Be Strong and Courageous to Serve God

Devotional

Day 1: Choosing Whom to Serve in Summer’s 1,944 Hours

Summer’s 1,944 hours stretch before us like an open field. Joshua’s challenge echoes: will we fill these days serving God or chasing lesser things? The Israelites stood at the edge of promise, urged to tear down idols and live wholly for the Lord. Summer projects, vacations, and lazy afternoons become spiritual battlegrounds. Every hour holds potential to honor God or drift into self-focused routines. Surrender begins by asking: does this plan align with serving Him? The call isn’t to abandon fun but to let purpose shape our play. [46:03]

“So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped… Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve… But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:14–15, NLT)

Reflection: What specific summer activity or habit might unintentionally compete with your wholehearted service to God? How could you redirect that time or energy to reflect “as for me and my household”?

Day 2: Staying in the Tent When Others Leave

Joshua lingered in God’s presence after Moses left the tent. While others hurried back to camp, he chose to dwell where glory lingered. Distractions multiply in summer’s busyness: vacations, projects, and screen time pull us from stillness. Yet God’s presence remains the truest rest. Staying requires courage to say “no” to hurry and “yes” to unhurried prayer. What if summer’s greatest fruit isn’t a tan or completed project, but a heart rooted in quiet communion? [43:46]

“When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses… Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.” (Exodus 33:9–11, ESV)

Reflection: Where do you most easily “leave the tent” of God’s presence during busy seasons? What practical step could anchor you to abide with Him daily this summer?

Day 3: Burying Idols Beneath the Baptism Waters

Joshua’s stone memorial testified to Israel’s covenant; baptism’s waters declare our old selves drowned. Summer tempts us to dig up buried idols: people-pleasing, comfort-worship, or self-reliance. Baptism isn’t a one-time event but a daily drowning of habits that steal our devotion. Each morning, we lift shovels to bury what Christ already defeated. The waters still ripple with the promise: what sinks here rises as freedom. [01:11:20]

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4, ESV)

Reflection: What “idol” have you recently been tempted to retrieve from the burial ground of your past? How does baptism’s symbolism empower you to leave it beneath the water?

Day 4: When Serving Feels Like Splitting Firewood

Service isn’t always campfires and worship nights—sometimes it’s splitting logs for others’ warmth. Joshua’s charge to serve “wholeheartedly” includes mundane tasks: driving kids to VBS, fixing a neighbor’s fence, or working overtime to give generously. Every ax swing matters when done for Christ. Summer’s rhythm reveals our true allegiance: do we resent chores as interruptions or embrace them as altars? [58:41]

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” (Colossians 3:23–24, ESV)

Reflection: What ordinary summer task feels most draining? How might approaching it as “service to Christ” transform your perspective?

Day 5: The Ambassadors’ Picnic Table

Joshua’s covenant stone became a gathering place. Our picnic tables and pool chairs can too. Ambassadors don’t negotiate treaties in isolation—they build bridges at backyard BBQs and sidewalk chats. Summer’s relaxed pace invites unhurried conversations about Jesus. Pack extra lemonade. Leave space for God to stir hearts between burger flips and firefly chases. Revival often starts where formalities end. [01:13:28]

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your summer circles needs an “ambassador” to reflect Christ’s love? What simple invitation or gesture could you offer this week to start bridging that gap?

Sermon Summary

Joshua stands at the end of his life and lays a clear line on the ground: “Fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly… choose today whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” The text presses a present-tense decision, not a someday intention. Israel has entered the land, seen God conquer enemies, and now faces the ordinary choices of settled life, where idols look less like golden calves and more like safe, familiar habits. Joshua names the rival gods of yesterday and today and insists that service is single-minded: “Serve the Lord alone.”

The call to choose lands in real calendars. Between now and fall sit a lot of hours, goals, and honey-do lists. The verse insists those hours belong to God. Household language runs through the passage. Service is personal and also shared. “As for me and my house” makes devotion a family project, a community lane, not a hermit’s trail. Joshua had learned this nearness from Moses, and as a young man had lingered in God’s presence. That same hunger becomes the pattern: not escape from people, but life with God for the sake of people.

The way forward is practical. The idols must be put away. That looks like surrender and repentance, naming what steals the heart and releasing it to God. Paul’s word confirms Joshua’s path: the love of Christ controls, the old life dies, and a new life begins. Daily choices reinforce that death and rising. Circumstances may not flip overnight, but something deeper changes. When the heart turns, the horizon slowly follows.

Covenant anchors the choice. Joshua seals the people’s promise at Shechem and rolls a stone to stand as a witness. In Christ, a greater covenant takes hold. God reconciles sinners, no longer counting sins against them, and then gives them the message of reconciliation. So service stretches outward. The reconciled become reconcilers. That is why public acts matter. Baptism works like Joshua’s stone, a visible “from this day forward.” The water says the old self went under and a new self rose, ready to say with Joshua, “we will serve the Lord.”

None of this runs on grit alone. Joshua even warns they are not able in their own strength. The risen Christ sends the Helper. The Spirit supplies the power to keep the promise, to love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love neighbors in real time. So the call stands, simple and weighty: be strong and courageous to serve.

