Legacy Living - Uncommon Courage

How many of you are sunset people?

You like sunsets.

I don't mean you're sunset years.

How many of you like sunsets?

That too.

Yeah, yeah, okay, that too.

Some of each.

Um well I am too.

I you are I talked about sunrises the other morning.

I um I like sunsets too.

Let's sing it.

Sunrise, sun.

Um why do they play that at wedding receptions with a father with his daughter?

It's ridiculous.

Um Thank you.

It's hard enough you can sing that dumb song.

But um Here's what I've learned about sunsets.

I mean, obviously, God is my favorite artist, and I love the pictures that he paints with his son, don't you?

Now There is a place in New York State, and our team has been up there with the Iroquois Nation uh tribes, and um I've had opportunity when I've been up there, we've sometimes ended up at a camp up there that's right on Lake Ontario.

And kind of looking across at Toronto way off in the horiz on the horizon, I saw a sunset there But that wasn't the most , it was a beautiful sunset.

But I didn't leave.

And what really was beautiful was after the sunset You shouldn't leave after the sunset.

No, stick around.

Because God paints some beautiful patterns with the afterglow.

I was I just the other day right here I I saw one and I went I went my goodness god look what look at that sky and the sun is gone But it's still incredibly in its afterglow beautifying our world.

Someday your sun will set.

And the question is, what will the afterglow be?

And will what the way you lived Leave a beautiful scene behind.

And continue to beautify other people's lives.

As Mike Karen 's does.

We're talking about that in legacy living right now.

And it was very much on Joshua's mind, because as he is in now 120 years old, And he knows his days are numbered.

He's going to gather the nation together.

And it's going to be about legacy.

You see a quote there at the beginning.

It's got a couple words missing.

My wife had this up in our house for many years.

Lisa referred to it again at Karen 's celebration of her life.

And it's a powerful statement.

And it's happening in our family right now.

Let's take a look at that quote.

It says, children are messengers, we send. to a time we will not see.

That's pretty power powerful, isn't it?

That's your that's afterglow Children are messengers we send to a time we will not see.

Some of us have children here, some of us do not.

All of us have young lives within our reach.

For some of us, we just have to reach across the room.

For some of us, it means asking God to give us a young life that we could pour into to shape or mentor.

But in either case I hope you have your eyes on leaving a glow in the next generation.

Psalm 78, King David. very forcefully says, we will not hide God's teachings, basically, from their descendants.

And this next sentence, I think, is a battle cry.

I want you to read it out loud with me, but I want you to read it with some hair on it, okay?

Let's go.

We will tell the next generation.

Stop, will you?

Will you make that a priority We will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done He decreed statutes for David.

He established law in Israel, which he commanded our ancestors to teach their children.

So the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.

Excuse me, children are messengers we send to a time we will not see.

That's exactly what that's saying Now Joshua is being, of course, is a wise leader, and so his eyes are on a lasting legacy and not just living life.

He 's not just like, well, I gotta just get, you know, I gotta do my life.

No, he's thinking about a lasting legacy.

Let me show you how that is expressed in the book of Joshua.

After they see the miracle of the parting of the Jordan River, he's like, well there's gonna, do you know what?

There's gonna be kids come along who never saw this.

They never had this experience.

Well, here's what he says in Joshua 4 verse 6.

He said, and this is when he says, go get those rocks.

And we're gonna make this, we're gonna get these big rocks that could only come from the bottom of the river.

And the kids didn't see the miracle, but they'll see the result of the miracle, and they'll go, what is this thing?

He says, Well, you make sure that serves as a sign among you.

In the future, when your children ask you, he's making them think legacy He's making them to think, how can we get next generations to believe in a great God like we have to because of what we've seen?

What do these stones mean?

He said to the Israelites, in the future, when your descendants ask their parents, what do these stones mean?

And he goes on and tells them how that can how that should be answered.

But the point is He is preparing them to prepare another generation to follow follow his Lord.

Now, uh, again, if you do not have Someone young, a next-gen person, by blood.

Look, I know what the people in this room have to give.

Look for a young life to help shape.

Look for someone you can pour into.

That might be the a mission that God's calling you to do without even having even realized it.

So as Joshua summons the nation for a spiritual farewell This is his valedictory address.

He gives them, he gives us, a model of how you fight for the future of those who come behind us.

Like Karen said in her journal, may those who come behind us find us faithful.

Founding Father Benjamin Franklin Uh I don't I forget the question he was asked, but I know the answer he gave.

It's immortal.

He said Oh, I know.

He was asked if this is what they had what they had created was a republic or democracy, and he said, you have a republic if you can keep it.

They said, we we put we shed blood for this man.

We're giving it to you.

It's up to you to decide whether you can keep it or not.

In a sense, all that you've experienced with the Lord is a treasure to be passed on to someone, to some other people in the next generation.

