We will serve the LORD!

Born in the Philippines, Herbert Chavez was an unassuming man until he decided to dedicate his life to become Superman. Over the past two decades, he has had a number of plastic surgery procedures to mimic the looks of the superhero. These include chin augmentations, silicone injections, and implants into various muscles.

We may question his sanity but we have to admire his commitment. I wonder how our commitment to serving Jesus compared to his commitment to following superman.

maybe we wish we had commitment like that, not plastic surgery commitment, but the fire we perhaps see in other Christian - passion and commitment to serve Jesus. we wish perhaps we had their faith.

We long to know the joy of a vibrant Spiritual life, but perhaps don’t know how to get there - or even where to begin.

My prayer for you, as we finish this series, and as I go is this

BE COMPLETELY COMMITTED TO CHRIST

hope in Joshua 24 we will see how.

What is the story of this passage in one sentance? How would you sum it up?

My summary: The story of what God has done and how we should respond.

Joshua has been this journey intro promised land. After time in wilderness it was under Joshua that people would see God’s promises realised. We’ve journeyed with them as they have crossed over the jordan, as they’ve faced their enemies, as God has given them victory one after another and given them land. We have journeyed with them as they have divided the land up, and enjoyed the spoils of their inheritance, and as God has fulfilled every one of his promises to them.

Not one of God’s promises has failed.

But what will they do now and in future. What will ordinary life look like. Physical journey over but spiritual journey continues. How will they respond to all that God has done.

They have a choice

Joshua 24:14–15 NIV

“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 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.”

Choice we all face. Who will we serve. God or something else.

The heart of Christianity is about a God who made us and loves us and wants what is best for us and who has done everything necessary for us to enjoy everlasting life in right relationship with him. But he has given us choice. How will we respond to his love. 2 options. We serve him as our God or we serve something else.

Wonder if too often we think we can sit on the fence. Half way between two worlds.

Be Christian on a Sunday, or in certain areas of my life, but hold on to worldy values rest of time. Pick and choose what bits of bible we listen to. Or what areas of our lives we are willing to give to God.

I enjoy a cricket/snooker. Thing is though I will go for months or even years without playing, and then suddenly one day see it on tv and fancy a game. Throw myself in. Get the cue out, dust it off and go for a game.

I wonder though - how tempted we are to Treat faith like a hobby. Take up and put down.

But not possible. Fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. OR not at all. What Joshua makes clear. And it’s what Jesus says.

Jesus makes same call on us.

Mark 8:34–38 NIV

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

It is a serious matter to be a believer. Faith, in the biblical sense of the word, is not a mere add-on to life. When the Lord Jesus Christ calls us to follow him, he calls for complete devotion, for death to self, for our lives to be dedicated and consecrated to him alone.

It’s a call to be all in. To lay down our self centred lives and give ourselves to Jesus. With promise of eternal life and peace and joy and satisfaction and blessing.

I hope you want to say me and my household - the Crossway family - we will serve the Lord.

Yes reality is - that is difficult. I want to be like that but its so hard. Temptation surrounds me. I want to have that passion but its just not there. Christian who just seem to be going for it - so annoying.

They are like a bursting bible, and they are leaking Jesus. Faith just seems so natural to them.

How can we stay faithful in an increasingly secular society. With trials and temptations every where we go.

We might want to be superfans - but how often we are super failures.

Sobering but encouragin reality in what Joshua. Doens’t mince his words.

Joshua 24:19–20 NIV

Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God; he is a jealous God. He will not forgive your rebellion and your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, he will turn and bring disaster on you and make an end of you, after he has been good to you.”

Thanks Joshua. Way to encourage. Not absolute, but warning. yet his words are prophetic.

These are like the superkeen. They are on Spiritual high after seeing a generation of revival. 3 times. We will serve. But read beyond Joshua a few chapters into Judges.

