What Jake alluded to is that, if you don't know, I worked with youth in this community. And for over 20 years, more than that probably, so much prayer to make inroads into the high school, inroads to the campus, for moms groups, from Young Life, for Youth for Christ, for churches, just praying the opportunity to deliver the gospel inside the school. And I'm going to get choked up. This is answered prayer of 20 plus years of prayer for that. And it soaks it. Yeah, by all means, give it up for God. [00:14:44] (40 seconds) Edit Clip




And how that has overflowed into the other schools. I think of Andrew down at his house hosting a youth alpha for his school district. And so I really want you to embrace this moment of celebrating what's about to happen, but also praying for it. And I'm going to get choked up. This is answered prayer of 20 plus years of prayer for it. Praying that on the other side of this, that there will be testimonies of kids having been brought to the foot of the cross and surrendering their lives to Jesus. A ripple. You're going to hear that in my message. A ripple effect throughout the whole community and to go on into history. And so let's take some time to pray for that and go into worship. [00:15:24] (42 seconds) Edit Clip




And those are really big shoes to fill. Moses. Moses was no slouch when it came to leadership. He's memorialized through scripture as one of the highest levels of faith in leadership. And rightfully so. Rightfully so because it took a lot of courage. It took a lot of faith. And Moses didn't initially find himself worthy in that. He didn't see himself as one of those leaders that could take that mantle and go into his Holy Spirit -led assignment. And I'm sure many of us, of you, have felt that way. [00:51:31] (38 seconds) Edit Clip




I've mentioned a few times that I love the accounts of biblical history where we see ordinary people do extraordinary things. I think it's even more fun and more amazing when those ordinary people are deeply flawed and God still uses them. We're going to be looking at Joshua 2, so you can start turning there now. We'll be looking at Joshua 6 a little bit. One of those flawed but used people is in Joshua 2. And the story of her life just sends shockwaves through history, through the Bible. [00:52:32] (42 seconds) Edit Clip




When we heard this, we lost heart and everyone's courage failed because of you. For the Lord, don't miss this, for the Lord, your God, all capitalized, for the Lord, your God, in heaven and above on earth below. Your God is the God of everything. Was she fearful? Yes. Was she terrified? Yes. But I don't think it was because of fear. That she is risking everything. Something else is happening in this woman's heart. She has moved from a place of disbelief to a place of belief in faith. [01:00:41] (40 seconds) Edit Clip




She moved from fear into belief, into faith. Belief that the God of these strange and really scary people was the true God in heaven. This pagan woman who was surrounded by evil. Surrounded by traditions of multiple gods. She moves into a place where she is being transformed. Something's happening inside. She's experiencing faith. Now, don't become complacent with that word. That word faith. We speak on it so much and rightfully so, for good reasons. But for some, it may become Christian background noise. [01:01:34] (42 seconds) Edit Clip




You see, Rahab took her faith and showed how powerful it was by turning it into action. It didn't just come from her desire to be saved from destruction, though she wanted to. She wanted to save her entire family line. But her faith shows that she believed that a sworn agreement in the Lord's name is binding and powerful. No matter what happens with these men, her faith was in that binding agreement in the Lord, not just in them. By the Lord, she can be assured that her protection would come. [01:06:18] (42 seconds) Edit Clip




If you feel inadequate, if you feel unworthy, know that God sees so much more. He sees a child, like Psalm says, knit together in the mother's womb. I will praise you because I've been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made. And so I will praise you because I've been remarkably secret. When I was formed in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw me when I was formless. All my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began. [01:08:20] (33 seconds) Edit Clip




In the case of Rahab, God sees a woman turning her back on a broken and far from him life and turning to the life God always desired for her. The life that he desired for every child in his creation. He saw her turning to him, to a life in God that would bring about blessing. Like our series really points to, she is getting up and moving, moving into her Holy Spirit, God -led assignment. In this moment, in this time. [01:09:13] (42 seconds) Edit Clip




Joshua said to the two, The two men who had scouted the land go to the prostitute's house and bring the woman out there and all who were with her just as we swore to her. So the young men who had scouted went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother, brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel. They burned the city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord's house. However, Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father's family, and all who belonged to her. Because she hid the messengers Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho and she still lives in Israel today. [01:12:48] (39 seconds) Edit Clip




