SPEAKER_00 0:03

Thank you, Amy. Thank you, man. Good morning, Church. How are you? It is uh it is nice to be back in Newcastle. I am Newcastle homegrown. I am a missionary to Sydney and giving it my best shot down there. Giving it my best shot. It is always nice to get on the M2 and drive north, that's for sure. So let me pray for you and uh we'll get started. Father, we thank you. Lord, for the honor it is always to come around your word and uh and also the honor it is to draw into your presence. Father, I thank you for each and every person. Lord, you know where they're at. And uh and I pray today that your word will go forth and bring challenge where challenge is needed, comfort where comfort is needed, but also healing where healing is needed. Father, we thank you for the truth and the power of your word. We thank you for your presence each day that we can draw into. And Father, we thank you for all that you're doing in and through Hillsong Newcastle for Hamish and Claire. Lord, pray that you continue to give them wisdom to uh to navigate the church forward into all that you've called them to be in Jesus' mighty name. Amen, amen, and amen. Amen. Give someone a high five, a hug, a kiss, whatever is biblical this morning, and you may be seated. Thank you, bands. You guys are amazing. I don't know about you, but if lifting meat trays make you look like Marcus, I'm gonna I'm gonna start getting down to the butcher a little more often. Shepherds. I didn't even know biceps could look like that. Amen. Amen. All right, I'm gonna caveat my message this morning. Just let you know why I've come up with the message that I've come up with. My mum called me on Sunday last week and she said, I've got good news. I said, What's the good news? And she said, You're speaking in Newcastle next week. And I said, Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. And uh, and and I said, Well, what was what's the what's Hamish been speaking on, or what was the message on? And she said, she said, he spoke on, uh he's been speaking on a couple of the Old Testament characters, and uh, and Jonah and Abraham, and and she said, it's just really nice to think about those characters that you don't often hear about, or sometimes you can skip over in reading, and uh and she said, Oh, it's been really good to hear some of the Old Testament characters. So what I heard was Hamish has been doing a series through August on Old Testament characters. So I prepared around an Old Testament character, and uh and I knew exactly who I was gonna speak on, and I came in this morning and went around to Mum and Dad's for breakfast. I said, Mom, can I just get this right? I I heard you say that Hamish is doing a series on Old Testament characters. I said, Well, he he mentioned two last week. I was like, oh, oops. So then I came in and I tried to get some confirmation from Hamish. So you've been doing a series on Old Testament characters. He said, Well, yeah, I mentioned two of them last week. I said, All right, well, so I'm gonna do a series, part two, on an Old Testament character. Is that alright, Church? And the character that I've chosen is uh is I don't know, really relatable to me because if you check out this photo behind me, you'll see look at that. This is uh this little dude is my second grandson that makes me a grandfather twice over, and you two great-grandparents twice over. This little guy's named Samson. Now, to preach on Samson is hard work, but we're gonna do it. And uh and what's funny is a couple of days later there was a little girl born, uh a couple of days before, actually, a little girl born uh in church, and uh and they called her Delilah. And so uh so my son Elijah, he was like, we're gonna keep those two separate in the in the kids' ministry, that's for sure. So I'm gonna speak to you today on the subject of Samson, and we're gonna look at this character, Samson. And every time I preach on an Old Testament character, and often in my devotion, which is usually the first half of the year, uh every year that I go through and do the uh the one-year Bible, uh, you come across all these characters, and uh, and I'll often read and then go for a walk, and I always pretend that character is walking with me. So I always think if they could leap out of the pages of the Bible and just do a couple of kilometers with you, what would they tell you? What lessons would they say? Hey, be careful here, watch out here. You don't want to go down this path. And and and so I always pretend I'm just walking with an Old Testament character, having a conversation going, teach me how to be better at who I'm called to be. And so today we're gonna look at this character, Samson. Samson is definitely one of those guys that just could have done a little bit better. But God still used him, which also gives me great comfort as well. To go, you know what, if God can use him, I'm kind of looking pretty good. I'm alright, I'm alright. And so when we look at Samson, he comes out of this book in the Old Testament by the name of Judges. Now, Judges, for anyone that does a one-year Bible, will know that often around March, when you get into Judges, you just can't wait to get to the end as quick as possible because you know what's coming. And so Judges starts