Jericho

Transcript

This transcript was generated automatically from the audio and may contain small errors.

Well good morning, my name's Daniel Oster and I'm a pastor here at South Brillouin Baptist Church and one of the requirements for me to preach is that they decorate the stage and I think they did a pretty good job. But this stage really is good. I know half the people probably in this room contributed to this this week. I know there was multiple days and Letitia who I don't see here kind of organized this. So can we give those folks a round of applause? This is awesome, yeah.

So excited about VBS this week and also excited about our sermon series this summer which we're calling the Bible World Tour. And it started last week and our first stop was in the Garden of Eden. And we saw that's where God created everything. We saw Adam and Eve in the garden and we saw that's where the original sin started. It was the Genesis of that but also at the same time our need for the saving grace of the gospel and we kind of walked through that last week in the Garden of Eden. And this summer we're gonna be at a lot of different places in the Bible and some you know and some you don't know. And it reminds me of just kind of road trips that you take during the summer. And if you know anything about my family, we love road trips. And I was trying to think about kind of where that all started and what I first remember. And my first memory of road trip

was actually with the family friend that I don't even know where we went actually. I just remember how we got there. Has anybody ever owned or ridden in a station wagon? Okay, all right. Okay, I think these were the family vehicle before minivans. Okay, I don't know if minivans. But there was something unique about the station wagon and that was the third row, okay? Even more unique was the fact that it faced the opposite direction, okay? So you can see these kids here are obviously smiling, ready to go. What they don't really know is that here in a few minutes the family's going to pile luggage around you, right? You're not gonna be able to see anything in front of you. They throw you some goldfish and some water and you're just there until the end of the trip, okay? That's literally where they just put the kids they want to not hear from the whole trip. And so I didn't realize that as a kid.

It was really awkward because think about it, at a stoplight, what are you looking at? The driver behind you, like this weird awkward look. And then at nighttime, what are you staring at? Headlights. So it was a whole different trip. We'd be leaving the state and I'd see a sign that says welcome to Virginia, but we're leaving Virginia. It's very weird. But that was kind of the first remembrance I have of taking a road trip. And so kind of in that theme of today, we're gonna load the station wagon and we're gonna put Drew Ivey and Clay Rickard in the back, okay? And we're gonna go to Jericho today, okay? We're gonna be in Jericho. And so before we jump in our scriptures, I think it's really cool to talk about the historical context of Jericho. And so to kind of give you an idea of where it is, this is, you see the Jordan River here and the Dead Sea and you see Jericho just west of the Jordan River.

So that gives you an idea of where it is. And this is what, the next picture is what archeologists just kind of a thought of what Jericho looked like. And it's this massive fortified cities, a city with walls. And to give you some idea of the size, it's about, it's just under 10 acres. So if you think about, we always kind of use our church land, because it's a really good. So the three streets and then the woods that are over this way, that is about five acres, okay? So double that minus a little bit. That's about the size of the city of Jericho. And so there has been multiple archeologists digs there and I wanted to show you this one map because I think it's pretty interesting. And understand that this isn't just Christians trying to find things, but this is a map and what I want you to see, you probably can't make out, but this red right here is titled fallen bricks, okay?

So there's a retaining wall. And if you want to go down to a YouTube wormhole, this is awesome, okay? But there's a retaining wall and what they found, they dug is they found falling of these bricks that were used in walls. And you see how it kind of created a ramp up into the city, which is really, it was gonna be kind of what we're talking about today. The other thing we're not gonna talk about that I think is really cool is they found pots full of grain and what was unique about it is they were charred. And so what we're not gonna see today, but when they, when, into the story, okay? When they take the city of Jericho, God tells them to burn the city down and take nothing. So it's very unusual for them to find pots with any valuables, but especially pots of grain and then for it to be burned. If somebody was to take over a city, that's something they normally would take with them

because that was valuable. So we see that what kind of why I would like starting with this is there's things that our Bible talks about that history proves, okay? And it's a really, it's really cool to know that this, you could go to the site of Jericho today and see this retaining wall and see these bricks and see some of this stuff there. And so today in Jericho, we're gonna look at three separate instances of faith. And to understand faith, and when we talk about it today, because we use that word sometimes a lot,

that faith doesn't necessarily mean only that we are kind of jumping out and we're hoping that we grab onto something. Maybe it is kind of this leap of faith that we're hoping, maybe even it's irrational that it's just there. And we've got our fingers crossed. So when we talk about faith today doesn't mean that. It even means something more than just believing, just believing something to be true. So when we talk about faith and faith in God and what we're gonna see evidence of today is we're talking about a faith that spurs you into action, that changes your life completely, that it dictates what you do. You believe something so much that you put your faith in it and your life surrounds it. And also that your faith is only as strong as the object you put it in, okay? So as a believer in Christ our faith is in a perfect God and creator and sustainer of all things.

