1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:02,920 Wonderful. Feel free to pause your 2 00:00:02,920 --> 00:00:07,080 conversations and you can unpause them again momentarily. 3 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:16,000 What would you do tomorrow if you were absolutely, 100% sure 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:20,840 that God was with you? Just going to leave that 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:22,120 dangling? You can have a little think 6 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:24,560 about that. As I said at the beginning of 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:26,760 the service, we're starting a new series today. 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:31,000 We're going to be looking at the book of Joshua, uncharted 9 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:33,640 territory. Be strong and courageous. 10 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:36,720 If you don't know the story of Joshua, hopefully that will 11 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:38,800 unfold. But can I encourage you over the 12 00:00:38,800 --> 00:00:41,480 next few weeks to maybe read it when you're at home? 13 00:00:41,760 --> 00:00:43,600 And we're not going to, there's 24 chapters. 14 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:45,960 We're not going to do a chapter a week. 15 00:00:46,320 --> 00:00:49,920 We're going to skip a few out. So it would be really helpful if 16 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:53,440 you read it at home and you understood the historical 17 00:00:53,440 --> 00:00:56,800 narrative that unfolds through the book of Joshua. 18 00:00:57,920 --> 00:01:02,240 But we've got, I've called it uncharted territory because if 19 00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:04,519 you read the book of Joshua, you'll realize that that he is 20 00:01:04,519 --> 00:01:07,280 leading the people into the promised land and it's uncharted 21 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,320 territory. But I felt like, you know, for 22 00:01:10,320 --> 00:01:14,080 us in the world that we live in, you don't have to look far to 23 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:16,280 think we don't. We can't really predict what's 24 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:19,480 going to happen next, whether it's world leaders making 25 00:01:19,480 --> 00:01:24,960 decisions to invade other countries or we have a health 26 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,120 health scare and we find ourselves in a situation that we 27 00:01:29,120 --> 00:01:32,440 didn't anticipate or particularly want. 28 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:37,760 We are living in times where the future is perhaps feeling quite 29 00:01:37,760 --> 00:01:42,000 uncertain and we are entering or we are already in the middle of 30 00:01:42,320 --> 00:01:45,200 uncharted territory. Not very different from the rest 31 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:47,000 of life. But you just have to look at a 32 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:50,960 few news headlines to think, huh, how's this going to unfold? 33 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:53,400 What's going to be the headline tomorrow? 34 00:01:54,120 --> 00:01:57,440 Who's going to say something crazy anyway? 35 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:01,560 And so uncharted territory kind of over arches the whole topic, 36 00:02:01,560 --> 00:02:07,040 the whole theme of this series, be strong and courageous is kind 37 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,720 of the the tagline. And if you have read Joshua, you 38 00:02:09,720 --> 00:02:13,720 will know that that those words come straight out of the opening 39 00:02:13,720 --> 00:02:17,880 words that God says to Joshua as he steps out into a daunting 40 00:02:17,880 --> 00:02:20,600 task of leading God's people into the promised land. 41 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,080 So do let me encourage you to read it. 42 00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:28,520 I wonder what your answer was to the question, What would you do 43 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:33,280 tomorrow if you were absolutely sure 100% that God was with you? 44 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:38,720 Maybe it would be something that requires real courage, where 45 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:46,600 fear is no longer at play. I love a good courage story, and 46 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:49,680 if we've got time at the end, I'll share one that I heard I 47 00:02:49,720 --> 00:02:54,480 was reminded of recently. But often when we don't have 48 00:02:54,480 --> 00:02:57,880 courage, it's probably because we're actually full of fear. 49 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:04,800 And the famous theologian Carl Bart said courage is fear that 50 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:09,680 has said it's prayers. I did a bit of Googling this 51 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:15,320 week, and according to Google, the number one fear of people is 52 00:03:15,320 --> 00:03:22,200 public speaking. The second fear is of dying, so 53 00:03:22,200 --> 00:03:23,480 I thought that was quite interesting. 54 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:26,520 People would obviously rather be in the coffin than giving the 55 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:27,760 eulogy. Perhaps. 56 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:31,960 But we all have fears, don't we? And it might not be that either 57 00:03:31,960 --> 00:03:35,680 of those two top fears are your fears, that your fears might 58 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,360 look very different. But so often we have fears that 59 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:42,760 have been formed deep down within us. 60 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:47,840 Fears of getting things wrong, fear of being powerless or being 61 00:03:47,840 --> 00:03:51,360 out of control, Maybe a fear of not being good enough. 