Sunday 11/5/2017

Speaker: Pastor R.W. Barrion

Title: Challenged To Choose

Scripture: Joshua 24:15 – “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Points:

1. God Of The Forefathers
2. God Of The Culture
3. God Of The Word

Notes:

We have to make a choice. And our choices dictate our actions. The gift of choice is inherit in us and was provided to us by God. It is a part of our nature and a part of our design. The people being addressed in this this text were the descendants of the people that had been delivered from Egypt and were now in the promised land. But they had not yet done all they needed to do to fully inherit the land. They had become comfortable in just merely being physically present in the land. They were not fulling living out and in the promise that God had given them. Likewise with us. There are things that God has promised us that we only halfway walk in to.  And as such, we live our lives defeated and we wonder why.

Joshua was telling them to make a choice as to whom they will serve. Would it be the gods of their forefathers? The gods of the culture? Or the God of the true Word??? Joshua told them to pick one. The gods of their forefathers were the Egyptian gods their ancestors had served when in bondage. These gods did nothing for them and did not deliver them from bondage.

The gods of the culture were the gods of the Amorites. The Amorites were a culture of people that were mixed in with the Israelites that were not supposed to be there! God had commanded them not to intermingle as because they did, the Amorites and their gods had a great influence over them. The point is this, the issues with our culture today stem from our failure to do what the Word says. We, as Kingdom citizens, have become comfortable in not addressing things with the Word and have allowed and accepted things that are contrary to the Word. We’ve become comfortable living in today’s culture. And for these reasons, we’re are not truly fulfilling and living in the places God has for us.

The God of the Word was the last option. And the best option. Joshua told them “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” But we must serve the Lord in the way that the Word says to serve him. It’s not about what we think or feel. It’s not about expecting from God. It will require us to decide to serve him simply because the Word says so. When we serve in this capacity, we will be true recipients of all that God has promised us. In all that we go through and experience, let it be for God’s glory!

KINGDOM SERMONS