Time to Choose

They finally entered the land.  Had plenty of victories, and only one defeat.  It seemed as if everything was going they way it should.  Israel was becoming king of the mountain.  

Joshua knew differently.  He knew the history of his people.  Joshua was the might commander who lead the people of Israel in the conquest of the Promised Land.

He gathers the elders of the nation together first.  These are the leaders, physically & spiritually and gives them a charge (Joshua 23).  The leaders always set the tone for the rest of the group.

Then he gathers all the people together to lay before them a choice.  A choice that would define the nation and the affect generations to come.  The choice on who they will serve. (Joshua 24:1)

The same choice before us today.  

Joshua gives brief history lesson of these people.  He starts with Terah, Abraham's dad who lived in the land of the Chaldeans.  The land was filled with demonic deities that were worshiped.  Cosmic gods, astral gods, spirits, and demons all made up the pantheon of gods that Terah's people worshipped.  

Out of that, God called Abram out of that land.  God called Abram to love, serve, and worship Him alone.  He made promises to Abram and gave him a new name.  Abraham's descendants would bless all the peoples of the earth.  Abraham's descendants would out number the stars.  Abraham's descendants would have their own land to dwell in.  

A great plan that had a few pit stops on the way to completion.  One of those pit stops was Egypt.  How did they get to Egypt?  Well Abraham had a grandson - Jacob.  Jacob had 12 boys.  One of those boys, Joseph was loved more than the others.  That doesn't go well in a house full of kids so there was a plot to kill Joseph.  

Joseph wasn't killed but was sold into slavery where he made his way to Egypt and over a period of time was raised up to be the number two man in the greatest nation of that time.  Speaking of that time, a great famine occurred and the only place to get food was Egypt.  So Joseph's brothers came to find food for their families and they are reunited with their "long-lost" brother.  

Joseph shows grace to his brothers and everyone stays in Egypt.  Things are going well until Joseph dies and a new ruler comes to power.  This ruler makes all of the Israelites slaves for 400 years.  During those 400 years the people of Israel would have seen and experienced the worship of the Egyptians - who loved to mix human and animal parts to create gods.  

Gods of the sun, moon, stars, afterlife, harvest, rain, fertility, dead, crocodiles, cats, dwarfs, love, justice, truth, and evil just to name a few were sure to infiltrate the way of life of the Israelites, whose father was Abraham, who was called out to love, serve, and worship the one true God.

Moses delivers the Israelites, crosses the Red Sea, receives the Ten Commandments, wanders around the desert - following the presence of the same God that called Abraham, saved Joseph, raised up Moses, and delivered Israel.  Until they are about to enter the land that God promised to Abraham so long ago.

Moses dies and Joshua takes command.  Joshua leads the people of Israel in conquest of the Promised Land.  Having victory in all but one battle and overcoming insurmountable odds, the people capture most of the land.

Most.

Not all.  (Joshua 13)

This means there are still people in the land.  These people served their own gods.  They worshiped idols and did not worship the LORD.  Baal, Ashteroth, Moloch all had home field advantage.  They had temples and statues in plain sight.  No questions were asked when it came to worshipping these demonic deities.  

These local gods, the Egyptian gods, and the gods of Terah all played into Joshua's challenge.  

Choose who you will serve.

That is what lays before us today.  Who will we serve?  (Joshua 24:14-24)

Will we serve the gods of our fathers?  Will we live our parent's faith?  Will we worship what they worship? 

Will we serve the old gods?  The gods of our past?  The way we once lived in darkness - will we bow to them and serve them?  As Christians - we have chosen to give our lives to Jesus, yet we still serve the old gods of swearing, stealing, lust, Etc. the deeds of darkness.  

Will we serve the local gods?  Will we go with what culture and the world tells us to do?  These gods are not hiding - in fact they are in plain sight.  Too often we fail to recognize them because they are too common.  The gods of busyness, extra-curricular activities, relationships, success & achievement, greed, comfort, happiness?

Or will we serve the LORD God.  The One who called Abraham and has called you.  The One who gave Himself for you so that you might live.  The One who gives you purpose and meaning.  The One who empowers you and strengthens you.  The One who gives satisfaction and joy.  The One who quenches your hunger and thirst.

Israel knew how to answer Joshua.  They knew the right answer in front of their spiritual leader.  They knew to answer that they would serve the LORD God.  

Joshua didn't want their words.  Neither does the LORD.  They want the heart.  Whatever captures your heart, captures your life.  Joshua tells them to put away the idols.  To cast them down.  To turn and serve the LORD with a whole heart.  

The LORD is a jealous God.  He doesn't want part of you.  He wants all of you.  He deserves all of you - He paid the ultimate price to bring you to life.  

