God at the Center

Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray.

From the highest of heights to the depths of the sea, creations revealing your majesty. From the colors of fall to the fragrance of spring, every creature unique in the song that it sings. All exclaiming indescribable, uncontainable. You place the stars in the sky, and you know them by name. You are amazing God. All powerful, untamable, all stuck we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim. You are amazing God. Who has told every lightning bolt where it should go? Or seen heavenly storehouses laden with snow? Who imagined the sun and gave souls to its light? Yet conceals it to bring us the coolness of night. None can fathom, indescribable, uncontainable. You place the stars in the sky and you know them by name. You are amazing, God. All-powerful, untamable, all stuck, we fall to our knees as we humbly proclaim.

You are amazing, God. Indescribable, uncontainable. You place the stars in the sky and you know them by name. You are amazing, God. Incomparable, unchangeable. You see the depths of my heart and you love me the same. You are amazing, God.

You are amazing, God. All right. If you want to remain standing, you can, or you can sit if you'd like. We're going to be moving into our prayer and share time. And if you're watching online, there'll be a phone number for you to text. If you would like to send us something that you would like us to pray about here together, please do that. And then we're going to be muted here during that time for privacy. And so give us a few minutes to have that time together, and then we'll be back to move into our time of communion. And so before we do that, we're going to be singing Graves into Gardens.

Man's empty praise and treasures that fade are never enough. Then you came along and put me back together. And every desire is now satisfied. Here in your love. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. Lord, there's nothing. Nothing is better than you. I'm not afraid to show you my weakness. My failures and flaws, Lord, you've seen them all, and you still call me friend. Because the God of the mountains is the God of the mountains. Is the God of the valley. And there's not a place your mercy and grace won't find me again. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. Lord, there's nothing, nothing is better than you. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you. Lord, there's nothing, nothing is better than you.

You turn mourning to dancing. You give beauty for ashes. You turn shame into glory. You're the only one who can. You turn graves into gardens. You turn bones into armies. You turn seas into highways. You're the only one who can. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you, Lord. There's nothing, nothing is better than you. Oh, there's nothing better than you. There's nothing better than you, Lord. There's nothing. Nothing is better than you. All right. You may be seated. Amen. Amen. Amen.

All right. As we move into our time of communion, I just wanted to share part of a prayer from the book, The Valley of Vision. The prayer talks about the Holy Spirit's work in our life, and I just wanted to share the end of it, and it says, "Help me to find in His death the reality and immensity of His love. Open for me the wondrous volumes of truth in His. It is finished. Increase my faith in the clear knowledge of atonement achieved, satisfaction made, guilt done away, my debt paid, my sins forgiven, my person redeemed, my soul saved, hell vanquished, and heaven opened, and eternity made mine. O Holy Spirit, deepen in me these saving lessons. Write them upon my heart that my walk may be sin-loathing, sin-fleeting, and Christ-loving. Amen."

I rest my soul on Jesus when the mountains shake. I put my trust in Jesus the moment I awake. And when my soul is lost at sea, He will be my rock. My vision be in Christ alone. This grace is all we've got. His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. So I, upon His shoulders, safely brought this far. Helper of my helpless soul, the King of broken hearts. His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. You are the passion of my life, Lord Jesus. You are the song within my soul. My strength, my hope, my all in all is You, Jesus, You.

When breath grows still and night draws near, I will not be afraid. I know the plans He has for me don't finish at my grave. His love is like the mighty ocean. His love for me will never stop. Oh, His arms are strong enough to carry me through it all by the grace of God. He's a guide.

It seems that we spend a lot of our time busy and running, and for us, the promise of rest is a promise that I think many of us look forward to. At the end of a long day, we're able to rest. At the end of a busy, hectic period of time, we're able to take some time and to rest and recharge. And I don't think we need simply just rest in our physical lives, although we do, but spiritually as well. And in Hebrews chapter 3 and 4, God is sort of explaining and warning Christians who are struggling. And he uses as an example, God's people as they move through the wilderness, and they're moving toward the rest that God has promised them. And because of their disobedience, they are not allowed to enter that rest.

And so the writer of Hebrews encouraging God's people, he will say, "Let us therefore strive to enter the rest so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." And then he encourages in two ways. First of all, he encourages by pointing us to the Word of God. And it's that passage that you probably have heard. The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, dividing both to the joints and the marrow, the division of soul and spirit. And he calls us to the Word of God, which convicts us, which protects us, which helps us. But then we do this by way of encouragement. "Since therefore we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to this confession.