That last truth, it reverberates through all of Israel and their history in amazing ways. You see, Rahab's willingness to get up and to lead out of faith goes far beyond the moment, that moment, in time. Look at Matthew chapter 1, an account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Yes, I'm going to go through a genealogy, and yes, it's another thing. They didn't assign this one to me. I chose this one all by myself. Genealogies are important, though, and you're going to see why. [01:17:18] (34 seconds) Edit Clip




The actions empowered by the Lord, used in his Holy Spirit, God -led assignments, can and will go beyond the moment that it existed in. It will make ripples throughout history, beyond our faith and courage and obedience in that moment. Faith will move forward. A new lineage, a new adoption, a new family, a new legacy, a new life, a new family, a new family, a new family, a new family, a new family, a new family, wouldn't you want it to be said of you what is said of Rahab in Hebrews? Look at Hebrews 11 .30. By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after being marched around by the Israelites for seven days. [01:17:58] (41 seconds) Edit Clip

Also coming up is the spaghetti dinner. And notice that the date is changed. It's a little earlier this year. Usually, it's in March, and this year it's in February.

We do a spaghetti dinner every year to help support the summer event for our youth. And this year, the summer event is Life. It's a semiannual event that they go to, put on by the Christian Missionary Alliance. It's an opportunity for them to go and grow and connect together.

This spaghetti dinner has a 4:30 and a 6:15 seating. You'll need to register for those. And the kids, they do a great job of putting this on. It's an opportunity not only to help them, but to come together as a family, to enjoy some fellowship.

I got groans early when I said, "Guys, it's near Valentine's Day, so depending on how much you give to the youth, it could be a cheap or expensive date," and everybody groans. So I'm not gonna do it again. But it is just around the corner. Please come on out to that. It is a great night. They go all out. It's fun, and it really does help get them to that event, to Life, or whatever it is each summer.

Oh, the next one as well. On February 4th, Men's Bible Study starts up. That's at 6:30. They're gonna be going through the Beatitudes and also taking a look at the Lord's Prayer in connection with that. So you can come on out to that, register for that.

Also, just as a heads up, this is Stephen's just finding out about this as well. The first couple weeks, you may be in a different room, so just keep your eyes open. Different room than you're normally in, and then you'll go back to yours. Just some schedule conflicts. We have a busy church, so if you're interested in that, we'd love to have you out.

There'll be some more things up on the screen behind me. You can hit that QR code, but a couple things we wanna highlight. First, we're in the midst of a Baby Bottle Drive. If you're not familiar with that or have missed out last week, we collect money and baby bottles for Akron Pregnancy Services. It's an opportunity for us to help support all that they do, to help mothers and fathers as they walk through that sometimes scary time for them.

So, if you can see the due date on when those are needing to get back to us. There's a few other things up there, but we have one other thing that Jake's gonna talk about.

Sure. Could you stand with me? What Jake alluded to is that, if you don't know, I worked with youth in this community for over 20 years, more than that probably. So much prayer to make inroads into the high school, inroads to the campus, for moms groups, from Young Life, for Youth for Christ, for churches, just praying for the opportunity to deliver the gospel inside the school.

And I'm going to get choked up. This is answered prayer of 20 plus years of prayer for that. And it soaks it. Yeah, by all means, give it up for God. And how that has overflowed into the other schools. I think of Andrew down at his house hosting a youth alpha for his school district.

And so I really want you to embrace this moment of celebrating what's about to happen, but also praying for it. And I'm going to get choked up. This is answered prayer of 20 plus years of prayer for it. Praying that on the other side of this, there will be testimonies of kids having been brought to the foot of the cross and surrendering their lives to Jesus.

A ripple. You're going to hear that in my message. A ripple effect throughout the whole community and to go on into history. And so let's take some time to pray for that and go into worship.

Father God, we just come before you. Lord, thank you. Thank you for what you're doing in the lives of our students, the young adults, the adult leaders, as they are taking a step of risk and not being ashamed of the gospel.