Key Takeaways

1. Choose today whom you will serve The text refuses delay and invites a present decision that reorders calendars, goals, and unseen loyalties. Service is not theory but direction, one step taken today and then again tomorrow. Neutrality is not an option, because every heart already serves something. The Lord calls for a clear yes. [40:47]
2. Surrender the old self daily Real change begins where idols get named and handed over, again and again. Repentance is not self-loathing but a turning toward the One whose love actually frees. As the old dies, the love of Christ becomes the inner gravity that pulls choices into a new orbit. New life grows where the hands finally let go. [49:14]
3. Serve God together as family “As for me and my house” makes devotion a shared rhythm, not a solo sport. Households, friendships, and churches become the workshop where faith is practiced, witnessed, and kept. Mutual promises set up guardrails and encouragements that lonely resolve cannot supply. Community keeps the fire from going out. [45:33]
4. Live as Christ’s ambassador Reconciliation received becomes reconciliation offered. God makes his appeal through ordinary people whose lives now say, Come back to God. Public markers like baptism stand as living stones that keep the promise visible and the mission clear. The reconciled do not retire into privacy, they step into representation. [1:12:39]
5. Depend on the Holy Spirit Holy vows falter without holy power. The Spirit turns intention into endurance and lifts service above self-effort into grace. Strength, courage, and love are not manufactured, they are received and exercised. Only the Helper makes long obedience possible. [1:08:45]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[33:22] - Family service and kids in worship
[34:47] - Baptism Sunday and anniversary note
[35:57] - Summer hopes, projects, and overwhelm
[37:49] - Be strong and courageous theme
[39:14] - Turning to Joshua 24
[41:03] - “As for me and my house”
[42:37] - Choose the Lord and serve wholeheartedly
[43:46] - Joshua lingers in God’s presence
[47:41] - Modern idols named and unmasked
[49:14] - Surrender the old self
[51:10] - New life in Christ
[54:30] - Daily choosing God over self
[58:24] - Praying through the calendar
[1:01:51] - Covenant at Shechem and in Christ
[1:04:26] - Reconciliation explained and entrusted
[1:08:45] - Power of the Holy Spirit to serve
[1:09:12] - Baptism as dying and rising
[1:10:33] - The stone witness and memory
[1:12:39] - Ambassadors pleading, Come back to God
[1:14:09] - Be strong and courageous to serve

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Joshua 24:14-15 (ESV)
“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Observation Questions

What specific instructions does Joshua give the Israelites in Joshua 24:14-15? How does he model the choice he expects them to make?
According to the sermon, what are examples of modern “idols” that might compete for our loyalty today? [47:41]
What does 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 (referenced in the sermon) say about the purpose of those who are “reconciled to God”?
How does Joshua connect serving God with household or community in his declaration? [45:33]

Interpretation Questions

Why does Joshua emphasize choosing today rather than delaying the decision to serve God? How does urgency shape faithfulness?
The sermon mentions that “idols look less like golden calves and more like safe, familiar habits.” What makes subtle, everyday habits dangerous rivals to wholehearted devotion? [47:41]
How does baptism (described as a “stone witness” like Joshua’s stone) function as both a personal and communal act of commitment? [10:33]
Why does Joshua warn the Israelites that they are “not able to serve the Lord” in their own strength? How does this connect to dependence on the Holy Spirit? [08:45]

Application Questions

What is one “idol” (habit, priority, or fear) you need to “put away” this week to serve God more wholeheartedly? How can you practically surrender it? [49:14]
How could your household (or closest relationships) intentionally serve God together this summer? Name one specific rhythm or activity to start. [45:33]
The sermon says, “Reconciliation received becomes reconciliation offered.” Who in your life needs to hear the message of God’s forgiveness, and how can you gently share it? [12:39]
What part of your daily routine (e.g., calendar, goals, free time) most often competes with serving God? How could you pray over it differently? [58:24]
When have you tried to rely on “grit alone” to follow God? What would it look like to depend on the Holy Spirit in that area instead? [08:45]
Baptism is described as a public declaration of dying to the “old self.” If you’ve been baptized, how does that act shape your daily choices? If not, what holds you back from taking that step? [09:12]
The sermon says community “keeps the fire from going out.” Who can you encourage this week to stay faithful in serving God? [45:33]

Sermon Clips

33s

“Our lives can be changed because of what Christ did on the cross, in the tomb, and then as he rose to heaven. This is very powerful and important, that we must recognize that we cannot serve the Lord without the Holy Spirit. And that's what Joshua says. You are not able to serve the Lord. I didn't read that verse, but that's what it says right there. You're not able to serve the Lord. I'm not able to serve the Lord. We are not able to serve the Lord apart from God's grace and the power at work within us.”

30s

“Our old self, our old sinful desires must be surrendered to God. And what does that look like? That just means repenting. That just means in prayer saying, God, I need your help. God, I need your help because I think I care about this thing, or I'm I'm thinking about this too much. God, I need your help. Would you help me in this? Please forgive me for for focusing on this thing or that thing. And that's what surrender is, asking him to forgive and to help you.”

38s

“Baptism is just like this rock. It's a sign, it's a symbol, it's a testimony. This is a thing. I remember when I was baptized, I remember when God did this. It is a sign or a symbol or a monument moment of saying I'm gonna set this up in my life. From this day forward, I'm serving the Lord. Baptism is part of that. So the very last fill in is serve as an ambassador. Serve as an ambassador.”

40s

“Baptism is the same kind of idea that Joshua said, as for me and my family, we will choose to serve the Lord. He says, okay, let's make a covenant together as witnesses. We make a covenant. And then together as witnesses, we will take a stand and we'll do something different. So when we're thinking about this summer's nineteen hundred and some hours, what are we choosing to do? Serve the Lord, serve ourselves. So baptism is a is a personal and community event between a person and God, and between a person and the family that they're a part of.”

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