Latest / Saint City Chapel / Christian Courage | Joshua 1

Transcript

Christian Courage | Joshua 1 · Saint City Chapel

0:00
All right, we got a killer worship set.
0:04
We got a bumper video. Y'all, We are a church plant on
0:08
the move. Let me tell you.
0:10
Hey, it is good to be with you guys today worshipping King
0:14
Jesus. If I don't know you, my name is
0:15
Brandon. I get to serve as the pastor
0:17
here. We're going to be in Joshua.
0:18
I'll help you get there in a second.
0:19
It's on like page 180, something in your Bible.
0:22
I definitely looked it up before I walked up here and I totally
0:25
forgot what page it was. So it's somewhere in there.
0:27
There's a table of contents. I'll meet you there in just a
0:29
moment. And yeah, we're here today.
0:32
It's February 1st of 2026 and here we are at Saint City.
0:37
We are going after a lost campus.
0:38
At ASU we are being a light and a broken city.
0:43
And while we do that as God's bride, the Church, guess what we
0:48
we face some things. We face opposition and weariness
0:52
and disappointment. Discouragement and attack are
0:57
everywhere when we're out on the mission of God and we find
1:00
ourselves longing and needing from God strength and
1:06
encouragement and hope. Today we're starting a new
1:11
series. And today's message, it's going
1:14
to put rocket, rocket fuel on your faith that this series in
1:19
the book of Joshua is to help you hold fast to cling to the
1:25
very promises of God. He's made promises for his
1:29
people that he intends to keep. And Joshua is a book for a
1:33
church like ours so we can discover the God who always
1:37
keeps his promises. You see, if it's a promise God
1:40
has made, it is a promise God will fulfill.
1:43
He doesn't make promises he does not keep.
1:45
In fact, the theme verse for the book of Joshua comes from Joshua
1:48
2145. It says this, not one word of
1:53
all the good promises that the Lord had made to the House of
1:56
Israel had failed. All came to pass.
2:02
Not even one promise has failed. The hope for this series as we
2:10
go through this the next few months together in the book of
2:13
Joshua is that you would believe and trust in God's words deeper
2:17
than you ever have before. Because that's what a young
2:21
church needs most. That's what you need most for
2:25
your walking with Christ in 2026.
2:27
It's an unwavering belief and conviction that God keeps his
2:33
promises. He doesn't miss.
2:38
But the problem is, his life wants to steal your belief and
2:42
kill your courage to follow Christ, our enemies of the world
2:48
and sin, the pride of life and the flesh.
2:52
It will come at your courage. It will attack the very
2:57
heartbeats of what it means to obey Jesus.
2:59
If you'd like to take notes, jot down this definition for
3:03
courage. It's the moral capacity to do
3:05
what you know is right. It's not just knowing what you
3:11
know is right, but to do what you know is right.
3:14
That is what takes courage. And Joshua, while on the mission
3:19
of God, had questions like you and I do like, what does it mean
3:24
to have Godly courage or Christian courage?
3:28
You see, it's not only what Joshua needed, the leader of the
3:30
people of Israel, it's what you and I need right here, right now
3:34
because God is offering and inviting you to the very thing
3:38
you need most to have courage himself.
3:41
We're going to discover that together in Joshua chapter 1.
3:44
If you're there, say I'm there. All right, let's go.
3:47
Joshua chapter 1 says this. After the death of Moses the
3:50
servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua the son of Nun
3:55
Moses, assistant Moses, my servant is dead.
4:01
Now therefore, arise, go over this Jordan River, you and all
4:05
this people, into the land that I'm giving to them to the people
4:08
of Israel. Every place that the sole of
4:13
your foot will tread upon I have given to you, just as I promised
4:19
to Moses. From the wilderness.
4:22
And this Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river
4:24
Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites of the great sea,
4:26
toward the going down to the sun, shall be your territory.
4:32
No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your
4:35
life. Just as I was with Moses, so I
4:38
will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake
4:43
you. We're going to stop right there.
4:44
I'm going to give you a big idea.
4:45
I'm going to give you the sermon in a sense.
