Sunday, September 11 - Finding What We Need
2022-09-11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5X-l0VDAgaE

Good morning. We are glad that you are here with us this morning. One of the things that we've started in September, as we've been working on some Bible memorization for the kids at any point, so what we want to do is we're going to review last week's verse. Derek put it up there. We'll read that, and then we'll read the one we're working on this week. So if you'd read with me, My soul melts away for sorrow. Strengthen me according to your word. And the one we're working on this week. I don't know if you can read that or not. It's very bright. Well, this helps you memorize because you just got to guess what the words are. 2 Timothy 1.7, if you want to look it up, it says, For God gave us a spirit, not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.

And so that's one of those graphics that looks great on your computer, not so much on the screen in the church. So there's a lesson, I'm sure there's a lesson to be learned there, whether we learn it, that's for another day. We're going to go ahead and have a word of prayer and then we'll stand and read from the Psalms together and begin our time of worship. Father in heaven, thank you for allowing us to be here this morning. We thank you for your grace. We thank you for how you care for us. We just ask that you would strengthen us according to your word. We just ask that you would help us to remember that you are with us. Your spirit is in us, equipping us and strengthening us for the work that you have for us.

Be with us during our time of worship this morning. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand together and read from the 63rd Psalm. This is a psalm that David wrote while he was in the wilderness. And so he is not just experiencing physical struggle and physical hunger and physical thirst, but he's also experiencing a spiritual hunger and a spiritual thirst. And so he's seeking to praise God in the midst of that and to cry out to him for help. So let's go ahead and read, starting in verse 1. It says, Oh my God, you are my God. Earnestly I seek you. My soul thirsts for you, and my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you, so I will bless you as long as I live. In your name I will lift up my hands. This is the word of the Lord. We're going to start by singing Hosanna, a word used as Jesus enters into Jerusalem, taken from the Psalms, a cry to God for salvation.

Through praises rising, eyes all turning to you, we turn to you, hope is stirring, hearts Are yearning for you We long for you Cause when we see you We find strength to face the day And in your presence All our fears are washed away Are washed away Hosanna, Hosanna You are the God who saves us Worthy of all our praises Hear the sound of hearts returning to you We turn to you In your kingdom Broken lives are made new You make all things new Cause when we see you We find strength to face the dead And in your presence All our fears are washed away Washed away Hosanna Hosanna You are the God who saves us Worthy of all our praises Hosanna Hosanna Come every way among us We welcome you here, Lord Jesus

Blessed be your name And that is plentiful Where the streams of abundance flow Blessed be your name Blessed be your name When I'm found in the desert place Though I walk through the wilderness Blessed be your name Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise When the darkness closes in, Lord Still I will say Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your name Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your glorious name Blessed be your name, when the sun is shining down on me, when the world is all as it should be. Blessed be your name. Blessed be your name, on the road marked with suffering. Though there's pain in the offering, blessed be your name. Every blessing you pour out, I'll turn back to praise. When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will say,

Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your glorious name. You give and take away, you give and take away. My heart will choose to say, well, blessed be your name. Give and take away, you give and take away. My heart will choose to say, well, blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord, blessed be your name. Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your glorious name Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your name Blessed be the name of the Lord Blessed be your glorious name Thank you. Thank you. I'm sorry. Thank you. you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

In just a moment we will gather together around the table if you would like to participate with us in that there are communion elements as you come to the door and we invite you to pick those up. We're going to go ahead and sing Christ our hope in life and death and it begins with a question, not this song, but where this song is taken from. What is our hope in life and death? And the ultimate answer is that I am not alone because my hope is because Christ has purchased me with his blood and I belong to him. So we're going to go ahead and sing this. What is our hope in life and death? Christ alone, Christ alone, what is our only confidence that our souls to Him belong? Who holds our days within His hand

