You Have to Step Up.

Introduction:

How To Be a Difference-Making Leader (Judges 4:4-9):

  1. Identify the real Need . (Judges 4:6).
  2. Identify the Person for the job. (Judges 4:6).
  3. Motivate that person to action. (Judges 4:6-9).

Biblical Motivation 101:

  1. Confront with God's Command . (Judges 4:6).
  2. Strengthen with God's Promise . (Judges 4:7).
  3. Encourage with your Presence . (Judges 4:9).
  1. Develop and execute a clear Plan . (Judges 4:6-7).

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
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  • 00:00-00:03

    Open up your Bibles with me please to Judges chapter 4.

    00:04-00:08

    And if you do not have a Bible, there are Bibles in some of the seat backs in front of you.

    00:08-00:12

    And you can keep that. Consider that a gift from your friends at Harvest Bible Chapel.

    00:13-00:25

    While you're turning there, I'm going to ask if you would please to say a prayer for me, to be faithful to bring God's Word, and I will pray for you to be open to receive God's Word.

    00:26-00:26

    Let's pray.

    00:27-00:40

    And all of God's people said, "Amen." Many years ago, when I was heavily involved in prison ministry, we were actually living in downtown Butler, and one day a man showed up at my door.

    00:40-00:41

    And Mark, I know you know this man.

    00:41-00:44

    I'm not going to say his name, but you know exactly who I'm talking about.

    00:44-00:52

    This man showed up at my door that I met in prison, and he seemed a little winded, seemed a little exasperated.

    00:52-00:57

    And he's like, "Hey, hey, hey, Pastor Jeff." I'm like, how do you know I live here?

    00:57-00:59

    That's not important right now.

    00:59-01:01

    He's like, Pastor Jeff, I need your help.

    01:01-01:03

    I need your-- would you help me?

    01:03-01:04

    I just need your help.

    01:04-01:06

    But I'm like, sure, what can I do for you?

    01:07-01:12

    And he goes, look, my girlfriend lives in the apartments across the street.

    01:12-01:14

    And there was this big apartment building across the street from my house.

    01:15-01:16

    I said, oh, OK.

    01:16-01:20

    He goes, my girlfriend, her apartment's in that building across the street.

    01:20-01:22

    And I need to go over there.

    01:23-01:28

    but I think her boyfriend is in there waiting for me with a gun.

    01:29-01:31

    I'm like, where do I come in?

    01:32-01:34

    He goes, look, I don't need you to do anything.

    01:36-01:38

    I just need you to be a witness, OK?

    01:38-01:42

    I just need you to go with me and be a witness in case this guy does anything.

    01:43-01:47

    That way you're there and you can tell the police what happened.

    01:47-01:51

    And I said, Tim, you got the wrong guy.

    01:51-01:56

    I said, if you think there's a legitimate problem, you need to call the police.

    01:57-02:03

    But that's a story of a man who called on the wrong guy.

    02:03-02:05

    I was not the guy for that job.

    02:05-02:11

    And today, we're going to be looking at a leader who called on the right guy.

    02:12-02:16

    And the title of the message is, "You Have to Step Up." You have to step up.

    02:16-02:19

    Look at verses 1 through 3 here in-- where are we at?

    02:19-02:20

    Judges chapter 4.

    02:21-02:28

    It says, "And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD after Ehud died." We talked about him last week.

    02:28-02:34

    "And the LORD sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan who reigned in Hazor.

    02:34-02:43

    The commander of his army was Sisera who lived in Herosheth Hagoyim." Anybody here today from Herosheth Hagoyim?

    02:44-02:45

    Couple of you?

    02:45-02:46

    Welcome to Harvest today.

    02:47-02:49

    "Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help.

    02:50-03:03

    For he," this is Sisera, "for he had 900 chariots of iron, and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years." Okay, we talked last week about the cycle that Israel goes through.

    03:03-03:18

    You know, sin, God brings another nation in, and Israel cries out, "Please, please God help us," and God raises up a judge who saves the day, and then Israel falls back into idolatry, and we see that that cycle starts again.

