s response.”

“As successful and loved as Joshua was, Israel knew the true source of their fruitfulness and well-being. It wasn’t Joshua; it was the Lord. God had been faithful to Israel. He made promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He kept them. Joshua is gone, and that’s hard. But God has gone nowhere. He is right there with them. And he hears their prayer.”

“To some, verses 4-18 may seem like nothing more than geography and a list of military successes. More than mere geography, this list is what one commentator called Theological Geography. The cities, regions, people, details, and short sub-stories all matter. They happened in real space and time. They are world history. But it’s history and geography that reveals God's wisdom, assurance, power, and presence with His people.”

“Israel’s help and hope are not in an earthly hero; it’s in the eternal purposes and powerful presence of an Almighty God. But Israel lost sight of God. More and more, they drifted away from God to the world.”

“This point should not be lost on us. Judges is not about pagan nations—it’s about God’s people. This series is not about a chaotic world—it’s about the church. It’s about you and me. It’s about our pride and idolatry. It’s about our insatiable appetite to do what we think is right in our own eyes instead of turning to, trusting in, and following God.”

“GOOD NEWS: Judges doesn’t leave us to ourselves. Whether it’s the macro picture or the micro details, Judges reveals a merciful and gracious God who uses flawed and weak people to fulfill his purposes.” 

“When God’s people inquired who would go against the enemy, God said Judah. And now, the Lion of Judah has gone against our greatest enemy, Satan, and sin, and God has given them into his pierced hands so that we would be saved from the consequences of our sin—That battle has been won!”

“Our legacy isn’t found in a theological hero or a national identity. Our legacy is a gospel legacy. We are the fruit of Christ’s work on meant to impact a chaotic world. 
Q) How do we do that?  A) Together!”

“God put His finger on Judah to lead the way. But the battle against the enemy was going to be difficult. So Judah did not launch out alone; they fought the fight TOGETHER. As we have seen in 4-18, this strengthened the nation. Corporate unity is essential in Judges because it is a primary way we experience God’s sufficiency and faithfulness—TOGETHERNESS. The key to seeing Christ in the chaos is seeing the wonders of his love for His people.”

“Grasping the limitlessness of Christ’s love for us and God’s faithfulness to us is not something we can do in isolation. If left to ourselves, the fight for faith becomes chaotic because we become weak.”

“Judges happened long ago in a faraway land. But it couldn’t be more relevant for us today because, ultimately, it points us forward to Jesus and His coming kingdom where we live together as a shining light for the glory of God, renown of Jesus in the salvation of sinners, with eager anticipation of heaven!”

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Joshua 23:14
2 Samuel 7
Revelation 5
Ephesians 3:17-19

QUOTES:
Barry Webb - “Joshua made a great impact on his generation and left behind him people who worked together, called on God, moved at his command, and experienced his blessing….As Christians we all share in a far greater legacy. For the whole church of which we are a part is the legacy of Jesus Christ.”

Dale Ralph Davis - “The unity and fellowship of God’s people is not a wimpy idea weaker Christians dote on. It is an essential condition for experiencing the strength of our God.”

APPLICATION:
This is why Sunday matters more than you can imagine. When it comes to the chaos in your life, gathering with your church to pray, sing, serve, and sit under God’s preached Word brings clarity, faith, ammunition, and strength for the spiritual battle.

Our gathering is meant to proclaim and demonstrate the power and testimony of Jesus Christ as the one mediator between God and man, that all people would come to a saving knowledge of the gospel truth in the power of the Holy Spirit and to the praise of God’s glory. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: The Final Word
TEXT: 1 Timothy 2:8-15
TITLE:   Gathering God’s Way
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: When we gather as God’s people, we gather God’s way.

POINTS:
1. Humility Matters When The Church Gathers
2. Order Matters When The Church Gathers

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”Scripture doesn’t tell us how to do everything when we gather, but it is clear on some things, including our God-ordained complementarian roles. Where Scripture is clear, we must be committed.”

“One would think this goes without saying, but there’s no fighting at church. Paul says anger and quarreling have no place in the household of God, especially when we gather to worship God.”

“Men like to duke it out, be it with fists or words. And don’t tell me to back down—I can fight a war of words for as long as I have to. A bit of hyperbole, but it’s true; men get angry. At times, we get loud. Other times, we quietly huddle in the lobby to grumble about music that’s too loud, a member that’s too different, or a pastor that’s too direct. Sometimes, our anger is silent. The anger and quarreling are internal. Paul says—STOP. Instead of fighting, pray with each other.”

“As men, we are called to lead the church in making it a gathering of peace, love, and unity.”

“That takes humility. Where there is humility, there will be peace. Humility means seeing others as more important than ourselves (Phillipians 2:3). Humility means looking to others’ interest (Philippians 2:4). Humility means being able to overlook an offense (Proverbs 19:11). Humility means having an eagerness to guard the unity of the Spirit in the body of Christ produced by the gospel (Ephesians 4:3).”

