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Stepping Up to Greatness: How to Avoid Spiritual Complacency
May 20, 2025 · 42 min
Introducing the new series "Stepping Up to Greatness," John Mark reflects on the importance of obedience to God's plan, urging men to break old habits and avoid spiritual complacency.
Series "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton May 20, 2025 · 42 min · "Men's Breakfast" with John Mark Caton
Introducing the new series "Stepping Up to Greatness," John Mark reflects on the importance of obedience to God's plan, urging men to break old habits and avoid spiritual complacency. ...more Show the full description Show less Introducing the new series "Stepping Up to Greatness," John Mark reflects on the importance of obedience to God's plan, urging men to break old habits and avoid spiritual complacency.
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John Mark is the Senior Pastor of the thriving Cottonwood Creek Church in Allen, Texas, where he has served since 1995.
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Stepping Up to Greatness 0:02 Welcome to Men's Breakfast with John Mark Keaton. Join us as John Mark shares his insights with other men in his ministry rooted in the timeless truths of the gospel. Today's message will encourage you to0:14 inspire, inform, and invest in the lives of others. This is Men's Breakfast with your host, John Mark Caton.0:23 As Justin said, we start a new series today entitled Stepping Up to Greatness. And that's really what I wanna encourage us to do is I wanna encourage us to, think about what is what is it gonna take for everyone in this0:35 room to step up to greatness? What is it gonna take for our church to continue to step up to greatness? And, I will tell you, I think the key, to us as a church stepping up to0:47 greatness is the guys in this room being willing to step up to greatness in your spiritual walk and your spiritual journey. If you look if you go in the Old Testament, you look at Jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11, here's0:58 what here's what it says. He says, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Now we all know that verse. How many of you at1:09 least heard that verse before? And, man, we wanna claim that verse. We love that verse. We say, man, but reality, am I living that verse out? Do I really feel like, man, I I1:21 am seizing the future that god wants me to seize? I am I I've achieved what God has wanted me to achieve. And a lot of times, let's be honest, and I felt this way from time to time. The answer is no. I mean, we love that1:33 verse. I want it I want that verse. I claim that verse. I believe God's plans. But what causes us not to live those kind of lives? I think sometimes,1:45 it's a disobedience. We just flat out refuse to obey God's plan. Man, we we know what God's word says about this or that or this or that, my relationships, my finances, my worship,1:57 my servant. We know what it does what what God's plan is. We just refuse to obey it. And when we refuse to obey it, we can't really claim that verse. But if we obey2:09 it, we could say, God, I'm going through some stuff right now, but you know I'm faithful in every area you've called me to be faithful in. Therefore, I believe that somewhere in the future, I'm gonna see your2:21 plan, and I'm gonna experience your blessings. I think another time another reason is, sometimes we we doubt that god's plan is best for us. We think, you2:33 know, God, I I I do sense that you want me to go this way or do that. But but, God, I I just seem like if if I go this way or if I do this, then then maybe2:44 this will be a better plan for our lives. Sometimes we just disobey God's plan. Sometimes we just choose our own plan. We just say, you know what? I kinda like my own plan. I think there are times in our lives2:56 that we forget who we are, that we forget that we're a child of God saved by grace. And we sometimes just forget that that's who we are, and with3:08 that comes some royalty. How many of you know according to God's word, if you're a believer, you're royalty. And with royalty comes royal privileges3:20 if we don't walk away from those. And so over the next couple of weeks, I really want to go to the book of Deuteronomy. Deuteronomy, book in the Old Testament. We're gonna start there. Deuteronomy chapter3:32 1 today. It's kind of a unique book. I don't know when the last time you've read it. Maybe perhaps, never. Maybe perhaps you've just heard little bits and pieces. Let me tell you a little bit about Deuteronomy as we3:43 kinda lay a foundation for this idea of stepping up into greatness. If you go look in, in the Bible, just somebody guess, in the New