Hope For The world - Sunday, January 22, 2023

Sing like never before, O my soul, I'll worship your holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul, Worship his holy name. Sin like never before, oh my soul, I'll worship your holy name. Yes, I will worship your holy name. Lord, I'll worship your holy name. you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Now, before we come to communion, we're going to sing together, Man of Sorrows, and as we spend some time looking to Jesus. I would encourage you, if you want to partake in communion, there are communion elements on the back table. We're thankful that he has saved us and that he has brought us into this community. I know it's been said a bunch this morning, but it is very heartwarming with all of us and with the young people and the older people. I'm just very encouraged by our church. Let's go ahead and sing Man of Sorrows.

Man of sorrows, Lamb of God, by his own betrayal. The sin of man and wrath of God has been on Jesus' name. Silent as He stood, accused, beaten, mocked, and scorned Bowing to the Father's will, He took a crown of thorns Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation Where your love poured out over me Now my soul cries out, hallelujah Praise and honor unto thee Send up heaven, God's own Son, to purchase and redeem And reconcile the very ones who nailed Him to that tree Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation Where your love poured out over me Now my soul cries out, Hallelujah Praise and honor unto thee

Now my debt is paid, it is paid in full, by the precious blood that my Jesus spilled. Now the curse of sin has no hold on me, whom the Son sets free, O is free indeed. Now my debt is paid, it is paid in full By the precious blood that my Jesus filled Now the curse of sin has no hold on me When the sun sets free, O is free indeed Oh, that rugged cross, my salvation, where your love poured out over me, now my soul cries out, hallelujah, praise and honor unto thee.

See the stone is rolled away, behold the empty tomb. Hallelujah, God be praised, He's risen from the grave. Oh that rugged cross, my salvation, where your love poured out over me, now my soul cries out, hallelujah, praise and honor unto thee. Praise and honor unto thee.

in the sense that he wasn't one of the first 12, but he came to study Jesus later and he went around and talked to a lot of people and that's how he got his information. He was writing for a guy named Theophilus who probably paid him to write this history of Jesus and of his life. And in chapter 22 of his first book, in verse 7, he records this last supper, the communion meal that we're getting ready to take. And again, he probably got his information from Matthew and Peter and the people who were there. But he writes this, he says, now the festival of unleavened bread arrived when the Passover lamb is sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, go and prepare the Passover meal so we can eat it together. We jump down to verse 15. So Peter and John have gone where

Jesus told them to. They've prepared the meal, which was a, you know, kind of an elaborate thing. There was a whole lot to preparing this meal. And in verse 15, we read this, Jesus said, I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. For I tell you now that I won't eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. Now, we, 2,000 years later, we have the benefit of hindsight, of understanding what Jesus was talking about here. But the reality is, these guys sitting around the table, they didn't really have that benefit of hindsight. They didn't really understand necessarily what was happening. So we jump down now to verse 19, and we read this. he being Jesus, took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave

it to the disciples saying, this is my body, which is given for you. Do this, meaning eat this bread in remembrance of me, or do this to remember me. After supper, he took another cup of wine and said, this cup is the new covenant between God and his people, an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you. Now, the reality is those guys sitting in this room, like they probably should have been offended by what Jesus was doing here because Passover was this super sacred thing for the Jewish people, right? They're remembering that God, when they were slaves in Egypt, as a final act to get Pharaoh to finally acquiesce and let his people, let the Jewish people free, God sent his spirit through and he killed all of the firstborn,

but he was passing over the houses where they had painted the blood of the lamb. So this was an unbelievable ceremony of remembrance for the Jewish people. And here is Jesus sitting there at the table with them and saying, hey, from now on, when you celebrate this really special thing that's been celebrated at this point for a long, long time, you're not going to think about what God has done for you. You're going to think about what I am getting ready to do for you. And it really should have probably made them all get up and leave. But his message to them was, remember me. remember me. I spent a whole lot of years as a Christian worried more about the how and the when of partaking of this meal. Things like do I really break the bread, right? It says Jesus broke the

bread. Like do I actually have to break the bread or am I doing it wrong if I don't? Should we only have like one cup and one loaf? Because again that's what Jesus did. Like there was a common loaf of bread and he broke it and there's one cup. Does it have to be on a Sunday? Like what happens if by 11 59 on Sunday night I haven't taken communion like if I die at 1201 am I going straight to hell like is it just an express lane that I'm headed there you know do I have to do it every single Sunday what happens if I miss a Sunday and as I spent all those years worried about how and when I partook of this meal I was missing out on the big picture of the why

Jesus understood what was getting ready to happen to him and his friends didn't and he knew that as they carried on their ministry because his ministry on earth was getting ready to come to an end that they were going to need something they were going to need this memorial so that every time they got together and they broke the bread and they drank of this cup they would think back to that night in this upper room where they another account of it literally reads that they were reclining on Jesus like that's how intimate this situation was he's with his best friends getting ready to die, they would think back to that night and they would remember what Jesus did. And I really believe that that is Jesus's message to us. He was so eager to partake of this meal.

