Latest / Citipointe Church Caboolture / As For Me | Ps Melanie Politanski

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As For Me | Ps Melanie Politanski · Citipointe Church Caboolture

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Hey, welcome to the City Point Church podcast.
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Thanks for joining us. Every day is an opportunity to
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take hold of. So we hope this message inspires
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you and build your faith that it helps you have more of a God
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perspective for your day. Enjoy.
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Share. This amazing testimony from a
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young lady, There are so many significant ones, it's hard to
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pick one. But I want to share this
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testimony because do you know that the mantle, the Joshua
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generation mantle, is like Pastor Nicole said, it is not
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limited for the young people, but the young people are going
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to do something with it. And they're going to lead the
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nations of this world to an acknowledgement of Jesus Christ
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again. And we are going to walk into a
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time in history in this next season where it's going to be
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undeniable that Jesus Christ is Lord all over the world.
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Did you know right now in the UK, one in eight Gen.
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Zetas are heading to church? One in eight.
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Did you know in the US, one in six are streaming Christian
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content to learn about who Jesus is and to gain insight into a
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spiritual transformation and reformation through platforms
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because they have had an absence of it in their homes.
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Because of this, there has been a response by a number of the
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streaming platforms in particularly Prime, who has
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gone. If our business is going to
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succeed, we actually need to keep up with the content that
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this next generation is craving, and that is about Jesus Christ.
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And so because of it, a number of the streaming platforms have
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decided to remove content that carries witchcraft and cult and
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things that worship idols and begin to flood their content
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with things that are actually building young people's faith in
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Jesus Christ. That is why a line in your prime
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account now, if you have Prime now says religious, religious
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documentaries. And it's got an amazing what
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it's like content for you to grow in your faith.
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I think it's like faith growing religious content or something
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like that right beside which is so bizarre in other platforms
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that is like Halloween things. Has anybody noticed that their
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streaming platforms are full of a line right at the time
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Halloween go into prime, see something different, see
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something different because of it, which of course I am not
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surprised about at all. Tim was talking about this
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before because of this shift in this particular streaming
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platform I've been tracking, they are right now in the world
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the number one, they were like right down the bottom in how
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successful their business was. In actual fact, the shift came
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when they put something up that was carried a whole lot of
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witchcraft. They put it on their platform
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and and within 24 hours they had reduced the amount of
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subscribers so significantly, the company went into OverDrive
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wondering if they would still be around within a month.
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And then somebody said, I've actually heard about this
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producer or director who's building a series about David in
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the Bible. And I think that as a streaming
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platform, we should get behind it, fund it and air it.
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Do you know that the House of David shifted Prime?
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And then they began to get other content, including the chosen
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and put it on this platform. And that content is the most
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streamed content on their platform, and it has turned
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their business around. So if you really want an amazing
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afternoon of encouragement, go and see what the director of
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Prime is now saying about this kind of content.
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He's awesome, so cool. Why?
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Because the Joshua generation is going to lead us not just to a
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move of the Holy Spirit, but they're going to see the nations
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of the world come and God get on their knees and say Jesus is
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Lord again. Now that really did not warrant
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that kind of level. Thank you, Mary, for agreeing
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with me on that. Maybe you didn't hear that this
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morning. Do you know why we don't often
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get excited about this? There are very few of us sitting
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in this auditorium today who have lived in a time where our
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nations were God fearing. So we don't believe it, but do
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you know that there have been generations that the nations of
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the world have feared? Lord, when the dark gets dark,
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really dark, the light gets brighter.
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And right now this next generation are running into the
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arms of Jesus. And I'm not talking limited to
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City point church all around the planet as we proclaim these
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amazing testimonies of beaches all over the world full of
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people being baptized. Did you know it's this
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generation and you know it's come from this cry in their
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heart, a Joshua cry that says a declaration that says As for me
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in my house, we will serve the Lord.
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I want to unpack this to us as a church this morning.
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About maybe six weeks ago or so, Pastor Ryan and Nicole gave me
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the incredible honor of coming into our youth ministry as a
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part of the lead up to camp and bringing a word around this
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particular theme. Now, because of this, I had to
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go and study it. Now, Joshua is one of my
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favorite people in the Bible. This is a personal thing for me.
