Hall of Faith: Gideon - Full Service

welcome to sagebrush church we're so glad you're here if you're new or we just haven't met i'm billy from the worship team for those of you joining us for the first time head over to sagebrush.church forward slash hello so we can connect and send you a free gift if you haven't downloaded the sagebrush app yet what are you waiting for you'll gain immediate access to watch messages read daily devotionals give online and more you can also take notes during the message and have them emailed directly to you after you're done download the sagebrush app today in hebrews chapter 11 god lists his hall of faith but who are these men and women and what do they have to teach us about life today we're continuing our series hall of faith where we get a better grasp on the key people of the bible this week we're talking about gideon and we'll learn how god turned this cowardly man into a mighty warrior but first stand to your feet and get ready to worship with us so as you stand we have some extra reasons today to celebrate and to be filled with joy today we have a group of people who have chosen to trust their lives to jesus and they've chosen to go public with their faith through baptism so we're going to celebrate their boldness today we're going to loudly encourage them as we continue to sing as we lift up the mighty name of god [Music] we worship the god who was we worship the god who is we worship the god whoever more will be he opened the prison doors he potted the regency my god he holds the victory there's joy in the house of the lord there's joy in the house of the lord today and we won't be quiet we shout out your praise there's joy in the house of the lord our god is surely in this place and we won't be quiet we shout out your praises [Music] yeah we sing to the god who heals we sing to the god who saves we sing to the god who always makes a wave cause he hung up on that cross then he rose up from that grave my god still rolling stones away [Music] there's joy in the house and lord there's joy in the house of the lord today and we won't be quiet we shout out your praise there's joy in the house and lord our god is surely in this place and we won't be quiet we shout out your praise [Music] we were the beggars now we're royalty we were the prisoners now we're running free we are forgiven accepted redeemed by his grace let the house of the lord sing praise yeah we were the breakers now we're royalty we were the prisoners now we're running free we are forgiven accepted redeemed by his grace let the house of the lord sing joy in the praise of the lord there's joy in the house of the lord today and we won't be quiet we shout out your praise there's joy in the house of the lord our god is surely in this place and we won't be quiet we're gonna shout out your praise there's joy in the house and alone there's joy in the house of the lord today [Music] [Music] we're gonna shout out your [Music] praise there is joy we shout out your prayers [Music] we'll see you break down every wall we'll watch the giants fall fear cannot survive when we praise you the god of breakthroughs on our side forever lift him high with all creation cry god we praise you come on now we'll see you break down every wall we'll watch the giants fall fear cannot survive when we praise you the god of breakthroughs on our side forever lift him high with all creation cry come we praise you [Music] [Music] crazy all anxiety let it rise let praise our eyes [Music] we see your name in the dark and it changes everything we sing with all we are and we claim your victory so let it [Music] will rise the giants fall fear cannot survive when we praise you the god of greatness on our side forever lived him god we praise you [Music] we praise you [Music] let faith be the song that calms the storm inside of me so let it [Music] fall [Music] [Music] we praise you [Music] this is living looks like this is what freedom feels like this is what heaven sounds like we praise you we praise you this is what living looks like this is what freedom feels like this is what heaven sounds like we praise you we praise you this is what living looks like this is what freedom feels like this is what heaven sounds like we praise you we praise you this is what living looks like this is what freedom feels like this is what heaven sounds like we praise [Music] when we praise you [Music] god we praise you praise you we praise you [Music] mountains are still being moved strongholds still be enlisted god we believe it yes we can see that wonders are still what you do i don't know what mountains or strongholds you're dealing with today but what i do know is we all face them so as we sing whatever it is give it to god the god who is willing and able to do the impossible in our lives let's sing that again [Music] the mountains are still being moved strongholds are still being loosed god we believe it yes we can see that wonders are still what you do we are here for you come and do what you do we are here for you come and do what you do set our hearts on you come and do what you do cause we need to move [Applause] [Music] we need to move [Music] raised [Music] still what you do we are here for you come and do what you do we are here for set our hearts on you come and do what [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] when you move healing is coming in this room miracles happen when you move heaven is coming miracles happen when you move healing is [Music] is [Music] [Music] we are here for you come and do what you do set our hearts on you this is [Music] this is [Music] [Music] i love you lord oh your mercy never fails me [Music] lay my head i will see of the goodness [Music] [Music] with [Music] i love your [Music] like no other [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh the goodness of god [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] now i give you everything [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] of