Imagine for a moment growing up in the early 18 hundreds, in the Midwest of America. Now granted, at the time, that wasn't considered the Midwest, that was the West. But that area was marked really initially by poverty. As many people moved out for a fresh start or looking for the opportunity to set up ownership of land and a creation of legacy for future generations to come. Well, it's in this backdrop that there was a young man who grew up didn't have much. The family actually experienced early loss. When his mother passed, his father would remarry and that blended family had, had really a connection that would shape this young man's character and integrity. But he would work on his family farm during the day and at night, he would read by candle and firelight. And it's through this process that he, he started to really grow in his yearning for education and, and principles and, and leadership and the family would move to Illinois and imagine crossing into Illinois horse and buggy, immediately greeted by construction signs as it's always been there in Illinois. If you've ever driven through, maybe not. I I am convinced that Bob's barricades, I think were the first to move to Illinois because I think they've set up camp and all of Illinois is under construction. If you've ever driven there, you know what I mean? But imagine going into Illinois there and this family set up and, and to get work experience at the age of 17 would, started working on a ferry boat. He would build a flat boat that would take supplies down the river, then sell the boat itself and then go back up north and do that again. And so working on a ferry boat, really taught him work ethic. And then he would take a job as a clerk at a general store where he would interact with much of the community that the general store really saw all kinds of people coming in and out and so learn to interact with different kinds of people and, and really hear the voices and needs of a community. He would then fight in what's known as the Black Hawk War because of his leadership and ethics would be named temporary captain. You come back and, and run for office locally would actually lose the election. But after losing the election, took that time to start studying law and become acquainted with the working laws, not just of this country but of the world and eventually would run for office in 1834. And he ran a campaign that was different than most and rather than platform it on issues. He went around and met almost every family in the county for which he was running to lead. And all of these life experiences would shape Abraham Lincoln. So that when he would become president of the United States, he was prepared to lead us through one of the largest transitions in our country's history, lead us through the Civil War through the freeing of slaves. Really embracing integrity, honesty, clarity, and this combination of work ethic and bringing people together for a greater purpose. All was laid in the foundation of his life. We're sitting here today as a church, getting ready to walk through our single greatest transition and biggest move in our brief history as a church. And so to help us get ready for that move, we are launching a brand new series today entitled Joshua Choose this day. And what we're going to do is as we prepare for our transition as a church family, we're gonna study the largest transition in the Old Testament in which God took the people of Israel out of captivity and into the promised land and God chose Joshua to lead them. And so we understand that life experiences really prepares us for what's ahead. And so how is it that Joshua was able to lead almost a million people? There were about a million people give or take Israelites into this promised land, filled with battles and challenges and yet he did so with strength and with courage. And so today's message as we kick off, our series is entitled Preparation in the Desert. And we're, and we're doing that because Joshua's life experiences really prepared him for what God had called him to. And so today, we're going to take a look at the background and context of the person of Joshua to really, really set him up to lead the people into the promised land. Joshua's name is Hebrew for the Lord saves. What's interesting is that the Greek word for that same meaning the Lord saves is Yeshua or Jesus. And so Joshua wasn't an early Jesus, but he does give us a picture of leadership to where when Jesus entered the scene, roughly 1200 years later, the people of Israel see Jesus as the fulfillment of Joshua. And so what they got a glimpse of in history's past actually showed the power and the deliverance of that present and now is echoing now into the future of where we are today as a church body. And so Joshua was a leader. He led the people out and really his early life could be described in three components that Joshua himself was a worker, he was a warrior and he was a worshiper, it was a worker, a warrior and a worshiper. Now I'm not gonna put these verses up on the screen, but I do wanna cite the references and that if you are watching here in this week, present time that if you visit Mission grove.info, download the sermon guide and sermon notes, you can actually see the bullet points that I'm referring to if you like to kind of nerd out on that stuff and see the context of the story that we're talking about today. And so Joshua himself was born, the tribe of Ephraim, that's numbers 13 8 and he was all he ever knew was slavery. So the people of Israel, if you think of the book of Genesis, they were growing thriving. There came, there comes a drought, Joseph who becomes a slave and was imprisoned, rises up into the ranks of Egypt actually saves the people of Israel. And so they come over to Egypt. It's a because of a large drought, but then ends up becoming enslaved by Egypt. And so now they are enslaved for roughly 400 years. We