For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we might receive mercy and find grace to help in the time of need." And so as the writer of Hebrews writes to Christians who are struggling and in dire need of rest, he reminds them of the importance, first of all, of their faithfulness. But then he says, "Turn to the Word of God which defends you, it straightens you out, it helps you, all while looking to the grace of God which ultimately brings you safely home." Because God knows your struggles, He knows your hurts. And as we look this morning in the midst of a tired and chaotic world, we look to the promise of hope that's found in Jesus.

The one we can come near to without fear, especially in our times of brokenness and need because He went to the cross for us. And so as we break this bread and as we drink this cup, this is a reminder that God is the one who truly and ultimately allows us to rest. That He is the one who protects us. He is the one who corrects us. And He is the one who is faithfully near us through all things. We are going to pray, and then we will partake together. Father in Heaven, I thank You for Your Word. I thank You that it is sharp enough to defend us, and I thank You that it is sharp enough to correct us. May we, as we partake in this meal, may You defend us, and may You correct us. May You bring us to repentance, but also restore our hope.

May we see Jesus, the One whom we can draw near to because of His sacrifice, that we don't have to hide, we don't have to keep striving, we don't have to make excuses, but in Jesus we are safe. Thank You for hope. May You bless this bread and this cup. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. You would take the bread with Me as Jesus instructed the disciples, and by example He will say, "I took bread and broke it," and He said, "This is My body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of Me." In the same way, after supper, He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood. Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of Me." For as often as you eat this bread and you drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

We are heading this morning to the book of Joshua, where we have been now for several weeks. We will be there in just a moment. I want to sort of give you a heads-up about where we're going and how we're going to get there. If you would like a handout, if you didn't get a chance to grab one, there are some handouts and some maps. Maybe you can kind of see some visual things of what is happening in these chapters in Joshua. So this will be our last Sunday in the book of Joshua until next year, which is actually not that far away. And we're going to come back to parts of this text again on New Year's as we sort of dive back into the book of Joshua. But starting next Sunday, we begin sort of that period of preparation where we prepare our hearts and our minds

for the arrival of Jesus at Christmas. We call it the Advent season. Advent simply means arrival. And rather than simply trying to cannonball into Christmas, we'd like to sort of build up and prepare for it so that our hearts are prepared and our lives are prepared in the midst of all of the busyness. And a lot of that busyness that surrounds Christmas is good and joyful. But in the midst of that, we want to make sure that we're keeping our hearts focused where they belong. And so we begin that. Next Sunday, we'll be taking a look at those sort of big themes that run through Scripture and point toward Jesus. Those themes that the church historically has spent these four Sundays leading up to Christmas, celebrating those themes of hope and peace and joy and the arrival of Jesus.

But also, not just looking backward to Bethlehem, but looking forward to his next arrival with joy. So that's where we're going. But this morning, we are in Joshua. And we aren't going to read every verse of this. It's seven chapters, 218 verses. We are going to take some pieces through it this morning as we sort of do an overflight of these chapters. And then we will come back and take a look at some remarkable people that we meet in these in sort of about four or five weeks. So let's pray and dive into it. Father in heaven, I thank you for your word. I thank you for grace. I thank you for your church and your people. I thank you that we can sing and focus our hearts on your grace and your greatness and your goodness for us

and how you take us from brokenness and death into life and hope. And so be with us this morning as we look at these chapters. May you help us to understand and see your goodness in them. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. I don't know if you've ever had that experience where you've been handed something and you look at it and go, "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with this." And so it was kind of my last year of college. My roommate and I, we've been roommates since our sophomore year. And so we were living in this apartment, and one of our good friends from college, he and his wife had gotten married. They'd had a child, and their little guy was like, you know, probably about a year old, and his wife was in class.

He had to run to the DMV, so he's like, "Hey, I'm dropping this guy off with you." And we say, "Yeah, no problem. How hard," you know, famous last words, right, "How hard can it actually be?" And so he drops the little guy up with us. He's like, "There's two of us, right?" We've moved all the sharp stuff off. You know, we've got some toys. There's some snacks. Worst case scenario, there's a diaper bag in the corner. It's like, "It's going to be like an hour. We can do this." And as soon as his dad walked out the door, and if you've experienced this, where somebody leaves a child, right, just instant sobbing and tears and screaming, and he's trying to get to the door and trying to get out the door, and we're like, "Well, you know, maybe we can distract him," and that didn't work. "Well, maybe we should feed him," and that didn't work.

