1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,240 All right, well, tonight is our prayer service. 2 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:08,000 It's the first time I've been up here doing a prayer service, so 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:09,720 I guess that's how this one's going tonight. 4 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,360 But I do want to get into the word a little bit with you 5 00:00:12,360 --> 00:00:14,800 before we break up into groups and pray. 6 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,040 So if you have a Bible, you can turn to Joshua chapter 17, 7 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:29,120 Joshua chapter 17. And then just to prepare you for 8 00:00:29,120 --> 00:00:34,000 the social awkwardness that may ensue after our time in the 9 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,600 Word, our first prayer time is going to be y'all talking to 10 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:41,200 each other before we pray. So I'm going to give you a 11 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:44,880 substantial amount of time with some questions on the screen to 12 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,600 engage with what we're talking about together and then pray 13 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:50,280 together. And then we'll have something 14 00:00:50,280 --> 00:00:52,480 really specific that we'll pray for together. 15 00:00:52,480 --> 00:01:00,560 So Joshua, chapter 17, and we're looking at taking the mountain. 16 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,840 I've been meditating on this passage of scripture for weeks 17 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:08,160 and I am so excited to just be able to talk about it. 18 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,040 I do want to keep our time, just so you can know, maybe about 20 19 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:14,880 minutes and there are some notes, but they're blank and I 20 00:01:14,880 --> 00:01:18,120 have no screen notes, somewhat on purpose. 21 00:01:18,840 --> 00:01:20,520 I don't want this to be intellectual. 22 00:01:20,520 --> 00:01:23,280 I just want you to hear and listen, and you can write 23 00:01:23,280 --> 00:01:26,360 whatever you want. So let me read for us Joshua 24 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:32,680 chapter 17 verses 14 to 18. The Bible says, And the children 25 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,720 of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, Why hast thou given me 26 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:40,920 but one lot and one portion to inherit, seeing I am a great 27 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:44,280 people for as much as the Lord hath blessed me hitherto? 28 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:49,320 And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get 29 00:01:49,320 --> 00:01:52,440 thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in 30 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:56,280 the land of the parasites and of the giants, If Mount Ephrem be 31 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,280 too narrow for thee. And the children of Joseph said, 32 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:03,680 The hill is not enough for us. And all the Canaanites stood 33 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:07,000 dwell in the land, in the valley have Chariots of iron, both they 34 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,840 who are of Bethsheon and her towns, and they who are of the 35 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:12,640 valley, they're the valley of Jezreel. 36 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,880 And Joshua spake unto the House of Joseph, even to Ephraim and 37 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:21,840 to mount to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people and has 38 00:02:21,840 --> 00:02:24,120 great power. Thou shalt not have one lot 39 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:28,080 only, but the mountain shall be thine, for it is a wood, and 40 00:02:28,080 --> 00:02:30,800 thou shalt cut it down. And the outgoings of it shall be 41 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:34,440 thine, for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have 42 00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,360 Chariots of iron, and though they be strong. 43 00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:41,920 So tonight is taking the mountain. 44 00:02:43,720 --> 00:02:48,280 There are many things that we think God asks us to do that are 45 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:50,440 just going to take more work than what we really want it to 46 00:02:50,440 --> 00:02:53,240 be. And we're in the throes of 47 00:02:53,240 --> 00:02:54,800 planning a church. You all know you are the 48 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:56,520 faithful on a Wednesday night here. 49 00:02:56,520 --> 00:02:58,880 We're going to pray together. It's going to be great. 50 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:03,640 But maybe even considering for your own life what is something 51 00:03:03,640 --> 00:03:09,440 that you feel like God wants you to conquer or pursue today we'll 52 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:10,920 be, we will be challenged with that. 53 00:03:10,920 --> 00:03:13,000 And if you're a note taker, I have three points. 