Stop 9 Church
We want to share important pieces of our worship service with those who might not have been able to be there in person.
Stop 9 Church
A True Definition of Strength: A Deeper Look at the Story of Samson (Part 1)
Good morning. Will you stand with me please? I love sharing with Mark and with our church family all the wonderful stuff, but, yes, we do have a lot of folks I know everybody's got people on their minds to pray for, so why don't we start this morning with a prayer? God, we just thank you for this morning. We thank you for this opportunity that we have to come together and to worship you. We know this is a blessing that we enjoy in this country.
Speaker 1:We know not everybody has this liberty, lord, and we thank you for that. We have lots of folks on our minds this morning, lord, lord, and we thank you for that. We have lots of folks on our minds this morning, lord, dealing with cancer and sickness and just all kinds of things that trouble us in this world, and we just ask you to give us your peace, your peace that surpasses all understanding, not peace that the world offers, but only the peace that we thank you for your son and what he did for us, for shedding his blood for us, and we thank you for the Holy Spirit that we now ask to come in here and to worship with us and to aid us and just be in our lives and shine through us, and it's in your son's name we pray, amen.
Speaker 2:God is an awesome God.
Speaker 1:He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love. Our God is an awesome.
Speaker 2:God.
Speaker 1:Our God is an awesome.
Speaker 3:God, he reigns from heaven above with power and wisdom.
Speaker 2:Our God is an awesome God. Our God is awesome. He reigns from heaven above with power and wisdom. Our God is an awesome God. Our God is awesome. He reigns from heaven With power and wisdom.
Speaker 3:our God is an awesome God.
Speaker 2:Our God is awesome. He reigns from heaven with power and wisdom. Our God is an awesome God. Our God is an awesome God. Our God is an awesome God. Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love. Our God is an awesome God. Our God is an awesome God. He reigns from heaven above with wisdom, power and love. Our God is an awesome God. Our God is an awesome God. Our God is an awesome God. To God be the glory. Great things he hath done.
Speaker 2:So, loved he the world that he gave us his Son, who yielded his life and atonement for sin and opened the life gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice. Praise the.
Speaker 3:Lord praise the.
Speaker 2:Lord, let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through Jesus the Son, and give him the glory, great things he hath done O perfect redemption, the purchase of blood to every believer, the promise of God. The vilest offenders who truly obey that moment may enter the heavenly way. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice.
Speaker 3:Praise the.
Speaker 2:Lord. Praise the Lord, let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through Jesus, the Son, and give him the glory. Great things he hath done, Great things he hath taught us great things he hath done and great are. Rejoicing through Jesus the. Son, but purer and higher and greater will be our wonder, our transport, when Jesus we see Praise the.
Speaker 2:Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice. O come to the Father through Jesus, the Son, and give him the glory. Great things he hath done. Lord, be there for me when I fall.
Speaker 2:Be, there for me when I call. Be there for me, dear Lord. Lord, be there for me when I fall. Be there for me when I fall. Be there for me, dear Lord. You'll be there. Lord, be there for me when I fall. Be there for me when I die. Be there for me, dear Lord. You'll be there for me when I fall and be there for me when I cry. Be there for me when I cry. Be there for me, dear Lord, lord.
Speaker 3:Amen, Lord. Not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, nor eat any forbidden food. Kids are dismissed to class and y'all can greet and welcome. Oh, you got it there. It is Judges. We're going to keep going. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair must never be cut, for he will be dedicated to God as a Nazarite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.