the goodness [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] i'm gonna say [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] god we are grateful for who you are god you've seen us at our worst and you love us anyway you pursue us anyway with your your relentless love god is your kindness that draws us to you and your love that transforms us so have we sing these songs for you it's in jesus mighty name we pray amen thank you so much for singing you can have a seat right now is the perfect time in our service to make sure that your cell phones are switched to the silent position also if you're here and you have small children with you and they become unsettled for any reason we ask that you take them out to our video venue where you can enjoy the rest of the service in the book of hebrews chapter 11 we find the hall of faith an impressive collection of people who put their trust in god on display for all to see among these people we find an unlikely warrior named gideon god called him out of fear out of doubt and against all odds to lead a small army to claim victory over a mighty enemy how did god lead this man from weakness to a warrior let's continue our journey through the great hall of faith so let's talk about it let's talk about gideon and courage in 1835 texas was trying to get its liberation from the mexican government there was a group of texas rebels who went against some mexican soldiers at an old church mission after a few days at the skirmish the mexican soldiers fled the place where the battle occurred was called the alamo now for 25 years texans tried to get their independence from the mexicans and every time they tried to the mexicans would come in against the revolt and the rebellion and they would squash it well at the alamo was 183 warriors men of great courage their motto was victory or death inside the alamo were men like colonel william travis davey crockett and james bowie the founder of the bowie knife these were not your run-of-the-mill men well mexico heard what had happened at the alamo and they weren't too happy about it at all so they sent their best general in to once again squash the rebellion a man named santa anna now santa ana came with thousands upon thousands of troops they surrounded the entire alamo and it was apparent that nobody was going to get out alive it was then that colonel william travis gathered that 183 men together and he basically said listen we've got an opportunity to retreat to get out of here to save our lives but then he said this line he said those prepared to give their lives in freedom's cause come over to me and then he took his sword out of his sheath and drew a line in the sand and immediately all 183 men crossed the line james bowie who was sick with typhoid pneumonia asked that his bed be carried across the line they were determined that they would stand and they would fight well they needed some reinforcements they needed some troops and so james bonham was volunteered to go through the enemy lines and to try to get some reinforcements he traveled 95 miles to an outpost and when he got there all the soldiers at that outpost were already dealing with other battles of the day there were no extra soldiers to come and lend a hand so santa anna pounded against the alamo for 11 straight days and on the 11th final day on march the 6th 1836 he sent those thousands of troops as a frontal assault upon the alamo and all 183 men lost their lives on that place now whatever happened to james bonham who got out and tried to get more troops that guy could have gone anywhere he could have done anything do you know what he did he went back to the alamo before the battle started he somehow made his way back got through enemy lines got back inside of the alamo he said i would rather stand and fight and die by my brothers than do anything else now the mexicans thought that they had won a great battle and they had they had won the battle of the alamo but they had lost the war and they just didn't know it for from that point forward every time there was a battle between the texans and the mexicans the cry was remember the alamo now that's a tremendous story of bravery well our next inductee to the hall of faith he didn't have any courageous attribute at all in fact when you read about his story you think what a wuss that's what you'll think you'll think this guy is a wuss and this is what the promising thing about this story you're ready is that god takes wusses and turns them into warriors and he does it one step at a time friends listen to me god wants to take you where you are i don't care how superficial your faith is how weak your faith is how shallow your faith is god wants to take you one step at a time and he wants to lead you to where he wants you to be he wants to take a wimpy person's faith and make them a mighty warrior for the lord so let me set the story up of gideon for you okay now the story of gideon happens during the time period called the judges it's about a 300-year time period they don't have a king in israel god is their king and from time to time god will raise up a man or a woman to fight against the enemies of their day and so gideon is going to be one of those warriors that's going to rise up to fight against the trouble of the day now what trouble did they have well the trouble they had was the midianites the midianites were the hill people they would come down to the valley area where the israelites live they would ransack them they would take all their crops murder their men rape their women when we get to gideon's story in judges chapter six things have gotten so bad that everybody's hiding in caves everybody's hiding underground they're grabbing their crops and they're taking their crops and they're hiding their crops as well it just appears for the last seven years that god has forgotten about them but one of the things we know about god is that god doesn't forget about anybody let's look