Testament, what3:55 do you think the number 1 quoted Old Testament Bible is? Old Testament book is quoted in the New Testament. What somebody just throw something out there. Psalms. Psalms is number 1.4:07 Somebody hit Psalms. What do you think is number 2? Isaiah. Isaiah is number 2. Roberts. Deuteronomy is number 3. So if if the New Testament writers4:19 quote the book of Deuteronomy, the third most of any of the Old Testament books, we ought to read it from time to time. Guess what verse, what book in the old testament4:31 Jesus referenced and quoted more than any other verse any other book? Deuteronomy. So if you think about how important is this book, it's powerfully important, and so we4:43 wanna take the message, to heart. Now it's kinda interesting. If you look at it, the content of it, it's it's really Moses who is a hundred and 20 years old.4:55 Remember, if you go back and track Moses' life 40 years, first 40 years, he spent, as a child of pharaoh, down in Egypt. Then 40 years, he he he meander around in the desert. He was,5:06 basically a shepherd. And then all of a sudden, he has experience in the burning bush. In the next 40 years, he goes in, leads the children of Israel, out of Egypt, towards the promised5:18 land, to the promised land. They say no. He meanders around in the desert. So Moses is now 20 a hundred and 20 years old. He's outside5:30 the promised land. He he's looking at a lot of people who are the sons and grandsons of the people who died in the wilderness. Do you not understand what I'm saying? When they5:42 disobeyed. He he's not looking to his own generation. Because if when Moses is talking, and really this whole idea of the book of Deuteronomy, anybody5:53 ever gone to some preacher's website, and it says so and so dot com, and all their sermons are there? You know what I'm talking about, you've ever been there. That's what Deuteronomy is. It's kinda like moses6:05 dot com, all right? These are all of his best messages collected in a best place, and then he's reiterating, and expounding on everything he had said before. And he's talking to the people who are going to go into the6:15 promised land. And6:28 encouraging those who are going to go into the promised land, even though he knows he's not. He's probably, as we start Deuteronomy chapter 1, only about 70 or 80 days from dying.6:40 He's been faithful to God, not perfectly, but in a lot ways he's been faithful to God. And he's challenging the men. And some of the things he says, he's, don't forget about God's faithfulness. And he kind of will6:52 expound over the next couple of weeks. We'll say, man, don't forget the Red Sea. Many of those people he's he's talking to, they just heard about the Red Sea. They didn't experience it. Some of those that were listening,7:03 they experienced it as a child, not as an adult. He had a lot of people that were born in the desert. So they're 40 years of age or younger. And7:14 he's telling them, listen, I know you've heard about that. And when we were hungry, God gave us bread, manna to eat. God gave us meat. God led us by7:26 day and night with the fire and the cloud. And so he's beginning to tell them, he's reminding them of all of this. And he goes, listen, when you go into the promised land, that same God that parted the7:38 waters and fed you, and led you, will be your God if you are willing to follow his plan. And so I love this idea as we think about the men in this room. I will tell you, there7:50 are there are a number of men in this room that, you have been faithful for a long, long season. Because as you look at Moses, and you think about the audience, when he's speaking in the book of Deuteronomy in this8:01 collection of sermons over and over again, most of the people there, if not all of the people there, were younger than Moses, save 2. Anybody know who those 2 would have been? Joshua.8:13 Joshua and Caleb. Why? They were the 2 spies that said, let's go into the land, remember? God preserved them. And so as you think about where we are and where they are, man, he8:25 is talking to people after they've all seen a generation die in the desert because of their disobedience. And so the challenge in this series,8:37 guys, is we wanna step up to greatness. Because if we don't step up to greatness, we could die in our own desert. And let me tell you what, that that is not God's plan for your life.8:49 That is not God's desire for your life. And some of you, man, you are long in the tooth. Alright? And you're like, how much longer do I have? Let me tell you what, Moses knew he didn't9:01 have long. Right after we get or as we get towards the end of the book of Deuteronomy, you wanna know what happened? God takes Moses up on Mount Pisgah and