“Ladies, we live in a society that screams in your ear—You are what you look like! Botox, plastic surgery, fancy jewelry, and designer clothes. If you want to get noticed or feel like a woman, you’ve got to have it. If that external pressure wasn’t enough, you have the internal tendency to compare yourself with other women. Look at her—I wish I could pull that off. The Bible says something vastly different—It’s not about the outside; it’s about the inside. It’s about your heart. It’s about your motive. That’s the point of verses 9-10.” 

“If you dress to get noticed, no matter how long your skirt is or how loose your pants are, you are missing it —that’s pride. Fashionable clothes, nice jewelry, and that latest hairstyle aren’t sinful, but a self-centered, proud heart is.”

“Ladies, God desires you to come to church not to dazzle with your looks but to demonstrate the glory of Jesus with your heart by humbly giving yourself—look at 10—good works—serving and pointing others to Christ. This is a God-glorifying profession of godliness.” 

“First, what Paul is not saying. He is not saying women cannot pray or prophecy in the church (1 Corinthians 11:5). Nor is he saying women cannot teach other women (Titus 2). He is not saying women can’t speak up in CG or offer counsel to a man (Acts 18:26). Other NT passages make it clear that Paul is not prohibiting women from speaking PERIOD in church.” 

“Paul IS saying two things: 1) Women are not to teach the gathered church, and 2) Women are not to exercise authority over the gathered church. IMPORTANT: Teaching and exercising authority are two different and distinct activities. The text bears this out.”

“Biblical roles for men and women in the church are rooted not in the culture, tradition, or fairness but in the created order of Genesis 1-2.” 

“Some have interpreted this as women being spiritually weaker, less intelligent, or more gullible—Not true! This would imply that women are inferior to men, and Scripture never says that.” 

“Paul uses this fundamental and unchangeable distinction to encourage women—ladies, I hope you are encouraged—that as you persevere in embracing and walking in your unique God-ordained roles, stated in 9-12, contrasted to the Garden in 14, and exemplified in 15 by child-bearing, it is one evidence, along with faith, love, holiness, and self-control, of your new life in Christ. So Paul ends this teaching on roles in the gathered church by showing the destruction of not walking in their God-ordained roles, i.e., Eve’s deception, and the good of walking in those roles, i.e., perseverance and endurance in godliness and truth to the end when our salvation will be final and we will be with Jesus.”

QUOTES:
Thomas Schreiner - “In approaching Eve, then, the Serpent subverted the pattern of male leadership and interacted only with the woman. Adam was present throughout and did not intervene. The Genesis temptation, therefore, stands as the prototype of what happens when male leadership is abrogated. Eve took the initiative in responding to the Serpent, and Adam let her do so.”

APPLICATION:
- Men, are you an angry person? Are you angry with someone in this room? Humble yourself and pray for them, and watch your perspective and attitude toward them change. Go to them and humbly talk it out with another brother or pastor. There will be disagreements. We are sinners. But as men, we are called to lead the church in peacemaking and unity. 

-Ladies, what are you more aware of or concerned about on Sundays—your looks or serving others? Reflecting a particular image or reflecting your Savior? God doesn’t forbid your desire to look good at church. He made you way more beautiful than men! But God does want you to know that looking good is not where you get your identity and value. That comes from not what you can do to yourself but what Jesus has done for you in the gospel.

Today, the risen Jesus is building his church. As he does, he is redeeming our roles through truth and the Spirit. This means:

1. Men, because of Jesus, you can walk in your God-given roles of leading the church in humble peacemaking and prayer. Be encouraged and repent where you need to. God is merciful and gracious.

2. Ladies, because of Jesus, you can walk in your God-given role of doing good works with a submitted spirit. Be encouraged and repent where you need to. God is merciful and gracious.

Tomorrow, October 22nd, you will receive a GIFT! 

The ESV Scripture Journal on the book of Judges

Sunday, October 29th, we begin a 22-week series in the Book of Judges. Judges is ugly, violent, and depressing. Yet, in all the chaos, we see God powerfully at work as He faithfully and patiently sustains His people and points us forward to our Savior.

Christ in the Chaos - Into the darkness of this ugly, violent, and sinful world, “the sunrise,” (Luke 1:78 ESV) God’s only begotten Son, Jesus, came to us! Into the chaos of our messed up sinful lives, the Savior has come! What a pure JOY! What a certain HOPE!

These Journals are given to you as a means to encourage your study and meditation on the book of Judges. They include the complete book of Judges (ESV) and space to take notes. 

During this series, each of the sermons will give us the opportunity to open the pages in the book of Judges and hear God speak to His Church… to us… in order that Jesus may be magnified. Therein the light of His Word will shine into our hearts and lives. We will be challenged, confronted, convicted, given grace, encouraged, granted hope, moved to fall before Him, and to stand in awe of Him in true worship! 

Use these Journals to take notes. 

That last sentence made me laugh out loud! “... take notes?” Are you kidding me? This is from the guy who at Eastwood Middle School was more interested in collecting NFL pencils (from a vending machine in the front office) than I ever was interested in actually using them to take notes! 