62 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:56,080 And fears are triggered when we look round and we see perhaps 63 00:03:56,120 --> 00:04:00,000 uncharted territory. We see things being unstable or 64 00:04:00,000 --> 00:04:05,160 changing, whether it is loved ones dying, the economy being 65 00:04:05,160 --> 00:04:10,040 all over the place, world leaders doing and saying some 66 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:15,720 crazy things, whether it's people being displaced by war, 67 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:19,560 violence and persecution. At the end of 2024, it was 68 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:24,600 estimated that 123 million people were living displaced. 69 00:04:26,520 --> 00:04:29,000 You know, whether it's high profile people who we have 70 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,080 admired, maybe even looked up to, maybe listen to their 71 00:04:33,080 --> 00:04:38,560 teaching appearing that actually they have many skeletons in 72 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:43,560 their closet. It might be that looking ahead, 73 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:48,560 as you look at the territory ahead of you that you don't know 74 00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,600 what it's going to look like. Maybe you're planning a move. 75 00:04:51,600 --> 00:04:54,480 Maybe you're changing jobs. Maybe you're going off to 76 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:58,520 university. Maybe you are graduating, maybe 77 00:04:58,520 --> 00:05:04,440 you're leaving school. Maybe friends are moving on and 78 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:05,720 things are going to look different. 79 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:07,960 Maybe a bit scary, maybe a bit unknown. 80 00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:14,560 Maybe you feel out of control when fear is up close and 81 00:05:14,560 --> 00:05:17,720 personal. We could all do with a good dose 82 00:05:17,720 --> 00:05:22,600 of courage, couldn't we? What would you do tomorrow if 83 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,080 you were absolutely sure 100% God was with you? 84 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:31,680 The Book of Joshua is the account of the life of Joshua as 85 00:05:31,680 --> 00:05:35,120 He led the people of Israel into the Promised land. 86 00:05:35,120 --> 00:05:38,880 It's not a superhero story about this man called Joshua. 87 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,920 It is a God story. It's a story of a flawed group 88 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:46,520 of people stepping into impossible things because God 89 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:50,560 goes with them and he says over and over to them be strong and 90 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,160 courageous. And I believe that he's saying 91 00:05:53,160 --> 00:05:57,240 that to us today. It's one of the most powerful 92 00:05:57,240 --> 00:05:59,880 truths that we can find in Joshua 19. 93 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:03,880 It says this, the Lord your God will be with you wherever you 94 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:06,640 go. So before we jump in and read 95 00:06:06,640 --> 00:06:09,880 some of Joshua, one a bit of context for starters. 96 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:13,960 For those of you that might not know the story of Joshua and do 97 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:15,720 grab your Bibles if you've got them. 98 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:17,880 We've got some on the information table if you'd like. 99 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,320 1 Joshua is five books into the Bible. 100 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:24,600 So it's in the Old Testament just a few centimeters in. 101 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:30,760 If your Bible looks like mine about that much in do do find 102 00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:31,760 that. And just I'll give you a bit of 103 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:33,240 context so you've got time to find it. 104 00:06:34,600 --> 00:06:36,040 When we're coming to the beginning of this book of 105 00:06:36,040 --> 00:06:39,320 Joshua, Although it is the beginning of this book, it is a 106 00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:41,920 continuation of what has happened before. 107 00:06:42,520 --> 00:06:45,200 And one of the things I love about the Old Testament 108 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:49,520 narrative passages particularly, is that they are real people in 109 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:52,720 real places, in real times in history. 110 00:06:53,280 --> 00:06:55,600 And so whenever we read the Old Testament, we need to think 111 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:59,040 about the part of the whole Bible story that we're jumping 112 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:01,560 into. When we read Israel's story, we 113 00:07:01,560 --> 00:07:05,080 need to know as well that it is a story that we have been 114 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:09,600 grafted into. It's our story as well. 115 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:15,120 This overall story of the Bible is our story, the God story. 116 00:07:15,800 --> 00:07:19,440 And another little sneak peek, after we've looked at Joshua, 117 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:21,440 we're going to be looking at the Bible. 118 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,800 We're going to be going through it and doing on Sundays and in 119 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:26,880 small groups, a whole series on the Bible. 120 00:07:26,880 --> 00:07:31,760 So I'm looking forward to that. That wasn't in my notes. 121 00:07:33,200 --> 00:07:36,680 So we look at the whole story of Scripture and we are grafted 122 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:38,120 into it. It's our story as well. 123 00:07:38,320 --> 00:07:40,560 And in the Old Testament, the story of Joshua is really 124 00:07:40,560 --> 00:07:42,840 critical. The first five books of the 125 00:07:42,840 --> 00:07:47,240 Bible focus on God's promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob of and 126 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:49,880 the about the land of their descendants. 