says, there's the promised land. Sure9:13 wish you ought to have been there 40 years ago. You're not going in. But here's Moses who knows he's not going in, still wanting to be an inspiration to9:25 those who are. So guys, the challenge for us as men as we step up, man, whether God lets us go into our own promised land or not, let's still be the kind of people like Moses was9:37 that says I'm a look into somebody else's eyes and say the promised land is there if you are faithful, if you obey, if you trust God, if you live how9:48 God wants you to live. But if you don't, you could find your way in a desert, but even in the desert, you could find God's grace and find God's love. And And so I love this. You've got Moses encouraging those who are10:00 gonna go in even though he's not going to go in. You have an audience that is listening that says, we're gonna get it right this time, and they ultimately go in. So Deuteronomy precedes the idea of10:12 Joshua, when Joshua goes in. What's how does Joshua chapter 1 start? Where Joshua's scared to death. He's been under Moses' tutelage and leadership for a long time, and And God has to talk to10:24 Joshua, several times, says it several times in chapter 1. Be strong and courageous, do not fear. Be strong and courageous, do not fear. Be strong and courageous, do not fear. Why is that? Because Moses is gone.10:37 And so maybe there's some of you in here that that you've lost a spiritual giant in your life. Be strong and courageous. So when we talk about doing some things here today and the next couple of weeks10:49 of what it truly means to step up, man, let's just think through the book of Deuteronomy that you have Moses, this guy that knows. He's literally within weeks of his11:00 death, wants to call the children of Israel together and speak some last words to them to encourage them to follow God in every possible way. And so that's kind of a11:12 thought. And so here, kind of 4 grand themes is, when you we look through the book of Deuteronomy is 1, looking back on God's faithfulness, that God was faithful even when we were unfaithful. Number 2,11:25 looking back on Israelite failures, and he brings them up. He reminds them of where they failed. Number 3, looking at your present, man, how am I really11:37 doing right now? He says, you gotta examine it. You gotta check it out. And you gotta ask yourself a question. When I think about my life spiritually11:49 right now, am I what God wants me to be? Or do I have some things I need to change in my life so12:01 I become the man God wants me to be? Am I the kind of person that I I know I'm close to the promised land of of walking in faith and being committed and12:13 being faithful, or am I just outside the promised land? Because he is just outside the promised land when he is delivering this message. He's not in. It's so close he can walk over, climb up the mountain. He can see it.12:25 And he's sitting there challenging him, don't stay in the desert, cross the river. And man, when we get that mindset as men, in our families, in our lives, man, I want you to know12:38 that's when we can say, I know the plans God has for me. Plans to prosper me, not to harm me. Plans to give me a hope. Plans to give me a future. And that's really what Moses is challenging. And then finally, the fourth12:49 thing, he's always saying, look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Yes. He talks about their past. He talks about their past failures. He talks about their present, but he's always saying, look ahead. So the encouragement13:00 for you today, if you don't like your past, look ahead. If you don't like your present, look ahead. But there are some things that we need to do if we're gonna step up to greatness. So let me give you a couple of13:10 thoughts, and let me start by reading, Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 1. I'm just gonna show you some things. Says these are the words Moses spoke to all of Israel in the desert east of the Jordan. Okay? So13:22 he is outside of the Jordan. We're outside of the promised land. He is in the east side of the Jordan. If you think of, your your your historical map. If you think of Galilee, way up top in the sea of13:33 Galilee. And then you have the Jordan river that runs down. You have the Dead Sea at the bottom. He's down towards the bottom over in the land of the Moabites. Alright? Pisgah's right down there. And so he's kinda right13:44 down here getting the men ready. He says, let me gather everybody together. I wanna give him my last words. So he says, he he's on the east side of the Jordan. It says in verse 2, it takes about 11 days to13:56 go from there to Horeb, and we're gonna talk about that. That's also another