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When I was a child, my parents gave each of us children a
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prophetic word and a scripture that has been our scripture for
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our whole life. Mine comes from Joshua 18, And
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so I love Joshua. I had studied Joshua, but I'd
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studied Joshua as a young person.
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And so as I began to prepare this message for youth a couple
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of weeks ago that I'm going to bring to you again today, for
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those of you who have heard it from our youth program, you can
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get behind it and you can go. Amen.
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And at the end of this, I'm actually going to Commission you
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to pass something on. Is that OK, Young people?
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As I began to study it out as a 44 year old, there is revelation
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in it I'd never understood before.
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That has marked me because this statement that Joshua says, As
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for me and my house, we will serve the Lord is not made as a
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young person. In actual fact, it's made as an
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old person. If you are over 70 in this
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place, give me a wave. It was made by somebody over
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that age. It was made by somebody who had
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fought many battles, who had wandered.
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He'd actually been born in a desert, wandered a desert and
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gone through significant things. And he makes a declaration and
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says, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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Before I jump into this message, I want to quickly share this
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testimony because this testimony carries a generational blessing
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that I think you and I need to catch.
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Because God is moving not for the sake of the next generation,
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but for all generations. God is moving so that the next
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generation helps lead us up out of our chairs, up out of
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comfortable spaces, and gets us on the move again, doing what
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God has called us to do in the Western world.
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We have chased for nearly 20 years, comfort booking our
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holidays on our our next holidays, on our current
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holidays. We're looking at our next rest
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as as opposed to looking at our next purpose.
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But God is calling us in this generation in the last days of
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this earth to bear witness for him to be about his work, to be
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about seeing this community come to Jesus.
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And this will not happen if this generation alone are doing that.
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It will happen if we all stand up and declare and decide that
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As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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Listen to this testimony so good.
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It's from a beautiful young lady in our youth ministry.
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And I cannot see that font. Not at all, all Right, says
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walking into youth camp. I was expecting God to move in
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wondrous ways, just as he'd done before.
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And he did. He moved in me and my sister and
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in hundreds of other youth from all around Australia, and I
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didn't know it, but he also moved in my dad while he was at
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home and we were at camp. My testimony started at the
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Miracle Service this year when I was set free from a spirit of
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rejection from unforgiveness and anxiety and had a ton of pain
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taken off my off my life. I felt the peace of the Lord and
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I felt the peace of the Lord and experienced God's love and peace
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created in. This created an expectation for
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me for youth camp this year. I can profoundly say that youth
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camp was so powerful. Walking into youth camp, a main
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prayer of mine was for my sister to receive salvation and to
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experience God. She didn't even want to go to
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camp at one point, but something changed.
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The night before camp night 2, she experienced God.
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This is what I love after this. But that's her testimony to
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tell. All I can say is that my prayer
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was answered. Walking into camp.
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I wasn't planning on being baptized but the day the
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baptisms were happening I was told about it and it definitely
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had me thinking, is this my next step?
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I had a feeling like I should do it and ended up saying yes.
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I like this young lady a lot. She's she's born to preach.
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Listen to some of these words. Ready.
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I realized that sometimes all it takes is a yes to God and things
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happen before my baptism. This is powerful.
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Before my baptism, I felt nervous and excited until I was
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talking with Pastor Nicole and she told me somebody needs to
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receive this. This morning she told me that
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nerves and excitement are exactly the same thing, except
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you only feel what you say it is.
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Somebody needs to receive that. This morning you only feel and
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receive what you claim it is. I was so emotional the whole
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time before it all happened, all the way until I got in the
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water. Being baptized made me feel so
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renewed and refreshed. Once I was baptized and I got
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out, I walked over to the tent but I was still crying, but I
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found I was laughing as well. Some girls came to congratulate
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me, but all I could do was cry and laugh at the same time.
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I was just so overwhelmed by joy and a feeling of God working in
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me. I felt loved, I felt happy, and
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I'm so grateful for the rest of the day.
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I just could not stop laughing and smiling and I realized that
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I felt the joy of the Lord for the first time.
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Ever since then, I've realized that the joy of the Lord is
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everywhere. I feel like I am seeing things
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in a different and a new perspective.
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I am I am so incredibly grateful for youth camp because many
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prayers were answered and encountering God.
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I was encountering God constantly at services that were
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so powerful. When I got back from youth camp,
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my sister and I were sharing our testimony with our parents and I
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found out that my dad, when my dad got the messages from me
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asking for permission to be baptized, he actually prayed in
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our living room by himself asking God to give him a sign.
