Skip to content LEAP of Faith | Joshua 11:16-23 | Pastor Sanaz Mesa Jul 6 · 35 min ...more
July 6, 2025 · 35 min · Patria Sermons
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Adam Mesa is Lead Pastor of Patria Church and speaks to a congregation of 12,000 about how the gospel of Jesus Christ brings purpose to every life. Patria
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0:00 Amen. Amen. Amen. That's so awesome. All the things that we get to do here at this church, all the people we get to help, all the people that God has called0:12 into our church and that we've been called for to serve those people. I tell you, I'm gonna really miss having counseling sessions in that tiny room with all of the kids from UCA having lunch, banging0:24 on the door, I'll tell you. But it'll be really, really, really nice to be able to truly give the quality of care that this church deserves. It's gonna be so amazing. Well, we haven't met, my name is pastor0:35 Sanaz. I have the honor and the privilege of being on our speaking team, our preaching team and as you know and as pastor Sammy said, we have been going through the book0:47 of Joshua all year long and tonight we're gonna continue and we're gonna be able to learn some more and I just wanna encourage you. I saw there was quite a few of you who have been here every single Wednesday0:59 night going through the book of Joshua but you also might be here and be like, who's Joshua? And that's totally, totally, totally fine because let me tell you something about this. The word of God is1:11 alive. It's a living word and what that means is that no matter where you are, if this is the first time you've ever stepped into a church or you have been to church 7, 8 times1:22 a week, every single week of your life, you can learn something fresh today that applies to exactly where you are. So it's going to be such an incredible1:34 incredible experience because God is that good. Amen? You know, and like I said, we've been in the book of Joshua and we are in chapter 11 today. So let me give a little bit of context. The1:46 book of Joshua is all about how they entered and conquered Canaan and it is the promised land that God had promised. And so under Joshua's leadership, they went in. Now let me tell you how Josh the book1:58 of Joshua is broken up. It's broken up into 3 sections. The first 5 chapters, chapters 1 through 5 is all about them entering into the promised land. Chapters 6 through2:09 12 is all about conquering the land and then 13 through 24, the last part of the book of Joshua is all about the distribution, the redistribution of that land that2:21 they conquered when they entered. Okay? And so we are in chapter 11 but like I said, conquering the land goes all the way up to chapter 12 and you're gonna learn about chapter 12 next week, but chapter 12 is really2:33 just kind of a geography and a biography of all of the lands and all of the kings that were conquered, but tonight is really the end of the conquering because we get to final2:46 finally have a finale and it's gonna be really exciting. I just also happen to be here when we the last time I was speaking, I got to tell you about the walls of Jericho coming down which happened to have2:58 been the first land that they conquered. And so I'm really excited that I get to bookend this. So in a moment, we're gonna stand for the reading of God's word. But if you have your bible or your Joshua3:10 booklet, your journal, and if you have a pen or a paper not paper. If you have a pen or a highlighter or whatnot, I am gonna ask you that every time that you see the word all in what we're gonna read,3:22 that you circle it, highlight it. And if you don't have a bible, that's okay. The words are gonna be on the screen. So let's all stand for the reading of God's word. We're gonna be in chapter 11 and we're gonna start in3:33 verse 16. It says, so Joshua took all the land, the hill country and all the Negeb and all the land of Goshen and the lowland and the3:45 Arabah and the hill country of Israel and its lowland from Mount Halak which rises towards Seir as far as Balgad in the valley of Lebanon below Mount Hermon. And he3:57 captured all their kings and struck them and put them to death. Joshua made war a long time with all those kings. There was not a city that made peace with the people of Israel except4:09 the Hivites, the inhabitants of Gibeon. They took them all in battle for it was the Lord's doing to harden their hearts that they should come against Israel in battle in order that they should be devoted to4:20 destruction and should receive no mercy, but be destroyed just as the Lord commanded Moses. And Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill country from Hebron, from4:32 Debir, from Anaab, and from all the hill country of Judah and from all the hill country of Israel. Joshua