at the story judges chapter 6 verse 11. an angel lord came sat down under the oak and oprah that belonged to joash the ibizarite where his son gideon was threshing wheat in a wine press to keep it from the midianites when the angel of the lord appeared to gideon he said the lord is with you mighty warrior okay where's gideon at gideon's hiding underground and what's he doing he's threshing wheat now i've never thresh wheat but not a single moment of my life but what i'm told is that when a person is threshing wheat it's a pretty dusty experience this isn't something you do underground in an enclosed area this is something you do outside so the dust doesn't you know consume you but why is gideon underground threshing wheat it's because he's a wuss it's because he's scared of what the midianites are going to do to him so the angel of the lord appears to him and says listen the lord is with you mighty warrior and i can just imagine gideon looking around going like are you talking to me are you talking to me to give you an idea of what gideon probably looked like think of sheldon from the big bang theory okay it kind of give you an idea if you're a little bit older than that think of urkel from family matters if you're a little bit older than that think of barney fife from the andy now you're really showing your age because you're laughing at that one aren't you i'll tell you what so this is not a warrior this is not a strong person so the lord is with you mighty warrior and gideon's gotta be looking around going are you talking to me are you there's no way you're talking to me and so getty has a conversation with the angel who says listen i've been called a lot of things in my lifetime but i've never been called mighty warrior i've been called puny i've been called wimp i've been called loser i've been called weak but no one has ever seen mighty warrior in me if you don't get anything else i say today get this god sees things in you you don't see in yourself god sees things in you that you don't even see in yourself gideon is a very insecure person he doesn't believe that god could ever use him for anything great for anything good look what happens here judges 6 14 the lord turned to him and said go on the strength you have and save israel out of midian's hands am i not sending you but lord gideon asked how can i save israel my clan is the weakest in manasseh and i am the least in my family and he says what do i say i think you're i think you're brought up the wrong tree here i i come from the smallest little tribe and in the smallest little tribe there's a small little clan that i'm a part of and that small little clan i'm the smallest and the families of those clans and in that small little family i'm the smallest in that family so lord you're calling the smallest of the small of the smaller the small of the small to be the leader to to raise up an army against the millionaire people i think you've got the wrong person how many times you've done the same thing you know that you know that god wants to do something great in your life and yet you discount it so very very quickly you say things like well i don't see myself in that position i don't think i can do that i i i don't know that i have the strength for that and yet what does god's word say when you say i can't do that god says i can do all things through christ who gives me strength no matter what the situation no matter what the circumstance i can find a strength that's greater than myself because jesus lives inside me his holy spirit lives inside of me how many times you hear people say i can't handle that i can't i can't conquer that hill i can't deal with that right there i always say i thought the bible said that we're more than conquerors because of christ jesus our lord how many times have you said well that's impossible there's there's no way that can work out that's crazy right there i thought the bible said that nothing is impossible with god we we walk around so full of fear and so full of insecurity we don't see ourselves doing this and we don't see ourselves doing that and so we discount whatever god wants us to do with our life how do i know about that because i do the same thing you were thinking all my years following jesus that i would be some brave courageous person who never felt a little shred of fear anymore because the lord is with him and i'm more than a conqueror i deal with insecurity all the time it's it's easy to have that sinful brain that we've got up here that's so jacked up tell us that we're never going to amount to anything that god could never use us to do anything significant and all of a sudden you find yourself beginning to question you know you begin to doubt god and so you discount what god wants to do in your life and so you end up with a less than kind of a life rather than a life that moves forward with faith we back down with fear right i've had many times in my life when i knew this is what god wanted me to do but i knew it would take everything i had to do it and i wanted to find an exit i wanted to find a way out why did i keep moving forward was it because the fear just magically disappeared can i let you know a secret the fear will never go away if you're waiting for the day to do something great for god when the fear goes away you will never do anything great for god the fear is never going away you got to push forward in spite of the fear so where do i turn when i feel like i'm paralyzed when i when i know the right thing to do i know the right direction to go where do i turn to give me the strength to keep moving forward i turn to the word of god all these people that we've looked at in the hall of faith you know you've got to know their stories you've got to walk their stories remember i told you at the beginning of this series i said if you'll just walk with me during this thing if you'll do the daily devotionals you'll download the app if you'll just listen and apply what god's