54 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,720 So if you want to spread them out somewhere, first we'll see 55 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:21,280 the need and then we'll see the excuse and then we'll see the 56 00:03:21,280 --> 00:03:25,640 challenge, the need, the excuse, and the challenge. 57 00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:29,440 And I do want to be brief, but I want to enlighten our minds for 58 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:32,720 our time and prayer together. So first of the need, in verse 59 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:39,600 14, the children of Joseph spake unto Joshua, saying, why has 60 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,960 thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit? 61 00:03:44,360 --> 00:03:46,160 So we come into the book of Joshua. 62 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,600 If you're familiar with the Old Testament, the first five books 63 00:03:50,600 --> 00:03:55,400 of the Bible or the law, Moses leads Israel out of captivity in 64 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,320 Egypt. They spent 40 years wandering in 65 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,760 the wilderness. They're told about this promised 66 00:04:00,760 --> 00:04:02,960 land. They'll no longer eat manna. 67 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:06,360 They're going to have their own inheritance, and each tribe will 68 00:04:06,360 --> 00:04:10,440 have a spot for their families to build and worship God. 69 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,400 When we get into the book of Joshua, Joshua is a stud. 70 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:19,720 He is the man. He takes Israel across Jordan 71 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:23,840 and conquers city after city after city and helps Israel 72 00:04:23,840 --> 00:04:27,720 inherit their land. And you don't have to feel bad. 73 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,880 We're told that Israel conquered this land not because Israel's 74 00:04:31,880 --> 00:04:34,360 righteous, but because the Canaanites were wicked. 75 00:04:35,200 --> 00:04:37,800 They were killing babies, they were worshipping demons and 76 00:04:37,800 --> 00:04:42,160 false gods, and it was a part of God's judgment on them to give 77 00:04:42,160 --> 00:04:47,160 that land to another people. But we find ourselves in Joshua 78 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:49,800 chapter 17. Most of the tribes have received 79 00:04:49,800 --> 00:04:52,800 their inheritance. Joshua's the lone guy waiting 80 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:57,000 back to receive his inheritance. And now there's one tribe, 81 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:01,000 really 2 together, the sons of Joseph that say, hey, we didn't 82 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:04,240 get enough. I need more. 83 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:09,240 And it's it's likely that they did need more, but we're going 84 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:17,360 to find 2 errors in their need. In verse 14, we see they think 85 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:19,640 that they're a great people. They think they deserve it. 86 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:25,040 Why has thou given me but one lot and one portion to inherit? 87 00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:28,960 Seeing I am a great people. And many times we can feel this 88 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:31,240 way as well. Man, what God loves me. 89 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:36,440 I deserve to have some things. And sure, there are many good, 90 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:39,240 wonderful benefits afforded to us in our Christian life. 91 00:05:40,000 --> 00:05:42,280 Man, someone sent us here to plant a church. 92 00:05:42,280 --> 00:05:44,280 We need to have like all this stuff. 93 00:05:44,280 --> 00:05:48,640 God can just do it for us. But to assume that we're great 94 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,000 would be the opposite of humility. 95 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,400 And if someone just gives us something, we're likely not to 96 00:05:56,400 --> 00:06:00,080 steward it well. Proverbs 20 and 21 says an 97 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:05,760 inheritance maybe gotten hastily at the beginning, but the end 98 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,920 thereof shall not be blessed. And this is what Israel wanted. 99 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,200 They they wanted more than one portion to inherit. 