WE WILL SERVE THE LORD
Josh. 24:15
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A Father of five came home with a toy. "Which of you should be given the present? Who is the most obedient, never talks back to Mom, and does everything he or she is told to do?"
2. There was a silence for a moment, then a chorus of voices rang out, "You, Dad! You should get the present!"
3. Top Five Things You'll Never Hear a Dad Say:
5). Well, how 'bout that?... I'm lost! Looks like we'll have to stop and ask for directions.
4). Here's a credit card and the keys to my new car -- GO CRAZY.
3). No son of mine is going to live under this roof without an earring -- now quit your belly-aching, and let's go to the mall.
2). Whaddya wanna go and get a job for? I make plenty of money for you to spend.
1). Father's Day? aahh -- don't worry about that -- it's no big deal.
4. KING FOR A DAY. For their 10th wedding anniversary, Danielle LeFeuvre of Toulouse, France, brought her husband a throne, a crown, and a scepter. "All of this talk about women's liberation and domination got him down," she explained. "He's a new man now that he knows the children and I consider him king and master in his own home."
But he's only "King for a Day!" Hey, we’ll take it!
5. Congratulations, Dads!
a. Scripture Declares, "Honor thy Father..."
b. "Dads, please stand."
c. Let's give our fathers a hand!
B. TEXT
“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. 15 But 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.”
C. THESIS
1. How might this verse be applied to our lives?
2. What did Joshua will mean by the last line -- verse 15 -- "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord?"
I. JOSH. ACTED AS LEADER OF HIS HOUSE
A. BLURRED ROLES
1. The American male is in a sea of confusion.
2. Media/social messages tell us that we’re supposed to be something else very different than what our fathers were.
3. Traditional role -- as Breadwinner -- is almost gone. 20% of working wives make more money than their husbands.
4. A telemarketer phoned a home and said, "I'd like to talk to the person who makes the final purchasing decisions for your family."
The woman replied, "I'm sorry. That person is still at kindergarten and won't be home for another hour."
5. One husband humorously said, "My wife bosses the kids; the kids boss the cat and dog, and I can say anything I want to the geraniums!"
B. BIBLE POSITION
1. The Bible is clear -- God will hold dads accountable. Men are to be the head of the home.
a. “Now I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God” 1 Cor. 11:3.
b. “For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” Eph. 5:23-25.
c. In Exodus 12:3, God instructed, "Let every man take a lamb" for his family. The man acted as the priest and leader in spiritual things; we should too.
2. In the Bible fathers are held responsible for NOT taking their rightful place.
a. The High Priest Eli was held accountable for not correcting his sons (1 Sam. 3:13).
b. Moses was held accountable for not circumcising his son (Exodus 4:24-26).
3. One of the greatest needs of our wives is security. Wives feel more secure when their husbands are strong leaders.
4. Many men show no interest in spiritually taking the lead. But according to the Bible, it's not optional. We will give an account for how we do or don’t lead.
C. GUIDED BY LOVE
1. Leadership must be guided by love! To follow, our families must know we love them.
2. Our children may try to get their way, but there’s a deep longing for boundaries and stability.
II. JOSHUA SET EXAMPLE FOR HIS FAMILY
A. “AS FOR ME – I’LL SERVE THE LORD”
1. "Example" -- "Someone or something that serves as a pattern to be imitated." We're familiar with dress patterns, construction patterns, etc.
2. Paul said, "Be followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" 1 Cor. 11:1.
3. How many of us could freely say, "Pattern your life after mine, and you will be a Christian?"
4. There is even some question about what a Christian is:
a. A small boy sat in church with his mother and listened to a sermon entitled, "What is a Christian?" Every time the minister asked the question, he banged his fist on the pulpit for emphasis.
b. The tension produced by the sermon built up in the boy and he finally whispered to his mother, "Mama, do you know? Do you know what a Christian is?"
c. "Yes, dear," she replied. "Now sit still and be quiet."
d. Finally, as the minister was winding up the sermon, he again thundered, "What is a Christian?" and banged especially hard on the pulpit. This time it was too much for the little boy, who jumped up and cried out, "Tell him, Mama, tell him!"
5. It's easy to say you're going to "serve the Lord.” But it's not much different than saying you're going to "serve four years in the military." For four years, your life belongs to the US government! Christianity should be that way!
B. DEDICATION TO SPIRITUAL COMMITMENT
1. Today, there is a revival of Dads and Moms being good parents:
a. Parents are reading books on child rearing and going to seminars and conferences.
b. There are more theme parks, entertainments, paintball & laser tag & movies than ever before.
c. Family oriented businesses are everywhere -- McDonald's, shopping malls, etc. Even Las Vegas has gone family.