And so about three minutes later, we were kind of acquainted with the people across the hall. Didn't know him real well, but knew that she was a mom. And so we were over there, you know, "We don't know what to do with this. It won't be quiet. Can you just, like, help us figure this out?" And when I come to these chapters in Joshua, beginning in Joshua chapter 13, going to Joshua, the 19th chapter, that's a little bit how I feel about these chapters. Like, what are we supposed to do with this? You have nine chapters, 218 verses, and by and large, it's simply a description of ancient people, ancient places, ancient landmarks. And this person gets this many. If you read in the second half of chapter 15, you'll just get, like, a list of cities, and then it will just say 26 cities. And then you'll get another list,

and it'll be like 10 cities. And it's like, well, you know, you could have summarized all of these verses down and just said, hey, 68 cities in all, or however many there are, right? And so we come to this, and we look at it, and we say, well, what am I supposed to do with it? So what I want us to try to do is, first of all, kind of understand why these kind of things are important. And then secondly, I want to show you sort of what's in these chapters as we sort of fly over at 30,000 feet, and then I want us to see the treasure that's found in the middle of these chapters. And so as we come to these chapters, one of the things that I think is always captured, sort of the hearts and minds of

people, is treasure, right? If you watch movies, right, there's a lot of movies about finding treasure, depending on what generation. For you, it may have been like The Goonies, where you're in search of treasure. You know, for my generation, or maybe more my brother's generation, right? Nicolas Cage stealing the Declaration of Independence that points toward treasure, right? We have TV shows where people are looking for lost treasure. Maybe it's like in antiques, or buying something and getting it evaluated, and how much is this worth? Or maybe we're even looking for literal pirate treasure. Treasure tends to capture our hearts and our minds, and when we hear there's treasure, so many times we go, "Well, let's see if we can find that treasure." And so as we look at these chapters, I think it's helpful for us to

understand that they're not just lists of ancient names and people and places, and all of these different landmarks, right? This is pointing us to something that is valuable and wonderful and life-changing. Paul, when he writes about the Word of God, and it's a familiar passage in 2 Timothy, he says this: "All Scripture is breathed out by God, and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work." And when Paul writes that, even though it does apply to both the Old and New Testament, when he writes that, about Scripture being breathed out, at that point there wasn't a New Testament. Right? It's still being written. Paul is writing it as he writes. He's speaking specifically about the Old Testament, and he says all of it, all Scripture, is given by God, and it's good to

teach us, to correct us, to help us understand, to train us, so that whatever comes our way, we're ready to act. And so Paul would say that there is something that is good for us in these 218 verses. The second thing I think we need to understand about this is maybe change our perspective just a little bit. Have you ever been very excited about something and then somebody just steals your joy? I remember when I was a kid I went through this phase where I just wanted to, and maybe it was too many western books. I just wanted to go live in the woods on my own, you know, like they did in the 1800s. And so one of the things I had asked for repeatedly was a pair of snowshoes. And that was also before I realized that snowshoes are way more work than, you know, what they're really worth.

But I was, I got those snowshoes, unwrapped them on Christmas Day, and I was so excited. And we had somebody come, a family member come to our house on Christmas Day, and I was like, look at the snowshoes I got, and I was so excited. And they just go, "Why would you ever want those?" Right? And there, all the joy out of little Brandon just gets like sucked right out of him. This passage for God's people when it was written, right, this is a passage of joy. Imagine, if you will, that you inherit a kingdom. Wouldn't you want to hear about the features of the kingdom? Where are the boundaries? Where will I live? What does it look like? What will be my new home? Right? We would be, if this happened to us today, if we get word, somebody walks in the door and goes,

"You're great, great, great uncle, 18 times removed. You're the last living heir. Here's the kingdom." We would want to know everything about it. Here are God's people. We're about to fulfill hundreds of years of promises in these moments, right? For them, this is a wonderful and exciting moment. It's not just boundary markers, so you know how much to tax them or to know where your neighbor's land ends and yours begins, right? This is a fulfillment of generations of longing. It's a home. It's a place to belong. It's a place of rest. In many ways, these chapters will mirror the map that you have as well, and we'll see that in just a minute. But what's remarkable is about how they're written right at the center of this map is where we will find the treasure.

