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FLAWED HEROES | Week 3 | Full Service · Rewind

Rock Point Church

67 min

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Mar 27, 2023 · 4 min read · 67 min listen

The big idea

Inside every believer is a warrior within, and it's time for the church to wake it up and remember there's a war worth fighting.

In this message

The big idea
Point 1 of 7The book of Judges shows a cycle of God's people forgetting who they are and suffering for it
Point 2 of 7God sends a prophet before a rescuer, confronting Israel with the truth that their suffering is self-caused

Point 3 of 7Gideon is found hiding in a wine press instead of boldly threshing wheat on the open hilltop where he belonged
Point 4 of 7Our identity determines everything, and Scripture says we are chosen, royal, holy, and set apart to shine light into darkness
Point 5 of 7We awaken the warrior within by learning to see ourselves the way God sees us
Point 6 of 7We awaken the warrior within by dropping our excuses and going in the strength we already have
Point 7 of 7The battle is already won, so we fight from victory rather than for it, refusing to let fear of failure stop us
Take it into your week
Transcript

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Scripture in this message

John 10:10
1 Peter 2
Matthew 5
Matthew 5:16
Revelation 19

Rewind AI drafted the Big Idea and some point headings shown here from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Pastor Daniel Goulding · Mar 27, 2023 · 67 min watch · 2 min read

FLAWED HEROES | Week 3 | Full Service

In this message

Big Idea
Key points
Application

Scripture in this message

John 10:10
1 Peter 2
Matthew 5
Matthew 5:16
Revelation 19

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

Inside every believer is a warrior within, and it's time for the church to wake it up and remember there's a war worth fighting.

There's a deeper calling and a deeper strength inside every believer than the caves we've settled for. Through the story of Gideon, Pastor Daniel shows that God sees a mighty hero in us even in our hiding, and He invites us to fight from a position of victory that Jesus has already won, not for one we're still trying to earn.

Key points

1
1The book of Judges shows a cycle of God's people forgetting who they are and suffering for it
Pastor Daniel walks through Judges 6:1-6, explaining that Israel had no king or central leader and repeatedly did evil, leading God to hand them over to the Midianites for seven years of starvation and hiding in caves. He draws a parallel between Israel's spiritual amnesia and America's spiritual poverty today, arguing the church has settled into blending in rather than standing apart.
2
2God sends a prophet before a rescuer, confronting Israel with the truth that their suffering is self-caused
Before raising up Gideon, God sends a prophet who reminds Israel who He is and who they are, essentially telling them they reap what they sow. Pastor Daniel notes God's apparent frustration but also His faithfulness to still act despite Israel's forgetfulness.
3
3Gideon is found hiding in a wine press instead of boldly threshing wheat on the open hilltop where he belonged
Pastor Daniel contrasts the wine press (a hidden hole) with the threshing floor (a wide-open hilltop), showing that Gideon, like much of the church, had settled for hiding and ineffectiveness instead of boldly living out his identity in plain view.
4
4Our identity determines everything, and Scripture says we are chosen, royal, holy, and set apart to shine light into darkness
Drawing on 1 Peter 2 and Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, Pastor Daniel teaches that believers are the light of the world and salt of the earth, meant to stop cultural decay and reflect Christ, not hide their light under a basket by settling into worldly pursuits.
5
5We awaken the warrior within by learning to see ourselves the way God sees us
When Jesus appears to Gideon in the wine press, He calls him 'mighty hero' before Gideon has done anything. Pastor Daniel explains that God sees potential and ability in us we don't see in ourselves, and because of the cross, God sees us as complete even while we're still hiding and afraid.
6
6We awaken the warrior within by dropping our excuses and going in the strength we already have
Gideon protests that his clan is weak and he is the least in his family, yet God doesn't answer his questions directly but tells him to go with the strength he has. Pastor Daniel applies this practically by challenging people to invite one person to Easter services rather than waiting to feel fully equipped.
7
7The battle is already won, so we fight from victory rather than for it, refusing to let fear of failure stop us
Pastor Daniel references Gideon's 300 men defeating an army of 150,000 and points to Revelation 19's vision of Christ returning as King of Kings to show the outcome of the whole story is already decided. He urges believers to measure victory by today's faithfulness, not fear of failing at some future battle.

I believe that inside of every single one of you sitting in this room, there's a warrior within you

Application

Pastor Daniel's charge is to let the warrior within wake up by seeing yourself as God sees you and going in the strength you already have.

