Gideon’s Story Will Change How You See Yourself | A Cloud Of Witnesses | Pastor Todd Holzworth

Today, hopefully, is the Indy 500. I know rain may be coming. But it is the world's largest single-day spectator sport in the world. And so just say with me, spectator sport. Spectator sport. Got it. Today, there could be 300,000 people there, and it's right here in our backyard. I wanna give you, or play a little game, just with some stats for the Indy 500. We're gonna do this real fast, and here's how we're gonna do this. I've got a question, it's got two answers, and you're gonna decide which one's right and which one's wrong. You may, this may puff you up, hey, I know a lot about the race, or you may know nothing about the race, and you're gonna learn a few things. So that's how we're gonna do this. Okay, so here's what we're gonna do. We're all gonna stand up, all right? You're gonna stand up. I've got a question. If you get the question wrong, just sit down. All right, that's all you gotta do. And there'll be a few people left standing by the end. Now, I'm gonna go through these fast. I don't have much time today.

I'm gonna go fast. If you don't have an answer in your head by the time I reveal the answer, you got it wrong. So then that means you gotta sit down, okay? So here we go. First question is the first Indy 500 took place in 1876 or 1911. You don't have to say the answer out loud, because I don't want you to. Don't reveal it to your neighbor. Just get it in your head. The answer is 1911. So if you got it wrong, take a seat. By the way, you might whisper to the people that just sat down, the car wasn't invented till 1886. Just say it kind of quietly. Question two. Does the number 500 stand for laps or miles? It is miles, all right? Every lap is 2.5 miles. Okay, question three. True or false, there have been nine women who raced in the Indy 500. Nine women raced in the, I hear people yelling answers, but you're yelling the wrong answer. I heard the answer, because the answer is true. There has been nine. Catherine Legg is in the race today. Do you know what current Indiana Pacers player drove the pace car in 2023?

Tyrese Halliburton or TJ McConnell? All right, the answer is Tyrese Halliburton, and we don't care to see him in a car again. We wanna see him on the court again. That's what we wanna see. And question number five. Last one, in 1995, race car driver Scott Goodyear raced with Goodyear or Firestone tires? Am I trying to set you up or not? The answer is Firestone. Of course, my wife got them all right. She's already heard this. So go ahead, great job. Take a seat. You can kiss the bricks. Today, I hope you're, you know, if you're interested in watching the race, I hope you have fun watching it. I'm rooting for Conor Daly. You know, he's the local, yeah. Went to Heritage Christian, so that's who I am rooting for. Today, let's get into our Bible study. We are in 2026. We're studying 52 Bible people over the 52 weeks. And I think this is such a good thing. If you haven't read the Bible in its entirety, what you are getting is a survey of the Bible. And I think this is great. You're seeing the major players and seeing how God worked in them

and how God revealed himself into them. So I'm really glad we are doing this. Now, I just used the word 52 Bible people. I use that word on purpose. We're studying Bible people. And here's what I want you to know. These people are not characters. They are not fiction and they are not superheroes. What I want you to know is they are normal people like you and I. And here's what happens. God comes and he calls normal people to be a part of his work. And that's so crazy to think about because we got a God that does not need to use us. We got a God who's all-powerful, almighty, knows everything, can do anything he wants. Yet every time he's gonna accomplish something, he comes and invites a person to be a part of his work. And they are normal people just like you and I, young and old, men and women, some who have failed. We read about their stories. Some have failed and they've failed miserably. Yet God is so good at taking broken vessels and then using them for his purposes in this world. And so that's what he desires to do with each of us today. And here's how I want us to start. I want you to say a phrase with me. We're gonna put up here. The phrase is just simply this.

God wants to use me to make a difference in this world. And we're gonna get this up here. And then here's what I want you to do. I want you to get ready. You gotta get ready by getting your index finger out here because when we hit the word me. you gotta give yourself a little poke, all right? So God wants to use me to make a difference in this world. So will you do that one more time? God wants to use me to make a difference in this world. And that's right, I want you to know he wants to use you for a moment, but then he wants to use you every moment. He wants to use you for a day, but then he wants to use you every day. He wants to use you on a Sunday, yet he wants to use you on a Monday, and he wants to use you Tuesday through Saturday. He wants to use you this week, but then he wants to use you next week. He wants to use you this month, and he wants to use you next month. He wants to use you for a season, but then he's gonna use you this summer. He's gonna use you this fall. He's gonna use you this winter. He's gonna use you next spring. He wants to use you over your life. He wants to use you for your entire life. He wants to use you at home.

