Less

So much more…

1) Limitless

2) Fearless

Powerless

Powerless is desirable

Powerless is truth

"Mighty warrior.."

Perspective: what God sees

Spiritual Truth: what God does

You're gonna defeat the Midianites…

The sign of the Holy Burnt Toast

Cut down the altar to the false gods…

Jerub-baal

Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israelby my hand as you have promised…

Mighty warrior

Burnt Toast

Jerub-Baal

Faithlessness in the present

Is almost always a sign ofForgetfulness of the past

…look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor.

If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said”

Faith?

And that is what happened.

Gideon rose early the next day;he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew- a bowlful of water.

Satisfied?

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece…"

Is this really about fleece

and

proof?

God's people have a history of

Covering their unwillingness to serve

With spiritual-sounding excuses

Why is God willing to prove himself?

Should we "put out a fleece"?

Should we "put out a fleece"?

Testing what God has already clearly said

As I grow

Is it possible I will walk more by faith and

less by sight?

Time to fight!

UFC

Pastor Brian vs. a 10-year old

UFC

Pastor Brian vs. Anderson Silva("The Spider")

4 to 1

32,000 against 135,000

Umm…OK, but I'm shaking!

What are you doing? You're slowing down, you're slowing down!

What are you doing? You're slowing down, you're slowing down!

I'm bringing him in closer, Merlin.

What are you doing? You're slowing down, you're slowing down!

I'm bringing him in closer, Merlin.

You're gonna do what?!?

The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men

for me to deliver Midianinto their hands

You're too powerful

In order that Israel may not boast against me

that her own strength has saved her, announce now to the people,

‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead’”

God takes bragging personally

God chooses powerless people so that his power might be

on display in them

So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained

13 to 1

10,000 against 135,000

Uh…can we please go back to the fleece?

But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men.

Take them down to the water, and I will sift them 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.”

Why is it important to let God do the sifting?

So Gideon took the men down to the water.

There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water

with their tongues like a dog

from those who kneel down to drink”

Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their

mouths. All the rest got

down on their knees to drink

450 to 1

300 against 135,000

Powerless

Powerless

Mighty Warrior

Because he is Powerless

He's in a position to be a Mighty Warrior

“Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it

into your hands

If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp

with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying.

Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp”

Spiritual Truth

When God refuses to give us what we want…

It's because he knows what we need

So he and Purah his servant went down to the outposts of the camp.

The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.

"I had a dream…"

"I had a dream…"

{Powerful}?

"I had a dream…"

How about {Fearful}?

When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the

camp blow yours and shout,

‘For the LORD and for Gideon.’”

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!”

While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites

ran, crying out as they fled.

When the three hundred trumpets sounded, the LORD caused the men

throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords

- Judges 6-7

Who wins?

Whose Power?

“You have too many men

for me to deliver Midianinto their hands…"

If Gideon had been more powerful,

he would have been absolutely powerless

Powerless is desirable

Powerless is true

Powerless is to be embraced

Brainwrap

Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise;

God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.

He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-

and the things that are not- to nullify the things that are,

so that no one may boast before him- 1 Cor. 1:26-29

Brainwrap

“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships,

in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong

- 2 Cor. 12

What I don't have

is my starting point for knowing God's Power in me

What I don't have

is my starting point for facing life with peace and

confidence

What I don't have

is the ability to save myself

What I have is the cross

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