word is saying you can get a better grasp on god's word than ever before and here we are up to the story of gideon and there's a guy who's insecure and you look at that you say how did god take him from where he is to where god wanted him to be and it was one small step at a time that encourages me you know the passages of scripture that give me the greatest joy the greatest encouragement is when god uses the most unlikely people i love it when when jesus goes up on a hillside prays all night and comes down and he picks 12 disciples to be the ones that are going to be the key guys to change the world you know who these 12 guys were that jesus picked this encourages me they were the losers of the day they had already dropped out of rabbi school they didn't make the cut they were already back to their dad's business and they couldn't even do their dad's business well you ever notice that every time peter james and john and andrew go out fishing they don't catch anything not one time in the bible those guys ever here they are fishermen and they can't seem to catch a single fish unless jesus tells them where to drop their nets they're terrible even at that these were the partiers of the day my goodness if we put 300 people up on this stage and we said pick the 12 best people and you had to interview every single one and the 12 disciples were standing up here you wouldn't have picked a single one of them and yet god did because god sees something in us that we don't see in ourselves if we'll just move forward with faith and not let fear get the best of us what we're getting he's absolutely paralyzed he's paralyzed by fear and he doesn't believe that god can do anything significant in his life because he doesn't believe that he's following a significant god now how in the world do we know that well the conversation continues between gideon and the angel and gideon basically says listen i don't know what to tell you i'm here down in this ground threshing wheat because i'm scared to death of my life i'd like to know where's god where's god in my situation why isn't god intervened why hasn't god pushed the midi knights back i don't know i don't think i'm significant and i don't think i worship a very significant god can i ask you a question what are you expecting god to do because most people aren't expecting god to do anything and that's why they're not seeing god do anything in their life because they're not expecting god to do anything of their life you know why we stop expecting god to do great things in our life because god in our mind says let us down oh he would never say it because that wouldn't be spiritual but how many times he felt like you know i prayed a prayer and god didn't come through the way i thought he should come through and so therefore i'm not sure that i'm going to continue to follow after him as hard as i did before we're not expecting anything because in our minds he he let us down i understand that too this past week my daughter underwent her fourth back surgery this is a surgery number four she's already had two other procedures where they had to knock her out trying to get her back back together again the first surgery we went into it with great confidence believing that god was going to heal her and that god was going to use the doctors to do it and we prayed and believed big hairy audacious things and that surgery didn't work so the second surgery came and we believed again that god would intervene that god would fix her and he didn't so we went to the third surgery and it didn't work either then we went through a procedure and then another procedure and that didn't work either one of the things you know about my daughter camie and i is that we spend a lot of time reading the bible together almost every single night and when we ramp up for a surgery we spend a lot of time reading the great stories in the old testament because we need faith we need confidence cammie's counting on me to come up with a pep talk and boy the first surgery i had some good pep talks second surgery had some really good pep talks third surgery it was waning just a little bit this fourth surgery she said dad i'm really gonna need you i'm gonna need the word of god i need those pep dogs i didn't have anything to give her i was so down and so frustrated and so discouraged and i was praying i kept thinking i've prayed and i've prayed and i've prayed and i've prayed for god to intervene where are you why aren't you fixing this situation why aren't you doing something about this it's because of my daughter i stayed in the word of god it's because of my daughter we kept looking up passages of scripture believing even though we couldn't see it keep walking down that path even though the path was hard even though the path was difficult on the day before the surgery we were reading mark chapter two i even said to her on that night i said i got no pep talk for you kid i'm out i've done the best i can i'm praying for god to do a miracle but my faith well it's kind of like the guy who brought to his son to jesus and and said i i do believe but help my unbelief so we read mark chapter two and three times we just randomly picked that chapter for no reason at all in mark chapter two three times jesus heals somebody and i said you know what the number three is the number of completion god wanted just to hear for you and for me that he still got it and that he could still control it and it was from the word of god that we found strength to face that last surgery now i don't know if that surgery was successful or not we won't know for several weeks until all the pain medications have gone away and how well she's been able to function at that point in time but this is a thing that me and my family have decided that no matter what no matter what whether she's healed or not whether she's better or not blessed be the name of the lord blessed be the name of the lord we're going to hold on to him as he holds on to us