WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:05.679 So, for us as a church, back in January, Audrey, who's in the back, she can wave if you want to turn around and look at her. 00:00:05.759 --> 00:00:10.800 So she has been our part-time student ministry coordinator for the past two years. 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:19.199 And back in January, she came to me and we started talking about her future, and she wanted to head in a different career path moving into the future. 00:00:19.359 --> 00:00:25.519 So back in January, our elders began to pray about what that means for our student ministry at our church. 00:00:25.600 --> 00:00:33.200 And so the elders back in January decided, well, that meant this was now time for the first time for our church to look for a full-time student pastor. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:36.479 And so we began to get our act together, get that job description together. 00:00:36.640 --> 00:00:37.119 What does that mean? 00:00:37.200 --> 00:00:38.240 What does that look like? 00:00:38.640 --> 00:00:42.560 So just about when we had all that lined up, coronavirus hit. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:56.159 And so I pressed pause, and then a month later the elders said, no, don't press pause because this is something we need whenever through all this season and after this season, uh, you know, this isn't a hire for us to do just for the next five months. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:57.359 This is the next five years. 00:00:57.439 --> 00:01:00.159 It's the future of our church for our children and our students. 00:01:00.399 --> 00:01:06.000 And so, right at the at the end, a few weeks ago, um, I mean, I was at the end of my network at this point. 00:01:06.079 --> 00:01:11.519 Like, you know, I'd send all the emails I could send, I'd hit up all the other pastors I could hit up and all the seminaries. 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:21.680 I mean, I was at the end, and we were in our elder meeting in uh, I guess the beginning of June, and we were just like, you know, we're at our end here. 00:01:21.760 --> 00:01:23.680 Let's you know, just we're gonna have to pray again. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:24.560 Let's just pray again. 00:01:24.640 --> 00:01:26.719 The Lord brings the right person. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:30.959 And within days, we get an email from this young man, Sam Rapp. 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:32.239 And Sam, you can come on up. 00:01:32.319 --> 00:01:44.959 And he emailed me about our job and position, and through interviews and assessment and question and answer, um, we have hired him to be our new student pastor, so he's gonna introduce himself and then we'll pray for him in our student ministry. 00:01:45.599 --> 00:01:47.200 Yeah, just it'll pick you up. 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:04.560 Because I had already committed to a sales job. 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:07.840 And I'll be honest with you, I wasn't even the one that found this job listing. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:09.919 It was actually my mom and dad who were sitting right there. 00:02:10.159 --> 00:02:13.120 And I woke up to a text from my mom saying, Hey Sam, text me and you wake up. 00:02:13.199 --> 00:02:15.840 And normally when she does that, it's because I'm in trouble, and so I was like, oh boy. 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:22.080 So she texts me and I look at this, and it is like the most perfect job description I could have dreamed of. 00:02:22.240 --> 00:02:30.080 And about a week before that, Grace and I, my fiance, who y'all will see a lot of, we were praying a lot about what church to be a part of. 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:36.000 And you know, we were praying for a church that we could just come serve on Sundays, not necessarily a church that I would come on staff with. 00:02:36.080 --> 00:02:45.199 Um so I think the theme that Grace and I, and I'm sure Russ and the others are seeing too, is that like Ephesians 3.20 says, God does far more abundantly than we could ask or think. 00:02:45.840 --> 00:02:54.000 Um and so two weeks ago, yeah, or three, I guess I reached out to Russ, and then very quickly the Lord just started opening this door and moving us at a thousand miles an hour. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:02:57.120 And for whatever reason, Russ likes me, and so we're here now. 00:02:57.360 --> 00:03:00.319 And so I'm thankful for that, and I'm also thankful to be here. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:08.080 I am in love with student ministry, and I'm so excited to come disciple your students and show them that Jesus is who he says he is, and that he's worth following with everything. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:09.680 So we're thrilled to be here. 00:03:09.840 --> 00:03:13.360 Grace and I are so excited to be a part of this family and to come be here. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:22.879 We are committed to you all, and I can assure you that this decision was permeated with a lot of prayer, and so I can trust that the Lord has led us here and that he's gonna lead us here for a long time. 