August 10, 2025 • 45 mins
The journey from the wilderness to the Promised Land represents one of Scripture's most pivotal transitions—and in this illuminating exploration of Joshua 1:1-9, we discover how God orchestrates leadership transitions that advance His unchanging mission.
When Moses dies, God doesn't pause to mourn or reassess. Instead, He immediately commands Joshua: "Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, go." This remarkable moment teaches us that while leaders may change, God's purposes never falter. Four times in this passage, God commands Joshua to "be strong and courageous"—a refrain that echoes through the ages to every believer facing uncertainty.
The backstory makes this moment even more profound. Forty years earlier, twelve spies explored Canaan, but only Joshua and Caleb trusted God's promise despite seeing formidable obstacles. That failure of national faith resulted in an entire generation missing their inheritance. Now, Joshua leads a younger generation (everyone under 20 except himself and Caleb) into their destiny.
What does follow-worthy leadership look like? Through Joshua's example, we discover four essential qualities: immediate obedience without hesitation, complete dependence on God while taking action, willingness to invite necessary sacrifice, and openness to meaningful encouragement. These same qualities appeared perfectly in Jesus, whose name in Greek is the equivalent of "Joshua" in Hebrew—a connection that reveals God's consistent character across Scripture.
Most compelling is Joshua's challenge to the tribes that had already received their inheritance east of the Jordan. Though they had settled into comfort, he called them to leave everything behind temporarily to help their brothers secure their inheritance. This powerful picture reminds us that receiving God's blessings isn't our final goal—helping others experience His promises is our ongoing mission.
As we navigate our own wilderness-to-promise transitions, remember that every Christian is called to lead somewhere. Your next step of courage might be someone else's pathway to freedom. Where is God calling you to be strong and courageous today?
If you want to learn more about the MidTree story or connect with us, go to our website HERE or text us at 812-MID-TREE.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Please turn in your Bibles to Joshua 1, 1-9.
It's on page 178 in the PewBibles, and follow along as I
read God's Word.
After the death of Moses, theservant of the Lord, the Lord
said to Joshua, the son of Nun,moses' assistant, moses, my
(00:22):
servant, is dead.
Now therefore, arise, go overthis Jordan, you and all this
people, into the land that I'mgiving to them, to the people of
Israel.
Every place that the sole ofyour foot will tread upon, I
have given to you, just as Ipromised to Moses, from the
wilderness in this Lebanon asfar as the great river, the
(00:43):
river Euphrates.
All the land of the Hittites tothe great sea, toward the going
down of the sun, shall be yourterritory.
No man shall be able to standbefore you all the days of your
life.
Just as I was with Moses, so Iwill be with you.
I will not leave you or forsakeyou.
Be strong and courageous, foryou shall cause this people to
(01:04):
inherit the land that I swore totheir fathers to give them.
Only be strong and verycourageous, being careful to do
according to all the law thatMoses, my servant, commanded.
You Do not turn from it to theright hand or to the left that
you may have good successwherever you go.
This book of the law shall notdepart from your mouth, but you
shall meditate on it day andnight, so that you may be
(01:26):
careful to do according to allthat is written in it, for then
you will make your wayprosperous and then you will
have good success.
Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous, donot be frightened and do not be
dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.
This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Amen.
Thank you, olivia, muchappreciated.
Well, guys, I thought we wouldstart with this.
If you picked up a Biblejournal or if you grabbed one of
the Bible memory bands on yourway in we do have plenty of
these, by the way so if youdidn't get a journal, we have
plenty of Bible memory bands.
You'll see these on the tableon your way out.
I thought this would be a greatway for us to start this
(02:11):
morning because itsimultaneously gets us ready for
the book of Joshua movingforward, but it also helps us
celebrate the past seven years.
In the event that you walkedthrough the parking lot and
through the building and intothis room with your eyes closed
and your ears plugged, you maynot have realized that prep for
celebration.
This is Midtree's seventhbirthday.
Praise God, yeah.
(02:32):
And while we have been workingthrough books of the Bible, we
always want to recommend thingsfor you to commit to memory.
We're going to be in the bookof Joshua for a few months,
basically until Advent, untilChristmas, and so instead of
giving you one verse, we gaveyou two.
Okay, the first one is a littlebit shorter, a little bit
easier.
Second one it's a little bitharder in the reading, but if
(02:52):
you grabbed one of the scripturejournals or one of the bands,
you will see these.
We got pretty sneaky with theband.
If you get the easy one, youhave to flip it over upside down
and then you'll see thatthere's a scripture on the
underside as well.
But I wanted to begin with thisas we jump into Joshua, because
it's a perfect little tensionpoint for where we're going and
where we've come from.
(03:12):
Joshua 1.9,.
Have I not commanded you bestrong and courageous, do not be
frightened and do not bedismayed, for the Lord, your God
, is with you wherever you go.
If you don't know the story ofMidtree, I'm not gonna give you
the whole thing.
We've got a video that we'remaking.
You'll see it in the monthsahead.
But Midtree wasn't always here.
In fact it's been through anumber of iterations, so I
(03:36):
thought this would be a littlefun by show of hands.
How many of you remember meetingin a farmhouse, a pole barn?
Yeah, praise God, all right,good stuff.
How many of you guys werearound after we left the farm
and we moved to Impact 360 inPine Mountain?
(03:56):
How many folks remember that?
Okay, good stuff.
Who remembers COVID digitally?
We actually picked up a fewfolks.
Yeah, okay, good stuff.
And then there was like thisshort stint for a couple of
months where we would invite oneMCG because it met the like the
spacing precautions to sit onmy porch while we recorded the
(04:20):
online digital service.
Does anybody remember that?
A couple, okay.
Then we moved to ChristCommunity in the evening.
Anybody remember that?
Anybody there for that?
Okay.
And then, jimmy, I'm looking atyou just because I see you.
Then we ended up here, right,okay, but we actually met here
before the building was done.
We didn't have CEO.
We snuck in.
Was anybody here?
Was that a Christmas Eveservice For Christmas Eve, when
(04:43):
it was just systems in dangerand you had to keep your kids
close?
Anybody remember that?
Okay, and then, out ofcuriosity, you don't have to
raise your hand if it's gonnamake you embarrassed.
How many folks are new toMidtree?
As of the past two months, byshow of hands, you've been
coming for, hey, welcome, we'reso glad that you guys are here.
Yeah, praise God, I glad thatyou guys are here.
(05:09):
Yeah, praise God, I will bewith you wherever you go.
Promise number two that we thinkwould be good to commit to
memory Not one word of all thegood promises that the Lord had
made to the house of Israel hadfailed.
All came to pass.
This is where we live.
We live in the middle of acoming and a going.
A coming of Christ, who hascome and given his life, died on
the cross, opens an invitationto any who seek the forgiveness
(05:32):
of their sins, right standingwith God, a life of purpose and
adventure and meaning, and weare waiting on a savior to
return.
So as you begin looking, hereis what you will see in
Scripture.
If you go all the way back toNumbers, y'all can flip there,
or you can just trust me that Ididn't edit any Scriptures.
(05:54):
Numbers 13 tells us how Joshuagot to be Joshua.
Now, I'm not going to give youthe whole redemptive story, but
if you don't know, the book ofGenesis is the first book of the
Bible.
Creation, fall, rebellion.
Adam and Eve are kicked out ofthe garden, but God gives them a
promise I'm going to bring youback into a land, into a kingdom
that has no problems, whererighteousness dwells.
(06:17):
Well then, we have Exodus.
Moses leads God's people out ofslavery, and here is where we
pick up after they have leftEgypt.
Numbers 13, moses sent them.
Anybody wanna know anybodywanna guess how many people is
them?
Bonus points for those of youwho had Sunday school.
How many is them?
12, all right, he sends 12folks to spy out the land of
(06:40):
Canaan, the promised land, andMoses gives them this one big
command and if you werelistening to Olivia read it, you
heard it repeated over and overand over.
Moses looks at the 12 and hesays be of good courage.
Why would he say that?
Because they're going into alarge land with large people,
with large fortresses, and Godhas told them this is going to
(07:03):
be yours.
Well, these are folks who havebeen enslaved for years.
Can they really trust that Godis going to give them this land
that he has promised?
So Moses says be of goodcourage.
Let's see how they did.
At the end of 40 days, the spies, the 12 spies, returned after
spying out the land and theycreate a little bit of a hubbub.
(07:24):
They say we look likegrasshoppers compared to these
guys.
There's no way it's going tohappen.
I mean, god's good.
He's 10 plagues good.
He's ripping open the Red Seafor us good, but these are
pretty tall people.
That's kind of how it plays.
You should laugh at that.
It is sort of silly.
But Caleb quieted the peoplebefore Moses and he said let us
go up at once and occupy it, forwe are able to overcome it.
(07:47):
Then the men who had gone upwith him said we're not able to
go up against the people.
They are stronger than us.
If I were to personalize thebook of Joshua, it would be with
one or two questions.
The first question would be areyou prone to think that you
have made a mistake that Godcannot, will not or has been
(08:08):
very slow to redeem in your life?
Because what you're about tosee is a massive mistake.
And the book of Joshua is Godsaying even in the midst of your
most massive mistakes, mypromises are still good.
The second thing that I wouldsay is faithfulness is something
you can actually achieve ifyou're trusting in the right
(08:29):
thing.