And basically this is what Joshua says in his address.

He's like, we have given you a promised land.

God's given you a promised land.

If you can keep it.

Sometimes they did, sometimes they didn't.

Um and Let's go to Joshua chapter 24 and I want to we're gonna we're not gonna we're getting to the first verse and we're gonna stop for a minute because there's something incredible you wouldn't normally see in the text.

Joshua gathers them together and he picks a very strategic place to give his next gen challenge.

Then Joshua assembled all the tribes of Israel at Shechem.

Now, we're going to breeze right by that, you know, it's a place that We want to find out what he said.

Not so fast, Buffalo Breath.

Look, he summoned the elders, leaders, judges, and officials of Israel, and they presented themselves before God.

This is no random selection of where to give his valedictory address.

Let's take a look at Genesis chapter 12, verses 6 and 7.

Abram has just gone to this new land God told him to go to, through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Mora at where?

Oh, wow, that's interesting.

This is 500 years ago.

At that time, the Canaanites were in the land.

Now, why is that footnote there?

Of course it was Canaan.

Why were because the Lord appeared to Abram and said, to your offspring.

I will give this land.

That's why God made a point of the fact it was full of Canaanites.

How likely is this going to be?

And he's one guy.

He's one guy.

All these Canaanites live in this land, and you, little Abram, it's so gonna be all your peoples.

What?

So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

This is where the land, promised land, was promised.

That's Shechem.

He's bringing them back together where the promise was born.

Going back to where it all began.

Later Jacob would go there and and uh uh Jacob would confiscate the idols that Rebecca had brought along, and those idols will be buried at Shechem.

Fast forward into the future, and something you've read about in your Bible will happen at Shechem.

Which today on the West Bank is called Nobles.

It's the city of Nablus.

But I'll tell you what was there.

Jacob built a well there that Jesus sat on.

And talk to a Samaritan woman.

At Shechem.

Oh, that's a big deal.

Yeah, oh yeah.

Joshua has picked the place.

And guess where Shechem is?

Between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim.

It's where God's people first heard the cursings and the blessings This is a destiny location.

And sometimes if you want to sort out what God is doing in your life, you need to go back to where it all began.

Go back to where you found him in the first place or he found you.

Go back to where you first said, Jesus, I'm yours, I'm all yours, that first surrender.

Go back to that.

Go back to when you first heard him call you to do something for him.

Go back to your Shechem.

Go back to where the call and the promise first was made And sometimes that'll help you chart a course for the future.

We get a little confused, but where it started, it's like going back and listening to your wedding tape or watching a wedding video.

And remembering how it all began.

And that'll maybe help you chart how you ought to be going in the future.

So anyway, isn't this incredible?

So I just kind of I decided, oh I'll just stop and look up Shechem.

I'm like, holy moly, has all that stuff happened there?

So there's one commentator who said it was a spot made sacred by so many ancient memorials.

Abram built an altar of worship there.

Jacob did.

It just it keeps popping up in their history.

So we're at the birthplace of the promise, and now we hear three goals.

Three goals that legacy builders are going to make a high priority of their future.

Number one is growing a Joshua.

The first reason there is even a legacy to talk about is because Moses was thinking legacy, because he growed himself a Joshua.

Deuteronomy 34, verse 9, gives us a hint of this.

Now Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses laid his hands on him.

He said, I want to transfer to this boy what God has put into me.

So the Israelites listened to him and did what the Lord had commanded Moses.

Now, Joshua becomes his aide, and he first of all uh what what does he what does he do to grow a Joshua?

Well let's look at some of the things he did.

Because this this is how we could grow a Joshua Go to Exodus 17.

This is Exodus 17 is where we first meet Joshua.

Chronologically, this is where he comes into the story.

Exodus 17.

So Joshua fought the Amalekites As Moses had ordered.

And Moses, Aaron, and her went up to the top of the hill.

Now, you'd know how this story, you know why he went up to the top of the hill, because you know he would raise his arms.

And uh every time he raised, you see, as long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning.

Whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning Now, uh if we keep going, you'll see Moses explains what he was doing.

When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it.

Aaron and her held his hands up.

I just want to say this.

There are some people in this room who have been my Aaron and Her.

Many times.

Anyway, sidelight.

One on one side, one on the other, so that his hands remain steady till sunset.

So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

When Moses is asked to explain what he was doing with his hands in the ear, He said, I was lifting up my hands to the throne of God.

He was interceding.

How was the battle decided?

Not by the general on the front lines.

Oh no, no, no, no.

The battle was decided by the prayer warrior on the hill.

Let me tell you That every victory won on every reservation, every life that comes to a website or comes to see any of our videos on their smartphone or wherever and comes to Christ.

Every one of those victories is won by a prayer warrior on the hill.

Do you understand that you pray, we win.

You don't, we lose.

So first of all, the first thing you do to grow a Joshua is fighting in prayer.