So Father, we pray for all the things. We pray for those kids that are getting invites. We pray for those who haven't yet got invites and will be thinking about it. We pray for the next eight weeks as you continue to meet them there, that they would be having their hearts just peeled back in openness to your gospel and surrender to you.

Lord, I can't wait to hear the testimonies. I can't wait to see a movement take place. So Lord, we come in faith and ask for your blessing on that.

Lord, I also come as we enter this time of worship, that we come with a sense of celebration and expectancy on what you're about to do here today, as we meet with you, but also as we hear the stories of what you're doing tomorrow. And even beyond that, not just at the high school, but anyone who takes their Holy Spirit-led assignment and runs with it.

So Father, meet us here today, in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Wow. Awesome setup to getting into the word. It's one of those things where you kind of get caught up in it, and I was caught up. So it's a great day. Thank you, team.

So I want to say this. We're in Joshua. We started Joshua last week. But this has to be said. So there's a new dynamic on our staff that we have a lead pastor now, right? And so we've shared with you. He's, yeah. Oh, wait. Wait for it. I'm about to throw him under the bus.

Oh, he's getting the mic. I love it. So you guys know we've been sharing with you what these last three years have looked like as we've come together as a team, planning messages, praying through the spirit to lead us to where we're going.

And that when we started, I was kind of the point person for that. And so, well, that's changed now because we have a lead pastor. And so I have to be in this place of constituted authority. That's what we say in the Christian Missionary Alliance and our leadership. We're under elders and our pastor.

And so we were planning out Joshua. And there are these things in scripture every once in a while that are really hard to teach on, things that are just tough, you know, things like today where lots of people lose their lives. And there's other tough things like circumcision in the scripture.

I got assigned to both of them in this series. So thanks, Jake. No, in all seriousness, there is no lesser part of scripture. They may be awkward to teach on sometimes. But I, for one, am excited about Joshua. And he's one of my favorite characters in scripture.

But he's one of those in this series. But one of my most favorites is who I get to teach on today. So we're continuing into what it looks like to get up, to get up, to lead, to walk into those Holy Spirit-led assignments.

We got to see last week as Joshua had this torch passed to him from Moses. And those are really big shoes to fill. Moses was no slouch when it came to leadership. He's memorialized through scripture as one of the highest levels of faith in leadership. And rightfully so.

Rightfully so because it took a lot of courage. It took a lot of faith. And Moses didn't initially find himself worthy in that. He didn't see himself as one of those leaders that could take that mantle and go into his Holy Spirit-led assignment.

And I'm sure many of us, of you, have felt that way. You may say to yourself, "I don't have what it takes. I don't feel worthy. If you knew the broken parts of this vessel, of this life, you wouldn't want me in that position."

And honestly, that's a pretty solid and reoccurring theme throughout scripture. Many of those who have been called upon to do amazing things for the kingdom had those same exact thoughts.

I've mentioned a few times that I love the accounts of biblical history where we see ordinary people do extraordinary things. I think it's even more fun and more amazing when those ordinary people are deeply flawed and God still uses them.

We're going to be looking at Joshua 2, so you can start turning there now. We'll be looking at Joshua 6 a little bit. One of those flawed but used people is in Joshua 2. And the story of her life just sends shockwaves through history, through the Bible.

Last week, we began to look at this passing of the torch of those 40 years in the desert of some of the fallen people. The fear that was struck in the Israelite people, so they were forced to wander.

So we're going to kick things off a little bit today by going a little deeper into what was about to happen as Joshua led in this era that was about to be different.

So we find ourselves in about 1400 BC. This is where we're still on the other side of the Jordan. Joshua is rallying his people to cross the river into the province. They've been told that God goes before them and has prepared the way, which if you remember back to last week was something they were already told.

They were told years and years ago, and they chickened out. They were fearful, so they had to wander. So much so that those over the age of 20 were not going to see the promised land. So those who were under the age of 20 were probably thinking to themselves, "I kind of heard this before."

They probably heard some of the stories. But it was not. It was about to be different. And that takes us to Joshua 2, verse 1. We're just going to look at verse 1 real quick.

