Yeah, I had to make sure I had the right. Good morning, everyone. Or maybe I should say, ahoy, mateys. That would probably go over better if everybody was listening to me. Well, good morning and welcome to Evangelical Free Church. For those that may be visiting us, this is not what it normally looks like. Although maybe it could be more fun, maybe we do this all the time, I don't know. But as you can tell, we're having VBS starting tonight. We are so excited for VBS this week. This place will be filled in just a few hours with lots and lots of children, so we definitely want to be praying for that. But we're glad that you're here this morning to worship, to fellowship with one another, to join our hearts and our voices as we sing. Let's begin this morning with some scripture as we read from Psalm 86, verses 8 through 13, which says, there is none like you among the gods, O Lord. Nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things. You alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth. Unite my heart to fear your name. I give thanks to you, O Lord, my God, with my whole heart. I will glorify your name forever, for great is your steadfast love toward me. You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol. Let's pray this morning. Our gracious and heavenly Father, we thank you for your goodness, your grace, your mercy, and we just praise you for who you are. God, you alone are worthy of our worship, worthy to be praised. So Lord, as we join our voices now in singing our praise to you for who you are, what you have done, Lord, we just pray for your blessing upon this service, upon your people who have gathered in your name, Lord, to see you high and lifted up. So we pray for our worship. We pray for our worship in song. We pray for our worship through the preaching of your word as Pastor Greg will be bringing that to us in just a moment, Lord. And so we just ask for your hand upon us, Lord, guide us in our worship, Lord. May it be pleasing to you. It's in your name that we pray. Amen. I want to invite you to stand as we sing those praises of God's attributes back to him as we sing immortal, invisible, God only wise. Lord's all-invisible, God only wise In light inaccessible, hid from our eyes Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days Almighty victorious Unrested Being thou rulest in might, thy justice like mountains, of thy clouds which are found, listen now. To all that Thou givest, to both great and small, in all that Thou givest, the true life of all. We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree, and wither and perish, and naught changeth thee. Great Father of glory, pure Father of light, Thine angels adorning, availing their sight. All praise to Thee. help us to see. Tis only the splendor of light high in thee. All praise we would render, all help us to see. Tis only the splendor of light high in thee. Come let us worship our King. Come let us bow at His feet. He has done great things. See what our Savior has done. See how His love overcomes. He has done great things. He has done great things Oh, hero of heaven, you conquered the grave. You free every captain and break every chain. Oh, God, you have done great things. We dance in your freedom, awake and alive. Oh, Jesus, our Savior, your name lifted high. Oh, God, you have done great things. You've been faithful through every storm You'll be faithful forevermore You have done great things And I know You will do it again For Your promise is yes and amen God, you do great things Oh, hero of heaven, you conquered the grave. You free every captive and break every chain. Oh, God, you have done great things. We dance in your freedom, awake and alive. Oh, Jesus, our Savior, your name lifted high. Oh, God, you have done great things. Hallelujah God, above it all. Hallelujah God, unshakeable. Hallelujah, you have done great things. Hallelujah God above it all Hallelujah God unshakable Hallelujah you have done great things You've done great things. Oh, hero of heaven, you conquered the grave. You free every captive and break every chain. Oh, God, you have done great things. We dance in your freedom, awake and alive. Oh, Jesus, our Savior, your name lifted high. Oh, God, you have done great things. Oh, hero of heaven, you conquered the grave. You free every captive and break every chain. Oh, God. You have done great things. We dance in your freedom, awake and alive. Oh, Jesus, our Savior, your name lifted high. Oh, God, you have done great things. You have done great things. God, you do great things. The grace of God has reached for me And pulled me from the raging sea And I am safe on the solid ground ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ ♪ I will not fear when darkness falls ♪ ♪ His strength will help me scale these walls ♪ ♪ I'll see the dawn of the rising sun ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ Who is like the Lord our God ♪ Strong to say faithful in love ♪ My debt is paid and the victory won ♪ The Lord is my salvation ♪ My hope is hidden in the Lord He flowers each promise of His Word. When winter fades, spring will come. The Lord is my salvation. In times of waiting, times of need When I know loss, when I am weak I know His grace will renew these days The Lord is my salvation Who is like the Lord, our God Strong to save, faithful in love My debt is paid and the victory won The Lord is my salvation And when I reach the final day He will not leave me in the grave But I will rise, He will call me home Who is like the Lord, our God Strong to stay faithful in faith My debt is paid and the victory won. The Lord is my salvation. Who is like the Lord, our God? Strong to stay faithful. My dad is paid and the victory won. The Lord is my salvation. The Lord is our salvation. The Lord is our salvation. Amen. You may be seated. Good morning. And aloha. We could do better than that, right? Aloha. All right. All right. Hey, if you haven't noticed, I think we're doing something special here today. We have this mystery island going on behind me here. Look at the decorations here. You know, it's not every day we come to church and we see a volcano in the background, huh? Isn't that fantastic? And a waterfall over here. Oh my goodness. You know, I'm so excited. Mystery Island. You know, kids, do you know what we're going to do tonight? We're going to track down, you know what our mission is? We're going to track down the one and only true God. I hope you're ready for that. And, you know, we're going to learn things like God is great. We're going to learn things that he is ruler. God is Emmanuel. He is trustworthy. You know, there's so many great things we're going to do. We're going to have fun in the sun. We're going to do games, Bible time with treasure hunts. We're going to do crafts. We're going to have snacks. I really enjoy the snacks. They do a great job with snacks at Vacation Bible School. We're going to have some fun jokes, like, what did the island say to the ocean? I see you. OK, OK. All right. Or how about, how do you know the ocean is friendly? It waves. Oh, you already knew that, huh? All right, very good, very good. But anyway, we have a play that's gonna go on tonight. We have some actors that are gonna be like, Chase Reinhardt, who's gonna be acting for us tonight. We got Sadie Lacho, Carissa Walborn, Jack Johansson. You know, we've got a great lineup for you. So we hope you bring your kids. We hope you bring grandkids, friends, neighbors, anybody that would love to come to You know, and you know the great thing about this? It costs you nothing. You know, it costs you nothing. You don't have, there's no sign up fee or anything like that. Just bring the kids and I would love to have them. Now, there are a couple needs we might have though. So, we've had a couple people at the last minute, unfortunately, have had other obligations or dropouts. You know, we need help. So, if there's a, if you have opportunity to come, and assist, you know, now we have five nights, five nights, 5.30 to eight o'clock, five nights starting tonight. And the job that we're asking for is pretty easy. You lead kids around, that's about it. So you walk them around and just keep them orderly and that's it. So if you have the opportunity to serve tonight and help with that, we would love to have you. So please come join us for