and in the morning I will send you on
your way and will tell you all that is
in your heart as for the donkeys you
lost three days ago don't worry about
them they have been found and to whom is
all the desire of Israel turned if not
to you and to your whole family line now
Saul answered but am I not a benja might
from the smallest tribe of Israel is not
my clan the least of all the clans of
the tribe of Benjamin why do you say
such a thing to me and then it goes on
to say that Samuel invited him to eat
that day and went on to explain to him
his calling let's pray dear God I thank
you that you have a destiny for each one
of us you have a calling you have a
purpose I thank you Lord that even
though we usually stumble into our
destiny without realizing it God that
you know what you're doing we may feel
like we're lost but we're not we're
right where we're supposed to be because
you're looking for us and I thank you
that you have a plan for us but God
sometimes it's hard for us to believe
that sometimes all we can see is our own
problems and shortcomings and I pray God
that today you would teach us how to
overcome our fears and our self doubt
and learn to depend on the Great God
speak to us today I pray in Jesus name
Amen man Saul was not so happy about
what the prophet Samuel told him right
he didn't answer saying yeah you're
right I always thought I was supposed to
be a king now some of us have that
problem many of us don't have a low self
esteem we have a it appropriately big
self esteem that God needs to Humble us
I would say all of us are in that
category in some way right
but look at what happens with Saul he's
like it can't be me you can't be talking
about me and he had excuses he had
reasons why God couldn't use him he said
am I not a benja might from the smallest
tribe of Israel the tribe of Benjamin
was famous or i should say infamous in
israel because it was a tribe that a few
about a hundred years earlier had
committed some of the most horrible
atrocities and if you were a benja might
it was like 'hey you're from the tribe
of Benjamin you since I'm a benja might
you can't be talking about me and not
only am i from this bad tribe in Israel
but I'm from the smallest family in that
tribe how can you say these things to me
now it's interesting cuz Saul was a tall
man he was an impressive man but he was
a man with a profoundly low self esteem
he had a sense of inferiority about
himself it was interesting because
little later a couple weeks later the
prophet Samuel gathered all the people
to draw lots to pick the next king to
confirm that it was going to be saw and
they drew lots from all the people in
Israel narrowing it down from tribe to
tribe to tribe to Family to Family to
Family and finally by lot Saul was
chosen what a coincidence huh the
prophet Samuel wasn't worried he knew
God chose that guy now we're going to
draw lots and the lot will fall to Saul
so when the time came to choose all all
the people were gathered we're going to
pick our next king I wonder who it's
going to be and then the lot falls to
Saul son of Kish it was like Saul Saul
we're so just look at there's a mumbling
going on Saul we're so well so too and
they and they started looking for him
you know where they found him hiding
among the baggage it's like he's high
he's hiding in the bathroom hiding in
the bathroom what was he afraid of and
so they just all get out of the baggage
you're supposed to be king he's like
yeah right
Yeah right I'm King you know it pulled
him out he calls out there and he was a
head taller than everyone else and the
prophet Samuel says look at your new
king and he's standing there he's just
got to be dying thinking I would really
much rather be hiding in the bathroom
right now he's like I can't do this I'm
not that guy he felt insecure he felt
afraid he had a sense of his own
inadequacy now that should remind us of
someone else you know the prophet Samuel
put it this way he said God called you
to be king even though you were small in
your own eyes even though you were small
in your own eyes he was a tall man but
he saw himself like this so I'm self
small do any of us do that any of us may
be thinking yeah I'm yeah oh we can see
where our weaknesses right you look in
the mirror at all you can see are the
the blemishes all right everyone else
they say you're looking pretty good
today you're like I don't feel like I've
looking pretty good you ever think you
have excuses not to do what God calls
you to do no it can't be me I'm too
young do we have any any people under
the age of 18 in this room they have
made teenagers or kids no could say no
not me I'm too young can't be me or
someone else who might say but you don't
know what I've done you don't know my
past you don't know my struggles you
don't know my problems God says yes you
yes you Moses said I can't do it I don't