"Joshua, son of Nun," it's not that he didn't have a dad, it's just his dad's name, "secretly sent two men as spies from the Acacia Grove, saying, 'Go and scout the land, especially Jericho.'"

So here we are. Some of your translations may not say the Acacia Grove. They may say "Shittim." And this is a place where they are waiting to cross over. Here are the lands ahead of them that Joshua is saying we're about to go into with the people of God.

I have a quick picture to kind of give you some, I know it's really small. I don't have my glasses on because I can't even see y'all. I definitely can't see that. But these are all the cities that they're about to go in to have conquest over.

Let's zoom in a little bit to where we are today. Okay, so you can see Shittim over here on the right and Jericho on the left. You've got the Jordan River coming towards the Dead Sea, splitting them. They're about 15 miles apart.

And Joshua is there saying, "This is going to be our first movement. This is going to be our first movement of seeing God's power as we enter the promised land." Just a glimpse of what's to come. You know, a big picture to now this starting point.

And the scripture goes on. I'll finish verse one. "So they left and they came to a house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there."

The king of Jericho was told, "Look, some of the Israelite men have come here tonight to investigate the land." Then the king of Jericho sent word to Rahab and said, "Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, for they came to investigate the entire land."

But the woman had taken two men and hidden them. So she said, "Yes, the men did come to me, but I didn't know where they were from. At nightfall, when the city gate was about to close, the men went out, and I don't know where they were going. Chase after them quickly, and you can catch up with them."

But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them among the stalks of flax that she had arranged on the roof. The men pursued them along the road to the fords of the Jordan, and as soon as they left to pursue them, the city gates were shut.

So we got a lot going on here. I'm pointing out a couple things that sometimes we'll brush over when we're studying scripture, and I don't want to do that. I want us to see what first sticks out in this small section.

There's a lot of questions we kind of have to ask or look at. First and foremost, these spies kind of stunk. I mean, last week, we heard about the spies that went like 40 years before and came back, minus Joshua and Caleb. They came back really gung-ho for this, but the rest of the spies came back scared.

They came back really scared. They came back really scared. They came like dirty cats, which then left them out there to wander. Now we're 40 years later, and it only took one night for these spies to be found out. Hebrew spy school needs an overhaul.

We can miss this stuff, but it's funny because it leads to the rest of the story. Next thing we see in this stuff that sticks out is that the spies went to a prostitute's house. It seems a bit scandalous, right?

There's probably a lot of reasons. One of the biggest reasons that they went there is because in these pagan cities, often the inn, the place that travelers would stay in their travels, were connected to prostitution. But we can actually see a little bit more here.

There are probably other reasons. You know, we're going to learn later that Rahab had a big enough house to have her whole family, and plus she was drying flax on the roof, so there was an enterprise here. But the spies, it was probably pretty simple, not too scandalous. They were probably just trying to blend in, so I'll give the spies a little credit.

But again, it only took one night for them to be found out, and no matter why they were there, how they got there, they're now tied to this woman. They're about to be found out. They're about to be tied, wielded, taken by the king's men.

And another weird thing happens. This woman risks everything, puts her life on the line to misdirect those who were searching for the spies. Why? Why would she do this? Why would a woman who would probably have more to gain by giving them up than she would by keeping them?

I'm sure the punishment for hiding spies was not a slap on the wrist. And I guarantee you, the city probably wouldn't even care. They wouldn't miss this woman. Why? Why would she do this?

And as a side note, and this is another interesting thing that we can miss. Why did the king's men take her word for it so quickly? Why did they listen to a prostitute and go, "All right, thanks," and just move on? If you don't believe that God doesn't work in everything, you missed the point.

Even in these small things, God is doing something, something to drive us towards a deeper knowledge of who he is, of deeper expectation. It continues. Look in verse eight.

"Before the men fell asleep, she went up on the roof and said to them, 'I know that the Lord has given you this land and that the terror of you has fallen on us. And everyone who lives in the land is panicking because of you.'"

Okay, now we're starting to get some answers of why, right? We're starting to see why this woman would be willing to risk her life, why she'd be willing to risk everything.