we're going to have that defiant faith when my wife was at the hospital she talked to a woman my wife got lost and and there was a lady there and my wife said i don't know where to go and ladies and well i'll show you the way out and so the lady took my wife outside and my wife said hey do you work here and the woman said no i don't she said well how do you know your way around how how do you know your way around the hospital so well and she said well this is my daughter's 70th surgery what do you do when it doesn't work out the way you want to work out what do you do when things don't come around the way you want them to come around do you just throw in the town you say forget about it where do you have that defiant faith that says no matter what i'm going to trust the lord even though it doesn't make any sense even though my situation makes no sense blessed be the name of the lord i'm holding on to him as he holds on to me what are you expecting god to do let me let me let you a little secret god never promised you that everything would work out the way you wanted it to god never promised that every prayer you pray would be answered the way you want to be answered let me give you a shot of reality this is not your home this is not where we belong and one day we're going to a place where there is no more sickness there is no more suffering there is no more pain for the old order of things has finally passed away for behold our god is making everything new that's not today that's in the future jesus went through pain jesus went through suffering and you will have hard times don't let it discourage you don't let it get it down you have that defiant resilient faith that no matter what comes your way blessed be the name of the lord now look at what happens here okay all right got me snotting up and everything else all right so here we go so look what happens the lord answered gideon he said i'll be with you and you will strike down all the midianites together i want you to hear that no matter what you're facing god will be with you one step at a time now god knew that gideon needed a victory he knew that he knew and so first thing he said was hey before you go and we take on the midianites together let's first off get a small little victory i want you to knock down all the altars to baal now this was a big deal for gideon now the worship of baal was really bad it had to deal with sexual immorality i'd do a child sacrifice you think about the loss of one child and then you compound that by thousands of infant children being sacrificed to a false god it was a heinous thing and god says it's got to go here's the problem for gideon his dad is the one who set up all those altars to baal how many times do you think gideon stood up to his dad remember we're talking about sheldon here right look at what he does gideon took 10 of his servants as and did as the lord told him but because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town he did it at night rather than in the daytime so getting scared so what's he doing he does it at night he goes and vandalizes at night i know if you've ever been a vandal before i don't want to know we're not going to do confession right now i don't want to know but if you've ever vandalized if you had four or five guys with you when you're out vandalizing you know that one of those bozos is going to say something right that's just the way that it works someone's going to say hey do you hear about so-and-so and someone's going to say hey i was a part of that like an idiot you know that's what they'll do well one of gideon's men does the same thing say oh somebody knocked down the altar of the bell and they said i was a part of that and gideon led us to it well the people aren't excited about that so they gather around they want to kill gideon and gideon is such a wuss he doesn't even defend what he's done he hides it's his dad who comes to his rescue judges chapter 6 31 the dad says if baal really is a god he can defend himself now this is a huge test for gideon because god wants to see who are you going to listen to gideon you're going to listen to what your dad has to say or you're going to listen to what i have to say are you ready for the next big thing on a step of faith is you got to decide who you're going to live your life for are you going to live your life for the things of man where you become a hero to a zero in 60 seconds flat are you going to live your life for the kingdom of god and for the opinion of god i remember i was a student pastor all the kids who would all of a sudden the new style would come out everybody was wearing the new style or the newest band was out and everybody was listening to the latest banner the new hairstyle would come out and all the girls had the latest hairstyle you're like what in the world is going on does nobody have an individual mind and the answer when you're in high school is no it's all heard isn't it whatever the crowd is doing that's what everybody wants to do and why is that because of acceptance we crave acceptance we crave to be a part of a group of people who will love us and accept us and we'll change anything to get that acceptance doesn't change when you get older how many times have you seen somebody make a poor decision in their life because they got around people who are making poor decisions in their life and so they wanted to fit in they wanted to be accepted with other people this is what's going on with gideon getting who do you want to be accepted by who are you living your life to please are you living your life to please man or are you living your life to please god it's a big question you got to ask yourself well gideon passes the test so now you think he's ready to face the midianites right but gideon is a wuss remember i told you that and he's still afraid look at what happens here it says that gideon was doubting god now that shocks me because gideon has just seen an angel if i ever saw an