What Do the Stones Have to Say About It?

May 24, 2026

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:44

If you would bow and pray with me. Dear Heavenly Father, how we would love to hold on to you, O God. For you've been there with us in our darkest times. Lord, you've been there with us on our celebration times. Lord, we recognize that it's by your stripes we are healed. It is by you, oh God, your word that we even exist today. So, Father, we say thank you. We thank you, oh God, for all that you have done for us. Lord, all that you're doing even right now, and even that that you have planned for us. Father, we can't see it right now, but we know you can. And you're working it out for our good. So, Lord, we hold on to you. When everything else falls apart, when everything else walks away, oh God, our desire is to hold on to you, to cling to you, oh God. And we just want to let you know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we love you, oh God, that we adore you, that our every thought, our every movement, oh God, is for your glory and for your honor. In Jesus' holy magnificent name, we do pray. Amen. And praise God. Good morning. Um, I want to take a moment. If I could ask all of our veterans to please stand. We have any veterans in the house, would you please stand? We just like to take a moment and say thank you for all that you've done, for your sacrifice, for your willingness to play your life on the line for this country and for each one of us. We just wanted to take a moment and say thank you. Now to my Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, to our pastor in his absence, Dr. Terrence Archery. Um this is a wonderful opportunity for me to engage with you. And as always, I do not take these moments lightly. And I can tell because I need a fan. Y'all always do this to me, always, always. So before I sweat out of my suit, let's hasten on to this word real quickly. Um, we find the words of our text in Joshua chapter 4. I know it's a very familiar passage. But in Joshua chapter 4, beginning there, like the sixth verse, and then we'll drop down to the 19th verse. We'll be reading into your hearing from the New King James verse of Joshua chapter 4. And it reads as thus that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, say, What do these stones mean to you? Down in verse 19 it says, Now the people came up from the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they camped in Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up in Gilgal. Then he spoke to the children of Israel, saying, When your children ask their fathers in the time to come, saying, What are these stones? Then you shall let your children know, saying, Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land. For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan before you until you had crossed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up before us until we had crossed over, that all the peoples of the earth may know the hand of the Lord that it is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever. I want to put a tag on this text, and for just a few moments with your prayers, I like to use as a subject from which to preach. What do the stones have to say about? What do the stones have to say about? Now Lord, use your servant's prayer, that you would let the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing and acceptable, O Lord, in thy sight. Now, Lord, use me even in spite of me. In spite of my own flaws and shortcomings, O God. I pray that you would stand up in my body and use it. Take my mouth and speak your words, O God. Place in my mind your thoughts into our hearts, O God, your word. Lord, that everything that is said in this place at this time might be to your glory and to your honor. Lord, that you might receive praise. Lord, that someone might be saved. We thank you, O God. In anticipation, we celebrate with you. In Jesus' name. Amen. What do these songs have to say about it? So on May 5th, 1868, General Order No. 11 was issued, formally recognizing Memorial Day. Or as it was called then, Decorations Day. It was set for May 30th of each year to commemorate those who had lost their lives in the Civil War. Around 1971, Congress amended that thing and changed it officially to Memorial Day. They established it on the last Monday in May. It was a day now to honor and to commemorate, to celebrate, and to make a memorial for all of those fallen soldiers in wars past, in wars present, and in wars to come. It was a celebration time. And it was ironic that they set the former state of Robert E. Lee to be the National Cemetery. It was there that this memorial began. And so the question begs to be asked: why do we do memorial today? The truth is found over in Jeremiah chapter 18 and verse 15. Jeremiah recognized and stated and declared, because we have a propensity to forget. That's part of our problem. And so as I was studying this text, the stone said, Roby, if you would allow us, we've been waiting a long time to tell our story. These stones said, I'd like to tell you my story. I said, Well, that's gonna take too long because you've been around a long time. Said, can we just limit it to three things? Said, okay, three things we want to lift out of this text. First is that the stones are designed to stand the test of time. Secondly, they are designed to tell the story. And then finally, they are designed for everyone. So the stone just captured my attention. He said, Roby, I