So let's unpack these chapters just a little bit. We're going to begin in Joshua chapter 13, and we're going to kind of jump around a little bit through these chapters. And the beginning of Joshua 13 sets the stage like this: "Now Joshua was old and advanced in years, and the Lord said to him, you are old and advanced in years, yet there remains very much land to possess." So it's one thing, I think, to know that you're old. It's another thing when somebody comes up to you and says, "Hey, you're really old." That's what God does to Joshua. And so this, Joshua 13, doesn't just begin a new section in the book of Joshua. It begins a new section in the life of Joshua. And we don't know how old Joshua is, but there is another spy that went into the land with him

back when they were working with and for and assisting Moses. That other spy, Caleb, is now 85 years old. And so Joshua at 85, God says, "You're entering a new chapter in your life. You are moving from this place where you led Israel into battle to now where you are giving them the promises that I have promised all the way back to Abraham." And this mirrors our life to some extent because what we find is that our life goes in phases. And the question is not, "Will my life change?" But it's, "Will I continue to serve God faithfully when it does?" And what we will see is Joshua transitions from this military leader bringing the people into the land to this sort of elder statesman who divides up the land, who seeks to lead the people in following God,

that Joshua does that faithfully. And so that's where we begin. The next chapters, Joshua 14 through 19, are going to map out the land. You're going to have cities and people and landmarks and rivers, and this is your inheritance, and this is your inheritance. And it's bookended by two verses, one at the very beginning and one at the end, that says this, Joshua 14, "These are the inheritances of the people of Israel, that the people of Israel received in the land of Canaan, in which Eliezer the priest, and Joshua the son of Nun, and the heads of the fathers, houses of the tribes, the people of Israel, gave them to inherit." You'll see the same sort of thing mirrored, not quite the same words, but the same ideas. What you see is Joshua and Eliezer distributing the land at the very end of chapter 19.

And so what you see in how this begins and ends is what you're saying is, this is what God is going to do through Joshua and the priest. He's going to take this land, and this tribe gets this section, and this tribe gets that section. And what you'll find is that Israel is divided by a river. You can see it there on your map. And so there's an eastern side with two and a half tribes and a western side with the other nine and a half tribes equaling twelve in total. And so this chapter you're going to see in chapter 13, it talks about the eastern side and what Moses did, and then the majority of this is going to focus on the western side and what Joshua does. And you have sort of two groups of tribes mentioned in here.

You're going to have the southern tribes and the northern tribes. And once again, this will be divided in these two sections. So you have these divisions east and west of the Jordan River and then north and south in the Promised Land. And what's remarkable is in the middle of all of this, there is a little town called Shiloh. And in chapter 18:1, kind of the hinge that changes where they are distributing land, you find this. The whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there, and the land lay subdued before them. So both geographically and textually, the center of this text is Shiloh where God dwells. That God himself is saying, "This is where I am, in the center of my people." Hebrews will tell us that the tabernacle was a copy of the heavenly things.

The picture here in this entire section, all of these verses, all of these cities, all of these people, all these things that we can't pronounce. The point is, is that God is in the midst of his people. That there, in between the north and the south, God is. And he is with his people. But not just that God is in the midst of his people, but that the Levites who serve God are in the midst of all of these tribes throughout this entire land. Listen to the inheritance. To the tribe of Levi, Moses gave no inheritance. The offerings by fire to the God of Israel are their inheritance, as he said to him. Chapter 13, "But to the tribe of Levi, Moses gave no inheritance. The Lord God of Israel is their inheritance." Joshua 18, "The Levites have no portion among you, for the priesthood of the Lord is their heritage."

Right? Their inheritance is to be near God, and then these people are spread throughout Israel. And the purpose of pointing this out, in fact, the Levites will be given cities scattered throughout Israel. And the point that is being made by God as He inspires this historical record is that He is in the midst of His people. Right? The treasure of this passage is not the land and the divisions, and this tribe gets this, and that tribe gets those cities. The treasure of this text is that God is in the midst of His people. That's the point that is being made. That in the middle of this land is God, and in the midst of His people are His priests, the Levites serving Him. This is not an accidental arrangement of the text. All of these things point to the fact that God is central.

