Skip to content A Fresh Start With God | Joshua 5:1-9 | Pastor Sammy Rodriguez Mar 27 · 46 min ...more
A Fresh Start With God | Joshua 5:1-9 | Pastor Sammy Rodriguez
March 27, 2025 · 46 min
Series Patria Sermons March 27, 2025 · 46 min · Patria Sermons
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492K followers
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
492K followers
0:00 Come on. Can we put our hands together for pastor Sinaz? How many you guys love pastor Sinaz? Man, I'm I'm honored. How many of guys excited to jump back into the book of0:11 Joshua? Anyone excited? I'm pumped. Well, if we if we haven't met yet, my name is pastor Sammy. I am the resident pastor here with you guys for the next few years, and my wife and0:23 I are actually getting ready in a few years to plant a church out in Huntington Beach, California. But thank you Jesus for a church like Patriot that believes in not just Patriot Church, but the capital0:35 C Church. Amen? Amen. And some good news just to let you know, the Lakers did win. I'm sorry if you were recording it. A tip in by LeBron James. If you're a Clipper fan, you could leave. No, I'm just kidding.0:46 You could get saved tonight. You know, there ain't there ain't no true Clipper fans in California. Can I get an amen? Or just me? Okay. No. Just kidding. We we we do love our little brother, the Clippers. You know,0:58 Lakers hang banners, you know, Clippers hang portraits. No. Too too much. Too much. Too much. Much. Too much. I'm sorry. I love the Clippers, kind of. But before we jump in, I I just wanna, you know, again, can we just1:09 put our hands together for for our our lead pastors, pastor Adam and Ashley? Can we just thank them? So so incredible, incredible leadership, and we wanna be where we're at1:21 today. It just came off of an incredible, you know, series. And and this Sunday, our founding pastor, if we could put our hands together for pastor Diego, we love him so much. He preached on a1:33 sermon, you know, that that he first preached 31 years ago, and so if you're around, we'd love for you to come. Now, okay, let let let's jump in. We're gonna we're gonna look at Joshua 5, but before we do, how many of
1:43 guys have your journals with you? Wave at me if you got your journals. Alright. Okay. We got a few. Okay. You know you know, there's a saying, goats take notes. Right? Meaning just, I'm not calling you a goat, greatest
1:54 of all time. Right? You know, take a note, take notes, your brain will thank you later. Okay? So just remember, you could do it in your phone. If you wanna grab a journal, it's in the back. It's in the bookstore. We
2:05 would love for you to grab 1. But what we're jumping into today is is Joshua 5. And I've titled it this. I've titled it A Fresh Start With God. Real quick by
2:17 raising their hands is how many of you guys have been to a a midweek Joshua service this year? Just show me. If you've been to 1 of them, good job. Come on. Give someone a high 5 next to you. Come on. Give them a high 5.
2:29 If you have no 1 next to you, give yourself a high 5, also known as a clap. Alright. Boom. How many guys have been to more than 1? Like 2. Okay. Okay. Faithful saints here. Okay. How about how about 3? Anyone been
2:41 to 3? How about who's been to every single 1 you haven't missed in Wednesday? You're like, my car broke down, but I walked here in Jesus name. Alright, I see you. Now, if you haven't been to 1, we're going through the
2:51 book of Joshua during our Wednesdays, and this service is called Fresh Start. So I've titled the sermon Fresh Start. Right? Fresh, a fresh start with God. Everybody say a fresh start with God. Fresh
3:03 And we're gonna be reading maybe a little bit of a peculiar part of the scripture, but I think it's pertinent and important to where we're going. Okay? So if you if we could do this, if we could just all stand up
3:14 together, because we stand when we read the word. And we're gonna read Joshua 5 verses 1 through 9. Are you ready? Okay. If you don't know a certain word, just just just humming a humming a, whatever, you know, and we
3:26 just make it up, know. Okay. Here we go. As soon as all the kings and of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were beyond by the sea heard that the
3:37 Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they had crossed over, their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. At
3:49 that time, the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time. Somebody say a second time. Second So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the
4:01 sons of Israel at Gabaoth Hara, Shammana Hamana, you know, whatever. You know, we go keep going. And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them, all the males of the people who came out of Egypt. All the
4:13 men of war had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the
4:24 wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. Verse 6, just a few more verses. For the people of Israel walked 40 years in the wilderness until the nation, the men of
4:36 war, who came out of Egypt perished because they did not obey the voice that the Lord swore to them that he would he would not let them see the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give to us.