Years later, Paul, who got his information directly from Jesus, kind of more miraculously than we do, he records this in 1 Corinthians 11, 23. For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance for me. In the same way, he took the cup of wine, saying this cup is the new covenant between God and his people, an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it. For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord's death until he comes again. Paul goes on to say that one of the things we need

to do when we partake of this is we need to examine ourselves. As we were singing that song, I thought to myself, you know, I've always looked at that and said, well, I need to like understand what I'm doing wrong, which I think is the true part of like examining myself. But it also gives us an opportunity to do what Jesus said, which is remember him and remember the price that he paid for our sins. So yes, we're sinful and yes, we have to examine the things that we've done that continue to separate us from God. But it's also an opportunity for us to remember the sacrifice that Jesus was willing to pay for our sins. Will you pray with me real quick and then we'll take the communion. God, we love you. We just thank you for this time that we have to gather here. We thank

you for this remembrance that we get to have here. We thank you for Jesus, for his willingness to go to the cross, for his eagerness to sit in that upper room with his followers and share this last meal, to establish this last supper, this communion that we get to do on a regular basis, Father, so that we can remember back to the sacrifice that he made. He loved us, and he loved us enough to take on all of our sins even though he was sinless father he was willing to take on all of our sins to make us right with you again so that we could truly call you our heavenly father and we just thank you for that we thank you for Jesus in his name amen so if you will we take the the bread and

just like Jesus said we're going to break it and we're going to partake and this is his body and we're going to remember him and then likewise if you just flip your uh thing over you've got the The cup, which represents Jesus' blood. And if you'll take that with me now. Will you just bow with me one more time? God, thank you. Thank you for this communion meal. I thank you for all these people. I thank you for Jesus, for his sacrifice, and for the love that he continues to have for us today. We pray this all in his name. Amen.

We've been moving through the book of Joshua, and before we dive into the 23rd chapter this morning, I just want to read from that. We're not going to read the entire chapter. We're just going to read the first 11 verses. This is one of three sort of major assemblies of the people of Israel. The first one we looked at last week, which was kind of an angry emergency. They're doing something wrong and we don't like it, so let's go to war kind of assembly. This morning, Joshua is going to have sort of a smaller assembly where he gathers the leaders and the elders, sort of the people who are in leadership among the tribes. He's going to essentially give them his last words. He says, I'm going to leave this earth before too long. And then next week in Joshua 24, we'll see as he summons all the people and they renew their covenant with God.

So I'm going to go ahead and read from God's word. A long time afterward, when the Lord had given Israel from all their surrounding enemies, and Joshua was old and well advanced in years, Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and its heads, its judges and officers, and said to them, I am now old and advanced in years. And you have seen that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who fought for you. Behold, I have allotted to you as an inheritance for your tribes those nations that remain, along with the nations that I have already cut off from the Jordan River to the great sea in the west. The Lord your God will push them back before you and drive them out of your sight,

and you shall possess their land, just as the Lord your God has promised you. Therefore, be strong to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, turning aside from neither the right nor to the left. that you may not mix with these nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods or swear by them or serve or bow down to them but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day for the Lord has driven out before you great and strong nations and as for you no man has been able to stand before you to this day one man of you puts flight to flight a thousand since it is the Lord your God who fights for you just as he promised be

careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray. Father, as we approach your word this morning, we see that you are the one who gives the victory. For many of us, we come to this moment encouraged, encouraged and strengthened by you. But we also know that in our midst there are those who are struggling with the chaos of life. They're struggling with uncertainty. They are fearful. They're unsure. They're grieving loss. And so we ask this morning that as we look at Joshua's words, as they direct us to this most important truth that we love you with all that we are, that we are not distracted and we are not discouraged, that you would lift us up, you would point us to yourself, and that you would help us.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. So one of the best Christmas gifts that my wife ever got me, she didn't actually pay for. I woke up on Christmas morning and she had gotten together with some friends, and they were getting rid of a truck, which should give you an idea of the state of the truck. And so she had acquired this truck for me. Some of you have probably driven trucks like this. It was from the 80s. I love that little truck so much. It was a little Nissan from the mid-80s or now super collector items. It sounded like a race car and felt like a race car when I was driving it. I'm sure to all of the other people on the road, I just kind of look like a clown, you know, because, you know, I feel like I'm doing 90 miles now, and you look down, you're doing like 25, you know, your revs are up like 8,000, you're like, yeah, I'm really getting after this, and everybody else is just going, man, that guy is ridiculous.

Now, this truck, as you can imagine, with a lot of free trucks, came with a few problems. One of them was that it didn't, sometimes it just didn't start. And the guy who had given it to us, he said, well, here's what you do. You get a stick, and you go down there, and you just tap on the starter real hard. And then, you know what? It'll start right up. Now, I was never able to get that to work for me. The second problem, which is related to the starting problem, was that the stick he had used to start it was the inside emergency brake handle. And it wasn't just like a little plastic handle. This is what keeps the emergency brake cable where it enters the cab and then engages and all of that.