You fight for them in prayer You've got a life that you are trying to build and pour into and you you fight for them.

You become their prayer warrior on the hill.

You say, what do I pray for?

Well, let's look at what Jesus prayed for for his next generation.

Go to John 17.

We're just going to skip around his his great prayer.

The Lord's prayer isn't the Lord's prayer.

The Lord's prayer is the disciples' prayer.

This is the Lord's Prayer.

It says this because Jesus wouldn't have to pray forgive us our debts and our trespasses.

So I have revealed to you these, I've revealed you, Father, to those whom you gave me out of the world.

I believe there's some people God's given you or wants to give you They were yours.

You gave them to me, and they have obeyed your word.

Now we're going to find out how Jesus prays for the people that have entrusted to him.

I pray for them.

I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours I will remain in the world no longer.

Okay, the sun is setting.

Here's the scene I want to leave behind.

I'm coming to you.

Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.

Let's go on.

While I was with them, I protected them, kept them safe by that name you gave me.

None has been lost except the one doomed and destruction so that scripture would be fulfilled.

I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so they may have the full measure of my joy within them.

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one.

Sanctify them by the truth.

Your word is truth.

As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

Let me give you three prayers to pray based on how Jesus prayed for his guys.

Number one, you pray that God will insulate them.

You don't pray that God will isolate them from a corrupt world.

You pray that God will insulate them.

Jesus said I'm not trying to get them to live in a cave so they don't get poisoned by the world.

The world needs them.

They'll never be able to change the world if they're all if we just hide them out somewhere. and we we uh cocoon them.

No, don't no, I don't I'm not asking to cocoon you the ones you've trusted in me.

I'm asking you to insulate them from the evil one. and protect them from the evil one.

So you pray for spiritual insulation against every attack of the enemy.

Number two, I think you pray that God will consecrate them.

He says, the ones that you've given me, sanctify them.

That means set them apart just for you.

Make them help them realize they are for holy purposes.

That body of theirs, those talents of theirs, those uh that life of theirs is to be set apart and reserved for the use of the one who gave them their life in the first place.

Lord, consecrate them. insulate them, and thirdly activate them.

Get them out into your mission.

Send them out into the world to change the world with what's changed with who has changed them.

That's fighting in prayer.

Second way you go, Joshua's doing life together.

Doing life together.

Exodus 24, 18.

Let's take a look at that.

Then Moses set out with Joshua's aid, and Moses. went up on the mountain of God.

He's going up to Mount Sinai where he will get all of God's instructions.

But look, he's not going alone.

He's taking Joshua with him.

That's the essence of discipleship.

When Jesus called the twelve, he gave them their job description.

It says in the appointed twelve that they should be with him.

And it you you know there's only about three months of Jesus' life recorded in the gospels.

If you add it up all the time, I I'm not sure I've been told that.

I think that's true.

It's only about three months that all that stuff took.

Like what happened the other two y two two years and nine months?

They were walking.

Walking, walking.

You know, we read in the Bible and they went from Galilee to Jerusalem.

We're like, okay, that didn't take long.

That's 90 miles by foot, hello.

That right there is going to be some elapsed time that it just all it says is they went from here to here.

That's a long walk What were they doing?

Telling Samaritan jokes?

I don't know.

But I know this.

A lot of what happened was just, they just picked it up by, you know what it says?

They watched Jesus get up every morning and pray.

One day they came to him and said, Lord, teach us to pray.

He waited till they asked, but by being with him, they developed an appetite to want to know how they could do what they saw him do.

So you with intentionality take your Joshua with you.

It's not going to be necessarily in some formal Bible study that you'll shape their life the most.

It's when they watch you do life.

Then another way to grow Joshua is to show him trust.

Show him trust or show her trust.

Exodus 33. 11 says this.

The Lord would speak to Moses face to face as one speaks to a friend.

Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young age Joshua, son of Nun, did not leave the tent.

The Bible suggests that he left Joshua to guard the holiest place there was on earth at that point, which was the tent of meeting, where God showed up to talk to Moses face to face.

He was saying, I'm going to trust you with something that really matters to me, this tenth of meeting.

You want to have a laughter and tears sometime?

If you're a parent, you should get your kids together and start to talk about. their perception of your discipline over the years, and your perception of what you thought was happening, and their perception of what they thought was happening.

Mm-hmm.

Like but we thought Yeah, you did.

Well we it's hilarious.

It really is.

It's a hilarious thing.

But anyway, somewhere along the way, Doug said made a statement that I am not I've not forgotten.

We all as parents are very regretful of mistakes we have made.

But he said, Dad, you know what you and mom was the best thing you ever did for us?

You trusted us.

Trust is a powerful motivator.

These incredible warriors from on Eagleswings know that we trust them to carry the mission of Christ to their people.

And you rise to trust.

You don't want to disappoint trust.

