Untitled Sermon (8)

I remember like it was yesterday when me and Laura sat right in the corner Sunday school room being interviews for the position of youth pastor….weeks before shawm Andrews and Brian told me that they thought I should interview….I WAS SO nervous…..I felt unqualified, scared, and for crying out-loud…I had hear that at one point in time Brain Patton himself was the youth pastor along with Matt!! needles to say….I was shaking in my boots during that whole interview I'm sure if you asked those present that day they would say the same thing…..I got the call that it had been unanimous when I was at Durley camp training to be the activities director that summer, it was encouraging and I was ready to start this new call of ministry…BUT then I started to wonder what this new calling was going to be like…presbyterian….im only half way done with school….do I know what im doing…all of these fears and uncertainties , doubts swarmed my mind….

Going into the service that night these thoughts were going through my mind…the director at the end of the night had us partner up and share things going on in our lives…and I was partner with Greg groves(40 year vet youth pastor)…I just remember him putting his arm around me…..looking me in the eyes…and affirming that God would be with me….that this new calling this new land isn’t new to him…..and through his presence and words..i felt encouraged….

Joshua is faced with a much steeper calling then I was in that situation…

Joshua gets a lesson in what it takes to develop courage.

(God is repeats—(6,7,9)..God doesn’t have a speech problem…he is bring emphasis… …

So main point that I want you to see this morning is that

Main Aim

God wants those he calls to new territory, who might be scared or afraid, to be strong and courageous by his promises, presence, and word.

..What do I mean by new land???

We all have new circumstances and seasons

: going off to college, staring a new grade, just got married, just had a kid, going through a divorce, about the start retirement, new job, new sports team,…..etc…we all go through new territory and season…..and how do we respond to them???…Alot of the times these are scary…

…But I believe after looking at what God say to Joshua if we don’t harden are hearts we will be will to step out into the new season with courage…..

Context: First five book are over the Pentateuch, God has mad his covenant promises…..……

The book of Joshua starts the historical books of the bible.

…IN the book of Joshua we have a theme that God is faithful to his promise and that He is warrior king God who uses a leader named Joshua to deliver His people into the land…

What do we know about Joshua right now….He was a great warrior(battle Amalikies 17:8-16), He was a spy (numbers 13), and he was Moses servant and then successor…Imagine how Joshua feels….again the text implies that he is scared(be strong and courageous) 3 times…..…and later in this chapter……I mean me and Steph were talking about who is going to take over for Greg when he retires(no one would want that)……….same with Moses, this is Moses, burring bush, plagues in Egypt, red sea, mt. sini, i mean……

So after God tells him Moses is dead now you are leading…he gives him a command GO……which then God gives his first of many promises “I will give the land to you…!

The

First way we can develop courage is understand God is faithful to His promises (Verses 1-6).

…..Put yourselves in the Israelites shoes the promises land was first promised with Abraham and passed down now…..all the way to Moses still with no land…and then 40 years in the wilderness…..no land…..I’m sure Joshua was wondering man…when are we ever going to be in that land….did God forgot…..No what he promises HE will do….OUR God is faithful……and see our courage gets pumped up when we look at all the promises God has for us….God tells Joshua look in the review mirror at how I was faithful with Moses….o……Now when we look in the mirror view as christians …its the cross…..all the promises about Jesus and who he was….came true….the promises of the holy spirt came true and filled the believers….God is faithful…..….

But notice God’s promises lead Joshua into action

…many times if we aren’t careful we get so comfortable in hearing the promises of God….but notice through scripture God’s promise lead people to action….For example, if you study the bible and look at the initial calls of those who are called in the bible they are given a promises..but are then told to act:Moses-I will deliver the people but go into Egypt…..Abraham

God’s promises aren't not just meant to be to lazy boys but launching pads to action…One author note as it pertains to our reaction toward God’s promises, “It is impossible to stand still in Christian life and service, for when you stand still, you immediately start going backward. Let us go on! is God’s challenge to His church, and that means moving ahead into new territory!

God’s promises to give the land to Joshua was an encouragement for action…Let that be a lesson to us that the more we say amen in here….the more it should lead to action out their….