And so that's what he had been using to tap on the starter, and then he had lost it. And so there was, by nature of no handle, no emergency brake. And no matter how hard I looked and how many salvage yards and how many places I could not find that handle. So two major problems. One, it doesn't always want to start. And two, there's no emergency brake. Now, in most of our cars, that's not a problem. But when you have like a 30-year-old truck with a manual transmission that wherever you go, you have to park on top of the steepest hill that you can find. In order that just in case it doesn't start, you can roll it down the hill on top. Not having an emergency brake is kind of a big deal. And so what I did is I carried, you know, some blocks in the back and got any chocolate tires, right?

And so spring came. I had the truck registered and was driving it back and forth to the dumpster. You know what the first repair that I did was? And this was remarkable. I went to Lowe's. I got $20 worth of spray paint and I made it all one color, right? Out of all of the problems, right, it doesn't start, it doesn't like to stop. what I'm going to do is invest my time and money in making sure that it is all exactly one color. Now, there's a reason for that. It's not a good reason. But one of the reasons that we don't often like to address the stuff that's inside, we deal with the stuff on the outside, is first of all, it's what I can see, right? Every day, I get up and I get in a little truck and I look at it and this is a different color,

that's a different color. Two owners before, some guy's girlfriend engraved your name on the hood, right? I look at them and go, man, I see that every time. But also, those big problems, that it sort of felt so big and so overwhelming, and painting the truck, the outside felt achievable. And you and I, we do the same thing in life, right? Oftentimes, we'll ignore the big internal problem and just do something about the outside because we can see it. And it feels like I can change this thing on the outside where the thing on the inside, I may not be strong enough or skilled enough or have enough discipline to do so we ignore the heart of the matter for something on the surface. And so what we're seeing in Joshua 23, in fact, in all of these three chapters

is Joshua and God have been dealing with the people to get to the heart of the matter, to what's really the problem, Not just sort of an external fix, not just making things all in color, not just making things look good, but getting there, bobbing the hood of the people of Israel, and getting under and working on what the true problem is. And the true problem that we see in these three chapters is the problem of idolatry. That's the accusation in 22. It's the issue that he's going to deal with in chapter 23. And in 24, as he talks to everybody, he's going to sort of give everybody a choice. And it's probably one of the most well-known verses in the book of Joshua. Joshua will say to the people, choose this day who you will serve.

And then you can probably complete this. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, right? We know it, right? One of the most famous verses, Joshua trying to get to the heart of what is happening with the people. Now, when we hear about words like idolatry, it can be a struggle for you and I to sort of see the connection to us, right? That's a them problem. That's for somebody that maybe has lived a long time ago or in a place far away or whose culture is significantly different than mine. Maybe they're not as educated. Maybe they're not as refined. Maybe they're not as scientific. Idolatry, a lot of times, in our modern minds, is simply a them problem, not an us problem. But I would say this, idolatry, biblically, is not simply a practice limited to people who are distant from us in maybe time or place or culture.

Idolatry is a problem that goes to the depths of our heart. And what idolatry is at its root is finding our hope, our joy, our peace, our safety, and our security in something other than God. And it may be a person, it may be a thing, but we're seeking those desires of our heart somewhere other than God. And probably most of us have said this or something similar to it. If I could just have this happen in my life, things would be good. If I could have this job, if we could get this house, if we could afford this car, if we could get our kids into that school, if I could be in this relationship, if I could get to retirement, if I could get this promotion, then my life will be good. And what we're doing when we say those kind of things is we're saying that my hope, my peace, my safety, and my security are contingent on this person or this thing or this accomplishment.

And at the root of that, what that is, is simply idolatry. We're trusting something else for everything we need rather than trusting God. And the insidious nature of idolatry is that it takes good things, right? Because a job is good. A good school is good. A house is good, a relationship is good, but it takes good things and it elevates them to the place of God. And the heart of idolatry is that it is dishonest. It doesn't work. Those things aren't made to hold the weight of our hearts and of our souls. It turns everything in our life ultimately upside down. And so Joshua, as he nears the end of his life, he gathers Israel together. And what he's going to do is he's going to give them this sort of talking to about idolatry.

And it's not just what he says. And what I love about this text is how he says it. And so if you think about this text as two arrows, right? So there's one arrow that points down and it points to verse 11. And then there's one arrow that starts at the bottom of this text and it points up to verse 11. Verse 11 is the heart of this text, and the rest of this is arrows pointing both up and down. So it begins and ends with Joshua saying, I'm about to go into the ground, right? I don't have a lot of time left, and so what I'm going to say to you is of the utmost importance, right? When you are on your deathbed, you are not worried about whether somebody got milk from the grocery store.

And so Joshua here is going to deal with something that is of incredible importance. and both beginning and ending these arrows you're going to find reminders of God's faithfulness and then sort of as you get to the middle of the arrow you're going to find this reminder in the first arrow that you need to cling to God and in the second arrow you're going to find this reminder that you can't cling to all this stuff that just disappears. And so then we come to the very middle and here is the point that Joshua is making in verse 11 Be very careful, therefore, to love the Lord your God. Everything before this points down to it, everything after it points up to it. And at the center of this text is love the Lord your God.