go from Genesis into the other books of the Bible here in those early five books. And so they've been enslaved now for 400 years. And the largest power at the time, the Egyptians were really suppressing the people of God, but they've managed to still multiply and grow in number. They didn't grow in power, but they did grow in number. And God uses Moses to lead the people out of captivity, splitting the sea, walking across dry land into the wilderness. And this is the context in which we see that Joshua was born into. So imagine being a kid witnessing these things to experience these miracles. And so Joshua from early age actually gets tabbed as moses' assistant that's found in numbers 1128. And then also in Exodus 2413 and Exodus 3311. So Joshua is right by moses' side and we think about the incredible things that Moses did. We don't think about the fact that Joshua was present for all of these things. For example, when Moses received the 10 commandments in Exodus 24 verses 12 to 17, Joshua was there. Imagine being on the mountain. When God delivers his commandments, they're written on the tablets, right to go down and deliver the news, the the law to the people of God. Joshua was there. He was there when they escaped the Egyptians. They're on the edge of the promised land. Moses Tabs Joshua, his buddy Caleb and then 10 other guys to go into the land and spy it out and say, hey, give us a scouting report. I love sports. Those that know me know, I love sports. Give me the scouting report of all the different people in the promised land. So they go spend roughly 40 days in there. They come back and Joshua is amped man. He's like man, this land is filled with milk and honey and the fruit is massive and there is plenty to go around and this is incredible and we can take them and Caleb is two but they're outnumbered 10 to 2. And so 10 of the spies come back. Like man, there's giants in the land, there is no way we can win. And so because of the unbelief of those 10 other spies was then translated to the people of God as a whole. Instead of entering the promised land, they're stuck wandering the desert for 40 years. Can you imagine Joshua having seen the goodness of God coming back saying, wow, it's amazing we can do it. And you're left wandering in the desert because the choice of somebody else, but he doesn't leave Moses aside. In fact, there's another time where they're in battle and Moses tells Joshua to go challenge Amalek. And there's this famous story in Exodus 17 verses 8 to 16 where God tells Moses that as long as your hands are raised, I will give you victory in the battle. But if your hands go down Amalek and forces will start winning. And so he goes to the mountain top and his hands are raised in an act of surrender and an act of praise and an act of trust. But while he's raising his hands, Joshua is on the battlefield, now imagine being Joshua knowing that this is happening and you're fighting and you're winning and all of a sudden your forces start losing and you look up and you see moses' hands come down. You're like, are you kidding me? Like I'm the one doing the fighting and you can't keep your arms high. Like I'm a little tired, but thankfully, Aaron and her two gentlemen come alongside and actually hold up the arms of Moses and Joshua leads the people to victory. And so he is a worker. He's moses' assistant. He's doing the grunt work. He's right beside him. He's there in the process of, of all those things. He is a warrior. He actually leads the people into battle and has victory. But then the third thing is we see that he is a worshiper in Exodus 33 verses 7 to 11. It tells a story that Moses was in the tent of meeting. And so they were in the wilderness, but the presence of God was with them and God would feed them bread, but it wasn't even bread really. In fact, they would call it Manna. And the translation of Manna is what is it? So like even the people of God don't quite know what it is. I mean, I'm assuming it's gluten free. I don't know. So it was safe for everybody and it was there, they can't put a name on it. And so they just call it nana. And so they see this pillar of fire or this cloud of smoke, they have this tent of meeting of the presence of God that no one really gets to go into. But Moses enters and communicates with God and Joshua is there to where Moses has conversations with God. And when he gets ready to leave Joshua's like, I ain't going nowhere. I don't think I would wanna go either. And so he worshiped God. He worked, he was a warrior. But now imagine your hero, the guy, you looked up, the guy that led you out of captivity, took down the largest superpower in the world. Stayed faithful. Leading at this point, the number grew to about a million people. A mi million here in Phoenix, depending on what you count as the greater population, which suburbs make it in or don't. Phoenix is roughly between four and 6 million, one of the largest cities in the world. But imagine, ok, a million people, they are disgruntled complaining how many of you aren't the nicest when you're hungry. How many of you aren't the nicest when you get delayed? But you get stuck in traffic. You don't get nicer when you're stuck in traffic. Do you anyone get really excited for detours? Right. There's been a lot of work on I 17 recently and, and you know what happens to you? You don't remember that there's I 17 is being shut down until you need to take I 17. Right? No one's like, yes detours, but the Israelites have been on a 40 year detour and yet Moses has remained faithful. And so it's, it's, it's your mentor. It's your spiritual father, it's the leader and right when they get to the edge of the promised land. Moses says, hey, I'm not gonna make it. God says, I'm not going in. You're gonna lead the people. Numbers 27 verses 12 to 23. You also see it in Deuteronomy 31 verses 1 to 8. Joshua gets designated as Moses's replacement and Moses