See yourself the way God sees you
Fight to believe what God says about you rather than what your mistakes or insecurities say, surrounding yourself with people and worship that remind you of your identity in Christ.
Go in the strength you already have
Drop the excuses about what you lack and start with the gifts, family, and community right in front of you, trusting God to do the rest.
Invite one person to Easter
Pray and ask God to bring one person to mind at work, in your family, or in your neighborhood, and simply invite them to one of the Easter services.
Refuse to let fear of failure stop you
Engage the fight in your home, culture, and community today, remembering the outcome is already decided in Christ so faithfulness now matters more than fear of failing.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“in John ten ten says that Jesus has come so you can have life and life abundantly. I look at the reality of what most of us live in and the truth is it's far from abundant”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“In one Peter two, here's what the Bible says about you and I. It says that you and I are a chosen people. We're royal priests. We're a holy nation. We're God's very own possession”
From the transcript
“He says in Matthew chapter five, You are the light of the world. You're a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. Nobody lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket”
From the transcript
“Look what he says in verse 16. He says, In the same way, let your good deed shine throughout for all to see so that everyone will praise your heavenly father”
From the transcript
“Here's what the end is friends. I wrap up with this. Revelations chapter 19. There's a day that is coming. John had a vision and it's the second coming of Jesus. Then I saw heaven opened up and a white horse was standing there”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Day 1

Pastor Daniel opened with a sharp observation: the church has largely forgotten who she is. We have traded a set-apart identity for a comfortable blend with the culture around us, and the result is a people who look more like the world than like the King they follow. First Peter 2:9 refuses to let that stand. The words are unambiguous — chosen, royal, holy, God's own possession. Not earned, not conditional on performance, but declared over you before you ever took a step. The problem Gideon illustrates is not unique to ancient Israel. We can attend, sing, serve, and still be hiding — going through the motions without any real output, as Pastor Daniel put it. Spiritual complacency is quiet. It doesn't announce itself. It simply lets the noise of normal life drown out the call of God until you can't hear it anymore. But here is the thing about an identity that is declared rather than earned: it doesn't expire while you're hiding. God's word over you holds. The invitation today is simply to let it land — to sit with the reality that you are chosen and called, and to ask honestly whether the way you are living reflects that truth or whether something has dulled it.

For reflection

In what area of your life have you been blending in rather than living as someone set apart by God?

Pray

Pray for honest awareness of where spiritual complacency has taken root in your life.

Day 2

Related passage

Picture the scene Pastor Daniel described: Gideon is hiding in a winepress, threshing wheat in secret so the enemy won't steal it. He is scared, defeated, and doing the bare minimum just to survive. And then the Angel of the Lord — whom Pastor Daniel identified as Jesus — looks at this frightened man crouching in a hole and says, 'Mighty hero, the Lord is with you.' Not 'Mighty hero, once you clean yourself up.' Not 'Mighty hero, when you finally believe it.' Right there in the winepress. Right there in the hiding. God speaks identity over Gideon before Gideon does a single courageous thing. This is how God sees you. Not as the sum of your insecurities, your track record, or your excuses, but as the person He created and is calling forward. The gap between how Gideon saw himself and how God saw him was enormous — and it is just as wide for most of us. We rehearse our limitations so often they start to feel like facts. But God's declaration carries more weight than your own assessment. The work of faith is learning to believe what God says about you more than what your fear says. That is not positive thinking. It is taking God at His word.

For reflection

What is the gap between how you currently see yourself and how this passage says God sees you?

Pray

Pray for the grace to receive God's word over your identity more fully than your own self-assessment.

Day 3

Jesus doesn't say you should try to become the light of the world. He says you are the light of the world. That present-tense declaration carries the same force as what God spoke over Gideon. Pastor Daniel drew on this passage to press on a specific failure mode: not darkness, but hiddenness. A light under a basket isn't broken — it's buried. It is still light. It's just not doing what light is meant to do. Salt that stays in the shaker doesn't make anything taste better or keep anything from spoiling. Pastor Daniel used the image of the church retreating into caves while the world starves spiritually. That is a striking picture, and it's worth sitting with. The world around you — your neighborhood, your workplace, your family — is not spiritually neutral. It is either being salted and lit by the presence of Jesus in His people, or it is slowly going the other direction. You are not responsible for outcomes only God can produce. But you are responsible for whether you stay under the basket. The call today is to think about one specific place where your light has been dimmed by comfort or fear, and to let Jesus' words be an invitation rather than an accusation.

For reflection

Where is one place — a relationship, a context, a conversation — where you have been hiding your light?

Pray

Pray for courage to let your light shine in one specific place this week.

Day 4

Related passage

Gideon had a list of reasons why he was the wrong person for the job. His clan was the weakest, his family was the least, and he was the most insignificant member of it. The excuses were not invented — they were real. And God's response was not to argue with them. He simply said, 'Go in the strength you have.' That phrase is worth reading slowly. Not the strength you wish you had. Not the strength you'll have once the fear is gone and the doubts are quieter. The strength you have, right now, today. Pastor Daniel made the practical edge of this concrete: for some people, the one step is as simple as inviting one person to Easter. That might feel small. But the whole arc of Gideon's story begins with one moment of obedience, not a fully formed strategy. God tends to meet people in motion rather than in preparation. The heavy lifting, as Pastor Daniel put it, belongs to God. Your part is the first faithful step. Excuses and insecurities are real, and this devotional is not going to tell you they aren't. But they are not the final word. The question is whether you will let them be a stopping point or a starting line.

For reflection

What is the one step you have been putting off, and what would it look like to take it in the strength you already have?

Pray

Pray for the courage to take one specific step of obedience, even before the fear subsides.