    03:18-03:20

    At this time, we're looking at 20 years.

    03:21-03:31

    For 20 years, these northern Israel tribes, they're oppressed, they're outmanned, and they're outgunned, and we're going to see that God chose not a warrior, He chose a woman.

    03:34-03:42

    Another very unlikely hero in the book of Judges, this woman was a prophetess and a judge.

    03:43-03:45

    Look at verses 4-9 with me, please.

    03:45-03:56

    It says, "Now Deborah, a prophetess," that means she spoke revelation from God, "the wife of Lippidoth was judging Israel at that time.

    03:56-04:06

    She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel, and the hill country of Ephraim and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.

    04:07-04:42

    She sent and summoned Barak, the son of Abinoam from Kadesh Naphtali, said to him, "Has not the Lord the God of Israel commanded you, 'Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking ten thousand people from Naphtali and the people of Zebulun, and I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand?'" Barak said to her, "If you will go with me, I will go.

    04:42-05:01

    But if you will not go with me, I will not go." And she said, "I will surely go with you, nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." You know, I used to think that she was talking about herself, and we're going to see here in a second she was not talking about herself.

    05:02-05:38

    It says, "Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kadesh, and Barak called out Zebulun Neftali to Kadesh, and 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him." You can read verses 12 through 16. We're going to jump over those. Spoiler alert. God won the battle through Barak and his forces. But I want to jump to verse 17. Okay, so Barak, his forces win just like God predicted, just like God caused to happen. It says, "But Sisera, this was the bad guy general, but Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite.

    05:39-05:43

    There was peace between Jabin, the king of Hazor, and the house of Heber the Kenite.

    05:44-05:48

    And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, "Turn aside, my lord, turn aside to me.

    05:48-05:54

    Do not be afraid." So he turned aside to her into the tent and she covered him with a rug.

    05:54-06:07

    Okay, so she saw him fleeing and at this point didn't really know what was going on, so she's like, "Hey, I'll help you out." And he said to her, 'Please give me a little water to drink, for I am thirsty.' So she opened a skin of milk and gave him a drink and covered him.

    06:07-06:18

    And he said to her, 'Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, "Is anyone here?" say, "No."'" Well, that tipped her off.

    06:18-06:25

    She's being very hospitable and accommodating, but now all of a sudden she's like, "Wait a second, the battle didn't go so good for you, did it?

    06:25-06:33

    If you're on the run and please hide me kind of thing." So look at verse 21, he's like in the tent under the rug.

    06:33-06:39

    It says, "But Jael, the wife of Heber, took a tent peg and took a hammer in her hand.

    06:39-06:49

    Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness.

    06:50-07:10

    So he died." Now being a child of the 80s, do you remember those movies in the 80s, like right before the good guy would kill the bad guy. He'd have that really witty, cool line. You know what I'm talking about? How many people know what I'm talking about? And I have to wonder in this passage, did she have a line like that? No, I'm not going to do that again.

    07:12-07:21

    Maybe just one. I imagine she was like, "I guess you didn't realize what was at stake." All right, no more.

    07:22-07:24

    Anyways, so he died.

    07:24-07:43

    Verse 22, "And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jail went out to meet him and said to him, 'Come and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.' So he went into her tent, and there lay Sisera dead with a tent peg in his temple." So, Deborah's prophecy was fulfilled.

    07:43-07:47

    She said that Barak would win by the hand of the Lord.

    07:47-07:48

    Check, that happened.

    07:48-07:53

    She said that the Sisera would be killed by a woman. Check, that happened.

    07:53-07:57

    And Israel was free, and that's what happened.

    07:57-08:08

    So, in our days of spiritual anarchy, whether it's the days of the judges or today, we need leaders. That's what we're going to talk about today.

    08:09-08:13

    When everything's unraveling in the country, we need people to step up.

    08:13-08:20

    We need leaders. We don't need people complaining, which there are plenty of those. We don't need people withdrawing.

