Be Strong and Courageous

Good morning.

Am I on?

Good morning.

Happy New Year's.

It's good to see you all.

It's not that cold out, is it?

Maybe it is.

I think today it qualifies as really cold.

Some of my best favorite stories have it in it.

Bilbo Baggins runs out the door without his handkerchief.

Harry Potter shows up at the nine and three quarters platform at the train station.

Lucy pushes her way through the back of the wardrobe.

All of them on the brink of something that they have not yet seen, encountered, or experienced.

They're going into an adventure.

They're facing something that is unknown and they don't know what lies ahead.

If they knew what would lie ahead, they would probably be afraid.

If they knew what would lie ahead, they might be tempted to turn back.

They might say, no, I don't know what I'm going to find on the other side of this.

I think I'd rather go back home and sit in my hobbit hole, smoke my pipe weed,

or go back and play with my brothers and sisters in the professor's mansion.

These kinds of things happen in our lives as well, don't they?

You go to the first day of a new school year at a new school where you don't know anybody.

What is it going to look like?

What is it going to happen?

When you move to a new town, when you stand at the altar and say, I do.

When you step up and take a new job in your business or in your company,

these transitions are new adventures.

And though we often try to plan and try to examine and try to know ahead what's going to happen,

in fact, they are adventures into an unknown.

Now, some of you love this.

Some of you are made for this kind of adventure.

Give me something unknown.

Give me something that's new and different.

You get bored easily and you think, there's got to be something new around the corner.

It's worth exploring.

Some of us, maybe many of us though, shrink back.

And sometimes for those of you who have that love of new adventures,

the hardest challenges are the new adventures that occur in the place that you already are.

Where you have to rebuild or build a new relationship with your teenager as they grow up.

Where you have to develop new patterns of life in the same place

to stop continuing falling into that habitual sin that has characterized your life for so long.

You have to rebuild intimacy with your wife or husband

when you've lived together for years and years in patterns of slow decay.

Or where you walk into your work environment and you're asked to do the same job,

but to do it differently.

And you have to change in those things.

These kinds of changes, these kinds of things force us into an unknown

where we often in our human nature tend to shrink back.

We tend to be afraid of what we don't know.

We feel the insecurity rising up in us.

And we wonder, how can we go on?

How do we do this?

You know, I've thought about this a lot because I've been,

as I've been praying for our church recently.

I wonder if there's a corporate application for us.

Many of you know, next door, probably in the next month,

permits pending,

there will be a big construction site next door.

At a congregational meeting later this spring,

we will discuss together whether we want to do our own construction project.

At Easter, we are expecting, at this point,

to move to two services for the rest of the spring.

We're still exploring that,

but we think we're probably going to do it.

There are unknowns that are facing our church.

Unknown things about our context,

unknown things about our patterns.

And it would be very easy for us to face them with fear,

to feel the insecurity,

and to want to pull back

rather than moving ahead.

I think I can say for sure that whatever this year holds,

it will not be more of the same

from what you've experienced in the last couple of years.

There'll be new territory to explore,

new encounters to engage in,

new challenges to face.

And the question is, how will we face it?

How will we face these things in our own lives?

How will we face them together as a church?

This brings me to my text this morning,

which is in the book of Joshua, chapter one.

If you want to turn in your pew Bibles,

it's page 178.

Joshua, chapter one,

we'll be looking at verses one through nine.

And as you're turning there,

because this isn't a part of a series

and we haven't talked about the context,

remember that this is at the end

of the great story in the Pentateuch,

the first five books of the Bible,

of God calling a people to himself

and then doing this great act

in Exodus through Deuteronomy,

this great act of deliverance.

His people who lived in slavery in Egypt,

God has shown immense power

and sovereignty and grace

and love to his people

by delivering them out of slavery,

out of the hands of Egypt,

bringing them through the wilderness

and to the brink of the promised land.

They've been led through all of this

by the servant Moses

that God has raised up

to be a leader of his people.

And now as the people stand on from your,

as you stand,

they're now up along the eastern edge

of the Jordan River

and they're gonna move west

across the Jordan River

into the promised land,

into the land that God told Abraham

hundreds of years before,

this will be the place

where you and your people will live.

this is the land that I have,

that I will give to you.

