“Looking Back and Moving Forward” – Josh 1:1-11
Gladstone Baptist Church – 19/11/06 am
S1 - Standing on the brink of something new is scary – there is uncertainty & fear.
Have you ever been faced with something new and been scared? I can remember when Deanna and I were thinking about moving down to Tasmania after we were newly married. It seemed such a long way away from family. We didn’t know anyone down there and it was a bit daunting. We were uncertain and a bit fearful. Maybe you have faced a similar situation – standing on the brink of a major change – watching a new day as it is dawning. Maybe it was a job change or a move or about to get married – that is scary isn’t it!!! What ever your experience, whenever you stand on the brink of something new, there is excitement and adrenaline as well as uncertainty and fear.
If you have your Bibles open, I want you to open them up to Joshua 1. I want to look at a time when the people of Israel stood on the brink of something new. The people had been wandering around in the desert for 40 years under the leadership of Moses. But Moses had just died. Now don’t stretch the analogy of this sermon too far here. We are losing our leader, but can I assure you that Roger is not dead – He’s just been away using up holidays. Some of you are going to go and tell him that I was planning his funeral here today aren’t you – you are going to get me in all sorts of trouble. So don’t take the analogy too far. Our church is also 40 years old – the same time the Israelites were wandering around in the desert. Now again – don’t stretch the analogy too far – I definitely don’t think our church has been in a desert for the last 40 years. You only have to understand how God has blessed this place and used it for his glory to know that the last 40 years haven’t been desert years. So don’t push the analogy, but having said this, there are some incredible lessons here for us to learn about standing on the edge of something new, so let’s read
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 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. 9 Have 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.”
10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.’”
Pray
S2 - We look ahead into the unknown, we look back into the known. We can look back and see how God has provided in the past. Over the years. Over the last 12 months. – Reports & highlights from the past year.
Standing on the edge of something new is always scary. When we try to peer into the future, it is UNKNOWN. We wish we had a crystal ball, but I think sometimes that would just scare us more. Looking forward is SCARY – far more frightening than looking backwards. When we look back we see our history – where we have come from – it is KNOWN AND SAFE. The Past is comfortable. For the Israelites the past 40 years was spent in the desert. Though the desert wasn’t a pleasant place it was a familiar and SAFE PLACE for the people. God had provided for them in incredible ways. Food to eat – the manna and quails, water to drink. He’d given them shoes that never wore out. If they thought about it, they could have listed so many things to praise God for over the past 40 years - incredible things he had done for them. He had rescued them from Egypt – the plagues, the red sea experience, the protection from Pharaoh’s army. He’d provided wonderful leadership. He’d protected them from attack. He’d led them by pillars of fire and cloud. He’d fellowshipped with them & given them the law.
Over the past 40 years, we also have got so many things to thank God for. We have answers to prayer, we have PROVISIONS in the shape of buildings, pastors, leaders, people to serve in ministry. If we sat down and thought about it, our list would be endless. We have had a wonderful 40 years and we want to say Thank you God – you deserve the honour and glory.
Even over the last 12 months, we have had some wonderful things going on. I hope that you took the time to read some of the annual reports. So many good things happening. People being used by God for his glory. I want to take the opportunity this morning to invite 3 of our ministry coordinators come and share briefly what God has done in their ministry over the past 12 months to encourage you as we look back.
Invite Tim, Shane/Maree/John & Kirsty to come and share.
God has blessed so many of the ministries of our church this year in so many ways. I would have loved to have more coordinators share, but time is against us, so here is a video of some more of their reflections about the past year.
DVD of Ministry Coordinator Reflections
Here are some of my personal highlights of the year
God has been good to us hasn’t He and we need to praise Him.
S3 - There is a tendency to want to live in the past – to remain comfortable. AHA
But you know, when you look backwards, there is a tendency to reminisce. The older you get the worse this seems to get. You think back over the glory days when things were better and you want to cling to the past. In actual fact, they weren’t better, they were just as hard – you’ve just forgotten the hard bits and remember the good things.
We love the past though, because inbuilt in us all is an innate desire to be comfortable. We know what went on in the past and therefore we feel comfortable with it. More comfortable than what might be ahead in the uncertain future anyway.
