Invitation To An Open Heaven

Invitation To An Open Heaven

Pastor Cole Parleir

Finish with hope because…

Focus: This year has been God's divine setup for you to experience more of Him and His coming kingdom next year.

• Incorporating the past

• Kingdom Transition

• Weeds in the kingdom

• Heavenly momentum 

 

Incorporating the past (Romans 8:31-39 ESV)

Your past has divine purpose.

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be[i] against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.[j] 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Your past sins don't have to condemn you. 

Rather they can bring you great comfort when brought to Christ. 

This is the Good News called the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God knew your past when it was still your future and he still sent Christ to die for your sins. 

Your past with it's sin can be proof of God's great love for you as displayed in his patience and provision in Christ.

The priceless gift of Christ dying for us while we were still sinners confirms that our sinful past, when given to Christ in repentance, does not forfeit future blessing.  (vs 32)

You are free from the devil's direct accusation as well as those unknowingly employed by him to be his mouthpiece.  This can be lies or reminders of sin you've repented of. (vs 33-34)

The devil is the master gas lighter, but Christ is the Judge and dispense of mercy and grace.

Have hope knowing that God's willingness to give you a second chance in Christ is also a third chance, a four chance and so on because Christ now intercedes for you until His Kingdom comes in full one day.

Do not let your failed attempts at righteousness or ministry to others this past year inform your hope for the future.  

Because of Christ we can truly can count trials, challenges, and persecutions as successes in forming Christ in us. James 1:2-4

2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[b] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Because of Christ, the Christian who perseveres by pursing righteousness can never fail.

Your past has divine purpose.

Kingdom Transition

Plan for Righteousness (James 4:13-17 ESV)

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

God has plans and you have plans. 

You have to choose life or death, blessing or cursing, eternal success or failure this coming year.

Though these decisions have to be played out daily, like a marriage covenant you can pre-choose with a plan for righteousness and to be led by the Spirit of God.

Be clear in your understanding:

• God's blessing on your life comes when you choose to participate in what he says he is doing.  

• God's wrath (absence of blessing) comes when we engage in rebellion. Rebellion is choosing to use our life (time, talent, and treasure) in our own plan rather than God's.

Prophesying is kingdom planning.

When you choose to surrender your life to Christ and his kingdom of heaven coming through your life, and are committed to enacting what his Word and Holy Spirit says, then you are choosing to prophesy in your planning.

In God's reality your life and mine are blips on the radar, drops in the ocean, dust specks in the universe, and to imagine I can construct and implement on my own a plan for eternal impact is nonsensical.

 

Question:

• Do you know the 'right' thing to do and are you doing it? (vs 17)

 

Planning is an act of faith AND discipleship and therefor will take some work and power.

 

The old word comes with new power (Matthew 13:51-53 ESV)

51 “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Matthew 13 is a series of parables and prophecies.  The theme of the parables are people who recognized the value of God's kingdom and sold everything to secure their place in it. 

The disciples ask Jesus for the meaning of the parables while others went away perplexed and later some in his hometown who were familiar with him ended up rejecting him.

To enter into God's plan of His Kingdom coming in and through your life you will

• Need to follow Jesus as Lord and have the Holy Spirit abiding in you

• need to become a 'scribe who is trained for the kingdom of heaven' who knows God's revealed will in his Word (Bible).  You do this by interpreting the Old Testament through the New Testament asking God to reveal Christ as you do.   (John 5:37-40 ESV)

• listens to the Holy Spirit for implementation and receive power.

When God's will is your plan you will have God's power to accomplish it.  

Now you can transition with the strength of God's blessing and promise for life and mercy.

Questions:

What did you treasure (sacrifice for) in 2023? 

What has this treasure done for your faith and life in Christ?

If your treasure was Christ and His Kingdom you can expect a firm foundation to build on in 2024.

Everything else is a weed crowding out the life God has for you in his kingdom.

Weeds in the Kingdom (Matthew 13:24-30)

Even when you do everything right there will be weeds only God can deal with.

24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds[c] among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants[d] of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”

The reality of pursuing God's Kingdom as a disciple of Christ, making disciples of Christ, and doing good works as you go, is that there will be weeds.

Jesus defines the weeds as "sons of the evil one".

These people along with their leader come to kill, steal, and destroy the work of God. 

These means that even when you are perfectly in sync with the Holy Sprit, knowing and doing God's will, you will still be in a spiritual fight.

This fight will continue until the end of 2024…joke…but until the end comes.  Probably your whole life.

Illustration:

• My father-in-law meticulously digging up dandelions in my yard

  • Helped…but the wind is still blowing from others peoples yards (lives) into mine

  • Keep digging and casting

  • Until all dandelions in everyone's yards IN THE WHOLE WORLD are burned up…I'm digging.

The promise of Matthew 28 is yours: "And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The result of that promise is hope to fight until we win.

Heavenly Momentum (Matthew 16:18-19 MSG)

The good work of the past will multiply into the future.

17-18 Jesus came back, “God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.

19 “And that’s not all. You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven.”

God is building you, your family, and His Kingdom.

When you and your family live out a confession of faith in Christ Jesus you become rocks on which God build's his church and kingdom. 

Though the devil may rage you can be assured that any past, present, or future work done in the name of Jesus Christ  will not be burnt up.

Even more, momentum will be developed as last years work becomes a spring board for this years work. 

 

Prophetic Summary

• I don't know exactly what 2024 holds for you, your family or Second City Church…but I do hear God saying He invites us to more of his manifest kingdom in 2024 IF we will work with him by faith.

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

From Beginning to End

From Beginning to End

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: From beginning to end, Jesus is the Savior and King who deserves all that we have to give.  

• An Epic Beginning 

• The Coming of the King

• How it All Ends

An Epic Beginning

Jesus came to fulfill God’s promise of covenant nearness with supernatural origins.  

In authoring salvation, Jesus came so that God could be near and present with us.  

He is the everlasting God whose love never dies and our relationship with whom will have to know no end.  

“Do not let your happiness depend on something you may lose. If love is to be a blessing, not a misery, it must be for the only Beloved who will never pass away.”

-C.S. Lewis, The Four Loves

 In the gospel according to Matthew, the apostle gives us seven prophecies fulfilled in the first advent of Jesus - seven reasons to worship and praise the Lord.  

• God always has a plan - he is powerful to complete it. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭1‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV

“All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel" (which means, God with us).”

God chose to introduce Jesus through a preordained virgin birth - meaning he always has a plan that he is working to fulfill supernaturally.

Christ’s life, miracles, death on the cross, burial and resurrection paved the way for the Holy Spirit to forever be in us and to come on us in power.   

• God has unlimited resources from unexpected places to bring about that plan.  

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“They told him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: "'And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.'"”

Jesus drew near through humble beginnings and continues to give his grace to the humble today.   

• God knows what he is doing - even in the detours.  

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, "Out of Egypt I called my son."”

God’s plan of redemption comes with detours - you may have deviated from your plan but are not off of God’s path.  

The Coming of the King

The prophetic fulfillment of Jesus’ birth meant there would be a new ruler in town who would need to be king of our hearts. 

• God allows trials to bring us to the end of ourselves and into the strength of Jesus. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭2‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: "A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more."”

God means for trials to point us to Jesus that we might be comforted in our pain and given an eternal hope. 

In what ways have you encountered challenging times but are reminded through the first advent of Jesus that God is in control?

• God expects his word to us to be honored that we might fulfill his plan. 

‭‭

Matthew‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.”

When we look to God, he directs our steps to fulfill his plan in Jesus Christ, even down to the place we will live and the things we will do there.  

• God’s plan is for you to glorify Jesus with your life - pointing the way to him. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.'"”

God divinely arranges the right relationships for you to fulfill his will in Jesus.  

• God brings us into his blessed life through repentance and faith. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles— the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned." From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."”

God’s promise of hope was fulfilled in Jesus who would lead people through their repentance and faith into his kingdom.  

“Addiction is giving up everything for one thing.  Recovery is giving up one thing for everything.”

-Unknown

How it All Ends

In the end, when we realize all that Jesus is and all that he has done, the only proper response is to give him our all.  

‭‭

Revelation‬ ‭5‬:‭9‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth." Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"”

To Jesus belongs:

1. Power

2. Wealth

3. Wisdom

4. Might

5. Honor 

6. Glory 

7. Blessing

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Hopeful Expectations

Hopeful Expectations

Anthony Connington

Focus: Have you prepared your heart for the arrival of the Messiah?

Part 1: Setting the Stage

Part 2: Simeon’s Prophetic Praise

Part 3: Anna’s Testimony

Part 1: Setting the Stage 

Isaiah 29:13-14 (CSB)

13 The Lord said:

These people approach me with their speeches to honor me with lip-service,[h] yet their hearts are far from me, and human rules direct their worship of me.[i]

14 Therefore, I will again confound these people with wonder after wonder. The wisdom of their wise will vanish, and the perception of their perceptive will be hidden.

Sometimes when you study Scripture, digging into the historical and cultural context of the time reveals insights you may have otherwise missed. We are going to attempt to summarize 400 years of history in a very short time. Basically, from the end of Malachi to the birth of Jesus. 

Questions to consider: What was it like for God’s people? How did they prepare their hearts for the arrival of the Messiah? What was it like politically, socially, economically, and religiously? 

Intertestamental Period 

We see at the end of Malachi that God promised to send a prophet who would be like Elijah and turn the hearts of the fathers towards their children. This is like a … (dot dot dot) that is designed to show the reader that something, or more specifically someone, is coming next in the future. This was meant to lead the people to have a hopeful expectation for the long-awaited Messiah who would come into the world. 

After the death of Alexander the Great, the world was thrown into chaos for several centuries. Wars and battles raged. Many factions fought for dominance and control. As Israel was thrust into these new realities, two notable things happened.

The First is what we call the Maccabean revolt. Many in Israel attempted to set up their own empire and use military might and political power to affect change. For a time, this revolt gained traction, and they were able to establish a momentary kingdom. However, this experiment ultimately failed due to internal conflicts and eventually the might of Rome would eclipse everything. 

A second notable event to take place during this time was the Judean civil which broke out 93-87BC. The Sadducees were the minority group in this conflict, and they supported King Alexander Jannaeus against the Pharisees. The political infighting and brutality done in the name of religious correctness was unimaginably horrible. Jewish brothers fought and killed one another endlessly until finally a truce was called. All parties involved eventually looked to Rome to help mitigate a peaceful resolution. As a result, many syncretistic practices found its way into everyday temple life and worship of God. 

Israel was fractured, politically, socially, economically and religiously. Fractured. This is the scene in which the Messiah comes into the world. God was moving and setting the stage to prepare for Jesus’ arrival, but by in large, those that were meant to receive Him missed what God was doing. Their focus and attention were divided and given to other priorities. 

Now Let’s take a moment and look at the spiritual climate of the nation. How did the religious people live in response to the invitation to watch and look for the coming Messiah?

The Sadducees

• They were very sectarian in their beliefs and practices. 

• They generally held high positions within the religious system and prioritized the finer things in life like gold jewels and the like as they worshipped.

• They thought of themselves as the elite priestly class within Israel. This meant that they did not usually associate with those who were not in their own circles. They often secluded and isolated themselves from their own people. 

• They did not believe in a resurrection or an afterlife.  

Pharisees

• They were the majority religious group within Judaism at this time.

• They believed in the Oral-Torah, which means they made the Torah divine. In effect, they elevated the status of the Torah to be God Himself. This is why so often in their pursuit of purity and holiness they developed and practiced other rules and regulations.

• They rejected the virgin birth of Jesus and missed the Messiah.

Zealots

• They were known to be militant and radical.

• By any means necessary they attempted to inaugurate the coming of God’s kingdom through their own efforts.

• They had a misplaced trust in their own political and social efforts to bring forth change and in turn they missed what God was doing.

The Essenes

• They were a very communal people who believed in the prophesies and lived with an expectation that the Messiah would come soon.

• They commonly proclaimed the truths about the Messiah and were willing to tell anyone one who would listen, including men, woman, and children. 

• Early church fathers record that John the Baptist as a member from their community. 

In Summary: The most monumental moment in the history of the universe, the Incarnation of Christ in the person of Jesus was about to take place in Bethlehem and most people missed it. Even with all the prophecies in His Word, the signs in the heavens, and the miraculous angelic visitations, most people still missed it. Why? Because they hadn’t prepared their hearts.

You may be asking at this point, so what? Why does all this history matter?

As we think of this Christmas season, in 2023 I venture to think that some of us are just like so many in the first century who missed out on what God was doing. Some of us are much like the Sadducees. We may not have an error in our doctrine about the resurrection, but our hearts are still far from Him. Maybe Christmas has become all about our own families. Maybe our focus has turned to be all about me and mine. Maybe we have lost our ability to see outside of our own situations and look at what God might be trying to do in and through you right now, today. Maybe we have been struggling as of late and our reaction to the pain and suffering in our life is to isolate and segregate ourselves out of community. In doing so we are missing the Messiah. We are missing out on all that Jesus wants to bring into your life this Christmas season.

Maybe we are like the Pharisees. Maybe Christmas for you is all about tradition. Maybe for you things need to be a certain way. The food served and cooked at the right time, and the schedule and timing must be just right. Maybe the hustle and bustle of our own lives have gotten in the way of what is truly most important. Could it be that all the distractions of this season have gotten us off course. Maybe we have forgotten to just take a moment to just breath and bask in the presence and light of Jesus. Have we taken a moment to pause and reflect on what a gift God has given us through the incarnation. Or have we legislated out the presence of God through our own rules, expectations, and traditions? Have we taken a moment to behold the face of God to find life anew this Christmas season?