He wants to use you with your family. He wants to use you with your neighbor and your neighborhood. He wants to use you in your community. He wants to use you at church. He wants to use you at work. He'll use you in the city. He'll use you around the state. He'll use you across the states. He'll use you outside of the states. Are you guys catching what I'm trying to tell you? All right, God wants to use you with absolutely no limits. God has no limits on how he wants to use you. That's what I'm trying to say. Anytime, any place, anywhere, God wants to use you, no limits. Yet, here's what I know. God wants to use us with no limits, but from firsthand experience, I know that I put limits on how God can use me. We put limitations on God on how he can use us, and that's where we're going today. I want us to get better at saying yes to God, and I want us to stop putting these limitations that we put on God when we say to him, hey, I'm willing to jump on board with you, but maybe not in quite the way you want to use me. We put limitations on him. Now, limitations, that word's kind of a sore word for me right now because I broke my hand seven weeks ago. All right, broke my hand,

top of my hand and my middle finger seven weeks ago, and I've had some limitations as a result of breaking my hand. One of those limitations is I'm not able to do the thing, probably the hobby that I love the most, and that is mountain biking. Mountain bike right now, which is, by the way, how I broke my hand. Full story, though, here we go. I have a sabbatical later this year. Northview Church is very generous to us as pastors, and so I've been on staff for 14 years. I was hired, first of all, as the junior high pastor here at Carmel, and then 12 years ago, Pastor Steve asked me to launch Westfield Campus, and that's where I've been for the last 12 years. So this year, I qualify to have a sabbatical, and I'm so thankful I get to do that. My plans are to go out West. My family's gonna kinda come and go and be with me part of the time. I'll be by myself a little time. I'm gonna do a lot of camping, which I'm not a pro at that, but that's what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna try. And I've bought this medium-sized camper to take, and it's pretty cool. It's got an outdoor kitchen, and it's got a heater in case it's cold at night,

and it even can heat water so I can shower with some nice hot water. So I bought this camper, and all those things are powered by two propane tanks that did not come with the trailer. So I was on the lookout to get some, and I heard that Carmel Recycle Center has propane tanks that people just drop off for recycling purposes, and anyone else can come and just take them for free. I was like, what a great idea. I'll save a little money, and I'll go over there and get some of those. By the way, before I do them injustice, and somebody runs over there to get one, they're not doing that anymore. So don't go over there and try this. But I went over there. The day after Easter, I put my bike in the truck. I was gonna go ride, and I was like, I'm gonna stop at the recycle center before I ride and get one of those propane tanks. Well, I went there, and they were closed. No biggie, they're closed. I'll go some other time. I went down to the trail, and I rode my mountain bike that day. And about three or four miles into my ride, you will not believe what I saw off the side of the trail. It was almost like a rainbow with a pot of gold.

Right there was a propane tank. And you know, what was on my mind on this day? On my mind was free propane tank, and then there is a propane tank. I got off my bike, and I went over, and I picked it up. It was light, it was empty. I don't know how it technically got there. I'm kind of guessing it floated down the river and then stopped. Upped and river went down and there it sat. And so for whatever reason, I picked that thing up and I walked with it. I shortcutted the trail a little bit, went back, got my bike, rode to that spot. Then I walked with the propane tank in one hand, pushed my bike in the other hand, did that for a little while. Then I got to this place where the trail's extremely flat. And here's my brilliant idea. I might as well just ride with the propane tank right here. So I get on my bike, propane tank in my right hand, steering with my left hand, and everything was going great until it wasn't. Because I went over a root, got a little wonky, went off to the left side, and then my tire stuck and I flipped, chucking the propane tank somewhere. And I gripped that handlebar into the ground and then that is how I broke my hand and my finger. Now I could end the story right there, but I know you guys are still thinking a couple things.