And so you you you grow a Joshua when, as they demonstrate trustworthiness.

You give them more trust.

Now, that's okay, that's the first way that you you uh start to shape the next generation.

Second way is bulletproofing the future.

Bulletproofing the future How do you build bulletproof them for what's about to come?

And Joshua really did a good job of this.

I have a little poem I re I I think I picked up in a devotional.

I think you'll like this.

An old man going a lonely way came at the evening, cold and gray, to a chasm vast and deep and wide.

The old man crossed in the twilight dim.

The sullen stream had no fear for him, but he turned when safe on the other side and built a bridge to span the tide Old man, said a fellow pilgrim near, you're wasting your strength.

With building here, your journey will end with the ending way.

You never again will pass this way.

You've crossed the chasm deep and wide, then why build a bridge to span the tide?

The builder lifted his old gray head.

Good friend, in the path I've come, he said, there followeth after me to day a youth. whose feet must pass this way.

This chasm that has been not to me, to a fairhead youth, may a pitfall be He too must cross in the twilight dim.

Good friend, I am building this bridge for him It's called the bridge builder.

Pretty cool.

How do we do that?

Well, how do you bulletproof them?

This is what I call the agenda for securing the future.

Joshua chapter 4 verse 7.

First of all, we're going to see the God stories.

God stories are one way that you bulletproof them for a future that you may not be here for.

Tell them, tell them, he says, in his great speech, this is even before his speech, this is Joshua 4, tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

When across the Jordan the waters of the Jordan were cut off.

These stones, that's all they're gonna see, but they're a memorial to the people of Israel forever.

Tell them what you saw.

Tell them how you saw God break up break out.

Tell them how you saw God show up.

Uh I kept so excited.

How you saw God show up.

And uh let's go over to uh uh 22 to 24.

He says, uh tell them, Israel cross the Jordan on dry ground.

Do you guys know this God I keep telling you about?

You didn't see it, but I experienced it.

I gotta tell you about this God.

Tell your God stories to the next generation Did you hear last night, uh, it was Lisa or Brad, one or the other, who said that the story of how God got the life of Bill Hadley, Karen 's grandfather?

She we uh we they said we heard this story many times at our house.

Now some of us tell stories to our kids.

They're not all the not all God stories.

I remember when I was young I walked to school every day.

It was 10 miles going, 20 miles coming back.

It was uphill both ways.

Blinding blizzard.

That's not the stories I'm talking about unless God was walking with you and you want to tell him about that, how you did it uphill both ways But tell them your God stories.

Build their faith by telling them the stories of blessings that would not be in your life if it weren't for him.

See, they may have just walked into this life God gave you.

But they need to find out that what they have always had There's a story behind that, and that story is a God story.

They've got to hear those stories from you And whether you're the parent of them or not, whether this is someone you bring into your life, there are so many kids adrift whose parents either are parents to them or they don't have them.

Oh, how they how great it would be if you would become a surrogate parent to them almost.

And tell them, guys, you were born into this house.

Do you know how this house came to be?

You know how we got that vehicle?

Do you know what you know there was a time we didn't have one?

Let me tell you what God did for us.

You are a God story.

You guys you guys know you didn't know me before you were born, obviously.

I knew me before I was born.

You know me like this.

Let me tell you before Jesus got a hold of me Tell your God stories.

Tell about your parted waters and your Jericho walls that fell down and your Red Sea that parted.

The manna that came from heaven when you had nothing.

Tell him your God stories.

That's what Joshua said.

These guys have got to hear the story.

They didn't get to see it, but you've got to take them there.

Secondly, experiencing God.

That's a second very important step in the in the mentoring for the future process.

Joshua 24, verses 17 and 31.

This is his great last address.

It was the Lord our God Himself who brought us and our parents up out of Egypt.

From that land of slavery and performed those great signs before our eyes.

He protected us on our entire journey and among all the nations through which we traveled.

In other words, we have experienced this God.

We didn't just hear Bible verses about him.

Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who had outlived him. and who had experienced , not just heard tell, they had experienced everything the Lord had done for Israel as long as there were people who had experienced God for themselves, it stuck.

It held.

The ground started to give way.

When people who knew it but hadn't experienced it became the next generation.

So what is it what is part of this process of of pouring into somebody else?

If there's any life you're trying to shape, realize this Jesus in their head will not survive the storm.

Only Jesus in their heart and their life will survive the storm.

Doug was twelve years old when we were coming back from a conference in uh Wyoming and we were on the plane coming back and he said Dad this conference was different from all the others and I said really why he said well I listened to you this time which was Sort of um good news, bad news, if you think about that.

And um he said, you know what I've figured out?

He said Christianity and and following Jesus is sort of like suntan lotion.

And I said, yes, amen And I thought, where is this going?

He said, well dad, you know what?