And it goes on in verse 10. "For we have heard how the Lord dried up the waters of the Red Sea before you came out of Egypt." Get ready, lady. He's about to do it again in the Jordan.

And it's another amazing, powerful moment. "And we heard what you did to Sihon and Og, the two Amorite kings. You completely destroyed on the other side of the Jordan. When we heard this, we lost heart and everyone's courage failed because of you."

For the Lord, don't miss this, "for the Lord, your God," all capitalized, "for the Lord, your God, in heaven above and on earth below." Your God is the God of everything.

Was she fearful? Yes. Was she terrified? Yes. But I don't think it was because of fear that she is risking everything. Something else is happening in this woman's heart.

She has moved from a place of disbelief to a place of belief in faith. She has moved to a place where she can look at everything around her with clarity and going, "This is the God of all things."

And that's our first point. When we are faced with thoughts of unworthiness, this woman would have seen herself as inadequate, unworthy. Not someone that you would lean into.

But for her, she did something amazing. She leans into faith. Some of you may know what it means when I say IFTTT. If this, then that. It's a process that was put together to help with productivity. If this, then this will happen.

It was turned into software. Well, this is a moment where you can look at it applied to Rahab's life because she stands there and she sees what's happening.

And she's like, "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know." She is in a place of inadequacy. So if inadequate, then lean into your faith. If inadequate, then lean into faith.

Even if fear was her initial catalyst for getting her to this point, it isn't what completed it. She moved from fear into belief, into faith. Belief that the God of these strange and really scary people was the true God in heaven.

This pagan woman who was surrounded by evil, surrounded by traditions of multiple gods, she moves into a place where she is being transformed. Something's happening inside. She's experiencing faith.

Now, don't become complacent with that word, that word faith. We speak on it so much and rightfully so, for good reasons. But for some, it may become Christian background noise.

But faith should never, never be taken for granted. Faith, true faith, is powerful. It's amazing. It moved this outsider, this far from God prostitute, to risk everything.

And that risk, the steps that she took, the getting up to become an unlikely leader, shook the world around her, both figuratively and literally. Let's keep reading.

Verse 12. "Now, please swear to me by the Lord that you will also show kindness to my father's family, because I showed kindness to you. Give me a sure sign that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers, sisters, and all who belong to them, and save us from death."

The men answered her, "We will give our lives for yours. If you don't report our mission, we will show kindness and faithfulness to you when the Lord gives us our lives."

Then she let them down by a rope through a window, since she lived in a house that was built into the wall of the city. "Go to the hill country, so that the men pursuing you won't find you," she said to them. "Hide there for three days until they return. Afterward, go on your way."

The men said to her, "We will be free from this oath you made us swear, unless, when we enter the land, you tie this scarlet cord to the window through which you let us down. Bring your father, mother, brothers, and all your father's family into your house.

If anyone goes out the doors of your house, his death will be his own fault, and we will be innocent. But if anyone with you in the house should be harmed, his death will be our fault. And if you report our mission, we are free from the oath you made us swear."

"Let it be as you said," she replied. And she sent them away. After they had gone, she tied the scarlet cord to the window.

I want you to notice, she wasn't going to possibly forget this. She wasn't going to make a little memo when you tie the scarlet cord to the window. She wasn't going to make a little memo when you see them marching around Jericho, put the cord out.

She's put it out right now. She's like, "Okay, I want you to see what I'm doing. My side of the oath is visible." So the two men went into the hill country and stayed there three days until the pursuers had returned.

They searched all along the way, but did not find them. Then the men returned, came down from the hill country and crossed the Jordan. They went to Joshua, son of Nun, and reported everything that happened to them.

They told Joshua, "The Lord has handed over the entire land to us. Everyone who lives in the land is also panicking because of us."

A lot happens here, but it's very reminiscent of what they experienced decades before. Except, and I want you to see this, how maybe this is irony, but it's amazing.

The first person to really take a step of faith, the first person to jump into risk. Sure, the spies came in. They were really bad at their jobs, so they may have been afraid.

But the first person who really took a step of faith, the first person who really took a step of faith, the first person who really, really put their life completely on the line and trusted in the Lord wasn't even an Israelite.

