And we're getting ready for Vacation Bible School. I'm sure all of you are more than aware of that. And so come on in. It's good to have everybody here tonight. Let's stand together, if you would. We're going to turn to page 178 as we begin tonight. Are you washed in the blood? We're going to sing verses 1, 3, and 4 for our first song tonight. Page 178. Sing out with me on that first verse. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing? Are you fully trusting in His graceless? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood, in the soul of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? When the bridegroom cometh, will your robes be white? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Will your soul be ready for the mansion's bride? And be washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood, in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin, and be washed in the blood of the Lamb. There's a fountain flowing for the soul, unclean, only washed in the blood of the Lamb. Are you washed in the blood, in the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless? Are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Amen. Praise the Lord. I hope you can say tonight that you know that you're washed in the blood of the Lamb. Amen. Well, let's open in prayer tonight. I'm going to ask Brother Quinlan if you would pray for us as we begin our service tonight. Lord, we thank you for your wonderful blessings. We thank you for your care. We thank you for the privilege to be in your house today. Amen. You may be seated tonight. Well, I do want to start out by saying welcome. Good to have everyone here tonight. If you did not know, Pastor is not going to be here this evening. He's actually in at Berean Baptist there in Springfield because the other Luke is preaching there tonight. All right. So Luke Stewart is preaching down there. So they made it a point to go down and hear him preach down at Berean tonight. So that's why he is not here. But he wanted everybody to know, of course, that he's praying for the services tonight. And we'll see you all back on well. If you come out on outreach on Saturday, you'll see him there, all right? But I do wanna start off with some announcements this evening. First of all, as I just mentioned, we do have outreach this Saturday. It's gonna be a big outreach. We are gonna be going out and canvassing, knocking some doors, and handing out vacation Bible school flyers, all right? We do have some of those on the back table, and then also in the outer foyer, if you would like to avail yourself to those and take them to canvas around your neighborhoods. Hand them out to friends and family members and things like that. Please do that. We have plenty of those, but we will be going out Saturday at 10 30 in the morning and would love to see everybody here that could possibly go out and brave a little bit of heat and we'll have some bottled water for you and things like that. Okay, and try and get it done in the morning. then if you get too hot we're gonna have water war in the afternoon so just stay and get soaking wet and you'll feel great all right I've got a big water slide coming for the kids and adults that want to dare do it and then of course we'll have water guns and balloons and all that kind of stuff we'll have a good time that's gonna start between 1 and 130 all right we'll give time for our buses they're gonna have to go out pick up the kids and come back and then we will begin when they arrive somewhere between 1 and 130 and it'll end about 330 in the afternoon so We'll have food here for that, and everyone is welcome to come and join us for that. Bring any kids, grandkids or anybody that you know that might want to come and get wet. We'll have a good time. That's kind of our kickoff for our Vacation Bible School, so it gets the kids interested. We send a lot of flyers home with them when they leave here on Saturday, as well. And then Sunday night, after the p.m. service, we'll have our Vacation Bible School meeting, our workers' meeting, so if you are involved in Vacation Bible School or you want to help out with Vacation Bible School, just come in the room two there after the evening service, and we'll be going through a lot of details and things like that of how you can be involved and help, and then those that are teaching the classes and things like that, please make sure that you are in that meeting for sure. You'll have to excuse me, I got a little bit of a cough tonight. I think I've sucked in too much sawdust this week. The castle will do that to you. Also, this coming Sunday evening, we have missionary Jeff Gross will be with us this evening, and he's going to be presenting in the evening service. He's a missionary that we support to Thailand, and it'll be good to have him here with us on Sunday night. I'm looking forward to that this coming Sunday evening. And then, of course, Monday through Friday, Vacation Bible School, 7 o'clock every night. Be in prayer for the Vacation Bible School, all right? And that we'll see souls saved. We want to see a good number here, but it's all about preaching the gospel. And we want to see young kids and even maybe adults that would come accepting Christ as their Savior this coming week. So that's what it's all about. So please pray for that. Be in prayer for Brother Josh Pyle, and we'll mention this in the prayer request too, but be in prayer for him and his family as they'll be coming and being with us this next week. Looking forward to having them. I did want to let you know that, of course, I mentioned take those flyers with you. Some know, some don't know, we actually sent out 4,500 mailers this week on Monday that went out all across Olathe, Spring Hill, and Gardner. You may have been in a neighborhood that may have gotten one of those, but we sent those out. Trying to get the word out so that we can see people here to hear the gospel every day next week. That's a blessing, something we're trying that we've not ever, to my knowledge, done before like that. But they have gone out, so that's a blessing. Be in prayer for those, that they'll reach homes where the hearts will be ready and we'll see kids come in from that. Already had, I know one lady called just from the flyer, yesterday actually called, got the flyer in the mail, and this older lady said, hey, I need a church home. I need to start going to church somewhere. So we've got an address already just on the first day. So praying that that'll continue to be a blessing there. I did want to let you know, too, next Sunday, the 27th, after Vacation Bible School's over, Brother Tim Quinlan will be preaching in the p.m. service, but there will be no Bible study that evening on the 27th. So be ready for that. And then that week, the teens are going to YouthCon down in Oklahoma City, the 29th through the 31st. So be in prayer for that. I know Brother Michael Jones is preaching. I believe Brother Park Sutton is also preaching at this one. So be praying for those men and our youth as they go down to YouthCon. One other announcement, ladies, I need you to pay attention to this. There's a ladies' retreat coming up, and there's a sign-up sheet in the outer foyer. It's coming up September 5th through the 6th, but it's kind of, with everything going on, it's kind of gone under the radar a little bit, all right? So there's all the info you need to know about is all out on the outer table on the left as you leave with the sign-up sheet, but you have to sign up by the 3rd of August if you're going to be going, all right? So it's coming up very, very quickly, so please take a look at that, and if you're gonna go, go ahead and get signed up for that, all right? Let's go ahead and get our prayer list out tonight, and I got a few updates to give you, and then we'll take any new prayer requests. Of course, as I already mentioned, be in prayer for our Vacation Bible School, Brother Pyle, as he's going to be coming. That's under the other request there on the right-hand side, so make sure that you're making that a matter of prayer. It's good to see Brother Raymer here tonight. I believe he's out doing security. He had an eye procedure today that went well, he was telling me. Pastor and I were talking about that today. I wasn't sure if he'd come in looking like Patch the Pirate, or what would go on, but he said it went really, really good. Do you have anything to add to that? No, OK. Patch the Pirate did it all, covered it. Yes, yes, and the Ramers are gonna be leaving this Friday, right? Headed for Washington D.C. on a little getaway there, and so keep them in your prayers as they're gonna be traveling. Are you driving or flying? Flying, okay, so keep them in prayers. They're gonna be going and visiting Washington D.C. Also wanted to, Brother Will Kennedy there in our first health column down there, about the fifth one down on the left-hand side there, he's got an appointment this Friday, correct? About three o'clock, you said? I'm trying to figure out what's going on. Not sure he's having a lot of pain in his side. Not sure if it's his back or the liver there that we're already been praying for and things like that. So trying to figure out what exactly is going on. It's coming and going, but pretty painful. Glad to see he's able to be here tonight. And I sure appreciate him and his wife and all that they do and help with. And I know this is a setback. So if you would just pray for him, I know they'd appreciate that. Continue to pray for Brother Roy McCray, Miss Sue McCray. She's got to have a procedure done that's coming up. He's going to have to be staying at a nursing home, so I know that they'd appreciate your prayers as they're going through that. Then, Brother Sexton took a fall here a little while back, so he'll try to heal up from that, so keep him in your prayers. And then on the right hand column there under health, my wife's uncle Dave, I would like to ask you to just really pray for him. He's actually had a more development there in the cancer. It's still slow moving, but it's in other areas now, and so we need to just keep that in prayer if you would pray for him. All right. Is there any other prayer requests tonight that we need to take or anything that we can remove from? Yes, Mrs. Hodges. Okay. Okay, so down there at the bottom of the second column, Terry Riddle. Okay, so we can remove Terry Riddle. Praise the Lord that things are going well there. Amen. Anyone else? Brother Riddle. Uh-huh. Okay. Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So it doesn't take till August 28th. Yeah. Having to spend. Oh, wow. Okay. So yeah, Carol. So Carolyn rushing there and that right hand health column just up from the bottom about the fifth one up from the bottom. It's gonna have to have another surgery, but it's August 28th. And if you couldn't hear that until that time, she's hospitalized, which is no fun at all being in a hospital at all, much less that long. So just pray that maybe they can move that surgery up a little quicker. Absolutely, okay. Brother Parker. Amen. Pray for her. Yeah. Yes, absolutely. Yes, yes, very intense. I think that's an incredibly hard language to learn, if not the hardest, so. That's great. Yeah, right. He's got the radio voice only in Japanese now, right? That's great. Yeah. Amen. All right. So keep Jack and Lizzie in your prayers as he'll be traveling and she'll be home with the kids here. And I pray that the sign language camp goes well and they'd see maybe some souls saved through that. What a blessing that would be. Amen. All right. Libby. Yes. Okay, so Caroline Petty in that right hand health column, a little bit down past halfway there. So she starts radiation treatment tomorrow. Okay, so pray for the treatments there. Okay, I see another, Cody. Lacophone. That is an awesome last name. Wow. OK. Praying for him, okay, yeah. And I know he mentioned to me, for those of you that didn't know, Cody found a job, praise the Lord. And so it started Monday, and this guy seems like a pretty neat guy that's training him. And so I've already been able to have a little bit of a witness to him, that's great. So pray that Bob Lockaphone, if you missed that, is his name, L-O-K-A phone. It's a great last name, I love that. And we'll maybe see him in church sometime soon, amen. Okay, anyone else? Yes, sir, Brother Clark. Okay, so Mary Scott, almost to the bottom of the right-hand column there under health. I say almost to the bottom, up a little bit. Amen, praise the Lord, that's great. Ms. Marie. Okay. We'll get those down. Okay. Brother Bellis. Okay. So we'll get Brother Bellis down for tests. He said next Wednesday. OK. Got that. Brother Wood? OK. Kayla Henson? You said jaw surgery? OK. Goodness. OK. All right. Got that. Do we have another one? Alright, we're going to have our men come forward. A lot of things to add to the prayer list tonight. Every time we add things to the prayer list, the pastor will say something like that, and I just think to myself, we can add all the prayers we need to the list, and it still won't overwhelm our God, ever. I just love that, and thankful that our Lord hears us and answers our prayers. I'd ask Brother Dylan Hedrick if you would pray for these prayer requests and the offering tonight, please. Amen. Amen. Let's all stand again. Turn to page 451 with me. Page number 451. Trust and obey. We'll sing verses 1, 3, and 5 tonight. Verses 1, 3, and 5, page 451. Sing out with me on the first now. When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way. While we do His good will He abides with us still And with all who will trust and obey Trust and obey For there's no other way To be happy in Jesus But to trust and obey Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share, but our toil he doth richly repair. Not a grief nor a loss, not a frown nor a cross, but his blast if we trust and hold. ♪ For there's no other way to be happy in Jesus ♪ ♪ But to trust and obey on the last minute fellowship suite ♪ ♪ We will sit at his feet or we'll walk by his side in the way ♪ When He sends we will go, never fear, only trust and obey. Trust and obey, for there's but to trust and obey. It's a simple formula. We just have to do it. Amen. Let's all go ahead and get our Bibles out and get ready for the message this evening. Please remain standing. I've really enjoyed these men getting to preaching and to hear them and how God is using them. Tonight, Brother Luke Quinlan is going to come and he gets to preach in front of a castle. Well, at least it's part of it. It's still in the process of being made, all right? So if you see things not done, we know it's coming, okay? But good to have him able to preach now. So Brother Luke, come right ahead. All right. If you would, turn in your Bibles to Judges 6. Judges 6. It's always a huge honor and a privilege to be able to get to preach, so I'm just very thankful for this opportunity. Judges chapter 6, and we're going to start in verse number 25. Judges 6.25, the Bible says, and build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove, which thou shalt cut down. Then Gideon took 10 men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him. And so it was, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it. And the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, hath done this thing. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it. And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? Will ye save him? He that will plead for him, let him be put to death, whilst it is yet morning. If he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. Therefore on that day he called him Jerob Baal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. Let's pray. Lord, so thankful for this opportunity to be able to open up your word, Lord, and the privilege it is to study your word. And Lord, I just pray that you would help free up my mind, free up my tongue, Lord, that I would not get in the way of this message, Lord, that this message would be an encouragement to those who need it, Lord, and even a challenge to those who need it as well. Pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. What happened on March 16th, 1968 is probably an event that you might not have heard before tonight. On this day, the U.S. Army tried to cover up a blight on its history. It all began with troops from the 23rd Infantry Division were airlifted by helicopter into a sub-hamlet of a village called Song Mai in Mai Le, Vietnam. These men, led by First Lieutenant William L. Calley, Jr., were to eradicate the Viet Cong 48th Battalion. Now, Calley and his men were told to expect heavy resistance flying into this hamlet, and that they would be met with fierce resistance. They had their artillery, their mortars, their heavy weapons. Everything was ready to go and standing by for a moment's notice. And as the men neared the village, they began to run into a few obstacles. First, they had to figure their way out of a minefield that the enemy had laid for them. Finally, as they were able to escape this trap, they kept running into booby traps set up by the Viet Cong over and over and over again. But other than these instances, Calley and his men did not encounter any enemy soldiers. So the men finally get through these traps that have been set for them, and they get to the village of Maile. But instead of encountering heavy enemy resistance like they were told, all they found in the village were unarmed civilians, mostly elderly men, women, and children. This is where things begin to break down, and they break down very rapidly. Calley lost control of his men. For all that his men knew, these civilians, these people, were harboring the Vietnamese soldiers. And nobody, when I was studying for this and looking up this story and the accounts of it, there wasn't really any reason given as to why, it's almost like this switch flipped in their minds. Men, American soldiers began mowing down civilians with rifle and machine gun fire. Others moved from house to house throwing hand grenades in if they did not receive a response from the inhabitants. Yes, these were American troops, and yes, this event really did take place. Somebody had to intervene. Somebody had to stand up and intervene in this massacre. And as this massacre was unfolding, A man, warrant officer Hugh Thompson, was flying his scout helicopter above the village at treetop level. As he flew over the village, he noticed that something was very wrong. Men and women were fleeing everywhere. Unarmed civilians were fleeing in every direction, and half of the village looked like it was on fire. He saw a group of noncombatants fleeing from American troops, and this was it. He couldn't take it anymore. He set his helicopter down right in the middle between those fleeing civilians and the pursuing American troops, and he told his door gunner to fire on any American soldier that tried to keep pursuing these civilians. So Thompson is able to take a couple people with him, and he gets back to his fire base and relays this horrible story to his superiors, and also to the chaplain that was on base. Thompson saw an injustice being done, and knew something had to be done about it. What those soldiers were doing was morally wrong, killing innocent civilians. And if he didn't take a stand, then who would? Gideon is faced with a similar challenge in our texts. After his calling from God, God commands Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal in his town in the grove that's next to it. This is This wouldn't have been an easy task for Gideon to do. This was not just any altar, this was the altar that his father had built for Baal. And tearing down this altar could mean a death sentence for Gideon. Yet he took a stand and did what was right anyways. Why did God command Gideon to throw down the altar of Baal? Well, last time we were in the Book of Judges, we were introduced to a man called Gideon. Now, Gideon was, by all appearances, he was just this nobody who was threshing wheat behind his father's winepress, trying to hide it from the Midianites so they wouldn't steal it from him. And it's ironic, knowing this, that God would come to him and call Gideon a mighty man of valor, and that God would choose to use him to free Israel from their oppressors. God did, or Gideon, excuse me, did not know it yet, but God had a very special purpose for him. See, God isn't limited by time like we are. God can, he is outside of time and he can reach in at any point in time, wherever and whenever he chooses to accomplish his plan. He already knew that Gideon would succeed in his task of overthrowing the Midianites. But before Gideon could take on the Midianites, God needed him to clear some things up at home first. Firstly, the Lord commanded Gideon to throw down the altar of Baal. Now, there's a couple of things I'd like to point out here as we go along and kind of look over the significance of