off really nicely. And uh, and and it starts with Joshua who has now passed away, and and and Israel's gone into its new season in the promised land. And then from there, because they didn't do away with their enemy, the Canaanites, you see the Canaanites continue to influence Israel. And so God asked them to do away with the Canaanites, but then as you read through Judges, you see the Canaanite influence continue to come into Israel, and you see Israel begin this spiral downwards until you get to the end of Judges and you're like, oh my gosh, could Israel get any darker? And then we come into Samuel and we meet King David, who reconstitutes Israel and gives it hope, and all of those things returns worship to Yahweh, and it's amazing. But this period in Judges is where we pick up this guy by the name of Samson. We often read about Gideon, and and God calls Gideon you mighty man of valor, and yeah, you know, when Gideon didn't feel like a mighty man of valor, God called him a mighty man of valor. And and we can often relate to the Gideon story. Samson we often can't relate to because we kind of feel, well, Marcus might be able to, so certainly in physicality, not spirituality, I hope, but certainly physically, we get this picture that Samson is this, you know, big dude with a six-pack and well tanned, white teeth, and all of those sort of things. And uh, and and he he's strong on the outside, and that is true, but what you see is this weakness on the inside that continues to lead him down the wrong path. And so let me overview Samson for you because it's four chapters in Judges. Now, to sit here and read four chapters to you, by the end of church, you'll be like, oh my gosh, that is possibly the darkest sermon I've ever experienced. And so I'm just gonna overview it for you because what I want you to see is that throughout Samson's life, he was called, he was set apart before he was born. So the angel of the Lord came to his mother, and his father's name was Manoah. We don't know his mom's name. The angel of the Lord came several times to let her know that she's gonna give birth to a son who's gonna be significant in helping Israel return back to Yahweh. He had a Nazirite vow, which meant that he he couldn't uh drink wine, he couldn't cut his hair, and he couldn't touch dead things. And so we see this Nazarite vow that Samson had to live by in order to uh consecrate, if you like. God had called him, but he had to consecrate himself and live by these boundaries. Now, what we're gonna see is that Samson constantly pushed the boundaries. Because if you were gonna put a theme over the book of Judges, it would simply be God is optional. From a human perspective, they thought Yahweh was optional. Now, from God's perspective, his sovereign perspective was, but I will remain faithful. And so we see this tension, if you like, between God's sovereign grace and Samson's covenant responsibility. Now, the unfortunate side of Samson was he continued to push the boundaries every time. So we start off in Judges 13, and uh, and and and he's born, yeah, according to the word of the angel. In Judges 13, verse 25, when he does his first victory, it says, And the spirit of the Lord came on him, and then he went in. And you see this verse many times throughout this period of uh of Samson's life. The spirit of the Lord came on him and he overthrew the Philistines. The Spirit of the Lord came on him and he and he he overthrew this army. And you see all the time that the truth of Samson's strength was not in his muscles, it was in the fact that the spirit of the Lord was upon him. And so the spirit of the Lord is a significant theme that we see throughout uh Samson's life. But what we also notice, and I love this church, and I think it's a great reminder for us, is that he was called before birth. In other words, before Samson ever got ripped and shredded, God had already called him. Before he'd ever beaten the Philistines, God had already called him. And so before he ever did anything, God's grace was already towards him. Just like Jeremiah. Jeremiah, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I called you. In other words, nothing you have done has earned my attention towards you. It was already there, I'd already called you. And it's good for us, church, to know that we can get very self-centric on these are the things I've done, therefore God should do this. But I believe that just like Samson, just like Jeremiah, that when we live God-centric, that it's not about what I do, it's about who he is. And it's who I am in relationship to him that determines what I do, then we get the identity right and we get the calling right. And this is some of the struggles that we see with Samson. But not only that, it's some of the struggles that we all go through as well in our human weakness. And this is why I believe that each and every one of us needs the Holy Spirit to strengthen us in our human weakness. Here's the thing, church. I'm just gonna let you know up front, God is not shocked by your human weakness. God is not like, oh my gosh, there's Lee. Man, look at him in his weakness right now. No, God wants to get involved in my weakness and journey me, continue to strengthen me in my journey with him. As much as God