Carry the Stones: Passing Faith to the Next Generation

Jul 12, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Stones From the River’s Middle

When Israel crossed the Jordan, God commanded them to retrieve stones not from dry riverbanks but from the muddy center where priests stood. These stones bore witness to divine intervention in impossible places. They testified that progress came through God’s power, not human effort. Like those stones, our hardest seasons become proof of God’s faithfulness when we remember where He brought us through. The weight of testimony reminds us grace makes a way even in rushing waters. [54:11]

“Take up twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and carry them over with you… When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them…” (Joshua 4:3,6-7, ESV)

Reflection: What “stone” from a past struggle do you carry as proof of God’s faithfulness? How might sharing that story strengthen someone facing their own river today?

Day 2: Choppy Waters Shape Sacred Stories

The stones Israel carried were waterlogged and heavy, still dripping with Jordan’s mud. Their weight mirrored the tension of trusting God mid-crisis. Faith isn’t refined on dry land but in the chaos of rivers parted. Our choppy waters—grief, uncertainty, exhaustion—become sacred ground when we let God uncover purpose in the pressure. What feels buried now may become a testimony tomorrow. [59:26]

“The waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away… while the waters passing by… were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.” (Joshua 3:16, ESV)

Reflection: Where are you standing in “choppy waters” now? How might this season prepare you to carry a stone of witness for others later?

Day 3: Carrying Together, Not Alone

Twelve men carried stones together, each representing a tribe. No one shouldered the testimony alone. Community makes burdens bearable and miracles meaningful. Just as Joshua needed the priests’ steadfastness and the people’s obedience, our faith thrives when we lean on others’ prayers, presence, and perseverance. The church moves forward when we share the weight of memory and mission. [42:39]

“The people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded… they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there.” (Joshua 4:8, ESV)

Reflection: Who helps you “carry stones” of faith when life feels heavy? How can you actively support someone else’s journey this week?

Day 4: When Children Ask About the Stones

Joshua knew future generations would question the stones’ meaning. Our legacy depends on how we answer. Faith isn’t inherited through silence but through stories told at kitchen tables, in hospital rooms, and during quiet walks. Every “Why do we…?” is a chance to testify: God brought us through rivers we couldn’t cross alone. [10:14]

“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.’” (Joshua 4:21-22, ESV)

Reflection: What faith story from your life could a younger person need to hear? How will you intentionally share it this month?

Day 5: Stones Point to Rivers Ahead

The memorial at Gilgal didn’t mark an endpoint but a starting line. Stones from one river remind us to face the next with courage. God’s past faithfulness fuels future obedience. As long as communities hunger and justice falters, our calling remains: carry hope, cross new Jordans, and leave stones for those who follow. [22:31]

“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.” (Joshua 4:24, ESV)

Reflection: What “river” still needs crossing in your community? How will you pick up your stone and move toward it this year?

Sermon Summary

Joshua 4 sets the pace by halting Israel mid-miracle. God dries the Jordan, then commands the people to go back and lift “twelve stones” from the middle where the priests stand with the ark. The text insists that progress pauses for memory because the greatest enemy of faith is not failure but forgetfulness. The stones become a living catechism. When children ask, “What do these stones mean to you,” the memorial will answer: the waters opened, grace made a way, mercy held them up, and God carried them. The passage does not license nostalgia. It trains testimony for movement. Memory must travel with mission.

The stones themselves preach. Their origin matters. They do not come from the bank, easy and dry, but from “the middle,” the deep place no one could enter unless God made a way. That detail turns rock into revelation. The weight is part of the witness. Testimony has substance. Those wet, heavy stones say Israel walked, but God held the waters. The same logic names the church’s life. A century and a half of crossings at 14 West Duval Street bear witness that God preserved a people so hope would have an address, justice would have a voice, and wounded neighbors would find refuge.

Joshua’s memorial also guards the story. The text assumes children will ask and parents will answer. If the people do not carry and explain their stones, someone else will rewrite the story. So the black church’s vocation rises here: not caretakers of a museum, but cultivators of a movement. The calling is to hand down a living faith that survives grief and change, that prays on Friday, feeds on Friday, sings through tears, and keeps showing up on Monday.

