”The High Priority of Holiness” | Pastor John Tilley Jr | Joshua 5

attack.

Hey

Heat.

Good morning everybody. It's good to see

you today.

I am glad that you are in church with

us. Let's stand and we're going to sing

a little bit this morning. You know this

song, are you washed in the blood?

I hope that you can say you are this

morning.

Washed in the blood of Jesus Christ.

Let's sing it out now all together.

Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing

power? Are you washed in the blood of

the lamb?

Are you fully trusting in his grace this

hour? Are you washed in the blood of the

lamb?

Are you washed

in the blood?

In the soul cleansing blood of the lamb?

Are your garments spotless? Are they

white as snow? Are you washed in the

blood of the lamb?

Are you walking daily by the Savior's

side? Are you washed in the blood of the

lamb?

Do you rest each moment in the

crucified?

Are you washed in the blood of the lamb?

Here we go. Are you washed

in the blood

in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb?

Are your garments spotless? Are they

white as snow? Are you washed in the

blood of the lamb?

the garments that are stained with sin

and be washed in the blood of the lamb.

There's a fountain flowing from the soul

unclean. Oh, be washed in the blood.

Real loud now. Let me hear you sing it.

Are you washed

in the blood?

In the soul cleansing blood of the lamb.

Are your garments spotless? Are they

white as snow? Are you washed in the

blood of the lamb?

Are your garments spotless? Are they

white as snow? Are you washed in the

blood of the lamb?

Well, if you're washed in the blood this

morning, let's give the Lord a hand clap

of praise.

If you're glad to be saved, say amen

this morning. And you can be seated for

just a moment.

I want to give you a few announcements

today.

Just leave that there. Tonight at 5:' we

are going to have our legacy dinner. And

uh we've got food uh coming. We're going

to cater this meal. Here's what this is.

If you have been a Christian, if you've

been saved for 20 years, at least 20

years, you've been saved, then we want

to honor you and we want to say thank

you for your faithfulness. And so

tonight, we're going to do that at 5:00

here at the church. We're catering this

meal and uh me and my my family will be

here and we want you to come. Now, we've

already ordered the food, but we ordered

extra. So, if you did not sign up or you

did not know about it or or you didn't

know if you'd be able to come, but now

you can come, you can come. We'll have

plenty of food tonight and we're just

going to have a good time fellowshipping

and talking and maybe share some

testimonies tonight and and just be the

family of God. Just have a good time at

our legacy dinner and just honor people

that I believe are worthy of honor. I'm

thankful for those who have gone before

and paved the way and showed me an

example of what faithfulness looks like.

I'm thankful for those people and I want

to honor them. And so we're going to do

that tonight. What do you got next,

Brother Jason? Uh, so next Saturday,

this coming Saturday actually, we're

going to Hail's Lake, which is over in

Grayson County. This is our Better Man

conclusion. So, Better Man concluded on

yesterday, we had our final Better Man

session of the summer. And so, we're

going to end everything with a bang this

coming Saturday. We're going to meet

over at Hills Lake at 9:00. If you want

to go earlier, feel free. I'll be there

at nine o'clock. All right. and uh we'll

have a good day fishing. Um I'm I'm

planning to stay past noon a little bit

and then come back sometime that

afternoon. You can stay as long as you

want, but we're just going to have a

good time. Uh you say, "I didn't go to

better man. I I never made it to a

better man." That's okay. Are you a man?

You are welcome to come. All right.

That's the only requirement. You come on

and fish with us a little while and have

some good fellowship and and we're just

going to have a great time. You may want

to, if you're planning to come, you're

going to want to check into getting your

your fishing license and your trout

license, as well as you're probably

going to want to bring a little

something to eat because there's not a

whole lot out there. So, think about

those things as you prepare. And we're

going to have a great time this

Saturday. What's next, brother? Ladies

Bible study will be the same day this

Saturday, May 2nd. That'll be at 10:00

a.m. So, we're going to Ladies, this is

a change from normal. Normally, your

Bible study is uh I think the third

week, second week. uh this this month.

It's the first week. The reason we're

doing that is uh Esther will be out of

town. Me and Esther will be out of town

the following weekend. And so, we're

going to go ahead and let y'all do it

this weekend. This Saturday, ladies

Bible study, 10:00 a.m. Bring a snack to

share and uh Esther will be teaching

through the book and have a time of

prayer and uh just a good encouraging

time together. So, that'll be this

Saturday at 10 while the men are

fishing. Is that everything? That's all

you've got? There's one other thing.

Next Sunday night. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Sorry, we didn't put this in there

and I forgot. Um, next Sunday night we

are going to do an event here at the

church. Next weekend is the um I don't

know what you call it. Is it teacher

appreciation? Is that what it's called?

It's teacher appreciation weekend in the

United States. And so we're going to

we're going to do something for our

teachers. Next Sunday night we're going

to gather here at we we'll just do five

o'clock again. and we'll meet here at

the church at 5:00 next Sunday night and

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

hand write 120 thank you cards and we're

going to take them and drop them off at

the middle school um for teacher

appreciation weekend. We've also ordered

uh cookies from a local bakery and so

we're going to put a thank you card and

a cookie together and we're going to

deliver those to the middle school and

just a a way to show our appreciation

for the staff and the teachers there at

the middle school. And so I want to let

you know about that. We want I need your

help. I don't want to write 120 thank

you cards next Sunday night by myself.

My hand is going to be hurting about the

So, please come next Sunday night, five

o'clock. Help us out with this. It'll go

very quickly. And uh and we'll have a

time of prayer with them over the cards

and pray for our school. This is a way

and and listen, this month we're we're

really emphasizing something we want to

emphasize this year is investing in

people. Uh, I've told you many times the

church knows that I've got a sticky note

in my office that sits on the brick

brick block wall in front of me that

says three just those three words,

invest in people. And every day that I

see that card, I try and invest in

someone. Whether it's through a text

message or sending somebody money for

coffee or giving somebody a call that we

haven't heard from in a while, what,

however it is, we want to invest in

people. And that's something that we've

emphasized this month in our church. And

uh, we've done it all interior.

everything that we've done. We're

tonight we're honoring and and investing

in uh the those who have left a legacy

for us. And last Sunday, we recognized

our servants and our volunteers. And

we'll do more of those here in just a

moment today as well. And and but next

Sunday night, we want to take it outside

of the walls and we want to invest in

people who are not a part of our church.