wants to get involved in each and every one of your lives to help strengthen you to be all that God has called you to be in Jesus' name. So Samson grows up and he becomes not a judge as we understand it in a courtroom with a wig and uh and you know, uh arbitrating what's right and wrong. That's not the idea of the judges. These guys were more like district mayors. They oversaw a certain district within Israel, and they were responsible to protect and rescue Israel in its time of need. And so when Israel, and we see this pattern right throughout judges, that Israel looks to God, God blesses them, Israel turns from God, Israel realizes its sin, repents, cries out to God, God sends a rescuer. And that cycle continues right throughout the book of Judges. And so Samson, when we see him begin to grow up and and the Spirit of the Lord came comes on him and he rescues, you're like, oh, and now we're now now things are starting to get better for Israel, but then we realize that hang on, Samson's also in this part of this spiral downwards. He kills a lion, he confronts the Philistines, he tears their battle schemes apart, he kills a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey. That's a weapon right there. I I personally probably wouldn't have used the jawbone of a donkey, I would have looked for a better weapon, but that's all he had, and he killed a thousand people with it. Amazing, amazing feat. And but at the same time, he does all these amazing things, but what we find is that Samson is also impulsive, angry, he repeatedly gets himself in trouble, and we learn that God's power is evident in his life, but so are his character flaws. And so God is continuing to work with Samson, continue to empower him to be all that he's called to be. But at the same time, there's a responsibility on Samson to keep leaning into God as well. Because just because God uses him powerfully doesn't mean that's the end of it. It means that God wants to continue to work in Samson, not just empower him when he needs him, but then he can do whatever he wants whenever he wants. And so we see this happen in Samson's life. He he pushes the boundaries over and over again. Now, let me get to the end of his life and then we'll go for a wander with Samson and just see what we can learn, if that's alright. At the end of Samson's life, he ends up being taken by the Philistines uh because of Delilah. Now, I don't know if you know the story of Delilah. Let me give you the quick rundown, and that is that he meets this girl, and uh and basically she asks him, What's your secret? What's the secret to your strength? And Samson's like, I'm not gonna tell you, and he he tells a lie. And uh so she calls in the Philistines, she wakes him up, and then all of a sudden, he overthrows the Philistines, and then she she cries and says, You don't love me, you haven't told me the secret. And Samson goes, Okay, it's this. So she calls in the Philistines to capture him, she wakes him up out of his sleep and says, The Philistines are coming. He gets up and he he he knocks him over, and she's like, You don't love me, and uh and Samson thinks to himself, and this is in here, that your nagging is beginning to get to me. And uh, and so so she she cries again, and uh, and he ends up telling her that the strength is in the Nazarite vow not to cut his hair, and so she cuts his hair one night, and uh, and he wakes up and she wakes him up and says, The Philistines are coming. And the saddest uh part of the Bible is in Judges 16, verse 20. It's I I think it's the saddest line in the whole Bible. It says that Samson woke up and he went after the Philistines, and it said, and he didn't know the Lord wasn't with him. He didn't know the Lord wasn't with him. I think it's one of those passages of scripture where you go, Samson, have you pushed it too far now? Have you pushed the line too far? But then we realize right at the end of his life that he cries out to God and God's still there. And what we see in Samson's life is that God is always faithful, that God always has a call on our lives, that God is always there in the worst of our moments. God is still there. And I believe that these are the lessons that we can learn from Samson's life. And at the end of his life, this is it's a horrible story. I did warn you that it's horrible, but they pluck out his eyes, and uh, and then he ends up, they're they're partying on the top roof of the temple. They tie him up between these two pillars, and basically he shakes the pillars and brings the whole thing down, and uh, because they were worshiping the god of Dagon, and uh, and it's that finishes off the passage of scripture with that uh that that Samson killed more people, uh Philistines through his death than he did in his lifetime. So that's the end of Samson. Like I said, if I read four chapters out to your church, you'd be like, oh, please give me some hope. And there is hope in Jesus. Now the good news is Samson gets a mention in in uh in Hebrews 11. So he still comes up as an example of faith, of one that is called of God, that did some amazing things for God as well. But what I love about the story of Samson is not from Samson's point of view, but looking at it from God's point of view. Because what we see is that God