know how to talk I stutter and God's
like uh no excuses no excuses God calls
people who sometimes feel inadequate in
themselves if we read this text it
should remind us of another man who was
called about a hundred years earlier to
do some amazing things in the tribe of
Israel and he answered in a almost
exactly the same way and I believe that
the Bible wants us to connect this text
with that one so let's take a look in
the book of Judges chapter six judges
chapter six disco go back a couple books
judges chap
six this is a book about a series of
military leaders in the people of Israel
tribe of Israel who would who would
raise up and be great deliverers and
great leaders and how God would deliver
his people and this is the story about
how God called one of the greatest
warriors and leaders in the entire
history of Israel a man named Gideon you
ever heard of Gideon before yeah yeah he
leaves Bibles in hotel rooms right he
put some right and well this is what
that's named after right this guy Gideon
judges 6 verse 11 now this was a time
before I i start judges 611 this was a
time during incredible oppression in the
people of israel the people of Israel
were under the oppression of a nation
called Midian and the Midianites would
come in and would steal all their bread
they would bring all their camels and
all their armies like a multitude like
they said it's like the sand on the
seashore and they would devour all the
crops and all the grass and the people
of Israel were being starved to death by
Midian it was a time of terrible
oppression and so we find Gideon in the
middle of this in verse 11 it says the
angel of the Lord came and sat down
under the oak in Oprah that belonged to
joash the Abbey as right where his son
Gideon was threshing wheat in a
winepress to keep it from the Midianites
ok I want to stop right there for a
second anyone know about threshing wheat
I don't know about threshing wheat you
know I didn't learn that in the town in
Connecticut I grew up in and they didn't
teach it to me in seminary here in
Boston either so let's talk about
threshing wheat wheat is a like a stalk
of wheat right they would take the wheat
everyone in Israel everyone in the
ancient world knew about threshing wheat
you would take the wheat and it's got
the colonel on it but it's also got the
stock and it's got chaff and so they
would bring it to a place called a
threshing floor and they would have a
long like instrument sort of like a long
stick like a threshing stick and they or
they call it a fork
sometimes it would be pronged and they
would put the weed up in the air and
they would whack it with the threshing
stick and it would knock the wheat so
that the heavy part the colonel would
fall to the ground and the chaff the the
light part of the wheat would just blow
away and they'd sweep it away and at the
end you've got a nice pile of wheat
kernels that you can use to make bread
it's called threshing wheat the main
thing you need to Thresh wheat is an
open space that's nice and big where you
can swing and you can hit it must have
been a lot of fun you know kinda like
demolishing you know you get to demolish
things every now and then you know
that's okay it's kind of fun right there
back in that week getting out their
aggressions getting up and but what you
need is open space and you also need a
breezy air to blow the wheat to blow the
chaff right so you need some wind or you
need a breeze now Gideon was threshing
wheat do you notice where he was
thrashing the wheat verse 11 is it says
he was threshing wheat not on a
threshing floor a nice open threshing
floor but in a wine press and when here
ever pressed wine we might have one or
two there's always somebody who went to
France or chili and stomped and now I
never did that right I know that you did
you see you seen on TV what they would
do is they would put the grapes in a
wine press and wine presses in those
days they would dig them into the ground
sort of like a like a 6-foot deep like a
well like a pit a circular small thing
so one person could fit in there and
just jump up and down on the week right
on the the grapes and make it sound
again it sounds like fun yeah I want to
go do I want to try some of this someday
right and they're stomping on the grapes
it was a pit in the ground that was a
circular enclosed concrete kind of pit
they found some of them look up google
wine press ancient wine press and you'll
see some pictures of wine presses from
this time you can actually see it I
should have projected it next time so
it's a circular thing so Gideon was
threshing wheat in a little wine press
and closed wine press do you see
the problem you see the problem when you
need to Thresh wheat is a place where
you can swing and hit stuff and there's
wind a wine press it's Underground he
was doing it why was he doing that he's
hiding he was hiding from the Midianites