Finally, the passage pushes forward. The stones are not for those who finished but for those who still have somewhere to go. The memorial says, look what God has done, and at the same time, trust what God can still do. Faith, witness, sacrifice, mission, love, and truth must be carried until other hands can carry them. Leaders will change, cultures will shift, rivers will rise again, but the God who opened one river stands at the next. So the charge lands clear: pick up the stones, cross the rivers, love the city, tell the story, raise the children, and leave to tomorrow a church where the presence of God dwells.

Key Takeaways

1. Memory must travel with mission Faith fades when memory is sealed off from movement. Joshua installs remembrance as a practice on the march so testimony does not harden into nostalgia. When the church remembers faithfully, it carries concrete evidence into new callings. That fusion of story and step keeps courage warm in the next crossing. [44:58]
2. The weight is the witness God has Israel lift stones from the middle, not the margins, because testimony carries heft. The heavy place is not wasted; it becomes the proof that grace met impossibility. What felt buried under pressure now speaks with authority, and the church learns to honor burdens that became altars. [59:26]
3. Tell the story before others do The text expects children to ask and parents to answer, because unguarded memory is easily rewritten. Stones provoke questions so truth can be voiced, whole and unedited. Passing on faithful memory forms identity, strengthens justice, and protects a people from convenient amnesia. [69:57]
4. Carry stones until hands change Joshua imagines future hands taking hold of the same witness. The aim is not to enshrine rocks but to cultivate disciples who can shoulder mission. A living inheritance is not property but a practiced faith that knows how to find dry ground when waters rise again. [77:11]
5. Hope needs an address today God preserved a people so neighborhoods hear good news with names and phone numbers. When a church gives refuge, raises children, and speaks for the voiceless, stones turn into street-level mercy. That is how a memorial becomes movement and how testimony becomes public good. [49:26]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[36:37] - Scripture reading Joshua 4
[40:12] - Carry the stones theme
[41:23] - Church built by moments
[44:58] - Greatest enemy is forgetfulness
[48:17] - What does God require now
[49:26] - Hope needs an address
[50:15] - Stones point to the future
[53:25] - Stones from the middle place
[56:45] - Witness to God’s initiative
[59:26] - The weight is the witness
[69:57] - When your children ask
[77:11] - Until another can carry them
[82:31] - Closing charge and benediction

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Joshua 4:1-9, 19-24 (NIV)
(Passage recounts God commanding Israel to take 12 stones from the Jordan River as a memorial of His faithfulness during their crossing.)

Observation questions

In Joshua 4, why were the Israelites instructed to take stones specifically from the middle of the Jordan River rather than the riverbank?
What two purposes does the text give for the stone memorial (vv. 6-7, 21-24)?
According to the sermon, why does the text emphasize children asking about the stones’ meaning? [09:57]

Interpretation questions

Why might God command Israel to pause during a miraculous moment (crossing the Jordan) to collect stones? How does this connect to the idea that “memory must travel with mission”?
The sermon says, “The weight is the witness” because the stones came from the river’s deepest point. What does this imply about how hardship and God’s faithfulness shape our testimony? [59:26]
Joshua assumes future generations will ask about the stones. Why is proactive storytelling critical for preserving a community’s identity and faith?

Application questions

What “stones” (tangible reminders of God’s faithfulness) have you personally carried from a “middle of the river” moment—a time when God met you in impossibility? How could you share that story with someone younger?
The sermon warns that “hope needs an address” through practical acts of mercy. [49:26] What specific need in your community (e.g., hunger, loneliness, injustice) could your small group address as a “living memorial” of God’s love?
How might complacency or nostalgia about past spiritual victories hinder your willingness to “cross the next river” God places before you? What step could you take this week to move forward?
The sermon says, “Testimony has substance” because the stones were heavy. [59:26] What burden or challenge are you carrying now that God might use to strengthen someone else’s faith?
If a child asked you, “Why does faith matter to you?” how would your answer reflect both God’s past faithfulness and your hope for what He’ll do next?
What habits (e.g., journaling, family rituals, community service) could help you “carry the stones” of God’s work in your life so future generations remember His power?

