Annihilating the Amalekites

In one paragraph

On Tribe's ninth birthday, Brian Hunter preached from Exodus 17 on the Amalekite attack against Israel in the wilderness, weaving in footage and photographs from a recent trip he and Lissa took to Saudi Arabia to walk the ground where that story likely unfolded. The central idea was that life reliably brings sudden opposition, and scripture and the story of Moses and Joshua show us how to meet it....

Read together

1. Exodus 17:8-16 read aloud by a congregation member as the main text for the sermon
2. John 16:33 quoted from memory by Brian to show that Jesus promised trouble in this life but told us to take heart because he has overcome the world
3. 1 John 4:4 put on screen and quoted to show that greater is he who lives in you than he who lives in the world, as the basis for victory over Amalekite attacks
4. Philippians 4:6-8 referenced briefly as the basis for not worrying when an unexpected bill arrives

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about how Moses holding his hands up had no obvious natural connection to whether Joshua's men won or lost on the battlefield, yet obedience in that one area unlocked victory in another. Where have you seen something like that play out in your own life?
2. Brian described an Amalekite attack as something that tends to show up right when things are going well. Can you think of a time when that happened to you, and how did you respond when the wheels started to come off?
3. Brian said distraction comes in two forms, opposition and opportunity, and that the enemy has no problem with you being a good, moral person as long as you never fully surrender to Jesus. How do you personally tell the difference between a good opportunity and a distraction from what God is actually calling you to?
4. Lissa shared that she auditioned for a worship team even though she did not have peace about it, and only knew for certain she was outside God's will when she got the phone call offering her the spot. Have you ever had to take a step in a direction to find out it was the wrong one, and what did that cost you to turn back?
5. Brian said that for almost five years the only vision God gave him for Tribe was two words, stay close. How do you handle a season where God is not showing you much further ahead than your headlights reach?