Gideon tearing down the altar. Firstly, Gideon was to use one of his father's bowls to tear down the altar of Baal. People of the Bible, it's not like today where we judge wealth by how much green paper that somebody has with famous leaders of American history on them. That's not how they judged wealth. It's not by how much money you had, it's by how much often livestock you possessed. These animals would provide food, clothing, and in this case, they'd provide labor. And these animals were very, very valuable. Joe Ash, Gideon's father, only has two bulls. And they were probably his prize-winning bulls every year when the county fair came to town. Now, God is asking that Gideon use them in his service. They would no longer be used in the service of Baal. God wanted Gideon to use one of these bulls to tear down the altar that was used to worship Baal. Now, this altar also would have been probably a big, ornate altar. You know, it's got big jewels set in it. It's made of precious metals and it, you know, it glints, the sun glints off of it, you know, just the right time of day. And this was the altar that all the men of the town used for Baal worship. Not only that, but like I said, Joash, Gideon's father, had built it. And that goes to show what Gideon's home life really would have been like. Gideon not only had to go against his hometown, but he was also going to stand up to his own family for what God wanted him to do. You could say that he was giving up all that he knew to serve God. Also Gideon was supposed to cut down the grove that's next to the altar. Now in this passage we see, you know, the word grove used. So I'm thinking, okay, it's an interesting word. I mean, obviously we don't hear that a ton in today's vernacular. So I decided to look up that word. And the Hebrew word that's translated grove is, I don't know, I'm probably going to butcher this, asherah. better known as Ashtaroth, which is the name of a Canaanite or Phoenician goddess. This goddess, as with most goddesses of any mythology that we find around the world, was twisted and perverted and associated with all kinds of immorality. So this grove, this wooden image of Ashtoreth may not have necessarily been a grove of trees like we think of the word grove today. But like I said, it's probably a wooden carved image into a tree or a statue of this heathen goddess. And God cannot abide immorality. So it stands to reason why he would want this image destroyed along with the altar of Baal. Not only was he to destroy the grover, to tear it down like the altar of Baal, he was to use it as kindling for what he would do next. God didn't just want this, I guess for lack of a better term, God didn't want to add insult to injury. I guess, so to speak, it's not like, he's like, well, you know, tearing it down is not good enough. We've got to burn the whole thing down. It's not that it was, he was trying to one-up anybody, but I believe that God had a purpose for having the grove burned. Fire in the Bible is often associated with cleansing. Gideon was supposed to tear down the altar and burn the image to make room for God in his life. God is a jealous God. Oftentimes we think of jealousy. We get jealousy and envy confused. Jealousy is... Envious is wanting something that's... Being envious is wanting something that is not yours. Wanting something that is not yours. Jealousy is... It's a rightful, righteous desire for wanting something that is yours. He does not share His glory with wood and stone images. He will not allow loyalty to some other so-called deity. He is the one true God, and there is none like Him. I'm reminded of even just this Sunday night going through the Bible study in Isaiah, when Isaiah 57, 15, the first part of the verse, says, For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy, I dwell in the high and holy place. Jehovah God is the only one who can make that claim and no other. Gideon needed to destroy all that was holding him back from serving God and fulfilling his call in his life. Not only was Gideon supposed to tear down this altar to Baal and burn the grove, but he was to erect an altar to God in its place. It wasn't just enough for Gideon to destroy the grove and destroy the altar and just move on. He needed to stop and to show reverence to the one who had called him to serve him and who would save Israel. Gideon needed to build an altar for the Lord. Unlike the fancy, ornate altar that would have been the altar of Baal, this altar to Jehovah would have been simple. It would have been made from several uncut stones neatly stacked together. Now that Gideon had cut the world from his heart and from his home, he needed to begin following God. Many times following God simply starts with reverence, humbling yourself before Him and seeking His face. Gideon needed to come to a place where he was humble before God and seeking His face. Then after he erects the altar, Gideon was supposed to burn his father's other bull on the altar he had just built for God. Remember how I said that both of Joash's bulls would be used to serve God? This second one was to be burned as a sacrifice. Yes, it would have been a costly sacrifice, but I don't think God meant service for him to be cheap. Following