Sermon Clips

71s

#BuriedToWitness

“There's somebody listening to me whose life feels like that stone. This ain't for everybody. I was getting ready to take this part out, but the Lord said this was for somebody because you spent years under pressure, years where people did not see you, years where life kept flowing over you, Years where you felt buried beneath responsibility and grief and disappointment and bills and family stuff, ministry demands, private struggles, intentions, but God reached into the place where you were bought buried, and God said, pick that one up. Because God saw value in what the river had covered. And I came to tell somebody, what you went through did not make you worthless. It made you a witness. The pressure did not erase your purpose. The river did not cancel your calling. You came out carrying evidence that god can preserve something even while it is underwater.”

52s

#StonesCallToAction

“And maybe that is why God commanded Israel to pick up the stone. The stones were never intended to become monuments to people who were finished. They became reminders for people who still had somewhere to go. The stone said, look what God has done, but the stone also said, trust what God can still do. The stone testified we came through the river, but it also declared the river was never our final destination. And so church on this pastor and people's anniversary, I believe God is calling us to carry some things forward. Faith and witness, sacrifice, mission, love, truth, carry the burden for our community. Carry the determination to leave 6 Mount Zion stronger, healthier, more faithful, and more effective than we found it.”

55s

#GraceMadeAWay

“And so when people ask you made it, you can tell them the water's open, grace made a way, mercy held me up, God brought me through. The waters open. Grace made a way. Mercy held me up. God brought me through. You won't know how I made it? The waters opened up. Grace made a way. Mercy held me up. God carried me. I'm trying to get past this point but somebody needs to take a moment to rehearse it. The waters open. I don't know how they did but grace made a way. I was slumping down by myself but mercy held me up and god carried, carried me through. And we can make it y'all because we've seen evidence.”

49s

#TestimonyOnMonday

“I've watched people lose jobs and still keep on giving. Watching people battle cancer right now in this sanctuary and still here for worship. I've watched grandparents have to be parents all over again because they're grand children because life took an unexpected turn. I've watched the saints walk into worship carrying burdens that would crush most of y'all and somehow they standing up lifting their hands. These are the moments that have changed me because they remind me that the greatest testimony isn't found in what we say on Sunday. Here it is. The greatest testimony is found in how we keep trusting God on Monday.”

54s

#GodCarriedUs

“And that's our testimony here at the mount. We've served, we've labored, we planned, we preached, we prayed, but beneath every accomplishment is a more faithful confession. And the confession is God carried us. Twenty one years of pastor and people did not happen because every decision was easy. I said, God carried us. It did not happen because we always agreed. I said, God carried us. It did not happen because there were no storms or disappointments, no losses or misunderstandings. We lost some members, but God carried us. And after twenty one years, I stay here knowing that any ministry worth having will eventually take you through some choppy water.”

75s

#CovenantCommunity

“And so today today is not really about celebrating twenty one years of a pastor. Today is about celebrating twenty one years of covenant or better yet a promise relationship because the bible never described the church as an audience. The bible called the church a body. The bible calls a church a family. It's a flock, a household of faith, which means that ministry has never been about one person. It has always been about what God can do when pastor and people trust god together. can I tell you what I've learned after all these years of pastoring that a pastor, regardless of how anointed they are, cannot build a church by themselves? a congregation cannot become everything God has called it to be without a shepherd. But when pastoring people see God together, pray together, serve together, dream together, work together, there is no limit to what God can accomplish.”

53s

#WeightOfTestimony

“And so I imagine one of those 12 reps stepping out of the Jordan carrying a heavy stone on his shoulder. Stone wet, mud running down his clothes, muscles tired. Somebody watching from a distance may have wondered why he was carrying something so heavy into the land of promise, but the weight was part of the witness. That stone was heavy because testimony has substance. That stone carried the memory of rushing water. That stone has spent years beneath a river, watch this, where nobody could see it, then God interrupted the current, uncovered it, and said, pick that one up.”

65s

#LeaveChurchStronger

“Whoo. God help me. Carry the determination to leave this church stronger, healthier, more faithful, and more effective than we found it because we've come too far to drop the stone's nail. We pray too many prayers. Y'all survived Too many storms buried. Too many saints baptized. Too many believers walked through too many valleys, seeing God opened up too many doors, experienced too much grace that we cannot drop the stones now. Twenty one years later, I still believe in this church. I remember the first time I preached here, the April 2005. I can remember it just like it was yesterday. And here we are twenty one years later, and the same belief I had when God called me, I still have it now. I still believe in this church.”