It was this pagan Gentile woman who no one would have looked at and said, "This is a likely leader. This is a person of faith." You see, Rahab took her faith and showed how powerful it was by turning it into action.

It didn't just come from her desire to be saved from destruction, though she wanted to save her entire family line. But her faith shows that she believed that a sworn agreement in the Lord's name is binding and powerful.

No matter what happens with these men, her faith was in that binding agreement in the Lord, not just in them. By the Lord, she can be assured that her protection would come.

That even in human inadequacy, he would do something powerful. And this takes us to our next point. If faith, then God will provide. If we come to him in faith, if we step into that and get up in faith, he will provide.

She doesn't show any doubt in the power of God, not only to clean house in Jericho, but also to protect her house. She doesn't show any doubt in the power of God, but also to protect her house.

She knows her status. She knows in the eyes of these men and the eyes of the world that she has no worth. But in her faith, confidence in the Lord and those who follow him, she will be provided rescue.

It had nothing to do with her ability or her status. It had everything to do with what was being revealed to her about the God of the universe, the God of gods.

If you feel inadequate, if you feel unworthy, know that God sees so much more. He sees a child, like Psalm says, knit together in the mother's womb.

"I will praise you because I've been remarkably and wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and I know this very well. My bones were not hidden from you when I was made. And so I will praise you because I've been remarkably secret. When I was formed in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw me when I was formless. All my days were written in your book and planned before a single one of them began."

In the case of Rahab, God sees a woman turning her back on a broken and far from him life and turning to the life God always desired for her. The life that he desired for every child in his creation.

He saw her turning to him, to a life in God that would bring about blessing. Like our series really points to, she is getting up and moving, moving into her Holy Spirit, God-led assignment.

In this moment, in this time. And boy, does God show her his power. A couple pictures I want to show you. The first one is a picture, it's a rendering because we have no photos of that day.

But this is Jericho. It's actually superimposed over the spot, the modern-day archaeological dig. I want you to notice something that there's two walls here. Archaeologists have shown that there was probably not just one wall, there were two.

And I want you to take that in for a second. You know, I think we grew up with our felt boards thinking, "One wall fell," but two walls fell.

Next picture kind of gives you an idea of what it may have looked like right afterwards. I know time and weather and all that has taken that place and made it just like nothing ever happened.

But on that day, those walls fell down. The way we're looking at it, if you were to look that direction, that up direction, we're looking east towards the hill country. The down part would be where the Israelites were. That would be west.

This woman and her leadership said, "Don't go the way that they think you're going. Go hide in the hill country. Go that direction." Rahab's house was more than likely built into that outer wall.

More than likely that outer wall is where all the lower class lived. You can't really see it, but on that kind of 12 o'clock on that oval is the only wall that's still standing.

I don't know if that was Rahab's house or not. It makes sense. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

She told them to go east, but it doesn't matter. She risked everything to tell them to go. Hide. And then what happens in the dig site and the archaeology proves it. Those walls all collapsed.

Everything in it was destroyed. And the order of the archaeological dig shows it is the walls collapsed first. And then shortly after everything was burnt up. Everything.

We won't read that account, and that's the hard account. That's the hard thing to come into, a dramatic loss of life. Everything was put to fire and the sword.

Those walls fell through the faith of the Israelite people and the provision, powerful provision of God. The entire city, I want you to hear that again. The entire city was destroyed. All but one part.

Joshua 6. "But the city and everything in it are set apart to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone within her house will live because she hid the messengers we sent."

This is Joshua speaking before they go in, before that great story of marching around the walls. The next few verses in that chapter tell the story of Jericho's destruction. We're not gonna read that.

We're gonna go to 22. Joshua said to the two, "The two men who had scouted the land go to the prostitute's house and bring the woman out there and all who were with her just as we swore to her."

So the young men who had scouted went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother, brothers and all who belonged to her. They brought out her whole family and settled them outside the camp of Israel.

They burned the city and everything in it, but they put the silver and gold and the articles of bronze and iron into the treasury of the Lord's house.

However, Joshua spared Rahab the prostitute, her father's family, and all who belonged to her because she hid the messengers Joshua had sent to spy on Jericho, and she still lives in Israel today.