When you get Sun Tan lotion, he said, if you just put a big blob on your arm, it's not gonna do anything for you.

He said it doesn't really do anything for you until you rub it in.

He said, I think Jesus is like that.

I'm like, you should do a radio program.

No.

But you know , you really don't get Jesus until you rub him in.

And all the knowledge and all the verses about him, that's fine.

That's the truth.

They need the truth.

But that's the blob on her arm.

No secondhand faith.

They need their own God sightings.

They need their own God sightings.

Your job is to help lead them in to even to get them looking for God during the day.

And say, let's talk about our God signing today.

What was your God's signing today?

And to begin to see God in the things that are happening in their life.

They need to experience them, not just know about them.

Um Chuck Spurgeon, some called him Charles, but We were very close.

He's one of my heroes too.

He who looks for providences will never lack a providence to observe You got they're there all day.

Some see them, some don't.

Guess who sees them?

The ones who are looking for them.

Experiencing God.

Third way to bulletproof the future is a promise-driven life.

They need to see in you a promise-driven life.

Joshua 23, 14.

Again, his final time.

Now I'm about to go the way of all the earth.

You know with all your heart and soul, listen to me folks, not one of all those promises God made us.

Has ever failed.

Every promise has been fulfilled.

Not one has failed.

They need to see a life where you make your decisions based on a promise of God.

They need to see the power of a promise that God has made.

So when you're making financial decisions, you make them based on a promise of God.

When you're uh you're uh making uh decisions about a change in your life, when a crisis comes along, when there's bad news from the doctor When one of your kids is rebelling, they need to see what kind of promise -driven person you are. that you're basing your life on the promises of a God who loves them.

So they'll begin to get the idea.

That those promises are the tracks on which our train runs.

There was a soldier in uh World War II who was getting on the train to leave, and his his mama was saying goodbye to him, was very tearful goodbye, and he was headed for boot camp.

And she um she pressed into his hand as he's getting on, going up the steps, a little New Testament.

And as he got on trade, she said, she gave him kind of some advice, and she just said, son, hang on to this book wherever you go, and you'll be okay.

Fast forward to the end of the war.

New Guinea Jungle The villagers are out doing their farming and this wild man it seems like runs out of the jungle briefly, scares them to death, he scares, they scare him, he runs back in the jungle.

This keeps happening repeatedly They're like, who is this guy?

So they band together to go into the stick jungle almost arm's length so they can cover all of it, and finally to come to the stream bed, and here is this This soldier uh in a tattered soldier uniform, all hunkered down with his right hand clutch closed, they can't get it open, he refuses to open it.

They try to get his name from him.

He knows nothing about who he is, obviously.

He's totally dazed.

And so they bring him back to the village and try to try to help him recover.

And over a period of six months he did Somewhere along the way he opened his hand up.

And here was the kind of tattered, soiled remains of a New Testament.

And they opened it up.

And in front of it said Corporal J.

B.

Stubblefield, Hillsboro, Tennessee.

He got home because of that.

Because there was one thing he remembered when he'd lost everything else.

Hang on to this book wherever you go.

And you'll be okay.

That's what you give to a life you're trying to shape, whatever age they are.

Hang on to this book wherever you go.

And you'll be okay.

And that's that's going to happen when they see the power of a promise-driven life.

Exciting, huh?

If they make the promises of God, their North Star to steer by, they're never going to get lost.

Let's look at the the uh one one other aspect of of bulletproofing their life, and that is no regrets, choices. that the the motto of their decision making ought to be no regrets.

When I get past this decision, I'll be glad I made it.

Now how do you make those kinds of decisions?

Those kinds of choices where there are no regrets.

Many of us here, we know all of us made decisions we do regret.

Here's how you make no regrets choices.

First of all, you're guided by the tapestry and not the thread.

I'll explain that.

Joshua 23, 8 and 9, here's what he says.

You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake.

He actually went through the entire history of the Jewish people.

He started with Abram.

They're like, why are we going back 500 years?

Good night.

And he's talking about Abram and Isaac and Jacob and Egypt and bondage and and the kings that they defeated on the uh before they ever crossed the Jordan River.

And he's talking about uh the the the parting of the Red Sea and the parting of of the Jordan River.

Why?

Because He wants them to see their life against the backdrop of the big picture.

Guys, you realize that what we're doing now, I don't ever want you to forget, God is doing a tapestry.

We got a thread going right now, but we are part of a divine thing that is something he is weaving.

And so you make better choices when you make a tapestry choice instead of a thread choice.

Does that make sense?

You might make one choice if you're just looking at the thread, you might make a whole other choice and a better choice if you're looking at this big thing that it that thread is a part of.

Secondly, those kinds of choices are guided by the track record of God.

And you see that that's exactly what they he reviewed was the track record of God.

And and he he he told them about how God rescued them from bondage.

He told them about how he rescued them from the bombardment of enemies.

