Flipside Christian Church

Hey, listen, let's get into judges six.

That's the chapter in in our city,
through the book of judges.

Here's
the tendency when you look at the Bible,

especially the Old Testament, is to try
to see yourself in the pages of Scripture.

That's a dangerous road.

Because when we look for ourselves,
primarily

in the pages of Scripture,
we miss Jesus and we miss God.

And so as we go through judges six,
I want us to keep an eye out for

who God is
and how God responds, what he asks,

how he interacts with his people.

Because when we understand who God is

and we understand his heart
and how he interacts with his people,

then we can better know how we are called
and called to respond.

So let's start.

Rather than looking for self in Scripture.

Let's look. This sounds weird.

Let's try to find God in Scripture.

That should be pretty easy.

But when
we start from the starting block of self,

we miss God and we think it's about us.

And it really is about Jesus
and the kingdom of God.

One of the things that I've realized
throughout the years in my own life,

and in doing church ministry for decades,

is that when people feel nudged by God,

called by God, encouraged by God.

Well,
when we feel that we typically respond

with an initial sense of reluctance.

In other words, I feel like I might

I feel like I might need to, God.

Is is that right?

Is that real? Do you really want me to?

Another way
we try to we we try to make God

prove himself to us.

We we say, God,

I feel like maybe this is what you're
where you're leading. But.

But I'm not sure.

So I'm a little reluctant to say yes.

Prove yourself to me a little bit.

Right.

Right, right.

We see in this church all the time.

Let's say yes to God on the front end.

And then as we move through,
we'll figure out what we said yes to.

But we don't know exactly what we said
yesterday on the front end.

It's called faith.

And we want God
to give all this confirmation

so we don't have to move in faith.

And this is what we see in the Bible.

We see it in our lives,
you see in Scripture.

And we're going to see it in this,
this guy named Gideon's life.

And in judges six, I want to introduce you
to my friend named Gideon.

Gideon.

judges six one through two.

The Israelites did evil
in the eyes of the Lord.

After seven years, he God gave them
into the hands of the Midianites.

Because the power of Midian
was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared

shelters for themselves in mountain
clefts, caves, and strongholds.

The Bible says in judges six one again

the Israelites did
what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

This is the cycle
we see in judges over and over and over.

They do what's right in their own eyes,
which means they don't do what's right

in God's eyes.

It leads him into trouble
and pain and defeat.

In despair, they cry out to God, and God
in his mercy and grace, delivers them.

And they're appreciative.

They love him. They're fantastic.

They're walking with Jesus
until they're not.

and then they

do what's right in their own eyes
rather than what's right in God's eyes.

And they fall into sin again.

Despair, defeat, destruction.

And they cry out to God, and God in his
mercy and grace delivers them again.

It's over and over and over.

I was talking to Michael, our
youth pastor, and he said this morning,

he reminded me of this quote
that God's capacity to forgive is greater

than our capacity
to sin, which I appreciate.

It's Second Timothy

213 that says, while we are faithless,
he remains faithful.

And this is why God continues to rescue us
when we cry out to him,

though in judges we see it over and over,

and if we're honest with ourselves,
we see it in our lives as well.

That we start living in ways
that are right in our eyes.

And the culture we're in right now
has a lot to say

about what is right in our eyes.

And most of what the culture says is right
and okay in our eyes is not right.

UN okay in God's eyes.

And when we live in ways
that are right in our own eyes,

but not in the eyes of God, that leads us
into captivity, despair and destruction.

And when we get in enough pain,
we cry out to God and ask him to deliver.

And because God is merciful
and gracious, he does.

this is what we see in judges,
and this is what we see in me,

and this is what we see in you,
and this is what we see in us.

So again, they did evil.

And when the eyes of the Lord

and God allowed them to experience

pain, God allowed them to experience
suffering.

God allowed them to experience defeat.

God allowed them to experience bondage

because he wanted them
to come back to him.

This is the way God's economy works.