127 00:07:50,120 --> 00:07:55,400 And then it goes on and it talks about God, God's people being 128 00:07:55,400 --> 00:08:01,000 rescued from slavery in Egypt. Moses leads the people out of 129 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,600 Egypt in the story of Exodus. He parts the Red Sea. 130 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,480 They crossover. They wander in the desert to the 131 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:12,840 land that God has promised them. They go to Mount Sinai where 132 00:08:13,000 --> 00:08:15,160 Moses receives the 10 commandments from God. 133 00:08:15,800 --> 00:08:18,600 And that only takes them about a year and a half to get to the 134 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:23,560 border of the Promised land. At this point, Moses sends spies 135 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:26,480 into the Promised land to see what's there. 136 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:31,840 He sends one person from each tribe. 12 spies go, 10 of them 137 00:08:31,840 --> 00:08:34,400 come back saying there's no way we should go there. 138 00:08:34,799 --> 00:08:39,240 It's a land filled with giants. We would be crushed. 139 00:08:39,600 --> 00:08:43,400 We shouldn't do it. But two of those 12 spies come 140 00:08:43,400 --> 00:08:46,600 back and they believe that God is with them. 141 00:08:47,160 --> 00:08:49,000 Their names are Caleb and Joshua. 142 00:08:49,800 --> 00:08:52,400 They are the ones who trusted God. 143 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:56,320 But the people of Israel, when they hear the report from these 144 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:59,840 ten other spies that the land is filled with giants, they start 145 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:03,800 grumbling and complaining again to Moses and to God. 146 00:09:04,240 --> 00:09:08,160 The result is that these people end up wandering the desert for 147 00:09:08,160 --> 00:09:13,960 another 38 1/2 years, so a generation has nearly died off. 148 00:09:14,400 --> 00:09:17,040 They get back to the border of the promised land. 149 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:21,800 And you can imagine, after a long walk in the desert, getting 150 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,880 to this border is a moment for celebration. 151 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:26,880 It's the moment they've been waiting for. 152 00:09:26,880 --> 00:09:28,480 They're ready. They're good to go. 153 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:32,520 They're finally here. Moses goes up onto a mountain to 154 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:36,640 survey the land, and that's when God tells him that he will not 155 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:40,440 cross into the Promised land. He's going to die before he gets 156 00:09:40,440 --> 00:09:43,640 there. And this is where we pick up the 157 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:48,160 story of Joshua because Moses is handing on the baton to him. 158 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,920 So that was a bit of a context leading up to it. 159 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:55,800 If you're still awake, turn to Joshua 1 and I'm going to read 160 00:09:55,840 --> 00:09:58,360 the first 9 verses from Joshua 1. 161 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:02,640 After the death of Moses, which I just talked about, the servant 162 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:06,080 of the Lord, the Lord spoke to Joshua son of Nun, Moses's 163 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:09,200 assistant. He said, Moses, my servant is 164 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:11,160 dead. Therefore the time has come for 165 00:10:11,160 --> 00:10:14,720 you to lead these people, the Israelites, cross the river 166 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:16,960 Jordan into the Promised Land. I am giving them. 167 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:20,560 I promise you what I promised Moses. 168 00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:24,920 Wherever you set foot, you will be on land I have given you, 169 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:29,040 from the Negev Wilderness in the South to the Lebanon Mountains 170 00:10:29,040 --> 00:10:31,880 in the north, to the Euphrates River in the east, to the 171 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,360 Mediterranean Sea in the West, including all of the land of the 172 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:37,960 Hittites. No one will be able to stand 173 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,920 against you as long as you live, for I will be with you as I was 174 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,880 with Moses. I will not fail you or abandon 175 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:48,440 you. Be strong and courageous, for 176 00:10:48,440 --> 00:10:51,720 you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the 177 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:55,000 land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 178 00:10:55,760 --> 00:10:58,880 Be strong and courageous. Be careful to obey all the 179 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:01,920 instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, 180 00:11:01,920 --> 00:11:04,360 turning either from to the right or to the left. 181 00:11:04,720 --> 00:11:07,160 Then you will be successful in everything you do. 182 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:10,720 Study this book of instruction continually. 183 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:14,520 Meditate on it day and night so that you'll be sure to obey 184 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:17,920 everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and 185 00:11:17,920 --> 00:11:20,800 succeed in all you do. This is my command. 