Sunday Morning | Pastor John Tilley Jr | Joshua 24

Aren't you thankful that we serve a God

who never fails? Amen?

I failed and you don't have to tell me,

I know you have too.

But

I'm thankful that God has never failed,

not one time.

Not just my life, that's your life,

that's everybody's life. Every person in

the world, he's never failed not one

person, not one time.

And that's a hope that you ought to be

able to hang on to this morning.

You ought to be able to cling to that

this morning. Amen?

Thank you for that song, beautiful song.

Hey, I want to tell you that this this

brother right here has already been a

blessing to me this morning.

And I just want you to know, I want you

to be praying for this brother. We're

going to give him a little love offering

here in a little bit and I want you to

be praying about those two churches that

they're starting, that they're getting

ready to start. And

think about him, pray about him. He

taught in small groups this morning.

And

did a good job from what I heard and

praise the Lord for that and we're we're

so grateful that you and your wife are

here this morning. And so thank you for

being with us.

And uh stopping by.

Before I preach today and I know what

time it is, y'all stay with me. I'm

going to preach super super fast, okay?

But before I preach today

I have got a grand announcement to make.

And this is something that I have wanted

to do for probably 3 years and we are

finally going to make it happen this

fall. Here's what we're doing, we're

planning an event for men. We're going

to call it man church, it's going to be

on September the 5th.

There are 50 spots available. I can't do

any more than 50 and several of those

spots have already been filled up just

by planning the event out. Here's what

it's going to look like. We're going to

have we're going to meet here at the

church on September 5th at 4:00. And

we're going to eat steak, okay? We're

I'm to order steak. We're going to have

a steak dinner, baked potato, salad, uh

some desserts.

We're going to have a great time. We're

going to meet at 4:00. We're going to

have uh two church services. We're going

to have a church service uh first. We're

going to worship. I've got Brother Drew

Spence is coming and he's going to be

playing some Southern Gospel bluegrass

music and uh men, we're going to just

sing and we're going to worship the Lord

and then David Medley's going to preach

for us and uh

and then we're going to go eat. We're

going to have steak dinner. Uh we're

going to come back upstairs and we're

going to have church again, more music,

more worship and uh then I am trying my

best to get my dad to come preach the

second service and uh so I'm looking

forward to that. He'll be here and I I'm

hoping that he'll be able to put it on

his calendar.

And uh he'll be preaching the second

service. And then after that, we're

going to do some big giveaways and maybe

a contest. And uh all of this is to uh

to kickstart um

Better Man. Better Man starts the fall

semester of Better Man starts on

September the 12th. That's Saturday, the

following Saturday. So, September the

5th is Man Church, is what we're calling

it. And here's what my goal is. It's not

going to be It's not going to be

frilly. Uh is that a word? I don't know.

We're men. We're going to come do church

like men. We're going to sing like men.

We're going to eat like men. We're going

to have I've got I think over $500 worth

of giveaways that we're going to give

away to everybody. Uh not everybody, but

we're we'll do a drawing and we'll give

stuff away and it is going to be a

fantastic time for a few hours. We're

just going to be men in church,

worshiping, eating and uh I want this to

be an outreach. So, how many of you know

a man who should be in church but

probably isn't in church. Go ahead, let

me see your hands. Okay. The There's

more of you than that. Come on now, let

me see your hands.

Here's what I want you to do. We're just

now starting this. I'm announcing it on

Father's Day on purpose. I want you to

invite somebody to come and be with us

on on that day, September the 5th. Now,

there is a catch, okay? Because of this

event this event was not budgeted. This

is something that we prayed about, but

we didn't have a way to do it. And so

we've decided to do it this year. It

fits this year. It works well this year,

but it was not budgeted. And so what

we're going to do is we're going to

charge $30 a man. Your spot costs $30.

