”God Can Do It Again” | Pastor John Tilley Jr | Sun AM | Joshua 3

Joshua chapter 3. This morning, I want

Joshua 3 · chapter mention

to preach for just a little bit this

morning on this thought. God can do it

again.

God can do it again.

I'm sure this morning that many of us

have heard and we could probably relay

stories of great moves of God in the

past going to Christian school. Part of

my curriculum in Christian school and

then even when I was homeschooled was to

study some of the revivals of days gone

by to study some of the messages that

have been preached by men of God who God

moved powerfully through. And I could

stand here this morning and give you

names like David Brainer and the great

preacher that David Brainer was and how

God used him and the great awakening and

one of the greatest revivals that the

world has ever seen. And other men like

Jonathan Edwards who preached probably

the greatest message this side of the

Apostle Paul's ministry that has ever

been preached, sinners in the hands of

an angry God. You can go look it up and

read his sermon. He just stood and he

did not he was not dynamic and he was

not theatrical. He just stood and he

read off of a paper his sermon and the

Holy Spirit of God came down on that

place. Revival broke out and it sparked

revival all over the New England area

and it spread across the United States.

And I could tell you stories of great

moves of God and how God has built

churches in the past and how God has

provided for his people in the past. and

and we could sit here and maybe even on

a more personal note, we could talk and

tell testimony this morning of

experiences that you have seen in your

life where you watched a child who was

away from God get miraculously brought

back and God did a miracle and restored

a relationship and you can talk about a

disease that the doctor said all hope

was gone and and there was no hope of of

them ever having a normal life and then

God stepped in and the great physician

healed them in that moment. And we could

talk about all these things how God has

provided for your needs and God has

protected you during times of difficulty

and God has come through in your life in

the past. And we could share testimony

after testimony after testimony. We

could go around the room this morning

and just share story after story of how

God has moved in mighty ways in the

past. And there's nothing wrong with

that. We ought to do that from time to

time.

But here's what I know. You came in here

this morning and though you're thankful

for what God has done in the past and

you're thankful for the revivals of the

past and you're thankful for how God has

touched your life in the past and you're

thankful for the miracles that God has

done in the past, you walked in those

doors this morning with a new battle.

And you walked in those doors this

morning facing a new situation and you

walked in those doors this morning

facing a new mountain.

And perhaps, just maybe this morning in

this crowd of people or maybe even

someone who could not even muster the

courage to be here this morning but will

watch later on YouTube.

In your back of your mind, there's a

whisper.

There's a question.

Oh, you know he's faithful. You know

he's come through in the past. You know

God is able. uh and and and you have

seen him do great things maybe for your

parents or for the generation before you

or for your grandparents or you've seen

the revivals and you know that God is

able but in the back of your mind this

morning you're facing this mountain.

You're facing this challenge and there's

a whisper that says, "Can God do it

again?

I'm thankful for all he's done back

there, but that doesn't help me right

now. I'm facing a new challenge today.

I'm facing a new battle today. I'm I'm

facing a new obstacle. I need new faith

and I I need God to do it again for me.

Can God do it today? Can God do it

again? Can God send revival like he did

in days of old? Can God still deliver

people from alcohol? Can God still

deliver marriages? Can God still bring

back wayward children? Can God still

provide for your finances? Can God still

uh do great things through a local

church? Can God do it again? And you

fill in the blank with whatever the

challenge is that you walked in here

with this morning. And by the way, let's

not pretend like we're perfect.

We all have a battle.

We're all facing a challenge.

We're all probably facing a storm of

some kind. Whether it relates to us

individually or it affects someone who

we are very close to. There's always in

this sin-cursed world, there's always a

problem. There's always a prayer

request. There's always something. And

and perhaps this morning you walked in

saying, "God, can you do it again? Can

you do it for me? Oh, I know you did it

for them. I I know I've heard the

stories and I know you came through back

there, but what about me? Can you do it

today? Can you do it for me?" This

morning, I came to tell you based on the

word of God, and I'll show it to you

from the text that God can do it again.

The same God that they served years ago

is the same God that we serve today. The

same God who brought revival years ago

is the same God that we serve today. The

same God who delivered people years ago

is the same God that we serve today. The

same God that our parents and our

grandparents talk about doing great

miracles and great revivals of the past

is the same God that we serve today. The

same God that has delivered alcoholics

before is the same God we serve today.

The same God who has delivered children

before is the same God that we serve

today. The same God that has made a way

through the wilderness before is the

same God that we serve today. The same

God who has healed people before is the

same God that we serve today. The Bible

tells us that he is the same yesterday,

today, and forever. Jesus never fails.

And one way that we know that Jesus

never fails is because Jesus never

changes. He's always the same. He's

always powerful. He's always working.

He's always up to something. He's always

faithful. Jesus never fails. And I came

to tell you this morning, and with God's

help, I'm going to preach to the very

best of my ability, that God can do it

again. God can do it for you. God can do

it for your family. God can do it for

your home. God can do it for our church.