65s

#CarryTheStory

“And so after twenty one years together, can stand here and declare the river did not win. Trouble did not win. Loss did not win. Disappointment did not win. Yeah. Division did not win. Fear did not win. God kept people. God kept pastor. God kept the vision. God kept the witness. God kept six Mount Zion. So pick up the stone. Carry the testimony. I promise you points two and three are real quick. Carry the story before somebody else rewrites it. Carry the story before somebody else rewrites it. God never tells Israel to carry the stones for themselves alone. The text says when your children ask, watch that. That what the text says. Don't miss it. When your children ask, the stones were never really for the people who crossed the river. They were for the people who never saw the river. The miracle had already happened. The water had already returned. The evidence was gone. Only the story remained.”

73s

#RiverTestimony

“And so some of us, we've got river stories. We know what it is to stand at a place we could never cross by ourselves. We know what it is to face a diagnosis that frighten us. We know what it is to watch our money get funny while the bills kept coming. We know what it is to lose somebody we love and wonder how life could continue. We know what it is to carry family members who are too weak to carry themselves. We know what it is to pray over children who lost direction and lost their minds. We know what it is to serve while we're tired, to smile while we're hurting, to worship while we're worried, to keep showing up while privately asking god how much more we could take but god knows, look at us today. Come on, that's a testimony. Somebody ought to say, that's my testimony. You might not understand but look at me now. I made it through the river. I may have come out wet and tired. Might be covered with scars but god brought me through.”

93s

#HonorTheHiddenWork

“That's a part of our story at 6 Mount Zion. Our history was built by people who understood that ministry is rarely glamorous. Sometimes ministry is carrying something heavy so another generation will have something sacred to remember. And the danger of anniversaries, y'all, is that we can celebrate visible leadership while overlooking invisible labor. So today, on my twenty first anniversary, on our twenty first anniversary, I wanna take a moment to honor the people who carried stones, the saints who served with no applause, the members who gave recognition, the mothers and fathers who brought children to church when the children didn't wanna be here, the elders who kept praying, the musicians who kept playing, the ministry leaders who keep leading, the people who keep believing that 14 West Duval Street still had a witness to offer to RVA. Y'all, you carried the stones, and because you carry them, we are standing here today. That is why memory matters so deeply in the black church. Our faith never, has been an abstract exercise. Our theology was formed, you know, in rivers and tobacco factories and kitchens and segregated neighborhoods and classrooms, hospital rooms, courtrooms, in sanctuaries where people have very little materially but possess a profound confidence in God.”

72s

#ValuesToAction

“That's why I love the fact that our own stated values track back to the founding of our church back in 1867. We say now we wanna be hospitable. We wanna build relationships. We want everything we do to be grounded in the word of God. And at the end of the day, we wanna have impact on our community that reflects a ministry that honors history by remaining responsive to the needs of people now. Our ancestors did not carry stones so we can spell all our time spend all of our time admiring the stones. They carried them so that we can remember how to cross the rivers. They handed us a faith capable of confronting bondage, and y'all the first point is the longest one, but but I gotta preach it because God gave it to me. A faith capable of building institutions, educating community, faith capable of telling black people in a hostile world that you are still somebody because you belong to God, and now that faith is in our hands. So when I look back over twenty one years, I don't wanna see anniversary. I wanna see crossings.”

68s

#CarryFaithForward

“So today, I didn't come to polish our past, especially the last year exclusively. I've come to prepare us for our future because I believe with all my heart that God did not bring six Mount Zion through a century and a half plus, and God didn't bring us through twenty one years together as pastoring people just so that we could admire where we've been. I believe God brought us here so that we would have the faith, the courage, the vision, and the determination to carry the stones into what God has for us next. And so this anniversary y'all is a moment to thank God for twenty one years. Yes. But gratitude cannot be allowed to become complacency. Celebration cannot become an excuse to coast. History cannot become a hiding place from responsibility because the question before us today is larger than what have we accomplished. The deeper question is, what does God still require of us?”

