Guts & Gore

How many lefties do we have? Being left handed is sometimes seen as a disadvantage. My roommate in college was left-handed. We played softball together on our fraternity softball team…

Tell story of Todd hitting Spruell with the bat.

But being left-handed is really not a bad thing! Lefties aren’t as common, but lots of good left handed people in the world.

Bill Gates

Stan Lee

Leonardo de Vinci

Vincent Van Gogh

Will Ferrell

Jason Sudekis

Mayim Bialik

Hugh Jackman

Scarlett Johnason

Anna Kendrick

Zoe Saldana

Lady Gaga

Justin Bieber

Adam Levine

Barrack Obama

LeBron James

David Ortiz

Tua Tagavaiola

Sponge Bob Square Pants (ambi)

Patrick the Starfish

Several Carebears

Moana and Maui

Flint Lockwood

Kermit the Frog

We’re talking about a left-handed guy tonight. And that’s important because at this time in history, being left-handed was seen as being something really bad! The left hand was known as the “sinister hand”. The world saw it as weak. But what we’re going to see tonight is that

God loves to reveal his glory through “weakness”.

The story we’re looking at tonight is about a guy named Ehud. Watch this video to see his story...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjTocODJH9g

PRAY

Read .

v15; The Lord works through what we call weakness.

This is a principle we see in Scripture over and over. The rest of the book of judges is this way. The next big story in judges is about a woman who delivers Israel. Women were seen as being even weaker than lefties in the culture!

God loves to work through what we see as weak because then it’s clear that He did it.

1 Corinthians 1:27–31 HCSB

Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world —what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, so that no one can boast in His presence. But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.

1 Corinthians 1:27 HCSB

Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9–10 HCSB

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures, because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

1 Corinthians 1:27

This is a theme that God loves. So don’t ever think that you are too weak or too insignificant or untalented or unspecial to be used by the Lord.

Adrian Rogers was speaking at a conference one time and he started asking questions like who was the valedictorian at their high school and who had a PhD. He had the people stay standing. Then he told them that it was great they did these things and that God could use them, but He would use the people still seated first.

God loves to work through what the world sees as weak. JD Greear says that

In God’s Kingdom, availability is more important than ability.

This is a habit God held on to. He used Ehud to deliver his people from an army that stood against them. He used another person seen as weak to deliver his people from the most dangerous enemy we face.

Isaiah 53:2–3 HCSB

He grew up before Him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at Him, no appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like someone people turned away from; He was despised, and we didn’t value Him.

Jesus was not the strong and powerful political and military savior that people were looking for from God. He was something greater. He defeated an enemy for us that was far greater than an army. He defeated sin. He defeated death!

Isaiah 53:4–5 HCSB

Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds.

Isaiah 53:4-5

Jesus shares the victory with us when we put our faith in Him...

Share the Gospel and give weird mid-sermon invitation.

Jesus is our Savior, but God’s people still have to endure hard times.

Pick the story back up at v 16.

At verse 24, tell story of first football game with Kristen.

In the end, our suffering won’t seem like much!

The reason we laugh as we read the details of this story is because it was written to be funny! God’s enemies will be mocked!

Psalm 37:13 HCSB

The Lord laughs at him because He sees that his day is coming.

And God’s people who went through this slavery and oppression are looking back on it and laughing. They remember it joyously.

It will be the same for us. We will experience hardship if we follow Christ as we are called to do. Scripture leaves no doubt of that. But it also tells us that it will seem like nothing in eternity because what awaits us is so good!

Romans 8:18 HCSB

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

Just like the Israelites were able to look back on this story and laugh, we will be able to look back on the sufferings in our lives and laugh. We’ll see how God was working the whole time even though we didn’t see it. We’ll see how those things don’t even matter anymore because we are living with God in paradise.

God’s glory will be on full display for eternity because of the way He worked through what this world calls weak. And if we will understand that and work with God in that, we will be blessed!

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