Joshua the son of Nun - Josh 24:31

Joshua the son of Nun

September 17, 2011 - Crossroads

Joshua 24:31

Introduction

• Who in the Old Testament had no father or mother?
• Hoshea the son of Nun - Num 13:8
• Hoshea means "salvation"
• In old testament days, a person's name often related to how the person lived
• frequently God changed people's name when there was a major change in their life
• This happened in this case
• Moses changed Hoshea's name to Jehoshua or Joshua - Num 13:16
• The name Joshua means "Yahweh saves"
• The first part of the name is Jah meaning God or Yahweh
• The second part of his name comes from hebrew Yasha meaning savior, deliverer, help, preserver, avenger, defender, rescuer, one who gives victory and relates to being liberated, victorious in battle, saved from and victorious in moral troubles
• this evening we will take a brief look at the life of Joshua

The early days

• Joshua grew up in Egypt
• He experienced the hardships of slavery to the Egyptians
• He had not known Moses Prince of Egypt, that was in the history books as far as he was concerned, as he was born after Moses had gone into exile in Midian, having killed a man
• He witnessed the miracles, the plagues on Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea
• One day Moses came out of the desert, and told Pharaoh, let my people go
• Joshua was probably in his 20's at the time
• The Amalekites attacked the Israelites soon after leaving Egypt
• Joshua must have been a young man with leadership potential, because he is chosen to lead the Israelites in battle against the Amalekites - Exodus 17
• He is victorious, because God gave him the victory
• After this battle, the next time we hear of Joshua, is that he is Moses's minister or personal servant
• Moses is training or mentoring Joshua. Note that Joshua is in his early 20's, Moses is over 80
• Not long after this the Israelites are at Sinai
• Moses and Joshua go up the mountain where Moses meets God, Joshua waits patiently for him
• The Israelites made a golden calf, an idol and God rejects the Israelies
• Moses sets up a tent, the tent of meeting, where Moses meets with God, personally
• Joshua, Moses' aide stays at the tent of meeting, even after Moses goes back to the camp
• Later on, in his early 60's, Joshua is one of the spies sent to checkout the land of Canaan, the promised land
• He is positive and believes God will give them victory
• The rest of the 12 spies, apart fro Caleb, were scared of the inhabitants
• Joshua then became the leader who brought the Israelites into the Promised nLand

Joshua's characteristics

• 1. Joshua was a man of courage
• as a 20 year old he led a battle against Amelek
• He recognized the victory came because Moses was praying for him, and God turned the tide of battle
• 2. Joshua was humble
• Joshua was prepared to be Moses' assistant or aide
• He could have been a leader in his tribe, the Ephraimites
• Instead, he chose to be a helper for an 80 year old man
• 3. Joshua was close to God
• When Moses met God in the tent of meeting, Joshua was there, and he did not leave, even after Moses went back to his tent
• Joshua kept his eyes on what God could do
• He had faith that God would come through
• He exercised that faith in the actions he took and God came through with the goods
• He taught the people he was leading, to follow God too
• All the days of Joshua, people followed God, because they had a leader who set the right example

Conclusion

• Joshua lived up to his name
• His name meant "God who saves, delivers, and gives the victory"
• He lived his life as a testimony to that name being true
• We too have a name
• Our name is Christian, from the greek Christianos
• This name means a "follower of Christ"
• I want to live my life as a follower of Christ, doing what he does, speaking what he speaks, staying in step with him every day of the week.

Treachery in High Places - Luke 10:18

Treachery in High Places

September 4, 2011

Luke 10:18

Introduction

• Back in 1605, King James 1 oppressed catholics in England
• They had been persecuted by Elizabeth 1, his
• 13 young men banded together and decided extreme violence was the answer
• So they plotted to blow up the houses of Parliament. That way they could kill the king, the Prince of Wales, and those who had voted for persecution of catholics
• They aquired 36 barrels of gunpowder and stored them in a cellar just under the House of Lords
• On Nov 5, Guy Fawkes was in the cellar ready to ignite the gunpowder
• He was caught just in time, was tortured and executed
• This was treachery of the highest order. Today we would call it a terrorist attack
• 9/11 also, was a terrorist attack
• Today we are going to talk about another terrorist attack designed to overthrow the government
• The arch terrorist was Satan himself!
• We need to talk about him because this terrorist is still at large, and waiting to destroy us
• Satan is real!
• We need to know our enemy!