never gives up, that God is always there, and I think these are the lessons that we can learn from walking with Samson today. Is that alright, church? All right, bump the person next to you and say, you so needed this today. You so needed to hear this message today. This is nothing like my grandson, just to let you know. History will not repeat itself, that's for sure. Amen. If we were to walk five kilometers with Samson today, here's the five things that I believe that Samson would talk to us about as we journeyed with him. Number one, number one, Samson would say to us, church, that you are called, but you're not entitled. You are called, but you're not entitled. You are born for purpose. Every person in this room needs to know, regardless of what you have done, regardless of what your past looks like, that God has a purpose for you. He has created you for a reason. You're not the result of some evolutionary theory. You are the result of a God who has purpose on your life and has called you for such a time as this. And what we see is that Samson was called long before he ever achieved anything. Like I said earlier, if we stay God-centric, we realize that God continues to call us. And I think we're better to keep our eyes above than begin to look internally. Whenever I look internally, all I see is weakness. Whenever I look at God, all I see is strength. And I need as much of that as possible in my life. You see, being called means being consecrated. Here's what we need to know about consecration, church. It's a big theological word, not one that we use out in out in the world, but consecration simply means set apart. And it first comes up in Scripture when God rescues Israel, brings them through the Red Sea, and uh and then the Ten Commandments are brought down to Israel. And basically, Moses says to Israel that God is asking us to stay in tune with him, to live by these things. And Israel says, We will do whatever he says. If he's prepared to rescue us the way he did, we will do whatever he says. And so Moses says, All right, consecrate yourselves, get yourselves ready, get yourselves responsible, clean yourselves, for tomorrow he's gonna come to you. So consecration is not something that God does for us, it's something that we must choose. Something that we must go. Do you know what? If God is gonna save me, if God is gonna deliver me, then I will dedicate my life to him. If he is that good to take me, a third-year apprentice carpenter from Shortland, then I will consecrate my life, I will set it apart to walk in all that he has for me. And so consecration means to set apart, but it's not a license. Oh, God has called me, therefore I'll do whatever I want. No, no, he's not optional. And Samson teaches us that when you are called, that he is not optional. The blessing comes with his calling. When you walk in that calling, his blessing is upon you. I've got two sons, Elijah and Ben, 25 and 23 year old, and a daughter who's 17. Her name's Lily. And uh, and Lily, when she was born, I uh I determined, I just made it had an intentional thought that for the first five years of her life, I'm gonna tell her 10 times a day that I love you. And uh, and so I would I would tell her, I'd look at look at her when she was that big, and I'd be like, Lily, your dad loves you. Lily, your dad loves you. She heard it ten times a day minimum. So by the time she was five years old, she must have heard it 20,000 times that her dad loves her. To the point that she would be running down the hallway and I'd go, Lily, she She goes, I know, you love me. So then I would add to it, don't tell the boys, but you're my favorite. So then she'd be running down the hall. I'd go, Lily, she goes, I know, you love me. I go, yeah, but Lily, she goes, I know, I'm your favorite. Then one day the boys pulled her aside and said, Lily, you know you're not the favorite. And she was like, What? Dad said, I am. And they said, Yeah, but he told us that as well. That's what I think the Heavenly Father is like with every one of you in this room. That he loves you and He tells you minimum ten times a day, I love you. My grace is towards you. All of those things, and then he says, Hey, hey, Hamish, Hamish, I do love you, but don't tell the church, but I know I'm your favorite. God is just like that. He is like that. He's got a call on your life. The blessing and favor that he's ready to pour out on your life or has already poured out on your life cannot be compared to anything else. He loves you so much, his graces toward you so much. And I believe that when we dedicate our hearts, commit our hearts to him, that we begin to see that blessing and favor continue to be poured out upon us. The Bible talks about goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life. I wanted to call my two boys goodness and mercy, because wherever I walked when they were young, they just followed me everywhere. And it was like goodness and mercy are gonna follow me all the days of my life. Amen. So you are called but not entitled. Number two, you're empowered but not invincible. Don't underestimate what God can do in you, but don't think you're beyond the character building either. You see, when it comes to God and the call of God on your life, here's one thing I