2.  Gideon: I’m Never Too Small To Be Used By God!

3.  Top excuses for not being at school.  Top excuses for not going to work.  Top excuse for not attending with the church.  No excuse Sunday!

4.  Have you ever told Him that you can’t do something because you are too something else… › Too young? › Too old? › Too small? › Too big? › Too shy?

5.  Today, let’s learn one lesson from the story of Gideon.  Gideon had excuses for not doing what God wanted done.  Let’s see how God answers all his doubts and how He can answer all of ours.

6.  Judges 6:1-10  Israel has turned again to wickedness and idolatry.  God allows them to be ravaged by Midian.  The Midianites and Amalekites destroy all their crops and livestock, bringing Israel to an impoverished level.

7. o When the people cry out, God explains: o They were told not to practice idolatry. o They refused to obey God. o God turned them over to destruction until they learned repentance.

8.  The Angel of the Lord descends  How do we first see Gideon?  Hiding in a winepress  Threshing grain to save it from Midian

9.  He appears to us as just an ordinary man.  He seems to have just ordinary abilities.  The Lord sees far more than we see.

10.  The Greeting: “The Lord is with you mighty warrior.”  Gideon’s first response: (paraphrased) – “Are you sure? Why, then, are such bad things happening?  The commission of the Lord: GO! The Lord chooses to send Gideon to deliver Israel.

11.  Who, me?  Weakest clan  Smallest tribe  Least in family  How low can you go?

12.  Exodus 3:10-4:18 – Moses made excuses. What was God’s answer?  Jonah tried to flee and avoid God’s command. What was God’s answer?  Ezekiel 3:14 – Ezekiel dug in his heels and didn’t want to go. What was God’s answer?

13.  What was God’s answer?

14.  What is God’s answer to us today?  Romans 8:31, 36-39: “What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?... No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons…nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

15.  Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love.  Colossians 2:6-7 -- So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

16.  And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.  To HIM be the power – That’s the real point. It doesn’t matter what I think I can do. It only matters what God can do. And nothing is impossible for Him.