because if they saw him doing what he's
doing they're going to confiscate the
grain so he has to hide underground and
try to Thresh wheat the only comparison
I could think of and some of you could
probably come up with a better one it's
kind of like trying to fly a kite in
your basement right try to fly the kite
in the basement and you got the kite and
you throw it up in the air ha it is
still not working I'm still it you're
trying to fly kite in the basement maybe
you should find a windy place maybe an
open place right that's what Gideon was
doing it was ludicrous it was something
that in the ancient world they would
have read this and they would have
actually it would have evoked a laugh he
was threshing wheat in a wine press so
at this moment the angel of the Lord
came to him and sat down right near
there under a tree in Oprah Gideon was
threshing the weed now in verse 12 we'll
go back to the text when the angel of
the Lord appeared to Gideon he said now
first of all what do you expect him to
say what are you doing in a wine press
crushing week right he doesn't say that
though he says the Lord is with you
mighty warrior how about that i would
think that god would say what are you
doing down there this is so pathetic
you're trying to fly a kite in the
basement you're trying to Thresh but
instead the angel of the Lord now when
we're talking about the angel of the
Lord here there are different kinds of
angels all right there are some angels
that would appear to people that are
glowing spiritual beings that would
terrify people and they would fall down
but then sometimes God's angels appear
as human figures and people don't even
know they're angels at first that's why
the Bible says that some people have in
showing hospitality entertained angels
without realizing it like Abraham did
like some of us may have done angel
sometimes can be just a guy right there
a person and you don't recognize them so
that's the case here and it's a specific
angel it's the
angel of the Lord who I believe actually
might just be Jesus invading human
history before he was incarnated but
that's that's just me so the angel is
sitting there and looks down at him and
instead of saying what do you think
you're doing down there he says the Lord
is with you mighty warrior how about
that how about that see the angel didn't
see a scared man cowering in a pit the
angel of the Lord saw who this person
was in God's eyes he saw you are a man
of courage you're a man of Valor you are
the real thing now what would your
response be might be excuse me and in
fact that's exactly what Gideon says he
says excuse me sir look at this verse 13
a pardon me my lord or excuse me sir
literally getting reply but if the Lord
is with us what am i doing threshing
wheat in a wine press doesn't exactly
say that he says if the Lord is with us
why has all this happened to us where
are all of God's wonders that our
ancestors told us about when they said
did not the Lord bring us up out of
Egypt but now the Lord has abandoned us
and has given us into the hand of Midian
how about that now you got to keep in
mind the conversation is going on when i
get into the baptist the baptismal here
i'm going to be cut down low i'm going
to be talking to you guys and I'm going
to be like this imagine he's kind of
underground right so he's looking up out
of this pit the Angels sort of sitting
there looking down and he's like if God
is with us then why are we so oppressed
have you ever felt that way you know
someone says you ever come to church and
people say God is with you and you like
I believe that but it's hard for me to
believe that right now you ever felt
like if God is with me then why is my
life such a mess you ever felt that way
that's the way Gideon felt if God is
with me then why are we a
by her enemies why am I trying to fly a
kite in my basement why am I here trying
to Thresh wheat in a wine press and so
he's saying where's god I've heard
stories about God I heard stories about
how God delivered his people from Egypt
he separated the waters and the people
walked through and the awesome God of
the Exodus I heard stories about the God
who appeared a Mount Sinai fire and
thunder and lightning and that's the god
I want to see but right now I don't see
that God anywhere so you always gotta
wonder if Gideon thinks are you mocking
me you making fun of me God is with you
it's like you know it's like it's like
you just strikeout you're playing
baseball you strike out your helmet
comes flying off you stumble back into
the dugout and they say you're the best
God is with you Slugger and you're like
you making fun of me here are you
mocking me God isn't mocking him and by
the way let me just say I don't believe
in false praise right I don't believe
that we need to lie to people and tell
them they're good at something when
they're not necessarily right right we
