“God Works Through Me”
Judges 16: 28-30
July 23, 2006
Intro: A guy named Gene wrote a story @ an embarrassing moment for his sister, Becky. She had prepared a pasta dish for a party she was giving. But she was running a little behind when she noticed that she’d forgotten to refrigerate the spaghetti sauce. It had sat on the counter all day.
-She was worried that the sauce might have spoiled, but it was too late for her to cook up another batch. So she called the local Poison Control Center and asked them if she could still use the sauce or if it was bad. They told her to just boil the sauce again and everything would be all right.
-Well, that night, while all of her guests were over eating dinner, the phone rang. A guest volunteered to answer the phone while Becky was serving more of her pasta. The lady who answered the phone had a strange look on her face when she said to Becky, “It’s the Poison Control Center. They want to know how the spaghetti sauce turned out.”
-My guess is no one likes to eat at Becky’s house any more. We’ve all experienced embarrassing moments in our lives at one time or another. One of my favorite embarrassing moments at VillageChurch is when Peb was standing on a chair on the back row counting everyone in here while I was preaching. I saw the chair slip and Peb trying to grab on to something to break his fall, but of course nothing was there and he went crashing to the ground and everyone turned around to look at him.
-I could name a few more, but the fact of the matter there are times when embarrassing moments happen that we just can’t help. But there are other times when we find ourselves in embarrassing situations b/c we’ve done something stupid; b/c we’ve put ourselves in a situation where there’s a great chance for embarrassment and shame.
-But regardless of how embarrassing a situation you’ve been involved in, whether it be your fault or there was nothing you could do @ it, God can still work thru you! Today we’re continuing our series “On Star…On Board.” And we’re going to discover that God doesn’t just know us, He doesn’t just speak to us and give us freedom. But He also works thru us. As a matter of fact, He can work thru anyone.
Sermon Idea: Today in our passage of Scripture we’re going to see the story of a man who found himself in an embarrassing situation. And he was in this situation b/c he’d played around w/doing things he knew God didn’t want him to do.
-He saw some things that were tempting to him and instead of avoiding those temptations, he gave in to them. And the result is he found himself embarrassed and ashamed wondering if God could ever work thru him again.
JUDGES 16: 28-30
Bckgrd: Throughout the book of Judges you’ll read @ Israel finding herself in trouble time and time again. Israel would be overrun by a neighboring nation or people and find herself in bondage. And then they would cry out to God for help. And God, in His mercy, would send along a person to lead the Israelites back to freedom.
-Samson was one of these guys chosen by God to bring freedom to His people. And God worked thru Samson in a unique way. An angel told Samson’s parents that they were going to have an especially strong son who would bring freedom to Israel. But the angel told them to make sure they didn’t cut Samson’s hair b/c if his hair was cut it would lead to a loss of his power.
-Well, they didn’t cut his hair and Samson became known as a great warrior that God worked thru. Unfortunately, Samson had a penchant for getting involved w/women and it came to the point where God removed His hand of blessing from his life. And Samson wondered, “Can God ever work thru me again?”
-Maybe that’s a question you’ve had @ yourself. Maybe you look at your past and you think, “I don’t know if God can work thru me. I’ve done some pretty rotten stuff.” And I’m sure some of you have done some pretty rotten stuff. I have as well. But amazingly God desires to work thru you and He can.
-Today we’re going to see 2 steps we must be willing to take for God to work thru you. The 1st step you must take for God to work thru you is to:
DIV. 1: CONNECT TO HIM (v. 28)
Exp: I think we live in a time where people are beginning to understand more and more the power of connection. The internet has absolutely revolutionized our lives. From our computers in our houses we can connect w/people and find information all across the world. You can meet people over the internet and advertise the church over the internet like VillageChurch does.
A. Now once you’ve experienced this kind of connection, it’s a little distracting when you’re cut off from it. If you’re not internet-savvy then I can almost guarantee you you’re out of the loop. I can almost guarantee you that you are missing out on some very important opportunities.
1. Well, that’s where Samson was in his life at this point. He was totally disconnected from God. He surrounded himself w/sinful practices for so long that he unplugged himself from God.
a. V. 20 says, “But he (Samson) did not know the Lord had left him.” What happens when you unplug yourself from your power source? You lose your power. Samson had lost his power b/c he was captured by the Philistines and thrown into prison. His eyes were gouged out and he was brought before the people enslaved.
b. This was pretty brutal treatment but for the 1st time his outside matched his inside. You see on the inside he’d been spiritually blinded and enslaved for a long time before he lost his sight and was thrown into prison. And once he got to this point it looked like he was past the point of no return. It would’ve been very easy for Samson to give up and just accept his lot in life of being disconnected from God.