What comes apart from His command And what will keep us to the end The love of Christ in which we stand O sing hallelujah Our hope springs eternal Oh, say hallelujah Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death What truth can cause the troubled soul God is good, God is good Where is His grace and goodness known In a great Redeemer's blood Who holds our faith when fears arise Who stands above the stormy trial Who sends the waves that bring us nigh Unto the shore the rock of Christ Oh, sing hallelujah Our hope springs eternal Oh, sing hallelujah Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death

And to the grave, what will we sing? Christ, he lives. Christ, he lives. And what reward will heaven bring? Everlasting life with him. There we will rise to meet the Lord. When sin and death will be destroyed And we will feast in endless joy When Christ is ours forevermore Oh, sing hallelujah Our hope springs eternal Oh sing hallelujah, now and ever we confess, Christ our hope in life and death. Oh sing hallelujah, our hope springs eternal. Oh, sing hallelujah. Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death. Now and ever we confess Christ our hope in life and death.

One of the things that I am thankful for is that God reminds us of his goodness. For example, in the beginning of Genesis after the flood, if you remember, God will make a covenant with Noah, and he will set the rainbow as a reminder and a testimony to that covenant. If he was making his covenant with Abraham, he will say to Abraham, Look up at the night sky and see the stars, and that will be like your descendants. In the Psalms, it talks about how the heavens declare the glory of God, how His Word directs us to His goodness. And so, as we gather this morning with this little piece of bread and this little cup of juice, I want us to see what these ultimately direct us to. John Calvin will say, the cheapest thing in all sacraments

is that the word of God may appear engraven there and that his clear voice may sound. And when Jesus takes that bread and takes the cup after supper, he's handling two very common objects. These are objects that for Israel's history were necessary for survival, bread to nourish, wine to refresh, but not just to sustain life. There were also pictures, for example, in the Psalms of fellowship and friendship, gifts of bread and of wine. And there are times in Israel's history where the bread and the wine are pictures of both God's blessing and God's judgment. They also pointed Israel forward to a time when things would be made right. For example, one of my favorite passages is Isaiah the 25th chapter where it pictures God's people on a mountain and it says that God has prepared for them

a feast of rich food and of wine well refined and he's going to take away their sorrow because death will be no more. Or Amos will say this, when the plowman overtakes the reaper and the treader of grapes and him who sows seeds, the mountains shall drip with sweet wine and the hills will flow with it. A picture of the time when God would make things right is pictured in both the nourishment and the refreshment of God's people. But as Jesus takes that bread and that cup, He does so in the midst of Passover where a lamb was slain, a lamb that would stand between, through his blood, God's people and the angel of death. Peter will say this about our salvation, knowing that you were ransomed or purchased from the futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,

not with perishable things such as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. And if you remember how John the baptizer refers to Jesus as he sees him walking, he says, Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. I think sometimes there's a temptation in the simplicity of the bread and the cup to take for granted what God is reminding us of, what he's teaching us, what he's nourishing us with. That he's the one who sustains us. He's the one who has invited us into his community. He's the one who blesses us and who corrects us. He is the one who has prepared a future for us. And most of all, through the blood of his son, he is the one who has saved us.

So we're going to pray and we will partake together. Father in heaven, thank you for this bread and this cup. We thank you that you are the one who nourishes us. Not just physically, but you nourish our souls and we come to you hungry. I'm asking that you would satisfy the longing of our hearts and the longing of our souls. We thank you for the community you have brought us into. You have been brought into your family. We thank you that you bless us and we thank you that you correct us. and we look forward to the day when there will be no more sorrow and no more tears. And we thank you most of all for the gift of your Son, Jesus, who took our place on the cross, who took our sin and our brokenness,

and who rose again and has defeated Satan and hell and our sin and our fear. We just ask that you bless this bread and this cup. May you nourish our souls and help us to proclaim your Son until he comes again. In his name we pray. Amen. In Matthew, Jesus will take the bread and after blessing it, he will break it and he will give it to the disciples and say, take, eat, this is my body. Let's partake together. And when he took a cup, he gave thanks and gave it to them saying, drink of it, all of you, for this is the blood of the covenant which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