term from Mount Sinai to Kadesh Barnea to the Mount of Seir Road. And so in the fortieth year on the first day14:08 of the eleventh month, Moses proclaimed to the Israelites all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them. What a sad,14:20 sad phrase. So what's the sad phrase, pastor? In the fortieth year. In the fortieth year, they still aren't in the promised land. That's sad.14:32 Everybody say that's sad. You wanna know how long it should have taken them from Egypt to go into the promised land? With a group that big, about a month.14:45 About a month. If you walked real fast, you could have done done it in 11 days. But you had women and children, you had a little thing that you had to stop and get the 1014:57 commandments on your way. But should have taken them a month. Took them 40 years to get to this point. Guys, the encouragement for y'all today and the encouragement for me is let's don't15:09 let ourselves linger in the desert for 40 years, when in a month, God can do something powerful in your life,15:21 when in a month, God can do something special in our church. And I will tell you, if God's gonna do something powerful in your life, we're gonna see some principles today that we can step up to greatness. And I will tell15:32 you, if every man in this room stepped up to greatness, we would see God do something powerful in this church, even more than what he's doing right now. Because you're gonna see here in a second, Moses15:44 begins to talk about men over and over and over again. Because if it's gonna happen, it's gonna happen because of men. If it's gonna15:56 happen, it's because men say, I'm sick and tired of being on the east side of the Jordan when the promised land is right over there. And they're going,16:08 we can see it. Matter of fact, 40 years earlier, the spies came out, showed them the fruit. Remember that? It's a great land, but we can't go in. And what a sad16:19 state. On the fortieth year after the Exodus, they're so close, but yet so far. And so we16:31 want to be the kind of people that are always willing to go in. So let me give you a couple of thoughts as we think about this. You know, how do men step up into greatness? I'm just gonna go through some of Moses' words16:39 today, give you a couple of thoughts. Number 1, recognize you have stayed where you are spiritually for far too long. Recognize that you have stayed16:51 where you are spiritually for far too long. It is time to break camp and move forward. It's time to move forward. Alright?17:03 If if you are, about as about as low as you've ever been spiritually, you've been there too long. Let's step up to greatness. If you are somewhere in the17:15 middle, you say, I can think of yours in the past when, man, I really had it. I was serving God. I was loving God. I was loving my wife. I was doing this. I was doing that. Man, but I've fallen. Can I tell you, you you17:26 you've you've stayed there long enough? Man, if you are killing it, alright, you say, pastor, let me tell you what. From where I was to where I am, I am killing it. Can I tell you this? You17:38 still stay there long enough. It is time to break camp in advance. Notice what it says, Deuteronomy chapter 1 verse 5. It says, he's east of the Jordan, in the territory of Moab. Moses began17:50 to expound the law, the Lord our God said to us on Horeb. Horeb is a mountain, it is also called, it's referred to mostly, by Moses as, Mount Horeb in18:01 Deuteronomy. Over in Exodus, you hear it called Mount Sinai a lot. A long time, earlier, they called it Mount Sinai. Man, so some powerful things happen up on this mountain. How many of you know what this is? If you18:12 think Mount Sinai Let me just give you a couple of thoughts. It's called the mountain of God. This is where, this mountain, he's remembering they're not at that mountain. He's saying, Remember back18:24 then, this is the mountain that Moses experienced the burning bush at? That he that he when he had the conversation after he'd been, the shepherd for a long time, this is where he had the18:36 conversation with God on the burning bush. This is where after the children of Israel came out of the promised land, that he went up there and he got the 10 commandments. This is the mountain he's talking about. He's18:45 gonna remember back on that mountain. He goes, we're not there right now. Some good things happened. It was right around this mountain that the children of Israel, ran out of water. And God said, hey, go strike the rock.18:56 He struck the rock, got water out of it. And then it was this mountain that, there was 1 time when Moses was up on the mountain for a long, long time. The children of Israel doubted he was alive. And they built a golden19:07 