4:48 A land flowing with milk and honey. So it was their children whom he raised up in their place that Joshua circumcised, for they were uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on
5:00 the way. Verse 8, 2 more, and we're done. You're like, this is the most amount of bible I read in a minute. It's okay. Praise the Lord. Alright. When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in
5:11 that place in the camp until they were healed. Somebody say healed. Come on, touch someone next to you. Say they were healed. Healed. And the Lord said to Joshua, today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you,
5:23 and so the name of that place is called Gilgal to this day. Stay standing, I'm a pray, and then we'll sit down. I believe that tonight, we're not just reading about this passage, we're
5:35 talking about something that we could give to the Lord to consecrate to the Lord. Consecration means to be set apart. To be set apart. This this this moment in circumcision was a cutting away of the
5:47 flesh. And so I wanna encourage you, even as we get ready, I have 5 simple things to tell you. But even as I'm talking, I believe we're in a spiritual moment. We're in a nearness moment with the Lord, where the Lord
5:59 might be asking you to give up something, maybe not even just that's evil. Of course, we know we're gonna give up evil things. I wanna encourage you, maybe God's asking you to give up maybe something that's good, because
6:08 it's not gonna be good for you later. And I wanna encourage you to ask the Lord. Let you let yourself, even as I'm sharing, let yourself have an inner dialogue with the Holy Spirit and say, God, whatever you ask, I'm
6:20 in. It's a dangerous prayer. Are you are you in to do it with me? Lift up both hands real quick. It's a mandatory prayer. No. I'm just kidding. Don't don't pray it if you don't mean it. It's a scary 1. You're like, I
6:29 brought a guest, this guy crazy. Oh, I I am. It's fun. Alright? Don't worry. They'll still take you to In N Out later. Say this with me. Say Jesus Jesus. Whatever you ask I'm in. Let me pray for you real quick. Lord, we
6:40 just thank you so much for this moment. We thank you for this fresh start. We thank you for our team. We pray that you meet us in a fresh way in Jesus name. And everybody said? Amen. Amen and amen. Go ahead and grab a
6:50 seat. You know, as I was preparing for this sermon, I was thinking about a story of mine from when I was 19. I just had a birthday, I just turned 36. And I
7:01 was I was in missions for a long time, for about 15 years. And I remember I was in a place out in Hawaii suffering for the Lord, amen. Thank you. And and and at that time I had been dating a
7:13 girl for a long time. You know, was 19, so I knew everything. Can I get an amen? Alright. No, just kidding. And and as a teenager, I was like, I know it. This is the girl. I'm gonna marry her. All this different stuff.
7:24 And and we have both actually went to that place to to learn about our our relationship and grow in with the Lord. But there there was starting to come a little bit of a check-in my spirit, and even hers as
7:36 well, that that maybe this wasn't right. But but I kept pressing forward, kept pressing forward. I was actually looking at rings to propose to her, but but I I felt this check and I didn't do it. Well, I was having
7:48 a conversation with a good friend of mine. And how many you guys know? We have such great advice unless we take it ourself. Anyone else? You just have great advice for everyone else except yourself? Anybody? Is that just
7:58 me? Is that just me? Can I come after you? I'm a come after you. We have great advice for everyone else. Listen, you gotta do this. Okay, you gotta cut him off. You gotta cut her off. Come on, say bye. Right? You say all
8:09 that, but then they ask about your own life and you're like, listen, I just feel like the Lord is leading me. You know, like, we just get all spiritual. Right? Well, I was talking to a good friend of mine, and I and and
8:19 he was having, you know, he was he was having relationship problems. He was having girl problems, and and I saw it so clear. I'm like, man, I'm a be a prophet to to my buddy. I said, listen, you gotta lay it down. I even
8:30 put my preacher. I said, you gotta lay it down. You know what I mean? I just was like telling him, telling him he's gotta lay it down. He's listening. And at the very end of my beautiful monologue that I thought that was
8:39 about 20 minutes, I felt like the Holy Spirit turned the tables and said everything that you said to him, do for yourself. And I felt from the Lord, I felt the Lord say, you gotta do it tomorrow.
