ESC Shabbat Service: Bailey Briner - Season Changes

Aug 15, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Stones From the Riverbed of Transition

The Jordan River’s current stilled as priests stood firm, their sandals sinking into mud that would become a memorial. Transition demands more than movement—it requires carrying the weight of holy moments into new seasons. When Israel crossed into the unknown, they gathered stones from the exact place where God’s presence halted the waters. These stones asked future generations: Do you see where He stood? Our transitions become testimonies when we mark where God intervened. [01:50:17]

“When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over.”
(Joshua 4:21–23, ESV)

Reflection: What “stones” have you gathered from past seasons of change? How could naming one specific act of God’s faithfulness strengthen someone navigating uncertainty today?

Day 2: Dipping Sandals Into Unparted Waters

The miracle began with wet feet. Priests stepped into the Jordan’s current before the waters stilled, their obedience a threshold for God’s power. Faith isn’t the absence of risk but the choice to let your next step become the altar where God meets you. What floodplain are you hesitating to enter? [01:42:16]

“And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.”
(Joshua 3:13, ESV)

Reflection: Where is God inviting you to step into “unparted waters” right now? What practical fear keeps your feet dry, and what truth about God’s character could loosen its grip?

Day 3: The Weight That Anchors Your Standing

The ark wasn’t a symbol—it was a 200-pound reminder that bearing God’s presence demands strength. Priests stood knee-deep in the riverbed, muscles straining, as an entire nation passed by. Seasons of waiting aren’t passive; they’re the holy labor of holding ground until God says move. [01:45:38]

“The priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.”
(Joshua 3:17, ESV)

Reflection: What “weight” are you carrying in this season that feels spiritually necessary? How might this burden actually be anchoring you to God’s purpose?

Day 4: Braiding Your Life With His Waiting

The Hebrew word kavah—to wait—means to bind strands into a rope. Waiting on God isn’t idle time; it’s the active intertwining of your story with His faithfulness. Like priests bearing the ark, what feels like standing still might actually be the tension that keeps you from unraveling. [01:54:26]

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!”
(Psalm 27:13–14, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you tempted to “cut the rope” of waiting through hurried decisions? How could this season of tension instead strengthen your trust in God’s timing?

Day 5: The Bitter-Sweetness of Pulling Away

Moving vans and tear-stained hugs marked the preacher’s own transitions—a reminder that every new beginning costs something. Israel’s stones memorialized both the miracle and the grief of leaving the wilderness. God honors the complexity of holding joy and loss in the same hands. [01:35:45]

“And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there.”
(Joshua 4:8, ESV)

Reflection: What bittersweet ending are you navigating? How might God be asking you to carry both gratitude for what was and courage for what’s next?

Sermon Summary

The season of change is named plainly as a place that can carry grief, joy, hope, fear, words from the Lord, and all the mixed feelings that come with leaving one thing and stepping into another. Personal transitions like graduation, moving, marriage, and having children become a picture of what a whole community can feel when God is shifting a season. The point is not to pretend change is simple. The point is to notice what is being stirred and then look for where the Lord is and what he is doing.

Joshua 3 and 4 set the stage with Israel standing at the Jordan after forty years in the desert. The people had known God’s provision, even in discipline, and now a new generation was about to enter the promise. Many of them had not seen the Red Sea with their own eyes. Joshua had been charged to be strong and courageous, and the people needed to know that the God leading them forward was the same God who had worked miracles for their fathers.

The ark of the covenant had to go first because Israel had “not passed this way before.” The presence of the Lord led the way before the people moved. The priests were not carrying a symbol lightly. The ark may have weighed well over a hundred pounds, and “it’s heavy work to carry the presence of the Lord.” Their obedience meant stepping into the water before it opened, standing firm in the middle of the Jordan, and bearing the weight until all Israel crossed over.

The Jordan crossing becomes a sign of God’s might and faithfulness for a new generation. The priests stood where the miracle was happening, and the people passed through on dry ground. Stones were taken from the place where the priests stood, and stones were placed there as a memorial. Remembering was not optional. The Lord wanted the children to ask, “What do these stones mean?” so the story of his mighty hand would be told again.

Psalm 27 gives language for the same call: “Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage.” Waiting is not passive sitting back. The Hebrew word kavah carries the sense of eager expectation, confident endurance, like braiding a rope. Waiting on the Lord means a life being braided with his, so that strength comes from encounter. The things in a life that require strength and courage require an encounter with the Lord.