    08:21-08:29

    We don't need people feeling like their contribution to society is limited solely to social media memes.

    08:30-08:35

    We need godly, influential, taking initiative leaders.

    08:36-08:37

    We need leaders like Deborah.

    08:38-08:43

    You know, the book of Judges, like we talked about before, it is crazy, the stuff that we see happening.

    08:44-08:47

    But you realize with Deborah, there's not one negative thing said about this woman.

    08:48-08:52

    Absolutely remarkable, especially in the day in which she lived, not one negative thing said about her.

    08:53-08:58

    We need more leaders like her in the workplace, in the home, in the church.

    08:59-09:01

    We need leaders stepping up.

    09:02-09:08

    If you're sitting here today like, "Oh, this message is for leaders, and I'm not really a leader." Well, I'd like to correct you on that.

    09:08-09:17

    whether you're an elder in the church, or a follower of Jesus Christ in general, you're like, "I'm just a pew sitter." No, you're not.

    09:17-09:20

    You are called to lead people to Jesus Christ.

    09:20-09:21

    You're called to make disciples.

    09:22-09:24

    That requires some leadership.

    09:24-09:30

    So this message is for everyone, but especially today, in this church, I want to address our elders.

    09:31-09:33

    I want to address our ministry team leaders.

    09:33-09:35

    I want to address our small group leaders.

    09:35-09:43

    I want to address our children's workers, our worship leaders, everyone that has some position of influence or leadership.

    09:43-09:47

    I want you to listen closely because we learn a lot from Deborah here.

    09:47-09:51

    We're going to focus on verses 6-9-ish.

    09:52-09:54

    But how to be a difference-making leader.

    09:54-09:55

    I want you to jot these things down.

    09:55-09:57

    How to be a difference-making leader.

    09:58-10:00

    The first thing is you have to identify the real need.

    10:00-10:02

    You have to identify the real need.

    10:02-10:05

    Deborah was critically realistic about her situation.

    10:05-10:07

    She wasn't promoting fake news.

    10:07-10:08

    He wasn't attacking straw men.

    10:09-10:12

    But leaders can often miss the real problem.

    10:12-10:15

    And I have been so guilty of this in my own life at times.

    10:16-10:18

    But leaders can miss what the real problem is.

    10:19-10:20

    And it's partly the leader's fault.

    10:20-10:24

    And it can be partly the fault of the people that the leaders lead.

    10:24-10:25

    Like, well, how so?

    10:26-10:33

    Because sometimes leaders are leading two different types of people, and neither of which help the leader lead.

    10:34-10:37

    One type of person is the uncritical person.

    10:37-10:38

    The uncritical person.

    10:39-10:41

    The person that's just like, "I love the leader.

    10:41-10:44

    Look, everything you do is amazing.

    10:44-10:51

    You are so handsome and your breath smells like heaven.

    10:51-10:55

    And you are just..." People don't say that to me.

    10:55-10:57

    I'm just telling you things I've heard other people say about other leaders.

    10:58-11:09

    But these are the people that are never willing to have a loving but hard talk to pull that leader aside and say, "Look man, I love you, but I think you're making a wrong decision here.

    11:09-11:12

    I think we really need to think through this.

    11:12-11:12

    I think we need to pray.

    11:13-11:15

    I'm just not sure this is the right decision.

    11:16-11:17

    I want to talk through this with you.

    11:17-11:21

    I want to pray through this with you." But at the other end of the spectrum, we have uncritical people.

    11:22-11:23

    The other end of the spectrum is unloving people.

    11:24-11:25

    The people that just criticize everything.

    11:26-11:27

    "Oh look, another bonehead move.

    11:28-11:32

    Oh look, he doesn't know what he's doing." They criticize every decision.

    11:32-11:34

    They never give the benefit of the doubt.

    11:34-11:41

    They never think that maybe the leader has facts behind the decision that the general population is unaware of.

    11:42-11:45

    And both of those people make leading hard.

    11:45-11:49

    Because if you have nothing but uncritical people, you'll get stagnant, right?