4:46
We're going to work our way through chapter 1 together
4:48
today. But I first want you to get this
4:50
big idea down. The sermon in a sense is this,
4:53
that no promise gives you courage like God is with me.
4:58
If you're going to have Christian courage, if you're
5:02
going to do the things that God asks you to do, if you're going
5:05
to obey Him and trust Him in every arena of your life, no
5:09
promise will quite give you the courage to do so like the
5:12
reality that God is with you. And so we're going to look at
5:17
three places where we need courage today that we're going
5:21
to see in Joshua we're going to apply to our very own.
5:23
The 1st is this that I need courage when first I doubt that
5:27
God could use me. These first 5 verses help us see
5:32
that I need courage when I doubt that God could use me because
5:39
God is with me is the encouragement that we need to
5:43
believe that that God is with me.
5:47
You and I doubt God could use me.
5:49
Look back at verse one after the death of Moses the servant of
5:52
the Lord. Now you might be new to studying
5:54
the Bible. You might not know who Moses is
5:55
or where the heck we are in the story of the Bible.
5:57
Now the Bible was written the first five books by Moses,
6:00
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
6:02
He wrote the first five books and he comes on the scene into
6:05
book 2 called Exodus. 1st we have Abraham who were introduced
6:09
to in Genesis 12. He has a kid named Isaac, who
6:12
has a kid named Jacob. Then they have he has twelve
6:15
sons who become what we know as the people of Israel.
6:19
Israel goes about their life. They land in Egypt and they
6:22
endure 400 years of slavery. And then we meet their
6:26
deliverer, Moses and Exodus. Now Exodus, Numbers,
6:30
Deuteronomy, guess what? It's Moses leading God's people
6:34
out of Egypt into a desert, wandering for 40 years.
6:41
And you see that phrase that describes Moses after the death
6:43
of Moses, the servant of the Lord.
6:46
Moses is the only person in all of Genesis through this point in
6:49
the Bible who's described like that.
6:52
It's highlighting his special relationship with God.
6:55
It's saying, hey, this is Moses. He was special, and Joshua knows
7:00
it because Joshua was his assistant for 40 years.
7:03
Joshua's actually very aware that Moses is awesome.
7:07
In fact, Moses is the best leader Joshua's ever known.
7:11
Joshua had been born into Egyptian slavery.
7:14
He knew what it was like. He knew it was like to have a
7:17
leader that was against him, that was opposed to him, that
7:20
wanted to enslave him. And now he's been following this
7:22
man Moses, for 40 years through the desert, and he has lost the
7:26
greatest leader he has ever known, and he's stepping into
7:32
the role of being his successor. We learn about Joshua right
7:37
there, that he is the son of nun.
7:39
That doesn't mean he doesn't have a dad.
7:40
That means his dad had a bad name.
7:42
OK, Joshua, the son of nun. We don't know who his mom is,
7:47
but Moses, my servant is dead. Joshua, out of the grief of
7:55
losing his leader, is now jumping into the leader of the
7:59
people of Israel, and God gives him some commandments.
8:04
Arise, go over this Jordan, you and all the people, into the
8:08
land that I am giving to you, to the people of Israel.
8:13
Every place that your soul of your foot will tread upon I have
8:17
given to you, just as I promised to Moses.
8:20
God is reinforcing to Joshua that just as he promised to
8:23
Moses, he is now promising to him.
8:25
The promises didn't evaporate. They didn't disintegrate.
8:28
They are still true. They will still come to pass.
8:32
And Joshua has seen God at work in the life of Moses.
8:34
In Exodus 17, he learned how to fight under the Lord's command,
8:39
and he saw victory in God's plans.
8:42
In Exodus 17, he also saw Moses interact with God, how to
8:46
remember, how to recite and memorialize God's faithfulness
8:49
to him. In Exodus 24, he sees Moses at
8:53
Mount Sinai and Joshua waits for Moses as he watches Moses meet
8:57
with God and he sees the consuming fire on the top of the
9:01
mountain. In Exodus 32, he sees the
9:04
Israelites receive the law and love their idols more and build
9:07
a golden calf. In Exodus 33, he learns what it
9:12
looks like to serve and minister with Moses, a man who walks with
9:15
God, listens to God, talks to God face to face as one speaks
9:18
with a friend. He saw what ministry looked like
9:22
under Moses. He saw what leadership looked
9:24
like under Moses. And now here he is being asked
9:27
to be the leader by God of the Israelite people.
