U-Turn Week 4- Never Too Late

Big Idea: It’s never too late to turn back to God.

Primary Scripture: Judges 13:2-5, 16:4-31

Supporting Scripture: Romans 3:23-24, Psalm 34:17, Lamentations 3:22-23

CAPTURE (Why should students pay attention to and care about your message?)

· A lot of you have probably walked past Dave’s Killer Bread in the grocery store and never even noticed it.

· It's easy to overlook—just another loaf on the shelf among dozens of other options.

· Behind that bread is a wild story of addiction, prison, hitting rock-bottom, and finding redemption.

· The guy on the front is named is Dave Dahl.

· For years, he believed his life was beyond repair.

· He struggled with addiction and was in and out of prison for nearly 15 years. He often referred to himself as a “menace to society,” and if we’re being honest, he wasn’t wrong.

· Dave experienced what he called a “moment of clarity” after his final prison sentence.

· He got clean, humbled himself, and took a risk. He asked his family if he could come back and work at their bakery, and they gave him a shot.

· He returned to baking and created a new bread recipe that changed everything. Dave’s Killer Bread blew up in popularity.

· Dave didn’t just find success—he found purpose.

· He made it his mission to hire others with a criminal record. He made a U-turn in his own life, and as a result, he’s helped thousands of others to do the same.

· That brings us to our fourth and final week of our U-Turn series. Each week, we've seen how God steps into the middle of people's messes—not to judge or shame them—but to draw them back to Him.

· As we dive into our story this week, we’ll meet someone who also made some terrible choices, hit rock bottom, and ultimately found himself wondering if there was still a way back. His name was Samson.

· Samson had a clear calling from God, but along the way, he got lost in his pride and poor choices. He hurt others, broke trust, and eventually hit rock bottom.

· But even then, God wasn’t done with him.

· If you’ve ever felt it was too late… like you’ve messed up too many times… like your story is too broken for God to use… Samson’s story might be exactly what you need to hear.

SCRIPTURE (What does God’s Word say?)

· Samson's story shows us that even when we fall, God’s not done writing our story.

· That plays out in three key moments: Samson's calling, his downfall, and his final prayer.

2 In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no children. 3 The angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “Even though you have been unable to have children, you will soon become pregnant and give birth to a son. 4 So be careful; you must not drink wine or any other alcoholic drink nor eat any forbidden food.  5 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 Nazirite from birth. He will begin to rescue Israel from the Philistines.” (Judges 13:2-5 – NLT)

· From the very beginning, Samson's life was set apart.

· He was chosen with a clear purpose—to lead and rescue.

· Somewhere along the way, Samson started relying on his own strength instead of God's, and that led him down a dangerous path.

4 Some time later Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah, who lived in the valley of Sorek. 5 The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice Samson to tell you what makes him so strong and how he can be overpowered and tied up securely. Then each of us will give you 1,100 pieces of silver.” (Judges 16:4-5 – NLT)

· Three times, Delilah asks for the secret to Samson’s strength, and three times, Samson lies to her.

· Each time, the result is the same: Philistine soldiers try to capture Samson, but he easily defeats them once he realizes what’s happening.

· Samson's immaturity is on display here. Either he can’t see that Delilah is trying to destroy him, or he simply doesn’t care.

· Delilah wears him down, and Samson caves and tells her everything.

17 Finally, Samson shared his secret with her. “My hair has never been cut,” he confessed, “for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else.” (Judges 16:17 – NLT)

· Delilah shows her true nature. She was greedy for the money. The rulers were greedy for Samson.

And things quickly fell apart.

18 Delilah realized he had finally told her the truth, so she sent for the Philistine rulers. “Come back one more time,” she said, “for he has finally told me his secret.” So the Philistine rulers returned with the money in their hands. 19 Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and then she called in a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. In this way she began to bring him down, and his strength left him. 20 Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the LORD had left him. 21 So the Philistines captured him and gouged out his eyes. They took him to Gaza, where he was bound with bronze chains and forced to grind grain in the prison. (Judges 16:18-21 – NLT)

· Samson had strength, status, and purpose but he suddenly finds himself blind, alone, and in prison.

· He didn’t even realize God had left him.

· He had drifted so far from the purpose God had for his life that he didn’t even realize that something had changed between him and God.

· Even in the middle of that whole mess, and while Samson was sitting in prison, blind and forgotten by everyone around him, something began to change.

22 But before long, his hair began to grow back. (Judges 16:22 – NLT)

· As Samson’s hair started to grow, so did his awareness of God’s purpose for his life.

