January 21, 2025 • 36 mins
Join Chris Schlotterbeck as he discusses the story of when 'the walls came a tumbling down', and how we can tear down the walls of doubt in our life.
To get connected or to give online, you can go to connect.hcv.church or give.hcv.church. If at anytime during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text "change me" to 970-00.
Come As You Are ...
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
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Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.
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To get connected or to give online, go to connect.hcv.church or give.hcv.church.
If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text
change me to 970-00.
Thank you and enjoy the message.
Good morning everyone.
So good to see your smiling faces.
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You made it.
We have a little bit of white stuff falling but it's still warm.
So it's just kind of like white rain.
Okay, that's all it is, white rain.
If you're joining us from home, thank you for welcoming us into your space.
A couple additional announcements.
You heard Alan say that we're having skate night tonight.
We are not.
It's supposed to get harder.
The snow is supposed to get worse later this afternoon and extremely cold.
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We have rescheduled.
We haven't canceled.
We have rescheduled our skate night for Sunday, February 2nd, same time.
Four-thirty to six-thirty at Turner's.
So just fast forward a couple weeks.
Invite your friends, invite your family.
Let's pack the place out and have a good night skating together.
Another announcement I want to make that's not and wasn't in your announcements.
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We have an incredible opportunity.
Vineyard USA has partnered with Seminary Now and we now as being a part of the Vineyard
can offer you seminary level classes for, are you ready for this?
Free.
Absolutely, positively free.
Okay.
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So just because you're a part of HCV, you're here and you want to grow closer to Jesus,
you want to learn more about the Bible.
You simply click the link on the back of your chairs.
Okay, that will take you to our link tree and on there, we'll say Seminary Now, it will
take you to this homepage.
On that homepage, you can scroll down and you can see the courses that are offered.
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There's actually two courses.
Rudy is leading one on Tuesday nights here at HCV and Jess is leading another.
Those two courses are highlighted and then if you go below those, there's all the courses
that you can take absolutely free.
Okay, so totally free, no charge.
I want to encourage you, check out the link, check out the classes.
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It will deepen your faith.
It will grow you closer to Jesus and again, it's absolutely free.
Free.
Okay, now for some of you that want to get your seminary degrees, you can pay for it.
Go for it.
It's all good.
You can get your degree, you can graduate, but what we're offering to you again is absolutely
free.
So there's no reason not to check it out, right?
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All right, so I want to launch out this morning by asking you a simple question and I just
want you to ponder it for a few minutes.
No reason to shout out or respond.
Just listen to the Holy Spirit as I ask you this question.
Do you believe in the power of prayer?
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Do you believe in the power of prayer?
Or do you happen to have a prayer life that's a little confusing, maybe weak, will lead
you to being surprised when God answers your prayers.
See, we are in the third week of our 21 days of prayer and fasting that we begin with every
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new year at HCV and our focus this year is to become mountain movers.
And our scripture of the year is Mark 11, 23 that reads, I tell you the truth, you can
say to this mountain may you be lifted up and thrown into the sea and it will happen.
But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
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See, we have been praying and we've been fasting, we've been inviting God to intervene in situations
in our lives that seem impossible, that seem improbable to answer.
We kicked off our series by discussing how a fresh anointing moves mountains.
And as we get closer to Jesus, as we become more like him, we develop the faith needed
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to move mountains.
Last week we jumped into the Old Testament and we learned how Joshua took over as leader
of the people of Israel and immediately challenged the people to consecrate themselves before
God to prepare their hearts for God to move powerfully amongst them.
And this morning, and I'm going to continue in that story and speak to anyone who is currently
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discouraged in their prayer life.
So you've been praying and praying for God to break in or for a breakthrough to happen,
but unfortunately nothing has.
Maybe you've been praying for months or even years for this mountain in your life to move.
And now you're wondering, God, am I, am I doing something wrong?
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God, are you hearing my prayers?
If so, why are you not answering?
See, God, I'm desperately in need of a breakthrough.
I've grown tired.
I've grown weary in my prayer life.
And let's be honest.
We've all been there.
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We know what it's like to cry out to God and to see nothing.
And then all around you, there's other people experiencing healing or, or they're seeing
a son or a daughter or give their life to Jesus or they're having these financial breakthroughs,
but not me.
And if you find yourself here today, if you're online watching and that's your position,
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you're tired, you're frustrated, you're disappointed by this crisis, this mountain that you're
facing that in your prayer life, the prayers have not been answered and the mountain is
not moved.
In fact, maybe your situation's gotten worse.
And maybe you're at a point in life where you're thinking about quitting.
You're moving on from believing in the miraculous, in the miracles of God.
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Well, this morning, God challenged me with a, with a message that will encourage you
to press in and to pray through doubt because I believe walls will fall today.
I believe that the walls will come down.
So we're going to continue discussing Joshua's story in Joshua chapter six.
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And if you remember last week, we ended with Joshua entering the land of Jericho and he's
met by the commander of the Lord's army.
So we said that scholars believe is the pre incarnate person of Jesus and Jesus is standing
there wielding the sword.
And Joshua's told to take off his shoots because he was standing on holy ground.
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And then they would set off to conquer the city of Jericho, opening up the promised land
for the Israelites to have.
And I believe this story that we're going to discuss literally runs parallel with, with
prayer and fasting as we currently seek to see God move.
And God wants us to encourage us as a community of faith to press in and press on, which leads
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us to our first thought this morning and see God, he gives simple instructions to follow.
God gives us simple instructions to follow.
Listen to Joshua six, two through four.
But the Lord said to Joshua, I've given you Jericho, it's King and all its strong warriors.
You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days.
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Seven priests will walk ahead of the arch, each carrying a ram's horn.
And on the seventh day, you were to march around the town seven times with the priests
blowing the horns.
And when you hear the priests give one long blast on the ram's horn, have all the people
shout as loud as they can.
Now I believe when receiving instructions like that, Joshua could have quickly questioned
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God, could have argued with God saying, this makes no sense.
Really God, this is the stupidest plan I've ever heard or received.
Why not just let me go cut down a tree and create a battering ram and knock down those
doors?
Why not just establish a siege and starve them out?