2. But Samson wanted to be connected to God again so he could be a tool for Him once more. And it’s here we can learn an important lesson from Samson. The 1st step he took to be connected to God again was to call out to Him in prayer. Look at what he said in v. 28. He said, “O Sovereign Lord, remember me.” Prayer is something we talk a lot @ as Xians but I think most of the time we miss out on how truly important it is.
a. Think @ it. It’s the way we communicate w/God. It’s thru prayer we express our praise and requests to God. And God can use prayer to keep us on the right track. Where we get into trouble is when we quit praying or when we don’t take time to pray. You know why? B/c when we don’t pray we’re demonstrating thru our actions that we trust in ourselves more than we do God.
b. And that’s going to ultimately lead to disaster concerning how we live.
ILLUS: Every fall a guy named Bob hunts deer in the mountains of north-central California. A # of farmers and ranchers in the area are willing to let individuals or small groups hunt on their property—if the hunters ask permission and show respect for the land. Well, Bob was a very nice man and it would take a cranky landowner to turn him down.
-But last year Bob approached a rancher and asked him if he might drive through a certain gate and do some hunting in the evening. The rancher gave Bob a thoughtful look and said, "Yeah, you can come on the land. But you’d better let me ride with you in the truck for a while. Want to show you some things."
-If that was me I’d be thinking, Oh, come on! Why do I need a passenger? Either let me hunt or tell me to stay out. I know how to drive, and I know how to hunt. I’m a big boy, and I don’t need a chaperone!
-Well, Bob’s a little nicer than me and he said that’d be fine. So the 2 men drove through the gate onto the ranch. They had been driving across a wide, seemingly featureless field when the rancher suddenly said, "You’d better start slowing down."
-Bob had no idea why. He was wondering if the man had seen a deer or something. But all he could see was a wide pasture stretching out in front of him. The rancher said, "Okay. You’d better park right here. Want to show you something." A little confused Bob did as he was told.
-They got out of the truck in the cool, mountain air and began walking. Then the rancher put his hand on Bob’s shoulder and said, "Look up ahead." Bob walked slowly forward and then stopped dead in his tracks. Cleaving at right angles across their path—and across the pasture as far as he could see in both directions—was a yawning, black tear in the surface of the earth.
-Where they stood, the crack was probably 30 feet across. Walking back to the truck, Bob marveled at how difficult it was to see the fissure from just yards away. Bob smiled to himself. Having a guide wasn’t such a bad thing! He gained a new appreciation for a man who knew the terrain—and where to park the truck.
B. If we take time to talk to God we’re going to avoid a lot of deep, dark holes we can fall in to. All it takes is a willingness on our part to connect w/God thru prayer. This small step turned out to be the turning point in Samson’s life.
Reit: The 1st step you must take for God to work thru you is to connect to Him. The 2nd step you must take for God to work thru you is to:
DIV. 2: STEP OUT IN FAITH (29-30)
Exp: In v. 28 Samson called for God to empower Him one more time. He prayed for God’s power b/c He sensed God had another mission for him. What was the mission? In this case it was for him to be a warrior and destroy the Philistines. But after he prayed for God’s strength notice that he didn’t just sit there. What did he do? He stepped out in faith. V. 29 says he grabbed hold of the 2 central pillars on which the temple stood. He did this b/c he was trusting God was going to work thru him.
A. When you read Samson’s story you learn from him a lot of things you shouldn’t do. But this is one of the positive examples he set for us. He didn’t just stand there and wait for God to knock the temple over. He grabbed on to the pillars believing God was going to work thru him to knock the Philistine temple down.
1. A lot of us are fearful of stepping out in faith and trusting God to work thru us. I put myself in Samson’s shoes and wondered what I would’ve done. I would’ve been afraid to grab on to the pillars and start pushing b/c what if I pushed really hard and nothing happened? People would start making fun of me!
a. People would say, “Does this guy really think he can knock this temple over? We’ve already shown how weak he is by gouging out his eyes and throwing him into prison!” It also would’ve been easy for me, if I was Samson, to do nothing b/c I would’ve started thinking, “There’s no way God can work thru me! Look at all the junk in my past. I was promiscuous. I was arrogant. I did exactly what God told me not to do. And look where it got me. Why would I think he would use ME?”
b. Fearful thinking paralyzes. And if we’re not willing to step out in faith, trusting God to work thru us, let me tell you what’s going to happen. NOTHING!! There is no telling how many great moves of God we’ve missed out on b/c we haven’t been willing to step out in faith.
ILLUS: For 11 years a man named Merhan Karimi Nasseri was a man without a country. For 11 years he lived in a Paris airport. He had no passport. He had no citizenship. He had no papers that enabled him to leave the airport or fly to another country. He had been expelled from his native country of Iran. Then he was sent away from Paris, France, because he lacked documentation.
