Awestruck

South Union Baptist Church

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Awestruck

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

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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.

The Promised Birth Of An Army Of One

November 5, 2023 • Pastor Chad Thompson • Judges 13:1–5, Judges 13:24–25

Bottom Line – God will do more through you because of your faithfulness than He will do through you in spite of your unfaithfulness. Samson's birth (i.e. the birth of an army of one) was promised. He would be a child with great potential and a champion with great power. Samson was a man who was blessed by God with supernatural power. And there were times in his life where he exercised faith to use his strength to do amazing feats. Yet, when we study Samson's life we see that although he did exercise episodes of faith, he did not exercise faithfulness. He became so unfaithful to God that God's presence and power left Samson and he didn't even know it. Did God use Samson? Yes. In spite of his unfaithfulness God did use him. But how much more would God have done through Samson if he had been faithful to God?