know that God wants to work through you. He wants to do amazing victories, he wants to do amazing miracles, he wants to do all of those things through you, but at the same time, he also wants to work in you. Just because he works through you doesn't mean you've arrived. When he works through you, he wants to keep maturing you to be all that he's called you to be. You see, one thing that we can learn about Samson is that he was powerful. The Bible says that he could rip a lion apart like he could a young goat. And I'm like, who knows how to rip a young goat apart? Let alone a lion. Like, is that a comparison? I don't know. I've never ripped a young goat apart to go, oh, okay, now I know what it's like for Samson to rip a lion apart. But what we learn here is that spiritual power doesn't mean spiritual maturity. And we've got to keep growing in the things of God. I remember disciplining my kids, and we used to always get down at their eye level and go, hey, we don't do that. We're Burns. All right, and just remind them, this is who you are, and this is what we don't do, and uh, and then teach them this is what we do, because kids don't hear the word don't. And uh, and so that's how we are often disciplined, but but at five years old, I don't have an expectation on my kids at five years old that I would at 18 years old. And God's the same with us, church. That everyone's at a different level of maturity when it comes to their spiritual journey. And God doesn't put the same expectation on a new Christian as He does someone who's been in the house for 50 years. And nor should we do that either. We should just be happy that people are coming along and continuing to grow in the faith in Jesus' name. I uh I run a college and I've been a part of our college now for 25 years, so I see people come from I think we're over 78 nations now that we've had through our college, and they come in with all different cultures, all different understandings of who Jesus is and who he's called them to be and what the church looks like, and all of those sort of things. And I remember a couple of years ago, in fact, not a couple of years ago, it was 22 years ago, but it feels like yesterday, I'm just putting it out there. And uh, and we've got this uh student, and he knows I tell this story, but we had a student, he came to me. Back then we had this dating rule that you couldn't date within the first 12 months of being in college. It was kind of just to get people out of the habit of I have to have someone. To you don't have to have someone, you have to have him. Get him right, that someone will come along. And uh and so we did that. When I came in and took on the college, I pulled it back to six months, if that's a game changer for anyone in the room. And so we had this student, and he he came to me, he was a legend and uh and a really good soccer player, like very good, and uh and he liked the girls, and the girls liked him. And uh, and so he comes to me after six months, he goes, Lee, I've got this girl that I really want to date, and uh, and I said, I said, bro, you're halfway through the year. I said, You're not gonna date. I said, just become a best friend. I said, because a great marriage is built on a great friendship, first and foremost. And he goes, No, no, no, but but God told me that that I can date her. And uh I said, he didn't, and uh, and and I said, but just out of curiosity, who's the person? And uh, and he tells me, and she was one of our head students, and uh, I said, bro, I can tell you now that God didn't say that and it's not gonna happen. And he's like, Oh, and I said, just get to know her, you know, and just think about what a future's gonna look like. You're from two different nations, and uh, and all of those things, just think this one through. And uh, so anyway, I'm asleep one night and I get a text message. I never have my phone next to the bed, but I did this night. And and and the the text message went off, and I kind of, you know, 2 a.m. and I and I read it, and it said on it, said, Babe, I can't stop thinking about you. And and I'm like, I'm like, Cherie, I'm right here. And as I look, it's like, oh okay. I know exactly who this is. And so I wrote back, come to my office at 8:30 in the morning, you will stop thinking about me. Uh you see, my name's Lee, and the girl that he wanted to date is Leah. They're pretty close on the contacts list, probably closer than he wanted. So he comes into my office, and I'm just like, bro, like you've got to be a man of God. You're using old patterns, but if you're gonna go into all that God's called you to, you've got to begin to change the patterns of thinking that you had in high school. I said, you've graduated high school, but your mindset still acts according to high school. Began to do that journey, see him mature. Now he he preaches all across the world, he's an evangelist, he's got two beautiful girls and a wife, and he's an amazing man of God. But that journey was, hey, hey, just because God's called you, just because he's empowered you and he was amazing at believing God for miracles, but the maturity side of him was where I come in. I can see what's on your life, let me help you continue to do that for the rest of your life. Amen. Amen. Empowered but