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:26.240 So we're here to stay, and we're here for you, Christ the Redeemer. 00:03:26.319 --> 00:03:29.039 So again, just wanted to say thank you and that we are so excited. 00:03:29.199 --> 00:03:30.319 So we're gonna pray for St. 00:03:30.639 --> 00:03:30.719 R. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:31.759 Ministry. 00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:42.960 Uh, for us, you know, this was uh myself and Brad O'Kelly and Al Pereca drilled him the first time he met us for two and a half hours late into the night and did so well. 00:03:43.120 --> 00:03:51.680 Then it was lots of emails of QA and some assessments, and he's been a real trooper through all that because we we really put it put him through it. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:55.439 Um and every step was was was confirmation. 00:03:55.599 --> 00:03:59.919 Um he's called to ministry, he's called to be here, called to lead and build our student ministry. 00:04:00.000 --> 00:04:01.680 So let's pray for Sam for our student ministry. 00:04:01.840 --> 00:04:05.120 God, we are so grateful that we stand here today where we're at. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:19.439 Um, we are thankful that we stand upon the shoulders of all the uh part-time student ministry workers that we've had and our volunteers that have got our student ministry to where it's at and have served and loved our students. 00:04:19.600 --> 00:04:32.720 And we are thankful that we can now take this next step of having Sam here to lead and build and minister our students to teach and show what it means to follow Jesus and be known and loved by Jesus. 00:04:32.800 --> 00:04:43.439 And we pray that you would be equipping him and his heart, first off, to be a husband, um, and then secondly, what it means to be a pastor. 00:04:43.600 --> 00:04:48.240 And we know that where you call, you will provide the grace and the wisdom. 00:04:48.399 --> 00:04:55.759 And so we pray for that grace and wisdom and anointing upon Sam, and uh we pray that he finds great welcome here. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:56.639 In Jesus' name. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:57.439 Amen. 00:04:57.680 --> 00:04:58.160 All right. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:04:59.759 Well, let's head into the sermon. 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:01.040 Yeah, you can clap for that. 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:02.319 That's a good one. 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:07.199 So we're at the end of the book of Joshua. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:14.720 Uh, if it's your first time here, you're picking up at the very end of months of study, going through the book of Joshua, but we're gonna jump right in. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:16.240 I think you'll pick right up with us. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.879 Joshua 20, verses 1 through 3 says this. 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:37.120 Then the Lord said to Joshua, say to the people of Israel, appoint the cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you through Moses, that the manslayer who strikes any person without intent or unknowingly may flee there, they shall be for you a refuge from the avenger of blood. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:39.040 So we'll make sense of that in a little bit. 00:05:39.199 --> 00:05:42.160 First, let me tell you about Christy's grandparents, Nana and Granddaddy. 00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:48.959 So when we first started dating, I was 23 years old, 17 years ago, and 18 years ago, forget that sometimes. 00:05:49.199 --> 00:05:52.879 And we first started dating, Christy takes me over to Nana and Granddaddy's house. 00:05:52.959 --> 00:05:56.959 Now, Nana and Granddaddy, they lived on about an acre of land, small little ranch house. 00:05:57.040 --> 00:06:00.959 That back third of that acre was a huge vegetable garden. 00:06:01.199 --> 00:06:05.439 The entire property is just gardened and beautiful and flowers. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:10.079 And show up, walk inside that kitchen through their little carport. 00:06:10.160 --> 00:06:16.000 As soon as you get there, Nana's over the stovetop and she's got stuff cooking, and there's food all over the kitchen bar. 00:06:16.079 --> 00:06:20.240 And granddaddy comes up and he says, There, the picture of Nana and Granddaddy right there. 00:06:20.319 --> 00:06:23.839 And as soon as you walk in, granddaddy says, You want a Coke? 00:06:23.920 --> 00:06:30.480 And he said, Yeah, I'd love a Coke, and off he goes, he disappears with a cold Coke that are kept in the shed out in the backyard. 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:35.519 And so off he goes and disappears, probably just an excuse to get away and sit in the shed for a little bit. 00:06:35.680 --> 00:06:42.959 But he comes back and you sit down and you eat, and Nana never sits down, and she's just providing and cooking more and feeding you. 00:06:43.040 --> 00:07:00.480 And then we get up, the whole family, and you tour around the yard and the garden and the veggies and the flowers, and you're going through all you come back in, you eat some pound cake, and then Christy's family, which I had not seen this in their home, they just start laying around and watch the falcons lose and fall asleep. 