And that is for this time, it's going to

be the teachers at the middle school and

we're going to tell them thank you. All

right. So that'll be next Sunday night.

You make plans to be here and help us

with that. So a lot going on. Vacation

Bible School is coming up. When I get

back from Florida in a couple weeks,

we're going to have a meeting about

vacation Bible school and get that

rolling. We've got a lot of work to do.

So, be praying about that as well. Lots

of exciting things happening, kicking

into high gear going into summertime.

And it's going to be it's going to be a

great great summer. But we can't get so

focused on what's ahead that we miss

what God has for us right now. And I

want to go to church right now. I want

to worship the Lord right now. I want to

hear from God this morning. Do you want

to hear from the Holy Spirit this

morning? So, let's pray and let's ask

the Holy Spirit to help us and to just

give us a wonderful day today uh for the

next little while in his house.

Our heavenly gracious father, this

morning we come before you and we're so

thankful for everything that's going on,

Lord. Uh we're so grateful that we get

to invest in people. We're so thankful

that we get to serve others and and

Lord, we're so grateful that that

there's so many things going on in our

church. And I pray that Lord, you would

bless those events. I pray that you

would help those events this morning,

right now. I pray that you would bless

us in this place. Lord, we need you. We

look at the things going on in our

country. Father, we look at even last

night, the thing, the awful things that

have taken place just in the last 24

hours in our country. And Lord, we

desperately, we are reminded that we

desperately need you. And father, if we

can't feel you and sense you and

experience you in the church, then how

are we ever supposed to expect to change

a wicked culture? I pray this morning

your Holy Spirit would fill this place,

touch every heart, Lord. As we sing, I

pray that you would give us the help

that we need. May we sing to you and you

alone. May we lift our voices and give

you the praise and the glory that you

deserve. I pray that you would be

glorified in everything that's done.

Father, it's possible that there is one

here today who does not know for sure

they're on their way to heaven. And I

pray that today would be the day that

they call on the name of Jesus. You've

promised that whosoever calls on the

name of the Lord shall be saved. What a

blessing. Lord, we would rejoice and

give you praise for one soul who is

saved this morning from an eternal hell.

And Lord, I pray that you would bless me

as I preach here in just a little bit. I

need your help, Father, this morning.

Give me the strength that I need. give

me the clarity of mind and the focus

that I need. Bless this time on this

day. I pray in Jesus name. Amen. All

right. Last week, uh, we're going to do

this right now so that we can get I

don't want to say get it out of the way,

but so we can get it out of the way.

Okay. So, last week we went through and

we recognized some of our servants, some

of our volunteers, and I want to

recognize some more this morning for

different reasons. Some were not here

last week. And so I skipped some last

week and I I I was confused. They were

not in order. So I confused myself. I

skipped some last week. Some were not

here last week. So we're going to do the

rest of them this morning. Okay. So

we're going to do it just like we did

last week. Last week we made people get

up front. This week you got to get up

front. All right. Here we go. Brother

Jason, that screen's going to take care

of itself. You come on up here, brother.

Brother Jeff Rose, come on up here,

brother.

Brother Wes.

Come on, brother Wes.

We appreciate each of these men and and

all of these people are working in in

different places. She's still not here.

Um, brother Brother Matt. Come on,

brother Matt.

Brother Joe, come on. Brother Joe.

Um, all of these people serve and and

you saw the people up here last week as

well. Whenever you do this, you always

run the risk of forgetting someone. So,

we have really prayed and thought and

considered who our who who serves in our

church. If we forgot someone, please

forgive us. Um, Mrs. Charlotte, if you

weren't here last week, come on,

Mrs. Julie.

All right.

Thank you. Thank you. And all of these

people, I'm going to try and remember

what each of these people do. Um, so

that I can tell you, uh, Brother Jason

helps in a variety of ways. This

morning, he is, uh, he's running the

screens for us this morning, doing all

of the media. He does that, uh, whenever

we need him to. He jumps in and does

that. And so, we appreciate that. He

helps with our youth night, helps with

our youth programs, and does a lot of

things behind the scenes for the church.

Uh, brother Jason works for the

sheriff's department. And so, he's great

connection. Whenever I need something, I

call Jason. I said, "Can you fix can you

figure this out? Can you connect me with

the right person here?" So, he's a great

contact to have. We appreciate Brother

Jason. Brother Jeff is a great asset to

our church. He has been an incredible

encouragement to me the last couple

months. And he has started serving with

the guest and greeting guests at the

door and and we're going to be working

more with that. And brother Jeff is also

uh going to be preaching for us more

often. He's going to be helping fill the

pull pit. And in fact, this Wednesday

night, you're going to get to hear

Brother Jeff preach. He's going to fill

the pull pit for us this Wednesday. And

uh so he's a great blessing for us.

Brother Wes is uh just Brother Wes. He

does everything that needs done and he

has for you've done it for 45 years

probably

give or take. He's probably been here in

this place doing what he does for 45

years. And we are so grateful for

Brother Wes and Mrs. Martha as well and

their faithfulness. Brother Joe is helps

with the cleaning. He cleans as well as

brother Matt. They come and they clean

the church uh during the month and keep

everything clean. Mrs. Charlotte works

with the Bethl kids ministry and keeps

that running smoothly and uh and then

Miss Julie works in the nursery as well.

So that can we thank all of these and

tell them how much we appreciate them

and their service.

Wonderful. You guys can have a seat and

uh we appreciate all that you do.

uh what you see on a Sunday morning,

what we do on a Sunday morning is just

the tip of the iceberg of what goes on

here at the church and it's constant.

It's all day. It's every day. We've got

stuff going on. And it takes people.

Ministry takes people. And uh we

wouldn't be able to do we wouldn't be

able to reach our community. We wouldn't

be able to worship our savior like we do

if it wasn't for the people who give. We

don't pay these people anything. They

just give. They volunteer. They show up.

They're faithful to the house of God.

They're people who we can count on to do

what needs done when it needs done. And

as their pastor this week and those who

we recognized last week, I want to say

thank you. Uh it's a great great great

privilege to pastor people who are

willing to serve the Lord. And I tell

our people, you're not serving me. In

fact, I'm very careful not to ask people

to do stuff because I don't want them to

say yes because the pastor asked them to

do it. I want I would rather you come to

me and say, "Pastor, I need something to

do. If you do that, I'll put you to

work. we'll find something for you to

do. But I'm thankful for people who just

serve the Lord and worship the Lord.