Oftentimes, we have

difficulty and pain in the physical

because of a spiritual failure.

in other words, oftentimes

when life gets really, really,
really difficult and painful, oftentimes

and sometimes it's
because though we experience it

in the physical world,
it's related to a spiritual failure.

So why Ephesians six 212 is so important?

We don't wrestle against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers

and authorities of powers.

And evil.

But this is it's not primarily a physical
all the time.

A physical issue.

There's a spiritual reality behind it.

And these,
the people of God, were walking away

from God spiritually,
so they were suffering physical defeat.

You follow me.

So when we have these same issues
in our lives,

we often want God to fix our physical
without repenting

of the spiritual.

We do this all the time.

We want God to fix my situation,

but I don't want to repent in my heart.

God fix my finances, but
I don't want to do anything different to

fix my marriage.

But I'm still
going to be bitter and angry,

fix my

kids, but I'm still not going to lead them
biblically.

Fix my temptation.

But I'm still not going to read the Bible,
memorize it, pray and have a heart.

Be a part of a huddle

right?

Right.

Right.

And Amen.

As my daddy used to tell me
when I was little,

driving down the road, I'm
not afraid to pull this car over.

And you know.

Whenever

the Israelites planted their crops,
that's how bad it got.

Whenever there's lights
play on their crops, the Midianites,

Amalekites and other eastern peoples
invaded the country.

They camped on the land,
and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza.

You've heard of that place?

did not spare a living thing for Israel.

Neither sheet nor cattle, nor donkeys.

They came up with their livestock
and their tents like a swarm of locusts.

It was impossible to count them
or their camels.

They invaded the land to ravage it.

The Israelites did all the work.

They labored, they they
they stressed, and they produced a crop.

And then this entity came in and took it
all over.

It sounds like our government
that's story.

They did all the work.

They land and the land produced a crop.

And then the Midianites
and the Amalekites came in

and they just ravaged everything.

So the Israelites, though
they should be enjoying

the promise of God and the blessing of God
and the favor of God

in the land that they gained by faith.

They were unfaithful in the land,
and because they were unfaithful,

though they were given the promise of God
by faith, they were not faithful.

And as long as they were faithless,

they were subjected to living in caves
and holes in the ground of heaven.

All of the produce that they should have
enjoyed taken away from them and stolen.

We could say that about our lives.

The innocent,
these Midianites and Amalekites,

you know the Midianites were.

You've heard of Abraham, father
Abraham have many sons.

Many sons, father them.

You know that old song?

Yeah. Okay.

So Abraham was married to a lady
named Sarah.

She died, and he made her married
to another lady named Keturah.

And from Abraham,
a good Torah was this son named Midian.

So the Midianites are part of the family
tree of Abraham,

part of the Hebrew people's family tree.

When Moses came
and led the people out of captivity,

he married a gal and his her
or his father.

Last name was Jethro,
who was the priest of Midian.

So the Midianites have this history

with God's people, though
they're not walking with God, obviously.

And so they're fighting
against the work of God.

The Amalekites come from the line of Esau.

There was Jacob and Esau.

Jacob was the chosen one of God.

Esau was his brother.

Esau cared

not of the things of God, sold
his spiritual birthright for a pot of stew

from from Esau.

Esau had a grandson
whose name was Amel, from the Amalekites.

That's where the Amalekites came from.

Generations
later, King Saul, God raises up

King Saul to be the king of his people,
the king of the, of Israel.

God tells King
Saul to destroy all of the Amalekite army

because they're the enemies of God.

They're
they make all of God's work in the world.

Saul goes out to war, destroys

most of the Amalekites,
but leaves the king of the Amalekites.

His name is a guy. Got a life,

was unfaithful.

Saul was

because he kept Agag alive.

Generations later, we read of an aggregate

from the line of our God,
who was an amalekite

who should have been destroyed really,
or in a governmental position in Persia,

who set in course the

the edict to exterminate all the Jews.

His name was Heyman

from the Book of Esther.

Every problem

that God's people are, have gone through
and are going through come from

people who used to be a part of the line
of God's people

still to this day,

and it all stems from unfaithfulness,

and it all stems from sin.

