One of the traditions I love in Integrity is the annual Summer Message Series. Each summer, we take an influential, and perhaps somewhat obscure, Biblical character- usually from the Old Testament, and we look at his or her life, as the story is told in God’s Word. Seeing how God worked in those who were regular people gives us a better understanding of how He may choose to work in our lives today.
This Sunday, we kick off the summer with the story of Gideon, in a series titled ‘From Ordinary to Extraordinary’. 
It is a series that deals with how God takes those of us who may not stand out, who may not have any ‘heroic’ experience, and leads us to do things that are pretty special. You may be thinking something like, ‘Well – God may do that with a Biblical character like Gideon. But He would not do that with someone like me!’ My question to you is ‘Why would you say that?’ After all, it is usually our attitude that most limits our responsiveness to the work of God in our lives,
At the root of God’s intent to do extraordinary things through ordinary people, is the Biblical truth that God is the same today as He was yesterday and is the same as He will be tomorrow. Our Jehovah God is absolutely reliable and dependable. He doesn’t change. He is consistent. These are qualities that we tend to look for in other people as we look for friends, or people that we can pattern our lives after. Many of you have mentors in your lives that fit these criteria of reliability, dependability, consistency, etc. These things are a big part of what makes them trustworthy. OUR GOD IS TRUSTWORTHY! The Old Testament story of Gideon illustrates this truth as much as any other in Scripture.
As Christians, it’s always good for us to understand a bit about the Theology of God. This truth about God, in that He doesn’t change, is rooted in what we call His IMMUTABILITY. By the immutability of God, we mean that in His essence, attributes, consciousness and will, God is unchangeable. The doctrine of God’s immutability is further deducted from Biblical passages such as: “They shall be changed, but thou art the same” (Ps 102:26–27); “I am the Lord, I change not” (Mal 3:6); “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today, and forever” (Heb 13:8); This does not mean God is immobile, however, for He acts in history. His immutability is dynamic, not static. God Himself does not change, but he BRINGS CHANGE! He brings CHANGE IN US – through His Spirit living in us that allows us to do extraordinary, Kingdom-oriented things!
So don’t miss the kickoff of this series this coming Sunday morning, as we start with a special ‘angle’ for our dads on Father’s Day. See you Sunday if not before!
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