Untitled Sermon

Prayer

Heavenly Father, God I ask that you would speak through your servant this morning. I pray that you have been working on the hearts of the people here today to receive this message. Introduction

Good afternoon I’m Chaplain Eskind and I have the privilege today to share a message with you.

Intro Football Transitions

5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 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 good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Intro Football Transitions

Heavenly Father, God I ask that you would speak through your servant this morning. I pray that you have been working on the hearts of the people here today to receive this message.

Intro Football Transitions

College Football Coaches in Transition. Saban to Miles to Coach O.

Much like the transition of college football coaches, we witness great changes in leadership both at the troop and squadron level.

In the military we are consistently changing all the time. We PCS and move.

Transitions

Our lives today are filled with transition. With transitions come strong emotions such as fear, wonder, worry, strength, excitement, insecurity, sadness, disappointment. Sometimes we are happy when certain people PCS and they are happy when we PCS. Sometimes a transition means relief. Now imagine with me that you’ve been working with a person for about 40+ years. You're the second in command or Executive officer. You know how the boss likes his coffee when he’s bored or upset about something. Your family, maybe more than family. You know that you will be the boss one day, but that day seems far off. That’s the place where we find Joshua. He’s taking command of a nation from one of the greatest leaders ever to walk the earth, Moses.

Today we will be in . Please listen along with me.

5 No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. 8 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 good success. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

But who is Joshua?

Joshua was one of the few figures portrayed positively in contrast to other figures in the old testament. At one point he was a spy or scout. He lead an small team to explore the promise land. He was one of the few who believed they could take on the enemies of the nation.Joshua was the leader who led Israel into the Promised Land, obeyed God faithfully. Joshua provides an Old Testament model of what might be expected from the Messiah. With good reason, the Greek name “Jesus” is equivalent to the Hebrew name “Joshua,” which means, “the Lord is salvation.” As Israel’s warrior, Joshua is a type of Christ as the Lord’s warrior. I believe we can learn a lot from Joshua about how to transition well. When going through a transition God requires only obedience in service to himself.

Transitions require us to be Strong and Courageous

Interesting enough if we observe the scripture in verse 1 we see how Moses viewed himself as a servant of God. This showed his personal relationship to God was that of servanthood. It was common in that day to be called a “servant of X deity”. Moses belonged to God and was what? He was a servant. Joshua is referred to as the “assistant to Moses.” Joshua’s status was even lower in servanthood to Moses. After Moses died, God speaks to Joshua in the same way he spoke to Moses. This tells us that Joshua was uniquely gifted to take on this responsibility. In the New Testament, Jesus introduces us to a new type of relationship that believers can have and that is one of “friend.” Oh, to be called a friend of God. That’s a pretty big jump from servant to friend when you think about it. It’s all about relationship. Let’s take a look at how Jesus changed the viewpoint. John 15:15 ESVNo longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.The apostle Paul continually refers to himself as a servant of Christ. I believe this shows us how we are called to follow orders of Christ. This is a call to friendship as Paul repeatedly states is also a call to willingly submit to Gods call.How do we live out this call? It is through faithfulness. Our second point for going through a transition is that God is faithful to fulfill his promises in his people’s lives.God is faithful to fulfill his promises in his people’s lives.2-3: If your life was summed up in one to two sentences what would that look like? “Pause”. I mean if at the end of your time on earth, how would you want to be remembered?Verses 2-5 give us the summary of Joshua’s mission in life. More than that the verses reveal the main character of the book of Joshua is actually the Lord God of Israel! It is God who promises that his people will inherit this gift of land. The Lord lays out his marching orders for Joshua as the new leader of Israel. God speaks to Joshua and reminds him that his servant Moses has passed and reassures him that the command is his. All the responsibilities that come with that. The ultimate Change of Command ceremony! What is it that God requires of his new commander? He requires loyalty to God and his commandments. To meditate on his word day and night. To not lean on his own understanding but fully trust in Gods promises. God had promised this place to the nation of Israel generations before Joshua or Moses even were in existence. God works on his own timeline. God chose to fulfill his promises through the leadership of Joshua. 4: In Verse 4 we are shown the specific and clear boundaries that God outlines for Joshua. Our God is not a God of confusion but of logic and order. God promised a land that was full of the Israelites enemies. This wasn’t going to be an easy mission for Joshua. The Lord reassures him that things are going to be good.5: In Verse 5 we see God promises victory in the nation of Israel and shows us why he selected Joshua to lead the nation for such a time after the death of Moses. God promises to not leave Joshua or forsake him. Not only is God the ultimate commander telling Joshua that he would execute the mission but he would be there with him while its happening.Joshua 1:5 Gives us the Promise of God to be with us. This points towards the great commission where Jesus encourages believers and empowers them to accomplish the great commission. Matt 28:20 Jesus promises to be with his followers to empower them to accomplish the mission. I don’t know about you, but it would be pretty cool knowing that God is right there with me during the hardest times in my life.God not only is with the believer through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Transitions require us to be Strong and Courageous