calf. It was right down there. And you fast forward, this mountain was important even in Elijah's day. If you go look at this same mountain, Elijah, remember after he had the Mount Carmel experience, and then Jezebel19:19 was going to kill him? It says, Elijah began to run. He ran to a cave somewhere around Mount Horeb and hid in a cave. Remember God showed up, not in the19:31 earthquake, not in the windstorm, but in a still small voice. Remember what the still small voice said? Hey Elijah, what are you doing here? Hiding out in the cave.19:43 And so when he brings that up, all of this imagery ought to bring to mind, Hey, what are you doing here? Man, it's time for us to break camp, to move forward. And here's what happened, Elijah19:55 said yes. So he goes down, almost immediately meets the guy he's going to hand the mantle to. Elisha. You know where Elijah blesses20:07 Elisha and says, I give you everything God has given me? It was on this same mountain. So guys, wherever you are, maybe there's some guys in this room where you are an Elijah waiting for someone20:19 to be like Moses to encourage you to go in. Maybe you are an Elijah to someone like Elijah, who is ready to pass the mantle to you. The question is, are you willing to grab it? Are you willing to hold20:31 on? We're moving towards the Summer Olympics. I love the Summer Olympics more than the Winter Olympics because I I can at least kind of run around a track without falling. I can't do that in the winter. Winter Olympics20:43 are crazy. But 1 of the things that we always see and always look at, and Gina's a former track cross country, so she always wants us to tap in, on the, on the, on the racing,20:55 on the sprinting. But she particularly likes the relay races. What's the most unique part of the relay race? It's can they hold on to the baton? Right? And you will see probably,21:07 this always happens every you will see what? You will see probably that 1 of the number 1, 2, or 3 teams end up being objective. Why? Because they just couldn't complete the hand21:19 off. And 1 of the saddest things you will ever see, are maybe 4 amazingly fast studs discouraged with the baton on the ground. Or some ladies21:31 with the baton on the ground. And so it was this mountain where Elijah said, Here to Elisha, my ministry's done, but I'm gonna encourage you. Here's the baton. That's exactly what Moses is21:43 doing right here as he opens up the book of Deuteronomy. He goes, Listen, I've done my part. I'm giving you all the baton because I want you to go21:55 in. And I want you to do something that I wasn't even able to do. We're that's exactly what Moses is saying. As good a leader as Moses was is, he's saying, I couldn't do it. Who did22:07 Moses pass the baton to? Joshua. So men in here, I wanna encourage you. If you're an older man, begin to look around. Who are you passing your baton to? Who are you encouraging along the way? Who are you22:18 leading? Who are you showing? And so let me tell you, he says, remember remember how many amazing things. He's he's telling him, remember, God did at Mount Horeb, Mount Mount Sinai, but he's also saying God22:30 wants to do way more when we go into the promised land. Now just continue to read. Go back to verse 5. On the east side of the Jordan of Moab, Moses begin to expound the law. The Lord our God said to22:42 us at Horeb, you have stayed long enough at this mountain. Let me tell you. Guys, you've stayed long enough22:54 where you are. Spiritually, it is time to move on. I just told you, how many of you would say that Mount Sinai was a pretty cool place? Mount Horeb would a lot of good things23:06 happen. 10 Commandments, big thing. Strike, strike the rock, big thing. Burning Bush, how many of you would like to see that? Wouldn't you love to go see Mount Sinai's Museum? That'd be23:18 1 museum I'd be willing to go to. How many of you know? I'd go check that museum out. But listen to this, God showed up to them at Mount Sinai. This mountain23:29 that, by the way, in the Old Testament is referred to as the mountain of God. And God says, you've stayed here long enough. Well, I don't know about you,23:42 but if I was gonna stay somewhere in the Old Testament, the mountain of God would be my choice. What about you? But here's the key. The mountain of God is not your23:54 promised land. Do we get that? As cool as the mountain of God is, it's not the promised land. And so that's why God says, listen, you stayed here long enough. I don't want you to come over here and build24:06 a bunch of cathedrals and chapels and all of these things. He says, why? Because this is a cool mountain. This is where you met with me. This is where you heard from me. This is where I gave you