And be careful of those things that will take you and lead you astray. And Joshua doesn't just tell us this. In this text, he's going to give us several ways in which we can accomplish this. And the first thing that he does is he says, see what God has done. God has given Israel rest from their enemies, verse 1. Fought for his people in verse 3. He's stronger than the strongest enemy in verses 9 and 10. In fact, he'll say he'll take one of his people and they'll be able to put to flight a thousand of the enemies. Listen to what he says in verse 14. Now I am about to go the way of the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things the Lord your God has promised concerning you.

All have come to pass, not one of them has failed. And for the people, right, this is going to bring to mind the fact that God has split the Jordan River in half. He is going to drop the walls of Jericho, and they have faced multiple kings with multiple armies. God has given them the victory. stopped the sun in the sky so they could continue the battle ending in utter victory for Israel and utter defeat for their enemies that God has fought for them and he has done marvelous and amazing things. And what we see as we look through the journey of the wilderness and even into the first years of the promised land Israel very quickly forgets. And so many times we're really, really good at making fun of them. So they come out of Egypt

And they get to the Red Sea. Well, what are we going to do? God splits the Red Sea in half. Immediately, they get to the other side and complain. We don't have any water. God gives them water. Then they complain, we don't have food. And forgetting what God has done before, God will then give them food. And they're still ungrateful. And they're like, the food isn't good enough. And we don't like it. And we look at them and say, how do you forget what God has done? How he has provided. How he has split the water in half. How he has brought you to the promised land. How he has provided for you. How he has helped you in battle. How do you forget that? And then we go ahead and do the very same thing.

I'll give you an example. Friday, I like to get a haircut. And I was like the first one at the barber shop. I'm not used to a barber shop that opens at 9. I showed up a little before then. And there was another guy in there, so I just went in. And I'm sitting there, and just me and the barber, he started cutting my hair. And I was talking to him, because in February of last year, I had a kidney transplant. And one of the side effects of the anti-rejection medicine is that it starts to thin your hair, and it makes it more fragile, and then you start to lose it. So it's maybe a few years, and I'll be matching a few of you who are getting a little thinner on top, and I'm complaining to the barber about this.

And I'm like, yeah, my hair is not like it used to be. It's getting so thin. And he just looked at me and goes, well, at least you're alive. And I'm like, well, I hadn't really thought of it in that context before, right? And, like, really blunt, he was like, man, your hair doesn't matter, you're alive. And I was like, oh, wow, people of Israel, I see how they can forget things, right? We do the same exact thing. And so one of the things that Joshua intentionally does with people, he says, remember what God has done, and be specific about it. Don't just be like, oh, God saved us. Say, look at all the promises he's made. He promised this, and he promised this, and he promised this, and he's done it. And so in our lives, if we are to avoid idolatry, if we are to protect our hearts,

if we're to keep our heart from running after something else, we have to be intentional about seeing and thanking God for what he has done. The second thing that happens is Joshua then points people to hear the word of God. He doesn't necessarily do it. He does it a little bit with his words, but he does it a lot with his actions. In fact, look at verse 6 in chapter 43. Therefore, he says, this is where he says it, be very strong to keep and do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses, turning aside from neither the right nor the left. He says, make sure you're walking in the law that God has given you. And this is a quote to what God has said to Joshua at the very beginning.

In Joshua chapter 1, God will say to him this, be strong, courageous, and careful to do according to the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from the right hand or the left, so you may have good success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, and you may be careful to do all according to what is written in them, for you will make your way prosperous, and you will have good success. God has said to Joshua, don't forget what I said to you to Moses now. Joshua says to the people, don't forget what God has said to you through Moses, and through my words, and through my example. And then Joshua, as he makes this speech, this entire chapter,

one of the remarkable things is Joshua is doing exactly what he is calling the people to. His words are almost completely from Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. All of Joshua's words, he traces back to what God has already said. I counted up with cross-references, something like 26 or 27 cross-references in his speech to the people. He's just reciting from the Old Testament. One commentator says this, Joshua's address consists entirely of reminiscence from the Pentateuch, more especially from Deuteronomy, as he had nothing fresh to say to the people, But he could only impress upon them the old truths to the people and impress them upon their minds once more. And here's what I see in Joshua. When we're excited, it just overflows out of us. Right? So, like, when our kids are excited, what happens? It just overflows.

And you constantly hear, right? You constantly hear about all of the things they love, all the things they're excited about. And that's because that excitement just overflows out of them. And that happens to us as well. When we are really excited about something, what happens? It's all we can talk about. And so here comes Joshua, his words at the very end of his life. And what's the one thing he's excited to talk about? It's the Word of God. And it just overflows out of him. Like when our kids discovered Buzz Lightyear. It's all they can talk about. And here's Joshua with the Word of God. And it's all he can talk about. And so Joshua calls the people to walk in the path of God. It says, neither to the right nor to the left, and the psalmist, the author of the 119th Psalm will say,

that your word is a light to my feet and a lamp to my path, that the word of God shows us where we are to be walking. And by knowing and loving the word of God, it keeps us from stumbling off one side or the other. And so Wednesday night after Bible study, when I go through and lock the doors and turn out the lights before I head home, It's always really dark. And downstairs in that hallway downstairs, the hallway lights, you can turn one set on from each door. So, you know, this has a switch here and a switch there. But there's also a switch in the middle that turns them all either off or on. And there's so many times, it's actually embarrassing how many times I'll be coming down, you know, 8.30 on a Wednesday night,