And that will help pay for Have you How

many of you have bought a steak

recently? Right? Okay, we're buying 50

steaks and actually probably 60 or 65

steaks that we're going to buy. And so

it's going to be expensive, but it will

be worth it. This is going to be Listen,

I don't If you don't know me, let me

just tell you something about me. When I

do something, I want to do it first

class. When we do VBS, we do it with

excellence. When we do a ladies meeting,

we're planning a ladies meeting for May

of next year, we're going to do it first

class. When we do this men's meeting,

it's going to be first class. We're

going to have great music, we're going

to have great food, we're going to have

great preaching and great fellowship and

great gifts. In order to do something

with excellence though,

sacrifice just a little bit. You pay $30

for less You pay $30 to take your family

and get a Big Mac at McDonald's down

here, right? So you can pay $30 for a

steak dinner, a chance at a giveaway,

and 2 hours of church with men. I want

you to be thinking about it. We're going

to put a sign up on the website very

soon. And you'll be able to go on,

register, pay ahead of time, and save

your spot, and then invite me. We've got

50 spaces this year. If we fill those

up, we may expand next year. I think we

can do 50 spaces extremely quickly. Uh

just being transparent, if you guys will

get behind me and we'll push this thing,

I think we can fill up 50 spots uh

probably within within a couple months.

And so we're looking forward to it.

September the 5th, mark it on your

calendar. 4:00 p.m. is when we'll start.

It's going to be a fantastic time. I am

extremely excited about it. I'm I'm

still thinking about maybe a contest,

maybe a shooting contest of some kind,

or I don't know what all we might do,

but it's going to be a great great time.

And this morning we're doing some

giveaways for our fathers. I'm going to

do that at the end, but one of the

things that I'm giving away is a free

registration to Man Church on September

5th. So, one of you in here this morning

are going to get to go for free and you

may win that this morning.

So, we're looking forward to it. I am I

want you to pray about it. I'm excited

about it. This may be the most excited

I've been I have been just cannot wait

to tell you about this. I've been just

wanting to tell you every service, but I

thought I'd wait till Father's Day and

we are excited about Man Church

September 5th. It's going to be an an

incredible incredible day. So, with all

that said,

let's take our Bibles out now

and go with me to the book of Joshua in

chapter 24.

And I've got just a little thought for

you this morning.

It's not um

it's not fancy. My sermon this morning

is honestly, it's not it's not even

completely written. It's just some notes

that I've got jotted down and

I think it'll be a

a help to somebody this morning though.

I want to mind the Lord and

Joshua chapter 24 this morning.

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

I don't really have a title today, but

if I did, this would this would it would

be a question, I think.

Maybe this is just what I want to ask

you this morning men and and ladies

alike.

Who are you serving?

And maybe more important is to ask who

will you serve?

Who have you been serving, right? Like

what what

what are you living for?

What's most important in your life?

If you look back at the decisions that

you have made over the last couple of

years, what what has guided those

decisions? What has been the primary

factor in those decisions?

And then maybe more important than

looking back is looking forward and

saying, "Okay, going forward, what is

going to be my my my factor that's going

to make my decisions? Who am I going to

serve with the rest of my days? Where am

I going when I'm going forward?

The Lord laid this passage, these just

two verses on my heart.

When we think about this and we're still

in the book of Joshua, we jumped way

ahead and we don't worry, we're going to

go back and cover the spots that we

missed but but I wanted to be here this

morning. I felt the Lord wanted us to be

here this morning.

Joshua chapter 24

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

verse number 14 and verse number 15.

I'm going to pray real quick and ask the

Lord for his help and then we'll jump

in. Father, I need your help now for a

few moments today. I'm not worthy to

stand here and preach this morning. I

Lord, I have nothing in me to give to

these people today.

I'm just me.

But Lord, your word is perfect. It has

everything that we need. I pray that

just for a moment your Holy Spirit would

fill this place.

Would you fill me, remove any sin from

my life, Lord? I want to be pure and

clean, a vessel that you can use for

just a few moments today.

Clear my mind.

May I speak with boldness.

May I speak with clarity.

But Lord, most importantly, I pray that

your word would touch the hearts of your

people

in an in a way that maybe we haven't

seen in this place in a long time.

And we'll give you all the glory and all

the praise and we ask these things in

Jesus' name.

Amen.

Look at verse number 14 of Joshua 24.

You know these verses if you've been in

church any amount of time, they're very

familiar but don't let the familiarity

with them cause you to overlook them.