9:35
He's without, the one who led them through 40 years in the
9:37
desert without his friend, without his mentor.
9:41
And his absence is certainly felt.
9:47
He's gone. I don't know if you've ever
9:48
experienced what it's like to have the absence of someone's
9:53
presence before. That, you know, is really
9:55
helpful. Not so long ago, I was back in
9:57
Chicago, and I got the opportunity to go to Chicago
9:59
Bulls game. And my friend's dad worked for
10:03
the Chicago Bulls in the 90s. Of all the jobs in all the
10:05
world, to be working at a certain time and place, working
10:07
for the Chicago Bulls in the 90s had to be a pretty good gig, OK.
10:10
And so he was there when the Bulls were amazing at
10:13
basketball. And what happened is a lot of
10:15
his friends were still in the office and working for the
10:18
organization. So when we get to the Bulls game
10:20
with Greg, Bulls games with Greg are pretty legit because Greg
10:24
knows everybody who works there. So what happens is when you go
10:26
to the Bulls game with Greg, you not only get to go to the arena,
10:30
you get to park in the VIP parking.
10:32
Didn't know that existed. I learned it existed because of
10:35
Greg. Not only that, I got not only
10:37
the Nosebleed seats at the United Center, I got to have
10:40
floor seats at the United Center.
10:41
Not only did I get to have floor seats, I got to go on the floor
10:44
and take a picture. I didn't know that I that like
10:48
somebody's leadership, their presence could mean so much.
10:53
But then I went to a Bulls game without Greg one time.
10:57
Not the same experience. I was sitting, I don't even know
11:01
what row of the 300 level. I couldn't even see the guys
11:04
anymore. I mean, they're 6 foot 10
11:06
giants, right? But I can't see them even from
11:08
that far away. So I'm watching them on the TV.
11:09
I'm like, why did I drive to the city?
11:11
Why am I watching this? And I could have just watched it
11:12
on TV at my house. You see, the power of presidents
11:16
can be really encouraging. It can be really strengthening
11:18
because when you're with somebody who belongs where
11:21
they're supposed to belong, you have the courage to go where you
11:24
couldn't go before. And often times when God
11:29
appoints us into a role into responsibility in ministry,
11:32
guess what? We start asking God questions
11:35
like this. Did God really call me?
11:38
Or am I just here because I was the only one with a pulse?
11:45
We get deeper in insecurity and we'll ask questions like, can
11:47
God really use someone like me with my past, my doubts, my
11:51
insecurities? Could God really use me?
11:57
Joshua didn't choose to lead. God chose Joshua to lead.
12:02
And if you're being called into the work of the Lord, if God is
12:06
calling you to be a small group leader or a team leader or a
12:09
servant on campus, wherever God would call you, guess what?
12:12
You can walk in the confidence that God himself is behind that
12:16
and He is with you wherever you go.
12:21
And I think there's three vulnerability points where we
12:23
feel this tension, where we feel this rub against us.
12:26
That man, I am not the person God would have in mind. 3
12:29
insecurities that God speaks to directly in Joshua that I think
12:32
we can relate to as well. Look back at verse 3.
12:34
It says this every place that the sole of your foot will tread
12:38
upon verse 5, no man shall be able to stand before you all the
12:43
days of your life, just as I was with Moses.
12:47
That's a position, so I'll be with you.
12:49
So the three vulnerabilities are this a place, people in a
12:53
position, 3 vulnerabilities, a people, a place in a position.
12:59
The place Joshua was called to was a territory marked by
13:02
darkness. The people he was called to
13:04
stand against were hostile towards God and the position he
13:07
was given felt beyond his capability.
13:12
That sound familiar to anybody at Saint City?
13:15
I know it sounds familiar to me. How am I going to go plant a
13:19
church? How's God going to use me?