So Caleb gets him quiet.
He says listen, guys, we needto have a little bit of faith.
And in Numbers 14, here is whatthey respond with why would the
Lord bring us into this land tofall by the sword?
Our wives and our little oneswill become prey.
Would it not be better for usto go back to Egypt?
(08:49):
In case you're curious, this isGod's people sort of slapping
at God.
He goes through all the troubleto lead them out, to give them
his word, to give them hispromises.
They hit one hurdle and they'relike let's just go back to
being slaves.
So Moses and Aaron fall on theirfaces before all the assembly
of the congregation of thepeople of Israel.
(09:12):
But they're not the only ones.
And Joshua, here's our guy.
He shows up here with Moses andAaron and Caleb and these four
men in an entire nation ofpeople.
Four guys are willing to dothis.
They fall on their faces beforethe Lord and Joshua, the son of
(09:33):
Nun, caleb, the son ofJephunneh, who were among those
who had spied out the land, toretheir clothes.
It's a sign of like mourning,repentance, anger, frustration.
And they said to all thecongregation of the people of
Israel do not rebel against theLord, do not fear the people of
the land.
Are they going to listen?
All the congregation said stonethem with stones.
(09:57):
They look at the four guys, thefour guys who were praying, the
four guys who are submitting toGod, and their solution is we
need to get rid of these guys.
We're going to kill them.
Notice how rescue comes in.
The glory of the Lord appearedat the tent of meeting and all
the people see this andeverything changes.
(10:19):
God looks at him and he sayshere's the deal.
I sent 12 guys into a land I'dalready promised you.
When I sent you, I told you beof good courage, and you came
back like little pansies andyou're scared, even though
you've seen me do incrediblethings.
So here is going to be thepenalty for your lack of faith.
(10:43):
It's going to get real OldTestament in here.
Okay, here you go.
Your dead bodies shall fall inthis wilderness and all of your
number listed in the census,from 20 years old and upward,
who have grumbled against me.
Not one shall come into theland that I swore I would make
(11:06):
you dwell, except Caleb andJoshua.
Your children shall beshepherds in the wilderness 40
years.
You want to know why they werethere?
For 40 years they shall sufferfor your faithfulness until the
last of your dead bodies lies inthe wilderness, according to
the number of the days in whichyou spied out the land 40 days a
(11:30):
year.
For each day, you shall bearyour iniquity 40 years and you
shall know my displeasure.
This is how we get to the bookof Joshua.
It's okay for you to be alittle heavy, don't worry, it
gets better.
All right, the Bible keepsgetting better.
This is rough.
(11:50):
They spend 40 days looking at aland that God was saying this is
what I've got for you.
This is your inheritance.
I have built you for this.
I've showed you how to dependon me, how to trust on me.
You're going to walk into scaryplaces, but it's going to be
okay.
By the way, that's the story ofevery church.
(12:12):
That's the story of everyChristian.
I am going to lead you intoplaces that look too big and
they look too scary, and you'renot sure how it's going to work
out, but if you will just trustme, I will write an incredible
story.
Guys, we're celebrating sevenyears as a church, but for every
Christian in this roomhopefully you're celebrating
five years having faith in God10, 15, 20, 40, 50 and beyond,
(12:39):
and every one of us who haswalked with the Lord knows this.
When we have faith, when wetrust him, when we walk instead
of our fearful, he writes anincredible story.
But here I circled the age 20,everyone who was of military
fighting age and decided I can'ttrust Lord with danger.
(13:02):
God looked and he said you'renot gonna make it.
You're not gonna make it in thepromised land because you have
doubted me.
And for every day I showed youmy promise that you said I don't
know that I can buy into it.
Despise are in there.
Day three Ah, it just feels alittle too good.
Day 29, this feels like alittle bit much.
God looks and he says for everyday, I gave you a vision of
(13:25):
what I wanted your life to be,what I desired for your
adventure to play out.
It's going to cost you a year,and only Caleb and Joshua and
the 19 year olds and younger aregoing to see this happen.
This is one of my favoriteyouth ministry realities.
(13:46):
Everything, where is it?
Somebody took my Bible journal.
How dare you?
Everything, everything you'regoing to read in the book of
Joshua, with the exception ofJoshua and Caleb, was done by a
youth age student.
Every story you're gonna readwhen they make it into the
promised land had to be somebody19 years or younger for God to
(14:11):
begin this, and so when we thinkabout ourselves and God using
us, it isn't how smart we are,it isn't how much we know.
It certainly is not how old weare.
It's how much we're willing tofollow the Lord.
Now notice.
I know you can't read this wholething, but I did want you to
see in Joshua 1 that fourdifferent times be strong and
(14:33):
courageous.
Be strong and very courageous.
Be strong and courageous.
The last verse in the chapterbe strong and courageous.
This is be strong andcourageous, version 2.0.
Version 1.0 was in Numbers 13.
And God said hey, I want you tobe courageous, go into the land
.
Did they succeed or did theyfail?
They failed, they failed.
(14:54):
It cost them 40 years.
So now Joshua receives thisfrom the Lord.
Left hand column is God talkingto Joshua?
Right hand column is Joshuatalking to the people?
The question is will version2.0 fare any better?
Will Joshua do better than hispredecessors?
And the short answer is,amazingly, yes.
(15:19):
Joshua 1, after the death ofMoses, the servant of the Lord,
the Lord said to Joshua, the sonof Nun, moses' assistant, moses
, my servant, is dead.
Now, then go.
This is one of my favoriteparts of the entire book of
Joshua.
Moses is dead.
Now let's get to work.
Just so you know, that is nottypically how leaders of
(15:44):
countries or organizations dealwith a predecessor, right, they
don't deal with the next guy bysaying let's just say I get hit
by a truck.
Okay.
Usually, when you arrive on thenext Sunday, it might feel a
little heavier.
Okay?
Some people experience this inevery presidential election, as
(16:07):
though, oh well, I'm eithergoing to celebrate or I'm going
to be in sackcloth and ash andripping my clothes apart.
Tell me I'm wrong.
We've got a couple moreNovembers and we'll see how you
pan out.
Okay, every time leadershipchanges, we are prone to panic.
I'll prove it to you again.
Try so hard, those of you whoare public school like myself,
to remember a first day ofschool in a new class.
(16:29):
Do you remember meeting thatteacher?
Within the first couple ofhours, you were extrapolating
what the next year was going tolook like.
Is she nice or is she mean?
Does she like wild boys andshe's going to be cool with that
, or does she favor girls whobring their notebooks to class
every single week?
Is this going to be a lot ofhard work?
(16:50):
Is this going to be a lot offun?
Is there going to be a storytime?
How is this going to pan out?
Who am I going to sit with atlunch?
Are any of my buddies in thisclass?
You have all of this excitementand all of this anxiety all at
the same time, because yourteacher changed from Miss Newton
to Miss Watson in Will's caseor whatever it was for you.
Same thing happens when you geta new coach.
(17:10):
Same thing happens when achurch gets a new leader, when a
business takes on a new CEO.
But can I show you what faithin the Lord looks like?
Moses is dead.
Let's get to work.
It feels cold.
The book of Deuteronomy ends bytalking about how incredible
Moses was, but the mission ofGod never stops.
(17:34):
God lovingly and joyfullyutilizes people, but he is not
dependent on them.
The death of Moses is not thedeath of the mission, and nor is
the death of any leader in yourlife.
And to make sure that hispeople know, to make sure that
Joshua knows that God hasn'tleft or forgotten them, he gives
(17:56):
them a gift in the next coupleof verses.
Notice this.
It's more fun, I think, to workbackwards.
He starts and he says look, bestrong and courageous, but built
on top of that is hey, joshua,just as I was with Moses, I'm
gonna be with you.
Don't fear, I am with you.
(18:19):
And when you look even furtherback, he says look, I am giving
and I have given.
This is my nature as a God.
How can you doubt, as we moveinto this new promise, this new
future, this new step?
I am a giving God.
I have given to you.
Just as I've been with Moses,I'm going to be with Joshua.
(18:40):
People of God, be strong andcourageous, he says to a group
of 19 year olds and younger.
When this began, I've beendebating how to how to do this
next little piece, becausethere's a chance you get lost
(19:01):
here.
I want to go to a New Testamentverse, but I don't want you to
miss the narrative.
But if you miss this, you'regoing to miss out on a lot in
the entire book of Joshua.
There is no way to follow Jesus, no way to follow Jesus, no way
to follow Jesus and not lead incertain areas of your life.
(19:24):
There's no way.
We are called to be servants,we are called to be followers of
Christ.
There is no way for Joshua tolead this people if the people
he is leading do not beginbecoming leaders themselves.
The reason I point to this andI want to prove it to you real
quick so this is Ephesians 4.
(19:44):
God gave leaders to the church.
They're going to change all thetime.
He gave apostles, prophets,evangelists, shepherds, teachers
.
What is this saying?
God gave leaders and leadersand leaders and leaders and
leaders so that the people ofGod today and in Ephesians would
know what it is that they aresupposed to do.
(20:05):
One of the greatest mistakesthat we can make in the church
today is to look at Ephesians4.11 and nod our head and then
begin saying all of the leadersof God's people are going to
look like those five things.
Does anybody know what I'vecovered up in verse 12?
I'm not going to make youanswer out loud.
(20:25):
I want you to get it wrong.