So when we talk about that today, that's kind of the common theme we're gonna see. So let's start, we're gonna be in Joshua and we're gonna be in chapter six and we're gonna look at the first two verses. It says, now Jericho will shut up and inside of it and outside of it because of the people of Israel. None went out and none came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, see I have given Jericho into your hand with its king and mighty men of valor. So understand this is not the first time the Israelites have come up to the promised land, okay? 40 years before they came with Moses and if you remember God delivered them out of Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea on dry land and then they get to what God has promised them, the promised land and they get there and they send out 12 spies to survey the land. And in Numbers 13 we read kind of the report from the spies. I'll read that, chapter 13, 27, 20 it says,

and they told them, we came back to the land which you sent us. It flows with milk and honey and it's fruit. However, the people who dwell in the land are strong and the cities are fortified and very large, very familiar where we are today. And besides that we saw descendants of Enoch there. So 10 spies came back with reports that there's giants, there's no way that we could take the land. And then two spies say, let's go at once and possess it. And it's important to know that one of those spies is Joshua, that's where we are found today. So the end result 40 years ago was the rebellion, the people rebelled, said why did God bring us here just to die by the sword? And their punishment for disobedience was to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. And then we see Joshua bringing the people back to this point, okay?

So let's look at what God asks them to do in the next verses. It says in verses, I think I'm just gonna read three and five here, three through five. You shall march around the city and the men of war going around the city at once. Thus shall you do for six days, seven priests shall bear seven trumpets and rams horns of the ark. And on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times and the priests will blow their trumpets and when they make a blast with their rams horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people will go up everyone straight before him. So this is a familiar story that probably most of us remember. Joshua and the big wall and the people marching around it. Maybe it brings you back memories of being in Sunday school or VBS. Maybe if you're like me, you marched around the room

and at the end you blew these little kazoo things and you kinda reenacted it. But the thing that burns into my brain when I think about Joshua and Jericho are talking vegetables, okay? Keep walking, but you will knock down our wall. Keep walking, but she isn't gonna fall. It's plain to see. Her brains are very small to think walking. We'll be knocking down our wall. Pity's and Phillip, ah, may we, Jean-Claude, may we? Won't you join me in my irritating little song? It would be an honor. Keep walking, but you will knock down our wall. Keep walking, but. So you're welcome. That song's been my head for three weeks. Okay, that's Veggie Tales. If you've not gone, if you've not visited the Veggie Tales series of animated film, it's great, okay? And I think this one's called Joshua and the Big Wall. And so we're gonna adopt that phrase of keep walking today, okay? We're gonna talk about keep walking in faith

and what that looks like. So look back at God's instructions for Jericho. It says you're gonna walk around the wall once for six days, and on the seventh day, you're gonna walk seven times, and then you're gonna blow the horns and make the sound, and the walls are gonna come falling down. Now you've got Joshua, this man, this warrior, and he's got warriors into Israelites. I doubt when God told him this, he was like, you know what, that's exactly what I was thinking. I thought we would just walk around this wall and then make a loud noise and it would fall down, okay? I doubt too that when he went and told the Israelites that they thought the same thing. So you kinda think about how you would have responded hearing Joshua come back and telling you, this is how we're going to take this city. We're just going to walk around it. And you're just like, what? Have you been drinking the wine, Joshua?

And so we're gonna look at our daily attempt to keep walking in faith like Joshua and the Israelites. And sometimes in our walk with Jesus, we may be faced with unusual tasks and looking odd. Walking in faith may make you look weird, okay? As you can see, these Israelites and Joshua walking around the wall was not something that was usual on how you would take a city. And you just think about how that applies to our life and how a lot of times it may seem strange to do the things that we feel like God is calling us to do. We had doctor friends, friends who just finished medical school and they were in transition. They were going to go be missionaries at another part of the world. And so while making doctor money, they lived in one of the poorest apartments around because it had refugees there of who they planned on ministering to when they went overseas. That looked weird to people, you know?