And one of the things I believe you're thinking is this. Did you get that propane tank? And the answer is, of course I got that propane tank. I could have went to Walmart and got one for 50 bucks, but now I got one for 1,500 bucks. It's amazing. There's a second thing I believe you're thinking. I started this sermon by saying to you, God wants to use us to make a difference in this world. And maybe in that moment you thought, well, I'm not so sure God wants to use me or not. But then I just told you that story. And I've got you feeling a lot better about yourself. Because some of you are now thinking, if God can use that guy, that guy standing up there, then God can use me. And I just wanna say, that's right. He can use you and he wants to use you. But we've gotta throw off some of these limitations we are putting on God and we gotta get better. We gotta get better at saying yes. We gotta get better at saying yes to God when he invites us to be a part of his work. So today we're getting into the story of Gideon. It's Judges 6. If you wanna open your Bible to there, Judges 6. I'll also have some text on the screen. I'm gonna summarize the first 10 verses of Judges 6 and then we're gonna start reading in verse 11. In the first 10 verses, you find kind of a story of Israel

where they have turned their backs on God. They've actually worshiped some false idols and God has allowed their enemy, Midian, the Midianites to come in. And for seven years, the Midianites have just been destroying the crops in Israel, their food supply, and they've been making life difficult for Israel, so much so that they have fled. They fled from their homes and they fled into caves and that's where they are living. Now, as life has been tough for Israel, they eventually realize we need to get right with God again so they cry out to God. God hears their cries and God is gonna deliver them, but what's God do when he is at work? He calls a person. He calls an individual, come join me. I'm gonna use you to make a difference in this world. I'm gonna use you to deliver Israel. And so in our story today, it's gonna be Gideon. But when you read the book of Judges, you kind of see this cycle happen over and over again. Israel falls away, Israel cries out, God calls up a person and God uses that person to deliver Israel. By the way, next week, we're gonna get into Samson. You guys probably know the story of Samson. Long-haired Samson, as long as he had his long hair, he had strength and he was a good leader as long as that's what he had.

But that got me thinking, what if, what if long hair was still a requirement for our pastors and our preachers today? Would not Pastor CJ look a little different? Pastor Steve look a little different? I got a picture for you. And I don't know what's more amazing. Is it the hair or is it, man, or is it those guns? Those are good. So that's next week, you gotta come back. You gotta be here next week. Let's start reading our text. Judges 6, 11, it says this. It says, the angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. Two things I wanna point out as we're getting into this reading. First, it says the angel of the Lord. And sometimes when we just see that word angel, we just assume angel. But I wanna point out here, when you see that article, the, in front of angel of the Lord, most often you gotta look. Look at the context, but the angel of the Lord, this is God in the flesh, or this is Christ in the flesh. A theophany is an appearance of God.

A Christophany is an appearance of Christ, and that's what we have going on here. So this is God in the flesh coming to talk to Gideon. What is Gideon doing? He's threshing wheat in a wine press, which doesn't sound like he's doing the right thing in the right place, and he's not. A wine press would have been a pit. You throw the grapes down in there, you crush them to squeeze out the juice. You would thresh wheat in a place that was windy, maybe a higher place, so that the chaff would blow away. Now Gideon's obviously threshing wheat down in a pit so that he can do this unseen. Remember, the Midianites had just been destroying the food supply. So Gideon is basically hiding right here. That's what I want you to know. Verse 12, it says, "'Cause when the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Gideon responded, pardon me, my lord, but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us, and he's given us into the hand of Midian. The Lord turned to him and said, go in the strength you have and save Israel

out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you? Pardon me, my lord, Gideon replied, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh. I am the least in my family. The Lord answered, I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.'" Now I'm gonna back up and I'm gonna walk us through several things that we see in that part of the text. First, verse 14, because this is clearly God's call on Gideon's life. Am I not sending you, was what God said to Gideon. The nation of Israel, they've cried out to God, we need deliverance. Remember, I've said God uses people, normal people, as he does his work. He calls people into his plans and his purposes, and he calls Gideon right here. I'm gonna use you, Gideon, you're gonna be my guy, and together, we're gonna go deliver Israel. Now, in this text, we're gonna see Gideon respond in three ways, and he's gonna put a limitation on God in each of these instances, and that's what I'm gonna walk us through right now. The first one starts in verse 13. Gideon says, pardon me, my lord, and that's a little l, and I'm gonna point this out to you. Little l is the same as just saying sir, sir.