God requires sacrifice. God doesn't just want whatever. God demands the best. He wants his children's best. He wanted Gideon to really, truly be committed to following Him, even if it cost him a great deal. Just think of all that Gideon is putting on the line here. He's risking his relationship with his family. He's risking his own life with the city. Gideon is putting a lot on the line here to follow God. God committed Gideon to throw down the altar of Baal because he wanted Gideon to take a stand for him. Gideon took ten men to accomplish this task as well. Interestingly enough, Gideon doesn't do this alone. He brought ten of his father's servants with him, and so now, not only is Gideon risking his own life, but he's also risking the lives of these ten men as well. As their master's son, he could order them to do whatever he wanted. But these men had to have known that once they did this, their lives were forfeit. Either they were really loyal to Gideon, or Gideon's testimony had inspired them to come alongside him to begin the deliverance of Israel. And personally, I like that latter reason better. And as we go further, Gideon does this at night because he fears the men of the city. We can decide to pick on Gideon for being a little scaredy cat, for not doing what God told him to do out in the middle of the day. But let's stop and consider his situation first. He was, as I've mentioned multiple times already, he was forfeiting his life to destroy the altar in the grove. And not only that, but also to raise an altar to Jehovah afterwards. Remember, people during the time of the judges would do what was right in their own eyes. This is still during that time, and these people were steeped in idol worship. You could probably argue that many just wanted to reach out to God and use Him as their get-out-of-jail-free card, then go right back to whatever they were doing before. And that's not to say that there weren't those who were diligently seeking God, that they were legitimately repentant before God. But I think that many times, as we see throughout the cycle of the Book of Judges, that many of these people really weren't truly repentant. Many of these people, again, just wanted to use God to get them out of jail. But these people would have been furious to know that their gods, little G, had been thrown down and replaced by Gideon. Gideon at least did what was commanded of him and God would help him with the ensuing fallout. Well then, early the next morning, the men of the city awoke to find what Gideon had done, and it goes over about just as well as you would expect. The men of the city were angry at Gideon for destroying their altar to a false god and cutting down their grove. Sure enough, the people were fuming over this. And they were so ensnared in their sin, so blinded by their sin, to the fact that Gideon was actually helping them to overcome it. They would rather live in bondage to their lusts and their sins, and under Midianite oppression, than live in freedom with God. And they were ready to kill Gideon over it. Like I said, they weren't just mad, they were blindly enraged by what Gideon had done. And they're so blinded by the fact that God was using Gideon to help free them from that bondage, that idol worship, but they didn't want that. They wanted to stay in their sin. And sin can so easily blind people from seeing the full picture, so you can only see what the devil wants you to see. Next, Joash defended Gideon from the men of the city. Joash could have easily have joined in with the men of the city. After all, he was the one who built this altar to Baal. In the world's eyes, he had every right to be just as mad and fuming over this as the men of the city were. And Gideon, as soon as his father shows up, he's probably thinking his goose is cooked at this point. I mean, the whole town shows up ready to kill him, and now his dad's walking up, and he's thinking, oh no, I am done for at this point. Joash, like I said, could have joined with the men that were ready to kill Gideon. He could have cast the first stone, yet he didn't. Joash, instead, actually indicted Baal. He's basically saying, if Baal is so powerful, how come he couldn't have defended himself against this? How come he couldn't have prevented this from happening? If Baal is as great as you say that he is, you have no need to harm Gideon, because Baal can do it himself. And this must have come as a big surprise to Gideon. His father, the one who built the altar in the first place, isn't going to kill him for tearing it down. Then the men of the city named him Jerob Baal. And Gideon now had, because of this, Gideon had a reputation on him. As the crowd dispersed, they began to call him names, Jerob Baal, which simply means, let Baal contend, or Baal's antagonist. And this is far from a bad thing. If you really think about it, his reputation, now in the world's eyes, his reputation has been soiled. But in God's eyes? He now has a reputation for what God has called him to do, and for following through on God's commands in his life. And he should have worn that name as a badge of honor. He was a bail-breaking, grove-grinding servant of Jehovah God, and the people knew that that man that served