What do we read - Judges 2:8-13

Judges 2:8–13 NIV

Joshua son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of a hundred and ten. And they buried him in the land of his inheritance, at Timnath Heres in the hill country of Ephraim, north of Mount Gaash. After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. They forsook the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They followed and worshiped various gods of the peoples around them. They aroused the Lord’s anger because they forsook him and served Baal and the Ashtoreths.

It took one generation to forget God. Joshua and leaders die - and people turn away. How easily we forget the goodness of God. Look at Peter - the superfan disciple. But moment trouble comes.

We would love to say - that won’t be me. But in all kinds of ways we fail to be faithful. We forget God’s goodness. Root of all sin - a belief somewhere that God is not good and world has something better to offer, or that we can do better.

How then can we say with the people “We will serve the Lord.” Because that is what we are called to do? Where is our zeal and passion and integrity to come from?

BE COMPLETELY COMMITTED TO CHRIST BY CONTINUALLY COMMUNING CHRIST.

First half of our passage is immensly important.

Starts with location - Shechem.

Shechem was place where Abraham first pitched his tent when he entered the land of Canaan in Gen 12.

Shechem is place where Jacob, after fleeing from Esau, then from Laban then returning to Bethel made a commitment to worship and follow the Lord - and as part of that he took the idols his family kept and buried them under a tree at Shechem.

It’s the place where early in Joshua people recommited to the Lord after he gave them victory over Ai.

It place of covenant making and Spiritual renewal. As Joshua gathers people they would not miss significance. He they are where the Father of their faith Abraham first camped. And what are they there to do. They are there to be reminded of God’s power and goodness and faithfulness, as Joshua brings God’s word to people and recalls significant events in history.

Remember Abraham v2 - who worshipped other gods, but I called him and led him and gave him many descendents

Remember Moses - and how I afflicted Egypt and brought you out from slavery by the red sea even though chariots and horsemen pursued you I protected you.

Remember the wildernes, but how I brought you to land of Amorites and gave them into you hands, and how even Balaam the prophet of the enemy King I caused to bless you.

Remember how I brought you across the Jordan and gave all your enemies into you hands, driving them out.

Remember how I have given you land and cities and blessing.

How are the people to stay faithful to God - NOT by own will power, but by communion with the LORD. Cultivating a close connection. By remembering who he is and what he has done continually, that they might continue to serve him in response to his faithfulness.

Friends how are we to continue to serve Christ? The same way we started. By being amazed by the good news of God’s love and power, his sovereign and saving grace to us in Jesus Christ.

Our Shechem is the Cross and the empty tomb. The place where God fulfilled all his promises.

We are to recall God’s goodness to us. Not intellectual exercise but about reconnecting with our Saviour and Lord as we dwell in grace shown at the cross.

When my grandad died, my auntie organised a tree to be planted and dedicated to him where is ashes are scattered, and every while she will visit and send pictures of the flowers she’s arranged. As his daugther she goes to remember him. Not an intellectual exercise. Dates, born and died. She goes to connect. Remembers their relaitonship, his fatherhood over her, his love and his care. that she might not forget him or dishonour his memory.

Where does power and passion to serve Christ come from. It’s as we connect with him. Remember who he is and what he has done. Look at his life - one who left the glories of heaven to enter this world for us, to live perfect life of faithfulness that we could never live. Look at the cross - as he went willingly in obedience to his father and died horrific death in our place so that we can find forgiveness and a fresh start. Not intellectual - yes he died for me - but as we look at our sin, and lament. Our failure to be faithful. Our failure to love God with whole heart and soul and mind, and times we look to other things instead of him, see our sin but see his forgiveness - that despite all of it he loves us.

Look at the empty tomb where he defeated death and offers new life to all who trust him. That no real lasting harm can be done to us because nothing can sepeate us from him or his love for us. Because we have been united to Christ and are heirs to all of God’s blessings.

It’s as we continually reconnect with Christ that flowing out of that will come passion and service and faithfulness.