Ezekiel 28

• In this passage, Ezekiel prophesies against two persons
• One is a man, the ruler or prince of the city of Tyre, which was built on a man-made island just off-shore
• This ruler was seriously affected by pride, Tyre thought that it was invincible
• The second is the king of Tyre, who is none other than Satan himself
• He was the one who inspired the ruler of Tyre to be so prideful, even thinking he was a god
• Ezekiel 28:1-10 – summary about the ruler of Tyre
• This is a prophecy about what was yet to come to pass
• It did come to pass, later, under the hands of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon
• Verse 11-19 – read this
• Verse 11-12 – God here is mourning about what happened with this King of Tyre
• This lamentation is written in the past tense
• God relates something that had happened long ago
• This is a story about treachery in high places
• God describes this person as being the model of perfection, full of wisdom, perfect in beauty
• Verse 13 – this person was present in Eden, the Garden of God
• Who was in Eden?
• God was there, Adam and Eve were there, and Satan was there
• You were created. So this is not God
• Verse 14 – this person was anointed as a guardian cherub
• These cherubim were the highest rank of angel. They were archangels
• All angels were created by God – Col 1:16
• Originally there were three of these archangels – Gabriel, Michael and Lucifer
• It seems that each of these three archangels had a third of the angels under their authority (Rev 12:4, Rev 1:20)
• These three chrubim were at God’s throne as guardian angels
• After the Fall, when Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden, God placed cherubim there with a flaming sword, to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen 3:24)
• Besides being guardian angels, Gabriel was the archangel God used for delivering important messages (Luke 1:19)
• Michael was the warrior angel who fights on behalf of God’s people (Dan 10:13, Dan 12:1, Rev 12:7)
• Satan allowed pride to enter his heart
• Pride about himself, his beauty, his splendor
• God will not tolerate sin in his presence

Isaiah 14

• So he was expelled from God’s presence and cast down to the earth
• Isa 14:12-15 – this is speaking of this same angel, who became Satan
• Satan’s pride blinded his eyes to reality
• We saw in Ezekiel 28 that Satan was full of wisdom
• Wisdom says you cannot fight against God and win
• Satan wanted to overthrow God’s government
• But Satan was a created being, how could he win agains the one who created him?
• So God says here that he instead of taking over God’s throne, was cast down to the grave or hell
• Jesus said in Luke 10:18 – I saw Satan like lightning fall from heaven
• So Satan now roams the earth, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet 5:8-9)

Conclusion

• Should that make us afraid? No!
• Satan is a defeated foe
• He was defeated when he staged his coup attempt
• He was defeated when he attempted to turn Jesus away from his mission
• When Jesus died, and was raised to glory with the Father, Jesus conquered Satan again
• So we have a living Christ who has the power to stand against the enemy and win.

What can I bring? - 1 Cor 14:26-39

What can I bring?

August 21, 2011
1 Cor 14:26-39

Introduction

• We all sometimes are invited to dinner or to a party or similar event
• Good manners say that we should bring something along, to contribute to the meal, or for the lady of the house
• At church we are invited to a large family gathering
• What can we bring to the table?
• What can we contribute to what happens at church?
• This morning we are going to examine certain spiritual gifts and their role in the church service
• Let's read 1 Corinthians 14:26-40