that. So didn't they do a great job decorating? Let's give it up for them, huh? So other announcements from our church. So we have Women's Ministry will have their weekly prayer meeting this week on Thursday, July 22nd from nine to 10 in the church library. So it's in the morning this week because of VBS. So please see Carol Hensel or Peggy Schultz if you have any questions. And so women come and join in this opportunity to pray together. So please think about that this week. We look forward to Awana starting up again in the fall. So I was just talking to Mr. Giordano And he said that there are need for sparks and TNT leaders. So please consider that, pray on that, and then see Tim Giordano when you get opportunity. But Oana, what a great outreach ministry that we have here in this church. It reaches out to our community. Please consider that. The pastor's class, A Journey Through the Bible, Discovering the New Testament, will be held today during the discipleship hour in the church library, okay? So please, it's in the library. not the music room. Today we continue with the Gospel of John. There is room for you in the class, he says. So we have the offering box behind you on your way out. If you'd like to give to the Lord, that would be great. And then I would like to call up at this time great people in our community. We have Pastor Steve Terry and his wife, Ann Terry. If they have opportunity to come up here, we have a ministry moment for them to share. Come on up, you guys. Let's welcome them today. Good morning. Boy, I find as we walk upstairs, as we're getting older, it's getting harder to walk upstairs. We just have a few minutes. I wanna tell you there's just a whole lot going on at the rescue mission. Some things that this church has helped support. First off, let me tell you that the property right next door to the mission, the old rental yard, 4350, 4248 Lincoln, now belongs to the Oroville Rescue Mission. That has been a long task to get that done. And we are now in talks with the city. They will be donating or leasing a dollar a year. The property right behind that that goes from Eidora all the way to Bagot, Marysville, it's only 110 feet wide, but that's a place we can put RVs so they don't have to park in parking lots anymore. And so we're looking to see if we can't help the blight of the city with people that are parking older equipment. And this way we can get them off the city streets and do something to help them. Just a lot going on. I do have one really quick story I want to tell you about. Kind of starts out as a sad or kind of a sad story. But really if you knew the whole thing it's really exciting. We had a man come to us about 14 years ago. His name was Greg. So exciting that I've forgotten his name. Comes with age. Anyway, Greg came to us a long time ago, and he really didn't have a drug problem. He liked the alcohol a little bit, but not real bad, and really never joined our program. He was always a big help, stayed around the mission a lot, really didn't want to go anywhere. If you were ever at the mission, you would know him. His beard was about down to here, and well-groomed, well-taken care of, very soft-spoken man. As we checked in and kind of tried to do what we could to help him, we found out that he had a brother in England. And his family that he was here in the United States had pretty much disowned him. And he had disowned them. There was no criminal history, kind of an unusual character to find around the rescue mission. But the rescue mission is where he felt like he belonged. And so he never, he didn't want to leave. And so about three years ago, four years ago, he was diagnosed with cancer, lung cancer, and they told him it was stage four right then that he would die within just a very short time. Now, I will tell you that Greg loved the Lord, and when he came to the mission, that's where he got saved, and he just never wanted to leave. And finally, he came to me after they diagnosed him and asked, he said, Pastor Steve, This is my family. I love everybody here. I know everybody here. Everybody loves me. They take care of me. We take care of each other. I want this to be my home. Can I die here? We're a rescue mission. Do you really? It's a dorm. But how could I say no? Such a tender request. Greg went home to be with the Lord Thursday. Now, you would think that it would rattle everyone at the mission. It didn't. Everybody was thrilled to death that Greg had gotten to go home. Now see, that sounds like a sad thing, but in truth, there's rejoicing, and we're excited because this is one that when he came to us, We always try and find them home, but we couldn't and we couldn't do anything for him so instead we did the next best thing and We feel like we've lost a part. There'll be a picture of him. No hang in the chapel We feel like we've lost a part of us, but you know what we get parts take part in a celebration, too There's a lot going on come down to our store. We've completely remodeled it. It looks really nice and But I'm gonna turn the rest of this time over to my wife because we've just started a brand new thing that opened up Monday. Hi, I just wanna say really quickly that we also have another connection to this church besides the fact that this church has always been a contributor to the rescue mission. Our middle granddaughter, Rebecca Hingle, attends Oroville Christian School. And I just appreciate that this church operates a Christian education is so important. It really is. And it just blesses my heart. She fits in and she didn't fit in in public school. And it just blesses my heart. But anyway, I want to tell you real quickly, the rescue mission has also recently opened up a resource center. It's at 2150 Bird Street behind our administration office, next door to Bird Street Thrift, which is next door to the Lord's Gym. So anyway, we're going to have flyers in the back as you guys are leaving, if you'd like a flyer about our grand opening and about the services that the Resource Center has to offer. We've hired a housing navigator to help homeless people, whether or not they're staying at the rescue mission, to be able to obtain housing. So we're going to have some housing help available. We have a small budget to help with things like rental deposits utility deposits and that sort of thing. So our goal is to help those people, whether or not they're staying at the rescue mission, to be able to obtain housing and move on to the next best thing in their lives. So please meet us at the back in the lobby afterwards, and we'd love to give you a flyer and give you more information about that. Thank you folks so much for the opportunity to come here. God bless. You know, this community needs the rescue mission. And the rescue mission, of course, meets the needs of this community. And so if you have opportunity to designate and give in the offering for the rescue mission, that would be fantastic. You know, my family and I have served alongside the Terrys for many, many years. What a privilege it is if you have opportunity to go and serve with them. Christmas Eve, we have had the joy of serving the homeless meals. And I'm telling you, it's a wonderful tradition. My kids always look forward to it. And thank you for having that every year and giving us the opportunity to serve. So that's fantastic. So let's go to the Lord right now. Let's go to the word. If you could please stand with me as we read from Psalm 86, one through seven. Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly. Save your servant who trusts in you. You are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving. abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer. Listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble, I call upon you, for you answer me. Please be seated. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you, dear Lord, for this church. for your wonderful provision. Lord God, you provide the resources, you provide people, you provide your blessing to us, dear God. We are forever grateful. You bless us with the holy word of God. You've blessed us with your son, Jesus Christ. We're so thankful, dear God. Lord God, I want to thank you so much for the opportunity to serve you. We have Vacation Bible School starting tonight. We ask your blessing upon it, dear God. We thank you that you have moved ahead of us to prepare. You've moved in the hearts and minds of those who are gonna serve. Lord God, may we serve you well. May we be diligent in the task, dear God, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with this community. May you prepare the hearts and minds of the children that are coming. Dear God, may you prepare the parents. Lord, may the parents Come and witness who you are and what is going on here at this church and this community. Dear God, we pray and ask your blessing for the Oroville Rescue Mission. Pastor Terry and his wife Annie, dear God, faithful servants of yours for so many years. Dear God, they do their best to meet the needs of this community. We're grateful to them. We're grateful to all who serve alongside of them. Lord God, we thank you for the lives that have been changed over the years. And if it'd be just one life, dear God, just one life, is it worth it? Absolutely. And they've changed many lives. Lord God, you have worked through them. We ask your blessing upon them and their health. Lord, please be with them this year, dear God. May they finish strong. Dear Heavenly Father, we want to also lift up the Carlisles and their ministry. in this community. Our God, our ministry of the month that we can pray for. Lord, may they serve those who are incarcerated. May they help them and give them hope and conviction of sin. May they share the gospel with them. May they lead them to healing and restoration, dear God. So we ask your blessing upon them, dear God. We pray for strength, courage, and boldness. Lord God, I want to thank you for our trustees in this church. Lord, it is a tough ministry, dear God, to keep up the maintenance of the church. Lord, it's a labor of love. I pray for their teamwork, their unity, their purpose. Dear God, give them strength. Lord, may you help accomplish much through them. Lord, we're in a drought, and Lord, We pray, Lord, that there is much to learn during this time. What can we learn in this drought? Help us to conserve. Help us to learn lessons from you, dear God. Lord, we pray for rain. Lord, we thank you for our lake, our river, dear God. And we just want to continue to look to you, dear God, for that provision of water. Lord, we pray for the persecuted church, dear God. Lord, think of Iran and China, North Korea, Afghanistan. Lord, our brothers and sisters in Christ that serve you there, dear God, I pray for strength, for boldness and courage, dear God, to stand against the evil one. Please be there and protect them, dear God. Lord, we want to pray for the men in our community, dear God, in this congregation, Lord, that they serve as Followers of yours, dear God, that point their family to Jesus Christ, lead others to you, dear God. They could be the husbands, the fathers that you've designed them to be. Lord, please be with them, Lord. And Lord, I pray for those who are ill and homebound, hospitalized, dear God. Please grant strength to them, dear God, and may your mercy abound. Lord, we know you're the great physician, and you can heal if you so choose to. May they learn, dear God, during illness, that whatever lessons you may have for them, Lord, and we thank you for them. We miss them, Lord. Lord, pray for revival and, dear God, spiritual awakening in this community. Lord, may it begin with us. as we're witnesses to those around us. Please, Lord God, may you start with us with confession of sin and repentance. Dear God, help us to be holy as you are holy. God, we thank you for the offering today. We ask your blessing upon it. The resources are used to glorify you. And Lord, lastly, Lord, we want to pray for our pastor, Pastor Greg. Dear God, as he delivers your word, may you speak through him, dear God, And all God's people said, Amen. Thank you, Rob. As our children are being dismissed to their classes, I don't think there could have been anybody better to announce and promote VBS than Rob Rodney. Appreciate your enthusiasm. And in the psalm that Rob was just reading, there was that cry from David. He said, I plead for your grace. We need God's grace every day. And Ephesians 2.8, for by grace you have been saved through faith. It is a gift of God. It is not by works. And we're gonna sing, this might be new to some of you, a song called Grace Alone. And it just sings of that cry of the Reformation, sola gratia, grace alone, we are saved by grace alone. So would you stand and sing that with us? I was an orphan lost at the fall Running away when I'd hear you call But Father you worked your will I had no righteousness of my own I had no right to draw near your throne But Father you loved me still And in love before you laid the world's foundation You predestined to adopt me as your own. You have raised me up so high above my station. And I'm a child of God by grace and grace alone. Oh, by grace. You left your home to seek out the lost. You knew the great and terrible cost. Jesus, your face was sad. I worked my fingers down to the bone. Nothing I did could ever atone. Jesus, you paid my debt. By your blood I have redemption and salvation. Lord, you died that I might reap what you have sown. And you rose that I might be a new creation. I am born again by grace and grace alone. Oh, by grace alone. I was in darkness all of my life. I never knew the day from the night. Spirit, you made me see. I swore I knew the way on my own. A head full of rocks and a heart made of stone. Spirit, you moved in me. That just as my sleeping spirit was awakened On my darkened heart the light of Christ has shone Called into a kingdom that cannot be shaken Heaven's citizen by grace and grace alone So I'll stand in faith by grace and grace alone. I will run the race by grace and grace alone. I will slay my sin by grace and grace alone. I will reach the end by grace and grace alone. Oh, by grace alone. Amen. You may be seated. Well, good morning, everyone. It's nice to hang out in the jungle this morning with the people of God. You know, life is kind of a jungle, isn't it? And so in a sense, this is just a visible image of really what we go through every day, isn't it? Just in this battle for righteousness with all the dangers and toils and snares that could be out there and how blessed we are to be safe by grace and grace alone. Special shout out to Alyssa Bell and her team. Boy, you should have seen them working this week. They were just buzzing all over this campus, getting everything ready for this exciting week of VBS. And I hope that you will make it a priority to be praying every day this week for God to bring children to come and have fun. And yes, Rob, have the snacks, but more importantly, to encounter the God of snacks. Okay, how about that? The living one, that they may come and really eat from the bread of life. We'd be so pleased to see God working in the lives of boys and girls, and their parents this week. Be praying for parents as well, as we hope to make new connections with people in our community this week. William Cooper was a hymn writer in the 18th century. His life was full of challenge and tragedy, but the deep reflections of his songs and writings show he was a man of depth, of character. He struggled much of his life, however, with mental illness and depression. Yet he found continual comfort and solace in a mighty God who is both good and sovereign. And perhaps his most well-known hymn is God Moves in a Mysterious Way. And I just want to read a couple of the verses from that hymn. God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He plants his footsteps in the sea and rides upon the storm. Deep and unfathomable minds of never-failing skill, he fashions up his bright designs and works his sovereign will. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, but trust him for his grace. Behind a frowning providence, he hides a smiling face. His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour. The bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. Blind unbelief is sure to err and scan his work in vain. God is his own interpreter, and he will make it plain. When we go through the trials and struggles and difficulties of life, we have a God who not only knows about the problems, knows why they are part of his ultimate plan, and helps us to understand what he is doing in and through them. And Mr. Cooper has reminded us of that with some of the truths that he shares from that hymn this morning. When we left off last week in the book of Judges, we saw that Gideon had met the Lord in a rather dramatic encounter. that God had called him to bring a great victory and deliverance to his people, but we saw that Gideon was rather reluctant, hesitant to show any type of obedience and courage. Rather, we found him time and again looking for one way or another to avoid this important responsibility, putting God to the test several times. But the Lord continued to deal graciously with Gideon and did not destroy him, though he had every right to do so as a holy God. And so we saw that the example for us to follow is not the hesitancy of Gideon, but the sweet, gentle patience of Yahweh, who deals so kindly with his people. Well, today as we move into Judges 7, we find a Gideon who is taking on a different demeanor. Now that he is confirmed in his calling, he is asserting a leadership and courage to the challenges that are before him. But as we've seen so far, many times over and again in the book of Judges, there are more twists and turns to come. And we'll see some of them as we read and study this chapter this morning. And so, if you are able, one more time, I invite you to stand as we read part of our passage for this morning from God's holy word. We'll be reading Judges 7, the first eight verses. And the all lovely and eternal word of God says, Gen Jerubal, that is Gideon, and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Herod. And the camp of Midian was north of them by the hill of Moreh in the valley. The Lord said to Gideon, the people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel boast over me, saying my own hand has saved me. Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people saying, whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead. Then 22,000 of the people returned and 10,000 remained. And the Lord said to Gideon, the people are still too many. Likewise, everyone who kneels down to drink. And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men. But all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. So he brought the people down to the water, and the Lord said to Gideon, everyone who lapsed the water with his tongue, as Adab lapsed, you shall set by himself. Likewise, everyone who kneels... Did I just do that? I did. Good morning. Okay, we did that. Let's do verse eight and finish. So the people took provision in their hands and their trumpets, and he sent all the rest of Israel, every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men, and the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. Now, Father, would you give understanding this morning as you open this text to our hearts, and would you open our hearts to this text that we might know that we have met with the living God this morning. Lead us now, we pray, in Jesus' name. Amen. Please be seated. As you follow along in your sermon outline this morning, we find the curious strategy. The curious strategy, verses 1 through 8. Now, as we saw last week, Judges 6 ended with a battle scene that was set. On the one side, troops were present from the tribes of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulon, and Naphtali. And on the other side were the enemy forces of the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the east. The battle scene was set. The powder was dry. All that was needed was for the fuse to be lit. And after testing the Lord several times, Gideon finally answers the call. What will he do? Well, I want you to look at your copy of God's word and notice that he is called here Terubbael, which means Let Baal contend with him. Now I find that interesting because he will not be called by this name again until the end of chapter 8. And so the author is probably telling us something, that something is going on by not calling him Gideon from the beginning of the story, but calling him Jerubael. We've seen so far that Gideon has been one who has been trying to manipulate God. And as we get to chapter 8, which we will look at next week, Gideon will make an idol that will lead the Israelites astray after his death. And so perhaps we're being prepared for that by referring to him as Jerobel this time because we will find out that there is still more Baal in Gideon than Yahweh. After all, as we've seen time and time again in the Book of Judges, this is a time of great confusion, a time of great compromise on the part of God's people. We find, as we set the scene this morning at the beginning here in Chapter 7, that the Israelites have camped by the Spring of Herod, while the Midianites camped by the Hill of Moreh. I find it interesting that the Israelites camped by the river. Perhaps they wanted to be refreshed before they went off into battle. But the names give us an idea of something that's going to happen. As you know, names are not just randomly given in the scriptures. For example, we find here that the word Herod means trembling, which foreshadows what is going to take place. First, where we will see the trembling of many of the Israelites, but even afterwards, we see the trembling of many of the Midianites. And more comes from the word to teach or to instruct. It's as if the scene is being set for God to teach some lessons to some people, first to the Midianites, but also to Gideon. And so as we dive down a little deeper in our first major point, we see the command to send the fearful away. As we began to read, we saw that the Lord is giving instructions because he wants to show who is in control. So far Gideon has been showing a lack of obedience, of eagerness. He's always looking for a way out. And so God is going to tighten the screws, as it were, to show Gideon, look, I am Yahweh. You are not. I'm in control. I'm the true commander of the forces of Israel. You are not. And so the Lord looks over the crowd that has come and he says, too many. Too many, they'll boast that they have won the victory, though it is I who have promised to give them victory by my hand. It's as if God knows us. He knows that by nature we are glory hounds, wanting to seek a little bit of glory for ourselves, glory that is only to be reserved for God. And is that temptation not even among us today? We want to pinch just a little bit of glory. Oh, we're happy that God gets most of it, the great majority of it, but boy, it's sure nice to see our name in the press release. God says, no. I'm going to reduce the number so that they do not say, I won this battle, but that they will recognize that it is Yahweh who gets the battle. Because as we go on, God clearly says in verse 2, I do not want them boasting over me, saying my hand has saved me. If we ever begin to think that we deserve some of the glory or some of the credit, we rob God of what truly belongs to him. It's always the case that the victory belongs to the Lord. Always the case that salvation belongs to the Lord. Always the case that God does not need anything or anyone, but in His kindness and gentleness and mercy is often pleased to use people like us. But He does it on His terms and for His glory alone. Now, we don't know what's going through Gideon's mind at this point. We might think that initially he's tempted to say, wow, look at this, I've got 32,000 men gathered. But if we review quickly what's been going on in Judges, 32,000, is that really enough to defeat the enemies who flow over the hills, we are told, like locusts, they and their camels? Have they not already been defeated time and again over seven years? Maybe we can't know what's going on in Gideon's mind, but God does, and he will make sure that Gideon doesn't get too confident in his own abilities. And it is true that victory ultimately always belongs to the Lord, and as Jonathan would remind us later on, the son of David would remind us, our son of Saul, sorry, in 1 Samuel 14, that victory can be brought about by the Lord, whether by few or by many, but it is always the Lord who brings about the victory. And we need to be reminded of that today, do we not? That it's not when we are great that God gets the glory. It's when we are weak. It's when we are helpless. It's when we have nothing to give and can do nothing that ultimately the greatness and the glory and the strength of God shine through. God is trying to get Gideon's