1 00:00:03,080 --> 00:00:05,560 It is good to be with you guys if I don't know you, my name is 2 00:00:05,600 --> 00:00:09,000 Brandon de Lodge. I get to service, which just 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:12,160 means every single Sunday I get to open up God's word for you 4 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:15,880 and share with you what God has done for the sake of the world 5 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:17,920 and get to carefree throughout the week and pray for you. 6 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:20,680 It is an honor and a delight to be the pastor of Saint City 7 00:00:20,680 --> 00:00:23,480 Chapel and so grateful you'd gather with us today. 8 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:25,760 Turn your Bibles to Joshua chapter 4. 9 00:00:25,760 --> 00:00:29,280 We're going to be on page 180 of the Bibles in the seats in front 10 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:30,920 of you. If you don't have one, should be 11 00:00:30,920 --> 00:00:33,600 on the screen as well. But while you're turning there, 12 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:36,720 let me tell you a quick story because frankly, some stories 13 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:41,640 are just worth telling. This past week, I was doing a 14 00:00:41,640 --> 00:00:43,760 premarital counseling with somebody and they're asking me 15 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,000 about the story of how Maddie and my my wife and I, we met 16 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:48,760 each other. And I was telling us, telling 17 00:00:48,760 --> 00:00:51,280 them the story about how we grew up in the same church, we're in 18 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:53,880 the same young adult ministry. And they asked the questions 19 00:00:53,880 --> 00:00:56,560 like, when did you know Maddie was your wife? 20 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:58,440 And this story is just worth telling. 21 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:02,080 So we're at a summer camp and she's already like burying her 22 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:03,360 face in shape. But this is a good story. 23 00:01:03,360 --> 00:01:07,080 I got permission to share it. We were at a summer camp with 24 00:01:07,080 --> 00:01:12,880 over 300 students at UP in West Michigan in 2016, so over about 25 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:18,720 10 1/2 years ago now. And that day it was raining all 26 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:22,080 day. And when you're at summer camp, 27 00:01:22,440 --> 00:01:24,920 well, you kind of need the outdoors. 28 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,080 It's kind of a helpful piece of having summer chemistry for kids 29 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:30,920 who've been staying up all night eating copious amounts of 30 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:33,080 airhead extremes and Mountain Dew. 31 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:35,680 Arnold Palmer's like they have sugared up. 32 00:01:35,680 --> 00:01:37,840 So we had to find a way to get all this energy out for all 33 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:39,880 these middle schoolers. That's going to be important in 34 00:01:39,880 --> 00:01:43,680 a second because as the rain came, me and the other youth 35 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,400 pastors there, we're trying to think to ourselves, OK, how can 36 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:48,160 we burn as much energy as possible? 37 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:51,840 How can we keep this many people as entertained as possible for 38 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,760 as long as possible? And so we came up with a very 39 00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:01,160 simple idea, musical chairs, except we weren't a range chair, 40 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:06,280 typical circle. We made it like Figure 8 isn't 41 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,240 even really accurately depicting the combinate. 42 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:10,960 It would just basically put the chairs and face them any 43 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:13,320 direction we want and make sure there's one chair. 44 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:17,160 Then students are playing the game, but we let leaders play 45 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:18,720 the game. Maddie was one of those leaders. 46 00:02:19,600 --> 00:02:22,040 And what happened was is when the music would stop in musical 47 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,400 chairs, something crazy would happen very regularly. 48 00:02:24,640 --> 00:02:29,080 Kid leaders, everyone would be just running a million of it's a 49 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:34,760 chair spotted on the now. This room was in a basement with 50 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:36,520 pillars supporting the floor above. 51 00:02:37,360 --> 00:02:40,920 And Maddie, my wife, is the most competitive person I know. 52 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:43,520 You might see where this story is going. 53 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:49,320 Maddie does not like to lose. So Maddie, my then girlfriend, 54 00:02:50,080 --> 00:02:52,000 spies the chair that is available. 55 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,160 It's her and this little 30 LB seventh grader. 56 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:58,760 I don't know how much she weighed, but not much. 57 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:04,800 And Maddie sprints for the chair, the other girl not seeing 58 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:06,960 Maddie because the it's right near the pillar and they 59 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,400 converge. And I'm on top of a pool table 60 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:11,880 narrating this game, me and the other youth pastor and we see my 61 00:03:11,880 --> 00:03:17,080 wife run full speed in this poor precious little 30 pounder. 62 00:03:17,560 --> 00:03:21,520 Did not see it coming. I mean, my wife buried her. 63 00:03:21,640 --> 00:03:25,680 I mean absolute truck stick. I, I don't even know what doing 64 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:27,480 this to this day. We couldn't even find her after 65 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:29,760 the game. We don't know if she's OK. 66 00:03:29,960 --> 00:03:33,000 No, I'm sure she's fine, but I remember standing there on the 67 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,720 pool table that day like I love this woman. 68 00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:39,320 I love her so much that she cares so much about winning. 69 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:42,120 Musical chair is what my favorite part about that story 70 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:43,680 is. Maddie Trucksticks. 71 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,800 Her doesn't even look back. Just keep going for the chair. 72 00:03:48,120 --> 00:03:51,360 I was like, I love this girl. I want to marry her soon, soon 73 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:52,360 later, I put a ring on her finger. 74 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:53,560 We got married nine months later. 75 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:55,480 You know that's the story, right? 76 00:03:56,480 --> 00:03:58,640 What's funny is in that moment, I knew I didn't want to forget 77 00:03:58,640 --> 00:04:04,040 that story, but it's fascinating how quick a memory can be 78 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:07,240 forgotten like that. In fact, this picture, I want to 79 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:12,000 show you my little, like, artifact of this memory. 