dies. Imagine the weight and the grief and the questioning of Joshua in that moment. What's interesting to me is to realize that mourning is part of the mission that it was in the middle of Joshua's lowest point. God speaks to him and says, get up. It's time to go so many times. We think that if you follow God, it's gonna be rosy and clean and sunny, we're all gonna be playing harps and it's gonna be great. But yet it was in Joshua's lowest point. God says, ok, it's go time. Think about this also for a moment. Joshua was seen as the number two, if you will. He's seen as the assistant. In fact, when we study church history, we don't talk about Joshua being there on the mountain with the 10 commandments. Do we? We don't talk about Joshua leading the people for 40 years in the wilderness, do we? Why? Because Moses did that, right? But Joshua was there. When was the only time Joshua spoke up was when he said we can take the land and guess what? No one listened to him. Moses led the people out of captivity, defeated the largest empire in the world. And through 40 years faithfully led them, speaking with God on a regular basis and providing through prayer and connection to God, Manna that fed over a million people and people followed Moses. They listened to him sometimes they disagreed, which he got angry and struck a rock. That's why he can't get in the first place, but not all the time. But for the most part, Moses is seen as the greatest leader of all time. And the only time you spoke up, everyone ignored you. And now that guy goes and God says, OK, your turn. This is the context for Joshua chapter one. And so we read Joshua one verse one after the death of Moses, the only leader that Joshua knew. He's a servant of the Lord. The Lord said to Joshua, the son of Nun moses', assistant Moses, my servant is dead. Now, therefore, arise go over this Jordan you and all these people into the land I am giving to them to the people of Israel. He says every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon. I have given to you. Notice the tense there I have given as in past sense, I have already promised it to you. I've already given it to you just as I had promised to Moses and from the wilderness. And this Lebanon as far as the Great River, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites to the Great Sea toward going down of the sun shall be your territory. No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life just as I was with Moses. So I will be with you. I will not leave you nor forsake you. Now picturing to be in this transition moment. We understand that everything Joshua went through as a child, as a slave, as a worker, as a warrior, as a worshiper, as a mourner. We understand this truth that past experience prepares you for present obedience, past experiences prepares you for present obedience. You were made for this. You were made for this moment. The Bible uses different words for time. One of them is Chronos where we get chronology. That's where you get things like time on a clock or chronological order or a calendar. But there's also words like Kairos, which means the appointed season or time for God. We see that in the New Testament in places like Romans 58 where it says, and while we were still sinners at the right time, God showed his love for us in this, that Jesus died for us. And so we see that in the middle of his morning, in the middle of his grief with a million people waiting and watching God looks down and Joshua says, everything you've gone through in life has prepared you for right now. What if we viewed our past as preparation for our present? See what happens is usually our present fear is based on a past pain, right? Something hurts you as you come to that situation again and you're nervous, right? Why? Well, I got hurt last time, one person betrayed you and now it makes you question every relationship, doesn't it? Right? You fell into temptation before an addiction or an issue. And so now when you get around you, like, I don't think I'm good enough. I fell last time. I wasn't good enough. Last time I was broken last time. And we think that our past prevents us from being used in the future. We think things like, well, God, I'm not worthy. I can't do that. I'm not ready when in reality, your past is really the platform that God's gonna use for the present and future. Really what you thought was a setback was actually a set up for what God has called you to do. I mean, I can tell you that when I had this idea or this calling from God to start the church to start mission grove, I can tell you these 1st 4.5 years have not gone like I planned, right. We did not plan for flooding on the grand opening day. We did not plan for the facilities moving Ian who's thankfully to lead us in worship as our friend and guest here from Rock Point. He was there and we were laughing about this about 30 minutes ago. We were laughing about how he came up to help launch our groups. And Clark was getting ready to, to lead and we're going to go into home groups and Bible studies and growth groups. And right in between Ian Plan and Clark preaching all of a sudden steel drums came up and it was also Caribbean music night in there. And we're like, we didn't plan for that. We didn't plan for a year into this thing, a global pandemic that would throw the world into tailspin. We didn't plan for all these social and racial and economic divisions to it seems like our society has just gotten more angry than the last couple of years, hasn't it? We didn't plan that when we were searching for spaces to open, that the first place would open would be a comedy club and bar. And let me tell you growing up conservative Baptist, I find that hilarious now and we had legitimate discussions as a staff where there was a naked angel statue above the sound booth. Like, do we cover it? Do we not? Is that weird? Does it draw attention? Like, how do we clean