13:22
I'm just a nobody from Crystal Lake, IL.
13:24
What's he going to do with a guy like me in Tempe, AZ?
13:30
God has a promise for you, St. City.
13:33
A promise that will fill your spine with steel, that will give
13:37
you courage in your spirit. It's this that God is with you
13:43
and the places He's called you to, the people He's called you
13:46
to, and the position He has given you that you can walk in
13:52
courage, you can walk in confidence.
13:54
Why? Because God is with you.
13:58
You are the exact person He had in mind for the job that in your
14:02
cubicle, guess what? God doesn't have somebody better
14:06
in mind. He has you in mind.
14:08
You're an everyday missionary right there, college students.
14:11
You might think of yourself as a weak evangelist on a campus that
14:13
needs Jesus. Guess what?
14:15
God has nobody better in mind than you in the classroom that
14:17
you're in, in the dorm that you live in.
14:21
Moms. God has the you there with those
14:23
young ones, raising them, loving them, disciple in them.
14:26
Why? He is with you and he is walking
14:29
with you and you are the person He has chosen for the work.
14:35
Walk in courage, do the next right thing, obeying God because
14:41
you can trust and have confidence and belief that He is
14:45
with you even when you doubt that God could use you.
14:49
I hope you are seeing the wonderful reality that the
14:52
organizing question of your life is not Are you ready for the
14:56
work, but rather this is God with you.
15:03
It's not whether or not you're ready, it's whether or not God
15:07
is with you. You might have heard it say this
15:09
way. God does not equip the call or
15:12
call the equipped. He equips the called.
15:14
It's like that. Just say yes.
15:18
That's what courage is, saying yes and putting your guests on
15:20
the table. To God, you can use me no matter
15:22
who I am or where I've been. God, you can use me if you are
15:26
with me. We need courage when we doubt
15:30
that God has picked the right person and we doubt that He
15:35
could use me. We also need to hear #2 I need
15:39
courage when I call others to obey Him, when I call others to
15:43
obey Him. We're going to look back at the
15:46
text now. Verse 6 says this.
15:47
You've probably heard this verse before.
15:49
Be strong and courageous, for you shall 'cause this people to
15:54
inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them.
15:57
Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do
16:02
according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you.
16:05
Do not turn from the law to the right hand or to the left, that
16:08
you may have good success. Wherever you go, this book of
16:11
the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall
16:13
meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do
16:17
according to all that is written in it, for then you will make
16:20
your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.
16:23
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
16:29
Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your
16:33
God is with you wherever you go. OK, we'll stop right there for a
16:37
second. Joshua's turn to lead now.
16:40
God has called him. He's asked him to step into the
16:43
shoes of Moses. Here he is.
16:45
He's about to lead, and God gives him some marching orders.
16:47
But first he gives him some encouragement.
16:49
He says be strong and courageous.
16:52
Joshua you can lead this people now to give you a glimpse at
16:57
what Joshua the scope of Joshua's leadership.
16:59
He's being asked to lead about a million people little over for
17:04
reference that's like the size of San Diego or Dallas get why
17:11
God's telling him to be strong and courageous.
17:17
What's amazing is if you were back in Deuteronomy, if you were
17:20
studying this, the the last words of Moses to Joshua, the
17:24
very last things he says to Joshua is these words be strong
17:28
and courageous. Joshua, almost as if to say God
17:32
was like, hey, I saw what Moses said to you and Moses's words
17:36
for you are my words to you. They're no different.
17:42
Moses's message is my message for you, Joshua.
17:45
His words were my words. For you to have courage to call
17:52
people, to obey God's voice, we must trust God's voice for
17:56
ourselves. God's voice is the only way for
18:01
you to have true Christian courage because it's the only
18:05
way for you to do, know and do what is right.
18:10
He is actually a compass for us to guide us into the ways of
18:14
what is right. Did you not see what it said in
18:16
the text that this book of the Law will help you?
18:19
He repeats it three times. Why?
18:21
Because God's words are the words you need to have true
18:24
Christian courage. You have to trust God's voice.
