Summer Refuel 2

Baseball! This summer something clicked for me thanks to my wife. I thought I knew way more than her about the game of baseball but she taught me something this summer

She said Jonathan you do understand that during the game of baseball that for some of the kids you are putting on the field the only time they get their name called is for something they have done wrong. Sometimes when others talk about them it is not for positive reasons.

She said you put the kid on the ball field and they have some success and suddenly all the parents are cheering for them to do well and to help the team for some of these kids they have never experienced anything like this.

Joshua 14:6–15 HCSB

6 The descendants of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord promised Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about you and me. 7 I was 40 years old when Moses the Lord’s servant sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout the land, and I brought back an honest report. 8 My brothers who went with me caused the people’s hearts to melt with fear, but I remained loyal to the Lord my God. 9 On that day Moses promised me: ‘The land where you have set foot will be an inheritance for you and your descendants forever, because you have remained loyal to the Lord my God.’ 10 “As you see, the Lord has kept me alive these 45 years as He promised, since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel was journeying in the wilderness. Here I am today, 85 years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then. 12 Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.” 13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as an inheritance. 14 Therefore, Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance to this day, because he remained loyal to the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 Hebron’s name used to be Kiriath-arba; Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. After this, the land had rest from war.

Pray

The History

Numbers 13:1–2 HCSB

1 The Lord spoke to Moses: 2 “Send men to scout out the land of Canaan I am giving to the Israelites. Send one man who is a leader among them from each of their ancestral tribes.”

Numbers 13:26–33 HCSB

26 The men went back to Moses, Aaron, and the entire Israelite community in the Wilderness of Paran at Kadesh. They brought back a report for them and the whole community, and they showed them the fruit of the land. 27 They reported to Moses: “We went into the land where you sent us. Indeed it is flowing with milk and honey, and here is some of its fruit. 28 However, the people living in the land are strong, and the cities are large and fortified. We also saw the descendants of Anak there. 29 The Amalekites are living in the land of the Negev; the Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites live in the hill country; and the Canaanites live by the sea and along the Jordan.” 30 Then Caleb quieted the people in the presence of Moses and said, “We must go up and take possession of the land because we can certainly conquer it!” 31 But the men who had gone up with him responded, “We can’t go up against the people because they are stronger than we are!” 32 So they gave a negative report to the Israelites about the land they had scouted: “The land we passed through to explore is one that devours its inhabitants, and all the people we saw in it are men of great size. 33 We even saw the Nephilim there—the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim! To ourselves we seemed like grasshoppers, and we must have seemed the same to them.”

Numbers 14:1–4 HCSB

1 Then the whole community broke into loud cries, and the people wept that night. 2 All the Israelites complained about Moses and Aaron, and the whole community told them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt, or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why is the Lord bringing us into this land to die by the sword? Our wives and little children will become plunder. Wouldn’t it be better for us to go back to Egypt?” 4 So they said to one another, “Let’s appoint a leader and go back to Egypt.”

The Lord over 12 years ago began to shape a vision in my heart, the heart of my wife and the small group of people that were here.

We would welcome children in the name of Jesus and in doing so we would welcome Christ himself into our church.

By doing this we believed we would transform generations that transform communities.

Before Bridge of Faith was planted families dropped kids off in the park to stay for the weekend.

The next door pool and property was vandalized by kids here on the weekends. They threw rocks in the pool and burnt down their shed.

Kids were skinny and hungry

The only meal kids would get was gas station chicken or roman noodles

I remember the night a family of 9 showed up and between them all there was not a pair of shoes that matched on them

Now if kids come and have clothing issues we run to the thrift store. We didn’t have that option back then nor did families have that option to buy clothes at a low rate.

Kids were hungry

Education was not valued at all. Kids were made fun of if they succeeded in school. Kids could not count change.

I would watch people walk up to the counter at the gas station and keep throwing change on the counter until they got to an acceptable amount.

Kids did not have a source of income or even think about working.

Unpopular Direction

Joshua 14:6–8 HCSB

6 The descendants of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord promised Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about you and me. 7 I was 40 years old when Moses the Lord’s servant sent me from Kadesh-barnea to scout the land, and I brought back an honest report. 8 My brothers who went with me caused the people’s hearts to melt with fear, but I remained loyal to the Lord my God.

This was not popular. All of the Israelites rejected what the Lord had for them except Caleb and Joshua.

The things that they saw these brothers came back and made the peoples hearts melt with fear.

Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary i. Caleb’s Allotment, Part 1 (14:6–15)

They made the hearts of the people melt with fear. This theme is used of the enemies of God whose hearts melt when they learn of the mighty works of divine redemption done on behalf of Israel.

Joshua 2:23–24 HCSB

23 Then the men returned, came down from the hill country, and crossed the Jordan. They went to Joshua son of Nun and reported everything that had happened to them. 24 They told Joshua, “The Lord has handed over the entire land to us. Everyone who lives in the land is also panicking because of us.”

It is very interesting that some came back and told them what was going on and the response was that some made the people respond but Caleb says I remained Loyal

Joshua 14:9 HCSB

9 On that day Moses promised me: ‘The land where you have set foot will be an inheritance for you and your descendants forever, because you have remained loyal to the Lord my God.’

Share how everything ties in to transforming generations that transform communities

Reach on Wednesday nights

The buses

The Meal

The Bible Study

Summers at the Beach

Baseball

Thrift Stores

Greenhouse

Community Garden

The Lodge

Sunday mornings

Care Center

Joshua 14:10–15 HCSB

10 “As you see, the Lord has kept me alive these 45 years as He promised, since the Lord spoke this word to Moses while Israel was journeying in the wilderness. Here I am today, 85 years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was the day Moses sent me out. My strength for battle and for daily tasks is now as it was then. 12 Now give me this hill country the Lord promised me on that day, because you heard then that the Anakim are there, as well as large fortified cities. Perhaps the Lord will be with me and I will drive them out as the Lord promised.” 13 Then Joshua blessed Caleb son of Jephunneh and gave him Hebron as an inheritance. 14 Therefore, Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance to this day, because he remained loyal to the Lord, the God of Israel. 15 Hebron’s name used to be Kiriath-arba; Arba was the greatest man among the Anakim. After this, the land had rest from war.

Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary i. Caleb’s Allotment, Part 1 (14:6–15)

Thus Caleb’s words are shown to be true and the reader is reminded how a faithful servant of God can have success against the greatest of enemies.

Caleb and Joshua remained Loyal

I want to ask you to remain loyal. I want to ask you to not choose what is popular but perhaps choose what is not popular