not invincible. Number three, if Samson could jump out of the pages and walk with us. Number three, I think the third kilometer would say you're gifted but still responsible. This is that, this is that tension between God's sovereign grace and our covenant responsibility. They're understanding that God's grace is towards us, but as the people of God, we're responsible to carry and nurture that grace upon our lives. You see, God wants to work through you at the same time that He is working in you. God's willingness to use you doesn't mean that He stopped forming you. He wants to continue to, yes, use you to meet the lives of and uh and see miracles, healings, bring people to salvation, all of that he wants to do that, but not because you've arrived, but as part of the journey towards maturing to be all that he's called you to be. And I think Samson would probably say this is your biggest reminder that you're gonna get God divine opportunities, but that doesn't mean that you have 100% responsibility. He's gonna keep growing you in that responsibility of being who he's called you to be in Jesus' name. Amen. Now you're gonna make mistakes. You're gonna make mistakes along the way. Oh my gosh, I've made some bangers in my time in ministry. And uh and said stuff that you're like, as soon as it leaves your mouth, you're like, oh shivers. Oh, I wish I could pull that back now, you know, and uh and and that happens over and over again. Stuff is gonna happen, you're gonna do some silly things along the way, but but but that brings us into point number four that Samson would tell us, and that that is that you are forgiven, but you're not free from consequence. Understand that you're forgiven, but not necessarily free from consequence. Many years ago, I I was in a church and I did an order call at the end of it. Well, students were about to go into university, and I was like, oh, I'll I'll pray for the students going into university. So they they came down the front and we we prayed and believed God for their studies. Then we went back into worship and the band just, you know, whenever you go back into worship and people are praying, the band kind of, I think they see you praying and go, let's crank it to 11. And uh, and and so then you're trying to shout your prayer for the person to hear, and anyway, it was uh I prayed for everyone, and then I went back into worship and a guy came up and uh tapped me on the shoulder and he said, Could you pray for me? And I said, Yeah, yeah, are you studying? He said, Yeah. And uh, and and I said, What can I pray for? And he said, I got I got accepted into photography. And I was like, Oh, okay, cool, cool. So I just turned around and began to pray, and I'm like, like, I don't do photography, and I'm like, what do I even know about photography? I'm like, Hey Mish, creativity, yeah, not not me. And so I just start praying for images, lighting, right angles, all of these sort of things. And at the end of it, and I said, Amen. And uh, and he kind of looks at me, and uh, and and I was like, uh, you know, I don't know, I gave it my best shot. I don't know how to pray for photography, but be blessed. And uh, and he he kind of went back to his seat, and afterwards he was still around the auditorium, and I went up to him and I said, Hey, just out of uh curiosity, I prayed for you, for your for your your new studies, and uh and I said you kind of looked at me funny. And he goes, Yeah, yeah, that was that was a weird prayer. And I said, Why was it a weird prayer? And he said, Well, like you prayed for for photography. I said, Yeah, you told me you got accepted to photography. He said, No, I told you I was addicted to well, that's a genre, you know, but shivers. Talk about get that one wrong. Oh my gosh. You know what, church? God still uses me. God still uses me. And I've got a hundred, not like that one exactly, but a hundred of those ones where sometimes you get it wrong, sometimes you gotta apologize, sometimes you gotta fall on your sword, sometimes you've got to humble yourself. But can I say this, church? There is no weakness in humility, there is only strength in humility. In humility, God can continue to mold you, continue to shape you, and continue to move you forward into all He's called you to in Jesus' name. Amen. A few years ago, like many years ago, my kids were playing snakes and ladders, and Cherie and I were getting breakfast ready, and every time one of my kids had to go down the ladder or down the snake, he uh he swore. The first time I was like, What? And uh, and and Cherie kind of looks at me and I was like, uh, you know, uh we don't swear, so he didn't get that from us, and uh, and then another one, and then he goes down the snake and and he says it again. I'm like, oh my goodness. And I was like, okay, it can't be it can't be what I think he's saying, and so so then it happens again, and he says that I'm like, Bam. Where did you get that word from? And Cherie's brother had looked after him that night while we went out. He'd used the word once by accident, the kids picked up on it like that. But just because they use the swear word doesn't mean God's like, oh my goodness. Right, you're out of the will of God. And I wasn't like, you're not my kids anymore, you are no