A New Chapter
Notes
Transcript
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Welcome
Communion today
First Sunday of 2025
INTRODUCTION:
INTRODUCTION:
I want you to turn to the book of Joshua this morning. We’ve been in the book of John before Christmas, but I have been drawn to the book of Joshua and I want us to look at the first chapter today as we step into this new year.
I usually do not put much emphasis on New Years because it really is just another day on the calendar. But I feel a little differently this year and want us to consider two things:
1) It provides us the opportunity to look back over the last year and make necessary changes in our lives. It really is a new beginning for us, a new year, a time to start good things and put away bad things.
2) This day also helps us to realize just how quickly time is passing by. I read a quote the other day that said, “the days seem long, but the years are short”. How true is that. Every year seems to pass by even more quickly than the last and every decade even quicker than the previous. New Years reminds us that our time on earth is getting shorter and shorter, and we are to make it count!
Israel has history of wasting time. When God freed them from Egypt they wandered around in the wilderness for 40 years because of persistent unfaithfulness. In fact, they wandered until that entire generation died our except Joshua and Caleb. And then God brought them into the land that he had promised this nation hundreds of years before. It is a time of transition.
Joshua tells the story of this transition from the wilderness to the Promise land and I think it is fitting for us to look at today.
So please turn to Joshua 1, and lets see what God has to say to us today as we turn the chapter on another year.
God’s Plans Never Fail
God’s Plans Never Fail
“Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. “From the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the Great Sea toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. “No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.
Explanation: All the way to the book of Genesis, God made a promise to Abraham that He would give his descendents a great piece of land called the Promise Land. God said this land was flowing with milk and honey and would be a great blessing to His people.
And after the Exodus from Egypt, God told Moses of this same promise that Israel would inherit this land. And led them through the wilderness to inherit it.
The book of Joshua begins in verse 2 with a reminder of that promise that God is giving them the land. Here stands the entire nation of Israel on the edge of God’s fulfilled promise hundreds of years later.
Though the timing were not as expected, nor even the same generation who first saw it were no longer alive, God kept His promise just as He said he would and give them the land.
I WANT TO PULL FEW PRINCIPLES FROM THIS TRUTH FOR US TO THINK ABOUT:
1) God’s Plans are not dependent upon certain person
This promise began with Abraham, was passed down to Issac who was the promised son, then to Jacob from whom came the entire nation of Israel and then generation after generation all the way down to Moses. And Moses only got to see the land with his eyes before he died, and now Joshua is now promoted as leader. And Joshua is the one who will see the fulfillment of that promise.
See, God does not need Moses to bring to pass what God said He would do! Nor does God even need need Joshua to bring to pass what He said. Nor does God need Billy Graham or Martin Luther, or or anyone else for that matter to do what He has set out to do. God needs no man to do what he has set out to do.
HERE IS THE POINT: Its not really about any individual at all. It’s about the plans and purposes of God. And when God sets out to do something, He will accomplish it no matter who He does it through. He is not dependent upon any certain people.
2) God raises up different leaders for different times
Moses was a pastor. He shepherded the people of Israel! Moses counseled them, led them through difficult times, interceded for them when they sinned against God, rebuked them when they acted foolishly, and loved them faithfully even when they rebelled. I remember hearing Adrain Rogers say, Moses was the first pastor of the “First Baptist Church of the Wilderness!”
But that time had come to an end, and a new era was coming. And it was time for a new leader, with new gifts and that leader was Joshua. Joshua is a warrior. Joshua was a man of great courage and also great faith. He was one of the two who said yes we can enter the promise land because God said we can! And he was God’s man for this period of God’s plan.
God does the same thing today. God raises up people and He moves people in and He moves people out according to where their gifts fit best according to His purposes.
Now why do we become so shaken today when something like this happens? Because we put all of our hope in a person and not in God. It is God behind it it all, bringing people in and taking people out, raising people up who fit perfectly into His plan.
3) It is the presence of the Lord in the leader that matters
(v 5) “Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you”
Those are some of the most comforting words in all the Bible to a pastor or leader and to the church. God is essentially saying to Joshua, you can do this, because My presence will be with you!
It’s the man that matters, but whether or not God is with Him. Its not the man’s gifts that matter, but whether He will allow God to work through Him. And that is what makes Christian leaders great. Gifts are great but can do nothing without the presence of God working through them.
Point of application:
This church plant is not about Jake Davidson. Nor is it about the CCBA, nor is it about any other person in this room or any organization in which we are affiliated with.