Verses 6, 7 and 9 encourage Joshua to be Strong and Courageous. If God is telling Joshua this 3 times it means something. It meant that he was to have an attitude of strength and courage in how he fulfilled the mission ahead. In a reconnaissance squadron, we would call this the tempo in how to execute the mission. God is encouraging Joshua and the nation of Israel that He will be there to win the battle. How many of us here need God to win the battles in our lives?God is charging Joshua to prepare for a military battle but he is also explaining to him that he cannot win unless he’s obedient to the law of Moses. Joshua is to meditate upon it day and night. He will not be the leader the nation needs unless he is dependent upon God for his instructions.

How is success measured for the believer? How do you define success?

Is it the rank you where on your chest? How about the chest candy that comes with schools? Maybe its if your family life is going well? Maybe if you have the respect of your peers and subordinates? What does success look like?I would submit to you today that success is defined by the apostle Paul. See 1 Corinthians 4, verses 1 & 2. This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found faithful. I don’t see where it says that as a steward we are to be fruitful. It says we are to be found faithful. Some leaders God chooses to bless with seeing many souls come to Christ. God’s measure of success is faithfulness today church. In your workplace he requires faithfulness, at home he requires faithfulness, at the commissary and the 24 hour PX he requires faithfulness, here at Fort Drum, NY he requires faithfulness! We are to boldly proclaim Jesus with strength and courageousness. This is the promise of God in our lives. According to Paul, we are to be stewards of the Gospel. We are not our own. How do we become successful in being faithful? We do it through spending time and learning from people who are obedient and faithful. Chaplain Ade will be taking over the responsibility head pastor the service. I’m sure he was discipled and spent many years preparing for the transition. As pastors we are to be prepared in season and out to preach the word of God. Each person here today God has placed a call on your life to be faithful. Some of us would benefit from having a spiritual mentor to walk with us through life. We are fare welling those who have been a part of our family and we recognize their contribution of faithfulness to our church body and those Soldiers family members that they serve with the gospel.

Success in God’s eyes is being found faithful or trustworthy.

Our world says that you have to win National Championships to be a great coach. In the Army, you have to make a certain rank and retire to have a “successful” career. In our homes, success is measured if our children make good decisions, “like we have any control over that.” There are so many things in this life that we don’t have any control over. As Christians success is measured by how faithful we are to God’s calling on our lives as stewards of the gospel.What’s the gospel you say? I’m glad you asked...The gospel of Jesus is simply this:God created everything, it began with him (see the book of Genesis). We broke the perfect relationship God had with humans by our sin. God restored the relationship in his only son Jesus (). Jesus paid the price of our sin. Now we can live a life of success in sharing this amazing message of hope. Do we believe that message today church? I know that life can get us down. When our focus isn’t on Christ, we are prone to feeling despair. God is faithful to forgive us our sins when we turn and look to him. He restores our hope, He gives us hope, He is our hope.At this time I would like to offer a time of prayer. Could the ministers please come up. If you need prayer this morning, don’t leave without coming this morning.