the Faith Funnel Mountain Life Church/Life Pack/Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2013
The Faith Funnel Sermon Notes November 30-December 1, 2013 I. Gideon gets His Sheepskin! Judges 6: 33-40 A. Was this a confirmation or a fleecing? 1. Gideon is about to lay his status and his life on the line 2. Some believe Gideon is testing God, which is wrong 3. Because God honored Gideon s request, he is simply seeking confirmation B. Manipulation: The way of the pagan 1. Our tendency is to manipulate God God cannot be manipulated God does not manipulate us - He does nothing in us without our consent 2. I must join God in what He is doing He is the King, I am the servant I live for Him, He does not live for me My purpose is to honor and glorify Him, not for Him to give me what I want II. The Faith Walk A. Faith is ALWAYS initiated by God 1. It s always His idea, not mine 2. He comes to me, I don t come to Him B. Faith involves risk 1. Trusting the invisible God 2. Putting big things on the line C. Our tendency is to avoid risk and save ourselves D. The bigger the faith step, the greater confirmation needed 2 1. God delights in confirming His word to us 2. We can depend on Him to confirm that He is truly with us and is leading us 19
Table Talk Teens Read Judges 6:33-40, 7:1-8 Question One: Before the fight with the Midianites, Gideon asked for signs to test God s guidance. Describe the signs God gave to Gideon. Question Two: Gideon himself was aware that he was doing something unwise, if not sinful, since he asked God not to be angry with him. Why do you think Gideon needed to test God? Question Three: In verse 6: 40, despite Gideon s lack of faith, God did so that night. That is, He accommodated both of his requests. What does God s response to Gideon s requests tell us about God s character? III.Downsizing the Military A. Strength through weakness! 1. God commands Gideon to downsize the military 2. Then He wants it downsized again B. The Valiant 300 1. God s method to get Gideon and the people to trust Him 2. God always pushes me to trust in Him 3. Gideon is forced to walk by faith, not by sight IV.The Lesson for Me A. What must I discard to go forward? 1. What idols do I still hold onto that bring me nothing but misery? 2. What bitterness do I need to forgive? B. How is God initiating with me? 1. What does He want me to do? 2. Where is He still waiting on me? 3. What do I need to step out and do NOW? Question Four: Many people have relied on Gideon s example as a way of seeking guidance from the Lord, putting out a fleece. What are examples of ways you seek guidance from the Lord? Question Five: Gideon s requests only made evident his weak faith. Isaiah modeled a proper response to God s will; he said in Isaiah 6: 8 Here am I! Send me. So, too, did the disciples in Mark 1: 18-20, who dropped their nets immediately and followed Jesus. What would be your response to God s calling on your life? 18 3
Life Group Questions for November 30-December 1, 2013 Message =The Faith Funnel Ice Breaker: Tell about a joke you played on someone or a joke played on you. Read Judges 6: 33 through 7: 7. 1. What do you observe about this passage? 2. Do you think Gideon was right or wrong to put out the fleece? Do you think he was trying to manipulate God? Please explain. 3. Have you ever tried to manipulate God to do something for you? Please tell the story. 4. How can you tell if you are seeking confirmation from God, or if you are trying to manipulate Him to do something for you? 5. God reduced the army of Israel twice until there were only 300 men. What is the lesson for us in this passage? What hope do you get from this story? 6. As a group, verbally trace the steps of Gideon s life since he met the angel in the winepress. How do you see him being transformed? 7. Randy talked about how faith is always initiated by God. What has He spoken to you lately and how does His command to you involve walking in faith? 8. Tell about a big moment in your life when you had to face a fear and walk by faith. 9. As a group, take time to pray and ask God how He would like to lead your group in a step of faith. 10. Pray for one another. Table Talk Elementary Focus: Coach God Scripture: Psalm 86: 11 Day 1 - Who is your favorite sports hero, actor or singer? We tend to like these people because they are good at what they do. What if this person suddenly showed up today and said to you, I want to be your coach. What would you say? I doubt you d say, No, I do not need your help. Nobody would pass up the chance to be coached by people who are considered the best in what they do. Day 2 - Believe it or not, sometimes we turn down God s offer to help make us the best people we can be. Sometimes we say, No, God, I don t need Your help. I can figure this out on my own. But God is the ultimate coach for how we should live our lives. Psalm 86: 11 says, Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth. We can always be ready for God to coach us in His ways. He knows better than anyone how we can live our lives the best way possible. What issue/situation are you facing in your life that you could use God s coaching for? Day 3 - The book of Judges has a wonderful story about a man named Gideon who did what his coach asked, even when it didn t make sense to him. Read Judges 7: 2-8. Why did God tell Gideon there were too many soldiers? What do you think Gideon learned about God through this story? What would you have thought if you were Gideon? We can learn a lot from Gideon s example of trust and obedience. He listened and obeyed his coach even when, to him, it didn t make sense. We can do the same. We can ask God to help us make good choices instead of relying on our own ideas. God is able to coach us just like He coached Gideon to victory against the Midianites! Prayer: God, help us to do things Your way. Thank You for being our coach and teaching us to do what is right. In Jesus name, amen. 4 17