    11:49-11:52

    Because you think everything's great. I don't get to change anything. I'm awesome.

    11:52-11:55

    I'm like, I'm batting a thousand on everything. I just can't miss.

    11:56-11:57

    I can't make a bad decision.

    11:57-12:00

    and you're going to get real stagnant real quick.

    12:01-12:04

    But the unloving people, they'll bring discouragement.

    12:04-12:07

    Makes the leader just walk around like, I can't do anything right, man.

    12:08-12:09

    Doesn't matter how hard I work.

    12:11-12:13

    I just can't seem to make a right decision here.

    12:14-12:16

    And neither one will help the leader lead.

    12:16-12:20

    But Deborah saw the real problem, and she had a goal.

    12:20-12:22

    She knew that she had to ask the question.

    12:22-12:26

    Every leader here needs to ask, what does real change look like?

    12:27-12:30

    What does real change have to look like?

    12:30-12:31

    We're going to talk more about that in a second.

    12:32-12:34

    First of all, you've got to identify the real need.

    12:34-12:35

    Deborah did.

    12:36-12:39

    So therefore, that letter right to number two, you've got to identify the person for the job.

    12:39-12:41

    You've got to identify the person for the job.

    12:42-12:44

    Now, Deb, obviously-- Deb.

    12:45-12:46

    Like I know her.

    12:47-12:47

    We were at the high school together.

    12:48-12:49

    I call her Deb.

    12:49-12:53

    You might know her as Deborah, but she was always just Deb down the street to me.

    12:54-12:59

    Deb knew, or she knew of, Barak, who was obviously this gifted military man, but Deb also knew something else.

    13:00-13:02

    She knew that she had some limitations, right?

    13:02-13:05

    She's like, I'm not the person for this job, but I know who is.

    13:06-13:07

    She knew who to call.

    13:07-13:10

    And she goes, okay, who has got equipped to meet the need?

    13:11-13:14

    And I get to tell you, church, we get a lot of needs right here.

    13:15-13:26

    You know, due to COVID issues and people that have had to move and people that have had to isolate for health reasons and such, Our church has lost nine children's workers.

    13:26-13:29

    And a church our size, that's a huge hit all at once.

    13:29-13:33

    Our hospitality has been working on a skeleton crew a lot of weeks.

    13:34-13:40

    We have elders that have had to step out of action currently just across the board.

    13:40-13:47

    I could keep going on and on, but across the board in our ministries, the pandemic sort of hit us all in different ways.

    13:47-13:49

    And that's one way that it has hit this church.

    13:49-13:54

    And I just wanna encourage the leaders to get praying right now, to say, "Who do I need to call upon?

    13:54-14:04

    Who has God equipped to meet this need?" You know, be like Deborah, to be like, "Okay, I got this need, now who's the person that God has called to meet that need?" Call that person.

    14:05-14:08

    Give that person a personal invite to step up and serve the Lord.

    14:09-14:11

    So identify the need and identify the person.

    14:11-14:23

    But thirdly, and this is what you're gonna see a lot of in the text here, and I wanna spend a couple minutes on this, but not only do you have to identify the need and identify the person, leaders, you know, sometimes you have to motivate that person to action.

    14:23-14:24

    I'm gonna talk about that.

    14:24-14:27

    You know, Barak put a condition on helping.

    14:28-14:29

    Did you see that?

    14:29-14:34

    He was obviously a gifted military man, but he was afraid and he put the condition on.

    14:35-14:41

    She's like, "Hey, hey, God's commanded you, let's step up." And he's like, "If you will go with me, I will go.

    14:41-14:48

    "But if you will not go with me, I will not go." And the people that we try to recruit often have a similar response.

    14:48-14:49

    Like, "Hey, I need you to step up.

    14:49-14:50

    "I need your help.