longer Burnsers. It's like, okay, guys, we don't do that. Here's a lesson. Let's keep growing in what God's called us to, amen. Amen. But when it comes to forgiveness, just know that at the end of Samson's life, he did a great victory, but he didn't get his eyes back. So there are some lines that you cross that forgiveness can't uncross. And I believe that as believers that we've got to work these out as we go through these stories. What lines do I not cross? Because there are some lines that you just can't come back the same. God will forgive, no doubt, but the consequence still remains. Number five. Number five, the last kilometer that Samson's gonna walk with us. I think is I think he'd say to us, you're graced, but you're not exempt. You're graced, but you're not exempt. Samson's called, empowered, preserved, even remembered in Hebrews. God doesn't give up at all. But can I say this, Church? Just because God graces us doesn't mean that we're not called to be holy, that we're not called to be different to the world. And the big lesson that we learn from the whole book of Judges is that if we don't deal with some of these lessons, if we don't deal with some of the stuff that God wants to get rid of, it will come back and influence us. And so when it comes to holiness, I believe that the number one thing, and you know, we talk about discipline, and some people will see discipline as a goal, but discipline's not a goal. Discipline helps you achieve the goal. And I believe that when it comes to devotion, and we talk about reading the Bible and prayer, and uh without a doubt, both of them are so important, but I know that the one thing that connects you most with God is prayer. And the one thing that I know the most, church, is that prayer is gonna look different for every person in the room. Some people can do two hours at a time. You talk to people, you know, like, Well, what did you do this morning? Oh, I got up at 4 a.m. and prayed for the first three hours. You're like, oh, shivers. All right, I'm under conviction just at that very thought. I didn't even know 4 a.m. existed. And so you talk to these people, but can I say this? When it comes to prayer, you could have three minutes from your workplace to your car. Why not invite God into that? You can get in your car and you can listen to something, you can podcast, you can do whatever, or you can pray. You can pray. And I believe, I believe that there is nothing that draws you closer to God than prayer. Prayer is a discipline, of course, but when you look in the Bible, especially throughout the New Testament and old for that matter, whenever someone prays, God does something incredible. What if, church? What if every time you prayed, you knew God was about to do something amazing? Would you pray more? I think the answer is yes. So can I encourage you, church, that every time you do pray, God does do something amazing. Sometimes you don't see it immediately. Sometimes you will look back and go, oh, I can see the result of that was because of that prayer that I prayed right back then. And can I say, church, when it comes to communicating with God, communion with God, let's continue to draw into his presence so that we don't become like Samson. We wake up one morning and don't realize that God is not with us. Because every time we wake up, and Father, I thank you that you're with me today, straight away we draw that presence around us. I'm gonna get the band to come up and join me. Is that all right? Are they still with me? I can do it if you I believe that when it comes to this understanding of being graced, that God plays his part. But as covenant in covenant responsibility, we also have a part to play. And you realize that this amazing partnership with God's strength in our human weakness continues to grow us to be the church that He's called us to be. You see, there's two messages that we can take out of this, and let me just let me just go through it for one moment. The message isn't God is gracious, so don't worry about sin. No, no, we have to be conscious of that, aware of that, and continue to bring God's strength into those places of weakness. But it's also not if you failed, you're finished. Because God's grace is still towards you, and we see that in Samson's life. Right at the end, he says, Oh sovereign Lord, remember me. And God remembers him. God never gave up on Samson the whole time. Samson pushed the line, he gave up on God so many times, but God never gave up on him. And there's people in this room today, and I believe you need to know God has not given up on you, that his grace is still towards you, his love is still towards you. I remember many years ago, I was playing bass guitar in a Metallica Iron Maiden cover band. Played at the family hotel and what was once the palais and all of these little pubs around Newcastle. And I went to church one morning. There was a Catholic church at the top of I think it's called Main Street Cardiff. Went to this little Catholic church and I sat in the back. And a girl that I was with went down and did communion or something, and I just remember praying, God, if you're real, you've got to come into my life. Because there is no way that I'm ever coming back to church. I was so bored, church. I had