Verse number 14, Joshua says, he's

speaking to the nation. He says, "Now

therefore, fear the Lord

and serve who? What's the next word? And

serve

him

in sincerity and in truth and put away

the gods which your fathers served on

the other side of the flood and in Egypt

and serve ye the What's the next word?

And if it seem evil unto you to serve

the Lord, choose you this day whom you

will serve, whether the gods which your

fathers served that were on the other

side of the flood, or the gods of the

Amorites, in whose land you dwell. And

then this is the phrase I want you to

underline it, circle it, highlight it,

whatever you got to do to put attention

on this in your Bible.

Joshua says, "But as for me

and my house,

we will serve the Lord."

We're going to break that little phrase

down this morning that ends verse number

15. As for me and my house, we will

serve

the Lord.

I wanted you to notice a map that I've

put together. It's interesting and bear

with me, I'm going to teach for just 2

minutes and then we'll I'll get to the

message.

When we come to the book of Joshua in

chapter number 24, we've been walking

through the book of Joshua, and we've

seen them take on Jericho, and we've

seen the nation of Israel take on Ai,

and

and then last week in Joshua or week

before last in Joshua chapter 8, they

Joshua 8 · chapter mention

were in in a in a valley, and you can

see there on the map, there's Jericho

and the Jordan River there runs between

Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, the big

Mediterranean Sea is there on the side.

The nation of Israel crossed the Jordan

River and they went to the Jericho and

they marched around and then they went

to Ai and they marched around. And then

you get to Joshua chapter 8 and they are

Joshua 8 · chapter mention

in a valley. They're between two

mountains and you see the mountains

there on the screen. Mount Ebal on one

side, Mount Gerizim on the other side.

At the end of Joshua chapter 8, that's

Joshua 8 · chapter mention

where they're located. And in that

place, they do something very memorable

in that valley.

It's a place called Shechem.

And while they are there in Shechem in

that valley, well,

some of the nation stands on Mount Ebal

and some of the nation stands on Mount

Gerizim and they recommit themselves to

God. It's Joshua 8:30-35.

Joshua 8:30–35

You can go back and read it sometime.

They're going to stand there on those

mountains and they're going to recite

God's blessings and they're going to

recite God's cursings and they're going

to recommit as a nation to doing what

God wants them to do, the conquering the

the land of Canaan.

We come to Joshua 24 and we're several

chapters removed from that moment. But

what's interesting is the nation of

Israel is in the same geographical

location in chapter 24 as they are in

chapter 8.

And what's also interesting is that what

they are doing in chapter 24 is the same

thing that they did in chapter 8. In

chapter 8 they recommitted themselves to

God, they reaffirmed the covenant that

they had with God, and now we jump ahead

all the way to Joshua chapter 24 and

Joshua 24 · chapter mention

they're going to do the same thing

again. They're going to renew their

commitment, they're going to refresh

themselves with the covenant that they

have made for God in for God in this

location here in this place called

Shechem. Why would that be so important?

Why is that so interesting? Well, it's

important because it sets an example for

you and I. Let me ask you something, was

the nation of Israel God's people?

Yes or no, were they God's people or

were they not?

They were God's people. So if they were

already God's people, why did they have

to renew the covenant? Why did they have

to recite the law? Why did they have to

refresh their memory with what God had

told them? Why would they have to

recommit if they were already God's

people? What would be the purpose of

them going to this valley, Shechem,

between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim and

recommitting themselves to the Lord?

It's a principle that God is

establishing I think for all of his

people for all time. Listen, this

morning in this place many of us are

God's people. I hope everyone of us in

this place belongs to God. I hope and

pray that there is a moment in your life

that you can remember where you called

out on the name of Jesus, you recognized

yourself as a sinner, there was nothing

you could do about your sin, there was

no way you could save yourself, you

recognized that Jesus came and paid it

all on your behalf. And and on that

moment, in that moment of realization,

you surrendered yourself to the mighty

hand of God and said, "On this moment

and going forward, I place my faith and

my trust completely in Jesus Christ. I'm

not trusting in myself, in what I can

give in an offering plate, in a baptism,

in a church service, in a man or a woman

or a grandpa or a grandma. I'm not

trusting in anybody or anything other

than Jesus to forgive me of my sin and

get me to heaven. If that moment has

taken place in your life, then this

morning, gathered in this place, we are

God's people. Just as the nation of

Israel on that morning, in that place,

was God's people.