Amen. Uh let's praise the Lord. Can we

give the Lord a hand clap of praise and

thank him for our church family?

Wonderful. Let's all stand this morning

and let's sing. We're going to sing this

song, Your Name. I love the words of

this song. Let's sing it out this

morning.

As morning

dawns and evening fades,

you inspire

songs of praise that rise from earth to

touch your heart and glorify

your name. name.

Your name

is a strong and mighty tower. Your name

is a shelter like no other. Your name,

let the nations sing it louder.

Nothing has the power to save

but your name.

Jesus

in your name we pray.

Come and fill our hearts today.

Lord, give us strength to live for you

and glorify

your name.

Cuz your name

is a strong and mighty tower. Your name

is a shelter like no other. your name.

Let the nations sing it louder.

Cuz nothing has the power to say

but your name

is a strong and mighty tower. Your name

is a shelter like no other. your name.

Let the nations sing it louder.

Cuz nothing has the power to say

but your name.

Amen. Aren't you thankful for the name

of Jesus this morning? Let's continue to

worship him with this song that I want

us to sing it as a testimony today.

Simply says, "You are my all and all."

And I hope you're here today not because

uh you needed something to do. I hope

you're here today not because you were

just checking a box and it's a religious

thing to do. It's a good thing to do. I

hope and my prayer is that every person

who's here this morning is here today

because he is everything to you. you

love Jesus today. If that's true, then

you can sing this song from your heart

to him in complete honesty and

transparency and worship the Lord by

telling him, "Lord, you're my all and

all. You're everything to me." Let's

sing today.

You are my strength when I am weak. You

are the treasure that I seek. You are my

all in all

and seeking you as a precious jewel.

Lord to give up. I'd be a fool. You are

my all in all.

Jesus,

lamb of God,

worthy

is your name.

Jesus,

lamb of God,

worthy

is your name.

Taking my sin, my cross, my shame.

Rising again, I bless your name. You are

my all in all.

And when I fall down, you pick me up.

When I am dry, you fill my cup. You are

my all in all.

Jesus,

lamb of God,

worthy

is your name.

Jesus,

lamb of God,

worthy

is your name.

>> Jesus,

lamb of God,

worthy

is your name.

Jesus,

lamb of God,

worthy

is your name.

Amen. Praise the Lord. I hope he's your

all and all this morning. Let's sing one

more song together today. It's one of my

favorite songs and has been since it

came out a few years ago. And I want us

to worship the Lord with it. Think about

it. How good he's been to you. We're not

here today because we deserve it. We're

here today because he has been good to

us. His grace and his mercy has been

poured out on us. All my life I can

sing. He has been faithful. Let's

worship the Lord today.

Oh, here we go. Think about it. I love

you, Lord,

for your mercy never fails me.

All my days

I've been held in your hands.

From the moment that I wake up

until I lay my head,

I will sing

of the goodness

of God.

All my life you have been faithful.

All my life, you have been so so good.

With every breath that I am able,

I will sing

of the goodness

of God.

>> I love your voice.

You have led me through the fire

and in darkest night.

>> You are close like no other.

I've known you as a father.

I've known you as a friend.

I have lived

in the goodness.

Oh, let's sing this out now.

All my life you have been faith, has he?

And all my life you have been so so

good.

With every breath that I am able,

I will sing of the goodness.

I love this part right here. Let's sing

it now.

Your goodness is running after. It's

running after me.

Your goodness is running after. It's

running after me.

With my life laid down, I surrender now.

I give you everything.

Your goodness is running after. It's

running after me.

Your goodness is running after. It's

running after me.

Your goodness is running after. It's

running after me.

With my life laid down, I've surrendered

now. I give you everything.

>> It's running after. It's running after

me.

And all my life you have been faithful.

And all my life you have been so so

good.

With every breath that I am able,

I will sing of the goodness

of God.

And all my life you have been faithful.

All my life you have been so so good.

With every breath that I am able,

I will sing

of the goodness

of God.

Oh, I will sing

of the goodness

of God.

Oh, give the Lord a hand clap of praise.

Wonderful singing.

You may be seated this morning. I

appreciate you worshiping the Lord with

us today. I hope that your heart has

been encouraged. We're going to have our

ushers come at this time and our

children may be dismissed. Y'all can

head downstairs

for your Bible time and Bethl kids.

We want to continue to worship the Lord

today with an offering. And uh so you

give as to the Lord this morning and the

Lord will bless you for that. And while

they take up this offering, Esther is

going to play a song on the piano and

then I'll come right back after that and

we'll open the word of God for a few

minutes. Hey, while they take this up,

while she plays, why don't you just

pray? Bow your head there and pray and

say, "Lord, touch me today. Do something

in my heart through the word of God

today." And I know that the Lord will do

that for you. Brother Wes, would you

pray? Bless this offering and ask the

Lord to help me as I preach here in a

little bit.

Heat. Heat.

Amen. Well, take your Bibles this

morning and join me in the book of

Joshua and chapter 5.

Book of Joshua and chapter five this

morning.

Heavenly Father, we need your help right

now in this moment. I need you, Lord.

>> I do pray, Father, that you would help

me as I preach today.

Lord, I I only want to communicate what

you have already said. I They don't need

my opinion.

Lord, these people do not need what what

I think. They need what you have said

clearly in your word. I pray that today

you would help me for just a little

while. Lord, strengthen my voice and my

throat this morning.

And I pray that you'd give me the

strength that I need to preach this text

exactly as you would have it preached to

your people. And I pray that your people

would be receptive to the word of God

this morning. They would hear and that

they would receive it. and that Lord you

would help us. I do pray for the one or

the two who may be here this morning who

do not know for sure that they're on

their way to heaven. Father, I pray that

you would through the preaching of the

word of God draw them to repentance this

morning. We give you all the glory and

all the praise. Help me now, I pray for

a little while so that you might be

glorified through the word of God. We

love you very much. We ask these things

in Jesus name. Amen. Joshua chapter 5.

Joshua 5 · chapter mention

This morning I want to preach a message

titled this. The high priority of

holiness.