And as Paul says in 1 Corinthians, for as often as we eat this bread and drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. Brent's going to come and read to us from the book of Joshua. I'm going to be reading from the first chapter of Joshua this morning. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, son of Nun, Moses' assistant, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now, therefore, arise, go over the Jordan, you and all the people into the land I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon, I have given to you just as I promised to Moses. From the wilderness and Lebanon as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea toward the going down of the sun

shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that 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, so that you may be careful to do according to all the things written in it.

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, Pass through the midst of the camp, and command the people, Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over the Jordan, To go in to take possession of the land the Lord your God is giving to you to possess. And to the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, Remember the word that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you, saying, The Lord your God is providing you a place to rest and will give you this land. Your wives and your little ones and your livestock shall remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the Jordan.

But all the men of valor among you shall pass over armed before your brothers. And shall help them until the Lord gives rest to your brothers as he has given rest to you. And they also take possession of the land the Lord gave you. God is giving you. Then you shall return to the land of your possession and shall possess it, the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord, gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise. And they answered to Joshua, all that you have commanded us, we will do, and wherever you send us, we will go. Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, we shall obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you, as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your command and disobeys your words, whatever you commanded him, shall be put to death. Only be strong

and courageous. This is the word of the Lord. Praise be to God. Alright, we are going to spend a little bit of time in the book of Joshua over the next couple weeks. We're going to do it a little bit differently than we have done some of our series. What we're going to do is we're going to kind of break this up into probably about three different parts, each taking probably four or five weeks apiece, so then rather than going through it all in kind of one big chunk, we'll go through it in kind of a little chunk, and we'll take a little break with another little chunk, and we'll keep coming back to it. So I'm excited to dive into this this morning, so we're going to go ahead and have a word of prayer, and then we will get into it.

Father in heaven, I just ask that you would be with us this morning as we open your word and as we study your word, may your spirit be with us, may he encourage us and strengthen us and teach us, help us most of all to see your faithfulness, your goodness, and that you are truly with your people, that you have saved your people. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Now I'm sure that I'm not the only one who has ever struggled with needs versus wants, right? We've all been there. There's something we see. We say, oh, I need that. And the reality is absolutely not. I'll give you an example. Rachel and I, a couple of weeks ago, were in a bookstore. I enjoy books. I like old books. And so we were walking through and they had like a little old book section.

And so I was looking through the old books and I found a copy of Herodotus, his second Persian war from like 1907. And I was like, oh, I need that. Now the reality is I absolutely do not need that. I have this like digitally, I have like an actual copy, this one's in Greek, I actually have one in English, right, so I can, a little easier to read and decipher. There is no world in which I really need this other than like I wanted it, right? And what happens is we tend to confuse our needs and our wants. We'll see something and say, you know what, I need that, and what we really mean is that I just desire to have it, right? We do this in all areas of our life, not just impulse buying a book from 1907, but we do

it when it comes to food, when it comes to decisions in life. Oftentimes, we seek what we want other than what we need. Now, one of the things that I think is so important for us to understand about God is that when he blesses us, he blesses us according to our needs. He always gives us what we need. He doesn't always give us what we want. You can see this in Scripture in several places. One is there's a lady who comes to a well, and she's looking for water, and she starts having a discussion with Jesus, but he sees through the water and gets to the need of her broken heart. Or the guy, if you remember, they pull the roof off to lower him down to Jesus because it's too crowded, and he's there to get his legs fixed because he can't walk.

