1 Thing Matters

No one would doubt that technology has provided us with many blessings. However, many of those blessings can also double as doorways by which we tune out the world. When such things serve as an escape to avoid adversity or ignore responsibility, they become part of the problem, not the solution. If entertainment becomes our escape, we’re not only missing out on the greatest invitation ever offered by tuning out; we’re also turning up the problem. #escape #realrest

Once a gift is received, there isn’t really any guarantee that gift will be used the way the giver intended. It is now up to the recipient to determine how or if he wants to use that gift. This is too often the sad reality of God’s gift of sex. He both gives it and has provided us with clear guidance on how to make the absolute most of this special gift, but we end up using it however we wish. The result? The world - and we - remain deeply wounded because of it. Jesus, though, the source of healing and renewal, is able to give grace for our guilt AND to restore this blessing of God to its rightful place as a treasured gift. #escape #realrest

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…” (James 1:17). God has indeed lavished us with gifts! However, what happens when we allow those very gifts - our possessions - to serve as our go-to escape, when we turn to stuff for relief instead of to the One who gifted it to us in the first place? It is our possessions that end up owning us. No matter how much we seek to acquire, it is never enough. We find ourselves more run down and burned out than when we started. Stuff can never provide the real rest that only Jesus can. #escape #realrest

You don't have to be an alcoholic. You don't have to be an addict. The truth is, any one of us can have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol or drugs (whether legal or not). But how can we tell? How does one avoid crossing the line from moderation into excess? How does one determine when a permissible thing has become a necessary thing that we can't live without, and more importantly, which then robs us of the real rest we can only find in Jesus? #escape #realrest

Achievement and success so easily become “ours,” don’t they? The more hard work and effort we put into something, the more natural it is for us to overlook the true source of our success: the Lord and his strength. May we grow in our ability to humbly give credit where it is due, and always remember to thank God for the strength he provides to accomplish even the smallest good through us.

Sermon Info: "JUDGES - Rebellion → Regret → Rescue: (Samson)”  •  Judges 13-16  •  Breaking the Cycle series

The same individual or group who previously dismissed you or rejected you now needs you. Do you help? Do you come to their aid? Jephthah was in a similar situation. He wasn’t the only one. So was Jesus. We know how Jesus responded and are eternally grateful for it. How did Jephthah respond? How would you respond?

Sermon Info: "JUDGES - Rebellion → Regret → Rescue: (Jephthah)”  •  Judges 11 •  Breaking the Cycle series

We all make plans - some better than others. Sometimes we formulate and carry out our plans to near perfection and other times things seem to start to unravel right out of the gates. While some plans are better than others and sometimes we may forget certain details, may we never forget to include God in our plans. Yet even when we do, may we rejoice all the more that he hasn’t forgotten to include us in his!

You may not feel particularly special. You may have convinced yourself that God is very selective with the people in whose lives he chooses to operate and make an impact. You think that God only makes a difference for people who have their act together and have everything going for them. Well, that’s not the God who chose to raise up an ordinary Gideon for an extraordinary rescue mission. That God is more than capable of accomplishing anything he wants by using absolutely anyone. Including you.

Maybe it’s only been recently. Maybe it’s been your whole life. We get spiritually stuck. Progress suddenly slows or comes to a complete stop. Perhaps we backslide or stumble mightily in sin. Then we turn to the Lord and start all over again. How do we break the cycle? How do we get unstuck so that we see less of the pattern of rebellion, regret, and rescue in our lives? We’ll look at the book of Judges for answers, directing our attention today to the account of Deborah.