100 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:17,200 And God says if you get that thing hastily, you didn't work 101 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:19,320 for it. It's not going to really work 102 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:21,960 out well for you. And we have that I deserve it 103 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:24,880 attitude. Secondly, we see that these 104 00:06:24,880 --> 00:06:27,760 people want a blessing without the work. 105 00:06:30,400 --> 00:06:34,720 They say, for as much as the Lord hath blessed me, it's 106 00:06:34,720 --> 00:06:38,080 surely that's true. This tribe has increased, God 107 00:06:38,080 --> 00:06:40,080 has blessed them, and they need to spread out. 108 00:06:41,360 --> 00:06:43,840 And man, I think as a pastor, what a wonderful problem that 109 00:06:43,840 --> 00:06:45,120 would be if we had to spread out. 110 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:48,960 If we needed more space, that would be absolutely wonderful. 111 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:54,000 That may not be where we are quite yet, but there is an error 112 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:56,640 in assuming that blessing comes without work. 113 00:06:57,640 --> 00:07:05,240 I just get to be blessed. Proverbs 13 says wealth gotten 114 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:09,240 by vanity shall be diminished, but he that gathereth by labor 115 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:15,080 shall increase. He that gathereth by labor shall 116 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:18,440 increase. So maybe for you ask, you could 117 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:22,840 ask yourself in what area of your life do you feel like I 118 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:26,080 deserve it? Somebody just needs to give it 119 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,560 to me for me. And we've had car trouble. 120 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:32,760 You know, I just figured, God, you, you can just buy me a new 121 00:07:32,760 --> 00:07:34,360 car and someone can give it to me. 122 00:07:35,280 --> 00:07:37,120 And sometimes he's like, why don't you just fix it? 123 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:40,680 God, man, I'm trusting you for the city, man. 124 00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,720 You can just give us a new facility and someone will just 125 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:46,320 want to give it to a an up and coming church and you'll just 126 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:50,000 drop it in our lap. And I've in faith believe that 127 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:56,320 he can, but he hasn't. And he may be asking us to do 128 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:57,800 here. What we're going to see tonight 129 00:07:57,800 --> 00:07:59,840 is like, you need to get to work. 130 00:08:00,960 --> 00:08:03,600 Why don't you go do something about it? 131 00:08:04,680 --> 00:08:06,880 But they have an excuse, much like you do. 132 00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:09,760 I mean, I love you. I'm sorry, but we're all humans. 133 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:12,680 We have a sinful nature. We don't always want to do the 134 00:08:12,680 --> 00:08:16,520 thing that we're supposed to. If we look at verses 15 and 16, 135 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:19,840 there's the conversation continues. 136 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:23,560 And in verse 15, we see that there were giants. 137 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:28,800 And in verse 16, we see that they have Chariots of iron. 138 00:08:30,040 --> 00:08:32,600 And if you just think about going to conquer somebody, if 139 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:37,120 you said they have iron and giants, like, you know, that 140 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,280 sounds like a lot of work. I don't know that that's that's 141 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:42,120 easy. That's not just the blessing 142 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:46,080 dropped in my lap. That's I mean, David famously 143 00:08:46,480 --> 00:08:48,720 killed Goliath and that was a really big deal. 144 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:53,320 But you know what kind of faith David had when he killed a giant 145 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:58,520 with a with a stone? He said, thy servant slew both 146 00:08:58,520 --> 00:09:01,400 the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised 147 00:09:01,400 --> 00:09:05,120 Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he at the five, the 148 00:09:05,120 --> 00:09:08,960 armies of the living God. This is the kind of attitude 149 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:11,720 that we need to have if we're going to take the mountain. 150 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:16,000 If we're going to see what does God have for us, We got to do it 151 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,880 in faith, trusting God for it. As far as the Chariots of iron 152 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:24,760 go, this is an interesting time. Israel has been in the 153 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:28,600 wilderness for 40 years. They haven't exactly had a lot 154 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,360 of resources. They've had to have God fight 155 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:35,120 supernatural battles for them. But now they come to the land of 156 00:09:35,120 --> 00:09:37,600 Canaan. And it would be interesting if 157 00:09:37,600 --> 00:09:40,480 we had the time to study the use of iron in the Bible. 