Sermons on Leader
There have been many so-called “Scholars” who have set out to disprove the existence of the historical God/man named Jesus. But as renowned Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Miami said, “We have more and better historical documentation for Jesus than for any other religious founder (e.g. Zoroaster, Buddha or Muhammad).” Edwin Yamauchi
As we look at a long section of Scripture today, we will see how that God is methodically moving Peter to see that the gospel is for everyone—not just the Jewish elite. In His sovereignty, God moves Peter from one situation to the next, opening his heart to ‘the Nations’ and releasing a lifetime of bigotry and prejudice. It is sometimes hard for us to imagine the Apostle Peter as bigoted or prejudiced, but we must consider who he is within his cultural context and the Jewish people looked down upon the Gentiles. In this passage, God uses a series of events to open Peter’s eyes to the simple truth that the gospel “is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile” (Romans 1:16b). So it is time for us to ask, “When will we get beyond our prejudice, our misconceptions and our elitism and be willing to seek after all people with the gospel?”
After spending seven weeks looking at the first three chapters of the Book of Judges, we will be studying all of chapters 4 and 5 this evening. These chapters are unique in that chapter 4 is an historical accounting of the story of Deborah, Barak and Jael; while chapter 5 relates the events through the eyes of a poet or song writer, which provides us with a greater understanding of the story as a whole. Chapter 4 provides us with some understanding of the passage, but it is not until chapter 5 that we are able to see the hand of God continually at work to bring about His plan and His purposes.
Lecture 7 – With the death of the first judge, Othniel (3:11), the Israelites once again enter into a cycle of sin. Judges 3:12 says, “And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.” As a result of their sin, God “strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel.” Starting with the story of Ehud, each of the judges (for whom we have a full story) is what the world would describe as an ‘unexpected’ leader. In this lesson, we will look at Ehud’s apparent weakness to see how God used him, not in spite of but through his weakness.
Lecture 1 – What is this Book of Judges? And who are they judging? In this introductory study of the Book of Judges, we will explore the function of the ‘judges’ and the role that God had them play in the history of His people—Israel. This book is well described as “despicable people doing deplorable things,” so we will consider these stories not as stories of virtue for us to imitate, but as lessons to learn “about a God of mercy and long-suffering, who continually works in and through us despite our constant resistance to his purposes.” We’ll also look at the overriding themes taught in this book and how we can apply these teachings to our lives and cultures today.