186 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:24,760 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged, 187 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:28,320 for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. 188 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:34,320 So the first thing that we can learn from Joshua in this 189 00:11:34,400 --> 00:11:38,680 opening paragraph of the account of the people of God is that we 190 00:11:38,680 --> 00:11:43,920 can be certain of God's promises in all we do. 191 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:56,000 I'm just trying to read my sentence in all we do would we 192 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:57,600 do? What would we do? 193 00:11:57,600 --> 00:12:00,400 I think that's supposed to say if we actually believed the 194 00:12:00,400 --> 00:12:04,800 promises of God. And Joshua shows us here that we 195 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:09,160 can be certain of God's promises. 3 times in just 9 196 00:12:09,160 --> 00:12:12,200 verses. Joshua is told by God to be 197 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:16,120 strong and courageous. A side note, when there's when 198 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,000 there's repetition in Scripture, that means pay attention. 199 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:23,520 God's making a point. It is possible that Moses was 200 00:12:23,520 --> 00:12:27,960 feeling very weak and not courageous, and so he needed 201 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:30,160 reminding. I mean, if we think about it, 202 00:12:30,320 --> 00:12:32,520 he's stepping into the shoes of Moses. 203 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:36,760 Even if you haven't been in church for very long, you might 204 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:40,640 have heard of Moses, the Prince of Egypt film and all that, like 205 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:44,600 he had big shoes to fill. He had led the people, He had 206 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,600 confronted Pharaoh. He'd had a few crisis moments, 207 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:53,240 but we see from this Joshua is probably having a bit of a 208 00:12:53,240 --> 00:12:56,320 crisis moment. But yet in a crisis moment, 209 00:12:56,760 --> 00:12:59,680 God's promise accompanies that crisis. 210 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,320 Moses was gone. The man who God had spoken to 211 00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:06,960 face to face, who'd given him the 10 commandments, the man who 212 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:11,120 had parted the sea and LED the people out of Egypt. 213 00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:16,040 It was now Joshua's turn to lead these people to fulfil the 214 00:13:16,040 --> 00:13:18,120 promises that they've been given through Moses. 215 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:20,680 I'm sure he felt like the stakes were high. 216 00:13:21,440 --> 00:13:24,480 There were enemies ahead. There were giants in the land. 217 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:28,280 As these 10 survivor talked about, there was generational 218 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:32,360 trauma. And the question is, how will we 219 00:13:32,360 --> 00:13:36,200 go forward? God says to him, be strong and 220 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,320 courageous. My promises are that I will 221 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:45,840 never fail you nor abandon you. And just as Joshua could be 222 00:13:45,840 --> 00:13:49,440 certain of God's promises, we can be certain of God's 223 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:53,360 promises. Whatever we face, whatever is up 224 00:13:53,360 --> 00:13:57,760 ahead of us, whether we know it or not, we can be certain of 225 00:13:57,760 --> 00:14:02,400 God's promises that He will never leave us nor forsake us. 226 00:14:02,600 --> 00:14:05,240 He will not abandon us. He will not fail us. 227 00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:11,520 Perhaps you feel a bit like Joshua now, and God is inviting 228 00:14:11,520 --> 00:14:15,480 you to step into something. Maybe you know what that is. 229 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:20,360 Maybe you don't. Maybe it's a new season for you 230 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:24,880 in parenting, in work, in leadership, in grief, in 231 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:29,280 uncertainty, and you're asking God the question. 232 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:34,240 I don't know that I'm ready for this, really, God. 233 00:14:36,440 --> 00:14:38,720 Maybe it does feel a bit like a crisis. 234 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,120 I mean, to be fair, when I think about Joshua being given the job 235 00:14:43,120 --> 00:14:45,680 of Moses, that makes me feel a bit sick. 236 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,080 Maybe you feel like you're being invited to do something and it 237 00:14:51,080 --> 00:14:54,520 feels like a crisis moment because it feels scary and big. 238 00:14:56,360 --> 00:15:01,600 What promise has God made to you that accompanies the crisis that 239 00:15:01,600 --> 00:15:09,360 you feel right now? I read 1 pass one scholar this 240 00:15:09,360 --> 00:15:15,000 week that said that there are over 3570 promises in scripture. 241 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,320 I haven't counted so I'm just going with what I read. 242 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:24,200 But that's a lot of promises. Just one of those is that he 243 00:15:24,200 --> 00:15:28,000 will never leave you. He will never abandoned you. 244 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,200 God promises. Jesus promises that he will be 245 00:15:35,200 --> 00:15:37,560 with us and that he can be trusted. 246 00:15:39,520 --> 00:15:42,440 There was a famous Baptist preacher called Charles Spurgeon 247 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:47,040 in the 1800s, and he said this. It's God's nature to keep his 248 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:51,240 promises. Therefore, go immediately to his 249 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:54,360 throne and say do as you promised. 