158 00:09:41,160 --> 00:09:44,480 But in Deuteronomy chapter 8, it's said that this land that 159 00:09:44,480 --> 00:09:49,160 they would inherit would it says whose stones are iron, and out 160 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,320 of whose hills thou mayest dig brass. 161 00:09:52,480 --> 00:09:55,320 A part of their inheritance would advance them in 162 00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,360 technology. So essentially the people that 163 00:09:58,360 --> 00:10:01,000 are currently inhabiting it are more advanced than them. 164 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:06,200 So when God asks us to fight a battle to take a mountain, it's 165 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:11,440 likely it's an uphill battle. They're more technologically 166 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,400 advanced. We have less resources if God 167 00:10:14,400 --> 00:10:17,920 doesn't come through man. We, we just, we got nothing. 168 00:10:18,640 --> 00:10:22,520 This is the fight of faith as Paul tells Timothy in first 169 00:10:22,520 --> 00:10:26,240 Timothy 612. Fight the good faith fight of 170 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:29,120 faith. So maybe for you or you could 171 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:34,160 think about our church. What uphill spiritual battle 172 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:42,760 does God ask you to fight? I can think about. 173 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:47,240 We have a missionary guest with us tonight. 174 00:10:47,920 --> 00:10:52,640 Whenever we went on deputation and just the thought of how on 175 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,520 earth is God going to raise any money for us to move across the 176 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:56,920 country? This is crazy. 177 00:10:57,440 --> 00:11:00,200 We sold our house and we just, it was insane. 178 00:11:01,840 --> 00:11:04,560 And then that's when the Lord really shows up and we have to 179 00:11:04,560 --> 00:11:09,040 trust him for it. That's when God really shows up. 180 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:13,240 So we see that they're stronger. And secondly, we see that this 181 00:11:13,240 --> 00:11:17,440 is going to be a lot of work. If you look at verse 15, Joshua 182 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,360 says get the up to the wood country and cut down for 183 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:25,200 thyself. Have you ever cut down a tree? 184 00:11:27,720 --> 00:11:29,880 How about maybe have you ever not cut down a tree? 185 00:11:29,880 --> 00:11:32,840 Anyone I know, my wife's probably raising her hand. 186 00:11:32,840 --> 00:11:36,840 Anyone else not cut a tree down? All right, my sons need to learn 187 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,000 to cut a tree down. Let's find a place to do that. 188 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:44,760 Cutting a tree down without a chainsaw is a lot of work about 189 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:47,400 cutting firewood. Even if it's already cut and you 190 00:11:47,400 --> 00:11:50,120 just have to split it. If you're wearing your little 191 00:11:50,120 --> 00:11:52,560 Fitbit thing, you know your heart rate stuff is going to be 192 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,240 stressing out. It's a lot of work. 193 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:59,520 Now consider a mountain covered in trees that need to be cut 194 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:01,520 down so that you can inhabit them. 195 00:12:02,960 --> 00:12:06,120 And then the stumps. I mean, this is a lot of work. 196 00:12:06,560 --> 00:12:10,200 This already sounds like I don't know if I'm interested in this 197 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:14,480 kind of Labor. And this is what the problem was 198 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:18,040 with Joseph's tribe. They were slothful. 199 00:12:18,040 --> 00:12:21,480 Proverbs 2125. The desire of the slothful 200 00:12:21,480 --> 00:12:25,240 killeth him. So the slothful has a desire. 201 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:27,720 You know what a sloth is, right? It's really slow. 202 00:12:29,320 --> 00:12:34,240 For some reason on our Amazon Fire TV, my kids chose my 203 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:39,720 profile picture to be a sloth. I don't feel like I'm 204 00:12:39,720 --> 00:12:45,680 particularly slow. They thought it was funny, but 205 00:12:45,680 --> 00:12:48,640 the slothful has a desire. Proverbs 2125. 206 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:51,680 As I just said, the desire of the slothful killeth him. 207 00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:56,360 He has something he wants to do, he just never actually gets 208 00:12:56,360 --> 00:12:58,240 around to it. It says his hands are the 209 00:12:58,240 --> 00:13:02,200 problem. His hands refuse to labor. 