devoted them to destruction with their cities. There was none of the Anakim left in the land4:44 of the people except in the land of the people of Israel, only in Gaza and Gath and in Ashdod did some remain. So Joshua took the whole land according to all that the4:56 Lord had spoken to Moses. And Joshua gave it for inheritance to Israel according to their tribal allotments and the land had rest from war. Let's pray. Heavenly5:08 Father, we thank you for today. We thank you that we get to learn more about your character. Let us lean in tonight to hear what you have to say. Push me out of the way.5:20 Talk to your children tonight. In Jesus name we pray, amen. You may be seated. So this text is a summary of all that had been conquered5:31 according to the promise that God spoke to Moses. Joshua took all the land from the south to the central to the north and that it was promised to Abraham, to5:43 Isaac, and to Jacob, and to Moses. But what was it that made Joshua different? What was it about Joshua's leadership that allowed him to truly5:55 conquer all that we've been seeing these past few months? Simply put, it was his faith. It was his faith that allowed him to lead the6:06 Israelites and do exactly what it was that he was doing. You know, I'm sure you've heard that expression, I'm going to step out in faith. But here's the6:18 thing, when you take a step, you take a step to where you believe God is taking you, but in order to take a step, you still have 2 feet planted. And what happens when we take a step of6:30 faith, when everything gets a little bit too scary, when it becomes a little bit too unfamiliar, when it's a little bit outside of our comfort zone, all we do is shift our weight back because our foot is still planted in6:40 our comfort zone. But there's a difference between stepping out in faith and taking a leap of faith. Because when you take a leap of faith, as soon as you decide to take a6:52 leap, then you can't turn around and you can't change your mind after you have made that decision to step out to leap in faith. So it's important for us7:04 to understand the difference between a step of faith and a leap of faith. We can't half step of faith and expect God to be faithful. God in this scripture gave7:15 all the territory. So tonight we're gonna break down what it looks like to take a leap of faith. And if you haven't learned by now, if you've ever seen me come up here and teach, I love7:27 an acronym. I really really do. So our acronym is gonna be LEAP, l e a p. I'm giving you I'm giving you the points right off the top. In order to take a leap of faith, we have to7:39 listen to God's voice, expect God to move, act by faith, and persist through the process. Amen. The first step is to listen to7:51 God's voice. Now we started in verse 16, but last week we talked about the first half of chapter 11. And I wanna share a little bit of that because in chapter chapter 11 verse 6, it says,8:03 and the Lord said to Joshua, do not be afraid of them for tomorrow at this time I will give all over all of them slain to Israel. And then in verse 9, it says, and Joshua did just as the8:14 Lord said to him. And then finally in verse 15 it says, just as the Lord commanded Moses his servant and Moses commanded Joshua and so8:26 Joshua did. He left nothing undone of all that the Lord had commanded. God spoke, Joshua did. That's what8:38 made him different. Joshua heard from God because he knew God. His faith was where it was because he had heard and he had seen the8:49 faithfulness of God. Romans 10 17 says, so faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of Christ. Over9:01 and over again, Joshua heard the Lord say and he did. He didn't doubt, he didn't look to his own strength, he listened to the voice of God. Hearing and9:13 knowing the voice of God comes from relationship. I know my husband's voice. I know my children's voice. I know my parents' voice. You remember back in the day before we had cell phones or caller9:24 ID and someone would call you on the phone and they'd be like, it's me. If you truly knew them, if you had intimate relationship with them, if you understood their heart, if they were9:36 a part of your life, you would recognize their voice. Do we recognize God's voice in our life? You know, imagine right now, don't know if you've ever seen9:48 if you've ever seen a toddler at a swimming pool and they're wearing a floaty and they're standing on the edge of the pool, but they're kinda looking at the pool with confusion and they're10:00 realizing that they don't know how to swim. They're unaware that that floaty is gonna help them, gonna save them. So they kinda look at it funky and then they maybe10:12 dip their toe in and they try to figure out how to get in and they're constantly just looking at their own ability. But imagine the same toddler10:24 is standing on