18:28
It is the courage that you need to do the very next verb God is
18:31
asking you to do. It is found in His very words
18:34
preserved for us so we can know God know what to do and know
18:37
what is right from wrong. So then Joshua starts giving his
18:43
commands verse 10 and Joshua commanded the officers of the
18:46
people pass through the midst of the camp and command the people
18:49
listen all the things Joshua tells them to do.
18:52
First prepare your provisions for within three days you are to
18:56
2nd Passover the Jordan to go in and do what?
18:59
Take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you
19:03
to possess cool little like Bible nerd.
19:07
Note the ink, the grammar of that is saying this.
19:11
You've already got it, just go walk in and it's yours.
19:16
And to the Reubenites, the Gadites in the half tribe of
19:19
Manasseh, Joshua said this command, remember, because we're
19:25
so quick to forget the Lord the word that the Moses, the servant
19:30
of the Lord commanded you, saying the Lord your God is
19:31
providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.
19:37
Underline that verse. That's going to be a big verse
19:39
for the story of Joshua over the whole book.
19:42
Canaan, the promised land represents the rest that God was
19:46
always longing to give to Israel, the people.
19:51
Verse 14, your wives, your little ones in your livestock
19:54
shall next remain in the land that Moses gave you beyond the
19:58
Jordan. But all the men of valor, all
20:00
the men of courage, all the men of bravery among you, shall
20:02
Passover armed before your brothers, and shall help them.
20:09
Brace yourself. War is coming in Joshua, A holy
20:12
war. We're going to talk about that
20:13
later on in the series. But Joshua's telling them, hey,
20:17
men, strap up. We're going to war.
20:19
Ladies, little ones, hang back last first.
20:24
Then you shall return to the land of your possession and
20:27
shall possess it, the land that Moses, the servant of the Lord,
20:31
gave you beyond the Jordan toward the sunrise.
20:36
That's all Christian courage really is.
20:38
It's just walking one step at a time by faith.
20:42
And you know what faith is. It's just your next step of
20:46
obedience. Just simplify it like that.
20:49
It's just taking the next step of obedience with God.
20:52
It's hearing His word and acting upon it, trusting that there is
20:55
a good result on the other side. And what we do is we just take
21:02
the verbs God gives us in the Bible and we do them.
21:05
That's all we're called to do. But not only are we called to do
21:09
it, we're also called to call others to obey God.
21:12
That's why we exist to proclaim the name of Jesus, to teach the
21:15
people to obey all that God commanded, it says in the Great
21:18
Commission. And calling others to obey can
21:21
be messy. It can be a battle at times,
21:25
right? I kind of picture it like this,
21:26
like maybe you think of calling others to obey more like the
21:30
judge in AUFC fight. You're observing the battle.
21:34
You're seeing the bruising and the absolute bloodshed that's
21:38
coming out of orifices you need to know existed on people's
21:40
faces, right? You're like, Oh my gosh, that is
21:43
so much blood. Some of you ladies right now are
21:44
cringing at the idea of that much blood.
21:46
And sorry, it can get graphic at AUC fight.
21:50
But the judge, what they'll do is they'll watch that fight.
21:53
They'll watch the the the competitors compete and battle
21:57
against one another. And what they do is they give a
21:59
scorecard. They're judging based on
22:03
performance. And calling others to obey is
22:07
not like that. You know what's more like the
22:11
guy in the corner cheering on the guy in the ring, It's the
22:17
guy who's in the corner going, don't tap out, don't give up.
22:21
Hey, you got this. Hey, put your arms up.
22:23
Hey, don't tap out now. Hey, don't give up.
22:25
Hey, go now. Go harder.
22:27
Press forward. Don't you see that's our role
22:31
here, Christian to Christian. Guess what?
22:34
We can encourage one another. We can put courage in not to
22:37
leave the fight, but to keep battling sin, keep going and
22:40
doing the next thing God said giving us courage.
22:43
That's what encouragement is. It's putting courage into others
22:47
and saying you can do this, keep going, do not let up, do not
22:51
grow weary and doing good, but keep living for God.
22:56
That's what calling others to obey is like.
23:01
It's just calling them to obey again and again and again and
23:04
giving them the courage to do so.