But if you remember the story,

it was the land that earlier

in Numbers 13,

they explored,

they came to the edge of it

once before,

they looked,

they sent in 12,

12 spies,

they call them,

to examine the land

and what did they find?

The land was as good as promised,

flowing with milk and honey,

abundant in every natural resource.

It was in many ways paradise,

particularly compared

to their wandering

on the Sinai Peninsula

in the desert

and yet it was full of people.

People who,

it seems,

were taller than them.

People who,

they were afraid of.

People's nations

and they said,

we cannot defeat these people,

they are too great for us

and they shrunk back

at that time earlier.

They've known their own weakness

of grumbling and complaining

and not trusting God.

They didn't trust God for water

and God made it flow from a rock.

They didn't trust God for food

and God rained it down

from heaven.

A food that they

nor anyone else

had ever seen before.

and now they come again

to the edge of the promised land.

Now they come again

to the very brink

and yet Moses has died

and they're going in

with more uncertainty,

more fears,

more insecurity.

how will they respond

to what comes next?

It's in this context

that we will read

our passage this morning.

For God then comes

to speak to Joshua

who is the one

that God has determined

raised up

to be Moses' successor

as the leader

of God's people.

God speaks to Joshua

about what is to come

and how it is

that they can move forward.

So let's read this together.

Joshua chapter one

verses one through nine.

Now after the death of Moses,

the servant of the Lord,

the Lord said to Joshua,

the son of Nun,

Moses' assistant,

Moses, my servant is dead.

Now therefore arise,

go over this Jordan,

you and all this people,

into the land

that I am giving to them,

to the people of Israel.

Every place that the sole

of your foot will tread upon,

I have given to you

just as I promised to Moses.

From the wilderness

in this Lebanon

as far as the great river,

the river Euphrates,

all the land of the Hittites

to the great sea

going toward the going down

of the sun

shall be your territory.

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.

Be strong and courageous,

for you shall cause this people

to inherit the land

that I swore to their fathers

to give them.

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.

This book of 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

great success.

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.

Will you pray with me?

Lord, we thank you

this morning for this word.

Lord, thank you that

in every part of your word,

Lord, you have given us words

that are useful for us.

Words that teach,

words that convict,

words that instruct,

words that command,

words that encourage,

words that rebuke.

Lord, thank you for your word

and how it does speak to us.

And Lord, we pray this morning

that you would speak to us

through your word.

Lord, I pray for all of us

that we would have

receptive hearts

and listening ears

to hear what you would have

to say this morning to us.

We pray this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

This is a rich passage.

It would be fun to spend

lots of time on it.

We're going to try

to move through it.

We're going to focus

on three things.

Three things that God says

to his people

as they're facing

this uncertainty

and this new transition.

They're facing this new situation.

And we're going to look

at these three things

and apply them to our lives

as we go along.

And the first thing

that God says

is go forward.

Right?

This is pretty obvious,

isn't it?

They're standing on the brink

of the promised land.

There's really one way

for them to go.

So,

and yet it's interesting

as you look

at the first couple of verses,

especially verses 3 and 4,

particularly,

some of the emphases.

One of the things

that he says

is all of you

must go forward.

He says go forward together.

Don't leave any behind.

None of you

should shrink back from this.

But all of you should go.

And all of you should go

and take all of this land.

And the promise here

is an immense amount of land.

In fact,

the people of Israel

didn't get all of this land.

They didn't go as far

as the extent

is described here

out of their lack of faith

and disobedience

as they went forward.

But the promise

that God gave them

was that there is

a great big land

that is going to have

everything that you need

to live and to thrive

and to prosper

in this world.

God had given them

a big promise.

And he had said

go into it.

Yes, it looks unknown.

Yes, it looks uncertain.

And in fact,

it looks scary.

And it probably looks hard.

It's not going to be easy

to take this land.

There are people

who live there.

There are armies

that live there.

They have weapons.

They are taller than you.

All of those things

haven't changed.