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Whether this camp was the right decision for me and my sister
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because this is all new for our family and hearing our
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testimonies, he claimed this was the sign.
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I can say that my prayers are being answered and God is
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definitely working in my family. I pray that the rest of my
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family, here she goes straight into a prayer.
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I pray that the rest of my family are able to turn to the
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Lord and be able to experience the love and the peace and the
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joy of the Lord that I have experienced.
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Youth camp and the miracle services.
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The best thing that's ever happened to me and getting
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baptized was the best decision I've made in my life.
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Final statement is her As for me statement, it says I cannot wait
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to share this joy and light that is inside me to my friends, to
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my family and to anyone I have come into contact with.
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What a testimony of what God does if we carry an expectation
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that He wants to move in us. Do you have that expectation
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this morning that God wants to move in you like that?
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Right at the beginning of Joshua, Joshua 18 and 9, Joshua
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himself receives A prophetic word, and it says this Joshua
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one verse 8. This book of the law shall not
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depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and
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night, so that you may be careful to do all that is
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written in it, for then you will make your way, your life
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prosperous, and then you will have good success.
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Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous?
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Do not be afraid, for the Lord your God is with you wherever
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you go. This is a word spoken over
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Joshua as a younger person, to hold him instead for a life that
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ends with the result that it says, As for me and my house.
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But this prophetic word, like we say often in the life of this
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church, a prophetic word is an invitation by God.
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An invitation to come, come, be equipped, come, be formed in
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hidden places, come and allow the Spirit of the Lord to
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transform you because it's in of those places.
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But God is able to outwork significant things in our lives
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for the sake of our land, for the sake of this nation.
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This is where it began for Joshua.
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And so we want to unpack this morning in just a little bit of
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time that we've got today. As for me and my house, we will
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serve the Lord and what it means for you and I today for it's
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significant. So today our passage that I'm
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going to share from is from Joshua 24 verse 14 and 15
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because every generation must decide whom they will serve.
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Every single generation has to have a time that they draw a
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line in the sand and they say this is whom I will serve.
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Joshua 2414 and 15 says so. Fear the Lord and serve Him
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wholeheartedly. Say wholeheartedly.
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That is not lukewarm, that is not comfortable, that is
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sacrificial. Fear the Lord and serve Him
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wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols of
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your ancestors and whom they worshipped.
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Serve the Lord alone, and whose today whom you will serve.
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And then it finishes with this statement.
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But As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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Do you know? In this passage, Joshua unpacks
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a couple of things that he is saying to the nation of Israel
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who are about to crossover into the Promised Land.
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He's saying something significant because he's saying
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to each and everyone of them, you must fear the Lord that came
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out this morning. Pastor Rach in our worship LED
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us in a beautiful, sacred moment in worship to come with humility
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and to fear the Lord as we brought an offering of worship
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this morning. We must fear the Lord, serve Him
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wholeheartedly, and put away the idols our ancestors worship.
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Joshua chose to make a statement that As for me and my house will
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serve the Lord, but it's paired with.
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So I'll have to choose not to have God under idols.
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Let me unpack what he's saying here for a second.
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Joshua drew a line in the sand. No matter what others choose his
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life and those who had who he had influence over would serve
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the Lord. Can I unpack why it's those who
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he had influence over in this passage he says, As for me in my
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house, who's heard the scripture before most of us right.
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As for me in my house, Did you know that Joshua at this stage
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of his life, I'm sure he would have had a family, but unlike
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the. Practices of the writings of the
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Bible up to this point that actually have very accurate
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accounts of this person belongs to this person.
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This is the Father, this is the Son, this is the grandson, this
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is the great grandson. I don't know if you've ever read
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this. It's some of the hard part of
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the Bible to read when it goes through the genealogies.
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Joshua's isn't there. We know he's the son of Nun,
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which has lots of amazing Christian memes attached to it,
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but he has no family listed in genealogy in the word of God.
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And yet he's the one who makes the statement.
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As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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Can I unpack this just for a second?
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This word house carries so much meaning because this man's
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lineage is not listed. You do not know the name of his
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sons so you do not know whether he's married or not.
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But when you go actually unpack the origins of this word house,
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it actually means 2 meanings at the same time.
