Bezalel (Bezz - A – Lel) And Oholiab (O- Holy- E- Ab)! Series

Series: Unsung Heroes

Thesis: The ultimate judge of a person’s character is their ability to exceed expectations with little recognition from others or when praise is not given. The Bible is filled with unsung heroes of the faith whose names may be obscure to us but to God they are His heroes of the faith.

Introduction:

I subscribe to Outreach Magazine which highlights church leadership and for a while they were only focused on the large and mega church news, focus was on their leaders and their awesome programs. These pastors and leaders where praised and highlighted over and over. It actually frustrated me because for my Master’s Degree I wrote a thesis about the importance of the small to medium size church in the Usa. The truth is many of the servant leaders in the small/medium churches go unnoticed and even have a stigma placed on them for being too small to make a difference. But this is not the truth according to Scripture about these churches or their leaders. They too are making an eternal impact for the Kingdom of God in their communities. I am reminded in Scripture over and over that Jesus always pushed the crowds away to focus on His twelve - then His 70. He was not focused on massing the crowds – He really pushed them away at various times. Most churches in the world are under a 100 people (70-86 on avg. according to studies in the USA and Canada) and in America around 80% of the Christians attend churches considered small to medium size churches. (Churches 0-300) (http://www.usachurches.org/church-sizes.htm).

These Godly leaders and Christians are not in the limelight – their names will go down in history as virtually unknown. They could be called the unsung heroes of the faith. But to the Lord they are important pieces of the puzzle to the growth of the Kingdom of God. These unsung heroes are a vital piece of the overall puzzle of the mission. These unsung heroes will be rewarded in Heaven for their faithfulness and their commitment to the Kingdom of God. These non popular – non headline makers – non church media stars names are however known in Heaven and that’s important to remember in our celebrity world of today.

Highlight the Pizza Hut commercial with the celebrity country singer “Blake Shelton” - Who says in essence and jokingly – “You can trust me and take my word for it because I am a celebrity.”

Over the next few months we are going to explore unsung heroes of the Bible, the non celebrities, the obscure ones, the not well known crowd and we will learn valuable lessons from these humble lives. We will see that these individuals never made the headlines or had their names up in lights. These are the people who live their lives in the shadows of others as great helpers. They feel the pressure like the famous ones and they deal with responsibility like the stars do but they never get the attention or the pat on the back they deserve. These gifted people are blessed with God-given gifts called “helps” and other lack luster names.

The gift of “helps” is not very glamorous. So what do you do for the Kingdom of God? I am a helper! Does not sound like a big wow – I am impressed statement!

But these unsung heroes accomplished on a daily basis the important tasks of the Kingdom all the while remaining virtually anonymous. These unsung heroes are most likely uncomfortable being in the lime light any way. These men and women do their jobs – use their God-given gifts to fulfill their divine destiny. They do it quietly and efficiently, they serve and give of themselves and I want you to know that God notices and takes notes. The truth is these are the people who make the world a better place and help thrust the Kingdom of God forward in its mission.

Swindoll states, “As the song goes, they are the wind beneath our wings. They are the unsung heroes in the battle, the folks who do the work behind the scenes, the people who pick up the pieces, the ones who make sure everything in the project flows freely. As a matter of fact, if you ever take the time to find out, you’ll discover that many are downright fascinating individuals with stories to tell that hold you in rapt attention. They maybe unknown, but they are not insignificant. They may be overlooked by the public, but in private they fill the roles that are invaluable” (Fascinating Stories of Forgotten Lives, Swindoll, page XII).

Swindoll challenges us to think about the behind the scenes people from Church History (page 1 and 2):

1. Who taught Martin Luther his theology and inspired his translation of the Scriptures from Latin to German?