Joshua's Story Series

Opening Video: Joshua and the stones - Video Bluefish.tv

Introduction:

Over the last few weeks we have been sharing the power of the story! We have been looking at how a person’s life can make a difference in the eternal realm of God.

Quote: Stories are powerful. Stories give meaning to who we are and how we became who we are. Stories help us understand how life happens, and they give value to our experiences. Some of the most powerful testimonies to Christian faith come not from lists of accepted doctrinal beliefs (though they’re important) nor from recitations of biblical principles (also important), but from the enlivened re-telling of how God has acted, overtly or covertly, in each of our lives (from http://www.whatsyourstoryonline.com/).

Sermon: Joshua’s Story

Joshua’s Story and life reminds us that success in this life depends on obedience to God’s Word and a desire in your heart to become a God Chaser.

Key Scriptures:

Joshua 1:6-9: The command from the Lord to Joshua on how to live his life and lead God’s people.

6“Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7Be 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. 8Do 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. 9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 24:14-15: Joshua’s heart and leadership for God and His commands

14“Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. 15But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Joshua 24:29:

29After these things, Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of a hundred and ten.

Joshua 5:13-6:27 (Main text sermon 2)

The Fall of Jericho

13Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”

14“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come.” Then Joshua fell facedown to the ground in reverence, and asked him, “What message does my Lord have for his servant?”

15The commander of the LORD’s army replied, “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

1Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in.

2Then the LORD said to Joshua, “See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.

3March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days.

4Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams’ horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets.

5When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in.”

20When the trumpets sounded, the people shouted, and at the sound of the trumpet, when the people gave a loud shout, the wall collapsed; so every man charged straight in, and they took the city.

27So the LORD was with Joshua, and his fame spread throughout the land.

Huffman states, “Joshua, is one of the most fascinating books of the Bible because…at one level, it relates the story of an ancient Hebrew leader and the people whom God called to lead into the Promised Land. At another level, it’s a personal story. It’s the story of promise and the great expectations that God has for us. It’s as if God takes on the qualities of the perceptive coach, teacher, or pastor who becomes excited about what we can become if we use the gifts He’s given to us. The study of this book helps us see ourselves in this light. It makes us question whether or not we are living up to our potential and God’s promise” (page 23, 24).