8:51 Do it tonight, do it tomorrow, do it now or you're gonna be disobedient. Wow. That's good. I said, hang on Jesus. Hang on Holy Spirit. I thought you're supposed to be the comforter. You know what I mean? I thought you're
9:03 supposed to be there for me, you know? And there's a few different things I had to consecrate to the Lord, but if I wouldn't have made that tough decision, I wouldn't be married to the love of my life with 2 kids who's
9:13 watching online because they're not feeling good. Can I get an amen? Amen. Sometimes we gotta said this before. Thank God for the prayers he didn't answer. Come on now. Preach. You're like, he's the 1. 0 my
9:24 goodness. She's the 1. And then a month later, doctor Bully, oh my goodness. Holy Spirit. Whoo. You know? And you're in this moment right now where you're so angry, but you don't realize
9:36 that God's asking you to give it up because it got something better. And here's the thing I didn't fully understand, but but we had a we had an understanding that I had to set not that was 1 of 3 or 4 things that the
9:48 Lord asked me to consecrate, to set apart. And so I wanna encourage you as we get ready to jump into these 5 things. God is going to ask each of us individually to set something apart. And I wanna
9:59 encourage you to say, God, whatever it is, I'm in. Amen? Okay. Let let's let's jump right into the first point. In verse 1, it should be on the the screen right here. It says this. As soon as all the kings of the
10:11 Amorites who were beyond the Jordan to the west, and all the kings of the Canaanites who were by the sea heard that the Lord had dried up the waters of the Jordan for the people of Israel until they crossed over, their
10:22 hearts had melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel. The first point I want you to write down is this. God goes before you, the battle is already being won.
10:35 God goes before you, the battle is already being won. You know, in this city in in Gilgal, when they crossed the Jordan, you know, the priest took the Ark of the Covenant out
10:47 in the water, the waters dried up. We already heard this part. And then all of Israel passed over. They had a great moment of power. They set up stones of remembrance saying, when your children ask, you will tell them
10:58 this is what God did. So in Gilgal, God displayed his power and he brought pain. God displayed his power and he brought physical pain to the men. Why? Because he was
11:09 preparing them. But here's what you gotta hear and you gotta realize in this story in verse 1, it says that all the kings, just like Rahab, in the story of Rahab and Joshua 2, it says all the kings to the west, the
11:20 Canaanites, Amorites, their hearts melted away. Why? Because they heard that Israel had crossed over. Now many of us were looking and seeing and we're like, man, we got giants in the land. We got things coming up against
11:31 my life, but you don't realize that God has already been preparing the way for you. He's just asking you to take the next step. Amen? I have this up there. I want you to write it down. When you walk in obedience, God is
11:42 fighting for you behind the scenes. When you walk in obedience, God is fighting for you behind the scenes. Now the Israelites were so afraid. If you remember the story, if not in Numbers, where the
11:53 12 spies go out and 2 of them, Joshua and Caleb, have a good report of the promised land. 10 of them say, yes, this land is great, but they got giants. They got they got strong cities. There's no way we
12:05 could take it. And it was their unbelief, their disobedience that caused all of Israel to wander. Now, they're still going back to that same place. They're still going back to a place of giants. They're still going back
12:17 to a place of strong cities. But what they don't realize is those strong people are already afraid of God. What am I trying to say? Come on. You're gonna get this right here. Maybe the thing that you're afraid of,
12:28 they're afraid of your God. I'm a say it again. Maybe the thing that you're fearing, maybe the thing that you're battling Come on. I'm a give myself an amen. Maybe the thing that you're battling is already afraid of God.
12:39 And as you take a step into the promise, the heart is melting away. Let's make it personal. Maybe that addiction is is melting off your family. Right? Maybe that abuse is melting away from
12:51 your family. Maybe that pride, whatever that is, maybe that wayward son, that wayward daughter is coming back home, and right now you're taking steps of faith and prayer, and you don't realize they've already brought a
13:01 ticket back home. Come on. We're believing that when we step forward, God is already fighting on our behalf. Amen? I want you to write this down before we go into our second point is that the battles
13:13 before us are not won by our strength, but God's presence. The battles before us are not won by our strength, but by God's presence. Amen. Amen.