250 00:15:55,440 --> 00:15:58,800 I love that picture. We face a crisis or we face the 251 00:15:58,800 --> 00:16:01,280 unknown. We're not quite sure what ahead. 252 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:04,920 And we have permission to go to the throne of God and say, God, 253 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:07,640 you promised, you promised you'd be with me. 254 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:11,400 You promised you'd deliver, You promised you would provide, You 255 00:16:11,400 --> 00:16:13,800 promised that you would show me the way forward. 256 00:16:15,160 --> 00:16:18,280 We can ask God to fulfil his promises to us. 257 00:16:19,960 --> 00:16:23,120 What is God saying to you right now, in this moment? 258 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,880 What promise are you recalling that He has given you? 259 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:48,120 When I was preparing this, I was using one of my old Bibles, and 260 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:50,760 I'd written in the margin that probably somebody very 261 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:53,440 intelligent and clever said it, but I didn't write down who said 262 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:54,920 it. But I'd written this. 263 00:16:55,480 --> 00:16:59,320 Courage isn't the absence of fear, it's trust in God. 264 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,800 And His promise is enough to obey even when we're afraid. 265 00:17:05,240 --> 00:17:08,520 Whatever our circumstances are now or whatever they are going 266 00:17:08,520 --> 00:17:12,160 to be, we can be certain of God's promises. 267 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:16,160 Joshua came to realize that, and we would do really well to learn 268 00:17:16,160 --> 00:17:20,079 from him. So we can be certain of God's 269 00:17:20,079 --> 00:17:21,800 promises. And secondly, we can be 270 00:17:21,800 --> 00:17:28,359 confident in His presence. Verses 3 to 6, I promise you, 271 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:31,520 this is God speaking. I promise you what I promised 272 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:35,280 Moses. Wherever you set foot foot, you 273 00:17:35,280 --> 00:17:37,000 will be on land I have given you. 274 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:40,120 From the Negev Wilderness in the South, to the Lebanon Mountains 275 00:17:40,120 --> 00:17:42,400 in the north, to Euphrates River in the east and the 276 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:45,440 Mediterranean Sea in the West, including all of the land of the 277 00:17:45,440 --> 00:17:47,880 Hittites. No one will be able to stand 278 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:51,840 against you as long as I live, for I will be with you as I was 279 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,680 with Moses. I will not fail you nor abandon 280 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,280 you. Be strong and courageous, for 281 00:17:57,280 --> 00:18:00,680 you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the 282 00:18:00,680 --> 00:18:04,160 land I swore to their ancestors I would give them. 283 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,080 I've already said repetition means pay attention. 284 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:15,840 Repetition of this command, be strong and courageous is 285 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:20,560 significant because like I've already said, Joshua was 286 00:18:20,560 --> 00:18:24,320 probably feeling anything but strong and courageous. 287 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:30,720 Whatever you're facing now personally as or as you look at 288 00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,680 the news headlines, whatever you're feeling, if you're not 289 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:37,760 feeling very strong and courageous, then we're in good 290 00:18:37,760 --> 00:18:42,360 company. But there is a command that we 291 00:18:42,360 --> 00:18:46,480 can be certain of God's promises and confident in His presence. 292 00:18:50,360 --> 00:18:53,600 It might be that we feel less than confident and not very 293 00:18:53,600 --> 00:18:56,520 qualified to do what God is asking of us. 294 00:18:57,120 --> 00:19:01,600 To trust him, to heal the sick, to cast out demons, to raise the 295 00:19:01,600 --> 00:19:05,720 dead, to make disciples of one another, to love your neighbor 296 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:09,200 as yourself. You know, if we look at Joshua 297 00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:11,840 and the life of Joshua, you know, his only real 298 00:19:11,840 --> 00:19:15,400 qualification that we can gather was in outdoor education. 299 00:19:15,920 --> 00:19:19,680 You know, he'd been helping Moses lead a camping trip for 40 300 00:19:19,680 --> 00:19:22,200 years now. For those of you that have been 301 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:27,120 around, you know I love camping. But they were camping in a land 302 00:19:27,120 --> 00:19:29,800 where everyone around them had weapons and didn't want them to 303 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:31,960 be there. Awkward. 304 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:37,800 Joshua was now asked to lead these people and they had been 305 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:43,200 camping woefully underprepared. You know, there's a certain 306 00:19:43,200 --> 00:19:47,000 level of preparedness you have when you're camping, but to kind 307 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,080 of go into battle I imagine would be quite tricky. 308 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:53,480 You know, if you're coming to DTI or you've been to DTI, you 309 00:19:53,480 --> 00:19:57,400 know, you wake up and the battle is to queue for the showers, not 310 00:19:57,520 --> 00:20:00,480 to face people with Spears and swords. 311 00:20:02,240 --> 00:20:04,800 Joshua was feeling underprepared. 