Or maybe we feel like we are in a war and this Christmas is has been hard for you to find peace. Maybe we are not as radical as the zealots, but maybe the weapons of our warfare have become our words. Maybe our words have cut deep and have caused great damage. Maybe we have neglected to speak the things of God into our lives and encouragement is far from our lips. Could it be that we have forgotten that our words help shape and change the perspective of the realities of our situations? Our words have the power to bring healing and life this Christmas. Maybe much like the zealots, we have misplaced our trust. Maybe we are looking to our strength, our own understanding, or our own effort to create the change we so desire to see. Maybe we have a misplaced trust in someone or something else outside of the person of Christ alone. 

Or could it be that some of us are like the Essenes, we have been faithfully serving God in every season. We have given ourselves over to His service and have answered the call on our lives with great passion and zeal. But maybe for some of us this Christmas we are feeling the weariness of life creep up into your soul. Maybe the everyday rhythms of life have tired you out. Though we have great affection for the Lord Jesus, we are just feeling weary. Let me encourage you…Breakthrough is coming. The Light of Christ is coming. Just like Christmas morning so many years ago, the promises of God will be fulfilled. He did it back then, and He will do it again for us today. Do not give up. Keep pressing, Keep believing. New and days are ahead. 

Part 2: Simeon’s Prophetic Praise 

Luke 2:25-35

25 There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. This man was righteous and devout, looking forward to Israel’s consolation, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he saw the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Guided by the Spirit, he entered the temple. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to perform for him what was customary under the law, 28 Simeon took him up in his arms, praised God, and said, 29 Now, Master, you can dismiss your servant in peace, as you promised. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation. 31 You have prepared it in the presence of all peoples— 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles[m] and glory to your people Israel. 33 His father and mother[n] were amazed at what was being said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and told his mother Mary, “Indeed, this child is destined to cause the fall and rise of many in Israel and to be a sign that will be opposed[o]— 35 and a sword will pierce your own soul—that the thoughts[p] of many hearts may be revealed.”

• Simeon was watchful. 

  • He had an expectation for God to show up and fulfill his promises.

  • He understood the moment in which he lived and didn’t miss the opportunity.

• Simeon was guided by the Holy Spirit

  • He had an intimate walk with God.

  • He opened Himself up to receive form God, He listened well.

  • He longed for God’s presence and excitedly beheld the face of God.

• Simeon spoke forth God’s Word

  • He accurately assessed the times in which he lived and boldly proclaimed the truth of the Messiah into the culture around Him.

  • He encouraged Mary with a word that would later sustain her in her darkest moment and in her deepest pain. 

Questions: Have you positioned yourself this Christmas season to receive from God all that He desires to give you? Have you postured your heart to be guided by the Holy Spirit or do you run the show in your own life? Are you speaking the Word boldly into your life and using it to encourage and build up others around you?

Part 3: Anna’s Testimony 

Luke 2:36-38

36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well along in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage,[q] 37 and was a widow for eighty-four years.[r] She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers. 38 At that very moment,[s] she came up and began to thank God and to speak about him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.[t]

• Anna was faithful with her commitments.

• Anna noticed God’s movement in the moment.

• Anna praised God and gave thanks for all He was doing.

• Anna spoke about Jesus to all those who were looking forward to His coming

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Foundation of Hope

Foundation of Hope

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: Our foundation of hope is God’s peace which was promised and is fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  

• Family Planning 

• Prophetic Promises 

• Our Benevolent King

Family Planning

We have hope because Jesus came in God’s perfect timing through an imperfect family to save a lost and dying world. 

There are those that say that Jesus attempted, like others before and after him, to intentionally present himself as the promised savior of the world. 

However, in his first advent, some of the greatest evidence for the identity of Jesus as the Messiah were the prophecies fulfilled about him regarding elements Jesus could not control - including God’s sovereignty in arranging Christ’s exact family line.   

To Abraham, God spoke:

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭22‬:‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice."”

Of Jacob’s line, the Scripture predicted a ruler would come:‭‭

Numbers‬ ‭24‬:‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth.”

God made it clear that rulership would continue through Judah’s line:

‭‭Genesis‬ ‭49‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

Isaiah would bring things home through Jesse:

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.”

And keep it in the family through an eternal lineage established through King David, Jesse’s son:

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭23‬:‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”

Despite challenges, how has God used your natural and spiritual family line to bring you into his Kingdom purposes?

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭4‬:‭4‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

Prophetic Promises 

God has a plan to bring peace that has been and will ultimately be fulfilled through the first and second advent (coming) of Jesus Christ.  

The prophetic promises of God spoke of Jesus who, though having humble beginnings in a manger, would be prophet, priest and ultimately the world’s eternal ruler and King. 

In addition to being unable to control his family line, Jesus could not determine his place of birth if not for the intervention and direction of God.  

‭‭Micah‬ ‭5‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”

This ruler in Israel would have the wisdom to define and shape all of life because he is from of old, from ancient days. 

“God made life, and God alone can tell us its meaning.”

-J.I. PACKER

Our Benevolent King

In the first advent of Jesus, we have the benevolent king revealed who was God in the flesh to initiate God’s Kingdom rule without end.   

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭9‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

Isaiah’s prophecy, delivered approximately 700 years before Christ’s birth, is a beautiful picture of the incarnation and Jesus revealing the triune God through as he took on flesh.  

In coming to the earth, Jesus fulfilled in his person four of the greatest needs that we have as humanity and paved the way for our salvation.  

• Wonderful Counselor (a name later given to the Holy Spirit - John 14-16)

• Mighty God (as Jesus was recognized in the early church - John 1:1; Titus 2:11-13)

• Everlasting Father (the one with whom Jesus would say he is one - John 10:30; 14:9; Philippians 2)

• Prince of Peace (Jesus as the Son of God came to bestow the peace of which Isaiah speaks through the cross - Romans 5)

“A God whom we could understand exhaustively, and whose revelation of Himself confronted us with no mysteries whatsoever, would be a God in man’s image, and therefore an imaginary God, not the God of the Bible at all.”

-J.I. Packer

What we do understand fully is the good news that:

The government will be on his shoulders.

Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end.  

He would sit on the throne of David. 

His rule would be marked by justice and righteousness. 

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.  

This will all be fully accomplished through the second coming (advent) of Jesus Christ.  

How should we respond?

Another prophecy that many believe would speak of the three wise men coming to worship Jesus:

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭72‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!”

“We cannot worship the suffering God today and ignore him tomorrow. We cannot eat and drink the body and blood of the passionate and compassionate God today, and then refuse to live passionately and compassionately tomorrow. If we say or sing, as we so often do, ‘Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit’, we thereby commit ourselves, in love, to the work of making his love known to the world that still stands so sorely in need of it. This is not the god the world wants. This is the God the world needs.”

― N.T. Wright

We can turn to Jesus in repentance and faith to serve him through faith and enjoy the new life and peace the prince has come to bring!

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

The Way of the Exile

THE WAY OF THE EXILE 

Pastor Nathan Lewis

Main text; 
Jeremiah 29:4-7, 11 4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. (Genesis 1!!)  7 But seek the welfare of the city (Shalom) where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare… 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Supporting Text: 
John 17:14-18 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

Summary Thought: 

When we are able to recongnize that God is working thought the circumstances that brought us to where we are today (the city), we can find fresh calling and mission where he has placed us. Even when we feel like we don’t belong somewhere God can use us to be a blessing

Potental questions: 

1. What brought you to live in this area? Do you see any evidences that God brought you here or do you see it as entirely upon your choices and circumstances? 

2. How do you think God feels about Chicago? Why might God want his people to move into areas of density and diversity like cities? 

3. Jesus’ teaching in John 17 is often summerized as, “be in the world, but not of the world”. What does this mean to you? What difficulties do you face to not be “of Chicago?” 

4. Why does God call his people to live so differently from their surrounding culture? In what ways is God calling you to “seek the welfare of the city”? 

_______________Message Notes______________

Exile - 605 BC- Kingdom of Judah captured by Babylon - Cultural assimilation - Brought IN!

RESIST // ASSIMILATE - 3rd Way  — THE WAY OF THE EXILE 

False Prophet Hananiah - don’t settle down, stay outside- 2 YEARS! 

Jeremiah 29:4-14 4 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. 6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. (Genesis 1!!)  7 But seek the welfare of the city (Shalom) where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare… 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Living in tension of GLORY and EXILE - Meaning for life & disciple follow JESUS Teach how to live FOR GOD - in a broken & Fallen world - Way of Exile - 6 points 

1. Purpose In Your Placement. 

God - “I have sent you into exile” 

                           If God has sent you — There is Purpose in your Placement

2. Make a Home Here - “Build houses and live in them” - Chebar Canal vs. Babylon 

Scotland — “let your heart move to the city” 

Put the call out — Move into the city, move into the place of power, influence, culture

-geographic - Encourage you to stay connected with the city. SO many come to take, degree, career bump, — Get involved here, stay here, raise kids here, build community here, 

-emotionally - don’t check out. Don’t turn off the news, draw the curtains, wait for the rapture, don’t hide in christian subculture or wait for some sweet by and by

3. Plant & Eat  - “plant gardens and eat their produce”

Longterm vision for Livelihood - Not just self promotion — be PRESENT. 

Start tending the relationships at — your work— apartment block — 

Treat it like you’re going to be there for a while. 

Decorate your home — Meet your neighbors — Particulate in local elections — Get involved in your kids school.  — PLANT. 

The twist - you’re in but not of. You’re on a mission. We know our home is temporary. 

For some - Plant, commit 

For others - Stop seeking only personal gain - Make a difference 

4. Make Covenant Commitments - 

A. think multigenerational        

6 Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease.

GROW THE FAMILY!  Genesis 1 — Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

Make disciples. Be a disciple. 

Discipleship - Helping others Know God… commit to this church 

— Serve something!    Tithe,    Turn UP (REGULARLY!),       Let your name be known.

B.Think Covenantally 

Give yourself deep covenantal relationships — commit to each other. Ask the hard questions. Invest in people in our church.     Go out of your way.     

5. Pray & Seek Shalom — J.29:7 But seek the welfare (shalom) of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.

Your job has purpose — you can influence for JESUS 

- Also work is participating in Shalom  — Bringing flourishing 

70 Years — God’s ppl. left a mark! - Kings came to know God  

The 1 True God became so famous - Persian King knew him

6. Follow The Ultimate Exile 

a wicked king could bring Israel OUT — but only a righteous king could bring us IN 

GOAL: Not just OUT of Babylon (not OF the world) - IN a relationship with GOD (garden)

Jesus is the ultimate exile — left HEAVEN to rescue EARTH  

John 17:14-18 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.

The way of the exile = The way of Jesus - Being in the world, but not of the world

leave behind - achieving identity and purpose form this world

to follow Jesus means stop playing the world’s game - Join Jesus’ mission. 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 

Thankful (Part 2)

Thankful (Part 2)

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: In Jesus, we have full redemption - therefore, we should serve him with thankfulness and gladness of heart.  

• Out of the Depths  

• Watching 

• For Full Redemption 
  
  
  

Out of the Depths  

We thank God because he meets us in our depths, as well as on our heights. 

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭130‬:‭1‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord! O Lord, hear my voice! Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy! If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared. I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

Biblical praise and worship can not be reduced to emotionalism, but is giving the God who created emotions what he desires. 

Barriers in our minds and feeling self-conscious (thinking who’s looking at me?) are normal until you realize that Biblical praise is an exercise in becoming God conscious rather than people conscious.  

Crying out to the Lord that he might hear your voice is a part of it.  

God is not with us solely in our good moments, but hears our cries from the depths of challenge and despair.  

The Hillsong song “Highs and Lows” wonderfully expresses this sentiment.  

We are thankful because the gospel of Jesus Christ enables us to go to the Father in the midst of iniquities (sins), not merely in the absence of them.  

When the Psalmist says “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?”, it is clear that the answer is no one but Jesus.  

However, this does not give us a license to sin without reservation. 

It gives us the grace to come to Jesus in repentance and faith, living a life of ongoing gratitude to him for his love expressed at the cross.  

If we truly want to live in the freedom of thankfulness, let’s stop glorifying our trials and instead rejoice in the victories that Jesus has won and continues to win for us!  

“We are too prone to engrave our trials in marble and write our blessings in sand.”

-Charles Spurgeon 

Watching 

We watch and wait for the Lord because he is faithful to instruct even as he forgives us, answering our prayers. 

“But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.”

We fear, honor and respect God because he is the righteous judge of all the earth, to whom we will give an account of all of our actions from all of our days.  

Yet we fear, love and are devoted to God because as we run to the cross of Christ to bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matthew 3:7-12), he is faithful to forgive us and make us the men and women we are called to be in our families, our communities and the world.  

“I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.”

When we watch for the Lord, we are waiting not only for his intervention, but are looking to his example that we might follow him out of our mess as we employ his ways.  

“this world is not going to be trampled and smashed by brutal, amoral regimes for ever. A day will come when God will bring to an end the state war-machines, the terrorist bombs, the consummate evil of totalitarian oppression, the gas chambers, death camps, killing fields, and countless other infamous instruments of death. There will be a judgment.”

John C. Lennox, Against the Flow: The inspiration of Daniel in an age of relativism

The Bible commands us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds that we might test and approve what God’s good, pleasing and perfect will is for our lives. 

It is ultimately in God’s word that we put our hope.  

A key to child-rearing is learning that redirecting and correcting are not the same thing. 

The 1971 rendition of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory gave a perfect example of the dangers of mere redirection with Veruka and Henry Salt.  

God’s word is our tutor turning us to Jesus - to his example and his sacrifice on the cross - that we might be corrected in our failings and not merely redirected with momentary remorse.  

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭14‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

For Full Redemption

In Jesus Christ, there is full redemption, therefore we live a life of love to him with a thankful heart.  

