Joshua Chapter 1:7-18

We are to serve Him.

Why? Because He's already come to serve us. Remember He said, I came to serve you and to give my life as a ransom to many. And as a model that we should lay our lives down and in turn and serve Him. Again, not service and some trying to earn my salvation or something. Service and love and gratitude, a decision to serve the Lord.

Welcome to Cross the Bridge with David McGee. David is the Senior Pastor of the Bridge in Kernersville, North Carolina. We should be servants of the Lord in love, humility and gratitude. Be encouraged in this today as Pastor David continues his study in the book of Joshua chapter one. But first, have you ever experienced the time when you felt spiritually drained?

Well, the Bible holds the cure that will bring joy and vitality back into your life. That's why we want to send you a copy of Pastor David McGee's video message, A Checkup from the Neck Up. In this inspiring teaching, you'll find biblical truths that can restore your spiritual health. A Checkup from the Neck Up is our way to thank you for your gift this month to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life.

So please visit crossthebridge.com to get your copy of A Checkup from the Neck Up. Now here's David McGee with his teaching from Joshua one, servants of the Lord. Turn with me to Joshua chapter one, verse seven. Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go.

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. What is success as a church, as a fellowship?

How do we define that? I think that's very important. I think that is mission critical because you know, if we don't know where we're going, how are we going to get there? And I think it's important for myself and the leadership to prayerfully consider these things. Habakkuk chapter two, verse two says, then the Lord answered me and said, write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. So the vision has to be cast.

It has to be out there. And then you need to say, okay, well, that's where we're going. Let's run for it.

Let's go for it. As we look at this, how do we define this word success as a church, as a body? I can tell you, it's not going to be like most people define it.

I mean, most people, sadly, a lot of churches would define it. Well, you know, success is if we got a bunch of people. Success is if we got a big, nice building. Success is if we got a huge budget.

To me, that's not success. When we started this fellowship, you know, I was just, I was desiring to teach the Bible and to see people equipped for ministry and to see people get saved. And I was willing to be happy if we had 15 people.

I didn't care. I just wanted to do what God had told me to do and watch him bring the fruit. And it's blown my mind what has happened in the last few years. And when I sit down and especially in talking about planning and talking about the next few years to imagine where God is going to have us in a few years, man, I just get really excited. You know, if you've been here for very long, you've seen stuff and you're going, wow. But that's not what I'm about. That's not something that I'm living for.

You know, if I was living for big crowds, let me be honest, I would have kept traveling and kept teaching and kept ministry in that venue because I don't know how it happened, but you know, I mean, I was teaching to huge churches, six, eight, 10,000 people, but that's not what it's about. You can find it in the first two words of our little four word thing. First two words are reach and teach. The other two words are mend and send, but mending and sending kind of happen as the first two happen. If we take care of the first two, the second two just happen as a natural progression.

The first two we have to identify and we have to aim for. The first thing is to reach, reach the community, reach the lost, reach the unchurched, reach the disillusioned. What do I mean by disillusioned? Those are people who have been to church and were very disappointed in what they found. See, it was interesting after 9-11 church attendance spiked up and then went back down.

You know why? Because people went to the church for answers and so many of them said, well, we don't have any answers. And those are the people that you get that are really angry at God, really angry at Christianity. You know, the lady had so much about getting prayer out of schools, Madeline O'Hare. I often wondered, what happened to her? Something bad happened to her.

And I wonder if it happened at the hands of a Christian. See, because what happens, people go and they go to hear the truth and they don't get the truth. They want some reality and they get hypocrisy. They want reality, they get ritual. And they go, man, this is useless.

This is useless. And I'll tell you what it's like. Have you ever gone up to a drink machine and put your money in?

You invest into this drink machine, you push the button, and nothing comes out? That'll get you in the flesh, won't it? I mean, when that happens, that just, boy, it flies all over me.

That's what happens sometimes. And those people need what we're offering here, the reality, not pomp and circumstance or empty ritualism, but the reality of Jesus Christ. And this is a place those people can come and be real and be themselves and experience the life-changing power of Jesus Christ.

And they do that through the teaching of the Word, but we have to keep that in front of us. Why? Because anything that gets in the way of that, we need to get it out of the way. Now, bear with me. This is the first part.