walking down through that hall, and I'll get to that middle switch, and I'll just flip them all off. And then here I am standing in the middle of a dark hallway. Now, it doesn't matter that I've been up and down that hallway a million times. Like, at some point, I'm going to walk into the wall and then smash my knee on the drinking fountain at the end of the hall, right? Because I was an idiot, and I turned off the lights when, in fact, I could have just walked to the door and done the same exact thing. Turned them off there. And how many of us, as we walk through this life, are doing the same thing spiritually? Joshua points us to the light that God has given us through his word. How it keeps us from going off the path one way or another.

And then we just simply walk down the hall, turn off the lights, and wonder why we're crashing into the wall. And so Joshua first says if we're going to keep our heart fixed on God, it's got to be by remembering what he's done, by hearing his word. And then the third thing he's going to do is point us to the fact that we have to guard our hearts. And one of the things, if you read this chapter, that Joshua is going to say over and over, it has to do with marrying women who are outside of Israel. And the issue with that is not that they're the wrong nationality, but they're the wrong spirituality, right? That they are worshipping in the wrong manner. Because God has welcomed in the beginning of Joshua, Rahab, and a couple books later in the Old Testament,

he will welcome into his people Ruth. And so you have a Canaanite and a Moabite, two of the people opposed to the word of God. They end up being in the genealogy of Jesus. It's not about where they're from or what nationality or race they are. It's about the fact that they are worshipping a false God. And what Joshua is saying to them is that it's very easy to let your heart lead you into a place where you will stumble and fall because your eyes are not fixed on God. It's very easy to become distracted, and he calls on them to guard their hearts. We're oftentimes looking at exactly the wrong thing. I've shared this with some of you before, but that old truck that I really, really loved and I thought I was so cool driving, I remember once we were getting ready to sell a car that

we had, and we'd already hit a deer with the front end, but it was a tank, and so it was fine, it was still drivable. And I'm sitting in the driveway back here before we turn into some grass. And I'm sitting there in the truck and Rachel's outside. I'm over there revving the engine going, oh man, she really, you know, ladies like it when you rev an engine really fast, right? So I'm like, hey, Rachel, look at this. And then to be really cool, you know, in the movies where the guy just makes eye contact and he does something real dangerous as he's driving. So you see Stan over there, I'm like, yeah, throw in reverse, slam on the gas. And you know what I did? Right in the back of the car. Like, directly into the back.

Like, she still has not let me forget this. Like, every time I'm like, hey, watch out. And I'm like, who needs to be watching out for what, sir? Because, what, my eyes are fixed on her. And so here I try to walk back up down this road and immediately slam into the hills. That's the picture when Joshua talks about our hearts and guarding them. What he's saying is where your eyes are fixed on, where your attention goes, it's going to cause problems if it's the wrong thing. And so instead of looking at where I was going, and many of us, instead of looking at where we should be going, we're from here and there. And Joshua says, look, you need to remember what God has done for you to fight the ungratefulness in your life,

to hear his word, because it lights up where you should walk and keep and fight to keep your eyes on him. And so we have these three things, right? Love the Lord your God is the center of all of us. Remember his goodness, hear his word, and guard your hearts. So the question for me is, well, how well does that work? If you look at the history of what happens next in Joshua, it does not work well, right? This seems like great advice, but for the people of Israel, You know how long they're faithful to God after Joshua dies in the next chapter? One generation. And then you get to the book of Judges, which is literal the train wreck of the Bible. The people will fall into idolatry. The very thing Joshua says, don't do.

He says, remember God, be in his word, guard your hearts. And they go, yeah, we don't really need that. And God will send an oppressing nation. They will repent. God will save them. One generation, and it happens all over again. It's like a tire stuck in the mud through the entire book of Judges. And even into Israel's kings, right? You'll get a good king and God's people are back on track. And then immediately a bad king who forgets the word back in the same place. And what you find biblically is that one of the reasons this cycle repeats throughout the Old Testament is because we can't do it on our own, right? You can have all the good tips, right? You know, be thankful. Be in the word of God. You know, focus and guard your heart.

But without help, it's not going to be very successful. Without somebody to point you to these things. Without somebody to remind you. Without somebody to correct you. And when Joshua, who has led the people and reminded them and corrected them and shown them an example. When he's gone, it all falls apart. And so on the surface, it may seem like this is a battle that we cannot win. But Joshua isn't the end of the story. Joshua, in fact, is a mile close to the bigger story. It's a story that points us to a different Joshua, a new Joshua, a true and better Joshua. And in fact, Joshua, his name comes from Hebrew, Yeshua.