-He said his Belgian-issued refugee document had been stolen. He flew to England but was denied entry and sent back to Paris. When he was returned to the Paris airport in 1988, airport authorities allowed him to live in Terminal 1, and there he stayed for 11 years, writing in a diary, living off of handouts from airport employees, cleaning up in the airport bathroom.
Then in September 1999 the situation reversed. French authorities presented Nasseri with an international travel card and a French residency permit. Suddenly he was free to go anywhere he wanted. But when airport officials handed him his walking papers, to everyone’s surprise, he simply smiled, tucked the documents in his folder, and resumed writing in his diary. They found he was afraid to leave the bench and table that had been his home for 11 years. He still lives in Terminal 1.
2. Obviously that’s a tragic story but it’s a story that’s repeated over and over spiritually. Think @ it. We have authority and power from God available to us but we’re afraid to use it. We have a God who can work thru us, but we shut Him out b/c of fear and doubt.
a. There are children who are looking for their parents to stand for what’s right but a lot of parents aren’t willing to do it b/c they’re afraid they’ll become unpopular w/their children. We have coworkers who are desperately searching for answers in life, but we’re not inviting them to church w/us to hear the good news of Christ b/c we’re fearful they’re going to think we’re weird.
b. VillageChurch, we can’t be paralyzed by fear. It’s time for us to grab hold of the pillars like Samson and trust God to work thru us. And we’ve got some pillar grabbing moments ahead. We’ll be grabbing the pillars when we start 2 services in the fall. Now that’s sort of a nerve-wracking moment but if we’re going to expand and go beyond what we are we have to be willing to move forward!
B. We’re going to be grabbing the pillars when we purchase property. It’s time we put down roots and establish ourselves in this community. But for it’s scary to think of the financial aspect of it when we start building buildings. But you know what? For VillageChurch to become what God intends for it to be we have to be willing to invest.
1. Samson stepped out on faith. And b/c of it he saw God work thru him.
Reit: The 1st step you must take for God to work thru you is to connect to Him. The 2nd step is to step out in faith. What happens when we do those things?
DIV. 3: GOD BRINGS VICTORY (v. 30)
Exp: After Samson was willing to connect w/God and step out in faith, he saw God bring @ a miraculous victory. The obvious victory is when Samson pushed on the pillars the temple came down and the Philistine rulers went down w/it. It turned out to be Samson’s greatest victory in his 20-year career as Israel’s leader.
A. But there was another kind of victory as well. And that victory was that God restored and worked thru Samson again. We all know Delilah cut the hair of Samson and as a result of his disobedience to God, Samson lost his power. But one of my favorite verses in this story is in v. 22 after Samson had been taken prisoner.
1. V. 22 says, “But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.” This verse is a reminder to me that God can take any one, regardless of how far he’s fallen, and restore him and make him a tool He can use once again.
a. Samson had lost his sense of direction; his moral compass had gotten out of kilter. But Samson’s capture and imprisonment got his attention and helped him to began to make a readjustment in his life so he would know the difference between north and south, between right and wrong.
b. If you’re going thru a difficult patch in your life, it could be that God wants to use that experience to help you get your spiritual compass readjusted. And one of the best ways to do that is to call out to God, step out in faith, and watch Him work.
ILLUS: I read a story @ a lady who bought a new car that was loaded with high-tech options. The 1st time she drove the car in the rain, she turned a knob she thought would start the windshield wipers. Instead a message flashed across the dash: "Drive car in 360 degrees." She had no idea what that meant, and so when she got home she read the car manual.
-She learned that while trying to turn on the windshield wipers she had inadvertently turned off the internal compass, and the car had lost its sense of direction. To correct the problem, the car had to be driven in a full circle, pointed north, and then the compass had to be reset.
2. Do you need to readjust your compass? Are your priorities out of whack. You know, our time of worship each Sunday is so important b/c what we’re doing is
resetting our internal compass. We establish "true north" in our soul, remembering who God is and what His truth proclaims.
Conclusion: I don’t know @ you but I’m ready to see God work thru me. I’m ready to see Him work thru you and work thru VillageChurch. For that to happen it’s time some of you readjust your compass. You may need to call out to God for forgiveness. You may need to step out in faith to what you KNOW God’s already calling you to do.
-If that’s you, as a sign of you readjusting your compass, I want you to come and kneel up front and pray to the Lord and tell Him, “Lord, I’m willing. Whatever it is you’re leading me to do, I will do it.”
-Others of you need to submit your life to the authority of Jesus Christ. You can do that by praying this prayer after me: Dear Jesus, I know I’m a sinner. Forgive me of my sins. I know you died for me and rose from the grave. Come into my life and save.
-If you prayed that prayer, take your bulletin, tear out the Welcome Card on the right, put your name on it and check the box that says you committed your life to Christ. Turn it in the offering basket and we’ll get you some information in the mail @ how to grow in your walk w/Christ.
