The Call to Faithfulness

Father’s Day 2022

Joshua 24:14-15

ETS: Joshua urged the Israelites to serve the Lord faithfully.

ESS: We should serve the Lord faithfully as leaders.

OSS: [MO: Devotional] {SO: I want the hearers to declare and resolve to worship God faithfully.} Cognitive: I want the hearers to know about all God has done for the Israelites and for us. Affective: I want the hearers to feel valued by God. Psycho-Motor: I want the hearers to resolve to worship only the Lord and to do so faithfully.

PQ: How can we serve the Lord as leaders?

UW: Ways

Intro.:

TS: Let us examine a few ways to serve the Lord.

We must make a personal resolve to serve only the Lord. (15b)

Joshua determined to serve the LORD regardless of who might or might not join him.

This reminds me of the determination of Peter and John in Acts 4:19 where they resolved to serve the Lord regardless of what others deemed right.

We must make a personal resolve to serve the Lord regardless of what others do. Specifically, as leaders- we have to realize that if we expect/want those entrusted to us to worship God, it must begin with us. Two facts: (1) we cannot expect others to do what we ourselves are not willing to do; (2) we cannot lead others to a place beyond where we ourselves as leaders are.

APPLICATION: It is pertinent that we resolve to worship only the Lord. Only then can we lead others to do the same.

We must urge others to worship the Lord. (14-15a)

Joshua urged the Israelites to worship the Lord. Specifically, he called them to do so in sincerity and truth- this means with the whole heart and fullness of one’s being according to the standards set in the Bible (HBCCNVIVI).

For the Israelites, this required two things:

i. They were to remember all that God had done for them in the previous years. This is understood by reading the first 13 verses and cued by the conjunction “Therefore” in the beginning of v. 14 calling the readers to action in light of what was just written. For the Israelites, it was delivering them from captivity in Egypt; for the believer today, it is the deliverance from sin, the forgiveness of sin, and the opportunity to live with Him forever through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.

ii. They were to forsake all other gods. This involved the gods of their fathers (such as those of the Chaldeans, Egyptians, Cananites, Moabites, etc.); For us, it means forsaking modern things that consume us more than God. Martin Luther King Jr. suggested at least three during the 1950’s: science, nationalism, and money. We could add to that list today things like sports, social media, material possessions, etc. It is not necessarily the golden calves that we think of that we must forsake- it is anything and everything that consumes us more than God.

APPLICATION: We must urge others around us to worship the Lord, too. For both our own worship and others, this involves remembering what God has done for us and forsaking all other gods to serve Him alone.

CONCLUSION:

[1] Each of us, whether we are dads or not- have people who have been entrusted to our care. First and foremost, we should resolve for ourselves that we will worship God and serve Him alone; for those who are under us or around us daily- we should urge them to do the same.

[2] What about you? Have you resolved to serve only God? Have you urged others around you to serve God?

[3] Today, will you resolve to worship only God, forsaking any and all other gods that might consume you? Will you urge others to do so as well?

Call dads/men forward, recognize them, pray over them.