want to be first. Let me tell you my story. The first thing that you have to understand about my story is that I've been around a long time. You see, I'm not just any old stone. See, I was fashioned and created by none other than God Himself. When the first time he opened his mouth and said, Let there be, I came into existence. I was somebody, I tell you, on that day, because my God created me. And here it was unfortunate for me because after all of my smile, after all of my good times, after all of my celebrations, that my God thought enough to make me and to bring me into existence, I began to really, really kind of doubt him. I began to have some problems with God because after he created me, I wondered why would he put a strong, strong, good-looking black man like me in an old muddy Jordan. He placed me here in this muddy Jordan. I mean, you don't understand. All my life I've been here in this muddy Jordan River. I thought I was destined for greatness. I mean, I should, I should have been, if no other place, than in the mighty Nile. I mean, a great stone like me. I'm not, there's no other stone on the planet like me. Can you imagine me of all people being placed in the muddy Jordan? I mean, stick your hand in there and you can't even see your hand. I thought I was somebody. I mean, I should have been, I should have been in boardrooms commanding corporate corporations and telling them what to do. I should have been presidents and over countries and nations. I should have been somebody's father. But instead, my God placed me here. What is it about me that God doesn't like? I mean, you don't know my story with all I've gone through. I mean, this old muddy Jordan, it's had some torrential rain and it's overflowed its banks. It's it's just nasty, and nobody wants to be associated. As a matter of fact, people go around the Jordan, they don't go through the Jordan. I mean, nobody likes to come to my neighborhood. Anyone here likes to go to the hood? Oh, you live, okay. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to step on nobody's toes. But this stone was talking to me. He said, You see, I was from the beginning, and then as I began to sit here in the muddy Jordan, I heard some things as people passed by. I heard what God did for those stones down at the Red Sea when He parted the Red Sea and the children walked over and they set up a memorial. I said, That should have been me. That should have been my blessing. I was born for this. But here I sit in this old muddy Jordan. I mean, everybody else is advancing but me. I'm just sitting here trying to trying to do what God said do, and everybody else seems to be doing so much better, especially those not heads that don't want to do right. All the evil people, they didn't that they down in the in the Nile. They're they're out in the Mediterranean. But hear a mighty man like me in the Jordan. You don't understand, Roby. I was angry with God. I told him, surely you can't not be God and have me sitting here. Of all places, Christ community. I mean, I should be part of a megachurch. Y'all don't understand. This stone said, you don't know. Uh I mean, I'm strong. When those currents came, I anchored down and I stood firm in the word. When everybody, when when it came prom night, I didn't take my date to a hotel. I'm sorry. You see, me and my wife, we we just waited and abstained until my honeymoon. This is the stone. This is not me, it's a stone. See, when when they dropped treasure in the Jordan and didn't know about it, I didn't put it in my pocket. I took it to lost and found. When everybody else was doing drugs, I said, No, not me, I'm a strong man. And I thought after years and centuries rolled on, God has forgotten about me. Everybody else he's taken care of, but he's forgotten about me. It's just me by myself. I ain't got nobody else to depend on. So I guess I'm going to have to start taking care of myself. So when the next current comes, I'm gonna go with it. When AI comes my way, I'm jumping on board. But I couldn't. Something kept me rooted there in the Jordan. 40 years I watched some knuckle-headed people, they just walk around in the wilderness, doing nothing, just walking around, doing nothing. They were rebellious people, and yet God fed them. They were rebellious people, yet God protected them. And here I am doing what I'm supposed to do. I go to church on Sunday, I say glory, hallelujah. When people ask me how things are going, I say, Oh, everything is fine with me. God is good. But God, you let me down. That's where I was. Y'all don't understand. This memorial, I thought it was for everybody else. But this memorial, it came personal. You see, if your if your walk with Christ isn't personal, it's about everybody else but you, you got a problem with your walk. Because everything God does is personal. There's no rock or pebble that has never been created that God didn't have a purpose. My brothers and sisters, God has a purpose for you. It is not by it is not by accident God didn't have anything to do on Saturday night, so he said, Well, I might as well create you. This stone said, I'm designed to stand the test of time. God placed me here for a purpose. I know I have a purpose, and if I hold on, he's gonna reveal it to me. And it came, it came on that day. It came on that day. I remember the day I marked it down. I got it on the calendar when God showed up in my life. Anyone in here had a moment when God showed up in your life? You see, things were