I think it needs to be said how scary a moment this had to be for Rahab's family. I want you to think about it. Most people's faith would have been shook.

Will these Hebrews live up to their agreement? This is a big tribe. What if one of them doesn't get the memo and comes in and takes us to the sword?

The carnage on that day that was happening right outside their door probably felt apocalyptic. I'm betting many in that room didn't have the same level of faith that Rahab had.

I can imagine they were fighting against every fiber in their being that need for fight or flight. I'm sure Rahab was comforting young and old alike, but they persevered.

And ultimately faith and courage won out. And in this case, an amazing part of the end of the story, if faith, then adoption. The whole family was brought out and grafted into the people of God.

I love the picture that is at the end of verse 25 after Joshua talks about saving her and her family, and it says this, "and she still lives in Israel today."

That last truth reverberates through all of Israel and their history in amazing ways. You see, Rahab's willingness to get up and to lead out of faith goes far beyond that moment in time.

Look at Matthew chapter 1, an account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ. Yes, I'm going to go through a genealogy, and yes, it's another thing. They didn't assign this one to me. I chose this one all by myself.

Genealogies are important, though, and you're going to see why. This account of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham, Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers.

Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram, Aram fathered Amminadad, Amminadad fathered Nashan, Nashan fathered Solomon, Solomon fathered Boaz, Rahab.

Let that sink in. Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered King David. Don't miss it. Rahab's right there in the middle.

The genealogy ends just a few verses later. It says this in 16, "and Jacob fathered Joseph, the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus, who is called the Messiah."

That genealogy, Rahab, this unlikely and flawed individual, is in the lineage of Jesus. Now, we know, those of us who have been in this for a while, we know that Joseph isn't actually the father of Jesus, but traditionally, in the Middle East, to show lineage, it had to come through the father.

To show that Jesus was in the line of David, fulfill prophecy. This genealogy is necessary. Rahab is part of that. The faith that brought about her adoption also counted in the lead up to Jesus's birth.

This faith, this courage rings out through all of history. This flawed woman provides for us a legacy. You see, if faith, then legacy.

The actions empowered by the Lord, used in his Holy Spirit, God-led assignments, can and will go beyond the moment that it existed in. It will make ripples throughout history, beyond our faith and courage and obedience in that moment.

Faith will move forward. A new lineage, a new adoption, a new family, a new legacy, a new life, a new family, a new family, a new family, a new family, a new family, a new family.

Wouldn't you want it to be said of you what is said of Rahab in Hebrews? Look at Hebrews 11:30. "By faith, the walls of Jericho fell down after being marched around by the Israelites for seven days. By faith, Rahab, the prostitute, welcomed the spies in peace and did not perish with those who disobeyed."

Or would you want it said of you in this, in James chapter two, "you see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. In the same way, wasn't Rahab the prostitute?"

Kind of wonder if she just, could it just be Rahab? But I think it's important. All scripture is God-breathed. Also justified by works and receiving the messengers and sending them out by a different route.

Can you imagine Rahab's surprise if she knew her faith, her actions would be held up as an example, in some ways almost equal to those of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, just a couple of verses before that?

They were given the spotlight in this hall of fame of faith, of following in their spirit-led assignments. She even gets a mention when others get a footnote.

Look at Hebrews 11:32. "And what more can I say?" This is the author of Hebrews. "Time is too short for me to tell you about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel, and the prophets. Who by faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions."

Rahab got more of a spotlight than King David because of her faith. And now we get to learn by that example. We get to jump in, get up by that example of an ordinary flawed person and live in this faith.

Faith is a powerful thing. When you feel in the midst of this faith, inadequate, lean into faith. He's going to provide you. If you've already given your life to the Lord, you've already experienced an eternal adoption, but it doesn't stop there.

God wants to continue to adopt you into those Holy Spirit-led assignments. Assignments that will continue to grow his legacy, to grow his kingdom, to move out even beyond you in a legacy that moves into history.

A simple step could be somebody's hundreds of years from now story that you make today. A group of high school kids who are willing to risk their reputation to invite their friends to Youth Alpha could start a legacy of adoption into the kingdom that reverberates through history.