Speaker 4:All right, good morning, we're going to get started. I did already sing, if you didn't hear it, so I'm not going to do it again. And for those of you asking, is he going to sing the same song every week? Yes, that's the only one I can remember the words to, so that's what's going to happen. All right, let's begin with the word of prayer. Father, we thank you for this day. God, we thank you for an opportunity to gather together as family, to be encouraged by one another, to be motivated by one another. And, god, we're thankful for the way that you're working in our life. We're thankful for Jesus and his example of how to love and interact with people. God, we're thankful for your love and we're thankful for the spirit that you've given us. Be with us today as we start to look at the life of Samson and how you stayed consistently faithful throughout that story. Thank you for your son. It's in his name we pray Amen. All right, before we get started this morning, I wanted to let you know of a couple things just housekeeping things, I guess, before we get started. We will start new adult Bible classes next week. Sam Turner will be in the large auditorium. He'll be in here he's going to do a class on the book of Proverbs, so that is in the large auditorium during Bible class time. In the small auditorium the ladies will be having a class that they will be doing. I think it's Brave and Behold looking at some of the ladies throughout Scripture and then the men. If you want to join our class, we'll be over in the Youth Center, titled the class the Forge. It is going to go along with the movie and kind of some of those concepts. So if you want to be a part of those, those are the adult classes. And speaking of February, I wanted to say this as well Night to Shine is happening. We've had a few people ask is Night to Shine coming up? Yes, it is February 7th, it's real soon, and so if you would like to be a part of that, you can reach out to Jeff today. And also there's registration and stuff online as well. You can find it on Facebook. And so Night to Shine is coming up Friday, the 7th, and it's filling up. I know guest-wise, I think we're over 200 people already. So we could use your help for sure. We could use your prayers for sure as well for that awesome evening and if you've been a part of it, you know it's a great thing. So those are just a couple different things. We're starting a new series this week Looking at the idea of discovering the true definition of strength, maybe looking in the Old Testament, looking at the book of Judges, looking at one of the more famous Bible characters that we like to at least think about what he might have looked like.
Speaker 4:But I was thinking. This week I was reminded. I saw something on Facebook that reminded me of a goal that I used to have in life, and many of us have goals and we have things that we strive for and we want to be, but sometimes each of us have a unique goal. You know, everybody wants to grow up and be a teacher, everybody wants to grow up and be an NBA player, things like that. But some of us have unique goals, and so I want you to think about what was a unique goal that you had in your life.
Speaker 4:Mine was to work for Oscar Mayer. I wanted to graduate college. They had an internship, you could graduate college and you could get hired to be the driver of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. You made $45,000. You worked the summer, you got free hotels and you drove around and handed out merchandise and you were just the guy behind the wheel of that awesome, awesome machine. That was my goal. I wanted to do that. It didn't work out. It didn't work out. I also learned this week that Planters the peanut company. They have a big peanut mobile that you can drive, and so I may be changing career paths shortly. But we all have goals. We all have things. That was one of my goals was to work for one of those companies. My other goal was I wanted to be on this show, but the problem is is I never fail, I never fall or I never mess up On camera.
Speaker 4:It's never been recorded, however a few, I think. Just short days into being a parent of two, this incident happened and I submitted this to America's Funniest Videos. I signed all the papers that said no child was hurt in the making of this video. Here you go Kelly Drew was just a few weeks old when Morgan from the recliner throws a perfect strike to Jameson and at two years old, jameson squares that thing up and guess where? That hit Kelly Drew Right in the head and I thought I'm going to make thousands of dollars. I submitted that video like three or four times never got the call back, filled out the paperwork that said nobody was hurt.
Speaker 4:America's Funniest Videos Grew up watching that. As a family, we'd sit down in the evening and watch these videos. I want to share just a few of these clips and then we'll jump into our story this morning. That last guy definitely has a concussion. Remember this one's harsh, but remember they. They filled out paperwork, nobody was actually hurt. It gets better or worse, not better, worse, and it keeps going. He's going to save the day. Kick you right in the face One two, three.
Speaker 4:More he said, I'll do it. That's the closest thing to a real-life Batman I've ever seen in my life. That's the closest thing to a real life Batman I've ever seen in my life. America's Funniest Videos are great because they are fails. There are people falling, there's things happening that maybe shouldn't be happening, but behind the show, in the fine print, nobody was actually hurt in the making of those videos. Right, right, at least we all signed the paperwork that says you weren't.