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:05.360 And it was like for me, it took kind of years to realize what was going on here. 00:07:13.279 --> 00:07:20.160 What was interesting was is like, I mean, from the first time I stepped in there, here I am dating their granddaughter, and here I am. 00:07:20.319 --> 00:07:20.879 I step in. 00:07:20.959 --> 00:07:25.519 They never asked me once, like, how well are you doing at seminary? 00:07:25.600 --> 00:07:28.399 Like, what are those, what's that career path looking like for you? 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:29.519 I mean, they never asked that. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:35.360 They never asked me about my pedigree or my, you know, like how, you know, how esteemed is my family? 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:38.560 They never asked me about my network or who did I know. 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:41.439 I mean, none of these were the questions they asked. 00:07:41.680 --> 00:07:47.279 They just they just loved me because I was there, not because I performed. 00:07:47.519 --> 00:07:56.879 It took me years to realize what was going on in that house for Christy growing up and for her entire family, and for me for those few years. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:00.720 You see, out in the world there was one set of values. 00:08:01.120 --> 00:08:07.839 But as soon as you stepped foot on that property, a different set of values took over. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:12.639 It was a place of refuge amidst a world of demand. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:15.759 And in this way, it's sort of like a city of refuge. 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:16.879 Here's point number one. 00:08:16.959 --> 00:08:17.680 We'll make sense of all this. 00:08:17.759 --> 00:08:18.319 Point number one. 00:08:18.480 --> 00:08:23.040 In Jesus, we have refuge from our mistakes and from a world of demand. 00:08:23.199 --> 00:08:27.040 So in this Joshua story, the war is over, they're starting to divide up the land. 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:29.759 That's what's going on here in the context here toward the end. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:38.240 The land's getting divided up, and then they start to assign cities throughout the land spaced out, and they're called cities of refuge. 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:43.600 So if you accidentally killed somebody, let's just say that happened, I mean a horrible moment, right? 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:50.639 But if that happened, the avenger of that person, like a relative or something, they could come and they could kill you, right? 00:08:51.039 --> 00:08:52.639 Ancient times, okay? 00:08:53.200 --> 00:08:57.600 But if you killed somebody, you could run. 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:00.159 And you could get to one of these cities. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:03.679 And once you got into the city, you were safe. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:11.039 So, like out there was one set of values, but if you could get to a city of refuge, a different set of values took over. 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:15.919 Now, this word refuge in our text, the refuge comes from the Hebrew word miklat. 00:09:16.720 --> 00:09:25.519 And this means to be taken in, to have asylum, or a receptacle to hold you. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:27.039 Right? 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:28.799 Like, I mean, I need that. 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:30.720 Like, I need refuge. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:33.519 I'm like you, where I I need I need refuge. 00:09:33.679 --> 00:09:36.000 I need refuge from my mistakes. 00:09:36.320 --> 00:09:37.360 I need refuge. 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:38.799 I need to be held. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:45.360 I'm looking to be received and held from my mistakes and from a world of demand. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:48.080 Lately, Christy and I in the events, we're watching the show Alone. 00:09:48.159 --> 00:09:49.679 Does anybody watch the show alone? 00:09:49.840 --> 00:09:50.480 Nobody else. 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:52.399 Yeah, I think that's how popular it is, obviously. 00:09:52.559 --> 00:09:55.360 So it's just Christy and I, the only people in the world watching it. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:57.679 We're alone watching it apparently. 00:09:57.840 --> 00:10:09.600 And so they take ten people, they take ten people and they set them off, like usually like in the Arctic, somewhere it would be awful to survive, and they drop them off with a set of cameras and like 10 essential items for surviving. 00:10:09.679 --> 00:10:13.120 And the whole show is them filming themselves trying to survive. 