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 this 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 to 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 the 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.1:19 Maybe 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 her1:31 faithfulness. 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 being1:43 the grandmother to David and in the line and lineage of Jesus because God chooses some unlikely suspects. Today we're gonna talk about a lady named Deborah. I wanna invite you to open up your Cottonwood Creek app or1:55 open up your 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 want to be tapped in because Deborah is pretty amazing. I love the2:07 story of 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 a2:19 prophetess 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 of2:31 the guards, or 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 the2:42 children of Israel 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 the2:54 army of 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 9003:06 chariots. 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 of3:18 900 tanks, because that 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 Israel3:29 weren't willing to step up. Then there's this 1 outsider. This Canaanite lady. She's not necessarily a Canaanite and King Jabin, she's not necessarily an Israelite,3:42 she's just a bystander who senses that God is up to something and Jael 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,3:54 best thing you can do when you start speaking is make sure that you capture the people's attention. So let me capture your attention, put this verse up there. Judges chapter 4 verse 21, it says, but4:06 Jael, everybody say Jael. Jael. Heber's wife picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quickly to him while he lay fast asleep and exhausted. She4:17 drove the peg 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 to4:29 encourage you, hey, don't mouth off your wife right before nap time. Right? It might not go well for you. Now, based on this, I thought about, title in this sermon, Nailed It. You thought4:41 about that? I thought the other title, I thought, Hammer Time. How many of you 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 MC Hammer4:53 is, you are too young and you 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 just5:04 share it with you as you pick it 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 over5:15 again, and I want you to know when 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 as5:27 well. 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 having5:39 idols in their life and then they 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 another problem. Look at Judges chapter 4 verse 1,5:48 introduce the story. Says it 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,6:00 rebellion is always in our heart, 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 gonna lean towards sin or6:12 sinfulness, but God is 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 of6:24 Jabin, the king of Canaan. Why? 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 cruelly6:36 punished the Israelites or oppressed the Israelites for 20 years. Well 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, Sometimes6:48 it's 10 years, sometimes it's 20 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, then7:00 the children of 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? Oftentimes they7:12 would turn into 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 what7:24 happened is 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 to7:34 judge you 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 of7:46 cruel oppression, ever hard and difficult seasons, they finally repent and cry out to God. Now, let me just pause here real quick7:57 and 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 to8:09 know this, 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 truly8:21 experience deliver, 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 a8:33 sin, you're doing some things that don't 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 stay8:44 oppressed, you're gonna stay in that path, 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 have8:56 forgiven you, 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. John of God, I'm just going to tell you in this9:08 room, everybody here in 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 going to be a great9:20 sermon, you need 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 for9:32 children, students, whatever, 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 Israel9:43 out of this 20 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 that9:55 will make us a great leader today. 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 from10:07 God, she was willing to declare his word. So let's introduce ourselves, to Deborah. Here it is, Judges chapter 4 verse 4. Says, now Deborah, who was a prophet and the wife of a guy, I can't even pronounce his name. The10:19 leading Israel, was 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. She10:31 was a judge in Israel. 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 her10:43 because they trusted that she was constantly listening from God. 