don't have to do that that's not helpful
my son the other day he was doing some
karate moves in the in the in the living
room and you know he was he was looking
good I was like Noah you know it's not
just cuz I'm your dad you are looking
good that is those are good moves and
he's like you know he's looking good
then you through on his soccer uniform
and we went to his soccer game there's a
different different experience anyone
ever seen peanuts this is this is
terrible someday he's gonna watch this
online and he is gonna let me have it
you know I just roast him every Sunday
but you ever seen peanuts where Lucy is
holding the football for Charlie Brown
and Charlie Brown comes and and and she
pulls it away and he goes flying any
lands on his back that's kind of like my
son playing soccer you know he whiffs
ends up on his back and then Illinois
people don't just leave him there though
a bunch of first and second graders
gather around him and just kick the
fing out of him you know and and then
because they're going for the ball of
course but they can't see their their
six you know they're just kicking
whatever is on the ground at that moment
and then he gets up and he's all you
know dusty and kind of staggers back to
the game it's after the game I'm not
gonna tell him you're the best soccer
player in the world I wouldn't be too
bad you know I say you you really you
ran around out there you you really ran
you you got dirty you you you almost
kicked that ball you connected once I
did you know okay so I'm gonna tell the
truth you know but um praise the Lord
you do what you gotta do right its life
its life you know it's just life is just
a reality the angel of the Lord is
looking at Gideon and says the Lord is
with you mighty warrior and he's like
whatever you are you big what's going on
here you really talking to me now look
at what Gideon now the conversation goes
on it goes to another level okay goes to
another level look at what happens next
it says then the Lord turned to him in
in the original I think it says the Lord
looked at him and said go now about what
I'm visualizing here Gideon is down low
he's in the winepress the angel is
sitting up there the Angels looking like
a guy he still thinks it's just a person
then the angel sort of does this and
sort of looks at him and is staring
right into his eyes and this is the
moment when Gideon gets the first close
look at this man's eyes and I think he
starts realizing maybe this just isn't
some random person look at what he says
the Lord turned two men said go in the
strength you have and save Israel out of
midians hand am I not sending you but I
think at this moment Gideon starts
getting chills and he realizes what if
this isn't just a guy what if this is
something other than a person what if
this is an angel what if this is God
talking to me and so he says go take
what strength you have and just go and
I will help you you will save and save
Israel out of medians hands i'm sending
you now Gideon answers in verse 15 again
excuse me sir or pardon me my lord
Gideon reply but how can I save Israel
my clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I
am the least in my family that sound
familiar just like King Saul how can I
do this and I'm remember he's looking up
at this guy he's down they look at how
can I do this I'm from the smallest clan
in Israel apparently Manasseh was the
smallest and I am the loser of my family
anyone feel like you're from a messed-up
family and you're the loser that in the
name of Jesus we rebuke that title
because some people live with that fence
black sheep I'm the black sheep I'm the
rebel my brothers and sisters they're
good at school me oh well I'm good for
drinking you know or I'm good for
whatever i'm good for fighting or I'm
good for and you walk and you live your
life with this label on your forehead
that says I am the loser in Spanish
there's an interesting saying to be a me
siento me trata como ser o a la
izquierda un cero allies Kiera yeah it's
really hard just to swallow that means
in English they treat me like a zero and
not just any zero but a zero on the left
less than nothing so it's like go to the
zero and go left which you're in the
negative integers that's me you said all
I see are just some people live like
that Gideon felt that way how can I do
this I just can't do it that sense of
inferiority that sense of inadequacy I
just don't know if I can do what I'm
supposed to do I know my weaknesses and
failings now I want to say something and
this is where we're going to go with
this this is different from humility
humility is a good thing humility gives
you confidence inferiority or in
security is based on fear and cripples
us there's a difference between the two
see humility is good in fact anybody
that God will use he will humble you
first he will humble you before use you
pride goes when you know the proverb