23:07
To those of you who have the gift of encouragement, thanks be
23:10
to God for you helping us keep going in the fight and the
23:16
mission of God, making disciples until Jesus comes back.
23:22
And making disciples is such a gift to operate in this world,
23:25
proclaiming the gospel, the good news that Jesus Christ has come
23:29
and died for the world. Like don't you see?
23:31
We have the best news to pro others.
23:34
The news that should never expire, shouldn't have a shelf
23:37
life. We have the news that Jesus died
23:40
in your place on a cross, that your sin put Jesus on a cross.
23:46
You should have died. God being just God being
23:50
wrathful and being a good judge, guess what he should have done?
23:52
He should pay. You should pay for your sin.
23:55
You should be the one. Your righteousness is not enough
23:59
to get you into heaven. Your sin is a real problem, an
24:03
eternal one. But thanks be to God that Jesus
24:06
Christ in your place went to a cross to pay with his blood, to
24:10
pay with his life to pay for your sins.
24:15
We call others to obey because we have the one who's worth
24:18
obeying. It's Jesus who rose again three
24:22
days later, who to never die again.
24:24
He's right now at the right hand of the Father, ruling and
24:27
reigning as a good king. And he's calling you to obey, to
24:33
proclaim his name. So what's it going to take to
24:39
obey Him? It's going to take courage.
24:42
It's going to take courage and calling others to obey.
24:45
It's going to take a heart in love with God's ways.
24:50
It's going to take a mind shaped by God's will and a mouth full
24:54
of God's words. That's what Christian courage
24:58
takes. Heart's in love with his ways, a
25:01
mind shaped by his will, and a mouthful of his words.
25:04
So what ways of God do you love? What knowledge of God has shaped
25:08
your mind? What words of God have
25:10
transformed you? Start there.
25:12
Encourage this week. Share those with others around
25:14
you. Just find things about God that
25:18
you love, that you adore, that have changed you and start
25:21
sharing them. That would be an act of
25:23
Christian courage this week. So when you're insecure about
25:28
the quality of your speech or quality of how well you can
25:32
defend theology, take heart. God is with you.
25:35
Be strong and courageous. When you feel inadequate and
25:39
listening for the deeper longings of someone's heart, be
25:41
strong and courageous. God is with you if you worry
25:45
about all the things you've seen in life.
25:50
Be strong and courageous. God is with you if you doubt you
25:55
actually have the skill to help others.
25:57
Be strong and courageous. God is with you.
26:01
Or if you sense that you're not the right person for the job,
26:04
like Joshua, be strong and very courageous.
26:12
God handpicked you for where He has you.
26:17
We need courage. We call others to obey in our
26:20
groups, on our teams, in our homes.
26:24
Let's be courageous people. Finally, I need courage when I
26:29
experienced ministry success, when I experienced ministry
26:33
success, God is with you there too.
26:36
Last three verses. And when they answered Joshua,
26:40
the people of Israel, they said, All that you have commanded us
26:45
we will do, and wherever you send us, we will go.
26:51
Just as we obeyed Moses in all things, so we will obey you
26:58
only. May the Lord your God be with
27:01
you as he was with Moses. Whoever rebels against your
27:06
commandment and disobeys your words, whatever you command him
27:09
shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous.
27:13
What's happened? Joshua's officially taken the
27:15
mantle. The student has become the
27:17
master. There's been a transition.
27:21
And people have been influenced by Joshua.
27:23
They've been moved. They're like, hey, Joshua, just
27:25
tell us what to do. Just tell us where to go.
27:28
And if anyone disobeys or doesn't follow your orders,
27:30
guess what? It's the kill.
27:32
Like we're going to kill them. That's brutal.
27:34
OK. Graphic.
27:36
OK. What they're what are they're
27:38
saying is, hey, Joshua, you're in charge.
27:40
We're listening to you. We'll do whatever you say.
27:43
The baton has officially been passed.
27:45
And this generation, this generation watched all their
27:50
parents die from disobeying God. Imagine that they couldn't see
27:57
the promised land because of disobedience.
28:01
They saw the reality that if you choose to sin, you choose to
28:04
suffer. They experienced it first hand.