00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:34.639 They got to build their shelter, they gotta get their food, they get so you get to sit in your home very safe, like on the couch, nestled in your favorite blanket, and you get to judge all the decision making and their mistakes and their failures, and you talk to your you know, your sweet someone about what you would do and how you would do that, you know, and like how oh well I wouldn't kill that moose like that, I would, you know, like I've ever killed a moose in my life. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:35.360 Right? 00:10:35.600 --> 00:10:37.360 And you know this moment, right? 00:10:37.440 --> 00:10:49.279 Like in the evening, I don't know what your show is or how you settle in, or maybe you don't watch TV, but you're on your phone or whatever, but you settle into that seat or that chair or that couch or on your porch, you get your blanket or whatever, right? 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.639 Like you're you're taking refuge at the end of the day. 00:10:52.960 --> 00:10:59.200 Because the day's been busy, or maybe you felt anxious, or we're all looking for refuge. 00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:05.519 And maybe it's in a book or a show or maybe at the beach, but we're all looking for refuge. 00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:08.240 Ultimately, we have this refuge in Jesus. 00:11:08.399 --> 00:11:09.840 He's our ultimate refuge. 00:11:09.919 --> 00:11:12.320 And what that means is it means we are accepted. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:17.120 Not because we perform, but just because he has chosen us and he loves us. 00:11:17.360 --> 00:11:19.120 And we're accepted before. 00:11:19.279 --> 00:11:21.360 We're accepted while we're a mess. 00:11:21.679 --> 00:11:27.759 That's what a city of refuge is, is you get to go there while you're amass with your mistakes. 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:33.279 Psalm 61, 1 through 3 says this hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer. 00:11:33.519 --> 00:11:36.799 From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:44.879 Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. 00:11:45.200 --> 00:11:57.840 Paul, in the New Testament, starts to make sense of this when it comes into what does Jesus mean for us, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.200 See, in him we have refuge. 00:12:03.200 --> 00:12:08.000 Our sin is put upon him, his righteousness is given to us, we are held, we are accepted. 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:11.279 Now in Joshua 21, while everybody was receiving their land, right? 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:17.120 The land's been divided up, everybody's receiving land, the Levites had not gotten their land yet, but they were promised. 00:12:17.360 --> 00:12:24.080 And so they come to Joshua to claim theirs, because they had a promise, and they wanted that promise. 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:35.759 And so what we read in Joshua 21, verse 3 is this So by command of the Lord, the people of Israel gave to the Levites the following cities and pasture lands out of their inheritance. 00:12:36.320 --> 00:12:38.320 So that was what's interesting about these Levites. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:40.399 They're different than all the other people groups. 00:12:40.720 --> 00:12:43.440 Because the Levites, they didn't actually get land. 00:12:43.519 --> 00:12:45.759 They got land within other people's land. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:53.200 So in this way, we get point number two, and this is this we are guests in this world, truly at home in God. 00:12:53.279 --> 00:12:56.879 We are guests in this world, truly at home in God. 00:12:57.039 --> 00:13:02.639 So the Levites didn't actually have their own land, they had cities inside of other people's land. 00:13:02.720 --> 00:13:04.720 And it's because the calling these Levites had. 00:13:04.879 --> 00:13:07.519 The Levites had the calling to be covenant teachers. 00:13:07.679 --> 00:13:18.240 They were called to help the priests, and they were called to teach all the other people about this covenant God who keeps his promises and is faithful to them. 00:13:18.879 --> 00:13:22.799 And in that, their identity and their calling, they were guests in the land. 00:13:23.840 --> 00:13:27.919 Maybe you've gone and you've uh visited a relative and you spent the night or a few nights, right? 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:30.720 Or first night, great. 00:13:30.960 --> 00:13:32.399 Second night, pretty good. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.159 It's about the third day. 00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:34.879 Right? 00:13:35.200 --> 00:13:46.480 Everything they do starts to annoy you a little bit, and you talk to your sweet someone about how they load the dishwasher and how they fix the meals and how they parent and how they talk to each other and how they wake up in the morning, how they go to bed at night. 00:13:46.639 --> 00:13:48.320 They're doing the same thing about you, by the way. 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:49.919 This is how this works. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:50.720 Right? 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:52.639 And this is how it works. 00:13:54.399 --> 00:13:57.360 Of course, because you're you're a guest in their home. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:13:58.879 Of course it would be that way. 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:01.200 Why would you why would we think it would be any different? 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:02.159 Of course it's that way. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:08.639 You are a guest, you are passing through their home and their values and their ways. 00:14:09.120 --> 00:14:10.320 You're a guest. 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:17.279 See, there's a reason why the things of the world keep disappointing us, including me. 00:14:18.480 --> 00:14:22.559 That wave runner, remember the first year of the Wave Runner? 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:25.840 That first summer was so sweet. 00:14:26.480 --> 00:14:27.919 And the second summer's okay. 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:28.720 It's still good. 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:30.000 Let's call it great. 00:14:30.399 --> 00:14:33.679 Third summer, you start to have some mechanical issues with the wave runner. 00:14:34.000 --> 00:14:34.559 Not as fun. 00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:37.919 You wish your friend owned the wave runner and you just got to use it. 00:14:38.399 --> 00:14:38.720 Right? 00:14:38.879 --> 00:14:44.480 It's just all of a sudden the thing that was it was gonna solve your problems, the thing of the world that was gonna be so good. 00:14:44.559 --> 00:14:46.960 And let's be honest, wave runners are so good, right? 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:48.080 Like it's so much fun. 00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:50.480 Nothing like doing a wave runner across the lake. 00:14:50.639 --> 00:14:56.159 That is so fun, but it eventually it just doesn't keep fulfilling at the same rate. 00:14:56.240 --> 00:14:58.480 It doesn't quite fill us up. 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:04.960 And it's just because, you know, even within all the goodness of this world, and there's a lot of goodness, right? 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:10.559 Like, even within all that goodness, it's still not our home. 00:15:10.879 --> 00:15:12.399 We're still guests. 00:15:12.639 --> 00:15:16.720 We're enjoying things, we're experiencing things, but we're guests. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:17.120 St. 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:18.240 Augustine knew this. 00:15:18.320 --> 00:15:22.080 I mean, even from North Africa, back in the fourth century. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:31.360 Here's what he said You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you. 00:15:32.159 --> 00:15:37.360 So I think there's two implications, at least for me, there were two implications this week for my heart and my life. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:42.559 Number one is this we can be at home in the Lord while feeling lost in the world. 00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:48.480 You may feel lost in the world, a little like ungrounded, like you don't quite have a footing. 00:15:48.879 --> 00:15:50.480 But we can be at home in the Lord. 00:15:50.559 --> 00:15:53.840 I read this this week by priest and author Henry Nowen. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:16:03.200 We don't have to be limited to one country or another because Christ and the Spirit, all places are ours. 00:16:04.000 --> 00:16:07.360 All the world is ours to travel because we are already at home. 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:08.960 We are already in God. 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:17.120 We have already found a communion, and we don't have to limit that to any family, any country, or any circumstance. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.600 See, we already have a communion. 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:21.759 We already have a city of refuge. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.279 We already have a home. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:30.559 Number two is this we can be at home in the Lord while feeling lost in the future or the past. 00:16:31.120 --> 00:16:36.159 So we can be at home in the Lord while feeling lost in the anxiety of the future or the shame of the past. 00:16:36.320 --> 00:16:41.279 So easy for us to go in those two places, but not live right here, right now. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:49.519 So Jerry Seinfeld in his Netflix special, 23 Hours to Kill, which came out on Netflix maybe, I don't know, a month or two ago. 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:50.399 Here's what he says. 00:16:50.559 --> 00:16:52.399 He says it's a lot funnier than I do, but I'll read it. 00:16:52.559 --> 00:16:57.360 Wherever you are, really, anywhere in life, at some point, you gotta get the heck out of there. 