Whatever the battle is, whatever the

situation is, whatever you're facing or

going through, God can do it again.

We come to Joshua chapter 3, and the

Joshua 3 · chapter mention

nation of Israel is on the eastward bank

of the Jordan River, and they're getting

ready to go across into what we call the

promised land or the land of Canaan. not

a picture of heaven so much as a picture

of the victorious Christian life

following our leader Jesus into the

battles that Satan throws at us and

coming out victorious because we do it

God's way. The nation of Israel is here

on the bank of the Jordan River and

they're getting ready to go across. What

you must understand, we'll read it in

the text in just a moment, is that the

Jordan River is overflowing its banks.

It's it is virtually impassible at this

time. you. It would be impossible for a

nation of a million people to cross over

this gushing river. It was far too

dangerous. It was an obstacle that stood

in their way. And it was preventing them

from going into the promised land. And

perhaps this morning we can hear the

whisper that goes through the camp of

Israel.

You know, God

years ago for mom and dad, he parted the

Red Sea

and they came out of Egypt and they was

there on the banks of the Red Sea and

and the waters parted and the nation of

Israel walked across on dry ground and

and oh, we've heard those stories

and we we know that God did it before

and we know that God did it for the

generation before us and and we remember

all that God did and we remember the

stories and but but I just

This river is really fast right now.

It's really full right now.

And perhaps throughout the camp of the

nation of Israel as they're camped there

on the eastward bank, you would hear

whispers, "Can God do it again?

C can God do the miracle again? How is

God going to get us over this time?"

I want you to look at the text and then

I'm going to give you just a few points

from the text this morning that I think

will help us if perhaps this morning you

are asking this question. And by the

way, if I'll just be transparent with

you as your pastor, I have asked this

question in recent days. God,

can you do it again?

God, can you come through for your

people again?

I'm not preaching at you this morning.

I'm preaching with you. And I want us to

together look at the word of God and I

want us to find a promise that God can

do it again. Joshua 3, I'm going to pick

up in verse number six this morning.

And Joshua spake unto the priest,

saying, "Take up the ark of the covenant

and pass over before the people." And

they took up the ark of the covenant and

went before the people. The Lord said

unto Joshua, "This day will I begin to

magnify thee in the sight of all Israel,

that they may know that as I was with

Moses, so I will be with thee. And thou

shalt command the priest that bear the

ark of the covenant, saying, When ye are

come to the brink of the water of

Jordan, ye shall stand still in Jordan."

And Joshua said unto the children of

Israel, "Come hither and hear the words

of the Lord your God." And Joshua said,

"Hereby, ye shall know that the living

God," by the way, if we're thinking,

"Can God do it?" Again, one thing we

have to recognize, this isn't part of

the outline, but it just jumped off at

the page at me. One thing we've got to

understand and realize is that we serve

a living God still today. He's not dead.

His hands are not tied. He's not

wondering what he's going to do. He's

not out of moves and wondering, "Oh man,

what's happening with the world? It's

out of control. How am I going to fix

all this?" No, he's a living God. He's

still on the throne. He's still in

control. He has all power and he knows

exactly what he's doing this morning in

the world affairs and in your life's

affairs. He's a living God. He's a

personal God. He's an active God. Joshua

reminds the people of that. He said,

"And you're going to know that you serve

a living God. And he is among you that

he will without fail." Jesus never

fails. He will without fail drive out

from before you the Canaanites and the

Hittites and the Hivites and the

Perizzites and the Gegosites and the

Amorites and the Jebusites and even the

Mosquitoes. if you want to add that in.

Verse 11, behold, the ark of the

covenant of the Lord of all the earth

passes over before you into Jordan.

Now therefore take you 12 men out of the

tribes of Israel, out of every tribe of

man. And it shall come to pass as soon

as the souls of the feet of the priests

that bear the ark of the covenant of the

Lord, the Lord of all the earth shall

rest in the waters of Jordan.

Again, they're going to be in the waters

of Jordan, that the waters of Jordan

shall be cut off from the waters that

come down from above, and they shall

stand upon a heap. And it shall come to

pass when the people were removed from

their tents to pass over Jordan. And the

priests bearing the ark of the covenant

before the people. And as they that bear

the ark were come into Jordan. And the

feet of the priests that bear the ark

were dipped in the brim of the water.

For Jordan overflowth all his banks all

the time of harvest. That the waters

which came down from above stood and

rose upon heap very far from the city

Adam that is beside Zeratan. And those

that came down toward the sea of the

plain even the salt sea failed. Jesus

never fails but he caused the water to

fail and they were cut off. And the

people passed over right against

Jericho. And the priests that bear the

ark of the covenant of the Lord stood

firm on dry ground in the midst of

Jordan. And then I want you to pay

attention to this last phrase. We're

going to come back to it at the very end

of the sermon this morning. and all

the Israelites

passed over on dry ground until

all the people were passed clean over

Jordan.