And here's what I know
unrepentant disobedience

breeds difficulty and defeat
it did in their lives.

It doesn't. Ours.

Unrepentant disobedience
breeds difficulty and defeat.

And this is what the people
of God were experiencing.

Midian so impoverished the

Israelites
that they cried out to the Lord for help.

This is a cycle over and over.

Now, how long did it
take them to cry out to God?

They remember

seven years took him seven years.

We see this over and over and judges.

It takes a year and after year, year
after year to year, year before.

Why did it take him so long?

Nobody.

Well, before you answer,
let me suggest this.

That's the wrong question.

The right question is this.

Why does it take us so long?

Right.

Because some of us have been

living in defeat year
after year after year

in struggle, year
after year after year in oppression,

year after year after year

with the same sins, year
after year after year.

Why does it take us so long

to bend the knee and cry out to God?

And so they cry out to God and.

When the Israelites cried out to the Lord
because of Midian,

he sent them a prophet who said, this is
what the Lord, the God of Israel, says.

So this prophet comes and says,

this is what God says, I brought you up
out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

I rescued you
from the hand of the Egyptians,

and I delivered you from the hand
of all your oppressors.

I drove them out
before you and gave you their land.

I said to you, I am the Lord your God.

Do not worship the gods of the Amorites,
in whose land you live.

But you have not listened to me.

They cried out to God.

They said, God, we need you.

And God doesn't send them.

Initially a deliverer,
he does not rescue them initially.

The Bible says rather than sending them
a deliverer, he sends them a prophet.

A prophet simply
says, this is what I have heard from God.

And so I'm going to tell you what
I've heard, and what I've heard God

say is this

look at all God has done for you.

And even in light of all he's done,

you have not listened.

The message of the prophet

I brought you out.

I rescued you from.

I drove the enemies out.

I am your God.

And it was all I've done for you.

You have turned a deaf ear
and you do what is right

in your own eyes, not mine.

Not an encouraging message,

right?

It's a message of conviction.

It's the same message.

I wonder if God would say to us today,

I know that you want my help.

However, though I have brought you out,

though I have delivered you from though
I have rescued you out of.

Though I am supposed to be
your God, you're not listening to me.

The question we would ask ourselves
is this

what are all the good things

that God has done for us in the past?

We could say the same God,
you have brought me out,

God, you have rescued me from God.

You have not allowed me to receive
all that I've showed.

God, you have defeated my God.

You are my God.

Think for a moment.

From where has he brought you?

What devouring thing has
he withheld from your life

that it hasn't devoured you
when it should have?

What has he rescued you from?

What has he defeated

that used to be conquering you?

Is he your God?

Has he done those things?

If so, are you listening?

Are you doing what is right in his eyes,

not your own?

The angel of the Lord came and sat down

under the oak of okra
that belong to Joash.

That is right where he said Gideon

was threshing wheat in a winepress
to keep it from the Midianites.

There's a lot going on here. I'm
going to talk about it in just a minute.

When the angel of the Lord
appeared to Gideon, he said,

the Lord is with you, mighty warrior.

When the Bible in those doesn't
use this phrase, the angel of the Lord,

we understand that to be what we call

the pre incarnate appearance of Jesus,

the second person of the Trinity, God
the Father, God

the son, God the Spirit,
Jesus is the second person of the Trinity.

This is what we understand biblically.

The angel of the Lord is the pre incarnate
before he takes on human form.

In Bethlehem on December 25th.

This is Jesus.

And so he shows up.

and what I love about
that is what it tells me about,

my God that that Jesus shows up to
where I am.

He is so good

that he comes to where I am.

This is
what is so unique about Christianity.

Every other world.

Religion is about man
somehow trying to get to God.

Christianity is the only one
where God comes to man.

Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us.

You don't have to look for him, for
he is near.

The Bible says

an easy to find because he has come here.

And Gideon is doing what do you remember?

Threshing wheat where?

The wine press, I mean.

Now, some of you
Bible students understand this already,

but let me explain it to those of you
who for whom this is new.