Gifts are given to the church by the Holy Spirit

• Verse 26
• Each of these is a spiritual gift, to be used in the church service
• When a person is filled with the Holy Spirit, the Spirit gives that person certain spiritual gifts
• 1 Cor 12:7-11
• Each person receives these gifts - verse 7, 11
• These are not the only spiritual gifts mentioned
• Other lists of gifts are in Romans 12 and Ephesians 4
• Further gifts are mentioned in the Old Testament, particularly when connected with the building of the Tabernacle, and worship at the Temple
• The lists of gifts are not exhaustive, just as the Holy Spirit is limitless in His power and capabilities
• Very quickly, let's run through these gifts in 1 Cor 12
• "The message of wisdom" - where God supernaturally reveals the way to deal with a particular situation
• "The message of knowledge" - where God supernaturally shows a bit of information which is needed for breakthrough
• "Faith" - faith is needed with all the gifts
• "Gifts of healing" - here we are speaking of God's supernatural intervention
• "Miraculous powers" - this includes being used by God to do miracles, and generally, deliverance is seen as part of this broad classification
• "Prophecy" - expressing a word from the Lord - this may be prophetic preaching, a word for the church, or a word for an individual
• "Distinguishing between spirits" - the KJV translates this as discernment - being able to discern good from evil, right from wrong, the godly or demonic
• "Speaking in different kinds of tongues" - this is speaking about the public expression of tongues, as a word from the Lord, as opposed to our personal private prayer language
• "The interpretation of tongues" - when a message is given in tongues, it should be interpreted

Gifts are given to strengthen the church

• Spiritual gifts in the church setting are not given for our personal benefit, but rather for the benefit of the church
• Spiritual gifts can be misused by mixing them with the flesh
• For example, a person with the gift of discernment, may have a fleshly tendency to criticize, because they are continually evaluating things
• This is where people sometimes go wrong with spiritual gifts
• What is more frequent though, is that people don't exercise the faith to use their gifting, and as a result, the church misses out
• Eph 2:20-22
• So we are being built up into a spiritual temple, as a church, and as an individual

Gifts are to be used in the service, in an orderly manner

• 1 Cor 14:27-33
• Paul is here focusing on the gift of prophecy
• He is saying that things should be done in an orderly manner
• So prophetic words are given separately, not at the same time
• Sometimes we may feel that God has laid a word on our heart and we have to express it
• Verse 32 says that we have power to control when the word is given
• The enemy tries to control us, God does not
• The church service should be a peaceful expression of the Holy Spirit working through different gifts, and these gifts should flow together smoothly so that God is glorified

So, what do I bring to church?

• The answer is, absolutely nothing!
• God does it all!
• What it does take is people who are humble, teachable and ready to step out in faith as the Holy Spirit guides and empowers them
• But ultimately, it is God who is doing everything
• Eph 2:8-9
• Rom 2:4 - it is even God who gives us the desire to repent!

Conclusion

• Be open to the Holy Spirit
• Allow Him to use you
• As we start off, we may have some inaccurate words,
• But as we become more experienced, we will become more in tune with the Holy Spirit
• I want to encourage all of you to seek the Lord's face, more and more
• This church is going to grow in its availability to the Holy Spirit
• We will be making changes in worship to give more freedom to the Holy Spirit to do as He wills in our services
• And life in the Spirit is exciting!

The gift that keeps on giving - 1 Kings 17:7-16, Haggai 1:1-11

The gift that keeps on giving!

August 14, 2011
1 Kings 17:7-16, Haggai 1:1-11

Introduction

• We have been going through some hard times lately
• Some of us have lost jobs, some have lost our home. Maybe we have contemplated bankruptcy
• This is tough.
• And it may be that that the economy will get worse before it get better
• But how does this look for the Christian? Don't we have some kind of special relationship with God?
• How is it that we go through the same troubles as unbelievers?
• Today we are going to look at one major principle in the way we deal with our finances

Giving may be a hard choice to make

• 1 Kings 17:7-16
• Widow who lived in a village near Sidon, on the coast
• There was famine in the land, just as there is famine financially in this nation right now
• This widow had reached the end of her rope
• She had only enough food left for one more meal. There were no prospects for any more to come
• She expected that this was the end of the road, she and her son were going to die
• Maybe things have become so tough for us that we feel we are on the edge of disaster
• Elijah, the man of God comes on the scene
• God actually sent him to this particular lady, who was in such dire straits
• He asks the lady for a glass of water - she was able to get that, it came out of the village well, and did not cost her anything.
• But then he asks her for some food
• Verse 11-14
• Notice that Elijah asks the widow to step out in faith, and first of all give Elijah a meal. This would mean that she would go hungry
• God tells us that we should live by faith - Hebrews 11:6
• We expect that God will take care of us, as we put him first in our lives - Matthew 6:33
• God knows our needs and promises to take care of them Philippians 4:19
• But he asks this widow to take care of Him first, in the person of Elijah
• As she steps out in obedience to this, God miraculously supplies her needs, food for the duration of the famine
• This was a tough step to take.
• We may think Elijah was selfish in asking this, but it was God who led him to ask this.

