'it’s Your Choice'

SERMON OUTLINE:

(1). A Call to Remember (vs 1-13)

(2). A Call to Choose (Josh. 24:14-18)

(3). A Call to Commit (vs 25-28)

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• Herbert Asquith was a British politician and statesman,

• Who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1908 to 1916.

• He was the last Liberal Party prime minister to command a majority government,

• I love the story of when Asquith was invited to spent a weekend,

• At the Waddesdon estate of the 19th-century Rothschild family.

• One day, as Asquith was being waited on at teatime by the butler,

• The following conversation took place:

• The Butler asked him: "Tea, coffee, or a peach from off the wall, sir?"

• "Tea, please," answered Asquith.

• "China, India, or Ceylon, sir?" asked the butler.

• "China, please." replied Asquith.

• "Lemon, milk, or cream, sir?"

• "Milk, please," replied Asquith.

• "Jersey, Hereford, or Shorthorn, sir?"

• Asked the butler.

• TRANSITION: Now that is a choice!

• It sure beats a P.G. Tips teabag with a drop of semi-skinned milk.

• Now life does not have to be that complicated:

• Sometimes we need to just keep thins simple and make key choices.

Life is a series of choices.

• Studies tell us that we make more than 2500 choices every day.

• You have already made several choices today.

• e.g. /You chose what to eat for breakfast.

• e.g. You chose your morning drink

• (maybe it was China tea with milk from a Shorthorn cow!)

• e.g. You chose what you wanted to wear today.

• e.g. You chose to come to church.

• e.g. You chose where you wanted to sit.

• e.g. You chose who you wanted to say hello to first.

• Life is a series of choices,

• Many of the 2500 choices we make every day are trivial,

• They have no lasting impact on our lives.

We also make hundreds of extremely important choices every single day.

• e.g. You chose to take your medication.

• e.g. You chose when driving your car to stop at red lights.

• e.g. As Christians we make a choice to live for self or to live for Christ.

• Jeus said, “Take up your cross daily and follow me!”

• (Luke chapter 9 verse 23 and Matthew chapter 16 verse 24)

• TRANSITION:

• In this chapter Joshua will ask the people to make some choices.

• These choices are important and will determine the nation future.

• It will also impact on individual families – so choose well!

Now, we noted last week that this chapter is Joshua’s Farewell Words to Israel

• Chapters 23 to 24 is Joshua’s farewell speech.

• Joshua is old and about to die.

• Chapter 23 verse 1b: “Joshua was a very old man”.

• Chapter 23 verse 2b: “Joshua said to them: “I am very old.”

• Chapter 23 verse 14: “Now I am about to go the way of all the earth.”

• Chapter 24 verse 29: Joshua lived to be 110 years old.

The book of Joshua could be entitling, ‘Mission Impossible.’

• Now, Tom Cruise may do all his own stunts in the movie of that name.

• Joshua was also ‘hands on,’

• He led from the front, he fought alongside his people to achieve victory!

• Joshua’s ‘Mission Impossible’ was two-fold:

• 1st: to conquer the Canaanites (chapters 1-12).

• 2nd: to settle the Israelite tribes in their allotted territories (chapters 13-22).

Now we come to the last two chapters of the book of Joshua.

• They're in the land. They're occupying the land. They are settling the land.

• It's been a long time coming.

• It took seven years to conquer the land, another 13 to occupy it,

• So about 20 years have passed since the beginning of this book,

Now, in Joshua chapter 24:

• It is time for this old timer, this elderly leader,

• To offer his last words of instruction,

• And to make sure the nation is in a spiritually good place.

(1). A Call to Remember (vs 1-13)

“Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem. He summoned the elders, leaders, judges and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

2 Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your ancestors, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates River and worshiped other gods. 3 But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the Euphrates and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants. I gave him Isaac, 4 and to Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau. I assigned the hill country of Seir to Esau, but Jacob and his family went down to Egypt.