Great Expectations
Sermon Notes
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
- John 16:33
2 Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds.
3 Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country.
4 They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys.
Judges 6:2-4
Principle ONE. Rather than HIDING, ASK FOR GOD’S HELP.
Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.
- Judges 6:6
GOD I NEED HELP!
When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.
- Proverbs 11:2
Principle TWO: Rather than MINIMIZING your worth, MAXIMIZE your strength.
14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
- Judges 6:14-16
16 On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.
17 The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
- Zephaniah 3:16-17
Principle THREE: Rather than worshiping IDOLS build ALTARS.
25 That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.
26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.”
- Judges 6:25-26
Principle FOUR: Rather than a lifetime of LABOR seek a moment of FAVOR!
4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will thin them out for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.”
5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues as a dog laps from those who kneel down to drink.”
6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink.
7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.”
- Judges 7:4-7
19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands.
20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.
22 When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. The army fled.
- Judges 7:19-22
Table Group Resources
Mixer
With the Summer 2020 Paralympics starting in Tokyo next week, who do you know who triumphs over a physical, vision and/or intellectual impairment? What inspires you?
‘Neighborly’ - Daily Devotional
To get the Daily Devotionals delivered to you every morning, text ‘dailydevotional’ to 97000.
In Pastor Ken’s 8/16 entry, Submission, he points out that submitting to one another can only happen after we submit to God first. How have you been wrestling with the word “submit” - in your personal life, work life, and with God? What is at the root of this wrestling? How does the statement “Whether it is clear to you or not, God is in control” motivate you to change some things with submission in mind?
In Pastor Pam’s 8/14 entry, The Best, she described a few scenarios of her quiet time being with the Lord. Who was watching? Who is watching you? Maybe it is not necessarily children, but who at work, at school, your neighborhood, Costco, is watching you? What do they see, and how could they benefit from an encounter with you - one who prioritizes the one thing?
Sermon Questions
On break for July & August! If your group still plans to meet, we still have church on Sundays to uncover the work God wants to do in us and through us! Here are some Inductive Bible Study tools from LOGOS.com to help you unpack Sunday’s message:
What impacted you most about Sunday’s message? Read the Scripture(s) used in the message.
Observation: What does the text say (who, what, when, where, how, why)? Also note uses of words like: therefore, after, now, but, if/then, etc. Notice repeating words or themes, lists of words and their order and definitions, etc. Use multiple Bible versions and compare.
Interpretation: What does the text mean? Look for what the writer is trying to communicate: cultural/historical context; about the author, about the person/people, about God/Jesus/Holy Spirit; what other Scripture that can interpret this text; what is the clearest meaning (being careful to not read into it what it doesn’t say, or what you want it to say)?
Application: What does the text mean to me? “We don’t study the Bible just to gain knowledge. We study to gain knowledge so we know how to live our lives in light of what we’ve learned.” (LOGOS.com) Together with your answer to Question #1, what do you hear God saying to you about you, Him, priorities and decisions, relationships, faith, conflict, spiritual warfare, difficulties, setbacks, and hope? What one action step will you take with this new knowledge?
Go Deeper - with Goodbook
Dr. Mark Strauss & Pastor Ken Ingold World Religions
REMINDER: Goodbook is now on summer break and will relaunch in September!
Serve
There is always more room for smiling faces on Sunday mornings! Ushers/Greeters, Coffee Team, Communion Team - contact sal@thechurchrb.org
You could become a memorable blessing in a child’s or student’s experience with Jesus! Vacation Bible School and MS/HS camps just happened! These experiences cannot happen without the dedication and enthusiasm of our volunteers! One VBS volunteer is a mom that has been serving at VBS for 17 years - her kids all went through it - but she comes back every year and her teen daughter comes too. What a dream team! Another volunteer attended a Table Group and heard about VBS and said “I want to do that!” - and came enthusiastically dressed up for all the Theme Days to rally her team’s spirit! Blessed to be a Blessing! (Last week’s Sunday message 8/1/21)
If you are ready to work with the Spirit of God to be a blessing in our NextGen Ministries, come chat with us!
CRB Kidz - contact Pastor heidi@thechurchrb.org
Middle School - contact Director cristina@thechurchrb.org
High School - contact Pastor caden@thechurchrb.org
Pray
Pray this week with shameless audacity over the turmoil in our world - so much fear and uncertainty. But there is Hope too! Remember the prayer model Jesus gives the disciples in Luke 11:2-4. Bring your extreme aggressiveness together with your extreme submission: who God is, where He is, and that everything IS under His feet. Pray that the God of the Universe will be known world-wide for being a loving, good and kind God, with an unmatched power to rescue, protect, and save. Ask Him to show us how we can help Him bring peace to our world.