“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. 2 I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. 3 I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.’” v.1-3 (NLT)
Has God ever called you to do something that seemed extreme? Think about it for a minute. Ok, maybe extreme was intense, but has God ever called you or lead you to do something whether big or small? Did you do it?
Could you imagine what would have happened if Abram backed out on Gods calling? Where would we be today? That’s probably another blog post. But the reality is that Abram responded to Gods call with obedience. Let me say that word again, Obedience. It’s a word that many of us struggle with because Obedience to God requires Faith. God promised to bless Abram and make him famous, but God had one condition: Abram had to do what God wanted him to do. This meant leaving his home and friends and traveling to a new land where God promised to build a great nation from Abram’s family. Abram obeyed, walking away from his home for God’s promise of even greater blessings in the future. This was a step of faith that required obedience.
So lets go back to the question, has God ever asked you to do something? Have you done it? God may be trying to lead you to a place or greater service and usefulness to Him. Don’t let the comfort and security of your present situation make you miss God’s plan for you!
Today, will you take a leap of Faith and obey the Lords calling and leading?
At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babyloniaand settled there.
3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why the city was called Babel,because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.
The tower of Babel was a great achievement, a wonder of the world in that day. But it was a monument to the people themselves rather than to God. It was a great achievement that was being built with the wrong motives.
We may build monuments to ourselves as well. They can come in the form of expensive clothing, big houses, fancy cars, important jobs. All of these things listed aren’t bad when we keep them in proper perspective. They become monuments when we use them to give us identity and self-worth, because they take the place of God in our life.
Today, what monuments or towers are you building? Where are you looking to gain an identity?
Have you ever felt like you were hitting a brick wall? Joshua did! In fact, the wall he faced protected the city of Jericho! There is much we can learn from Joshua’s life and this story specifically. Today, as we continue our series “Heroes” we are going to unpack this particular story found in Joshua chapters 5-6. Here are my notes from todays message.
HEROES Joshua: When you are up against a wall Joshua 5-6
* Many times we get caught up on the size of our problem instead of the size of our God.
* Faith = hearing God and obeying God regardless of the circumstances or consequences.
* When we see how big God is and how small we are, we gain a new & deeper appreciation for God.
* God wants to lead us to the land of blessing, but we have to go thru some stuff to get there.
* In order to get to the blessings of God, we have to travel thru the valley of disaster. – Many times this is where we get stuck or give up.
* Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
“By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days.” Hebrews 11:30
WHEN YOU’RE UP AGAINST A WALL & NEED A BREAKTHROUGH . . .
1. WORSHIP God FERVENTLY when He’s present.
“God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” Psalm 46:1 (NLT)
“When Joshua was near the town of Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with sword in hand. Joshua went up to Him and demanded, ‘Are you friend or foe?’ ‘Neither one,’ He replied. ‘I am the commander of the Lord’s army.’ At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. ‘I am at your command,’ Joshua said. ‘What do you want your servant to do?’ The commander of the Lord’s army replied, ‘Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy.’ And Joshua did as he was told.” Joshua 5:13-15 (NLT)
* This passage points to Jesus – He is the commander of the Lord’s army. And it reveals that God shows up in ways we can understand.
* God’s not looking to take sides, He is looking to take control! (let this sink in a little)
* The question isn’t whose side God is going to be on, the question is who side are you going to be on!?!
* Fervent Worship grows great Faith!
PERSONAL INSIGHT #1: You must be CONQUERED by Jesus before you can be a CONQUEROR for Jesus.
* We need to learn to glance at our problems and gaze at JESUS!
* Victory begins with Surrender!
“Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:37 (NKJV)
* God’s not interested in just having parts of your life, He desires to have all of You.
PERSONAL INSIGHT #2: PUBLIC victories are won in PRIVATE.
* God is not checking your church attendance, He is checking the condition of your heart!
2. BELIEVE God WHOLEHEARTEDLY when He speaks.
* There are some things that you can’t see until you believe!
“Now the gates of Jericho were tightly shut because the people were afraid of the Israelites. No one was allowed to go out or in. But the Lord said to Joshua, ‘I have given you Jericho, its king, and all its strong warriors.’” Joshua 6:1-2 (NLT)
* You will have a clearer understanding of what God says personally and specifically, when you know what God says generally through His Word the Bible.