We have some similarities. So, if the

nation of Israel had to gather

themselves and remind themselves of

their commitment to God, and remind

themselves of the covenant they had with

God, don't you think it would be a good

idea for God's people today to often

times gather in a place with one another

and just take a moment and say, "This

day, in this place, I'm going to

reaffirm that I'm a follower of Jesus

Christ." I'm not saying get saved again.

You can only get saved one time. Once

you're saved, you're always saved. You

don't need to be saved again. You're

still God's people.

But, it's good for you

to come to a place and say, "Today,

I'm going to recommit myself.

Maybe yesterday or this past week, I

messed up in a few places. Maybe there

were some mistakes that I made along the

way. Maybe there were some decisions

that if I could go back and do again,

I'd make a different decision. But, that

was last week, and today I'm standing at

the beginning of a new week." They

Aren't you glad we come to church on

Sunday? Amen. We come to church to start

the week on the first day, a fresh

start, a day of rest, a day of worship,

a day to be rejuvenated. And what

happened last week is in the past. You

can't change it. But today, in this

place, you can come before God and say,

"Today, I recommit. I'm going to refresh

myself with whom I God is, and I'm going

to tell him that from this day going

forward, I will serve the Lord." That's

what they're doing in this place. Now, I

want to show you just a few simple

things from the text today. I've got a

very brief and simple outline.

From this little phrase at the end of

verse 15,

where Joshua says, "But as for me and my

house, we will serve

the Lord."

I want you to notice, first of all, the

leader.

Write down number one, the leader.

Who is leading the way on this?

Who's the one standing

in the valley of Shechem

and saying, "Hey, everybody, there's a

decision that's being made, and I'm

going to be the first one to make it."

You know who he is, right? Who's the one

speaking? It's Joshua.

He stands before the people

and he proclaims, "As for me."

I want you to notice, first of all,

about the leader that he made a personal

decision.

Uh Joshua stands up in front of

everybody, and he didn't start by

saying, "You."

He stood up in front of everybody, and

he said,

"It's me first." How many of you

remember the little song we used to sing

from time to time when we were kids in

Sunday school? It's me, it's me, it's

me, oh Lord, standing in the meeting

need of prayer. Not my brother, not my

sister, but it's me, oh Lord. Sometimes

as Christians, sometimes as church

people, sometimes as independent

fundamental Baptist, we get this idea

that we're okay and everybody else is

broken. That we're okay, and it's

everybody else's fault that the world is

the way that it is. We're okay, but it's

everybody else's church that's causing

the problem. And this morning, if we're

going to really get serious with God and

say today I'm going to recommit myself

on this day I'm going to reestablish

myself as a servant of Jesus Christ,

then what you have to understand is it's

not everybody else who needs prayer.

Sure, they may need it, but it's you and

I who stand in the need of prayer. It's

you and I who stand in need of the

presence of God. It's you and I who have

wandered away and strayed in the last

week. It's you and I who must commit

ourselves to the leading of Jesus

Christ. Here's what Joshua does. He

stands in the midst of the camp there in

the valley of Shechem and he said,

"Listen, everybody. I don't know what

you're going to do, but I know what I'm

going to do. I don't know what you might

decide, but I've already decided. And I

don't know what you might participate

in, but I know what I'm going to

participate in. And I don't know where

you might lead your family, but I know

where I'm leading my family. And I think

it would be a really good idea. I feel

like preaching this morning. I feel like

it would be a really good idea if some

of God's people would get serious with

God and say it don't matter what anybody

else is going to do. It don't matter

what the family across the aisle is

going to do. It doesn't matter what

somebody across town is going to do. It

doesn't matter what the church on the

other side of the county is going to do.

As for me, I'm making a personal

decision this morning that I will do

what is right.

I'm not going to worry about anybody

else. I'm going to stand on truth and

I'm going to do what God has told me

to do.