Little l, little l is sir. Okay, so he's like, pardon me, sir, is the way he starts this. Next part, it says, but if the Lord, capital L. All right, who's that? Well, I kinda already told you that. That's God in the flesh. Actually, the Hebrew word there is Yahweh. This is God, this is his name. And it's interesting that Gideon, I mean, there's God standing right in front of him, and what happens? Gideon does not recognize who it is. Pardon me, sir, Gideon says, but if the Lord was with us, he says, but where is the Lord? Right there in front of you, Gideon. And so he totally misses it. He totally misses that Yahweh is standing right in front of him. Now, in verse 13, I think we see the answer to why he misses that God is standing in front of him. He says, why has all this happened to us? And I just wanna highlight just the words all this, because if we think about where is Gideon's attention right now, his attention is on all this. Seven years of trouble. The Midianites are just wreaking havoc on their land. They are in difficulty.

They're fleeing their homes. They're living in caves. All this is going on, and all this is actually all that Gideon can see, and he can't see that God is right there in front of him, talking to him. And I believe in life. Sometimes we fall to the same thing. All this gets our attention like it gets a lot of our attention, too much attention. You think about just life in general, our busy schedules, our busyness at work, maybe the demands of youth sports. We gotta run everywhere every weekend. We have demands to care for our home and the stuff we own. We live in a very fast-paced life. We gotta keep up, and all this stuff, all these things to do, sometimes it just captures all of our attention. And sometimes it's all we can see. All this is blinding us, possibly to the fact that God is standing right in front of us, inviting us to be a part of His work. It's crazy, because when all this is going on, sometimes someone from church comes to us and says, hey, would you consider serving in the kids' ministry? And you think, well, I'm honored that you asked, but don't you know that I have all this going on? I've got all this schedule, all this stuff. This is all I see.

Maybe, maybe when all this is over, then I could be a part of serving. Now, what's interesting in that moment is we just see maybe an individual from church inviting us to be a part of something. And so we say, sorry, sir, sorry, ma'am. I got all this going on. Maybe I can be a part of it later. But we may not recognize, we may not recognize that that invite actually came from God Himself standing in front of us. And so one of the things I just want you to consider, and what I want us to get better at is I want us to be aware, despite all this going on, I want us to be aware, a little more sensitive. We've got to discern, is this coming from God? Is God the one inviting me to be a part of this work that I'm being asked to do right now in this moment? I want you to check out this quote from J. Oswald Sanders. I'm gonna read this to you. It says, the quality of a person's leadership will be in part measured by time, its use and its passage. We cannot regulate school or office hours. Those are determined for us, but we can say what we do before and after those commitments. The way we employ the surplus hours will determine if we develop into mediocre or powerful people. Leisure is a glorious opportunity and a subtle danger. Each moment of the day is a gift from God that deserves care, for our time is short

and the work is great. Now you can see I've highlighted a few words in here, the first one being mediocre. And I just think, why did that stand out to me? Because I don't wanna live a mediocre life. I don't want to come to a point in my life, at the end of my life, and I'm like, yep, did it, I was mediocre, that is not my goal. Leisure, it's an opportunity or a danger, which just means we have some choices to make in our free time, we got choices to make. And here's one of our values, each moment of the day is a gift from God. We gotta value that, we gotta see that. Each moment is a gift from God. And so that helps us make decisions. And then there's this, the work is great. I want you to know the work that God calls us to do is great. In fact, there's nothing you can carry into the next life that's more valuable than impacting another individual, helping Jesus be known. That's the only thing we're gonna carry into the next life. And so the work is great. And we've got decisions to make. And we've had this theme verse of Hebrews 12, one, in this series. I wanna point out a couple of things in this verse. Again, we've been talking about the cloud of witnesses in this entire series this year.