He talks about how God re won their battles for them, lavished his love on them. the track record of God.

The third way you make no regrets choices is you think about the next generations.

This is not in your notes, but write this down.

A wise choice is the one you'll be glad you made ten years from now.

Now you could put another number in there, 5, 20, 50, but a wise choice is one you'll be glad you made 10 years from now.

In other words, you really should think about your future because you're going to spend a lot of time there.

What is this going to do?

Well I'd be proud of this decision and believe me you will in many cases this isn't just about this is about leadership it's about all kinds of decisions that we make not just we're telling them to make You see , because so many times if you make the decision that will feel good now, that will make people happy now, you will make a regrettable decision If you make one of the tests of your decision making, how am I going to feel about this?

Is this going to be something that will stand the test of time?

Well, ten years from now. .

People go, boy, we didn't see it at the time, but thank you for making that decision. .

The tapestry, not the thread, the track record of God, the next generations, if those guide your decisions, you will make no regrets choices Now, um couple more.

What I call landmine protection Joshua, there were no landmines at that time, but Joshua actually was showing them, protecting them from the landmines he knew they were going to be walking on a minefield in Canaan.

A minefield of temptations, like our younger generation.

Which generation would you have rather grown up in?

Yours or this one?

Okay, yeah, I think we know the answer to that.

Well, it's getting- and and and Joshua knows, because his generation was with God-type folks.

You know, sort of Bible type folks.

They weren't they made a lot of mistakes, but they all were sort of, they knew God stuff.

This next generation is going to be living in a pagan culture And they've got to have a whole different set of things.

So he's getting them ready for the landmines.

Let's go to those verses in Joshua 23 Be very strong and be careful to obey all that is written in the book of the law of Moses without turning aside to the right or the left.

There's going to be a lot of things to distract you.

Do not associate with these nations that remain among you.

Now we just got here, guys, but let me tell you, you're going to be tempted to invoke the names of their gods. or swear by them.

There are going to be other things that could become a worship thing in your life.

You must not serve them or bow down to them.

That's one landmine.

You are to hold fast to the Lord your God as you have until now.

The Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations, and to this day no one has been able to withstand you. then you may be sure that you, this he says, if you start to associate with the with and marry them, the Canaanites, God will no longer drive out these nations before you.

They'll become snares, traps, whips, thorns, until you perish from this good land.

Um he is telling them how the good place could become a graveyard.

Oh, it's a good place today, but this same great place could become a graveyard for you guys. if you step on the landmines.

And it's going to have to do with other things that will be more important to you than God, idols.

And it's going to have to do largely with compromise.

Beware the quicksand of compromise.

Do you know when they entered the promised land, Moses' first or Joshua's first speech was a charge to possess the land.

Do you know what his final charge is?

Don't let the land possess you.

Yep.

Go possess the land.

We got the land.

Now don't let this land become who you are.

Don't be defined by this culture.

Don't be defined by your environment.

Don't be defined by what's cool.

You be defined by whose you are, who you belong to.

You know how the good place becomes a graveyard?

What if the doctor said to you, and he had as he has to some people in this room , you have cancer?

He said, well what doctor, what are you gonna do?

He said What we're gonna do is we're gonna try and and and and and there's a surgery and and afterwards you say what happened?

He said, well, we got a lot of it.

But we left some of it.

What?

What you want to hear is we got all the cancer Well we we got a lot.

It was dinner time and so we didn't get it all, but we left a little.

Only a little.

We only left a little.

God says if you leave a little of the cancer in this land, it's gonna kill you.

You can't leave a little cancer And there they what they did is they they left some that they weren't supposed to leave there.

They were supposed to perform radical surgery, and instead they left a little cancer, and the cancer ate them up.

They need to know that compromise is a quicksand that will suck them in and you have got to stop the temptation at the first time it shows up on the beach.

And this is important.

We need to teach them about royal relationships.

Royal relationships.

Joshua 23, 12.

If you ally yourselves with the survivors of these nations, and if you intermarry with them and associate with them Over and over you read in the Old Testament, the thing that ruined this, I gave you a promised land for heaven's sake.

And what did them in every time was relationships.

They got compromised by relationships with people who did not worship their God. who did not live the holy life God asked them to live.

And pretty soon they began to even worship their gods.

But it started with relationships.

We have to prepare the next generation to realize they are sons and daughters of God.

They are a prince or a princess. in the family of God.

They are the blood-bought purchase of Jesus Christ.

They are the if they know who they are, they will make the right choices And our job is to help them realize you will become what your relationships make you As someone wisely said, tell me about your friends, and I'll tell you about you.

It's best if you can teach this before they're making bad choices.

It's a little hard then because now what you're trying to teach him has a name.

Now you're against Charlie instead of a principal.

That says, don't settle for less than God's best.

Guard your heart.

That verse, Proverbs 4. 23, is a tremendous one to give to the next gen.