28:06
And they're like, hey, Joshua, we're going to follow you, our
28:10
appointed leader. We get the consequences of
28:13
disobeying God. But they mentioned Moses again
28:16
there. And I don't think it's a dig at
28:17
Joshua. I think it's actually helpful
28:19
for us because I think the Spirit of God preserved this
28:21
very thing for us to take note of who Moses was as a man.
28:27
Because now Joshua's experiencing is about to
28:29
experience the highlights of having ministry success.
28:33
And that's one of the hardest places to have courage because
28:35
you need to be humble in the face of it.
28:40
When God lifts you up, how do you get down low?
28:45
I think that's why the Spirit preserved Moses name for us
28:47
right there, Because look at what it's the Bible describes
28:51
Moses as Numbers 12 three. You can jot that reference down
28:54
the side notes of your Bible. Numbers 12 three says this.
28:56
Now, the man Moses was very humble, more than all people who
29:00
are on the face of the earth. Even if you don't call yourself
29:06
a Christian, you've probably heard of Moses.
29:09
It's not that his name is unknown, but what you might not
29:13
have known about Moses, He was considered one of the most
29:15
humble men to ever live at this time, the most humble man to
29:18
ever walk the face of the earth. When God is with you in
29:25
ministry, guess what? Good things happen, You bear
29:29
fruit, and the temptation is to go look at all the awesome
29:34
things I'm doing to take credit for what God has done.
29:39
Look at all the people in my small group.
29:40
Look at how awesome our church is, and look how great it is
29:43
that I've invited all my friends.
29:45
And I want you to take encourage and that God is using you.
29:47
But I don't want you to take credit for how God is using you.
29:53
You are not Ron Burgundy. Hey everyone, come see how good
29:56
I look. That is bad spirituality.
29:59
That is bad Christian living. That is not what God calls you
30:03
to. God calls his people to be a
30:06
humble people, to decrease when God brings the increase.
30:12
And it will take courage to humble yourself, to constantly
30:16
put others above yourself, to spotlight others.
30:19
And that is the paradox of following Jesus is that as you
30:23
humble yourself, God will give you the strength that as you go
30:27
down, God lifts you up, that when you are weak, Jesus is
30:32
strong in you. I was talking to a Christian
30:37
counselor recently who asked one of the most courageous questions
30:40
I've ever heard. He asked this of his best
30:43
friend. He asked the question, how do
30:45
you receive me? Like when I walk into a room,
30:48
How is it that you receive my personality, my presence, me And
30:57
his friend, being a good friend said this.
31:02
You're A1 upper every story, every idea.
31:06
You have to do better than that and you always have to have the
31:11
bigger thought. Now he was sharing his story,
31:18
but it was like the spirit of the God punctured my heart right
31:21
in that moment in my I can do the same.
31:28
I'm sure people experience me at my worst, my prideful, selfish
31:33
self. And when ministry success comes,
31:36
it will be a temptation to look at all the good you're doing and
31:41
to look at yourself instead of God.
31:45
To think, man, I've got it figured out instead of wow,
31:48
isn't he good? You see, everyone wants to be
31:52
humble. Nobody wants to be humiliated.
31:57
And God has had to humiliate me more times than I can count
32:00
because I'm a man of deep and great pride.
32:02
But I am so thankful for Jesus and His grace, which is in a
32:07
slow motion miracle, taking me to the glory of being less and
32:11
less selfish and prideful every single week.
32:14
But St. City, I believe God has his hand
32:16
on us, that God is going to be with us.
32:19
And for us to be the church that God is calling us to be, we have
32:21
to be a humble people. We can't be looking at ourselves
32:24
and looking at our brand and looking at our name and going,
32:27
wow, aren't we great? No, no, no, the whole point of
32:29
Saint City is like, look at God, isn't he great?
32:33
That's who we are as God's people.
32:35
That's the good life he's calling us into.
32:37
And so I've begun a practice in my life that I would encourage
32:40
you to have as well, that every time you get a positive or
32:43
negative feedback, I want to give you these 5 words.
32:48
These 6 words. It is a very small thing.