And basically, the cloud of witnesses is the people of faith in chapter 11, Hebrews chapter 11, the ones who've responded to God in faith and God has done these really amazing things through them. They are the cloud of witnesses. They set such an example for us. But when you look at the rest of this verse in Hebrews 12, one, it says this. It says, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. And so we know what sin does, that can entangle. And we know we gotta get that out of the way. But there's this other line, it says we gotta throw off everything that hinders, everything that hinders. And I just come back to those words, all this. Is all this getting in the way? Is all this hindering what God may have in store for you? So I pray that we have the boldness to discern that. Let's continue in the story of Gideon. When God appeared to Gideon in verse 12, he said, the Lord is with you, mighty warrior. And that's such an interesting title because I already said this to you, what was Gideon doing? He was hiding, all right?

He's not sharpening his sword. He's not preparing for battle. He's not gathering troops. He's not developing a battle plan. He's not doing any of that. Tiding, and yet we know this, God sees something in him that he cannot see in himself. That's so true. Because how did Gideon see himself? We read this in verse 15. What's Gideon think about himself? How does he see himself? He says, well, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh. So Manasseh is one of the 12 tribes of Israel. And he's saying, all right, out of the 12 tribes of Israel, I'm a part of Manasseh, but out of Manasseh, my family, he says, is the weakest. And then he goes on to say, well, I'm the least in my family. So out of all Manasseh, my family's the weakest, I am the weakest. Now, I went back into the book of Numbers, and I just wondered how many fighting men were there in the tribe of Manasseh. And I know this is a couple generations back, but I found that there's 52,700 fighting men in Manasseh. And so here's what I believe Gideon's saying. Out of the 52,700 men, I am, Gideon says, the least of the least. What is Gideon's rank, at least in his own mind?

He's like, I rank 52,700. I am the least of the least, I'm dead last. How can God do anything through me? How can I save Israel, is what Gideon's saying. And I will say again, God sees. God sees what we don't see. I'm gonna give you another quote from the same author, J. Oswald Sanders, and he says this. He says, when God calls us, we cannot refuse. From a sense of inadequacy, nobody is worthy of such trust. Let us not pass the buck of leadership or service because we think ourselves incapable. Nobody is worthy. We're normal people. We've fallen, we've made mistakes, but yet we have a God who calls us. He wants to use us to make a difference. He's the one that empowers us. It's all about him. None of us is worthy. We can't use this as an excuse. Let's not put another limitation on God where we say, I'm not good enough. That's another limitation we put on God. I'm not good enough. God, don't you know what I've done? God, don't you know about my weaknesses? God, I know you see my inadequacies. God, as I compare myself to this other individual, I do not compare.

Call them, they're so much better. We see our mistakes, our failures. We say, I'm not good enough. God sees something different. He sees potential. He sees that you're the perfect piece to the puzzle. God sees the real you, a version of you that's so valuable to the kingdom of God, and he wants to use you to make a difference. I've been piecing together a list of all the titles or the names that God calls us in scripture. And this list is kind of long and I can't share the whole list with you, but I'm gonna share some of the important ones with you. And this list is something that I gotta look at quite often, because in this list are the names that God speaks over every single one of us. Truth about you, truth about me, as found in scripture, that gives me my true identity. And I wanna read this to you, and at the end of it, I'm gonna give you a chance to take a picture. So I'm just kind of preparing you for that, because they'll all be on the screen at one time. So hear this, who are you as declared by God? I am made in God's image. I am greatly loved. I am a child of God.

I am a new creation. I am God's friend. I'm the temple of the Holy Spirit. I am chosen, royal, holy, and God's special possession. I am a citizen of heaven. I am God's masterpiece. I am Christ ambassador. I am the light of the world. This is who you are. And so yes, let's stop letting the world push us into a corner. Let's stop letting shame speak over us. Take a picture, because I believe that's gonna happen. I believe later in this week or sometime, you gotta spend some time with God, get into these verses. And yeah, you're hearing them in a moment right now, but let God speak to you until this sinks in. This is the real you. This is the real you. And I love how Pastor CJ says, your identity determines your activity, which means if I start to see myself like this, then I'm gonna start living a different life. And I think it's gonna be a life that's so much more confident. And I'm not talking about a self-confidence. I'm talking about a Christ confidence. Self always fails.