The high priority of holiness. We come

in our study this morning. We're walking

through the book of Joshua chapter at a

time every Sunday morning. And so we

come now to Joshua chapter 5. And really

Joshua 5 · chapter mention

if we can summarize Joshua 5 in one

word, I believe the word would be

holiness. God is calling his people to

separate themselves, to be distinct, to

be different from everyone else in the

world. We're going to see that in this

text this morning. I want you to

remember the nation of Israel is

standing in Joshua chapter 5. They're

Joshua 5 · chapter mention

standing on the westward bank of the

Jordan River. We've talked about how

they got there over the last few weeks.

They have wandered in the wilderness.

Moses has died. Joshua has been risen up

as the new leader. And now they have

just come across the Jordan River from

east to west. The land of Canaan is

there where they're standing now. That

is the promised land that they have

waited for since God told Abraham that

it would be his land. 500 years they

have waited to stand where they are

standing right now. They look back

behind them and the Jordan River which

was overflowing its banks. It was

rushing. It was impassible moments ago.

It has now been dried up completely. And

they've walked across on dry ground. a

great miracle. God does a a fabulous,

wonderful miracle before them to allow

them to cross over. A million people

crossing over on dry ground through the

midst of the Jordan River. And they

built those altars that we talked about.

And they built those altars, one in the

middle of the river, and when the water

would come back, it would cover it. But

then in the dry season, when that river

would go down, they would begin to see

those stones, that altar in the midst.

And it would remind them that their God

provided back then and their God can

provide now. And then they built another

altar over on the on the westward shore.

And they used that as a reminder all

year long of the great miracle that God

did in bringing them across the Jordan

River. And now finally,

finally, they've arrived.

Finally, it's time to go defeat the

Canaanites. Finally, it's time to go

conquer the land. Finally, it's time to

possess what God has given them. I'm

sure that's what they thought. But God

has one more thing he needs to take care

of. And it doesn't have anything to do

with the Canaanites. And it doesn't have

anything to do with God. It has

everything to do with the people of

Israel.

They may be ready militarily, but their

heart is not yet ready. And so Joshua

Joshua 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5, God is going to speak to them

and tell them, "Hey, it's time for

personal holiness." The high priority of

holiness. Look at verse one.

Everything Everything is right.

Everything is right for them to go right

now and take the the land of Canaan.

Look at verse one. Notice what the Bible

says. They've just come over the Jordan

River. And it came to pass when all the

kings of the Amorites, which were on the

side of Jordan westward, that's where

the land of Canaan was. That's the

promised land. That's what they're going

to inherit. That's what they're going to

possess.

All of the kings who lived in that land,

all of the kings of the Canaanites,

which were by the sea, heard that the

Lord had dried up the waters of the

Jordan from before the children of

Israel until all were passed over. Now,

watch this. The end of verse one, that

their heart melted, neither was their

spirit in them anymore because of the

children of Israel. If every every

military strategist would tell you the

same thing in this moment. If there's

ever a time to attack, that time is

right now. You God has just done a great

miracle for you. You look at the the

kings of the enemy kings that are living

in this land and every one of them they

have no courage left. They are weak.

They are distraught. They are worried.

They are scared. They just saw what God

did when the when the uh nation of

Israel comes across the Jordan River and

now they are terrified. Quite honestly,

they are terrified. They are shaking.

They are melting. They they don't know

what they're going to do. They were not

ready for this. They were not prepared

for this. Perhaps they thought that the

Jordan River was so high it was

impossible to pass. Perhaps they thought

they had some time still. Perhaps they

thought they had a few months left, but

that they could, you know, get their

military right and prepare a plan and

how they were going to attack or or

defend against the nation of Israel, but

that time has gone because God has just

done a great miracle. And any god that

can part the Jordan River, can certainly

defeat any military that they might

have. And so they are terrified. And any

military strategist, I'm sure Joshua,

the great military leader that he was,

is probably ready to go. He's probably

gungho. Now is the time. This is the

time. God has done all of this for us.

He's parted the Jordan River. We've come

across on dry ground. It's time to go.

But God said, "Not yet, Joshua. There's

something you have to do." Not yet,

Joshua.

Your people aren't ready yet.

I need to understand.

I need to see that they trust me more

than they trust anything else. I need to

see that their heart is prepared in

holiness. Here's the deal this morning.

This is the message in a paragraph.

You and I face spiritual battles and I

assume every person here would love to

claim spiritual victory, right? You want

to live the victorious Christian life.

That's what the picture of the promised

land is. It is a picture of the

victorious Christian life. Yes, there

are battles that have to be fought. Yes,

there are enemies that exist, but you

can have victory over them. But you

cannot go to battle until you have first

been purified. You cannot go win

spiritual victories until you are

spiritual. You have to have in your

heart holiness to the one true God.

Well, holiness, nobody preaches on that

because that's just a pastor thing. No,

it's not a pastor thing. It's a

Christian thing. If you're saved this

morning, you have been called to be

holy. The Bible says in the New

Testament, "Be ye holy as I am holy."

You must be holy before God. What does

that mean? What does holy mean? The word

means set apart. It means different.

Different from the world. We live

different. We talk different. We walk

different. We act different. We do

different things because we are set

apart. We belong to God.

We're holy. There's a standard of

living. And what we want as Christians,

we want all of the spiritual victories.

We want all of the miracles. We want all

of the healing. We want all of the

provision. We want the God who parted

the Jordan River to do all of the

miracles for us, but we're not willing

to live for him. And until we come to a

place where we are willing to sacrifice

and surrender to him and give him

everything, then I'm afraid that

churches and Christians will not see

spiritual victories that our God is

capable of giving. It's not his fault.

It's our fault because we have rushed

into something without preparing our

hearts first. There is a high priority

to holiness. Let's talk about it. I want

to show you three things this morning

straight from the text.

Straight from the text, this chapter.

I'm not going to read all these verses

this morning for sake of time, but I'm

going to pick out a few as we go along.

And I'll give you three things this

morning that have to do with the high

priority of holiness as it relates to

the nation of Israel and then as it

applies to you and I. Number one, write

this down. The first thing we see in

this text is the activity of holiness.

In verse number one, rather verse number

two down through verse number eight, God

is going to give a command. Notice what

it says in verse two. At that time,

while the enemy is shaking in their

boots, while while the enemy is

wondering what's going on, while the

time is just right to attack,

at that time the Lord said unto Joshua,

"Make these sharp knives." All right,

it's getting good here. God's getting

ready to tell Joshua, "Go get them."