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Why not sneak more warriors over the walls at night, just like our spies and overwhelm
them from the inside?
Why God would I simply march around the walls for seven days when I have these warriors
and the strength to do it on my own?
See, quite often I believe that is our problem when it comes to prayer.
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We want mountains to move our way, not God's way.
But God wants us to believe in the miraculous and he gives us simple instructions to achieve
it.
See, God often reveals to us plans for success, instructions for living and experiencing the
miraculous in life, but we question him and we make it harder than it has to be.
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I mean, Jesus shared these words in Mark chapter 12, verses 20 to 31.
One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate.
He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked him another question of all the
commandments, which is the most important.
Jesus replied, it's almost like you can see Jesus, just this is easy.
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The most important command is this, the Lord your God is the one and only Lord and you
must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all
your strength and the second is equally as important, love your neighbor as yourself.
No other commandment is greater than these.
And when we hear those words, many of us maybe haven't memorized, have read them often, we
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think well, well that's easy, but if we really look at those two simple commandments, we
quickly realize it centers around one simple word and that word is all.
Jesus wants all of us.
He wants our hearts, he wants our souls, he wants our minds.
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Does he want us to ask questions?
Yes, but he doesn't want us to doubt and believe that our ways, that our plans are better than
his.
I mean last week we discussed how God's ways are higher than our ways, how his thoughts
are higher than our thoughts.
So when he tells us to fast and pray for seven days while we walk around the walls of Jericho,
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even though it makes no sense, we should do it.
We should go after it because the plans of God are revealed in the presence of God.
As we get closer to God, his plans for our life is revealed.
Remember Joshua and the people of Israel, they consecrated themselves before they began
this journey and we discussed how consecrated means they're all in.
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They're all in with God.
So this morning ask yourself, are you all in with God?
And if so, will you respond to God even if he asks you to do something that makes absolutely
no sense?
Which leads us to our next thought.
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You see the enemy, the enemy places walls of doubt in our lives.
Joshua 6, 1, now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid
of the Israelites.
No one was allowed to go out or in.
See Jericho was an ancient city with walls that stretched into the sky.
So the people of Israel, they crossed into the Jordan River, into the promised land,
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but they did not possess the land.
There was this one city standing in their way and it was Jericho.
And sometimes when we read or hear these stories, we think that's what they are.
They're just, they're just stories.
I mean, some of us remember growing up in church with our felt board or the video and
we sung songs about Joshua circling the city and walls falling down.
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But this isn't just a story.
Jericho is an actual city.
In fact, it claims to be the oldest city on planet earth.
Our archaeological digs have proven the city existed as far back as 8,000 BC.
And today Jericho is home to Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians.
It's a real city.
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So when we're reading about these walls, many scholars believe that the walls were 25 feet
high and 20 feet thick.
Means soldiers could stand on top of the walls, walk back and forth and see for miles.
Jericho could not be taken by human force.
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That's the reason.
Hey Joshua, you're not going to knock those walls down.
And the Canaanite people, they were wicked people.
History tells us they used their children as prostitutes for false gods and they sacrificed
them on pagan altars.
They were into all kinds of idolatry and perversion and sin.
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And this evil had gone on for years and years and years.
And God told Joshua and the people, I've already given you that city.
He made a promise to his people.
Just like you and me, God has promises for us.
And if you're in a relationship with Jesus, you need to fight for those promises.
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And we fight for those promises in prayer.
We fight for those promises by fasting.
And there's times in our life when the enemy, see he builds these walls against us.
Remember John 10, 10, the feast's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy.
And these walls in our lives are created brick by brick, you know, bricks of doubt and fear
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and a brick of negativity and hate and frustration.
And then you throw in the brick of depression or the brick of addictions.
And then we hear that voice, there's no hope for you.
There's no way out.
You're never going to be free.
And friends, when those feelings attack us, we need to fight back.
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We just don't let it happen.
And Ephesians 6, 11 from the Amplified Version says, put on the full armor of God for his
precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavenly armed soldier.
So that you may be able to successfully stand up against all the schemes and strategies
and the deceits of the devil.
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See the enemy uses worry and fear to steal our peace, to steal our joy.
That we're not able to be present with our children.
We're not aware of the blessings of God in our life.
And when he attacks us with this doubt, it hinders our prayer life.
And it calls us to drift further and further from God.
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The dictionary defines doubt as distrust, the lack of confidence in or to call into
question the truth of God.
And when we doubt God in prayer, that's bad because it makes us a double minded person.
It's like in our heart we want to trust him, but in our mind we're doubting and we're
torn into two.
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And that's hindering our prayers.
That's why Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6, 27, can all your worries at a single moment
to your life?
Of course not.
But I get it.
The walls are big.
The mountain seems huge.
It's not moving anywhere, but we have to remember our next thought.
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Faith is the substance of things not seen.
Joshua 6, 1 through 2, now the gates of Jericho, they were tightly shut because the people
were afraid, notice they were afraid of the Israelites.
No one's allowed in or out.
But the Lord said to Joshua, I've given you Jericho its king and all its strong warriors.
And notice, so often we miss, God is speaking in the past tense.
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Yes, those walls are big.
They're tightly secured, but I've already given it to you.
And I believe that is what God is saying to us this morning.
He looks at our mountains.
He looks at that huge wall and he says, it's done.
I've given you victory because the enemy's already been defeated.
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Jesus has already defeated Satan, sin and death.
He's declared victory with his death, burial and resurrection and now all the spiritual
blessings of God is ours.
If you're in a relationship with Jesus, you have to walk by faith.
See God's perspective of our mountains as he looks down from his kingdom, they pale
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in comparison to us because as we walk through our everyday life, we look up and we focus
on them and we think they're huge.
But God says, that's not what I want you to see.
Don't focus on how big it is.
Don't focus on how you haven't received the healing or you haven't gotten the promotion
or your finances aren't improving or your children haven't changed or I'm still not
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married Chris.
Because it's in those instances that we want to take control of our life and try to move
those walls ourselves, but we can't.
Notice what God tells Joshua in Joshua 6, 3 through 4, you and your fighting men should
march around the town once a day for six days.