We don’t need scientific proof that note-taking helps us remember more. Just revisited your desk, the front of the fridge, the countertop, the bathroom mirror, the car dash, and the “texts-to-self” on our phones. The dilemma is not the Word… it’s our forgetfulness, neglect, or disregard. Consider the possibility of redeeming these struggles by the intentional application of the simple God-given tool of taking notes in order to recall again, recite again, and delight in God’s Word again and again. 

I found this on the internet (I am sure it is true :-)) : “One Saturday night, apparently from exhaustion, Charles Spurgeon fell asleep before preparing his sermon for the next morning. However, he began talking in his sleep. Taking up pen and paper, his wife Susannah wrote down the things Spurgeon said in his sleep, handing her notes to him in the morning. He used those notes to preach the sermon to his 6,000-member congregation!” Not an exact application of the kind of note-taking I was referring to, but I’ll bet you never forget the story!

I know for certain that this series in Judges will definitely be etched a little deeper in this “middle-schooler’s” mind and heart because I will finally use that pencil. How about you?

A wife’s complementarian role in marriage isn’t an old-fashioned tradition or a barbaric form of oppression. When a wife embraces God’s design for her in marriage, she serves and worships the Lord. Below is an outline summary of the sermon for your further study and deeper reflection.

SERIES: The Final Word
TEXT: Ephesians 5:22-24
TITLE:   It’s Not About Your Marriage, Part 2
PREACHER: Derek Overstreet
BIG IDEA: When a wife gladly submits to her husband, she worships the Lord.

POINTS:
1. A Horizontal Mandate
2. A Vertical Motivation

SERMON EXCERPTS:
All quotes are taken from the pastor’s notes.
”…nowhere in Scripture are the roles ever reversed. The husband is always called to loving, sacrificial, and understanding leadership, and the wife is always called to joyful submission to her husband’s leadership. That’s God’s Final Word on roles in marriage.“

“Clearly, 21 calls us to submit to one another. But unless that submission is qualified and defined, it would be chaos. That’s precisely what Paul is doing. Beginning with the wives, Paul shows how we submit to one another, not in a mutually absolute way, but according to the God-ordained roles and relationships we find ourselves in. So, Paul instructs us on Christ-exalting submission in different relationships, first wives to husbands, then children to parents in 6:1, and finally employees to employers in chapter 6:5.” 

“What does biblical submission look like? Wives, your role is to partner with your husband (and your husband only—context is marriage) as his helpmate. That is not a mindless task. Biblical submission does not mean you’re a doormat. You are not a silent partner without a voice.”

“True complementarianism doesn’t mean you’re forbidden to disagree with your husband or speak out apart from your husband. You’re not called to obey your husband, as children obey their parents. That’s hyper-complementarianism. It’s destructive. It’s unbiblical. It’s no complementarianism at all. It grieves the Spirit. If your husband is leading you into sin or stubbornly leading you into a supremely unwise situation—don’t submit! I appeal to you to reach out to your pastor. If you don’t feel physically safe, reach out to your pastor and get help. If you are married to an unbeliever (tricky), reach out to your pastor and get help.” 

“A marriage is a loving, intimate, covenantal union between a man and a woman, co-heirs with Christ, equal yet different to complement one another. That means there is a necessary interdependence and a great degree of mutual submission in marriage. For the wife (husbands, we need to hear this and lead our wives in this), that means using your strengths, skills, wisdom, understanding, and perspective to help your husband as he makes decisions and leads your marriage and home in a Christ-exalting direction.”

“To be clear, Paul isn’t saying wives are to submit to their husbands EXACTLY as you submit to Christ—that’s idolatry! Husbands, we have to be careful that we don’t lead our wives and have expectations of them that, in effect, cause them to idolize us. Ladies, before you are a Christian wife, you are a disciple of Jesus. And as a disciple of Jesus, you are called to an absolute and complete submission to Him. So when Paul says submit to your husband as to the Lord, he means: A wife submits to her husband as an expression of her submission to the Lord.”

“This means your marriage is not about your marriage. It’s about God filling the earth with the glory of His wisdom and the mercy of His love—through your marriage! That should bring us to our knees. But it should also flood our hearts with hope. The very thing at the heart of your marriage—the gospel—is powerful enough to transform any marriage, including yours.”

“Nothing is more critical, essential, and hopeful to your marriage than believing the gospel is powerful enough for your marriage! When you believe it, your marriage is a living parable that produces joy in your heart, shines truth to the world, and brings glory to God.” 

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURE:
Colossians 3
1 Peter 3
Titus 2

QUOTES:
Alexander Strauch - “The word submission can hardly be used in our culture without misunderstanding and strong disdain. It is loaded with negative, provocative connotations, yet submission is a biblical word and a Christian virtue. We cannot avoid it.”

Gary Ricucci - “The relationship between a husband and his wife is meant to be a reflection of Christ’s relationship with his church—a living parable of the supernatural union between Jesus and his Bride.”

APPLICATION:
1. Know your calling by studying it
2. Transfer the truth
3. Don’t be surprised when submission gets difficult