Matthew 27:35-54
(Rabbit trail: Psalm 22)

The veil was 65 ft tall…10 feet wide…10 cm thick!
Jesus' sacrifice tore in half, the thing that separated us from the very presence of God!
You stitch up that veil too.

1 Corinthians 15:13-22

Matthew 28:1-10 

Exodus 1 & 2

We fear God and nothing less.

These women, these courageous, AMAZING women saved a NATION.  Because they feared GOD more than they feared man.

Faith isn’t always dramatic and declarative!! Sometimes it’s quiet and consistent.


Matthew 17:20
20 “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

He showed me that mountain-moving faith often looks like showing up every day with a shovel.
Moving one shovel-full at a time.  Day by day.  Quiet and consistent.

"I pray all the time, every day, God, protect my babies.  And when that little worm of worry wants to borrow its way into my soul, I tell myself these stories.

Jochebed gave up her baby to the Nile, and you protected Moses.
Hannah gave up her baby to the temple, and you protected Samuel.
Mary gave up her baby to the cross, and…

Why do I really think you can’t do it for my babies?"

Faith is active trust.  It’s not just a feeling.  It’s a choice to trust God, or trust your fear.

Here’s the Parenting Takeaway: if we see ourselves of stewards of THINGS…why don’t we see our children this way too? We are to PARTNER with God in raising our children, but ultimately, they are not OURS, they are HIS. They are fellow disciples of Jesus.

Where do I need courage to obey God over culture?

• Certainly PLENTY of ways that culture and the Word do not line up these days!  Culture is not our benchmark.  The WORD OF GOD is our benchmark, always.  

What am I being called to trust God with daily?

• There are a lot of stories still being played out in our church. We have the benefit of seeing Jochebed’s life, and Moses’ all play out..but ours are still ongoing.  Don’t draw conclusions too quickly! God can still turn your story around.  Step out in faith and TRUST HIM.  He can do it!! He CAN change things! Will it be as you hope or as you suspect all the time?  No…probably not.  But it might be even better!

What do I need to release into God’s hands?

You may feel unseen.
 You may feel like your role is small.
 But heaven tells a different story.

Genesis 37:18-20
Joseph was UNOFFENDABLE.

The enemy LOVES to divide a church!  He loves it!  Because a unified church is TERRIFYING to the enemy.  A unified church is POWERFUL, and a praying church is EFFECTIVE!  God moves on behalf of a unified, praying church, so of course the enemy wants us divided and offended at each other. Of course he wants us gossiping, and judging each other.  

The enemy is a mocker. The dreamer…the favorite…the one who’s soooo blessed and highly favored….it’s DRIPPING with jealousy and mockery.

2 Peter 3:3 / Jude 1:18-19
Mockers have no fear of the Lord.  And they use their mocking to justify all kinds of evil behavior.
Psalm 1:1-3
YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ENTERTAIN A MOCKER.  You do not have to stand around with sinners.  You hear someone mocking or letting their jealousy show, or gossiping around you, or whatever it is.  YOU DO NOT HAVE TO ENTERTAIN IT.  You WANT to entertain it.  

JEALOUSY makes you do CRAZY things.  Jealousy is SO destructive.

Start being GRATEFUL for what He HAS given you, and stop focusing on what you DON’T have.  Begin by writing a gratitude list! Gratitude is the antidote to SO MANY spiritual maladies.

Proverbs 27:4 / Proverbs 14:30

Absolutely no man, woman, child, or devil can ever get you out of the will of God, except you.  
No one, but you, can knock you off course.
Bitterness clouds everything.  It’s like a shade put over your eyes, once you let bitterness in, it taints everything you see.
Genesis 45:5-8
Genesis 50:19-21
YOUR attitude, YOUR faith level, YOUR level of offense with God (or His people)  is the only thing that can get you out of the will of God.
Psalm 37:23 / Proverbs 16:9
Offended people = it’s all about ME. How badly I’ve been treated…how tough I’ve had it.
They can’t see the preparation of God in it.
1 Peter 1:6-7
Isaiah 48:10
From John Bevere: “Often the thing that looks like an abortion of God’s plan actually ends up being the road to its fulfillment…if we stay in OBEDIENCE and FREE FROM OFFENSE.”