50s

#FaithForGenerations

“That's the kind of faith I want our children to inherit. Not a faith that only works when life is easy, but a faith that can survive grief and disappointment. One of my greatest prayers is not that people remember my name. My prayer is that they remember the witness of six Mount Zion. That they remember that this church loved people. This church served people. This church spoke truth. This church welcomed strangers. This church fed the hungry. This church proclaimed the gospel and refused to let the next generation grow up without knowing what God can do with a faithful people because we're not merely carrying stones. We are carrying a story, and that story still has the power to change lives.”

39s

#RiversLeftToCross

“Come on. You might as well get on board this morning. After twenty one years together, I remain convinced that our assignment is still larger anything we've already accomplished because there's still minds that need to be developed. There's still people who need the gospel. There are systems that need to be challenged, and hungry folk who need to be fed, grieving people who need to be comfort, forgotten people who need to be seen. I said there are still rivers left for us to cross.”

56s

#BelieveInUs

“I still believe in the people of this church. I still believe in the mission and the vision of this church. I still believe that our best ministry can still be ahead of us. I still believe that God can use pastor and people standing together, serving together, loving together, moving together to not just make a difference in this building, but to change this doggone city. I believe in us. So today, we thank God for the journey. Yeah. We honor every person who's helped us make it. We remember those whose hands once held those stones and whose voice is now singing another choir on the other side. But after the celebration is over, we've gotta pick the stones back up because memory without movement becomes nostalgia.”

83s

#RememberAndMove

“Come on, y'all. So so if all we do today is celebrate what has happened, we will miss why God has gathered us here because anniversaries have a way of tempting us to look backward. But Joshua teaches us to do something different. Joshua teaches us to remember while still moving forward. And so the children of Israel have crossed the Jordan River. The water has been held back by the hand of God. The impossible has become reality. The promise has finally become visible. And just when everybody is ready to keep walking, God says, stop. Go back into the middle of the river, pick up 12 stones, and carry them with you. Listen. I know that seems strange. Why stop in the middle of a miracle? Why carry rocks when you're finally in the promised land? Because God understood something Israel did not. The greatest enemy of faith is not failure. I told you this a few weeks ago. The greatest enemy is not failure. Sometimes it's forgetfulness. Because if one generation forgets what God has done, the next generation may never know what God can do.”

36s

#TellTheWholeStory

“And so that's why we've gotta carry the stones. We must tell our children about the faith of those who came before them. Tell them about the mothers who prayed. Tell them about the fathers who sacrificed. Tell them about the churches that educated children when others would not. Tell them about communities that built hope when resources were scarce. Tell them the whole story because if we do not shape memory with truth, culture will shape memory with convenience.”

68s

#PastorAndPeople

“There have been moments when I had to encourage others while asking God for encouragement myself. There have been funerals where my words had to come through my own personal tears. There have been hospital rooms where all I could offer was presence and prayer and the assurance that nobody was walking alone. There have been decisions that felt heavy because leadership means understanding that what you decide affects the people that you care about. There have been times when you, the people of 6 Mount Zion, though, y'all carried me. You prayed for me. You encouraged me. You trusted me. You challenged me. You extended grace to me. You walked through some choppy waters with me. That is why this is a pastor and people anniversary because there were rivers I could not cross on my own, and there was rivers that you could not cross on your own. But when we get together followed by the presence of God together, the waters open up.”

61s

#UnsungStoneCarriers

“Every historic black church is people whose names may never appear on a plaque. Y'all can sit down. Somebody the person who opened the doors before anybody else arrived. Yeah. Yeah. Who was counting the money Yeah. Driving the van Preach it. Cooking the meals rehearsing with the kids, somebody who visited the sick, somebody who called the members who hadn't been around, somebody who stayed after to make sure everybody was out the building, somebody gave money that they could scarcely afford because they believed the church had to survive. Somebody was praying for the pastor while the pastor was praying for everybody else. They may never have stood behind this pulpit. They may never have held a title, but the church stands because they carried the stones.”

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Carry the Stones: Passing Faith to the Next Generation

Devotional

Day 1: Stones From the River’s Middle

Day 2: Choppy Waters Shape Sacred Stories

Day 3: Carrying Together, Not Alone

Day 4: When Children Ask About the Stones

Day 5: Stones Point to Rivers Ahead

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Carry the Stones: Passing Faith to the Next Generation

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