    14:50-15:17

    you to help me." And we might not say it the way Barak did. Do you know how Christians say no in a context like this? Like, "Hey, I need your help." Do you know how Christians say no? They say, "I'll pray about that. True or false? True or false? Come on. True. I'll pray about that." That's just a really polite, churchy way of saying, "I really don't want to do this, and I'm hoping that if I delay you long enough you'll find somebody else.

    15:17-15:46

    I'll pray about this. I'll pray about this. Well leader, leader like Deborah, it's on you, the leader, to motivate people to help. And I want to share with you just three things that she did for Barak that you need to do with the people that you lead. Okay? This is Biblical Motivation 101. And the first part, letter A, is you've got to confront with God's command. That's Biblical Motivation 101, confront with God's command. That was That's the first thing that Deborah said to him.

    15:46-15:50

    "Has not the Lord commanded you?" It has to start here.

    15:50-15:52

    Like, "Hey, hey, this isn't a pet project.

    15:52-16:01

    This isn't some funky, fresh program that I came up with and I want you to head it up." It's like, "Hey, hey, this is something that God has commanded.

    16:01-16:10

    So there's really no question on if we should do it." In the Harvest Bible Chapel, every ministry that we have at our church has the same goal.

    16:11-16:11

    Did you know that?

    16:12-16:14

    Every single ministry has the same goal, it's to make disciples.

    16:15-16:18

    We believe a disciple of Jesus Christ does three things.

    16:18-16:25

    A disciple worships Christ, a disciple walks with Christ, and a disciple works for Christ.

    16:25-16:33

    So everything we do as a church, we have to ask ourselves, does this have the end game of making disciples?

    16:34-16:37

    And if that's not the clear goal, we're not doing it.

    16:37-16:44

    We have to say, okay, if we're called to make disciples, every ministry we need to say, Here's how this ministry fulfills the command to make disciples.

    16:45-16:48

    And you have to notice the difference in the way you recruit.

    16:49-16:50

    You know, like our AV ministry.

    16:51-16:54

    You say, "Hey, do you want to help with AV?" That's one way to ask.

    16:54-16:55

    Here's another way to ask.

    16:56-17:01

    You know, our services are streamed and our podcasts are downloaded all over the world.

    17:01-17:09

    This ministry makes disciples by broadcasting God's Word, not just to our church, but all over the world.

    17:09-17:14

    Would you like to help make disciples by being part of a ministry that affects so many people?

    17:15-17:15

    That's a command.

    17:16-17:17

    Make disciples.

    17:17-17:20

    Or, want to volunteer to work with kids?

    17:21-17:21

    No.

    17:22-17:23

    Every church struggles with that.

    17:23-17:25

    You want to volunteer to work with kids?

    17:26-17:29

    And I think the fear is, well, if I get back in kids ministry, I'm never getting out.

    17:30-17:32

    And that's true for a couple people.

    17:33-17:33

    No.

    17:34-17:38

    At our church, we have rotating teams so that nobody's back there every week.

    17:39-17:41

    Again, we lost a lot of people. It's getting tough.

    17:42-17:44

    We don't want anybody back there every week.

    17:44-17:48

    But instead of saying, "Hey, would you like to volunteer to work with kids?" How about this?

    17:49-18:05

    How about, "Our church has been blessed with so many children, and we get the privilege of helping parents disciple their children so parents can have a distraction-free environment so they can be discipled themselves." See, it's about the mission, right?

    18:05-18:08

    When you put it that way, it's about the mission.

    18:09-18:10

    It's not like who wants to babysit.

    18:10-18:12

    Nobody wants to babysit.

    18:12-18:13

    Who wants to make disciples?

    18:14-18:19

    The answer is everybody who follows Jesus Christ better be on that agenda, right?

    18:20-18:25

    This month we have a Johnny and Friends luncheon on August 28th.

    18:25-18:27

    We could say, hey, come and have lunch with us.

    18:27-18:28

    Like, well, what are you having?

    18:29-18:29

    How about this?

    18:29-18:33

    We have an opportunity as a church and to help other churches.

    18:33-18:51

    we have an opportunity to learn how to love and make disciples of people with special needs and their families. I don't know about you, but that really fires me up to think, how can we best love this group of people in our culture that feel like they're detached?