Bear with me. This is the first part. The next part is to teach. Teach what? Well, we could label this, the we ones, the kids, the youth, and adults. We could label this as discipleship, or you could say reach the unsaved and teach the saved would be a good way to break it out. Now, see, those two things are what we're about, reach and teach. It's so important that we do both of these things and that you understand both of these things are important. You know why? Because here's what happens in the church world.

They look at the reach part and they go, well, we got to reach the unsaved. Amen. We're together on that. And they say, okay, so what we need to do is we need to remove everything that's in the way of that. Amen. We're still on the same page. Oh, and you know what? We need to water it down so it's a little easier going down. We need to get away from talking about absolute truth and sin and hell and the law, which leads you to the good news.

Let's not talk about the bad news. Let's just affirm people and make them feel good. And we'll draw them in that way. Yeah, you'll draw them in that way, but what are you drawing them to?

What are you drawing them to? See, and here's what happens. I was talking to a guy yesterday, local church, and he's been there for years and years, but he wants to leave the church.

You know why? Because every Sunday morning, everything is about a gospel message to the lost. Sounds good, sounds noble, right? Problem is 80, 90, 95% of the people that are sitting there on Sunday morning are believers and they're wanting meat and they're getting milk. So that's why it's important that we understand we want to reach the lost and we want to teach the saved. When I'm preparing my teachings, I try to present three things, milk, meat, and the gospel. In other words, if somebody's a young Christian, I want them to get something that they walk away with. If they're an older Christian, I want to give them something to ponder and to think about and to change the way they live. If they're not a believer, I want them to understand what the gospel is. And at the end of that, giving them an invitation to respond to that. So teaching or discipling, you can say, okay, well, you know, how do you know when that happens? Well, it's pretty straightforward because you guys begin to change and I can watch it, and it's awesome. So that's the teach or the disciple part. What about the reach part?

How can you see when that's working? It's not hard here. It's not hard. You'll see it just about every Sunday morning. As the invitation is given, and week after week after week, this altar fills up with people. Some people coming back to the Lord, some people getting saved. It's an awesome, awesome thing.

Now here's something else that's convicting to me that I'm going to share with y'all. What should our response be to that? See, in the past, you know, and you've seen me do this, and some of you probably wondered why I did that. You know, I'd say, hey, let's give the Lord a hand for what is happening this morning. And some people are like, yeah, and some people are like, eh. And some people are like, go to lunch.

Go to lunch. But what should, as believers, what should our response be to that? What happens in heaven? Luke chapter 15 verse 7 says, I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 just persons who need no repentance. Luke 15 10, parable of the lost coin. Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.

One, just one. And yet every Sunday morning, there's more than one. Luke 15 20, parable of the prodigal son. And he arose and came to his father, but when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, bring out the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet and bring the fatted calf here and kill it and let us eat and be merry. For this my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost and is found and they began to be merry. I've pointed out before, the only way the father could have seen him from a long ways off is if he was sitting there watching and waiting.

You realize that's what goes on here on Sunday morning? The father looks down and somebody's heart gets stirred. And you can see them, I should, I really should, I should go down there.

I should really go down there. And the father's looking and he's drawing them and then they stand and the father's like, yes. And they make their way out the row and father's going, all right. And then they walk down front and kneel here at the altar. And the father's going, hallelujah. When's the last time you saw somebody that came down front and congratulated them or encouraged them? I'm right here with you. I am being convicted. As I was writing this and putting it together, I was just, the Holy Spirit was flying all over me, man.

Went up to him and said, you know what? That's the best decision you ever made. It's going to change your life.

Oh, it's awesome. I saw you up at the altar, man. What's your name? I don't know your name. Can I pray for you?

I'll be praying for you this week. Should that be happening? You bet you. You bet you.

What should the response be when somebody comes down front and I say, you know what? Let's celebrate. Let's rejoice. Should it be, or should we scare people that were so stoked about what just happened? I think we need to scare people a little bit. Because you know what'll happen? Some people that come down that are, they're feeling weird. I mean, this is, you know, perhaps they've never felt the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. They're responding to that convicting power, but they're not really even sure what's going on.