the edge of the pool and he's looking out. He's not wearing a floaty, but he sees his father in the pool. And he sees his father in the pool and he's looking with anticipation and10:36 he's waiting. What is he waiting for? He's waiting for his father to say jump. And without tribulation, hesitation, without any anything, just10:48 jump. What's the difference between the 2? The water hasn't changed. His inability to swim hasn't changed. What's changed is10:59 that his father is in the water with him. And he waited and he heard and he listened to the voice of his father telling him, listen, you can jump because I'm in here with you. I am here with you. Therefore, when I11:11 say you can go, you can go and you do not have to worry about your ability because I am in here too. What has God instructed you to leap into that you have yet to11:23 listen? Faith starts with listening. Are you reading God's word? Are you creating space to hear him speak to you? Elizabeth Elliot says, the still small voice11:35 is anything but a whisper. It's the voice that drowns out all others when we truly listen. The boy jumped11:46 expecting his father to catch him. When we listen and hear God's voice, then we can expect God to move. 0.2. Starting in11:58 verse 16, Joshua took all the land and he made war with all the kings. And at the end of verse 20, it says, just as the Lord commanded.12:10 Joshua expected God to do all that he said he was going to do. And in verse 21, it says, and Joshua came at that time and cut off the Anakim from the hill12:22 country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, from the hill country of Judah, and from all the hill country of Israel. Let's back up a bit. We're gonna back up about12:34 45 years. There's a story in Numbers chapters 13 and 14. And it's when Moses sends 12 spies into Canaan to scope12:45 out the land. So they go in and of these 12 spies, 1 of them is Joshua, 1 of them is Caleb and there's 10 other spies. So for 40 days, they're scoping out the land and then they come12:57 back. And the 10 spies came back and gave a grim and fearful report. They said, oh, the land is good but, oh, those people are giant.13:10 They're huge. Now, just to give you an idea of what they mean by these people are giants. Do you remember when we read the scripture up on the screens earlier and they were talking about13:21 how the Anakim was all wiped out but there was just a few left in Gaza, in Gath and in Ashdod? Well, there's a man named Goliath way later who is a giant and13:33 he's from Gath. So it's believed that Goliath is an Anakim. So imagine they're all going and they see just a ton of guys that look like Goliath. That's what they saw. So they came13:45 back and they said, these guys are huge and scary and we look like grasshoppers next to them. And you know what? I don't know. It just seems really scary. We cannot13:57 take this land. It's just far too dangerous. Their report caused fear and discouragement amongst the Israelites. But Joshua and Caleb, they came14:09 back and they said, this land is flowing with milk and honey. And and you know what? God is with us and if God is with us, we surely can14:20 take it. And they urged the people not to rebel against the Lord. It's also important to understand the type of leader that Joshua was. He was an offensive leader. He wasn't14:32 a defensive leader. He didn't wait until somebody attacked and then he would go. He went in and he took exactly what God had told him that he can have. And14:44 he did it because he had an expectation that God would fill in the gaps, that God would do what he said he was gonna do. He could move because God was gonna be with him. He didn't enter Canaan14:56 wondering if God would move, he entered as if the battle was already won. And I don't know what Goliath sized battle you're facing today, but you can respond15:08 1 of 2 ways. You can respond like the 10 spies and say, this problem is too big. There's no way that I can handle it. It's far too scary, so I'm just gonna go back to what I already15:20 know. Or you can respond like Joshua and Caleb did and say, if God is with me, nothing is too big because nothing is too big for my God. It's the15:32 difference between being full of faith and being faithful. We have to be full of faith so that God can be faithful. We sang a great song earlier,15:44 great is your faithfulness to me. Amen. But is is our full of faithness, that's a word I just made up, Full of faithness great15:56 towards God? Are we truly full of faith that God is gonna do what he says he's gonna do? Because in order for him to be faithful, we have to be full of faith. Hebrews 1016:07 23 says, let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering for he who promised is faithful. If we're full of faith and the Lord is faithful,16:20 therefore, we must now act by faith. Act