the, what's the best thing to clean the floors of from alcohol the night before? Like, like we're have these are the discussions we had, I did not think we would have that as preparation for church, right? I mean, the two drink minimum helped but I'm sorry, I've been telling bad jokes ever since then. But I, I, we didn't plan for that yet. All these things have prepared us for this exact moment right now. I bet every one of you sitting here today at some point in your life have, have asked the question. How did I get here? I do not plan for that job loss, that relationship, that health challenge, that addiction, that issue that I battled, that I pushed people away, that other people pushed me away. How did I get? Have you ever thought about that? Well, what we understand is that Joshua was there? Because today we're looking at these first couple of verses of really how Joshua got to where he was next week. I really encourage you to come back. Yes, it's our final service, celebration service of here at wildfire. But in the message, we're gonna take a look at those next couple of verses in Joshua, one with a message entitled Be Strong and Courageous. And we're gonna look at how Joshua was able to be strong and courageous, but I wanna share something with you that I call scriptural assumptions. What does the Bible say by not actually saying it an example in the New Testament. When God tells us, forgive one another, it's a great verse, right? What does that assume that you're going to need to forgive one another? Right? Rejoice. Be glad in the Lord. Why would you make that command? Because by default, you are not, do not worry or be anxious? What does that assume? It assumes that we are anxious and worried. Next week, we're gonna see three different times where God says to Joshua do not be afraid. What does that mean? It means Joshua was terrified. Imagine the weight, the pressure Moses has died. You are grieving. You've, you've wanted to go in the promised land. Now, you got a million people who are untrained and grumbling. Not to mention, by the way that it's not just smooth sailing. Once you enter the promised land, that's gonna be another message for a couple of weeks from now. But understand that sometimes God actually calls you into a battle. And so he sees what he's called into. He sees who he's got to train the person that they listen to has died. They have not listened to his voice. He is terrified. But yet we recognize a few things. Number one, we see that God's plan is bigger than our pain. Joshua's in pain. He's grieving. He's hurting. But the morning is part of the mission. The same God that tells you to rest is the same God that will tell you to rise up in church. It is go time. I see the battles that we face in our culture, politically, socially, economically and it is not a time to shrink back. But we have been made for such a time as this and understand that God has strategically placed us here and now to bring heaven down, you know, in society, they say give him hell. I say as a pastor give him heaven, right? It tells us that the gates of hell will not prevail against us. That is a defensive term. Meaning that as a church, we are on offense, winning souls left and right for him because God has called us to something bigger. And so we understand that God's not simply gonna heal your pain first, but rather He's gonna use your pain to prepare you for something bigger because we live in a broken world. I cannot, I cannot answer the question, why something happened. But I want you to know that God's plan is bigger than your pain. Next, we see that God is bigger than our expectations. How often is this true with our mouth? We asked the question, why? And with our ears, we hope for the answer. Yes. When we pray to God, all we want is yes, no one, no one's praying to God for nos. Are they, we lay our all our requests and God say yes. And we listen for the yes. But then the first thing we speak is why, right? You don't have to teach your kids to ask why do you? And they will ask why? And they will ask why a lot, why, why, why, why, why we do the same thing with God. And here's the reality, we should do the reverse. We should be listening for God's why and responding with our yes, we should be able to go to God and say the answer is yes. Now just tell me the question instead of listening for yes and asking why we should be speaking and affirming our yes. And then listening for God's why. Yes, I'm ready. God, because God's plan is bigger than our expectation. Your life probably hasn't turned out exactly like you thought. That doesn't mean that he's absent. It means that he's present. And in fact, we shared a couple of weeks ago that Jeremiah 2911 affirms us that when we're in battles, when we're struggling, part of what gives us hope and trust is that God has a plan for us that appointed time, that appointed season, that Kairos moment is coming. So God's plan is bigger than our pain. It's bigger than our expectations. But third, God's plan is bigger than our fears, Joshua was afraid. And we know that because God had to tell him to not be afraid three different times. Courage is not, not being afraid. Courage is acting in spite of your fear. An old common analogy has been shared before in, in various ministry context is that picture having two dogs, one is fear and one is faith. And the question is which dog gets bigger. Well, the answer is, well, which dog are you feeding? And so in your own mind, we all have split personalities in our head, right? You have one voice, we can do it. And the next is like, what am I doing? Right? Do you ever have that internal conversation with yourself? Maybe just me. Well, the question is, what are we, which are we feeding? Are we feeding our fear or are we feeding our faith? You take the same situation and you focus on worry and it builds up fear. You take that same situation, you give it up to God that's