Serving God (2)

Louis Loke

Serving God • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

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Serving God

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Joshua 24:14–25 NKJV

“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” So the people answered and said: “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; for the Lord our God is He who brought us and our fathers up out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, who did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way that we went and among all the people through whom we passed. And the Lord drove out from before us all the people, including the Amorites who dwelt in the land. We also will serve the Lord, for He is our God.” But Joshua said to the people, “You cannot serve the Lord, for He is a holy God. He is a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then He will turn and do you harm and consume you, after He has done you good.” And the people said to Joshua, “No, but we will serve the Lord!” So Joshua said to the people, “You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord for yourselves, to serve Him.” And they said, “We are witnesses!” “Now therefore,” he said, “put away the foreign gods which are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord God of Israel.” And the people said to Joshua, “The Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!” So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and made for them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem.

Prayer

Introduction

Q1) Have you ever had a need to speak in front of a very large crowd?

Personal. Need to do so as part of work sharing, ground operations, conduct of workshops etc.

I am not a natural speaker. I always feel nervous.

Q2) How about professing your faith publicly in front of a large crowd? What do you think it takes for a person to do that?

Personal. Whenever I read of someone proposing in the public, I am always very impressed. Because to me, it takes a lot of courage, determination, conviction to do so. For info, I proposed to my wife in private in a room where there was no one else, except the both of us.

Background

Joshua was addressing the children of Israel towards the end of his ministry. We know it was the end of his ministry because he died in the later part of the same chapter.

The crowd he addressed was a very large one. The children of Israel = 601,730 above 21 years old males (Based on NUmbers 26:51). If we assume a 1:1 ratio of women and children, that would be about 2 million people!

Sports Hub has a capacity of 55,000. SO it was about 36 times the full capacity of Sports Hub.

Imagine Joshua addressing a crowd of this magnitude? Without mic! <Illustrate to give sense of what is happening.>

What can we learn about serving God from Joshua’s address?

Serving God requires a wholehearted commitment.

Joshua’s reminder to the people (verse 19)

Joshua did not accept the people’s first decision. There was a need to issue a serious and important reminder.

2. There is a place where we declare our commitment to serve God.

Private vis-a-vis Public declaration. Both are important. Example, baptism.

Purpose of public declaration can be for inspiration/encouragement to others as a leader, strengthens your personal resolve and commitment, and accountability.

The downside is that we can be seen as boastful. But I think as long as we check our hearts, it is ok to declare publicly.

Provide practical examples, like responding to leaders’s text messages “Rain or shine, I will be there!”

3. It is also important to serve God with your influence.

“me and my house” refers to Joshua and his family. But as a principle, we can also infer to be areas under our influence or control.

Illustrate with personal areas and projects under my influence that I will commit to serve the Lord.