2. But there’s a shortage of demonstration of Commitment to God and the church.
3. Commitment to God is NOT:
a. Getting a head full of knowledge;
b. It’s NOT a particular experience.
4. Commitment to God IS:
a. A Deep conviction, reverence, and fear (born of faith) that moves us to be obedient to God, to try to please Him, no matter what it costs us!
b. Caught, rather than taught.
5. THE KEY THING TO PASS to our kids IS: SPIRITUAL COMMITMENT. If it doesn't possess you, it won't possess them. If it doesn't drive your life, alter your life, then it won't alter theirs either.
6. We can give them money, possessions, a good education, a healthy body... AND STILL FAIL AS PARENTS! 7. If we don't give them the CONVICTION OF GOD and SPIRITUAL COMMITMENT – to prayer, to the Bible, to Church, to witness -- then we've failed as parents.
7. Their lives must revolve around spiritual priorities.
III. JOSH. CALLED GOD’S FAMILY TO CHOOSE
A. THERE’S NEVER BEEN A TIME WHEN CHOOSING WASN’T REQUIRED. It's not a new thing:
1. Abel protested his elder brother's example; died as a consequence.
2. Noah, amid universal wickedness, persevered in preparing the Ark, though all men mocked his warnings.
3. Abraham -- left his country and kindred, became a stranger and Pilgrim.
4. Moses counted reproach for Christ as greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt.
5. The Judges stood in the gap and delivered Israel.
6. Elijah stood alone, defied the 450 prophets of Baal.
7. Daniel prayed, though he felt the doom of death hanging over him, of a lion’s den.
8. The 3 Hebrews -- faced devouring flames rather than bow to an idol.
9. John the Baptist called the Sadducees a "brood of vipers."
10. Paul -- stood against the Roman world and altered its course. God needs such resolve/grit today! Jesus demands you choose!
B. WHY MUST YOU CHOOSE? BC….
1. GOD COMMANDS YOU TO CHOOSE!
a. He doesn't give us the luxury or option of not choosing.
b. When we get married, we pledge to "for sake all others, keeping only to you." God is at Jealous God. He wants all our love or none of it; He won't take only part.
2. OUR NATURE DEMANDS IT
a. You can't serve two masters/2 bosses. There was a circus rider who rode on two horses: 1 foot on each horse’s back. If one of the horses veered, the contingency plan of the rider was to jump on the horse he was closest to. That's what we will do spiritually too.
b. We Are Limited. [Lady volunteers to pick up balls]. It’s hard for us to hold/carry several large objects for long; eventually you must drop one or more to keep going.
3. NO NEUTRAL GROUND: IT FORCES A CHOICE.
a. You can't ride the fence; you must get on one side or the other.
b. Illustration of Civil War. A man in a border state couldn't make up his mind which side to fight for – the North or the South. At last, he put on a Confederate shirt and Union pants and went into the battle. During the battle, the union shot him in the shirt and the Confederacy shot him in the pants. The moral? Choose one side.
CONCLUSION
A. WHEN MUST YOU CHOOSE?
1. "This Day!" It's neither right nor safe to wait until another day.
2. "I need time to think about it," the devil whispers. A man died suddenly at 53. A couple was discussing the event. His wife said, "It's a shame he died without any time to decide for Christ." The husband answered, "He’s had 53 years to decide!"
3. Joshua didn't give them "time to think about it."
4. God demanded an immediate choice. We must too. Now is the appointed time; today is the day of salvation.
B. ILLUSTRATION: TAKING CARE OF FIRST BASE
1. Coach Bobby Bowden tells this story about himself. He was playing college baseball and had never hit a home run.
2. Finally he hit one down the right-field line, into the corner. He rounded first and looked to the third base coach. He turned at second, was halfway to third base and the coach was still waving him on.
3. He got to home, he hit the plate. He had his first home run. He was so excited everybody was slapping him five.
4. Then the pitcher took the ball, threw it to the first baseman, and the umpire called him out.
5. Coach Bowden learned this important lesson: "If you don't take care of first base, it doesn't matter what else you do. If you don't honor the Lord first, it doesn't matter what else you accomplish."
6. There’s some of you here who feel like you’ve fit a home run, but is it possible that you missed the bag at first base? Have you really consecrated your hearts to the Lord?
C. THE CALL
1. Let’s make a new commitment to the Lord this morning.
2. Is God your highest priority? Have you commited to serve God as a family?
3. Let’s have all our Dads come forward to commit ourselves as the heads of our families to really LEAD SPIRITUALLY.
4. Salvation call.