And so the treasure of these chapters is overwhelming as they can seem. As confusing as they can seem here and here and there and there. The point is that God dwells in the midst of His people, and He is there with them where they dwell. And it's to point us to what God has been doing in and among His people. You see, in these chapters, one of the themes that runs so deeply is that God is faithful. In Genesis chapter 12, God will say to Abraham, "Leave your house and your father's house and go to a land that I will show you." And in Genesis 13, God will say to Abraham, "I want you to look up from where you're standing, and I want you to look north, and I want you to look south, and I want you to look east, and I want you to look west, and I want you to see this land,

because this is the land that I will give you." And in Genesis 15, God will say, "Your people are about to leave this land, but they will come back and have it again someday." In Genesis chapter 49, the entire chapter is almost devoted to Jacob, the father of these tribes, blessing his children. And if you take Genesis 49 and Joshua 13-19 and put them together, what you see is that God is keeping the promise of this blessing of Jacob. And in Joshua 21, we hear these words, "Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed. All came to pass." Do you hear what's said about God's faithfulness? Not one word of His good promises failed to come to pass. What I want you to see, and what I need to see in this text, is that what God plans, He accomplishes.

What He promises, He will fulfill. When God says He will do something, He will do it. Now, it may not always be in our schedule or our timeline, but we see from Genesis chapter 12 to Joshua chapter 13, God keeps His promises faithfully. It's one of the reasons why if you read, especially through the Psalms, you'll find this phrase that God is our rock, that He's faithful. He doesn't move. He doesn't waver. He doesn't change His mind. He's not fickle about what He likes or dislikes, but He is the solid thing in the midst of a world that always seems to be moving and shaking and changing, that God's promises are the one thing that hold us firm in the midst of a world that seems like it turns upside down. In fact, we were saying a few moments ago, right? I rest my soul in Jesus. And if you think about the turmoil that fills our world, whether it's financial or political or militarily, or even in terms of health or conflict in families or conflict between people or conflict at work, it seems like this world is in constant upheaval.

Things are changing. They're changing rapidly. Not always changing for the good. And we feel this within our soul, that things are not right. And one of the things that these chapters do to a people who feel like they're in the wilderness is it shows us that God is faithful, God is our rock, and that God keeps His promises. The second thing that we see that I think is so helpful for us is that God calls His people to join Him on mission, right? We're not working to get something for God or from God. We're not working to deserve, but we are joining God in what He is doing. Take a look at Joshua chapter 13 in these first few verses. We're familiar with the first one. Joshua was old and advanced in years. And the Lord said to him, "You are old and advanced in years. There remains very much land to possess." This is the land that yet remains. And if you're looking at your maps, you'll see the side described there next to the Mediterranean and towards the south.

The land that yet remains all the region of the Philistines. Those are the Geshurites. From Shihor, which is east of Egypt, northward to the boundary of Ekron, which is counted as Canaanite. There are five rulers of the Philistines. Those of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. And those of Avim. And in the south, the land of Canaanites, Merah that belongs to the Tidonians. To Aphex, the boundary of the Amorites, the land of the Jebulites, and of Lebanon towards the sunrise. From Baal Gad below Mount Hermon to Leohath, all the inhabitants of the hill country. From Lebanon to Misereth, Maine, and all the Sidonians. And now here's what God says. He says, "Work's not done. Joshua is transitioning before the people. I'm calling on you to join me in my work. I will drive them out from before the people of the Israel. Only allot the land to Israel for an inheritance as I have commanded you. Now therefore, divide this land for an inheritance

to the nine tribes and the half-tribe of Manasseh." So God says there's land is at peace now, but there is still work to do. And so what he tells Joshua is divided. Pass out the territories that I have told you, and that I have shown you, and that through the priest, the son of Aaron, you will hear from me how this is to be divided, but these people need to go to work. And they are not trying to earn God's favor, but rather working with God to accomplish his mission, empowered by God. God says, "I will drive them out myself." What you find in verse 13 is the people of Israel did not do this. And in verse 15, the people of Judah did not do this. And in the next and following chapters, in chapter 16, the Ephraimites

