new president whose platform was “change”

the economy tells us things are not the same

most of us are in a season of life where there’s almost always change around the corner: new school, graduation, new job, marriage, new kid, etc.

building, neighborhood

I can’t say too much right now, but there are some more changes in coming months

Do not be afraid, be strong and courageous (blue)

Obey God’s commands (red)

God is giving the land (green)

A generation ago, the Israelites looked at the people of Canaan and melted in fear. They saw mighty cities and mighty armies. This was about war, life and death. They had good reason to be afraid.

They cried, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in the desert! We’ll be slaughtered, our wives and children taken as plunder. We should just go back to Egypt!” (Nu 14:3)

But Moses said, “Do not be afraid . . . the Lord is with us!” (Nu 14:9)

Because they didn’t trust God and were so afraid, God led them back to the desert to wander another 40 years. Their faith was the critical and central issue.

40 years have passed and now we have a new generation. God is saying the same thing to Joshua, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified . . . for the Lord your God will be with you.”

Our God parted the Jordan River so the Israelites crossed on dry ground.

Our God tore down the walls of Jericho with trumpets and shouts.

Our God defeated the Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, etc.

Not too long ago, I was trying to sell my old house, and I have to tell you, that was very worrisome. As Janette and I were expecting our 4^th child, we were a bit anxious as to how we were going to handle everything.

How about you? Maybe the economy has directly affected you and your family. Maybe there are health concerns. Or maybe, again, there’s change, and that change is scary.

As a church, some of you already know but we’re facing a shortfall in our budget. And, we just bought a building and have some major repairs and renovations ahead of us. We don’t know the exact costs but it looks like it will be significantly beyond the building fund that we’ve been saving.

It is in God’s Word, in hearing the [How to be courageous, to strengthen our faith:] (1) Bible Stories of God’s victory and power that God’s people are to be strengthen in their faith and emboldened in their courage. Imagine the Israelites telling their children these stories, generation after generation. Our God is a mighty God! He rules the nations!

For us we have an even greater story, that Jesus died on the cross and rose again from the dead. He took our sins and conquered death itself. Our God is a might God!

Notice also that God gave (2) Bible Promises again to strengthen our faith and emboldened in courage.

So many promises of God are designed specifically to confront our fear and embolden our courage.

As we live the Christian life, we start having our (3) Personal Testimonies, our own stories, our own testimonies of how God provided, God healed, God delivered. We have our stories of how these promises are true in our lives. I have my stories of how God has provided for me, God has provided for Renewal. And we share those stories with one another.

But for the Christian, for a life of faith, we find that we’re not afraid, worried, anxious.

Change/challenges can be very threatening. But a life of faith, a life with God, is a life of boldness and courage.

It’s not that we’re never afraid or that we’re always courageous. But we’ve found strength, a source, a comfort. We feel worried and anxious, but then we look at God’s word: stories, promises, we reflect on God’s faithfulness to us in the past, and we find we’re not afraid, we have courage and boldness. God become a greater reality than our problems.

This is our main battle, our main journey, how we grow to trust and love Him more and more, how God becomes so real in our lives that it redefines how we see our fears and uncertainties so we can be strong and courageous.

Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. ⁸ Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (1:7-8)

They took twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the LORD had told Joshua. (4:8)

Now the priests who carried the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the LORD had commanded Joshua was done by the people (4:10)

When you have taken the city, set it on fire. Do what the LORD has commanded. (8:8)

He totally destroyed all who breathed, just as the LORD, the God of Israel, had commanded. (10:40)

As the LORD commanded his servant Moses, so Moses commanded Joshua, and Joshua did it; he left nothing undone of all that the LORD commanded Moses. (11:15)

A few days later the Israelites find out that they had been deceived, and now they were bound by an oath.

We don’t know when we’re being deceived. We don’t know how things will turn out. There are so many things we don’t know, especially in times of change. Up to ourselves, we’ll surely mess things up. If all we have is ourselves, we should be anxious and discouraged.

In the book of Joshua, whenever the Israelites did things on their own, they messed things up. When the attacked Ai, thinking its just small town and so they only needed a few thousand men to capture it, they were defeated.

But if our confidence comes from the fact that God is with us, God will fight for us, God provides for us, then we make sure we follow Him. We don’t do what we want to do (not confidence in self), we seek what God wants us to do (confidence in God). We want God behind the wheel, God calling the shots.

The point is clear: without God the Israelites are nothing. They’d be destroyed like an ant under an elephant. But with God, there is no elephant big enough, no enemy strong enough who could possibly defeat them.

The book of Joshua is a picture of a people who are careful to do all that God commanded them. They weren’t perfect, but they were careful.

Their obedience did not earn them God’s favor. Their obedience expressed their trust in God, their hope in God, their intimacy with God.

I’d like to ask about your care to obey God’s commands.

Are we careful to do everything God commands?

As a church, we always want to follow God’s instructions. But as we go through a season of change, I feel an urgency that we’re careful to do all that God commands, that we are honestly seeking God’s wisdom and very mindful of God’s commands already given in His Word. We want an attitude of dependence and submission, believing He is our hope.

As we read God’s word, there are stories (God’s power, deliverance, faithfulness) and promises to encourage our faith, and there are also commands, commands that show us what God asks of us, desires for us, what it looks like to follow Him.

Maybe some of us have new year resolutions to read more of God’s Word.

I mentioned this before, but I was listening to a pastor share about some research done on churches. He said that in this research the number one predictor of spiritual growth and transformation, the single most important factor related to a person’s loving God and loving others, was personal reflection on Scripture.

Let me encourage us to do so with these two aims: stories and promise to strengthen my faith, commands to express and exercise my faith. In Joshua, these go hand-in-hand.

“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. (1:6)

Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands (6:2)

Then the LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. . . . attack Ai. For I have delivered into your hands the king of Ai, his people, his city and his land. (Josh 8:1)

The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel, slain.” (Josh 11:6)

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a man. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel! (10:13-14)

All these kings and their lands Joshua conquered in one campaign, because the LORD, the God of Israel, fought for Israel. (10:42)

God is fulfilling His promise

God is fighting their enemies

God is giving them the land of Canaan

It is because God is the main actor that we can be bold and courageous (already noted).

It is because God is the main actor that we want to make sure we’re obeying Him and following Him. These 3 themes are woven together.

Our story is not about how we pursue what we want and ask God to help:

The Christian story is about God unfolding His story and we have great confidence and joy that His story is a good story. We have confidence and joy that in God’s story, He is gracious and loving and perfect in His ways to His people.

There’s a say I hear a long time ago. Should we include God in our plans? No. We should include ourselves in God’s plans.

God is drawing people to Himself

God is seeking His glory, so that all people will see His love and power, all nations.

The old saints understood that God was bringing us to the better country, the real Promised Land, a city prepared for us. In God’s story, He reaches down to save sinners, forgives and loves them, and takes them home to glory.

In that story, we don’t have to be afraid. We may live in times of uncertainties and dangers, but we believe is still in control. God is the main actor living out His story of love, grace and redemption. God is working all things for our good, our spiritual good to be conformed to the image of Christ.

That’s why we want to follow Him, we want to obey Him.

That’s why we have boldness and confidence.