October 27, 2013 – Read the Word on Worship

“Say it Again Sam(uel)” Judges 2 verse 6 to 3 verse 4 from Sunrise Community Church on Vimeo.

So how will the next generation of Israel learn who God is personally? In the same way the previous generation did. If they go to war and trust in God they will see His works and know Him personally. God wanted this next generation of Israel to know His power and grace, So He left Canaanites in the land. Israel would have to fight in order to know the God they had yet to know by personal experience. That is the problem I see in the church at large today. We know a lot about God but we don’t know Him personally. And that has grown out of our avoiding the battle. We know from Scripture we have already been thrown into a spiritual war, but are we floating with the current or are we fighting against the current? If we are going to do battle, we need to be where the war is – in the workplace, in the culture and in the streets. Only then will we experience Him and know that the Lord is good. Join as Pastor Andy leads our study this week with his message, “Say it Again Sam(uel)

Word On Worship – October 27, 2013 Download / Print

Judges 2:10
“All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel.”

I have been a witness to many great things God has done in my life. But the question that often haunts me is does the next generation know the Lord or the work that He has done? That is the very problem facing Israel in our scripture. Based on the text, it is not so much that the last generation were poor teachers, but rather the next generation did not “catch” it. They have heard about God but they do not know Him. And so I must ask myself, how many in the next generation have seen God active in the lives of their parents or grandparents, but have yet to experience God personally themselves?

What is at issue is a personal relationship with God versus personal knowledge of God. Obviously it is important for the next generation to know that God exists, but personally knowing God is what is critical; not just knowing about Him. It is this generation’s failure to know God personally that is the cause for Israel’s trouble we see in Judges 2. The effect of their failure to know God personally is to bow down to the Canaanite gods and earn for themselves the anger of God against them.

God is angry at the sin of the people and turns His hand against Israel. But God does not turn away from Israel, In His mercy and grace He provides judges for Israel. Why are judges a matter of grace? That wonderful topic we tragically think is only a New Testament concept. Repentance is nowhere to be found in the passage. God sends a deliverer before there is any indication of repentance. And even after that deliverer comes and delivers the Israelites for that judge’s lifetime, they are still going to turn away. Whatever good that takes place here has everything to do with who God is. It is His character and His covenant that is the basis for His deliverance of Israel.

So how will the next generation of Israel learn who God is personally? In the same way the previous generation did. If they go to war and trust in God they will see His works and know Him personally. God wanted this next generation of Israel to know His power and grace, So He left Canaanites in the land. Israel would have to fight in order to know the God they had yet to know by personal experience. That is the problem I see in the church at large today. We know a lot about God but we don’t know Him personally. And that has grown out of our avoiding the battle. We know from Scripture we have already been thrown into a spiritual war, but are we floating with the current or are we fighting against the current?  If we are going to do battle, we need to be where the war is – in the workplace, in the culture and in the streets. Only then will we experience Him and know that the Lord is good.