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Seven priests walk ahead of the ark, each carrying a ram's horn and on the seventh day
you were to march around the town seven times with the priests blowing the horns.
God had a plan.
The people to walk around the city one time for six days, but on the seventh day they
had to walk around it seven times.
Have you ever thought, why did God tell them to walk around the city seven times on the
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seventh day?
Well, in the Hebrew scriptures, six always represents the number of man, all that man
can do in his limited strength.
But in the Hebrew scriptures, again, seven is the number of God because it represents
perfection and completion.
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In other words, only what God can do in his strength.
And as we continue in verses 10 through 11, notice what Joshua says, do not shout, do
not even talk.
Joshua commanded not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout, then shout.
So the ark of the Lord was carried around the town once that day and then everyone returned
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to spend the night in the camp.
Have you ever thought for a second, imagine what the warriors were thinking.
I mean, they're ready to fight.
They have their swords on.
They're going to take the city by force, but God keeps telling them, eh, just walk around
the city.
Just walk around the city.
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And he's desiring that they walk by faith.
Hebrews 11, one through three says, faith shows the reality of what we hope for.
It is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Through their faith, the people in days of old are under good reputation.
By faith, we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command.
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And what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
See, faith is believing in something even when you cannot physically see it, touch it,
or experience it.
Essentially, we're trusting in something unseen based on our relationship with Jesus.
And this verse is part of a larger passage in Hebrews that discusses the lives of biblical
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heroes.
Those men of great faith that demonstrated walking by faith.
And in verse 30 of chapter 11 in Hebrews, we read, it was by faith that the people of
Israel marched around Jericho for seven days.
Then the walls came crashing down.
See, we have to realize when it comes to our mountains, when it comes to our walls, we
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have to realize the outcome is God's responsibility while obedience is ours.
We're called to be obedient.
Outcome is God's responsibility.
Obedience is ours.
And it doesn't matter how long you've been praying.
Keep on believing.
Yes, the enemy is going to come at us.
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We're going to have doubt in our minds, but we must remember, church, you're in a spiritual
battle.
And when the enemy is coming at us, chances are you're doing something right.
You're praying the right prayers.
You're believing for the miraculous.
Because it's not our power, it's his, which leads us to our final thought.
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If we pray through, God will break through.
Imagine what would have happened if Joshua would have stopped the marching on day six.
The people would have not made it into the promised land.
They wouldn't have experienced the goodness.
So I want to encourage you, don't stop praying on day six.
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Day six is the number of man, while seven is the number of God, which leads us to continue
verses 15 to 16 and 20.
On the seventh day, the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as he
had done before.
But this time, they went around the town seven times.
And the seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua
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commanded the people, shout for the Lord has given you the town.
And when the people heard the sound of the ram's horn, they shouted as loud as they could.
And suddenly the walls of Jericho collapsed and the Israelites charged straight into the
town and captured it.
And there's someone here this morning.
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You're gathered here or you're watching online and you feel like giving up.
And God is challenging you this morning.
Don't quit.
Keep praying, keep believing.
And on the seventh day, he wants you to shout because those walls will fall down.
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Now some of you are, Chris, how do I know it's the seventh day?
You'll know because the Holy Spirit will tell you.
But you can't give up.
Especially don't listen to those family members or those friends.
They're telling you it'll never happen.
Don't allow them to create a space of doubt in your mind.
If we pray through, God will break through.
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And it's amazing.
Just share with me the story of a family that's now a part of our community of faith.
And they're a part of our community of faith because of the backpack giveaway.
A few years ago, they came to our backpack giveaway, received the backpack, loved how
our church was so generous and practical and how we reach out to them.
Now they're plugged into our community of faith thriving.
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And their story after story of how God is changing lives in our community of faith.
On Sunday mornings when I share those words of knowledge, people are coming up here and
experiencing the miraculous healing of God.
But it all comes from taking a step of faith.
As we walk around the walls, as we pray and believe that God will break in, he's preparing
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us for a victory he's already given us.
How do I know that?
Look at 2 Corinthians 1.20.
For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding yes.
And through Christ, our amen, which means yes, ascends to the glory of God.
We've got to believe in the power of prayer.
We've got to rely on the power of God to move our mountains and to tear down our walls.
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Jesus guaranteed victory for his followers with these words, Matthew 16, 18.
Upon this rock, I will build my church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
And notice he says the church and that's not this building, it's you and me.
It's those who belong to Jesus.
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And what happens to our mountains, they get torn down because the gates of hell will not
stop us.
But I want to challenge you this morning, you need to go on the offensive.
We need to move forward claiming and declaring victory.
And too often the church, they're on the defensive, they're on the retreat, they're backing up
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and God says no, you have the power to tear down the walls if you believe in me in prayer.
Will you continue to fall on your knees and pray and believe for the miraculous which
leads us to our action steps.
The walls will fall.
Three simple steps in experiencing the walls falling.
Number one, you got to focus on Jesus.
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When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front
of him with a sword in his hand.
Joshua went up to him and demanded, are you friend or foe?
Neither one.
He replied, I'm the commander of the Lord's army.
And at this, notice what Joshua did, he fell on his face to the ground in reverence.
And remember, that commander is Jesus.
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And in this context, I want you to visibly see, Joshua would have been able to see the
giant walls in front of him.
That's how big they were.
But who did he focus on?
Did he focus on the walls?
Did he talk about the walls?
No, he focused on Jesus and fell before him in reverence.
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And we have to do the same if we want the miraculous to come in our life.
We have to worship Jesus, focus on Jesus.
It's not our problems, it's not our mountains, it's his.
Hebrews 12, one through two, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of
witnesses to the life of faith, that a strip off every weight that slows us down, especially
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the sin that so easily trips us up and let us run with endurance to race God has set
before us.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Let us strip off doubt.
Let us throw off shame.
Let us get rid of negativity and frustration and instead what?
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Focus on Jesus.
When we spend our energy focusing on Jesus and all that he's done for us, guess what?
It's a lot harder to be disappointed with our lives and doubt the power of God.
When we're grateful, that's when the miracles come.
Sure, I get it.
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Circumstances happen, you have a bad day, things might not always work out the way we
want them to, but when we focus on Jesus, we rise above those circumstances and that
doubt and we find peace in him, which leads us to our next step.
We focus on Jesus, we forget the past.
Joshua 515, the commander of the Lord's army replied, take off your sandals for the place
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where you're standing is holy and Joshua did as he was told.
And so we must realize their shoes, their sandals, if you will, it represented the past.
How do I know this?
Well, Deuteronomy 29.5 says, for 40 years I led you through the wilderness, yet your
clothes and your sandals did not wear out.
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For 40 years, the people of Israel wandered the wilderness wearing the same shoes.
And God is saying, you will not continue to walk as you once did.
You're now crossing into the promised land, you're going to experience the new promises
of God and all that I have for you.
And he's inviting us to experience the same, to get rid of our past, to move on from the
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doubt, to move on from the negative self talk and to walk into promises of God.
He's inviting us to allow him to fight our battles, to allow him to move our mountains
and to tear down our walls.
God is challenging us this morning church, don't live in fear.
Live in my promises because God's Holy Spirit elevates everything it touches.
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It elevates everyone he is living in.
Again, Joshua 6, 17 and 22, Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering
to the Lord.
Now notice, only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared for
she protected our spies.
Meanwhile, Joshua said to the two spies, keep your promise, go to the prostitute's house
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and bring her out along with her family.
Rahab the prostitute now appears in the bloodline of Jesus.
Read Matthew chapter one.
Joshua had no idea that his actions, that his obedience would impact generations and
literally would change the entire world.
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See God doesn't hold our past against us.
He uses it to change the world.
And as we pray, I want you to realize you're impacting your family, you're impacting your
children, you're impacting your community, our nation and the world.
I mean I just shared at the beginning of this series about how, you know, six short months
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ago we now built a kitchen in Kenya, right?
We're changing lives all around the world.
But that all started 15 years ago when we were praying God use us.
God use us to change this community, use us to change the world, use us to change the
nation.
It all started with prayer, which leads us to our final step.
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Focus on Jesus, forget the past, stop talking and believe.
Joshua 5 14.
At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence.
Like when Joshua realized it was Jesus, he stopped talking, he stopped asking questions,
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he fell on his face out of reverence and fear, healthy fear, right?
And all of God.
And then as they were marching around the walls, notice what he says, Joshua 6 10, do
not shout, do not even talk.
Joshua commanded, not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout, then shout.
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Believe as we fast, as we pray, I want to encourage you, stop speaking negative talk.
Right?
Don't talk about your boring wife or your arrogant husband.
There shouldn't be negative talk coming out of our mouths.
Don't talk about how big your mountain is or how the wall doesn't change.
Don't speak doubt.
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Don't blame others.
Take responsibility.
Don't allow others to speak negatively in your life.
Right?
I would like the Holy Spirit to come to overwhelm your life, to open your heart, to receive
his encouragement and his direction.
Psalm 46 10, be still and know that I am God.
I will be honored in every nation.
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I will be honored throughout the world.
And you say, Chris, why would you tell me to stop talking?
Because it's hard to hear God's voice when we're always the ones talking.
It's hard to hear God's voice when we're always the ones scrolling.
It's hard to hear God's voice when we're bins watching TV shows.
Instead, as he says, no, fast, pray, and march.
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In Mother Teresa's last interview that she ever gave, she was asked the question, what
do you say to God that you've impacted the world in such a powerful way?
Her response?
I don't say anything, I listen.
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I listen.
Philippians 4 13, for I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.
And this is not about achieving in our own strength.
When it says all things are everything, they're the trials, the tests, the mountains, the
walls.
They can be overcome through Jesus's presence in us.
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See, prayer is our weapon.
It's our weapon that we use to wage war against our enemies and against the mountains.
And we have to realize, public victories are the result of private visits with God.
Joshua had a private visit with Jesus before going into battle with Jericho.
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And church, we need to do the same.
We need to do the same.
Will you stand with me?
So I want to give you a little direction on what we're going to do this morning.
Every one of you on your bulletin, you have a Post-It note.
And we have thousands of these Post-It notes at the Welcome Hub.
That little circle thing right in the middle of our cafe.
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Here's what I want to encourage you to do as a community of faith.
You already see our crosses.
Sherry Rand built us crosses this week.
Thank you, Sherry.
I want you to take your Post-It note.
I want you to write down your mountain or your wall that is in front of you.
I want you to write it on a piece of paper.
And don't even put your name on it.
Just write down what it is.
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And then before you leave, I want you to either come up here to the front or in the back as
you leave.
I want you to stick that Post-It on this cross.
And that's not it.
Part two is next week.
There's another step in the process that I'm going to challenge you to do.
But step one is put your mountain and leave it on the cross.
Hand it over to God and say, God, this is yours.
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I want you to do with it what you must.
Now, as a community of faith, we're going to pray a simple prayer as we always do because
we believe God brings people in our midst that are far from God, have walked away from
God, and He wants to welcome them home.
Amen?
Let's pray.
Jesus, I'm broken.
I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin.
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Change me.
I believe you're God's son.
I believe you died for me.
Make me new.
Set me free.
Fill me with your Spirit.
Help me, God, to serve others.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, hold on.
We're not done.
We're not done.
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We're about to shout.
We're about to shout.
If you prayed that prayer, see me, hug me.
I'm going to give you the next steps.
Our prayer team will be here on the right to pray for any need in your life.
Real quick, four words of knowledge.
You have pain in your abdomen.
You have pain in the top of your left foot when you walk.
You have on the right side of your throat, you have an abnormality or a growth.
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You have right ankle pain.
Or you have abnormalities in your stomach that is causing you pain.
If any of those are you, we want to pray for you here on the right.
But before we go, listen.
Our team is going to lead you to shout.
Okay?
This is the ram's horn that would have been used when the walls came down.
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I don't believe we have to use this ram's horn anymore.
I believe our voices will do the same.
And I want you to sing and shout like you've never had before.
Amen?
Let's go.
There's no impossible.
I believe that you are working now.
So pour it out.
Oh, pour it out.
Welcome to Hub City Vineyard.