32:53
It is a very small thing. I didn't come up with those
32:56
words. They're actually Bible words and
32:57
it comes from First Corinthians 4.
32:59
It says this in verse 3. But with me, it is a very small
33:07
thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court.
33:11
In fact, I do not even judge myself.
33:15
How is it that you can live with humility in a in a world where
33:19
God lifts you up? You shrink the opinions of
33:24
people, you shrink your perception of yourself, and you
33:27
magnify God at work in you. It is a very small thing.
33:34
You fight your pride by shrinking their feedback.
33:37
Good job, good job, small group leader.
33:39
It's a very small thing. Hey, can we fix that in your
33:44
life? It's a very small thing.
33:48
People who are humble cannot stop saying it is a very small
33:55
thing to be used by the God of the galaxies.
34:03
It is a very small thing. So when you experience ministry
34:05
success, you'll need the courage to humble yourself.
34:10
Now the Old Testament is the gospel in picture in the New
34:14
Testament is often the gospel in principle.
34:18
And Jesus echoes these words to Joshua.
34:21
Maybe you're like, hey, this is for Joshua, this isn't for me.
34:23
Matthew 28, I think, is intentionally A hyperlink for us
34:28
for this passage, the end of Matthew's Gospel, Jesus gives
34:32
what's called the Great Commission, and it says these
34:35
words. He says these words to his 11
34:37
disciples because Judas had already failed him.
34:42
Jesus came and said to them, all authority in heaven and earth
34:44
has been given to me. Go therefore make disciples of
34:46
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and
34:49
Holy Spirit. If you are a disciple of Jesus,
34:51
have been baptized, shameless plug, go say yes to Jesus.
34:54
Have the courage to stand up in faith and say I am his and he is
34:57
mine. But also here's the encourage
35:00
that you can have that that's worth doing here to teach them
35:04
to deserve all that I've commanded you.
35:05
And behold, these are Jesus's words for you, just like they
35:09
were for Joshua. I am with you always to the end
35:13
of the age. You're not Joshua, you're not
35:17
one of the 11 apostles, but you are one of Jesus disciples,
35:20
which means that verse holds true for you.
35:24
He is with you always. And if it's a promise God has
35:28
made to you, it is a promise he will fulfill.
35:33
God is with you, Say it to yourself.
35:36
God is with you. Now let's say it all out loud.
35:40
God is with me. Say it again.
35:44
Say it like you're afraid. Say it like you need to hear it.
35:50
Say it like it's an act of worship.
35:54
God is with me. God is with you.
35:58
Don't you ever forget it. Let's pray.
36:01
Lord, thank you. Thank you that your goodness and
36:03
mercy are with us all the days of our life.
36:06
I pray God that we would be a people who believe that you are
36:09
with us wherever we go, that we would be strong and courageous
36:12
because of it, that we would feel the fire in our bones.
36:18
God, wherever we go, whatever we do, Why?
36:20
Because you're with us. Whatever meeting we walk into,
36:26
whatever classroom we find ourselves in, whatever hard
36:28
conversation we're in, whatever family you've appointed us to,
36:31
God, you are with us there. There's not a better son or
36:35
daughter to be in that family. There's not a better friend for
36:38
them. There's not a better Co worker.
36:40
God, you have everyday people there, ordinary people there,
36:44
who are there to courageously take their next step by offering
36:48
up a better way, the way of Jesus to all who listen.
36:52
Would that be the rallying point to Saint City?
36:55
Would it be our hearts cry that God, we are fearless and full of
36:59
faith and full of courage? Why?
37:02
Because we believe and trust that God is with us.
37:05
He's with us in our ears when we listen.
37:08
He's with us in our mouths when we speak.
37:10
He's with us, with us in our feet where we stand and live and
37:13
serve people. Oh God, will we be a people of
37:15
Christian courage, a people of great faith who take your word
37:22
and act upon it, trusting and believing that you promise a
37:27
good result. O God, will we be strong and
37:29
courageous, knowing and believing that you are with us.
37:33
Thank you God, for who you are. Jesus name, Amen.
37:37
Let's stand and sing.