“O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.”

Full redemption was ultimately accomplished through the propitiation of Jesus Christ by his blood spilled at the cross.  

‭‭Romans‬ ‭3‬:‭21‬-‭26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

This propitiation was significant because it did not just wipe away our sin but allowed God’s justice to be simultaneously satisfied through the crushing of Christ.  

Therefore God could be both just and justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  
This is the only way that we can live free of the guilt, shame and consequence of our sin - because Jesus has fully paid for it all, buying us back from all of our sins by his blood.  
This means neither the past, present or future can separate us from his love (Romans 8).  

And it is in this confidence that each day, in highs and lows, God’s grace has us march forward in the security and peace of his full redemption.  

Therefore, each of my days become meaningful and full of hope in him as I look to advance his gospel Kingdom purposes.  

“God takes the most broken part of people and turns it into their ministry.”

-Pastor Adam Mabry

When we have experienced Christ’s redemption, we become his agents of redemption in the midst of a fallen world.  

“Our task as image-bearing, God-loving, Christ-shaped, Spirit-filled Christians, following Christ and shaping our world, is to announce redemption to a world that has discovered its fallenness, to announce healing to a world that has discovered its brokenness, to proclaim love and trust to a world that knows only exploitation, fear and suspicion...The gospel of Jesus points us and indeed urges us to be at the leading edge of the whole culture, articulating in story and music and art and philosophy and education and poetry and politics and theology and even--heaven help us--Biblical studies, a worldview that will mount the historically-rooted Christian challenge to both modernity and postmodernity, leading the way...with joy and humor and gentleness and good judgment and true wisdom. I believe if we face the question, "if not now, then when?" if we are grasped by this vision we may also hear the question, "if not us, then who?" And if the gospel of Jesus is not the key to this task, then what is?”

N.T. Wright, The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering Who Jesus Was & Is

What way has Jesus redeemed you and now given you a ministry to help bring his gospel redemption to the world?

Let’s be thankful today for all that Jesus has done for us by his love and called us to by his grace.  

Let’s be thankful that today we can go to him at the cross through repentance and faith to be fully redeemed and become carriers of that redemption hope to the world!

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Thankful (Part 1)

Thankful (Part 1)

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: We need to learn to praise and worship Jesus, giving thanks to him in a manner that God desires. 

• Praise

• Postures

• Presence 

Praise

When we are appreciative of who Jesus is and what he has done for us, the right response is to praise the Lord.  

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭100‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

Our goal in praise and worship is to honor our God and Father through our Lord Jesus Christ through the person of the Holy Spirit. 

The aim is to glorify God, give him honor for all that he is and give him thanks for all that he has done.  

As opposed to our preconceived notions and cultural norms, God lets us know specifically what pleases his heart in praise as he moves various writers to pen the Psalms by the Holy Spirit.  

Do you think about the things that God says will bless his heart when you worship?

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise!”

This is where all of our interactions with God should begin, no matter what went on before you entered his space.  

When we do this well, it puts all of life’s circumstances into right perspective. 

It allows us to remember that when we’ve repented of our sin and put our faith in Jesus’ substitutionary death on the cross for us and his resurrection from the dead, we’ve been adopted by the maker and King of all creation!

“It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.”

Subsequently, all of the goodness and mercy that is from the Father is destined to literally chase me down all the days of my life (Psalm 23), and I have a reason to want to shout in exaltation of God!

Therefore, we should praise the Lord with a right attitude - with gladness!

“Worship is not about personality, temperament, personal limitations, church background, or comfort. It is about God.”

— John Wimber

Postures

Our posture in our praise and worship matters more than we realize.  

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”

We are to enter the presence of God with thanksgiving and praise. 

The question is - “what blesses God when we praise him?” 

Your posture - what you do with your body - prepares your heart before God.  

The Bible speaks about several postures in praise and worship that God both enjoys and prescribes:

1. Singing (Psalm 100)

2. Lifting Hands (I Timothy 1:8)

3. Kneeling (Ephesians 3:14-19)

4. Bowing (Psalm 95:6)

5. Laying prostrate (Deuteronomy 9:25; Psalm 38:6)

1. Playing Loud Instruments (Psalm 47:5)

2. Leaping (II Samuel 6:16)

3. Dancing (Psalm 30:11,12)

4. Shouting (Psalm 33:1)

5. Clapping (Psalm 47:1)

Think about what each of these postures and actions evoke in your heart and mind before God. 

In the quote below, “the patient” is a Christian being tested by demons.  

“The Enemy” is here represented as God, the adversary of the demons. 

“The best thing, where it is possible, is to keep the patient from the serious intention of praying altogether. When the patient is an adult recently re-converted to the Enemy's party, like your man, this is best done by encouraging him to remember, or to think he remembers, the parrot-like nature of his prayers in childhood. In reaction against that, he may be persuaded to aim at something entirely spontaneous, inward, informal, and unregularised; and what this will actually mean to a beginner will be an effort to produce in himself a vaguely devotional mood in which real concentration of will and intelligence have no part. One of their poets, Coleridge, has recorded that he did not pray "with moving lips and bended knees" but merely "composed his spirit to love" and indulged "a sense of supplication". That is exactly the sort of prayer we want; and since it bears a superficial resemblance to the prayer of silence as practised by those who are very far advanced in the Enemy's service, clever and lazy patients can be taken in by it for quite a long time. At the very least, they can be persuaded that the bodily position makes no difference to their prayers; for they constantly forget, what you must always remember, that they are animals and that whatever their bodies do affects their souls. It is funny how mortals always picture us as putting things into their minds: in reality our best work is done by keeping things out.”

-Screwtape (an elder demon) to his nephew Wormwood in C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters

The right posture can help us engage God and his presence.  

Presence 

Being cognizant of God’s presence is cultivated through praise and enables us to live in the benefits of Christ’s resurrection life.  

“The most holy and important practice in the spiritual life is the presence of God.”

-Brother Lawrence

Presence has more to do with our awareness of God than his actual proximity to us (Psalm 139). 

When we give God thanks and worship the way he prescribes, we receive the benefits of a walk with him - freedom in the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ (Psalm 22:3; II Corinthians 3:17). 

Though at first some things may seem foreign or uncomfortable, the more we practice the “presence of God” through Biblical praise and worship, the more we become comfortable with it and are able to enjoy grace-filled lives full of thankfulness, not bitterness.  

Christ’s broken body on the cross tore the veil so that you might have access to the throne of God (Matthew 27:51).  

Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and promised Holy Spirit enables you to remain in this reality, no matter what you are doing or who you are with.  

“The time of business does not with me differ from the time of prayer, and in the noise and clutter of my kitchen, while several persons are at the same time calling for different things, I possess God in as great tranquility as if I were upon my knees at the blessed sacrament.”

Brother Lawrence, author of The Practice of the Presence of God 

This is fantastic news for the stay at home mom searching for quiet moments and the high demand business person, the artist practicing their craft, the engineer coding, the salesperson preparing their products, the physician in the midst of surgery, the lawyer defending a case, the retiree caring for grandchildren, the barista preparing coffee and the student studying for exams! 

Let’s enter his courts daily with thanksgiving and praise and have every encumbrance from the abundant life of Jesus shaken off as we do!

“For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.”

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

The Book of Judges (Part 8): The Right Side of History

The Book of Judges (Part 8): The Right Side of History

Pastor Rollan Fisher

As we move through this series in Judges, we will continually come back to a theme that runs the course of the book. 

Judges was a time when “Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

What we’ll see played out in Judges and reflected in our own lives are the repercussions of living before God as if he were not king, and living by simply doing what is right in our own eyes.

Our goal will be to return to a life of faith and love for Jesus that ultimately leads to God’s glory and our good.  

Focus: We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus to make sure that we stay in step with his Kingdom purposes with his Kingdom people.  

• The Wrong Side of History

• The Right Side of History

• A Faithful King

The Wrong Side of History

When searching for God, we want to make sure that we are on the right side of history as revealed by the good news of Jesus Christ.  

‭‭

Judges‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬-‭9‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then the men of Ephraim said to him, "What is this that you have done to us, not to call us when you went to fight against Midian?" And they accused him fiercely. And he said to them, "What have I done now in comparison with you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the grape harvest of Abiezer? God has given into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. What have I been able to do in comparison with you?" Then their anger against him subsided when he said this. And Gideon came to the Jordan and crossed over, he and the 300 men who were with him, exhausted yet pursuing. So he said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing after Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." And the officials of Succoth said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?" So Gideon said, "Well then, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, I will flail your flesh with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers." And from there he went up to Penuel, and spoke to them in the same way, and the men of Penuel answered him as the men of Succoth had answered. And he said to the men of Penuel, "When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower."”

The Ephraimites accused the camp of Gideon when they felt like they were not in the middle of the fight against Midian.  

Gideon reminded them that they are on the same team and what God had already done in conquering two of the rulers of Midian by their efforts.  

The lesson here: don’t let accusations divide you in the middle of the fight of faith for God’s Kingdom.  

As Gideon came to the Jordan, he and his men find themselves in a place that many of us have before - “exhausted yet pursuing.”

God’s supernatural grace is there to win battles for you, even when we are fatigued, if we do not give up (Galatians 6:6-10). 

‭‭

Galatians‬ ‭6‬:‭7‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

How have you been exhausted in the pursuit of God and his purposes, yet found the grace to continue the pursuit?

Gideon and his men come to Succoth and Penuel asking for refreshment.  

However, the responses were stark:  "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?"

This is a twofold sin. 

First, the people of Penuel and Succoth were not looking with the eyes of faith. 

They would not throw their lot in with Gideon’s army until they had the finished product, the proof of their victory.  

*The people of Penuel and Succoth did not realize that they were meant to help the army get there, not criticize or discourage Gideon’s efforts.  

Secondly, this is the concern that Joshua had when the Reubenites, Gadites and Half Tribe of Manasseh remained on the other side of the Jordan in the first place. 

*They would become so consumed and content with their own affairs that they would fail to fight for their brothers and sisters in other regions for whom they no longer felt responsibility (Joshua 1:13-16).  

‭‭Joshua‬ ‭1‬:‭13‬-‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“"Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, 'The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.' Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers and shall help them, until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has to you, and they also take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise." And they answered Joshua, "All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.”

Their focus would become myopic rather than having a national identity as the people of Israel.  

When we belong to Jesus, we care for not only ourselves but are to always also be attentive to the needs of others. 

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.”

*You are not only here to win your battles in the Lord, but are to help others win theirs.  

‭‭Judges‬ ‭8‬:‭10‬-‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now Zebah and Zalmunna were in Karkor with their army, about 15,000 men, all who were left of all the army of the people of the East, for there had fallen 120,000 men who drew the sword. And Gideon went up by the way of the tent dwellers east of Nobah and Jogbehah and attacked the army, for the army felt secure. And Zebah and Zalmunna fled, and he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and he threw all the army into a panic. Then Gideon the son of Joash returned from the battle by the ascent of Heres. And he captured a young man of Succoth and questioned him. And he wrote down for him the officials and elders of Succoth, seventy-seven men. And he came to the men of Succoth and said, "Behold Zebah and Zalmunna, about whom you taunted me, saying, 'Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hand, that we should give bread to your men who are exhausted?'" And he took the elders of the city, and he took thorns of the wilderness and briers and with them taught the men of Succoth a lesson. And he broke down the tower of Penuel and killed the men of the city. Then he said to Zebah and Zalmunna, "Where are the men whom you killed at Tabor?" They answered, "As you are, so were they. Every one of them resembled the son of a king." And he said, "They were my brothers, the sons of my mother. As the Lord lives, if you had saved them alive, I would not kill you." So he said to Jether his firstborn, "Rise and kill them!" But the young man did not draw his sword, for he was afraid, because he was still a young man. Then Zebah and Zalmunna said, "Rise yourself and fall upon us, for as the man is, so is his strength." And Gideon arose and killed Zebah and Zalmunna, and he took the crescent ornaments that were on the necks of their camels.”

God’s desire is that we’d be a people of one faith, fighting in unison in love for others for the advance of the gospel and the glory of Jesus Christ (Philippians 2).  

“Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers met together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.”

-A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine

The Right Side of History

Even being on the right side of history in Christ, we need to make sure that those things that are meant to be blessings do not consume our lives.  

‭‭

Judges‬ ‭8‬:‭22‬-‭28‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, "Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian." Gideon said to them, "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you." And Gideon said to them, "Let me make a request of you: every one of you give me the earrings from his spoil." (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) And they answered, "We will willingly give them." And they spread a cloak, and every man threw in it the earrings of his spoil. And the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold, besides the crescent ornaments and the pendants and the purple garments worn by the kings of Midian, and besides the collars that were around the necks of their camels. And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family. So Midian was subdued before the people of Israel, and they raised their heads no more. And the land had rest forty years in the days of Gideon.”

An ephod was a linen used for priests as they ministered before Yahweh.  

Gideon made a huge ephod of gold - mixing what should have been a sign of his devotion to God with what would become an idolatrous snare to him, his family and the people of Israel. 

We need to always make sure that we are not going through the motions, pursuing the perceived outward signs of God’s blessings, but in reality living in the fruit of idolatry.  

“Idolatry happens when we take good things and make them ultimate things.”

— Timothy Keller

What has there been in your life that seemed like it would be a blessing, but has actually become a snare to you?

Here’s the irony:

The more you focus on your idol that you do not have, the more unhappy you become thus making you more unattractive to the objects of your idolatry. 

The paradoxical freedom in Jesus is that the more you focus on him, the more he frees your heart from finding value in anything but him, the more joy you have emanating from your soul as a fruit of the Spirit and the more attractive you become to the world around you.  

Jesus said that you must lose your life to find it, and whoever who hopes to save his life, will lose it.  