Right? The enemy is shaking and God

comes to Joshua and says, "Hey, make

some sharp knives." Joshua's probably

thinking, "Booyah! It's time to go,

baby. We're going to go defeat the

enemy. We're going to go conquer this

place." Watch what he says. Not what

Joshua expected. I'm almost positive. He

said, "And circumcise again the children

of Israel the second time." Wait a

minute. That makes absolutely no sense

at all whatsoever.

Everybody here know what circumcision

is?

I don't want to explain it. Okay,

everybody know what circumcision is?

Okay, God's going to tell him, "Hey,

Joshua, make your sharp knives and I

want you to circumcise all of your

fighting men."

Well, that don't make any sense at all.

The enemy is on their heels. The time to

attack is right now. Any military

strategist would tell you that chapter

5, verse one is the prime opportunity to

attack the enemy.

After seeing God part the waters of the

Jordan River, the Canaanites are

terrified. It's time to go, God. Surely

it's time to go now. Then God said, "No,

make some sharp knives, but not for the

Canaanites. For you. Because before you

can go conquer them, you have to conquer

your own flesh.

I need to see that you trust me." God

tells them to do this very strange thing

to us. He said, "Circumcise them."

Doesn't seem like a good idea.

doesn't seem like a good idea at all.

No, nobody's going to tell you, "Okay,

there's a rushing river." You think

about this. Why did God wait till now?

Right? Couldn't they have circumcised on

the other side where there was when

there is a rushing river that would

protect them, that would keep the enemy

and them separated? No. God said, "Cross

the Jordan River. I'm going to do a

great miracle for you." They all come

across now. They're in enemy territory.

And God said, 'Okay, now we want to um

now we want to paralyze

all of your fighting men for a week.

That that doesn't make sense. Do you see

the problem here? In enemy territory and

none of your fighting men, you have

absolutely no line of defense now. Any

of the Canaanite kings could have come

and conquered them. They had absolutely

no line of defense. They were sitting

ducks in enemy territory. Why would God

tell them to do this? Because the

activity of holiness, hear me right now.

The activity of holiness is obedience.

When it doesn't make sense, when it's

uncomfortable, when it's not the way we

would have planned it, when it's not

like we would have done it, God's plans

always supersede our plans. And to the

nation of Israel, to Joshua, to the

fighting men, this makes absolutely no

sense at all. This is not a military

strategy. This is a suicide mission to

do this because we're in enemy

territory. We have nothing to protect us

and we have no way to defend ourselves

now. God said, "Do you trust me enough

to obey?"

Holiness, the activity of holiness is

obedience. You want to grow in your

holiness? You want to be more like

Christ this morning, do what he has said

to do. Now in both the Abrahamic

covenant in Genesis chapter 6 17 and the

Genesis 6 · chapter mention

renewed covenant at Mount Si, God had

given clear direction that the nation of

Israel would perform circumcision as a

sign of that covenant.

Circumcision was simply an outward

showing. It was a sign that that these

people were holy. They were separated.

They were different. They were separated

unto God. And so God had given clear

directions on this. It was a symbol. It

was literally a cutting away of the

flesh and was therefore a daily reminder

that they did not trust in their flesh,

but they trusted in their God and the

promise that he had made. And what

better way to show that they trusted in

God and not their flesh than to sit in

military in enemy territory and do this

procedure and be sitting ducks for a

week. God said, "Do you trust me enough

to obey me?" You see the picture? You

see the context? Let me make the

application. The greatest thing that you

and I can do to grow in our personal

holiness is simply to obey God. You

cannot

come in here on a Sunday morning, leave

these doors here in just a few minutes

when I'm finished, go out into here

Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday, live

like the world, talk like the world, act

like the world, uh listen to the stuff

of the world, go to the places of the

world, and then expect to come back in

here next Sunday and expect to receive

some great blessing to hear from God, to

receive something. No friend, that's not

how it works. We We are separated. We

are different. We are called to live a

life of separation from the things of

the world. You know, Christians, church

people, we ought to talk different. We

ought to look a little different. We

ought to act a little different. We

ought to not go to the places where some

people go. We ought to not do the things

that the world does. We ought to not

listen to the music that the world

listens to because we are holy. We are

called to be separate. And we wonder why

we come to church and we can just go

through a service and we don't we don't

experience anything. We don't receive

anything from the Lord. Well, that was a

boring message. I didn't get anything

out of that. Well, let me tell you, I

might not be the best preacher in the

world, but this book right here is the

best book in the world. And I'm

convinced that if I'm preaching this

book, you're going to get something out

of it.

>> Amen.

>> The problem is not the book. The problem

is not the content. The problem is not

the service. The problem is that we go

live like however we want to and we

expect God to just pour out a little

blessing when we're ready for it. And

God said, "No, no, no spiritual

victories until you obey."

Now, can I meddle for just a minute? Is

that okay? It don't matter. I'm going to

anyways.

Don't use your biblical ignorance as an

exc as a justification for your sin.

People

talk talk tell me hey pastor

does the Bible I've never read in the

Bible where it says that I have to give

in a church service.

Okay. Well, you just not read your Bible

because it says in first Corinthians,

God loveth a cheerful giver.

It's right there. Don't use your

biblical ignorance

as a justification for you to not be

holy. No, you get in the book and you

study the book and you do what it says.

Well, pastor, I've never read in the

Bible where it says I can't, you know,

let let a a cuss word slip every now and

then. I I haven't read that. Well,

you've not read your Bible. Bible says,

"Let no corrupt communication proceed

out of your mouth." No corrupt

communication.

It's in there. Don't use your biblical

ignorance as an excuse to live however

you want. Just because you haven't read

it doesn't mean it's not in here. God

has given you the plan. He has told you

what he expects. Obey what he has said.

I I haven't read, preacher. You're

always telling us go to church all the

time. And I've read my Bible and I don't

read anywhere in that Bible where it

says I have to go to church every

Sunday. Hebrews chapter 10 in verse

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

number 25 says, "Forsake not the

assembling of yourselves together." I'm

just trying I'm could go down a list. I

could just go go. We could talk about

all of the pet sins of our culture. I'm

not going to. What I'm telling you to do

is get in the book. It tells you how to

live. do what it says. Study it, figure

it out, and obey. Because if you won't

obey what God has told you to do, you

cannot expect to have spiritual victory

in your life. And you wonder why you're

depressed and you wonder why you're

always anxious and you wonder why you're

always facing a it's always a battle for

me. It's just another battle every week.

