THE JUDGES

Welcome to tonight's Christian Chat Bible Study!

How has your week been?

Has anyone read the Christian Chat Bible Study notes this week?

They can be found at www.christianchat.co.uk/bible/blog.html - however I have had a problem this week and they have not been updated much - basically I am using an alternative pc and cant update the blog on this - it will be back to normal this week though

SO tonight we are looking at "Judges"

The book of Judges is a part of the Old Testament that is often overlooked.
Genesis and Exodus were new and exciting. The miracle of creation followed by the adventures of Abraham, Isaac , Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Joshua - we have looked at most of them over the last few weeks...
Coming up are Samuel and Kings where we meet two of Israel's greatest kings, David and Solomon.

But wait we missed something! What happened to god's people between the time of the Patriarchs and the time of the Kings? That's what the book of Judges is all about and tonight we are going to have a whistle stop tour of the book! so hold tight!

Ok so to set the scene we need to look at Judges 2:10-19 its quite long but would you like me to post it for you to read?

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges%202%20:10-19;&version=31;

So we are going to look at three of the Judges that God raised up

The first is "Deborah" what do people know about Deborah?

The story of Deborah is in Judges 4 and 5 she was the only female Judge - an unlikely choice in a male- dominated culture, yet with great courage to fulfil God's call

She showed great courage in the face of adversity

She simply listened to God's voice and followed it, and she did not want to take charge or be upfront - see Judges 4:9-14

Would some like to post it for us please

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=judges%204:9-14;&version=31;

As we saw in the life of Joshua a spiritual leader is someone who follows orders from God.

Our second Judge is Gideon. What do people know about Gideon?

Judges 6 and 7 covers his life.

Gideon was a reticent leader who wanted to be doubly sure that the call was really from God, placed his total trust in God's ability to win the battle, not simply the size of the army.

Some question Gideon asking God for a sign was lack of faith.... can we ask God for a sign today?

How do you listen to God?

Is there something you need to confirm for you?

Our third Judge is Samson... what do people know about him?

Judges 13-16 is his story

I think Samson can be summed up in a great start with a supportive and committed family, yet he had areas of weakness that hampered his work

He was the classic example of a talented but flawed leader. But deep down he knew he had been running from God

I believe the greatest victory in his life was not destroying the Philistines it was the fact that in his brokenness he finally turned back to God (16:28)
Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "O Sovereign LORD, remember me. O God, please strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes."

So as we think about what we have looked at tonight I have a few questions:

Which is harder: discovering God's will or obeying it?
What appropriate methods should we use to know for sure that it is God who is calling us to pursue a certain path?
Think about Christian families that have experienced children or young people going off the rails or turning their backs on God. Why might this happen?
How should we as a body of Christ support these families?

How do you view those who have gone off the rails?
Do you need God to soften your heart towards them?

Lets close by spending some time bringing those who have turned their backs on God