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 were10:55 just drawn to her. So here it 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 their11:06 disputes settled. Why? Because she 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 army11:18 to basically defend the children of Israel against King Jabin, alright? So she calls Barak together, so she sent for Barak, son of Abenom and of Kadesh11:30 and Naphtali and said to him, the Lord, the God of Israel commands you. She's basically saying it is time for you to step up.11:43 Your job 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 commands11:55 you, and what is that you? It means go. Repentance gets forgiveness, action gets deliverance. So here it is, go take with you 10000 men of Naphtali and12:06 Zebulun and lead them up to 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 to12:18 judge and be a 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 out12:30 to God. And they said, God deliver us from our oppressors and Deborah understood and God said to Deborah, listen, the children of Israel are finally repenting. I offer them12:42 forgiveness, remember redemptions are always on God's heart. But now there has to be action, what is the action? They have to step up and fight King Jabin and fight Sisera. And so for12:54 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, she calls Barak in, and she13:06 speaks the Lord, 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. So thought number 1, Deborah13:18 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 courage to confront spiritual apathy.Deborah's Leadership and the Call to Action 13:30 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 and just do your13:41 job. You're the commander of the children of Israel, it is time to do your job. God's brought forgiveness, you're gonna bring deliverance, so let's step up. Here it is, verse 7. Says, I will lead13:53 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 him into your hands. So he says,14:05 listen. She 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 verse 8. He said to14:17 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 battle plan was Deborah hold my14:28 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. If you were to grade yourself14:40 on a scale of 1 to 10 or 1 to 5, whatever it is, Are you spiritually passionate and active? Are you spiritually empathetic? Are you constantly14:52 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 got this, Deborah's in15:04 charge, she shows up and she says, Listen, you're gonna 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 the red up there, that's where15:16 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 talking about the Kishon River and15:27 where the 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 and so this is where this15:39 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, she had courage to15:50 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 going to go, I'm not going to go. His battle plan, Deborah hold my16:02 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 something, don't ever get to the place16:14 where you go, man, why aren't others stepping up? It's always going to 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 be spiritually apathetic.16:26 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, certainly I will go with16:38 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. It's hard to16:50 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 the course you're 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. I know a lot17:38 of lazy in a room are sitting there going, Yeah, this is not that shocking. It happens all the time. You know, if God's going to do something, he's going to choose a woman, right? I understand. But she calls him out,17:48 says, Listen guys, but here's the interesting thing you might be thinking, that Deborah's talking not 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 the prophet,18:10 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 here it is,18:21 for the Lord will deliver Sisera into the hands of a woman. So Deborah went to went with Barak to Kadesh. There Barak subbed into all of Zebulun and Naphtali and 10000 men, just like she said, under his18:33 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, tanks18:45 and soldiers and Sisera. And the King Jabin is their head of them. On the Israelite side, you got about 10000 men that have showed up for the fight, you also18:57 have Deborah, you also have Barak, you've got no chariots, no, no shields, just a few spears and a bunch of clubs. Alright.19:08 This is a mismatch on Rocky's tile level. Right? This isn't gonna be a good thing for the children of Israel, but Deborah shows up and she inspires the people.19:20 And I love this, Barack, he's the leader, but Deborah is the inspiration. How many of you ever known the difference between those? You ever you ever had someone that they can tell you what to do, but someone inspires you19:32 to do it? So that's really what she said, Brock, 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 then inspire them to do more than they ever thought they19:39 could do. Here it is, number 4, what makes her great and courageous leader? She had courage to inspire action. See, it wasn't good enough19:52 just to deliver God's word. Child of God, I want you to know there will never be a time in my life where I will not stand in this pulpit and just deliver you word without20:03 challenge you to do something, telling you to do something. Right? 