In this series, we're going verse by verse through the book of Judges, seeing how God continually showed mercy on the Israelites by sending them a rescuer in the form of a "judge," and how the Israelites responded by continually drifting away from God's law. As we study this disturbing and violent book, we can recognize our need for a true savior and how God satisfied his love and his justice through the person of Jesus Christ.
April 30, 2023 |
Judges 10-12:7 |
exposition
Full Transcript Available
What’s your view of God? How do you see Him? Is He up in heaven with a gray beard, wearing a black judge’s robe, with a gavel in His hand, ready to judge you? Or is He like a celestial Santa Claus waiting patiently for your wish list to come in through the prayer line? Maybe you see Him as a hippie guru holding an “All you need is love sign”? Or maybe He looks like Morgan Freeman in the movie Bruce Almighty? Where do you get your view, your understanding of God?
As we continue through Judges, we see the people of Israel declining in the knowledge of God. With every generation, they remember less of His revealed Word to them. They see Him as the pagans do their false gods. In Judges 10-12, the Israelites continued their downward cycle of sin and rebellion against God, becoming less like His special called people and more like the people of the world. When they cried out to the Lord, He empowered another judge to rescue them, yet they have become so worldly that they no longer understand the character of their Lord. We often misunderstand the character of God.
April 23, 2023 |
Judges 8-9 |
exposition
Full Transcript Available
“Spoils” are the reward of having won a victory, as in the “spoils of war.” For in our study today, we’ll see how Gideon’s victory, his success, actually revealed a problem that he had, indeed that we all are apt to have, namely–– we often let success go to our heads. It’s one thing to trust God when we are in a season of lack or trouble. But what about when we’re going through a season of plenty, of prosperity?
In Judges 8-9, the Lord gave victory to Gideon and the Israelites over their Median oppressors, but they let the spoils of war spoil their relationship with God and with one another. They didn’t know how to handle God’s blessings. They let success spoil their hearts. What are the warning signs that success is spoiling our hearts?
April 9, 2023 |
1 Peter 1:3-5 |
easter
Full Transcript Available
For many, their hopes are like wishes, and their hopes are often broken. So that they begin to say to one another, as if it were true wisdom, “Don’t get your hopes up.” Many people today are living without hope.
But when the Bible speaks of hope, it speaks of much stronger stuff! It’s a living hope anchored in Christ’s resurrection and extending through our present and into Christ’s future return. In the apostle Peter’s first letter, he told believers that they had been given new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Christ from the dead. We can have this living hope in Christ!
In this series, we're going verse by verse through the book of Judges, seeing how God continually showed mercy on the Israelites by sending them a rescuer in the form of a "judge," and how the Israelites responded by continually drifting away from God's law. As we study this disturbing and violent book, we can recognize our need for a true savior and how God satisfied his love and his justice through the person of Jesus Christ.
April 2, 2023 |
Judges 7 |
exposition
Full Transcript Available
Admitting our weaknesses, goes against our human nature doesn’t it? We value strength, influence, wealth, possessions, beauty… We don’t care much for weakness, for humility, for being impoverished or downtrodden. Yet, did you know that you can be too big, too rich, too full of yourself to see God’s victory, God’s triumph in your life? Until we admit our weakness apart from God, until we humble ourselves before God, we cannot experience the salvation and victory only He can give us.
Our human default is to trust ourselves, our own wisdom, our own bank accounts, our charge cards, our own strength. But God wants us to learn to put all of our trust in Him. In chapter 7 of Judges, the Lord taught Gideon and the people of Israel to put all their trust in His power to save them, rather than their own strength. We can learn to put all of our trust in the Lord.