As you begin the New Testament, you need another person named Joshua. The name is Yeshua, it goes into Greek, it's Jesus, it comes into English, it's Jesus. In Hebrew, Jesus' name is Joshua. And he is the one who will lead his people. He is the one who will equip us to be faithful. Who as he encourages us to see what God has done, as he points us to his word, he in fact is the word himself. as he helps us to guard our hearts, we can do what people in Joshua were never able to do. We can fix our eyes on Jesus, who leads us, who corrects us, who takes care of us. And it's seen so much in the contrast between the death of Joshua and the end of Jesus' earthly ministry. Joshua, as he approaches the end,

you know what he says? I'm going to the ground. He says it more tactfully, right? I'm going to the way of the earth. He's thinking about putting me in the ground. And Jesus, as he approaches the end, will say, I'm going to send another helper, a comforter, a spirit. My spirit will be within you to strengthen you and to help you and to guide you and to correct you. And Jesus, as he gives his commission to us and to his disciples, will say that I will be with you always. In Hebrews, as it writes to those who are struggling, not guarding their hearts, it will say that he will never leave us or forsake us. You see, Israel, they're not able to do it because their leader goes into the ground. But you and I have a Joshua who never leaves and who never forsakes us.

And as the writer of Hebrews calls us to fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross and despised the shame and is now sitting at the right hand of God and it is only through the good news of the gospel and through Jesus that we can guard our hearts, that we are equipped to walk in his path and through it all reminding us with wonderful grace of his love and his help for us. So Christians guard your heart. Guard your heart by looking to Jesus. Hear your word by looking to Jesus. Remember that it is what God has done by looking to Jesus. And if you are not a Christian, the answer is found not in how you can change yourself, but fix

yourself. It's found in the one who died in your place for your sins, who rose again for your victory and who invites you into his family. Let's go ahead and have a word of the prayer. Father in heaven, I thank you for grace and I thank you for Jesus. I thank you for the good things that you have done for us. Help us to fix our eyes on your son. You may equip us to fight those things that distract us and tear our attention away from you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Just a few announcements before we will pray again. We will read a verse of Scripture and sing the doxology. First of all, Greg's not here this morning, but I do have contribution statements for those physical giving. I know it's that time of year,

and so they are in the sound booth, and we can get those for you if you have given online. They often send out an email. If not, we can get those for you as well. We are very thankful. I was thinking back through how God has worked in our church over these last several years. And through the generosity of his people, he has met our needs, right? We have lights, we have heat, we have air conditioning. We've been able to help those who are both inside of our church and those who are outside of our church. Sometimes in little ways, sometimes in bigger ways. We've been able to help support the cause of the gospel. Sort of in spreading out circles from locally to across oceans. And so I am very thankful. And I was talking to somebody yesterday about how God takes little seeds and he uses them in big ways.

And God has certainly done that in our church. And I am just very, very, very thankful. I'm also thankful for the work that went into cooking and I think mainly eating. I think that was the hard part of our breakfast yesterday. I'm thankful for our time of getting together, and I was really kind of annoyed when Stu was like, well, we're going to get together and share our feelings, but it was a good and encouraging time. So we're going to do it again, so just keep that in mind. Also, Wednesday night, we're here studying the book of James, and it's been a good time and an encouraging time, so I'd encourage you to join us. If you can't, we've been putting the teaching videos online, and I can get you a link to that, If you look back at one of the emails from the last couple of weeks, there's a link and you can go through all those videos in this study.

It's been an encouraging and helpful time. So we're going to go ahead and pray. We're going to pray for a few of our prayer request lists from earlier as well. So let's pray. Father in heaven, I thank you for grace. I thank you that you are here for the hurting and the broken. and I thank you that in the midst of our encouragement, we can see your good hand providing for us. And so we ask for those who are struggling this morning, we ask for those who are grieving, we think of Tom's, the family of Tom's friend, and so we just ask for comfort for them. We just ask that you would watch over Rachel and Katie this morning. We just ask, and we're so thankful for all the little ones that are here today.

It's such an encouraging and wonderful thing to me. Thank you for giving us these good gifts. Help us to shepherd them, shepherd them well. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So I'm going to read from 1 John. And John has something to say that I think connects us very closely with Joshua. And then we will stand and sing the doxology. So John will say this. And we know that the Son of God has come and given us understanding so that we may know him who is true and we are in him who is true in his son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. And the very last words of 1 John are little children, keep yourself from idols. Let's go ahead and stand and we're going to sing the doxology. Praise Him, all creatures here below. Praise Him, above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Hey guys, hey Abigail, thank you for having me. Hey Isla, Isla, thank you for coming. Do you want to have a high five? Hey, you want to have a high five? Yeah. Hey Isla, thank you for coming. We're so glad you're here. I want to make sure you take care of everybody and include everybody. Everything you said.

I'm going to go to the next slide. Thank you. Thank you. There you go. Thank you. - Oh no, no, no. - Yeah, all right. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. - Okay, all right, let's do that. - Okay, all right, let's do that, okay. - Okay, all right, let's do that, okay, all right. - Okay, all right, let's do that. - Okay, all right, let's do that. No, it's Caroline. - So, the number of people in the back of the room, one of the other people in the back of the room, and one of the other people in the room, and all of the people in the room. And I'm gonna find out this room. I'm gonna find out this room.