80 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:15,920 Maybe, maybe not. Oh, we do. 81 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:18,000 OK. So whenever I see this picture, 82 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,200 yeah, you're like, Brandon, you look like, like not even the 83 00:04:20,200 --> 00:04:21,800 same person. And Maddie looks just the same. 84 00:04:22,079 --> 00:04:23,680 Aging. That's how it works, apparently 85 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:27,640 for me. Whenever I see this picture, 86 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,480 though, my mind goes back to that summer camp and with all 87 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:33,520 that God did and the summer camp that I learned that this woman 88 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,960 was going to be my wife. And it would never cross that 89 00:04:37,200 --> 00:04:41,800 version of Brandon's mind to know that I could forget that. 90 00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,160 But every time the picture comes up, that's when I remember the 91 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:48,200 story. This chapter of God's word we're 92 00:04:48,200 --> 00:04:52,240 going to be in today serves for the people of Israel. 93 00:04:52,240 --> 00:04:56,440 It serves for you and I as a way to remember who God is. 94 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:00,040 So we would not forget that. We would be able to tell the 95 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,960 story and retell the story so he would not forget who God is and 96 00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:06,840 what he can do. Because this week in Joshua 97 00:05:06,840 --> 00:05:09,880 chapter 3, God can do the impossible. 98 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:13,280 He is capable of it. In fact, we closed our service 99 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:16,880 praying for God to do impossible things in US and among us this 100 00:05:16,880 --> 00:05:18,480 year. That's what we're begging God 101 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,040 for. But jot this big idea down. 102 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:27,960 God's people must remember that their impossible rescue was 103 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:33,000 entirely his work. It was entirely God's work. 104 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,960 It wasn't our might, our strength, our good deeds, our 105 00:05:37,960 --> 00:05:40,600 achievements. No, rather, it was God's work 106 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:43,680 that saved us and our impossible rescue. 107 00:05:43,840 --> 00:05:46,880 We're on the brink of death, needing him to rescue us, 108 00:05:46,880 --> 00:05:50,720 needing him to save us, needing someone to come and deliver us. 109 00:05:51,040 --> 00:05:53,440 And He did. He did it for the Israelites 110 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,040 then. He's doing it for people now. 111 00:05:55,240 --> 00:06:01,000 And we have to be a people who remember, but if God has done 112 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,000 the impossible in our life, how do we keep from forgetting? 113 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,360 And I want to show you that in God's Word today we're in Joshua 114 00:06:07,360 --> 00:06:09,240 chapter 4. I'm going to read for you a few 115 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:12,240 verses to start Joshua chapter 4 verse one, when you're there, 116 00:06:12,240 --> 00:06:16,280 say I'm there. When all the names had finished 117 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:21,760 passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, Take 12 men 118 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:26,160 from the people from each tribe, a man command them, saying, Take 119 00:06:26,160 --> 00:06:29,800 12 Stones from here on out of the midst of the Jordan, from 120 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,200 the very place where the priests feet stood firmly, and bring 121 00:06:33,200 --> 00:06:36,520 them over with you, and lay down them down in the place where you 122 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:40,240 lodge tonight. Then Joshua called the 12 men 123 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:43,840 from the people of Israel whom he had appointed a man from each 124 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:48,720 tribe. And Joshua said to them, Pass on 125 00:06:48,720 --> 00:06:52,640 before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the 126 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:57,840 Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, 127 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,880 according to the number of tribes of the people of Israel, 128 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:04,080 that this may be a sign among you. 129 00:07:04,080 --> 00:07:08,120 And when your children ask in time to come, What do these 130 00:07:08,120 --> 00:07:13,840 stones mean to you, then you shall tell them that the waters 131 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:19,080 of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant 132 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:21,560 of the Lord, and when it passed over the Jordan, the waters of 133 00:07:21,560 --> 00:07:24,360 the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the 134 00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:26,880 people of Israel a memorial forever. 135 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:29,320 I want to help you understand what these mean for your life. 136 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,800 These aren't just God's words for the people of Israel. 137 00:07:31,800 --> 00:07:33,760 They're God's words for you. So what does it mean for your 138 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:34,920 life? Let's do it like this. 139 00:07:35,040 --> 00:07:38,080 The rest can remember the impossible first like this 140 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:42,040 through spiritual memorials. How are you to remember the 141 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:45,280 impossible in your life? How are you to remember God's 142 00:07:45,360 --> 00:07:47,560 work in your life? If God's going to answer that 143 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,280 prayer that you prayed last week for impossible things, the 144 00:07:50,280 --> 00:07:51,680 prayer that you're going to begin praying because you're 145 00:07:51,680 --> 00:07:54,560 with us today for him to do the impossible, How are you going to 146 00:07:54,560 --> 00:07:56,680 remember? How are you not going to forget? 147 00:07:57,080 --> 00:08:01,080 Well, first you need to build spiritual memorials in your 148 00:08:01,080 --> 00:08:04,240 life. There's two memorials that 149 00:08:04,360 --> 00:08:06,040 happen here in the text I think are fascinating. 150 00:08:06,040 --> 00:08:07,800 The first, it's a National Memorial. 