Sermons

This passage deals with the event in which the people of Israel, having gathered at Mizpah and sworn not to give their daughters to the tribe of Benjamin, end up attacking the people of the city of Jabesh and carrying off its young women by force. When the tribe of Benjamin faces extinction because of their own oath, the people blame God, revealing their selfishness and hardness of heart. Through the atrocious incident involving the Levite, the passage also shows a community that has been set against itself and has fallen for Satan's schemes.

The sermon asks, in light of this picture of Israel, what believers should hold on to as they live. It points out that although God waits patiently for our salvation and for the kingdom of heaven, if believers use God or betray him for the sake of the world's pleasures and gain, in the end they will lose everything. In particular, it stresses that sacrificing the weak or making selfish decisions is the sin of not serving God as King and doing what is right in one's own eyes.

The sermon reminds believers not to fall into the desires of the flesh and the temptations of the world, but to live holy lives in obedience to God's will alone. It leads us to consider how we should prepare ourselves so that we do not take lightly the grace God has given, and are not shaken from the rock of the Word.

This passage deals with how the twelve tribes of Israel prepared for war to punish the tribe of Benjamin, following the tragedy in which a Levite's wife was brutally killed. Seeking his own revenge, the Levite cut his wife's body into twelve pieces and sent them out to stir up Israel, and the tribe of Benjamin chose war rather than repenting of its sin. Israel went out with an army of tens of thousands and asked God for victory, but in their hearts there was no true repentance and no will to reconcile.

The sermon points out that the prayers and sacrifices Israel offered were not what God delights in. Burnt offerings and peace offerings stand for sacrifice and reconciliation, but Israel tried to use them to satisfy its desire to destroy its brother. God does not help those who repent, and he did not hear their prayers. Instead, they could not see their own sin and sought only to judge the other side, and as a result they suffered a tragedy in which countless lives were lost.

The sermon asks whether believers, when they see a brother's weakness, should first look at themselves and repent. It asks whether true repentance is found not in a faith that judges and condemns one another, but in humbly taking a brother's sin as one's own and praying.

Today's passage deals with the tragic events that befell a Levite and his concubine in the time of the judges. The Levite, who should have proclaimed the word in God's place and been in charge of the sacrifices, fell into sexual corruption, and as he collapsed, his wife also committed the same sin and in the end met a miserable death. This incident goes beyond one person's moral failure; it shows what came of the whole people of Israel abandoning God's order and giving in to Satan's temptation.

The sermon points out that this corruption has its roots in Satan's relentless attacks and in believers failing to stay awake. Through media, culture and more, Satan distorts the idea of sex and fosters a culture that makes light of life, causing believers to live crooked lives, like a shirt buttoned wrong from the very first button. In particular, once the Levites and leaders, who should have been armed with the Word, collapsed, the people sank into a state where they could no longer tell good from evil.

Through this lesson from history, our church and its members today must reflect on where we stand. As the world's laws and morals crumble, the sermon asks whether believers can protect themselves and become 'magnets' that bring their neighbors to salvation, or whether they have fallen for Satan's strategy and are simply standing by.

Today's passage deals with the story of Micah's household in the land of Ephraim, early in the time of the judges. When Micah's mother finds out about the silver her son stole, she fears the curse and covers up his sin, and instead of setting things right she goes on to provide him with an idol and a priest, making the problem worse. Neglecting her son's character and proper discipline, she holds on to a misguided faith that serves her son like an idol for the sake of worldly success and her own desires.

This picture of Micah's mother resembles the heart of parents today who cover up their children's wrongdoing and want nothing for them but worldly success. The Levite who compromised his holy office to make a living, and the tribe of Dan, which used God for its own prosperity, also show a slice of an age in which faith had been corrupted. By making idols and hiring a priest, they treat God as their own possession, and they wander, having lost honest faith and the discernment that comes from the Word.

God does not exist for anyone's worldly blessing or success; he requires us to live holy lives through honest faith and faithfulness. We look at ourselves and ask whether, like Micah's mother, we cover up our children's sins; whether, like the Levite, we compromise our calling out of worldly calculation; or whether, like the tribe of Dan, we use God as our own tool.