Another example:

The more you focus solely on meeting the needs of your own family, the more isolated you are, the lonelier you ultimately become, even in your marriage trying to derive happiness from the wrong source.  

However, the more you focus on serving God and others, the more you connect with other families and the fuller your own family life and soul becomes. 

Gollum and the ring exemplifies the paradox of idolatry well. 

My attraction to B was largely based on her fixed gaze upon Jesus.  

“Millions call themselves by His name, it is true, and pay some token homage to Him, but a simple test will show how little He is really honored among them. Let the average man be put to the proof on the question of who or what is ABOVE, and his true position will be exposed. Let him be forced into making a choice between God and money, between God and men, between God and personal ambition, God and self, God and human love, and God will take second place every time. Those other things will be exalted above. However the man may protest, the proof is in the choice he makes day after day throughout his life.”

-A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst for the Divine

A Faithful King

Jesus is the faithful king who rules faithfully and justly as God’s righteous branch.  

‭‭Judges‬ ‭8‬:‭29‬-‭35‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Jerubbaal the son of Joash went and lived in his own house. Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech. And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, at Ophrah of the Abiezrites. As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god. And the people of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hand of all their enemies on every side, and they did not show steadfast love to the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) in return for all the good that he had done to Israel.”

Gideon would die and his people would soon forget the Lord or what Yahweh and Gideon had done for Israel.   

This is a tragic cycle and it is a sad fate for those who do not know or trust in the Lord.   

“This is the humbling truth that lies at the heart of Christianity. We love to be our own saviors. Our hearts love to manufacture glory for themselves. So we find messages of self-salvation extremely attractive, whether they are religious (Keep these rules and you earn eternal blessing) or secular (Grab hold of these things and you’ll experience blessing now).”

-Timothy Keller

The truth is that those who have sought glory and immortality in their lifetimes without Jesus will die, be judged by God and forgotten by the generations to come.

“The two things we all want so desperately — glory and relationship — can coexist only with God.”

-Timothy Keller

Jesus was the king who lived faithfully in full obedience to the commands of God, took responsibility to die sacrificially on the cross for our sins and rose again to rule faithfully for all eternity.   

We have access to the eternal life that he purchased for us through repentance and faith in his atoning work.  

As we remember his sacrifice, he is also faithful to remember our works done in love and service to him.  

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭23‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“"Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!" declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: "You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'”

Jesus is and will forever be our righteousness, the source of our salvation,  right standing before God and ultimately, our eternal reward.  

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Guest Speaker: Pastor Reggie Roberson

Participation in Visitation

Guest Speaker: Pastor Reggie Roberson

God is visiting our nation in a special way. There is a river of power flowing through our nation because God has chosen to pour out HIs spirit.

• New York stories: (Bound 3 million g of porn suspended in hell, guy drugged by girl encounters Christ.)

• One lady came to our church to door dash food and heard the audible voice.

• San Antonio - 14 people the majority over 60 baptized in the Holy Spirit

• Austin guy (Muslim)

Brothers and sisters, this is just the beginning of God’ visitation to our country.

Second city church

• Vision of a ball of light spinning and bringing things quickly into itself. Acceleration of growth and maturity

○ Young people who responsibly handle the word and push aside temptations mightily.

○ Transplants of people who are looking to live on the edge of their faith.

○ Resources

I want to exhort you today, family, that God doesn’t want you to miss his visitation but instead God’s wants your Participation in His Visitation

I want to talk about this today.

Luke 19:35-44 ESV

35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.

36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.

37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,

38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”

39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”

40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,

42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.

43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side

44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.””

Let’s pray!

Context:

God through Jesus Christ was visiting the Jews. He was longing for the Jews to see him and his work so they could believe in him and have life.

Jesus was a walking revival and with signs, wonders, miracles and people had radical turn arounds.

Yet there were also those who would reject Christ despite the evidence of His messiahship in the work.

It is very puzzling to me as to how it could be that the Jews, who had extensive knowledge of the scripture and 400 years before Christ they had no prophets or miracle workers until John the Baptist and then Jesus and the Jews missed the time of God’s visitation.

Not accepting the day of God’s visitation in Christ had dire consequences for the Jews; they would see a Roman invasion at 70 ad in which they would take out their temple and do things predicted by Christ in this passage.

Jesus says I longed to give you the things that make for peace but you would not have it.

The question of the hour is:

● Will we miss the good things that God longs to give us?

● Will we perceive the day of God’s visitation in Christ?

God’s wants your Participation in His Visitation

How does your participation look in the visitation?

Devoted Exaltation

v. 38 (Pharisees rebuke your disciples not the rocks will cry out v. 40)

There were two things these people got right: Praising God and following Jesus where He was going.

● We need to praise God. Declare out of our mouths who he is and what he has done; this keeps our hearts ready for what God wants to do. “But You are holy, enthroned (visit) on the praises of Israel.” Psalms 22:3 HCSB

● We also need to follow Jesus in our lives. We should seek to discern his will and obey it.

Obeying God means we do God’s will God’s way in God’s Time.

They got the exaltation right but the devoted part was wrong. Many of those who praised Jesus, even the disciples, would abandon Jesus and betray Him.

We know how to celebrate people when things are going as we expected but we struggle to do so when it is not as expected.

● Your favorite sports team.

● A project at work;

● a kid in school.

Our praise and obedience can be silenced by circumstances.

Has your praise of God been silenced by your circumstances?

Here’s the thing: God is good all the time even when things are not looking like we expected.

He works things out for our good Romans 8:28. You see, God is looking for the ones who will be faithful to him regardless of what happens in their lives so He can show himself strong on their behalf and use them powerfully during the time of his visitation.

This brings me to my next thought:

Adjust Expectation

V. 42 Jesus goes from this high moment to weeping over the city. What happened? He knows their hearts and how they will lose devotion.

They lack devoted exaltation because they had not adjusted their expectations.

This is what caused them to lose their devotion.

They expected God to move and work in a particular way and it did not happen. They expected

Jesus to march into Jerusalem and set up his Kingdom and kick Rome's butt. Of course that meant that their lives would be easier because they know Jesus. Jesus totally violated this because instead of dominating his enemies, he died for us enemies. Instead of taking back power he gave up power.

When expectations are unmet it leads to frustration or offense and sometimes passivity, quitting, or taking matters into your own hands.

If we do not adjust our expectations we may not participate in God’s visitation.

Illustration: Jesus Revolution Movie

What are some blessings you’ve had that didn’t come in the way you thought they would have come?

During a time of visitation, devoted exaltation is possible when we adjust our expectation as we Contend for Revelation.

Contend for Revelation

Jesus says that visitation was hidden from their eyes v.42 Many scholars agree that this hiding is spiritual and sinister in nature. It is the same hiding that is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 4:4 where Paul says the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.

This blinding of the heart or a lack of revelation is what is at the root of the Jews missing the day of visitation. Here’s the thing, everyone needs revelation from God in this hour; none of us are exempt.

Revelation helps to adjust your expectations and stirs your heart for devoted exaltation.

We need to read, listen to and study the Bible like we have never done before. God speaks to us and reveals things to us from his scripture.

When we get the Bible chapters and verses in our heart we are able to push back the blinding power of sin and binding power of the enemy.

Psalm 119:11

Ephesians 6:17

When we get the word of God in us we have a renewed mind in which we can discern the will of

God including the time of visitation. Romans 12:2

We need to be praying like we have never prayed before. The type of prayer I am talking about is not like a prayer to bless your meal for dinner.

It is a prayer where we go deep and constant.

● It’s deep means less distraction, more time if possible where you have the opportunity to sense God’s heart.

● Constant means prayer doesn’t stop because you finished your devotional time.

○ It means during your classes, at work, in your favorite places to eat, or in your

recreation you are consciously aware that God may choose to move or move you

to do something.

○ You have conversations with God as you live out your daily life.

■ God may speak to you about giving;

■ God may speak to you about serving;

■ He may speak to you about sharing his gospel with a family member, friend, or stranger.

■ He may give a strategy on how to pray for someone and bless them.

We need a revelation of what God wants in our lives. We need precise and targeted revelation knowledge.

Shane’s Mandeville story

If you are not a follower of Christ, God is visiting you today. You must understand and know today that Jesus took this road to Jerusalem for you. This is the road where he would be betrayed and handed over to the Romans and die on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins and your sins so that you could have forgiveness of sins, and all the blessings that come from a loving relationship with him would belong to you. He did this for you and you can receive what he has done if you put your trust in him today.

Summarize

Prayer If you want to participate in God’s visitation, stand to your feet and I will pray for you.

Salvation

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 

The Book of Judges (Part 7) : Soli Deo Gloria

The Book of Judges (Part 7) : Soli Deo Gloria

Pastor Rollan Fisher

As we move through this series in Judges, we will continually come back to a theme that runs the course of the book. 

Judges was a time when “Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

What we’ll see played out in Judges and reflected in our own lives are the repercussions of living before God as if he were not king, and living by simply doing what is right in our own eyes.

Our goal will be to return to a life of faith and love for Jesus that ultimately leads to God’s glory and our good.  

Focus: When we approach God with holy desperation, he moves in power on our behalf and he alone gets the glory.  

• Holy Desperation

• Predetermined Victory

• Soli Deo Gloria

Holy Desperation 

God will meet us in power and deliver when we have a holy desperation for him.  

‭‭

Judges‬ ‭7‬:‭1‬-‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. 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 hand, 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. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, 'This one shall go with you,' shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, 'This one shall not go with you,' shall not go." So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, "Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one 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. And the Lord said to Gideon, "With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home." So the people took provisions 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.”

Have you ever felt like you didn’t have enough for the task to which God has called you?

Here, in Gideon’s story, we see God saying you may not have too little, but too much.  

If we can get the job done with our resources or acumen alone, then the frequent temptation is for us to try to take the credit.  

God widdles down the army of Gideon so at the end of the day, Yahweh alone would get the glory for the deliverance he provided for the Israelites.  

He first tells those who are scared to go home, following the pattern of Deuteronomy 20 where instructions are given to those who would prepare for war.  

‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭20‬:‭8‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, 'Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.'”

When we are in Christ, we are the righteousness of God (Romans 3:21-26) and therefore have a new, loving boldness provided by the Holy Spirit. 

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭28‬:‭1‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.”

When we are daily filled with the Holy Spirit, we are able to be bold as lions as we follow Jesus into his Kingdom purposes.  

We are to daily encourage one another in these truths as we look to be a light for Jesus to the world.  

Yahweh then shows us a curious picture.  

There are those who go to the water and kneel to drink with an element of reserve, whom Yahweh dismisses from the fight.

But those who get on their bellies to lap like a dog, throwing out all pride or ego, those who demonstrate a desperate thirst for the water, Yahweh chooses to be his vessels of deliverance. 

The Israelites were left with 300 chosen men with whom to fight the army of the Midianites that vastly outnumbered them, like a locust swarm.  

God specializes in seemingly insurmountable odds, and will even arrange things so that we have to move forward by faith in his ability alone.  

This should be encouraging for us as we go to God in prayer.  

“Every great movement of God can be traced to a kneeling figure.” 

– D. L. Moody

What seemingly insurmountable odds have you been up against as you follow Christ’s leadership?

You may be in just the right place to meet the God of miracles.   

Predetermined Victory

When we come into alignment with God, he fights for us and we have a predetermined victory in Christ. 

‭‭

Judges‬ ‭7‬:‭9‬-‭18‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“That same night the Lord said to him, "Arise, go down against the camp, for I have 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." Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts 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." And his comrade answered, "This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp." As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. 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 all the camp and shout, 'For the Lord and for Gideon.'"”

God sent Gideon with his servant Purah to get some encouragement. 

You either need to be called by God to a mission or join with the vision of one who has - but either way, herein is another reminder that we are never to fight alone!

God allows Gideon and Purah to overhear the ways that the Midianites already realize that God is working to bring victory to the Israelites.  

*When Gideon and Purah went down to the Midianite camp, they realized that God was already moving before Gideon’s crew even got started.  

This should be the same confidence that we have as we pray for Jesus to open doors for us that no man can shut as we follow him. 

“It is possible to move men, through God, by prayer alone.” 

– Hudson Taylor

*Ultimately, the victory had already been won by God and Gideon simply organized the men to enter into it.  

How can you see that God has already been working even before you step foot into his mission for you?

Soli Deo Gloria

God alone gets the glory as Jesus saves completely those who come to him in repentance and faith.  

‭‭Judges‬ ‭7‬:‭19‬-‭25‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“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 toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath. And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, 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 Beth-barah, and also the Jordan." So all the men of Ephraim were called out, and they captured the waters as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan. And they captured the two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.”

God used unconventional means to begin the deliverance for Gideon and his men.  

There is no account of God giving Gideon and his crew instruction about the trumpets, torches or jars to start the panic amongst the Israelites.  

Gideon and his crew were simply using what was available to them.  

What has God made available to you and our church community to see the love of Christ communicated so that people can tangibly be invited into the good news of Jesus?

Again, we are asking God in prayer to breathe upon all of our efforts so that he alone may get the glory from the miraculous results.  

”Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.” 

– Max Lucado

When Jesus saves, it is by his grace alone.  

He went to the cross to die for our sins, not because of any of the good things that we had done, but because of his own mercy and grace.  

*When Jesus saves, he saves completely. 

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭7‬:‭23‬-‭25‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but he holds his priesthood permanently, because he continues forever. Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.”

Because God alone is the author of salvation, he alone gets the glory as we walk into his predetermined victories by Christ’s resurrection from the dead.   

We await his return when he will truly make all things right.  

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 

Judges (Part 6): A Sign from Heaven

The Book of Judges (Part 6) : A Sign from Heaven 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

As we move through this series in Judges, we will continually come back to a theme that runs the course of the book. 