That looked odd. And so Jesus tells us though that we're gonna look different than the world. In Matthew 16, 24 he says, if anyone comes after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. In Luke 14, 26 it says, anyone who comes after me must hate their mother and their father and they must hate their wife and their children and so on. And so we see how living for God sometimes is gonna look different than what the world says. And so you think about what examples this might look like in your life today. And I think about like, what if your retired couple and God starts calling you to foster teenagers? That would look weird. What if you're finishing up high school, you've got great academic grades, you could go to any school, maybe you're an athlete and God is calling you to be a church leader, something that does not pay very well at all. It's not even reaching your full potential of your talents.

That would look weird when you're telling people, you know what, I'm gonna go, I wanna be a church leader, I wanna go to a seminary instead of a big name school. What if God was calling you to start a Bible study at your work but you had no potential candidates for someone who's going to join you for that Bible study? A Bible study by yourself probably looks weird. But we have to remember that our belief, our faith and what God is calling us to do is gonna oftentimes go against the grain of what is usual. So like the Israelites, we are to keep walking in faith and God shows up in mighty ways. So let's look at verse 20, it says, in chapter six it says, so the people shouted and the trumpets were blown and soon as the people heard the sound, the trumpets, the people shouted a great shout and the wall fell flat so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him

and captured the city. So you just kind of imagine what this must have looked like even though they knew as a possibility it was gonna happen. Like I imagine when they made the loud sounds, I feel like if I was to do the movie that there was like two to five seconds of just complete silence before anything happened, like dramatic effect before the walls start coming down. And so, but we see that even though the Israelites were responding in something that looked odd, God showed up in a great way. And so that should give us confidence when we're doing something that just seems like, should I really be doing this? No one really, I don't feel like I'm supported, no one really, I don't know how this is gonna end, that God shows up in spite of that. And he's just asking us to put one foot in front of the other, just to keep trusting in him, to keep walking in faith with him and try to be obedient.

And so God is doing mighty works and he tells us to keep walking even if we think it makes us look weird to others. So let's look at another occurrence that happens in chapter two of Joshua, going back a little bit. Let's read Joshua two, two through seven. And it says, in Joshua the son of Nun went, sent two men secretly from Shaitam's as spies saying, go view the land, especially Jericho. And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and they lodged there. And it was told to the king of Jericho, behold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land. Then the king of the Jericho sent to Rahab saying, bring out the men who have come to you, who have entered your house, for they have come to search out our land. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. And she said, true, the men came to me, but I didn't know where they were from.

And when the gates were about to close dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went. Pursue them quickly, for you will overtake them. But she had brought them up to the roof and hid them in the stalks of flax that she had laid in order for on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the fords and the gates were shut soon after the pursuers had gone out. Okay, so we're kind of taking a step back here chronologically, Joshua coming to the promised land sends out spies. Typically when you send out spies, it's to gauge the weakness. How you gonna attack something militarily? Do you notice the difference about how many spies he sent out this time? He only sent two. Wasn't rolling the dice of 12, okay? Only sent two. And actually did it secretly so that when they come back and kind of report back to him. And where do they go?

They go to Rahab's house, who is a prostitute. And if you hear Rahab mentioned in the Bible, her occupation is usually right there beside. It's always Rahab the prostitute, Rahab the prostitute. And so we see her house in the outer wall typically near a gate. And so it was not unusual to see strange men coming and going from Rahab's house because of what she did. And so the spies going there were hoping to be unnoticed, but they were seen by the king's men. And what do we see? They see that they send to Rahab and said, tell us where these men have gone, who they are. And she hit them up in the roof and said they had gone out. Go chase them. You catch them if you hurry. And the whole time they were hidden there. And so why would she do this? Why would a prostitute of Cain and I, city protect these two men? Well, we see here in the next verses why she does it. Let's look at verse eight.

It says, before the men lay down, she came to them on the roof and said to them, men, I know that the Lord has given you the land and that the fear of you has fallen upon us and all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you. For we've heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you came out of Egypt and you did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan and Shion and Og who you devoted to destruction. And soon as we heard it, our hearts melted and there was no spirit left in any man because of you. For the Lord your God, he is God in the heavens and above and earth below. None of them, now then please swear to me by the Lord that I dealt kindly with you, that you will deal kindly with me in my father's house and give me a sure sign that I will save a life of my father and my mother and my brothers and my sisters and all belong to them

and deliver our lives from death. And the men said to her, our life is yours even to death, even if you do not tell our business. And then the Lord gives us this land, we will deal with you kindly and faithfully with you. So we see this really beautiful testimony, sorry there's a gnat up here, I'm not getting the Holy Spirit all of a sudden, but we see her testimony of who God is.