I’m sure the Israelites thought about the past a lot. We know that at times they wanted to go back to Egypt where it was warm and secure. But for all the hassles of a nomadic desert life, I suspect that they were a bit concerned about leaving the desert after calling it their homes for 40 years.
S4 - God has more in store for us. He has a future planned out for us. He wants us to take ground for him. To do our part to see Gladstone, Australia & the world taken for him. To grasp this future we need to do several things …
But God had far more in store for the Israelites than desert dweller status. He had a promised land picked out for them. He had plans for them and this involved the nation of Israel crossing over from the desert into the new territory and taking ground for Him. God said (vs 2)
get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
Now we might not have a plot of land promised to us like the Israelites had, but I firmly believe that God has more in store for us than what we have seen in the past 40 years, good as it has been. He has more in store for us than what we have seen in the past 12 months, exciting as it has been. God has a future planned out for Gladstone Baptist Church and I believe he wants us to take ground for Him. Not physical ground, but spiritual ground. We are living in a world controlled by Satan. We are charged with taking ground from him. Taking it back for God’s kingdom and God’s glory.
Wouldn’t it be tremendous to see a mass turning to God in Gladstone? Wouldn’t it be amazing if Gladstone became known as the Christian capital of Queensland? We’ve got a lot more ground to take before that happens. What I know is that God wants all men to know him. He doesn’t want any to perish and we have the task of sharing the gospel with them in a way they can understand and relate to so that we give them the chance to turn to God..
This is a daunting task, but no more daunting than that facing the Israelites. The Israelites were charged with the task of taking the whole promised land. They were facing some fairly big obstacles and some fairly strong armies, but God gave them 4 things to do that would help them to stop looking back & reminiscing about their past and start moving forward to take the ground God had for them.
1. Be Strong & Courageous – Why? Because God is with us.
First he said to them then needed to be strong and courageous (1:6, 9, 10:25). It is easy to be fearful about the unknown isn’t it. But God reassured Joshua and the Israelites that he was with them. In Vs 9 God says. Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged,
As Christians, we have someone walking beside us who knows what the future holds. We have a life guide who knows the unknown. So we don’t have to be fearful – we can be strong and courageous. As we move into the unknown territory of our 41st year with a new Snr Pastor, a new look board, a whole heap of new challenges as ministries we need to follow the advise given to the Israelites. Let’s be strong and courageous. Don’t be scared of change. Don’t be scared of what God will ask of you this coming year. Step out in the knowledge that God is with you – be strong and courageous. If we want to take ground in 2007 and beyond, we need to be strong & courageous.
2. Obey God – His word & His laws. Blessed people are those who see, hear and obey. We need to obey God.
The Second thing that was needed for the people to take ground was to obey His law. In the passage that we read, the command is actually given to Joshua as the leader, but in other places in Joshua (22:5, 23:6) Joshua issues this same command to the people. The secret to their success in the future was their ability to obey God. God had spoken to them through his word and the law handed down to Moses. God expected his chosen people to obey Him.
There is nothing less demanded of us. We are a chosen people too … 1 Pet 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God …
We are part of this church family at GBC and we are so blessed to be a part of that, but God has also incorporated us into his universal family and that comes with privileges and responsibilities. One of the responsibilities is a call to live lives of obedience. We have spent the last 3 or 4 weeks talking about this haven’t we. God calls us to see, hear and obey him. This is what it means to be a blessed person. As we look ahead to 2007, we need to seek to obey God’s call on our lives to be Godly men and women. Are you prepared to commit to this lifestyle of obedience in the coming year no matter what it means? Let’s open our eyes to see Jesus, let’s open our ears to hear him and let’s put ourselves in gear to go and obey him. We need blessed people (obedient people) if we are going to take ground in the future.
3. Follow God’s lead – the ark of the covenant went before. God’s Spirit goes before us. We’ve got to cross the river and take some risks
The Third thing God told the Israelites to do was to follow his lead. We’ve already said that God is with us and he expects us to obey Him. The Israelites knew this, but what was even more encouraging for them was that God was going ahead of them. He cleared the way and they followed. Look at Josh 3:3, Joshua commanded the people …
“When you see the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, and the priests, who are Levites, carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 4 Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about a thousand yards between you and the ark; do not go near it.”
