Choosing to be Courageous

2 Questions

• Who is the most courageous person you personally know?

2 Questions

• Who is the most courageous person you personally know?

• What is the most courageous thing you have ever done?

Freedom isn’t Free

• “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

• I Corinthians 6:19-20

Lessons from Gideon

• The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah…where Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites.

• Judges 6:11

Lessons from Gideon

• When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”

• Judges 6:12

Lessons from Gideon

• Courage Lesson #1: God sees us very differently than we see ourselves.

• “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; the old is gone, the new has come!”

• II Corinthians 5:17

Lessons from Gideon

• “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why…? Where…? Did not…? But…?

• Judges 6:13

Lessons from Gideon

• Courage Lesson #2: God honors our questions.

• “When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping…he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.”

• John 11:32-33

Lessons from Gideon

• Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him.

• Judges 6:19

Lessons from Gideon

• Courage Lesson #3: When we trust God, He gives us strength.

• “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles.”

• Isaiah 40:31

Lessons from Gideon

• Gideon said to God, “if you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised – look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew on only the fleece and all the ground is dry, then…

• Judges 6:13

Lessons from Gideon

• Courage Lesson #4: God has patience for those who doubt.

• “And have mercy on those who doubt;”• Jude 22

Lessons from Gideon• During that night the Lord said

to Gideon, “Get up, go down against the camp, because I am going to give it into your hands. If you are afraid to attack, go down to the camp with your servant Purah and listen to what they are saying. Afterward, you will be encouraged to attack the camp.”

• Judges 7:9-11

Lessons from Gideon

• Courage Lesson #5: God understands our fears.

• “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

• John 14:27

Lessons from Daniel and S,M & A

• Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine.”

• Daniel 1:8

Lessons from Daniel, S, M & A

• Courage Lesson #6: Don’t compromise your beliefs!

• “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols.”

• Revelation 2:20

Lessons from Daniel and S,M & A

• Daniel then said to the guard…, “Please test your servants for ten days…Then compare our appearance…”

• Daniel 1:12-13

Lessons from Daniel, S, M & A

• Courage Lesson #7: Don’t be a pompous jerk about your faith.

• “…so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”

• Titus 2:10

Lessons from Daniel and S,M & A

• Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends. He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery.

• Daniel 2:17-18

Lessons from Daniel, S, M & A

• Courage Lesson #8: You can’t live the Christian life alone.

• “Two are better than one…For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

• Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Lessons from Daniel and S,M & A

• S,M & A replied to the king, “O N, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter.”

• Daniel 3:16

Lessons from Daniel, S, M & A

• Lesson #9: Get into the Bible, and let God speak to you and through you.

• “Do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”

• Luke 12:12

Lesson from Esther

• “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

• Esther 4:16

Lesson from Esther

• Courage Lesson #10: God has a specific plan for your life. Are you willing to live it out courageously?

• “Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7

Red Light

What have you felt convicted to stop doing?

What will you do to ensure your decision will last?

Yellow Light

What specific area of your life do you need to yield to Jesus?

Green Light

What have you felt convicted to start doing?

What will you do to ensure your decision will last?