This morning I want to tell you that God

can do it again.

How can we see him do it again? Because

we see churches all over the United

States. we see even see our church and

sometimes it just feels like we're in a

rut that we're going through motions

that we're just going Sunday to Sunday.

We're just getting by. We're just uh

doing the same religious routine, the

the same ritual and it's like where is

the power of God? Why are we not seeing

God's power in our church? More

personally for you this morning, God,

where are you at in my life? Where's the

miracle at in my life? God, why have you

not come through in recent days for me?

I want to see God's power. Can we just

testify this morning? And if you're with

me, and this is my heart, if you're with

me, and you say, "I desire to see God's

power in my life and in my church. I

want to see miracles take place. I want

to see a great move of God and God can

use me." If that's you, can you just

testify? Raise your hand. Say, "I'm with

you, Pastor John. I want to see God's

power." Wonderful. So, we're all on the

same page. So, how do we see it? Because

we know based on the Bible, we just read

it from the text that God can do it

again. He did part the Jordan River. He

did come through. How did he do it for

the nation of Israel? And how does he do

it for you and I? Here's the thing. I

don't think that God has stopped moving.

I don't believe for a second that God

has stopped working. I don't believe for

a minute that God is done with the local

church. I don't think that God is done

with your life or with your family. In

fact, we could survey the United States

and we would see God doing great moves

and and revivals taking place in the

United States and around the world. Even

this morning, people are getting saved

in churches not very far from ours this

morning. There is God is still moving.

God is still working. Families are still

getting right. Relationships are still

being destroyed. Or repaired. Uh uh uh

addictions are being destroyed. God is

still working and moving. So, how can we

make sure we see it when he does it

here? That's the sermon today. God can

do it again. I want to make sure I see

it when he does. Number one, write this

down.

We must follow

God.

That sounds very basic and it is

extremely simple, but it's much easier

said than it is done. Look at the text.

I want to show you a few verses. In

verse number three of chapter 3, I'm not

making this up. This is straight out of

the text. God tells them that they are

to follow the ark of the covenant. We

spoke about this last week. I'm not

going to belabor the point. I'm going to

apply the point today. Look at verse

three. He says that they are to that

very end go after it. Now look down at

verse number six. And Joshua spake unto

the priest, saying, take up the ark of

the covenant, pass over. What's the next

word in your Bible? Before

the people. And they took up the ark and

went, what's the next word? Before the

people. All right, look down at verse

number 11. Repetition over and over. God

is God is telling them this. Why?

Because I think it's very important.

It's a key to the whole text. Look at

verse 11. Behold, the ark of the

covenant of the Lord of all the earth

passeth over

before

you into Jordan. Look at verse number

13.

And as it shall come to pass, as soon as

the souls of your feet, and the priests

that bear the ark of the Lord, the Lord

of all the earth shall rest in the

waters, that the waters of Jordan shall

be cut off from the waters that come

down from above, and they shall stand

upon heap. Verse 14. And it came to pass

when the people removed from their tents

to pass over Jordan, and the priest

bearing the ark of the covenant

before the people.

You notice the over and over and over in

this one chapter in just these few

verses, God is emphasizing the point

that the ark of the covenant was to go

before the people. I think there's a

great principle in this for us today.

That you and I, if we want to see God do

the miracle, we must follow God. You

will not see God do a great miracle in

your life. We will not see God do a

great miracle in our church until we are

willing to say yes, Lord. Whatever you

want, we will do. Now, I'm going to

preach for just a minute this morning,

and I don't want to make you

uncomfortable, but I'm going to tell you

what I believe the Bible is very clear

about, okay? And there's a lot of

confusion about things in the world, and

somebody's got to stand up and tell the

truth, and that's my job. So, if you

don't like it, I apologize. Actually,

no, I don't. I'm not sorry one bit. It's

what the Bible says. I'm going to tell

you what the Bible says. You take it up

with God. Here's the question I want you

to ask yourself this morning. Who are

you following?

We live in a social media world.

Everybody's got social media now.

Everybody's got followers and they're

following. Can I tell you who I'm most

interested in following this morning?

It's not the Pope. It's not the church,

the Catholic Church. It's not a

denomination. It's not a person. It's

not the president. It's not the

government. It's not It's not anybody.

You know who I'm most interested in

following this morning? It's King Jesus.

My goal is not to follow tradition. My

goal is to follow Jesus. What God says

that is what we will do. What about in

our church this morning? Who are we

following? There are what we call, if

you keep up, I do because I'm a pastor.

I look at churches all the time. I watch

churches all the time. There are what we

call church trends.