Guard your heart for out of it is the wellspring of life.

I'll tell you, I one thing the terrorists would love to do if they could get past our security is they would love to get one to one of our reservoirs And they would love to poison those reservoirs.

Why?

Because out of a thousand faucets comes water. from one source, that reservoir.

And if we can poison the reservoir, everything that comes out of the faucets will be poisoned The reservoir is right here.

And God says you put heavy security around that reservoir, baby.

Because everything comes out of there.

And if you allow by what you watch, what you listen to, understand.

And again, try to get ahead of this so it isn't about their favorite band.

You just don't like my music.

No.

This is a principle.

This isn't about don't don't don't die on that hill.

That's the wrong hill to die on.

But make it about, do you know who you are?

And don't settle for anything less than that.

Doug was a baseball card collector when he was in high school.

I bought him a little pack of baseball cards when he was a little boy.

Oh my goodness.

I had no idea what that would become.

He was really good at it.

And um there was one thing that was never a mess, his his baseball cards.

Oh yeah.

Teenage boy, but man, he has got them in plastic in because he really was a good investor.

He knew how to Buy low, sell high, you know, and uh uh even help pay his way through college some with with with that.

I mean he's very good at it.

And um And those cards, he would say that Dad, these are the real rare ones.

And you know what made a card valuable?

You know, it was like this star that there weren't many of his rookie card because nobody knew he was going to be a star and Doug had studied and said this guy's gonna be a star so he bought the card before the guy was a star so he had lots of them so when the guy became a star he had lots of them.

Okay, whatever.

Well, he said, Dad, the reason I take such good care of them is because I they if they have some dings in them or you know some creases or whatever, they're just not as valuable.

It's really important to keep them in.

Mint conditioned.

If you any of you collect anything, you know what makes something valuable is if it's in mint condition.

I've challenged young people To say, you are a treasurer.

Stay in mint condition.

You're less valuable with dings and creases.

And that'll happen in the relationships.

And literally Joshua says, I gotta warn you about relationships, guys, because that's what'll bring us down.

That's the agenda for legacy living.

Here's the last one, calling for a verdict, and we're done after this.

Calling for a verdict.

He doesn't just tell them, but he calls them to a choice.

Joshua 24 verse 14.

Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness.

Throw away the gods.

Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the river in Egypt.

And serve the Lord.

But if serving the Lord, if that seems too tough, you don't want to do that.

Choose for yourselves this day, whom you will serve.

He's like giving an invitation.

Sing just as I am.

Make your choice, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the river, that's actually uh that means like Abraham's gods from back in the the moon worshipping Ur the Chaldes, or the gods of the Amorites, that would have been the wilderness, in whose land uh excuse me, that's that's Canaan, where they are now, in the land you are living.

As for me and my household, well we made our choice, we will serve The Lord.

Now he says you got a choice of gods to make.

Now let's get this straight.

This isn't about a little, you know this, it's not about a little statue in your closet It's about what is the center of your life around which you revolve most of your important things What is the sun and what are the planets in your life?

If most of your decisions are made based on money, Then money is the sun, everything else is the planets, including God, who revolves around your sun.

Even something noble.

If your family is really functionally the most important thing to you, then your family is the son.

And everything else is the planets that revolves around it.

Of being liked and being accepted is really how you call your shots Then that's your sun and everyone including God has to revolve around it as one of your planets.

That's what your God is.

You know what the old hymn says?

The dearest idol I have known, help me tear it from the throne and worship only thee.

You know, um, I was thinking about, you know who he was calling them to reject?

Tribal gods.

Different tribes have different gods.

Well that's true today.

The business tribe has gods, don't they?

You know what some of those are.

Success, no matter what it takes to get it, compromises and integrity, if that's what it takes to get the sale.

Sacrificing your family. to succeed in your work.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Well that that that would be a tribal god.

There's the the parent tribe.

The parent tribe has gods.

Raising a super kid Living your life through your child?

Vicariously?

Trying to be a control freak in the life of your son or daughter.

Yeah, there's tribal gods in the parent tribe.

Ministry.

The ministry tribe.

Yeah, they have gods.

Yeah.

Using the work of God to get recognized.

To build a reputation.

When ministry becomes your identity, in other words, if I lost my ability to speak and could never be in ministry again, would I know who I am?

That's a good way to identify an idol in your life.

If I didn't have that, would I know who I am?

Whatever it is.

What if you were in an accident and lost your good looks?

What if you lost your health?

Say, whatever happened to me?

Do you know who you are?

If you lost the capability to do the thing that everybody defines you, that's what you do.

Would you know who you are?

You're son or daughter of God.

That's your identity.

There's a lot of tribal gods that we have to reject.

Retirement.

Oh, the retirement tribe Security?

Hey, I've served my time, baby.

We are gonna spend our kid our grandchild's inheritance.