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 theological20:15 jargon, but it never changes how we behave or how we act, we have completely missed it. See, Deborah could have showed up to Barak and said, Have you looked at20:27 King Jabin? He's been oppressing us for 20 years. He shouldn't oppress us for 20 years. God doesn't want him to oppress us for 20 years. And Barak could have said, I couldn't agree more, high 5, good. And they're still20:38 oppressed. But instead, there's always action that should follow God's word. Remember what Jesus said at the end of that greatest sermon he ever preached, Sermon on the Mount?20:50 He says, the wise person is the 1 who hears these words and does them. See, that's the wise person. But if you look at that story21:02 about the house that stood and the house that fell, the house that fell was the 1 that heard but never did. And so the children of Israel are here in a place during this balancing act of do we attack21:14 a superior king and she says man, you're gonna go to action. So here it is, then 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 go21:26 God. Go this day, the Lord has given Sisera into your hands. Has not 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's21:38 already working about. Alright? All we gotta do is show up. Has not 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 put21:50 the energy and the effort into action, that's when God starts giving the victory. See, they could have sit there and had the prayer meeting all they want. They could have sit around and sing, sang spiritual kumbaya, the22:00 1 It wasn't until he stepped on the battlefield, empowered by God's word, understanding God's purpose, that God really began to show up. Says, at rocks advanced, the22:12 Lord routed Sisera and all of his chariots and the army. Notice who's doing it? God is. The men had to show up. The people had to fight, but God gave them victory. Fled on foot,22:23 Barak pursued the chariots and the army as far as, a couple of other words I can't say, and all of Sisera's troops fell by the sword, not a man was left.22:35 Yay, the story's not over. Remember the general Sisera? Pick it up in verse 17. Sisera meanwhile, fled22:47 on foot to the tent of Jael. This is this outside of this Canaanite lady. He thinks he's going to a safe place because they have an alliance. The wife of, Heber, the Kenite,22:59 because there was an alliance between Jabin the king and Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite. Jeiel went out to meet Sisera. He is running. He is exhausted. He has been fighting in the chariot all day. Finally, they23:11 lost the battle. His chariot gets stuck, now he's running away from the battle. He has 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 be23:23 afraid. He thinks he's in a safe place. So he entered her tent and she covered him over 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.23:33 Please give me some water. She opened a skin of milk, gave him a drink, and covered him up. Stand in the doorway he says of the tent and if someone comes by and says, am I in there? You're gonna say23:45 no. But Jael, Haber's wife picked up a tent peg, so he's fallen asleep. Don't mouth off to your wives right before you go to bed, man. She drove the23:57 peg through his temple into the ground and he died. So refresh her to the story. This wasn't her husband that she killed. Okay? This was a leader of the enemy army and she24:09 stuck it through and says, just then Barack came up. So Brock finally shows up. Remember, who was supposed to get the honor for the battle? Brock. But he didn't. God said, that's fine. I'll give the honor to24:21 somebody else. Let me ask you a question. Who's getting the honor for obeying God for something God wants you to do because he wants you to get the honor?24:33 So here in this situation, this setting, JL, this outsider, this Canaanite, she gets the honor for the battle. And we see in Judges chapter 5, which is24:45 a song of victory that Deborah and Brock sing, she's announced right there. Jael gets all of the honors. So here it is, She says, curtly, certainly come in. I will show you the man24:57 you're looking for. So he went in with her and there lay Sisera with the tent peg through his temple dead. Judges is R rated for violence. And, a little25:09 crazy. I mean, this is actual video footage of her. We're gonna show it, I'm joking, I'm joking. Alright, so here's the beautiful thing. Finally, Deborah heard from the Lord.25:21 Brock reluctantly came. The men showed up. God gave them the victory. The honor went to a woman who was an outsider and notice what continues to happen. Look at Judges chapter 4 verse 2025:33 23. On that day, God subdued Jabin king of Canaan before the Israelites and the hand of the Israelites pressed harder and harder. Everybody say harder and harder. Alright.25:45 So so, yeah. They killed Sisera, but they still had some land to take 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.25:57 Once you've created some spiritual momentum, once you started pressing satan 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 started26:08 pressing against him harder and harder and harder against, Jabin the king, of Canaan, until they destroyed him. So don't stop short. So here's number 5. Ready? What made26:20 her such an incredible leader? Is that she praised God for the victory. She praised God for the victory. Child of God, don't ever take credit for something26:32 God has done. Don't ever take credit for something God has done. 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,Victory Through Faith and Praise 26:43 Deborah won a victory and dropped a song the same day. Alright? And 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 Deborah26:55 and Barak, so Barak showed up. She's not she she she's letting him on the stage with her. Son of, Abenam sang this song. There's a song they drop. Okay? True spiritual leaders will27:07 always give God the praise. True selfish leaders will always give themselves the praise. So what you see is Deborah and Barack pointing to God. She says this, here's what they're saying, when the27:19 princes in Israel take the lead, when the people willingly 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,27:31 from the white collar to the blue collar. All of God's 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,27:43 that's how our church is supposed to be. It doesn't matter 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,27:51 from the princes to the people. Notice those words, willingly offer themselves, then she says, praise the Lord. Hear this you kings, listen you rulers, I, even I, will sing to28:03 the Lord. I will praise