Day 5

Related passage

When Gideon pressed God on whether this whole plan would actually work, God didn't offer a strategic briefing. He said, 'I will be with you.' That was the answer. Not a guarantee of favorable odds, not a removal of danger, but the presence of God — and the certainty that presence brings. Pastor Daniel named a truth that changes the entire frame of the Christian life: you do not fight for victory, you fight from it. The outcome has already been decided. This is not a motivational slogan. It is a theological reality grounded in what Christ has already accomplished. The battle Gideon was stepping into felt uncertain from where he stood. It was not uncertain from where God stood. The same is true of every fight you are walking into right now — in your home, your relationships, your neighborhood, your own soul. You are not trying to win something that is still up for grabs. You are living out a story whose ending is already written. That does not make the battles easy or painless. But it does mean you can engage them without the paralysis of not knowing how it ends. There is a kind of steadiness that comes only from this — not from confidence in yourself, but from confidence in the One who goes with you.

For reflection

How would your engagement in a current struggle look different if you approached it from a posture of victory rather than a posture of uncertainty?

Pray

Pray for a deep, settled confidence rooted not in your own strength but in God's presence and promised outcome.

Day 6

Pastor Daniel closed the sermon with this passage — and it is a passage that recalibrates everything. The returning Jesus in Revelation 19 is not the gentle teacher at the manger or the suffering servant on the cross. He is the conquering King riding in to finish what is already decided. Faithful and True. Eyes like fire. A sword from His mouth. Every title written on His robe. This is not a picture of a God who is hoping things work out. This is the culmination of a story He has been authoring from before the beginning. Pastor Daniel's point was urgent: the King is coming back, the end is certain, and that certainty should fuel how you engage right now. The battles in your home and your culture are not trivial side notes — they matter because the King is returning to a world His people were called to salt and light and fight for. The urgency of the gospel is not manufactured; it is simply a response to what is true. The fight is not someone else's, and it is not deferred to some future version of you who finally has it together. It belongs to you, today, in the name of the One who rides with a name no one knows but Himself.

For reflection

How does the certainty of Jesus' return shape the way you feel about the battles you're facing right now?

Pray

Pray for an urgency and a hope that comes from keeping your eyes on the returning King.

Day 7

Related passage

Over the past six days you have walked through the building blocks of Pastor Daniel's message — a forgotten identity, a God who speaks warrior over the hiding, a call to be salt and light, the command to go in the strength you have, the freedom of fighting from victory, and the certainty of where history ends. Today, read the whole passage again slowly. Let Gideon's story be a mirror, not just a history lesson. You are the person in the winepress. You are also the person Jesus is calling mighty hero. Both are true at once, and the distance between those two realities is exactly the space where faith lives. The three invitations Pastor Daniel left the church with are worth returning to: fight to see yourself the way God sees you, and stay close to people who remind you of that; stop letting excuses have the last word and take one step today; and engage the battles in front of you with urgency, knowing the King has already won and is coming back. None of this is about working yourself into a heroic feeling. It is about trusting a declaration God has already made over your life and letting it slowly reshape how you move through your days — in your home, with your neighbors, in your own soul.

For reflection

Looking back over this week, which of the three closing invitations feels most urgent for your life right now, and what is one concrete way you will respond?

Pray

Pray for the courage to carry this week's truths out of reflection and into the actual rhythms of your daily life.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message sits with a striking image: Gideon hiding in a winepress while an angel shows up and calls him a 'mighty hero.' Let that picture settle for a moment before we dig in.

Discussion questions

1
In Judges 6:12, the angel addresses Gideon as a 'mighty hero' while Gideon is literally hiding from the enemy. What do you think it means that God speaks to who Gideon *is* rather than what Gideon is currently doing?
Related passage
2
Pastor Daniel pointed to 1 Peter 2:9 — that believers are 'a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation' — and observed that the church has often traded that set-apart identity for simply blending in with the surrounding culture. What does it look like, practically, when a community of people actually lives out that kind of distinct identity?
3
In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus calls His followers the light of the world and says a lamp isn't meant to be hidden under a basket. What reasons do people tend to give — or feel — for dimming that light, and how does Jesus' framing push back on those reasons?
4
Judges 6:14 records God telling Gideon to 'go in the strength you have' — not the strength he wished he had. Pastor Daniel built on that by inviting people to take one step, even something as small as inviting one person to Easter. What's the relationship between taking a small, concrete step and trusting God to do the heavier lifting that follows?
Related passage
5
Pastor Daniel drew a line between Judges 6:16 — where God tells Gideon 'I will be with you' as the guarantee of victory — and Revelation 19:11-16, where Jesus returns as conquering King. How does knowing the end of the story change the way people engage the battles in front of them right now?
6
Pastor Daniel closed with the idea that the greatest pain isn't failure — it's regret. How might that reframe the way we, as a community, encourage one another to step into things that feel risky or uncertain?

Pray together

Courage to see ourselves the way God sees us, and grace to take one faithful step in the strength we already have

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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FLAWED HEROES

Week 3 · 4 messages

Where these passages are preached

John 10 1 Peter 2 Matthew 5 Revelation 19

Explore related topics

Cultural Influence Kingdom Advancement Overcoming Fear and Excuses Spiritual Identity Victory in Christ

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