13:25 You know in Exodus there's a story where you know, the golden calf and some of these moments that happen and then and then and then God says to Moses, listen, depart from me. I'm a send
13:37 an angel for you to inherit your promise, because if I go with you stiff necked people, I will consume you along the way. And in this part in Exodus, Moses says, don't take us up out of here unless
13:49 your presence goes with us. He says, because I would rather die in the wilderness than with your presence than live in the promised land without your presence. You We we gotta know that it's by
14:01 his presence that overcomes and strengthens us. It's not by a promise. It's not even by our own strength. What's beautiful about this story in Joshua as they set their feet on the promised
14:13 land, that God's presence was already fighting on their behalf. The hearts of their enemies were melting away. Why? Because God was fighting for them. I wanna I wanna want you to hear this. I want you to personalize
14:23 this. In your life, whatever that giant is, whatever that generational thing is, God is fighting on your behalf. Come on, we don't have to walk out with the chains we walked in with. God is there is freedom in Christ.
14:34 Amen? Amen. Amen and amen. Point number 2, we'll look at verses 2 and 3. It says, it's at the time the Lord said to Joshua, make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a
14:46 second time. So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gebeit Hararlot, or however you say that. Is that is that the end? Is that it? Perfect. Point number 2, want you to write this
14:58 down. So the first 1 is God fights before us. Point number 2 is this, is consecration comes before conquest. Consecration comes before conquest.
15:09 Renewal comes before breakthrough. I'm a say it again. Consecration comes before conquest. Renewal comes before breakthrough. You you
15:21 ever think about this? You ever think that, again, in this moment, when the when the all of the men of war and and all of the men of Israel were circumcised, they would have been defenseless. So it would have been smart
15:33 for for like a human reasoning for them to be circumcised on the other side before they inherited their their their their enemies. It would have been better if they were would have been circumcised on the other side of
15:44 the Jordan, not on the on not on the place where their enemies were, but how do you guys know God's ways are above our ways? Amen? Amen. God wanted to bring them to the end of themself and say, listen, I'm a bring you to
15:55 your promise. I'm a even when you're surrounded by enemies, I'm gonna protect you. And some of us in this room, we have protected ourselves for so long. We're not letting anyone get
16:07 too close to us because we have to protect ourselves. It's us against the world and God is ripping your defenses away. God is ripping your defenses away. God
16:19 is ripping your strength away. And you're you're wondering, man, don't feel strong anymore. I don't know what's going on. It's because God is stripping away the strength in your flesh. Because
16:32 he wants you to come to the end of yourself. He wants you to be set apart before the conquest. Why? Because if you go and conquer your promise now with what's still inside of you, it will
16:43 destroy you. And so before the conquest, they had to be consecrated. Check this verse out in Romans 8,
16:55 in Romans 2, sorry, 28 through 29. It says this, for no 1 is a Jew who is merely 1 outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical, but a Jew is 1 inwardly.
17:07 Somebody say inwardly. Inwardly. And circumcision is a matter of the heart. Somebody say heart. By the Somebody say by the spirit. By the spirit. Not by letter. His praise is
17:19 not from man, but from God. Come on. On. It was never about an outward thing. It was it was an obedience factor in the covenant being outward, but it was always an inward moment that
17:31 marked them. In Deuteronomy 10 16, it's not up there, but it says circumcise your hearts there for. Which means that it's both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, meaning it's a timeless truth.