I'm gonna find out this room. - We can find out this room. - It's not that it's all that. - It's not that it's all that. - It's not that it's all that. - It's not that it's all that it's all that it's all. - Thank you, I'm pretty much. - It was great. I'm going to have a little bit of a clock. I'm going to have a little bit of a clock. I'm going to have a little bit of a clock. I'm going to have a clock. There it is. Come and get some research. That's the only reason I'm here. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Nobody. - Yeah, yeah. Thank you. one layer of the water.

Thank you. - What does this mean? When our testament comes to the end, we take a hand and we can email the app. We have to know about her. We have to know about her. We have to know about her. - Huh? - I think he's a danger. - What do you want to do here? - What does that mean? - Okay, you can't. - Okay, great. - Okay.

- Yeah. - I hope you are right now. - I can't, I can't, I can't, - I can't, I can't, I can't. - I can't, I can't, I can't. - I can't, I can't, I can't.

- All right. - Check from Walmart, what are you doing? - What are you doing? - Yeah, uh, you're used to pick that one. - All right, you're gonna have a lot of fun. - I love you, mom. - You know, uh, I know you've heard about it. - You would never really want to do that. - Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you. I don't think I'm going to lose you over here too, but I don't think I'm going to lose you over here too, but I don't think I'm going to lose you over here too. I want to do a whole time. *music* All right, you look tired. - Yeah, it's good. - You okay? - Yeah. Thank you. - Good.

Thank you. Thank you. Alright, I got a long time for you to do all night, also... - I mean, 11, he's like, that seems like a bean. - No, no. - Yeah. - Okay. - Okay. - Okay. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah, yeah. - Maybe it's that Z 16 and 81. - Yeah. - I don't know what you're saying. - I don't know what you're saying. - What's that road there? - I'm gonna make it off the road. - On the road, no. - Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Oh, it's a completely different class how we got there. Thank you. Thank you. - That was pretty cool.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. I don't like to do it, but I don't know. But I don't know what that means. And I don't know what that means. Or I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means, right? I don't know what that means, right? Yeah, but like, I don't know what that means. Oh yeah, I don't know what that means. Yeah, I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means, I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means. I was like, oh, I was like, oh, I was like, oh, yeah.

I had a meeting and I got out there all the weekends. I think that if they've all gone through the day, I would be longer to come to bed for them. - Oh, that's great for those girls. - Oh, I have been serving one for a very serious, serious, serious, serious, and I'm not a period of time. - Oh, I'm a scary guy. - Did I do a following year? - Yeah. - Yeah, no, that's really. - Yeah. - Oh, that was my journey. - Yeah, yeah, I want that. about dragging the cart on the leg and letting the cart on the table. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right, that's what I needed. Hello. like a pile of water. Thank you. Okay, the kids aren't really doing well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

One of the years, I call them, and they're going down to, hey, so I try to say, but, you might look at it every time.

Yeah. How many yet? Well, they're not actually wrong. They're not good yet. Wow. Do you know how the barrels are more like that? I get it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's perfect. You're talking about the new kind of style, and you're talking about what you need to tell them, what you need to do in that instance, or what you should do in that instance, or what you should do in that instance, or what you should do in that instance,

Thank you. I'm actually doing a lot of work, right here, and what do you do? Yeah, well, we are in a level of bad part, but, like, this fear of us is a million people who agree. What was there for the paper? There are some left to be under it. Anyway, that's a... It did not mean it was anything going on. Like, I don't know. yeah *crickets* Thank you. Thank you. - I don't know. - I don't know.

Thank you. I don't think you have any reason to have it. Do you want to pick out a couple? You know, in a couple weeks, you're willing to do that. You didn't talk to us. You were talking to us. You know, it was like something that you did. I think we're talking about it. Yeah. These are long, they're long, but you're not in a rural area, like in the new art class. There are no, you can't explain it. And it's like so healthy. But you like it. It's really good. There's a lot of people talking about. They have different groups of different things. There's a great group. It's different. It's different. It's different. - Thank you.

Hey, you know from Lord of War, they used like 100, 250, 272 tanks, they used an arm steamer. They had to, like, shoot those pieces really fast to get to the end of their video. Like, movie, let's give me that. Yeah, I just made it. I just made it. I just made it. Wait for that one. I don't want to get out of the world. I don't want to get out of the world. I don't want to get out of the world.

Oh, Lord of War. Oh, Lord of War. I thought you'd be warlord. I like a better word. We are allowed to stream and go after track and we can do a lot of from stuff where we don't have to like, have to be like that. You want to have your own. - It's probably really healthy.

Thank you. I do like this feeling of slight superiority of calling dad at 5:30 and reading in the morning. And then you walk, you do take a look after the cultural casting because you have to lay into the right shot and then 1220, 1230, like I said, here we go to the next 40s here, you guys have to do a super-roaring thing, so I do a lot of things instead, and then they can do it, and then they can do it, and then they can do it, and then they can do it, and then they can do it, and then they can do it, and then they can do it, and then they can do it. That's normal. That's normal. Yeah, we're on the road, we're on the edge. Oh, so that's the thing. I don't know.

Yeah. It's a terrible day. Like, well, Erica's down. And then, like, he's going to be, like, scared. And I'm just like, oh, did you go to Erica? And then he comes back with me. It was hilarious. I was like, really good.