She heard of what God has done, the hearts were melted and she even reaffirms what God tells Joshua, is that I know that the Lord has given you this land. So what a declaration of faith. And so our encouragement this morning with Rahab and keep walking is that we must do so in confidence knowing that walking in faith exceeds expectations. Here Rahab saves the spies lives, sends the guards in a different direction and Rahab's faith in God, even probably at the most immature level, saves not only her spies, but her family. And this means that our job is to stay faithful and obedient knowing God is not only working through us, but others around us. Oftentimes his plans are bigger than we can ever imagine. And so if you're like me, when I'm watching a predictable movie, I will tell the family 20 minutes in, this is what's gonna happen. She's gonna fall in love with the wedding planner,

they're gonna end up living happily ever after. And it got annoying, so then I just started writing it on a piece of paper, folded up and see if I was right at the end. So I just kind of have this confidence I'm gonna know. But then there's those times when you're like, Bruce Willis was alive the whole time, right? Okay, I'm not even gonna tell you that movie in case you haven't seen it. But if you haven't, you need to go see it. But I guess you're gonna have to guess what it is. So sometimes we're like that with God when he gives us a point, when he tells us to do something, it's like, I know what you're up to God. Here, I know exactly what you're doing. Okay, let's do this. And then what happens is God shows up and exceeds our expectations. Never saw that one coming, okay? And let's read how he does that with Rahab. Let's flip to the New Testament. I'm gonna read out of James now, James 2, 24 through 25.

It says, now see that a person is justified by works, not by faith alone, and the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute, justified by works, when she received the message and sent them another way. So here we have James, given Rahab, still has her occupation there. You know, you couldn't have left that off, the prostitute. Example of faith and works. So that's great, let's keep reading. If you turn to Hebrews 11, know it as the Hall of Faith, you could just kind of scroll down that whole chapter and you're gonna see names like Abraham, Noah, Moses, Joseph. And then verse 31, we read, by faith Rahab the prostitute did not perish for those who were disobedient because she had given a friendly welcome to spies. So to think in Joshua's time where we are right now, that a Canaanite prostitute would be used as an example of faith in the same breath as Moses and Abraham would have exceeded,

they never would have guessed that, they never saw it coming. And so to be a part of a list of those, just Hall of Faith people and to see Rahab's name just reminds us how God works. So think about times when you were faithful and God showed up in more ways than you ever could have imagined. What happens though is we too often get in our own way. We like to put some ground rules. When God's asking us to do something, when he's asking us to walk in faith, we feel like it's kind of this negotiation, like let's talk about this. And so some things we may say, we kind of dig our heels in and we say, God, I hear what you're saying, but I'm not so sure I agree with you. How about this? God, I hear what you're saying, but I have a better plan. Here is my proposal for plan B. God, I hear what you're saying, but now just isn't a good time. And that reminds me when Candace was pregnant with Emma,

she was a week late, and we go into the doctor's office, they take some tests and they go, look, you're gonna need to have this baby real soon. And so I pull out my calendar and I'm looking at my work schedule going, I think Tuesday. And the doctor's like, no, no, you don't understand. Like y'all are walking over to the hospital right now. You're gonna have this baby right now. And I feel like we do that with God. God's like, okay, here's what I want you to do. And you're like, you know what? That sounds like a great plan, but financially, it's not a good time for me. Or can we just wait until the kids are out of school or we make up these excuses about time, okay? Other ones are, God, I hear what you're saying, but surely you can find someone else. I mean, have you checked out Sean Coffman over here? I mean, he's a really good one. Maybe you should ask him. God, I hear what you're saying,

but can you first, this is the one, can you first tell me how and why and can we talk about how this is gonna go? Can you map it out for me? Before I take that first step, I just wanna do this. And so what it identifies is that walking in faith really pushes against our desire for control. And so that's where the faith part comes in. But when we're reminded, the story is like Rahab,

we're reminded that God has plans to exceed anything that we could ever draw up, any excuse we could ever make. And it's important to remember to know too that our walk with Christ, and I'm gonna say this probably a lot as long as you know me, your walk with Christ is not just about you, okay? We think it is a lot of times, but we see here that God's sending spies into the city through Joshua. Do you think God was surprised when those two spies stumbled into Rahab, the prostitute's house, and then Rahab and saves their family? No, God had a plan the whole time that exceeds expectations. I'm reading through the Bible, I'm doing the read through the Bible, and a year, which I think is gonna take me about 14 and a half months, but I'm doing it chronologically, and when you read big chunks of the Bible like this, you see this common thread of God's redemptive story