Key Takeaways

1. The ark must go first [01:41:17] The ark of the presence led Israel because the people had not passed that way before. New seasons require more than planning, preference, or courage by itself. The presence of the Lord must go ahead, or even the promised place can become a place of confusion. [101:17]
2. Presence-bearing is heavy work [01:43:18] The priests carried real weight, not just a beautiful idea. Bearing the presence of the Lord can require strength, endurance, and obedience that does not move until God says to move. Holy calling is not weightless, but God gives encounter for what he asks his people to carry. [103:18]
3. Faith steps into the water [01:47:07] The priests did not wait for the Jordan to part before obeying. Their feet touched the brink of the water, and then the sign of God’s faithfulness appeared. Obedience in transition often begins before the evidence feels complete. [107:07]
4. Remembering protects the next generation [01:50:17] The stones were not decoration. They were a way to make the works of God visible to children who would need to hear what the Lord had done. A community that remembers well gives the next generation more than information, it gives them a witness to God’s mighty hand. [110:17]
5. Waiting braids life with God [01:54:09] Psalm 27’s call to wait is active, eager, and full of endurance. Kavah pictures a life being woven together with the Lord, like strands becoming a stronger rope. Waiting on God is not wasted time, it is the place where courage is gathered.

## [114:09]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[15:11] - Worship and the Goodness of the Lord
[93:21] - Gratitude for the Community
[93:57] - Season Changes and Waiting on the Lord
[97:25] - A Community in Transition
[98:26] - Setting the Stage in Joshua
[100:15] - Israel’s New Generation and Joshua’s Charge
[101:17] - The Ark Goes First
[102:53] - Priests Bearing the Weight
[105:02] - Standing Firm in the Jordan
[108:07] - Encountering God Before Taking the Land
[110:17] - Stones of Remembrance
[113:36] - Psalm 27 and Active Waiting
[115:26] - Prayer and Invitation to Encounter

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Joshua 3:1-4:24
Then Joshua rose early in the morning and they set out from Shittim. And they came to the Jordan, he and all the people of Israel, and lodged there before they passed over. At the end of three days the officers went through the camp and commanded the people, “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. Yet there shall be a distance between you and it, about 2,000 cubits in length. Do not come near it, in order that you may know the way you shall go, for you have not passed this way before.” Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people. The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’” And Joshua said to the people of Israel, “Come here and listen to the words of the Lord your God.” And Joshua said, “Here is how you shall know that the living God is among you and that he will without fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Hivites, the Perizzites, the Girgashites, the Amorites, and the Jebusites. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan. Now therefore take twelve men from the tribes of Israel, from each tribe a man. And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap.” So when the people set out from their tents to pass over the Jordan with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people, and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho. Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan. When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests' feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’” Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people passed over in haste. And when all the people had finished passing over, the ark of the Lord and the priests passed over before the people. The sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh passed over armed before the people of Israel, as Moses had told them. About 40,000 ready for war passed over before the Lord for battle, to the plains of Jericho. On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him, as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life. And the Lord said to Joshua, “Command the priests bearing the ark of the testimony to come up out of the Jordan.” So Joshua commanded the priests, “Come up out of the Jordan.” And when the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet were lifted up on dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before. The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and they encamped at Gilgal on the east border of Jericho. And those twelve stones, which they took out of the Jordan, Joshua set up at Gilgal. And he said to the people of Israel, “When your children ask their fathers in times to come, ‘What do these stones mean?’ then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’ For the Lord your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the Lord your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty, that you may fear the Lord your God forever.” [01:38:32]

Observation questions

In Joshua 3, what are the people told to do when they see the ark, and what reason is given for keeping distance from it? [01:41:17]
What do the priests actually do before the Jordan opens, and where are they told to stand? [01:41:49]
What details in Joshua 3 and 4 show that the priests had to remain in place for a significant stretch of time while the nation crossed? [01:45:02]
What were the twelve stones meant to do, and who were they especially meant to speak to later on? [01:50:17]

Interpretation questions

Israel had not passed that way before, so the ark had to go first. What does that reveal about how God leads his people in unfamiliar seasons, especially when a person or a community cannot see the whole path yet? [01:47:07]
The priests stepped into the water before it parted and stood firm until everything was finished. What does that suggest about the relationship between obedience, trust, and seeing God move? [01:47:24]
The memorial stones were set up so children would ask questions and hear the story again. Why might remembering God’s acts be so important in keeping faith alive across generations? [01:51:12]
Psalm 27 describes waiting for the Lord as active and strengthening, not passive. How does that deepen the meaning of courage in a season of transition? [01:54:09]