The ark of the covenant was where God symbolically resided in their midst. The people were told to follow the ark. Or literally follow God because He knows where to go. The Israelites had been doing this for the last 40 years – following the pillar of cloud or fire. Nothing had changed. Do you remember, the battle of Jericho – the first battle the Israelites fought in this new country? What led the procession around the wall? The Ark of the covenant. God led the way and the people followed. You see when God leads, we know that we will be successful in what you are doing because it is God who is asking you to do it. .
Have you got doubts about where you should be heading in 2007? Maybe you are a ministry coordinator and you are facing some real challenges in your ministry – what do we do? How do we make it effective in taking ground for God?. Maybe you are considering whether to move job or move town but are not sure whether God wants this. Well there is a simple solution to your dilemma. You are to follow God and the leading of His Spirit. God wants to lead you into his future plan. He will never lead you onto a wrong path or lead you to a place he doesn’t want you to go. Let’s put our agendas aside and take up God’s agenda for our lives. Lets serve him in ministry and let him lead us. He will open doors and close doors. Ask him to give you clear direction as you make decisions and then follow him. I know that God wants us to take ground for his kingdom in 2007. So lets commit to follow his lead and going where he wants.
4. Consecrate ourselves. Hand ourselves over to God fully – dedicate ourselves to him & his service.
Lastly God asked the people to consecrate themselves in preparation for the task ahead. The people followed God’s lead and they crossed over the Jordan river from the desert (the past) into the promised land (the future). But do you know what the first thing they did was. They all got circumcised with flint knives. I don’t know about you, but if I had an army who was preparing for battle and camping within cooee of the enemy, the last thing I’d do would be circumcise my whole army and put them out of action for a couple of days. Talk about lame ducks. But this is what God requested. Why? Because it was the sign of the covenant, a sign that those people were dedicated or consecrated to God for his purpose. What is being consecrated to God all about? – it is being set apart for use by God. God wanted everyone to know that the Israelites were set apart for his service. Being circumcised wasn’t a fun experience for these grown men. It was painful and was a permanent reminder of their promise.
God is asking us also to consecrate ourselves to his service. Are you prepared to hand your life over to God fully? To consecrate yourself to him. You are not here to become famous or to become wealthy and powerful so that people look at you and go Wow. God is looking for people in GBC who will take ground in 2007 and to do that he needs people who will hand themselves fully over to him. Are you prepared to be one of these. If you do you need to be circumcised. I’ve made some flint knives – they are not too sharp, but I think they’ll do the job. I’ll be out the back after the service guys. I’m expecting a long queue. … I’m joking - you don’t need to be physically circumcised, but you do need to be spiritually circumcised
Col 2:11 - In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
Are you prepared to be circumcised? Are you prepared to put off the sinful nature – your flesh nature with all its ambitions and dreams? God is calling you to cut them out of your life and dedicate your lives to him. I hear again and again people saying, I can’t serve God or the church, because I am too busy – with work, with my career ambitions, with family, with hobbies. Now some of these may be valid – family is valid. But not if it is taking you away from God. Who is first in your life – your family or God. If we are going to take ground, we need to cut away anything that would distract you or displace God from the #1 spot in our lives. We need to consecrate ourselves to God first. Let us commit to putting God Number 1. This doesn’t mean neglecting our work or family. But it means having a correct balance.
S5 - 2007 is the start of God’s future for our church, will you commit to doing all in your power to help us take ground for God’s kingdom.
As I look back at our 40 year history, I am amazed at how God has provided for us. Even in the last 12 months, God has been incredibly gracious and we have seen some wonderful, wonderful things happening. But I don’t want to just be looking back. I want to be looking forward. We are drawing another year to a close and are just about to embark on a new year with some incredible opportunities. I am so excited about it I sometimes wish we could skip Christmas.
I firmly believe that we are standing at the edge of a new era in GBC and God is wanting us to go and take ground for Him in Gladstone, Australia and the World. I believe he has predestined ground for us to take – we just have to be willing to do it. How? By
- being strong and courageous
- obeying God
- following his lead
- setting ourselves apart to serve God
If we do this, I believe that we can and will be used for God mightily in 2007 and beyond. Happy birthday, GBC – it is great to reach 40 years – a great milestone, but you know, I think God is more concerned about our future than our past. Let’s look back and celebrate the past, but let’s prepare to move into the future and take ground for God.. Will you commit to taking ground for him in 2007?