water. This is where24:17 Elijah's gonna pass the mantle to Elijah. This is where, man, Moses goes up says, man, I'm standing on holy ground. This is where it all happened, but you stayed here long enough.24:31 Let's go into the promised land. So I just wanna encourage you guys wherever you are right now, you stayed long enough at that mountain. Some of you are24:43 on the highest spiritual mountain you've ever been on. You've stayed at that mountain long enough. It's still not the promised land. Some of you are on a little bitty mountain. You can remember a better mountain. I just24:54 wanna encourage you with the words of God that Moses reiterated to them. You stayed there long enough. You stayed there long enough, and I'm gonna tell you, he's gonna tell them some of the things you can do to make sure25:05 you move from the mountain of God into the promised land. And so we've stayed here long enough. Now, let's just continue reading. Notice what he said. Here's the second idea. We need to break camp in advance,25:16 alright? You gotta pack everything up, and and you've gotta advance. Here's what it says. Jump down to verse 7. Here's what Moses said. He says, Break camp in advance into the hill country of the Amorites. Go to all the25:28 neighboring people in the mountains and in the western foothills, along the coast, in the land of the Canaanites, and the Lebanon, as far as the great river, the great river Euphrates. You know what he's saying? Go25:38 everywhere. He says, when you go into the Promised Land, you're gonna seize it all. You're gonna take it all. We're not gonna stay out at the mountain of God. We're not gonna be just east of the Jordan. We're not25:50 gonna walk around in the wilderness anymore. We're gonna go into the promised land, and we are going to go everywhere. And I love that idea. He says, You need to break camp. My idea26:02 of what it means to break camp is we need to break some of the old habits that have held us back in our lives. And I will tell you, we all have some bad how many of you, let's be honest, how many of you have at26:14 least 1 bad habit? How many of you have too many to count? I'm telling you, as your pastor, you've been around here long enough. I've got some bad habits. Alright? Now, we'll26:26 tell you, I was greatly encouraged the other day. 1 of my bad habits is I love Oreos. How many of you know that? Anybody see the study that the Oreo study that just came out? That26:38 Oreos are more effective at lowering your bad cholesterol than a statin. Praise Jesus. Go look that up.26:50 Go look that up. It's some some Harvard medical guy. You can go look at it. Now it's early in the study, but I'm not waiting waiting around for the conclusion.27:02 Alright? I'm all in early. I'm like, man, I'll be I'll be the guinea pig. Is that what you're doing? Do we do those anymore? We need more guinea pigs. I'm in. Well, but I read that and I was like, golly, that is awesome.27:13 No wonder I am so healthy. More Oreos than a man should be able to eat. I'm in. Right? Now, he says, listen, break camp. We've got to break some old habits. If we're gonna get into the promised land, that's exactly what27:25 he says. He says, listen, it is time for you to break camp. You say, what kind of bad habits do I have? I won't go into all the potential sins. Let me just tell you,27:37 let me talk about some good habits. What would be some good habits that would help us move from some mountain of God or some mountain on the east side of the Jordan into the Promised Land?27:48 First of all, you gotta stop seeing certain spiritual disciplines as optional when they're not. Say that again. I think a lot of28:00 times men see certain spiritual disciplines as optional when they're not. You say like what? I think a lot of times we see worship as optional, as dudes. They say, You28:12 know, I'll be alright. I don't really need to worship together. Can I tell you, in scripture, worship is not an option? Do we understand that? Since you go to28:26 humble our hearts, and humble our lives, and we gather with God's people. So if you really want to move forward, break some old habits, stop seeing worship as optional.28:38 Something else you need to break, bad habit you need to break. Don't see reading God's word and studying God's studying the Bible as optional. It's not something we wanna do from time to time.28:50 Man, you look in God's word, we're told to read and study God's word and meditate on God's word daily. Man, we've gotta break that bad habit of seeing the study29:02 of God's word and listening to God's word and reading of God's word is optional. I'm a give you another 1. Man, if now this is if we as a church are gonna go into the promised land, men in29:14 