Our role in supporting God's house

• Haggai 1:1-11
• Some of the Jews had come back from captivity in Babylon, to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, and rebuild the temple
• Haggai was a prophet God sent to speak to them at that time, as was Malachi
• Things were not going well for them
• Their focus was not on building God's house, but on taking care of number one
• They were delaying taking care of God's house until they were all settled in and had the time and the means to rebuild the temple
• God took a dim view of this, because he is the ruler of the universe.
• We don't pay our taxes only if we have money left over, nor does God approve of us paying our tithes only when we can do so without pain
• God expects to be put first in our lives
• What are our finances like? Do they seem like heaven has stopped pouring out rain on us
• Does it seem as though financial blessing has evaporated from our life?
• Maybe it is time to examine ourselves, and look at if we are putting God first, in our finances
• If we do, God promises to bless us
• Malachi was a fellow prophet with Haggai
• Malachi 3:8-12
• God says, "Test me in this". Take him at His Word!
• See how the blessings will come
• God uses our finances to see where our heart is
• If we are putting Him first in our lives, even in our finances, even during hard times, he promises to take care of us
• Matthew 6:33 "Seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well"

Conclusion

• It takes faith to take this step
• When we look at our bank balance and don't know how it will work out, it is not easy
• But God delights in us when we trust him
• Trusting him in the good times and the bad
• He is faithful, and he will come through with the goods
• He will continue to provide for us, until the end of the famine
• And he will bless us so we no longer have to borrow, but have money left over to help others!
• It;s a great feeling to stand right before God, and know that he is batting on your side, and he will take care of you.

We are Family! - Eph 3:14-15

 We are Family!

August 7, 2011
Eph 3:14-15

Introduction

• We have maybe 45 adults here this morning
• We probably have roughly that number of different ideas of what a family looks like
• How would you describe the family, in one word?
• God reveals Himself to us as a family
• Many of the attributes we see in a family are true of God
• We can learn from the way God relates, how we should relate within our family unit, and within the church
• Our identity as a Christian family, stems from God
• Eph 3:14-15
• There is a connection between our family and God

God is a family – Father Son and Holy Spirit

• Gen 1:1 – Elohim – various meanings, most often translated as God - a plural word – implies more than one person
• Verse 26 – Expresses the plurality of God
• Deut 6:4 – Yet the Lord is one – expresses the oneness of God
• John 1:1 – Expresses the plurality of God and the oneness of God
• Matt 16:16-17 - Jesus the Son of God, saw God as His Father
• When we accept Jesus into our life, the whole of God comes to dwell in us
• John 14:16-17, 23 The Holy Spirit, the Father and Jesus will make their home in us
• The trinity is a fact, though we do not understand it
• The three persons of the trinity act in perfect unison
• Jesus did what he saw the Father doing, he was led by the Holy Spirit, he was in constant touch with his heavenly Father
• There is no separation or division in God
• Jesus did not decide, I’m going to do things differently now
• Father, Son and Holy Spirit worked together in absolute unity

We are part of God’s family

• John 3:3 – We cannot see the Kingdom of God unless we are born again!
• We must be born again, into a relationship with God
• When we are born again, we become God’s children in a spiritual sense
• This does not mean that we become little gods, as some cults believe
• But it does mean that we are now adopted in as God’s children, with all the rights and privileges that go along with being a child of God
• 1 John 3:1-3 We are, right now, children of God!
• As God’s children we are all part of that family
• Eph 3:14-15
• This family is not closed to only the trinity, though we will never be God in the same way as the Father Son and Holy Spirit
• The family includes all God’s children, and by this we mean the Church, the body of Christ

So what kind of relationships do we have in God’s family?