I'm sitting in this room because of a history and legacy of someone way back who led someone, who led someone, who got up, who led someone, who got up in faith and ultimately shared the gospel with you.

Folks, we need to step up. We need to get up and look for those Holy Spirit-led assignments. Jake said it last week. We all have them. God wants to give it to you. He wants you to be aware of it. He wants you to jump into it. Are you going to?

Just like these high school guys and girls that we talked about, these things happen all the time where folks are getting up and leaning into their Holy Spirit-led assignments.

I'd like to invite the Germany team and the missions team up front here. This week, this team is going to be heading to Germany to work at an English camp, to serve folks, to work in their Holy Spirit-led assignments.

Who knows what might happen? I'm going to have them share real quick what it looks like. Most of you already know, but just to give you another glimpse of what this team is going to be doing, and then we're going to pray over them and we're going to send them as a church.

Go for it, man. I'm going to point out, he did something, the same thing. Sandy's not that short. She's shorter. Awesome. Awesome.

So I want you to think of something. Place yourself 50, 60 years down the road, and someone is standing in a conversation in the middle of Germany, in Waren, Germany, sharing the gospel of Jesus with someone else.

And they ask, "How do you know this?" And they say, "Well, there was a group of folks in Germany and from the U.S. who thought it was important enough to teach me English and be a model of the light, to teach, not them English, but teach whoever it was 50 years before, and that just spread and spread."

And people were faithful in stepping into their Holy Spirit-led assignment. What if it changes a place that is so against Christ that we could be sitting here in years going, "That was the moment?"

Faithfulness. Inadequate. We're all inadequate. Nothing special up here. I'm sorry, but it's true. Ordinary people doing extraordinary things through the power of Christ through faith.

So I want you guys to circle up here. If you put your hands out, I'm going to pray for them that this Holy Spirit-led assignment leads to something absolutely amazing. Even if it's one, one lost sheep.

Wow. Father God, we come before you. I'm thankful for this team that they have fallen in love with not only your gospel, but the people in Germany, and that they follow you in faith to go.

Lord, I pray the right words. I pray the moments, those divine appointments. I pray for travel mercies. And all the little details that you would work in all of them, Father, to get them there, to be faithful, to love the Lord, and that overflow into loving the people.

Lord, that out of the overflow of their hearts, their mouths and actions would speak. And Lord, I pray for soft hearts. I pray for folks who are willing and open and ready to surrender to you.

Lord, I pray for those who are willing and open and ready to surrender to you. Just because of the faithfulness of your people. So Lord, I pray a blessing over this team as we send them.

Lord, do an amazing work. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks, guys. There's some prayer cards out at the table. Thank you, Len.

There's some prayer cards you can grab out there if you want to continue to pray. I'll take that. I would encourage you to, throughout this week, consider adding them to your daily prayers. Lift them up. There's a lot that goes on into this.

Also, if you have a gift for the Lord in the ministry here, there are some boxes back there on the wall. You can do that. Chairs need to go up. I didn't forget. Carrie wasn't yelling at me at the end going, "Sean, chairs."

Chairs go up today. And everybody have a great week. We'll see you later. We'll see you later.

Subject: Faith Beyond Worthiness: The Legacy of Rahab



Dear Freshwater Community Church Wadsworth,





What an honor it was to reflect on the powerful story of Rahab and how her faith transcended her past.



In last Sunday’s sermon, we explored how Rahab, a flawed and unlikely leader, demonstrated extraordinary faith in God amidst her circumstances. Her willingness to risk everything for the sake of the spies revealed a profound belief in the God of Israel, leading to her family's salvation and a legacy that echoes through history. We also discussed how our feelings of inadequacy can be transformed into opportunities for faith, reminding us that God sees beyond our flaws and calls us into His purpose.



As we consider Rahab's story, I challenge each of you to think about the Holy Spirit-led assignments in your own lives. Are there moments where you feel unworthy or inadequate? Lean into that faith, just as Rahab did, and take action. You never know how your steps of faith today could ripple into a legacy that impacts generations to come.



Blessings,

Freshwater Community Church Wadsworth Team