Threshing wheat looked like this.

The one, this the one who was threshing.

We would get a like a big basket
or something, and have all the wheat

and the kernels and the chaff and the
and the dust and the dirt and the stars.

I mean, in this big, this big basket.

And they would throw it up in the air
and as the wind blew, it would blow away

all the chaff and all the dirt and
all the nasty and the grain being heavier,

fall back down.

And it was this constant process
of doing this as the wind would blow,

to constantly blow all the chaff
and all the nasty away,

so that you're left
with all the good grain.

And they did this
at the top of the crust of a hill,

because we all know that the wind
is stronger up at the top of a hill.

Right?

And so they'd be at the top of the hill
threshing wheat.

But where does it
say Gideon is threshing wheat

at the winepress.

The winepress was at the lowest
part of the valley.

That's where the wine, that's
where the grapes grew.

So they would process the wine by the
by the vineyards

down in the, in the valley.

When the wind is strong at the hilltop,

it is not strong in the valley.

And so here is Gideon.

No wind

throwing all this nasty up,
and it comes right back down and up

and right back down it up and right back
down it up and right back down.

And he's just absolutely covered
in all this itchy, scratchy dirt

and chaff
and all the work he does is useless.

And all the work he does is exhausting.

And all the work
he does produces no benefit whatsoever.

You're been there.

He's threshing
wheat at the winepress. Why?

Why isn't he up on the hill?

Out of fear, the Midianites?

Because he's afraid.

And so he's working his tail off.

And it is to no avail.

And Jesus calls to him

and says, the Lord is with you.

What do you call him?

Mighty warrior.

He's threshing wheat in a winepress
because he's scared to death.

Why does Jesus call him mighty warrior?

What?

I think because God has a sense of humor.

I think he's like mighty warrior and get.

It's like, oh God, that one hurt.

But here's why else
I think God tells a mighty warrior.

Because God doesn't see us

as who we are, nor who we've been.

He calls us
according to the greatness of his mission.

I want

you understand this God doesn't call us
or name us according to who we were.

God doesn't call us or name us
according to who we are.

God doesn't cast
or name us according to our potential.

God doesn't care about our potential.

The only real potential we have
is to failure.

What God does is call us and name us
according to his mission for us

in the world.

And his mission for Gideon
was not a thresher at the wine press.

His mission for Gideon
was as a warrior of his people,

had nothing to do with Gideon's

potential,
had nothing to do with Gideon's ability.

And we'll see that in just a moment.

It had everything to do with God's mission
for them in the world.

And he still sees us.

Ephesians five seven
God says he sees us as his people,

wholly without spot,
without wrinkle, without blemish.

Can you believe

if you have a relationship with Jesus,
that that's how God sees you?

That is not how other people see you,
I guarantee you, right?

And some of you have been so beaten down

by the monikers and names and vision
of how other people have seen you.

You don't believe that about yourself,
about how God sees you.

This is what the Apostle Paul said

in second Corinthians 516.

He says, I desire
I will know no man according to his flesh.

What he is saying is, I will know nobody
according to who they used to be.

I will only know them
according to who God sees them to be.

Wouldn't that be amazing?

I don't want to know any of you.

According to who you who you were.

I don't want you to know me
according to who I was.

I will know no man according to the flesh.

I think about the how that would change

relationships.

So our problem

is we oftentimes still see people

according to their worst moments.

Right?

Right.

God sees us

according to our highest call.

So mighty warrior.

Well, pardon me, my Lord.

Gideon says to Jesus.

But if the Lord is with us,
why has all this happened to us?

You've been there.

We're all his wonders
that our ancestors told us about

when they said, didn't
the Lord bring us up?

Honor, you just.

But now the Lord has abandoned us
and given us into the hands of Midian.

The Lord turned to him and said,
go in the strength you have,

and save Israel
out of the Midianites hand.

Am I not sending you?

I love

this Gideon starts with, okay,
let me hold on.

If you are with us, why has this happened?

All of us has been there.

God, if you're mighty, if I'm yours,
why didn't you allow this?

