Mt. Lebanon United Presbyterian Church     
 
Pastor Tim Janiszewski - "Hero in the Making"

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Messages of Grace

(Past Recorded Sermons) 


















 
This Sunday
August 30, 2015


Sermon Title:
" Hero in the Making"


Scripture: 
Judges
 6:1-16, 8:22-23  
Proverbs
 3:5-6  
Hebrews
11:1-2, 32-34
 




Picture of Pastor Tim
August 28, 2015

Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:

Have you ever felt like life was throwing more at you than you could handle?

Have you ever thought that you were being asked to do more than you could do?

Have you asked God why it's you and not somebody else?  

Perhaps even told God that He's got the wrong guy or gal?

If so, welcome to Gideon's world. Gideon was an unimportant person--just a farmer accustomed to planting, growing, harvesting and threshing grain for sale. He was a member of the small tribe of Manasseh, from the smallest clan in the tribe, and he considered himself the least in his entire family (Judges 6:15). Gideon simply wanted to live a quiet life by keeping his head low and doing his job.

And there was plenty of reason to keep his head low. It was a time in Israel's history when hoards of Midianites invaded and ravaged the land. They swooped down in droves of camels too many to count to pillage at will. Many Israelites took to hiding out in mountains and caves, simply to save their lives. But as the Midianites plundered, God had not forgotten His people. He would deliver them. He would intervene. He would raise up a hero by whose hand to bring deliverance.

That hero would be Gideon! And Gideon's immediate response was to tell God that it was more than he could handle. It was beyond what he could do. Didn't God want to call someone more qualified . . . more capable? "God, you've got the wrong guy!" Gideon was no hero. In fact, he didn't even look like hero-material.

So, have you ever been in Gideon's sandals? I thought so.  Me, too!

Though Gideon wasn't a hero when God called him, Gideon became the man God used to win mighty victories. Gideon was a hero in the making from beginning to end. And that's God's agenda for us, too. God delights to take us in our weakness, our littleness, our imperfections, and our fears, and then to mold and use us beyond ourselves. As the Apostle Paul would write many centuries later, "When I am weak, then I am strong," for God's power works best in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:8-10).  

So, have you ever watched God do something bigger than you could do on your own, just because you said "yes" when He called on you? I hope so! That is the adventure of living for Christ.

On Sunday, we'll look more closely at how this wimp named Gideon became God's hero in the making, and we'll ask how God can fashion us to live with faith and courage in the face of the challenges that face us today. Join us!

Pastor Tim

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