Table Talk Preschool & Nursery John 1: 1-3, Luke 1: 26-38 and 46-55 Day 1: Read John 1: 1-3 and Philippians 2: 5-8 Share the stories of how each of you got your name and what your name means, if you know. We can learn new things about Jesus by the names He was given. We will talk about only a few names He was given during this Christmas season. First, Jesus is God! He was with God in the very beginning. Ask your child(ren) to share with you what they think that means. Day 2: Read Luke 1: 26-38 Talk about how special it is that Jesus was born as a baby. God is always trying to reach out to us and, one day long ago, Jesus decided to leave the amazing wonders of heaven to live here with us on earth. He came down as a baby! God sent the angel, Gabriel, and he instructed Mary to name the baby, Jesus. Personal Devotion Pages The following pages are designed to help you enjoy a regular time alone with God. We have divided up the curriculum to help us grow wherever we are at in our relationship with God and in our knowledge of His Kingdom. LEVELS: Since we are a Colorado church, we use skiing imagery to communicate the different levels of intensity and time involved in relating to God. BEGINNER: If you are new in your relationship with God, we encourage you to try the exercises under this symbol: INTERMEDIATE: If you have walked with God for some time and would like a little more challenge and more time involvement, try the exercises under this symbol: Memory Verse: In his very nature he was God. -Philippians 2: 6a Day 3: Read Luke 1: 46-55 Baby Jesus was God s son, but He was also God. How amazing! Talk about how Mary described what God is like in her song. God notices those who seem unimportant and He does great things for them and through them. He is kind and shows mercy to those who respect and honor Him. He keeps His promises. Pray together and thank God for leaving heaven and coming down to be with us. Activity: Use some construction paper and crayons to practice writing your name and then try writing Jesus and God. Decorate your paper with stickers and/or drawings. ADVANCED: These exercises are for people who have walked with God for some time and display maturity in their relationship with Him. These exercises provide a practical way to encounter God and His truth on a regular basis. There are no rules here. Please don t hurry through the process. Slow meditation and memorization seems to soak in better than cramming. Enjoy! 16 5
Day One 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Read Judges 6: 33 through 7: 7 slowly and deliberately. 3. Write down any observations you see in this passage. 4. Read Romans 12: 1-9. Memorize Romans 12: 1-2 Memorize Romans 12: 1-2 and verse 9. Memorize Romans 12: 1-2 and verses 9-10. Day Five With these three hundred men I will rescue you and give you victory over the Midianites. Send all the others home. ~Judges 7:4-7, NLT God wants to shrink the army even more. He wants it even more obvious that He is the deliverer. He insists on showing His people that they cannot deliver themselves from sin, selfishness, oppression, and misery. He sends Gideon and his army to the spring and commands the men to drink. The men who drank with their hands to their mouths were separated from the men who bent over and drank from the spring like a dog laps. Only three hundred guys drank out of their hands. Why did God choose the warriors based on this test? I could see him basing the cut on how well they could shoot a bow and arrow, or how strong they were, or how well they could ride a horse. But no, the test is based on how they drink. I ve heard some pastors and commentators say that these men were chosen because they were wary and observant, staying on their guard while the others simply stuck their face down and slurped. I disagree. They were chosen because God wanted to show Himself strong with only three hundred men. If they could boast that it was because of the way they drank, because of their ability to stay on guard, then God could not use them. God chose them for the same reason he chose you and me. He chose them because He chose them. How long will it take for us to realize that we have nothing to offer God to free us from our sin and oppression? We have nothing. He has it all. Father, I choose to boast in my weaknesses so that You will be proven strong! 6 15
Day Five 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Meditate on Judges 6: 33 through 7: 7 again today. 3. Ask God what risks you are presently taking on His behalf because He has made a promise to you. 4. Finish your Bible memorization today. Day One Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan, camping in the valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the LORD took possession of Gideon. He blew a ram s horn as a call to arms, and the men of the clan of Abiezer came to him. ~Judges 6:33, 34, NLT The timing involved in this story is significant. God has been preparing a leader, teaching him to trust Him, teaching him that all things are possible to those who believe. Now, as if on cue, the enemy has attacked. They are invading with a massive army. The Holy Spirit comes upon Gideon, giving him the chutzpah to lead an army. Well, maybe not an army, but maybe a division. Well, maybe not a division, but he got all the guys from his clan, which is an extended family in the smallest half tribe in Israel - but hey, it s a start! Soon, the whole tribe and several other tribes joined Gideon, affirming his leadership. A New Testament equivalent to the judges is the gift of leadership. The judges foreshadow the amazing gift the Holy Spirit gives to people who have not formerly been leaders. The gift of leadership comes upon a believer, enabling them to lead even if they ve never shown leadership ability. Gideon exemplifies this for us. He was not living as a leader in his culture when the Lord pursued him. But when the Holy Spirit came upon him, he became a capable and dependable leader. The gift of leadership, listed in Romans 12, is just one of many gifts of the Holy Spirit. Have you been gifted? Keep on asking, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened. ~Matthew 7:7, NLT. 14 7
