OUTNUMBERED?

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It was back in 1966, during the Vietnam War, deep in the Vietnamese forest, an amazing story surfaced of hanging tough during unbearable odds. And instead of it being about U.S. soldiers, it was about 108 Australian soldiers (our allies) surrounded
by over 2,000 Vietcong. Those are 20 to 1 odds.

After the Australian base came under heavy Vietcong mortar fire, several soldiers headed out to search for their attackers. However, instead of finding the mortar squad, they found an entire VC regiment with one objective: convince the Aussies to go home.

The Vietcong poured heavy machine gun fire into the trees that the Aussies were moving through. The next hours were spent in shallow foxholes, exchanging heavy machine gun fire. The Australians held off wave after wave of assault. These 108 soldiers were down to their last 100 rounds, when reinforcements arrived forcing the Vietcong to abandon their ideas of a siege. Up against odds of 20 to 1, when the smoke cleared and the dust settled, what was discovered was literally hundreds of Vietcong dead on the battlefield and only a few Australians. It was an amazing victory, and an amazing story of being outnumbered.
What have we just learned? Outnumbered does not mean outmatched.

Everyone loves a good story of an underdog. You know the one someone with all the odds stacked against them but somehow they still rise up to take an amazing victory. It is the classic Hollywood script. Remember the Bad News Bears? (I know, very dated, right?)

Regardless, there are countless true stories of just such victories as well. Remember the 1980 Olympics and a team of college hockey players going up against Russia’s all star, all professional team? The American victory is now known as Miracle on Ice. The first time football players were integrated in Virginia in 1971, it inspired the film Remember the Titans! Remember young David against Goliath? David was the classic underdog. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were all underdogs. It would appear God loves a good underdog story as well.

Outnumbered does not mean outmatched! What is making you feel outnumbered right now? Finances? A job threat? A loss of relationship? Schedule demands? Health issues? It could be any number of things.

As you can see, it’s not difficult to fall into despair and a loss of hope. Humans can live without a lot of things, but hope is not one of them. Hope is essential right up there with oxygen. So, how does one face overwhelming odds? How do we face our moments
of being Outnumbered? That’s the exact question we’re about to answer in our pcoming summer sermon series.

Join us as we look at Great Comebacks of the Bible. “Outnumbered” is a series of sermons looking at the seemingly unwinnable battles we find throughout scripture. They are there to inspire us. They are there to teach us about God. They are there to give us
Hope!


[Ron Otto
Preaching Minister, Lincoln Christian Church]

 

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