God says,

I want you to go forward.

Do not be afraid

but be strong

and courageous

and go forward

into the things

that I have for you.

He does it based

on his promise.

Go forward

because I have promised

you

that these things

will be yours.

Now,

how do we think

about this today?

How do we read

the promises of God

particularly with regard

to taking land?

It's a little tricky.

People have disagreed

with it over the years.

But let me say this.

God is not calling us

to build

a Christian nation

where he will establish

his kingdom

through a particular

political entity.

In fact,

it doesn't even seem

that God will,

God is promising

that he will do that

even through any particular

local church expression.

None of us have a claim

to the promises of the land

to that extent.

But what we do know

for sure

is that

as God's people

in the Old Testament

had a physical place

where they were going

to live

and display God's glory,

in the New Testament,

God takes his people

and instead of

bringing them together

in a place,

he scatters them

into every tribe

and tongue

and nation.

And he says,

I will send you

to be my people

throughout the earth

to the ends

of the earth.

And as I do this,

I will build my church.

This is the promise,

it seems,

that we are able

to hold onto

and to know

that what God promised

to the Old Testament people,

the descendants of Abraham,

was there is a land

that I am going

to give to you.

But as we see

the greater fulfillment

of what this is pointed to,

it is God saying,

I will build my church

that will thrive

in every part

of this world.

And in every part

of this world then,

God's church

will await

for the return

of Christ

and the establishment

of the kingdom

when once again

there will be a day

where the whole land

will be

for the people of God.

and we will,

with Christ,

rule over it

on the day

that he comes

and returns

and establishes

his kingdom

and makes all things new

and makes all things right.

And so there will be a day

when we will get land,

but it's not now.

For now,

what we get

is the church.

This is the promise

that God has given us.

This is what we read earlier.

I will build my church

and the gates of hell

will not stand

against it.

So how do we apply this

then to our lives?

Well,

I want to be

really practical here.

I want to call you

to reaffirm

the importance

of the church

in your life.

I want to ask you

to be a partner

with God,

to be a participant

with God

in the thing

that he is doing

in building

his church

in the world.

I want you

to go forward

and say,

yes,

I will do it.

I will find

a way

to be a part

of building

the church.

And because you're

here,

why don't you

do it here

in this church?

What a great idea.

We'd love for you

to do that.

How do I build

the church?

Well,

one thing it is,

it means

don't spend

all your time

grumbling

and complaining

about what we aren't,

but seek to invest

in improving

our church

so that we can be

all that God

would want us to be.

I don't say this

because we struggle

with this.

We actually have

a wonderful church.

I do not feel

like this is a

besetting problem

in our church,

but I say it

because it was

the problem

that Israel

struggled with

the most.

God,

I don't trust you.

God,

this is never

good enough.

God,

you're not

providing the way

I think you

ought to.

God,

this isn't the way

I expected you

to work.

God,

I want you

to do this

differently.

This is all

the ways

that the people

of Israel

disbelieved

and doubted God.

And I don't want

us to be

that kind of people.

I want us

to be people

who believe

that God

will build

the church

and that God

graciously will

build this church

and that maybe

he's called you

to come here

and to be a part

of it.

Look for God

to use you

to build our church.

And not because

we want to be

great in the

biggest church

or the best church

or the hippest church

or the hottest church

in town.

We don't really

care about any

of those things.

What we do want

to be is a church

where Jesus Christ

is lifted up

and where people's

lives are changed

by it.

And we want

to call you

to be a part

of that.

Find ways

to invest.

Find ways

to serve.

Find ways

to plug in.

Invest your

prayer life.

Do you pray

daily

for our church?

Do it.

Do you give

regularly

to our church?

Do it.

Do you give

of your time?

Do you give

of your talents?

Do you give

of your finances?

Do you give

of your heart?

Do you love

the church?

Are you willing

to go forward

into this next year

believing

that God

wants to

continue

to use

this church

to display

the glory

of Christ

and the good

news of the

gospel?

So the first

thing we see

here is God

wants us

to go forward.

The second

thing

is that God

wants us

as we go

forward

he wants us

to go back.

that is

he wants us

to hold

on

to the

things

that he

has already

said.