attention and the people of Israel their attention. And so he says, whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead. You see that in verse three. The language here means whoever trembles with great fright or trembles fearfully. So imagine the scene. Here we have the army of the Israelites, these four tribes that have come. Are they not supposed to be ready to fight for their people and for their land? And yet when the offer is given to leave if they are afraid, they do so in mass. Maybe they looked out and they saw this sprawl of the enemy soldiers, the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the east, and their courage began to wane. And maybe it is in the strategy of battle that it's better for those who are not ready to go into battle to not go into the battle. And maybe it's for this reason that we are reminded again and again and again in the scriptures either to be not afraid or to be of great courage. Because the temptation is always going to be to be afraid or to lack courage. God has clearly said several times in the book of Judges, be not afraid. I am in charge. I will give the victory. Now go and obey my voice. But there's something else at play here, and that is fear is contagious, and so is courage. And I don't really need to remind us of that fact, do I? Over the past year, with all that has transpired, we have seen many examples of panic, of contagious fear. and not as many examples of contagious strength or courage. We've seen people who have gotten wound up in an emotional vortex of fear, listening only to voices that would drag them down, and running around almost as if they didn't have a mind, fearful of what was to come. And unfortunately, many of them claimed the name of God. But what does it say when somebody who claims the name of God or the names of Christ acts foolishly in a crisis? When we have a God who said, do not be afraid. I am with you. I will see you through. Well, if panic is contagious, imagine the fear that's going through the camp of Israel. Maybe they're thinking, we can't win. This is a fool's errand. Better to be alive and impoverished than dead. And maybe Gideon is thinking, well, what good is 32,000 men if most of them are fearful? But that's not God's thinking. He's saying, if they get the victory, they'll take the glory. The glory belongs to me. And so, he's going to challenge Gideon one step further. And so, we get to the command, thin the herd some more. And the Lord looks at the situation and says, no, it's still too many. There's still too many of you and you're gonna claim the glory, the glory that belongs to me. And so he brings the people down to the water. We are told to test them. Verse four, you see it there? Take them down to the water and I will test them for you there. And then the Lord does the sorting out. The word to test here means to purify. It's the word that's used to separate metals from the dross as it goes through the smelting heat. Now, it's interesting. I'm thankful that the English Standard Version has smoothed out this verse to help us understand a little more, because in the original, it's complicated. There's so many clauses and sub-clauses, and you're trying to figure out what is the exact nature of the test, who's doing what with the water, and the cupping of the water, and the kneeling down. All we know is that 300 were selected because of how they chose to drink their water. So we read it in the ESV, and it says that those that cup the water to their hands. And why did God choose this test? I don't know. The text doesn't tell us. It just says, God says, I'm going to give you the test, and whoever passes the test will go on, whoever doesn't will not. And we need to be content to leave it at that. Some say, well, you know, This is a war situation, and so those that got down on their knees and they're cupping to their mouth, they're looking out over the horizon. Wait a minute, God just said, I'm gonna get the glory in this victory. So we should do whatever we're doing in our explanation, don't try to put the glory back onto man. Simply the text doesn't tell us why God chose the 300, and so we just have to leave it to Him that He knew what He was better, what He was doing, because as the old television show says, Father knows best, and we just let God decide, right? The victory will be His on His terms for His glory and His glory alone. But what God does say at the end is, these are my men. 9,700 more have left. And so they've gone from 32,000 to 22,000 to 300. Gideon's lost over 99% of his fighting force. Now, I have a question. How is that going to look on the bottom line? When he shows up for the annual review, what is his boss going to say? Ah, but you see, that's the point. God doesn't want us thinking on a human level. He wants us to think on His level, that all of the glory will be given to Him. And so His better plan was, I'm gonna break it down from 32,000 to 300, and they're gonna go off into battle with a trumpet, a jar, and a torch. Wow, this is a strange army. And if Hollywood came up with such a theme, nobody would watch it. But God is more clever still. So next, we see the encouraging dream, and I will read for us now the next section in this passage. That same night, the Lord said to him, arise, go down against the camp, for I've given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah, your servant, and you shall hear what they say. And afterward, your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp. And he went down with Purah, his servant, to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp. And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the east lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance. When Gideon came, Behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade, and he said, Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian, and came to the tent, and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat. This comrade answered, This is no other than the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, a man of Israel. God has given him into his hand, Midian, and all the camp. As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshipped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand. And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars with torches inside the jars. And he said to them, Look at me and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of the camp and shout for the Lord and for Gideon. Now, did you notice that right away at the beginning of this section, it said that same night? There's a lot happening in a short period of time here. God seems to be in a hurry to get the battle underway. 31,700 men have left, only 300 remain. They're standing looking out over the valley of the Midianites, the Amalekites, and the people of the east. But the Lord knows and he provides. God will await no more delays, not from Gideon or anyone else. So he takes the initiative and tells Gideon to go down into the camp. As we've seen over and over again, God is the one who gives a promise and a command. He commands Gideon to take the next step, but he's not going to give him a chance to argue with him this time, like we've already seen in Judges 6. Before he gives Gideon a chance to respond, he says, but if you're afraid, take someone with you and go down into the camp. Again, God knows his people. He knows how they're going to respond, but he already knows how to provide. My friends, it's the same for us today. God already knows our problems. He knows our weaknesses. He knows our blind spots. He knows our areas of need, but He also knows the solution. And so He expects us then not to try to hide our problems, our weaknesses, our blind spots from Him, but to go to Him with them, present them to them and say, would you be so kind as to help me because he knows the solution in every situation. And so he says, take a friend with you. And when you go, you will be encouraged by what you hear as you draw near the camp of the enemy. So imagine Gideon, he's heard from the Lord again, he grabs his friend, they go down to the camp, he knows he's going to hear good news. And what is the good news that he will hear? He will hear the words of the Midianites saying, we will be rolled over. They start down the hill. Gideon's obedience is not perfect, but at least