17:43 That yes, it might have been a physical moment, but it represented so much more in what God was calling them into. Amen? I want you to write this thing down right here. It should be up on the screen. Circumcision was the
17:54 physical sign, but God has always desired the heart. And I think for some of us, I I know I get this way, I wanna give so much to the Lord. Right? You wanna show God, you miss a quiet time or you
18:05 miss maybe a month with the Lord and you wanna prove to God, God, might have messed up, but I'm a prove that I'm I'm back in a relationship with you. It's not about that. It's about being changed from the inside out. And
18:17 if we try and prove it to God, we'll always come to the end of ourself and we'll be in that cycle. And that cycle will be broken when we realize it's not by our own strength. It's by re re surrendering and and and
18:29 giving to the Lord our heart, which out of our heart the mouth speaks. Amen? Amen. This last point of this application I want you write down for part point number 2, is God doesn't just wanna bring us into his promise,
18:41 he wants us to be prepared for them. He doesn't wanna just bring you to your promise, he wants you to be prepared for. I know this is a a a kind of a scary statement. I know this is kind of a
18:53 a statement we might wrestle with. But anyone who had a call from God in the Bible, look at their preparation period. Because what happens is we get the right word with the wrong wrong
19:05 timing. We get the right word with the wrong translation. If you were here on this last Sunday and we're talking about Hagar, right, Abraham and Sarah had the right word, they were gonna get a kid, but with the wrong
19:16 timing. And what happened? It birthed Ishmael. It birthed an illegitimate child. Why? Because they tried to take God's word and put man's timing on it. Come on now.
19:27 You're wondering, God, I've been I've been I've been praying, I've been worshiping, I've been pressing in. It's been 3 months. Come on, keep pressing in. And and in our
19:39 microwave generation many times we want it so fast. So fast, right? So fast. And God's saying, I'm preparing you. I'm preparing your
19:50 hearts. I'm preparing you for your calling. Don't worry. It might take longer, but it will it will it will also last longer. And it's not just for you, but for generations to come.
20:02 Amen? For a third point, let's write this down in a second. We're gonna read the verses 4 to 7. It says this, and this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them. All the male of the people who came
20:14 out of Egypt, and all the men of war had died in the wilderness. On the way after they had come out of Egypt. Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were
20:26 born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the people of Israel walked 40 years in the wilderness until all the nation, the men of war who
20:38 came out of Egypt perished because they did not obey the voice of the Lord. Go back 1 real quick. Go back 1. Let's let's look at that. They all perished because they didn't serve the voice of the Lord.
20:50 Does it say serve there? Does it say attend church there? What does it say? Because they didn't what? Wait, what does it say? Obey.
21:02 What does it say? Obey. I I can't hear it 1 more time. What does it say? Obey. They all died out because they didn't obey. They didn't obey.
21:15 Alright, well keep going, let's keep going. Hang on man, we're good. Keep keep going. It's it's too good. It's too I got I got 1 coming. Okay. The Lord swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the Lord
21:25 has sworn to their fathers to give us a land flowing with milk and honey. So it was their children whom he raised up in their place that Joshua circumcised. For they were
21:36 uncircumcised because they had not been circumcised on the way. This third point I want you to write down if you're taking notes. Give me an amen. Amen. Full obedience
21:48 is the path to inheritance. No shortcuts to God's promise. This is like a, oh, really? Come on God. Full obedience is the path to inheritance.
22:00 There is no shortcuts to God's promise. You know, I I was telling you earlier, we're planning a church out in Huntington and so we actually moved up here a few
22:12 minutes away to learn, you know, from you guys and and and love our church here at Patriot for the next few years. But before I did, I was driving up for a few days a week from Huntington Beach all the way up here. And
22:22 how many knows at the at the peak of traffic, that could take about 2 to 3 days. Just kidding. 2 to 3 2 to 3 2 to 3 years. I was like, oh my goodness. No. About 2 hours. I could even spend 3 hours. And you know
22:34 what I'm grateful on my car that I have is a fast track. If you got a fast track, say amen. Amen. I mean, you'd be driving by the cars and you thinking like these peasants, you know what I mean? Because you just zoom,
22:44 vroom, vroom, vroom, vroom. Right? And you're rolling. Right? And you're feeling good. You're like, they're waiting. It'll be 5 hours in behind the traffic and I'm here cutting deals in the fast track lane. I'm going to
22:54 the shortcut to come here, and even though it would take me 2 hours, it only took me an hour and 50 minutes. Just kidding. It took me like an hour and a half because I had the fast track. Can I get an amen? Amen. And