151 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,160 That's the one that we're, we just read about where there's 12 152 00:08:11,160 --> 00:08:16,800 Stones for 12 men signaling the 12 tribes of Israel that each 153 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:22,920 son of Joseph, excuse me, each son of the people of Israel, 154 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:25,240 they each had a stone representing their family, their 155 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:29,560 line, their tribe. And each man would go and he 156 00:08:29,560 --> 00:08:31,760 would take his stone and he would place it in the middle of 157 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:34,720 the river. And if you noticed it said upon 158 00:08:34,919 --> 00:08:39,960 his shoulder, think about how big a boulder it has to be for 159 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:42,120 some of these men. I'm sure they didn't pick small 160 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:46,160 men. Two laga boulder, a stone on 161 00:08:46,160 --> 00:08:51,040 their shoulder. It's not a Little Rock, it's a 162 00:08:51,040 --> 00:08:54,600 stone the size of this. And each man had to. 163 00:08:55,880 --> 00:09:02,840 He had to grab the stone and put it on his shoulder and walk it 164 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:11,560 back into the river. About 50 yards back into the 165 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:16,840 middle of the river, he's lugging a stone, putting in the 166 00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:25,480 work to remember what God did. They just walked a river part A 167 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:32,240 river stopped flowing. And their ability to remember 168 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:37,040 God knows is so small that He commands them to build a 169 00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:39,520 memorial. You might think you have a 170 00:09:39,520 --> 00:09:41,480 really great memory. Maybe you're the kind of person 171 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:45,320 in your friend group who's great at trivia, quick recall on 172 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,840 facts, details. You will forget God's work in 173 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:50,480 your life if you don't build memorials to Him. 174 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:00,920 You need to remember the impossible things that God has 175 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,680 done. Your heart will be faster to 176 00:10:04,680 --> 00:10:06,200 forget it than you can even imagine. 177 00:10:06,880 --> 00:10:09,280 You would think the Israelites wouldn't need a memorial to 178 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:15,360 remember a river stopping, but they did, and so do you. 179 00:10:16,760 --> 00:10:19,600 It's not just a National Memorial, it's a personal 180 00:10:19,600 --> 00:10:21,840 memorial. Jump down with me to verse 9. 181 00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:28,560 Joshua set up 12 Stones in the midst of the Jordan in the place 182 00:10:28,560 --> 00:10:30,920 where the feet of the priest bearing the Ark of the Covenant 183 00:10:30,920 --> 00:10:33,080 had stood. And they are there to this day. 184 00:10:33,600 --> 00:10:36,400 So you have the 12 men of Israel setting up a National Memorial 185 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:40,520 and Joshua's doing something personal for himself. 186 00:10:41,240 --> 00:10:43,000 Not only is the National Memorial going to be think he 187 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:45,680 wants a personal memorial of what God is doing through his 188 00:10:45,680 --> 00:10:47,440 leadership. So what does Joshua do? 189 00:10:47,760 --> 00:10:54,200 Joshua does this by himself. That means he takes and grabs a 190 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:59,040 maybe 2 if he's in bulking season and he's walking, placing 191 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:04,640 them in river. Joshua had to do that at least 192 00:11:04,640 --> 00:11:13,360 six times, maybe 12, all so that he would remember the impossible 193 00:11:13,360 --> 00:11:21,120 thing that God has done. I think of myself doing yard 194 00:11:21,120 --> 00:11:27,120 work back in Midwest, carrying fertilizer and mulch and those 195 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:30,040 bags on my shoulder in the hot, humid summer of Illinois. 196 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:32,440 And I say that out loud right now and I recognize I'm in 197 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,680 Arizona. We're hot summer are definitely 198 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:44,200 more difficult here to bear. My point is, is Joshua made a 199 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:48,560 moment more than just a moment. He made it a memory for himself 200 00:11:48,560 --> 00:11:51,600 of what God has done. He did not want to forget God's 201 00:11:51,600 --> 00:11:53,760 work, not just through him, but in him. 202 00:11:54,560 --> 00:11:58,760 He took a moment to set up a personal spiritual memorial. 203 00:11:58,760 --> 00:12:01,360 I think there's a difference between generic memorials and 204 00:12:01,360 --> 00:12:02,640 spiritual memorials in our society. 205 00:12:02,640 --> 00:12:05,800 Generic memorials, this is what you'll see at a museum, right? 206 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:10,120 They recall just history, general events that happened 207 00:12:10,160 --> 00:12:11,760 across. And you just, you learn the 208 00:12:11,760 --> 00:12:13,160 history and they're, they're fascinating. 209 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:17,240 You can learn all about parts of our country's founding and 210 00:12:17,240 --> 00:12:19,080 growth. Maybe if we go to the Hockey 211 00:12:19,080 --> 00:12:20,800 Hall of Fame in a few years, you'd find out that we won the 212 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,720 gold medal today and, you know, and we get to recall that. 213 00:12:23,720 --> 00:12:25,200 And that's a funny historical event. 214 00:12:26,520 --> 00:12:28,640 But the difference is between the generic memorial and the 215 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,760 spiritual memorial. Is this a spiritual memorial? 216 00:12:33,320 --> 00:12:35,880 Helps you rehearse God's faithfulness? 217 00:12:39,480 --> 00:12:41,640 It's one thing for me to pull up a picture of my wife and 218 00:12:41,640 --> 00:12:44,280 remember a general history of our dating life. 219 00:12:44,280 --> 00:12:47,680 It's another thing altogether for me to look at that picture 220 00:12:47,680 --> 00:12:50,040 and go, wow, God has been faithful to me. 221 00:12:50,040 --> 00:12:53,520 He has given me a woman who loves him above all else, who 222 00:12:53,520 --> 00:12:57,400 loves His Word, who loves our kids, who loves the church. 223 00:12:57,720 --> 00:12:59,640 That's a different way to look at that. 224 00:13:01,160 --> 00:13:04,200 It's a different way to interpret the impossible. 225 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:09,000 It's how God can speak to you and even just the most ordinary 226 00:13:09,000 --> 00:13:14,040 of moments in your life that you can have a spiritual memento, a 227 00:13:14,040 --> 00:13:19,400 memorial of what God has done. Look down to verse 20 and 22, 228 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:24,120 these 12 Stones which they took out of the Jordan Joshua set up 229 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:27,600 at Gilgal, He said to the people of Israel, when your children 230 00:13:27,600 --> 00:13:30,480 ask the fathers, their fathers in times to come, what do these 231 00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:33,640 stones mean, then you shall let your children know. 232 00:13:34,080 --> 00:13:40,920 Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground, just like their 233 00:13:40,920 --> 00:13:46,440 forefathers had left captivity of the Egyptian people and 234 00:13:46,440 --> 00:13:48,400 walked through the Red Sea on dry ground. 235 00:13:49,120 --> 00:13:52,080 This generation of Israelites got to put their feet where no 236 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:55,360 foot had gone before, in the middle of the Jordan River. 237 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,320 Israel passed over on dry ground. 238 00:14:02,320 --> 00:14:04,160 The detail of that is staggering to me. 239 00:14:06,960 --> 00:14:09,520 God could have left like an inch of water, right? 240 00:14:09,520 --> 00:14:10,480 And they could have passed through. 