Speaker 4:This morning we're going to jump into a series that takes place in Judges and, unfortunately, the events and the things that are taking place at this time are hurting people. People are suffering, people are going through it, and so, while we can laugh at these because it wasn't too serious, the events that are taking place in Judges, chapter 13, this morning is a serious thing. It's people struggling and going through it. So we'll be in Judges, chapter 13 this morning, but before we even read that first verse, we have to understand the context. Up until this point, the Israelites have been delivered out of slavery, out of Egypt. They've been delivered. God has chosen them to be His people and they've been delivered out of Egypt after years of being slaves in Egypt, and he promised them, as he was delivering them, that you will land in the promised land, that you will land in the promised land, that you will be in the promised land. But when we get to the book of Judges, what is happening is that the first generations of leaders have gotten them to the promised land, but they haven't settled themselves in to the land. They're still just kind of living amongst the people. They haven't overcame those who were already living in the promised land in Canaan. They haven't overcame the Canaanites. And so what's happening is this group of people are just becoming comfortable in their situation. They were supposed to go to the promised land and kick everybody out and establish it as God's promised land. But in the city are still people. In the city is still those who are worshiping idols. In the city is those who are worshiping and sacrificing children.
Speaker 4:And what happened is, as God's people went to live there and instead of making an influence, they were in fact influenced, and so they fall into worshiping idols. They fall into getting into things that they shouldn't be, and they would realize their sin. And there's this cycle that kind of began. They would realize that they were sinning and they were in trouble. And when you're in trouble, you call out right. And so the people of Israel realized that they're not doing what they should be and they've fallen into this sin and this trouble. And so they would cry out to the Lord, and God, in His mercy, would save them right? You've read the Old Testament before the Israelites would do bad, they would fall into their sin, and then God would send somebody to rescue them. In the book of Judges they're called a judge. He would send somebody to defeat the enemies and bring back peace. And so there was this pattern that was taking place. It was a pattern of sin, of oppression, of sin of oppression, of repentance, of deliverance and then of blessing and of peace.
Speaker 4:This was the cycle that the Israelites had fallen into. They had fallen into sin. They would be trapped in their sin, like many of us have been before, feeling stuck in their position, and after years had passed by, they'd finally cry out to the Lord, and the Lord would. And they would repent and say God, we messed up, we got out of focus, we were no longer serving you as king, but we made you just in the background. And so they would turn back to God and say you're Lord and God in his faithfulness would often deliver them and they would be put back into a time of peace and things would be good. They'd be worshiping God and life would be good. There was peace amongst them. But guess what would happen after some time? They would fall right back into their sin. Sound like a familiar cycle. That cycle's still around today. You know, we have moments in our life where we're stuck in our sin, but then we have moments where we call out to the Lord and say you are king and we live pretty good for a while, and then eventually we fall right back into that cycle. That's the pattern that's taking place as we move along the book of Judges, and the cycle just continues to get worse and worse and worse.
Speaker 4:Because often what's going to happen as we read through this, especially this series, we're going to find out the people that God would send, as the judge is not always the perfect fit. And so here's the cycle. And so we're going to go back to verse 1 in just a second. We'll go all the way back. But to understand the life of Samson, we need to understand where Israel was. Their hearts weren't really following God, they had turned away from the Lord and they were serving other gods. And for 40 years we're going to find out in just a second for 40 years they've been in the hands of the Philistines, stuck in that moment of sin, serving the Philistines For over 40 years.
Speaker 4:Let's read Judges 13, v 1. It says Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord's sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines who oppressed them for 40 years. They did wrong and finally God says I'm going to try to get your attention. And so for 40 years they've been under the hands of the Philistines. But as you read through Judges 13, if we continue on, in v 2, 3, and 4, you never read that the Israelites called out to the Lord for help. You see, they've fallen into this cycle so poorly that they have become completely numb to their situation. They're okay living in their new normal. They're okay living in their new condition. Their sinful desires have just become everyday life. But God, in His faithfulness, is going to send a solution to the problem. So after 40 years God decides he's going to do something. And so we're going to go all the way through here to verse 3. Verse 3 is not up there on your screen. So if you have your Bibles and want to follow along.