Something is trending in the church. Can

I tell you some of them are good, most

of them are bad, most of them are not

biblical. And so what I am not

interested in doing this morning for for

our church, what I'm not interested in

doing uh in this place is following

church trends. I'm interested in

following God. So you have trends on one

side and you have tradition on the other

side. And there are other churches who

refuse to change anything, refuse to do

anything different, refuse to to change

at all anything. we can't make any

difference because we're just going to

be stuck in tradition. Well, I'm here to

tell you I'm not following tradition.

I'm glad that God used certain things to

reach the culture that came before me,

but that some of those things just don't

work today. Culture changes. People

change. God doesn't change, but people

change. And how we reach people can and

I even would say should change. Who are

we following this morning? It's a simple

example using the church, but let's make

it more personal to you. Who are you

following this morning in your life?

I Is it some person who you look up to?

What? Let's let's let's let's just nail

down some specific things today.

Who are you following for your

salvation?

Are you following what you learned as a

kid for your salvation? Or are you

following what the Bible says for your

salvation?

There's a lot of ideas, especially if

you were raised in a church that does

not teach biblical gospel message, that

salvation is by grace through faith in

the finished work of Jesus Christ alone.

That he paid it all on Calvary and that

you can come to him in humility and

whosoever shall call on the name of the

Lord shall be saved and and eternally

secure. He did all the work for us. He

paid our penalty. He paid the price in

full. There's nothing I can do to earn

it. There's nothing I can do to lose it.

It's all up to God. So, I place my trust

and my faith completely in him. Perhaps

that's not what you were taught as a

kid. You were taught something

different. I'll use a popular example.

The Catholic Church sprinkles you as a

baby and they say that that's good

enough. That that'll help you. It

doesn't do anything for a baby except

get that baby wet. Baptism doesn't save

you. What are you following to get to

heaven this morning? Are you following

some tradition? Are you following some

lesson? some Sunday school teacher that

told you something that was not based on

the word of God. Or have you looked into

the Bible? Have you found good Bible

teaching, put it in context, and said,

"Wait a minute. God says that we are

saved by grace through faith, not of

yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of

works, lest any man should boast." That

means I have to just simply trust in

Jesus Christ to get saved. And he's

going to take care of the rest of it.

Which, by the way, is wonderful news.

That's what gospel means, good news. Who

are you following this morning to get

you to heaven?

Okay, let's go a little more

controversial.

Who are you following this morning with

your finances?

Oh, Pastor John, don't go there. Don't

preach on money this morning. I will do

it very quickly. Who are you following

with your money? Now, there are some

people out there who can give good

counsel on what to do with your money,

but listen to me. Did you know the Bible

has much to say about your money? The

Bible has much to say. It gives you much

guidance and many principles on how you

should steward your money and how you

how you should purchase things and how

what things you should avoid. And the

Bible gives us great direction on how to

manage money. Who are you following?

Dave Ramsey.

I like some of Dave Ramsey stuff. Sure.

But is he the is he the go-to for you or

is it the word of God?

Is this what you follow more than

anything else

when it comes to your finances? Let's

let's talk about something else.

The the most of the parents of of our

kids in our church are not here. They're

sick. They got stuff going on. But I'm

going to preach to them anyways for just

a minute. Maybe I'll just look at the

camera. Okay.

Who are you following

in your parenting?

The culture is full of ideas on how we

are supposed to raise our kids. You can

Google it. You can look it up on social

media. There are so many people on Tik

Tok and Instagram and Facebook that will

tell you this is how you have to parent

your kids. This is the only way that

works. This is the only right way to do

it. Are you following them in your

parenting or are you studying what the

Bible has said? Did you know that the

Bible speaks about how to raise godly

children?

It gives us the principles that we need

to follow on how to raise kids that love

God and sing loud and follow Jesus.

Who are you following? What about with

your priorities in your life? Who do you

follow with what comes first? Because

the culture will tell you that sports

have to come first and that family has

to come first and that and that finances

have to come first and that the American

dream has to come first. But what comes

first for you? The Bible teaches us that

God should come first. Seek ye first the

kingdom of God and all these other

things the Bible said will be added unto

you. Do you seek God first? I'll tell

you a great way to know if you seek God

first. Is Sunday church something you

look forward to and plan on when you

leave Sunday church on Sunday. You leave

today. I hope you already have made

plans to be back next week. And you

know, it would probably not hurt many of

us if we just went ahead and made plans

to come back in the middle of the week.

Come back on Wednesday night, too, and

let's get a little midweek boost. Let's

get a little shot in the arm. Let's

fellowship with the church a little bit,

cuz I want to put God first in my life.

Nothing else matters outside of God

coming first. I want to seek God first

in my family. I want to seek God first

in my life. I'm going to follow what he

has said. Who are you following this

morning? Here's the problem. And we'll

move on to the next point because I

think I've hit enough things.

We want to see God move. And we all

raised our hand. I think every hand went

up in this building just a moment ago

and said, "Yes, I want to see God do

great things. Yes, I want to see the

power of God." But here's the problem.

