Where do we go from here?
• Joshua 1: 1-9
1 ¶ Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses’ minister, saying,
2 Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.
3 Every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given unto you, as I said unto Moses.
4 From the wilderness and this Lebanon even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the going down of the sun, shall be your coast.
5 There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.
6 Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
7 Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
8 This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
In the five books of Moses we had a very full account of the rise, advance, and constitution, of the Old-Testament church, the family out of which it was raised, the promise, that great charter by which it was incorporated, the miracles by which it was built up, and the laws and ordinances by which it was to be governed.
We also have a history of those early days of God’s people.
God had led them out of the Egyptian bondage that had been so dismal to them.
Over the course of time God manifested Himself to them in many different ways.
The miracle of deliverance from Egypt was done by God’s own hand.
In the parting of the Red Sea God gave them deliverance again by His strong and mighty hand.
He made a covenant with them, beginning with their father Abraham that He would bring them to a land that flowed with abundance.
Genesis 15:18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:
When Abraham was 99 years old God appeared to him again and said in Genesis 17:8; “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”
God always keeps His promises!
God’s covenant was passed down to Isaac, the son of Abraham.
Then the promise was passed down to Jacob, the son of Isaac.
In the process of time Isaac’s son, Joseph was sold into the land of Egypt by his jealous brothers.
God worked many miracles putting into place His master plan for His chosen people.
One of those plans was the advancement of Joseph to high leadership in the land of Egypt.
In the meantime there was a famine in Joseph’s homeland and through a process of incidents he moved his father and all his people to the land of Egypt.
And to make a long story short, after some time Joseph died, and the people of God began to multiply in the land, so much that it made Pharaoh nervous.
So he enslaved them with extreme hardship until they cried out to God.
God called Moses from a sheep pasture and gave him a mandate to lead those people out of Egypt to the land God had promised.
But because of their unbelief and rebellion in following God’s directions they wondered in the wilderness for forty years, and then only their children and grand-children, plus Joshua and Caleb would be able to possess the promised-land.
Yet God was faithful! God was merciful! In spite of all their murmurings and complaining God was determined to keep his promise to his people.
So now we come to our text today. Moses the great leader had died before he reached the promised-land.
He had disobeyed God and for some reason God would not allow him to enter the land, although he was permitted to view the land from afar.
Now a new time was about to open up on God’s calendar.
Yes Moses was dead, but God’s covenant was not!
Moses the great leader, the great mentor was now in his grave, but God’s covenant was not to be forgotten.
I would imagine that during the 30 days of mourning for Moses the people probably had many questions in mind.
Where are we going from here? What are we going to do now?
Yes they knew that Moses had already laid his hands upon Joshua in preparedness for the future, but I would imagine they were still apprehensive concerning where they would go from that point.
Joshua was not the successor of Moses, in the sense that he was not a prophet or civil ruler, but he was to be the general or leader, called to head the people in the war of invasion and the subsequent allocation of the tribes of Israel.
Where do we go from here?
God had the answer!
Verse 2; “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, thou, and all this people, unto the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel.”
God in essence was saying, “Arise, go, and possess!”
It was no time to think about going back to Egypt!
It was no time to think about trying something new!
It was no time to give up and make the best of it!
But it was time to go forward!
What about Glad Tidings Assembly of God this morning?
Where do we go from here?
Are we going to be content with just the status quo?
Are we going to be comfortable with how things stand, and our present situation?
Are we ready to give up and begin looking for greener pastures?
Or, are we ready to go forward?
Are we ready to forget the past and look forward to what God has in store for us in the future?
Are you ready to make it happen?
The people of Israel had to make a decision.
That simple decision was to sit there and mourn the passing of Moses and reminisce the past, or arise and go forward to possess God’s promises.
We are at the crossroads today! We’re at the beginning of a brand new year.
God has been good to Glad Tidings in spite of all our failures and shortcomings.
As we look over our past it is easy to reminisce about those years gone by.
We’ve had some great times! We’ve had times of growth, times of victory, times of prosperity, and times of success.
But we have also had our times of difficulty and complexity.
We’ve been disappointed in people, discouraged with circumstances, and at times considered the option to just give up.
It is your decision as to where you are going in your spiritual life.
It is our decision as a congregation as to where we are going concerning the spirituality of this church.
In spite of all the difficulties and even successes we have had in the past, we cannot superimpose our future to those circumstances.
Today is a new day! Where are we going from here?
We can’t just sit around on our successes and achievements and be content that our best is in the past.
God has new things in store for you and this church.
There are new horizons for us to conquer!
God has a whole storehouse of blessings he wants to bestow upon us!
There are new areas of ministry God wants us to explore!
There has never been a time in history when the church has such a great potential for reaching the lost!
I want to challenge you to make the decision to arise, go forward and possess God’s provisions for ministry.
What can you do in 2007 and beyond?
What can all of us as a church do in 2007 and beyond?
Church, we’ve come to the height of our potential!
There has been no greater time for the church to be a light to this world. The door is open! The way has been made! This is our hour! Let’s go forward!
Let’s begin by making a commitment to God;
To honor Him
To be faithful to Him
To live a holy and dedicated life
To possess a positive, optimistic and encouraging
attitude.
Let’s begin by working together as a congregation for the up-building of the kingdom of God.
Where are we going from here?
Are we going to give up? Are we going to quit? Are we going to sit around and reminisce the past?
Are we going to allow the failures of our past to get in the way of our progression into the future?
It’s your decision! You are at the crossroads! A decision is now! Where are you going from here?
I’m not talking about making some sort of resolution for the New Year! I’m talking about making a commitment to go forward.
Where am I going to be in my spiritual life by this time next year?
How am I going to help this church go forward in winning souls for Jesus Christ?
What steps am I going to take to be a blessing in my church and community?
Church, it’s time to arise! It’s time make the decision now to do whatever it takes to win souls and be a blessing to those around us.
God told Joshua, “Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them.
Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.
This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.
Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
Those promises are just as important to us as they were to Joshua.
God wants this church to spiritually prosper! God wants to make this church a blessing to this community!
God wants to use this church to reach the lost!
Where are we going from here?