    18:52-18:55

    So you've got to, like Deborah first of all, you've got to confront with God's command.

    18:55-19:05

    You see, it's not a matter of should we make disciples. Like, what do you think, guys, We make disciples, you're like, "Well, let me pray about that." We're commanded to do it.

    19:05-19:06

    So confront with God's command.

    19:06-19:07

    That's the first thing Deborah did.

    19:08-19:11

    Second thing she did for Barak was she strengthened with God's promise.

    19:12-19:13

    Strengthened with God's promise.

    19:14-19:17

    Deborah reminded Barak that the Lord promised to win the victory.

    19:18-19:18

    And I love that.

    19:19-19:24

    That Deb didn't go to him like, "Hey, we have this big military campaign.

    19:24-19:25

    We need you to...

    19:26-19:27

    Good luck, man.

    19:28-20:05

    everything works out and you know keep in touch and I guess we'll just give it a try we'll just see how it goes that wasn't it at all she goes hey victory has already been promised so go and you know church that's the message that we need reminded and I would suggest to you it's way more than victory has been promised for us church victory has been accomplished you realize that it's not Let's engage in ministry and battle the enemy and put on the armor of God and hope we don't have casualties.

    20:05-20:08

    Victory has already been accomplished through Jesus Christ.

    20:08-20:12

    When He died on the cross, victory has been accomplished for eternity.

    20:14-20:36

    Last month, as many of you know, the pastor who trained me in everything in ministry, Pastor Bob Huber, he went to be with the Lord on July 4th, I was able to visit with him a couple of days before, and we were talking, and you know, just about at that time not knowing time frame or how much longer or what they're going to do for treatment.

    20:36-20:47

    We were sort of having that conversation, you know, and he just took a deep breath and he said, "Jeff, no matter what happens, I win." And he certainly did.

    20:48-20:55

    But I've got to tell you, that's one of my favorite things about serving Jesus Christ, you're winning the second you start serving.

    20:55-20:58

    Because sin and Satan were defeated at the cross.

    20:58-21:02

    The gospel is victorious whether it's accepted or rejected.

    21:03-21:07

    He who is within you is greater than he who is in the world.

    21:08-21:13

    And the worst thing that anyone can do to you is kill you and send you straight to heaven.

    21:13-21:15

    So strengthen with God's promise.

    21:16-21:19

    Like hey, hey, hey, look, victory's already been won.

    21:20-21:24

    What God's calling you to do is just show up and watch Him win.

    21:24-21:28

    And that's what we're calling you to do in ministry at the church.

    21:28-21:29

    Like look, show up.

    21:30-21:35

    Show up and watch God do what God does and you will be blown away.

    21:36-21:38

    How to be a difference making leader.

    21:38-21:42

    We're talking about Biblical Motivation 101, letter C. Encourage with your presence.

    21:43-21:44

    Remember Barak put his condition on.

    21:44-21:54

    She's like, "Well, you know, if you'll go with me, I will go, but if you'll not go with me, I will not go." And verse 9, "And she said, 'I will surely go with you.

    21:55-21:56

    Encourage with your presence.

    21:56-22:02

    And like Deborah, tell the people that you recruit and motivate, like, 'Hey, I'll be with you.

    22:02-22:03

    We'll do this together.

    22:04-22:07

    We'll do this together.'" Now, let's just be honest here.

    22:07-22:09

    Barak should not have needed this.

    22:09-22:10

    He shouldn't have.

    22:11-22:14

    And he absolutely should not have put conditions on helping, right?

    22:15-22:17

    Putting conditions on serving the Lord is a bad idea.

    22:18-22:21

    So yes, he was clearly in the wrong, but you have to see, what did Deb do?

    22:23-22:27

    She knew he was afraid, so she threw him a bone. She's like, "Okay, alright.

    22:27-22:39

    I will go with you." The question was, back up a second, if he was such a gifted military man, why was he afraid, right? Why did he need Deb to be with him?