If you are with me, why is this happening?

Why that diagnosis? Why this failure?

Why this defeat?

Why did the marriage fall?

Well, if you're with me, why?

Right?

Every one of us.

I heard the stories of the past.

And you were great for my grandma.

But where are you now?

I read all the stuff in here,
and that would have been great

if I was back there.

But I'm not back there. I'm here.

So where are you now?

Right.

Look at Gideon statements

there. If statements.

Why statements and where statements?

God if God, why God? Where?

Here's what I know.

If God why God and where?

God always leads us to fear
and why and presses.

To understand.

And this is where most of us live.

We live in the land of if God.

Why God where God?

And as a result, where he lived defeated,

destructive, oppressed lives of fear

and the low wine places of life
and all the work we do

and all the struggle
we do, it results in nothing

but exhaustion,

feeling filthy, worn out and defeated.

She knows what Gideon said.

He said, the Lord, you've abandoned us.

If you and I ever feel

as if the Lord has abandoned us,
we have the wrong perspective.

Because if you go back to verse one, verse
one tells us

that they walked away from God
for seven years.

They did what was right in their own eyes
for seven years.

Who abandoned whom?

Right?

Were.

The Lord turned to him

and said, go in the strength you have,
and saved Israel out of Gideon's hand.

Have I not commanded you?

Have I not sinned?

I'm the one sending you.

Let's go.

Do it.

I love the fact that God didn't
respond to the whys.

And where's

did you notice that?

If God. Why God? We're God.

God never response to
is if why somewheres?

Guess what?

God isn't going to respond to our
if what is and where's either

we going cry out all day long? Yes, God.

Why God where God?

God is not going to answer those.

How different would it be
if we focus left on the if?

Why isn't where's and rather focus on the
what God in this moment?

What would you have me do?

Rather than the if God why God?

We're God.

See God in this moment.

What would you have me do?

I'm at a complete loss
and I got no answers.

Rather than if God. Why God? Where God?

I'm at a complete loss.

I got no answers.

God, what would you have me do?

That's sorry.

Just get in. On I.

And you just go

look at get his response

again. Pardon me, my lord.

He's like, excuse me, one more thing.

How can I save Israel?

My clan is the weakest man
and I'm the least in my family

here.

This is such a significant statement
from Gideon,

because I think it's
I think it's our statement as well.

Here's what he's saying.

There's a lot of excuses

when he says,

when he says, my clan is the weakest.

And Manasseh.

Manasseh,
according to the numbers of fighting men,

Manasseh was the smallest tribe.

There's 12 of them.

And according to the numbers of fighting
men, Manasseh was the smallest tribe.

Here's what he's saying.

My family is the smallest family.

In the smallest tribe.

Not only that, I'm the smallest man.

In the smallest family
in the smallest tribe.

Do you see the excuses?

God, you got the wrong person.

I am, I can't, I'm the smallest person
in the smallest family.

In the smallest tribe.

You got.

Excuse after excuse after excuse.

But listen,
all of what Gideon said was true.

It was just inconsequential.

He was right.

He was the smallest man
in the smallest family.

In the smallest tribe. Didn't matter.

All of our excuses might be true.

Statements.

They're just completely inconsequential.

So, my dear friends,
when God calls us, when he asks of us,

when he presumes to us, well,
you know what?

That you know what that feeling.
You felt it hearing.

You've known it. You you've heard it
here. You've seen it here.

You know what God is asking?

You know what God's requiring.

And all of us have excuses.

Why not?
Why not now? It's not the right time.

I don't have the right,
I can't do it, blah blah blah.

All those all might be true excuses.

Just they're just inconsequential.

You understand?

Do you really understand?

Oh, you can if you understand.

All those things

that you know, you have felt from God.

About doing.

About changing.

About committing
to about invest all those things,

about giving,
about serving all those things,

all those excuses you've offered
in the past, all those things

I've offered in the past.

They might be true reasons
why you haven't.

They are just inconsequential.

Do you understand?

Have you ever heard that that statement

that God gives his toughest assignments
to his strongest soldiers?