So God develops courage in Joshua by being faithful to his promises but also

God also develops courage by pointing Joshua to His word.(Verse 7-8)

…..Notice that God is very clear that in order to get this good success not American prosperity which is want to by prospers and success for my name sake …… BuT God is saying you want to be prosperous and success in family, work, in the church…. for God’s glory….then don’t you dare take your eyes off the word…….this word will give you the strength and courage you need…..Notice he doesn’t just say read……meditate on it…Hebrew word for murmur….Donald Whitney who has written some great resources on different spiritual disciplines defines biblical meditation this way. It says,

Donald Whitneys says, “Meditation is deep thinking on the truths and spiritual realities revealed in Scripture for the purposes of understanding, application, and prayer.”

Mediate is this idea of letting soak deep into your heart….I was thinking about all the things you need to let soak…like marinade in steak……..those things won’t be great without being soaked..same way with us…we are letting the enemy fool us if we think we are good just reading the word….we live in a fast pasted culture so hurry through the bible is getting to be a bigger pressure….but God knows that Joshua needs to constantly be in the word day and night…not turning form it soaking it in…and notice when this does it will just come out all the time….

.how much do you talk about the bible…does it natural flow from your tounge….practical advice for this…..memorize it…listen to a pastor who was talking about these 1600 teenagers in in an underground church in china who have memorized the whole new testament…..get your family together and memorize a verse a week…I think our church should have a memory verse a week…get a journal and dwell…..and watch what happens to your courage…thinking of Jesus in the wilderness….the scriptures now point us to God!!

Final way God develops courage in us is from his presence with us (Verse 5-9).

I love it that God doesn’t build courage by telling Joshua how great he is….Verse 5…”No man shall be able to stand before you because you are….. a strong warrior… handsome, individual with great potential, who is so great, just look within Joshua you can do it..try and try and tr.y…NOOOOOO just as IIII was with Moses IIIIII will be with you!!!!

See God often calls us not because we are great but He is great.

See God tells Joshua three times I am going to be with you twice in 5 and once at the end……Why, because he wants Joshua and us to know when God calls us to something he isn’t going to leave us high and dry….but will go with us!!!

Philips Brooks, "Don't ask for tasks equal to your powers. Ask for powers equal to your tasks.”

……Stoping putting God in a box…do you think Joshua thought he could do what he was being called to do…no way…it was knowing God was with him…despite his weakness…which didn’t matter God was with him……

I’m landing the plane…So studying this text I came across and interesting insight…Warren Wiersb, “The NT makes it clear that Joshua is a type of Christ (, where “Jesus” (kjv) should be translated “Joshua”). The name “Jesus” in Greek is equivalent to “Joshua”; both mean “God’s salvation” or “Jehovah is the Savior.”

Jesus is the greater Joshua.

…the ultimate way God came to be with us was through his son Jesus…: Emmanuel what God with you……God put flesh on and skin on to be with us to relate with us and to die on a cross for us so that we may have life….. and the amazing thing is that when Jesus ascend into heaven….what did he do for the christian sent his HOLY SPIRIT….why to be with us….Jesus himself dwelling in us! be filled with his spirt….…

And just as Joshua lead the people into the land Jesus has come to lead us into enteral life.

lived and died for us so that we can now enter into the new land…have enteral rest for our souls and life with him…..so…what is God calling you to do?…….but maybe it is big like and your scared, afraid take heart…Taylor says this in his biography called “Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret”, he said, “I know He is able to carry out His will and His will is mine. It makes no matter where He places me or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me for in the easiest position He must give me His grace and in the most difficult His grace will be sufficient. So if God should place me in great perplexity, must He not give me much guidance? In positions of great difficulty, much grace; in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength. I have no fear that His resources will be unequaled to the emergency, and His resources are mine for He is mine, and He is with me, and He dwells in me.”

Are you scared of the new land…..Are you wondering in the desert not wanting to step out…..develop courage by remembering God is faithful to his promises, mediate on his word day and night, and remember HE IS WITH YOU…