this room and who listen to this podcast need to make some decisions. Serving somewhere in the church. That's not optional. You look in the New29:26 Testament, you look in the Old Testament, everybody had a job to do. Yeah, you had priests. Yeah. You had Levites. You had those teachers of law. But everybody had29:38 the job to do. You can't look at well, you know, serving in the church is optional. You got Dave back there. You got a student minister. You got Dean Al this weekend. Dean Al is literally about opening doors and slapping29:49 some kids on the head if they need it. I mean, who doesn't wanna do that? I'm kidding. Somebody find 1 edit that out just in case 1 of us do slap some kid in the head.30:01 And and I'm probably the first in line. Oh, you're 13? Pop. I had no idea. I don't know your name. I don't know anything. I just know you pop in the head. But here, we're serving serving somewhere, man. Parking lot30:13 somewhere. Serving is not optional. It is part of our growth. Why? Because we demonstrate to other men who are not serving, and this is what a godly man does. He30:25 cares more for others than he does for himself. Guess what? That'll turn around and apply your marriage, your life, as you raise your kids. Let me give you another 1. Break an old habit. Being a good steward of your30:35 money. That's not optional. Can I tell you, if you look in God's word, we're not invited from time to time to tip God when things go well, toss him a 10 or a 20 or a30:47 30? How many of you heard the NASA professor, the NASA guy the other day? Man, what an incredible thought. Man, if you're gonna be the kind of men that aren't just on the east side of the30:58 Jordan, or even at a mountain of God, if we really wanna break camp, we're gonna have to start saying worship is an optional. Reading God's word, studying God's word isn't optional. Serving in God's31:10 church, it's not optional. Being a good steward and tithing my money, that's that's not optional. Those are clear commands in scripture. And I will just tell you, here's the point. The point is not to get31:22 on you, it's to encourage you. That's what Moses is saying. He said, some of you have never made it into the promised land spiritually because you're failing to do the little things31:34 I commanded you to do. And man, let me tell you what, for years in my life, I was that way. For years in my life, I was that way. I'd say, I think that's kinda31:46 optional for me. And guys, there are certain things that if we're gonna get into the promised land, they're not optional. If we're gonna step up to greatness, they're not optional. And I wanna encourage you with that,31:56 man. Be what God wants you to be. So listen, we gotta break camp, break some old habits. We have a tendency too often to live in the past. Guys, some of y'all have some past that you have a32:08 tendency to live in. Notice what Moses said. He says, break camp. Break some old habits. And then he says, advance. Don't live in the past.32:20 What's Moses' challenge? We came to the Jordan once before. We were this close to crossing and being in the promised land 40 years earlier,32:32 And we turned around and went back. You know what Moses is saying? He says, I'm not going with you. I'm gonna go up on Mount Pisgah. I'm gonna see it, but Joshua's gonna lead you in. He says, listen, advance.32:45 And then he says, and you're gonna go to this people, and this people, and this people, and this people. And by the way, those are all enemies in the land. Do you understand that? He says, when you go in the land, there32:53 gonna be some tough seasons. There gonna be some fights. There gonna be some battles that you have to go. But here he says, break your old habits, the habits that keep you back, and then move forward. He says, advance.33:04 Don't live in the past. Guys, some of you have some incredible pasts, don't live in that past. Some of you probably have some of the most mundane and mediocre pasts you can ever imagine. Don't33:16 live in that past. Some of you have a horrible past, and you're shocked you're not in prison. Don't live in that past. Whatever you do, we33:28 want to advance. We wanna move forward. Why? Because the Jordan and the promised land is over there. We can't stay here33:39 regardless of how close we are. And so as you just think about it, then as you move on, he says we wanna constantly do anything but be spiritually complacent. That's why he says, and you're gonna go here, and you're33:51 gonna do this, You're gonna do that. And he's saying, Man, we're not gonna be spiritually complacent. Here's what he's already preparing. This is Moses preparing the people who are going to the promised land. He says,34:01 You're gonna