This passage deals with the tragic situation of the judge Samson, who revealed the secret of his strength to the Philistine woman Delilah, lost both his eyes, and was reduced to a slave. Samson justified his actions as being for the sake of Judah and shifted the responsibility onto others, and in the end he was betrayed by his own people and handed over to the Philistines with his hands and feet bound. Still believing that his strength could come back at any time, he acted proudly, and went into captivity without knowing that God had already left him.

The sermon points out that Samson did not live wisely, and that, gripped by his lust and pride, he twisted God's will. He chose revenge rather than solving problems, and because he would not admit his weaknesses, he easily fell to Satan's temptations. God had made his purpose and plan clear to believers, but Samson ignored them and lived a self-centered life, and in the end he lost his standing as God's instrument. The sermon also warns of the miserable outcome believers face when they are shaken by the world's temptations without knowing their own weaknesses.

We must look back on how we are spending the time we have left as believers, and whether we know our weaknesses well enough to hold off Satan's attacks. We must reflect deeply on whether we have failed to put God first and fallen into the world's temptations, and whether we are making Christ's salvation of no effect.

This passage deals with the conception of Samson, the Nazirite who would save Israel. The angel of the Lord appears to Manoah and his wife, who had no son, announces that they will have a son, and commands that the parents themselves live as Nazirites for the child's sake. This is not merely a miracle of birth; it shows God's deep purpose of preparing a holy vessel in which to place a precious treasure.

The sermon points to the pain and resolve that Manoah and his wife had to go through. They had to give up their ordinary way of life and drinking, and obey God's providence even when they could not understand it. This reveals God's wonderful nature, which goes beyond human reason and judgment, and calls for a living faith of obedience rather than a dead faith without works. Through the tragedy of Samson, who received God's grace and yet fell in the end, it also warns that the more special the grace a person has received, the more thorough the holiness and humility they need.

Just as God required Manoah and his wife to live as Nazirites, he asks believers today to cut off worldly pleasures and live holy lives. We are led to look back on whether we are growing into believers who can care for the precious souls God will entrust to us, and whether we are living wisely according to God's will.

This passage deals with what kind of life the judges of Israel had to live in order to be trusted by the people. In particular, through the foolish choices of Jephthah, who went to war in anger at the complaints and insults of the tribe of Ephraim and offered his daughter as a burnt offering for his own glory, it shows human greed and limits, and the emptiness of life.

The sermon traces how the judges became corrupt as they pursued human recognition, riches and honor rather than God. It points out that as Jephthah and the judges after him concentrated on strengthening their own power and that of their families, the people too were corrupted and left God. This shows that the corruption of leaders leads directly to the spiritual decline of the people, and that in the end God judged them and put them through forty years of refining.

We are led to think about what faith we must keep in order to be people approved by God first, and how we should live today so that we have no regrets as we come to the end of our lives.

This passage deals with how the judge Jephthah, before the war with Ammon, made a vow with God as his witness. Jephthah had once been driven out by his family and lived among the lowest of society, but when the elders of Israel asked for his help and offered him the position of leader, he took it as a chance to regain power. He vowed that if God promised him victory, he would offer as a burnt offering whoever came out of his house first, dressing up his ambition as a sacred oath.

The sermon points out that Jephthah made his vow not out of true repentance or gratitude, but for revenge and to satisfy his pride. He expected a servant to become the offering, but unexpectedly his only daughter was the first to come out to meet him. It shows that Jephthah's pride and arrogance, having grown so used to the culture of idolatry that he did not count offering a human sacrifice as a great sin, ended up bringing his family to ruin. Through Jephthah's wrong vow, God exposes the flaws in his character and the distortion of his faith.

Through Jephthah's mistake, we must realize how dangerous it is to treat God as our own tool. True faith does not begin with setting conditions for our own benefit or misusing vows, but with fully acknowledging God's sovereignty and obeying him. Looking at Jephthah's tragic end, we must earnestly examine whether our vows and prayers come from God, or whether our own greed is deceiving God.