I want you to notice whathappens right after.
God says he gave leaders to thechurch to equip all of us for
the work of ministry.
You will not be able toappreciate the book of Joshua.
You will not be able to getmuch out of the rest of our time
(20:46):
this morning.
You will not be able to getmuch out of the Christian life
if you don't resolve to believeEphesians 4.12.
Some of you never want to standon this stage.
Some of you never want to reada scripture.
Some of you never want to singin a microphone.
Some of you never want to leadin a kid's ministry.
And it isn't because you'relazy, it's because you don't
(21:10):
trust yourselves.
Be strong and courageous, bestrong and courageous, be strong
and courageous.
In fact, if I'm going to mimicJoshua 1, be strong and
courageous.
The concept here is every singleChristian is called to lead in
some capacity.
(21:30):
You cannot follow Jesus and notlead in something.
In fact, the saints beingequipped, being called into
leadership, taking ownership ofthe coming kingdom of God, of
the church that he has you in,of the neighborhood that you
live in, of the family that youare born in, this is the mission
of the Christian and it buildsup the body of Christ.
(21:54):
And when do we quit?
We quit in verse 13.
When we all attain the unity ofChrist.
And when do we quit?
We quit in verse 13.
When we all attain the unity ofthe faith, when we all attain
the knowledge of the son of God,when we are all mature to the
measure and stature of Christ.
So you get to quit when you areas good as Jesus.
That's when you get to stop.
Guys, I can't go any further inJoshua until you take a moment
(22:15):
to realize this.
Guys, I can't go any further inJoshua until you take a moment
to realize this.
None of us were called to sit inpews.
Not only, none of us werecalled even to be just good
studiers of the word of God.
Every one of us is expected tobe eyes on it, equipped for the
work of the ministry.
And that is my job, that is theelder's job, that is the
(22:38):
staff's job to do everythingthat we can to equip you.
I can give you a couple of funwins.
We are working right now on away to help you know where you
are in your path of followingJesus and being a disciple of
Christ.
You will see that in aboutthree weeks, so that you can say
(22:58):
, okay, well, I want to livethis, I want to do this.
Where am I actually at?
The second thing, and this one'svery tangible how many of you
guys, on the way in, saw a bigtrailer with a bunch of yellow
tools that we painstakingly allbought to walk?
I need to know, did y'all seeit?
Yes, okay, it's for you, it'sfor MCGs to be able to say, hey,
who's got a two inch ball onthe back of their?
Whatever?
(23:19):
Go link that thing up.
We wanna go care for the orphan, we wanna care for the widow,
we wanna care for the elderly.
Just take it.
Please bring it back with thestuff inside, all right, but
take it, use it, feel equippedfor the work of the ministry.
If we're gonna be a people whocare about our Bibles, if we're
(23:44):
going to be a people who pick upa pen, let's also be a people
who pick up a rake and love onthose who need to be loved and
then, from this, god shows uswho Joshua is.
Now, I never do this because Ifeel like some of you guys are
going to check out, but I'm justtrusting you.
Today.
I'm giving you everything I'mgonna do for the next 10 minutes
to close out.
Here you go.
This is what you see in thebook of Joshua.
(24:04):
I'm giving it to you because,instead of building like I
usually do and hoping thatyou're just on pins and needles
to see what the next thing is,that Will says I don't want you
to miss any of this, and I'lltell you why I don't want you to
miss any of this.
This is follow worthyleadership from the second half,
primarily as Joshua turns andtalks to God's people.
Little bit of trivia.
(24:25):
The Old Testament is written inwhat language?
One, two, three go Hebrew.
Okay, if you don't know theanswers.
That's great.
Church is a place to learnthings, not to show that you
know everything.
The If you don't know theanswers.
That's great.
Church is a place to learnthings, not to show that you
know everything.
The New Testament was written inGreek.
Okay, joshua is a Hebrew name.
(24:46):
Do you know, if we were totranslate Joshua from Hebrew
into the Greek, what the namewould be?
Jesus, you're reading the bookof Jesus, and so when we see why
is it that, like when you thinkof Joshua or when you think of
Moses, which one's a bigger deal?
(25:07):
And be honest, like which one'sa bigger deal?
Moses, except why is Joshuagiven this name?
Because Moses gives God'speople the law of God.
Joshua is the one who leadsthem home.
Joshua does all of these thingsso similar to Moses, leads them
(25:27):
through a sea that is rippedopen, stands before God, does
all of these incredible things,but, unlike Moses, joshua gets
his people all the way home.
So the reason I'm showing youthis is because every time I
show you one of these points,I'm going to ask you the same
question when you look at yourpursuit of Christ, do you
(25:48):
hesitate in obedience?
And I want you to look atJoshua and see his standard.
I want you to see how thatshows up in Christ and then I
want you to apply it to yourself.
I'm taking it away, but onlyfor a minute.
It'll come right back.
Point one Joshua commanded theofficers of the people pass
through the midst of the camp.
(26:09):
Moses is dead Now, then go.
So he says pass through themidst of the camp, command the
people.
Prepare your provisions withinthe three days.
I love this.
He doesn't say in three days,because I can tell you what
happens to a procrastinator.
If you say in three days we'releaving.
When do they pack their bags?
Yeah, like night two, on the11th hour.
(26:31):
That's when they do it.
Joshua's smart, good leader.
He's like, hey, within threedays we're leaving, and the
procrastinators are like, darnit, all right, let's go back.
All right.
How much time does Joshua wait?
It's been 40 years.
This is a massive group ofpeople.
He says three days sounds aboutright.
(26:51):
Everybody, get ready to move.
There are things that God hasfor us to do.
You're going to pass over theJordan to go in, to take
possession of the land that theLord, your God, is giving you to
possess.
Joshua hears from the Lord andhe gets moving.
His obedience is nottheoretical or theological, it's
(27:15):
childlike.
God says go and he says let'sget moving.
What would obedience right nowin your life look like?
What would it look like for youto immediately be obedient to
the Lord today?
Delaying obedience is alwaysdisobedience, and this is the
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negative way to say it.
Whenever you delay obedience,don't just call it obedience
light.
It's disobedience.
When God says go and you don'tgo.
When he says stop and you don'tstop.
When he says move and you don'tmove, that is not obedience
light, god.
I just got to pray about it alittle bit.
Let me bring some wise counselaround.
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Memorize a couple of scriptures.
Joshua hears from God and hesays you guys got three days.
Maybe it might be even soonerthan that.
Delaying obedience is alwaysdisobedience and for some of us,
your next faithful act maysimply be not stalling.
Now, when I say that two thingsshould probably happen to you,
those of you who are stallingshould feel convicted.
(28:22):
You should have sort of a eh,kind of a moment right now,
because you know God has beentelling you to do something.
You're not doing it.
Well, aren't we grateful forthe grace of God?
Aren't you grateful that, asyou've delayed, he hasn't said
well, for every day you'vedelayed, it will be one year of
emptiness in life, like, allright, I'm gonna quit stalling.
Some of you need to know this,for what's happening tomorrow?
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You don't even know it yet.
You have no idea what's comingon Thursday.
But today the word of God issaying your next faithful act
may simply be not stalling.
Can I put this in the positive?
This is where the best storiescome from, the best stories in
your life of faithfulness to God.
The most incredible thingsdon't just happen when God shows
(29:06):
up.
It happens when God shows upand you have already determined
to say you got it okay.
Whatever it is you want, I'mnot stalling, I'm not dragging
my feet.
No, follow worthy leadership.
Doesn't hesitate in obedience.
Do we see this in Joshua?
Check, yes, did you see this inChrist?
You better believe it.
That for the joy set before himhe endured the cross.
That at precisely the righttime, god sent his son to make
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propitiation and payment for oursins.
This was perfectly time whenJesus is in the garden of
Gethsemane and he's praying somuch that blood is falling like
sweat from his head.
What is Jesus saying?
I'm not stalling, god, I'm notgoing to make your promise wait
one more moment than what youdesire.
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Do we see this in Christ?
You better believe we do.
What about leading throughdependence?
Yeah, I think so.
This is, by the way, my favoritetheological reality of chapter
one.
The top one is when God isspeaking.
The bottom one is when Joshuais speaking to his people, and
here's what we see.
God says to Joshua be strongand courageous, you shall cause
(30:14):
this people to inherit the land.
Joshua, you got this.
I built you for this.
I've equipped you for this.
This, by the way, is what Godwould say to every believer.
I've built you for this.
I've equipped you for this.
Don't stall in this.
You are not too small for this.
I have made you for this.
But watch what happens whenJoshua turns to the people.
(30:34):
He's called to love, called toserve.
Pass through the midst of thecamp, command the people,
prepare your provisions.
Within three days, we're gonnapass over and go, take
possession of the land that theLord is giving you.
God looks at Joshua and he says, hey, you are going to do this.
But when Joshua looks at God,he says God's actually the one
(31:03):
who is going to pull this off.
This is dependency on God, it'shumility in action.
It's similar.
Out of curiosity, how many ofyou guys typically drive with
your GPS Like you use your GPS?
Come on, how many of you useyour GPS?
Even if you know, how many ofyou use your GPS, even if you
know where you're going and youcould get there anyway?
Right, got to keep an eye onthe speed.
Maybe you use Waze?
(31:23):
You want to know where the copsare?
I'm with you, you're my people.