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It is A2 pronged approach. This particular word.
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It means both family of origin and all those I am entrusted to
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influence at the same time with no divide.
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Do you know for some of us who who have said obediently, I'm
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going to follow and serve the Lord with my whole life.
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Often the wrestle is particularly in our comfortable
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era of the Western world, we like to try and find the divide.
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We call it balance, the balance between our family of origin
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serving this and ministry. And in this one little verse,
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Joshua says there's no divide. I am declaring As for me and all
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those that have been entrusted in my care, all those that God
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has brought to me to be able to influence and lead and disciple
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and guide all, all fall in one declaration.
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As for me in all with no divide, which means my life is to serve,
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yes, the Politensky home, but also all of you and this region
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with no divide. As for me in my house, you can
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say I'm part of Mel's house. Come on now.
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That should make you way happier than that should be.
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Like I'm on my house. No, nobody's feeling it.
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OK, All right. There's no divide.
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But his life and those he had influence over would serve the
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Lord. Joshua makes this declaration
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with this passage, and he says I will not stand with any idol.
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In actual fact, I'm. We must choose today whom we
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will serve. And so he stood against the
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idols of his day. Can I quickly unpack this?
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Very quickly. He stood against the gods of
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Egypt, which symbolizes slavery and your past life.
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The behaviors, the addictions, the toxic habits that once
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consumed and controlled your life before you knew Christ.
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He said I'm drawing a line in the sand.
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They are not going to enter this place with me.
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As for me and my house, they have to go.
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I'm going to serve the Lord. The God of their ancestors means
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tradition and religion without relationship with God.
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So these modern day idols come off as religious practices that
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become now gods. Come on, let's be frank.
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This is what we are often debating on social media with
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other believers about this doctrine or that doctrine.
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Black walls or white walls. Communion in every service or
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once a month. Crosses on buildings or not on
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buildings. This is what he's talking about.
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The God of ancestors was tradition and religion and not
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relationship focused. Other expressions of this is
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living off others faith, others experience parents faith and not
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having our own. And the God of the Amorites
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which was the other types of idols in this day.
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This is a big one. You ready was the cultural
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popular gods. These were the gods of
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popularity, money, me obsession, and sexual compromise.
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This is the gods that Joshua was talking about.
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All right, Joshua said. I don't care what culture does.
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I've made my choice. The idols we worship today,
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church are exactly the ones that the people in Joshua's time
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worshipped. Exactly the same popularity and
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social media validation, likes, follows subscribers.
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Online influence can become an idol.
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Many believers measure their worth by how many people react
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online instead of how God sees them.
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Galatians 110 says, Am I now trying to win the approval of
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human beings or of God? Another one Appearance and
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image. Obsession with how we look, body
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image, fashion trends, filters, the idol of perfectionism,
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believing if I look good enough, I'll be valuable.
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But one, Samuel, 16, seven says people look at the outward
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appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
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He cares far more about the state of your soul than it does
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about the size of your lips. He does.
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Some of us need to spend a whole lot more time reading God's love
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lavished upon us in His Word, then reading what the world is
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saying about us through images that are coming up, setting a
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bar or an expectation of what we should look like and what we
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should be #3 achievement and success.
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Grades, sports, career, dreams, talents, giftings.
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These are easy, idle traps when they define our identity.
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And you know what? Often we can speak to young
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people about this because they're often doing these
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things. But do you know parents in the
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room? And I know our parenting seminar
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is going to go here. Do you know often we are the
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cause because of a lack of identity in us?
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We're pushing our children to be successful, to build ourselves
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up. If they are the best at then we
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are good, then we are successful and it's putting value on us.
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The pursuit of success without God leads to burnout and
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emptiness. Matthew 1626 says what good
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would it be for someone to gain the whole world yet forfeit
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their soul? There are so many more
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relationships and romance, pleasure and entertainment,
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money and possessions. And then the God of this age,
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which has been the God of every age, self, the idol of me,
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independence, self-image, and the rise of my truth, my way, my
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life. The idol of self is pride,
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believing that I am enough without God.
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Proverbs 3 verse 5 to 6 encourages us to trust in the
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Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own
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understanding in all your ways. Acknowledge Him and He will make
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your path straight. Every single one of us has to
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make our own choice. Will I let culture?
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Will I let friends? Will I let precious?