241 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:16,120 But our God is so strong, so mighty, that when He does the 242 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:18,000 impossible, He leaves no detail unchecked. 243 00:14:18,240 --> 00:14:20,160 He wants everyone to know who did it. 244 00:14:22,960 --> 00:14:27,040 And we need to remember the act of God, the work of God in our 245 00:14:27,040 --> 00:14:29,280 life. We have to remember our 246 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:33,360 impossible. Rescue was entirely His work. 247 00:14:34,320 --> 00:14:36,200 It was not our doing, it was His. 248 00:14:37,280 --> 00:14:40,640 And what a joy it is to experience the glory and wonder 249 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:45,240 of knowing God and what He can do in our lives that He can do 250 00:14:45,240 --> 00:14:50,240 the impossible and still does. And I think you have spiritual 251 00:14:50,240 --> 00:14:52,760 memories. You have moments in your life 252 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:55,720 where you've seen God do work, where you've seen him move, 253 00:14:55,720 --> 00:14:58,960 where you've seen him change, where you've seen him do things 254 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,200 in your life that you're like, Oh my gosh, how is this 255 00:15:01,200 --> 00:15:05,560 possible? So I want to ask you this, what 256 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,160 spiritual memorial have you set up to remember God's work in 257 00:15:08,160 --> 00:15:10,520 your life? Do you have any? 258 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:16,920 A journal, a photo album maybe? My pastor growing up, he had 259 00:15:16,920 --> 00:15:19,240 literal rocks in his office where he would write and 260 00:15:19,240 --> 00:15:22,760 Sharpie, hey, this is what God has done because he wouldn't 261 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:26,000 want to forget. It's shocking how quick you'd be 262 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:30,320 to forget what God can do. But having those as a keepsake 263 00:15:30,320 --> 00:15:32,760 where you can come back to again and again to remind you of God's 264 00:15:32,760 --> 00:15:37,040 faithfulness. Oh, what a needed point of 265 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:39,680 walking with Jesus. We all need it. 266 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:44,480 So have one for your life, for your family, even this church. 267 00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:47,040 We're going to have some right now. 268 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:49,680 We're at Moseley Middle School, and I guarantee you one day 269 00:15:49,680 --> 00:15:52,880 we're going to have some level of memorial stone as a part of 270 00:15:52,880 --> 00:15:56,040 our moment here at this school. Maybe it's a T-shirt. 271 00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:58,080 I don't know if it'll be a T-shirt. 272 00:15:58,080 --> 00:16:01,440 I don't know what it's going to be, but I know that one day in 273 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:03,240 the life of our church, we're going to remember these days. 274 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,160 We're not going to despise the day of small beginnings. 275 00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:08,760 We're going to rejoice in the moment, in the work that God has 276 00:16:08,760 --> 00:16:10,920 done here. We're going to memorialize God's 277 00:16:10,920 --> 00:16:15,920 work among us at Moseley Middle School because He is working and 278 00:16:15,920 --> 00:16:18,440 He is moving. It's a way you can visit and 279 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:22,360 recall his work and his wonders. A way that you can just simply 280 00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:26,800 say to God, thank you. Just say thank you. 281 00:16:27,760 --> 00:16:30,480 What a great way to worship God this week is to go back in your 282 00:16:30,480 --> 00:16:32,680 photo album and go, man, God was in that. 283 00:16:33,000 --> 00:16:37,320 God was working through that. It's a great way to remember the 284 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:39,160 impossible is through spiritual memorials. 285 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,520 The second thing I want to talk to you about today is this, that 286 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,960 the rescued remember the impossible by telling 287 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:48,360 supernatural stories, telling supernatural stories. 288 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:50,640 Let's go back to verse six and seven. 289 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,680 Joshua was saying to the people, hey, we're going to Passover and 290 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:57,600 that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in 291 00:16:57,600 --> 00:17:00,520 time to come, what do these stones mean to you? 292 00:17:02,920 --> 00:17:05,160 You got to have an answer. You got to have an answer for 293 00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:07,359 what the memorial is there for. You got to be able to tell your 294 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:08,720 kids about it, your friends about it. 295 00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:11,280 You've got to be able to tell a supernatural story. 296 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:14,400 This is how memorials live on in the world. 297 00:17:15,200 --> 00:17:17,400 It can't just be a thing that you keep to yourself. 298 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:21,119 But by telling supernatural stories, you're helping people 299 00:17:21,119 --> 00:17:23,160 see that it was God's work entirely. 300 00:17:24,040 --> 00:17:25,920 You're helping them see God in the midst of it. 301 00:17:26,720 --> 00:17:29,800 For God's people to remember God's work, they must not keep 302 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:35,120 it to themselves because God's stories are always meant to be 303 00:17:35,120 --> 00:17:39,920 shared. We have to tell supernatural 304 00:17:39,920 --> 00:17:42,280 stories. Every friend group's got the 305 00:17:42,280 --> 00:17:45,920 storyteller in it, every family's got the storyteller in 306 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:48,120 it. And those are great people to 307 00:17:48,120 --> 00:17:49,640 have in your circle. By the way, if your friend group 308 00:17:49,640 --> 00:17:51,800 doesn't have one, you should just, you know, go find yourself 309 00:17:51,800 --> 00:17:53,640 a storyteller and maybe that's your interview for the friend 310 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:57,640 application, like, or what? In my family, the storyteller is 311 00:17:57,640 --> 00:18:00,440 my brother Cole. Cole loves to tell stories. 312 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,800 He's very funny. If he's listening to this at any 313 00:18:02,800 --> 00:18:07,400 point, you're not that funny brother moment. 314 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:11,600 But what Cole will do is he gets so passionate, so excited, and 315 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,600 when Cole's telling a story I've already pulled in, everybody's 316 00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:17,520 engaged, and he's telling stories of maybe even the most 317 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,720 stupid thing, like how he afforded his lifestyle in 318 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:23,800 college. It could be literally nothing. 