10081501 by My Recording

If you were out last Sunday or working in the nursery, here is the sermon audio from yesterday as we continue to make our way through our study of the life of David.

We have new t-shirts coming in time for our outreach to Missouri State. The design is below. The guys have the unisex size in forest green and the ladies have the ladies cut in dark chocolate. I think the shirts will be around $10 a piece. We’re also thinking about making up some kids tshirts as well, so let us know if you’re interested in getting them.

Our website, www.gracehillchurch.org, recently got a makeover…nothing drastic, just a touch up here and there. I am also working on a new section for Grace Hill members that will be password protected and will have things like a church directory, Sunday morning schedule, etc.

Sometimes I feel a lot like Gideon. (No offense to you, Gideon!)  If you remember his story (Judges 6-8), he was raised up out of obscurity and personal weakness to lead the Lord’s Army, small as it was, against the Midianites to throw their yoke of oppression off of his fellow Israelites.  But before he became a successful judge/general, Gideon struggled to believe: 1) that God had actually called him to rescue his people (6:15-22), 2) that God would actually use him to rescue his people (6:36-40) and 3) that God had fully equipped him to rescue his people (7:7-15).  The common denominator here is that Gideon’s view of God was deficient.  It just wasn’t big enough, and with a deficient view of God, he was unable to accommodate the prospect of being Israel’s deliverer.  Boy can I relate!  I find that a deficient view of God’s bigness to be a huge obstacle in believing that God can use me to plant a gospel-centered church in the heart of a religious city like Springfield.  How do I overcome the belief/practice that one’s goodness (and not the gospel) is sufficient to save them?  I wonder if there were to be a Wikipedia entry written about me, how much of it would be devoted to chronicling the numerous doubts and questions I have had throughout the years?  And yet, even though most of what is written about Gideon in Judges 6-8 is about God’s answering Gideon’s questions and overcoming his doubts, he still chooses (and delights) to use him.  I rest in the fact that God does not get wearied by my questions/doubts and that he gives grace to help me wrestle through them.