Do Not Be Afraid: Repentance, Worship, and Victory

The account of Achan and his sin shows us what happens when God's people are not following God. There becomes a separation, a barrier, a distance between god's people and god. But when we sanctify or sanctified and when we we we repent of our sins, what happens? That relationship is restored in a moment. And god says, do not be afraid. There's nothing you need to be afraid of now. I got you. And god's redemptive work in our lives is on display for everyone we know to see. God's redemptive work in our lives is on display for everyone to see. Not that for a moment we would be glorified, but that in all things, God would be glorified. [00:58:03] (57 seconds)  #RestoredByGod

That's why we're focused on understanding and teaching the fullness of the word of God. Because God's word has power. Because God's word changes and transforms lives. Because God's word enables us to be in relationship with him. So why in the world would Joshua build this altar, read the 10 commandments, and read scripture to the people after the battle of Ai? Because this is what God this is what God is calling his people to do. If those aren't the basis of your life, there's a requirement, there's a need for repentance, to turn away from the things that we think are so vital, so important, and come back to God. [00:56:58] (48 seconds)  #BuiltOnGodsWord

That's what Josh was calling people to. You wanna have a right relationship with God? Worship him. Be obedient to him. Study and read his word. Put this whole thing in this picture. So they've just defeated I in an overwhelming way. They've taken and plundered all the things that they want. They burnt the rest of the city. They impaled the king. God gave them the victory. And then there's this section that is put in there nicely which says, then Joshua made an altar, and they worshiped God there. They remembered what God had done. [00:55:22] (41 seconds)  #WorshipAndObey

And so when you wear that cross or you have that cross or you see that cross, it is to remind us that we are to be a people that worships God. And worship isn't this idea of of of jack up here. Yeah. That's not what this is. That's a part of it. That's a fraction of it. Yes. Worshiping God. But the word worship really means that we determine that God is worthy of everything. He's worthy of our time. He's worthy of our energy. He's worthy of our lives. He's worthy of everything. It isn't just something that happens on Sundays between nine and ten and 10:30 and 11:30. It's a way of living. [00:51:19] (39 seconds)  #HeIsRisen

Now some of you wear crosses around your neck. Awesome. No no judgment there. What is that cross around your neck for? Well, it's to remind you of what God has done in your life. Now some of you have the crucifix which is Jesus is on the cross and you're wearing that around. I'm not gonna pass judgment but I have news for you. He's not on the cross anymore. He gone. He rose from the grave which is why the Protestant church, we don't have Jesus on the cross because he's not there anymore. [00:50:42] (33 seconds)  #StudyGodsWord

God calls us to worship. He calls us to be obedient. He calls us to read scripture. You see the basis of all that we understand and know comes from the word of God. And some of you are are are are 50. Some of you are 60. Some of you are like knocking on the door of death. Some of you are in your forties. Some of you are thirties. How what do we know this thing? It's one book. How well do we know it? You're like, well, I don't know. There's 66 books. Let's go. [00:54:40] (43 seconds)  #GraceAndObedience

So wait a minute. So there's worship. What else is there? There's obedience. God is desiring that his people would be obedient to what God calls us to. You know, the Christian church in America is all about grace, and I get it. It's all about grace. That's it. We actually have the name of our church as Grace Rich because grace, that's the sole completion of it. But there's also an obedience that goes with grace. [00:53:20] (26 seconds)  #HearGodsVoice

God desires that we would be obedient. His desire is that we would seek to serve him with all that we have in our lives. And when we fail, God's grace is sufficient for all that we have. There's a call here for obedience, and obedience and faithfulness, they spring from the well of worship. It's the foundation that we have out of response for what God has done, we worship. Out of response for what God has done, we are obedient. We are faithful. [00:53:46] (32 seconds)  #PursueSanctification