319 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,080 But what I found about great storytellers is that when they 320 00:18:29,080 --> 00:18:32,640 pull you in, the best story ends. 321 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:36,000 And here's what I mean by that. Our world today, people are 322 00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:41,280 telling stories of all kinds, and our country and our culture, 323 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:45,880 they're telling narratives of how to live and who you should 324 00:18:45,880 --> 00:18:48,960 live for. And if you are raising Christian 325 00:18:48,960 --> 00:18:52,840 children, if your goal is to have a family, you need to know 326 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,480 this, that the best story will win. 327 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,960 If you are living a lifestyle that doesn't depict the reality 328 00:18:58,960 --> 00:19:02,120 that God is real, that he does the impossible, that takes 329 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:03,280 faith. And guess what? 330 00:19:03,280 --> 00:19:05,600 That you can see a living God among you. 331 00:19:06,840 --> 00:19:08,640 They will reject the story of God. 332 00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:12,880 Better story we must tell our children. 333 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:15,680 What do these stones mean to you? 334 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:20,160 You need to have rhythms in your family of sharing with them. 335 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:24,520 Hey, here's what God did, here's who he is. 336 00:19:24,960 --> 00:19:30,320 Here's how he moved. You have to be a supernatural 337 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,400 storyteller. And I can already hear some of 338 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:36,040 you go, but Brandon, I'm not that friend in the friend group. 339 00:19:36,040 --> 00:19:39,080 I'm not the storyteller. I don't like to talk. 340 00:19:39,200 --> 00:19:41,560 I like to listen. Praise God for you. 341 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:46,840 But here's what you have. You have a book full of stories 342 00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:49,920 to tell. If you don't have a starting 343 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,520 spot now in your life, may I just encourage you? 344 00:19:52,520 --> 00:19:56,760 You have story after story after story after story after story 345 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,840 after story after story after story of who God is. 346 00:20:01,360 --> 00:20:03,560 And you can share that with anyone in your life. 347 00:20:04,960 --> 00:20:08,800 God can use your voice. He is with your lips. 348 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,680 He is with your mouth. As you share, would you step out 349 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:14,680 in faith and have the courage to tell of the supernatural stories 350 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:21,720 of what God has done, but then also start living a life of 351 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:27,240 faith, a life that says, hey, what happened in the past week 352 00:20:27,240 --> 00:20:31,040 that God has done that I want to talk about where's God moving in 353 00:20:31,440 --> 00:20:35,240 my life this week that I can share, that I can brag about him 354 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:39,720 that I can boast in him about. Are you even interpreting your 355 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:43,280 life through that grid? Like are you seeing your life as 356 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,680 man? I just, I just want to see God 357 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:48,360 in the details of that conversation. 358 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:56,840 I want him in the detail promotion that meeting that lab 359 00:20:56,840 --> 00:21:00,640 partner in class. Am I looking at it and going, 360 00:21:00,640 --> 00:21:06,320 God, what are you doing in this? Because Jesus only saw it, did 361 00:21:06,320 --> 00:21:10,200 what he saw the Father doing. And if you can look at your life 362 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:13,160 and go God, well, I'm here right here right now by your sovereign 363 00:21:13,160 --> 00:21:15,360 plan. Why do you have me here? 364 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:17,120 And what story are you trying to write? 365 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:23,560 I think you will see. You'll see the living God among 366 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:28,240 you. You'll see stones that mean 367 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:31,840 something to you. So here's what I want to 368 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:33,680 encourage you guys to do this week as a result of telling 369 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:35,960 supernatural stories. I want you to grab something 370 00:21:35,960 --> 00:21:38,160 from coffee this week, maybe from your small, your community 371 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,000 group, maybe from your serve team, maybe from the office. 372 00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:42,800 And I just want you to do something we do in our salt 373 00:21:42,800 --> 00:21:45,680 company regularly. Your you want to hear their 374 00:21:45,680 --> 00:21:48,920 story and listen to them. You want to share, You want to 375 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:50,720 hear their story, Then you want to tell them your story. 376 00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:53,720 Then you want to tell them God's story, which is the story of the 377 00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:57,320 gospel, especially if they don't know Jesus. 378 00:21:57,320 --> 00:22:02,640 This is such a helpful way to get in the rhythm of sharing and 379 00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:06,560 telling stories what God is doing in your life that you 380 00:22:06,560 --> 00:22:08,680 could tell them the story of your salvation. 381 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:11,320 You could tell them the story of how you came to know Jesus, the 382 00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:14,280 impossible rescue you experienced by the grace of God. 383 00:22:14,840 --> 00:22:17,960 Tell them that story. Listen to their story. 384 00:22:18,720 --> 00:22:21,640 Listen to their story and see where they or God might help 385 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:24,320 them overcome addiction, where you might sustain them through 386 00:22:24,320 --> 00:22:27,280 infertility, where you might save their prodigal kid, where 387 00:22:27,280 --> 00:22:30,160 you might carry them through infidelity, where God might heal 388 00:22:30,160 --> 00:22:31,760 them of a life threatening diagnosis. 389 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,240 Would you point them to the reality of the supernatural that 390 00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:38,240 God still does impossible things? 391 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:41,080 Oh, would you have the faith to believe it? 392 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:44,600 And would you encourage people by getting around them and 393 00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:47,960 pointing them to the storytelling God, who is writing 394 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:51,480 story after story after story after story of his work in the 395 00:22:51,480 --> 00:22:54,280 world still impossibly rescuing people? 396 00:22:56,160 --> 00:22:58,880 The Israelites felt their impossible rescue at the Jordan 397 00:22:58,880 --> 00:23:01,200 River that day. They sensed it. 398 00:23:02,800 --> 00:23:08,160 There they were, passing from captivity into the Promised 399 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:10,920 Land, and they didn't want to forget it. 400 00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:15,280 So they had memorial and they had stories to tell. 401 00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,880 And God's story is ultimately his great rescue of us. 402 00:23:23,840 --> 00:23:26,080 And that's the third thing that we get from the text. 403 00:23:27,640 --> 00:23:30,360 We not only see that we're telling supernatural stories or 404 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:32,880 spiritual memorials. The rescued remember the 405 00:23:32,880 --> 00:23:35,000 impossible. Finally, why? 406 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,080 To sing of God's strength and might. 