Day Two 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Read Judges 6: 33 through 7: 7 again today. 3. Write down some things that you think God needs to confirm to you. 4. Ask God to show you if you are trying to manipulate Him in any way. 5. Continue memorizing and meditating on the scriptures for this week. Day Four Therefore, tell the people, Whoever is timid or afraid may leave and go home. Twenty-two thousand of them went home, leaving only ten thousand who were willing to fight. ~Judges 7:3, NLT It s funny to think what was going through Gideon s mind when God said this. He has certainly heard his spies tell him that the Midianite army is a vast as an ocean. They cover the valleys like locusts in number. God wants to thin out his army. He wants fewer soldiers so that no one can boast that it was their army that set them free. Quite to the contrary, God wants only a few people to fight against the swarm of enemy soldiers. Did Gideon just say I can go home if I m scared? This is all the faith walk. God commands us to do things that are often against logic. In telling us these things, there is risk. If there is no risk, then faith is not faith. Faith without risk is simply empty religion... It is not faith. boo-yah! Faith has two ingredients. We ve just seen the first ingredient is risk. Second, it is ALWAYS initiated by God. It s always His idea. I don t dream up faith, God initiates the idea and expects me to believe Him and walk in obedience. Abram didn t seek out God and ask Him to give him a son in his old age. Mary didn t approach God and ask for Jesus to be born to her. Gideon didn t ask for this job. God always initiates faith. Faith is NEVER my idea. Father, show me what are You doing so that I might get in on it. Show me what you want me to do. I am willing to risk. I m willing to obey! 8 13
Day Four 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Meditate on Hebrews 11: 1-6. 3. What has God asked you to believe Him about recently? Write it down here. 4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. Day Two Then Gideon said to God, If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put some wool on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised. And it happened just that way. When Gideon got up the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water. Judges 6:36-38, NLT This is no easy path that has been chosen for Gideon. God has chosen a man with zero previous leadership experience to lead an army of his countrymen against a formidable and multitudinous foe. Gideon needs another confirmation. He asks the Lord to confirm His word to Gideon by doing something unnatural with a sheepskin. Since I was a little tyke, I have heard how wrong it is to do what Gideon did. The concern is that we will try to manipulate God. I have only one concern with this view. Why then, did God answer Gideon s request? I personally believe God s grace is so overwhelmingly great that He did not mind doing what Gideon asked. He was willing to take Gideon where he was. Gideon had never walked with God in his lifetime. He needed God to reveal Himself in a profound way - again... in order to KNOW that God was with him. If God was angry that Gideon tested Him in this way, He certainly never showed it. He answered Gideon s specific prayer. How could we construe that to mean God never wants us to do what Gideon did? Father, protect me from manipulating You, but please, reveal Yourself to me in a personal way. 12 9
Day Three 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Meditate on Judges 6: 33 through 7: 7. Take time to thank Him that He will accomplish what concerns you. 3. Bring at least three friends or loved ones to the Lord and ask Him to bring them to repentance and faith. Ask Him to show you how you can boldly love them and speak the words of Jesus into their lives. 4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. Day Three So Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and his army got up early and went as far as the spring of Harod. The armies of Midian were camped north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The LORD said to Gideon, You have too many warriors with you. If I let all of you fight the Midianites, the Israelites will boast to me that they saved themselves by their own strength. ~Judges 7:1, 2, NLT We see two themes woven into this narrative that speak volumes about our walk with God. First, we see the theme of grace. God wants to conquer the enemies of Israel, but He wants to do it in such a way that no one would ever be able to boast that they did it in their own strength. That reminds me of Paul s words in Ephesians: For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8, 9, NAS. Grace, by its very nature, implies my weakness and God s strength. It implies that I can do nothing, He does everything. In this story, God wants to show the people of Israel that they cannot free themselves from their oppression with their own strength. They need a Savior! They need God. He is teaching them to live a lifestyle of dependence on Him. Gideon teaches us that we must develop a lifestyle of dependence. Only then will we walk in overwhelming authority and grace. His goal for us is that we walk in superabundance, yet few of us ever attain that because we stubbornly insist on doing things in our strength rather than in His. Empty me of my insistence to be independent, oh God! 10 11