00:16:57.600 --> 00:17:02.480 You're at work, you want to get home, you're at home, I'm working all week, I gotta get out. 00:17:02.639 --> 00:17:04.319 You're out and it's late, I've got to get back. 00:17:04.400 --> 00:17:06.319 I've got to get up, gotta get at the airport. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:07.599 When are we getting on the plane? 00:17:07.759 --> 00:17:08.400 Plane takes off. 00:17:08.559 --> 00:17:09.519 When's the plane gonna land? 00:17:09.759 --> 00:17:10.319 Plane lands. 00:17:10.400 --> 00:17:12.160 Why don't they open the doors so we can get out? 00:17:12.400 --> 00:17:14.319 Nobody wants to be anywhere. 00:17:14.480 --> 00:17:16.319 Nobody likes anything. 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:16.799 Right? 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:18.960 He's funnier than me, but we see the truth of it. 00:17:19.119 --> 00:17:23.839 Now, now and goes on in his book, Following Jesus, and speaks to the same exact issue. 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:25.440 He takes a spiritual slant at it. 00:17:25.519 --> 00:17:35.759 Here's what he says The world in which we live makes us believe that the real thing is happening next week, next month, or next year. 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:38.240 Jesus says, be patient. 00:17:39.359 --> 00:17:50.880 Patience means to remain close to the moment and to fully taste where you are so that the seeds that are sown in the moment can grow and lead you to the future. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:56.480 Trust that a promise is given to you that is hidden in the soil on which you stand. 00:17:56.880 --> 00:18:00.640 It will grow into a strong tree, but you have to give it time. 00:18:01.279 --> 00:18:05.359 It will reveal the future to you and it will grow right where you are. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:09.680 Trust that that is what the Spirit does. 00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:28.240 Easy to move into anxiety of the future, easy to live in shame of the past, but the spirit is calling us to live in this moment, trusting that we have a city of refuge from the past, and that God holds the future as our sovereign Lord. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:28.880 Last point. 00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:29.759 Point number three. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:36.240 God faithfully pursues and fights for us, which empowers us to cling to Him. 00:18:36.480 --> 00:18:39.759 God faithfully pursues and fights for us, which empowers us to cling to Him. 00:18:39.839 --> 00:18:46.640 So this is a point we've been reiterating over and over and over again throughout the book of Joshua, and it's just because it keeps coming back up in the text. 00:18:46.799 --> 00:18:49.279 Here we go, Joshua 21, 43 through 45. 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:57.440 Thus the Lord gave to Israel all the land that he swore to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it, and they settled there. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:02.240 And the Lord gave them rest on every side, just as he had sworn to their fathers. 00:19:02.400 --> 00:19:08.319 Not one of all their enemies has withstood them, for the Lord had given all their enemies into their hands. 00:19:08.640 --> 00:19:14.720 Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed. 00:19:14.960 --> 00:19:16.319 All came to pass. 00:19:16.640 --> 00:19:19.839 And here's what this means such good news. 00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:26.160 It means our faith is inside of his faithfulness. 00:19:27.119 --> 00:19:33.119 And if you come from a performance background, that is just a huge sigh of relief. 00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:36.799 That our faith is inside of his faithfulness. 00:19:36.960 --> 00:19:40.319 Last reading, if we jump to Joshua 23, this is the end of his life. 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:42.799 So Joshua is an old man at this point. 00:19:42.880 --> 00:19:45.119 This is old man wisdom, right? 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:48.000 Here's where he's just dropping it on the people of Israel. 00:19:48.240 --> 00:19:50.000 Joshua 23, verse 2. 00:19:50.160 --> 00:20:06.640 Joshua summoned all Israel, its elders and heads, its judges and officers, and he said to them, I am now old, well advanced in years, and you have seen all that the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake, for it is the Lord your God who has fought for you. 00:20:06.960 --> 00:20:09.839 So Joshua says, God is faithful. 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:15.440 And then he says, and we're going to read it here in verse 8, you should cling to him. 00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:16.559 That's what he says. 00:20:16.799 --> 00:20:26.240 So after he gives them this promise that God is covenantal, faithful, he loves you, he always will, it's secure, and you should cling to him. 00:20:26.480 --> 00:20:32.880 So this word cling comes out of verse 8, but you shall cling to the Lord your God just as you have done to this day. 00:20:33.039 --> 00:20:41.119 And that's because earning is over in the grace of God, and that grace of God empowers us to have effort to cling to the Lord. 00:20:41.279 --> 00:20:48.000 Cling means the Hebrew word devok, meaning to cleave, abide, and pursue. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:50.319 It means to stick, is what it means. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:51.440 Stickiness. 00:20:52.079 --> 00:20:57.519 So of course, my mind went to Phil Swift and flex seal tape. 00:20:57.599 --> 00:20:58.640 Do you remember this commercial? 00:20:58.720 --> 00:20:59.359 Have you seen it? 00:20:59.519 --> 00:21:00.480 Have you used it? 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:02.079 I used on a gutter. 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:03.599 I mean, that's it's incredible. 00:21:03.920 --> 00:21:05.599 I mean, it solved the gutter problem. 00:21:05.680 --> 00:21:06.480 It was amazing. 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:14.640 I mean, so on the commercial, if you remember the commercial, at first he takes the tape and he he has the tape in his right hand there and he just smacks it up against that bucket and it solves that. 00:21:14.720 --> 00:21:19.359 I mean, the water stops, it seals completely right there with the water flow, it's unbelievable. 00:21:19.440 --> 00:21:21.119 And then you're thinking, this tape's incredible. 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:22.640 And then he, there's the next one, right? 00:21:22.720 --> 00:21:24.079 He cuts the boat in half. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:24.880 Do you remember this? 00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:29.839 He cuts that boat in half, and in the commercial, you get to see it, and then he tapes it and he rides it across the lake. 00:21:30.079 --> 00:21:31.279 Oh, this tape's amazing. 00:21:31.359 --> 00:21:35.920 And you think that's a, and then they have clear flexil tape in case you're wondering. 00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:40.559 So he cuts a square out of a boat and he tapes it with the clear tape. 00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:41.359 There he is. 00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:45.279 And so he rides it over a bunch of sharks because that's a wise decision. 00:21:45.359 --> 00:21:48.000 But it does show you the strength of the tape, right? 00:21:48.079 --> 00:21:50.079 Like, I mean, this is incredible tape. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:54.960 I mean, I mean, this is this is like maximum, it's not, this is maximum bond. 00:21:55.039 --> 00:21:58.240 This is this isn't duct tape, this isn't masking tape. 00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:01.759 I mean, this is ultimate strength of bond tape. 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:03.359 And this is what this word is. 00:22:03.599 --> 00:22:05.599 This is actually what we're called to do. 00:22:05.839 --> 00:22:13.039 Is to cling to God with that sort of pursuit, that sort of clinginess and stickiness. 00:22:13.759 --> 00:22:16.079 Now that could feel like a real burden, right? 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:24.160 Like if I just threw that on you and left the sermon, you go, oh my gosh, I gotta go and produce that amount of cleaning. 00:22:24.480 --> 00:22:27.599 Wow, that would actually be not good news. 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:32.160 But you have to remember this comes after everything Joshua has just said. 00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:35.119 Remember, is it God's fought for you? 00:22:36.079 --> 00:22:37.680 Not one of his promises is short. 00:22:37.759 --> 00:22:43.279 So when he says your sins are forgiven on the cross, that is the covenantal God who holds his promises. 00:22:43.440 --> 00:22:48.240 When he says you are righteous by Jesus as righteous, you are you are already accepted. 00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:51.359 That promise is secure for us. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:22:58.000 That's what this Joshua story shows us that our faith is inside his faithfulness. 00:22:58.640 --> 00:23:00.720 And our faith is an act. 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:06.640 If we look at Joshua and over and over again, our faith is an act of bringing our weakness. 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:08.880 That's the clinging we're doing. 00:23:08.960 --> 00:23:13.039 We're doing clinging, coming, bringing our weakness, not our strength. 00:23:13.119 --> 00:23:19.599 Because in that, that's how we know this covenantal, promise-keeping God who is enough for us. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:27.119 Inside the belonging we have in Jesus, we are forgiven and we are free to cling to Him. 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:28.559 Let's pray together. 00:23:28.880 --> 00:23:39.200 God, thank you for your grace and mercy that yes, you call us to cling to you, but that calling is within your perfect, absolute grasp of us. 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:42.799 Thank you that you are faithful while we're not always faithful. 00:23:42.960 --> 00:23:47.599 You are strong while we're not always strong, and you are our very righteousness. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:51.519 We pray this in the perfect, complete, and powerful name of Jesus. 00:23:51.839 --> 00:23:52.400 Amen.