Can I just be blunt? We would love to

see God do a miracle, but we're not

willing to follow God like he's asked us

to follow him.

We want God to meet us on our terms

and we want to do things our way and we

want to prioritize, but we want to

prioritize and we want to parent our way

and we want to have our finances go our

way and we want to treat our marriage

our own way and we want to come up with

our own rules and we want to do our own

thing and then we still want God to go

ahead and pour out the blessings on us

and go ahead and give us all that we're

asking for. And can I tell you if you

live like that, if you expect that,

you're going to miss the miracle.

Number two, though, not only do we need

to follow God, put down number two. How

are we supposed to see God do great

things, we know he can do it again, we

know he's able, he's done it in the

past, and by faith, we think he can do

it again. How do we see it? Well, number

two, we must be faithful to God. I'll go

very quickly here.

The people obeyed exactly what God

commanded them to do. Look at verse 14

and verse 15. And it came to pass when

the people were moved from the tents to

pass over Jordan, the priests bearing

the ark of the covenant before the

people, and as they had bare the ark

were come unto Jordan, and the feet of

the priests that bear the ark were

dipped in to the brim of the water, for

the Jordan overflowth its banks at the

time of harvest. What did they do? Well,

God gave them instruction. We read about

that a moment ago. Now, they come to the

bank of the Jordan River. Who steps in

first? It's the priest. It's the people

that God said. They did it according to

God's order. They did it according to

God's plan. And God blessed because they

obeyed. If we want to see God do great

things in our church, if we want to see

God do great things in our family, if we

want to see God come through and do

great miracles, and we want to see God

bring revivals like days going days of

old, and we want to see the power of

God, we have got to make a decision not

just to know what God has said, but to

obey what God has said. That my

commitment is to God first. And how he

says to do it, that's how I'm going to

do it. I will give you an example, an

illustration of how this plays out in a

local church and you can apply it to

your personal life as the Holy Spirit

leads.

What if when Joshua stands up and he

communicates to the people,

this is what God has said. So, we are

going to do what God has said and the

priests are going to step into the water

of the Jordan River that's overflowing

its banks and and the water's going to

part and God's going to do a great

miracle. priest, you just got to go in

the front. You got to go before. We're

going to follow God. You're going to

step in and the water is going to part.

What if when Joshua explains all this,

what if Caleb jumped up? I'm just going

to pick on Caleb. This is not in the

Bible. This is not what happened. It's a

what if because I'm I'm making a case

for something. Caleb jumps up and says,

"Wait a minute.

That's not how God did it at the Red

Sea.

When we Joshua, you remember when we

went to the Red Sea, it wasn't it wasn't

the priest going in first. Moses Moses

stood there and he raised his rod up and

and you remember that Joshua Moses put

his rod up in the air and when Moses put

his rod up in the air then the waters

parted. That's how God did it back then.

So I think that's what we should do now.

We should just do it the same way.

Worked fine back then. We'll just do it

the same way today and and hope

everything continues to work out fine.

What if Caleb would have said that? And

what if Joshua would have walked to the

edge of the water and instead of having

the priest go first and put their feet

in, what if Joshua just stood there with

his rod in the air waiting on the

mirror? Do you think God would have

parted the Jordan River?

I doubt it

because God gave them specific

instructions for this time.

And a lot of times in local churches,

especially small ones like this, we look

at how God did things in the past, and

we think we got to do it the exact same

way today.

We think, well, that's how God did it

back there, so that must be the only way

to do it right here. Ignoring the fact

that this is a completely new generation

of people standing on the Jordan River,

right?

Completely new generation,

similar culture, but very different, new

people, new families.

And God said, "I'm going to give you a

new way. I'm going to do the same

miracle, but I'm going to give you a new

way, a new commandment to obey." And God

led them into doing something that was

new. What if Caleb had said Joshua, and

I mean we can make a good case here,

okay? If this happened, Caleb would have

a good case. Think about it. The river

is very dangerous. You do not want to

put a priest who's bearing the weight of

the ark of the covenant and and he's on

this shoreline and he's trying to step

into a rushing, raging river that this

is dangerous. Somebody's going to get

hurt. Somebody's going to die. The ark

of the covenant could get swept away.

This is not safe, Joshua. I think it

would be better to just do what we've

always done. Just stand there with your

rod up and let's just wait and see if

God will if God will do that.

And many churches do something very

similar.

God, that's how you did it back there.

And now you're calling us to do

something that seems maybe

uncomfortable, that's out of our comfort

zone, that that doesn't seem like it's

going to work very good. And and we

don't understand what you're doing. So,

we just think we're going to stick to

what we know. we're going to stick to

what we're comfortable with and we're

just going to ask that that you just do

what you need to do. And the problem is

when we don't follow God, when we're not

willing to take steps of faith, when

we're not willing to do what God's

called us to do,

God doesn't do great miracles.