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To get connected or to give online, go to connect.hcv.church or give.hcv.church.
If at any point during this message you feel called to make a change in your life, text
change me to 970-00.
Thank you and enjoy the message.
Good morning everyone.
So good to see your smiling faces.
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You made it.
We have a little bit of white stuff falling but it's still warm.
So it's just kind of like white rain.
Okay, that's all it is, white rain.
If you're joining us from home, thank you for welcoming us into your space.
A couple additional announcements.
You heard Alan say that we're having skate night tonight.
We are not.
It's supposed to get harder.
The snow is supposed to get worse later this afternoon and extremely cold.
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We have rescheduled.
We haven't canceled.
We have rescheduled our skate night for Sunday, February 2nd, same time.
Four-thirty to six-thirty at Turner's.
So just fast forward a couple weeks.
Invite your friends, invite your family.
Let's pack the place out and have a good night skating together.
Another announcement I want to make that's not and wasn't in your announcements.
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We have an incredible opportunity.
Vineyard USA has partnered with Seminary Now and we now as being a part of the Vineyard
can offer you seminary level classes for, are you ready for this?
Free.
Absolutely, positively free.
Okay.
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So just because you're a part of HCV, you're here and you want to grow closer to Jesus,
you want to learn more about the Bible.
You simply click the link on the back of your chairs.
Okay, that will take you to our link tree and on there, we'll say Seminary Now, it will
take you to this homepage.
On that homepage, you can scroll down and you can see the courses that are offered.
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There's actually two courses.
Rudy is leading one on Tuesday nights here at HCV and Jess is leading another.
Those two courses are highlighted and then if you go below those, there's all the courses
that you can take absolutely free.
Okay, so totally free, no charge.
I want to encourage you, check out the link, check out the classes.
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It will deepen your faith.
It will grow you closer to Jesus and again, it's absolutely free.
Free.
Okay, now for some of you that want to get your seminary degrees, you can pay for it.
Go for it.
It's all good.
You can get your degree, you can graduate, but what we're offering to you again is absolutely
free.
So there's no reason not to check it out, right?
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All right, so I want to launch out this morning by asking you a simple question and I just
want you to ponder it for a few minutes.
No reason to shout out or respond.
Just listen to the Holy Spirit as I ask you this question.
Do you believe in the power of prayer?
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Do you believe in the power of prayer?
Or do you happen to have a prayer life that's a little confusing, maybe weak, will lead
you to being surprised when God answers your prayers.
See, we are in the third week of our 21 days of prayer and fasting that we begin with every
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new year at HCV and our focus this year is to become mountain movers.
And our scripture of the year is Mark 11, 23 that reads, I tell you the truth, you can
say to this mountain may you be lifted up and thrown into the sea and it will happen.
But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.
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See, we have been praying and we've been fasting, we've been inviting God to intervene in situations
in our lives that seem impossible, that seem improbable to answer.
We kicked off our series by discussing how a fresh anointing moves mountains.
And as we get closer to Jesus, as we become more like him, we develop the faith needed
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to move mountains.
Last week we jumped into the Old Testament and we learned how Joshua took over as leader
of the people of Israel and immediately challenged the people to consecrate themselves before
God to prepare their hearts for God to move powerfully amongst them.
And this morning, and I'm going to continue in that story and speak to anyone who is currently
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discouraged in their prayer life.
So you've been praying and praying for God to break in or for a breakthrough to happen,
but unfortunately nothing has.
Maybe you've been praying for months or even years for this mountain in your life to move.
And now you're wondering, God, am I, am I doing something wrong?
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God, are you hearing my prayers?
If so, why are you not answering?
See, God, I'm desperately in need of a breakthrough.
I've grown tired.
I've grown weary in my prayer life.
And let's be honest.
We've all been there.
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We know what it's like to cry out to God and to see nothing.
And then all around you, there's other people experiencing healing or, or they're seeing
a son or a daughter or give their life to Jesus or they're having these financial breakthroughs,
but not me.
And if you find yourself here today, if you're online watching and that's your position,
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you're tired, you're frustrated, you're disappointed by this crisis, this mountain that you're
facing that in your prayer life, the prayers have not been answered and the mountain is
not moved.
In fact, maybe your situation's gotten worse.
And maybe you're at a point in life where you're thinking about quitting.
You're moving on from believing in the miraculous, in the miracles of God.
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Well, this morning, God challenged me with a, with a message that will encourage you
to press in and to pray through doubt because I believe walls will fall today.
I believe that the walls will come down.
So we're going to continue discussing Joshua's story in Joshua chapter six.
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And if you remember last week, we ended with Joshua entering the land of Jericho and he's
met by the commander of the Lord's army.
So we said that scholars believe is the pre incarnate person of Jesus and Jesus is standing
there wielding the sword.
And Joshua's told to take off his shoots because he was standing on holy ground.
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And then they would set off to conquer the city of Jericho, opening up the promised land
for the Israelites to have.
And I believe this story that we're going to discuss literally runs parallel with, with
prayer and fasting as we currently seek to see God move.
And God wants us to encourage us as a community of faith to press in and press on, which leads
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us to our first thought this morning and see God, he gives simple instructions to follow.
God gives us simple instructions to follow.
Listen to Joshua six, two through four.
But the Lord said to Joshua, I've given you Jericho, it's King and all its strong warriors.
You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days.
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Seven priests will walk ahead of the arch, each carrying a ram's horn.
And on the seventh day, you were to march around the town seven times with the priests
blowing the horns.
And when you hear the priests give one long blast on the ram's horn, have all the people
shout as loud as they can.
Now I believe when receiving instructions like that, Joshua could have quickly questioned
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God, could have argued with God saying, this makes no sense.
Really God, this is the stupidest plan I've ever heard or received.
Why not just let me go cut down a tree and create a battering ram and knock down those
doors?
Why not just establish a siege and starve them out?
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Why not sneak more warriors over the walls at night, just like our spies and overwhelm
them from the inside?
Why God would I simply march around the walls for seven days when I have these warriors
and the strength to do it on my own?
See, quite often I believe that is our problem when it comes to prayer.
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We want mountains to move our way, not God's way.