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Will I let the modern day idols define who I am?
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Or will I declare this day As for me and my house, we will
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serve the Lord. Can I tell you each and every
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person here today, this is super important.
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Faith is personal. It is not congregation, it is
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personal. Say faith is personal.
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My faith is my own, but it carries generational impact.
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You can set the tone for your family by having an authentic
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faith. You can set the tone for your
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friendships by having an incredible faith and you can set
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an incredible future for those you've been given influence
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over. If you make a declaration that
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is for me in my house, we will serve the Lord.
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So I want to give you 2 things that we can take from Joshua's
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life very quickly this morning before we go that I would love
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to encourage each and every one of us to take from Joshua on how
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how to do this work in the secret place.
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How to do this work behind the scenes so that you can step away
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from the idols that want to take over and influence and dictate
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the future of your life. I want to give you these two
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very quickly this morning because they are things that we
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can take from Joshua's life that you and I need to know.
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Number one, don't leave the tent.
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Say don't leave the tent, you're going to go.
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What is this about? In Exodus 33, verses 7 to 11,
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there is a particular story about in the wilderness when
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Moses pitches the tent at the special tent that houses the
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presence of God, where his presence would come down like a
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cloud. All right, And in that tent God
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would speak directly with, as with Moses, the Bible says as a
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friend, say as a friend, that's how God wants to know you as a
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friend. But there's a detail we can't
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miss from Joshua's story that is so significant found in verse
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11, Exodus 3, verse 11. It says then Moses would return
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to the camp. Now let me give you context.
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The Presence of God tent was set up outside of the camp and when
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Moses would go to the tent, people would stand outside of
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their tents in the camp. Now in context that youth camp,
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the tents were a long way from the tent meeting where they
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actually came together to worship the Lord and hear the
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word of God. This was the same in that time,
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there was a distance, but when they would stand outside, Moses
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would go into the tent at the cloud.
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The presence of God would descend on this tent, and
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Joshua, who was not invited to go into the tent like Moses,
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would stand at the door. So everybody else stood at the
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tent doors of their tents, but Joshua stood at the tent door of
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the presence of God. Here's what's amazing.
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It says this, when Moses would finish being as a friend with
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God in the tent, he would return to the camp.
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But his young aide, Joshua did not leave the tent.
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Joshua was a warrior. He was a young man who was
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Moses's assistant. But most importantly, Joshua was
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a present seeker. He sought the presence of God.
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He learned the secret of leadership and strength was to
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not leave God's presence, but to linger.
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Say that word this morning. Linger.
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Why? Because the tent was a place of
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encounter with God. Joshua stayed when others left.
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Why? Because Joshua wasn't content
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with second hand faith. He wanted God for himself.
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Great men and women of God are formed in lingering moments to
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church. Don't leave the tent.
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Some of you every single month hear the call out to come and
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pray in the House of God on the first weekend of the month and
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you're like, it doesn't fit in the calendar.
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It's not comfortable. I don't even know if I could
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pray that long. Could I Commission you?
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Could I encourage you this morning?
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Come and be found. Don't leave the tent.
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Would you practice lingering in the presence of God?
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Because the presence prepares you for your purpose.
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Joshua didn't know it yet, but one day he would lead Israel
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into the Promised Land. What prepared him was his time
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lingering in the presence of God at the tent.
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Joshua 19, says God says to him, be strong and courageous for the
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Lord. Your God will be with you
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wherever your wherever you go. You know your courage for
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tomorrow is fueled by your presence with God today.
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Linger in the tent. The second thing that Joshua did
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that is marks me about this young man that prepares him to
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put aside the idols of the day, make a declaration, say As for
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me in my house we serve the Lord is that he was OK at being
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halfway up, say halfway up. What does this mean?
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In Exodus 2413 to 14, he says this So Joshua and his
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assistant, sorry, Moses and his assistant Joshua set out and
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Moses went up the mountain of God and he said to the elders
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means the church leadership wait here for us at the bottom of the
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mountain until we return for you.
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But Joshua was trusted to go halfway up part way up Mount
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Sinai with Moses. He couldn't enter the cloud like
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he couldn't enter the tent. There's something found here for
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us church. But he waited faithfully at his
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post until Moses returned. Now I don't know if you've read
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these accounts of Moses in the book of Exodus, but this happens
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often that Moses is called into the 10 or is called up the
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mountain and he stays for a long time.