• If the trinity lives in absolute unity in the way the Father Son and Holy Spirit relate to each other, so should the rest of the family, the Church
• The overwhelming aspect of God is love
• Everything God does, is done in love
• Romans 5:5 God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom he has given to us
• The Holy Spirit then expresses that love in our lives, in the fruits of the Spirit
• Galatians 5:22-23 – Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
• The way in which God relates within himself, and with us, is described by these attributes
• The way in which we relate to God is not out of fear, or anger, but out of love
• The way in which relate to each other will also be motivated by these attributes
• Not by fear, anger, rejection, and the other fruits of the flesh that we discussed last week
• The fruits of the Spirit should describe the Church in a growing measure, as Jesus cleans us out and replaces the flesh with himself.

Conclusion

• So we see that God is a family, not a closed family which is taught by many cults, but a family of all those who accept his rulership in their lives
• We have the privilege of being a part of that family
• As such we are growing more and more to be like him
• And expressing His attributes in our relationships with each other is a part of this!

Walking in the Spirit! - Gal 5:25

Walking in the Spirit!

July 31, 2011

Galatians 5:25

Introduction

• Last Friday afternoon around 4pm, I felt a desire to visit the evening service at Bethel in Redding
• We got away late, there were traffic holdups, but eventually we arrived
• As we arrived in the foyer, I saw a very close friend of ours walking toward me.
• He said he had just felt the Holy Spirit nudge him to go out of the service and meet someone in the foyer!
• Wow! So we went and sat with them in the service
• There was an invitation for people who wanted to be baptized
• Jon, his wife and two of their boys wanted to be rebaptized, as they were at a crucial juncture in their lives
• We were able to be there with them as they took this awesome step, they were far away from their family and friends in LA!
• What got to me was that God planned this whole thing! This was not a question of asking for direction, God just sovereignly orchestrated this meeting, to make this event as full and joyful as could be!
• It required both Jon and me listening to the Spirit and being obedient, for all the connections to work
• The Bible talks about walking in the Spirit
• This morning we will be talking about what walking in the spirit looks like, personally

Walk in obedience

• Galatians 5:16-25
• Verse17
• There is a battle going on in our mind
• Romans 7:21-25
• So the apostle Paul, great Chrsitain as he was, still had this battle going on in his mind
• So we too have this battle
• The flesh in us wants to do the wrong thing
• But with our mind we want to do the right thing, in obedience to God
• We work to overcome some besetting sin, and at some point we think it is gone
• But when we let down our guard, it is right there, wanting to cause trouble again
• The Christian's life is a constant battle
• But God's intention is that we overcome it!
• Example of Cain and Abel
• Gen 4:1-7
• Unfortunately Cain did not master sin, but killed his brother instead
• God intends for us to be overcomers
• Rev 2-3 - the letters to the various churches usually end with "to him who overcomes ...."
• God does not desire children who just give in to every temptation that comes their way.
• He desires people who take hold of the temptation and turn their backs on it

Overcome temptation

• We are all going to be tempted
• Temptation is a part of this life
• We are tempted by our flesh, by society, and by the devil
• If we want a real, committed walk with Jesus, we will walk in the Spirit and overcome the temptation
• What happens when we are tempted?
• James 1:13-15
• The battle is in our head!
• The sin is not in being tempted, the sin is in allowing the temptation to dwell in our thoughts, until we finally give in to it
• So when we are tempted to do the wrong thing, get rid of that thought, fill your mind with good things, as opposed to the temptation
• Phil 4:8
• God expects us to be overcomers
• Jesus overcame the enemy, so must we!

Live in step with the Spirit

• Did you notice in this section of scripture, Paul does not refer to the old testament law?
• He does not remind them about "Thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not lie"
• He tells us that we are not under the law
• The law was a tutor or babysitter, until we came to faith (Gal 3:24)
• It was a legal code we had to live by.
• But when Jesus comes into our life, we are not led by the law, but by the Spirit
• Gal 5:18
• The law and the Spirit walk in step, hand in hand
• So the Spirit will never lead us to disobey the Old Testament law
• But we have a higher call than merely to not kill or steal
• We have been called to live a life of love for God and love for our fellow man
• The Holy Spirit is our guide along this journey
• He speaks to us, nudges us, convicts us, whatever is needed, to help us stay on the straight and narrow
• He convicts us of sin, he reminds us when we are being tempted, and he helps us to overcome and replace that temptation with God's way of doing things
• This is why it is so important that we learn to listen to God's voice
• If we are deaf to what God is saying, we are merely living a legalistic life
• Walk in the spirit means just that, we are walking with our Companion, Comforter, Helper, our personal Paraclete!