the Lord, and that the Lord was with him. Just like God challenged Gideon to take a stand, God challenges Christians today to take a stand in their lives for Him. If you remember last time we were in Judges, we talked about God's calling. This was in the first part of Judges 6. God first appears to Gideon and He calls Gideon, but Gideon wasn't quite ready to start following God. He needed to take care of some things at home first. But in our text tonight, Gideon stood up for God, even when the whole town was against him. Taking a stand for God requires sacrifice. Gideon had to sacrifice his father's bulls in the labor to tear down the altar, and then in the sacrifice, the burnt offering for God. Every Christian must be willing to sacrifice something to follow God. Jesus says in Luke 14, verses 26 and 27, God may call you to give up some things to serve Him. Are there things in your life that you could think of that are that are hindering you in your service to God. We can get so caught up in the things of this life. We can get so caught up in the entertainment industry that we give little time to God. Watching... I mean, any time that you get home, all you ever do is watch a movie, watch TVs. Dare I say, even in some cases, I know this is really rare, but read books, Some people get way too wrapped up into that. It's still entertainment. Are there some possessions that you have that may receive too much attention, that you're not giving God the attention that He deserves? Could it be even that you are far too attached to your family? These things are not bad in and of themselves. But if they interfere with God's time, then they must be sacrificed in order to serve Him better. Not only does taking a stand require sacrifice, but taking a stand for God requires us to forsake the sin that is in our lives. Gideon had to tear down the altar of Baal and burn the grove along with it. God takes sin seriously, and we should too. Are there sins in your life that you're harboring against God? Any unconfessed, unforsaken sin in your life will hinder you from serving God faithfully. Just like Gideon, you have to root it out and destroy it with extreme prejudice. I really like this quote from Warren Wiersbe that I came across while studying for this message tonight. He says, It's worth noting that true believers can't build an altar to the Lord unless first they tear down the altars they've built to the false gods they worship. Our God is a jealous God and will not share His glory or our love with another. Gideon had privately built his own altar to the Lord, but now he had to take his public stand, and he had to do it without compromise. Before he could declare war on Midian, he had to declare war on Baal. Taking a stand also requires us to be humble before God. Gideon erected an altar on the ruins of the altar of Baal. To worship God, it requires humility. After confessing and forsaking our sins, it is only right that we worship Him for what He has done for us, and to seek His face. He has given us His only Son as our Savior, and through Him we can have forgiveness of sins. Not only through salvation, but through daily sanctification in our lives. When you confess and forsake your sins, child of God, don't forget to reverence Him. Don't forget to thank Him for what He has done for you in your life. You can start right again when you start with Him. Taking a stand for God also encourages others around us to do the same. We saw that Gideon took those ten servants with him. And I know the Bible doesn't specifically say that these men were following Gideon and were wanting to follow God with him. But when we Follow God, it encourages others to take a stand and follow God as well. Someone close to you who looks up to you as a spiritual role model may be fearful of taking the next step in their life to follow Christ. Will you step out by faith and take a stand for God so that they may see you and be encouraged by that? People are always watching you for better or for worse. We just heard Sunday night about being a Barnabas, being an encouragement to others. Will you be that one who encourages others to follow Christ by following Christ yourself? Don't just sit idly by and think, well, somebody else can do that. No, you need to be following Christ. Take a stand and do it yourself. just like the men of the city were coming against Gideon and were coming to kill him, the world will try to make the Christian back down. The world will try to put pressures on you when you take a stand for Christ. Like Gideon, it is so often unpopular to take a stand for God. Like Gideon, you could alienate yourself from your family. In the Middle East, in parts of Asia and Africa, taking a stand for God really can be the difference between life and death. In our modern Western mindset, it can be difficult to wrap our minds around that. The cost of serving God in maybe a third world country, or a communist country, or a Muslim country, These Christians in these countries risk their lives telling others about Jesus and taking a stand for him. Many times these Christians, they're cast out, and they're abandoned by their families, and they want nothing to do with them. In some severe cases, their family may try to