We get so distracted looking at

everybody else's problems that we forget

that it's you and I sometimes who need

to find an old-fashioned altar and say,

"God, it's me.

I am the one who needs revival.

Start it in me. I'm the one who needs to

hear from you. I'm the one who needs to

sense your presence. I'm the one who

needs to take a stand.

It's me."

Joshua said, "As for me,"

he said, "it starts with your leader."

It starts with the man before you.

As for

me, I wonder if there's anybody in here

this morning. I wonder if there's a

father in here on Father's Day 2026

who would recognize in this very moment,

in this place, that it's me.

I'm the one who's got to make that

decision.

I wonder if there's a lady in here this

morning who perhaps in the last few

weeks you've been distracted with this

or that and anxieties and worries and

you've been all worked up, but this

morning Holy Spirit touches your heart

and say, "Hey, it's you. You need to

recommit. You need to come back. You

need to get God first again."

It starts

with me.

But I want you to notice something else.

Not only do we see a personal decision,

but I see a family commitment.

There's a family commitment. Notice what

he says. He says He starts with as for

me.

But notice how he continues the phrase.

He doesn't just stay it's just about me.

Joshua says it's about me

and my house.

Joshua is going to stand up

as the leader of his home

and say, "My house

is going to be different than everybody

else's house."

Men, I got to talk to you for just a

moment. I'm not preaching a big Father's

Day message, but it is Father's Day

and I don't want to miss an opportunity

that the text has given us to talk to

men.

This might make people mad. This is not

what is culturally acceptable.

This is

You're told not to preach on stuff like

this or say stuff like this, but it's

Bible and I believe it with all my heart

and I think it'll keep your house

together if you listen to what I'm about

to tell you. The man

is the leader of the home.

It is the man's responsibility

to lead his home.

Now, we could spend entire sermon series

months long defining and flushing that

out and not trying to understand how

that fits in culture. But, sometimes I

think in churches we overthink things.

God has said it, so let's abide by it.

What has God said in his word? That the

man is the head of the house.

It's very clear.

God has orchestrated and ordained a

leadership system. It works in the home

and it works in the church. And God has

said it is up to men to be the spiritual

leaders. You say, "Well, why did God

make the man the spiritual leader?"

Can I be really theological with you

this morning?

I have no idea.

I don't know why God chose to do it the

way that he did it. If I knew

everything, the reason why God does

everything that he does, then he

wouldn't be God.

He's sovereign. He chose. He made it. He

did it. It's our job to just obey.

Right?

We live in a culture that is attacking

the home.

We live in a culture where the devil is

doing everything he can to attack the

home, and I'm burdened about it. You

say, "Why are you so passionate about

this?" Because you haven't been in my

office the last month.

Where I sit with men and women

and I counsel them

on their marriage

multiple times.

Multiple times.

All I mean, we we live in a small

community and and we I pastor a small

church and you wouldn't think it'd be

that bad. You Why is it so bad?

Because the devil is attacking attacking

attacking attacking the home.

You don't see the men who sit there with

tears in their eyes

and say, "How am I supposed to lead?"

You don't see the casualties.

Where where a man

would not man up in his house and lead,

and now there's no religion at all in

their home.

He's fallen by the wayside

because he would not stand up and lead

his family

spiritually.

It is not Listen, I am thankful for

women who are spiritual giants. And some

of the greatest spiritual people in my

life are women. And I love when a woman

can get a hold of God. Women are some of

the greatest prayers that I know. Some

of the greatest prayer warriors that I

know are women, and they can move the

hand of God, and they can move heaven.

And I am so thankful for women. But it

is wrong of any man to try and let his

wife be the spiritual guidance and

leader in his home.

The woman should not be the one who has

to lead the family in prayer. Now, she

can. She's allowed to, but it shouldn't

have to be her idea every time it

happens.

Some man needs to stand up and say,

"Hey, I think it's a good idea that we

pray as a family."

Somebody's got to stand up in the home

today and say, "We are not doing those

things, and we are going to do those

things."

Can I Can I tell you something

that bothers me a little bit?

Why Why is it

that Mother's Day

at church is packed out,

but Father's Day at church, everybody is

at the lake?

Have you noticed this trend?

We set attendance records on Mother's

Day. Praise God for that. But where is

everybody on Father's Day?

On Mother's Day, we do what Mom wants.

Y'all see where I'm going here?

On Mother's Day we do what mom wants.

We go to church.

On Father's Day we do what dad wants.

And we go to the lake. And we wonder why

there is no masculinity, why there is no

spiritualness in our homes today.

It's because there are men who are more

concerned about catching a fish

than they are about getting their family

in church.

There are men who are sitting on the

sidelines and the only way that they get

to church is if their wife tells them

it's time to go.

Some of you wouldn't even be here this

morning.

You say, "I won't be here next week if

you keep preaching like this." That's

okay.

Some of you wouldn't even be here this

morning if your wife didn't say it's

time to go.

Where are the spiritual leaders in the

home? Can I tell you it is not

sustainable to make the woman carry the

responsibility of spiritual leadership.

It is cruelty because it's not how God

designed it. That's our weight to carry.

So, we carry the weight.

Joshua said,

"As for me

and my house."

I'm wondering today

if there are some fathers on Father's

Day who will say it's time that I clean

some things up in my home.

It's time that I make some decisions to

lead my family to God first. Listen, I'm

not picking on the lake. I'm not picking

on fishing. I love doing all those

things, but when they become more

important than Jesus Christ,

we've got a problem.

And men today have a selfish problem.

Men today have a me problem where

whatever I want to do becomes most

important and my family is just here to

assist me.

Right?

We have got a major problem with manhood

today because men have become selfish.

I wonder if there's some men in this

place

or maybe some men who will watch this

sermon later by the grace of God

who will say on this day in this place

I'm going to start leading my family

spiritually.

I'm going to start leading in prayer.

I'm going to start some kind of family

devotions. I'm going to put some time

limits on the devices that my kids can

use and my grandkids can use. We live in

a digital age, and all kids want to do

is sit there like this. And listen, I

played video games growing up.

Fine. Play video games, but have THAT

KID GO OUTSIDE SOME, TOO.

Go check on what they're what they're

messaging their friends.

Pay attention to who they're hanging out

with and the habits that they're picking

up. Somebody's got to guard the door of

the home and serve the Lord.

And it's God's it's God's choice

that it's the man.

And if that scares you a little bit

let that be an indicator that you are

not doing a good enough job.

We need some men who will rise up and

say, "I will be the leader."

I love Christian women.

Can I Can I

We all ain't coming back anyways at this

point, so I'm just going to say what

needs to be said.

>> [clears throat]

>> You know one You know one thing that

bothers me

in churches?

I want you to go home today and look up,

I don't know, half a dozen churches on

YouTube.

Not necessarily our stripe, but like

bigger churches.

Can I use this term, contemporary

churches? Can I use that? Y'all okay

with that?

You will find one thing in common.

As you look at their services,

you'll see their platform filled with

people.

This is I don't Lord, are you sure about

this? I don't want to say this.

You look at those people on that

platform and you know what you're going

to find.

The platforms and the choirs are full of

ladies. And God bless them.

I'm so thankful for ladies that can

sing.

Our music would not be near as good as

it is if it wasn't for the ladies who

help us and we praise God for that.

But why is it the case that when you

look at a choir, you've got the whole

choir

full of ladies and then you got a little

section over here that's got some men in

it and you got a little section over

here that's got some men in it and their

only job is to bring the bass notes,

right?

Why is that the case? Why is it every

worship team in America has five, six,

seven, eight, 10 ladies and you've got

maybe one guy?

Maybe. Up there leading worship.

I'm not picking on anybody. It's an

indicator

of what is happening in our nation.

If men won't lead in church,

if men will not lead in church, then

then don't tell me you're leading at

home.

You

It starts at home.

And if if you want to lead in church,

you better be leading at home.

Where's the spiritual leadership?

As for me and my house,

we will serve the Lord.

We will serve God.

Joshua said, "I'm the leader on this. I

got to go. Listen.

Write down number two. We see the leader

number one, write down number two.

And we'll be done. I'm almost done.

Number two, we see the Lord.

Joshua said, "As for me and my house, we

will serve the Lord."

What's the big deal, Pastor John?

Why does it matter who I serve? Why does

it matter if the lake becomes more

important than church? Why does it

matter if my kids hang out with those

kids? What What What is the big deal?

Why does all this even matter to you?

I want you to see

the Lord in this passage. Look all the

way back at verse number two, and we're

going to walk through this. I want you

to notice something.

Joshua stands before the people in a

place called Shechem, and he said,

"Today we're going to rededicate

ourselves to the Lord, but before we do

any decision-making, we've got to get

our eyes back on Jesus."

Notice what Joshua tells them.

And it's actually what Joshua is telling

them is a word straight from God. Joshua

is just going to reciprocate what God

has told him. Look at verse two.

And Joshua said unto all the people,

"Thus saith the Lord God of Israel."

What does God want to tell us?

He said, "Thus saith the Lord your God

of Israel, your fathers dwelt on the

other side of the flood in old time,

even Terah, the father of Abraham, and

the father of Nahor, and they served

other gods." So, we've set the stage.

Who are we serving? Well, they served

other gods, but notice what God did.

Verse number three. I've got these

phrases I'm going to draw your attention

to phrases. I've got them highlighted in

my Bible.

This is his first one, verse three. God

said, "And I took your father Abraham."

Way back there, years ago, generations

ago, before you were even a thought,

nation of Israel, before any of you were

even born,

I had a plan.

And in the midst of ungodliness and

wickedness and chaos, I took Abraham. I

found a man, and I got a man who would

serve me, and I took him out of all that

wickedness, and I had a plan for

Abraham. But notice what happens. I took

him from the other side of the flood and

led him throughout all the land of

Canaan and multiplied his seed and gave

him Isaac. Now watch this. Here's

another phrase. And I gave unto Isaac

Jacob and Esau, and I gave Esau Mount

Seir to possess it, but Jacob and his

children went down to Egypt. You

remember the story of Joseph. They all

go down to Egypt. What is God doing? God

is building a nation.

Oh, I hope I can communicate this to

you. Verse five. God said, "I sent Moses

and also Aaron, and I plagued Egypt

according to that which I did among

them. And afterward, I brought you out."

Do you see what God is doing? God is

drawing attention not only to who he is,

but to everything that he has done. He

said, "I brought your fathers, verse

six, out of the land of Egypt, and you

came to the sea, and the Egyptians

pursued after your fathers with chariots

and horsemen under the Red Sea. And when

they cried unto the Lord, he put

darkness between you and the Egyptians

and brought the sea upon them and

covered them. And your eyes have seen

what I have done in Egypt, and you dwelt

in the wilderness a long season. And I

brought you into the land of the

Amorites, which dwelt on the other side

Jordan, and they fought with you, and I

gave them into your hand that you might

possess their land. Watch this. And I

destroyed them from before you." God

said, "I have preserved you. I have

built you. I have blessed you. I have

protected you. I have provided for you.

I have fought for you." And he keeps

going. Verse number nine.

Then Balak, the son of Zippor, rose,

king of Moab, arose and warred against

Israel and sent and called Balaam, the

son of Beor, to curse you. You remember

this story, right, in the Old Testament?

But I would not hearken unto Balaam.

Therefore, he blessed you still, so I

delivered

you out of his hand." God said, "I've

protected you, and I've blessed you and

I've provided for you and when somebody

came to curse you, I turned his cursing

into blessing and I've always been there

for you. I've never failed you. I've

been faithful to you. Verse 11, and you

went over Jordan and came into Jericho.

And the men of Jericho fought against

you. We just talked about this a few

weeks ago. The Amorites and the

Perizzites and the Canaanites and the

Hittites and the Girgashites and the

Hivites and the Jebusites. And watch

this. I delivered them all into your

hand.