Whatever, it doesn't matter howmany wrong turns I make.
So long as I keep it on and Ikeep listening, I'm going to end
up in the right place.
Sometimes I make a wrong turnbecause I don't trust the GPS.
Sometimes I make a wrong turnbecause I'm not paying attention
.
Sometimes I make a wrong turnbecause I'm distracted by
(31:43):
something I ought not bedistracted by Sin, sin, sin.
But God lovingly keeps speaking.
He keeps the final destinationin front of me and if I turn, I
will eventually make it.
Do you know what?
That also makes you Somebodyworth following?
Have you ever followed somebodywho said they knew that, like
(32:04):
how to get where they were going?
And you found out very quickly.
They didn't know how to getthere and you're making all of
these U-turns and you're kind ofirritated and you're like just
pull out the GPS.
This guy didn't know what is it.
We were on a youth trip.
I will I have forgiven WillVarner for this, but there will
always be consequences for WillVarner, for me, 40 years worth
probably.
(32:24):
We're on a youth ski trip and,bennett, you may have been there
for this one.
We're on a youth ski trip andlike I'm in front of five or six
cars that are driving and allof a sudden my GPS just starts
acting so screwed, but I trustit.
Like I'm bought into this thingand I'm like turning wrong on
(32:45):
one-way streets with a trail ofcars behind me and a bunch of
teenage boys in the back aregiggling like little school
girls.
And it turns out that WillVarner, when I went in to get
gas, had taken my GPS.
He had not changed thedestination, he had changed it
from automotive to pedestrianPedestrians can walk up one-way
(33:06):
streets and for about an hour Iwas trying not to cuss out loud,
nor in my head, with a van fullof youth kids.
Why?
Because somebody had messed upthe message.
God never does.
All we need to do is say hey,if the Lord has sent me, he will
bring me all the way there.
I am wholeheartedly dependenton him.
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Do we see Christ lead throughdependence?
Yes, we see him pray.
We see him ask the blessing ofhis father.
We see him submit to the willof the father, even as he goes
toward the hardest thing in life.
What about inviting andexpecting sacrifice?
This is my favorite part.
To the Reubenites, the Gaditesand the half tribe of Manasseh,
(33:51):
joshua said he's almost donewith his instructions to the
people of God.
There are these three groups ofpeople that he has a special
instruction for.
Hey guys, do you remember theword that Moses, the servant of
the Lord, commanded you Verse 13, saying the Lord, your God, is
actively providing you a placeof rest and will give you this
(34:14):
land.
These groups of people that yousee here the Reubenites, the
Gadites and the half tribe ofManasseh.
They had already arrived inwhat was going to be their
promised land.
They had been there for anumber of years.
You can imagine that, whilemost people are setting up tents
and just trying to figure outhow they're going to get by,
(34:35):
getting their campers plugged inand figuring out their stuff,
these folks are building houses,how they're gonna get by,
getting their campers plugged inand figuring out their subject.
These folks are building houses, they're starting families,
they're starting businesses Tothese three groups of people who
had already received thepromise.
This is what God says throughJoshua your wives, your little
ones, your livestock, this isthe Bible saying you're about to
(34:56):
leave your life behind,everything that matters to you,
everything that counts,everything that you cherish and
hold valuable.
They're gonna remain in theland that Moses gave you, beyond
the Jordan, but all the men ofvalor among you shall pass over
armed before your brothers andshall help them until the Lord
(35:20):
gives rest to your brothers ashe has to you.
This is a sacrificial call.
Joshua has to look at peoplewho have already arrived.
They've erected fences andbusinesses and houses and lives
and he says listen, guys, ifyou're a Reubenite, a Gadite or
a Manassehian, here's your deal.
(35:41):
You have arrived and God hasbeen faithful to you.
It would be easy for you to getcomfortable.
It would be easy for you to saylook at what God has done.
We have a property, we have aplace, we have air conditioning,
when we don't have to open upthe back and all sweating here.
And if you're bothered by it.
Just know I think I'm probablysweating more than you are right
now.
Look at what God has done.
Let's just enjoy, but thatisn't the message of the gospel.
(36:06):
Do you see that there arebrothers who are not yet resting
?
Are there brothers and sistersof the Lord that are not yet in
the kingdom of God?
Are there people in your worldthat God is calling to himself?
I am calling you to leave yourcomfort, I'm calling you to
leave behind what is easy, and Iwant you to go find those who
(36:26):
do not have this kind of rest.
It gets hard when God's blessedyou, though.
Have yesterday's blessingsblunted me against being on
mission today?
Has he filled your spirit somuch that you have become
sluggish and slow?
Has your life become soabundant that you have lost your
(36:48):
drive for what is next?
You see, follow worthyleadership invites and expects
sacrifice and faith, and that'sexactly what Christ expects of
us.
When people look at your life,do they see someone who is
inviting and expecting sacrificeand faith?
(37:09):
And, finally, follow.
Worthy leadership welcomesencouragement.
They answered Joshua.
Now, finally, the people turnback to Joshua.
They have something to say tohim.
All that you have commanded uswe will do.
Wherever you send us, we willgo just as we obeyed Moses.
(37:32):
A little bit of a flag on thefield here.
How well did God's people obeyMoses?
Not bad.
What is this?
This is the 18-year-old whosaid my mom or my dad may not
have done this well.
This is the eight-year-old whoremembers 40 years of difficulty
and mom and dad saying sorry,son, I'm sorry, daughter, it was
(37:53):
on us.
We didn't have faith.
There were these four guys whohad a vision for something great
and our faith was too low.
But now there's this new groupof people.
There's this young group ofpeople who are hearing from God
and they're hearing the thirdversion of be strong and
courageous.
They're looking at Joshua andthey're saying we're seeing in
you something that is special,something that is bigger, a
(38:15):
leader worth following, and weare going to do whatever it is
that you call us to do in allthings.
So we will obey you.
Only one thing, hey Joshua, wedon't care how well you speak
and we don't care that you getevery single decision right, but
we do care about this.
(38:36):
May the Lord, your God, be withyou, as he was with Moses.
Whoever rebels against yourcommandment and disobeys your
word.
Whatever you command him willtrust you, even to the point of
death.
And then the people finally saywhat God has been saying to them
all along this is the peopletaking up the ministry of the
(38:59):
gospel.
Moses said it to them and theywere fearful.
Then Moses says it to Joshua.
Joshua turns around and givesit to them and here, in version
3.0, they finally give it back.
Joshua, we're going to bestrong and courageous.
Will you be strong andcourageous as you lead us?
Will you display that you havefaith in something that is
(39:22):
bigger than yourself?
Can this not just be yourleadership that leads us and
guides us?
Encouragement is what they givehim, and it isn't flattery.
When we encourage people, notin little trivial things, when
we encourage their soul, theirbeing, their personality, who
God is building them to be.
(39:43):
Encouragement isn't flattery,it is covenantal reinforcement.
It is you looking at someonewho is following Christ and
saying this is how I see Christin you, this is how I see in you
somebody worth following, whoseGPS is actually working right.
And here's the reality Ifyou're a Christian, all of you
(40:04):
are called to lead and all ofyou are already able to lead.
Maybe not in all ways, in allplaces, but certainly in some.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who gavehis life for a mission that God
called him.
To put it this way, theChristian needs another
Christian who speaks God's wordto him.
(40:24):
He needs him again and againwhen he becomes uncertain and
discouraged.
Pause, this is a room of people.
Some of you know each other.
Some of you in this room knownobody, but if any of you know
Jesus, you can do this.
If any of you know Jesus, youcan do this.
(40:45):
If any of you know Jesus, youcan begin looking actively,
looking for the evidences ofChrist in the people around you.
One of the most beautifulthings you could say is I don't
know your name, but I can seeyour patience in dealing with
your children.
It encourages me.
I don't know who you are I'veseen you once or twice before
but I want you to know.
I am encouraged that every timeI see you in church, you are
(41:07):
Bible open, pen out and diligent.
I am wanting to grow in lovingGod's word the way that you love
it.
This is not flattery, this isreality.
Dietrich goes on and he says forthe weaker brother, the one who
is struggling by the way,they're all around you right now
For the weaker brother, the onewho is struggling.
By the way they're all aroundyou right now.
The Christ in his own heart isweaker than the Christ in the
(41:29):
word of his brother.
It's the same Christ, but whenwe share it, when we give it,
when we speak truth andencouragement to one another,
that same savior seems bigger,more real.
Why?
Because we're sharing our faithwith one another.
His own heart is uncertain, buthis brother's is sure.
(41:52):
Follow worthy leadershipwelcomes encouragement.
Now, does Jesus welcome yourencouragement?
Yes, but it's a littledifferent.
I can encourage you, but Ishould never worship you.
However, when we encourageChrist, what we call that is
worship.
King of kings, lord of lords,greater than everything, above
(42:15):
and beyond every reality.
In my heart, in my mind, in mycalendar, in my schedule, in my
life, the turns in the road Idon't even know are coming.
Yet, christ, you are biggerthan that and I know it.
And when I say it and when Ibelieve it, and when I sing it,
I am worshiping.
(42:35):
Jesus didn't hesitate inobedience.
Jesus led through dependence.
Jesus invites you to andexpects sacrifice and faith.
And here is the great news hegives you everything he expects
of you.
