We are so glad that you joined us today at North Main Street Church of God. At North Main, we exist to develop completely committed followers of Christ who...

Know Christ intimately,

Grow in Christ continually, and

Go for Christ daily

Communion

We will be celebrating communion together this morning during worship. The ushers will distribute the elements at that time, but for those who need a gluten-free or sealed option, those are available at the Welcome Center right outside of the doors you came in today.

Two Pillars
(Judges 16:23-31)
Yearly Theme: “Kindness is… Action”
Series Title: “Kindness in the Land”
March 26th, 2023

Something to think about:

We come to our final sermon in the series entitled “Kindness in the Land,” and we come upon a judge by the name of Samson. Samson is the final judge in the Old Testament book of Judges before the prophet/judge, Samuel, came onto the scene. Samson, however, was not a good judge. Having been given great physical strength, and having taken the Nazarite vow of holiness and dedication to GOD (no wine or grapes, no touching of dead bodies, and no cutting of the hair of the head), Samson took for granted that his strength, position, and authority came from the LORD. As a result, he became cocky and arrogant. And with pride ruling in his heart, he was eventually destined to fail.

Instead of honoring GOD and truly devoting his life to Him, Samson flittered his life away in pursuit of women, wine, and death – completely breaking every one of the commitments of his Nazarite vow of dedication to the LORD. In his marriage to a woman named Delilah, an ally of the Philistines (who were enemies of GOD’s people), he would ultimately succumb to the consequences of his pride and arrogance as he revealed the secret to his strength: his uncut hair. Having revealed his secret, Delilah took advantage of him while he was sleeping and cut his hair. When she did this, she alerted the Philistine rulers who came and captured Samson, gouged out his eyes and took him captive as their prisoner.

Hairless, broken, and blind, Samson had succumbed to the consequences of his pride and arrogance. Now the amusement of the Philistines, they parade him around for laughter and ridicule. However, the tables turn on one fateful day when the Philistine rulers held a festival for their chief god Dagon to celebrate their victory over their mighty enemy Samson. For only the second time in Samson’s story, he prays to GOD, but this time he is completely humbled. Let’s take a look at how his story ends…

Here’s the takeaway:

Key Point: “GOD’s kindness drives us to humility.”

What can we learn about GOD’s kindness and how Samson was driven to humility?

· Samson’s _____ caused him to lower his _____.

Judges 16:17-20 (NLT), 17 Finally, Samson shared his secret with her. “My hair has never been cut,” he confessed, “for I was dedicated to God as a Nazirite from birth. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as anyone else.” 18 Delilah realized he had finally told her the truth, so she sent for the Philistine rulers. “Come back one more time,” she said, “for he has finally told me his secret.” So the Philistine rulers returned with the money in their hands. 19 Delilah lulled Samson to sleep with his head in her lap, and then she called in a man to shave off the seven locks of his hair. In this way she began to bring him down, and his strength left him. 20 Then she cried out, “Samson! The Philistines have come to capture you!” When he woke up, he thought, “I will do as before and shake myself free.” But he didn’t realize the LORD had left him.

· When Samson is ____ is when he becomes ______.

Judges 16:28-30 (NLT) 28 Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me again. O God, please strengthen me just one more time. With one blow let me pay back the Philistines for the loss of my two eyes.” 29 Then Samson put his hands on the two center pillars that held up the temple. Pushing against them with both hands, 30 he prayed, “Let me die with the Philistines.”

Something to take home:

In a speech made in 1863, during the American Civil War, Abraham Lincoln wrote a Proclamation (Proclamation 97) appointing a day of “National Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer.” In it, he declared,

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

“It behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended Power, to confess our national sins, and to pray for clemency and forgiveness.”[1]

Much like Samson and the people of Israel, we too as individuals and as a nation, have forgotten GOD. Must we, like Samson, have our eyes gouged out in order to truly see? Must we be humbled the way he was before we turn our hearts back to GOD?

2 Chronicles 7:13-14 (NLT), If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.

In Samson’s humility and humiliation, he remembered to pray. Then and only then did GOD’s presence return to him and his strength was renewed.

Key Point: “GOD’s kindness drives us to humility.”


[1] “Proclamation 97-Appointing a Day of National Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer.” Proclamation 97-Appointing a Day of National Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer | The American Presidency Project, March 30, 1863. https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/proclamation-97-appointing-day-national-humiliation-fasting-and-prayer.

WITH A GROUP

1. What had brought Sampson to a place of humility? List the things which might have been humiliating for Samson.


2. How long was it between Samson's capture and his final act?


3. What is the connection between Samson’s and God’s glory, in victory and in defeat?


4. What is it about the final act of Samson which indicates that God is in the business of redemption and restoration?

JOURNAL

What areas of your life are not giving God honor and glory? What is God asking you to do about it?




How can we help one another learn from the wisdom that God gives so we don’t have to learn life’s lessons the hard way?




Where in your life have you experienced the loving discipline of the Lord? How can we help each other remember God’s love in the midst of pain and struggle?




The cross of Jesus shows us that God is not simply a God of second chances, he’s a God of grace. How does this truth encourage, challenge, and help you?

WITH YOUR FAMILY

MEMORY VERSE:

1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”



ACTIVITY:

Together, choose a worship song or two that talks about God’s grace to us.

Sing or listen to those songs together throughout the week as a reminder of God’s grace.

GO into the world

APPLICATION

While we can see that sin carries a devastating price, is there someone who has sinned against you, who you can reach out to and offer forgiveness and begin the journey of restoration?

OFFICE HOURS
Monday - Thursday
9:00am - 4:00pm