312 00:20:05,520 --> 00:20:08,640 If we feel underprepared, if we feel out of our depth, if we 313 00:20:08,640 --> 00:20:12,720 feel unsure. We can be confident in God's 314 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,320 presence that He is with us. He'll never leave us. 315 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:21,000 And he's saying to us be strong and courageous, not because 316 00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:24,560 we're ready, not because we've got the best plan, not because 317 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:29,160 we're feeling up for it and raring to go, but because He is 318 00:20:29,160 --> 00:20:35,880 with us and He is who He says He is. 319 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:38,520 We can be confident in his presence. 320 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:44,280 You know, if you flick a bit earlier on into Exodus 33, Moses 321 00:20:44,280 --> 00:20:46,000 is having a conversation with God. 322 00:20:46,280 --> 00:20:49,240 And he's saying to God, you know, as he's leading these 323 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:52,600 people and they're complaining and he's feeling like he's not 324 00:20:52,600 --> 00:20:56,400 doing a very good job. And he says, God, don't send us 325 00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:58,920 out of here unless you go with us. 326 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:03,480 Moses knew if God wasn't with them, if God wasn't there, it 327 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:07,600 just simply wasn't worth doing. And I feel like that about 328 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:10,280 everything I do. You know, when we planted this 329 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,920 church 15 years ago, even leading it today, I'm like, God, 330 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:18,680 if you are not with us, if you are not with us, then we will 331 00:21:18,680 --> 00:21:21,840 not go. I would rather do anything else 332 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:26,040 than lead this church. If God is not here and he is not 333 00:21:26,040 --> 00:21:28,840 with us because he'll have something different for us to 334 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:34,440 do. God always calls us to bigger 335 00:21:34,560 --> 00:21:38,720 things than we can do on our own because He wants us to rely on 336 00:21:38,720 --> 00:21:42,000 Him. He wants us to know that He is 337 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:47,240 with us and He is doing it. God is in the transformation 338 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:51,360 business and we get to join in. You know, God didn't need Joshua 339 00:21:51,360 --> 00:21:53,320 to lead the people into the promised land. 340 00:21:53,480 --> 00:21:57,080 I'm sure we could have done it a different way, but He chose to 341 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,960 use Him. You know God doesn't need us to 342 00:22:00,960 --> 00:22:04,160 usher in His Kingdom into the lives of our friends and our 343 00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:08,280 families here and now, but we are His preferred plan. 344 00:22:10,520 --> 00:22:13,680 You know when we feel discouraged when people or 345 00:22:13,680 --> 00:22:17,480 situations get us down? I don't know about you, but I 346 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,200 can feel courage leaking out of me. 347 00:22:21,800 --> 00:22:27,840 But Joshua is such a great reminder he we can get hope from 348 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:34,080 what we read in Joshua because God's presence and power is far 349 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:38,600 more powerful and tangible than we can ever ask or imagine. 350 00:22:40,680 --> 00:22:42,800 That's why I give my life to this. 351 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:48,480 That's why I love meeting people and sharing Jesus with them. 352 00:22:50,480 --> 00:22:54,080 You know, that's why we run things like Alpha so that we can 353 00:22:54,080 --> 00:22:58,360 invite people we know to learn more about who this God is that 354 00:22:58,360 --> 00:23:06,040 we worship. We can be confident to move 355 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:08,800 forward, to step out, to not be shaken. 356 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,840 Even when things feel shaky, when we don't feel like the 357 00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:20,360 current strategy or plan is very certain, we can be confident in 358 00:23:20,360 --> 00:23:26,440 His presence. John Wimber, who founded the 359 00:23:26,440 --> 00:23:29,680 Vineyard movement, used to say I'm just loose change in God's 360 00:23:29,680 --> 00:23:32,040 pocket. He can spend me how he likes. 361 00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:37,280 And I love that picture because I'm like, if God is calling me, 362 00:23:37,320 --> 00:23:40,840 I'll go anywhere. If God is inviting me to do this 363 00:23:40,840 --> 00:23:44,600 thing, then he must be there and I can be confident in his 364 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:47,520 presence. We need to be available, not 365 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:52,880 perfect few. Joshua wasn't perfect. 366 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:57,360 I don't think we're all perfect, but we just need to be available 367 00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:02,480 and open to what God wants. You know, we can sometimes 368 00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:06,440 muster up our own confidence and certainty in order to take that 369 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:11,480 first step. But God says you step and I'll 370 00:24:11,480 --> 00:24:15,000 be with you. Have confidence in my presence 371 00:24:15,280 --> 00:24:20,440 and be certain of my promises, NT Wright says. 372 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:24,160 Faith is what happens when you trust the God who calls you into 373 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:31,160 the unknown. Faith is what happens when we 374 00:24:31,160 --> 00:24:34,320 trust the God who calls us into the unknown. 375 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,320 So we can be certain of God's promises, confidence in His 376 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,040 presence, and we need the centrality of God's Word. 377 00:24:42,920 --> 00:24:45,800 Verses 7 to 9 Be strong and courageous. 