    22:40-22:41

    I don't know, maybe he lacked faith.

    22:42-22:45

    Maybe he was just scared of the Canaanites.

    22:45-22:52

    Maybe, maybe he knew that Israel would rally around him if they knew Deborah was with him.

    22:52-22:53

    I don't know.

    22:54-23:00

    But one thing I do know for sure from this passage, it's a huge problem for Barak, can't be for us too.

    23:01-23:03

    Barak trusted Deborah more than he trusted God.

    23:04-23:04

    That's a problem.

    23:06-23:08

    He trusted Deborah more than he trusted God.

    23:09-23:09

    Did you catch that?

    23:10-23:28

    She's like, "Hey, God Almighty, the ruler of heaven and earth, the sovereign, transcended, majestic King of Kings has promised you the victory." And he's like, "Will you go with me?" Like, "What do you need me for?" He trusted Deborah more than he trusted God.

    23:28-23:30

    And we can fall into the same trap, church.

    23:30-23:40

    Honestly, God calls us to step out and do something, and we can look to people, and We can look to bank accounts, and we can look to our resources first.

    23:41-23:50

    "Well, if this is going to happen, who do I need to call to fund this?" Or, "Who do I know that's going to be able to..." And we start to, instead of seeking the Lord, we seek other people.

    23:51-23:54

    And yes, God uses people, not discounting that at all.

    23:54-24:07

    But it becomes a question of, "Where's your trust, really?" "Where's your trust, really, Christian?" "Is your trust in Jesus Christ totally, fully, completely?" Because you don't take Deborah to the cross with you. You know that.

    24:08-24:17

    When you come to Jesus Christ, Deborah's not with you, your grandma's not with you, your mom's not with you. You come to the cross yourself.

    24:18-24:25

    And the call for you to trust God, His provision through Jesus Christ, that's a decision that you have to make.

    24:26-24:29

    But that trust, that has to come from you. You have to trust.

    24:30-24:32

    Trust in Jesus Christ more than you trust in Deborah.

    24:34-24:38

    But leaders, nevertheless, sometimes people don't step up, right?

    24:38-24:39

    We know that.

    24:39-24:40

    Sometimes people don't.

    24:40-24:42

    Sometimes people are afraid.

    24:43-24:50

    "Well, they asked me to help out in this ministry and I don't really know what I'm doing." For some people it's just disobedience, like, "Nah, you know what?

    24:50-24:53

    I like to sleep in on Sunday." And it's just disobedience.

    24:53-24:55

    And for some people it's just apathy.

    24:55-24:57

    Like, "Yeah, yeah, I see that they...

    24:57-25:01

    Yeah, they have that big need there, but that's not really my problem." It's just apathy. I don't really care.

    25:04-25:08

    Sometimes we have to walk with people to encourage them to become stronger in their faith.

    25:09-25:10

    I think that's what Deborah did.

    25:11-25:17

    She could have just sent him out the door and said, "You don't need me, pal. You have the Lord." But she's like, "You know what? He's not there yet.

    25:18-25:21

    I'll help him get there." Leaders, sometimes you have to do that.

    25:22-25:24

    Sometimes you have to do that.

    25:24-25:28

    We are all a work in progress and some of us are further down the road than others.

    25:31-25:35

    And then finally, number four, develop and execute a clear plan.

    25:36-25:40

    That's what Deb did. She had a specific plan that was from the Lord.

    25:41-25:55

    We're going to get 10,000 people from Neftali and Zebulun, and God says, "I'm going to draw Sisera out to the river." And you can read in chapter 5 the song of praise that resulted from the victory, and it gives us some more details about what the Lord did, which is incredible.

    25:56-25:57

    Incredible. Incredible.

    25:58-26:03

    You know, we talked about Ehud had this handicap that turned into his advantage.

    26:04-26:14

    Well, what happened in this story is the Canaanites had the chariots, but when they got to the river, God sent a storm, because the riverbed was dry and the mud got all their chariots stuck.