Search your heart. Repent of offense, jealousy, mockery, bitterness.

• Genesis 10 is an ethnographic (scientific description of peoples and cultures with their customs, habits, and mutual differences)…70 peoples. The bible is still focused on ALL of humanity at this point.  Genesis 10 is a genealogy of people who become the ancestors of key players throughout the Bible.
• Genesis 11 is about humanity unifying under their own power again…and the scattering of nations
• Genesis 12 is where the Bible shifts it’s focus, to one family. (our family!)

Genesis 11 // The Tower of Babel
11 At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.

3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.) 4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”

5 But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building. 6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them! 7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

8 In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.

God told humanity to “fill the earth” by starting families, but instead they chose to all stay together in cities, and “fill the earth with violence.”  Repeating the same cycle, all over again.

We rely on OURSELVES far too much, and on GOD far too little.

“Babylon represents an alternate humanity, whose “head” is in the skies, as well as a false Eden. This is humanity’s attempt to deify its own cultural heritage and homogenize humanity and make everything “one.” - article linked at the bottom

Babylon is mentioned by name six times in the Book of Revelation (14:8, 16:19, 17:5, 18:2, 18:10, 18:21). In chapters 14–18, where the city serves as a symbol for a wicked, end-times world system and a center of idolatry that falls just before the Second Coming of Christ.  So when we know what Babylon actually was in the beginning, we have a much better idea of what it will be (or already is becoming!) in the end times before Jesus comes back.  


Romans 13 // Respect for Authority
13 Everyone must submit to governing authorities. For all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.

Rebellion is useless.

Isaiah 55:11 says, It is the same with my word.
    I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
    and it will prosper everywhere I send it.”

Pride is dangerous.

Moving through life as if there are no limits, is CONFUSING. We need limits!

We're all doomed without Jesus.  We NEED Jesus!

1. The age
2. The ark
3. The promise

THE AGE // What we do know:

1. God was willing to be involved in their lives.
2. There was heavy rebellion against Him. 

(Not that much unlike today!)

Genesis 6:1-8 
Matthew 24:35-39
Genesis 6:9-13
2 Peter 2:5
Genesis 6:14-22
Genesis 7:1

THE ARK // What we do know:

1. It was MEANT TO BE BIG!
2. It didn’t have any steering capabilities.
3. The door had to be shut by God.
4. It was the object of their salvation.

Hebrews 11:7
Genesis 7:1-24
Genesis 8:1-14
Genesis 9

THE PROMISE // What we do know:

1. The promise was for Noah
2. But also for us!
3. It came with later covenants
4. Because God always makes a way back to Him.

Major Biblical Covenants:

• (LIFELONG) Circumcision was a sign of the Abrahamic covenant. God had given children, and those children gave a sign back, circumcising their children. God also gave new identity, with name changes! 
• (WEEKLY) The sabbath was a Mosaic (Moses!) covenant…a weekly sign that Israel was still IN for their end of the bargain. They made a lot more agreements than just that, but that one is notable!
• The Davidic covenant was next.  It was a do-over of sorts with Israel.  They were already forgetting their Mosaic promises, in the promised land, David wanted to build a temple, and God allowed it, promising to make David’s name great and raise up a descendant from his line, whose throne and kingdom would last forever. The savior was coming! When they made a mess of the temple and all that it was SUPPOSED to mean, JESUS CAME to fix it.
• (DAILY) The NEW covenant, the JESUS covenant.  We have baptism for repentance, and we have the Lord’s Supper, communion.  Which is meant to be when we feed ourselves! We bow our heads and pray over our food, and remember what Jesus has done for us! 

Faithfulness, in an age of wickedness.  (the age, same as ours!)
Steadfast trust in God, in the face of the impossible. (the ark, but it's Jesus today!)
Hope through judgement and in eternity. (the promise, we have the same today.)

Genesis 4:1-16

Kent Hovind quote: “There’s only 2 religions in the whole world, that’s Cain & Abel.  Cain brought his fruit & vegetables.  God, look what I did for you, God wouldn’t take it.  Abel brought a sacrifice.”  