How do we continually and increasingly and faithfully serve Christ - its by being captivated by Christ. So that all other things seem like rubbish to us.

Muslim convert.

Friend of mine met convert from Islam to Christianity. He lost everything to follow Jesus. When his family found out he was a Christian he was kicked out of the family home and no longer called a son. - he lost his inheritance and all support. When asked how he came to the deicsion he said:

“If I can know the God of the universe, why would I want to know anything else?”

Romans is a great NT parallel to Joshua - Paul spends first 11 chapters recalling deep truths of gospel of grace. and then he calls for reponse

Romans 12:1 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

If we are struggling to live in service to God, then we haven’t grasped the Glory of his grace and mercy. There is a disconnect somewhere.

Where do you need to reconnect with Christ today?

How do we do that?

3 things to help us in these verses help us continue to commune with Christ. Seen in v24-27

Joshua 24:24–27 NIV

And the people said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God and obey him.” On that day Joshua made a covenant for the people, and there at Shechem he reaffirmed for them decrees and laws. And Joshua recorded these things in the Book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up there under the oak near the holy place of the Lord. “See!” he said to all the people. “This stone will be a witness against us. It has heard all the words the Lord has said to us. It will be a witness against you if you are untrue to your God.”

Joshua does 3 things in response to commitment on people - to ensure they will see it through.

Sacrifice

Word

Witness

Makes - lit. cuts covenant. Involved sacrifice - blood was shed to reaffirm bond between people and God.

Second - Reaffirmed decress and laws - he reminded them of God’s word, that they might know how to obey.

Third - placed a stone - permenant reminder - a witness that they have heard, and against those who disobey.

3 things to help the people continue serving.

God has cut covenant with us - blood of Jesus we are bound to him. Our salvation is based on his work alone. To help us keep walking faithfully, we are to reflect on his sacrifice.

God has given us his word the bible - that we might know him deeply and remember him. We are to spend time in his word.

God has given us His Spirit to bear witness.

Jofulful thing - one generation after Joshua people forgot who God was. But our leader lives on! Given his Spirit to continue to witness to us and empower us for service.

How often is our struggle to commune with Christ, and therefore serve him because we fall in one or more of these areas. We become complacent and forget our need of daily repentance and stop seenig the beaty of the cross. Or we find God’s word hard work or or are busy so we stop reading it. Or we foget power of the Spirit and start to depend on our own strength and resources.

These are things God has given us to keep us walking faithfully with him, because its these things that are constant reminders of his goodness and power. What can help us to commune with Christ?

Continually commune with Christ Together!

I wonder if a feeling of disconnect with God is linked to a disconnection with his people.

Live in increasingly individualistic society - have to fight against lone wolf mentality. Need each other.

Notice that Joshua speaks not to individual but to whole people. We don’t read of individual journeys to promised land but a people together. Christian life is corperate life. As we gather together we encounter Christ in a way that we won’t on our own.

It’s together that we share the Lord supper and reflect on his sacrifice, and confess our sins to one another and find assurance of his forgiveness.

It’s together as we sit under his word, and speak it to each other. When I haven’t picked up my bible in weeks, waht do I need? I need to taste and see that the Lord is good by others speaking truth to me, sharing how the Word has spoken to them this week,

It’s together we experience the power of the Spirit bearing witness to the risen King. And we become witness to each other - to encourage to walk with him and warn against falling away. It’s this witness that is to keep each other walking with him.

Do you see the church in this way. As the Shechem of Northfield. The place where you gather to encounter the risen Lord Jesus, remember his faithfulness, to listen to his voice and and to experience the power of his Spirit. What an amazing thing to be part of.

Brothers and Sisters as I go my desire for you more than anything is this.

That the household of Crossway Church together we might encouter the Living Lord Jesus and be so captivated by him that all we want to do is serve him. And in serving him you will experience all the blesings of the life he offers, the joy of knowing him and preparing for his return.