407 00:23:41,440 --> 00:23:45,040 Why? Why is Joshua 4 in our Bible? 408 00:23:45,520 --> 00:23:48,360 Why is it preserved for us? Why did the Holy Spirit keep us, 409 00:23:48,680 --> 00:23:52,000 keep this text for us to know? What do we lose if we don't have 410 00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:57,480 this chapter in the Bible? Simply, simply this. 411 00:23:58,960 --> 00:24:02,800 We don't learn how to interpret the impossible and the way to 412 00:24:02,800 --> 00:24:04,400 interpret the impossible is this. 413 00:24:05,000 --> 00:24:07,240 It's to sing of God's strength and might. 414 00:24:07,240 --> 00:24:09,920 That's why we remember the impossible. 415 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:14,840 Look at verse 23 and 24 for the Lord your God dried up the 416 00:24:14,840 --> 00:24:18,720 waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over as the 417 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:23,200 Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us 418 00:24:23,200 --> 00:24:25,680 until we passed over. Why? 419 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:29,760 Verse 24 is a so that statement. When you see that in your Bible, 420 00:24:29,760 --> 00:24:35,200 it's saying why, why, why, why, why, why so that all the peoples 421 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:44,160 of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, it 422 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:49,320 is strong, and that you may fear the Lord your God forever. 423 00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,320 There's two reasons right there in the text why God does 424 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,520 miracles like this. Why does God do the impossible? 425 00:24:54,720 --> 00:24:58,960 2 reasons so that the peoples of earth may know that God's hand 426 00:24:58,960 --> 00:25:01,840 is mighty, and so that the people of God may always fear 427 00:25:01,840 --> 00:25:05,320 him forever. That's why he does miracles, 428 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:09,400 that's why he does wonders among us, and so that his hand could 429 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:13,080 be known as strong and mighty to the peoples of earth. 430 00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:22,160 God's hand is mighty, it is strong, it is sure. 431 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:29,160 His mighty hand saved Israel on this day. 432 00:25:32,160 --> 00:25:34,560 And people of earth need to know that God can still do that. 433 00:25:35,760 --> 00:25:41,960 They need to know who God is. Most people don't know who God 434 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:45,480 is. They think they do because 435 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:51,800 they've heard maybe caricatures of a version of who God is, but 436 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:55,800 they don't actually know who God is. 437 00:25:56,680 --> 00:26:00,480 God is mighty. He is strong. 438 00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:06,560 It is worth repeating a million times over in your brain that I 439 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:11,760 serve a mighty God. He's a mighty God. 440 00:26:15,880 --> 00:26:18,000 And we're quick to maybe doubt that. 441 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,160 Like if he was so mighty, why wouldn't he eradicate all 442 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:25,320 injustice in the world? If he was so mighty, why would 443 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,760 he not fix this thing I want him to fix? 444 00:26:29,360 --> 00:26:39,120 If he is as mighty as you say he is, why why why Why does a 445 00:26:39,120 --> 00:26:43,240 mighty God at times not display his might? 446 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:47,680 I think we just got our answer in the text. 447 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:54,400 God shows His hand so that people may know that the hand of 448 00:26:54,400 --> 00:27:00,120 the Lord is strong and mighty. So if it wouldn't display his 449 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:04,760 might, he wouldn't do it. Or if he wants to wait for it. 450 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:10,000 God's answer to our prayers are either yes, no, or I got 451 00:27:10,000 --> 00:27:13,600 something better in mind. Yes, I will answer that prayer 452 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:16,480 request for my mic and he's going to and show off just how 453 00:27:16,480 --> 00:27:17,920 mighty is immediately in the moment. 454 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:21,120 Yes or he's like no, because you're asking for something that 455 00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:26,680 doesn't actually display his or I've got something better in 456 00:27:26,680 --> 00:27:29,000 mind. Meaning you're asking for a 457 00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:31,680 thing. You're begging God for his might 458 00:27:31,680 --> 00:27:35,480 to be on display through your prayers for him to give you the 459 00:27:35,480 --> 00:27:38,440 house, for him to give you the promotion, for you to have that 460 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,160 friend come to know Jesus, for that diagnosis to be reversed. 461 00:27:41,320 --> 00:27:44,960 All those things are good things to pray, but He might be saying 462 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:49,560 I've got something better in mind for you because I don't 463 00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:52,720 just want to show my mind. He wants you to His name 464 00:27:52,720 --> 00:27:55,160 forever. He wants you of a reverent awe 465 00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:59,040 that He is not and you are not. He's not some cosmic vending 466 00:27:59,040 --> 00:28:01,960 machine that you select what you want and He does it. 467 00:28:05,320 --> 00:28:10,360 He wants you to sing of His strength and His might, and 468 00:28:10,360 --> 00:28:13,920 though you might have seen His might in others, though you 469 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:18,600 might want His might in your life, I promise you, God's 470 00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,680 mighty hand is among you. You just might not have seen it 471 00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,160 yet. In fact, I think we've missed so 472 00:28:23,160 --> 00:28:25,360 many of God's mighty moments in our life because we just glazed 473 00:28:25,360 --> 00:28:28,120 past some of the crazy, awesome, strong things He's done. 474 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,480 First and foremost among them, He sent God the Son. 475 00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:37,880 Is my mic out? He's going in and out. 476 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:38,640 We're good. OK? 477 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:40,000 It's weird. I'm so sorry, guys. 478 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:43,560 I'm distracted by that. The first thing that you have to 479 00:28:43,560 --> 00:28:49,920 know is this, that God might has been displayed for you in the 480 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:52,440 reality that His Son has come to save you from sin. 481 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,320 You are not strong enough to save you from sin. 482 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,320 You are not strong enough or good enough or powerful enough 483 00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:02,680 to look out in the eye and say save me, save. 484 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:05,600 I can save myself. I can do it. 485 00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:09,480 I can muster up enough strength, I can muster up enough goodness, 486 00:29:09,640 --> 00:29:12,120 I am mighty enough to overcome my sin. 487 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:15,120 May I just lovingly tell you no, you are not. 488 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:22,040 You are no match for your sin. It runs way too deep, it runs 489 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,840 way too big, and your debt to God is way too immense for you 490 00:29:25,840 --> 00:29:29,000 ever to repay Him back. You are not mighty enough or 491 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:31,320 good enough or strong enough to save yourself. 