Thank you. - I know. - Sorry, I know. - You know what they do like? - It was a little bit of a thing. - I think I'm gonna be working on it. - I think I'm gonna be working on it. - I think I'm gonna be working on it. I'm going to go to the circle and have it. Thank you. so Thank you. All the knowledge, all the money.

Thank you. That was where I texted Matt, and I was like, "Come out those doors." Thank you. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, so I'll get an idea. In return, I have a lot of the fans. Yeah, everyone, in return, all their eyes might do that. Everybody has a lot of the fans. All the guys do that. - Do you need to come up?

I'm just going to have a lot of people who are going to do that very effectively. I think they're going to have a lot of people who are going to do that very effectively. And if they're going to have a lot of people who are going to do that very effectively, they're going to have a lot of people who are going to do that very effectively. Thank you. hey

So, yeah, he's got like a circuit theory electric, and he's doing it like, kind of like the old school guy, like, he's feeling like he's there, and not, you know, like, yeah. You got to hear what I'm talking about.

and I'm not going to do any type of abuse. They're turning down the field. I'm going to be sure. I mean, I have to look down, but I don't know. I follow the people's drugs, and then what's the dog? I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. And that's the only time that you can do it. I don't know if I can do it, but I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can do it, but I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can do it, but I don't know if I can do it. I don't know if I can do it. That's over a bit. Is that over a bigger type of thing?

Yeah. Are you talking about Google Drive? Yeah. I was thinking about . So you know the best way to do it, the easiest way to do it, is import some records. Yeah. That would be $3.97, but it's like $2,500, but the best thing to do is you get $8,000, you get $8,000, and then it drops the tickets later down, and the guys are watching me, they're probably going to get $6,000, but you're buying them at a dealer, you get $6,000, $7,000 before you sell, and then we would get friends together. Yeah, if you do a shipping container for it, then you can use it behind that. Yeah, because you're required to plan that. I mean like any dealer that has a $1,000. There are a lot, we looked at it, right from the drive. Yeah.

Why would we get to use this ? Like, on the thermal time. But if you turn it. You can pick up a little bit. Yeah. Yeah, I don't want a, I want like a series 76 play up, like we can't tell them for that. Yeah, we can't.

Uh, but like they do the, whatever you have, but, um, yeah, sort of a lot of people that I want to, so, 2,500 is like total more than that. They only have like a hundred and like a lot of miles. No, one I said they wanted to be 30,000. That's a lot of these. Oh. I'm ready to start a lot. I mean, it's like 2,000. They have a little dam, they have one of those over at that place on Valley Avenue. Okay. Okay.

I've got to be on the next one. I've got to be on the next one. Yeah, she's got a goal. They talked about her team as a couple. That was pretty good. And I thought like the whole, like it was pretty relevant about how I'm going to react. Because like I said, I thought it was good. I don't really have that mentality. Well, like in rent new, like the book, I put three times in the book.

Thank you. I don't know. Yes, I tried to make. Yeah, that was a good one. Yeah, that was a good one. Yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. That was a good one. I was playing for my mom. Yeah, and that's a good one. Yeah, yeah. What is the good one you hear? I just want to put it in there. And then I just put it down in my head. ... ... ...

Thank you. Thank you. All the other people, all the other people. So, I had to move to an education. I mean, obviously. I pulled out. I didn't have to do that. I didn't have to do anything. I was talking to somebody from that. I didn't have to do that. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah, I'm sure you're smart with a $90, right? Right. I'm not saying anything. Right. And, uh, what else? I'm very excited. So, I'm like, uh. Yeah. So, I'm good. Why did you do this? What did you do? Um, I was like, what's that? You said it. Yeah. Um, it got really good. Yeah. Yeah. Literally, they told him that's why I were using it. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. And so, we have a couple of questions. What do you do? - Yeah, I'm finding the hands.

- You gotta stop doing that. - Well, it's part of the head. - Right, right, let's do it again. - Go to the left man. - Okay, there you go. - No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. - It's a beaver, but it's good. - Let me get to all of it. - Ew. - What happened? Let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. um

Yes, anyway, I'm trying to see how much it was, and there is a, there is a finally, well, see I was doing it for myself, I was taking a pocket and I was holding it, and I was waiting, but when it's partly, it's partly like a line stone, or a, like a line stone, or a stone stone. We're trying to figure out one, two, three, one. We have a billion dollars. They come pretty waxed. But you can do patterns. And they also have LVT, LVT. You have to make it a little bit more. I can ask them to mop on their hands. Like they spray wax on a bottle and they mop it on their hands. No, LVT. Yeah, that was LVT. Yeah, like LVT. And you always text me because I'd like you to forget, I've had to text you with my computer, I think it was that I don't even know.

So there's BCC with this and there's LB, L-O-B-C-T, the fancier version. It's still cheaper though. Right. It's almost, so the luxury one, it's almost like . Okay. But I think it's . No, I'm just looking into the different... Because I might have joined with a good time, too. Yeah. The problem with that is how... Well, that's the problem now, too. Thank you.