turn them into government officials. They could be thrown in jail, exiled, or even executed. We may not have that here in America, but we do still face pressures for serving God. Taking a stand for Christ at the family Christmas party may make you stand out and look weird. It may be that you have unsaved family members and they start passing around alcohol or alcoholic beverages or doing something like that, and you have to refuse that. You have to take a stand. And they may look at you funny and be like, Why are you doing this? You need to take a stand for God in situations like this. You could alienate yourself from your friends. You may have unsaved friends that need your Christian influence in their lives. Will you tell them of Christ? Will you show them how a Christian, how a little Christ is supposed to act? Or are you too afraid that it might label you as a weirdo Bible thumper? You cannot let social pressure keep you from telling others about Christ. If you do, and that friend never hears the gospel again, your pride and your selfishness has condemned them to an eternity in hell, and their blood will be on your hands. This is how serious this is. We need to be taking a stand as Christians. We need to be taking a stand in the workplace and anywhere out in the world so that people can see Christ in us. You can alienate yourself from your co-workers. You may face ridicule in the workplace because you don't cuss like they do. You don't have the same vulgar sense of humor like they do. And they're going to notice. And they're going to start asking questions. Hey man, you didn't laugh at that funny joke that I told earlier. What's the deal with that? If they start asking questions like that, don't be afraid. That's a good thing. This world is desperately searching for the truth. They just don't know what they need. But you've got what they need. Take a stand at work and show them from God's Word what they are missing. Lastly, God will always help those who take a stand for Him. I'm sure Gideon was fearful, not knowing how this was going to end for him. But God stepped in when Gideon needed Him. When Joash stepped in to defend Gideon, this was God's divine intervention in his life. God always defends His children. So don't let fear keep you from serving God. God will always be there to back you up and to help you in any situation. It's not like You'll get this, ooh, this weird feeling or this sensation in the pit of your stomach that lets you know that He's with you. No, He's always there with you whether you realize it or not. It's not some feeling that we get. It's a promise that we have. He was there for Gideon when the town was ready to kill him. And He'll be there for you when you need the courage to tell that coworker or that friend about Jesus. He'll be there to comfort you and to cheer you when your family casts you out for following Christ. Not only will God be there for you and to help you when you take a stand for Him, but taking a stand for God will be worth it. Just imagine if that co-worker that you've been witnessing to for a really long time now, they get saved. Think of the joy that one more soul has been snatched from the claws of hell. You will have the joy of knowing that you helped in that. That you took part in that. You will have the joy of knowing that one more soul has been saved. That God used you to be a witness for Him. And as you can see, we've got the castle sitting up here. VBS is just this next week. And I'm sure that there are many, many people that anyone can think of in here that are unsaved, that you and your family alone are the only gospel witnesses in their lives. The only gospel witness that they will ever know. you need to invite them and their families to come to VBS, to come to church, to hear the gospel preached. These people that you're thinking of right now, the people that are on your minds that you can think of that need Christ, they may not be saved tomorrow, they may not be saved next week, they might not even be saved a year from now, but that shouldn't stop you from witnessing to them, from telling them about Christ. Think of the joy in that moment when they would get saved. Think of the joy that that co-worker of yours, that that friend of yours, that that family member of yours, that they get to go to heaven and that you get to spend eternity with them. The joy of seeing people saved should far outweigh the fear of social awkwardness. Taking a stand in your life will not be easy. God never intended it to be easy. You must be willing to make sacrifices, to tear down your idols, and to seek God's direction and see what he will do through you. This world is so full of darkness and despair and wickedness. I think it's time that God's people start making it a brighter place by letting our lights shine for Christ in our community. So the question is, will you do that tonight? Will you tell others of Christ? Will you take a stand like Gideon took a stand? Or will you just sit off to the side and someone else will take care of that? So what will it be tonight? Let's stand. Lord, I pray that you would be with each and every single one of us tonight, Lord. That you would help us to take a stand in our lives for you, to take a