But God wants us to believe in the miraculous and he gives us simple instructions to achieve
it.
See, God often reveals to us plans for success, instructions for living and experiencing the
miraculous in life, but we question him and we make it harder than it has to be.
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I mean, Jesus shared these words in Mark chapter 12, verses 20 to 31.
One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate.
He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked him another question of all the
commandments, which is the most important.
Jesus replied, it's almost like you can see Jesus, just this is easy.
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The most important command is this, the Lord your God is the one and only Lord and you
must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all
your strength and the second is equally as important, love your neighbor as yourself.
No other commandment is greater than these.
And when we hear those words, many of us maybe haven't memorized, have read them often, we
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think well, well that's easy, but if we really look at those two simple commandments, we
quickly realize it centers around one simple word and that word is all.
Jesus wants all of us.
He wants our hearts, he wants our souls, he wants our minds.
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Does he want us to ask questions?
Yes, but he doesn't want us to doubt and believe that our ways, that our plans are better than
his.
I mean last week we discussed how God's ways are higher than our ways, how his thoughts
are higher than our thoughts.
So when he tells us to fast and pray for seven days while we walk around the walls of Jericho,
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even though it makes no sense, we should do it.
We should go after it because the plans of God are revealed in the presence of God.
As we get closer to God, his plans for our life is revealed.
Remember Joshua and the people of Israel, they consecrated themselves before they began
this journey and we discussed how consecrated means they're all in.
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They're all in with God.
So this morning ask yourself, are you all in with God?
And if so, will you respond to God even if he asks you to do something that makes absolutely
no sense?
Which leads us to our next thought.
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You see the enemy, the enemy places walls of doubt in our lives.
Joshua 6, 1, now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid
of the Israelites.
No one was allowed to go out or in.
See Jericho was an ancient city with walls that stretched into the sky.
So the people of Israel, they crossed into the Jordan River, into the promised land,
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but they did not possess the land.
There was this one city standing in their way and it was Jericho.
And sometimes when we read or hear these stories, we think that's what they are.
They're just, they're just stories.
I mean, some of us remember growing up in church with our felt board or the video and
we sung songs about Joshua circling the city and walls falling down.
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But this isn't just a story.
Jericho is an actual city.
In fact, it claims to be the oldest city on planet earth.
Our archaeological digs have proven the city existed as far back as 8,000 BC.
And today Jericho is home to Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians.
It's a real city.
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So when we're reading about these walls, many scholars believe that the walls were 25 feet
high and 20 feet thick.
Means soldiers could stand on top of the walls, walk back and forth and see for miles.
Jericho could not be taken by human force.
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That's the reason.
Hey Joshua, you're not going to knock those walls down.
And the Canaanite people, they were wicked people.
History tells us they used their children as prostitutes for false gods and they sacrificed
them on pagan altars.
They were into all kinds of idolatry and perversion and sin.
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And this evil had gone on for years and years and years.
And God told Joshua and the people, I've already given you that city.
He made a promise to his people.
Just like you and me, God has promises for us.
And if you're in a relationship with Jesus, you need to fight for those promises.
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And we fight for those promises in prayer.
We fight for those promises by fasting.
And there's times in our life when the enemy, see he builds these walls against us.
Remember John 10, 10, the feast's purpose is to steal, kill and destroy.
And these walls in our lives are created brick by brick, you know, bricks of doubt and fear
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and a brick of negativity and hate and frustration.
And then you throw in the brick of depression or the brick of addictions.
And then we hear that voice, there's no hope for you.
There's no way out.
You're never going to be free.
And friends, when those feelings attack us, we need to fight back.
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We just don't let it happen.
And Ephesians 6, 11 from the Amplified Version says, put on the full armor of God for his
precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavenly armed soldier.
So that you may be able to successfully stand up against all the schemes and strategies
and the deceits of the devil.
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See the enemy uses worry and fear to steal our peace, to steal our joy.
That we're not able to be present with our children.
We're not aware of the blessings of God in our life.
And when he attacks us with this doubt, it hinders our prayer life.
And it calls us to drift further and further from God.
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The dictionary defines doubt as distrust, the lack of confidence in or to call into
question the truth of God.
And when we doubt God in prayer, that's bad because it makes us a double minded person.
It's like in our heart we want to trust him, but in our mind we're doubting and we're
torn into two.
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And that's hindering our prayers.
That's why Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6, 27, can all your worries at a single moment
to your life?
Of course not.
But I get it.
The walls are big.
The mountain seems huge.
It's not moving anywhere, but we have to remember our next thought.
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Faith is the substance of things not seen.
Joshua 6, 1 through 2, now the gates of Jericho, they were tightly shut because the people
were afraid, notice they were afraid of the Israelites.
No one's allowed in or out.
But the Lord said to Joshua, I've given you Jericho its king and all its strong warriors.
And notice, so often we miss, God is speaking in the past tense.
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Yes, those walls are big.
They're tightly secured, but I've already given it to you.
And I believe that is what God is saying to us this morning.
He looks at our mountains.
He looks at that huge wall and he says, it's done.
I've given you victory because the enemy's already been defeated.
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Jesus has already defeated Satan, sin and death.
He's declared victory with his death, burial and resurrection and now all the spiritual
blessings of God is ours.
If you're in a relationship with Jesus, you have to walk by faith.
See God's perspective of our mountains as he looks down from his kingdom, they pale
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in comparison to us because as we walk through our everyday life, we look up and we focus
on them and we think they're huge.
But God says, that's not what I want you to see.
Don't focus on how big it is.
Don't focus on how you haven't received the healing or you haven't gotten the promotion
or your finances aren't improving or your children haven't changed or I'm still not
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married Chris.
Because it's in those instances that we want to take control of our life and try to move
those walls ourselves, but we can't.
Notice what God tells Joshua in Joshua 6, 3 through 4, you and your fighting men should
march around the town once a day for six days.
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Seven priests walk ahead of the ark, each carrying a ram's horn and on the seventh day
you were to march around the town seven times with the priests blowing the horns.
God had a plan.
The people to walk around the city one time for six days, but on the seventh day they
had to walk around it seven times.