He just gives it to you, hegives you his word, he gives you
his spirit, he gives you a lifeworth living.
(42:55):
So, mitri, as we get ready forthe next seven years, I do hope
I get to be a part of it.
This was not hey, leaders, comeand go.
It's been great.
Hope it works out for you.
Next week, I'm planning onshowing up.
Okay, I've heard, as far as Iknow, all the elders are still.
Larry, you're gonna be herenext week.
Okay, as far as I know, we'reall still planning to show up.
But here's what I want you tohear.
(43:19):
You don't need any of thepeople in this room, but, boy,
does he love using you and hedoesn't just love to use you.
You will love being utilized byGod.
Every one of us are called notto just follow worthy leadership
, but to be follow worthy in ourleadership.
(43:41):
Take a moment, think throughthese questions, and then we'll
stand and respond in worship.
We'll finish a bit early.
Celebrate what God has done.
Don't rush out.
Grab your kids.
There's gonna be a lot of funstuff going out there, meet
people that you don't know, butlet us be these kind of people
as we pursue this kind of God.
Please turn in your Bibles to Joshua 1, 1-9.
It's on page 178 in the PewBibles, and follow along as I
read God's Word.
After the death of Moses, theservant of the Lord, the Lord
said to Joshua, the son of Nun,moses' assistant, moses, my
(00:22):
servant, is dead.
Now therefore, arise, go overthis Jordan, you and all this
people, into the land that I'mgiving to them, to the people of
Israel.
Every place that the sole ofyour foot will tread upon, I
have given to you, just as Ipromised to Moses, from the
wilderness in this Lebanon asfar as the great river, the
(00:43):
river Euphrates.
All the land of the Hittites tothe great sea, toward the going
down of the sun, shall be yourterritory.
No man shall be able to standbefore you all the days of your
life.
Just as I was with Moses, so Iwill be with you.
I will not leave you or forsakeyou.
Be strong and courageous, foryou shall cause this people to
(01:04):
inherit the land that I swore totheir fathers to give them.
Only be strong and verycourageous, being careful to do
according to all the law thatMoses, my servant, commanded.
You Do not turn from it to theright hand or to the left that
you may have good successwherever you go.
This book of the law shall notdepart from your mouth, but you
shall meditate on it day andnight, so that you may be
(01:26):
careful to do according to allthat is written in it, for then
you will make your wayprosperous and then you will
have good success.
Have I not commanded you?
Be strong and courageous, donot be frightened and do not be
dismayed, for the Lord, your God, is with you wherever you go.
This is the word of the Lord.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Amen.
Thank you, olivia, muchappreciated.
Well, guys, I thought we wouldstart with this.
If you picked up a Biblejournal or if you grabbed one of
the Bible memory bands on yourway in we do have plenty of
these, by the way so if youdidn't get a journal, we have
plenty of Bible memory bands.
You'll see these on the tableon your way out.
I thought this would be a greatway for us to start this
(02:11):
morning because itsimultaneously gets us ready for
the book of Joshua movingforward, but it also helps us
celebrate the past seven years.
In the event that you walkedthrough the parking lot and
through the building and intothis room with your eyes closed
and your ears plugged, you maynot have realized that prep for
celebration.
This is Midtree's seventhbirthday.
Praise God, yeah.
(02:32):
And while we have been workingthrough books of the Bible, we
always want to recommend thingsfor you to commit to memory.
We're going to be in the bookof Joshua for a few months,
basically until Advent, untilChristmas, and so instead of
giving you one verse, we gaveyou two.
Okay, the first one is a littlebit shorter, a little bit
easier.
Second one it's a little bitharder in the reading, but if
(02:52):
you grabbed one of the scripturejournals or one of the bands,
you will see these.
We got pretty sneaky with theband.
If you get the easy one, youhave to flip it over upside down
and then you'll see thatthere's a scripture on the
underside as well.
But I wanted to begin with thisas we jump into Joshua, because
it's a perfect little tensionpoint for where we're going and
where we've come from.
(03:12):
Joshua 1.9,.
Have I not commanded you bestrong and courageous, do not be
frightened and do not bedismayed, for the Lord, your God
, is with you wherever you go.
If you don't know the story ofMidtree, I'm not gonna give you
the whole thing.
We've got a video that we'remaking.
You'll see it in the monthsahead.
But Midtree wasn't always here.
In fact it's been through anumber of iterations, so I
(03:36):
thought this would be a littlefun by show of hands.
How many of you remember meetingin a farmhouse, a pole barn?
Yeah, praise God, all right,good stuff.
How many of you guys werearound after we left the farm
and we moved to Impact 360 inPine Mountain?
(03:56):
How many folks remember that?
Okay, good stuff.
Who remembers COVID digitally?
We actually picked up a fewfolks.
Yeah, okay, good stuff.
And then there was like thisshort stint for a couple of
months where we would invite oneMCG because it met the like the
spacing precautions to sit onmy porch while we recorded the
(04:20):
online digital service.
Does anybody remember that?
A couple, okay.
Then we moved to ChristCommunity in the evening.
Anybody remember that?
Anybody there for that?
Okay.
And then, jimmy, I'm looking atyou just because I see you.
Then we ended up here, right,okay, but we actually met here
before the building was done.
We didn't have CEO.
We snuck in.
Was anybody here?
Was that a Christmas Eveservice For Christmas Eve, when
(04:43):
it was just systems in dangerand you had to keep your kids
close?
Anybody remember that?
Okay, and then, out ofcuriosity, you don't have to
raise your hand if it's gonnamake you embarrassed.
How many folks are new toMidtree?
As of the past two months, byshow of hands, you've been
coming for, hey, welcome, we'reso glad that you guys are here.
Yeah, praise God, I glad thatyou guys are here.
(05:09):
Yeah, praise God, I will bewith you wherever you go.
Promise number two that we thinkwould be good to commit to
memory Not one word of all thegood promises that the Lord had
made to the house of Israel hadfailed.
All came to pass.
This is where we live.
We live in the middle of acoming and a going.
A coming of Christ, who hascome and given his life, died on
the cross, opens an invitationto any who seek the forgiveness
(05:32):
of their sins, right standingwith God, a life of purpose and
adventure and meaning, and weare waiting on a savior to
return.
So as you begin looking, hereis what you will see in
Scripture.
If you go all the way back toNumbers, y'all can flip there,
or you can just trust me that Ididn't edit any Scriptures.
(05:54):
Numbers 13 tells us how Joshuagot to be Joshua.
Now, I'm not going to give youthe whole redemptive story, but
if you don't know, the book ofGenesis is the first book of the
Bible.
Creation, fall, rebellion.
Adam and Eve are kicked out ofthe garden, but God gives them a
promise I'm going to bring youback into a land, into a kingdom
that has no problems, whererighteousness dwells.
(06:17):
Well then, we have Exodus.
Moses leads God's people out ofslavery, and here is where we
pick up after they have leftEgypt.
Numbers 13, moses sent them.
Anybody wanna know anybodywanna guess how many people is
them?
Bonus points for those of youwho had Sunday school.
How many is them?
12, all right, he sends 12folks to spy out the land of
(06:40):
Canaan, the promised land, andMoses gives them this one big
command and if you werelistening to Olivia read it, you
heard it repeated over and overand over.
Moses looks at the 12 and hesays be of good courage.
Why would he say that?
Because they're going into alarge land with large people,
with large fortresses, and Godhas told them this is going to
(07:03):
be yours.
Well, these are folks who havebeen enslaved for years.
Can they really trust that Godis going to give them this land
that he has promised?
So Moses says be of goodcourage.
Let's see how they did.
At the end of 40 days, the spies, the 12 spies, returned after
spying out the land and theycreate a little bit of a hubbub.
(07:24):
They say we look likegrasshoppers compared to these
guys.
There's no way it's going tohappen.
I mean, god's good.
He's 10 plagues good.
He's ripping open the Red Seafor us good, but these are
pretty tall people.
That's kind of how it plays.
You should laugh at that.
It is sort of silly.
But Caleb quieted the peoplebefore Moses and he said let us
go up at once and occupy it, forwe are able to overcome it.
(07:47):
Then the men who had gone upwith him said we're not able to
go up against the people.
They are stronger than us.
If I were to personalize thebook of Joshua, it would be with
one or two questions.
The first question would be areyou prone to think that you
have made a mistake that Godcannot, will not or has been
(08:08):
very slow to redeem in your life?
Because what you're about tosee is a massive mistake.
And the book of Joshua is Godsaying even in the midst of your
most massive mistakes, mypromises are still good.
The second thing that I wouldsay is faithfulness is something
you can actually achieve ifyou're trusting in the right
(08:29):
thing.
So Caleb gets him quiet.
He says listen, guys, we needto have a little bit of faith.
And in Numbers 14, here is whatthey respond with why would the
Lord bring us into this land tofall by the sword?
Our wives and our little oneswill become prey.
Would it not be better for usto go back to Egypt?
(08:49):
In case you're curious, this isGod's people sort of slapping
at God.
He goes through all the troubleto lead them out, to give them
his word, to give them hispromises.
They hit one hurdle and they'relike let's just go back to
being slaves.
So Moses and Aaron fall on theirfaces before all the assembly
of the congregation of thepeople of Israel.
(09:12):
But they're not the only ones.
And Joshua, here's our guy.
He shows up here with Moses andAaron and Caleb and these four
men in an entire nation ofpeople.
