Preparation

Jim Kelly - There is a service opportunity Jim Kelly is leading at Passion Church leaving Friday, May 30th and coming home late afternoon on Sunday, June 1.   They have a lot of cable to run and cameras to install. Extra hands that are skilled with a screwdriver would be helpful. They are looking for 2 or 3 adults. Transportation and housing are provided.

Joshua 3-4 really a unit.  Going to deal with the crossing of the Jordan more next week, but I want to pick up on something, perhaps small, but I believe significant.  Something we don’t talk about much about the Christian journey: Preparation prior to Ministry or Victory

Joshua 3:5 NBLA

5 Entonces Josué dijo al pueblo: «Conságrense, porque mañana el Señor hará maravillas entre ustedes».

I. A Time of Preparation

A. Often before seasons of service, God takes us through a time of preparation

1. Biblical examples

a. Moses 40 years in Midian after leaving Egypt

b. Joshua – last week – 40 years of prep

c. Elisha following Elijah

d. David – tending sheep, running from Saul

e. Jesus – 30 years of preparation

f. Apostles – 3 years

g. Paul

(1) Galatians 1:16b-18 …I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas…

h. Timothy traveling with Paul, then setting off

2. It’s not that what we do in that season right after we get saved, or feel a call from God to something is not ministry, or unimportant, but there is a greater work of preparation going on for something bigger down the line

3. Sometimes it works with a start to ministry, and then the Lord sets us down/aside to prepare us

a. Moses killing the Egyptian

b. David Goliath, leading the armies, and now exile

c. Apostles – going and preaching, back to learn

d. Paul

(1) Acts 9:20 and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, "He is the Son of God."

e. Me – Moody

B. The time of preparation is often difficult

1. We can wonder why and to what extent

a. Not like the Lord announces that He is preparing us for something bigger, sit tight

b. We have no idea of what He is preparing us for

2. It’s part of the journey of faith, to trust that God knows what He is doing and what lies ahead

3. Me at Moody

a. Mom just found this letter I had written to my dad my first semester at Moody

b. Funny thing is:

(1) I don’t remember writing the letter to my dad

(2) But, I was confident of what the letter would say

(3) Sure enough, it was there, bottom of page 2 of a 5 page letter

c. “By now you probably have figured out, I’m pretty frustrated. Guess what? Your right! (especially with the spiritual atmosphere) I feel almost trapped.” - 18 year-old Steve during a time of preparation

d. And I do remember that frustration like it was yesterday

4. First 9 years at DSCC

a. Yes, ministry was happening,

b. God was using us

c. But, He was also preparing us for today and what I do here and with coaching, encouraging, mentoring other pastors

d. He was slowly, very slowly, knocking the stuffing out of all my dreams, plans, “vision”

e. In a word He was humbling me, far beyond what I knew I needed

5. And that is a hard, often slow, difficult process

6. A process none of us really wants to go through

7. A process that many try and short-circuit with the Lord

C. God’s time of preparation is very important

1. God is preparing us spiritually

a. For the battle

b. For the blessing

2. Refining our gifting

3. Giving us new tools for what we are going to need

4. Refining our character – temple rocks – all the work in the quarry, so that no hammers were needed at the temple site – 1 Kings 6:7

5. We talked back when we did 3 John of the need for 2 things as an elder: competence and character

6. It’s not just about elders, but about all of us in our giftings from the Lord

D. The time of preparation is a time to grow in competence

1. Learn from others

2. Hone our skills

3. Guy Penrod – sing in your church, God’s got your phone number

4. For me, Biblical knowledge, dealing with people you disagreed with,

E. The time of preparation is a time to grow in character

1. For me humility, having compassion on people instead of judgement

2. Moses – trust in God

3. Knocking off the rough edges

II. Preparation Begins with Consecration

A. Consecration means to sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate (*Brown-Driver-Briggs)

1. To the Jews it is spoken to it probably had the idea of washing clothes (and probably themselves)

a. Ritual washings that were a big part of Judaism

2. It might have even had the idea of not engaging in sexual activity at all

3. Exodus 19:14-15 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people, and they washed their garments. He said to the people, "Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman."