Last week we identified what captures our heart.  This week it is time to make a choice on what we will serve.  Are you willing to forsake that thing that has captured your heart.  That goal, that dream, that way of life in order to serve the LORD?  He may use that goal, that gift, that dream in you but He does not want you to worship it. 

Battleground

There are a lot of good things all around us.

We have good families
good friends
good marriages
good health
good success
good careers
good talents
good food
good toys

But that is just what these things are.  Good.

Not great.  Not fulfilling. Not Ultimate.  Just good.

Yet this is what we chase.  We chase good.  We chase because we aren't fulfilled.  We are willing to serve, sacrifice, and live for good things.

That leads to death.

There is only One to serve, sacrifice, and live for.  There is only one who can fulfill and satisfy completely.  See what He says in Exodus.

First two commandments?  No other gods.  No making other gods.

This tells me that we are bent toward making other gods.  We want to, we must worship something.  We are incomplete and are on a mission to find what completes us.  The problem is that we naturally do not run to Jesus, who completes us.

The battleground is our heart.  There is a war going on for our affections and our hearts.  What controls our hearts, controls our lives.

Our hearts are sick and wicked.  We are dead in sin and unable to make ourselves alive.  The beauty comes when Jesus makes us alive.  He makes us well.  He completes us.  He gives joy.  He gives satisfaction.  He gives fulfillment.

If we do not attack the root of the issue - we will never change.  If we try to do this on our own, we will fail.

So what is the root?  Idolatry.

We asked the students a series of questions last night to help them discover what has captured their hearts.

It started with two statements.
1. If I could have _____________ my life would be complete.
2. I would be willing to ______________ in order to get it.

Your Mission

Last night Caleb shared some really cool things about his summer in Honduras.  I can be honest and say being shot at a few times would be enough for me to say "forget this."  I loved that God worked in his life during this trip and really made it clear that he needs to have his own faith.  I can only imagine the impact of seeing so many children accept Christ as their Savior had on Caleb - especially seeing the one little girl who did so in front of everyone despite being the only one.

Talk about being bold.

Remember that Caleb's summer is part of the great big mission of God.  SOME people are called by God to go to foreign countries or new cities to share Christ and make disciples.  ALL of us are called to make disciples wherever God has placed us.

That is the beauty of Matthew 28:19-20 and Romans 10:9-17.

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, ESV)

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. (Romans 10:9-17, ESV)

Make disciples.  We can't do this if we aren't already going.  If you think about it - that is what we do, and we do it well.  

We are a "going" society.  School, work, games, practice, groceries, friends, family, movies... we GO.  We go with a purpose - but do we really understand what that purpose is?  

Make disciples.  Share Christ.  Baptize.  Teach.  

Paul is pretty clear that people can't believe unless they hear about Christ.  They can't hear about Him if nobody says anything.  

We are a "going" people.  It is what we do.  We are also a "sent" people.  

Being on mission means seeing our role, where we are RIGHT NOW in God's big picture.  Being on mission means being light in the midst of a dark world.  Being a light means living the right way, but also opening your mouth.  

That is kind of scary.  I am so glad that Jesus says He is with us ... Always ... Forever.

Fear disappears when I think about that.  Courage takes it place.  

The courage of Christ.  The Mission of God.  You.  Me.  

The Pursuit

It is good to be back!  We have started our season of student ministry and are excited at what God is already doing!

Last night we explained what The Pursuit really is.  It is more than the name of our group.  It is more than a place to come on Wednesday nights.  The Pursuit is a way of living.  Take a look at 2 Timothy 2:22:

"So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart."

We all have passions.  You can look around your world everyday and see what people are passionate about.  It ranges from sports, music, and relationships, to food, cars, and social media.  We all have these passions because God gave them to us.  The problem comes when we live for the passions and not the One who gave them to us.

Paul wants us to live out our lives to point to Christ.  We should use our talents, gifts, abilities, and passions to point to the Giver of the gifts.  

As we live we should pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace.  We should have a desire to be right with God.  This only comes through what Jesus did for us on the cross.  He died so that we could live.  

Faith: rock solid confidence in a person, place, or event.  The foundation for our faith is Jesus Himself.  We will pursue that confidence in Jesus and take Him at His word.  

Love: We will pursue the sacrificial love that God shows us through Jesus.  Jesus laid down His life for us so that we could be right with God.  We want to put the needs of others above ourselves and sacrificially serve them.

Peace: We can have the peace of God.  We can have all our anxiety and worry taken away as we give those things over to God.  He promises to give us His peace that can't be fully understood.  Not only do we pursue the peace of God but we are given peace WITH God because of Jesus.

We aren't God's enemies.  We are His family!  Which is why we pursue these things along with "those who call on the Lord."  We are in this together.  When times are tough and difficult we have each other for support!  

We are The Pursuit