Speaker 4:Judges 13, verses 3-5, says that the angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and said even though you've been unable to have children, you will become pregnant and give birth to a son. So be careful. You must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, nor eat any forbidden food. You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and his hair will never be cut, for he will be dedicated to God as a Nazarite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines. The angel of the Lord appears to a woman who does not have children and she's not able to have children, and the angel of the Lord appears to her and he says you're going to have a son and he's going to be a Nazarite, which means he's going to be a Nazarite, which means he's going to be specially dedicated to the Lord.
Speaker 4:There's a few guidelines, there's a few rules that's going to come along with that. He's never to cut his hair. He's not to eat and drink anything that's forbidden. He's not supposed to drink wine. He's not supposed to eat grapes, he's not supposed to eat anything that's unclean. If you read through some of Leviticus, where it gives us the law or the rules of the Nazarite. He's not supposed to touch anything that's dead. But he's going to be a Nazarite and His purpose of that vow was to ask God for special help during a moment. He was going to ask God for special help in this certain occasion that was going to take place in this crucial time, and it was a sign that you were looking to God with great intensity and focus, that you wouldn't cut your hair and you wouldn't participate in those things. So Samson is going to be his name Spoiler alert but he's dedicated to God with the idea that God is going to do something great through him.
Speaker 4:Manoah and his wife are to expect that God is going to move in his life Because he's going to be set apart. The idea of a Nazarite is different for us and it may even not make 100% sense to us, but I do love the idea that, as a Nazarite, he was to live his life living for God and expecting God to do something in his life. Does that make sense? That's what the purpose of a Nazarite was that God was going to live through his life and God was going to do something through him. We don't always think that way. We don't always expect God to actually do something in our life. Now we'll sit back sometimes and say, oh, I can see how God did this and I can see how God aligned this, but we don't always live our lives with the expectance that God is actually going to do something. Does that make sense? I don't know how often we pray God, work in this situation with expectancy that he's actually going to do it.
Speaker 4:So I have more homework for you. I gave you homework two weeks ago. Did anybody do that homework? Great job class. I didn't see one hand.
Speaker 4:Two weeks ago I asked you as homework. I said take five questions and sit down with somebody. You remember that? Okay, okay, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, trenton did it. He did it. He just forgot it's goldfish. Ate it. He forgot.
Speaker 4:I said you take five questions and look back over the past year and ask the question how did God work in your life? Remember this how did God work in your family's life? How did God work in your extended family's life? How did God work in your occupation this past year? How did God work in the church family this year? Remember that, that's all. Yeah, everybody. Remember that now. Here's what I want you to, since you failed last time, here's what I want you to do it this week, but we're going to change the question. Okay, I want you to ask the question this week.
Speaker 4:How do you want to see God work in your life? How do you expect God to work in your life this year? How do you expect God to work in your life this year? How do you expect God to work in your family's life this year? How do you expect God to work? How do you expect to see God work in your extended family's life this year? How do you want to see God work in your occupation? I know I'm saying a lot of things. It's more than one, it's five. And then, lastly, how do you want to see God work in the church family's life this year? Does that make sense? Seeking and expecting God to show up in this moment? That's what the Nazarite dedication was that God was going to use him, and so Manoah and his wife are to expect and to raise him in a way that God was going to use him. They should expect God to use him. So that gets us to this point.
Speaker 4:The angel of the Lord shows up. Who does she show up to? Just the wife. It's just to the wife and he has a conversation with the wife and we never get her name. It's kind of disappointing. We never know her name. She's just wife. And she's the strength of the story. We'll find out as we read through this. He shows up to the wife and he says you're going to have this son and I know you haven't been able to have kids and I know it's been hard for you and I know it's been a challenge and I know you probably questioned your value because you haven't been able to have children. But you're going to have a child and he's going to begin to save Israel and he's going to be dedicated and here's what you're supposed to do. And so she gets this news and I think, hopefully, as we read through this, you see how excited she is that God is going to use her and give her a son. Because when she gets this great news, guess what she does with it? She runs to her husband.