And I sent the hornet before you which

drove them out from before you, even the

two kings of the Amorites, but not with

thy sword nor with thy bow. Verse 13, I

have given you a land for which you did

not labor and cities which you did not

build and you dwell in them. Of the

vineyards and the olive yards which you

planted not do you eat. Watch the first

two words now of verse number 14. After

all of this, after all that God has

done, after all that God has provided,

after all that God has given, after all

that God has blessed, Joshua said, "Now

therefore, choose you whom you're going

to serve. You can either serve the gods

which Abraham's father served on the

other side. You can serve the false

gods. You can serve the little gods. But

look at all that God has done for you in

light of who he is, in light of all he

has done, in light of how he has

provided, in light of how he has

protected, in light of how he has

blessed, in light of how he has turned

your mourning into happiness and your

cursing into blessing. In light of all

that God has done for you, choose you

who you're going to serve. There's a

choice here and it's an obvious choice.

You can either serve a false god who's

done nothing for you or you can serve

the one true God who's done everything

for you. And Joshua said, "As for me,

I'll tell you what I'm going to do. It's

no contest. It's no choice at all. I'm

going to serve the God who has always

been there for me. And this morning on

this Sunday in this place, I've come to

tell somebody that it is worth it to

serve Jesus Christ. Because just as he

was with the nation of Israel, and he

took them through the water, and he took

them through the fire, and he provided

for them, and he blessed them, and he

protected them, and he turned their

blessing into or he turned their cursing

into blessing, and he turned their

mourning into happiness. Just as he did

all of that for God's people back then,

we serve the same God this morning, and

he's done the same thing for you and I.

How dare us get so selfish and caught up

in ourself that we begin to look at the

things that God hasn't done instead of

focusing on who he is and what he has

done. He has been so good to us. He's

been way too good to us. If God says

that the man's the leader of the home,

he's done enough stuff I think we can

obey him. If God says I'm supposed to go

to church, I think he's done enough

stuff for me, I'll listen to him. If God

says I need to pray more, HE'S DONE

ENOUGH STUFF, I'm going to listen to

him. If God says it's time to serve the

Lord, I think he's done enough stuff for

me already that I can praise him, I can

worship him, I can live my life for him.

And this morning, as I conclude this on

this Sunday, all of the things that God

has done for us, all of the things that

God has done for you, I want you to know

a personal testimony from your pastor

this morning. I'm not perfect, and I

don't have it all together, but as for

me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

He's been too good to me. He's blessed

me too much. He's forgiven me, and he's

brought me this far. How can I not serve

him? HOW CAN I NOT give him everything?

How can I not stand on the truth of

God's word?

And say, "God, if you want that sin

gone, it's gone. If you want me to to

you, I'll serve you. If you want me to

work in that area, I'll work in that

area. You want me to serve in that

ministry, I'll serve in that ministry.

You've been too good to me

to not do it your way. As for me

and my house

we're going to serve the Lord.

We're going to do it God's way.

We're going to do it in God's time.

We're going to listen to what God has

said.

In my house, we're going to prioritize

God's word. We're going to clean up the

filth that is on the TV. There are TV

shows my kids are not allowed to watch.

Period. It's not a debate.

They know it. If they come to your house

and you're babysitting them and you turn

that show on the TV, they'll say, "We're

not allowed to watch this show." And

they'll make you change it.

Cuz they know, "We're not watching that.

We're not putting that in our house.

We're not listening to certain kinds of

music in our house. We just ain't doing

it.

My kids are not going to be exposed to

the filth of this world. As for me and

my house, we're going to serve the Lord.

Pastor John, why does it matter? Have

you seen all of the goodness?

Have you looked at who he is? Have you

noticed just how much he's done? I would

be an utter fool

to try and go the other way

and serve anything else

than my God.

I don't want to serve a career. I don't

want to serve a dollar bill. I don't

want to serve a person. I don't I I I

refuse to be bought or put into a box of

religion or a denominational label. I

won't do it. Why? Because I have one

goal and one goal only in my life. As

for me and my house

we will serve the Lord.

I'm done. The message is over.

I've got a video for you I want you to

watch.

This is a video from the movie

Courageous.

It's the very last scene in the movie.

And it's powerful.

I want you to lean in and I want you to

watch this this clip. It's about 4

minutes long, 4 and 1/2 minutes long.

And while you watch this, I want you to

pray and say, "God,

I want to commit

today

in this place,

I recommit myself.

I promise

from this day forward,

as for me and my house,

we will serve the Lord."