Application questions

What season of change feels most real right now: grief, hope, fear, joy, or a mix of several things? What has been stirred in the heart, and what might it look like to honestly bring that before the Lord instead of trying to flatten it out? [01:37:46]
“You have not passed this way before” is true in many parts of life. Where is there a temptation to move ahead by planning alone, reacting quickly, or leaning on personal preference instead of letting the Lord’s presence go first? [01:49:30]
The priests had to put their feet in the water before the river opened. What might “stepping into the water” look like in one specific area right now: a conversation, a decision, an act of obedience, or a risk of trust? [01:42:28]
Bearing the presence of the Lord is not weightless. What feels heavy in this season, and how can that weight be carried with obedience rather than resentment or self-reliance? [01:43:18]
The priests stood firm until God said to move. Where is there a need not just for a bold start, but for steady endurance? What would staying in place before the Lord look like this week? [01:47:43]
The things that require strength and courage require an encounter with the Lord. Where does a fresh encounter with him feel especially needed right now, and how can space be made for that in a practical way? [01:51:38]
God’s people are called to remember in visible ways. What are some “stones of remembrance” that could help mark God’s faithfulness in this season: a written testimony, a shared story, a journal entry, a family conversation, or something else? Who may need to hear that story from you? [01:53:03]

Sermon Clips

54s

#WaitWithStrength

“Sounds familiar to me to be strong and courageous. To be strong and let your heart take courage. The Hebrew word here for wait is kavah, which has more of an active meaning. It implies, like, to eagerly look for, to hope in, or to expect with confident endurance. Instead of this passive sitting back, it really implies a gathering strength. It's like braiding a rope. So when you wait on the Lord, you are braiding your life with his, and this is what gives you the ability to bear the weight of his presence.”

53s

#PassOnFaith

“need to do what is necessary so that we remember the acts of God in our lives and communicate it to the next generation. These steps are not easy. They require courage, and in most cases, as we could see earlier, bearing the weight of the presence of the Lord requires strength. The things in your life that require strength and courage require an encounter with the Lord. I'm gonna say that one more time. The things in your life that require strength and courage require an encounter with the Lord.”

68s

#StandFirmInFaith

“We need to follow the Lord because we have not been this way before. We need to believe that God will show signs of his might and faithfulness in each generation. believe like the priests, we are called to step out in faith and to bear the weight of his calling on our lives personally and corporately, and to stand firm as an act of obedience to sign and as a sign to those around us that we believe that God will move. We are to wait on the Lord standing firm until he moves. And I also believe that we are called to remember. The Lord had a person from each tribe take a stone from the place where the priests stood and form a memorial.”

63s

#EncounterBeforeConquest

“So as I think about these verses and I think about the priests and I think about this time in the community of Israel. They were they were going from this place of they had been in slavery, and then they'd been in this place of just in the wilderness with the Lord. And they're getting ready to take the land, But they're they're in this place of, something new. I think about what did the people of Israel need in the midst of their transition? To encounter the presence and to see the miracles of God. Before they could do what happens next, before they could take the land, they could conquer all of these cities, they needed to know that the God they were following was the same God who worked miracles for their fathers.”

44s

#PrepareAndWait

“my my final charge to you is to be willing to wait on him so that you can bear the weight of his presence. And especially in this season, as we're coming up on this this new year in the Jewish calendar, that we would that we would prepare our hearts, and that we would look eagerly for him and that we would we would encounter him in a new way in our lives so that we have the strength and courage to do the things that he's calling us to.”

35s

#PatternsInTransition

“And as we encounter different emotions that are normal in any season change of our lives, in any transitions, we need to see where God is and what he is doing. I believe that there is a pattern here that we see with the priests for us in any season change, in any season, but especially in seasons of change and transition.”

83s

#FollowTheArk

“Okay. I wanna take just a couple minutes to reflect on the priests and what they're experiencing here, and then what the people are experiencing with the priests bearing the ark of the covenant. So the first thing is that God said that the people needed to wait behind the ark, wait behind the Lord because they haven't been that way before. The ark of the presence of the Lord went first. The Lord provided the same sign again to show his might and faithfulness. This was a new generation that needed to encounter his presence. The priests were called to take a step of faith into the water and to stand firm as part of the sign in the midst of the people. Stones were taken from where they stood, and stones were placed where they stood, the priest, as a part of that sign so that they could remember. The priest stood firmly until God said to move while bearing the ark. And when God commanded the priests to come up, they obeyed and passed before the people.”

43s

#CarryingHisPresence

“Okay. There's a lot going on in these verses, but I just wanna give a little context of some of the practical things that are happening here. First of all, we see in these verses that the priests the priests bear the ark of the covenant. And this word bear is nasah, meaning to lift, bear, or carry. It just connotates this this meaning of holding something. Scholars estimate the weight of the ark to be between a hundred and eighty three and two hundred and eighty eight pounds. It's heavy work to carry the presence of the Lord.”

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