by faith. See, faith is not a feeling, it's an action. Corrie 10 Boom says, never be afraid to trust16:32 an unknown future to a known God. Verse 23 says, so Joshua took the whole land according to all that the Lord had spoken to Moses.16:43 Joshua time and time again, he didn't doubt, but he trusted a faithful God. When others wavered, he said, no, we gotta go. God is with us.16:55 We can do this. Let's go. He listened to the voice of God with expectation that God would move and he acted in faith. James 2 17 says, faith without17:07 works is dead. In fact, in another translation it says, in the same way, faith is dead when it doesn't result in faithful activity. Basically17:19 saying, having faith but not acting on that faith is not really faith. If you have faith that your body will be healed, are you acting as if your healing17:31 has already come is coming? If you have faith that your marriage will be restored, are you acting? And are your are you do you have actions by faith? Are you doing the17:43 work that it takes to get that that God has called you to have? Are you treating your spouse the same or are you taking steps to restore? Because God is17:54 faithful, but it takes action. You know, Hebrews 11, if you know your bible, Hebrews 11 is known as the great, great hall of faith. But18:07 every verse, when it talks about someone's faith, it says, by faith By faith. Says the name, it says what they did. By faith. So we'll start right here.18:19 By faith, verse 4, by faith Abel. Okay? Verse 5, by faith Enoch. Verse let's see what else. Verse 7, by faith Noah, by faith18:31 Abraham, by faith Abraham, by faith Sarah, by faith Abraham, by faith Isaac, by faith Jacob, by faith Joseph, by faith Moses,18:42 by faith the people that crossed the Red Sea, by faith the walls of Jericho fell, by faith Rahab. It's constantly by faith. Are18:55 we truly truly having the actions that follows that God is going to respond to. Because that's what it means to have19:07 faith, to actually do what God is calling you to do and doing it by faith. This is what it looks like. Over here19:19 is my circumstance right now, right here. And I'm comfortable here, you know, things aren't perfect, things aren't great. My marriage isn't great, my kids aren't great, my health isn't great, but I'm19:30 comfortable. I know God's called me over there, but the truth is that a lot of us love to have a little bit of a victim mentality. They say things like, God19:42 gives the greatest battles to the strongest soldiers. That's not in the bible, just so you know. Because God has called us over there. But19:54 we like to complain about our situations because at least it's known. So we hear God saying, I want you to go that way. And then we're like, okay,20:06 I'm gonna expect God to move so here I go. I'm gonna go over here. But here's the problem. I can't reach where God is calling me to go if I'm still holding on to the comfort20:17 of what I already know right now. And so, in order for me to get where God is going, there are some things that I have to let go. I have to let go of the things that are holding me back to where God wants me to20:29 go. And this is where we act in faith by letting go of the things that are holding us back so that we can begin the process of moving forward to where God is calling us to go. And it takes20:41 an act of faith to go there because now I'm in an area where it's unknown, where it's scary, where it's absolutely frightening. But God has us in the palm of our20:53 hand and God will always see us. Pastor Sammy was preaching my message when he was up here exhorting. That's when I know God needs you to hear something. If he's telling him the same thing he's telling me, that's because21:05 he needs you to hear it. So hear me when I say this. The middle can be scary, it can be unfamiliar, but it's by faith that we can get to where God is21:17 calling us. But here's another thing about this little area right here. It's not a quick little transition. It can be long. It can be painful.21:29 It can test our faith. But we have to persist through the process. Persist through the process. Verse 18 says,21:40 Joshua made war a long time. A long time. Remember, it was 45 years before this that they had originally21:52 gone into the promised land. Then they wandered through the wilderness for 38 years. And then they when they finally entered, between the time of22:04 Jericho and between this moment was about 7 years. 7 years Joshua and the Israelites were in there fighting,22:16 doing whatever God had called them to do, continuing the battle. 7 years. 7 years of battle. 