The Book of Joshua

The Book of Joshua – January 12, 2025

Joshua 3-4

I understand a lot of us are going through some really hard times. I definitely don’t want to minimize the trouble that we go through. Mental health is no joke, and relationship problems can be really tough. School and finances can be oppressive. And sometimes the best we can do is just make it through another day.

But once in a while when we’re not so overwhelmed, it really helps to take a step back and think about the big picture.

And it’s worth asking, how can we live our best life? That’s my big question today. How can we live our best life?

My big idea today is that we need EXPERIENCE and we need to ENRICH.

  1. We need to EXPERIENCE the greatness of God
  2. We need to ENRICH the lives of others by sharing our experiences.

The Book of Joshua – January 5, 2025

Joshua 2

Many religions and belief systems have followers that have “blind faith, which means faith without evidence. They operate on a single witness who claimed to have a vision in private. The problem, however, is there’s no other witnesses to corroborate if that vision happened

It’s different with Christianity. The most important events – like Jesus dying on a cross, the resurrection (empty tomb), the miracles – are all very public. The Bible rejects blind faith! I think it actually invites skepticism; it encourages you to ask good questions and dig deep on the evidence.

We do need faith, but it’s different from what a lot of people think. My question today is: what does excellent faith look like? I’m going to try to show you that excellent faith is bold with the big idea, and diligent with the details. That’s what we’ll learn from the story of an unlikely hero.

The Book of Joshua – December 29, 2024

Joshua 1:2-9

BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS.

The Bible isn’t like us, it doesn’t just repeat things just to hit a certain word count. Its writing style is very efficient and thought out… and so for it to repeat 3 times in this week’s passage is like highlighting it and putting it in bold!

Why does God emphasize this so much? I think there is a pastoral aspect to his words here. I mean just a few verses before ours, Moses is literally declared the greatest man of God ever. And for Joshua to take over, those are huge shoes to fill. I’m sure Joshua felt all sorts of underqualified and imposter syndrome.

But also, as we’ll continue in the Joshua story for the next few weeks, we see that the path set out for Joshua is not easy. It requires strength and courage. But that’s not just for Joshua. That’s for all Christians. Following God isn’t an easy walk in the park. Whether you’ve been a Christian for decades or you are new to the faith, following God comes with doing hard things. To say no to our desires. To say yes to love and sacrifice. And so that’s why God tells us: Be strong and courageous, because that’s what it takes to get us thinking beyond ourselves. Be strong and courageous because the natural thing to do is to fall into fear and doubt. Be strong and courageous, because it is so easy to believe the worst about ourselves, the world, and even God. Be strong and courageous.