Speaker 4:That's where we pick up in verse 6. The woman ran and told her husband a man of God appeared to me and he looked like one of God's angels. He was terrifying to see. I didn't ask where he was from and he didn't tell me his name, but he told me that I will become pregnant and give birth to a son and that I must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink, not eat any forbidden food. For your son that's what he said for your son will be dedicated to God as a Nazarite, from the moment of his birth until the day of his death.
Speaker 4:You know why God went to the woman. Did she not say that word for word? She ran right back to her husband and said exactly word for word, what that angel said was going to happen. What would have happened if God went to the man? Hey, honey, you're pregnant and we're supposed to do something about. You're supposed to drink grape juice every day or something. She went right to her husband and, word for word, said this is what God said. God said we're going to have a son, he's going to be raised up and we're not supposed to. I'm not supposed to drink this and I'm not supposed to eat that. We're not supposed to cut his hair. So she's got faith.
Speaker 4:I'd say one of her strengths is she has faith. She doesn't ask questions. She even tells her husband I didn't get his name he's a man of God. He kind of looks like an angel. He's kind of scary looking. I didn't ask where he was from, I didn't ask what his name was, but he told me this I'm going to have a son. So she runs to her husband and says I'm going to have a son. So she runs to her husband and says we are going to have a kid. God is good. And I was in awe of the moment.
Speaker 4:Here's what Manoah does. Manoah, it says that he prayed to the Lord, saying Lord, please let the man of God come back to us again and give us more instruction about how this son who is to be born, how we should raise this son who is to be born. Notice Manoah's reaction. I hope he comes back Selfishly. He probably wants to see him himself. Right, I think he has faith that they're going to have a kid, but his worry is okay, we're going to have this kid, but how are we supposed to raise this guy? What are we supposed to do? So I want to just pinpoint the differences here. This is on your outline, you can fill this out.
Speaker 4:The wife said a man of God came. I'm overwhelmed by his presence. I didn't ask his name because it's all good news. Okay, everybody got it. That's what the wife said. He's a man of God. Came to me overwhelmed by his presence. I didn't ask his name. Good news is coming. Manoah's reaction is wish he'd come back, wish he'd give us a little bit more details. And then he prays for God to do what. Send him again so I can be in the presence of this angel of the Lord, so that I can write down the details, so that I can work this all out, so we raise him to be the guy that God wants him to be.
Speaker 4:There's the two differences, and I think that's a real reaction. I'm not trying to belittle Manoah in any way. I'd probably have done the same thing. How in the world are we supposed to do this? Here's what happens. God answered Manoah's prayer.
Speaker 4:There's some comedy in this. He answered Manoah's prayer and the angel of the Lord appeared once again to his wife as she was sitting in the field. So what was his prayer? That he would come back, probably, hopefully expecting that he would come back to who? To him, who's? He come back to His wife. That's funny. He answers his prayer, but he doesn't answer it in the way that he maybe thinks he should. So he goes back to his wife. She's sitting in the field. Her husband, manoah, is not with her. So she quickly ran to tell him. The man who appeared to me the other day is here again. Why did I say food? Food, that's how she knew she could get his attention. That's how she knew she could get his attention. Food, he wasn't paying attention until that point, right there. Now I have no idea where the word food is. That's hilarious. Oh, that's funny.
Speaker 4:All right, verse 11. Manoah runs back with his wife and asks are you the man who spoke to my wife the other day? Yes, he replied I am. So Manoah asked him when your words come true, what kind of rules should he follow? What kind of rules should govern this boy? So he gets to ask his question. How are we supposed to do this? We keep reading. It kind of gets even funnier. There's the food word again at the end. Interesting Verse 13,.