210 00:13:04,360 --> 00:13:07,440 And man, I hope God dropped some blessings in our lap. 211 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:12,120 He is good and he can do the miraculous, but he also says you 212 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,880 just got to do your part, man. I need you to do some stuff. 213 00:13:15,880 --> 00:13:23,080 I need you to step out in faith. So we saw the need, We saw the 214 00:13:23,080 --> 00:13:26,320 excuse. But now let's look at Joshua's 215 00:13:26,320 --> 00:13:32,320 response. Joshua in verses 17 and 18 is a 216 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:36,400 great leader as I said, and he maybe could remind you of a 217 00:13:36,400 --> 00:13:38,720 mentor or somebody you've had in your life. 218 00:13:39,440 --> 00:13:41,960 Whenever you said, hey, I feel like why isn't God doing this 219 00:13:41,960 --> 00:13:44,000 for me? I deserve more, this stuff 220 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:45,480 should be happening. What should I do? 221 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:51,360 Joshua is a great example. So there are four things here I 222 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:54,480 think we can see that make a great mentor. 223 00:13:54,480 --> 00:13:57,240 First, a great mentor will build you up. 224 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:03,640 Joshua says in verse 17, thou art a great people and has great 225 00:14:03,640 --> 00:14:05,880 power. Isn't that what you want to 226 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:08,920 hear? This tribe said, hey, we're a 227 00:14:08,920 --> 00:14:10,520 great people. We need more land. 228 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:13,640 Why don't we gather the tribes of Israel to go and fight the 229 00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:15,240 battle and take this mountain for us? 230 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:17,680 And Joshua says you're a great people. 231 00:14:17,680 --> 00:14:23,840 Remember, you got this. This is frequently what I tell 232 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:27,000 Tucker, some of my disciples like you're going to do great 233 00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:29,760 whenever they go out to do stuff. 234 00:14:29,760 --> 00:14:31,280 I'm like, you're going to do a great job, man. 235 00:14:31,760 --> 00:14:33,480 I I got faith that you can do this. 236 00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:36,120 That's what a good mentor should do. 237 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:39,480 We should be like man, you know what God, God really can use you 238 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:41,160 and do some great things in your life. 239 00:14:41,880 --> 00:14:45,360 Romans 837 and all these things. We are more than conquerors 240 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:48,720 through him that loved us. That's what a good mentor does. 241 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:51,120 You're right man, you do deserve more. 242 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:53,720 Let's get out there and get it. Let's go. 243 00:14:54,640 --> 00:14:56,560 A good mentor will also help you grow. 244 00:14:57,320 --> 00:15:03,120 He says in verse 17, Thou shalt not have one lot only He's not 245 00:15:03,120 --> 00:15:05,160 holding back this tribe from taking more. 246 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:07,080 He's like, you know what, you do need more. 247 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:11,440 He says in verse 18, but the mountain shall be thine. 248 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:14,600 You know what? God does want you to have more. 249 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:20,200 I want that for you too. We see that for the Christian. 250 00:15:20,200 --> 00:15:21,640 That's what we see in discipleship. 251 00:15:21,640 --> 00:15:25,520 We're trying to help people grow because Romans tells us that 252 00:15:25,520 --> 00:15:29,200 we've been predestinated to be conformed to the image of His 253 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:32,720 Son. The God wants us to continually 254 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:36,920 look more and more like Jesus and to grow and not be content, 255 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:40,560 not be overtaken by sin and have faith and be willing to do 256 00:15:40,560 --> 00:15:46,080 things for him. So a good mentor will build you 257 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:49,200 up, help you grow, and they're going to give you firm 258 00:15:49,200 --> 00:15:53,280 direction. This is maybe where what you 259 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,440 don't love as much. It's like when they take the 260 00:15:56,440 --> 00:15:59,280 sword and they just slowly stick it right into your gut. 261 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:03,880 The sword is the sword of the spirit. 262 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:08,960 By the way, Ephesians 6, because look at verse 18. 263 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:14,600 He says, for it is a wood and thou shalt cut it down. 264 00:16:15,400 --> 00:16:17,960 Thou shalt is commandee kind of words, right? 265 00:16:19,200 --> 00:16:22,760 He says in verse 18, thou shalt drive out the Canaanites. 