Four guys are willing to dothis.
They fall on their faces beforethe Lord and Joshua, the son of
(09:33):
Nun, caleb, the son ofJephunneh, who were among those
who had spied out the land, toretheir clothes.
It's a sign of like mourning,repentance, anger, frustration.
And they said to all thecongregation of the people of
Israel do not rebel against theLord, do not fear the people of
the land.
Are they going to listen?
All the congregation said stonethem with stones.
(09:57):
They look at the four guys, thefour guys who were praying, the
four guys who are submitting toGod, and their solution is we
need to get rid of these guys.
We're going to kill them.
Notice how rescue comes in.
The glory of the Lord appearedat the tent of meeting and all
the people see this andeverything changes.
(10:19):
God looks at him and he sayshere's the deal.
I sent 12 guys into a land I'dalready promised you.
When I sent you, I told you beof good courage, and you came
back like little pansies andyou're scared, even though
you've seen me do incrediblethings.
So here is going to be thepenalty for your lack of faith.
(10:43):
It's going to get real OldTestament in here.
Okay, here you go.
Your dead bodies shall fall inthis wilderness and all of your
number listed in the census,from 20 years old and upward,
who have grumbled against me.
Not one shall come into theland that I swore I would make
(11:06):
you dwell, except Caleb andJoshua.
Your children shall beshepherds in the wilderness 40
years.
You want to know why they werethere?
For 40 years they shall sufferfor your faithfulness until the
last of your dead bodies lies inthe wilderness, according to
the number of the days in whichyou spied out the land 40 days a
(11:30):
year.
For each day, you shall bearyour iniquity 40 years and you
shall know my displeasure.
This is how we get to the bookof Joshua.
It's okay for you to be alittle heavy, don't worry, it
gets better.
All right, the Bible keepsgetting better.
This is rough.
(11:50):
They spend 40 days looking at aland that God was saying this is
what I've got for you.
This is your inheritance.
I have built you for this.
I've showed you how to dependon me, how to trust on me.
You're going to walk into scaryplaces, but it's going to be
okay.
By the way, that's the story ofevery church.
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That's the story of everyChristian.
I am going to lead you intoplaces that look too big and
they look too scary, and you'renot sure how it's going to work
out, but if you will just trustme, I will write an incredible
story.
Guys, we're celebrating sevenyears as a church, but for every
Christian in this roomhopefully you're celebrating
five years having faith in God10, 15, 20, 40, 50 and beyond,
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and every one of us who haswalked with the Lord knows this.
When we have faith, when wetrust him, when we walk instead
of our fearful, he writes anincredible story.
But here I circled the age 20,everyone who was of military
fighting age and decided I can'ttrust Lord with danger.
(13:02):
God looked and he said you'renot gonna make it.
You're not gonna make it in thepromised land because you have
doubted me.
And for every day I showed youmy promise that you said I don't
know that I can buy into it.
Despise are in there.
Day three Ah, it just feels alittle too good.
Day 29, this feels like alittle bit much.
God looks and he says for everyday, I gave you a vision of
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what I wanted your life to be,what I desired for your
adventure to play out.
It's going to cost you a year,and only Caleb and Joshua and
the 19 year olds and younger aregoing to see this happen.
This is one of my favoriteyouth ministry realities.
(13:46):
Everything, where is it?
Somebody took my Bible journal.
How dare you?
Everything, everything you'regoing to read in the book of
Joshua, with the exception ofJoshua and Caleb, was done by a
youth age student.
Every story you're gonna readwhen they make it into the
promised land had to be somebody19 years or younger for God to
(14:11):
begin this, and so when we thinkabout ourselves and God using
us, it isn't how smart we are,it isn't how much we know.
It certainly is not how old weare.
It's how much we're willing tofollow the Lord.
Now notice.
I know you can't read this wholething, but I did want you to
see in Joshua 1 that fourdifferent times be strong and
(14:33):
courageous.
Be strong and very courageous.
Be strong and courageous.
The last verse in the chapterbe strong and courageous.
This is be strong andcourageous, version 2.0.
Version 1.0 was in Numbers 13.
And God said hey, I want you tobe courageous, go into the land
.
Did they succeed or did theyfail?
They failed, they failed.
(14:54):
It cost them 40 years.
So now Joshua receives thisfrom the Lord.
Left hand column is God talkingto Joshua?
Right hand column is Joshuatalking to the people?
The question is will version2.0 fare any better?
Will Joshua do better than hispredecessors?
And the short answer is,amazingly, yes.
(15:19):
Joshua 1, after the death ofMoses, the servant of the Lord,
the Lord said to Joshua, the sonof Nun, moses' assistant, moses
, my servant, is dead.
Now, then go.
This is one of my favoriteparts of the entire book of
Joshua.
Moses is dead.
Now let's get to work.
Just so you know, that is nottypically how leaders of
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countries or organizations dealwith a predecessor, right, they
don't deal with the next guy bysaying let's just say I get hit
by a truck.
Okay.
Usually, when you arrive on thenext Sunday, it might feel a
little heavier.
Okay?
Some people experience this inevery presidential election, as
(16:07):
though, oh well, I'm eithergoing to celebrate or I'm going
to be in sackcloth and ash andripping my clothes apart.
Tell me I'm wrong.
We've got a couple moreNovembers and we'll see how you
pan out.
Okay, every time leadershipchanges, we are prone to panic.
I'll prove it to you again.
Try so hard, those of you whoare public school like myself,
to remember a first day ofschool in a new class.
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Do you remember meeting thatteacher?
Within the first couple ofhours, you were extrapolating
what the next year was going tolook like.
Is she nice or is she mean?
Does she like wild boys andshe's going to be cool with that
, or does she favor girls whobring their notebooks to class
every single week?
Is this going to be a lot ofhard work?
(16:50):
Is this going to be a lot offun?
Is there going to be a storytime?
How is this going to pan out?
Who am I going to sit with atlunch?
Are any of my buddies in thisclass?
You have all of this excitementand all of this anxiety all at
the same time, because yourteacher changed from Miss Newton
to Miss Watson in Will's caseor whatever it was for you.
Same thing happens when you geta new coach.
(17:10):
Same thing happens when achurch gets a new leader, when a
business takes on a new CEO.
But can I show you what faithin the Lord looks like?
Moses is dead.
Let's get to work.
It feels cold.
The book of Deuteronomy ends bytalking about how incredible
Moses was, but the mission ofGod never stops.
(17:34):
God lovingly and joyfullyutilizes people, but he is not
dependent on them.
The death of Moses is not thedeath of the mission, and nor is
the death of any leader in yourlife.
And to make sure that hispeople know, to make sure that
Joshua knows that God hasn'tleft or forgotten them, he gives
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them a gift in the next coupleof verses.
Notice this.
It's more fun, I think, to workbackwards.
He starts and he says look, bestrong and courageous, but built
on top of that is hey, joshua,just as I was with Moses, I'm
gonna be with you.
Don't fear, I am with you.
(18:19):
And when you look even furtherback, he says look, I am giving
and I have given.
This is my nature as a God.
How can you doubt, as we moveinto this new promise, this new
future, this new step?
I am a giving God.
I have given to you.
Just as I've been with Moses,I'm going to be with Joshua.
(18:40):
People of God, be strong andcourageous, he says to a group
of 19 year olds and younger.
When this began, I've beendebating how to how to do this
next little piece, becausethere's a chance you get lost
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here.
I want to go to a New Testamentverse, but I don't want you to
miss the narrative.
But if you miss this, you'regoing to miss out on a lot in
the entire book of Joshua.
There is no way to follow Jesus, no way to follow Jesus, no way
to follow Jesus and not lead incertain areas of your life.
(19:24):
There's no way.
We are called to be servants,we are called to be followers of
Christ.
There is no way for Joshua tolead this people if the people
he is leading do not beginbecoming leaders themselves.
The reason I point to this andI want to prove it to you real
quick so this is Ephesians 4.
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God gave leaders to the church.
They're going to change all thetime.
He gave apostles, prophets,evangelists, shepherds, teachers
.
What is this saying?
God gave leaders and leadersand leaders and leaders and
leaders so that the people ofGod today and in Ephesians would
know what it is that they aresupposed to do.
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One of the greatest mistakesthat we can make in the church
today is to look at Ephesians4.11 and nod our head and then
begin saying all of the leadersof God's people are going to
look like those five things.
Does anybody know what I'vecovered up in verse 12?
I'm not going to make youanswer out loud.
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I want you to get it wrong.
I want you to notice whathappens right after.
God says he gave leaders to thechurch to equip all of us for
the work of ministry.
You will not be able toappreciate the book of Joshua.
You will not be able to getmuch out of the rest of our time
(20:46):
this morning.
You will not be able to getmuch out of the Christian life
if you don't resolve to believeEphesians 4.12.
Some of you never want to standon this stage.
Some of you never want to reada scripture.
Some of you never want to singin a microphone.
Some of you never want to leadin a kid's ministry.
And it isn't because you'relazy, it's because you don't
(21:10):
trust yourselves.
Be strong and courageous, bestrong and courageous, be strong
and courageous.
In fact, if I'm going to mimicJoshua 1, be strong and
courageous.
The concept here is every singleChristian is called to lead in
some capacity.
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You cannot follow Jesus and notlead in something.