You're heard that

that's the stupidest thing
you could ever say.

Don't believe it.

Don't say it. Don't repeat it.

Don't give it any mind whatsoever.

It's that it's the most idiotic thing.

It's not biblical, it's heresy.

And it is so incredibly arrogant.

Let me tell you why.

Because that puts all of the

focus on you, not on him.

God does

not try to make Gideon
feel better about himself.

God does not try to puff up, Gideon.

God does not try to convince Gideon.

Uno. Gideon. You're capable.
You're worthy.

You can do it. You're strong.
You're. You are.

He doesn't do any of that.

He says you're right. You're nothing.

But I'm sending you, and I'm with you.

God doesn't need to give Gideon a pump up.

God needs to help Gideon.

No. He is with him.

To understand that.

We have to shift our focus from
how can I to God?

How will you?

See, first Corinthians 127 tells us,

But God chose the foolish things
of this world to shame the life.

He chose the weak things.

So the world to shame is strong.

And that's why Paul can say,

My God can say to Paul and Paul, us

migration is sufficient for you, for
my power is made perfect in weakness.

Therefore, Paul says,
I will boast all the more gladly

about my weaknesses,
so that Christ power may rest on me.

I don't have to act like I got to.

I got to act like I'm capable.

I got to act like I'm strong
and I'm the God's strongest warrior.

So I get the tough assignments
that is so arrogant and so non-biblical.

God, I am so weak

and I will glory in my weakness,
and I will proclaim my weakness

because I want your power to rest on me.

You're strong.

I'm not.

I think it's so refreshing
that God doesn't ask us to be strong.

He just says, rest in my strength

and rest.

I'll be with you

all straight down.

The Midianites.

You don't have to.

I'll do it.

He just wants to get into realize

God's presence with him.

And so then watch what happens.

Get. He replied,
if now I've found favor in your eyes,

give me a sign that this is really
you talking to me,

please don't go away
until I bring back my offering

and said it before you and the Lord said,
I'll wait here till you return.

Gideon went inside,
preparing a young goat,

and from an ephah of flour
he made bread without yeast.

Pay attention to that.

Putting the meat in the basket.

And it's a broth.

Pay attention that in a pot

he brought them out
and offered them to him under the oak.

Angela, God said,
take the meat and the unleavened bread.

Place it on this rock, and pour out
the broth.

Gideon did so.

Then the angel of the Lord,
which is Jesus, touched the meat and the

unleavened bread with the tip of the staff
that was in his hand.

Fire flared from the rock,

consuming the meat and the bread,
and the angel of the Lord disappeared.

When get realized

that it was the angel of the Lord,
he exclaimed, alas, sovereign Lord,

I have seen the angel of the Lord
face to face.

Let me tell you what's going on.

Gideon is fearful.

He's timid, he's unsure.

He doesn't know, and he meets with Jesus

at the table.

Jesus, prepare unleavened bread.

Prepare a liquid offering

because there is flesh
that's being offered

you. Why?

We do communion every week?

Because it's at the table of the Lord
that we share the bread of the Lord,

the drink, the liquid that's poured out.

And we remember the body
that's been offered.

It's at the table of the Lord, or Gideon

changed from fearful to faithful.

It's at the table of the Lord.

Every week
when we remember the body of Christ

through the bread and the liquid

that's poured out.

Do you see this?

And so here's Gideon.

That same night, the Lord said to him,

take the second bull from your father's
herd, the 70.

That is the one that seven years old

and tear down your father's altar to bail
and tear down the Asherah pole beside it.

Then build
a proper kind of altar to the Lord

your God on the top of the height,
using the wood from the ashes

of all that you cut down, offer
the second bull as a burnt offering.

So Gideon took ten of his servants,
and did as the Lord told him.

But because he was again
what afraid of his family now not just me,

but I was family.

And the townspeople.

He did it at night
rather than the daytime.

Almighty warrior.

Listen,

Gideon is obedient,

but imperfectly obedient.

And that's what I love about my Jesus.