This passage deals with the situation of the people of Israel in the time of the judges, who abandoned God, served many idols, and sinned. Reminding them of the history of salvation that goes back to Egypt, God firmly declares that because they have served other gods, he will save them no more. God coldly points out that, in the suffering brought on by their own choices, the people should go and ask their idols for help. This is the result of cutting off their relationship with God through human greed and pride, and it shows that idols are empty things that can never save.

The sermon draws insight by comparing Israel's behavior with modern people who live only for themselves and cut themselves off from relationships and community. It warns that God does not restrict human freedom, but when we fall for Satan's temptation and lose God at our center, we end up tied by the cords of sin. Through the examples of Abimelech, Gideon's betrayer, and the judge Jair, who boasted of his wealth, it also shows how a life that seeks only its own benefit leads to ruin. By contrast, through the faith of the judge Tola, who without any great events was faithful in his place and brought peace to the people, it points to the kind of true devotion that God remembers.

We are meant to live receiving teaching and rebuke through Scripture, but if we do not know God's word, we cannot see our own sins and we end up worshiping the riches and honors of the world. Even though God died for us on the cross, we must look back on whether we still stand in the place of abandoning God for our own righteousness and desires. Before the warning that God will save no more, we must judge for ourselves what choices we are making as we live now.

This passage deals with the story of Gideon, who won a great victory in the war against Midian. He wisely defuses the complaints of the tribe of Ephraim, subdues the people of Succoth who had mocked him, and establishes his authority as a judge. But at the very moment the glory of victory lifts him to the highest place, Gideon, rather than giving thanks to God, first takes the crescent ornaments that symbolized foreign gods.

He gathers the people's spoils to make an ephod and places it in his own town, seeking to show off his greatness and take revenge on his former enemies. In times of hardship God had guided him with his word, but once Gideon became proud, God no longer rebuked him with the word and fell silent. This silence is not a blessing but the beginning of a judgment that cuts off the relationship, and in the end it brings about the tragedy of the ruin of Gideon's house.

We must be on guard against forgetting God in the place of success and glory and sinking into our own satisfaction and boasting. We must understand what it means when God is silent toward us, and live giving thanks for the grace we have received and obeying the Word. What should we choose so that we do not fall at the height of glory as Gideon did?

This passage deals with the inner struggle the judge Gideon goes through before the battle against the Midianite army, and with his relationship with God. Even though Gideon had already seen God's power through several miracles, he still tests God out of fear and unbelief and asks for his patience. God knows his weakness yet does not abandon him, and makes his heart firm by having him go down into the enemy camp and overhear the enemy's conversation.

The sermon points out that Gideon's behavior was not simply a way of coping with circumstances, but revealed his unchanging character and attitude of faith. He was always inclined to move only once he had certainty and understanding first, and this led in the end to his inability to rely on God completely. God was patient with him and helped him to the end because of love, but unless this mold of character is broken, it is hard for it to lead to true obedience and victory.

Through Gideon, we look back on how far our own faith is bound to an imperfect character. We consider what we must break for the sake of the victory God has prepared, and what change we need in order to boldly hold up a torch in the darkness.

This passage deals with the judge Gideon treating God with disrespect and testing him to the end, and with God's love that nevertheless works to raise him up. Gideon shows his weakness: out of fear he tears down the idol secretly at night, hides behind his father in the face of the people's anger, and tests God yet again. It helps us realize that Gideon's faith is our own faith, and shows God's earnest love, which knows human weakness and patiently protects us.

Alongside Gideon's story, the sermon offers as an illustration the story of a father who, to understand his child's pain, pretended to have injured his own leg and walked on a crutch for four years. This connects with the love of Jesus Christ, who became like sinners, experienced human suffering firsthand, and sacrificed himself on the cross. It stresses that God chose Gideon not because of his ability but because God knew that, given grace and patience, he could grow. It also points out that the burnt offering Gideon made was not just a gift but a decision to give everything he had to God, and says that believers too must live lives of obedience, offering their wealth and honor as a burnt offering.

It reminds us that God answered Gideon's requests not because of his faith but because of a greater plan of salvation. Seeing Gideon's life, which ended in misfortune after he tested God to the end, we must show God an honest faith and not take salvation lightly. It asks whether we are doing our best to carry out the mission God has given us, and whether we have a faith that sees God's work as great.