* Joshua wasn’t fighting for victory, he was fighting from victory! Look for yourself, “But the Lord said to Joshua, ‘I have given you Jericho.’”
* There is no Jericho to big for God!
PERSONAL INSIGHT: God often orchestrates IMPOSSIBLE SITUATIONS to test and stretch our faith.
* There are times God will have you circle your problem so you see just how much you can’t conquer it on your own!
“. . . This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” 1 John 5:4-5
3. OBEY God SPECIFICALLY when He commands.
‘Neither one,’ He replied. ‘I am the Commander of the Lord’s army.’ At this, Joshua fell with his face to the ground in reverence. ‘I am at your command,’ Joshua said. ‘What do you want your servant to do?’ Joshua 5:14 (NLT)
* This is the proper response to God – What do you want me to do? But it requires a proper response – Obedience!
* Many of us never ask this question because we get caught up in other things.
‘You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six days. Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn. On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times, with the priests blowing the horns. When you hear the priests give one long blast on the rams’ horns, have all the people shout as loud as they can. Then the walls of the town will collapse, and the people can charge straight into the town.’ Joshua 6:3-5 (NLT)
“On the seventh day the Israelites got up at dawn and marched around the town as they had done before. But this time they went around the town seven times. The seventh time around, as the priests sounded the long blast on their horns, Joshua commanded the people, ‘Shout! For the Lord has given you the town! Jericho and everything in it must be completely destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and the others in her house will be spared, for she protected our spies.’” Joshua 6:15-17 (NLT)
* Often times we sing at the level of our faith and heart condition.
* A SHOUT is a shout that all can hear, not a loud whisper so we don’t draw attention to ourselves or our God.
PERSONAL INSIGHT #1: WAITING time is not WASTED time.
“Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you . . . blessed are all those who wait for Him.” Isaiah 30:18
* God’s delays are not God’s Denials!
PERSONAL INSIGHT #2: It’s not our job to UNDERSTAND the command, but to UNDERTAKE it.
We didn’t sing this song today, but it is quickly becoming one of my favorites! Hope it inspires and encourages you as it does me!
If you missed this weeks message, I encourage you to get it here. While you are there, browse around our new website … we think you will like it and find it to be a great tool in inviting friends to FBC Harvester.
As always, I hope you make plans soon to join us at FBC Harvester next weekend! If distance is a problem, you are always welcome to listen to any of the teachings from our worship service from our website. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us here. We would love the privilege of helping where we can.
“These are the clans that descended from Noah’s sons, arranged by nation according to their lines of descent. All the nations of the earth descended from these clans after the great flood.” v32 (NLT)
Chapter ten doesn’t have much application but does give us a lot of information about how Noah and his family populated the Earth after the flood. Notice that evolution is not mentioned here. The Bible says that All the Nations were descendants of Noah after the flood. This is our family tree.
Today, think about the legacy that has been passed down to you from your family. What kind or legacy was left to you? What kind of legacy will you pass on to the rest of your family?
“I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.” v.13 (NLT)
We’ve all seen a rainbow! As kids we have probably looked for the pot of God that is supposedly at the end of the rainbow. The rainbow is a sign to us of the covenant God made to Noah. This covenant had three parts:
1.) Never again will a flood do this much damage.
2.) As long as the earth remains, seasons will come as expected.
3.) A rainbow will be visible when it rains as a sign to all that God will keep he promise.
God remains faithful even when we remain faithless. The rainbow reminds us of His promise and His faithfulness.
Today, what are other signs/things that God has given you to remind you of His Love, Faithfulness, & Promise? Take some time to reflect of al the things that God has done for you and thru you, you might be surprised!
“Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, ‘I will never again curse[a] the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. 22 While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease.’” v.20-22
After being locked in a boat with all the worlds animals and family members, the first thing Noah does when coming off the Ark was to build an Altar. On the altar, presented God with an offering, and the Bible says that God was pleased by the aroma.
Everyday, we have an opportunity to offer our lives as an offering, a living sacrifice to God, by the purity of our heart, motives, and sacrifice we are either a pleasing aroma to God or a stench in His nostrils. Today you have an opportunity to live selflessly, sacrificially, with a pure heart and motives. What kind of offering will you present to God?