pride goeth before a fall God will
humble those who uses he's done it with
all his great servants throughout
history Moses felt like he was going to
be a great leader but he even presumed
he killed an Egyptian to try to deliver
his people and be a great hero he grew
up in Pharaohs household and he had to
flee to the desert and live in the
desert for 40 years before he was humble
enough for God to use him some people
are too proud to be used by God there's
too much of them they've got a they need
some humble pie therapy they need to
touch bottom before God can use them
that ego that pride that self will needs
to be broken the Apostle Paul talked
about the thorn in his flesh you ever
heard of that he talked about how God
gave me great revelations of heaven but
to keep me humble God has given me a
thorn in my flesh to keep me humble
otherwise I would become too proud
anyone here have a thorn in your flesh
no no looking next to you you know any1
have a thorn in your flesh where you
feel that inadequacy no Peter you know
the story of the Apostle Peter when
Jesus said you're all going to going to
abandon me what did Peter say said I'll
never abandon you lord he was he was
cocky he was confident / self-confident
even if everyone else denies you I never
will and Jesus looked at min said Peter
before the Sun sets tonight you will
deny three times that you even knew me
he says no even if I have to die with
you see Peter needed some good failure
before he could be a great leader he
needed to be broken needed to be humble
I will guarantee anybody you know who
really
has power in the things of God who's
really used by God has been humbled by
God in some way you might not see what
they've gone through or what they're
going through but there's something that
God is using to Humble them or to break
them or to keep them humble because God
uses broken vessels I've heard of it
this way Jacob you heard the story of
Jacob in the Old Testament was a very
self-confident man who was very
deceptive he would do all kinds of he
was kind of tricky right there came a
moment when his tricks and problems
caught up with him and the angel of the
Lord I wonder if it was the same one
appeared to Jacob and they wrestled all
night you ever heard that story of Jacob
wrestling with an angel all night you
see for many of us when God calls us he
needs to wrestle with us cuz we are too
strong in ourselves and wrestling all
night and at the end of the night Jacob
wouldn't let go and he says I won't let
you go unless you bless me and the angel
said you have struggled with God and men
and Neville and have overcome so he
changed his name from Jacob to Israel
which means the one who struggles with
God but then God or the angel hit his
hip so that he was limping and the Bible
says as the Sun was rising that Jacob
was walking along with a limp and he
walked the rest of his life with a limp
for God to use us in some way we have to
walk with a limp we have to be broken we
have to be humbled but that is different
from being insecure you see insecurity
or fearfulness can lead us in some
terrible directions insecurities can
kill you it can kill you fear and
insecurity can turn you into a monster
it really can it is not humility
humility is good
it's based on fear of God in security is
based on fear of people fear of failure
fear of what if fear can be our greatest
enemy now I want to go back to Saul and
think about his life a little bit Saul
okay so are you with me I'm talking
about a lot of different stories right
so we're talking mainly about two kings
or king and a leader Saul and Gideon
both started their life insecure and
fearful but their lives ended in
radically different ways so Gideon went
on to be a great leader for God Saul
went on to be one of the worst tyrants
ever recorded in the Bible because he
didn't know how to handle his fears and
his insecurities if you wonder about the
dangers of fear and insecurity just ask
yourself have you ever had a boss or a
supervisor who is insecure now have you
ever had someone in authority over you
who is insecure and because of their own
insecurities they will cut off your head
if they need to to protect themselves
you ever done insecure people in
authority can be very dangerous that's
what happened with King Saul what
happened with him is he allowed his
fearfulness and insecurities to motivate
him to take things into his own hands
rather than to relax and trust God
there's an interesting story a little
later after Saul became king so you're
still with me I'm telling a lot of
stories today you with me Saul was
called to go to war and to do a great
battle and the prophet Samuel said
you've gotta wait for me until I come
and do the sacrifice so King Saul is
waiting and waiting and Saul doesn't
show up and he's waiting waiting waiting
people his men are starting to desert
