Impossible Task, Miraculous God

Notes
Transcript
Introduction: Open your Bibles with me, if you will, to Judges chapter 6. We are going to be here in judges 6-8 this morning, but we’re going to be moving around a bit, so I’m not going to have you stand.
Let me pray for us as we get started:
We’re continuing this morning in our series on vision and mission.
We will go back to Romans when the Lord allows me to do so
I have tried three times, and three times, through prayer, I have been lead elsewhere
We have been talking about God’s desire for our church to grow His Kingdom, as we know Him and make Him known through
reaching youth, young adults, and young families in our community
starting a church among Hispanics in our local community
partnering to begin a church among the Basque of Boise Idaho
We have also been discussing the fact that this vision is going to take faithful obedience
We are going to have to give generously—>let’s set some goals for giving more this year
We are going to have to go regularly—> In our local community and to the Boise Area
We are going to have to pray continuously—> Knowing that we are not capable, but God is
I know that we are going to lose people over this
I already know a family that is choosing to move on because they don’t think that we need to be reaching illegal immigrants
MOST of the Hispanics you see in our community are here legally
ALL of them need the Gospel, which we are called to share with them
I don’t want you to go, but we have to acknowledge that not everyone will come with us.
The task of following Jesus is simple, but it is hard
I also know that the Lord is faithful, and as we pursue His will, He will provide what we need
I know that the things we’re talking about are scary.
It’s scary to know we are a smaller group than we used to be
It’s scary to see change all around you
It’s scary to do big things that you can’t do on your own
God knows where you are. He sees our fears, our insecurities. He know our “what ifs”
He also has a plan that is more amazing than anything you or I could ever imagine.
And I want you to see that God can do Big and Amazing Things with a small group of people that are willing to step out in faith.
If you have your listening guide this morning, you may want to get that out, but as we start in Judges 6, let me tell you about what was going on
The people of God had come into the promised land, but they hadn’t driven out all of the nations.
They started going through these cycles of turning away from the Lord
As chapter 6 opens, Israel is suffering at the hands of the Midianites
They were destroying the livestock and the crops of Israel, leaving the people in desolation
They were a numerous and powerful nation, and Israel felt abandoned
The people began to cry out to God for deliverance, and God sent a prophet that promised deliverance
And in verses 12 through 16, God called a man by the name of Gideon to be the man through which He would deliver His people. And I want you to see some things in this:
Judges 6:12–16 NASB95
The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” But the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.”
This morning, I want you to be reassured.
It is hard to go from giving nothing to giving generously
It is hard to look at hard things and not have easy answers
It is easy to say no when you have a lot to lose
But, there are some things that God would have us to see are true for those that He calls to serve Him. The first is this:

God can use the weakest and the least because you go in His power

Gideon responded to God how you and I tend to respond
I’m weak and unable
We are abandoned!-Things aren’t the same as they were before (harder)
God sees things differently than us
He calls Gideon a warrior!—>What God says is true
He tells Gideon three times that it is God’s power that will make him successful.
You and I can learn from this-
We don’t have to have the answers, the abilities, or strength to be useful to God
The key to our success is that we operate in His power, not our own
HERE is some more of the story:
God tells Gideon, go, tear down these idols and the places people worship them
Gideon was afraid
He was scared of how the people would react
He was still skeptical of God’s call, and so he asks God for a sign
Even after God performed the sign, Gideon was so scared that he did it at night
When the people contested, God gave Gideon the boldness he needed to stand up
Joash, his father, stood with him-“Let Baal contend for himself if he is a god”
Gideon got a new name, Jerubbaal
The enemy came with their allies to camp against him. And so, the stage is set
God called Gideon
Gideon began to respond
He meets immediate resistance
Look at verse 34:
Judges 6:34 NASB95
So the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.
The second thing that we need to remember about those that God calls to serve is this:

When you step in faith, the Holy Spirit moves, and the results are contagious

Gideon isn’t even sure of himself at this point (He asks for the sign of the fleece)
Gideon stepped out anyway, and the Spirit of God moved through him, and many men were drawn to him
Men who were scared to death of the enemy showed up to fight because of Gideon’s boldness
God will do the same thing if you and I are just willing to show up and step out
The task won’t be easy
We will always start off by not knowing how to get where we’re going and without what we need for the journey
But remember-We are weak! And that is the secret. The power isn’t ours, it’s Gods.
MORE OF THE STORY:
So Gideon shows up where the army was gathering, and there were some 32,000 men there
They were still greatly outnumbered, we’ll get to that in a second
They were starting to feel a little better about their chances
God said something curious. Look at chapter 7, verses 2-3
Judges 7:2–3 NASB95
The Lord said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, ‘My own power has delivered me.’ “Now therefore come, proclaim in the hearing of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is afraid and trembling, let him return and depart from Mount Gilead.’ ” So 22,000 people returned, but 10,000 remained.
The people of God were gathered together in massive numbers
This is where our minds go
We need more people to do what God wants.
We’re not a big enough church to plant other churches
Yet Gideon had a massive army gathered to go into battle...
But God said there were too many
Gideon asked those who were scared to leave and 22,000 soldiers quit!
Then, God looked at the 10,000 remaining and said, NOPE!
He sent them to drink…(tell the story)
I would have thought you’d take the guys kneeling, at least they seem smarter
God takes the smallest number (300)
Those that God called were the least of the least from among God’s people (Ishmaelites)

God calls us to do what is impossible so that He gets the credit

When we don’t have the people and the resources, we have to depend on Him!
When you accomplish what you know that you can’t do, you know that God did it!
When there is no doubt that God did it, He gets all the credit
God sent 300 to fight impossible odds- we find in chapter 8 it was more than 135,000
God used methods that would have seemed ridiculous to us, but they obeyed
Not only did they win, but they obliterated the enemy-none were left & God was glorified
God will use our church to do BIG THINGS as Well-the only thing that we need to be big is our obedience!
NO earthquaking MOVEMENT of GOD EVER started at a mega-church, but they have turned small churches into mega-churches.
It isn’t the might of our army, but the might of our God that matters
What are you doing right now that will fail miserably if God doesn’t show up?
What is in front of us as a church that scares you?
Disobedience and complacency are scarier than these impossible tasks
What will they say of this church in two generations? Will we be those that returned to the Lord, or those that did evil in His sight?
Today, the invitation is for any and all.
It is a call to surrender, to admit that I can’t do it, but God you can,
so here are my hands if you’ll use them.
Here are my feet if you’ll send them.
Here is all you have given me if you’ll use it
God does not call the empowered, He empowers the called. Today, who is ready to stand in our impossible task?
PRAY
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