And what's the first thing? Jesus says to him, your sins are forgiven, right? He doesn't heal him immediately. The healing comes as a result of the disbelief of the religious leaders. And so he says, just so you know that I have the power to forgive sins, rise up and walk. And so this guy shows up with Jesus wanting to be healed physically. God heals him spiritually, but also physically. And so when we come to the Bible, so many times what we are looking for, I think, is we want something that satisfies our wants rather than satisfies our needs. And one of the things we're going to see in the book of Joshua is that God is a faithful God for the needs of his people, right? And in a wonderful and an amazing way. And most of us, I think, are probably familiar a little bit with Joshua, maybe familiar with a

little bit of his story. And surprisingly, you may even know a couple of verses from the book of Joshua. And so we're going to dive into this. And one of the ways in which we've served our wants rather than our needs when it comes to the book of Joshua is that oftentimes we've missed the focus of this book. And so when we come to Joshua, oftentimes what we try to do is put the focus on us and you heard brent read um four times in chapter one be strong and courageous and so we'll come to Joshua and say well the message for me is that i am to be strong and courageous and we turn the focus from where it should be and we'll see that where that is in a minute and it might surprise

you that ultimately it's not on Joshua but we turn that focus to ourselves and then oftentimes And we'll go very deep into what the Word of God has to say. So there's two passages that you're going to recognize from the book of Joshua, especially if you've ever shopped at a Hobby Lobby, right? So one of those is, be strong and courageous. And you might already know the other one if you're familiar with Joshua. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord, right? We all know it, right, from the book of Joshua. And so many times, it's not bad. Those verses are not bad. put them on your wall, but they don't sum up the total of what Joshua is and what we see about God from Joshua. What's interesting about Joshua as a person

is that we don't first find him introduced in Joshua chapter 1. The first place we find him is in Exodus, the 17th chapter, and Moses has sent him out into battle against the Amalekites. He's Moses' assistant. When Moses goes up to Sinai to meet with God, it is Joshua who accompanies him part way and evidently camps on the mountain for a period of time waiting for Moses to come back down. Because when Moses comes down, Joshua is there and they hear the noise of the Israelites with the golden calf. And Joshua will say, we think it's a battle. And so he's evidently stayed and been unaware of what is happening. He's one of the 12 spies who goes into Canaan with Moses. He's been trained and prepared for what happens in Joshua chapter 1. In fact, in Deuteronomy chapter 3, God will say to Moses,

But charge Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he shall go over at the head of his people, and he shall put them in possession of the land that you shall see. And it seems that Joshua needs encouragement, because as God reveals his plan to Moses, he says, make sure you encourage Joshua. You'll hear God saying to Joshua three times, be strong and courageous. You'll hear the people saying, be strong and courageous to Joshua. This isn't the first time that Joshua has heard this. Several times in Deuteronomy, God or the people will say to Joshua, be strong and courageous. This was a message that he needed. And so as we come to Joshua chapter 1, we find that Moses has died. Joshua is now leading God's people. And one of the first things we find in these first five verses

is that God is a God who keeps his promises. And as we're introduced to Joshua, we see Joshua sort of as the character, but what we're really seeing is God's goodness. So in these first five verses, let me just go ahead and read them. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' assistant, Moses, my servant, is dead. Now, therefore, arise, go over this Jordan, you and all the people into the land that I am giving them to all the people of Israel. Every place that you place the sole of your foot will tread. I have given you, just as I promised Moses, from the wilderness and this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the great sea,

toward this going down of the sun, shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life, just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. And so even though we're hearing words to Joshua, the focus in the heart of these words is the faithfulness of God, that he's the one who speaks, he's the one who gives. When he talks about this land, it's God giving the land. In verse 2, and in verse 3, and in verse 4, he's the one who makes promises in verse 3. And in verse 5, he's the one who brings victory, He brings his presence, and he is the one who is faithful. And as you see God speaking to Joshua,

you have a promise that goes all the way back to Genesis, the 12th chapter. Now the Lord said to Abraham, Go from your country and from your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. We find that Israel is now returning to the land that God had shown to Abraham, and they are a great nation. And what you find as Joshua begins, we see this focus, as we hear these words to Joshua, that God is faithful. He's the one who gives. He's the one who speaks.