23:04 some of us are looking for the fast track to our calling. And I'm like, but God, I understand. I I get it. I know what you're saying. It's gonna take some time, but is there a fast track to my
23:15 calling? Can I skip the traffic? Can I skip the can I just go? I just I don't have time. And
23:28 if you look at Jesus in his life, many of us, we are are are just from 0.1 to point b. That's me. Honestly, I'm I'm preaching myself more than anybody else. 0.1 to point b, and we
23:40 want no distractions or disruptions. Anyone type a people like me? Just me. Okay, this is how I can see a few hands. Okay. I want no distractions. Right? And I'm I'm just trying to get on the way. But with Jesus, right,
23:50 miracles happened in the disruption. But many of us are missing our miracle moment because we look at it as a distraction moment. Okay, I'm gonna say it again. Many of us are missing our miracle moment
24:03 because we see it as a disruption to our schedule moment. And we don't see God in the midst of it, and we wanna fast track to our calling, but we gotta realize that the traffic, those moments are
24:14 surfacing something in us that we can't take a shortcut to God's calling. For some of us, that's what's been hindering you. You've been holding back because you keep trying to take a fast track and you keep getting
24:25 pulled over because you ain't got no fast track. Because there ain't no fast track in the kingdom of God. Amen? They did not obey the voice of the Lord and they died
24:37 outside the promised land. I feel like God is doing something fresh and and he's he's always doing something new and same yesterday, today, and forever. But there's something about the
24:49 fear of God. The fear of the Lord. Not a negative 1, but a positive 1. We're saying, God, I I wanna walk in the fear of God. Not talking about a clothing brand even though that's fire. Okay? We're talking
25:01 about the actual o g fear of God. Talking about which is the beginning of wisdom. We're just saying God, we we we honor your word. We we we revere at your word. We wanna be obedient to your commands. Where the
25:13 Bible says the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double edged sword. It pierces between joy and marrow. Judges the thoughts and desires of the heart. We wanna know what the We don't wanna just read the
25:22 word. We want the word to read us, and we wanna be obedient to the word. I want you to write this down. God doesn't reward partial obedience with full inheritance.
25:33 Come on somebody. Come on. Touch your neighbor and say that one's for you. Come on. Say say that 1. Hey, that one's for you. Right? That one's that
25:45 one's for you. Touch your other neighbor and say actually it's for me. We want shortcuts. We wanna get there as quick as
25:57 possible with as little pain as possible. But they couldn't receive their promise if they didn't go through the pain of circumcision. God doesn't reward partial obedience with full inheritance. And can I say also?
26:08 Delayed obedience is disobedience. Some of you guys you're you're obeying but you're just slow at it. Right? You're like fine.
26:21 And you're like this And everyone could see. Yeah you're being obedient but you're controlling the mood man. You're controlling the arena. You're you're delaying in your obedience. You're being
26:33 disobedient. I'm delaying in my obedience. I'm being disobedient. Write this down for me. Come on. You're like, I didn't know all this from circumcision. Oh, yeah. Come on. Here we go.
26:46 Disobedience delayed a whole generation. God wants to do it now, but he'll have to wait until we're ready. God wants to partner with us, but he don't need us. What does
26:58 that mean? It's not based off of us. Yes. God There there are moments and there are key moments in life where everything could change. For for for the Israelites, you know, when they came back from the promise,
27:10 that key pivotal moment was them having unbelief and not obeying the word of God. They didn't have a do over. We all want do overs. God's filled with grace. Trust me. I'm not preaching turn
27:22 and and burn moment. But there are moments in our life where if we're not obedient, we'll settle for less. We'll settle for less than what God had. And the Israelites, they had to be obedient and it was the
27:34 last straw and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. So that a generation rose up, right? That wasn't circumcised on the way and so they got
27:46 circumcised in the promise. I want you to think about this. It might have taken you know, there was there was years that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt, but it was in a moment when God spoke, they left
27:58 Egypt after the 10 plagues, the Red Sea parted, that whole story. Right? It was a moment where the Israelites left Egypt, but it took a lifetime for this culture of Egypt to leave the Israelites.
28:10 Come on. There's a few of you got that. Let me say it again. It took a moment for the Israelites to get out of captivity, but it took a generation for captivity to get out of Israel. And
28:23 so they had to reform and renew their way of thinking. But they didn't wanna do it. And so God said, alright, we're gonna start over with your kids and the next generation. And what we're saying is is like Joshua, at the
28:35 end of Joshua, we're kinda jumping to the end. But at the end of Joshua, says, for me and my house, we're serve the Lord. Can I get an amen?