Judges was a time when “Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

What we’ll see played out in Judges and reflected in our own lives are the repercussions of living before God as if he were not king, and living by simply doing what is right in our own eyes.

Our goal will be to return to a life of faith and love for Jesus that ultimately leads to God’s glory and our good.   

Focus: God calls us out of our caves to tear down idols and experience the transformative power of Jesus’ resurrection life. 

• Working With Nothing to Show For It

• Coming Out of the Cave

• Tearing Down Idols 

• To See a Sign From Heaven

Working With Nothing to Show For It

All that we hold near and dear, that which we were actually working for, can be lost through sin. 

‭‭Judges‬ ‭6‬:‭1‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord. When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, 'I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.' But you have not obeyed my voice."”

When we live a sin, the consequence is fruitlessness - where our enemies eventually steal and destroy everything that we worked for.  

This can be in our marriages, our friendships, relationships with our children, our mental health, our finances, our careers and even our physical well-being.  

God will always bring us back to his word to remind us where we’ve diverged and not obeyed his voice.  

He is gracious enough to send people as prophetic voices in our lives to bring us back to his law, his commands. 

Has there ever been a point in your life where the things valuable to you have been destroyed or stolen through sin?

Coming Out of the Cave

God calls us out of the caves to face our enemies of our souls that have plundered our lives.  

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Judges‬ ‭6‬:‭11‬-‭24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, "The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor." And Gideon said to him, "Please, my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, 'Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?' But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian." And the Lord turned to him and said, "Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?" And he said to him, "Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house." And the Lord said to him, "But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man." And he said to him, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you." And he said, "I will stay till you return." So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them." And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, "Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face." But the Lord said to him, "Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die." Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.”

Before God calls us out, he is kind enough to find us where we’ve been hiding. 

He calls us out of a place of oppression by declaring over us who we were created to be, as opposed to what we’ve become.  

In Gideon’s case, the angel of the Lord says:

 "The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor."

Like Gideon, we all have doubts and baggage that we need to work through to become who God has called us to be. 

Yahweh’s response to Gideon is the same as it will always be to us, no matter if you think that your pedigree has been weak and your place in the world makes you feel like the least.  

"But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man."

*Gideon’s success was in, and our’s will forever be, that God is with us and is leading us!

And because of this, and this alone, does he call Gideon a mighty man of valor.  

This is the great comfort of the great commission as Jesus (Immanuel - “God with us”) sent us into all the world to make disciples of all nations promising to be with us always, to the very end of the age (Matthew 28:18-21). 

Some doubt God and his goodness because of the experiences in their lives.  

“Perhaps God permits my father, or my daughter, or my friend, or me to suffer in the most appalling way. I may then find myself thinking as follows: “No doubt he has all those dandy divine qualities and no doubt he has a fine reason for permitting this abomination — after all, I am no match for him with respect to coming up with reasons, reasons that are utterly beyond me — but what he permits is appalling, and I hate it!” I may want to tell him off face to face: “You may be wonderful, and magnificent, and omniscient and omnipotent (and even wholly good) and all that exalted stuff, but I utterly detest what you are doing!” A problem of this kind is not really an evidential problem at all, and it isn’t a defeater for theism.”

-Alvin Plantinga, Knowledge and Christian Belief

Trial can be the result of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6) or God allowing circumstances to develop our trust in his sovereign goodness and glory (John 9).  

However in many cases, trial can be the result of our own sin and we are slow to connect the dots. 

In Gideon’s case, he made no such connection from the Midianite oppression to Israel’s sin, and simply questioned God regarding he and his people’s then present struggles without dealing with the root.  

Before God calls us to do anything, he calls us to know his peace.  

Gideon is given the opportunity to interact with Yahweh’s aide, known as the angel of the Lord.  

As Yahweh was coming to confirm his call of Gideon, he first spoke peace over him.  

In building his altar of worship and sacrifice, Gideon would continually reference Yahweh Shalom to know the Lord is Peace and makes all things well.  

This Shalom from God is ultimately made available through the sacrifice of Jesus, who becomes our peace with God through his death at the cross for our sins.  

‭‭Romans‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”

Through repentance and faith we enter into that peace that God initiates which we see as an ongoing theme in Gideon’s story. 

Tearing Down Idols

God calls us into freedom by having us tear down the idols of our own hearts and the culture’s. 

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Judges‬ ‭6‬:‭25‬-‭32‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“That night the Lord said to him, "Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down." So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. And they said to one another, "Who has done this thing?" And after they had searched and inquired, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing." Then the men of the town said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it." But Joash said to all who stood against him, "Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down." Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, "Let Baal contend against him," because he broke down his altar.”

God calls Gideon to begin the process of deliverance by tearing down the altars to the false gods that the Israelites had begun to worship. 

In essence, God says, “the false masters that your family served, tear down and build the altar to Yahweh on top of it with the stones (the priorities of his word) laid in due order.”

Gideon attempts to tear down the altars at night, when he thinks the confrontation will cost him the least.  

However, what God does with you privately must and will always impact your public life, your relationships with others, when you are obedient.  

“Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, "Let Baal contend against him," because he broke down his altar.”

Gideon’s obedience helped bring his father to repentance, to side with Yahweh, and allowed Baal’s false power to be exposed.  

The question is:

How do I know what has mastered me?

“The true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention.”

-Timothy J. Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

“An idol is whatever you look at and say, in your heart of hearts, “If I have that, then I’ll feel my life has meaning, then I’ll know I have value, then I’ll feel significant and secure.”

-Timothy J. Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

Why it matters:

“If we look to some created thing to give us the meaning, hope, and happiness that only God himself can give, it will eventually fail to deliver and break our hearts.”

-Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

“An idolatrous attachment can lead you to break any promise, rationalize any indiscretion, or betray any other allegiance, in order to hold on to it. It may drive you to violate all good and proper boundaries. To practice idolatry is to be a slave.”

-Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope that Matters

What are the masters in our culture that have been mastering you and your family?  

How do we attempt to do what is right in our own eyes?

What are the Asherah poles, the visible images of worship, that you are trying to hold onto that God is calling you to tear down? 

Don’t guise your idolatry in a vestment of religion and God’s blessing.  

To See a Sign From Heaven

Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection was the sign that we needed to prove that God can make all things in our lives truly new!

‭‭Judges‬ ‭6‬:‭33‬-‭40‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them. Then Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said." And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. Then Gideon said to God, "Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew." And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.”

The focus is not Gideon, but God and how great his grace is to propel us in the midst of our shortcomings. 

God is obviously not demanding perfection or a self-derived sense of strength to deliver his people through a vessel like Gideon. 

The Scripture says:

Judges 6:34

“But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.” 

The Hebrew translation actually reads, “Yahweh’s Spirit clothed itself in Gideon”, meaning Yahweh was doing his work through Gideon. 

Gideon in essence becomes the clothing. 

We can not see God’s Spirit, but we see the evidence of the Holy Spirit working in Gideon as he is transformed with power from one who was too scared to confront his village to one who is going to take on the Midianites, Amalek and the easterners. 

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭12‬:‭38‬-‭42‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, "Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you." But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”

Jesus’ sacrificial death for our sins, burial and resurrection was the ultimate sign that heaven is for us, is ready to forgive and redeem damaged, broken lives.  

As we turn to Christ in repentance and faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross, we too are transformed, becoming the clothing of the Spirit of God to see bound people healed and restored!

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 

Judges (Part 5): Be Counted!

Judges (Part 5): Be Counted!

Pastor Rollan Fisher

As we move through this series in Judges, we will continually come back to a theme that runs the course of the book. 

Judges was a time when “Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

What we’ll see played out in Judges and reflected in our own lives are the repercussions of living before God as if he were not king, and living by simply doing what is right in our own eyes.

Our goal will be to return to a life of faith and love for Jesus that ultimately leads to God’s glory and our good.  

Judges (Part 5): Be Counted!

Focus: When God calls, make sure you answer to be counted in Christ. 

• Those Who Are Counted 

• Those Who Stay Behind 

• The One Who Died and Rose

Those Who Are Counted

When serving God, our aim is to know him, love him and be counted in his cause. 

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Judges‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then sang Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam on that day: "That the leaders took the lead in Israel, that the people offered themselves willingly, bless the Lord! "Hear, O kings; give ear, O princes; to the Lord I will sing; I will make melody to the Lord, the God of Israel. "Lord, when you went out from Seir, when you marched from the region of Edom, the earth trembled and the heavens dropped, yes, the clouds dropped water. The mountains quaked before the Lord, even Sinai before the Lord, the God of Israel. "In the days of Shamgar, son of Anath, in the days of Jael, the highways were abandoned, and travelers kept to the byways. The villagers ceased in Israel; they ceased to be until I arose; I, Deborah, arose as a mother in Israel. When new gods were chosen, then war was in the gates. Was shield or spear to be seen among forty thousand in Israel? My heart goes out to the commanders of Israel who offered themselves willingly among the people. Bless the Lord. "Tell of it, you who ride on white donkeys, you who sit on rich carpets and you who walk by the way. To the sound of musicians at the watering places, there they repeat the righteous triumphs of the Lord, the righteous triumphs of his villagers in Israel. "Then down to the gates marched the people of the Lord.”

What was Deborah’s commendation?

Deborah was commending those who heard the call of God and were counted as leaders in the fight against Jabir and his forces.  

The Israeli leaders offered themselves willingly to help advance Yahweh’s Kingdom purposes.  

The people who followed were also commended for offering themselves willingly.  

This should be our attitude as a people as we know and respond to the Great Commission of Christ to go and make disciples of the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and teaching people to obey everything Jesus has taught. 

What is your attitude when asked to join the cause of Christ with your time, talent and resources?

Is it begrudging or is it willing?

God moved in seemingly impossible circumstances for the Israelites to win their victory when the people decided to act.  

“The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God’s realm where everything is possible. He specializes in the impossible. Nothing is too great for His almighty power. Nothing is too small for His love.”

-Corrie Ten Boom

Noble faith is praised in the songs of Israel because it has been modeled and is to be emulated.  

Deborah arose as a mother in Israel. 

We need men and women to be counted as fathers and mothers in the faith for the gospel to advance in our city, this nation and the nations.  

Those Who Stay Behind

Civilian affairs come to choke the life and purposes of God out of us.    

‭‭Judges‬ ‭5‬:‭12‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“"Awake, awake, Deborah! Awake, awake, break out in a song! Arise, Barak, lead away your captives, O son of Abinoam. Then down marched the remnant of the noble; the people of the Lord marched down for me against the mighty. From Ephraim their root they marched down into the valley, following you, Benjamin, with your kinsmen; from Machir marched down the commanders, and from Zebulun those who bear the lieutenant's staff; the princes of Issachar came with Deborah, and Issachar faithful to Barak; into the valley they rushed at his heels. Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why did he stay with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, staying by his landings. Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field. "The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they got no spoils of silver. From heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. The torrent Kishon swept them away, the ancient torrent, the torrent Kishon. March on, my soul, with might! "Then loud beat the horses' hoofs with the galloping, galloping of his steeds. "Curse Meroz, says the angel of the Lord, curse its inhabitants thoroughly, because they did not come to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.”

What was Deborah’s rebuke?

Deborah rebuked the clans of Reuben, Gilead Dan and Asher for staying in their places of comfort - with great searchings of heart and amongst their normal business affairs while highlighting that Zebulun and Naphtali allowed themselves to be inconvenienced, risking their lives to the death for Israel’s deliverance. 

“Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Why did you sit still among the sheepfolds, to hear the whistling for the flocks? Among the clans of Reuben there were great searchings of heart. Gilead stayed beyond the Jordan; and Dan, why did he stay with the ships? Asher sat still at the coast of the sea, staying by his landings. Zebulun is a people who risked their lives to the death; Naphtali, too, on the heights of the field. "The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they got no spoils of silver.”

Think about this:

How was this Israel doing what was right in their own eyes? 

“Religion used to be the opium of the people. To those suffering humiliation, pain, illness, and serfdom, religion promised the reward of an after life. But now, we are witnessing a transformation, a true opium of the people is the belief in nothingness after death, the huge solace, the huge comfort of thinking that for our betrayals, our greed, our cowardice, our murders, we are not going to be judged.”

-Czesław Miłosz, winner of the 1980 Nobel Prize in Literature

The challenge of this sentiment is that people around us every day still face the consequences of their sin.

God will judge both sins of commission and sins of omission.  

‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.”

What are the civilian affairs, the business and the ponderings of heart that come to suffocate your love for Jesus, your faith and your zeal for Christ’s Kingdom?

A persistent fruit of the flesh that we overlook is selfish ambition, which can also be recognized as living a life revolving around mere pleasure and self preservation.  

Paul said it this way:

‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬-‭11‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.”

The One Who Died and Rose 

Jesus was the perfect leader who not only knew the will of the Father, but was sacrificially obedient unto death and ultimately ushered in eternal life through his resurrection.  

‭‭

Judges‬ ‭5‬:‭24‬-‭31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“"Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, of tent-dwelling women most blessed. He asked for water and she gave him milk; she brought him curds in a noble's bowl. She sent her hand to the tent peg and her right hand to the workmen's mallet; she struck Sisera; she crushed his head; she shattered and pierced his temple. Between her feet he sank, he fell, he lay still; between her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell—dead. "Out of the window she peered, the mother of Sisera wailed through the lattice: 'Why is his chariot so long in coming? Why tarry the hoofbeats of his chariots?' Her wisest princesses answer, indeed, she answers herself, 'Have they not found and divided the spoil?— A womb or two for every man; spoil of dyed materials for Sisera, spoil of dyed materials embroidered, two pieces of dyed work embroidered for the neck as spoil?' "So may all your enemies perish, O Lord! But your friends be like the sun as he rises in his might." And the land had rest for forty years.”