· While he was in prison, he went from using his strength to serve himself to trusting God as the One who gave him that strength in the first place.

23 The Philistine rulers held a great festival, offering sacrifices and praising their god, Dagon. They said, “Our god has given us victory over our enemy Samson!” 24 When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy to us! The one who killed so many of us is now in our power!” 25 Half drunk by now, the people demanded, “Bring out Samson so he can amuse us!” So he was brought from the prison to amuse them, and they had him stand between the pillars supporting the roof. (Judges 16:23-25 – NLT)

The Philistines rejoiced before this false god dagon because Samson had been delivered to them. The implication was that since Dagon had made Samson their prisoner, he was greater than the God of Samson who had enabled him to do such great exploits.

BUT AS WE SOON FIND OUT, THAT AIN'T TRUE.

26 Samson said to the young servant who was leading him by the hand, “Place my hands against the pillars that hold up the temple. I want to rest against them.” 27 Now the temple was completely filled with people. All the Philistine rulers were there, and there were about 3,000 men and women on the roof who were watching as Samson amused them. (Judges 16:26-27 – NLT)

28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, 30 he prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines.” And the temple crashed down on the Philistine rulers and all the people. So he killed more people when he died than he had during his entire lifetime. (Judges 16:28-30 – NLT)

· Samson’s story is about a God who never stopped listening to him, never forgot Samson’s purpose, and who restored Samson’s honor, especially in a moment when you could argue that he didn’t deserve it.

God is free to use whomever he chooses to accomplish his will. 

The writer of the Book of Hebrews even lists Samson as a hero of the faith:

Hebrews 11:32–33 “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah, about David and Samuel and the prophets, who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised…”

· No matter what you’ve done, no matter how bad you’ve messed up, God will do the same for you. If you’re far from Him now, all you have to do is turn back to Him!

INSIGHTS (What might this Scripture mean?)

1.  God hears you.

· Even when you’ve ignored Him, when it’s been months since you’ve prayed, when your heart feels cold and distant, God still listens.

· Samson hadn't prayed in a long time but the moment he turned his heart toward God, God heard him.

28 Then Samson prayed to the LORD, “Sovereign LORD, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.” (Judges 16:28 – NLT)

· Samson cried out to God when he needed God the most.

· Throughout Scripture, we find that in those moments, God is merciful.

17 The LORD hears his people when they call to him for help. He rescues them from all their troubles. 18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. (Psalm 34:17 – NLT)

· It doesn’t matter what we’ve done or how far we’ve strayed. He’s always listening.

2. You are not defined by your biggest mistakes.

· Samson’s story shows us that God still has a future for us, despite our failures.

23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. (Romans 3:23-24 – NLT)

· You are not your worst moment or your biggest mistake.

· You are who God says you are—and He says you are loved, chosen, and redeemed.

· He wants to continue to use you to make a difference in this world.

3. God can still use you to make a difference.

· Samson’s biggest impact came after his biggest failures.

· Here's what that means for us: God doesn't need us to have it all together. He doesn't need our perfection—He wants our honesty.

· When we're willing to say, 'God, we need you,' that's when He can do something amazing in our lives.

ACTION (How could we live this out?)

1. Take a turn toward God.

· You don't have to wait until you hit rock bottom or wait until everything falls apart. You can make that U-Turn right now.

22 The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. (Lamentations 3:22-23 – NLT)

· This week, tell God exactly where you are—whether that's feeling distant, wanting to come back, or not even knowing what you believe anymore.

· The goal isn’t to impress God, it’s to be honest with Him.

· You might say something like:

o “God, I feel far from You.”

o “God, I want to start again.”

o “God, I have doubts that you’ll ever take me back.”

2. Keep the conversation going.

· This week, set aside just one minute a day to keep the conversation with God going.

· Talk to God like you'd talk to someone who genuinely cares about what you're going through.

· The point isn't how long you pray or how spiritual you sound. The point is that you're turning your heart toward God every single day.

· When you do that consistently, something amazing happens—you start to notice that God is listening and even responding in your life.

3. Take a next step forward.

· Maybe your next step is:

o Committing to reading your Bible each day and thinking about how you can apply what you’re learning to your life.

o Setting aside a portion of your time each week to serve members of the community who might need a little help.

o Finding another person (or group of people) to start having honest conversations with about your faith.

· Spend some time this week asking God, “What’s my next step?”

· Then the challenge is simply this: GO FOR IT!

· Don’t wait around. Don’t hesitate. Don’t let anything hold you back.

· God isn't waiting for you to be perfect. He's waiting for you to be willing to grow.

*Prayer*