and the enemy is right there and so in
his fear he said bring me the sacrifice
and he offered the sacrifice to God as
if offered the sacrifice would be a good
luck charm
rather than obeying God's instructions
Samuel comes and says because you have
disobeyed God God has rejected you as
king you see Saul in his fear and
anxiety he took things into his own
hands rather than taking a deep breath
and doing things God's Way have you ever
found in your own life that when we act
out of fear and worry and we act quickly
and we rush we make mistakes sometimes
we need to take a break take a deep
breath slow down and say what does God
want me to do I'm not going to act out
of my fears but I'm going to act out of
faith now things got worse for Saul
because later God called him to do
another battle and it's kind of a
confusing story that will study some day
but God called him to to fully destroy a
city that was a evil city that God was
using Israel as a instrument of judgment
against them and saw rather than
destroying everything he took some of
the best cattle and sheep and he took
them to an altar at the worship center
of Israel to do an offering a public
sacrifice for God on the way he stopped
just long enough to build a monument for
himself to build a monument in his own
honor and then he's going to do this
great sacrifice look at the great
victory I have achieved Samuel comes
along and said didn't God tell you to
destroy everything and sounds like yeah
I did I did then he says what is this
bleeding of sheep in my ears then what
is this lowing of cows oh well those are
for the sacrifice and Samuel site says
obedience is better than sacrifice what
do you think God is like a magic charm
that somehow you if you offer a
sacrifice it covers over all your
disobedience you see Saul viewed God as
a good luck charm that he could use
instead of Saul letting God be God and
make him great he tried to be great
himself and use god as a good luck charm
in the
process there are some people who use
church that way I was really like that
before i became a christian i used to
say rosaries every night right and i'm
not trying to criticize any religious
background going to it but I would do it
as a good luck charm especially if I had
a baseball game the next day and I
really wanted to win okay I'll say a
whole rosary it's not weird there's a
weird 14 year old and that says but i
was using religion as good luck right
Saul was like that and he was letting
his own insecurities motivate him to
seek to validate himself in
inappropriate ways build a monument in
his own honor try to make himself great
in the wrong way and then when David
came along and started having success in
battle King Saul became profoundly
envious and jealous of him because he
felt insecure no I got to keep him down
because here I've got to be the king and
out of his own insecurities he would be
competitive and political against David
and even tried to kill him sometimes
David would be playing the harp in an
evil spirit of jealousy would come upon
soul and he'd throw his spirit to the
wall and try to pin David to the wall
remember how we talked about a couple
weeks people with anger issues probably
shouldn't own a spear right because you
never know what you'll deal with it will
saul was like that so in his insecurity
he felt the need to keep other people
down he felt the need to be competitive
and be envious his life ends in a
terrible way he becomes an abuser and a
tyrant in Israel and a profoundly
dangerous person I believe many of the
dictators in countries that oppress
others are people who are very insecure
themselves or their group and they need
to bolster themselves by putting others
down thinking Saul did that now here's
where I'm going with this our
insecurities can be our fatal flaw if
we're not careful it can lead us
to be envious of others to be jealous to
be competitive it can lead us to try to
bolster ourselves in ways that are
inappropriate it can lead us to fight I
think a lot of the violence that happens
on the street as a result of insecurity
and sensitivity why did he look at me
that way why did he say that gotta fight
insecure now thank God there is another
path we can take Gideon instead of
building a monument to himself now I
want to go back to Gideon you know what
he did after this encounter with the
angel Gideon built an altar for God to
worship God and I want to challenge you
today instead of building a monument to
yourself to try to prove yourself focus
on building an altar so that you worship
God because Gideon realized I don't have
to be great if I worship a great God if
I'm insecure and fearful that's okay the
weaker the better the Apostle Paul said
I delight in my weaknesses because when
I am weak then I am strong i boast about
my weaknesses so that the power of
Christ can be manifest in me if you feel
weak if you feel inadequate then that is