7 years of war. 7 years22:28 of choosing to follow God and his direction. And I'm sure that there were moments, there had to have been moments where they thought, at least the Israelites thought, you22:40 know, maybe the southern region is enough. We don't need all of this God. Like, we're not greedy. Like, I'm tired. I'm sure there22:52 were Israelites that were talking like, hey, maybe our luck is gonna run out. Like God's been here but like, he can't get us through every single battle.23:04 At some point, we're going to meet our match. They could have been saying all of these things. And listen, it happens to all of us, absolutely. I get it.23:16 7 years of battle. But they had to persist through the process until the very end, that last verse that we read in verse 23 that said, and the land had23:28 rest from war. It was over. They finally had gone through all of the work, all of the conquering, all of the obedience, all the things that they were called to23:40 do and the land had rest from war. You see, faith is not governed by time. Faith is governed by the persistence in the battle. Joshua was not23:52 looking at the calendar. Joshua was looking at the promise. You don't see in scripture where Joshua says No, you don't see in scripture where Joshua was24:04 impatient, where he was restless, where he was weary. He persisted through. He showed faith not frustration. He never asked24:15 God when. When is this gonna be over? When do I get to rest? He just followed. And some of us are constantly asking24:27 God, when? When is my battle gonna end? But Joshua, didn't have a when24:39 faith, he had a well faith. A faith that is well. Can we talk about Jesus for just a second? All throughout24:50 Jesus' ministry, he performed miracles, he did healings, but if you look at stories like the woman with the issue of blood who fought through25:02 just to touch the hem of Jesus' garment. Or you look at blind Bartimaeus who called out with everything that he had wanting mercy from25:13 Jesus and healing from Jesus as people were mocking him. You look at the grateful leper when Jesus had healed them that he turned around and showed25:25 his gratefulness to him. And you look at the woman with the alabaster, she was a sinful woman but she broke the alabaster box, everything that she had to anoint25:37 the feet of Jesus. What do they all have in common? Jesus did not say, I have healed you. He said,25:49 your faith has made you well. It's a very interesting phrase that Jesus would say, your faith has made you26:00 well. They didn't have a when faith just like Joshua, they had a well faith. A when faith says, when I get married, then26:12 I'll be fulfilled. A when faith says, when I have children, then I will be happy. A when faith says, when my healing comes, then I'll give my life to the Lord. And26:24 when faith says, when I get the promotion, then I'll start tithing. And when faith says, when this happens, then I'll do this. But Joshua didn't do26:36 that. The woman with the issue of blood didn't do that. The woman with the alabaster box didn't do that. They said, you know what? It doesn't matter to me and Jesus said, your faith26:48 your faith has made you well. A well faith says, even in the battle, I am well because God is with me.26:59 It's that type of faith that allows us to be persistent in the process. Because if27:11 we're all here, we're not walking in God's purpose for our life. God has a calling on every single person in this room and it's over here. It27:22 doesn't fall into your lap. When I was single, my friends would say, your future husband isn't just gonna knock on your door. You have to get out there. You have to have action.27:35 And so, it's important to understand that we have to be well even in the middle of the battle. We have to be well every time something gets thrown27:47 at us because our soul is not wavered on our circumstance. Our soul is planted in the fact that Jesus Christ died on a27:59 cross so that we could have freedom whether we're having a good day or a bad day. It is still well with my soul. So tonight,28:10 let's not just step out in faith, let's take a leap of faith. A leap like we've never done before without abandon because we know who's gonna be in there with us.28:22 Listening to God's voice, expecting God to move, acting by faith and being persistent through the process. Because even though we don't know when,28:35 we know who. And, you know, as I was preparing this message, I felt God say that there's28:47 people in this room, there's people in this room who perhaps are negotiating their faith with God.28:58 And they're saying, hey God, you know, when if if you do this for me, then I'm gonna give more of myself to you.29:10 And especially with our salvation, there might be somebody in this room, there might be somebody in the courtyard or watching online that has said, maybe I'll give my life to29:22 you but first you have to do this for me. And here's the problem with that. It's not that God is petty, it's not that he doesn't have grace for you. He has grace for every single 1 of us. That's