4. The point is, part of the preparation is intentionally drawing near to the Lord – Going to meet with God

5. Setting aside distractions

B. God often uses people closest to Him when He wants something done

1. To be clear, God can use anyone or anything He chooses

a. Sampson

b. Balaam’s donkey

c. The High Priest Caiaphas to foretell Jesus dying for the whole nation

2. But, the reality of the norm is that He looks for people who are seeking Him

a. Noah

(1) Genesis 6:8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.

(2) Genesis 6:9 These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

b. David

(1) 1 Samuel 13:14 "But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you."

c. Andrew and John were disciples of John the Baptist

d. First 7 men chosen for service in the church in Acts 6

(1) Acts 6:3 Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

e. Requirements for elders, deacons and deaconess’ in 1 Timothy 3; Titus 1

C. Intentionally taking steps to draw closer to Jesus is an important part of our Christian journey

1. The word journey can convey randomness, and there is a sense of randomness of God moving in our lives and doing things we did not foresee

2. But the journey also involves intentionality

3. We talk about Engage with God

a. Bible study – prayer

b. Community

4. But I think there are those moments of relationship when we need to decide to dive deeper – consecrate ourselves even more towards the Lord

a. 30-40 day deep dive into something

(1) 40 days is not magical, nor is a mystical number

(2) Moses, Jesus 40 days so people get really excited about it, but the point is long enough to move the needle – 30, 50 whatever, but better than 1 day

b. Our SMI students its 120 days

c. Short-term mission trip preparation

D. Fasting from food can be a part of a time of consecration

1. Set aside something good – typically food – for the purpose for a short time of focusing more fully on the Lord and seeking Him

a. We asked everyone to fast 1 meal a week in order to pray, seek the Lord

b. The idea of fasting from food is to allow the pangs of hunger to remind us of our need for the Lord – for man does not live by bread alone – and focus on Him in prayer and meditation

c. For me – often in big decisions

(1) Marrying Tami

2. Doing a Food Fast [Make title slide and bring subpoints in on separate clicks]

a. Do it for a specific reason and specific time period

(1) Focus

(2) Also, you know when it is going to be over

b. For a first 24 hour fast – start it after an early dinner and break it with a late dinner the following night

c. Water is important during the fast, so drink water

d. Take the time normally given to meals to seek the Lord

e. Let the hunger pains remind you to pray throughout the day

f. Journalling through a fast can be very helpful

E. You can fast from other things than food to help focus you on the Lord

1. We always think of food, but in a sense the Nazarite vow was a fast from a haircut among other things

2. Dad – give up something in his life for a brief season

3. Fast from TV

4. Fast from Social Media

5. Fast from hobbies

6. Anything that you think giving it up for a period of time would allow you to draw closer to the Lord

F. Remember, the purpose of consecration is moving closer to the Lord, not necessarily away from other things

1. So often for the type A person, who can tend towards legalistic thought we can get prideful, and focused on what we are giving up – wrong, hurtful perspective

2. We fast from something in order to focus more keenly on Jesus, seek His guidance and will

3. Fasting from something doesn’t have to be a part of consecration

4. We can merely just carve more time out for Him, spend more time in His word, pray more without having to give something up

5. But I have found there is some benefit in the giving something up too

III. Christians and Preparation

A. Have you considered that maybe God wants to take you through a time of preparation for a time unknown?

1. This was collective invite to all the people, not just to Joshua

2. God was wanting to do something collectively for them all to His greatness

B. Have you ever offered yourself to God for Him to prepare you for something new?

1. What if God had deeper intimacy and effectiveness for you waiting on the other side of preparation? Are you willing

2. The cost

a. The time

b. The difficulty

c. The unknown

3. Our willingness for Him to knock down our rough edges of our life

C. Are you willing to consecrate yourself to the Lord in a new way?

1. Seek Him in a deeper way

2. Dive deeper into Him

3. Maybe into a disciple/mentor relationship

4. Maybe preparing yourself to share your faith, be a disciple maker even though you have never done it before

5. The Disciples Journey Seminar – June 27-28

6. What if God had you seeing people come to believe in Him through your testimony, Christians growing in relationship because of your discipleship

7. It’s on the other side of preparation and consecration