he's taking the step to go down the hill. Now, we need to recognize that from a human standpoint, this was a dangerous journey. If they had been discovered by the enemy, it would have almost certainly been certain death for them. The three enemies are spread across the valley. You see it in your description there in God's Word. They're like locusts. Imagine if we take a church trip and we go to the top of Table Mountain, and we look over the valley of Oroville and the surrounding area, and imagine seeing it just crawling with forces everywhere, enemy forces. It would take some courage to come back down the hill and go and examine what's going on in the camp. And that's the imagery, there are locusts in abundance, camels without number, there's sand on the seashore. What could 300 do? against such a vast number of men. Surely for their part, the enemies that are scattered across the valley, who have subdued Israel for seven years, surely they're not going to be afraid of 300. I don't think they would have even been afraid of the 32,000, because they'd already beaten them time and again. They would have no reason to be afraid, unless there was a good reason for them to do so. And there was such a good reason for them to be so. Again, we will see and we do see the sovereign control of God. He's in control of the events here. even the movements of men. As we saw last week, he was the one that had moved the forces into the place where they needed to be. We've seen that several times in the book of Judges. So imagine as we're looking out and you see the masses spread across the valley that Gideon just happens to come to the right spot in the enemy camp where he hears two men talking about a dream that they've had. Wow, that's quite a coincidence, isn't it? No, my friends, with God there are no coincidences. He is in control of governing and leading his people. And he had told Gideon, you will go down, you will hear good news that will encourage you. And so Gideon goes down, and what does he hear? Good news that will encourage him. And I find it interesting that God chose to use a dream here. That would be an exciting study to have one day. Oftentimes, God was pleased to give dreams to non-Israelites to guide Israelites in their decisions. For example, God spoke to Laban and said, don't touch my servant, Jacob. God sent a dream to the baker and the cupbearer in prison with Joseph. And Joseph was able to give the interpretation. King Nebuchadnezzar had dreams about a kingdom that would come. And now here we have these two men in the Midianite camp, having a dream that is going to encourage Gideon and Purah. So they approach the camp. We don't know exactly what this looks like, but you know, you can use your imagination. They get to the outskirts of the camp, and they're trying to figure out how to secretly moved throughout the camp, and all of a sudden they hear two men talking about an unusual dream. And it is, it's an unusual dream. A cake of barley bread, rolling into the camp, and knocking the tents over, and they're all flat. I mean, we all laugh about the dreams that we have, right? We think, well, what's the meaning of this dream? And this one kind of seems to be a silly dream like that. I mean, a small loaf of barley bread. What could it accomplish? I mean, barley was the cheapest of grains. How could it roll over an enemy camp? But I think Pastor Tim Keller helps us. He reminds us that things that seem so strong suddenly are not that strong when God decides to act, even when it's through what we think are weak means. Well, God not only gave the dream, as He often does, He also gives the interpreter or the interpretation of the dream. There we go, okay. And in this case, he's telling us that the providential hand of God is working that one non-Israelite receives a dream, another non-Israelite gives the interpretation, and they have the effect of encouraging the people of God. So it seems that God is at work behind the scenes already sending a spirit of fear over the camp of the Midianites. You know, it might be that our ideas of what is heroic and what is useful are different than God's. God can use whatever he wants to accomplish his means. And what I find interesting is that it seems that these Midianites in this story, they seem to believe God and his promise more than Gideon does. at least initially. They seem to believe that God really will give them over to Israel. And Gideon up to this point, who should have known better, is the one that's showing all kind of doubt. And so the Lord gave him a dream, or gave him the ability to hear a dream, and he is encouraged. And I wonder what it is that would cause this Midianite to say this could be none other than the sword of Gideon, the son of Joash, of Israel, and that God will give him the victory. How does he know this? Why would he not think that the barley cake of bread was him? And that they would roll over the Israelite camp? You don't know. But God's in control of the details and in control of the actions. And he is the one that gave us this interpretation. And what I find it interesting is that these men realize what it means. They will be defeated. And you can imagine the fear that's starting to move through the camp because they realize that no one can stand against God. You know, barley was a poor quality grain in that day. It was mainly that the poor and the lowly, the downcast, the lowest economically who would eat it because it was difficult to use. And so to call somebody a cake of barley bread would have been a pejorative. Like calling someone a good-for-nothing. But isn't it interesting that Gideon is referred to as a good-for-nothing? And he's the one that God is going to use to accomplish great things for God. He who began in the story that we've seen in chapter 6 by threshing grain will now act according to his name, which you recall means the hacker. as he thrashes, or at least as is used of God, to thrash in the pages to come. So now we're set. They have encouraging dream. We will be rolled over. So let's get ready to rumble. We do not know how widespread the dream would have been, but it was enough to encourage Gideon. And what does he do? We're told he worshiped God. As Lawson Younger said, it's ironic that Gideon was not convinced by hearing the promise from the Lord directly, but by hearing it from the lips of a Midianite soldier. Gideon may not be a perfect example of faith, and God will use him for his glory, but I find that God in his, if you will, condescension to Gideon, meeting him at his point of weakness time and again, and using Gideon for his glory, gives hope to people like us. Because we know we blow it again and again. We know we turn against the Lord. We know we don't obey the way we should. We know that we hide fears in our hearts. We know that we have wrong thinking that has to be rooted out. And isn't it nice, by grace alone, as we've just sung, we run back and say, thank you. Thank you for the cleansing. Thank you for the forgiveness. Thank you for the deliverance. Thank you for the empowerment that comes in being with you. We're told that he worshiped. And we get an idea of what that would look like from the word itself, which means to bow down on one's face. Now, was this just a short prayer where he bows down? I don't know, it's not hard for us to imagine, is it, given the consequences, that there was some type of gesture, a yes under his voice as he's hearing this, and he knows that this is a very strategic time. But what is clear is that he is bowing before Yahweh. And why the author, I think, wants to draw that out is that on other occasions and judges up till now, there is reference to the Israelites bowing, and it is before the gods of Baal, the gods of the Canaanites. And now here, Gideon bows before the one true God. He'd been given a word of encouragement, and it was good for him then to bow down before God. When God gives us a word of encouragement, that is the perfect time for us to bow down and to worship and to give thanks. So Gideon rightfully here gives glory to God first. before acting. If only he had done that at every turn, the story would have been very different. But we can learn from this example. When you see the Lord bring a victory, or a deliverance, or a provision in your life, is your first response to