Look with

me in

verses

7 and 8

God

gives Joshua

this command

take the

people

go in

take the

land

do this

but then

we see

secondly

this

significant

exhortation

in 7 and

8

be careful

to do

all the

law

do not

turn from

it

to the

right

to the

left

this

book

of law

shall not

depart

from you

but you

shall

meditate

on it

day

and night

now

think about

what these

people have

seen

or at

least what

they are

just one

generation

removed

from

the law

that they

have

came to

them

as Moses

met with

God

as a man

meets with

a man

face to

face

on the

top of

a mountain

with smoke

and fire

right

God

appeared

in a

dramatic

life

changing

way

to reveal

himself

and to

give the

law

as an

instruction

to people

who

just a few

months

earlier

maybe a few

years earlier

wondered if

God had

completely

forgotten

them

God

shows up

and he

says I

have not

forgotten

you

in fact

I have

delivered

you

and now

I'm

giving

you

this

law

so that

you

will

understand

what

does

it

mean

to

enter

into

this

covenant

with

me

and to

take

up

this

covenant

with

me

where

I

will

be

your

God

and

you

will

be

my

people

and

it's

a

whole

law

of

instructing

them

on how

to

live

corporately

civilly

in their

worship

in their

everyday

lives

it's

instruction

on how

they

are

ought

to

do

this

and

all

of

it

is

how

are

they

entering

into

covenant

faithfulness

with

this

God

who

has

delivered

them

and saved

them

and called

them

covenant

faithfulness

expressed

in love

and devotion

worship

in obedience

in trust

and

remember

these

people

who are

standing

on the

brink

of the

Jordan

River

about

to go

into

the

promised

land

they

remember

they

remember

that the

generation

before

them

failed

they

recognize

that

Moses

himself

isn't

entering

in

because

he

did

not

trust

and

follow

God's

word

they

know

that

there

are

people

prone

to

turn

back

from

God's

word

to

grumble

and

complain

and

doubt

to

be

independent

thanks

God

for

your

instruction

but

I

think

we're

going

to

do

it

our

way

because

it'll

probably

work

better

than

your

way

at

least

it

seems

so

to

me

God

says

no

remember

the

covenant

that I

made

with

you

and

remember

that

my

words

to

you

are

words

that

are

meant

to

give

life

that

obedience

is

the

way

of

life

for

God's

people

that

it's

not

just

about

outward

formalism

and

conformity

to

certain

rules

and

regulations

but

it

is

an

internal

transformation

and

a

delight

and

life

oriented

to

please

God

in

everything

that

we

do

and

they

are

told

to

not

simply

remember

it

but

to

meditate

on

it

let

it

be

a

part

of

their

lives

day

and

night

so

what

about

us

well

I

hope

you'll

be

encouraged

but

as

we

go

forward

as

Trinity

Baptist

Church

we

know

that

there

is

only

one

thing

it's

a

really

slick

logo

that's

going

to

get

us

going

that's

going

to

move

us

forward

to

it's

a

joke

it's

a

joke

it's

not

a

logo

it's

not

a

gimmick

it's

not

even

a

cool

building

it's

not

even

a

killer

children's

program

or

a

great

small

group

program

or

anything

that

we

do

the

most

important

thing

that

we

do

is

that

the

word

of

God

is

central

in

the

life

of

our

church

we

need

to

be

careful

in

our

world

and

in

our

culture

and

the

pragmatism

of

our

culture

and

the

pragmatism

of

our

hearts

where

we

think

yeah

does

God's

word

really

work

I

think

we

probably

need

something

more

and

in

the

busyness

of

our

lives

when

we

don't

see

the

immediate

results

of

slogging

our

way

through

a

Bible

reading

course

where

we're

in

the

middle

of

the

second

half

of

Leviticus

in

February

and

we

wonder

really

is

this

changing

my

life

today

and

we

give

up

and

we

think

I

give

up

it's

too

hard

the

word

of

God

is

the

center

of

our

life

as

a

church