He is the one who is with us, that his presence follows and is with Joshua. And then we come to what God says to Joshua, which we're probably very familiar with, as he says, not for the first time, and not for the last time, he says these words that are very famous, be strong and courageous. And I want you to see sort of what goes in and behind these words, because I don't think that as God says to Joshua, be strong and courageous, that he's looking at him and saying, you know what, Joshua, summon up all your gumption. right? You know, make sure that you have a spine. You need to be really brave. I don't think that what God is saying to Joshua is, all right, now here's the promise I've made. Now you've got to

go and do this. In fact, he's telling Joshua be strong and courageous as he describes what God himself is doing for Joshua. Right? The first thing that God says to Joshua when he tells him strong and courageous is that you are not alone, right? It's always easier to face difficult or unpleasant circumstances when you're by, when you're not by yourself. And I remember that was one of the big changes when my family lived in Vermont and Rachel and I first started dating and then got married was before I had to make that drive all by myself. And I'm one of those people who will get in the car and after like two hours in the car, I'm just ready to take a nap, whether that's at 70 miles an hour or pulled over in a gas station on the side of the road. And I remember

thinking, and I don't know if I ever told her this, but it was so much better when I was making that drive not by myself, right? And we've experienced this, right? When we go through a difficult situation, it's one thing to go through a difficult situation alone. It's another thing to go through a difficult situation with people who love us surrounding us. And notice that as Joshua takes monumental task, leading the people of God into a land that is already occupied, that God's first thing to him is that you are not alone. Listen to what he says, starting in verse 5. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life, just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous,

For you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. He's not looking at Joshua and saying be strong and courageous because you've just got to really have a spine. What he's saying to Joshua is that I will be with you just as I was with Moses. I will never leave you or forsake you. So because of that, take courage and take strength in the fact that I am with you as you lead these people into their land. And what I love is this is not an empty promise. when he says no man shall be able to stand before you in Joshua the 12th chapter I'm going to read sort of the first verse of this section about Joshua that's verse 7 and then the last verse

the end of the last verse in verse 24 and all chapter 12 is in Joshua the list of kings kings that Moses defeated and then kings that Joshua defeated these are the kings of the land whom Joshua and the people of Israel defeated on the west side of the Jordan and then it goes you know the king of here the king of here one king from here one king from here one king from here uh for like a whole bunch of verses and then ends like this in all 31 kings right God keeps his promise the second thing that he says to Joshua is that you are not lost right it's really easy in the face of new circumstances to feel lost i remember um after my kidney transplant i was going to, I had a doctor's appointment, was at a building I'd never been to. I got dropped

off at the front door and I walk in and I, you kind of see the map and I say, well, I got to go to this floor, the third floor. And I walk in and there's elevators, a big bank of elevators right there. And so I walk into those elevators, wasn't really paying attention. The door is closed, it starts moving. I look over for the third floor button and there was no third floor button. In fact, it was just taking me down to the basement parking garage it didn't go above that lobby so I walk out I said maybe there's some more elevators over here and so I start walking around and for the life of me I can't find how to get to the third floor there's no stairs there's no elevators and I'm just saying at this point you

know what do I really even need to go to the doctor right and there's like nobody to ask there's no desk it's just random people who evidently all know where they're going and finally you know it's there's kind of this big rotunda, so I go up the second floor, I say, maybe there's a security desk, I can ask where it is, and guess what, right above those elevators that didn't go above the lobby was a whole other set of elevators that went to the third floor, it was literally the worst design, and it's so frustrating when we feel lost, right, we get grumpy, we get anxious, we get, you know, some cases we'll say, you know what, I just can't find it, I'm just not going to deal with this anymore, and so here's Joshua, and he has all of the nation of Israel with all of

their problems, all of their struggles, all of their needs, getting ready to bring them into a new land. And yes, he's been Moses' assistant, but he's always had a safety net before. Now there is none. And look at what God says to him, right? You are not lost. Only be strong and courageous, being careful to do all according to the law that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. The book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, that you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and you will have good success.