492 00:29:31,520 --> 00:29:35,040 But I have good news today. He who is mightier than you has 493 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:38,840 come to save you from your sin. The mighty One has come, the 494 00:29:38,840 --> 00:29:42,560 mighty God has come to save you. And that is the most mighty 495 00:29:42,560 --> 00:29:46,480 thing God has ever done is He came for you to die on a bloody 496 00:29:46,480 --> 00:29:49,800 cross for your sin. He went to a tomb where he 497 00:29:49,800 --> 00:29:53,200 rested for three days, and it now sits empty in Israel, and he 498 00:29:53,200 --> 00:29:57,040 sits now on an occupied throne where the grace of God is ruling 499 00:29:57,040 --> 00:29:59,480 and reigning over your life. And you never have to question 500 00:29:59,480 --> 00:30:02,080 ever again if God is mighty. Why? 501 00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:05,400 Because He's mighty enough to overcome your sinfulness and the 502 00:30:05,400 --> 00:30:07,680 sins of the world. He paid for it with His blood. 503 00:30:08,720 --> 00:30:12,400 This is the mighty God we serve. This is the good news of the 504 00:30:12,400 --> 00:30:14,600 gospel. You don't have to be mighty. 505 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:20,960 You know the mighty One, and you can sing of His strength and His 506 00:30:20,960 --> 00:30:24,800 might every single week, even in a hard week or a good week. 507 00:30:24,800 --> 00:30:26,440 Why? Because that is set. 508 00:30:27,200 --> 00:30:30,480 It is not changing. It is not moving, it is secure. 509 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:37,520 And if Jesus is mighty and his Spirit lives in you, guess what? 510 00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:41,600 You are mighty as well. That what's true of Jesus is 511 00:30:41,600 --> 00:30:45,480 true of you. That is the mystery of being 512 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:50,720 united with Christ. You are now mighty and you've 513 00:30:50,720 --> 00:30:54,000 seen God did the most mighty thing in human history so that 514 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:57,480 you could have the strength to overcome your sin, so you could 515 00:30:57,480 --> 00:31:00,200 have life eternal with Him forevermore. 516 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:05,520 God the Mighty One did even bigger than the Jordan River for 517 00:31:05,520 --> 00:31:11,280 us. He saved us from our sin, and 518 00:31:11,280 --> 00:31:14,800 you might have overlooked that. He might have missed that memo, 519 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:20,200 but you can't speed past it. That is the mighty thing God has 520 00:31:20,200 --> 00:31:22,720 done, but it is not the only mighty thing. 521 00:31:23,040 --> 00:31:27,000 It's just supreme. You might have missed simple 522 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:31,800 things like this that as human beings, every single day, God 523 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:35,360 sustains the world, the universe, by the word of His 524 00:31:35,360 --> 00:31:39,400 power. Think about that for a second. 525 00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:43,400 He sustains the universe. Most of us can't even sustain a 526 00:31:43,400 --> 00:31:47,520 calendar, OK? And he sustains the universe. 527 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:52,160 That's how mighty God is. Maybe you've experienced the 528 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:55,400 wonder inducing moment of an Arizonan sunset. 529 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:04,200 God is so mighty that he just went, let's, let's have heavens 530 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:06,280 and earth. Let's have a sun, a moon and 531 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:07,440 stars. And he just spoke. 532 00:32:08,200 --> 00:32:12,760 That's how mighty God is. He's mighty in the reality that 533 00:32:12,760 --> 00:32:16,640 you have His very words recorded for you in your language. 534 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:20,360 This started thousands of years ago in a different language, but 535 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:22,680 yeah, here we are. You know the very words of God, 536 00:32:22,840 --> 00:32:25,560 and He's preserved it through opposition and attack. 537 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,480 Guess what? You can know who God is and you 538 00:32:28,480 --> 00:32:31,040 can worship Him truly in spirit and in truth. 539 00:32:31,040 --> 00:32:33,080 Why? Because you have God's words. 540 00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,800 But maybe let's get a little more personal with this, where 541 00:32:38,800 --> 00:32:42,280 you've experienced His might, many of you have experienced 542 00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:46,640 God's might like this, that you helped plant this church, that 543 00:32:46,640 --> 00:32:49,960 one of the mightiest moments of God in your life is actually 544 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:51,400 stepping out in faith and saying, you know what? 545 00:32:51,600 --> 00:32:54,520 I'm going to leave the church that I know and love people I 546 00:32:54,520 --> 00:32:56,960 care about and have prayed for me and have walked with me. 547 00:32:57,120 --> 00:33:00,080 I'm going to step out in faith and believe that Mighty 1 is 548 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:04,640 going to sustain me through it. Do you need a memorial stone for 549 00:33:04,640 --> 00:33:08,120 that? Do you need a supernatural story 550 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:10,800 to tell for what God's done in you as a result? 551 00:33:11,080 --> 00:33:16,920 Out in faith, I think every single one of us have moments 552 00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:20,080 that we just glazed right past, that God's might has been on 553 00:33:20,080 --> 00:33:22,280 display. Was it a trial you're now 554 00:33:22,280 --> 00:33:26,400 thankful for looking back on? Is it a friendship that He 555 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,160 brought into your life that changed the trajectory of your 556 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:34,080 eternity? Is His might in a big 557 00:33:34,080 --> 00:33:36,960 transition, changing from a state to another state? 558 00:33:38,080 --> 00:33:39,240 I don't know where it is for you. 559 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:46,080 What I do know is this, that you need to bring to a maximum your 560 00:33:46,080 --> 00:33:51,400 perception of how mighty God is. That whatever your view is 561 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:53,800 today, let's just make it a little bit bigger. 