We need courage for many things in life, but perhaps nowhere more than in the area of parenting. It takes courage to trust God’s wisdom for our children, especially when others are steering us in other directions. But it’s that wisdom that can lead them into a life of blessing.
Sometimes we lack confidence. Other times, we’re so confident we take on battles we were never designed to face. Discerning between the world’s battles and the Lord’s battles helps us to know when to dig in and when to walk away.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, “The only fight which is lost is that which we give up.” Too often we don’t have the courage to persevere because the task feels too big and our resources feel too small. But often God deliberately aims to make us feel overwhelmed in order that we would trust Him and see the victory that only He can bring.
Judges 7:9-25 // [outline]
Most of us have things we would like to accomplish but find ourselves held back by fear. But God is at work in our lives to move us to trust Him and follow where He leads. As we lay hold of His promises and trust in His victory, we find the courage to step out in confidence.
So often we pursue public victories, but they seldom come before we face our private battles. God’s grace gives us the courage to face our demons and deal with issues that would otherwise keep us from effectiveness.
Judges 6:25-32 // [outline]
When we experience a series of losses and things don’t seem to go our way, it’s easy for self-pity to take over. But an encounter with God can move us to hope and courage as we see what is possible with God’s strength working despite our weakness.
Judges 6:11-24 // [outline]
Selfishness hurts relationships and often spoils the good in our lives. But it’s difficult to recognize in ourselves and even more difficult to root out. This message looks at how we can relate to God in such a way that we can break free from the selfish patterns we’re prone to.
Some people will look to Jesus, but try to approach Him as a peer, on their own terms. They pick and choose the teachings that they already agree with. This message looks at a group of people who chose to accept Jesus’ hard teachings and in so doing found life and hope that wouldn’t have otherwise been possible.
Frustration can easily turn into grumbling but when it does, it often poisons the good in our life and keeps us from seeing a way forward. This message looks at the help Jesus gives in breaking free of that negativity to the hope that He gives.
Even when we seem to have everything we need, there’s a longing that we feel. There’s a spiritual hunger that we often try to feed with more stuff or more accomplishments or more relationships. But the hunger remains. In this message, we look at Jesus’s teachings about this hunger and how it can be satisfied.
The storms of life often take us by surprise. We feel abandoned by God and struggle to make sense of what’s happening. This message looks at how God meets us in those storms and can change us through them if we respond to the help that He gives.