It's just the same thing. I don't know

if I can keep going. I don't know if I

can keep doing this. I really need God

to do a miracle in my life. Are you

living for him?

There is a high priority to holiness.

And before you can go conquer the

enemies in your life, you have got to

get personal. Cut away the flesh. Cut

away your desires and say, "God, what is

it you're asking me to do? I want to

obey." Number one, the activity of

holiness. Write down number two.

Number two, we see the atonement

of holiness.

the atonement of holiness.

Look at verse number nine.

And the Lord said unto Joshua, he go

Joshua obeys. He does what God has told

them to do. They circumcise all of the

men. In verse number nine, and the Lord

said unto Joshua, "This day have I

rolled away the reproach of Egypt from

you. Wherefore the name of the place is

called Gilgal unto this day. Gilgal

literally means rolled away.

And the children of Israel encamped in

Gilgal and kept the Passover on the 14th

day of the month at even in the plains

of Jericho. And they did eat of the old

corn of the land on the marorrow after

the Passover and unleavened cakes and

parched corn in the selfsame day. What

what are we learning about here? Well,

God God has brought them out brought

them over the Jordan River. And now

before they go into the promised land,

he's going to give them a reminder by by

these stones, by the name of this place

that rolled away that they have been

they are no longer slaves to e Egypt.

Now, it's important when you when you

think about biblical typology

to remember that Egypt all throughout

the Bible is often a type of the world

or of sin. So when he says, "I've rolled

away the reproach of Egypt." For the

nation of Israel, it was quite literal.

um that their their parents and their

grandparents had been in bondage in

Egypt and now they're free and they're

living in the land that God has given

them. Literally, God had rolled away the

reproach. Literally, God had delivered

them from the slavery of Egypt. But for

you and I and for the future generations

of the nation of Israel after this

point, it it was more of a spiritual

application for them. that God had

rolled away the reproach of their

sinfulness. That God had rolled away the

the guilt and the shame of of the world.

That's the picture of Egypt. It's

usually a picture of the world or of sin

in scripture. And these people are no

longer slaves to the world. God had

miraculously rolled away the baggage and

the shame and the guilt and the pain of

the past that came with Egypt. Egypt is

done. Now, this is very important when

we're talking about holiness.

Because you cannot be holy

until your sin has been rolled away.

Every year they would celebrate the

Passover. You remember when the nation

of Israel came out of Egypt way back in

the book of Exodus? When they come out

of the out of the Egyptian bondage, how

did God deliver them? You remember how

he did it? It was that 10th and final

plague, right? And what did God command

the people to do? He said, "I want you

to go kill a spotless lamb and I want

you to take the blood of that lamb and I

want you to apply it to the doorpost of

your house, both of the doorpost and

then the top. And I want you to apply

the blood of that lamb to the doorpost.

And tonight, there's going to be a death

angel that's going to pass through the

land of Egypt. And every house that has

the blood applied to them, that house

will be spared. But every house that

does not have the blood applied to the

doorpost, that household will experience

death. Right? It was a picture of what

was to come. It was an eventual picture

of what was to come on Calvary when

Jesus Christ would die and shed his

blood. And through his blood, we would

be we would be saved. So every year

after that first Passover, they're in

Egypt. They came out of Egypt. They've

wandered in the wilderness for 40 years.

Every year they celebrated Passover.

And they celebrated, they remembered

this time, this great deliverance that

God had brought them out of Egypt. And

now before they go into the con into

conquer the the land of Canaan, before

they move into battle, they take time to

observe

the Passover. They take time to remember

that the blood had been applied.

The application is very simple. There's

much we could talk about with this, but

I'm I'm not going to belabor the point.

I'm just going to get right to the

application this morning. And I want to

report to you this morning that I am so

glad for the day when the blood was

applied to my account. Jesus Christ came

and he lived on this earth and he died

on that old rugged cross. And when he

shed his blood, his blood got applied to

the doorpost of my life. I called on the

name of Jesus as an 8-year-old boy and

that blood was applied to my life. So

that now when the death angel, when the

judgment of God looks at my life, when a

righteous and a holy and a perfect God

looks at me, he does not see all of my

failures, he does not see my past, he

does not see my sin, he passes over me

when he sees the blood that was applied.

And every person here this morning who

has been saved by the blood of Jesus

Christ, what can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can

make me whole again? Nothing but the

blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow

that makes me white as snow. No other

fountain I know. It's nothing but the

blood of Jesus. If you're saved this

morning and you've called on the name of

Jesus, then you do not have to live in

bondage to your past, to your guilt, to

your shame. The blood has been applied.

Your sins are Gilgal. They are literally

rolled away as far as the east is from

the west. And you are justified. You are

saved. Now, if you're not saved this

morning, then you do live with guilt and

you do live with shame

because your sins have not been rolled

away. The blood has not been applied.

And book of Romans tells us that

when you die, the judgment, the wages

for your sin is death. that judgment of

God, that death angel will take you and

you will be eternally separated from God

in a very real place called hell.

But

you don't have to go to hell this

morning. You should, but you don't have

to. I should, but I don't have to

because of the blood of Jesus Christ.

Bible says, "Whosoever shall call on the

name of the Lord shall be saved." Well,

I don't want to go to hell, Pastor John.

Very good. You don't have to. It's as

simple as you recognizing that you're on

your way to hell and there's nothing you

can do about it. You're a sinner. But if

you will place your faith and trust in

the finished work of Jesus Christ, call

on the name of Jesus and say, "Lord, I

want the blood applied to my life. I

want the blood applied to my sin debt."

Then the blood will be applied forever

and ever and ever, and God will save

you.

This is what they're celebrating. It is

the atonement for holiness.

You can try and try and try and try to

live a good life, but if you are not

under the blood of Jesus Christ, you are

not holy. You cannot go to heaven. We

try in our culture to work our way to

heaven. And you ask people, hey, are are

you a good person? Oh, yes. And and I I

have people tell me this when I ask them

about going to heaven that, well, I hope

I make it in. I hope I've done enough to

make it in. I I try and do more good

than I do bad. And I I really hope that

when I get up there that that I'll be

able to talk the angel into it and he'll

let me pass on by. Friend, I I don't

want to be mean or cruel this morning,

but you ain't going to make it. That's

not going to get you through. You can

get baptized all you want. It's not

going to get you through. You can give

money in that offering plate all you

want. It's not going to get you through.