28:47 This is another way to say it. I want you to write this down. God doesn't give partial blessings for partial obedience. I think what what many of us sometimes that we're wrestling with,
28:59 you know, our way, God's way, culture's way, and I wanna encourage you, full obedience to the Lord. Full obedience to the Lord in whatever he's asking. Amen? Amen.
29:11 Verse 8. Verse 8. Let's read this out. It should be on the screen. When the circumcising of the whole nation was finished, they remained in their place in the camp until they were all healed.
29:23 I want you to write this down again if you're taking notes. Healing comes before advancement. You can't skip the process. Healing comes
29:35 before advancement. You can't skip the process. And so many of us, you know, we wanna walk into our promise and we're limping or we're hurting or maybe there's a
29:47 wound or a scar. No. Ponder the theme. Of course it is. And we wanna go inherit our promise but we need to be healed before we can inherit our promise. I want you to hear
29:59 this real quick. They were wounded but in covenant and healing was a part of God's process. Even though they were in the land, God may may them pause to recover.
30:11 I said this a few minutes ago in the first or second point, but it it makes 0 sense to completely, you know, make your army not able to defend themselves.
30:22 Israel was defenseless on the other side. Because God was saying my presence is your protector. Not your weapons, your strength. It's
30:34 my presence. And some of you guys feel wounded and you're healing right now. You're healing right now and what's going on is you feel like you're being surrounded by enemies. But can I encourage you?
30:46 Psalms 23 says that he prepares what? A table in the presence of our enemies. And so here's what I wanna encourage you with that he he I want you to hear this. If you feel surrounded, look
30:58 around. There's a table. If you feel surrounded by your enemies, I want you to look around. There's a table. Why? Because God wants to dine with you. God wants to commune with you. God wants to be with you. And in this
31:08 moment and in this story, God was bringing the Israelites to the end of themselves saying, listen, it ain't gonna be by your strength that you take the promise. It's gonna be by my presence. That was the big idea
31:20 where God both demonstrated his power and there was pain, but the pain had a purpose. Your pain has a purpose. Your pain has a purpose. Joseph said, what the enemy used
31:32 for evil, God will use for good. Even things that will happen against you in a negative context, God didn't send it, God didn't cause it, but he sure will use it.
31:44 First but first you must get healed. Amen? I wanna read this verse. We're we're we're getting ready to close in a second. But John 15 2, it says, every
31:56 branch in me that does not bear fruit, he takes away. And every branch in me that does bear fruit, he prunes that it may bear more he's like, he picked up a web. Oh my goodness. No. Okay. It's it's a
32:08 pruning shear. Okay? We're gonna look at something real briefly. Okay? So I, you know, I asked some of our team to grab us this this beautiful thing because circumcision and pruning have correlation. Right? Because
32:19 that verse said that any branch that doesn't bear fruit, he takes away. The better translations for that in in the original context, theologians say, it's not takes away. It means he raises up. So the vine dresser, if
32:31 it's not bearing fruit, he doesn't take it away. He rise he raises it up to be able to be tied to the vine and bear more fruit. And some of us, the truth is we're we're we're so against
32:43 pain that we're not allowing the Lord to prune our life. And I want you to look at this tree. I don't know if you could see it. I don't know if you could see it. But there's a branch in here that doesn't belong. Yes,
32:54 it's fake. Don't look at that. Okay. Don't worry. This is part of the process. There's a branch in here that doesn't belong and it's being held together by some duct tape. It's a branch that's not connected but it seems
33:05 like it would be connected. And the truth is for many of us, we're trying to add parts of our old life that God has cut off And we're duct taping it together and say, God, no, this is still part of me? Listen, I am
33:17 I am evangelizing in the club, Jesus. I'm dancing for the Lord in the club, God. I'm saying, go way deeper. Go way deeper. Right? No. Uh-uh.