the Lord, the God of Israel in song. Now, I love this, she is just thanking everybody who showed up in fault. Now I'm gonna tell28:15 you, we're gonna read here in a second. She thinks this group and these people and this tribe and this tribe, but she also in this song calls out those who didn't show up.28:29 Just, I'm not the smartest guy in the world, 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 is28:40 with Israel's princes, with the willing volunteers. Everybody say 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't28:51 say somebody else needs to do something about it, they said we're 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 saddle29:01 blankets and you who walk along the road, consider this. What is 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 and he's ultimately gonna give us29:12 victory. Look at verse 11, the voice of the singers at watering, places. 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.29:25 This is your victory. Man, God wants you to show up. Look at you, he 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 the29:37 nobles came down. The people of the Lord came down with me against the mighty. Same can be said for Ephraim, whose roots were with Amalek. Benjamin was with the people. And then she goes down and says, Zebulon was with29:48 the people and Issachar was with the people. And then it goes on and on and on. Now, she says, Way to go, way to go, way to go, way to go. Let's slip into verse 15.30:01 This is the list you do not want to be in. Those who didn't fight. She calls them out. Says, in the district of Reuben, there's much searching of30:12 heart. In other words, you talk a good game. In other words, their spiritual gift was pondering. She says, you didn't show up. Why did you say, stay30:24 among the sheep pens and hear the whistling, for the flocks? 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 name.30:36 Decided if they were gonna go, couldn't figure it out, didn't go. Look 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.30:48 Asher, you remained on the coast and stayed in the 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 has30:58 called out, notice every tribe that is in green. She said, you showed up. Notice the ones are in yellow and I chose that for a reason. They're the ones she called out.31:10 She goes, you didn't show up, you didn't show up, you didn't show up, you didn't show 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, can31:21 you imagine talking to your kids and your grandkids? You're never gonna get, alright, 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.31:32 They had stories to tell. Those who didn't show up, they had no stories to tell. Child of31:44 God, here's where I want to end today. Which 1 are you? Are you 1 of those that says, God, I'm broken. I'm sinful.31:57 I don't deserve your grace. I don't deserve your love. I certainly don't deserve your forgiveness and redemption again. But God in this moment, I'm gonna32:09 advance. I'm gonna say yes to you,32:27 You're fighting some of the biggest battles of your life. Some sins, some struggles, some hurt, some relationship breakdown, maybe it's financial, maybe it's32:39 job, but I want you to know if you say yes to God, you'll have a story to tell. There was that other group,32:52 they didn't show up. They didn't show up for the fight, they didn't show up to a battle, they didn't answer God's call. They've got no story to tell.33:05 They didn't participate in the victory. As a child of God, my question today is which 1 are you? Are you 1 that is willing to step up today and say in spit in spite33:17 of my brokenness, I'm a yes. I'm a yes for whatever you got whatever you want me to do, God. I'm willing to text, serve, be33:29 served, whatever you want me to do. I'll park cars, I'll wash cars. Are you gonna stay in a space where you don't show up.33:42 If you read that and you dig in what what she said, she said some of them stayed where they were because geographic differences, you're on the other side of the Jordan.33:55 Some of them stayed by the coves, why? Because they loved comfort and safety. They loved to be served not to serve. Others should say you stayed out by your ships.34:08 Spend all your time working don't have time for God, don't have time to serve. Some stayed by your sheep pens, but she's saying you were just whistling.34:21 She said had you showed up this would be your victory too. So child of God, which 1 are you? 1 invited us34:33 all just to bow our heads and pray. God, here's my prayer. Lord, as just as the people online in this34:45 room, let us be a church that shows up. Let us be a church that will fight any battle anyway, God.34:57 There's not a person in this room, certainly not in this church, that thinks we deserve your grace, your love, or any victory. But God we're gonna choose as a church to35:09 show up for your people, our city, our state, our country in a powerful and real way. We're willing to say yes and advance and35:21 go, even when the odds are against us. God, my prayer right now is for some in this room or online that35:36 They followed in half obedience for a long long time. They've come to hear and they've come to listen, and they've heard a lot and they've listened well, but they35:48 haven't stepped forward with a just go in advance. God, I invite them in to the race. Invite them into36:00 your grace and your love. So when the next heart is changed, next child is saved, the next person is baptized, the next student's life is changed,36:11 next young adult college surrenders to ministry, they can know that was their battle. We just show up. In Jesus' name we pray.36:24 Amen.In this video 0:00 Unlikely Leaders and God's Call13:25 Deborah's Leadership and the Call to Action26:39 Victory Through Faith and Praise
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