Cain thought the more you do, the more God is pleased.  
Abel knew he could never please God, I’m unworthy.

John 4:23-24, “...true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

God wasn’t rejecting CAIN forever.  It says, “God rejected Cain and His gift” but God is a GOOD FATHER…And He comes back around to Cain to have a conversation…”You WILL be accepted if you do what is right”...I’m not rejecting YOU…just this heart that you seem to have adopted that isn’t right!  Do what is right! Repent and do what is asked of you.  This rebelliousness within us…

CAPTURE rebellious thoughts and teach them to OBEY Christ!  DESTROY proud obstacles!
2 Cor 10

Kim’s text: 
I realized the real problem wasn't that Cain offered an unacceptable sacrifice.  God told him he'd be ACCEPTED TOO if he'd do what was right.  "Come back and do it again."   

God didn't reject Cain.  He was giving Cain a do-over.  He even warned Cain that NOT choosing to do the do-over (ie. Repent and try it God's way) would lead to even worse consequences than these bad feelings.  And God ENCOURAGED Cain that he could overcome that potential sin and conquer it by refusing that  path. 

The SIN was that Cain didn't choose the do-over. He chose to refuse to try again. He didn't repent and make an offering that  he knew was "right". He didn't believe that God would (or ever could) accept HIM, nor that he'd ever be able to make a better offering.  He chose to sit in those feelings and fester and be jealous and hate his brother instead ... because Able chose to do what is right. 

And this story isn't an example that God rejects some and accepts others.  It's a WARNING to US that we all are faced with the choice of accepting God's offer of the "do-over" ... or not.  

It's telling us that WE ALL CAN BE ACCEPTED BY GOD if we choose to have faith in and believe in God's mercy and goodness and forgiveness... by just choosing "the do-over option."  To just repent of our error (less than best choice) and instead choose to do what God is telling us now. 

There's plenty of room at God's table for us all. And God's true heart desire is that we ALL are there.

Gen 4:1-7;  1 John 3:12;  1 John 2:1-2; Heb. 11:4"


1. Heart attitude matters.
2. His grace is sufficient!
3. We need Jesus.

Genesis 3:1-21

Selfishness convinces us that we’re missing out.  That God is withholding something from us...when the reality is God WANTS to withhold something from you.  For Adam & Eve, and all of humanity, he WANTED to withhold the knowledge of EVIL from us! He didn’t want us to know the difference between good and evil.  

John 10:10 says that the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy, but JESUS has come that we may have life, and have it to the FULL!

“Discernment isn’t knowing the difference between right and wrong.  Discernment is knowing the difference between right and almost right.” -Charles Spurgeon

SPIRITUAL MATURITY IS TAKING RESPONSIBILITY. 

Chris Hodges says, “you’re only as sick as your secrets.”


Holiness is not only given, it is chosen. It starts with your thoughts actually.  Philippians 4:8. “Think about whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Grace is being given what you don’t deserve.
Mercy is NOT being given what you DO deserve.

He’s calling you out of hiding today.

Matthew 4:1-11

Poem by Jonathan Girma
used with permission

When I asked if you believed in God,
What I meant was,
Who does your mind run to when it races?
Who carries the weight of your unspoken questions or desires? 

I wasn't asking if you know any of the Bible, 
I was asking if the Bible knows you. 
(The one on your nightstand) 
Does it recognize the texture of your skin?
Does it have pages that have bent and stretched under your tears?
Has it’s spine cracked while it contorted to feed you?

I wasn't asking if you think abortion is wrong, 
or caring for the poor is important, 
or if you think prayer works. 
I was asking if your pockets know the emptying that comes with generosity. 

If your face knows tears that were shed on someone else's behalf, 
the ones that get pulled down by gravity in single file with no space or time to dry.
With all due respect…
I know you’re used to saying what you believe,
But what moves you?

What melodies cause you to sing before you are aware enough to stop yourself?
What music gets your feet tapping?
Where do you end up when you sleepwalk?
When your instincts take you before the rational mind gets involved. 

What do you know of peace, or joy? 
Is it just your mind that knows it? 
Has joy found its way to your smile before? 
Does she ever make you dance?

Has peace kissed your forehead? 
or showed up in your nervous system? 