Yes, we are We are gonna we're gonna just um recreate and be comfortable.

We worked hard for this and somehow I thought when you're in a race, I've seen Olympic champions.

You don't slow down as you get near the end of the race.

You save your best for the last lap.

That's where you give it all.

What is this?

I'm now in the lighter part of the race and I've slowed to a walk Hello?

Knock knock.

No, I'm going to run with everything I've got all the way to the finish line and collapse with nothing left to give in Jesus' arms.

Yeah.

Don't buy the retirement tribes gods.

God's truth demands a verdict.

Not just do I believe it, but do I choose it.

Not just do I believe it, but do I choose it He didn't say, how many of you believe what I believe?

He said, do you choose what I have chosen?

Until you choose it, it's just head stuff.

And choose we must And here's what choosing means.

It is the repeated dethroning of one God. and the enthroning of another.

It is the repeated dethroning of whatever God today, because it changes day to day.

Whatever God is currently I've let take the throne and it's enthroning another God.

That's why you don't just choose one day whom you will serve.

Because somewhere, John Calvin said this, the human heart is a perpetual idol-making factory.

Isn't that interesting?

The human heart is a perpetual idol-making factory.

We get new idols pop up all the time.

Something that wasn't an idol yesterday might be today.

Because of whatever circumstances.

So you have to constantly check who or what is on the throne.

This is an interesting question for you to answer, not out loud.

What do you think God would say is his biggest competition for the throne in your heart?

When he does get dethroned, even if briefly, what is that doesn't?

Might be anxiety, might be worry, who knows what it is.

What fights him for the throne?

There's where you have to choose this day.

And every day.

The throne in your heart is never empty.

It's always contested.

The throne in your heart is never empty, but it is always contested.

So, home stretch.

Ultimately, living with uncommon courage.

Boils down to making means, here's uncommon courage.

You believe God's promise And you make blessable choices.

You say, Ron, why didn't you do that the first time?

We just said the first session we're going to, you know, saved a lot of time.

Well, I had to build the case.

Believing God's promise And as a result of his promise, you dare to risk making a blotzable, if seemingly crazy, counterintuitive choice.

That's uncommon courage.

Or here's a summary.

Be strong means you do the hard thing When everything in us wants to do the easy thing.

Be courageous means you do the brave thing.

Even though you'd rather do the safe thing.

Be careful to obey.

Means do the right thing Do the hard thing.

Do the brave thing.

Do the right thing And you will live in whatever land God has long ago planned for you to live in.

And Joshua issues a very haunting question that I think is for all generations.

And it might be one that I'd ask you to answer for yourself.

It's in Joshua 18, verse 3.

Joshua said to the Israelites, How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your ancestors, has given you, I brought you into it.

How long are you going to wait?

To make the move?

I wonder if he's asking you that.

When are you going to just do it?

And quit thinking about what if and what might and Will you just do it?

How long are you gonna wait?

The time is now and the time is short.

The most of every day.

As I think God is leaning in and whispering in your ear as he is in mine.

Whatever your life has been up until now.

However, and I think I know that you all you this is a group of people who live a make-a-difference life.

But I suspect he might be leaning in through our time together and saying this.

It's been good.

But you're made for more.

Go for the more.

How long do you want to wait to take possession of it?

Let's pray together.

Lord, as we As we try to absorb the message That you brought us here to hear.

Somewhere in all of this that we've heard and experienced here.

You are answering the question, what message does my Lord have for his servant?

As Joshua asked you so long ago.

May we hear your message and do it.

And not hesitate any longer.

How long will we wait to inherit the land?

I pray for those here who have made a public declaration and those who in their hearts are doing the same kind of business with you.

I pray that you would insulate them against whatever attack will come from the enemy to steal the seed away.

We pray he will not succeed and they'll see the lie.

And they'll take their stand against the devil scheme.

I pray for everyone here who wants a fresh start that you would give us a new appetite for your word, a hunger.

An anticipation?

How soon can I get back and be with him?

And may we look for not just a no but a do when we go there.

May we become God thinkers, God sighs.

And Lord, every one of us here represents some lost person back home.

Who in your eyes, we are their hope, humanly speaking.

May we not let them down.

May we not let you down.

May we rescue like you did.

And answer your prayer, Jesus, that as the Father sent you into the world, we're getting sent.

So we can be like our Savior.

And may the dearest idol we have known, may we tear it from the throne.

And worship only you.

Now, Lord, fueled by your promises, basing our life on your promises.

Defined by what our God has promised us.

Whatever happens in our world, our country, our culture, our health, our house.

May we be strong and courageous, and be careful to obey everything the Lord our God has commanded us.

For the Lord our God is with us wherever we go.

And that's the deciding factor.

Thank you, Lord, for meeting us here.

This is holy ground at this moment.

Our Bethel, our Shechem.

Thank you, Lord.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.