going bad for these folks. As a matter of fact, the Jordan was over its banks. And and okay, y'all, y'all not feeling, no, I'm not feeling. And back in 1968, somebody said, you know, no, they didn't part the Jordan. You could have just walked over any old kind of way. And so someone said, We're gonna prove this thing. And so a scientist got an Olympic swimmer, he was a professional Olympic swimmer, and said, I want you to just swim on across the Jordan. It was overflowing its banks, y'all understand. And so when the swimmer went out to try and swim across the Jordan, understand the Jordan isn't that wide? I mean, you can see the other side. And so this swimmer is out there trying to swim, and he cannot make it across the Jordan River. Now, can you imagine at least at a minimum, 40,000 soldiers clad with their swords, with their with their banners, and they're going across trying to cross this river? It's ugly. It's a muddy river. And now, let me tell you what the real story is. I said thank you because I heard enough of your story. The story that this text is really designed to teach us is that God is a mighty God. Y'all, Mrs. Y'all thought this was about, y'all thought this was about their 40 years in the wilderness. Y'all thought this was about all the trouble that they were going through. No, you see, Roby, we were set up to tell this story that God is mighty, that regardless of what is facing you, if God has to, he'll part it for you. If not, he'll tear it down for you. If not, he'll build a bridge over it. If not, then he'll give you a way around it. Whatever it is in front of you. That's the story that God has got it. But no, we kind of really want to focus on. We want to tell God all about our 40 years, how we were out here. We want to tell him all about the defeats that have been happening, how the enemy is taking us out, and how he's beating us down, and how people have treated us, and I deserve better. No, that's not the story. Is God able to bring you through? I know your God may not be able to, but my God has brought me through. See if I can use my sanctified imagination and call up some memories. I remember some times when I shouldn't have made it through. I was on the road driving home when I was asleep, coming home from college, totally asleep. I don't know how I got from Jacksonville to Lufton, Texas, but somehow through the weaving roads of East Texas, I made it. I didn't hit anything, no deer jumped out in front of me, and I still wake up sometimes and wonder how in the world, what happened between Jacksonville and Lufkin? Y'all don't have those kind of stories. Okay, okay, let me give you a more personal story since my wife isn't here. My wife, she is just a, oh my goodness, she is just a goddess. She is a beauty queen. If you ever see her, you just have to stop. All right, brothers, now y'all don't need to linger and look at her too long. She's just a beauty queen. I remember a day out in college when we were back in college, and I looked across the yard, and there she went. She, I'm gonna tell you exactly what she had on. She had on a black bow, she had on a stone washed skirt, she had on a white blouse, fish neck pantyholes, she had some black pumps with a little bow on the back. I saw her, I saw her looking across, and I said, there goes my wife. My roommate said, in your dreams, folks told me you ain't got a shot. I went up into the study room, looked across, and saw her light on my room. I said, Lord, if you do nothing else for me, that is what I want. And he said, if that's what you want, go get it. When he got it, put a line on it, and said, Come on, sister girl, you mind now. Not because I'm so bad, but because my God said, go get it. You've got to have some memory. Remember some things of what God has brought you through. Remember some times when God has did some. God has done some uh things in your life that only you know about. That's a terrible shame. You ought to tell somebody of the good things that God has done for you. I mean, we're kind of tired of hearing about your bad news, but what has God done for you that is good? That is something you need to remember, something He's brought you through, brought you over, some enemy you couldn't handle yourself. And you went and told your God, I need you to handle this dude. He's 6'4, 310 pounds, agile, mobile. I need you to handle him. I need you to handle her. She got some long nails, been scratching eyes out everywhere she goes. I need you to have, y'all, y'all, y'all, I'm sorry. That's an old country, East Texas. You need to go and tell God, Lord, I'm before the Jordan. I need to get over to the other side if I'm going to walk into my destiny. So as long as I'm standing right here, I can't walk into my destiny. But if you'll move, Lord, there's something in my way. I can walk on into my destiny. But Lord, I need for you to move. I'm available, I'm standing right here, and I will not be moved until you move the obstacle out of my way. That's the story. God will need it to let us know because it Every now and then we kind of think there's some powers that are bigger than us. There's some people that are stronger than us, they got more connections, they've got more clout, they've got more money than I do, uh, they got more prestige. You you understand, and and and and God is trying to let us know this morning that listen, you forgot what I did yesterday. When I got up and I spoke, and the sun started marching across the sky. You forgot