Today, will you be a pleasing aroma to God or a stench. How you live, what you say and don’t say are important, Live Wisely!
“A male and female of each kind entered, just as God had commanded Noah. Then the Lord closed the door behind them.” v.16
Have you ever wondered how Noah got all the animals on the Ark? Did Noah and his sons spend years collecting all the animals? In reality the creation, along with Noah, was doing just as God had commanded. There seemed to be no problem gathering the animals – God took care of the details of that job while Noah was doing his part by building the Ark. Often we do just the opposite of Noah. We worry about the details over which we have no control.
Today, will you trust God with obedience, and leave the details in His hands?
If you missed my post yesterday about The Lost Generation then check it out here. If you think the video above is what needs to be done to have an effective Senior Adult Ministry or a way to help Senior Adults be apart of the Modern Church, then you missed the essence of the post. It is more than just trying to get them to be hip, cool, relevant, or any other culturally relevant term you want to use, it’s about creating a ministry that communicates and reaches our growing Senior Adult population.
However, this background to this video is inspiring. This video was created by a church and used to kick off a student event. This captures the idea of what I said yesterday of Creating Opportunities for Senior Adults to be Involved. Enjoy the video!!!
I’ve been sitting on this post for a while now, but I think we might be missing something that will impact the trajectory of the local church if we’re not careful and intentional about reaching and meeting the needs of all generations in our community. Let’s face it, over the last 10-20 years the modern church as we know it has changed. Churches have embraced a more casual, contemporary … which has been termed the “new traditional” style of musical worship, and have focused on reaching a younger generation. Sometimes, well most of the time, we do this with good intentions expecting an older generation to understand and to accept change with open arms. But what happens if they don’t?
I am by no means saying that the church doesn’t need to focus on a reaching a younger generation, but I think the church needs to be careful at reaching a younger generation at the expense of loosing our older generation. Yes there are major difference in each generation. From the style & volume of the music, to the way we dress and talk, to the speed of our walk, we are different. But that’s what makes the church so special.
Throughout scripture we see the importance of an older generation investing in a younger generation with the wisdom they have gleaned from their journey with Christ and life in general. We especially see this modeled in scripture as an older Paul urges and encourage a younger Timothy.
So what can we do? This is a great question, and one I think the church needs to be asking since we are on the embarkment of the Baby Boomers getting ready to enter into what we call a senior adult status. I don’t know that I have all the answers but I think somethings can be done. Here are some suggestions.
1. Create a Senior Adult Ministry
This can be led by volunteers or by a Senior Adult Pastor. Senior Adults, like teenagers “know it all!” That’s not always a bad thing in this sense. They know what they like and what they don’t like, and many of the people they hang out with are like them. Being able to have intentional ministry geared for Senior Adults can create opportunities that the church may be overlooking. Yes, it takes time and effort, but so does the music, children’s, and student ministries of the church.
2. Create Opportunities for Senior Adults to be involved.
The reality for all of us is the this, we are down on the things we don’t know about. Keeping Senior Adults involved in the life of the church creates a healthy dynamic where it’s not an us vs them mentality. Some of my greatest youth workers were Senior Adults, and some of my greatest encouragers as a young Student pastor came from Senior Adults. When we take the time to include them they can and will bless the ministry in huge ways with time, money and resources.
3. Create a Multi Generational Worship Culture.
This isn’t a “my way or the highway mentality”, and this isn’t the only responsibility of the Worship Leader who is picking songs … it is a TEAM effort! Creating environments that reach a demographic or generation is nothing new. As the church worships together on a weekly basis, there should be crossover from each of these ministries sprinkled throughout the Worship Service. Many times when we think of this we think solely about the music, but hopefully there is more to your worship service than music. Sometimes it can be as simple as recognizing an age group during a talk and speaking directly to them during a service. But it could also be a s simple as singing songs that seem to be tied to a generation in style, but beneficial to the entire church in message.
I admit that maybe this is just a mind dump post. But these are the thoughts that have been on my mind lately as I transition into a new role in the church … moving from a Student Pastor to a Community Pastor. I do however think this is going to be something that the church has to address in the near future, or we may just in fact, lose a generation.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas of how we can begin to do this more effectively.