it

is

why

we

spend

so

much

time

listening

to

God's

word

on

Sunday

morning

and

we

don't

shrink

back

from

saying

we

think

this

is

worth

it

the

proclamation

of

God's

word

is

worth

it

every

Sunday

it

it's

why

the

word

of

God

is

central

in

our

small

groups

why

when

we

gather

together

in

small

groups

we

are

meant

to

be

people

gathered

around

the

word

of

God

and

yes

there's

community

and

yes

there's

prayer

and

yes

there's

love

and

all

sorts

of

wonderful

things

but

the

thing

that

pulls

us

together

is

our

time

in

the

word

together

and

I

pray

that

we

are

a

church

where

the

word

of

God

is

central

in

our

lives

of

daily

devotion

that

daily

Bible

reading

is

an

individual

and a

family

practice

that

we

do

on a

regular

basis

we

hold

to

God's

word

because

it

is

the

one

way

that

we

know

God

has

spoken

to

us

objectively

clearly

without

confusion

we

know

that

God

has

spoken

to

us

and

he

has

spoken

to

us

fully

and

richly

and

sufficiently

all

that

we

really

need

to

know

about

God

is

in

there

so

God's

word

is

central

and

God's

word

is

cherished

this

is

what

God

was

challenging

and

calling

his

people

to

do

as

they

entered

into

the

promised

land

cherish

my

word

and

this

is

what

God

is

calling

us

to

do

as

well

and

so

even

as

we

move

forward

with

some

of

these

things

that

so

easily

could

distract

us

I

want

to

reaffirm

this

is

the

center

of

what

we

do

and

let

us

make

sure

that

building

programs

and

parking

plans

and

multiple

services

don't

distract

us

from

the

preaching

and

from

the

cherishing

of

God's

word

and

the

proclamation

of

the

word

that

tells

us

about

a

God

that

reveals

to

us

a

God

who

has

worked

salvation

for

us

in

Christ

how

about

you

how

are

you

going

to

cherish

and

value

God's

word

in

this

coming

year

and

I

say

this

to

myself

as

much

as

I

say

this

to

you

I

hope

you

hear

me

when

I

say

that

we

all

need

this

do

you

have

a

reading

plan

there

are

great

ones

back

there

little

gold

booklets

reading

plans

it'll

help

you

read

God's

word

every

day

it was

really

fun

this

morning

Eli

and

I

were

just

sitting

on

the

couch

and

he

got

a

Bible

for

his

birthday

and

he

started

reading

it

which

is

wonderful

I

love

to

see

him

picking

up

and

reading

he

was

reading

about

Dinah

that

was

fun

Genesis

35

if you

don't

know

what

it

is

it's

one

of

the

ugly

stories

of

the

Old

Testament

but

I

was

pointing

to him

to this

reading

plan

saying

hey

as you

are

reading

maybe

you want

to try

something

like

this

it was

really

fun

it was

a

sweet

moment

as a

father

but

I

was

thinking

I

should

do

that

with

him

that

would

be

good

for

me

be

some

accountability

do

a

reading

plan

and

find

a

reading

partner

most

of

us

don't

do

it

well

on

our

own

find

someone

to

do

it

with

find

someone

to

check

in

with

one

of

the

joys

of

text

messages

is

that

you

can

send

a

five

second

text

message

saying

hey

how'd

your

reading

go

today

and

that

can

be

both

a

spur

and

an

encouragement

to

one

another

that

you

continue

to

read

have

you

thought

about

joining

a

small

group

are

you

trying

to

do

God's

word

on

your

own

let

me

encourage

you

consider

it

if

you're

not

in

a

small

group

we

have

wonderful

small

groups

we

have

wonderful

small

group

leaders

it's

a

great

time

to

value

God's

word

in

your

life

on

a

regular

basis

thirdly

consider

reading

if

nothing

else

consider

reading

the

book

of

Exodus

over

in

Oregon

we're

going

to

start

a

series

in

the

book

of

Exodus

next

week

and

I

think

we're

going

to

do

the

whole

book

through

the

summer

so

but

consider

reading

with

us

so

that

you're

prepared

so

that

when

you

walk

in