Speaker 4:The angel of the Lord replied Be sure your wife follows the instructions I gave her. She must not eat grapes or raisins, drink wine or any other alcoholic drink or eat any forbidden food. Does he give her? Does he give him any more instruction? No, he gets the exact same answer. I wish that, the angel of the Lord could come back so I could get more instruction.
Speaker 4:The angel of the Lord comes back. He asks his question how are we supposed to raise this kid? Angel of the Lord comes back. He asks his question how are we supposed to raise this kid? And the angel of the Lord says the exact same thing that he said at the beginning. He doesn't give him another ounce of information, and I think it's because he doesn't want Manoah to plan it out and to have everything kind of figured out. And he says just trust in the Lord, raise your son to be a man that is dedicated to the Lord and trust me that it's all going to come into play. Because if he gave him all those instructions, then Manoah is just going to fixate on everything that he's supposed to do and instead what I think God is saying is I'm faithful. I'm faithful Even though the Israelites have given up on me. I'm sending a plan and I have a plan for your son to begin to save those who forgot about me. So trust in me that this is all going to work out. Does that make sense?
Speaker 4:All right, we'll keep reading here, verse 13, the angel of the Lord. We already read that here we go Over the next few verses. We skipped a few verses. You Over the next few verses. We skipped a few verses.
Speaker 4:Over the next few verses, after he gets no more instruction. He asked the angel of the Lord if he'd like to come in for dinner. Can we make you a meal? Can we have you into our home? And I kind of think Manoah's thinking if we just get him down at the dinner table, maybe he'll give us a little details. But the angel of the Lord says no, I'm not coming in for dinner. But if you want to make an offering to the Lord, that would be accepted. So if you want to burn an offering to the Lord, that would be accepted. And so they make this offering to the Lord. And as they're making the offering and the flame goes up, the angel of the Lord goes into the flame and leaves. He's no longer there. That's where we pick up in verse 21.
Speaker 4:The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Manoah finally realized it was the angel of the Lord. It took him that long. Once he disappears, he goes. Oh, that was the angel of the Lord, it was actually him. He said to his wife we will certainly die, for we have seen God. His reaction is we just stood in the presence of the Lord, we're going to die. Because he's probably fixating on the idea of we're not perfect people, we haven't done everything right and we're standing in front of the Lord. Oh, we're going to die. That's where his mind goes. Notice his wife. But his wife said if the Lord were going to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn't have appeared to us and told us the wonderful things and do these miracles.
Speaker 4:She's a great woman of faith and we talked about this at the 830 service. Sometimes we need people to motivate our faith. She's a wonderful wife. She's trying to encourage her husband. He's done. We're going to die. This is the end. We've seen the Lord and she's very reasonable. She says honey, don't you think he's told all of these things not to kill us but so that they would happen? He's done these miracles.
Speaker 4:He answered your prayer to only further solidify the idea that he's going to give us a son, and he's already told us that the son is going to begin to save Israel. She's got great faith. She said so why would we die after all of that? He is Lord. Notice that he says oh no, we've seen God, we're going to die, and he's fixated on the thunderous power of the Lord that they're going to be wiped out. She's focused on the idea that he is Lord. He is Lord, and if he says we're going to be alright guess what? We're going to be alright. If he says, if the Lord says I'm going to send you a son and he's going to begin to save Israel, then the Lord's going to do it.
