Faith That Liberates the Victimized (Week 4 Everson)
Date: 06/28/09Speaker: Kurt Langstraat
Series: Revolutionary Faith
Categories: Everson
June 27/28, 2009
Faith That Liberates the Victimized
All of us hate to be treated unfairly! All of us also hate to see innocent people victimized or abused, especially women and children. So does God our Father! He is just, and He loves righteousness and justice!
Deuteronomy 32:4 – “He is the Rock; His work is perfect. Everything He does is just and fair. He is a faithful God who does no wrong; how just and upright He is!” Psalm 97:2; Psalm 33:5; Psalm 36:6
He also hates injustice and inhumanity. He hears the cries of those who are afflicted, oppressed or suffering unjustly and wants them to know their cry is being heard. Psalm 33:13-15; Psalm 10:17-18; Psalm 9:9; Psalm 72:12-14; Isaiah 10:1-3; Psalm 103:6; Psalm 146:7;
Psalm 22:24 – “For He has not ignored the suffering of the needy.
He has not turned and walked away. He has listened to their cries
for help."
• 1 billion people live on less than a $1.00 a day
• 2.6 billion people live on less than $2.00 a day
• $105 a day – average American income
• A child dies every 5 seconds due to hunger
• 5 million people die yearly due to water related illnesses
• 1 out of 2 people die of malaria per year – 2 billon infected now
• HIV infects 33 million people – 70% living in Africa
• AIDS left 15 million children as orphans
• One woman dies every minute due to childbirth complications
• Girl babies are killed in cultures where the male is more valuable
• Girls are often denied education, property and inheritance
• Women work 2/3 of the world’s labor hours earning only 10% of the
world’s wages
• 1 in 6 adults are illiterate – 2/3 of them women
• 115 million children do not attend primary school
God wants to use us to be the answer to their cry for help and deliverance. He has anointed us, like Jesus was anointed, to set the captive free and give beauty for ashes. Isaiah 61:1-3
We must go to them in their oppression and affliction and not expect them to come to us. They are trapped, but we are free to liberate them if we care about them like Christ cares. He will be with us in the battle we face to liberate them. Exodus 3:1-14
God gave a reluctant Moses all the grace he needed to liberate and lead His people to freedom and their Promised land. He even used Moses to feed, water and guide them until they could do it for themselves. Exodus 14:16-17; Exodus 15:19; Exodus 17:5-6
Who does God want to use you to liberate or fight for? Who is suffering unjustly or is afflicted that needs a Christ-loving champion as their voice or caregiver?
Spiritually Lost; Unborn Children; Poor Women; Enslaved Men, Women and Children; Orphans; Sexually Exploited People; Homeless; Addicted; Refugees and Displaced People; Abused Women and Children; Social Outcasts; Physically Ill; Disabled People; Unwed Mothers; AIDS Victims; Prisoners; Persecuted Christians
For information on ministries you could work with see our Revolutionary Faith in Action Magazine, or go online to ncctk.com
Whose cry does God want you to hear and be an answer to?
Psalm 22:24 – “For He has not ignored the suffering of the needy. He has not turned and walked away. He has listened to their cries for help."
We are His anointed ones freed to set others free!
Isaiah 61:1 – “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.”
Discussion Questions:
1. Can you think of a time you were treated unfairly? What happened? Did you pray and believe God heard your cry? How was it resolved?
2. Take time to read about God’s heart for justice and those who are being treated unfairly or suffering oppression. What speaks to your heart from His Word?
3. Do you see yourselves as ‘Moses in the making’? Read His call to be a liberator in Exodus 3. Who could God be calling you to liberate or give care to? What will you do next?