And we get stuck in a religious routine.

And there are hundreds of thousands of

churches this morning who do the same

exact thing because that's what they've

always done.

They come in and they have a service and

they leave and they go get lunch and

they go through motions

and they're not willing to change

anything.

Well, that's just what we've always done

and we're not comfortable doing anything

different. God told him a very specific

thing. The ark goes first, the priests

step in. But that's not how you did it

before. God doesn't matter. It's a new

generation. It's a new sea. I need to do

a new miracle. And I need to see if

you'll obey. So get out of the comfort

zone and just obey God. And and I'm just

going to throw this in here.

As as your pastor, I am not interested

in the very least in tradition for

tradition's sake. In fact, if someone

tells me that the reason they don't want

to change something is because we've

never done it that way,

I I take that as advice that it's time

to go ahead and change. Okay? We're

changing. Why? Because tradition, for

tradition's sake, will stunt the growth

of a church.

There's a new generation out there. I'm

not I'm not negating what God may have

done in the past, even in this very

place. But there's a new generation out

there that we have to reach. And we've

got to find a way to connect with them.

And if that means we got to change some

things, if that means we've got to do

things a little bit differently, if that

means we've got to get uncomfortable,

I'm willing to do that because I follow

God and God alone. Does this make sense

to everybody? Now, that's the church

illustration. That's how it applies to

us as a group. You take it and you pray

about it and you ask the Holy Spirit how

that applies to you personally. Because

sometimes we need to change things in

our personal life and do things that

we've never done. But God's calling us

to step out and do things for him. And

it might be a little uncomfortable and

it might not be what you have chosen,

but if God's asking you to do it, I

would I would advise obey God. Be

faithful to him. Number three, I got to

move along. I've taken way too much time

already. Number three,

have faith in God. So if we're going to

see God do great miracles, we have to

first of all follow him. We have to

second of all be faithful to him. Number

three, we've got to have faith that he's

going to come through.

A step into a raging river is what

initiated God's great miracle. If the

priest had never taken the step, they

had walked to the edge. The water was

raging. It was deep and it was fast and

it was scary. and they got to the edge

and they said, "Nah, no, I don't think

so. Not me. Joshua, pick another priest.

That's not This is not my job."

They wouldn't have seen the miracle. It

took a step of complete faith. I don't

think their foot got to the bottom

before the water was gone. It was a

miracle, but they had to get it wet.

They had to initiate the step and just

trust that God was going to do what he

was going to do. And that's what you and

I have to do in our life. Just trust

that God's going to do what he has said

he's going to do and take steps of faith

that if I can say it this way without

being theologically incorrect. Put God

on the spot

and say, "God, you have called us to do

this and it's uncomfortable and

sometimes it doesn't really make sense,

but I'm going to take the step of faith

and put you on the spot and just see if

you come through. Lord, you have taught

us in your word to do this with our

finances, to give a tithe of our

finances, and I've never given a tithe.

And that seems really uncomfortable for

me to give 10% of my income to the

ministry of a local church and I I that

makes me cringe and I don't like that

and I'm uncomfortable with that. But but

if that's what the Bible says, I'm going

to follow you. So I'll just take the

step of faith. I'll do it. But you

better come through. You better show me

that this is right and put God on the

spot by just taking a step of faith.

Obedience always comes first. The

miracle follows obedience. You and I

have got to be willing to just take

steps of faith. What is God calling you

to do?

What has the Holy Spirit laid on your

life? And you feel that nudging that

it's time to step out. It's time to do

this or it's time to do that. It's time

to be more involved in your local church

or it's it's time to be more involved

with your family or or it's time to give

maybe or it's it's time maybe for you to

find a ministry to serve in or whatever

it is that the Holy Spirit is leading

you to do. And right now you're sitting

there thinking, "Pastor John, just move

on. I don't want to think about it. I

don't want you to talk about it anymore.

It it makes me uncomfortable. Well, I

don't like the way I feel right now.

That's the Holy Spirit nudging you,

saying, "Hey, it's time. Take a step of

faith. Just do what God is asking you to

do. I want to see miracles." You just

testified that you want to see miracles.

How are we going to see God's power when

God's people decide to take a step of

faith?

You with me?

Okay. George Mueller was a he was a

pastor. He was a preacher. He was a

writer. He ran orphanages

and you can read about George Mueller.

He's got a great testimony. George

Mueller is known as a man of faith.

There's a story that is told of George

Mueller one morning receiving word from

his aid that he was running an orphanage

of at the time had over 300 students in

it. His aid came to him and said, "Mr.

Mueller, we are completely out of bread

this morning. We are completely out of

milk this morning. I have nothing to

feed these children. We have 300 kids

who are hungry. I have nothing to give

them. Mr. Mueller said, "Go down, get

them seated at their tables. I'll be

down in a moment." And so the the aid

went down, the maid went down. She got

everything prepared and had all all of

the students seated in the dining room.