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One of one of these times is so significantly long that the
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people believe Moses to be dead and not returning.
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It's a serious way. But Joshua is content at being
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halfway up. There's something significant
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found here for you and I because you know what?
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Many of us in our faith do not like the seasons where we're
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called to be alone and God's calling us halfway up.
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He's saying, I don't want you down there in the camp.
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They're doing things. They're building calves.
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They're getting unrest, you know, they're getting uneasy.
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They tout I don't want you there, but you're not yet
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allowed there. Are you OK at being halfway up?
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Do you know halfway up forms things in our lives that cannot
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be done in the crowd that we often expect must be done in the
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presence on the top of the mountain.
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And yet this young man who makes a declaration As for me and my
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house, we're going to step away from these idols.
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We are going to serve the Lord and leads the nation of Israel
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into the promise promise 40 years before is formed,
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lingering alone at the tent and halfway up church.
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I know, I know prophetically this morning that many of us are
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being called into this sacred season right now.
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We want to, we want to right now go marching into the promised
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land and take the giant town God saying right now I need you to
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obediently stay halfway up. I need you to linger at the
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tent, for I am forming something in you.
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Joshua did not complain about being not allowed to go into the
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glory cloud. He'll sit and rush back to camp.
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He simply waited. Sometimes our purpose is learned
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in waiting, not in the position and not in the activity, but
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alone, halfway up. God was training Joshua to be
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patient, to honor authority, and to value His presence even more
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than being in the thick of it right now.
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I wonder if you are sitting in this auditorium, if God is
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asking you to come into this season of lingering and halfway
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up, maybe it feels like others are experiencing more getting
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ahead or being noticed. But like Joshua, you're being
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called to be formed in waiting halfway up.
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Waiting is not wasted, it's preparation.
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So we have to pray in the season that God is inviting us into.
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God, help me to trust you in the waiting.
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Teach me to stay faithful even when I can't see everything
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you're doing, Joshua said. I, I can see Joshua and the way
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he processes this. It says halfway up, but all way,
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all the way faithful. This is why he's entrusted to go
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to the promised land. So this morning, I wonder if
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there are those in this auditorium who are not content
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for our next generation to be alone in this Joshua generation.
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I'm 44 and I will be counted in the Joshua generation.
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Are you here this morning and you're 44 and you want to be
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counted in the Joshua generation?
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That says I'm not going to be swayed by the idols of this day.
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In actual fact, I'm not just going to go, I'm I'm not going
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to do that quietly or I'm just going to debate about it on
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social media. No, I'm just going to draw a
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line in the sand and say, As for me and my house, we will serve
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the Lord and so obediently. We're going to be OK with
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lingering in the presence of God and being formed halfway up.
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There's anybody here this morning that says, I know, I
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know. I've been set apart to be a part
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of this next Joshua generation. Would you stand to your feet
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right now in obedience and in faith to that call, in faith to
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being marked by God to lead in this next generation, this next
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season, and say, I'm going to live out the purpose of God for
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my life. I'm not going to conform to the
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ways of the world. I'm going to follow his way.
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Father, right now you see the people standing.
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You see their faith and their expectation.
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God, I pray right now for a boldness and a tenacity and a
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strength and a courage like you bestowed to Joshua to come on
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each and every one of them. Encourage them that you are with
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them every step of the way. You are strong and you are
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courageous. God is with you wherever you go.
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But God, but I thank you for their faith in responding to
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being OK to linger in your presence, away from the crowd,
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away from the murmurings, away from the culture, but being
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formed halfway up. Because I know God, you're going
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to entrust this generation with something significant in our
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nation, a beautiful nation, a nation rich in multicultural
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history, a a nation rich in faith of people from all over
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the world, a nation rich in multi generations.
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Oh, we know your heart for our nation, God.
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And so we stand in faith, saying and declaring this morning, As
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for me and my house, would you say it with me this morning As
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for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
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Father, right now, for each person, I pray for the courage
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and the clarity in their calling this morning for all that you've
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called them. To God, we thank you that you
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are pouring your spirit out across the nations of this
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world. You're allowed to do what you
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want to do in us so that we are prepared to do incredible things
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like Joshua did. Go and face giants and not see
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them as that, but as territory for the Lords in Jesus mighty
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name and all those who believed it said Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen,
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Amen.