If God wants this church to stand, it will stand without any of in here. This is God’s church, and it is still alive and gathering because God is keeping it alive. And no person no matter how significant they may seem can stop what God is doing here. One person will not make it and one person will not overthrow it, it is God’s church. And that should be a tremendous comfort to us all.
This is about something much bigger than each of us individually, we just simply get to be a part of it. You and I get to come in here each day, with no idea of what God will do with this place even this year or 10 years down the road!
And it may be tempting to scoff at that, but an entire generation of people died in the wilderness and it was their children who got to see the promise. Surely they thought the same thing, but God is bigger than our thoughts.
As we begin this new year, let us not forget this is about something much bigger than we can see or understand. And if God has a plan for us (and I believe it does) who can be against us?!
The Key to success is steadfast faithfulness
The Key to success is steadfast faithfulness
“Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.
Explanation:
“be strong and courageous” is a phrase that is repeated in this first chapter over and over. In fact many have attributed those characteristics to Joshua because it is a theme throughout this book.
But our idea of strong and courageous is probably a little different than the meaning here. When we think of strong and courageous we think of war hero’s and people who take great chances and do extraordinary things:
Martin Luther King who stood up against racism
Martin Luther from the 16th century who began the protestant reformation
Chris Kyle who was the American sniper
But the meaning of strong and courageous is given in verse 7: “only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you”
Biblical courage is the willingness to go against the grain of this world and be in total obedience to God’s Word.
It is the courage to say no to sin
To say no to the temptations that may arise
To say no to friends or family who will lead you astray
To stand up against what is wrong
To say no to your own flesh
To say yes to serving God
To say yes to giving God your time each morning
To say yes to trusting God in the very area your are struggling with
IT TAKES GREAST COURAGE TO FOLLOW GOD, AND ONLY THOSE WHO ARE TRULY COURAGEOUS WILL DO IT FAITHFULLY.
Look what God says: “Be careful” — that is DO NOT TAKE THIS CASUALLY OR LIGHTLY! Do not believe that it is a little thing to disobey God.
To carefully follow God’s Word is to consider what God says in everything we do!
It is to hold God’s truth up to every decision we make and consider Him in it. It
And then God adds, “To do ALL the Law”
Now we are just substituting the Law here for the Word of God, the two are essentially the same. What Joshua had was what had been written up to that time. What we have is what has been written over the course of biblical history.
But the emphasis here is on ALL the Law. In other words God was saying to Joshua, partial obedience will be a failure. To only follow part of Moses taught, or even most of it will not work. It requires following all of the Word of God.
Now these commands were directly to Joshua. Joshua was the leader. But not only was Joshua to be faithful, but all of Israel was called to be faithful.
And if we continue reading this book, you will see in chapter 7 where one man’s unfaithfulness caused the entire nation to experience defeat and many died as a result.
When Achan broke the commands of God, the entire nation suffered great defeat and Joshua fell down on his face and cried out to God, “why have you failed us God?! And God said to Joshua, “I have not failed you, Israel has sinned and transgressed my covenant”
Faithfulness of Joshua was not enough, it would take the faithfulness of the entire community of God’s people.
Even if one acted unfaithfully, God’s power and presence would depart from them.
And then God says if you will be faithful, (v 8) “then you will have success”
This is a conditional statement that says if you do this Joshua, then you will have this. That means that faithfulness must come first in all of our lives!
The need is whole hearted commitment, and then He would see God do great and mighty things.
This promise of success is not to directly to us.
It is not right to claim a promise given to another people in another time.
But the principle is true and still applies to us today.
Is it possible that part of the reason we have not had great success is because the lack of faithfulness of us all?
Is it possible that we need a deeper commitment to the Word of God
Is it possible that we need a deeper commitment to the mission of God?
Is it possible that if we all said this morning like Israel did that day that we would see the power of God like we have never seen before?
(v 16) “They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.”
I just wonder how much different 2025 will be if we make this commitment today?
The need for everyone to participate
The need for everyone to participate
“Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God gives you rest and will give you this land.’ “Your wives, your little ones, and your cattle shall remain in the land which Moses gave you beyond the Jordan, but you shall cross before your brothers in battle array, all your valiant warriors, and shall help them, until the Lord gives your brothers rest, as He gives you, and they also possess the land which the Lord your God is giving them. Then you shall return to your own land, and possess that which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.” They answered Joshua, saying, “All that you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.