Speaker 4:There's a great difference there in the two of them. So Manoah's response there on your outline as you keep going through it Manoah's response is oh no, we're going to die, just simple. Oh no, we're going to die. The wife's response is God has shown us so much, he's revealed his plan multiple times and he's came to see us multiple times as well. And so here's some things that you and I have to remember as we kind of start this series and start this idea of God's faithfulness and that his true strength is that he remains faithful. We have to remember that if the Lord wanted to do evil to you, he would have never accepted an offering on your behalf. That's what the wife reminds the husband of. If God was so evil, if God was so bad, he would have never accepted our offering that we made for him. If God really wanted to destroy your life, if God really wanted to make your life terrible, he would have never accepted the offering of Jesus. Because that's the truth. God has accepted the offering of His own Son so that you and I have a chance at eternity. He didn't accept the offering of His Son to make you and I's life miserable, but it's in fact just proving that God is going to be faithful. I sent Jesus to die on the cross because I'm proving to you, like I've said from the beginning, I want a relationship with you and I want that to be an eternal relationship. And so he seals the deal with accepting that offering from Jesus. And then here's the last part of chapter 13. When her son was born, so it happened. What God said, what the angel of the Lord said would happen, happened. When her son was born, she named him Samson and the Lord blessed him as he grew up and the Spirit of the Lord began to stir in him.
Speaker 4:The story of Samson, especially this chapter, is one of the few birth stories in all of the Bible and it probably sounds kind of familiar if you piece together what's happening here. There's a woman that can't get pregnant. She becomes pregnant. Ever since Genesis, chapter 3, we know that childbearing was going to be a. It was cursed and it was going to be painful and it was going to be hard. And it was going to be painful and it was going to be hard and it was going to be kind of terrible, but still, part of God's plan was to reverse the curse and bring blessing. And so, ever since then, mothers and children have been a part of God's redemption and his plan of redemption. Samson's birth is just another point of that. God is taking this thing. He said you're going to go through all this pain, but I'm going to use it for good. He brings Samson into the world so that it can begin the saving of Israel.
Speaker 4:Let's pray, father.
Speaker 4:We thank you so much for your love, god.
Speaker 4:We thank you for the way that you work in our life, god.
Speaker 4:I pray that each of us understand and know that you love us and that you want a relationship with us.
Speaker 4:And even though sin in the world has the ability to capture us and make us feel trapped and oppressed and stuck in our situations.
Speaker 4:God, we read over and over again how you are a God that wants to save, that you are a God that wants redemption, that you are a God that wants redemption and that you are a God that wants a relationship with his people. And, god, I pray that, as we continue this series and we start to look at the people that you use throughout Scripture, that we can understand and identify where the true strength comes from. And we're so thankful for your faithfulness throughout the years of the Israelites, but also now. Even when we face hardship and troubles, we know that you're in control and we're thankful for that. God, thank you for loving us. We thank you for Jesus. We thank you for him being the ultimate offering for us. That it be a reminder to us that you want a relationship with us, and it was through your son that we were able to have that. We thank you for that. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Speaker 2:Make me a servant, Lord. Make me like you, For you are a servant. Make me one too. Make me a servant, make me like you. Open our hands, Lord, and teach us to share, share. Open our hearts, Lord. Teach us to care. Service to others is service to you. So make us your servants. Make us like you. When all I see is the battle, you see my victory.
Speaker 1:When all I see is the battle. You see my victory.
Speaker 2:When all I see is the mountain, you see a mountain move. And as I walk through the shadows, your love surrounds me. There's nothing to fear now, for I am safe with you. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. And if you are for me, who can be against me? For Jesus, there's nothing impossible for you. When all I see are the ashes, you see the beauty.
Speaker 2:When all I see is a cross. God, you see the empty tomb. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees.
Speaker 3:With my hands lifted high.
Speaker 2:Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Every fear I lay at your feet. I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. An almighty fortress. You go before us.
Speaker 1:Nothing can stand against the power of our God.
Speaker 2:You shine in the shadows. You win every battle.
Speaker 3:Nothing can stand against the power of our.
Speaker 2:God, an almighty fortress, you go before us. Nothing can stand against the power of our God. You shine in the shadows. You win every battle. Nothing can stand against the power of our God, our God. So when I fight, I'll fight on my knees, with my hands lifted high. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Every fear I lay at your feet, I'll sing through the night. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Oh God, the battle belongs to you. Oh God, the battle belongs to you.
Speaker 1:Amen. Have a great week everybody.