worship Him? Or is it to start enjoying the victory and the fruits of the deliverance? What if when seeing a bountiful harvest, we first stopped and worshipped God? What if when seeing a wonderful sunset, we first stopped and worshipped God? What if when hearing a good report of provision or of healing or of some type of deliverance of God, we stopped and worshipped first? How would our lives be different? I dare say that it would be transformational. And I dare say that the praise would overflow from our lips in an ever-ending fashion. Because as we continue to give glory to God for the things that he is doing, we can be sure that we will see more so that he continues to get glory in our lives. So he has this time of worship, and now it prepares for action. We don't know how long this took, but it's all under this that same night. The events are moving very quickly. So Gideon takes charge. He goes back to the camp. He said, let's go. He gives them the strategy. And he has some clever planning and some clever leadership. And he's actually becoming now this mighty warrior that the angel had made reference to in chapter 6 when he first appeared to him and said, fear not, almighty warrior. And we see that he is becoming what the angel had predicted that he would be. So he divides his men into three groups. You've read the text with me. He says, follow my example. And they pick up their weapons of war, a trumpet, a jar, and a torch. And this is an amazing strategy that will only work if God is in it. And so we see the third point, the chaotic victory. So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch, and they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches and in their right hands the trumpets to blow, and they cried out, a sword for the Lord and for Gideon. Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army, and the army fled as far as Beth Shittah, towards Zerurah, as far as the border of Abu Meholah, by Tabat. And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from Ammanasseh, and they pursued after Midian. Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim saying, come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them as far as Beit Barach and also the Jordan. So all the men of Ephraim were called out and they captured the waters as far as Beit Barach and also the Jordan. And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeab. They killed Oreb at the Rock of Oreb and Zeab they killed at the winepress of Zeab. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeab to Gideon across the Jordan. Now, on the face of it, this is an interesting strategy. I doubt you'll see this in any of the war manuals. If there's going to be a victory, it's not going to become through the conventional efforts of men. It will come through the wondrous methods of God. And so we see a rude awakening. We are now in the middle watch of the night. Remember, we're talking about Canaanite culture here. And in Canaanite culture, they had three watches of the night. From 8 p.m. to midnight, from midnight to 4 a.m., from 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. And we're told that just about that change of the middle watch, around midnight, the darkest time of the night, in the dead of the night, if you will, they were to blow their trumpets. And so they blow their trumpets. Now imagine how this would have startled those sleeping in the camp. I mean, after all, how are you when you are abruptly awakened during the night? Panic? High blood pressure? Bewilderment? Anything but sober irrational, right? So we have this loud blast of the trumpet followed by a cacophony of smashing jars. Imagine the sound going across the valley. The impression would be given that the attackers were everywhere. And as they're holding the trumpet in one hand and the jar in the other, perhaps they're smashing their jars with their fellow comrade, or they're throwing them to the ground. We don't know. They just smashed them, and then the torches are lit. And suddenly there's this flash of light going around the valley. There is some brilliance in this strategy. On a strictly human level, this is psychological warfare. Confuse and surround your enemies, throwing them into confusion. They would think that there was a mighty host all around them. And then there's the shout, a sword for the Lord and for Gideon. And we'll talk about this more next week. What should we think about this war cry? For sure, it should go to Yahweh because he's the commander of the Lord's armies. Perhaps this is nothing more than just for God and country. Perhaps it's a reminder to the men in the camp that this is Gideon of whom they've heard, at least some of them, as the loaf of barley bread that's going to roll through the camp. Perhaps that's what's used to spread fear. We'll look at it more when we get to Judges 8. But what's interesting is look at the phrase. It says, a sword for the Lord. There's 300 of them. How many of them have a sword? None of them. So it wouldn't be their own swords that bring about the punishment. And as it turns out, the enemy soldiers use their own swords to bring their own demise against one another. But look what's happening in the midst of this chaos and cacophony of the battle. Look at verse 21. Every man, stood in his place around the camp. Do you see that? The 300 chosen men stand firm. They stand firm while the enemies in their confusion and uniforms. Remember, there was three great people groups here, so perhaps the uniforms were different, perhaps the languages were different. There's great confusion. After all, they're just suddenly being woken up, and they see army soldiers moving through the night, and in their panic, they want to defend themselves, and it's very easy for us to imagine them turning against each other. That's the human explanation. Of course, we have the heavenly explanation in the next verse. The Lord set every man's sword against his comrade and against all the army. The victory would be the Lord's. He had promised it and he will bring it about. And so here's the opportunity for us today, my friends. Whatever challenges we may face, let's stand firm in who we are in Christ. Stand firm in the truth of God's Word. Stand firm in the promise that God will have His way, and God will have His day. And He will always get the victory, and just invites us to be part of the celebration party. So we see a scene of chaos. The shouting, the noise, the bursts of light, men are falling around. So now we have the God, if you will, of the loaf of barley bread, God of barley cake, is bringing a great victory for his people, those who have stand firm in him. His chosen ones have stood firm in their place and watched the deliverance of the God. So imagine these enemy soldiers. In the dead of night, they heard the trumpets blasting. They heard the breaking of jars. They heard the sudden burst of light. They heard the war cry. And they begin to shout and are thrown into confusion and panic. And listen, my friends, if the trumpet blast of men can throw God's enemies into a panic, imagine what will happen on that day when the trumpet of God sounds, when the archangel shouts, when there's a command given, as we see in 1 Thessalonians 4. And Christ's enemies will flee in panic, asking even the mountains to fall upon them so that they might avoid the judgment of God. My friends, today is the day of salvation. Be found in Christ today so that you do not have to fear that day. The enemies of Gideon, they start to flee. We see that they flee towards the border. They had come for the harvest of Israel. Remember, we've seen it already. They had come because for seven years it was good eating. They would do all the work, the Israelites, plant the seed, tend the crops. When the crops were ripe, the Midianites, the Amalekites would come and steal all the harvest. They had come to steal the harvest at Israel. And now the judgment of God has fallen and they are the ones being harvested in His holy judgment. So there's this battle that's going on. They race towards the river. They want to get back over the river to get back to their land. But did God not say, the victory will be mine, that I will bring it about? And now we have to wonder, the actions that follow, were they what God ordained and what God wanted? Because now He's calling all these enemy soldiers out and say, pursue them, bring the victory as if now we're going back to my own hand has saved me. There's at least some ambiguity in the text that we need to consider. We're so quick. to want to add our contribution to what God is doing. And we see it in our final point, come and join us. So Gideon sends out messengers to Ephraim, come cut off the Midianites before they get to the river. We're gonna see next week that this was a problem here, that this happened in this way, and we'll see what the problem is when we get to chapter eight. Now the text on the one hand seems so plain, It's chaotic. Men are on the move, running to and fro, weapons in hands, racing towards the river. If the Amidianites and the Amalekites get there first, they will be saved. But if the Ephraimites get there first, they will deal with the Amalekites and the Midianites. We've already seen this in the book of Judges. They head for the border to try to get away. And we're told that the people of Ephraim captured the waters. That means they got there first. They blocked off the river crossings and they captured two of the main Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeb. Now what's interesting is the name of these two leaders allows us to see something of what has been going on behind the scenes. Oreb means raven and Zeb means wolf. Now isn't that interesting that for seven years, two men named Raven and Wolf have been pillaging, as it were, the people of Israel. And now they're getting their comeuppance. And we're gonna look more detailed this next week because I want to combine what's happening in chapter eight with the conclusion of chapter seven. And so you may have a few questions at this point, that's okay. We'll deal with them next week. I find it interesting that we're told that Zeeb was killed at the winepress. Gideon was met by the angel of the Lord at a winepress. He's called at a winepress, and now the enemy meets his fate at a winepress. There's poetic justice here. And if only the story had ended here. We might have said this was a great victory for God and for his people, but it doesn't end here, because as we continue on with the rest of the story, or the next part of the story next week, there's ambiguity in the text. There's tension in the text, and there's tension in the camp of Israel. There are factions that form. There's jealousies that appear. There's selfish ambition that rises to the fore. There's pride that supersedes principle. And we'll see that in chapter 8 next week. This could have been, should have been, was intended to be a great victory for Gideon, but it will take a nasty turn. Because God will not share his glory with another. And so we must not seek to share his glory with another either, but to give him all the glory. So next week we'll see a few more turns in this story. But what can we learn from what we've seen so far this week? The Lord has his ways and they may not be ours. I don't think any of us would willingly reduce the numbers in our forces, willingly reduce the treasury, willingly reduce the strength, the resources that we may have, but God does so that he gets all the glory, so that he's seen as the true victor. It is possible that God may need to expose our fears so that we can put our trust in him. He took away the mass armies of the four tribes from Gideon to push Gideon to put his trust in Yahweh. It might be that God needs to take away those things from us into which we have placed our trust, thinking that we are strong in them so that we will learn that He alone is trustworthy, He alone is the strong one, He alone is the victor. But in His kindness in the heat of the battle, The Lord encourages His people, and He encourages us so that we might remain faithful to Him. In the reference to the song we sang a few moments ago, we will persevere, we will endure by grace alone. God encourages us, God strengthens us that we would persevere. But when God encourages us through a provision, through an answer to prayer, through some type of action, it should lead us to worship Him. and then to action on our part. Joyful, willing obedience to his commands because of his promises, because of his presence with us. So my friends, we need to stand firm in the Lord. Always and everywhere and every situation because our God is still on the throne, is still reigning, is still in control. and will still get his way and the fulfillment of his plan. And so in the midst of chaos, we need not fear, but we can longingly and willingly put our trust in him and say, to you be the glory because God is our victor. Let's pray. Father, as we turn to you now, we thank you for a beautiful deliverance that we have in Christ Forgive us, Father, for the times that we have taken it for granted. Forgive us, Father, for the times we thought that it was really about us. Forgive us for the times that we have been afraid because we've taken our eyes off of you and put them on other things. But Father, we thank you for the example that you have shown us this morning through your word, that you encourage us, that you use your ways for your will so that your glory is seen And Father, how we long to see your guiding hand more and more. Help us to be those who are quick to worship when we see you at work. Help us to be those who are quick to proclaim when we hear your word. And help us to be those who are quick to serve you because you're good and you're worth it. We commit ourselves today anew and afresh for your glory, for our good. In Jesus' name, amen. We definitely had a theme in our worship this morning with as we began singing the greatness of God and what he has done and our need because we we saw the Lord is our salvation. and we are saved by grace alone. And so we're gonna continue that as what pastors just preached, as we saw, we need him. And it's not about what we do, it's about what he does through us. So we're gonna stand and sing as we close out our service, yet not I, but through Christ in me. What gift of grace is Jesus my Redeemer? There is no more for heaven now to give. He is my joy, my righteousness, and freedom. My steadfast love My deep and boundless peace To this I hold My hope is only Jesus For my life is wholly bound to His Oh, how strange and divine I can sing All is mine, yet not I The night is dark, but I am not forsaken, for by my side the Savior, He will stay. I labor on in weakness and rejoicing, For in my need his power is displayed. To this I hold, my shepherd will defend me. Through the deepest valley he will lead. Oh, the night has been won, and I shall overcome. Yet not I, but the cloud. No feet I dread, I know I am forgiven The future's sure, the price it has been paid For Jesus bled and suffered for Nephari And He was raised to overthrow the grave To this I hold, my sin has been defeated. Jesus now and ever is my King. All the chains are released, I can sing. I am free, and not I, but through Christ in me. With every breath I long to follow Jesus For He has said that He will bring me home And day by day I know He will renew me Until I stand with joy before the throne To this I hold, my hope is only in Jesus All the glory evermore to Him When the race is complete, still my lips shall repeat, Yet not I, but through Christ in me. To this I hold, my hope is only Jesus, All the glory evermore to Him. ♪ When the race is complete still my lips shall repeat ♪ ♪ Yet not I but through Christ in me ♪ ♪ When the race is complete still my lips shall repeat ♪ ♪ Yet not I but through Christ in me ♪ What a joy we've had in the presence of God this morning. Take some time to greet our friends, the Terrys, and hear about more of the Ministry of Orville Rescue Mission and how you can pray for them. Pick up invitations that are available to invite people to VBS tonight. Be sure, praying for it all day long today and all through the week, that kids will come, that parents will be touched, that this will be a great week of outreach to our community for the name of Jesus Christ. I'm gonna stay up front. If someone would like to come forward and just pray with me, maybe there's something that you wanna bring to the Lord, I'll remain up front here as the service comes to an end today. And now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. Let us go in peace and have a blessed Lord's Day.