February 8, 2015 - How God Turns Nobodies Into Somebodies (Goehner)

How God Turns Nobodies Into Somebodies

Hebrews 11:32 and Judges 6 & 7

Judges 6:11 – The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the Midianites.

Verse 12 – The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.

Four Steps To Becoming Somebody Usable:

Step One: Affirmation.

Verse 12 – You are a mighty warrior.

Verse 13 – But sir, if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and put His hand into the hand of Midian.

Verse 15 – But Lord, Gideon asked, how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Mannasseh, and I am the least in my family.

-The wrong village.
-The wrong family.
-The wrong guy.

Verse 14 – Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?

Verse 16 – I will be with you, and you will strike down the Midianites as if they were but one man.

-I am sending you.
-I’m going to be with you.
-You can’t fail.

Step Two: Revelation.

Verse 22-24 – When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. But the Lord said to him, peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die. So Gideon built an altar there, and he called the altar, the Lord is Peace.

Altar: A personal commitment to God.

Lesson: Before you are ready to fight external battles, you must have internal peace.

Step Three: Confrontation.

Three Tests:

-God may test you spiritually.

Verse 25-27 – Tear down your fathers’ altar to Baal, so Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him.

Exodus 20:3 – Thou shalt have no other gods before Me.

-God may test you emotionally.

Lesson: Service for the Lord always begins at home.

-God may test you physically.

Judges 6:30 – The men of the town demanded of Joash, bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar.

Verse 31 – But Joash replied to the hostile crowd, are you going to plead Baal’s cause? If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself.

Step Four: Transformation

Verse 34 – Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon.

Lesson: Power always comes after testing.

Luke 4:1 – Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, was led by the Spirit into the desert.

Verse 14 – Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.

July 13 2014 Faith For Life's Problems

Faith For Life's Problems

Without Mary’s faith, the compassion and power of God would never have been released into the people’s lives.

Five Insights Into Mary’s Faith

1. Her faith understood the setting.

Verse 1 – There was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the Mother of Jesus was there.

We may often miss a miracle in life because we think God is not interested in people like you and me.

Judges 6:12 – The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.

Luke 1:31 – You will bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus.

Jesus said, He came to give us life more abundant.

2. Her faith understood the situation.

Verse 3 – (Mary) – They have no more wine.

Is this not reality, that our best attempts have not led to God, but to lives where the wine of living has run out.

3. Her faith understood the solution.

Verse 5 – Do whatever He tells you.

You can go to Jesus with the confidence that His life will always be enough for you.

4. Her faith understood the sufficiency.

Verses 6 & 7 – Now six stone jars were standing there, each holding about 20 or 30 gallons. Jesus said, fill the jars with water, and they filled them to the brim.

Lesson: No matter how deeply you draw on Jesus for power to live, you cannot exhaust His grace.

• Paul: in isolation.
• Peter: on trial.
• Stephen: being stoned.

5. Her faith enjoyed great satisfaction.

Verse 10 – Every man serves the good wine first and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.

When Jesus enters the life, there comes a new dimension for living.

God can be found. He is the resting place you need.

June 29 2014 Finding Courage Over Fear

God On FIlm: Finding Courage Over Fear

Memory Verse: “Be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid of them! The LORD your God will go ahead of you. He will neither fail you nor forsake you.” - Deuteronomy 31:6

Gideon Faces His Fear with Courage
(Judges 6-7)

Judges 6:1-6 Again the Israelites did what was evil in the LORD's sight. So the LORD handed them over to the Midianites for seven years. The Midianites were so cruel that the Israelites fled to the mountains, where they made hiding places for themselves in caves and dens. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, marauders from Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east would attack Israel, camping in the land and destroying crops as far away as Gaza. They left the Israelites with nothing to eat, taking all the sheep, oxen, and donkeys. These enemy hordes, coming with their cattle and tents as thick as locusts, arrived on droves of camels too numerous to count. And they stayed until the land was stripped bare. So Israel was reduced to starvation by the Midianites. Then the Israelites cried out to the LORD for help.”

*What is the greatest fear I am facing right now?

HOW DO I FIND COURAGE IN THE FACE OF FEAR?
Ž 

• ADMIT my insecurities.

Judges 6:11-16 Gideon son of Joash had been threshing wheat at the bottom of a wine press to hide the grain from the Midianites. The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said, ‘Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!’ ‘Sir,’ Gideon replied, ‘if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us?...But now the LORD has abandoned us and handed us over to the Midianites.’ Then the LORD turned to him and said, ‘Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!’ ‘But Lord,’ Gideon replied, ‘how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!’ The LORD said to him, ‘I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.’”*What insecurity is keeping me from moving forward with courage? 
Ž 

• CONFIRM God is With you BEFORE MOVING FORWARD.

Judges 6:36 -40 Then Gideon said to God, ‘If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put some wool on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.’ And it happened just that way. When Gideon got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water. Then Gideon said to God, ‘Please don't be angry with me, but let me make one more request. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.’ So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.”
Ž 

• PLACE YOUR Trust in God OVER PEOPLE AND THINGS.

Judges 7:2 -7 The LORD said to Gideon, ‘You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. Therefore, tell the people, “Whoever is timid or afraid may leave and go home.”’ Twenty two thousand of them went home, leaving only ten thousand who were willing to fight. But the LORD told Gideon, ‘There are still too many! Bring them down to the spring, and I will sort out who will go with you and who will not.’ When Gideon took his warriors down to the water, the LORD told him, ‘Divide the men into two groups. In one group put all those who cup water in their hands and lap it up with their tongues like dogs. In the other group put all those who kneel down and drink with their mouths in the stream.’ Only three hundred of the men drank from their hands. All the others got down on their knees and drank with their mouths in the stream. The LORD told Gideon, ‘With these three hundred men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home.’”
Ž 

• OBEY God Completely AND MOVE FORWARD in Faith

Judges 7:16, 19 - 22 He divided the three hundred men into three groups and gave each man a ram's horn and a clay jar with a torch in it...It was just after midnight, after the changing of the guard, when Gideon and the one hundred men with him reached the outer edge of the Midianite camp... Then all three groups blew their horns and broke their jars. They held the blazing torches in their left hands and the horns in their right hands and shouted, ‘A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!’ Each man stood at his position around the camp and watched as all the Midianites rushed around in a panic, shouting as they ran. When the three hundred Israelites blew their horns, the LORD caused the warriors in the camp to fight against each other with their swords. Those who were not killed fled.”