That's what I love about my God.

Imperfect obedience is still pretty good.

Gideon's family worship

the God of income, the God of increase,
and the God of pleasure.

Sounds like our culture.

And God says, destroy your

father's idols and sacrifice the bull.

In other words,
what he says is deal with sin

in your own house
before you try to lead other people.

You deal with sin at home before

you try to lead outside the home.

We say this all the time in my men's
ministry.

These guys I meet with every month and
and in our larger men's ministry associate

all the time.

You cannot lead others
until you lead yourself,

and you cannot lead yourself
until you know yourself.

Men hear me.

You cannot lead others
until you lead yourself.

And you cannot lead yourself
until you know yourself.

And so the question
we have to ask ourselves is this do

you know your own life well enough to know
what needs to be repented of?

Men and
women like children a little to like.

Do you know your own life well enough
to know what you need to repent of?

You cannot lead others,
so you lead yourself.

And you got to know yourself,
to lead yourself.

How old was the bull they sacrificed?

Why? Seven year old bull?

How long did they walk away from God?

God says you got to come all the way back.

This ain't no half hearted thing.

You walked away from me seven years.

Get a bull at several.

This bull has been alive
since you turned away.

Sacrifice.

And I put it on the altar,

symbolizing the full way of combat,
full repentance.

The Bible says run was off your bodies.

Now is living sacrifices
holy and pleasing to God.

Your whole self?

I don't think any of the Israelites
at this point

would have said, it's
not that I'm not worshiping God.

Like, why are you so upset?

Just like many of us would say, it's
not like I don't believe

in Jesus.

I'm not. I'm a Christian.

I'm going to heaven. It's just

they would say the same thing.

So I'm not believing God.

He just add a lot of other stuff
that's right in their own eyes to it.

It's called syncretism.

And rather than being God and His way
alone,

it's God his way, my way, their way
a little bit.

Everything.

I'm a wrap up with this.

I know, I get it in the morning
when the people of the town got up,

there was build bills, altar demolished
and with ashes pulled beside

it, cut down and the sacrificed
on the newly built altar.

They asked who did this?

Like we went to bed.

It was okay. We woke up and all changed.
Like the election last year.

Like what happened?

When they carefully investigated,

they were told Gideon,
the son of Joash, did it.

Then the people of town
demanded that Joash bring out your son.

He must die because he's broken down
Bill's altar and cut down the Asherah pole

beside it.

But Joash
finally grew up and became a dad.

He displayed a hostile crowd.

You got to care cause
you're trying to save him.

Her fight for him
shall be put to death by morning.

He finally stands up for his son.

If Bill really is a god,
he can defend himself

when someone breaks down his altar.

Let's take care of it.
He's. If he's really a god

says, back off from my son.

He did what's right.

So because Gideon broke down the altar,
they gave him the name.

Gerald Bell was one of the one
who contends with Bell,

saying, let him continue with him.

His daddy finally becomes a daddy.

But listen, his daddy
finally started acting like a father

because the faith of his son

isn't that beautiful.

Dad, sometimes

it may take the faith of your children
to bring you back to him.

Moms, sometimes

that will be the faith of your children

that bring you back to Christ.

It's not supposed to be that way.

Fathers mothers are supposed to lead

their children to Jesus, but sometimes

when parents don't get it right,

because God's
mercy and grace, the kids do.

And sometimes it's

the kids that bring the parents back.

And I am so thankful,

not just from my mom and dad who raised me
in the ways of the Lord, but for three

sons, Joe and Caleb and Wyatt,

who are pictures of faithful men.

For me

who are godly Jesus followers.

Because of the impact
my sons have on my life.

It's beautiful.

Gideon's dad knew his life.

Need a purifying

and that's why he finally did what he did.

Stood up because he knew.

Then the spirit of Lord came upon Gideon.

He blew his trumpet, summoning the abuser
I to follow him.

Then.

Then means after.

After what?

After getting knowledge,
his fear and doubt.

After what?

After he dealt with sin in his own life.

In his own family. After what?