As Joshua goes in and he has to say, where am I supposed to go? God will direct him. But he also says, hey, take the word of God. Don't let it leave your hands. Don't let it leave your mouth. Don't let it leave your heart. meditate on it day and night it will show you how to live and where to go and what's interesting is one of Joshua's failures in the book of Joshua is where he stops consulting God just for a minute where he stops trusting God and makes the decision on his own and it results in one of Joshua's failures early on in the book the third thing that God says to Joshua is remember my faithfulness look at verse one have i not commanded you right remember i've already said this be strong and

courageous do not be frightened do not be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go right he's calling Joshua to remember what he's just said in verse six but also to remember what has happened to Joshua as they have moved through the wilderness. The God who has provided water, the God who has provided food, the God who Joshua has led God's people into battle and God has given them the victory. He's calling Joshua to remember. He's calling Joshua, as he says, be strong and courageous because you're not alone, you're not lost, and God is faithful. The strong and courageous isn't about Joshua summoning up all his moral fortitude, but rather looking to God who is with him, who is directing him, and who has been faithful to him. It goes all the way back,

and God says, I am with you. So as we sort of move to the second half of the book, the picture shifts from Joshua for a moment. And what we see is that when we remember God's promises, when we trust in his faithfulness, it moves us into action because that's what Joshua does. And Joshua, upon hearing this, is commanding the people, pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, prepare your provisions for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan and go into the land your Lord God has given you to possess. So having been encouraged by God's faithfulness, his direction, this remembrance, the fact that God is with him, um Joshua goes to work one of the things you and I see when we begin to see God's goodness

and his love in our life it moves us to put that into practice and then comes this beautiful picture of community in chapter one and in the first sort of section there's this these words that are recounting this event to two and a half tribes Reuben Gad and half of Manasseh right They've already got their promised land. It's east of the Jordan River. They've already got their spots. Now the rest of the tribes are needing to go into the land. And so what Joshua will do is remind them that community isn't just about getting what's ours or getting my needs and wants met, but it's about the whole community. And he'll have this conversation with these two and a half tribes and saying, remember, you have gotten your share of land now it is time to join with your brothers

and secure theirs. And that's what they do. But there's one more beautiful picture of community here that I want you to see. Listen to how they respond to Joshua. And they responded to Joshua. All that you have commanded we will do wherever you send us we will go just as we have obeyed Moses in all things so we will obey you. Only may the Lord your God be with you as he was with Moses who rebels against your commandment and disobeys your words Whatever you command of him shall be put to death. These are the words I want you to see. Only be strong and courageous. And so here are the people of God. And Joshua says, here's the plan. We're going across the river in three days. These people whose land has been secured,

they're going to join us in this battle. And the people say, excellent. And they end their words to Joshua with the words that began when Moses commissions him to service. as Moses says to him back in Deuteronomy be strong and courageous as God says to him be strong and courageous the people look at Joshua and they encourage him with those words be strong and courageous and I love this picture of the faithfulness of God in his presence in his direction in the fact that he'll never leave or forsake as he calls us to remember his faithfulness and that moves us to action But also, as we're surrounded by community, part of the work of community is to remind us of the faithfulness and the goodness of God. One of the things that we may not realize about Joshua is that he was not always Joshua.