starting where we were last week from the garden. We see that going all the way from the garden through Jericho, all the way through an empty tomb to where we are right now. And we read about ways that God is exceeding anything we could ever have planned. And so, in doing so, our story's largely connected to Rahab and to Jericho. Let's read another time that Rahab is mentioned, this time with not her occupation. Let's read from Matthew 1, 5, and 6. It says, and Solomon, the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz, the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed by the father of Jesse, and Jesse, the father of David the king. Do you know what the title of this chapter's called? The genealogy of Jesus. So Rahab here, Rahab was being saved, and that the Messiah that we worship today was coming through her bloodline. And so when we talk about Jesus, when we talk about God exceeding our expectations,

there is no way that Joshua and his men knew that what they were doing, even though God was doing this really amazing thing by delivering this city for them that didn't require any type of military force, that at the same time he was doing that, he was continuing his redemptive plan for us through Rahab. And so, when we keep walking in faith, he's doing work around us sometimes, which we'll just never know. But that's where the faith comes in. We know that God can see things that we can't, and his plan is perfect. And so knowing this, we should be encouraged to keep walking in faith in mighty ways, in our marriages, in the way we parent our children, in our relationships, and through our church, and throughout Burleson. So when walking in faith and it feel like God is calling us to do something,

our encouragement is to be like the Israelites, to take that first step, one front and front of the other, knowing that God is going to exceed our expectations. Let's look at the last one here in Luke. We're gonna flip to the New Testament, and we're gonna read Luke 18, 35 through 43, I believe. Yes, and he drew near Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired, what this meant? They told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by, and he cried out, Jesus, son of David, have mercy on me. And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stopped and commanded him, and to be brought to him. And when he came near, he asked him, what do you want me to do for you? And he said, Lord, let me recover my sight. And Jesus said to him, recover your sight,

your faith has made you well. And immediately, he recovered his sight, and followed him, glorifying God, and all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. So we have the instance of faith with Joshua and the Israelites walking around the wall. We have Rahab's faith. And now we have this blind man, and maybe taking a little liberties, it says it's near Jericho. But sometimes I think we forget the Jericho's even in the New Testament. It's also where Jesus meets Zacchaeus. It's the road between Jericho and Jerusalem, where we get the parable of the good Samaritan. And so, but here we find a blind man, and what happened with blind and crippled, his friends and family would take them out and put them in a populous place near gates and things, so that when people were walking by, they were able to ask for money and food, and that's kind of how they survived. And so, you can tell that from the blind man's response,

something different was happening than the normal hustle and bustle, right? And he asks, he says, what is going on? What is this? He says, he inquired, what this meant? And do you notice the difference between how people told him what was happening and what he said? He says in 37, he says, they told him, Jesus of Nazareth is passing by. And then how does he call out to Jesus? He says, Jesus, Son of David, says, Son of David, have mercy on me. And this was a messianic title for Jesus. This was identifying Jesus as the Messiah. And it shows us his faith in who Jesus was. And he kept crying out and annoying people around him, but Jesus brought him over, and Jesus restored the man's sight, and we see that he did it based on his faith. And so as we keep walking in our faith, like this blind man, our walk involves daily surrender.

Just like him, we too are to cry out to God, cry out to Jesus, asking for direction and help. The blind man knew that there was nothing he or anyone could do to help him, only the Messiah. And the same goes for our daily walk, and our emphasis in faith is that it doesn't rely on our own ability. We often mess things up trying to do it ourselves. But when we keep walking in faith, we have to surrender our own desires and perceived ability to God and constantly call him for help.

But what does this mean? What does it mean to surrender as a believer in Christ? Like, what does that look like? Does that just mean that I sell everything I have and move into a poor country? Does it mean I can't watch any movies over PG-13? Does it mean that every event that church has, I need to be there? What does surrendering look like? Well, let's read a few scriptures, Jesus talking about this, and one out of Philippians. But Luke 14, 33 says, anyone of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Whoever loves, and then so Matthew 10, 37 says, whoever loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And then Matthew 22, 37 says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind. And then lastly, Paul talking to Philippians,

he says, whatever gain I had, I count as a loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For the sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ. So first know that we are at odds with our sinful nature. Daily our selfishness creeps in and it tells us we can neither do this. We saw it in the garden last week. You can do this on your own. You don't need God's help. But that's where we fall short. And that's why surrendering, it has to be a daily process for us.