378 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:49,280 Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. 379 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:52,320 Do not deviate from them, turning from the left or the 380 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:54,400 right. Then you'll be successful in 381 00:24:54,400 --> 00:24:57,360 everything you do. Study this book of instruction 382 00:24:57,360 --> 00:25:00,680 continually. Meditate on it day and night so 383 00:25:00,680 --> 00:25:03,120 that you'll be sure to obey everything written in it. 384 00:25:03,600 --> 00:25:06,400 Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 385 00:25:06,920 --> 00:25:09,480 This is my command. Be strong and courageous. 386 00:25:09,480 --> 00:25:13,240 Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with 387 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:17,000 you wherever you go. You know strength for the 388 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:20,960 journey ahead. Strength and direction to step 389 00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:25,520 into uncharted territory comes from knowing the Word of God, 390 00:25:25,520 --> 00:25:29,840 the centrality of Scripture. God doesn't just say go. 391 00:25:30,680 --> 00:25:33,760 He doesn't ask us to just step out and leave us to it. 392 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,760 He gives us his word to stay grounded. 393 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,720 Joshua had it study this book of instruction continually. 394 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:46,120 OK, so Joshua's Bible didn't look like ours, but he had 395 00:25:46,240 --> 00:25:50,320 scripture. He had words to study and 396 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:54,200 meditate on. It isn't about formulas. 397 00:25:54,320 --> 00:25:58,640 It's about formation. You know, I talked about courage 398 00:25:58,720 --> 00:26:02,200 at the beginning and I think courage grows in the secret 399 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:06,480 place when we are spending time with Jesus in prayer, in 400 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,000 stillness and solitude, in reading and meditating 401 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:14,240 Scripture. Courage has this ability to grow 402 00:26:14,480 --> 00:26:20,880 and form in us. If we are saturated in the Word 403 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:26,600 of God, we pray it, we speak it. You know, if food, if Scripture 404 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:28,920 is our food, it becomes the fuel of life. 405 00:26:29,320 --> 00:26:32,280 You know, life is always battles and blessings, isn't it? 406 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,720 We live in this middle, this tension. 407 00:26:36,600 --> 00:26:39,800 And so when we meditate on God's word day and night, when we get 408 00:26:39,800 --> 00:26:46,040 it into us, it helps us to to to stay standing when we're in the 409 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:50,080 battle and it helps us to celebrate when we are walking in 410 00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,360 blessing. You know, if you don't read the 411 00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:54,880 Bible daily, if you don't have a reading plan, you don't know 412 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,440 where to start. Please ask somebody. 413 00:26:57,560 --> 00:26:59,160 There's so many different things out there. 414 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:02,600 The Bible app is a great one to start and it has daily Bible 415 00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:05,640 plans that you can read every day. 416 00:27:06,280 --> 00:27:07,880 Talk to people in your small group. 417 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:11,320 And as I say, if you don't have a Bible, do pick one up from the 418 00:27:11,320 --> 00:27:15,320 information desk. There's a preacher and vicar in 419 00:27:15,320 --> 00:27:18,480 Oxford called Simon Ponsonby. And he says this Scripture 420 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:23,680 doesn't just tell us what God has done, it trains us to expect 421 00:27:23,800 --> 00:27:28,400 what he's going to do again. I love that Scripture doesn't 422 00:27:28,400 --> 00:27:32,080 just tell us what God has done, it trains us to expect him to do 423 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:35,880 it again. You know, we read the account of 424 00:27:35,880 --> 00:27:37,800 Joshua. And as you read it over the next 425 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:44,040 few weeks, you'll see what God has done, what God can do, what 426 00:27:44,040 --> 00:27:47,920 he wants to do again. He wants to move in significant 427 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:53,000 ways that nations are changed. We can be certain of God's 428 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:57,080 promises, have confidence in His presence as we hold on to the 429 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:05,800 centrality of His Word. So which of those stick with you 430 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:08,960 the most? Did you? 431 00:28:08,960 --> 00:28:13,280 Do you need this morning reminding of the certainty of 432 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:23,040 His promises, or that you can be confident in His presence, or 433 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:27,720 that maybe His words need to be a little bit more central in 434 00:28:27,720 --> 00:28:37,190 your life? As we start this week, as you 435 00:28:37,190 --> 00:28:42,030 look ahead at what is to come, maybe there is uncertainty. 436 00:28:44,150 --> 00:28:47,350 Maybe it's not this week, but it's the week after. 