Here again, we see Jael’s actions highlighted.  

It is evidence of the ever merciful eye of God and his desire to continually draw people from outside his camp, in, through his saving grace. 

It is important to remember that though a relative of Moses, Jael was a Kenite, not an Israelite.  

Her response to Deborah’s call to action was contrasted with the Israelites who stayed behind and did not engage in the battle of the Lord.  

It is once again clear that the point is being made that being an Israelite does not guarantee blessing even as being a foreigner does not exclude one from being used as a servant as a part of God’s deliverance story. 

Think of Rahab in Joshua who would align herself with Yahweh and the spies and would ultimately be included in the hall of faith and the earthly lineage of our Savior, Jesus Christ (Hebrews 11; Matthew 1:1-6).  

Christ’s own recorded lineage includes men, women, adulterers, prostitutes; heroes and Gentiles of questionable character - and Jesus would be savior of them all. 

This is good news as we embrace his gospel today to die to our old way of life at the cross, be forgiven because of Christ’s atonement and be made new to live in Jesus’ resurrection life.  

The question is, are you thereafter doing the will of God? 

Have you died to a life of self-preservation and selfish ambition so that you can now be counted in his eternal Kingdom cause?

Jesus said:

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭21‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'”

It is our faith in Jesus’ sinless life and substitutionary death at the cross alone that saves us from our sins.  

Yet that reconciling work bringing us back to God also brings us into his loving service to live like Jesus who was counted, died for us and now truly and forever lives!

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 

Judges (Part 4) - Rise Up!

Judges (Part 4) - Rise Up!

Pastor Rollan Fisher

As we move through this series in Judges, we will continually come back to a theme that runs the course of the book. 

Judges was a time when “Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

What we’ll see played out in Judges and reflected in our own lives are the repercussions of living before God as if he were not king, and living by simply doing what is right in our own eyes.

Our goal will be to return to a life of faith and love for Jesus that ultimately leads to God’s glory and our good.  

Judges (Part 4): Rise Up!

Focus: The God of glory sends people into our lives to help us rise up to be all that we were created to be and do in Christ.  

• Rise Up!

• Lose Yourself

• To Gain (in) Christ

Rise Up

God will send people into our lives to challenge us that we might rise up to become all that we are meant to be in Christ.  

‭‭Judges‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died. And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. The commander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth-hagoyim. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years. Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment. She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun. And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand’?” Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.” And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh. And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.”

Deborah was a prophetess who was calling Barak and the men of Israel to rise up and fulfill their God given roles.  

In a patriarchal society, God broke cultural norms to deal with the sin into which Israel had again fallen.  

Deborah was not just called a prophetess, but she was judging Israel at that time, meaning that she was leading them.

The people of Israel would come from long distances to her location in the center of territorial Israel to get judgments from the Lord because of her walk with God.  

How reflective this is of much of our church community even to this day, and the indebtedness that we have to the amazing women of God - church mothers, intercessors and prophetesses who have been holding their ground, fasting, praying, serving, discipling and leading in the things of God throughout modern history when others would not show up!  

We give God thanks and honor even the many women of God in our midst who’ve been just as amazing as Deborah!  

Barak’s name meant “Lightning” and was a portent of the catalyst that he was called to be amongst the Israelites, who seeing his example would rally to fight their oppressors leading to God’s deliverance.  

Yet he was unwilling to go without Deborah’s presence.  

Deborah’s name meant “bee” and her words definitely came with a sting as she was the first prophetess of Israel mentioned since Miriam, the sister of Moses in Exodus.  

The truth is that God will not stop the continuation of his purposes and the advance of his kingdom, even when we are not doing our ordained part.  

Regardless of your upbringing or culture, the Scripture is clear that God has and does anoint women to be full of might, strength and the Spirit of God for the advancement of God’s purposes!  

The issue here is not whether or not a man or woman should get the glory.  

Scripture emphasizes that God uses women in important, influential roles throughout history, just as he does today (think of Ruth, Esther, Pricilla in Acts 18 or the list of faithful female ministers that Paul commends in Romans 16).  

The issue is that God is calling men to rise up to take their place as warriors and servant leaders as the heads of their homes, in the church and in society.  

*Men are called by God to reject passivity and lead courageously.  

"A real man is one who rejects passivity, accepts responsibility, leads courageously, and expects a greater reward, God’s reward."

-Robert Lewis of Raising Modern Day Knights

Think of the patterns that you see in the modern church world.  

As with Barak, men are receiving a call to be courageous initiators, and not passive spectators in the Kingdom of God; to be on the tip of the spear in advancing God’s purposes, and not merely commenting as to what they see wrong from the bench.   

Lose Yourself

The key to becoming all that you were meant to be in Jesus is to lose your preconceived notions of the way that you thought life would go so that you might find your true purpose in Christ.  

‭‭Judges‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh. When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon. And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot. And Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.”

You must lose your life in Jesus to find out who you are truly created to be.  

“But there must be a real giving up of the self. You must throw it away "blindly" so to speak. Christ will indeed give you a real personality: but you must not go to Him for the sake of that. As long as your own personality is what you are bothering about you are not going to Him at all. The very first step is to try to forget about the self altogether. Your real, new self (which is Christ's and also yours, and yours just because it is His) will not come as long as you are looking for it. It will come when you are looking for Him. Does that sound strange? The same principle holds, you know, for more everyday matters. Even in social life, you will never make a good impression on other people until you stop thinking about what sort of impression you are making. Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it.

The principle runs through all life from top to bottom. Give up your self, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it.

Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favourite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end: submit with every fibre of your being, and you will find eternal life. Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours. Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead. Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”

-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

To Gain (in) Christ

When we are focused on the cross, we are able to put lagging encumbrances to death that we might be fulfilled and free in Jesus.  

‭‭

Judges‬ ‭4‬:‭17‬-‭24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my Lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug. And he said to her, “Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.” So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him. And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’” But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died. And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple. So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel. And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.”

Being overly concerned with political correctness can keep us and others bound by sin.  

Jael is another woman of God whose courage God uses to help solidify Israel’s deliverance.  

Heber and Jael were related to Moses, and though at that time there was an alliance with Sisera’s boss, Jael chose to side with vanquishing the Lord’s enemies rather than the political correctness of her day.   

Jael used hospitality to invite Jabin into her home, and once there she drove the peg into the temple of Jabin - right into his center of thought. 

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭21‬:‭22‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“A wise man scales the city of the mighty and brings down the stronghold in which they trust.”

When people understand the holiness, justice and love of God all demonstrated at the cross of Jesus, they can be brought to a genuine repentance (which is a change of mind and direction) and faith. 

We can use hospitality to invite those bound by the world’s ideologies and sin into loving environments to them set free by the truth and cross of Christ.  

• Invite people to church.

• Invite people to your community group.

• Invite people into your home.

‭‭

Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭9‬-‭14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.”

Again, is this not how we can use hospitality to invite those bound by sin into our faith environments to see them set free by the truth and cross of Christ?  

The Gospel Comes with a Housekey is one of my wife's favorite books.  

I highly recommend this and Rosaria Butterfield’s story. 

With kindness, we must be diligent to explain the need for Jesus’ sinless life, sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, even as we apply the cross to controversial issues.  

Like Jael, we must find our security and identity in Christ more than worldly alliances to have the courage to love others as Jesus does (which includes telling them the truth).   

‭‭Mark‬ ‭8‬:‭34‬-‭38‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."”

The question is:

In what ways has political correctness kept you or those you know and love bound in sin? 

Deborah had to risk being misunderstood in the midst of the social conventions of the day to call Barak and the people of Israel to a zeal necessary to serve the Lord.   

Barak had to deny his timidity and reluctance and rise up in faith to save himself and his people. 

Jael had to forsake her comfort and security to embark on the risky effort to finally put the tyranny of Jabin to rest. 

How is God calling you to deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow Jesus for the sake of his gospel that you might find your life and see others find theirs as well in Christ? 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher 

GUEST PASTOR KORE BENDIX

GUEST PASTOR KORE BENDIX 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Judges (Part 3) - Learning to Fight

Judges (Part 3) - Learning to Fight 

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Ministry Team Fair Day!

As we move through this series in Judges, we will continually come back to a theme that runs the course of the book. 

Judges was a time when “Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

What we’ll see played out in Judges and reflected in our own lives are the repercussions of living before God as if he were not king, and living by simply doing what is right in our own eyes.

Our goal will be to return to a life of faith and love for Jesus that ultimately leads to God’s glory and our good.  

Judges (Part 3) - Learning to Fight 

Focus: God allows trials to train our hands for war and our fingers for battle.  

• Learning to War

• By the Spirit of the Lord 

• Being Wise as Serpents, Innocent as Doves

Learning to War

When God is leading us, he allows battles to test our hearts and teach us how to fight like him.   

‭‭Judges‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now these are the nations that the Lord left, to test Israel by them, that is, all in Israel who had not experienced all the wars in Canaan. It was only in order that the generations of the people of Israel might know war, to teach war to those who had not known it before. These are the nations: the five Lords of the Philistines and all the Canaanites and the Sidonians and the Hivites who lived on Mount Lebanon, from Mount Baal-hermon as far as Lebo-hamath. They were for the testing of Israel, to know whether Israel would obey the commandments of the Lord, which he commanded their fathers by the hand of Moses. So the people of Israel lived among the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And their daughters they took to themselves for wives, and their own daughters they gave to their sons, and they served their gods.”

Too many of us reduce our Christianity to simply what we believe and not how we live.   

To learn to live in the fullness of God, you are going to need to learn how to fight spiritual battles by faith.  

God is a warrior who has never lost a fight.  

God fights against the things that would bring slavery, ruin, destruction and death in our lives because of sin. 

Moses rejoiced in this following God bringing the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt saying:

Exodus 15:3 (NLT)

The LORD is a warrior; Yahweh is his name!

Yahweh (transliterated “the Lord”) was the covenant name for the God of Israel by which he revealed himself and is mentioned more than 6000 times in the Old Testament (Exodus 3:14).

In fact, when we praise God with shouts of “Hallelujah”, it contains within it the word Yah, which is an abbreviated form of Yhwh speaking of the Lord’s timelessness and his being the “I AM”, the very foundation of all existence. 

Jesus in John 8:58 said:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

The Jews understood that Jesus was applying the name of God to himself, considered it blasphemy and attempted to stone Jesus.

Yet if this Jesus showed through his sinless life, sacrificial death on the cross for our wrongdoings and historic resurrection from the dead that he is who he said he is, then as we follow him, we have this same warrior God fighting on our behalf.  

Years after Judges, a king after God’s own heart who would lead Israel with integrity of heart and skill of hand (Psalm 78:72) would say this about God:

‭‭

Psalm‬ ‭144‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle; he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.”

In judges, the other nations were left to teach war to the Israelites who had not known it before.  

The other nations were also left to test the Israelites to see whether they were going to obey the commandments of the Lord as found in the law of Moses.   

When the Israelites linked themselves through marriage to the surrounding nations, they began to serve the false gods of the surrounding nations.  

This weakened their covenant commitment to God and stripped them of both the strength and backing of God to fight and win their battles.  

How often do relational compromises in our lives strip us of a similar strength?

By the Spirit of the Lord

When we fight, it is not to be in our own strength but in the power of the Holy Spirit of God.  

‭‭

Judges‬ ‭3‬:‭7‬-‭11‬ ‭ESV

“And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth. Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he sold them into the hand of Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia. And the people of Israel served Cushan-rishathaim eight years. But when the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the people of Israel, who saved them, Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother. The Spirit of the Lord was upon him, and he judged Israel. He went out to war, and the Lord gave Cushan-rishathaim king of Mesopotamia into his hand. And his hand prevailed over Cushan-rishathaim. So the land had rest forty years. Then Othniel the son of Kenaz died.”

‬‬

The first of the judges named was Othniel, son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who we heard mentioned in the first chapter Judges.  

What we can learn from him is that God raised him up as a deliverer to save Israel and that it was the Spirit of the Lord upon him enabling him to go to war, win battles and lead (judge) Israel.

In the same way, we are to answer the call of God by asking for the Spirit of the Lord to be upon us as well (Acts 1:1-8).  

What is your relationship like with the Spirit of the Lord (otherwise known as the Holy Spirit)?

Do you interact with him daily as you read God’s word so that you might be empowered by the Lord as you go into your days?

Do you seek his leadership when deciding how to govern your relationships (including marriage - even when it is time for you to do so), resources and time?

Do you interact with the Spirit of the Lord when you are in your classes, in your workplace, when you are with family, friends or colleagues?

Do you look to him to overcome your own sin and encourage others in the deliverance that is available for them?

Do you depend upon him for divine wisdom in working deals, solving problems for your company, campus and city?

This is the purpose of a prayer life, where we cultivate a deepening relationship with God based on his word.  

It is then and only then that we win our own battles over sin and have the strength, like Othniel to act as a deliverer for others.  

Being Wise as Serpents, Innocent as Doves 

God makes us wise as serpents and innocent as doves to win the battles he calls us to fight.  

‭‭Judges‬ ‭3‬:‭12‬-‭31‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord strengthened Eglon the king of Moab against Israel, because they had done what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He gathered to himself the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and went and defeated Israel. And they took possession of the city of palms. And the people of Israel served Eglon the king of Moab eighteen years. Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. But he himself turned back at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his cool roof chamber. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. Then Ehud went out into the porch and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him and locked them. When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, “Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their Lord dead on the floor. Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond the idols and escaped to Seirah. When he arrived, he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. And he said to them, “Follow after me, for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped. So Moab was subdued that day under the hand of Israel. And the land had rest for eighty years. 