what I did yesterday when there was a drought in Texas. I sent the rain cloud and flooded you out. You forgot what I did just on yesterday when you laid down, could have been dead, but I spoke a word, blew a breath, and got you up. You don't understand what I did just yesterday when you didn't have money to buy food for your family. I brought somebody by with a truckload of food. You don't understand. You don't remember what I just did for you. I am a mighty God. And I and I know, I know, I know, I know biblical scholars are there, they're they're saying, Roby, Roby, you got this all wrong, man. Uh that is the story, but it's not for you. You see, that's just for a select group of people. I mean, uh blessings are not for people like you. I mean, you're marginalized. You you you're people that you you're one of those. Uh somebody said to me this morning, you're just a pong. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You you're you're indispensable. We we can get rid of you. You you you you don't have really a purpose. But the text, glory, hallelujah, said, hold up. That's not what I meant. It made me what they meant, but that's not what I meant. Just so you know, you included in the story. Because in verse 24, he says, This thing is designed for everybody. See, I'm not just a stone for the children of Israel, but anybody that comes by, I'm here to let them know that God is able. I'm here to let them know that he is a mighty God. I am here to let them know that God is the one who brought people through. God is the one who executes, he's the one who speaks and there becomes. This is designed for everyone. And God Himself, God Himself says, this is for everybody. I don't care what dictionary, you can go to Ebonics and to be everybody. You you can go to a Texas dictionary and it be y'all. You can go to whatever dictionary you want to, but all always means all. It means you and me. So whenever they start telling you this ain't for you, you ain't the right color, you ain't got the right money, you don't have the right pedigree, understand. My God said, Hold up. I died for everybody. Everybody is brought into the house. This thing is not just for those elite people, but it is for everybody. Y'all looking at me kind of like that. My youth used to look at me when I was a youth pastor. They they they kind of didn't understand what we were doing when we when we get up and preach. Right about now, I should be telling you about he died. Oh, yes, he died. I should be telling you about Friday night. When they hung him on a cross, they took him down and buried him in a barrel. I should be telling you about Sunday morning. But but but but but as my users say, why y'all always do that? We hear that every Sunday. And I had to tell them, I said, the problem is why we have to do that every Sunday, is because you forgot last Sunday and went out throughout your Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and acted like he didn't get y'all not feeling. Let me close, oh Lord, I've kept y'all too long. I've kept y'all too long. Let me go ahead and close this thing out for y'all. This is what I did. I I got a little poem here for you. Maybe you can understand it this way. Since you don't uh you can't understand a stone who says, Listen, I can stand the test of time, like every Christian ought to. When then when God comes into your life, He can bow, He uh places in you the Holy Spirit so you can stand the test of time. Not only that, you need to tell the story. The story is that God is real, that he's overcome. And since he's overcome the world, hey, somebody talk to me. You can overcome. And it's not just for a few select folk, but everybody, if you can confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that God is the, that Jesus is the Son of God, you shall be saved. But this poem ought to help you understand this thing. It is said, it is simply a poem called Say His Name. Before the sun cracks the sky, before your worries multiply, before your hope runs dry, say his name. Not just any name, not a halfway name, part-time, sometimes name. I'm talking about Jesus, the chain bearer, the storm tamer, the death defeater, the soul saver, Jesus. The one who touched blind eyes and turned darkness into daylight. The one who stepped into your midnight and flipped the switch to all right. Say his name. When life gets loud, Jesus. When fear gets proud, Jesus. When the valley gets deep and the climb gets steep, Jesus. Because the enemy loves when we have amnesia. He loves when we forget, when we forget who brought you out, who pulled you up, who held you down when everything else let go. But we don't forget. No, we remember the God who turned water into wine. We remember the God who turned sinners into saints. We remember the God who turned the old rugged cross into a throne of grace. We remember the God who stayed, didn't stay dead. Death tried him, hell mocked him, the grave locked him. But early on Sunday morning, he shocked them. Stone rolled, tomb empty, savior risen, victory permanent. And now every time we say his name, heaven leans in, hell breaks up, chains fall off, strength rises up. Say it with your chest. Jesus, say it like he saved you. Jesus, say it like he healed you. Jesus, say it like he's coming back again. Jesus. So when life tries to make you forget, when storms try to steal your praise, when trouble tries to mute your worship, lift your voice, lift your hands, lift your faith, and say it with your chest, Jesus.