437 00:28:48,990 --> 00:28:51,510 Maybe there's a family situation that you don't feel strong 438 00:28:51,510 --> 00:28:56,040 enough to face. Maybe there's a new opportunity 439 00:28:56,280 --> 00:29:01,680 that has come your way. Maybe there's a step of 440 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:08,800 obedience you need to take. I think God's word for all of us 441 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:14,160 is the same. Be strong and courageous for the 442 00:29:14,160 --> 00:29:16,480 Lord. Your God is with you wherever 443 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:20,480 you go. Don't wait for the fear to 444 00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:26,320 vanish, but move into obedience. God goes ahead of you. 445 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:32,000 I'm just going to finish by telling you a quick story about 446 00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:34,800 a lady from Cardiff Vineyard, a lady called Zara. 447 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,280 It happened last year and I was reminded of it recently. 448 00:29:38,960 --> 00:29:43,440 She, Zara, received a prophetic word at church 1 morning and 449 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:46,440 someone said to her, God has called you to be a light in the 450 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:48,480 workplace. And it's a tough crowd. 451 00:29:49,000 --> 00:29:51,320 And she was like, yeah, that absolutely describes my 452 00:29:51,360 --> 00:29:54,560 workplace. And then these are her words. 453 00:29:54,560 --> 00:29:58,520 She wrote this, she says this. So I started praying into this. 454 00:29:58,640 --> 00:30:01,240 And a few weeks later, I had a teams meeting that I was 455 00:30:01,240 --> 00:30:04,000 leading. At the end of it, the Lord 456 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:06,520 prompted me to end the moment with prayer. 457 00:30:06,920 --> 00:30:12,000 She works for a secular charity. So I went, OK, she said. 458 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:14,840 I said, OK, let's just pray and wrap this meeting up. 459 00:30:15,600 --> 00:30:18,240 It felt kind of embarrassing to be saying it, but I wanted to be 460 00:30:18,240 --> 00:30:21,920 obedient to the Lord's voice. Everybody was stunned, but I 461 00:30:21,920 --> 00:30:24,360 prayed for the things that we were struggling with at work, 462 00:30:24,360 --> 00:30:27,480 one of them being finances and getting people to start take 463 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:31,640 part in our skydiving events to fundraise for the charity. 464 00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:36,600 The next day we had 10 people sign up to the skydive, which 465 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:38,760 has never happened in the history of the charity. 466 00:30:39,080 --> 00:30:41,160 Normally we have one or two people a year. 467 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,640 Then everybody at work started sending me their prayer 468 00:30:44,640 --> 00:30:49,800 requests, but I didn't want them to think that I was the only one 469 00:30:49,800 --> 00:30:53,040 who had access to God. So I scheduled another all staff 470 00:30:53,040 --> 00:30:57,000 meeting on Teams and used it to share the gospel and to explain 471 00:30:57,000 --> 00:31:00,680 to all of them that they can all talk and pray to Jesus. 472 00:31:01,240 --> 00:31:04,800 From this meeting, I saw two people say yes to Jesus, and 473 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:07,720 I've had several conversations with my colleagues who honestly 474 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:11,080 have so many opinions about why God couldn't possibly exist. 475 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:16,000 But it's been really exciting and to engage with them isn't 476 00:31:16,000 --> 00:31:18,680 that amazing? For those of you that have team 477 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:24,200 meetings, there's the challenge. You know what? 478 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:27,960 She was obedient to the prompt of the Lord. 479 00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:32,920 You know, what would you do tomorrow if you were 100% 480 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:35,120 absolutely sure that God was with you? 481 00:31:36,480 --> 00:31:40,040 You know, Joshua's story as we just begin today, is one of 482 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:44,760 facing uncertainty, fear, not knowing, not knowing outcomes, 483 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:49,480 and yet trusting God. He was certain of God's 484 00:31:49,480 --> 00:31:53,400 promises, confident in his presence, and he knew that God's 485 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:58,480 word was central. You know at Chelmsford, the 486 00:31:58,480 --> 00:32:02,400 village, the towns where you live, it needs people who are 487 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:05,920 full of courage. In our workplaces, in our 488 00:32:05,920 --> 00:32:12,080 families, in our schools. If we were full of courage and 489 00:32:12,080 --> 00:32:19,040 we knew that God was with us 100%, which he is, places would 490 00:32:19,040 --> 00:32:21,960 be changed, people would be set free. 491 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:25,960 This is the vision of the Kingdom coming in full. 492 00:32:26,600 --> 00:32:30,000 Be strong and courageous and step into all that God is asking 493 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:33,720 of you. What do you need courage for? 494 00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:37,680 Is it to pray with a family member? 495 00:32:39,200 --> 00:32:44,880 Is it to step into leadership? Is it to change your job? 496 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:49,760 Is it to give a prophetic word to a friend or a colleague? 497 00:32:52,200 --> 00:32:55,600 Is it to re evaluate how you spend your time, energy and 498 00:32:55,600 --> 00:32:59,040 money? Is it to plant a church? 499 00:33:00,920 --> 00:33:04,800 What is it that you need courage for this morning? 500 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:15,160 We're going to pray. But if, if you need courage this 501 00:33:15,160 --> 00:33:18,000 morning, if you need an injection of the Spirit of God 502 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,080 to give you courage for this week and the week after, I'm 503 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:25,480 going to ask you to stand first. That's brave, I know.