After him was Shamgar the son of Anath, who killed 600 of the Philistines with an oxgoad, and he also saved Israel.”

We are delivered by Jesus to become deliverers for others, pointing people to true salvation found only in Jesus.  

Ehud, the second of the judges mentioned, showed us how to walk with the wisdom and cunning of the Lord.  

Ehud was a left-handed man, which meant that he was willing to operate outside of the norm and creatively as he sought to do the Lord’s will.  

Ehud was coming against the oppression that was represented in Eglon, whose girth was a picture of the excesses of life that attempt to swallow up our love and devotion to God. 

 Ehud had to creatively plunge the sword into the belly of those excesses to see Israel freed. 

When God’s word (the sword of the Spirit - Ephesians 6) begins to deal with issues in our lives, it may seem that what comes to the surface is unpleasant and stinks.  

However, we can not be ashamed to deal with these issues because as Pastor Cole always says, “what God reveals, he intends to heal.”

What excesses in life are attempting to snuff out your love and devotion to Jesus?

Is it certain experiences that you feel that you need to have to be happy?

Is it a lifestyle or standard of living?

Is it companionship or the fantasy of it that pushes out time and devotion to the Lord?

“In sharp contrast with our culture, the Bible teaches that the essence of marriage is a sacrificial commitment to the good of the other. That means that love is more fundamentally action than emotion. But in talking this way, there is a danger of falling into the opposite error that characterized many ancient and traditional societies. It is possible to see marriage as merely a social transaction, a way of doing your duty to family, tribe and society. Traditional societies made the family the ultimate value in life, and so marriage was a mere transaction that helped your family's interest. By contrast, contemporary Western societies make the individual's happiness the ultimate value, and so marriage becomes primarily an experience of romantic fulfillment. But the Bible sees GOD as the supreme good - not the individual or the family - and that gives us a view of marriage that intimately unites feelings AND duty, passion AND promise. That is because at the heart of the Biblical idea of marriage is the covenant.”

- Tim Keller

Similar to Ehud, Shamgar was raised up by the Lord to save Israel with the use of an oxgoad by which he defeated 600 Philistines.  

 From this we can learn that God will use the tools of our everyday lives, in our responsibilities and our skill sets, to bring freedom to others. 

*What skills, tools and experiences has God given you to be useful in bringing the good news of Jesus to others?

For every deliverer and judge that God would raise up to save Israel, they would all be a foreshadowing of Jesus, our ultimate deliverer and ruler whom David foresaw in Psalm 144. 

As we are delivered through Jesus’ sinless life, sacrificial death on the cross for our forgiveness and triumphant resurrection from the dead for our new life in him, God calls us to follow in his stead to be deliverers like Ehud and Shamgar with the gospel of Christ.   

To do so, like Ehud, we must learn to be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves as we hold out the love and good news of Jesus in the midst of a hostile world.  

Like Shamgar, we must make use of the time, resources and talents that he has made available to us.  

Jesus would instruct his followers this way:

‭‭

Matthew‬ ‭10‬:‭16‬-‭42‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“"Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. "A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. "So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward."”

Jesus has become both the wisdom and power of God to save our lives.  

We learn to fight and win our battles as in repentance and faith, we remain in him. 

Next week: SPECIAL GUEST PASTOR KORE BENDIX 

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Judges (Part 2) - Entropy

Judges (Part 2) - Entropy

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Welcome to Back to Church Sunday!

The book of Judges is relaying the story of Israel’s national and spiritual decline into chaos and apostasy revealing their need for a godly king (Jesus) to lead it.  

From the Messianic prophecies through King David’s line onward, it would be the promise of the coming of God’s righteous king, Jesus, who would rule and redeem not only Israel, but all the nations, in which the people would hope. 

Focus: We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus that he might not only author, but perfect our faith.  

• Finishing the Job

• Entropy

• Deliverance 

Finishing the Job

What God begins in us, he intends to complete in and through us that Jesus might be fully honored.   

‭‭Judges‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, "I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, 'I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.' But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you." As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept. And they called the name of that place Bochim. And they sacrificed there to the Lord.”

When God called you to himself, he had a vision for your life - what you would do, with whom you would do it, where you would live, how you would minister (serve him) and the character with which you would do it.  

*God wants better for you than you want for yourself.  

That is why he gives us his commands that lead to good.  

Finishing the job means that we learn God’s commands through his word and learn to construct every area of life according to his design - without compromise.  

This includes how we approach our relationships, sexuality, singleness, marriage, parenting, finances, careers, personal pursuits and the like.  

When God called the Israelites to break down the altars of the foreign nations, it was for the purpose of removing the worship of false gods and ideologies that would inevitably be destructive and act as a snare to the people of God if these altars remained in the land.  

Think of the ideologies that exist today that professed Christians try to incorporate into their worldviews but are in direct opposition to God’s design for life or the worship of Jesus.  

When the Israelites (or we) choose to align ourselves with these destructive ideologies, we lose the backing of God and are turned over to their judgments.  

Like the Israelites, we often learn after the fact, when we see the consequences of sinful ideals that are incompatible with worshiping God in spirit and in truth (John 4). 

Why does this happen?  

It happens because of spiritual entropy. 

Entropy

It is the tendency of humanity to let entropy set in to our walks with God, both personally and generationally.  

‭‭Judges‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬-‭15‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger. They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.”

Entropy 

Definition from Oxford Dictionary of Languages:

noun

1. PHYSICS

a thermodynamic quantity representing the unavailability of a system's thermal energy for conversion into mechanical work, often interpreted as the degree of disorder or randomness in the system.

"the second law of thermodynamics says that entropy always increases with time"

1. lack of order or predictability; gradual decline into disorder.

This is our spiritual reality without remaining connected to God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit and the fellowship of his church.  

“Post-Christian societies are cultures where the Christian worldview was once the dominant worldview. Many European cities were once known for having a thriving Christian influence and a population that largely subscribed to the central tenets of Christian orthodoxy.”

-Stephen T. Um, Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture, and the Church

Why does it matter? 

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭14‬:‭34‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭29‬:‭2‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.”

Deliverance

Even when we are faithless, God remains faithful to deliver when we turn to Jesus in repentance and faith. 

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Judges‬ ‭2‬:‭16‬-‭23‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said, "Because this people have transgressed my covenant that I commanded their fathers and have not obeyed my voice, I will no longer drive out before them any of the nations that Joshua left when he died, in order to test Israel by them, whether they will take care to walk in the way of the Lord as their fathers did, or not." So the Lord left those nations, not driving them out quickly, and he did not give them into the hand of Joshua.”

Jesus is the ultimate deliverer who would be foreshadowed in each of the twelve judges of Israel as they came to provide salvation and relief to the Israelites as they suffered the consequences of their sin. 

Through his sinless life, Jesus showed how humanity was supposed to live in relationship to God and one another.  

Through his incarnation, Jesus stepped into the mess we created by our sin and at the cross, he voluntarily took the penalty for it so that we might be reconciled to God.  

Through his resurrection from the dead, Jesus has liberated every man, woman and child who would repent of their sin, put their faith in him 

By submitting to Christ’s leadership, we commit to upholding the covenant that he’s established with us and finishing the job of tearing down the altars of false worship in our lives and land.  

On the heels of the great hall of faith recounting great walks with God, the author of Hebrews is led by the Holy Spirit to give us this exhortation:

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭4‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Judges (Part 1) - We Fight Together

Judges (Part 1) - We Fight Together

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Today we want to help explain how the Kingdom of God works. 

We want to answer the question:

Am I just a vagabond passing through work and the mundanity of daily life?

Or

Is there a purpose to my days where and when I live there?  

Focus: You are where you are for the Kingdom of God.  

• Band of Brothers and Sisters

• Renaming Cities

• As the Gospel Changes Everything

Background of Judges 

The title refers to the 12 leaders, both civil and military, who were directing Israel in the time between Joshua’s death and Samuel the prophet.  

Whenever Paul would go into the Jewish synagogues to explain Jesus as the Jewish Messiah, he would begin with the Torah, the Exodus and ultimately the Psalms and prophets that contained within them the gospel which we’ve come to know as fulfilled in Jesus.  

‭‭Acts‬ ‭13‬:‭16‬-20 ‭ESV‬‬

“So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: "Men of Israel and you who fear God, listen. The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.”

“And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness. And after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he gave them their land as an inheritance. All this took about 450 years. And after that he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.”

The book of Judges picks up during this era between Joshua and Samuel and gives us many foreshadowed lessons for how to live out the good news of Jesus today.

Band of Brothers and Sisters 

In every season of life, we are called to a place to fight the battles of the Lord along with those whom God has also called there. 

‭‭Judges‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, "Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?" The Lord said, "Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand." And Judah said to Simeon his brother, "Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you." So Simeon went with him. Then Judah went up and the Lord gave the Canaanites and the Perizzites into their hand, and they defeated 10,000 of them at Bezek. They found Adoni-bezek at Bezek and fought against him and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and caught him and cut off his thumbs and his big toes. And Adoni-bezek said, "Seventy kings with their thumbs and their big toes cut off used to pick up scraps under my table. As I have done, so God has repaid me." And they brought him to Jerusalem, and he died there.”

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, we continually see the people of God called to a place, to a people and for God’s purpose.  

The Israelites were promised the land of modern day Israel to be a place where God would establish his worship and the nations of the earth would be blessed through his gospel wisdom permeating their land.  

This blessing would ultimately be fulfilled in the coming of Israel’s messiah, who would be savior and lord to both the Jewish and Gentile world.  

This picture of entering the promised land and life of God is a foreshadowing of the eternal life and purpose into which God calls us today.  

Yet the question is, by what means does God instruct us to enter that life and mission?  

In each season of life, you will either be growing in strength in God or declining, moving forward in your faith or taking steps backwards. 

Even if you are called to a place for a season - for family, school or work - it is important not to waste that season, but to find your people and contribute to the eternal purposes of God in that place.  

We are not to fight the battles of the Lord alone.  

AI and ChatGpt may be threatening the future of the present form of your job, but it is never meant to replace the life on life strength, joy, love, encouragement and support that comes from Jesus and through his people, the church. 

Upon whom do you call to fight with you the battles that God has for you in the land where he has placed you? 

Renaming Cities 

When God plants us in cities, there is both a blessing and a Kingdom mission for you there. ‭‭

Judges‬ ‭1‬:‭8‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“And the men of Judah fought against Jerusalem and captured it and struck it with the edge of the sword and set the city on fire. And afterward the men of Judah went down to fight against the Canaanites who lived in the hill country, in the Negeb, and in the lowland. And Judah went against the Canaanites who lived in Hebron (now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba), and they defeated Sheshai and Ahiman and Talmai.”

Cities are transformed and renamed through the influence of the gospel working through the people of God. 

We need a new lense to see our stories within that biblical narrative. 

‭‭Judges‬ ‭1‬:‭11‬-‭21‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“From there they went against the inhabitants of Debir. The name of Debir was formerly Kiriath-sepher. And Caleb said, "He who attacks Kiriath-sepher and captures it, I will give him Achsah my daughter for a wife." And Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb's younger brother, captured it. And he gave him Achsah his daughter for a wife. When she came to him, she urged him to ask her father for a field. And she dismounted from her donkey, and Caleb said to her, "What do you want?" She said to him, "Give me a blessing. Since you have set me in the land of the Negeb, give me also springs of water." And Caleb gave her the upper springs and the lower springs. And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses' father-in-law, went up with the people of Judah from the city of palms into the wilderness of Judah, which lies in the Negeb near Arad, and they went and settled with the people. And Judah went with Simeon his brother, and they defeated the Canaanites who inhabited Zephath and devoted it to destruction. So the name of the city was called Hormah. Judah also captured Gaza with its territory, and Ashkelon with its territory, and Ekron with its territory. And the Lord was with Judah, and he took possession of the hill country, but he could not drive out the inhabitants of the plain because they had chariots of iron. And Hebron was given to Caleb, as Moses had said. And he drove out from it the three sons of Anak. But the people of Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites who lived in Jerusalem, so the Jebusites have lived with the people of Benjamin in Jerusalem to this day.”

Where God plants you, there is provision for you - in relationships and wells that will water the God-given needs of your soul.  

You must learn to fight for this provision, even as it is given as a gift to you by your Heavenly Father.  

“Sociologist Rodney Stark states: “Early Christianity was primarily an urban movement. The original meaning of the word pagan (paganus) was ‘rural person,’ or more colloquially ‘country hick.’ It came to have religious meaning because after Christianity had triumphed in the cities, most of the rural people remained unconverted.”

Stephen T. Um, Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture, and the Church

Fighting for one another in each other’s battles to take the land God has given each of us is to be mutual.  

Just as Simeon went up to fight for Judah, Judah in turn went up to fight for Simeon. 

Hebron was given to Caleb as Moses had said. 

You should have confidence to experience God’s provision and to win your battles when God has given you a word. 

How are you now helping your brother or sister to fulfill their Kingdom mission and win their battles in the Lord? 

As the Gospel Changes Everything 

When Jesus plants you in a city, it is to be transformed by the gospel through your influence there.  

‭‭Judges‬ ‭1‬:‭22‬-‭26‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was with them. And the house of Joseph scouted out Bethel. (Now the name of the city was formerly Luz.) And the spies saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him, "Please show us the way into the city, and we will deal kindly with you." And he showed them the way into the city. And they struck the city with the edge of the sword, but they let the man and all his family go. And the man went to the land of the Hittites and built a city and called its name Luz. That is its name to this day.”

Jesus came to transform everything in our lives as we submit to him as Lord.  

As God in the flesh, Jesus lived sinlessly, performed miracles and died sacrificially on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. 

Through his triumphant resurrection from the dead, as we repent of our sins and turn to Jesus in faith, he begins us on a new course of life transformation that changes the way we think, relate, respond and interact with the world. 