You cannot be holy unless you have been

dunked in the blood of Jesus Christ.

You have to be put under the blood for

your sins to be rolled away. And the

Bible tells us that our righteousness,

our best good works, the very best that

we can do to an almighty God who is so

perfect and holy we can't comprehend it.

Our best righteousness to him is filthy

rags.

Just dirt.

That's why somebody had to come who was

perfect. That's why God had to come. And

he shed his perfect blood. He atoned. He

paid my sin debt

with his own precious blood.

And I remember the day as an

eight-year-old boy when I knelt down

beside that couch and I said, "Jesus, I

don't want to go to hell. I know I'm a

sinner. Would you please save me?" And I

have been saved ever since. The blood

was applied. So when you read about the

Passover and them celebrating the

Passover, you understand that what

they're celebrating has nothing really

to do with them, but it has everything

to do with Almighty God, who made a way

through his blood for us to have eternal

life. Write down number three, and we'll

be finished this morning.

Number three, in the last part of

chapter 5, we see the adoration of

holiness.

We have seen the activity of holiness,

and we have seen the atonement for

holiness. And now we see the adoration

of holiness.

I want you to think about Joshua with me

this morning. Let's read the verses

first and then we'll talk about it.

Verse 13 of chapter 5. And it came to

pass. When Joshua was by Jericho that he

lifted up his eyes, and he looked, and

behold, there stood a man over against

him with his sword drawn in hand. And

Joshua went unto him and said, "Art thou

for us or for our adversaries?"

And he said, "Nay." But as captain of

the host of the Lord am I now come.

Joshua fell on his face to the earth and

did worship and said unto him, Why saith

my lord unto what? What sayaith my lord

unto his servant? And the captain of the

lord's host said unto Joshua, loose thy

shoe from off thy foot, for the place

where on thou standest is

holy.

And Joshua did so. The adoration of

holiness is worship.

We find Joshua. I can I can see the

picture. You think about the events that

have taken place. They've come across

the Jordan River. They've circumcised

all of the men. They've observed the

Passover. And as the celebrations and

the festivities are dying down and the

men are healing up and things are moving

right along and perhaps Joshua just

escapes for a little bit and he goes off

by himself

and he walks up on a little hilltop and

he looks

to the west and 12 miles into the

distance, he can see the silhouette of a

walled city that is considered to be

impenetrable, the city of Jericho.

Joshua stands there by himself thinking

and perhaps praying, "Lord,

when's it going to be time?

How are we going to do it? What's your

plan?

I I mean, I've got some ideas, Lord, if

you want me to tell you my ideas. I can

tell you what I was I was thinking.

We're going to we're going to have to go

conquer that city. Jericho's right

there. We're going to have to go out

there and we're going to have to defeat

them. What do you have in mind?" And

perhaps as Joshua's looking around, all

of a sudden, there's a man,

sword drawn, ready to attack.

And Joshua, showing us a picture of

boldness and courage, confronts the man

immediately,

perhaps startled by his sudden

appearance. And Joshua says, "Are you

for us or for our adversaries?" I can

just Joshua is just ready to go.

And Jesus answers him and says, "No,

no, I'm from the armies of the Lord our

God." This this individual that we see,

this is what we call in theology, if you

want the big term, we call it a

christophony.

This is an Old Testament appearance of

Jesus Christ in the flesh. It's a

pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus. Jesus

has not been born yet, but he appears on

Earth before Joshua. And I want you to

notice why we think that. I'll give you

four reasons why this is Jesus in this

text. Some people will argue it's not. I

think it is. Number one, he commands the

armies of the Lord. It literally says,

"I am the commander of the armies of the

Lord." Well, who commands the armies of

the Lord? There's only one with that

authority, and that's Jesus. He then he

accepts the worship of Joshua. Joshua is

going to fall down. In verse 14, Joshua

falls on his face to the earth. Joshua

recognizes him and he worships

and Jesus receives that worship. If this

was an angel, he would not have received

the worship. If you're tracking with us

in our study in Revelation on Wednesday

nights, we've seen already a couple

times, and we'll see it again a couple

more times that John, as he's writing

this, tries to worship an angelic being.

And the angels always correct John and

say, "Don't worship me. Worship God."

So, the angels refuse worship. But this

individual receives the worship. And

then also Joshua submits himself to this

man. Joshua submits and he says, "Take

off your shoes." and Joshua did so. The

last four words of the chapter.

And then notice in the fourth place that

the man requests the same action of

Joshua that God had asked of Moses. You

remember years prior at the burning

bush, God had told Moses from that bush,

"Take off your shoes for the place where

you stand is holy ground." And now in

this moment, Jesus Christ looks at

Joshua and says, take off your shoes.

The place where you're standing is holy

ground.

So I believe very confidently that this

is a christophony. This is Jesus Christ

has appeared in the flesh to Joshua.

Here's what I want to give you as the

application.

You cannot fight for God

until you have fellowship with God.

You cannot win a war until you worship.

You cannot be holy until you meet with

the one who is holiness.

We get this idea that the Christian life

is all about just surviving another day.

I'm finished, babe. You can come

whenever. We get this idea that the

Christian life is just I'm going to push

through. I'm going to make it through.

I'm going to get up enough courage to go

through.

And what we need to realize is that the

Christian life is not about getting

enough courage to just push on through.

The Christian life is about falling down

at the feet of the only one who can give

us what we need.

You see, worship is where it begins.

Before you ever get to the battle, you

have got to prepare your heart.

We prepare our heart and worship.

Can I ask you, have you worshiped him

today?

Well, I sang the song. That's not what I

asked. I didn't ask if you sang a song.

Have you worshiped him?

Have you adored him?

Have you listened and submitted to him

and what he is calling you to do?

Have you have you maybe been dabbling in

sin and doing things that you shouldn't

be doing and not obeying what you know

the Bible teaches and and instead of

listening to what God is saying, you've

not been obedient. And this morning, the

Holy Spirit touched your heart and said,

"It's time to obey. Get that sin out of

your life. Obey." You know what a great

act of worship would be is come kneel

down at an oldfashioned altar and say,

"God, I'm sorry I've not been obedient.

Today, I recommmit myself to obeying

what the word of God is teaching me."

Can I speak from my heart for two

minutes?

As I look at this church, as I look at

our community, I see a lack of holiness.