angel i don't think i'd ever doubt god again but he begins to doubt god and so gideon said to him he says if you'll save israel by my hand as you've promised look i'll place a wolf fleece on the threshing floor if there's dew on the fleece and all the ground is dry then i'll know that you will save israel by my hand as you said now gideon doesn't just do this one time he does it two times he says i want the fleece to be dry and i want the ground to be wet and then i want the the fleece to be wet and the ground to be dry does it two times he says listen i'm really going to trust you i need some signs now how many times you've done this as well god i'll have this conversation if you'll give me a sign right god i'll do this for you if you give me a sign now one of the things that i'm impressed with about god is he doesn't get mad at gideon there's no place in scripture where god says gideon you are such a loser what is wrong with you i mean how many times are going to come through for you before you finally trusted me come on giddy let's go no place in scripture where god does that in fact god gives gideon what he needs to take the next step and so god does the miracles and gideon says all right i'm your man i know you're real i know you're true i'll go forward and so god says great get an army together so gideon makes a cry out to the people and says we need to get an army together and 32 000 people gathered together to face the midianites now gideon's got himself two problems one is the midianites have 135 000 soldiers gideon's only got 32 000 soldiers he's outnumbered four to one i don't know if you notice or not but those aren't good odds okay that's the first problem that gideon's got second problem that gideon has got is that god has come to him now and said you've got too many men and gideon's like what i got too many men that's the craziest thing i've ever heard in my life if you go to war lord i don't know if you know it's not you need as many men as you can get and god said no you got too many men getting says what are you talking about we got too many men god said listen you go into battle you're going to think you're all that in a box of chicken you're nothing more than a wing you're going to win the battle you're going to take all the credit for yourself got too many men gideon says all right what do you want me to do so god said you go before the people and you tell the men if anybody is scared they can go home and gideon says does that include me because i'm kind of scared right now to be honest with you so he says well that's the dumbest thing i heard my life but i'll do it so he stands before the people for the soldiers and says listen everybody's scared to go against the midianites you can go home and 20 22 000 did he's down to 10 000 men so again says all right well i hope you're happy with that we're down to ten thousand you're ready to go god said no you got too many men and he's like whoa too many men we're down to ten thousand the odds are 13 to one too many men that's crazy god said no you will go into battle and you'll win the battle and you'll think i did this and no no no no the odds aren't big enough against me you got too many men so gideon says what do you want me to do and this is what god tells him to do so gideon took the men down to the water there the lord told him separate those who lapped the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneeled down to drink 300 men lapped with their hands to their mouths all the rest got down on their knees to drink so the 300 men who knelt down to get a drink guess what he said those are the 300 men that we want god looks at gideon says now we have enough men the odds are 450 to 1. and the bible says that gideon was scared yeah you think let me tell you about god he loves to be the underdog he loves it when the odds are against him when you feel like everything is caving in around you when nothing makes any sense when you can barely breathe another breath you're just exactly where god wants you to be god loves to be the underdog listen things think about this how in the world do we know the story about jesus born in a small little stable in a small little town of bethlehem we shouldn't know that story but god loves to be the underdog now gideon's got a choice just like you got a choice right god sent you out he goes got a great task for you to do you've got to break through all the fears of insecurity you got to break through the fears of what everybody else is going to think and everybody else is going to say and now you're ready to go now you have a choice and god begins to widdle the odds against you will you move forward or will you back down i mean let's say for a second that that that i'm gideon and you're my 300. you going to follow me into battle because i know a lot of you guys are like yeah represent come on liar liar pants on fire how do i know you won't follow me into battle because you won't do the small things that god asks you to do every day you ever gonna have that conversation with that friend who's far from god you ever going to get in that small group you ever going to serve in a ministry are you ever going to get baptized because i know you've given yourself a thousand different excuses as to why you're not the right person for the job gideon's scared we can relate to that can't we god says this is what i want you to do and so god knows gideon's scared she says all right gideon i know you're afraid i know you're worried about only having 300 people to go into battle together with but that that's okay we'll make it through here's what i want you to do gideon i want you to go in and i want you to scope out the midi night camp and i want you to kind of hide behind some bushes and i want you to listen to the conversations that they're having so that's what gideon does and when he's listening he hears a soldier say well i had a dream last night and the dream was this big loaf of bread was rolling down