This becomes a microcosm of how his influence spills over from our lives to impact our families, friendships, neighborhoods, workplaces and cities with the gospel. 

“We must free ourselves from our tendency to see cities as their buildings, and remember that the real city is made of flesh, not concrete.”

Stephen T. Um, Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture, and the Church

When Jesus’ work is strong in our lives, it begins to impact everything around us.  

The cities to which we are called are to be transformed by the gospel through our influence.  

What a city was once known for can change as we share the gospel, win the lost, make disciples and train leaders who go into every sphere of a city with the love and wisdom of Christ. 

Proverbs 11:11

“By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.”‬‬

We must have a long term vision to not simply use the cities in which we find ourselves, but to allow ourselves to be planted there for the Kingdom of God. 

“This shalom will not come through Christians establishing parallel subcultural institutions, but through a conviction to bring comprehensive renewal to the city by pursuing its common good.”

Stephen T. Um, Why Cities Matter: To God, the Culture, and the Church

Jesus said it this way regarding the Kingdom of God:

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭31‬-‭33‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."”

“Even if 80 percent of the population of a country are Christian believers, they will have almost no cultural influence if the Christians do not live in cultural centers and work in culture-forging fields such as academia, publishing, media, entertainment, and the arts. The assumption that society will improve simply by more Christian believers being present is no longer valid.”

Timothy Keller, Center Church: Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City

How has your presence in your present job, school or neighborhood been positively impacted for the gospel by your being there?  

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Fruit Inspection: Fresh Fruit

Fruit Inspection: Fresh Fruit

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: The refreshment of the Holy Spirit comes to our souls when we turn from a self-indulgent life to a Jesus-centered existence. 

• Self-indulgence

• Steadfastness

• Saving Prayer

Self-indulgence

Self-indulgence feeds you the empty calories of life that leaves your soul dry and wanting in the end.  

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James‬ ‭5‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person. He does not resist you.”

Before all of the NIL (Name and Image Licensing) that has hit the NCAA, there was a stand-out at Texas A&M University named Johnny Manziel.  

He was the first ever freshman Heisman trophy winner in 2012.  

The recent testimony of Johnny “Football” Manziel was that it was as he was at the height of getting everything that he thought that he desired - the money, the fame and women to no end, that he lost all of his passion for life because he found it empty and wanted to end it all.  

This sounds a lot like King Solomon in Ecclesiastes when he said over and over again, “Meaningless, meaningless…all is a chasing after the wind.”

Solomon too had all of the money, power, sex and fame that a man or woman could ask for, but found it wanting in the end without God.  

James realized this and spoke that it is better to turn from the self-indulgent life to one centered on Jesus and his Kingdom purposes.  

The refreshment of the Holy Spirit breathes new life into our souls - our minds, our wills and our emotions.  

This refreshment comes through repentance, when we choose to change our minds about the value of a self-indulgent life and turn instead to prioritize a Jesus-centered life. 

“People may excite in themselves a glow of compassion, not by toasting their feet at the fire, and saying: "Lord, teach me compassion," but by going and seeking an object that requires compassion.”

- Henry Ward Beecher

Steadfastness

Steadfastness is the mark of a person living in relationship with and in ongoing proximity to Jesus, his word and his people.  

‭‭

James‬ ‭5‬:‭7‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful. But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your "yes" be yes and your "no" be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”

To live free of self-indulgence we need to daily remind ourselves of the judgment to come and set our hearts on the reward that is found in Jesus Christ.  

Steadfastness is a result of my eyes, heart and mind being opened to the hope of unbroken fellowship with God - the better option of eternal life, where there is no more sickness, mourning, death or pain as God makes all things new in his Kingdom.  

This is the pearl of great price and the treasure about which Jesus spoke. 

‭‭

Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭44‬-‭46‬ ‭ESV‬‬

 “"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

Has Jesus become your treasure?

Season Changing Prayer 

The ongoing refreshment of the Holy Spirit flows when we express our dependence on God in life-giving prayer.  

‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

Learning to pray and to pray with others can literally be the thing that saves your life.  

Why do I say this?:

First we have what the apostle Paul said regarding salvation - our reconciliation with Almighty God himself:

‭‭

Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭8‬-‭13‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart" (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame." For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."”

Second, as James intimated in the Scripture above:

*Prayer both sustains us in the waiting and changes seasons in our lives.  

Life can seem hard and dry as in the time when Israel was without rain for three and a half years because of God’s national judgment on the people’s sin. 

During that time, however, Elijah was part of a remnant that belonged to the Lord that was supernaturally fed by the ravens when he lived near the brook where God instructed him to go.

‭‭1 Kings‬ ‭17‬:‭1‬-‭7‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, "As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word." And the word of the Lord came to him: "Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there." So he went and did according to the word of the Lord. He went and lived by the brook Cherith that is east of the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning, and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. And after a while the brook dried up, because there was no rain in the land.”

The place that God instructs you to go and the people with whom God places you are important to sustaining you and ultimately fulfilling Christ’s Kingdom purposes for your life vs. merely satisfying self-indulgence. 

When the brook dried up, it led Elijah to his next miracle working venture with the widow of Zarephath and her son.  

The place and people to which you go should always have God’s Kingdom purposes at the center.  

“Prayer involves transformed passions. In prayer, real prayer, we begin to think God's thoughts after Him: to desire the things He desires, to love the things He loves, to will the things He wills.”

- Richard J. Foster

The importance of community is further reiterated by James when he speaks about the manner we are to walk out life in that community. 

“It is grace at the beginning, and grace at the end. So that when you and I come to lie upon our death beds, the one thing that should comfort and help and strengthen us there is the thing that helped us in the beginning. Not what we have been, not what we have done, but the Grace of God in Jesus Christ our Lord. The Christian life starts with grace, it must continue with grace, it ends with grace. Grace wondrous grace. By the grace of God I am what I am. Yet not I, but the Grace of God which was with me.”

-Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The grace of God is manifest and realized as we learn to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another, that we might be healed, even as we wait. 

Have you prayerfully found your church home?

Have you committed to share life with others there, encouraging them and choosing to be exhorted in that place? 

Because Jesus lived sinlessly, died on the cross of sacrificially for us and was raised from the dead three days later, we can experience the grace and forgiveness of God daily as we wait for our eternal redemption in him.  

 Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

Fruit Inspection: Diseased Fruit

Fruit Inspection: Diseased Fruit

Pastor Rollan Fisher

Focus: The fruit of our lives often reveals whether our decisions are Christ-centered or not.  If we want the blessings of a Jesus-centered life, change is continually due.  

• Sweet Tooth 

• Only One Judge

• If the Lord Allows

Sweet Tooth

Our lack of perceived happiness often comes down to chasing the wrong things.   

‭‭

James‬ ‭4‬:‭1‬-‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Or do you suppose it is to no purpose that the Scripture says, "He yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us"? But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.”

Has anyone ever had fitness goals before but not wanted to do what it takes to achieve them?  

Whether we yet know God or not, we all want the blessings of a Christ-centered life, but don’t want its discipline.  

We all want to live in the love, joy, peace, patience, experience the goodness, faithfulness and gentleness that comes from self-control.  

Sugar highs feel good in the moment, but are bad for you and bring you crashing down.  

When James speaks about friendship with the world, he is not speaking about love for people, but a thirst for things that people put above and before God. 

When indulge a taste for the world's values and goals above a pursuit of Jesus and his kingdom, our souls are left unhealthy and full of persistent discontent.   

The national fruit and symbol of Jamaica, the ackee contains hypoglycin, the same toxin found in lychee.5 The threats from this native West African fruit are well-known amongst those who eat it and it’s rarely eaten uncooked or before it’s ripe. Unfortunately, not all children are aware of the danger and risk poisoning when they consume unripe ackee.

-https://www.treehugger.com/poisonous-fruits-and-vegetables-avoid-4858734

We don’t involve God in our daily decisions when we simply want to do what we want to do.  

We don’t ask God for his involvement because there is a sneaky suspicion that our compass is off, our pursuits have become idols and he would not approve. 

This ultimately leads to compromise, sin and a life of which God requires repentance.  

Have you ever prayed about something and not gotten what you asked for?

God is a good father.  

Do not expect God to give you what he knows will be inevitably harmful to you.  

“Whenever you put happiness before righteousness, you will be doomed to misery. That is the great message of the Bible from beginning to end. They alone are truly happy who are seeking to be righteous.”

-Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Where has there been compromise in your life?

• In your relationships?

• In your entertainment?

• In your use of time?

• In your use of resources?

Your passions need to be ripened and cooked with the milk of God’s word. 

There is no way around it, friendship with the ways of the world, devoid of Christ’s Lordship, is enmity with God, because you will choose the world every time.  

Friendship with the world:

It is easier, though in the end it becomes a heavier burden than you want to carry.  

It is quicker, though in the end you end up paying for things longer than you would like.  

It seems fancier, though it ends up costing more than you were desiring to pay. 

It may give you a measure of shallow praise, but not from the one who will be the ultimate, life affirming judge.  

God "yearns jealously over the spirit that he has made to dwell in us" because as a good father, he wants to spare us self-inflicted pain so that with clear eyes we can have what leads to actual life and health.  

Jesus continually calls us back to his ways by grace that we might reorient ourselves around the rightful, benevolent judge.  

“No matter how low down you are; no matter what your disposition has been; you may be low in your thoughts, words, and actions; you may be selfish; your heart may be overflowing with corruption and wickedness; yet Jesus will have compassion upon you. He will speak comforting words to you; not treat you coldly or spurn you, as perhaps those of earth would, but will speak tender words, and words of love and affection and kindness. Just come at once. He is a faithful friend - a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”

- Dwight L. Moody

Only One Judge

When Jesus becomes our standard, we are liberated to enjoy the life that is truly life. 

‭‭James‬ ‭4‬:‭11‬-‭12‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?”

When Jesus lived perfectly, he fulfilled in his life the requirements of the law that we could not fulfill ourselves. 

As a loving, good shepherd, he leads us to the cross where he died sacrificially for our sins, that we might also be led to the freedom of his forgiveness and resurrection life. 

Our Biblical worship and community is a constant reminder of this truth, so that God’s law might now be a meal plan to our freedom.   

“Biblical orthodoxy without compassion is surely the ugliest thing in the world.”

- Francis Schaeffer

We are not called to judge, but to fight for one another on that great road to life and freedom.  

If the Lord Allows

When Jesus is our Lord, the present becomes a fulfilling Kingdom adventure and the future becomes something to which we look with eternal hope.  

‭‭

James‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

“Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit"— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that." As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

Our focus must be Jesus, to live in him and to love him passionately each day.  

We do this by obeying his commands.  

As James rightly said, the key to a content, joy-filled life is to draw near to God, humble yourself under his mighty hand and allow him to exalt you in due time as Jesus himself draws near to you.    

“Is he trying to secure a happy little life for everyone on the planet?  Or is he trying to prepare every human heart and soul for his sudden, surprising return?  Only the return of Jesus will bring about the healing of this broken planet.”

-John Eldredge, Resilient: Restoring Your Weary Soul in These Turbulent Times  

Building Fund Opportunity for Marseille Church:

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher

The Church

The Church

Pastor Cole Parlier

New Relationships

16Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

MATTHEW 16:16–18

Through a revelation of the Holy Spirit, Peter confessed the true identity of Jesus, the Son of the living God. Jesus said this truth would be the foundation stone that His church would be built on. He also described the type of church He would build, a victorious church that would overcome the kingdom of darkness. Jesus and Paul used the word church in reference to the people of God. Church never referred to a religious building. Following are four benefits of being part of a local church.

The Greek word for church is “ekklesia”. 

This means “assembly”. Also, to be “called out”. 

Assembly of the called out ones. 

Assembly:

• School assembly

• Assembly line

• The body of Christ 

•  “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

• ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭12‬:‭12‬-‭13‬, ‭26‬-‭27‬ ‭ESV‬‬

• https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.12.12-27.ESV

• God’s temple 

• “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.”

‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.3.16-17.NIV

Jesús will build His Church. 

This is a reminder of Exodus 19-20 assembly of Israel at Mt. Sinai. God visited his people and then continued to visit them as they gathered at the temple. As a foreshadowing of thr gathered church this links God’s presence with his gathered people. 

Jesus will be in the midst of his church. 

“Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.””

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18‬:‭18‬-‭20‬ ‭ESV‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/59/mat.18.18-20.ESV

God’s grace comes through the Spirit filled Church. 

FRIENDSHIP

Real friends. Everyone needs them. Few find them.

The best place to look for a real friend is in the church, the people of God. True friends are those who have our best interest in mind. They stick with us through thick and thin. Real friends never lead us away from God. Instead, they provoke us to godliness

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

PROVERBS 17:17

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

PROVERBS 18:24

FELLOWSHIP

If a piece of burning coal is removed from the fire, it will cool off. If it is put back in the middle of a pile of red-hot coals, it will burn again. The same is true of Christians.

If a Christian is removed from fellowship with other red-hot Christians, he will cool off spiritually. If a Christian stays in fellowship, he will stay on fire for God.

42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. . . . 44And all who believed were together and had all things

in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts . . .

ACTS 2:42, 44–46

Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?

2 CORINTHIANS 6:14

WORSHIP

God is looking for sincere worshipers. Worship is simply the expression of our love, devotion, and commitment to God.

23“But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

JOHN 4:23, 24

DISCIPLESHIP

The last command Jesus gave His followers before He ascended to heaven was to go and make disciples, to baptize these disciples, and to teach them how to obey God’s Word. Therefore, we should first be disciples or followers of Jesus, then we should teach others to follow Him.

19“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

MATTHEW 28:19, 20

. . . and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

2 TIMOTHY 2

Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher