Nov 10 2019 - First Combined Service with Bailey Rd. Christian

Tim Brown: We have been looking forward to this day! Psalm 133 How good and pleasant it is when brothers are together in unity.

IN addition to worshiping the Lord, we will be talking about being courageous. I don’t know that there is anyone more courageous than those who have served in the military. Thank you to those who have served.

Mike Marette:

Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

1 After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! Cross the Jordan River! Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. 3 I am handing over to you every place you set foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the wilderness in the south to Lebanon in the north. It will extend all the way to the great River Euphrates in the east (including all of Syria) and all the way to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to resist you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you or leave you alone.

Lord, thank You for Your word this morning – speaking to our hearts in worship – thank You for the opportunity to be together and to connect with You. Touch our hearts and give us a fresh vision of what You might do through us. Open our eyes to the opportunity of serving You. As Jef shared – our sins are forgiven in every way –

Tm Chose this passage – so if it doesn’t go well, you know whom to blame.

This passage is just so appropriate for this process we are entering into. This passage is also significant for our own spiritual journeys.

What is happening – Israel has been wandering around the wilderness for 40 years – and God is saying – it is time to move on! We all have times where we find ourselves wandering – circling – and we need to move on. First, we need to identify where we are wandering – where we are stuck – for some, it might be a long-term struggle with a sinful habit we have to deal with. All of us have stuff we struggle getting past. You will never ‘drift’ past it! A decision must be made.

For others, maybe you are stuck in regret and guilt. I’ve seen decisions I have made that aren’t the best – and it is hard – we cannot move beyond those things –

For others, maybe it is a relational wilderness. Some may not have relationships – for some, it may be relationships that have been damaged for a long time and you’ve never moved beyond that. Even after 40 years, God can say – now it is time to move on – we can begin at any moment.

Well, churches, can get stuck in a wilderness – wandering around for a long time. You can’t get out of a wilderness when you don’t know you are in one.

Sometimes we know we are stuck in a wilderness, but we’ve kind of grown comfortable – and change is hard and scary – and sometimes it is more comfortable to stay in the wilderness.

I think, most of the time – we know we are stuck and want to get out, but we don’t know how. Maybe we don’t see the opportunity – but God is saying to Joshua – now is the time to move on.

Moses my servant is dead – you need to move on.

For Joshua and Israel, they were not able to leave the wilderness until Moses passed on. And in the same way, we will not be able to move on without leaving some stuff behind. It is a requirement for moving forward!

In a relationship – if you have been holding on to an offense, things will not move forward until you are able to forgive. For our churches, to move forward, we will have to leave some stuff behind. One phrase to leave behind – we have always done it this way! You can’t bring it with you.

We don’t leave behind clear biblical practices – communion, baptism, the gospel – but in reality – there are traditions – personal preferences, styles, strategies, that have served us well in the past – but may not lead us into the future. There is a lot of security in what we have done. It is stressful, as we look at this – I have been a full-time pastor for 35 years – I’ve gotten used to doing things a certain way – but I am more than willing to make changes. He tells them to cross the Jordan. It is a step of faith. It wasn’t until they stepped in that the Jordan parted – it required a step of faith.

I will give you every place where you set your foot – God comes in with His promises when we are willing to step out – for our success. For Israel, it is very specific! For us – God is not very specific! We don’t know exactly what is going to happen. When you have a relationship issue and finally forgive, that doesn’t guarantee that relationship will be healed – it doesn’t depend wholly on you.

If that is God’s design, we don’t know what that will look like – but we do know that His kingdom will be advanced, and His will will be done on earth when we do what He has called us to!

⁵ No one will be able to resist you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you or leave you alone.

God will be with us through this. We know that – when any anxieties come up – it is most important to remember that one thing – He will not fail you or forsake you.

Tim Brown: As we continue on -

6 Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them. 7 Make sure you are very strong and brave! Carefully obey all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful in all you do. 8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful. 9 I repeat, be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.”

What wonderful promises from the word of God!

So if change is so hard, why change? For Israel, God had a bigger vision – to bring glory to Him – and to bring His love to the world. Something compelled them to change – so we must think about that in our lives as well.

Joshua had lots of reasons to be fearful – just think about the situation he was in – He could have said – you want me to lead THOSE PEOPLE into the promised land? Don’t you remember how they rebelled? You want me to lead THEM?!

He could also be frightened as he looked at the people of the lands – you want me to go up against those Armies – Numbers 13 – when the spies spotted out the land – it was flowing with milk and honey – but the people who live there are powerful – and we seemed like grasshoppers in our eyes and looked the same to them – talk about feeling small and insignificant.

How much would they need to train for battle after being in the wilderness?

There are many obstacles where we can say – it is just too hard!

Then, he could be afraid because he was not Moses – the one chosen by God, given the Ten Commandments – and when he came down from the mountain – his face glowed? Who can compare?!

But God said – you are my man – now is the time! Go!

When Joshua and Caleb went into the land – they believed they could conquer – but 40 years had passed – and for me, I am not as eager to change as I get older.

It is the same for us – be strong and courageous – do not be afraid – He says it 3 times – and even back in Deuteronomy He said it to Moses. That tells me either he was not strong or courageous or saw a huge obstacle.

As we move forward, we would have to forget what lies behind – and take steps of faith – and each of us needs to remember that God is with us.

There is one other thing that inspires us from this passage: - Vs 7

7 Make sure you are very strong and brave! Carefully obey all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful in all you do.

Like a hiker needs to follow his guide, so we must follow the Lord. The guide is right there – who can say – left here, right there! But there are no specific scriptures that tell us how to merge churches, or even if we should merge!

We wish we could have a GPS – the old-timers remember “Recalculating!”

The scriptures aren’t like that – but in some ways – they are much better than that! Those GPSs are not teaching you anything – they just help you get there. But the scriptures tell us some things specifically – and other times, teach us principles – not where the GPS wants us to go, but where God wants us to go. Regardless of what we do, we have changes to make.

My faith says, God will provide, if we come together or not! How do I know? The Bible promises that. Where is the Bible leading us? Simply – to Jesus!

8 This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful.

That is the second time He promises success. Meditating is good – sharing it! That’s what it means to be on your lips – changing not only your life but others as well.

9 I repeat, be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.”

Remember what Mike was saying – I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Understanding and applying God’s word is not easy – that is why we have the Lord to help us to apply His word – Prayer connects us to the Holy Spirit – so we can do God’s work God’s way. And it starts with God’s call to come to the cross – only John is the disciple who is mentioned at the cross. Maybe the disciples were afraid – not only of the soldiers, but to look into Jesus’ eyes – would He accept me? We have the opportunity to come to the cross to remember what Jesus has done for us. – that is the starting point – coming to the cross – and when you look in His eyes – You’ll find love, acceptance, and grace –

Dear God, give us courage to step out in faith – to leave those things that are holding us back – to have courage – to walk in the newness of life – forgive us when we have fallen short – and thank You for Your love for us!

We come to meet Jesus at the cross – Jesus said to do this in remembrance of Me – but what are we remembering? Brutality? Yes and No – the brutality of our world and Satan to get people to reject Jesus. Are we remembering shame? Yes – but not Jesus’ but ours. Defeat? Not Jesus’, but Satan’s. Jesus conquered – and we remember the resurrection and God’s glory.

So we come to the Table.

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which he was betrayed took bread, 24 and after he had given thanks he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, every time you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

We remember what Jesus did for us – We celebrate a love so great – that even without the nails, His love would have held him to the cross – and He did it for us – who turned our backs on Him. Bless the cup and bread – let it nourish us to take the gospel throughout the world and proclaim Your Son is king. In Your name we pray.

Amen.