Skip to content Unusual Suspects: Deborah - Courage in a Time of Cowardice Jul 31 · 36 min ...more
Unusual Suspects: Deborah - Courage in a Time of Cowardice
July 31, 2025 · 36 min
In Pastor John Mark’s latest sermon, he takes us on a captivating journey through the life of Deborah—a powerful prophetess and judge in Israel who defied the odds to lead a nation out of oppression.
Series "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton July 31, 2025 · 36 min · "Pastor Talks" with John Mark Caton
In Pastor John Mark’s latest sermon, he takes us on a captivating journey through the life of Deborah—a powerful prophetess and judge in Israel who defied the odds to lead a nation out of oppression. ...more Show the full description Show less In Pastor John Mark’s latest sermon, he takes us on a captivating journey through the life of Deborah—a powerful prophetess and judge in Israel who defied the odds to lead a nation out of oppression.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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Unlikely Leaders and God's Call 0:00 Well after that, it's just kinda, well I'm standing back there in the back, I'm worshiping, I wanna run out on the stage and sing, but I'm terrible at singing, so I stayed back there. And all I could think as they were0:09 singing that song is, Pastor, just don't mess us up. Right? That's what's going through my mind. If you're new here in person or online, we started a new series a couple of weeks ago, as we are looking at unusual0:21 suspects, the reality, that God uses, some people for his amazing glory and for his kingdom that others wouldn't think could be usable. Because here's the reality, we said this every0:33 week, when God builds a team he's not looking at resumes, he simply wants your heart. And we've looked already in this series that God's chosen some unlikely suspects, starting with Moses,0:45 a reluctant leader that God said, hey Moses, I know you're a shepherd out in the wilderness. Here's what I want you to do, I want you to go into, pharaoh and say, let my people go. And sure enough, Moses gives a lot of0:56 excuses why he can't do it. I can't talk. I'm not willing. I'm not this. And God said, perfect your heart. Then we saw that God used an orphan named Esther and ultimately delivered her as an1:08 unlikely suspect to be the queen who saves children of Israel in a Persian land. Then we looked at David, that overlooked brother. Everybody thought, hey he's a little brother, he's not gonna make out to be much. Maybe1:19 he can be a shepherd along the way and God says, no, perfect. He's gonna be a king. Then we looked at Ruth, an outsider, a Moabite who really was not part of God's kingdom, but because of her faithfulness.1:32 She looked at her mother-in-law, Naomi, and says, Your God will be my God, your people will be my people, and your land will be my land. Sure enough, that Moabite woman ends up being, the grandmother1:44 to David and in the line and lineage of Jesus because God chooses some unlikely suspects. Today Today we're gonna talk about a lady named Deborah. I wanna invite you to open up your Cottonwood Creek app or open up your1:56 Bible. We're gonna journey through Judges chapter 4 and 5. I'm gonna try to paint a picture of the story, gonna do a lot of reading. You wanna be tapped in because Deborah is pretty amazing. I love the story ofDeborah's Leadership and the Call to Action 2:07 Deborah, as we pick it up in the book of Judges. So, what we're gonna see today, let me give you basically 5 main characters. Deborah's 1 of them. She's a prophetess2:19 and a judge and a leader of Israel. Then her right hand man is supposed to be a right hand man. It's a guy named Barak. Barak is supposed to be the captain of the guard, or2:31 basically the leader of the army for the children of Israel. Then we're gonna see on the opposite side, there is King Jabin. He is the Canaanite king. He has been oppressing the children of Israel2:43 in the book of Judges, we're told, for 20 years. This guy has just beat him up. And then there's Sisera, also the enemy. He is the captain of the guards or the general in the army of2:55 King Jabin's army. We're gonna see Sisera as powerful and amazing and the reason why they can suppress the children of Israel for 20 years and oppress the children of Israel is they have 900 chariots.3:07 Now, when you think about a chariot in our day, none of us ride in chariots. We might do it from time to time on Christmas for walks in the park or something like that. But, in that day think of 900 tanks because that3:19 would be the equivalent in those days. So the children of Israel had no tanks, no chariots. King Jabin and Sisera had 900, which is why the children of Israel weren't willing to step up. Then there's3:31 this 1 outsider, this Canaanite lady. She's not necessarily a Canaanite and King Jabin, she's not necessarily an Israelite, she's just a bystander3:44 who senses that God is up to something and J. L. Does something amazing. So, you know, here's what I learned when I was in seminary or in every time they talk about speaking. It says, the best thing you can do when you3:55 start speaking is make sure that you capture the people's attention. So So let me capture your attention. Put this verse up there. Judges chapter 4 verse 21, it says, but Jael, everybody say4:07 Jael. Jael. Hebrew's wife picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quickly to him while he lay fast asleep and exhausted. She drove the peg4:19 through his temple into the ground and he died. How many of you are interested? Right? Men, how many of you are a little concerned? I'd like to encourage you, hey,4:31 don't mouth off to your wife right before nap time, right? It might not go well for you. Now, based on this, I thought about a title in this sermon, Nailed It. You thought about that? I4:43 thought the other title, I thought Hammer Time. How many remember Hammer Time? But then I figured I'd have to wear the pants and it'd all be so cool and if you don't know who M. C. Hammer is, you are too young and you4:54 missed a lot of good music. But, so here we are. She just nailed it. Alright, but that's the last part of the story. We're gonna journey through the first part of the story. Let me just share it with you as you pick it5:05 up and as you as you journey through this passage, we're gonna see a lot of things. Here it is, Judges chapter 4 verse 1. You'll see this is a cycle that we see in Judges over and over again and I want you to know when5:16 we read about this cycle of sin, don't dare think that's a them problem Because the truth is it's an us problem as well.5:28 Certainly it's vividly painted out in the book of Judges that they had this cycle that they went through of spiritual apathy and rebellion against God and having idols in their life and then they5:40 cry out for God and God forgives and gives them peace, then they do it over and over again. But it's not just a them problem, it's also an us problem. Look at Judges chapter 4 verse 1 to introduce the story. Says it5:51 again, everybody say again. The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, alright? So, here's the truth, because we are broken and we are sinful people, rebellion is always in our heart,6:03 but redemption is always at the heart of God. Rebellion is always, if we aren't, if we don't keep ourselves in check, we're always going to lean towards sin or sinfulness, but God is6:14 always looking to redeem us. So, here it is, they did evil in the eyes of the Lord. So, the Lord sold them, he allowed them, took his hand of protection off of them into the hands of Jabin, the king of Canaan. Why?6:26 Because they had turned away from turned away from God. They had worshiped false idols. Then it says, because he had 900 chariots, Old Testament tanks, fitted with iron and cruelly punished the Israelites or oppressed6:38 the Israelites for 20 years. Boy, if you read beginning to end in the book of Judges, when they go through this cycle, when they get oppressed by an outside ruler, Sometimes it's 10 years, sometimes it's 206:49 years, sometimes it's 30, sometimes it's 40, sometimes it's 80 years. This 1 happens to be 20 years, cruelly oppressed the Israelites for 20 years, then the children of7:01 Israel cried out to the Lord for help. Boy, this cycle of sin happens over and over again. What happened to the children of Israel sinned? Often times they would turn into7:13 apostasy, they would start worshiping idols in the other, of the kingdoms around them. They would say, Alright, we'll add the, we'll worship the 1 true God, but we'll also worship the idols. And, then what happened is7:24 once we start worshiping the idols, God steps back, removes his hand of protection, allows the enemy to show up, say, alright, if that's what you want to go after, feel free to go after it. God's not trying to judge you,7:34 but he's letting you understand the consequences of choices that you make, and then they get oppressed for a while. Then at a certain point in this particular story, after 20 years of cruel7:46 oppression, ever hard and difficult seasons, they finally repent and cry out to God. Now, let me just pause here real quick and7:58 you always need to understand, repentance, true real repentance always brings God's forgiveness. See, rebellion is in our heart. Redemption and forgiveness is in God's hearts. But here I want you to know this.8:10 The children of Israel cried out to the Lord, repented of their sins. God did his part, he forgave them. But if you and I are gonna truly experience8:23 deliverance we have to follow repentance with a change in action. Does that make sense? If all I do, let's just say that I'm committing a sin or you're committing a sin, you're doing some things that don't8:35 honor you or God or whatever and you ask God to forgive you and God provides forgiveness. But you keep doing it over and over again you're gonna stay guilty, you're gonna stay oppressed, you're gonna stay in that path.8:46 So, I need to ask for forgiveness and then change behavior. So that's what God is saying right now. Alright, you've cried out to me. I have forgiven you.8:58 You have returned to worship of the 1 true God, God says, which is me. But now God says, now I've got something for you to do. Shout out to God, I'm just here to tell you in this room, everybody here, in9:09 this room and online, God's got something for everybody to do. And, I will promise you it is more than just coming to church and listening to a sermon. Although it's gonna be a great sermon, you need9:21 more, alright? God's got something for everybody. So, let me ask you a question, what are you doing for the Lord? Are you serving somewhere, are you text serve, we've got tables for children, students, whatever,9:33 parking, whatever it is. I will promise you, God not only wants your heart, he wants your action. So, as we think about Deborah is going to lead the children of Israel out of this 209:45 year oppression from the Canaanite king named Jabin, but it doesn't happen by accident. So, what made Deborah such a great leader? The same thing that will make us a great leader today.9:57 Thought number 1 is this, that she was willing to hear and declare God's word. She was always looking to hear from God and then once she heard from God, she was willing to declare his10:09 word. So, let's introduce ourselves, to Deborah. Here it is, Judges chapter 4 verse 4. It says, now Deborah, who was a prophet and the wife of a guy, I can't even pronounce his name, The leading Israel, was10:21 leading Israel at the time. Look at verse 5, She held court under the palm of Deborah. Alright, she was the leader of Israel. She was a prophet in Israel. She was a judge in Israel.10:33 Notice, she even had her own palm tree. She didn't need a nice office, a glass office, she just went out, set up under this palm tree, and the children of Israel would come to her because they trusted that she was10:45 constantly listening from God. But But not only would she hear from God, she walked with wisdom, she would declare God's grace, and she lived with integrity. So, the children of Israel were just drawn to her. So, here it10:57 is, she held court under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. And, the Israelites went up to her, to have their disputes settled. Why? Because she11:08 was wise, she had integrity, she listened to God. Then look at verse 6, here's Barak. He's the guy that's supposed to be leading the Israelite army to basically defend the children of11:20 Israel against King Jabin, alright? So, she calls Barak together, so she sent for Barak, son of Abenom and of Kadesh and Naphtali, and said to him,11:32 the Lord, the God of Israel commands you. She's basically saying it is time for you to step up. Your job11:44 is to lead the children of Israel to fight against King Jabin and Sisera, even against the chariots that they have, and so I love this, it says, The Lord, the God of Israel commands you, and what11:56 is that you? It means go. Repentance gets forgiveness, action gets deliverance. So, here it is, go take with you 10000 men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead them up to12:08 Mount Tabor. So, here it is, Deborah is saying, listen, Barak, you haven't been doing your job. I've been doing my job. I've been called to judge and be a12:20 prophet in children of Israel. I'm holding court under the palm of Deborah and Barak, it is time the children of Israel, remember I just read it, had started crying out to God. And, they12:32 said, God, deliver us from our oppressors and Deborah understood and God said to Deborah, listen, the children of Israel are Sisera12:52 and so for you Sisera. And so for you and I understand that for us we have to understand this, repent and then act and change in action along the way. So Deborah has all this wisdom, she13:04 calls Barak in and she speaks the word of the Lord to him and says, listen, God has commanded me to command you to go. And he says, arise take with your 10000 men.13:16 So thought number 1, Deborah listened to God's word and she declared or delivered his word. Here's number 2, she had the courage to confront spiritual apathy. She had the courageVictory Through Faith and Action 13:28 to confront spiritual apathy. The children of Israel had been apathetic, they had worshiped idols, even Barak was apathetic and so she showed up in his life and says, you know what, it's time for you to get up and13:39 just do your job. You're the commander of the children of Israel, it's time to do your job. God's brought forgiveness, you're going to bring deliverance, so let's step up. Here it is, verse 7.13:52 Says, I will lead Sisera, that is the enemy general, the commander of Jabin's army, the enemy king, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him14:03 into your hands. So, he says, listen. You get up you go to the Kishon River I'm gonna make sure that they get word that you're gonna be there I'm gonna deliver them into your hands and notice what Barak says in verse14:15 8. He said to her if you go with me I will go but if you don't go with me I won't go. Boy, it's almost as if his battle14:27 plan was Deborah hold my hand because that's the only way I'm going. And so, she had the power, the courage to confront some spiritual apathy. Let me ask you a question,14:39 if you were to grade yourself on a scale of 1 to 10 or 1 to 5, whatever it is, Are you spiritually passionate and active? Are you spiritually empathetic?14:51 Are you constantly and consistently saying yes to God? Are you just listening to God with no action to follow? See, and that's where Barak was. Well, God's got15:03 this, Deborah's in charge, she shows up and she says, Listen, you're going to go. Got an image of the 12 tribes, we'll put it up there for you just so you'll know where this battle is. See the15:15 red up there, that's where Issachar is. So, we're talking about just to the west, to the bottom port of the Sea of Galilee. That's where all the tribes are and that's where the battle is, and so when they start talking15:25 about the Kishan River and world of battle is, think of it up at the top just below and west of the Sea of Galilee. They're gonna talk about Mount Tabor and the river and the valley and the Jezreel valleys in there.15:37 And so, this is where this is taking place. Alright, and Deborah is judging in Ephraim. Alright, so let's pick it up, let's journey forward. Number 3, she confronted spiritual apathy, here's number 3,15:49 she had courage to lead when others wouldn't. Remember, Brock has just said to her, If you go with me, I'll go. But if you're not gonna go, I'm not gonna go. His battle16:01 plan, Deborah holding my hand, that was his battle plan. She steps up and says, Alright, I'm willing to lead even if others don't. Child of God, if you ever say yes to do something16:13 don't ever get to the place where you go, Man, why aren't others stepping up? It's always gonna be the case in God's kingdom. Man, your call is to say yes to God for what God is calling you to do. To not be16:25 spiritually apathetic. And so, here's what happens is Brock says, I'm not gonna do my job unless you help me do my job along with me while I do my job. So, notice how she responds. She says,16:36 certainly I will go with you. She says, I've now got skin in the game. A lot of people want to talk about God's word. Nobody wants to do God's work. Okay? It's easy to talk about God's word.16:49 It's hard to do God's work. So, she steps up and says, Certainly I will go with you, said Deborah, but because of your course of action, notice, remember how I talked about action leads to deliverance?17:02 She says, Your course of action is you will only go with me. She says, I'm a prophet, I'm a judge, you're the leader of the army. But because of the course of action that you have chosen, notice actions17:14 always bring about consequences. Here it is, but because of course you are taking, the honor will not be yours. What honor? The honor of the victory over Jabin and Sisera.17:26 But instead, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. Everybody say woman. There's a lot of17:38 lazy in the room who are sitting there going, Yeah, this is not that shocking. It happens all the time. You know, if God's gonna do something, he's gonna choose a woman, right? I understand, but she calls him out and17:48 says, listen, guys, but here's the interesting thing you might be thinking, that Deborah's talking about herself. That she's the 1 that heard from God. She's the 1 that said, we're done being oppressed. She's the 1 that17:59 leads Barak. She's the 1 that moves to the army. She's the 1 that gives the victory. But, another woman actually gets the honor. And so, child of God, that's what I want you to understand. You don't have to be the18:10 prophet. You don't have to be the king. You don't have to be the priest. You don't have to be a general. All you gotta do is show up and do your part. And God will bless you and honor you along the way. And so, here here18:20 it is, for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. So, Deborah went to went with Barak to Kadesh. There Barak subbedded all of Zebulun and Naphtali and 10000 men just like she18:32 said under his command. And Deborah also went up with them. I love this. So, here's what you have. On the enemy side you've got 900 chariots, iron chariots, tanks,18:45 and soldiers, and Sisera. And the king Jabin is their head of them. On the Israelite side, you've got about 10000 men that have showed up for the fight. You also have18:57 Deborah, you also have Barack, you've got no chariots, no shields, just a few spears and a bunch of clubs. Alright, this is19:09 a mismatch on Rocky's title level. Right? This isn't going to be a good thing for the children of Israel, but Deborah shows up and she inspires the people. And, I19:21 love this. Barack, he's the leader, but Deborah is the inspiration. How many of you have ever known the difference between those? You ever had someone that they can tell you what to do, but someone inspires you to do it?19:33 So that's really what She said, Barack, you're the leader, here's what you're gonna do. He says, I can't lead them. She says, Then I'm gonna show up and inspire them to do more than they ever thought they could do. Here19:43 it is, number 4, what makes her a great and courageous leader? She had courage to inspire action. See, it wasn't good enough just to deliver God's word. Child of God, I want you to know19:55 there will never be a time in my life where I will not stand in this pulpit and just deliver you word without challenging you to do something, right?20:07 We always have something to do. See, if all we do is sit here and go into seminary class and we espouse some biblical knowledge and theological jargon, but it never changes how we behave20:20 or how we act, we have completely missed it. See Deborah could have showed up to Barak and said, Have you looked at King Jabin? He's been oppressing us for 20 years. He shouldn't have oppressed us for 20 years. God20:32 doesn't want him to oppress us for 20 years. And Barack could have said, I couldn't agree more, high 5, good. And they're still oppressed. But instead, there's always action that should follow20:43 God's word. Remember what Jesus said at the end of that greatest sermon he ever preached, Sermon on the Mount? He says, The wise person is the 1 who hears these20:55 words and does them. See, that's the wise person. But, if you look at that story about the house that stood and the house that fell, the house that fell was the 1 that21:07 heard but never did. And so, the children of Israel are here in a place, they're in this balancing act of do we attack a superior king and she says, man, you're going to go to action. So here it is. Then21:18 Deborah said to Barak, go this day. Everybody say this day. And my prayer is that this day you will say I'm willing to go God. Go this day, the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not21:30 the Lord gone ahead of you? I love this, here's what she's saying. Listen, God's already got this. Child of God, whatever God is calling to you, he's already working about. Alright, all we gotta do is show up. Has not21:40 the Lord gone before you? So Barak went down to Mount Tabor with 10000 men following at Barak's advance. Everybody say advance. When he finally put the energy and the effort into action, that's21:52 when God starts giving the victory. See, they could have sat there and had the prayer meeting all they want. They could have sat around and sang spiritual kumbaya. It wasn't until he stepped on the battlefield, empowered22:04 by God's word, understanding God's purpose, that God really began to show up. Says, At Barak's advance, the Lord routed Sisera and all of his chariots and the army. Notice who's doing it, God22:16 is. The men had to show up. The people had to fight, but God gave them victory. Fled on foot, Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as, a couple of other words I can't22:28 say, and all of Sisera's troops fell by the sword, not a man was left. Yay. The story's not over.22:40 Remember the general Sisera? Pick it up in verse 17. Sisera meanwhile fled on foot to the tent of Jael, this is this outsider, this Canaanite lady.22:52 He thinks he's going to a safe place because they have an alliance. The wife of, Heber the Kenite, because there was an alliance between Jabin the king and Hazor and the family of Heber the23:04 Kenite. Jael went out to meet Sisera. He is running. He is exhausted. He has been fighting in the chariot all day. Finally, they lost the battle. His chariot gets stuck. Now, he's running away from the battle. He has23:15 turned and he's afraid, and he runs to her. Jael went out to meet Sisera and said to him, come in my lord, come right in. Don't be afraid. He thinks he's in a safe place. So he entered her tent and she covered him over23:27 with a blanket. And he says, listen, I am thirsty. I need something to drink. I've been fighting all day. Now I've been running. Please give me some water. She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up.23:39 Stand in the doorway, he says, of the tent, and if someone comes by and says, am I in there? You're gonna say no. But Jael, Haber's wife, picked up a tent peg, so he's fallen asleep.23:52 Don't mouth off to your wives right before you go to bed, man. She drove the peg through his temple into the ground and he died. So, refresh her to the story. This24:04 wasn't her husband that she killed. Okay? This was the leader of the enemy army and she stuck it through and says, just then Barak came up. So, Barak finally shows up. Remember, who was supposed to get the honor for the24:15 battle? Barak. But he didn't. God said, that's fine. I'll give the honor to somebody else. Let me ask you a question. Who's getting the honor for obeying24:27 God for something God wants you to do because he wants you to get the honor? And so here in this situation, this setting, Jael, this outsider,24:39 this Canaanite, she gets the honor for the battle and we see in Judges chapter 5 which is a song of victory that Deborah and Brock sing, she's announced right there.24:50 Jael gets all of the honors. So, here it is, she says, Certainly, come in. I will show you the man you're looking for. So he went in with her and there lay Sisera with the tent25:02 peg through his temple dead. Judges is r rated for violence and a little crazy. I mean, this is actual video footage of her. We're gonna show it to him. I'm25:14 joking. I'm joking. Alright. So, here's the beautiful thing. Finally, Deborah heard from the Lord. Brock reluctantly came. The men showed up. God gave them the25:26 victory. The honor went to a woman who was an outsider and notice what continues to happen. Look in Judges chapter 4 verse 20 23. On that day, God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the25:37 Israelites and the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder. Everybody say harder and harder. Alright. So so yeah, they killed Sisera but they still had some land to takePraising God and the Call to Serve 25:49 back. Does that make sense? Child of God, just when we ask for forgiveness, God gives us forgiveness, God gives us some action, don't stop. Once you've created some spiritual momentum, once you've started pressing Satan26:01 back out of your life and retaking ground that God should, God wants you to have in your life, don't stop. I love it. It says, they started pressing against him harder and harder and harder against, Jabin the king,26:12 Canaan, Canaan until they destroyed him. So don't stop short. So here's number 5, ready? What made her such an incredible leader? Is that she praised God for26:24 the victory. She praised God for the victory. Child of God, don't ever take credit for something God has done. Don't ever take credit for something God has done.26:36 So all of chapter 5, chapter 4 was the story. Chapter 5 is the song or the poem that she put out. So, listen to this, Deborah won a victory and dropped a song the same day. Alright? And26:48 so, let's just walk through this song a little bit. She praised God for the victory. Here it is, Judges chapter 5 verse 1. It says, on that day Deborah and Barak, so Barak showed up, she's letting him on the stage with27:00 her, son of Abenam, sang this song. There's a song they dropped, okay? True spiritual leaders will always give God the praise. True selfish leaders will always give27:11 themselves the praise. So what you see is Deborah and Barak pointing to God. She says this, here's what they're saying, When the princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly27:23 offer themselves, if you were to read through this, I won't do it all, she's saying, from the top echelon to the bottom, from the white collar to the blue collar, all of God's27:35 people stepped up and said, We are part of the fight. Child of God, I want you to know, that's how our church is supposed to be. When you're online or in person, that's how our church is supposed to be. It doesn't matter27:45 who you are, what your position is, where you are, you and I need to understand. That's how God wants us to be. We're gonna journey forward. It says, listen, from the princes to the people. Notice those words, willingly27:56 offer themselves. Then she says, praise the Lord. Hear this, you kings. Listen, you rulers. I even I will sing to the Lord. I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel in song.28:08 Now, I love this. She is just thanking everybody who showed up in fault. Now, I'm gonna tell you, we're gonna read here in a second. She thinks this group and this people28:20 and this tribe and this tribe, but she also in this song calls out those who didn't show up. Just, I'm not the smartest guy in the world,28:32 but don't be in that group. Right? So notice what she says. Let's just continue to read. Look at Judges chapter 5 verse 9. She says, my heart is with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers. Everybody say28:44 volunteers. No, they just willingly showed up. Said, alright, if we're gonna fight, let's go fight. I'm tired of being oppressed for 20 years. They didn't say somebody else needs to do something about it. They said we're28:53 gonna do something about it. They willingly volunteered among the people. Praise the Lord. She says, you who ride on white donkeys sitting on your saddle blankets and you who walk along the road, consider this. What is29:05 she saying? Doesn't matter who you are in God's kingdom. We're all gonna show up and we're gonna fight for the Lord. He's ultimately gonna give us victory. Look at verse 11. The voice of the singers at watering places.29:16 In other words, she's talking about just the ladies out there who are just singing as they're gathering water. This is their victory too. This is your victory. Man, God wants you to show up. Look at you, he29:28 says, they recite the victories of the Lord, the victories of villages in Israel. So she says, everybody, now jump down to verse 13. The remnant of the nobles came down, the people of the Lord came down, with me29:40 against the mighty. Same can be said for Ephraim, whose roots were with Amalek. Benjamin was with the people. And then she goes down, Zebulun was with the people, and Issachar was with the people. And, then it goes on29:52 and on and on. Now, she says, Way to