His name was originally Hoshia, and that name means salvation. It's a cry for salvation. You can kind of hear it reflected in the word Hosanna, which means calling out on God to save. And Joshua, born in Egypt, into captivity, his parents name him Hosea, which is a cry for salvation. And what God does is he saves his people out of Egypt, and then Moses will change the name of Hosea to Joshua. In Numbers 13 and 16, These were the names of the men Moses sent to spy out the land. And Moses called Hosea, the son of Nun, Joshua. So here's a young man whose name had meant a prayer for salvation, right? Save us. And Moses takes this young man and says, God is your salvation. And changes his name to Joshua. Reminding him in his name of God's grace, that God is salvation,

and that God has saved. Now what's remarkable about this is this is not the only Joshua we see in Scripture. And some of you may know this. In Matthew, the first chapter, we find this as Joseph has a dream starting in verse 20. An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream saying, Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife for which is conceived in her as from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son. You shall call His name Jesus, which means God is my salvation or God saves. He will save His people from their sins. Jesus, that word comes from the Greek Jesus, which comes from the Hebrew Yeshua. Joshua in Hebrew is Yeshua. That Jesus' name, this comes through an extra language, that Jesus' name, given to Him, Matthew,

In Hebrew, you'd say Joshua. There's another Joshua coming. As this Joshua leads his people through the land by the faithfulness of God, through the river and against their enemies, there is coming another who will lead in God's law, who will rescue sinners, who will defeat their enemies, and who will share the inheritance with God's people. And we see Jesus in the book of Joshua. One who comes as the Word made flesh, who rescues sinners, who defeats their enemies, who through death and then through His return, where every knee will bow, will welcome His people into their inheritance. At the heart of the book of Joshua is a testimony of God's faithfulness and a giant sign that flashes and points us toward Jesus who walked before us so that we would eventually be welcomed into His inheritance.

And so as we look through this book of Joshua, I don't just want you to see Joshua, but I want you to see how this testifies to our Savior, the one who went before us. Let's have a word of prayer. Father in Heaven, thank You for the Gospel. We thank You as we look at the deliverance and the salvation of Your people as they claim the promises that You have made to them through Your power and Your strength that You would direct us to Your Son who has saved us, who has brought us into a new life, who has defeated our enemies of death and sin, who has saved us. Help us to see Your faithfulness. Help us as we face the fears and the struggles and the hurts of this world, to be strong

and courageous, not because of our goodness, but because you are with us and you direct us and you constantly remind us of your faithfulness. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. We're going to stand and sing Build My Life.

Worthy of every song we could ever sing Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe We live for you

Jesus, the name above every other name Jesus, the only one who could ever save Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe We live for you, oh we live for you Holy, there is no one like you There is none beside you Open up my eyes in wonder And show me who you are And fill me with your heart And lead me in your love to those around me Worthy of every song we could ever sing Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe We live for you Jesus, the name above every other name Jesus, the only one who could ever save Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe We live for you Oh, we live for you Holy, there is no one like you

There is none beside you Open up my eyes in wonder And show me who you are And fill me with your heart And lead me in your love to those around me I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone, and I will not be shaken. Holy, there is no one like You, there is none beside You. Open up my eyes in wonder and show me who You are and fill me with Your heart and lead me in Your love to those around me.

I want to thank you for joining us this morning. A few announcements as we get ready to close this morning. First of all, we'll be here Wednesday night, 7 p.m. We are moving through a series about how the gospel is above all. It's a little different from anything we've done, I think, before. It's essentially an interview through a short video with an interview with different people We talk about how the gospel changes and transforms our life, and then we spend some time in discussion. Also, this is the third Thursday, so 1 o'clock for the ladies' class that's here at the church. Also, do we need, are we looking, recruiting volunteers to lift everything for you guys? Okay, all right, I was going to volunteer somebody who's not me. All right. All right, we're going to go ahead and have a word of prayer.

We'll read a verse together, and then we'll sing the doxology. Father in heaven, we thank you for your grace and your goodness. We thank you for our brothers and sisters in Christ. We thank you for all the ways you have blessed us, and we thank you for your faithfulness to us. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So if you can read this without losing your eyeballs, you're welcome to read with me. We're going to read from 2 Timothy 1, 7 together. It says, For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. And we're going to sing the Doctology.

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. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.