did not do this. And in Joshua 17, the people of Manasseh did not do this. And there is one contrast. We'll take a look at them in five weeks. One man who was 85 years old says, "I will join God on his mission." And he takes the most difficult part of the land and wholeheartedly follows God. I think there is a message today for the church. God has brought us into his kingdom, but it's a kingdom that is still advancing. It's why he tells the disciples, "Go, therefore, into all the world." It's why he tells them in Acts chapter one, "You're going to be my witnesses in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth." It's why when Peter confesses him as the Christ, Jesus says, "The gates of hell will not prevail against my church." That we, as Christians, as we rest in the faithfulness of God, are reminded that

you and I are called to join God on his mission. The mission of sharing the gospel, of seeing lives that are upside down being brought right side up. Those who are hurting, finding healing. Those who are fearful, finding courage. Those who are tired and overwhelmed, finding rest. You and I, as a church, are called to join God on his mission, empowered by him and led by him. Not like we will see these tribes saying, "Yes, God has given me the land, but now I am just going to rest," or in some cases, we will see in a few weeks, just complain about what God has given us. We are called to join God on mission. These chapters also show a promised land for God's people. Joshua 18 begins like this. The whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land laid subdued

before them. And what's interesting is, in the way that this is worded, it brings us back to Genesis 1:28, as God makes man, and He puts them in the garden. And He says, "This garden is for you to subdue it, to make it good, to tend it, to care for it, to be in charge of it." And what we see in Joshua 18 is an echo of what happens in Genesis 13, where God removes Adam and Eve from the garden, separates Himself from their presence, and now here Joshua, not completely, but in a small way, is bringing people back into a land that is rich, flowing with milk and honey, and they are called, like Adam and Eve, to subdue it. It's a glimpse of what God is doing in redemption. No longer distant and separated, but in the midst of His people, and His priests are in the midst of all of the people that were getting this picture of redemption from the brokenness of sin and exile from the garden. Here is redemption and restoration and being brought back into fellowship with God.

This shows us a promised land for God's people. You see, these seven chapters, one of the things they do is they address the longing of our heart, right? We're tired. We just want a place to rest. A place to sit down. And sometimes after a chaotic time or chaotic moment, I just want to sit down. I want to rest for just a minute. Most of us, I think, if we're honest with our hearts, feel that need to rest. We also feel a need to find a place to settle. And I imagine some of you have been in similar situations where it feels like your life is just unsettled. I remember as I was finishing up college, I felt very much this way. Because every semester we moved dorm rooms and in some cases packed up my car and went home or moved to an apartment in town.

And my senior year, I was preaching at this little church that was 90 miles away from my college. And so I would leave on Fridays, go stay with some friends, then drive another 30 miles to the church, go back to their house, and then on Monday go back to college, and then on Friday pack up and do it all over again. And I graduated and went and stayed with a friend until there was a wedding that I had to officiate, and then came home. And I just remember that whole time, I just felt like everything was there. It was like, get everything packed up so I can leave, get back, get everything cleaned up so I can do school, and then I get packed up so I can leave again. And you just feel unsettled. And we're not just looking for rest, but we're looking for a place to settle.

A place to stop having to go from here to there, and from there to there. And we're looking for a place to belong. I pray most of us at one point have felt like outsiders. And when I was in first grade, we moved from Tucson, Arizona, to a little town called Virgens, Vermont. So we went from a city that had more population than the entire state we were moving to. And this little tiny school where I started second grade, where everybody, like second generation immigrants from the Netherlands, they all spoke a different language at home, went from very urban to very rural. Everybody in my class, with me being the exception, was a farmer, right? It was a whole different situation. The school was different. And I remember that first thing, it was like, I don't know what's going on.

I didn't realize I was supposed to bring toy tractors to school so we could build a hay field in the middle of the soccer field, right? And we've all experienced that where we go somewhere, and we just feel like we don't belong, right? There's this struggle in our hearts. We want to rest. We want to settle. We want to belong to something. And here's where the good news of Joshua comes in. And if you remember, Joshua comes from the Hebrew word Yeshua. Jesus' name in Hebrew, Yeshua, comes to us through Hebrew to Aramaic, ultimately through English. And so, just as Israel, and I love this, is led from the wilderness, through the waters, into the promised land, and given rest, and a place to settle, and a place to belong. Jesus, Jesus has led us through the waters.