Have you ever thought, why did God tell them to walk around the city seven times on the
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seventh day?
Well, in the Hebrew scriptures, six always represents the number of man, all that man
can do in his limited strength.
But in the Hebrew scriptures, again, seven is the number of God because it represents
perfection and completion.
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In other words, only what God can do in his strength.
And as we continue in verses 10 through 11, notice what Joshua says, do not shout, do
not even talk.
Joshua commanded not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout, then shout.
So the ark of the Lord was carried around the town once that day and then everyone returned
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to spend the night in the camp.
Have you ever thought for a second, imagine what the warriors were thinking.
I mean, they're ready to fight.
They have their swords on.
They're going to take the city by force, but God keeps telling them, eh, just walk around
the city.
Just walk around the city.
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And he's desiring that they walk by faith.
Hebrews 11, one through three says, faith shows the reality of what we hope for.
It is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Through their faith, the people in days of old are under good reputation.
By faith, we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command.
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And what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.
See, faith is believing in something even when you cannot physically see it, touch it,
or experience it.
Essentially, we're trusting in something unseen based on our relationship with Jesus.
And this verse is part of a larger passage in Hebrews that discusses the lives of biblical
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heroes.
Those men of great faith that demonstrated walking by faith.
And in verse 30 of chapter 11 in Hebrews, we read, it was by faith that the people of
Israel marched around Jericho for seven days.
Then the walls came crashing down.
See, we have to realize when it comes to our mountains, when it comes to our walls, we
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have to realize the outcome is God's responsibility while obedience is ours.
We're called to be obedient.
Outcome is God's responsibility.
Obedience is ours.
And it doesn't matter how long you've been praying.
Keep on believing.
Yes, the enemy is going to come at us.
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We're going to have doubt in our minds, but we must remember, church, you're in a spiritual
battle.
And when the enemy is coming at us, chances are you're doing something right.
You're praying the right prayers.
You're believing for the miraculous.
Because it's not our power, it's his, which leads us to our final thought.
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If we pray through, God will break through.
Imagine what would have happened if Joshua would have stopped the marching on day six.
The people would have not made it into the promised land.
They wouldn't have experienced the goodness.
So I want to encourage you, don't stop praying on day six.
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Day six is the number of man, while seven is the number of God, which leads us to continue
verses 15 to 16 and 20.
On the seventh day, the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as he
had done before.
But this time, they went around the town seven times.
And the seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua
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commanded the people, shout for the Lord has given you the town.
And when the people heard the sound of the ram's horn, they shouted as loud as they could.
And suddenly the walls of Jericho collapsed and the Israelites charged straight into the
town and captured it.
And there's someone here this morning.
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You're gathered here or you're watching online and you feel like giving up.
And God is challenging you this morning.
Don't quit.
Keep praying, keep believing.
And on the seventh day, he wants you to shout because those walls will fall down.
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Now some of you are, Chris, how do I know it's the seventh day?
You'll know because the Holy Spirit will tell you.
But you can't give up.
Especially don't listen to those family members or those friends.
They're telling you it'll never happen.
Don't allow them to create a space of doubt in your mind.
If we pray through, God will break through.
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And it's amazing.
Just share with me the story of a family that's now a part of our community of faith.
And they're a part of our community of faith because of the backpack giveaway.
A few years ago, they came to our backpack giveaway, received the backpack, loved how
our church was so generous and practical and how we reach out to them.
Now they're plugged into our community of faith thriving.
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And their story after story of how God is changing lives in our community of faith.
On Sunday mornings when I share those words of knowledge, people are coming up here and
experiencing the miraculous healing of God.
But it all comes from taking a step of faith.
As we walk around the walls, as we pray and believe that God will break in, he's preparing
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us for a victory he's already given us.
How do I know that?
Look at 2 Corinthians 1.20.
For all of God's promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding yes.
And through Christ, our amen, which means yes, ascends to the glory of God.
We've got to believe in the power of prayer.
We've got to rely on the power of God to move our mountains and to tear down our walls.
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Jesus guaranteed victory for his followers with these words, Matthew 16, 18.
Upon this rock, I will build my church and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.
And notice he says the church and that's not this building, it's you and me.
It's those who belong to Jesus.
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And what happens to our mountains, they get torn down because the gates of hell will not
stop us.
But I want to challenge you this morning, you need to go on the offensive.
We need to move forward claiming and declaring victory.
And too often the church, they're on the defensive, they're on the retreat, they're backing up
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and God says no, you have the power to tear down the walls if you believe in me in prayer.
Will you continue to fall on your knees and pray and believe for the miraculous which
leads us to our action steps.
The walls will fall.
Three simple steps in experiencing the walls falling.
Number one, you got to focus on Jesus.
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When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front
of him with a sword in his hand.
Joshua went up to him and demanded, are you friend or foe?
Neither one.
He replied, I'm the commander of the Lord's army.
And at this, notice what Joshua did, he fell on his face to the ground in reverence.
And remember, that commander is Jesus.
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And in this context, I want you to visibly see, Joshua would have been able to see the
giant walls in front of him.
That's how big they were.
But who did he focus on?
Did he focus on the walls?
Did he talk about the walls?
No, he focused on Jesus and fell before him in reverence.
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And we have to do the same if we want the miraculous to come in our life.
We have to worship Jesus, focus on Jesus.
It's not our problems, it's not our mountains, it's his.
Hebrews 12, one through two, therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of
witnesses to the life of faith, that a strip off every weight that slows us down, especially
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the sin that so easily trips us up and let us run with endurance to race God has set
before us.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Let us strip off doubt.
Let us throw off shame.
Let us get rid of negativity and frustration and instead what?
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Focus on Jesus.
When we spend our energy focusing on Jesus and all that he's done for us, guess what?
It's a lot harder to be disappointed with our lives and doubt the power of God.
When we're grateful, that's when the miracles come.
Sure, I get it.
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Circumstances happen, you have a bad day, things might not always work out the way we
want them to, but when we focus on Jesus, we rise above those circumstances and that
doubt and we find peace in him, which leads us to our next step.
We focus on Jesus, we forget the past.