Conclusion

• So as we grow up spiritually, we are going to be listening more and more to what the Spirit is saying to us.
• We will be responding in obedience
• We will be discerning that it is not the temptation speaking, but that it is God leading us in the paths of righteousness
• Allow the Holy Spirit to speak in your life, and be obedient to Him

A Decision or a Commitment? - Romans 12:1-2

A Decision or a Commitment?
July 24, 2011
Romans 12:1-2

Introduction

• When I was in my teens and 20's I took up cross country running
• I was the top cross country runner at my high school, I was second in our zone, and I came in 26th in the state cross country championship
• There are a lot of comparisons that can be drawn between running a race and the Christian journey
• Paul uses this analogy a number of times in his writings and letters
• There comes a point in every race where the competitor commits to finishing the race
• Until then, he has made a decision to run the race, but a deeper level of commitment comes along the journey.
• Romans 12:1 Living sacrifices
• Today we are going to talk about our Christian journey - is it a decision we made or have we made a commitment?

Our decision for Christ

• Eph 2:1-5
• There was a time in our lives when we had not made the decision to allow Jesus to be out Lord and Savior
• We lived just as the world around us live, we fitted in with society, and did the things society led us to do
• By God's grace, he led us to accept salvation through Jesus
• Do you remember that day?
• It was a day when we experienced the relief of our sins being forgive, the guilt rolling off our back, and hope entering our lives through God's love
• Wasn't it awesome?
• Remember what it was like in the days before this
• It was probably a time of struggle, a time of wrestling with a decision we knew we had to make
• But when we finally answered that call to cross the line to obedience, it was such a relief!

The journey is not easy

• Jesus tells us in John 10:10 that he came so that we may have life, and have it to the full
• This is awesome, and is a great encouragement to us
• But don't take these words out of context
• He is comparing the Good Shepherd to the thief who kills steals and destroys
• Jesus also tells us that the Christian life is not going to be easy street
• Matt 5:11-12
• The prophets too, were not popular, and some of them died for their faith
• Hebrews 11
• Paul speaks of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Rahab, and then he lists a large group of servants of God, who experienced pain in the course of their ministry
• Verse 32-40
• These people had accepted their call, in other words, they decided to obey God's mission for their lives
• But they were committed to it as well, and persevered to the end
• It's not the person who starts the race fast, who necessarily wins the race, and receives commendation
• It is he who finishes the race
• These prophets had committed to completing their assignment, their journey
• We too have made a decision to be obedient to God
• But it is in the actions of our daily lives that we make a commitment to finish the job
• God does not want weaklings in his family
• Matt 11:12
• God is looking for forceful people, who have made a commitment and who will never surrender, who will advance his Kingdom

Commitment is a way of life

• Commitment is not something you decide to do one day
• Commitment is a lifestyle
• It affects everything you do
• When we marry, is it a decision or a commitment?
• The percentage of people who divorce, is just as high among Christians as it is in society
• This should not be so!
• When we make our wedding vows, they are for life! God hates divorce
• There are some exceptions given, certain situations when divorce is permissible
• But God never intended us to divorce
• A marriage is a sacred thing. It is worth fighting for. When the flame of love has died down, rekindle it, work at it.
• But this takes commitment
• When a job is not fun any more is it a time to leave and find a new one, or is it a time to grit our teeth and make something of it?
• When we have found the place God wants us to be in the body, do we commit to it, saying "this is where I belong, this is where God wants me to fellowship, and where he wants me to tithe, support, help out, serve, and help the Kingdom grow"?
• Commitment is a lifestyle
• He does not like people who are half-hearted in their obedience to his calling
• Rev 3:16
• It is committed people God looks for

Conclusion

• So let's examine ourselves
• Are we committed Christians, or merely people who made a decision years ago but have not really followed through on that decision?
• God doesn't tell the Laodiceans they are no-hopers
• Instead, he says to them to change their ways
• Verses 17-19
• Examine your life today
• We started talking about a cross country race
• Are you a committed Christian?
• Are you running a race that you will finish?
• Are you committed in your total lifestyle?

Prayer