why29:34 we have Jesus Christ. He gave us the greatest gift that ever was and that was his son, so that we wouldn't be judged on our own situations. We would be judged on the perfection that is Jesus.29:46 But perhaps you're here and you're saying, okay, if you get me through the storm, Lord, then I will come back to29:58 you. If you get me through the storm, then I will finally proclaim you as my my savior, my Lord and my savior. But the problem with that30:11 is that God is not just a God of the mountaintop. God is a God of the valley as well. And he wants to be with you, to comfort you, to guide you, for the Holy Spirit to lead30:23 you even in the moments that are not good. And every time we say, when you do this, then I will do this, I I just wanna tell you it's never gonna happen.30:35 Because even if God were to give you what you're asking for, then you're gonna turn around and say something else. And so I just wanna encourage you, if you30:47 have never given your life to Jesus, don't wait for a miracle. Accept him into your heart right now so that he can be your comfort and your best friend through the process.30:59 And if you have walked away from Jesus and you're here tonight by circumstance, I wanna tell you31:11 that he wants to be with you as well. He wants to be in the pool with you and he's telling you to jump, he's telling you to leap because he's gonna catch31:23 you and he's gonna carry you and he's gonna be with you and that even though things are scary and there are moments that are gonna just be terrifying in your life, When we have31:35 Jesus with us, we're not alone. So with every head bowed, every eye closed, I'm gonna pray, I'm gonna lead us in a prayer.31:48 And if you wanna accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior for the first time or the last time, I want you to mean it with your32:00 whole heart because it's not just saying the words that saves you. It's the heart transformation. It's the it's the surrender to Jesus of saying, I can't do this by myself.32:12 I can't reach my promise, my my purpose without you. So, I'm gonna lead us in a prayer. Just say it with your heart. Say, dear Lord Jesus, thank32:24 you. You died on a cross for me. I believe in you and I promise to follow32:35 you all the days of my life. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen. Were you blessed by God tonight?32:47 Amen. It's an honor to be able to share with you. In a moment, I'm where I'm I'm gonna dismiss you. But if you said33:00 if you said that you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and you meant it with your heart, you gave your life to Christ for the first time or you came back, I don't wanna embarrass you. I wanna celebrate with33:11 you. It's a boldness to be a Christian and we just wanna celebrate with you. And so if on the count of 3, if you would just shoot your hand up in in the sky, we just wanna say33:22 congratulations and welcome to the family. 1, 2, 3. If you gave your life to Christ tonight, let's shoot up our hands, I see it. Awesome. Praise God.33:34 Praise God. Yes, Lord. Heaven is rejoicing for every soul that is saved. God is good. And let me tell you something, we're gonna have I don't know what it is that you might be going through, but33:46 we will have a prayer team up here. If you did say that prayer for the first time, we also have some information for you. You might give your life to Christ and say, okay, now what do I do? This is gonna be able to tell33:56 you what you're gonna do. It's just a small, short, downloadable information that's written by our founding pastor, pastor Diego, growing your Christian walk. And then if you have any questions, you can ask any of the34:07 pastors on staff or in the foyer, we have a team. Anybody with the badge, they'll be able to help you out. And if you don't have a home church, we would love to invite you this weekend, either Saturday or Sunday,34:19 to any of our weekend services, but we can answer any of those questions. If you are in need of additional prayer, we will have a prayer team up here that you can pray with. They will stand in agreement with you34:31 and anything that you're believing for. Let's pray and then we can be dismissed. Heavenly Father, we thank you for today. We thank you that you are a faithful, faithful, faithful God. And we tell you, Lord,34:43 today that we are going to be full of faith. We're taking a leap of faith today. We're never gonna be the same because your word is good. In Jesus mighty name we pray, amen. Amen. Have a beautiful evening. Hey,35:01 auntie. Can I have 1 vape? That's 1212 hundred? Read the box. 1 year subscription. 120035:13 dollars. Vape after vape. It adds up. So, you wanna renew your vape subscription? Nah. I get a lot of things I can spend my35:25 money on. 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