562 00:33:55,000 --> 00:33:58,160 Because He is bigger. He is mightier than we can even 563 00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:04,080 imagine or think. I remember when I was in college 564 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:09,320 and I remember the story of my rescue, the mighty moment of God 565 00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:11,280 changing my heart and my eternity. 566 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,800 Grew up in church. Like many of you, I grew up 567 00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:16,679 around the things of the church and the gospel. 568 00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:18,239 I'd heard story after story of God. 569 00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:21,320 In fact, I could probably tell you even at a young age, the 570 00:34:21,320 --> 00:34:25,719 whole story of Scripture. But my heart wasn't changed. 571 00:34:28,120 --> 00:34:31,040 I was still the same person. In fact, I was going after the 572 00:34:31,040 --> 00:34:35,360 things of the world, trying to live on my own strength, my own 573 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:39,679 might. And I reached the limit of that 574 00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:42,080 when I got cut from the baseball team my senior year. 575 00:34:43,719 --> 00:34:48,400 And I got really ticked off at God because I couldn't blame 576 00:34:48,400 --> 00:34:53,280 myself, of course. So I got mad at him, and I went 577 00:34:53,280 --> 00:34:55,880 to a school in Illinois that valued the things of the world, 578 00:34:57,240 --> 00:35:00,800 wanting to run as hard and as fast as I could after everything 579 00:35:00,800 --> 00:35:07,760 but God. But God, though I wanted nothing 580 00:35:07,760 --> 00:35:11,880 to do with him, though I couldn't see how self reliant 581 00:35:11,880 --> 00:35:18,040 I'd become on my own obedience, my own knowledge. 582 00:35:18,720 --> 00:35:21,560 I thought God would like me and love me and let me into heaven 583 00:35:21,560 --> 00:35:24,520 simply because I was a decent moral person. 584 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:31,000 But God rescued me from a false self perception. 585 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:35,400 He rescued me from a self-reliance for salvation. 586 00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:40,280 He delivered me from my sin. He did that. 587 00:35:41,640 --> 00:35:44,280 And every single one of us who is a Christian has a story just 588 00:35:44,280 --> 00:35:48,040 like and now the life you live faith in the Son of God. 589 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:52,520 You live by faith in the Son of God and he has changed you from 590 00:35:52,520 --> 00:35:54,800 the inside out. You are not the person you used 591 00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:58,280 to be. You are not the person you could 592 00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:03,960 be, but you're not who you were and you have changed. 593 00:36:05,680 --> 00:36:08,880 Praise God for His story of your his rescue in your life. 594 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:12,640 In fact, God has given us in the New Testament, He's given us a 595 00:36:12,640 --> 00:36:17,520 step to tell the story, to sing God's supernatural strength and 596 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:21,040 might as a literal memory stone for us. 597 00:36:21,040 --> 00:36:24,360 And it's baptism. I just encourage you if you are 598 00:36:24,360 --> 00:36:28,040 in Christ, if you have been rescued from your sin, I think 599 00:36:28,040 --> 00:36:30,720 Joshua Ford is helping you step forward and encourage and say, 600 00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:34,440 you know what, I stay anymore this back. 601 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:38,120 I need to obey Jesus Christ. I need to listen to him. 602 00:36:38,440 --> 00:36:41,840 I need to be a disciple of him, which means I'm going to listen 603 00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,000 to his teaching. I'm an adoptive for my life. 604 00:36:44,000 --> 00:36:47,280 I'm going to follow what he says in the truth of who he is and 605 00:36:47,280 --> 00:36:49,440 you want to do. I'm going to give him my 606 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:54,400 unconditional yes, and that yes goes first into the waters of 607 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:56,320 baptism. And you're saying God. 608 00:36:56,560 --> 00:36:59,160 I might not be a people person. I might not be good at talking 609 00:36:59,160 --> 00:37:02,280 in front of people, but you know what the New Testament does not 610 00:37:02,280 --> 00:37:04,120 know of a Christian who isn't baptized. 611 00:37:05,040 --> 00:37:07,960 If you are a Christ follower, may I just encourage you that I 612 00:37:07,960 --> 00:37:11,800 put courage into you today to do the very thing that God's asking 613 00:37:11,800 --> 00:37:14,440 you to do, which is to step forward and say, I'm going to 614 00:37:14,440 --> 00:37:16,240 sing of God's strength in my life. 615 00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:18,800 I'm going to brag about His might, that He saved me from 616 00:37:18,800 --> 00:37:21,040 addiction. He saved me from my sin. 617 00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:24,560 He saved me from a life and eternity apart from Him. 618 00:37:26,520 --> 00:37:30,200 Would you take that step? This is your encouragement from 619 00:37:30,200 --> 00:37:33,680 your pastor saying please don't. If you hear God's voice today, 620 00:37:33,680 --> 00:37:40,080 do not harden your heart. Step forward in baptism, Easter 621 00:37:40,720 --> 00:37:44,280 baptisms here. But in the meantime, we want to 622 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:45,640 get to know you. We want to get to know God's 623 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:47,760 story of his impossible you in your life. 624 00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:51,800 And we want to hear about it because you know what else fills 625 00:37:51,800 --> 00:37:55,440 the church with faith? It's hearing story after story 626 00:37:55,960 --> 00:38:01,480 after story after story, week after week, month after month, 627 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:08,360 life afterlife, doing people like you and I. 628 00:38:09,240 --> 00:38:10,320 And I think he's going to do it again. 629 00:38:11,440 --> 00:38:13,040 So if you want to get baptized, come follow. 630 00:38:13,720 --> 00:38:16,080 Nervous I'll be hanging around. I'd love to talk to you. 631 00:38:16,080 --> 00:38:17,680 You can follow up with the tent as well. 632 00:38:18,960 --> 00:38:23,840 But I believe our God is still doing impossible things and he's 633 00:38:23,840 --> 00:38:27,720 the one worth bragging about that it's his impossible work. 634 00:38:28,000 --> 00:38:31,440 It's not ours. We didn't do it, He did it. 635 00:38:32,000 --> 00:38:41,560 Let's pray, Lord, this is all for you and for your glory, Your 636 00:38:41,560 --> 00:38:48,400 might or glory to be known. And I ask God that you would you 637 00:38:48,400 --> 00:38:55,400 would heal hearts of despair and brokenness. 638 00:38:55,400 --> 00:39:01,760 Lord, that people who don't have that they would realize God in 639 00:39:02,000 --> 00:39:13,160 crisis in their moment of pain that things I pray for every 640 00:39:13,160 --> 00:39:17,760 person stuck in addiction that they would not lose hope or lose 641 00:39:17,760 --> 00:39:22,680 faith. I pray that like the Israelites, 642 00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:26,680 we would set up stones in our life that call us back to who 643 00:39:26,680 --> 00:39:31,520 you are and what you have done. Who you are is amazing, but what 644 00:39:31,520 --> 00:39:34,880 you've done, God, we never want to forget, so help us to not 645 00:39:34,880 --> 00:39:40,000 forget. And would you do it again and 646 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:43,120 again and again? Lord, more wonders, more 647 00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:46,920 miracles, so we can show off who you are in Jesus name, Amen.