In fact, the saints beingequipped, being called into
leadership, taking ownership ofthe coming kingdom of God, of
the church that he has you in,of the neighborhood that you
live in, of the family that youare born in, this is the mission
of the Christian and it buildsup the body of Christ.
(21:54):
And when do we quit?
We quit in verse 13.
When we all attain the unity ofChrist.
And when do we quit?
We quit in verse 13.
When we all attain the unity ofthe faith, when we all attain
the knowledge of the son of God,when we are all mature to the
measure and stature of Christ.
So you get to quit when you areas good as Jesus.
That's when you get to stop.
Guys, I can't go any further inJoshua until you take a moment
(22:15):
to realize this.
Guys, I can't go any further inJoshua until you take a moment
to realize this.
None of us were called to sit inpews.
Not only, none of us werecalled even to be just good
studiers of the word of God.
Every one of us is expected tobe eyes on it, equipped for the
work of the ministry.
And that is my job, that is theelder's job, that is the
(22:38):
staff's job to do everythingthat we can to equip you.
I can give you a couple of funwins.
We are working right now on away to help you know where you
are in your path of followingJesus and being a disciple of
Christ.
You will see that in aboutthree weeks, so that you can say
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, okay, well, I want to livethis, I want to do this.
Where am I actually at?
The second thing, and this one'svery tangible how many of you
guys, on the way in, saw a bigtrailer with a bunch of yellow
tools that we painstakingly allbought to walk?
I need to know, did y'all seeit?
Yes, okay, it's for you, it'sfor MCGs to be able to say, hey,
who's got a two inch ball onthe back of their?
Whatever?
(23:19):
Go link that thing up.
We wanna go care for the orphan, we wanna care for the widow,
we wanna care for the elderly.
Just take it.
Please bring it back with thestuff inside, all right, but
take it, use it, feel equippedfor the work of the ministry.
If we're gonna be a people whocare about our Bibles, if we're
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going to be a people who pick upa pen, let's also be a people
who pick up a rake and love onthose who need to be loved and
then, from this, god shows uswho Joshua is.
Now, I never do this because Ifeel like some of you guys are
going to check out, but I'm justtrusting you.
Today.
I'm giving you everything I'mgonna do for the next 10 minutes
to close out.
Here you go.
This is what you see in thebook of Joshua.
(24:04):
I'm giving it to you because,instead of building like I
usually do and hoping thatyou're just on pins and needles
to see what the next thing is,that Will says I don't want you
to miss any of this, and I'lltell you why I don't want you to
miss any of this.
This is follow worthyleadership from the second half,
primarily as Joshua turns andtalks to God's people.
Little bit of trivia.
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The Old Testament is written inwhat language?
One, two, three go Hebrew.
Okay, if you don't know theanswers.
That's great.
Church is a place to learnthings, not to show that you
know everything.
The If you don't know theanswers.
That's great.
Church is a place to learnthings, not to show that you
know everything.
The New Testament was written inGreek.
Okay, joshua is a Hebrew name.
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Do you know, if we were totranslate Joshua from Hebrew
into the Greek, what the namewould be?
Jesus, you're reading the bookof Jesus, and so when we see why
is it that, like when you thinkof Joshua or when you think of
Moses, which one's a bigger deal?
(25:07):
And be honest, like which one'sa bigger deal?
Moses, except why is Joshuagiven this name?
Because Moses gives God'speople the law of God.
Joshua is the one who leadsthem home.
Joshua does all of these thingsso similar to Moses, leads them
(25:27):
through a sea that is rippedopen, stands before God, does
all of these incredible things,but, unlike Moses, joshua gets
his people all the way home.
So the reason I'm showing youthis is because every time I
show you one of these points,I'm going to ask you the same
question when you look at yourpursuit of Christ, do you
(25:48):
hesitate in obedience?
And I want you to look atJoshua and see his standard.
I want you to see how thatshows up in Christ and then I
want you to apply it to yourself.
I'm taking it away, but onlyfor a minute.
It'll come right back.
Point one Joshua commanded theofficers of the people pass
through the midst of the camp.
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Moses is dead Now, then go.
So he says pass through themidst of the camp, command the
people.
Prepare your provisions withinthe three days.
I love this.
He doesn't say in three days,because I can tell you what
happens to a procrastinator.
If you say in three days we'releaving.
When do they pack their bags?
Yeah, like night two, on the11th hour.
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That's when they do it.
Joshua's smart, good leader.
He's like, hey, within threedays we're leaving, and the
procrastinators are like, darnit, all right, let's go back.
All right.
How much time does Joshua wait?
It's been 40 years.
This is a massive group ofpeople.
He says three days sounds aboutright.
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Everybody, get ready to move.
There are things that God hasfor us to do.
You're going to pass over theJordan to go in, to take
possession of the land that theLord, your God, is giving you to
possess.
Joshua hears from the Lord andhe gets moving.
His obedience is nottheoretical or theological, it's
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childlike.
God says go and he says let'sget moving.
What would obedience right nowin your life look like?
What would it look like for youto immediately be obedient to
the Lord today?
Delaying obedience is alwaysdisobedience, and this is the
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negative way to say it.
Whenever you delay obedience,don't just call it obedience
light.
It's disobedience.
When God says go and you don'tgo.
When he says stop and you don'tstop.
When he says move and you don'tmove, that is not obedience
light, god.
I just got to pray about it alittle bit.
Let me bring some wise counselaround.
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Memorize a couple of scriptures.
Joshua hears from God and hesays you guys got three days.
Maybe it might be even soonerthan that.
Delaying obedience is alwaysdisobedience and for some of us,
your next faithful act maysimply be not stalling.
Now, when I say that two thingsshould probably happen to you,
those of you who are stallingshould feel convicted.
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You should have sort of a eh,kind of a moment right now,
because you know God has beentelling you to do something.
You're not doing it.
Well, aren't we grateful forthe grace of God?
Aren't you grateful that, asyou've delayed, he hasn't said
well, for every day you'vedelayed, it will be one year of
emptiness in life, like, allright, I'm gonna quit stalling.
Some of you need to know this,for what's happening tomorrow?
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You don't even know it yet.
You have no idea what's comingon Thursday.
But today the word of God issaying your next faithful act
may simply be not stalling.
Can I put this in the positive?
This is where the best storiescome from, the best stories in
your life of faithfulness to God.
The most incredible thingsdon't just happen when God shows
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up.
It happens when God shows upand you have already determined
to say you got it okay.
Whatever it is you want, I'mnot stalling, I'm not dragging
my feet.
No, follow worthy leadership.
Doesn't hesitate in obedience.
Do we see this in Joshua?
Check, yes, did you see this inChrist?
You better believe it.
That for the joy set before himhe endured the cross.
That at precisely the righttime, god sent his son to make
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propitiation and payment for oursins.
This was perfectly time whenJesus is in the garden of
Gethsemane and he's praying somuch that blood is falling like
sweat from his head.
What is Jesus saying?
I'm not stalling, god, I'm notgoing to make your promise wait
one more moment than what youdesire.
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Do we see this in Christ?
You better believe we do.
What about leading throughdependence?
Yeah, I think so.
This is, by the way, my favoritetheological reality of chapter
one.
The top one is when God isspeaking.
The bottom one is when Joshuais speaking to his people, and
here's what we see.
God says to Joshua be strongand courageous, you shall cause
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this people to inherit the land.
Joshua, you got this.
I built you for this.
I've equipped you for this.
This, by the way, is what Godwould say to every believer.
I've built you for this.
I've equipped you for this.
Don't stall in this.
You are not too small for this.
I have made you for this.
But watch what happens whenJoshua turns to the people.
(30:34):
He's called to love, called toserve.
Pass through the midst of thecamp, command the people,
prepare your provisions.
Within three days, we're gonnapass over and go, take
possession of the land that theLord is giving you.
God looks at Joshua and he says, hey, you are going to do this.
But when Joshua looks at God,he says God's actually the one
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who is going to pull this off.
This is dependency on God, it'shumility in action.
It's similar.
Out of curiosity, how many ofyou guys typically drive with
your GPS Like you use your GPS?
Come on, how many of you useyour GPS?
Even if you know, how many ofyou use your GPS, even if you
know where you're going and youcould get there anyway?
Right, got to keep an eye onthe speed.
Maybe you use Waze?
(31:23):
You want to know where the copsare?
I'm with you, you're my people.
Whatever, it doesn't matter howmany wrong turns I make.
So long as I keep it on and Ikeep listening, I'm going to end
up in the right place.
Sometimes I make a wrong turnbecause I don't trust the GPS.
Sometimes I make a wrong turnbecause I'm not paying attention
.
Sometimes I make a wrong turnbecause I'm distracted by
(31:43):
something I ought not bedistracted by Sin, sin, sin.
But God lovingly keeps speaking.
He keeps the final destinationin front of me and if I turn, I
will eventually make it.
Do you know what?
That also makes you Somebodyworth following?
Have you ever followed somebodywho said they knew that, like
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how to get where they were going?
And you found out very quickly.
They didn't know how to getthere and you're making all of
these U-turns and you're kind ofirritated and you're like just
pull out the GPS.
This guy didn't know what is it.
We were on a youth trip.
I will I have forgiven WillVarner for this, but there will
always be consequences for WillVarner, for me, 40 years worth
probably.