There are people who go through the

motions.

Listen, we're very good at being

Christians

in our culture, aren't we?

We We can wear the nice clothes and we

can say the right things and we even can

sing the songs

and we're very good at putting on a

front, but then when we're by ourselves

or when we're in the workplace or we're

around that crowd, everything changes.

And it's as if God is some distant

distant being out there that that I only

talk to on Sundays.

And we live like the world and we act

like the world. And well, I'm not in

jail, Pastor John. I hope that's not

your standard.

We we we don't honor him. We don't obey

him. And then we have the the audacity

to justify

our way of living by saying, "I don't

think the Bible says that when we

haven't studied it and we haven't even

looked into it."

And then we blame God when tragedy

strikes. Well, I was trying to be a good

person. And God says, "It's not about

being a good person. I DON'T WANT YOU TO

TRY AND be a GOOD PERSON. STOP TRYING TO

BE A GOOD PERSON. JUST FALL IN love with

Jesus.

Fall on your face before the son of God.

Give him the worship and the adoration

that he deserves. Get into the Bible

that he's given you. Figure out what he

wants for your life and do it by the

grace of God. That's what he wants.

Stop acting like a Christian and just

love Jesus. Stop acting like a Baptist

and just love Jesus. Stop acting like

you've got to fix everything in your

life and just love Jesus. Just trust

him. What is he asking you to do? It may

be painful. It may be uncomfortable. And

it might not make a whole lot of sense.

But if Jesus calls you to it, he will

take you through it. He's trying to see

if you'll just trust him. But we're too

busy to trust him. We're too busy

working our jobs and we're too busy

taking care of family issues and we're

too busy worrying and ftting about

everything going on.

We won't even show up to church

faithfully.

And then we turn around and say, "Oh,

yeah, I love Jesus.

Oh, I'm a I do my best." No, we're not.

The New Testament says, "If you love

him, keep his commandments.

Do what he's called you to do."

There is a high priority of holiness,

and it is non-existent in the modern

church.

The modern churches just like ours all

over this nation this morning just like

ours will gather and we'll meet and

they'll sing a couple of songs and

they'll go through a religious ritual.

They'll do a little order of service.

They'll go through everything and

they'll leave and they won't think about

it again.

Do you love God in your family, Dad? Do

you love God enough to lead the family

in devotions? Do you love him enough to

teach your kids how to pray? Do you love

Jesus enough to prioritize him in the

home?

Do you love Jesus enough? Oh, this is

going to this is going to mess people up

if this gets out there, but I'm going to

say it anyways. Do you love Jesus enough

to prioritize the house of God over kids

sporting events?

What's the thing in your life that has

your attention? Are you worshiping him

first or is it everything else in your

life? and then if I have time and if I

feel up to it and if I feel good enough

then I'll go to church on Sunday. And we

wonder why are we not seeing spiritual

victories? Why are we not seeing God

conquer? Why are we not seeing God heal

people? Why is God not doing some great

things in my life?

Could it be?

Could it be that we are so busy pleasing

the flesh that we've forgotten we need

to just bow down and worship?

I'm not an expert on this, but I have a

pretty good feeling that if we will take

the time to do Joshua chapter 5,

Joshua 5 · chapter mention

then when you face your Jericho,

you'll be prepared.

But a lot of us try and face Jericho

without first worshiping,

and we wonder why we get defeated.

And this morning, I've just come to

remind you that there is a high priority

to holiness.

Live for him, love him, serve him,

worship him. He alone is worthy. Father,

I've done my best this morning to give

you everything I have. I pray that you

take the next few moments, take the word

of God that I have done my best to

present, and I pray you would apply it

to the hearts of your people. Help us to

do exactly what we need to do. Father,

help every person here this morning to

obey

right now in this moment. Help us to

obey. Not to get concerned with what

everybody else is doing or what anybody

else would think, but but may we just

obey what you're asking us to do on an

individual level.

And I pray you'd bless these next few

moments of prayer. Help us to recommmit

ourselves to obedience and to worship,

to rejoicing for what you've done for

us. We ask in Jesus name. everyone

standing all over the building this

morning. She's going to play just a few

verses. The altar is open.

Let's let's just tell them we thank

thank you. Maybe you just want to come

down here and say, "Lord, thank you.

I just want to worship you a minute. I

just want to say thank you for a minute.

You can come right now. You come on."

Maybe there's a sin. Maybe there's a

spot in your life where you've not been

obedient.

You say, "Lord, today I'm going to be

obedient. Today I'm getting rid of that

sin. Today I'm ending that battle. I

will be obedient to whatever you're

asking me to do.

Maybe there's someone here this morning

who does not know for sure you're saved.

Friend, if you're here right now and you

don't know for sure you are saved, I

plead with you right now. Would you come

right down front right now and get my

attention? Please, please, please. You

need to be saved this morning. Ask Jesus

to forgive you.

Don't wait another minute. Don't delay.

Get it right.

We'll take a few minutes and worship.

You do what you need to do. Obey the

Lord. Mind the Lord.

Spurgeon once used an illustration

of a ship that was

sitting in the harbor ready to go. The

crew was on board. The packages were on

board. Everything was ready. The wind

was right. The weather was right.

The time was right. Everything was ready

to go. But yet the ship stayed in the

harbor,

did not move.

Someone asked, "Why is the ship not

going anywhere? You're going to miss

your opportunity. You're going to miss

your chance. Everything's right just

now. Why is the ship not going

anywhere?" And one of the crewmen said,

"The captain is not yet on board."

And I want to tell you, church, what we

need is we need the captain of the ship

to be on board with us.

If we're going to win any spiritual

victories, if this church is going to do

anything at all for Jesus, we need the

captain on board with us. If your family

is going to go anywhere for Jesus, you

need the captain on board with you.

Got to submit.

Give him what we've got.

And you may not have much, but he don't

need much. He just needs what you got.

Let's be obedient. Father, we love you

so very much.

Thank you for your help this morning.

Father, as we open the word of God, I

pray that we would remember these

things, we would think on these simple

truths for the rest of this week.

Father,

I need your help. Lord,

I want the captain on the ship with me.

Lord, I want to go with you and I do not

want to go without you. I want you to go

with our church. I want you to go with

these people.

I pray that you would build your church

here in this little community.

Not a church that's good at

Christianity. Lord, help us to be a

church that's bad at Christianity, but

we just love Jesus

with everything that we