Self lets you down, all right? But Christ never lets us down. He's always victorious. When I put my confidence in Christ, I'm gonna live a different life. That's just plain and simple. I'm gonna live a different life because I put my confidence in Christ. And then I'm gonna be a part of his work, yes, in a completely different way. It's all about, it's all about him. It's all about him. But Gideon, he's still not convinced. He is still not convinced. So we go to verse 36, still in chapter six. 36. Here's what he says. Gideon said to God, I, if, if you will save Israel by my hand, as you have promised, 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. And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day. He squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew, and it was a bowl full of water. Then Gideon said to God,

do not be angry with me. Let me make one more request. Allow me one more test with this fleece. But this time, he's gonna ask for the opposite. But this time, make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew. And that night, God did so. Only the fleece was dry and all the ground was covered with dew. So what do we got going on here? It looks like that Gideon is still seeking some discernment. Like, God, I'm not sure what to do. I'm praying. You make it clear for me. And I've heard that that's the way some treat this text. Like, hey, we just gotta throw out our fleece sometimes with God and ask him to make it clear so we know what to do. But here's what I want you to know. That's not what Gideon's doing. Gideon already knows what he needs to do. All right, it's already clear. God has spoken. And what is Gideon trying to do? He's still trying to get out of what God is calling him to do. That's what's going on. God's getting ready to move Gideon into a very uncomfortable place. And Gideon does not wanna go there.

And so Gideon is playing games, trying to get out of what God has in store for him. He simply prefers to stay where it's comfortable. And that's another limitation we put on God. This is the third one I want us to see today. A limitation we put on God is I'm not comfortable doing that. God invites us to be a part of his work. Sometimes it's so clear. And we're like, ah, I'm not so sure. That seems pretty uncomfortable. I don't know if I wanna do that. And so we say to God, I'm not comfortable doing that. Now, I gotta tell you, when Pastor CJ asked me to speak this weekend, the first question he asked me was, are you in town on Memorial Day weekend? Now, this came in a text and I was pretty comfortable. I think I'd already eaten dinner and I'm laying on the couch in my comfort. And Christie's kind of laying on the other couch. And so I'm pretty comfortable when this text comes in, hey, are you in town on Memorial Day weekend? And I kind of didn't know how to answer that question. Do I wanna be in town? Maybe I wanna be out of town. What's going on that weekend, CJ? And so you wanna hear my lame response? I said, yes, right now we are in town. But Christie and I were making some plans

to be gone sometime in May, sometime in May. True, it was true. Okay, so yes, I'm in town, maybe, is basically what I'm saying. So then Pastor CJ asked me this. He says, I want you to pray about preaching on Memorial Day weekend from the Carmel campus. And that gave me some instant stress because I've never done this here. I've never spoke here. And so instant stress, I felt anxious immediately. And as a campus pastor, I started thinking, well, I don't preach very often. So I'm kind of out of rhythm. I started playing the comparison game. I'll never be able to speak like the other people that get up here and speak. I was playing the comparison game. I can't speak like CJ and Steve and Kurt and everyone. And then I thought, well, why is he asking me? Like, is everyone out of town that weekend? Like, am I not the least of the least? I didn't even know who I was gonna speak about, in the moment. And then when I got into it, I was like, oh my, I was being a complete Gideon. Which is perfect, right? Well, Pastor CJ, the key thing he asked me to do was pray. Oh, I did do that, I prayed, I felt anxious, but when I prayed, I want you to know

what I felt like God gave me. He gave me some simple words that are in Scripture, and those words are, be strong and courageous. Just be strong and courageous, and that changed everything. The very next day, I was like, yeah, I'm in, I'm in. Why would I wuss out? Why would I not answer the call? Just be strong and courageous. I know God's gonna be with me. That's what God said to Gideon. I'm gonna be with you, and God stretches us out of our comfort zones, and by the way, that's what I tell all kinds of people to do in my normal campus pastor life. I'm like, let's go on a mission trip, and somebody's like, I'm not so sure. I'm like, come on, let's get out of our comfort zones. It's gonna be great, and here I am saying that to myself today. It's great to get out of your comfort zone. We know if God calls us to get out of our comfort zone, he's going with us, all right, and he's the all-powerful, almighty God. We're not getting stretched out of our comfort zone to just do something on our own. We've got the all-powerful, almighty one with us to go before us, and so yeah, I'm being stretched up here, but it's a good thing, and so I got a couple questions for you as I wrap up this limitation.