Sometimes I wonder if the actors are better off. 
At least they know the difference between reading lines and getting into character. 
They know the script doesn't come alive when your mind knows what to say, 
but when your body wears the story, 
and the audience can smell it. 

What character do you smell like?
What script do you bring to life?
When I asked if you believed in God, 
What I meant was, what God do you know? 
and how much of you knows Him? 

Have your beliefs remained thoughts, 
ideas that float in the air, 
or have they clothed you? 
Have they found a living home in your body? 

Does your God live in your head or does he ever occupy your hands or feet? 
Do your mind and body belong to the same belief system?

When I asked if you believed in God,
What I meant was,
What god do you know?
And how much of you knows him?

Hosea 12:3-4:
“Even in the womb,
    Jacob struggled with his brother;
when he became a man,
    he even fought with God.
4 Yes, he wrestled with the angel and won.
    He wept and pleaded for a blessing from him.

Genesis 32:24-28
24 This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break. 25 When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 “What is your name?” the man asked.
He replied, “Jacob.”
28 “Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.”

Genesis 28:12-22 
12 As he slept, he dreamed of a stairway that reached from the earth up to heaven. And he saw the angels of God going up and down the stairway.
13 At the top of the stairway stood the Lord, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham, and the God of your father, Isaac. The ground you are lying on belongs to you. I am giving it to you and your descendants. 14 Your descendants will be as numerous as the dust of the earth! They will spread out in all directions—to the west and the east, to the north and the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.”
16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I wasn’t even aware of it!” 17 But he was also afraid and said, “What an awesome place this is! It is none other than the house of God, the very gateway to heaven!”
18 The next morning Jacob got up very early. He took the stone he had rested his head against, and he set it upright as a memorial pillar. Then he poured olive oil over it. 19 He named that place Bethel (which means “house of God”), although it was previously called Luz.
20 Then Jacob made this vow: “If God will indeed be with me and protect me on this journey, and if he will provide me with food and clothing, 21 and if I return safely to my father’s home, then the Lord will certainly be my God. 22 And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.”

Genesis 32:6-8 
“After delivering the message, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We met your brother, Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you—with an army of 400 men!” 7 Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups. 8 He thought, “If Esau meets one group and attacks it, perhaps the other group can escape.”


He’s making decisions out of an incorrect identity. Incorrect identity breeds fear.

Correct identity [God’s identity] gives life.

Jacob’s enemy wasn’t his brother. It was NEVER his brother. Not back when they were kids & Esau was just hungry, not when he was adult & Esau was busy hunting, not when he was in the womb & Esau got BORN first.....Esau was never the enemy!

Jacob’s enemy was himself.

Justification is God declaring us righteous based on Christ’s righteousness. It’s forensic—like a legal verdict. It’s instant and complete the moment we believe. We are RIGHT with God, because He says so. Jacob didn’t grasp that the first time he met with God.  

Sanctification is God making us righteous through the Holy Spirit. It’s progressive—over our lifetime. Justification changes our position before God. Sanctification changes our practice. Justification is once-for-all. Sanctification is ongoing.

Genesis 33:18-20
18 Later, having traveled all the way from Paddan-aram, Jacob arrived safely at the town of Shechem, in the land of Canaan. There he set up camp outside the town. 19 Jacob bought the plot of land where he camped from the family of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for 100 pieces of silver. 20 And there he built an altar and named it El-Elohe-Israel. 

El-Elohe-Israel means: God, the God of Israel

God had finally become HIS God.  And GOD’S IDENTITY FOR HIM, had finally become his own as well.


THE CROSS is our monument. Jesus erected that monument out of our pain, and sin, and failures, and deceptions, and fear and struggles…and he built something BEAUTIFUL.  Something to remind us just how BIG and graceful our God is. He gave us a new name.

1 Kings 18:16-20 // New Living Translation
16 So Obadiah went to tell Ahab that Elijah had come, and Ahab went out to meet Elijah. 17 When Ahab saw him, he exclaimed, “So, is it really you, you troublemaker of Israel?”
18 “I have made no trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “You and your family are the troublemakers, for you have refused to obey the commands of the Lord and have worshiped the images of Baal instead. 19 Now summon all Israel to join me at Mount Carmel, along with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah who are supported by Jezebel.”
20 So Ahab summoned all the people of Israel and the prophets to Mount Carmel. 21 Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.

Fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.

1 Kings 18:21
21 Then Elijah stood in front of them and said, “How much longer will you waver, hobbling between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him! But if Baal is God, then follow him!” But the people were completely silent.

1 Kings 18:22-40
22 Then Elijah said to them, “I am the only prophet of the Lord who is left, but Baal has 450 prophets. 23 Now bring two bulls. The prophets of Baal may choose whichever one they wish and cut it into pieces and lay it on the wood of their altar, but without setting fire to it. I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood on the altar, but not set fire to it. 24 Then call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by setting fire to the wood is the true God!” And all the people agreed.
25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “You go first, for there are many of you. Choose one of the bulls, and prepare it and call on the name of your god. But do not set fire to the wood.”
26 So they prepared one of the bulls and placed it on the altar. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning until noontime, shouting, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no reply of any kind. Then they danced, hobbling around the altar they had made.
27 About noontime Elijah began mocking them. “You’ll have to shout louder,” he scoffed, “for surely he is a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming, or is relieving himself. Or maybe he is away on a trip, or is asleep and needs to be wakened!”
28 So they shouted louder, and following their normal custom, they cut themselves with knives and swords until the blood gushed out. 29 They raved all afternoon until the time of the evening sacrifice, but still there was no sound, no reply, no response.
30 Then Elijah called to the people, “Come over here!” They all crowded around him as he repaired the altar of the Lord that had been torn down. 31 He took twelve stones, one to represent each of the tribes of Israel, 32 and he used the stones to rebuild the altar in the name of the Lord. 
Then he dug a trench around the altar large enough to hold about three gallons. 33 He piled wood on the altar, cut the bull into pieces, and laid the pieces on the wood.
Then he said, “Fill four large jars with water, and pour the water over the offering and the wood.”
34 After they had done this, he said, “Do the same thing again!” And when they were finished, he said, “Now do it a third time!” So they did as he said, 35 and the water ran around the altar and even filled the trench.
36 At the usual time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet walked up to the altar and prayed, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, prove today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant. Prove that I have done all this at your command. 37 O Lord, answer me! Answer me so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God and that you have brought them back to yourself.”
38 Immediately the fire of the Lord flashed down from heaven and burned up the young bull, the wood, the stones, and the dust. It even licked up all the water in the trench! 39 And when all the people saw it, they fell face down on the ground and cried out, “The Lord—he is God! Yes, the Lord is God!”
40 Then Elijah commanded, “Seize all the prophets of Baal. Don’t let a single one escape!” So the people seized them all, and Elijah took them down to the Kishon Valley and killed them there.

Key Takeaways:

1. God’s Altar Was in Ruins
   • God’s power wasn’t absent—Israel’s obedience was.
   • Our faith takes maintenance.
2. Repent & repair
   • It’s not too late!
3. Fire Falls on Surrender
   • God responds to faith-filled obedience

Application:

• What spiritual altars in your life need repair?
• Where have you allowed neglect to replace devotion?

1 Kings 18:41-46
41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go get something to eat and drink, for I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!”
42 So Ahab went to eat and drink. But Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and bowed low to the ground and prayed with his face between his knees.
43 Then he said to his servant, “Go and look out toward the sea.”
The servant went and looked, then returned to Elijah and said, “I didn’t see anything.”
Seven times Elijah told him to go and look. 44 Finally the seventh time, his servant told him, “I saw a little cloud about the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea.”
Then Elijah shouted, “Hurry to Ahab and tell him, ‘Climb into your chariot and go back home. If you don’t hurry, the rain will stop you!’”
45 And soon the sky was black with clouds. A heavy wind brought a terrific rainstorm, and Ahab left quickly for Jezreel. 46 Then the Lord gave special strength to Elijah. He tucked his cloak into his belt and ran ahead of Ahab’s chariot all the way to the entrance of Jezreel.

 
RABBIT TRAIL: Read the rest of Elijah's story in the next chapter. (Also go back to the beginning! A great story there too!)