And Mr. Mueller came down after getting

ready and he sat down at the head of the

table and he bowed his head and he

prayed and he said, "Thank you, Lord,

for this food that you've set before us.

I thank you Lord for the milk that you

have provided for us. And I pray that

you'd take this meal you'd make in a

nourishment to our bodies that you would

fill us for your kingdom.

He finished praying. He said Jesus name.

Amen. He finished praying and looked up

and there was nothing.

The children maybe a little bit

inquisitical or like what is going on

today? This is strange. No food today.

And he's praying like there's food but

there's nothing here. They sat there for

a little bit and just waited.

And after just a short while, there was

a knock on the door. Mr. Mueller went to

the door. He answered the door of the

orphanage and there was a baker standing

at the door and he said, "I could not

sleep last night. The Lord woke me up

several times and told me I needed to

bake some bread for you." He said, "That

doesn't make any sense to me why in the

world I needed to bake bread for you.

But I was up all night last night.

Decided to just go ahead and bake you

some bread. So, here I am. I've got cart

full of bread out here. you can have it

if you need it. And Mr. Mueller was

like, "Yes, thank you. We could

definitely use the bread this morning."

So, they bring it in. They're fixing the

children's plates and they're giving

them a piece of bread to eat for

breakfast. And there's another knock on

the door. And uh he went, Mr. Mueller

went to the door and he opened the door

and there's a milkman standing at the

door.

The milkman said, "I uh I was doing my

my route, just running my route

delivering milk this morning. My cart

broke down right right across the road

in the ditch. and by the time I get

somebody here to fix the cart, the

milk's all going to be spoiled. So, I

just thought I'd ask and see if you

could use some milk this morning. And

Mr. Mueller said, "Yes, we can.

Absolutely." And the amount of milk that

was on his car was just the right amount

for 300 kids to have breakfast that

morning.

It's a great story

of how God came through because one man

had faith.

We're just going to take the step of

faith. We're going to go ahead and pray.

We're going to just trust that God's

going to provide, that God's going to

come through, and God did it then. And

this morning, I want to tell you, God

can do it again. We serve the same God

today that Mr. Mueller served back then.

So, have faith in God. What are you

asking God for? What do you need to see

God do in your life? Just trust that

God's going to do what he has said he

will do and take a step of faith. Put

God on the spot and watch God come

through. Let me give you one more point.

You can come to the piano, dear. We're

finished.

How are we going to see God do great

things in our life? Well, number one,

follow God. Number two,

be faithful to God. Number three, have

faith in God. Number four, write this

down. Commit

to the family of God.

There is something to be said for

community.

There is something to be said for people

who work together to see God do

something.

I showed it to you when we read the text

a little bit ago and I said I'm going to

come back to this verse, the very last

verse in the text. There's two words. It

said two times in the last verse, Joshua

3. All the priests, the priests that

bear the ark of the covenant of the Lord

stood firm on dry ground in the midst of

the Jordan River. And here's the word,

all

the Israelites passed over

until

all the people were passed clean over.

There is an application in here that I I

don't have time this morning or the

energy this morning to try and and give

you how I want to give it to you.

But I'm going to let the Holy Spirit do

the work and I'm just going to give you

the basics.

You need

one another.

A church was never meant to be

individuals alone. A church is

individuals who are together. Now, I

know there's a distinction and a

difference between the church today and

the Israelites nation on the banks of

the Jordan River, but the application is

the same. Everybody

went over. Everybody was a part of the

miracle. Everybody got to see what God

was doing. They did it together. It

wasn't just one man saying, "Hey, we're

going to do this. I'm I'm going to swim

across today." By the way, people had

had swam across one or two guys. You

remember the two spies that went over in

the last chapter? They went over into

Rahab's house and they spied out the

land. They had gotten across. They were

strong men. They were physical,

physically fit men and spies for the

land of Israel. And they had managed to

find a way to get across this raging

river. But it was impossible for a whole

nation to get across. The spies didn't

just stay over there and say, "Wow, this

is wonderful. We'll just hide in Rahab's

house and just enjoy the fruit of the

land and this will be great." No, no,

no, no, no. Cuz together there is a

miracle waiting. And you can go outside

this church this morning and you can try

your very best to fight on your own. And

you can try to go out here and figure

out how you're going to live the

victorious Christian life on your own.

And you can go out and you can spy out

the land, so to speak. And and you can

be so full of yourself and think, "I

don't need a church. I don't need no

Christians. I don't need nobody praying

for me. I've got this under control."

And you will be defeated.

But if you will connect arms with

somebody else, if you will lock in with

a local church, with a group of people,

just a small group of people here this

morning who love you, who care about

you, who are praying for you, and you

say, "I want to see God do something."