Are you ever like me when you're singing worship songs and there will be words there that you're supposed to sing but it's maybe not true of your heart? So like, I was taking notes this morning, so like with every breath I'm able, I will sing the goodness of God. And you're like, I'm not really feeling that. Like I don't know that that's true about me. Or maybe like when you're saying the words, oh there is nothing better than you but you're struggling with the sin that's telling you that it's better than God. And so what happens is we feel guilty singing it. Maybe we just kinda mumble the words, maybe we don't sing it at all. But daily surrendering is saying that you can't do this on your own. And one of the stories illustrates this really well. And Mark is when Jesus counters a boy whose demon possessed. And in verse 23 he tells the father, this is chapter nine of Mark,

he says, if you can, all things are possible for one who believes. And the father replies, I believe help my unbelief. So this daily surrender, crying out to Jesus like the blind man is saying that I can't do this on my own. Our daily surrender involves us asking God to help us. And in this we can state truths like what we sing in worship songs to remind our hearts of things that we've forgotten.

When we pray, one method our church uses often is the acronym AX, which stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. And the first part of that adoration is really just a declarative worship to God. It's spending time reminding us of the God that we serve, who he is. And the thing about that is, no matter the way you feel or the doubt, it does not change the truths that you're saying. We're reminding ourselves of what we've forgotten. And so when you daily put aside these lies where you're trying to step in God's place in your life, we need to be more like this blind man on our knees crying out for him, for Jesus. And so as we keep walking, we must daily surrender our deficiencies, our pride thinking we can do it, our adulterous hearts. And so on the daily we need to daily surrender. So as we kind of move into the time of closing,

this is a really time to respond to kind of what God's laying on your heart. And if we learned anything from the French piece of Jericho was to just keep walking, okay? It's almost, it's just almost falling forward in faith. We're praying and asking God to align our desires and our lives with him. So walking in faith may look weird, okay? Walking in faith may look, God may have in you do something that's abnormal. You may be feeling a prompting that he's asking you right now that you're thinking, this does not seem right.

So ask the question as we're closing, what would it look for me to step out in faith in that? Even if it looks crazy, praying God to help you take those first steps. We learned that walking in faith will exceed our expectations. Why don't, we don't always know why God is asking us to do something. But that's where the part of faith, trusting in him is to take that step knowing that he doesn't waste our obedience.

So maybe this morning you're underestimating what God can do. And maybe God's ask, maybe in the middle of doing something you think God is asking you to do and you're not seeing the results you think you should find. And it's very frustrating. Because you're thinking, if God's asking me to do this, then surely I would see, I'd be in a better mood, I'd see more fruit, I'd see differently. And it causes you to question it. But we gotta remember God just calls us to obedience, whether we see what his plans are or not. And that is good. And so if you're there, if you're maybe underestimating what God can do in that, just pray for him to, for encouragement and direction. And then lastly, walking in faith, we talked about daily surrender. We are to daily hold heartily, cry out to God for his help. We need him. So even if you're not feeling it, even if you, even if you're just maybe not there to cry out

and just say, God, help me with my doubts, help me with my frustrations, my hesitations, I need you. And so as followers of Christ, our faith like the people of the Israelites today, involves action and involves moving. And that's why we're talking about keep walking, keep walking in faith. And just watch God, what he has to do around us. And so as we close and pray this morning, be like the blind man, cry out to God, cry out to Jesus for help in your life. Ask God to reveal those things that you may be holding back on that he's asking you to do. And then if you're unsure that you are walking in faith or even in a relationship with Jesus, maybe you think that just believing in Jesus and doing some good things is enough, but then when you hear about the faith that involves action that changes your life, not just part of your life, your entire life,

if you're kind of praying through that, we have couches and chairs back there during the song where you can come back and ask questions. And it's not like we're gonna march anybody up front or anything, but we want to be a church that's walking with you in the spirit and we know we're not doing it perfectly, but when we do it in community, we can lean on each other. And so whether you're contemplating taking that first step today, or maybe you've been taking multiple steps, we wanna be a church that leans on Christ and each other to do that well. So let's go ahead and close in prayer. Lord, you're good, it's just, it's so good to just read about your redemptive story throughout the entire Bible, to just know that you cared about us so much.

We just thank you and as we try to walk in faith and we know that we don't do that well and we stumble often, we are grateful that you are forgiving and loving and merciful God that helps us and doesn't ask us to do it on our own ability. And so we just pray that we can lean in on you this morning and just help us not to walk away this morning unchanged, Lord, but just help us to continue to grow in you. It's your name, I pray.