no idea what the sermon was, I had no idea what was going on. It just meant nothing to me. But I thought, while I'm here, I'll take the opportunity. And I don't know how to explain it, church, other than to say there was a presence that came around me. It felt like a cloud just enveloped me, and it was more real than the seat I was sitting on. And I don't know how to explain it other than tears began to come down my eyes. Not because God revealed my weaknesses or anything like that, but because I knew for the first time that God was real. I didn't know what it meant, I didn't know how to start a relationship, I didn't know anything. I just knew 21 years of not knowing anything about God to all of a sudden knowing without a shadow of a doubt that He's real. And I knew I had to get to know Him. He didn't say that, sit there and go, Lee, last night you were playing some kind of monster. You were playing, and He didn't rattle off the Metallica songs that we played the night before. It was none of that. It was like, Lee, I've got a plan and a future for you. My grace is gonna take you into that future. There's people in this room today, and I believe that you've put God to the side thinking that his grace isn't towards you, his love is not toward you. You're like, Lee, I don't know, you don't know what I did last night, you don't know what I did last week. I can honestly tell you, church, it doesn't matter what you did last night, it doesn't matter what you did last week. What matters is what you do with this moment right now, this invitation to put God at the center of your life. And if you're in this room today and you know, you know a couple of the things that I've gone through, you know that God is kind of just knocking on the door of your heart. You know that you're not living with God at the center of your life. Friend, I can honestly tell you, today his divine love is towards you, his divine grace is towards you. You're not exempt from it, but you have to respond to it. And if you're in this place today, just with everyone's heads bowed and eyes closed across the auditorium, I'd love to pray for you right where you are. If you're saying, Lee, include me in that prayer when you pray for people, put God at the center of your life, include me in that prayer today. Friend, I'd love to include you in that prayer. If you know, you know today the Holy Spirit is knocking on the door of your heart, and you know that you want to put him at the center of your life. I'm gonna ask you just to raise your hand across the auditorium. I'll see it, and you can put it down immediately. Praise God, praise God, praise God, praise God for both of you guys over here on the left. Is there anyone else? Has I come across the auditorium? Oh, amen, amen. Right in the middle over here on my right hand side. Amen. Quite a number of you have responded to him today. Friend, the call that he has on your life is incredible. The blessing that he has ahead for you is incredible. What I want to do is pray for you right now where you're at. The Bible talks about you're walking a path with your back to him. And today, as you decide to put God at the center of your life, it's this word, a Greek word, it's called metanoia, it's the English word repentance. It's just saying simply, God, I can't live without you. And what it does is it makes you do a 180-degree turn to now walk, not with your back towards God, but with your face towards God. And friend, right now, as I've said a couple of times, his grace and his love is towards you right now. And I'm gonna ask you to repeat this prayer after me. In a church family, I'm gonna ask you to repeat this prayer as well. Heavenly Father, I thank you for your grace towards me. I thank you that you have a call on my life. I thank you for your blessing and favor that's ahead for me. I thank you for your blessing. And today I admit that I need forgiveness. I ask that you would empower me with your Holy Spirit to walk in the plans and purposes that you have for me with Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, in his mighty name. Amen, amen, and amen. Praise God for every one of you that prayed that prayer for the first time. Thank you, Briya. What we would uh what we'd love to do, for those of you that raised your hand, we'd love to put this book in your hand. It's called the Good News, the Good News Guidebook. And what it is, is it's 21 days of it's just one page at a time. And what it is is now that you've made that that that turn, it's just 21 days or 21 steps, beginning your journey with God, getting to know who he is, getting to know who you are. I always say this that when it comes to reading your Bible, when it comes to God, if you know who He is, you'll know who you are as a son and daughter of God, and the doing will just take care of itself in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Get the identity right and the actions follow in Jesus' name. So if you prayed that prayer for the first time, which a number of you uh did, go grab this book out in the foil. You'll see people holding it up. Go out there, let us put one of these in your hand and help you step up into all that God has for you. Amen. Amen. Did you receive the word this morning, church? Lessons from Samson.