Has God called you to do something, but you are playing games with God trying to get out of it, and then a second question. Are you choosing your comfort instead of trusting God to be with you as he does his work through you? Gideon finally says yes, all right. Gideon finally lifts the limitations, and he says yes, and then God does some really cool things, and this is chapter seven, and I just want you to know when we finally say yes to God, you gotta know he's gonna do some amazing things. So here's chapter seven, a summary of it. Chapter seven, Gideon's like, yes, God, I'm in, and he goes in and he gets this army of over 32,000 men, and so he gets together his army, and God says, that's not what we're doing. If you have an army of 32,000, Israel's gonna think they saved themselves. This is about me, God says. I want all of Israel to know I used you, Gideon, but I am the deliverer here, so God says, we're gonna do this a little different. Let's limit that, or let's take that army from 32,000 down to 300, 300. 32,000 down to 300, and Gideon's probably like, whoa, that's pretty crazy, God, all right, but I trust you, and you must be giving us some great weapons, right? 300 men, we can still get this done if we got some great weapons, and God says, yes, got some weapons for you.

Your weapons are trumpets, empty jars, and torches inside, and Gideon's like, oh, that's not what I was thinking. Will we have suits of armor? No. Then you must have an amazing plan, God. God's like, I do, here it is. You're gonna go to the Midian camp at night. You're gonna blow your trumpet. You're gonna shout for the Lord and for Gideon. Then you're gonna throw your jars on the ground. That's the plan. Gideon's like, okay, and that's what him and the 300 men did, and then I love verse 22, the one verse I'm gonna read in chapter seven. It says, when the 300 trumpets sounded, the Lord caused the men throughout the camp to turn on each other with their swords. All right, God did the work, and then it says, the army fled to, well, a bunch of hard-to-read names. So we'll just say, we'll just say they fled far away. And then that's just an example of what God does when we say yes to him, all right? He's gonna do some amazing things. He wants to use you to make a difference in this world, and just know that, yeah, we put some limitations on God, but when you say yes, be prepared. He's gonna do some amazing things. Earlier in this message, I said the Indy 500 is the largest one-day, what? Spectator sport in the world,

but you have to know Fallen Jesus is not a spectator sport. We weren't called to be spectators. We're called to get in the game. God wants to use us, all right? God wants to make a difference in this world through you. He's gonna call you, he's gonna empower you, he's gonna go with you, all right? And we've just gotta stop with these limitations, and we gotta say yes to him. I know some in the room, you're probably struggling to answer God's call, whatever it may be, and these calls come small, large, daily. I already told you this. come at any moment. God wants to use you any moment, any place, anywhere. And so I just wanna say a prayer over us that we could get better at saying yes, better at discerning who that is standing in front of us, inviting us to be a part of his work. And I'm also encouraging you to do this. You guys know we have an app, Northview has an app. And when you get on the app, you find something called a Serve Finder. And that might just need to be your starting place. Because you're like, yeah, I get it. I need to be a part of what God's doing. God wants to use me. And so maybe you just need to get on there and see the different ways that you could start serving. And that might just jumpstart you into this place

where you're saying yes to God. There's a way to take a test drive on there and you can see what the ministry's all about. And then you can jump in. So I'm gonna pray for us. I'm gonna just have you guys stand. And then I'll pray us out for today. God, you are mighty, awesome, amazing God. All glory to you. Lord, it is amazing to me why you would invite, like me, to be a part of your work. Yet we see it all through Scripture and we know this is your plan. You could do it all, but you wanna do it through us and with us. And we get to be a part. And so I'm so thankful for that. I'm just praying over anyone in the room that is seeking discernment. Lord, is that you standing in front of them and inviting them to be a part of something? Lord, help them to know and help them to say yes. Help me to say yes in all those moments where I feel your promptings. And there's times I just wanna limit you. Lord, help me be better. God, we love you and I thank you for today. I praise things in your name, amen.