Gideon's Fleece And Faith

South Union Baptist Church

Gideon's Fleece And Faith

September 10, 2023 • Pastor Chad Thompson • Judges 6:33—7:7

Bottom line: Our willingness to do the will of God is key to God assuring us of His will and confirming our faith to accomplish His will.

Gideon is a man who needs assurance that he is doing God's will and reassuring that God will do what God has said He will do. Gideon puts God to the test with his "putting out the fleece." And graciously, God condescends to Gideon and does as Gideon requests. God gives Gideon the assurance he asks for. While Gideon wobbles in his faith, he does have one thing going for him - he is willing. After Gideon has put God to the test, God puts Gideon to the test. He tests Gideon's faith and then confirms that Gideon is the man for the job that God has called him to, i.e. to save Israel from the hand of Midian.

Awestruck

November 26, 2023 • Pastor Chad Thompson • Judges 17, Isaiah 6:1–8

Bottom line: The Christian life is lame when God is not King! In the time of the Judges, the nation of Israel struggled with idolatry. That struggle is as real for us today as it was for Israel then. The first commandment is: Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. It reveals the biggest struggle of our lives, i.e. the struggle to keep God first in our lives, to live in a way that God is truly God of our lives. The second commandment is: thou shalt not make any graven image. It reveals our struggle to worship God as He truly is. We don't have to fashion a physical image in order to worship a god who is the work of our hands. We can reshape and revise who God is in our minds and hearts. We can bring God downward in holiness and man-ward in appearance (i.e. character, behavior, etc.). When we revise and reshape God, we practice idolatry, and our Christian experience becomes lame. Being awestruck with God is the result of recognizing God as our uncontrollable, holy King.

Repent And Fight Another Day

November 19, 2023 • Pastor Chad Thompson • Judges 16:21–31

Bottom line: Rock bottom doesn't have to be our final defeat; it can be the place from which we repent and fight another day victoriously. At rock bottom Samson humbled his heart in repentance and sought God's help by faith to restore his strength. Samson's greatest victory was on the other side of his rock bottom experience. Samson repented to fight another day. By faith he won the victory. Samson's experience is an encouragement to us to not give up or give in to the apparent defeat of hitting rock bottom. Instead, let's do what Samson did - repent and fight another day victoriously.

Samson's Kryptonite

November 12, 2023 • Pastor Chad Thompson • Judges 16:19–21

Bottom line: A compromised calling + a corrupted character = a collision course with a sinful disaster. Samson is the picture of a believer who gets on a collision course with a sinful destruction. Samson compromised his calling by not living a life separated from sin and to God. He regularly chose to sin sexually, pridefully, disrespectfully, selfishly, etc. Samson literally became imprisoned in Gaza because he first became a prisoner of sin. The lesson we learn from Samson is that sin will not only eventually bring destruction, but it will predictably bring destruction. The course of sin in our lives is enticement, control, and betrayal. Sin will do to us metaphorically what actually happened to Samson. Sin will blind us, bind us, and make our lives grind.