(32:24):
We're on a youth ski trip and,bennett, you may have been there
for this one.
We're on a youth ski trip andlike I'm in front of five or six
cars that are driving and allof a sudden my GPS just starts
acting so screwed, but I trustit.
Like I'm bought into this thingand I'm like turning wrong on
(32:45):
one-way streets with a trail ofcars behind me and a bunch of
teenage boys in the back aregiggling like little school
girls.
And it turns out that WillVarner, when I went in to get
gas, had taken my GPS.
He had not changed thedestination, he had changed it
from automotive to pedestrianPedestrians can walk up one-way
(33:06):
streets and for about an hour Iwas trying not to cuss out loud,
nor in my head, with a van fullof youth kids.
Why?
Because somebody had messed upthe message.
God never does.
All we need to do is say hey,if the Lord has sent me, he will
bring me all the way there.
I am wholeheartedly dependenton him.
(33:29):
Do we see Christ lead throughdependence?
Yes, we see him pray.
We see him ask the blessing ofhis father.
We see him submit to the willof the father, even as he goes
toward the hardest thing in life.
What about inviting andexpecting sacrifice?
This is my favorite part.
To the Reubenites, the Gaditesand the half tribe of Manasseh,
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joshua said he's almost donewith his instructions to the
people of God.
There are these three groups ofpeople that he has a special
instruction for.
Hey guys, do you remember theword that Moses, the servant of
the Lord, commanded you Verse 13, saying the Lord, your God, is
actively providing you a placeof rest and will give you this
(34:14):
land.
These groups of people that yousee here the Reubenites, the
Gadites and the half tribe ofManasseh.
They had already arrived inwhat was going to be their
promised land.
They had been there for anumber of years.
You can imagine that, whilemost people are setting up tents
and just trying to figure outhow they're going to get by,
(34:35):
getting their campers plugged inand figuring out their stuff,
these folks are building houses,how they're gonna get by,
getting their campers plugged inand figuring out their subject.
These folks are building houses, they're starting families,
they're starting businesses Tothese three groups of people who
had already received thepromise.
This is what God says throughJoshua your wives, your little
ones, your livestock, this isthe Bible saying you're about to
(34:56):
leave your life behind,everything that matters to you,
everything that counts,everything that you cherish and
hold valuable.
They're gonna remain in theland that Moses gave you, beyond
the Jordan, but all the men ofvalor among you shall pass over
armed before your brothers andshall help them until the Lord
(35:20):
gives rest to your brothers ashe has to you.
This is a sacrificial call.
Joshua has to look at peoplewho have already arrived.
They've erected fences andbusinesses and houses and lives
and he says listen, guys, ifyou're a Reubenite, a Gadite or
a Manassehian, here's your deal.
(35:41):
You have arrived and God hasbeen faithful to you.
It would be easy for you to getcomfortable.
It would be easy for you to saylook at what God has done.
We have a property, we have aplace, we have air conditioning,
when we don't have to open upthe back and all sweating here.
And if you're bothered by it.
Just know I think I'm probablysweating more than you are right
now.
Look at what God has done.
Let's just enjoy, but thatisn't the message of the gospel.
(36:06):
Do you see that there arebrothers who are not yet resting
?
Are there brothers and sistersof the Lord that are not yet in
the kingdom of God?
Are there people in your worldthat God is calling to himself?
I am calling you to leave yourcomfort, I'm calling you to
leave behind what is easy, and Iwant you to go find those who
(36:26):
do not have this kind of rest.
It gets hard when God's blessedyou, though.
Have yesterday's blessingsblunted me against being on
mission today?
Has he filled your spirit somuch that you have become
sluggish and slow?
Has your life become soabundant that you have lost your
(36:48):
drive for what is next?
You see, follow worthyleadership invites and expects
sacrifice and faith, and that'sexactly what Christ expects of
us.
When people look at your life,do they see someone who is
inviting and expecting sacrificeand faith?
(37:09):
And, finally, follow.
Worthy leadership welcomesencouragement.
They answered Joshua.
Now, finally, the people turnback to Joshua.
They have something to say tohim.
All that you have commanded uswe will do.
Wherever you send us, we willgo just as we obeyed Moses.
(37:32):
A little bit of a flag on thefield here.
How well did God's people obeyMoses?
Not bad.
What is this?
This is the 18-year-old whosaid my mom or my dad may not
have done this well.
This is the eight-year-old whoremembers 40 years of difficulty
and mom and dad saying sorry,son, I'm sorry, daughter, it was
(37:53):
on us.
We didn't have faith.
There were these four guys whohad a vision for something great
and our faith was too low.
But now there's this new groupof people.
There's this young group ofpeople who are hearing from God
and they're hearing the thirdversion of be strong and
courageous.
They're looking at Joshua andthey're saying we're seeing in
you something that is special,something that is bigger, a
(38:15):
leader worth following, and weare going to do whatever it is
that you call us to do in allthings.
So we will obey you.
Only one thing, hey Joshua, wedon't care how well you speak
and we don't care that you getevery single decision right, but
we do care about this.
(38:36):
May the Lord, your God, be withyou, as he was with Moses.
Whoever rebels against yourcommandment and disobeys your
word.
Whatever you command him willtrust you, even to the point of
death.
And then the people finally saywhat God has been saying to them
all along this is the peopletaking up the ministry of the
(38:59):
gospel.
Moses said it to them and theywere fearful.
Then Moses says it to Joshua.
Joshua turns around and givesit to them and here, in version
3.0, they finally give it back.
Joshua, we're going to bestrong and courageous.
Will you be strong andcourageous as you lead us?
Will you display that you havefaith in something that is
(39:22):
bigger than yourself?
Can this not just be yourleadership that leads us and
guides us?
Encouragement is what they givehim, and it isn't flattery.
When we encourage people, notin little trivial things, when
we encourage their soul, theirbeing, their personality, who
God is building them to be.
(39:43):
Encouragement isn't flattery,it is covenantal reinforcement.
It is you looking at someonewho is following Christ and
saying this is how I see Christin you, this is how I see in you
somebody worth following, whoseGPS is actually working right.
And here's the reality Ifyou're a Christian, all of you
(40:04):
are called to lead and all ofyou are already able to lead.
Maybe not in all ways, in allplaces, but certainly in some.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who gavehis life for a mission that God
called him.
To put it this way, theChristian needs another
Christian who speaks God's wordto him.
(40:24):
He needs him again and againwhen he becomes uncertain and
discouraged.
Pause, this is a room of people.
Some of you know each other.
Some of you in this room knownobody, but if any of you know
Jesus, you can do this.
If any of you know Jesus, youcan do this.
(40:45):
If any of you know Jesus, youcan begin looking actively,
looking for the evidences ofChrist in the people around you.
One of the most beautifulthings you could say is I don't
know your name, but I can seeyour patience in dealing with
your children.
It encourages me.
I don't know who you are I'veseen you once or twice before
but I want you to know.
I am encouraged that every timeI see you in church, you are
(41:07):
Bible open, pen out and diligent.
I am wanting to grow in lovingGod's word the way that you love
it.
This is not flattery, this isreality.
Dietrich goes on and he says forthe weaker brother, the one who
is struggling by the way,they're all around you right now
For the weaker brother, the onewho is struggling.
By the way they're all aroundyou right now.
The Christ in his own heart isweaker than the Christ in the
(41:29):
word of his brother.
It's the same Christ, but whenwe share it, when we give it,
when we speak truth andencouragement to one another,
that same savior seems bigger,more real.
Why?
Because we're sharing our faithwith one another.
His own heart is uncertain, buthis brother's is sure.
(41:52):
Follow worthy leadershipwelcomes encouragement.
Now, does Jesus welcome yourencouragement?
Yes, but it's a littledifferent.
I can encourage you, but Ishould never worship you.
However, when we encourageChrist, what we call that is
worship.
King of kings, lord of lords,greater than everything, above
(42:15):
and beyond every reality.
In my heart, in my mind, in mycalendar, in my schedule, in my
life, the turns in the road Idon't even know are coming.
Yet, christ, you are biggerthan that and I know it.
And when I say it and when Ibelieve it, and when I sing it,
I am worshiping.
(42:35):
Jesus didn't hesitate inobedience.
Jesus led through dependence.
Jesus invites you to andexpects sacrifice and faith.
And here is the great news hegives you everything he expects
of you.
He just gives it to you, hegives you his word, he gives you
his spirit, he gives you a lifeworth living.
(42:55):
So, mitri, as we get ready forthe next seven years, I do hope
I get to be a part of it.
This was not hey, leaders, comeand go.
It's been great.
Hope it works out for you.
Next week, I'm planning onshowing up.
Okay, I've heard, as far as Iknow, all the elders are still.
Larry, you're gonna be herenext week.
Okay, as far as I know, we'reall still planning to show up.
But here's what I want you tohear.
(43:19):
You don't need any of thepeople in this room, but, boy,
does he love using you and hedoesn't just love to use you.
You will love being utilized byGod.
Every one of us are called notto just follow worthy leadership
, but to be follow worthy in ourleadership.
(43:41):
Take a moment, think throughthese questions, and then we'll
stand and respond in worship.
We'll finish a bit early.
Celebrate what God has done.
Don't rush out.
Grab your kids.
There's gonna be a lot of funstuff going out there, meet
people that you don't know, butlet us be these kind of people
as we pursue this kind of God.
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