WBCC CELL NOTES 03RD MAY 2015

THE WILL OF GOD: PART 2

  1. ANNOUNCEMENTS:
  • Thanks for supporting our Church Picnic – God blessed us with an awesome day and great fun together!
  • Remember our Lesotho Fundraiser 23rd May: Potjie Competition: Each Cell to please organize a Potjie! Great Entertainment!
  • Please diarize the 24th – 26th July – our Church Camp! Don’t miss this!
  1. WELCOME/ICEBREAKER:

Share one of the HARDEST things you have ever done?

  1. WORSHIP:

Focus on ensuring there is variety in your worship …. There are many creative ways to express one’s worship that is more than just singing!

  1. WORD: Read: Judges 6

Ask each member of the group to read 4 or 5 verses from Judges 6

4.1Is feeling a peace (or lack thereof) about something a valid factor in determining God’s will? (See 2 Cor. 2:12-14.)

4.2Do we need to seek God’s will for relatively minor decisions (what we wear for the day, etc.)? Why/why not? Where do we draw the line in terms of needing to know God’s will in daily life?

4.3How can we know when to go against the counsel of godly people? What principles apply?

4.4From Judges 6 we see that Gideon put out a fleece to determine God’s will.

  • Share a time you put out a fleece.
  • Do you think this is a good and wise thing to do when determining God’s will?

(For leader: See next page of cell notes (or back page) for some “ammunition” to use in your discussion!)

PLEASE PRAY:

  1. For wisdom for the church leadership, as well as financial provision, as we desire to have a full time Youth Pastor/Children’s Pastor in place by next year!
  2. That our church and Cells would continue to grow – we have many visitors but need to encourage them to become part of the church through joining Cells.
  3. That our church would be alert to welcoming new people and making them part of the Westway Family!
  4. The continued releif efforts in NEPAL after the devastating earthquake and the Christian organizations working there – for good opportunities to be, and share Jesus!

Commentary: Judges 6

The story of Gideon should be for our instruction and not serve as a model for our own behavior. Jesus said on two occasions that “a wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign” (Matthew 12:39; 16:1-4). His point was that the signs He had already given them—His fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, healings, and miracles—were sufficient for them to respond to the truth, if truth was what they were seeking. Clearly, it was not.
Another lesson of Gideon’s fleeces is that those asking for signs are exhibiting a weak and immature faith that won’t be convinced by the signs anyway! Gideon had received more than enough information without the sign of the fleeces. God had told him he would have victory (v. 14), and He had responded to a previous request for a sign with a miraculous display of power in fire (v. 16). Still, Gideon asked for two more signs because of his own insecurity. In the same way, even when God does provide the sign we ask for, it doesn’t give us what we crave because our wavering faith still doubts. That often leads us to ask for multiple signs, none of which give us the assurance we need, because the problem isn’t with God’s power; it’s with our own perception of it.
A problem with following Gideon’s example of fleece-setting is that it does not take into account that our situation and his are really not comparable. As Christians, we have two powerful tools that Gideon lacked. First, we have the complete Word of God which we know is “God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17). God has assured us that His Word is all we need to be “thoroughly equipped” for anything and everything in life. We do not need experiential proof (signs, voices, miracles) to verify what He has already told us in His Word.

Our second advantage over Gideon is that every Christian has the Holy Spirit, who is God Himself, residing in his heart to guide, direct, and encourage. Prior to Pentecost, believers had the Old Testament only and were directed externally by God’s providential hand. Now we have His complete Bible and His indwelling presence in our hearts.

Rather than seeking signs via fleeces, we should be content to know God’s will for us in every situation every day: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16); “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18); “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17). If these things characterize our lives, the decisions we make will be in accordance with God’s will, He will bless us immeasurably with His peace and assurance, and there will be no need to put out fleeces or ask for signs.