Explanation: Now let me explain what was happening here. There were a couple tribes who were not wanting to cross over the Jordan because they had picked out some land to settle on this side the Jordan. And they figured no need to go over and fight for land that we are not going to live on!
What was waiting on the other side of the Jordan River? The Hittites, the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, and all the other ITES who had made a life over there and were not just going to hand over the keys to only place on earth God says is flowing with milk and honey!
So what had to happen in order for God’s people to receive His promise was to fight and defeat , and drive them off the land. The only way Israel would receive what God had promised to them is if they all came together for this common purpose.
And Joshua reminds these tribes that they are going to have to go help their brothers and when the fighting is done, then they can live in peace. But It is wrong to expect your brothers to go over and fight the promise given to the entire nation.
Bridge
What a truth for us today. Now we are not a tribe, and we are not the nation of Israel, and we are not entering the Promise Land, BUT the principle of community for God’s people is still just as vital if not more so today than it was in those days.
Notice that Joshua calls the tribes brothers. Now they were not physical brothers, but brothers by adoption. They were brothers because God was as a Father to them and they were as sons to Him making them all brothers.
The same theology is found in the New Testament. Nearly 200 times the word “brethren” is used in the New Testament when referring to people of God. We are brothers and sisters in Christ, we are family in Christ, there is the Christ community and everyone who claims the name of Christ is to be involved in the mission of the community.
Application
What God has called this church to do, HE HAS CALLED US ALL TO DO. That is all the work involved in this ministry, we are ALL to work together for the mission that He has given us which is to make disciples and contribute to the building up of this church and each other. We are a body and a body is supposed to work together!
Everyone should be serving at least in come capacity in the church
Everyone should be sharing the gospel
Everyone should be contributing to build this ministry
Everyone should be seeking to pour into others lives spiritually to build up the body
There is plenty for us all to do, we are tiny but we are mighty! But it is going to take us all
Notice also that the people were willing to do what Joshua told them. Even if it was against their own reasoning (which wasn’t bad) they submitted to the leadership of Joshua and did what he told them they should do.
The same holds true today. Every church has a leader, someone God places there (or at least he should be) to lead the flock. And the people of that body have a responsibility to let him lead for the god of the whole. (as long as he is following God of course). This is the way a church flourishes.
If you are not contributing in some way, come and ask me how you can help. And if we can’t find something, we will pray about it and I’m confident God will show us.
CONCLUSION:
CONCLUSION:
This whole thing is about a transition into something new. We need change in this church. We need God to begin to move before discouragement overtakes us. What will you commit to do differently this year that you know God wants you to do?
It may be something here
It may be something in your personal life
Both are equally important.
Question: Will you make a commitment to God today to do it? And will you tell someone else to hold you accountable to it?
Question: And if you have not first fully commited your life to Jesus, that is where you must start. See without Him, we can never do these other things. Faithfulness is impossible. Success is impossible. True Community Togetherness is impossible. That is the first step you must take if you have not turned to Him already. Start there, and He will show you the rest of the way
~PRAYER~
COMMUNION
Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you.” So the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. While the sons of Israel camped at Gilgal they observed the Passover on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month on the desert plains of Jericho. On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. The manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan during that year.
After God had given Israel the victory over Jericho, one of the first things they did was celebrate the Passover.
The Passover is the OT equivalent to our Lord’s Supper. The angel of death passed over the Israelites in Egypt because of the lamb’s blood in the same way the wrath of God passes over us because we are covered by the blood of the Lamb.
The Passover was instituted to remember the mighty acts God did in delivering Israel out of slavery in Egypt and hand of evil Pharoah in the same way Jesus told us to remember His death and sacrifice which delivers us from the power of sin and death.
When they celebrated Passover here they were to look back at the deliverance from Egypt and look forward to their new life in the Promise Land. In the same way we are to look back at the death and resurrection and also to look forward to when Jesus will come again.
But I also want us to look back at all that God has done in this church. From its beginning and moving us strategically to where we are now. 2024 was a difficult year for this church. It really has seemed that God has not ben very active here. It has been a dry year, a hard year, a painful year, but now we are moving into 2025 and THE HOPE FOR NEW THINGS. Its a time to renew our spiritual health before God today and remember the significance of what he has done for us.
~PRAYER~
Ceremony:
Invite those to take a piece of bread
1 Corinthians 11:23–24 “For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks…
Pray
He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.””
Eat the bread
Invite those to come receive a cup
1 Corinthians 11:25–26 “In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood…
Pray
“do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Drink the cup
CLOSING PRAYER