33:30 But God, I'm just I just I'm just I'm just I'm just grabbing the drink. I'm not sipping it. Better read. Oh God, listen God, I just I know I know I said I wanna get back with this girl that
33:42 I dated 10 times, but but I feel like she needs to get saved and we're gonna change the world. No, no, no. And whatever that category is, whatever that thing is is we've tied it together with
33:54 tape, but God sees the difference. Right? And he's cutting it away and he's cutting it away if these kick off, just cut it like this. Because he's saying this doesn't belong on
34:06 you. You gotta get rid of it. This is your old life. And you're carrying it around with you and God's saying if you keep it going, guess what happens? To to branches that aren't connected or old
34:18 branches, they get diseased. And the disease in this branch, connected. Right? Maybe it was partially connected, but it was a little disconnected. And what happens is the disease can destroy the whole
34:29 tree. And you don't see it yet, but that relationship is gonna destroy your whole tree. You don't see it yet, but that job may destroy your whole tree. You don't see it yet, but that whatever fill in the blank is gonna
34:41 destroy your whole tree, but you're holding on to it because you're saying, but God you promised and you're and God's saying, just trust me on the journey. Will you trust me on the journey? Can
34:53 I get an amen? Amen. There are 4 areas that make sense in this area. Look at it. In the in these branches. There's exhaustion. There's physical decay.
35:05 There's dryness, spiritual stagnation. There's plateauing, reduced fruitfulness. And there's exposure, increased vulnerability. There might be an area of your life where you have been withholding
35:17 yourself from God, pruning your life. But God's just saying Go back to it. God's just saying this. God's saying, I want to take out your exhaustion. And you're saying, but
35:29 why does this link to my exhaustion? Because it's killing you. And it might hurt right now but I gotta cut it off. That's good. But it hurts I know but I gotta cut it
35:41 off. You might be saying man God I feel spiritually dry. That's because that religion is hurting you. That religion is killing you. And you don't realize that that religious branch if it's not
35:52 cut off, it's diseased, it will make you spiritually stagnant. You're like, but God I've been saved 20, 30 years, I just feel plat, I just feel like I'm on a plateau, I'm not growing. Well, it's because there's a thing
36:04 that you haven't given up. 10 years ago you said, don't touch that closet in my life. If your if your if your life is represented by like a home, you're saying God, you can have my whole house except that back closet. I
36:14 wanna keep that. And God's saying, you are plateauing because you're not giving me everything. Exposure, increased vulnerability. You're wondering, man, I feel I feel sick.
36:26 Even some of us feel tormented, and we feel tormented because we're still holding on to something that's killing us. Come on. Will you say, God, please cut it away. You say, cut it away. Get rid of it, God. Get rid of
36:36 it, God. It's gonna hurt, but it's gonna hurt good. Why? Because for my future, you gotta cut it away. Can I get an amen? Amen. If we
36:48 skip the process, we may arrive with the wrong heart. God isn't delaying you, he's preparing you. Last part. I know I've held you a little bit longer, but it's it's it's okay. It's
37:00 okay. God's cutting us. Alright. Verse 9, check it out. Says this, and the Lord said to Joshua, today I have rolled away the reproach of Egypt from you. And so the name of that place is called Gilgal to
37:12 this day. Point number 5 is this, shame is rolled away a new identity in Christ. Shame is rolled away a new identity in
37:24 Christ. The shame of slavery, disobedience of failure was removed. They were no longer defined by what happened in Egypt but by what God was doing right now. Put that point back
37:36 up there. Point number 5. Shame is rolled away in a new identity in Christ. For some of us tonight you're gonna make a decision to give your life to Jesus whether
37:48 for the first time or for the last time. And the big thing God is cutting away is he's cutting away at your old life. Shame will be rolled away from you and you're given a new identity as a son, as a daughter of God.
37:59 Amen. And for the Israelites, what happened was the shame and the reproach of Egypt was rolled away in their obedience to the word that God spoke. Write this down. 2 more things, a
38:11 few more things, and then we're gonna pray. In Christ, shame is not our story. Redemption is. Whatever you're most ashamed of, whatever you carry, whatever keeps you up at
38:23 night, whatever is going on your in your life, you gotta know that God that Jesus paid the price for that on the cross. That's why we're encouraging everyone here to bring your family, bring your friends. We're not justShow more
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