called worship. And now that builds your faith. And so in spite of your fear, you realize, ok, that's not a problem. That's a platform, that's not a setback, that's nice. Set up. God's got a plan for my life and I'm ready to go, I'm terrified but I'm going and I'm not trying to say it's the same story. Ok. We're not trying to cross a river tomorrow to physically battle people. That would be kind of cool to say it would be cool, right? Like, all right. OK. Maybe not. It's just me. It's a little boy and me. It's like, yeah, OK. OK. While our so story is not the same, our God is the same. So what is it that allowed Joshua to step into that place of leadership to lead from strength and courage and into those battles to walk and experience victory? I believe it's this that when we are faced with a challenge, remember that you have God's presence, God's promise and God's power, you have God's presence. God's promise and God's power, those same three components are just as true today as they were over 3000 years ago. God says, there at the end of verse five says I will not leave you. And then when he is speaking the words that he spoke to Moses, he was also speaking the words that he spoke to Abraham in Genesis 15 that I will give you the promised land Everywhere your foot goes, I will then give you the power and give you the land that I had promised them. I promised you the victory is future tense. But yet it's written in past tense and then obedience is now present tense. Let me say that again because it's kind of weird. But follow me here, the victory is future tense. OK. God says you will have the promise is past tense. Mean I have given it to you. So then we're now called to be obedient in the present tense right now. And we know this is similar and we know these principles transfer because they transfer not just to the people of Israel, they also transfer to the disciples, which is roughly 1200 years later still 2000 years ago. Here's what I mean. This is gonna sound really similar. Matthew 28 Jesus rose from the dead. He's about to ascend to heaven. He's speaking to his disciples. It says Jesus came and said to them all authority in heaven. And on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you and behold, I am with you to the end of the age. And secondly, you see this in acts 18, it says, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria to the end of the earth church, just as God promised physical land and territory for the people of Israel 3000 years ago. God has promised his spiritual kingdom and territory today for you and me. That's why we pray for God's kingdom to come His will to be done that we are in a spiritual battle and that we have been called into his promised land, into his purpose, into his plan that He has promised us victory. And just as God was with Joshua in his pain, in his expectations, in his fear. He is with you right now. I don't know what your problems have been in the past. But what I'm here to tell you that God is present that He is here with us now that God's power is just as real as it was back then. And he has promised to give us victory, His spirit. And for all eternity, we will be singing praises to his name. And so we have been called to go out and to take land for his kingdom, take those relationships captive to win our neighbors and our coworkers to Christ, to bless, to serve to love, to experience the joy and purpose that can only come from Christ alone church. We are in a battle but God has promised us victory and I get it that some of us might be mourning. Some of us might be sitting there. Wow, that's a lot. Some of us might be sitting here wondering about like you, you think that we get nervous about our family like you want me to leave that gotta have you seen my family? Have you seen my workplace? Do you see who I'm working with over here? Sorry, Jack. You think Joshua thought about that with the million Israelites because God says it's not about just those people. It's not about the battles and the people ahead and what the culture has and the culture thinks they have, but rather who I am and who I say you are and that is enough. He says you will go in and you will possess the land that I have promised to you because I am with you. I am for you. I have given you my promise and I have given you my power and church. The same is true for us today that your past experience prepares you for present obedience out of our mouths should not simply come the question why. But the answer of yes, I will go where you told me to go. I will say what you need me to say. And I know there are battles, our head. But God, I know that you are with me and you've got a plan. I'm gonna trust that and rest in your presence and your power and your promise this church you were made for this moment, you were made for this battle. And in the middle of our circumstances, in the middle of our pain, in the middle of our morning, in the middle of our struggles, understand that God is here. So what we're gonna do is that we're gonna take what's known as communion and you have elements there. I want you to open these and hang on to them. If you don't have it yet, we'll have somebody passing around in just a moment and we're going to take time to reflect on the moment that gave us all victory, the moment that Jesus died on the cross and rose again for you and for me, will you pray with me, dear, holy Father, whatever someone's walking through right now that we know that our past has prepared us for this moment. Past relationships, past hurts, past experiences, successes, failures, God. So it's in this moment that we reflect on you and your power and your presence and your promise God, and we just lay it at the foot of the cross. And we remember that you have given us victory. So God, we trust you with our tomorrow and we commit our obedience here today and we reflect on your goodness. It's in your sense that we pray.