be tempted when you get into the promised land to to carve out a little small green spot and stay right there and say this is34:13 good enough. Alright? Do you understand what I'm saying? You're gonna be tempted to go in and say, this is good enough. And God says, no. I want34:25 you to control all of the promised land, every bit of it. He says, I want I want you to go up north to the hills into the Sea of Galilee. I want you to go west to the Mediterranean Sea. I want you to go south,34:37 down toward Egypt and Gaza. He goes, I want you to go south. And he says, I want you to do it all. He says, I want you to take it all. So guys, here's the invitation. I love what Moses says. Listen, when you get into the34:48 promised land, don't just carve out a little spot. Expect God's gonna give it all to you. But we need to be willing to not become spiritually34:59 complacent. I will tell you this, I found this in my life and maybe some of you have found it in your lives. There there are times I get really fired up and I'm serving God and I'm worshiping God and it just seems like35:08 everything I'm in the flow. And what happens? Things start going really good for me, anybody else like me, and then all of a sudden I get complacent. I can just ride a little spiritual wave or a spiritual momentum. I'm35:19 not the only guy that ever does that. He says, but we don't want to do that. And so perhaps you're in here today, and you've been a little spiritually complacent. He says, man, break camp and advance. Go to35:31 this place, go to this place, go to this place, go to this place. What what are the foothills you need to go to? What are the what are what's what's the what's the, sea that you need to go to? What's the enemy that you35:41 need to conquer? Don't ever stop. I love that. Here's the next thing, as you just read down to verse 8, he says, man, when we go in, we gotta go and take possession. Look at verse 8. He says, see I've given you this is35:52 God talking, by the way. This isn't Moses talking. He says, see, I've given you this land. He says, go in, take possession of land the Lord your God swore to you, and give to your forefathers, your Abraham,36:04 Isaac, and Jacob, and his descendants. Then he says that next, remember when God blesses his people, he always needs men to36:16 step up. I'm gonna close with this thought, alright? We're gonna expound a little bit more on it next week when we come back. Look at verse 9. He says, and this now this is Moses. So God said,36:28 go in and take the land. Now this is Moses opening his heart. And so now this is a past your pastor opening his heart. Look at what it says in verse 9. At that time, Moses36:40 said, I said to you, you are too heavy a burden for me to carry alone. Just let that settle in. If you've been around here, how many of you know God36:52 has been blessing our church in some powerful and amazing ways? Can I tell you this? That's too heavy a burden for your pastor to37:03 carry along. And for those of you who've been around here, you know I don't cry wolf. When we see all the people that37:15 God is bringing our way, all the ministry that needs to happen as they come our way, Can I tell you, it's too heavy a burden37:27 for me to carry along? Can I tell you, you have Justin the shorter and Justin the taller right over there? It's too heavy for us to carry along. Dave, you37:39 still awake back there, Dave? Okay. Dave's still back there. As our children's ministry continues to explode, it's too heavy a37:51 burden for Dave to carry along. Do you understand what I'm saying? Do you understand what I'm saying? Moses was a bad dude. How many of you would say he's a bad dude?38:03 Alright? And he looked at the people and he goes, you're too heavy a burden. Now why was it were they too heavy a burden? Just read it. He says, the Lord your God has increased your numbers38:15 so that today you're as numerous as stars in the sky. What is he saying? God's been good to us in spite of our sin, in spite of the fact we meandered around the desert for 40 years. He38:27 says, that's a blessing of God. Let me tell you what God what is what God is doing in our church right now is a blessing in a powerful and a real way, But it's too heavy a burden for a couple of us to do38:39 alone. So what's the answer? Just continue to read. But how can I bear your problems and your burdens and your disputes all by myself? Look at verse 13. He says, choose some wise men,38:50 understand and respected men, from each of your tribes, then I will set them over this. And so listen, here's what it is. This is where we're gonna close. Alright? AsShow more In this video 0:00 Stepping Up to Greatness
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