I don't know. I just felt, I felt guilty. I felt horrible.

And then I just knew I had to come down here and I want to pray that prayer he prayed and I did all that. And I just don't know what's going on now. And then they hear you erupt with applause and yahoos and hoops and hollers. They're going to realize they just did something that was awesome. They're going to realize they just did something that was great. Do you want them to feel like that?

I do too. You're listening to Pastor David McGee on Cross the Bridge. He'll be back with more powerful insight from God's Word in just a moment. But first, your enemy, the devil, doesn't want you to experience the life-giving truths of God's Word. He wants to rob you of the full life God wants for you.

But you can overcome his attacks because there is supernatural power in the Word of God. That's why we want to send you Pastor David McGee's video message called A Checkup from the Neck Up. This powerful resource will show you how to revitalize your spiritual health and grow in your faith daily by meditating on God's powerful Word. A Checkup from the Neck Up is our way to thank you for your gift this month to help more people on this station and beyond cross the bridge from death to life.

So please, visit crossthebridge.com now to get your copy of A Checkup from the Neck Up. Now, back to today's message. I love that. Possess the land. Possess the land. God had already given them the land, but they had to go in and possess the land. When we're talking about these other things, that's what we're talking about, possessing the land. Remember the word which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you saying, the Lord your God has given you rest and has given you this land. Your wives, your little ones, and your livestock shall remain in the land which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan. But you shall pass before your brethren armed, all your mighty men of valor and help them.

See, now your attention, look at this. Understand the concept here. There's two and a half tribes that are staying on the other side of the Jordan. But God says, you know what you got to do? You can't just stop and take your land while people are still fighting. You've got to go in with them and fight with them to help them win the battles.

That's supposed to be happening here in the body. See, when you see somebody struggling, when you see somebody in the midst of a battle, don't stand off to the side and sneer. How un-Christlike can you be? Oh, again, they're struggling. Let me go. I'll pick up the phone and tell a bunch of people how they're struggling. Do you think about praying for them?

Think about calling them? Hey, you know, it looks like you're struggling. You all right?

You okay? Because while one person is still fighting, we should all be fighting with them. Let me assure you, everybody in here is fighting to one degree or another. You may have a day or two off from big battles, but that's about it. So everyone in here is fighting a battle that we need to be fighting with them for.

Verse 15, until the Lord has given you your brethren rest as he gave you, and they also have taken possession of land which the Lord your God has given them, then you shall return to the Lord of your possession and enjoy it, which the Lord's servant gave you on this side of the Jordan torch, the sunrise. So once we're finished fighting, then we can really get rested. We can rest. But guys, let's be honest. That's not going to happen here.

That's not going to happen here. There's always going to be somebody that's on the fence, somebody that's struggling, somebody that doesn't yet know about Jesus, or somebody who's just had an incredibly bad experience with the church that we have the opportunity to reach out and pull in and love on and pray for. And until we're all in heaven, that's going to be what's going on. And you know what?

Let's be honest. Sometimes that's going to be you. Sometimes you'll be on the fence. Sometimes you'll be struggling. Sometimes you'll be hurting. Do you want somebody to come up in the midst of those times and say, hey, man, you all right? Can I pray for you? Well, if you want somebody to do that to you, do that to somebody else.

Be willing to go up to somebody and ask them and talk to them and pray for them and encourage them. Because you know that when you're in those places, you desire that, right? And don't ever think, well, I might be meddling. Go ahead and meddle.

Boy, I meddle all the time from up here and meddle all the time during the week. How are you doing? You don't look so good. You all right?

And you know what? Nobody's ever said, that's none of your business. Leave me alone. Don't talk to me. Okay. Maybe one or two people, but most people really enjoy you asking that and saying, you know what? I care.

Can I pray for you? Verse 16. So the answer, Josh was saying, all that you command us, we will do. And wherever you send us, we will go. Isn't that awesome?

That is awesome. They said, you know what, Joshua? We're with you, man. We are following you. And remember, two strengths that Joshua pursued all his life was number one, faith in God and number two, obedience to his word. And you know what's cool? Do you see that it said the book of the law? All the first five books were considered one book at that time.