a good thing because that means God can
be great and powerful in you you don't
have to be great you don't have to prove
yourself you don't have to fight because
you have a big scary God who is fighting
for you amen that is the key to
overcoming this weakness and this
fearfulness and this in security of
knowing i am not going to make myself
anything i am going to touch base with
god and let him be powerful through me
i'll let him be great through me you
know it's kind of weird the answer to
fear this is going to be very strange is
fear okay the answer to fear is fear
Gideon when he realized that the man he
was talking to was
angel of God he brought a sacrifice that
he put it he bought some food put it on
a rock it was consumed by fire and then
the guy disappeared and Gideon said I've
been talking to the angel of the Lord
face to face I'm gonna die and God said
don't worry you're not going to die you
see he realized this was God and he was
afraid that is a good fear it's better
to be afraid of God than of anything
else because when we fear God we fear a
God who is great and who is awesome and
who is thankfully on our side it's weird
jesus said do not be afraid of people
who can kill your body I'll tell you who
you should fear fear the one who can
throw body and soul into hell it's not
weird but if I'm afraid of God because
God is so awesome he's so big but I know
that that God is on my side he's behind
me then I don't have to be afraid of
anything else because you just gonna
have to deal with my my big brother
who's behind me here defending me that's
what King David said he said you come at
me with your spear and your armor
Goliath I come at you in the name of the
Lord Almighty whom you have defied this
day so I don't have to be afraid because
my god is a scary God and he's fighting
for me now i'm gonna i'm going to
dismiss our baptism people it's time for
you to go downstairs you just have to
catch this online because please I
getting to the happy part please I do
watch it online okay baptism people can
go downstairs Gideon learned that the
answer to his insecurities was to see
how big and awesome God was now I want
to look again at judges six judges
chapter six he built the altar and when
he built that altar and worshipped God
and he had an encounter with God he
named the altar something that I want to
focus on he named the altar jehova
sholom it says in at the end of judges
verse 6
or in judges 6 verse verse 23 the Lord
says peace you are not going to die and
Gideon build the altar and he named the
altar the Lord is peace when we know
that our God is awesome and that he is
with us then we can have peace because
it's not about me anymore it's about him
jehova sholom jehova sholom i invite you
when you feel like you are out of your
league when you feel like you just can't
do it to know that god will go with you
in whatever he's calling you to do and
he is an awesome scary God and there is
nothing that can come against you that
is scarier than him there is nothing
that you can challenge that is bigger
than him and so you go at it with a
confidence and a strength that is
courageous and is awesome now what I
have often found in my own life is that
sometimes God calls me to do the things
that I am most afraid of and you might
have that in your own life God may call
you to do things that you would least
expect you have to do things you think
you can't do and God will specifically
pick those things and put you in those
situations so that you learn that he is
bigger than your problems he's bigger
than your fears and that's what he did
with Gideon I want you to look with me a
judge's 634 and we're going to begin to
wrap it up with this although I need to
give them some time to change into their
robes down there Gideon 6 verse 34
Gideon said to God oh wait a minute oh
I'm in the wrong place sorry
734 no that's the wrong place to see
sorry well I'm just going to tell the
story then because I can't find it i
think i need new glasses here but Gideon
was called to go into battle after he
had this encounter with God right God
said the enemy's Midian and the
Amalekites came against Israel and God
said now is the time now is the time for
you to go into battle and the Bible says
that the Holy Spirit came upon Gideon
but he uses very interesting language
for it the type of anointing the word
that's used for it is it the Holy Spirit
clothed himself with Gideon the Holy
Spirit became Gideon almost kind of
clothed himself with Gideon and then
Gideon blew the trumpet and went into
battle and here's how I read that God
wants to do things on earth but he
chooses to clothe himself with people to
do it have you ever heard the phrase the
we are God's hands and his feet we are
God's mouth God looks for people that he
can work through and you become his
hands you become his feet now God could