Snow Day Week: “This Do in Remembrance of Me”
Read: Luke 22:14–20; 1 Corinthians 11:23–26

Focus: Communion as the ultimate memorial

Big Idea:
Jesus didn’t ask us to build a monument—He became one.
He asks that we remember HIM.

Notice:

1. A New Covenant Memorial
   • Not stone, but bread and cup, shared with people.
     
     
2. Remembrance That Saves
   • Looking at Jesus fuels faith forward
     
     
3. A Table, Not a Tower
   • God invites us into relationship, not ritual 
   • And we should be inviting people to the table too.
     
     

Application:

• How can you build communion into your daily life more?
• How can you serve your neighbors today? 
• What's one way you can show the sacrificial love of Jesus to someone today?

Background:
The Israelites had followed the Lord in the wilderness for 40 years.  They had set up the tabernacle, and the law, and had the ark of the covenant…all of the generation that had crossed the Red Sea, had now died off, and it was a new generation of people who were never slaves in Egypt, now crossing into the Promised Land.
But now they faced another body of water, between them, and what God had promised to their fathers and mothers.  The Jordan River is all that laid between them and the land that was promised.  And they had over a MILLION people to get across that river, no bridge, so this was a conundrum.  BUT GOD!
Is God gonna let a little water get in the way of what He promised His people?!
Is He gonna let a little “impossibility” stop Him?
Of course not, nothing is impossible for God!

Joshua 3:7-16
7 The Lord told Joshua, “Today I will begin to make you a great leader in the eyes of all the Israelites. They will know that I am with you, just as I was with Moses.
8 Give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: ‘When you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop there.’”
9 So Joshua told the Israelites, “Come and listen to what the Lord your God says. 10 Today you will know that the living God is among you. He will surely drive out the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites ahead of you.
11 Look, the Ark of the Covenant, which belongs to the Lord of the whole earth, will lead you across the Jordan River! 12 Now choose twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one from each tribe. 13 The priests will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall.”
14 So the people left their camp to cross the Jordan, and the priests who were carrying the Ark of the Covenant went ahead of them. 15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, 16 the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.  

Here we see yet another example, of God saying YES immediately, but them having to wait a little while to see the results.

Joshua 4:1-8
4 When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’”
4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”
8 So the men did as Joshua had commanded them. 

1. God commands a memorial.  This wasn't optional.  It was intentional.
Memories fade.  Passion leaks.  It may be a slow drip, but it leaks.  It’s like a leaky bucket.
You may know TODAY that the Living God is among you…because he spoke, or he performed a miracle in your life, or He answered a prayer….but that passion leaks over time! Which is why we have to build things in to remind ourselves! Not just as an individual, or as a family…but as a people!  We have to continually fill that bucket!

2. Stones Tell A Story. The miracle becomes a teaching tool.
Proverbs 22:6, TRAIN UP your children in the way they should go….“Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”
That word in Aramaic, means TRAIN UP.  DEDICATE. TRAIN.
 
3. Faith Must Be Passed On. "What do these stones mean to you?”
Are we leaving spiritual breadcrumbs for those behind us?

Joshua 4:9-11
9 Joshua also set up another pile of twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the place where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant were standing. And they are there to this day.
10 The priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the river until all of the Lord’s commands that Moses had given to Joshua were carried out. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the riverbed. 11 And when everyone was safely on the other side, the priests crossed over with the Ark of the Lord as the people watched.

4. The old has gone. The new has come.
→Manna was okay for a season….but growing you own food, from your own land…THAT’S BETTER.
→Water from a rock when you needed it…that was okay…but your own well, on your own land…THAT’S BETTER!
→Living in tents and moving from place to place…that was okay for a season…but I have SO MUCH BETTER FOR YOU!
Romans 12:28-29 says, “Since we are receiving a kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping Him with holy fear & awe. For our God is a devouring fire.”

RABBIT TRAIL: Read Joshua 4-8 this week and ask yourself about the importance of obedience.

Sunday January 18's Worship Set List:
"Here Now (Madness)" by Hillsong Worship
"Reckless Love" by Cory Asbury
"So will I" by Hillsong United
"Yeshua" by Jesus Image