266 00:16:24,040 --> 00:16:26,680 He wasn't asking them, hey, how do you feel about this? 267 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:28,280 Maybe there's an alternative plan. 268 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,040 Maybe we can outsource, he says. I'm going to tell you what you 269 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:33,280 want to do. You're a big boy. 270 00:16:33,640 --> 00:16:34,960 Let's get on out there and get it. 271 00:16:34,960 --> 00:16:37,600 Thou shalt cut it down. Thou shalt drive it out. 272 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:44,840 This is what a good mentor does, speaking the truth in love, that 273 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:47,560 you may grow up into him in Christ. 274 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,880 But we have to be somewhat forceful with the truth. 275 00:16:54,040 --> 00:16:55,840 Do you have somebody like this in your life? 276 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,440 They've got your back. They're all for you, but they 277 00:16:59,440 --> 00:17:02,160 just aren't going to relent. You know what, God has more for 278 00:17:02,160 --> 00:17:02,800 you. You're right. 279 00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:06,800 Let's get it. Can you think of something like 280 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:11,800 that? We all need somebody like that. 281 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:18,440 And lastly, Joshua, as a good mentor to this group gives 282 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:24,200 realistic expectations. This isn't pie in the sky. 283 00:17:24,200 --> 00:17:29,880 Like let's go get them slugger, because that's actually flattery 284 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,480 and it's not really helpful when we go to the people that just 285 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,920 tell us what we want or they say, yeah, that's that's 286 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:43,920 ridiculous, let's do it. He says in verse 18, though they 287 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:47,280 have iron Chariots and though they'd be strong. 288 00:17:48,480 --> 00:17:52,560 So yeah, you can defeat them. Although they are a strong 289 00:17:52,560 --> 00:17:56,800 people. A good mentor doesn't make play 290 00:17:56,800 --> 00:17:59,040 in the make believe land. They say, you know what, we're 291 00:17:59,040 --> 00:18:01,400 doing this church planning thing, you're doing this 292 00:18:01,400 --> 00:18:03,360 discipleship thing. You want to grow and be more 293 00:18:03,360 --> 00:18:05,440 like Jesus. You're going to have you're in a 294 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:09,200 spiritual war. Actually this isn't a physical 295 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:11,080 war. We're not taking territory. 296 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:17,320 But as far as it is taking spiritual development in your 297 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:20,160 life or seeing souls come into the Kingdom, there is more that 298 00:18:20,160 --> 00:18:22,680 goes on in the spiritual world around us. 299 00:18:22,680 --> 00:18:26,160 Second Timothy 2 tells us that we're to endure hardness as a 300 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:29,400 good soldier. So a good mentor is going to 301 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:30,920 remind you, hey, it's not going to be easy. 302 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:35,160 I want this for you. You're going to do great, but 303 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:36,320 we're going to have to slug it out. 304 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:40,840 I know you can do it. So those are your three things 305 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,640 from Joshua 17. There's a great need. 306 00:18:47,640 --> 00:18:51,400 Very. It's easy to make excuses, but 307 00:18:51,400 --> 00:18:56,120 if we have good leadership pushing us forward, honestly 308 00:18:56,120 --> 00:19:01,720 with the truth, man, I look forward to what our church looks 309 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:04,080 like. I don't think it'll always be 310 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:07,240 easy. I'm willing to cut down some 311 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:11,000 trees with you guys, but you also have things in your own 312 00:19:11,000 --> 00:19:13,840 life. So whatever comes to mind for 313 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:16,680 you. I have a couple slides that I'm 314 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:20,160 going to put up and I'm going to give you guys 20 minutes. 315 00:19:21,320 --> 00:19:23,120 You're already on sides of the room. 316 00:19:23,120 --> 00:19:26,120 So I'm just going to say, you know, get into groups, two 317 00:19:26,120 --> 00:19:31,840 groups maybe, and go through these questions, say hi, talk to 318 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:33,960 each other, be real. This time is for you guys just 319 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,520 to converse. And then at the end of 20 320 00:19:37,520 --> 00:19:39,840 minutes, I'm going to come up and we'll we'll pray for each 321 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:43,560 other. So let's begin.