A New Beginning (Joshua 4 & 5)

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Goal

To encourage, challenge and direct us,
as we move out of the previous season and into a new one.

When the entire nation was on the other side [of the Jordan], the LORD told Joshua,
“Select for yourselves twelve men from the people, one per tribe.
Instruct them, ‘Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan,… and carry them over with you and put them in the place where you camp tonight.’ “
…
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.”

What specifically has God done for you in the season we are coming out of
Name the blessings specifically
What are you doing so as not to forget?
- e.g. Falling off the bus and the Bible
One of my uncles was, in God’s kindness, a huge formative influence in my life: candlesticks
But the simplest thing is just to write it down
- I want to encourage you, as soon as this sermon is over, to take some paper and write down as many things you can think of to thank God for in the last 2 years (and longer if you wish)
- For me I would include that I am so glad to be kept healthy
- My mother is still alive, against all the predictions
- I have made some wonderful new friends
God wants us to be serious about remembering his blessings
- Don’t brush this off—you should do this. It is a principle we learn from this story
What is the purpose of the stones? —to remind us to tell others!
- We have some things in our house that if visitors comment on, we can tell a story that brings in God’s love

At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel…”
Though all the people who came out of Egypt had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out had not been circumcised.

Seal of the covenant with Abraham. A picture of new creation
Fulfilled by the seal of the New Covenant: the seal of the Spirit
- who circumcises our heart by renewing it and being present with us
- Mark of dedication – we belong to God (A very similar idea to holiness)

Renew our dedication to God:
- Pray for God to give you focus on your purpose this coming season
  and renew your commitment to living in the New Covenant
Pray for his sealing power:
- For a renewed filling of the Spirit and sense of his sealing presence.

…Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will complete a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers, on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not continue in my covenant and I had no regard for them, says the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts.
And I will be their God and they will be my people.
And there will be no need at all for each one to teach his countryman or each one to teach his brother saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ since they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.
For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer.

While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho.
And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain.

And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves.
For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

Then he took bread, and after giving thanks he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
And in the same way he took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?”
He said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.”
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?”
And the commander of the LORD’s army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.

You don’t have to go into this new season by yourself, Jesus is with you and he is your strength
In your own strength you can’t do it, but you can in his!
live in dependence on our King, our Saviour and our Shepherd

To encourage, challenge and direct us,
as we move out of the previous season and into a new one.

Past: Commit to physically remembering how God was with you
Present: Renew your commitment to living for God,
Pray for renewal of the Spirit’s sealing power & presence.

Celebrate the amazing forgiveness, freedom and hope we have right now
Future: Jesus is our captain: turn from our own strength and live in dependence on our King, our Saviour and our Shepherd