He has defeated our enemies. And He has promised a home where we can settle, and where we can rest, and where we can belong. I love that. Jesus defeats our enemies at the cross. He leads us through the waters. He brings us to a place where we don't have to struggle and strive. A place where we belong. And a place where we can live. You see, not only does this text echo Genesis chapter 1 in a garden that's being restored, it points us ahead to another place. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. And God himself will be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore. For the former things have passed away." And he who is seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." In the next chapter, as John, in exile on Patmos, in a place where there was no rest. In a place where there was nowhere to belong. In a place where he had no place to settle. He ends this book seeing this revelation of a heavenly city being close to God. He ends this book with these words, "Come, Lord Jesus." "Come, the one who has defeated our enemies, come and lead us to our home." Where we belong, we can rest, and we can settle. You see, in Joshua 13-19, 7 chapters, 281 verses.

You have both an encouragement for us. That our Joshua has led us, and has brought us to victory, and is bringing us to a home. And so we look at that, and this is rejoicing, and this is encouragement, and this is wonderful, but in this is also a call to those who are seeking rest, a call to those who are seeking a home, a call to those who are finding a place to settle, that we find this only in Jesus. Let's pray. Father, thank You for the gift of Your Son, who has come and found us, has saved us. Like Joshua, He has defeated our enemies. Like Joshua, He is leading us. So help us to see this picture in the Old Testament that points to the joyful reality of Your people today. Help us, as Christians who know this truth, to sing with joy.

And help those who are struggling and hurting and searching to see this in You. Be with us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand, and we're going to sing a joyful song about this. Because for Christians, these chapters of God's faithfulness, and God keeping His promise, point us to a day when He is returning. And we will find this same kind of inheritance. And we're going to stand and sing "Glorious Day." I was buried beneath my shame Who could carry that kind of weight? It was my tune Till I met you I was breathing but not alive All my failures I tried to hide It was my tune

Till I met you You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day Now your mercy has saved My soul Now your freedom is all That I know The old made new Jesus, when I met you You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day I had rescued My sin was heavy But chains break at the weight of your glory I needed shelter I was an orphan Now you call me A citizen of heaven When I was broken You were my healing

Now your love is the air that I'm breathing I have a future My eyes are open Cause when you called my name I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness Into your glorious day You called my name And I ran out of that grave Out of the darkness To your glorious day This morning, just a couple of announcements as we get ready to wrap up this morning. In a moment we'll pray, read a verse of Scripture, and we'll sing praising God for all of His blessings. There will be no Wednesday evening Bible study this week. We've been, over the past several weeks, looking through sort of the biblical theology of Thanksgiving, and with Thanksgiving this week we will not have Bible study on this Wednesday. Next week we'll be back. We're going to kind of be dovetailing together with our Sunday morning messages on the

arrival of Jesus, and all of the events and the wonderful things that surround us. So that's normally at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, but not this week. Next week. Also, we're getting ready to sort of begin our process of trying to update everybody's contact information so that we can keep you informed specifically of things during the week, like if we have a prayer request that needs to be shared so that we can pray together for that, or if there's an announcement that we need to make you aware of. So on the back table next to like the case of water and the offering plate, there's a couple of, there's some little forms, just name, address, phone number, can we text you, is that okay, can we send you an email, that kind of thing. So if you would like to fill those out, if you would like to do it online,

one of the easiest ways, if you have a cell phone, there's a little sign there on that welcome table, scan the QR code, it takes you to our digital bulletin, and there's a form right there that you can go ahead and fill out. We'll have a couple more ways to do that online as well in the coming weeks. So we'd just like to start the process of being able to sort of update everybody's contact information. It's been a few years since that happened, and I know phone numbers change and all of those kind of things, and so we'd like to update that. So we're going to go ahead, have a word of prayer. I'll read a little bit from Ephesians, and then we will sing the doxology. Father in heaven, thank you for your grace. Thank you that you have called us, you have saved us,

and thank you that you are bringing us home. Be with us through this week as we look and consider your blessings. Help us to be thankful for the good that you have done for us, and to share that good with the world around us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So Paul, in Ephesians chapter 1, writes this prayer. He says, "Praying for the Ephesians, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know to what hope he has called you, that is, the riches of his glorious inheritance of his saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward those who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.

For above all rule and authority and power and dominion, above every name that is named, not only in this age, but in the age to come."

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise him, all creatures here below. Praise him, above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen. Amen. Amen.