go, way to go, way to go, way to go. Let's slip into verse 15. This is the list you do not want to be30:04 in, those who didn't fight. She calls them out. Says in the district of Reuben, there's much searching of heart. In other words, you talk a good game.30:16 In other words, their spiritual gift was pondering. She says, you didn't show up. Why did you say stay among the sheep pens and hear the whistling, for the flocks?30:28 He says, in the districts of Reuben. There was much searching of heart. Y'all did a lot of talking. In other words, they had a business meeting. Decided if they were going to go, couldn't figure it out, didn't go. Look30:39 at verse 70, Gilead, you stayed beyond the Jordan, this is the east side of the Jordan. Dan, what did you do? You lingered out by the ships. Asher, you remained on the coast and stayed in the30:51 coves. Now here's the deal, we're going to put an image up to you. Let me show it to you. Remember up at the top by the Sea of Galilee is where this battle was, she has called out, notice every tribe that is in green.31:01 She said, You showed up. Notice the ones that are in yellow and I chose that for a reason. They're the ones she called out. She goes, You didn't show up, you didn't show up, you didn't show up, you didn't show31:13 up. Every 1 of those tribes in the green, they have a story to tell. You got it? Everybody in the green has a story to tell. Man, can you imagine talking to your kids and your grandkids? You're never gonna get, alright,31:25 there was this chariot coming right at me. All I had is this little threshing sword and I threw it and sure enough, it hit the mark. They had stories to tell.31:36 Those who didn't show up, they had no stories to tell. Child of God, here's where I want to end today.31:47 Which 1 are you?31:51 Are you 1 of those that says, God, I'm broken, I'm sinful. I don't deserve your grace, I don't deserve your love. I certainly don't deserve your forgiveness and redemption32:05 again. But God, in this moment, I'm gonna advance. I'm gonna say yes to you, because I want a story to tell my32:16 kids, my grandkids, and my great grandkids. Some of you, you're gonna say yes right now. You're fighting32:29 some of the biggest battles of your life. Some sins, some struggles, some hurt, some relationship breakdown, maybe it's financial, maybe it's job, but I want you to know if32:41 you say yes to God,32:44 you'll have a story to tell.32:49 There was that other group, they didn't show up. They didn't show up for the fight, they didn't show up to the battle, they didn't answer God's call.33:00 They've got no story to tell. They didn't participate in the victory. So child of God, my question today is which 1 are you?33:13 Are you 1 that is willing to step up today and say in spit in spite of my brokenness, I'm a yes. I'm a yes for whatever you got, whatever you want me to do, God.33:27 I'm willing to text, serve, be served, whatever you want me to do. I'll park cars, I'll wash cars. Are you gonna stay in a space33:39 where you don't show up? If you read that and you dig in what what she said, she said, some of them stayed where they were because geographic differences,33:51 you're on the other side of the Jordan. Some of them stayed by the coves. Why? Because they loved comfort and safety. They loved to be served, not to serve. Others she34:03 said, you stayed out by your ships. Spend all your time working don't have time for God. Don't have time to serve. Some stayed by your sheep pens.34:16 But she's saying, you were just whistling. She said, had you showed up, this would be your victory too. So34:28 child of God, which 1 are you? I want to invite us all just to bow our heads and pray. God, here's my prayer.34:41 Lord, as just as the people online in this room, let us be a church34:48 that shows up.34:51 Let us be a church that will fight any battle. Anyway, God, there's not a person in this room, certainly not in this church, that thinks we deserve your35:03 grace, your love, or any victory. But God, we're gonna choose as a church to show up for your people, our city,35:16 our state, our country in a powerful and real way. We're willing to say yes and advance and go, even when the odds are against us. God, my prayer right now35:27 is for some in this room or online that they followed in half obedience for a long, long time.35:40 They've come to hear and they've come to listen, and they've heard a lot and they've listened well, but they haven't stepped forward with a just go in advance.35:54 God, I invite them into the race. Like them into your grace and your love. So when the next heart is36:06 changed, next child is saved, the next person is baptized, the next student's life is changed. Next young adult college surrenders to ministry, they can know that was their battle.36:19 We just show up. In Jesus name we pray, amen.In this video 0:00 Unlikely Leaders and God's Call1:56 Deborah's Leadership and the Call to Action13:25 Victory Through Faith and Action25:40 Praising God and the Call to Serve
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