{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Eagle Community Church of Christ","title":"The Story: Judges | The Cycle Continues | Week 8","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":1896,"description":"We apologize for having some technical difficulties which led to the sermon recording starting late. Thank you for listening!\nWhat happens when God’s people forget what He has done?\nAs the book of Judges begins, a new generation has arisen that does not know the Lord or remember what He did for Israel. What follows is a repeated cycle of rebellion, oppression, rescue, and return.\nIsrael follows the gods and practices of the surrounding culture. Their enemies overpower them. They cry out to God, and God raises up judges to rescue them. Yet after each period of deliverance, the people eventually turn away again.\nIn Week 8 of The Story, John Gunter follows this downward cycle through the stories of Deborah and Barak, Gideon, and Samson.\nGod reduces Gideon’s army to only 300 men so Israel cannot claim, “My own hand has saved me.” Samson is given extraordinary strength, yet his own choices eventually leave him blind and imprisoned. Through every story, God demonstrates that He has the power to rescue Israel, but no judge is able to permanently turn the hearts of the people back to Him.\nTheir struggle is not as distant from ours as we might like to think. We can remember God’s faithfulness in one season and wander from Him in the next. We can forget what He has done, take His blessings for granted, or slowly allow the world around us to shape who we are.\nYet even through Israel’s repeated unfaithfulness, God continues to be present with His people.\nJoshua’s challenge therefore remains our challenge:\n“Choose this day whom you will serve.”\nRemember who God is. Remember what He has done. And choose to walk faithfully with Him today.\nKey Scriptures: Judges 2:10-19; Judges 6:7-10; Judges 7:2-7; Judges 13:1-5; Judges 16:15-30; Joshua 24:14-15\nSeries: The Story\nWeek 8: When We Forget\nSpeaker: John Gunter\nEagle Community Church of Christ\nMont Belvieu, Texas\nLoving God. Loving People. Following Jesus. ","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/ztrp-e1kfEhoFNuUnZ4PIfa_NbAaVQGgyohMINXN_F4/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzIyMDE1LzE2MjQz/MDM4NjYtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}