Joshua 515, the commander of the Lord's army replied, take off your sandals for the place
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where you're standing is holy and Joshua did as he was told.
And so we must realize their shoes, their sandals, if you will, it represented the past.
How do I know this?
Well, Deuteronomy 29.5 says, for 40 years I led you through the wilderness, yet your
clothes and your sandals did not wear out.
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For 40 years, the people of Israel wandered the wilderness wearing the same shoes.
And God is saying, you will not continue to walk as you once did.
You're now crossing into the promised land, you're going to experience the new promises
of God and all that I have for you.
And he's inviting us to experience the same, to get rid of our past, to move on from the
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doubt, to move on from the negative self talk and to walk into promises of God.
He's inviting us to allow him to fight our battles, to allow him to move our mountains
and to tear down our walls.
God is challenging us this morning church, don't live in fear.
Live in my promises because God's Holy Spirit elevates everything it touches.
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It elevates everyone he is living in.
Again, Joshua 6, 17 and 22, Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering
to the Lord.
Now notice, only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared for
she protected our spies.
Meanwhile, Joshua said to the two spies, keep your promise, go to the prostitute's house
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and bring her out along with her family.
Rahab the prostitute now appears in the bloodline of Jesus.
Read Matthew chapter one.
Joshua had no idea that his actions, that his obedience would impact generations and
literally would change the entire world.
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See God doesn't hold our past against us.
He uses it to change the world.
And as we pray, I want you to realize you're impacting your family, you're impacting your
children, you're impacting your community, our nation and the world.
I mean I just shared at the beginning of this series about how, you know, six short months
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ago we now built a kitchen in Kenya, right?
We're changing lives all around the world.
But that all started 15 years ago when we were praying God use us.
God use us to change this community, use us to change the world, use us to change the
nation.
It all started with prayer, which leads us to our final step.
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Focus on Jesus, forget the past, stop talking and believe.
Joshua 5 14.
At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence.
Like when Joshua realized it was Jesus, he stopped talking, he stopped asking questions,
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he fell on his face out of reverence and fear, healthy fear, right?
And all of God.
And then as they were marching around the walls, notice what he says, Joshua 6 10, do
not shout, do not even talk.
Joshua commanded, not a single word from any of you until I tell you to shout, then shout.
(31:03):
Believe as we fast, as we pray, I want to encourage you, stop speaking negative talk.
Right?
Don't talk about your boring wife or your arrogant husband.
There shouldn't be negative talk coming out of our mouths.
Don't talk about how big your mountain is or how the wall doesn't change.
Don't speak doubt.
(31:23):
Don't blame others.
Take responsibility.
Don't allow others to speak negatively in your life.
Right?
I would like the Holy Spirit to come to overwhelm your life, to open your heart, to receive
his encouragement and his direction.
Psalm 46 10, be still and know that I am God.
I will be honored in every nation.
(31:44):
I will be honored throughout the world.
And you say, Chris, why would you tell me to stop talking?
Because it's hard to hear God's voice when we're always the ones talking.
It's hard to hear God's voice when we're always the ones scrolling.
It's hard to hear God's voice when we're bins watching TV shows.
Instead, as he says, no, fast, pray, and march.
(32:09):
In Mother Teresa's last interview that she ever gave, she was asked the question, what
do you say to God that you've impacted the world in such a powerful way?
Her response?
I don't say anything, I listen.
(32:30):
I listen.
Philippians 4 13, for I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.
And this is not about achieving in our own strength.
When it says all things are everything, they're the trials, the tests, the mountains, the
walls.
They can be overcome through Jesus's presence in us.
(32:54):
See, prayer is our weapon.
It's our weapon that we use to wage war against our enemies and against the mountains.
And we have to realize, public victories are the result of private visits with God.
Joshua had a private visit with Jesus before going into battle with Jericho.
(33:15):
And church, we need to do the same.
We need to do the same.
Will you stand with me?
So I want to give you a little direction on what we're going to do this morning.
Every one of you on your bulletin, you have a Post-It note.
And we have thousands of these Post-It notes at the Welcome Hub.
That little circle thing right in the middle of our cafe.
(33:37):
Here's what I want to encourage you to do as a community of faith.
You already see our crosses.
Sherry Rand built us crosses this week.
Thank you, Sherry.
I want you to take your Post-It note.
I want you to write down your mountain or your wall that is in front of you.
I want you to write it on a piece of paper.
And don't even put your name on it.
Just write down what it is.
(33:59):
And then before you leave, I want you to either come up here to the front or in the back as
you leave.
I want you to stick that Post-It on this cross.
And that's not it.
Part two is next week.
There's another step in the process that I'm going to challenge you to do.
But step one is put your mountain and leave it on the cross.
Hand it over to God and say, God, this is yours.
(34:21):
I want you to do with it what you must.
Now, as a community of faith, we're going to pray a simple prayer as we always do because
we believe God brings people in our midst that are far from God, have walked away from
God, and He wants to welcome them home.
Amen?
Let's pray.
Jesus, I'm broken.
I'm full of doubt, shame, regret, sin.
(34:44):
Change me.
I believe you're God's son.
I believe you died for me.
Make me new.
Set me free.
Fill me with your Spirit.
Help me, God, to serve others.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
If you prayed that prayer, hold on.
We're not done.
We're not done.
(35:04):
We're about to shout.
We're about to shout.
If you prayed that prayer, see me, hug me.
I'm going to give you the next steps.
Our prayer team will be here on the right to pray for any need in your life.
Real quick, four words of knowledge.
You have pain in your abdomen.
You have pain in the top of your left foot when you walk.
You have on the right side of your throat, you have an abnormality or a growth.
(35:28):
You have right ankle pain.
Or you have abnormalities in your stomach that is causing you pain.
If any of those are you, we want to pray for you here on the right.
But before we go, listen.
Our team is going to lead you to shout.
Okay?
This is the ram's horn that would have been used when the walls came down.
(35:49):
I don't believe we have to use this ram's horn anymore.
I believe our voices will do the same.
And I want you to sing and shout like you've never had before.
Amen?
Let's go.
There's no impossible.
I believe that you are working now.
So pour it out.
Oh, pour it out.
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