We had a great night last night which was our final night in the series called, "Joshua." We finished with a student, Jordan, an 8th grade boy, giving his testimony, what God has been doing in his life, and then giving the challenge to students. It was powerful because it was peer to peer. Here is the basic outline from last night.
Review Crossing the Jordan River
Joshua was obedient even when it didn't make a lot of sense. Joshua resolved that he would be obedient to God no matter what. If he would have listened to his friends on this, he may never have been used to do such an amazing thing. We do the same thing. We make our friends our authority and we are obedient to them. If this is the case, God can't use us in the same way.
Review Battle of Jericho
Joshua was obedient again when God had him go to battle in a very unorthodox and illogical way by walking around the walls of Jericho, blowing trumpets, and yelling. Yet again, Joshua didn't listen to what was logical or normal or acceptable, but instead obeyed God. This obedience allowed him to be a part of something amazing. It's the same with us. If we stop listening to what the world calls normal and start obeying God, he is going to use us to do amazing things for him.
SIDE NOTE: Obedience sometimes sounds really boring and uncool, but look how God used Joshua's obedience to make him a part of something so crazy, so unbelievable, so cool. God can do the same today. Example I gave: The 3rd leading cause of teen death is suicide. Many teen suicides are a result of not having friends, feeling unloved, ignored. God's command to us is to love others. If we would be obedient to that command and love those who feel unloved, we could LITERALLY SAVE THEIR LIFE!
Joshua's Farewell
At the end of Joshua's life, he gave a challenge to look at all that God has done for the people of Isreal and worship him. His challenge is to choose whom you will serve? Joshua's response was, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." That was the final challenge for students last night. Who will you choose to serve today?
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Joshua, week 2 Recap
This is the 2nd week of our Joshua series. We are taking a journey through some of the major events of Joshua's life and how God used Joshua to accomplish some pretty amazing things for the Israelites.
This week, I told the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. The only problem is that it wasn't a typical battle. Joshua was told by God to take his men and march around the city for 6 days, blowing trumpets and yelling loudly. Then on the 7th day, he was supposed to march his guys around the walls 7 times, blow the trumpets, and yell, and then the walls of the city would collpase.
Joshua was obedient to God even when obeying him meant doing something totally different from normal (marching around the city and yelling). Joshua did this because his ultimate authority was God. If Joshua would have done what was culturally and socially acceptable and normal, God would have never done such an amazing thing in his life. But God was his authority which meant that God used Joshua's obedience to do something amazing for His people.
We talked about how it's the same type of thing with us. We tend to do things because they world says they are normal. We do things becuase they are culturally or socially normal, but obedience to God is more important than doing the normal thing.
THE CHALLENGE: Is obedience to God more important than being normal? Or is being normal more important than obedience to God?
This week, I told the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho. The only problem is that it wasn't a typical battle. Joshua was told by God to take his men and march around the city for 6 days, blowing trumpets and yelling loudly. Then on the 7th day, he was supposed to march his guys around the walls 7 times, blow the trumpets, and yell, and then the walls of the city would collpase.
Joshua was obedient to God even when obeying him meant doing something totally different from normal (marching around the city and yelling). Joshua did this because his ultimate authority was God. If Joshua would have done what was culturally and socially acceptable and normal, God would have never done such an amazing thing in his life. But God was his authority which meant that God used Joshua's obedience to do something amazing for His people.
We talked about how it's the same type of thing with us. We tend to do things because they world says they are normal. We do things becuase they are culturally or socially normal, but obedience to God is more important than doing the normal thing.
THE CHALLENGE: Is obedience to God more important than being normal? Or is being normal more important than obedience to God?
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Joshua, part 1
Our newest series started last night called "Joshua." You can probably guess that it's a series based on Joshua from the Bible. As a matter of fact, there is a whole book dedicated to his leadership of the Israelites. There is so much to learn from Joshua about obedience to the ultimate authority. That's what this series is focused on. Here are some key points from last night...
1. Background on Joshua
We started off with a little background on Joshua and how he arose as a leader for God's people. He was Moses aide, one of the 12 guys who were sent to check out the promised land and report back, and then God chose him as the leader to take Moses place once he died. His mission was to take his people in the promised land.
2. Crossing The Jordan River
Since his mission was to cross the Jordan River, I told the miraculous story of how Joshua led the whole nation of Israel across just by being obedient to God. The waters parted and the nation walked through.
3. God's Authority vs. Friend's Authority
If Joshua would have listened to others, they would have had all sorts of ideas on how to get over to the promised land, but Joshua was obedient to God and saw him as his ultimate authority. That led him to being someone who was used by God to do something amazing. It's the same with us. We look to our friends for approval, but why?
4. If God is your ultimate authority, who can stand against you
God told Joshua that no one will be able to stand against you if you obey me. Obedience to God as our ultimate authority allows God to use us to do amazing things for Him. Why are we afraid when we have God?
1. Background on Joshua
We started off with a little background on Joshua and how he arose as a leader for God's people. He was Moses aide, one of the 12 guys who were sent to check out the promised land and report back, and then God chose him as the leader to take Moses place once he died. His mission was to take his people in the promised land.
2. Crossing The Jordan River
Since his mission was to cross the Jordan River, I told the miraculous story of how Joshua led the whole nation of Israel across just by being obedient to God. The waters parted and the nation walked through.
3. God's Authority vs. Friend's Authority
If Joshua would have listened to others, they would have had all sorts of ideas on how to get over to the promised land, but Joshua was obedient to God and saw him as his ultimate authority. That led him to being someone who was used by God to do something amazing. It's the same with us. We look to our friends for approval, but why?
4. If God is your ultimate authority, who can stand against you
God told Joshua that no one will be able to stand against you if you obey me. Obedience to God as our ultimate authority allows God to use us to do amazing things for Him. Why are we afraid when we have God?
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