    26:15-26:22

    So we go from Ehud having the handicap that turned into an advantage, to the Canaanites that had the advantage of the chariots that turned into a handicap.

    26:23-26:26

    That's how God works. He's sovereign.

    26:26-26:29

    That was the plan. Anyone can see a need.

    26:30-26:34

    But it's quite another thing to seek the Lord's plan to meet the need.

    26:35-26:39

    And leaders, I just want to encourage you here, people do not get behind ambiguity.

    26:40-26:41

    They just don't.

    26:43-26:44

    People don't get behind ambiguity.

    26:45-26:47

    Like, "Hey, I have this plan. We're going to do this ministry.

    26:47-26:53

    We're going to reach families with special needs." Like, "Well, how are we going to do that?" I don't know. But do you want to help me?

    26:55-27:01

    Um, no. You don't even know what you're doing. How are you going to tell me how to help?

    27:01-27:06

    People don't get behind ambiguity, but people will get behind a clear plan, right?

    27:06-27:08

    Okay, Barak, here's the plan. You're going to go to these tribes.

    27:09-27:11

    You're going to get these many people. You're going to go to this place.

    27:11-27:14

    And that's where God is going to win your battle.

    27:14-27:17

    So the mission that Jesus gave us, it hasn't changed.

    27:18-27:26

    But in our day of wickedness, our day of pandemic, it's just become more obvious how badly it's needed.

    27:27-27:37

    And as I've said, as we've lost people due to moving or isolating, the laborers in the field have become fewer while our needs have become greater.

    27:38-27:41

    I just want to challenge you today, hey, you know, you have to step up.

    27:42-27:44

    Leaders, step up.

    27:44-27:54

    Those of you who are born again, but haven't been actively serving Christ, step up! It's time to make a difference.

    27:55-27:56

    It's time to lead like Deborah.

    27:57-27:58

    I'd like you to bow your heads with me, please.

    28:01-28:12

    And while the worship team comes up, you know, this is something specifically that Jesus told us to pray, that the Lord of the harvest would raise up workers for the field, as we close our time in the Word.

    28:12-28:13

    I just want to do that.

    28:14-28:24

    Can we unite in that prayer to say, "God, please fulfill Your mission by raising up Your people." Would you pray that with me, please?

    28:25-28:32

    Father in heaven, as we come together today, we see another amazing story in Your Word about the way You showed up.

    28:32-28:33

    God, You use people.

    28:34-28:37

    God, I thank You we have a lot of people in this church that are like Deborah.

    28:38-28:39

    They take initiative and they have a plan.

    28:40-28:45

    But God, we have a lot of people that are like Barak, that are called, but are afraid.

    28:47-28:49

    Father, we just want to ask you now, please.

    28:50-28:54

    We're asking, Father, because this is what Jesus told us to pray.

    28:55-28:59

    We're asking that you, the Lord of the harvest, would raise up workers for the field.

    29:01-29:07

    That God, you would find us faithful to help encourage and equip and strengthen.

    29:08-29:11

    But God, ultimately, that has to come from You.

    29:12-29:20

    That heart change, that heart to serve, that drive to step out in faith, Father, that has to come from You.

    29:21-29:35

    So we're asking, Father, that You would invigorate us with a fresh enthusiasm, with a fresh urgency for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the mission of making disciples.

    29:36-29:43

    God, I thank you ahead of time because you have never failed to provide for this church anything that we've needed to serve you.

    29:44-29:46

    I thank you for the way you're going to provide this.

    29:46-29:47

    Thank you, God.

    29:48-29:51

    Thank you, Father. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

Small Group Discussion
Read Judges 4:4-9, 17-22 (or all of chapter 4)

  1. What was your big “takeaway” from this passage / message?

  2. Why do you think Deborah was called to be a judge? Many people cite this story to validate women as pastors. Do you believe that is valid? Why or why not?

  3. Why are people often afraid to step up and serve God? How can we motivate them to, in the way that Deborah motivated Barak?

Breakout
Pray for one another.