the side of the hill and just took out the entire midianite army and another soldier said well i know what your dream means that means that god has placed gideon in his men in into our hands we're hoes man gideon's going to come in here it's just going to ransack us we're going to lose and we're going to lose big now i've never personally had a dream about a loaf of wonder bread rolling down the side of a hill taking people out but this was all that gideon needed to hear he knew now that the battle belongs to the lord that the lord had gone before him so he goes back so he goes back to his 300. he says you're ready to go and these 300 said yeah so gideon divides him up into three different groups 100 here 100 here 100 here and he says all right guys here's your weapons horn to blow a jar to break torch to shine and a voice to shout let's go no swords no shields no bows and arrow everybody gets a trumpet everybody gets a jar everybody gets a torch and everybody gets to scream would you do it because there's no way we had done it gideon says this is the plan this is what the lord wants us to do and i know it doesn't make any sense but if we'll do it he'll be faithful so they divide up they surround the entire midi night camp they blow their trumpets they break their jars they wave their torches and they scream and the bible says that the lord caused confusion among the midianites and they began to inwardly fight and they killed each other because the battle belongs to the lord isn't that good great story todd what's it got do with my life well your life belongs to the lord and your dreams belong to the lord and your hopes belong to the lord and your future belongs to the lord so what next step do you need to take because gideon goes from a wimp to a warrior because he was willing to take the small steps that god had for him to take along the way and that's the challenge isn't it if you really want to be strong for the lord then you have to take the next step today so what is he asking you to do is he asking you to trust in him because some of you've been coming and watching for a long long time and you've never finally prayed that prayer to ask christ into your life you're gonna be stuck friends if you don't take that next step some of you have given your life to jesus and yet you've never been baptized for whatever reason you've got an excuse for that right you're never going to become the warrior the strong person for jesus until you start doing the elementary things that he's commanded us to do my goodness some of us won't even tithe you won't give a dime to the things of god in the kingdom of god it's a step of faith one step after another step after another step and if you look back over six months you'll say that's where i was this is where i am today today look at what god has done look at how he strengthened my faith friends what step does he want you to take and here's the great thing so no matter what step it is you won't take it alone he will be with you he will go into battle with you because the battle belongs to the lord let's pray dear heavenly father give us faith to take a step just a small step forward to be the people that you want us to be god we have so much settled along the way we have let fear get the best of us and you have called us into a life of adventure a life of faith and we come up with a million reasons and insecurities as to why we can't have that kind of life god it starts one small step at a time so god give us the strength to take the step to be courageous for you knowing that the battle belongs to you i ask this in jesus name amen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] when all i see is the bell you see my victory when all i see mountain you see a mountain moved and as i walk through the shell your love surrounds me there's nothing to fear now for i'm safe [Music] so when i fight i'll fight on my knees with my hands lifted high oh god the battle belongs to you and every [Music] oh god the battle belongs to you [Music] [Applause] and if you are for me who can be against me [Music] for jesus there's nothing impossible for you [Music] it's true [Music] [Applause] oh god [Music] that'll be [Music] almighty fortress you go before us nothing can stand against the power of our god you shine in the shadows you win every battle nothing can stand against the power of our god and almighty fortress you go before us nothing can stand against the power of our god you shine in the shadows [Music] you go before [Music] nothing [Music] [Music] with my hands [Music] oh god the battle belongs to you [Music] god sees what we can become if you're struggling with something or want to talk to someone about who you can become with god on your side call 505-922-9200 and a member of our pastoral team will connect with you if you don't have the time to do that right now you can visit sagebrush.church forward slash connect and we will contact you soon we want to stay connected with you through the sagebrush app you'll be able to watch past messages devotionals online giving and so much more you can also submit prayer requests and get information on next steps like receiving christ getting baptized joining a small group or even finding a spot to serve with us we want to help you stay connected with others so no matter what stage of life you're in download the sagebrush app today lastly be sure to follow us on instagram facebook and youtube to stay up to date on all of our online content and worship videos thanks for joining us today we'll see you next week as we continue our series hall of faith

Channel: Sagebrush Church

Views: 1,803

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: daily devotions, christianity, bible study, church social media, pastor, social media pastor, youtube pastor, sagebrush, sagebrush church, Albuquerque church, New Mexico church, todd cook, pastor todd

Id: bCA-55443Zs

Length: 61min 25sec (3685 seconds)

Published: Sat Sep 11 2021