Standing strong on courage

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to follow in the footsteps of Moses?

Moses was arguable one of the best leaders of the day

I mean…….

· He was the one God choose to free His people

· He was there when God parted the red sea

· He was the one that spoke to the Rock and caused the water to spring forth out of it

He was a great man

Now we must remember that even though he was a great man he was not perfect

He messed up to

In fact, because of his disobedience he never got to enter the promise land

Instead of taking ownership of what God had already promised them, the people under the command of Moses choose to disobey God and so they were sent into the desert to wonder around for 40 years

The people under the command of Moses choose to disobey God and so they were sent into the desert to wonder around for 40 years

Moses and all his generation has now passed away and now God taps Joshua on the shoulder and says your up big man

The title of the series is Doomed to Repeat

The series picks up right were the story of Moses leaves off

The people had been wandering around in the desert for 40 years

Moses and all his generation has now passed away and now God taps Joshua on the shoulder and says your up big man

He was being called up from the minor leagues

Now I don’t know about you but if God called me to fill Moses shoes I would be questioning the call

But not Joshua

Because he realized one thing church and that is that God is faithful

I want you to think about how faithful God is:

· God’s faithfulness delivered the Israelites out of captivity and into the promised land, even though at times they were in a mess

Even though at times they were in a mess

You remember the story

Moses shows up and delivers the people form the hands of the pharaoh and they head to the promise land.

However, along the way they mess up and end up wandering around in the wilderness for 40 years

Church there is hope for all is in this story

The hope that………….

· Even though the people messed up

· Even though we are full of rebellion at times

· Even though we keep making the same old mistake again and again

God is faithful

Just as God remained faithful throughout the deliverance of the Israelites into the promise land

He will deliver us if we only believe in the name of Jesus

Church if it wasn’t for God’s unfailing love and grace, we would be doomed

Left to keep repeating the same mistakes, remaining stuck in our own sin.

With no hope of salvation

But just as God delivered the Israelites into the promised land based on his faithfulness to his promises.

God will show his faithfulness to us despite our weaknesses if we will only trust him

Turn with me to

Turn with me to

Joshua 1:1–9 CSB

After the death of Moses the Lord’s servant, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’s assistant: “Moses my servant is dead. Now you and all the people prepare to cross over the Jordan to the land I am giving the Israelites. I have given you every place where the sole of your foot treads, just as I promised Moses. Your territory will be from the wilderness and Lebanon to the great river, the Euphrates River—all the land of the Hittites—and west to the Mediterranean Sea. No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you. “Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their fathers to give them as an inheritance. Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go. This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do. Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Church as believers God calls us to be a part of something bigger then ourselves

He calls us to be an active member of his family

Just as Joshua was called up from the minor leagues

We to are called to be part of the body of Christ

But we are not alone, God has promised to be there with us

To guide us and direct us

To bless us

This is a calling that we cannot simply ignore

The truth is that many of God’s people have chosen to do just that

And the country we so dearly love is in trouble

We are rebellioning against God

Our government is a mess.

Our society is a focused on self.

Not on the word of God

Our society says its ok to kill a baby, but not an animal. Really!?

God needs some Joshua’s here right in this community to step up and take ownership of the role and promises that He has given us

God needs some Joshua’s in this nation, government, and world to step up and take ownership of the role and promises that He has given us

So how do we follow in the footsteps of Joshua

Who by the way was able to lead the people into the promise land despite the obstacles on the way?

BE STRONG AND COURAGES

Harriet Tubman was born into slavery on a Maryland plantation in 1822. As she grew up, she was made to work driving oxen, trapping muskrats in the woods, and as a nursemaid. Harriet's owners frequently whipped her. And she endured the pain of seeing three of her sisters sold, never to be seen again. But when her owner tried to sell one of her brothers, Harriet's mother openly rebelled. The would-be buyer gave up after Harriet's mother told him, "The first man that comes into my house, I will split his head open."

Her mother's actions likely implanted in Harriet the idea that resistance to evil was right—and could sometimes be successful. As a child, Harriet herself … would run away for days at a time. But there were rays of joy in her life, as well. Harriet's mother told her stories from the Bible, which developed in her a deep and abiding faith in God.

When Harriet was about 26 years old, she learned that she might be sold away from her family. The time had come to try to escape. She made her way some ninety miles along the Underground Railroad. She traveled at night to avoid slave catchers, following the North Star, until she reached Pennsylvania, and freedom. Once there, she dared to make a dangerous decision: She risked her own freedom in order to give others theirs.

For eight years, she led scores of slaves north to freedom. During these trips she relied upon God to guide and protect her. She never once lost a runaway slave. As Harriet herself later put it, "I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger."

She gave all the credit to God, explaining, "'Twant me, 'twas the Lord. I always told him, 'I trusts to you. I don't know where to go or what to do, but I expect you to lead me,' and he always did." Her faith deeply impressed others. As abolitionist Thomas Garrett put it, "I never met with any person of any color who had more confidence in the voice of God, as spoken direct to her soul."

What is courage? Courage is the ability to keep going even when you can’t see the results because you know God is faithful. Courage is doing what one is afraid to do. Courage is the capacity to resist fear, to master it, not its absence.

John Wayne-“Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.”

Without courage, men and women will fail to be loving, to sacrifice, to count the cost, to tackle the challenges or take on the responsibilities that God calls them to.

Several times in these passages, God commands Joshua to be strong and courageous as He leads the people to finally enter in to their land.

But where does that strength come from?

God reminds Joshua that the strength he needs to lead the people into the promise land will only be found by drawing near to Him

Look at

Joshua 1:5 CSB

No one will be able to stand against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will not leave you or abandon you.

Joshua 1:9 CSB

Haven’t I commanded you: be strong and courageous? Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Church God’s presence made a difference.

We cannot do this on our own.

In the old testament, the ark of the covenant symbolized God’s presence on earth.

It was this presence that miraculously pushed back the waters of the Jordan River so the people could cross over (3:9–17).

What is our presence of God?

The Word of God!

So we need to meditate on the book

Look at

Joshua 1:8 CSB

This book of instruction must not depart from your mouth; you are to meditate on it day and night so that you may carefully observe everything written in it. For then you will prosper and succeed in whatever you do.

God warns his people to meditate on the Book of the Law, that is, their Holy Scriptures, day and night so they can do what it says (1:8).

Church we must know God’s Word, in order to know his promises

· In order to know his promises

Why is this so important?

so that we can stand on them in our time of need.

So that we can stand on them in our time of need.

In order to know him better and fellowship with him in his presence.

There are many reading plans available. Start with just one.

Read for just five minutes a day every day.

Church we must dive into the word

That is where we will

· find the promises of God

· that is where we will find the commands of God

If we allow him to God will shape and comfort us

I don’t know where you are at this morning in your walk with the Lord

Maybe you are like the Israelites lost and wondering in the desert

Maybe you don’t even know who God is and what He can do for you

But what I do know is there is hope in the word og God

There is Hope in His presence

And you and I must step up and play our part

We must be an active part of the body

Yes it’s scary

Yes it’s seems overwhelming

But God is there with us at all times

Church are you ready to step out and be courageous where God has called you? placed you?