just do it he could send an angel right
but for some reason he chooses to use
people to do great things in this world
he chooses to clothe himself with people
and that's what the spirit did with
Gideon he clothed himself with Gideon
it's night the the the the opposing army
covers the the hills like dick so many
camels it's just an amazing throng and
he's got 300 biggest losers with him and
he's got to attack the next day now God
knows that sometimes we're afraid
sometimes we don't know if we can do
what we're called to do so God says if
you're afraid in the middle of the night
I want you to take a walk Gideon go down
among the men and just wander around and
you're going to overhear some
thing that's going to encourage your
heart you ever seen there's a movie
about Henry the fifth a Shakespearean
play where where the king is wandering
among his men hidden that's what Gideon
was doing he just sort of wandered down
and he overheard a couple guys talking
and this guy's saying you're not going
to believe a dream I just had I dreamt
that a big enormous loaf of barley bread
roll down the hill and rolled into the
enemy camp and knocked over the enemy
tent and the ten fell down the guy says
it's got to be Gideon winning a great
victory what's up with a dream about
bread knocking over tents right but it
was all Gideon needed then he knew God
is speaking to me God is encouraging me
to go through with it see greatness and
obeying God isn't about being great it's
about being faithful it's about going
where you're supposed to go and doing
what you're supposed to do and if we put
ourselves at the right place obeying God
even though I feel like I can't do it
God promises I will meet you there my
power will be waiting for you right
there and I will channel through you and
great things will happen sort of like a
lightning rod no lightning is going to
strike the earth it doesn't just strike
the earth it looks for a conductor well
god is looking for conductors for people
who will be faithful where you will just
go where you're supposed to go do what
you're supposed to do and watch God move
through you so Gideon took his 300 men
and does anyone know the story did he
give them swords to fight with no no
he's okay guys here's what we going to
do for the battle you're going to take a
torch and they somehow had glass covers
for the torches made it kind of like a
lamp all right you can hold that in one
hand and in the other hand you're going
to hold a little shofar trumpet we got
300 of them here throw with your little
shofar and when I say a sword for the
Gideon for
for the Lord I don't want you to grab a
sword I want you to blow your your
trumpet so so so we've only got three
hundred guys unarmed guys and we're
gonna blow our little trumpets and we're
gonna win a battle you know Gideon had
asked a question at the beginning of all
this he said where is the god of the
exodus the God who delivered us from
Egypt the god who appeared on Mount
Sinai on Mount Sinai there was the sound
of trumpets blowing there was the sound
of thunder there was light flashing so
when he had these men break those
bottles and blow those trumpets he was
acting out the exodus he was saying the
presence of God is here the god of the
exodus where is he he's right here he's
the same God the same God that delivered
us from Egypt will give us the victory
in this battle it's not about me it's
about God and they did it and we know
the story all the enemy turned on each
other right there were two nations the
Amalekites the Midianites they turned on
each other they started fighting they
started killing each other and getting
with his 300 little guys that's when
they did pick up their swords and they
followed after the enemy it is
considered next to the exodus the
greatest military supernatural victory
in the history of Israel and in the book
it's talked about for the rest of the
Bible and here's where i'm going with
all of this God calls us to be like
Gideon and please not to be like Saul
when you feel like you can't do it when
you feel like there's all kinds of
reasons why you can't serve God the way
he's called you to do remember that God
calls you to just go and then he will
work through you to do great things so
instead of building a monument to prove
that I'm who I think I should be I can
build an altar and worship God and say
God it's not about my strength it's
about my weakness so that the power of
God can be manifest in me now we are
about to do a baptism here and in this
moment of baptism people are being
faithful to God
some people approached me and said I'm
not sure I'm good enough to get baptized
yet I'm not sure I'm good enough yet and
I tell you well do you believe in Jesus
as your Lord and Savior I mean if you
really given your heart to him you're
born again you believe in Jesus yes he's
forgiven your sins yes then you are
ready to get baptized