And you want to see God do something.

Why don't we get together and let's pray

together and let's ask God to do

something.

Hey, hey, I've been struggling with a

sin. I'm not been staying faithful to

God. Would you help me, brother? Would

you help me, sister? I want to be

faithful. I want to be obedient cuz I

want to see God do something and I need

some accountability here. Be honest

enough, be humble enough to find some

help if you need help this morning. Oh,

I've been following the culture and

following all this other stuff today. I

want I want to follow God, but I don't

know if I can do it on my own. Hey, why

don't you just find somebody this

morning and before you leave and say,

"Hey, would you help me stay just stay

in touch with God? Can can we just share

devotions every day? Maybe I I want to

know what God has. I want to see God

move.

We're going to do this together."

What's it say? Joshua, what's the whole

book of Joshua about?

a life of victory.

But do not get the wrong idea and think

that you can have a life of victory on

your own.

You need the local church. You need

God's people to go over with you or the

devil will make short work of your life.

There's always a a sign that a Christian

is falling away from the Lord.

And it bothers me when I see this.

But when someone begins to find reasons

to miss church,

I I begin to pray extra hard for that

person because inevitably they are

backsliding away from God. It's the

first I I believe it's the first visible

sign that someone is falling away from

God is that they no longer prioritize

church. Why might that be the case?

Because they don't they get away from

the community.

They no longer want that help. They they

no longer want to be honest. They no

longer want to be humble. They no longer

want to pray with someone. They they

want to try and stand on their own two

feet. And so they begin to distance

themselves from God's people. And when

you distance yourself from God's people,

the devil makes short work of you. And

that person who distances himself from

God's church, distances himself from

God's people, tries to stand and do it

all by himself, he won't see no

miracles.

In fact, mo most likely, more often than

not, he'll end up in some sin

outside of the will of God completely

for his life. He'll wake up one morning

and he'll say, "What have I done? How

did I get here?

This isn't who I am. I'm saved. I'm a

Christian. I've not been to church in

months. I haven't read my Bible in

months. I I don't even know how to pray

anymore. I'm caught up in sin and

different things, and I've have all

these struggles." And God, what

happened?

You tried to go on your own

and you got away from the family of God,

the people who love you, the people who

are praying for you, the community that

I gave you, and you tried to do it your

own self.

And church, this morning, I want to

leave you with this thought. If we want

to see God do a miracle in this place,

we're going to have to do it together.

I'm praying for miracles in almost every

every face that I'm looking at this

morning. I pray for you

and I pray that God would give your

life, your marriage, your children a

miracle. That God's power would rest on

your family, on your life.

And as your pastor, as honestly as I

know how to say this,

can I challenge you? Don't you Don't you

dare leave me

lovingly.

Don't you dare walk out there and say,

"I don't need that man anymore. I'll

keep praying for you, but that's going

to hurt. It doesn't hurt me. I'll keep

praying for you. I'm staying here until

unless God moves. I'm staying right

here. I ain't going nowhere. You're

stuck with me, friends.

It's going to hurt you, though.

And it breaks my heart.

It breaks my heart

to see people that I love, people that I

pray for who say, "I don't need that

anymore. I'm okay on my own." Because

according to the Bible, and this is just

a this is an example of it, but it's all

through scripture. You and I need each

other.

God divinely created the local church.

And part of the local church purpose is

to help one another. And I can't I got

to be honest. I I can't tell you why the

Lord has emphasized this so much in our

church in the last month or so, but he

has.

And I think that perhaps it's because

God is wanting to build a group of

people who love each other enough to

stick it out.

Who care about one another enough to

say, "We're in this thing.

We're a community."

No, no, no. Excuse me. We're a family.

And this morning, I am so glad to be a

part of the family of God.

And this morning, I want to see God do

great works in his family. And I wonder

if you do, too.

Are you willing to follow him? Are you

going to be faithful to him? Will you

have faith in him?

And maybe this morning, you just need to

bow down here and say, "God, I commit to

the family.

I'm in. I ain't going nowhere.

I need help and you've given me a church

that was willing to help me.

Let's all stand this morning. She's

playing on the piano.

We've we've covered a lot of topics this

morning. We went a long a long way.

We've covered a lot of ground. And I

don't know exactly what it was in this

message that spoke to you, but I know

that when you preach a message that

covers a lot of ground, everybody gets

touched one way or another.

So, here's what I'm going to invite you

to do. This morning, I feel the Holy

Spirit this morning. I just be honest. I

need to pray this morning as your

pastor.

So, while she plays, I'm going to kneel

down right here on this altar

and I'm going to pray.

I'm going to invite you to join me

around an oldfashioned altar in

humility,

the best way we know how, and say, "God,

we're calling on you to come through.

Whatever the situation is, whatever the

need is, God, calling on you come

through."

Hey church, God can do it again. Would

you come this morning? Let's ask God to

help us.