After he met with Jesus at the table.

Then the Spirit of God.

After we acknowledge our sin and our doubt

and our fear, after we meet with Jesus
at the table, after we deal with sin

in our own life, in our own family,
then the Spirit of God,

not before and not until

after you and I deal

with our own doubt and our own fear
and our own disobedience.

After we meet with Jesus and understand
the price he paid on the cross for us,

after we deal with that sin and repent,
then the Spirit of God,

then we step into what God sees us
as according to his mission,

the world Almighty warrior.

Not before.

And that is the clarion call for all of us

to acknowledge
your fear and doubt and disobedience.

Meet with Jesus personally

and deal with sin

in your life, in your family, and repent.

Then the spirit of the Lord will come.

This is why we start a flip side.

This is why me and Shelly

and Joe and Caleb and Wyatt

20 years ago moved here.

For something that I did not know
was going to happen

in a way that God was going to do it
very differently than what we planned,

but so that we and so that you

could meet with Jesus personally,

could live a life of repentance.

And live with the spirit

of the Lord upon us,

so that his kingdom will come

and his will will be done in this place

as it is in heaven.

So mighty warrior.

Ready?

Let's pray together, father.

Thank you,

thank you, thank you for your word.

Thank you for your heart.

Thank you for your love.

Thank you for your call.

Thank you for your forgiveness.

Thank you for your mercy.

Thank you for your grace.

Thank you that when we are

faithless, you are faithful.

Thank you.

That's your capacity to forgive far
exceeds our capacity to sin.

Thank you for your son.

Thank you that you don't treat us
according to what our sins deserve.

But you respond to us
with mercy and grace.

You are a good God.

You're a God.

There are some of us in this place.

There are some of us who hear my voice
that truly do desire your spirit.

Lord, to fall and be on us.

And according to that desire, father,
we confess to you, and I encourage you

to walk through this process
in your own life,

in your own mind,
in your own heart, right now.

God, this is what I'm afraid of.

This is what I doubt.

This is my concern.

This is my hesitation.

Jesus, I come before you today.

And I acknowledge

and I admit that you are my Savior.

And through you is my forgiveness.

And I confess my sin to you.

And I repent.

I turn around.

I feel the need right now,

just simply to invite you
to ask the Holy Spirit to convict you.

Sounds odd.

But I would encourage you right now
just to say, Holy Spirit,

I give you permission
to convict me of my sin.

Convict me of how I have lived

in ways that are right in my eyes,
but not yours,

to convict me of my selfishness,
convict me of my apathy,

convict me of my lethargy,
convict me of my excuses,

convict me of how common my life is
like the rest of this culture.

Holy spirit, for all of those of us
who desire that,

I pray that you would convict us
not for our shame or destruction,

but rather for our repentance

and in repentance.

Give us all that your grace will allow us.

To give us all that your grace will allow.

Jesus, thank you.

Thank you, God,
for keeping me in this game for 19 years

here with this church,
for keeping us in the Ranchos for 20.

Thank you for keeping flip side open.

The 19 years of ministry.

God, you could have.

I probably should have chosen someone else
many, many, many times over.

But I thank you that you chose me.

You could have given this church

a lot of different people that you,
you gave us us, and I thank you for that.

Prayer.

You keep us in it for another 20.

You're a good God and we love you.

In your name I pray. Amen.

Listen, if any of you made some decision
to follow Jesus or to take some steps

to get right with him,

I want to know about it
so that we can walk with you and help you.

You're right on the car. Do it on our app.

Drop in the box
there. The start here. Boo.

See? David? He's in the back there. David,
they're back there.

They'd love to walk with you through that.

Next week
we're going to finish chapter six

and look at Gideon and his fleeces.

That's probably the most common
story of Gideon's life.

We'll finish it out next week.

And look at chapter seven and see
how patient God is with him and with us.

He's a good God.

So this week,

read chapter six again
and see how stuff pops.

And read chapter
seven and get ready for the next Sunday.

You understand this and I love you.

I'm proud of you.

It's good to go through the Bible
together, And let's think.