Sermon: It's Your Choice
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Base Scripture
Base Scripture
14 “Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.
15 And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond 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.”
Illustration: One Has a Choice
1000 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching One Has a Choice
Many years ago two Massachusetts state senators wound up in an angry debate, in which one told the other he could “go to ——.” The man thus consigned protested to Governor Coolidge and asked him to intervene over the outrage. To which Coolidge replied: “I’ve looked up the law, Senator, and you don’t have to go there.”
Opening
Opening
God made man superior to all other creatures when He created man. God gave to us all the power and privilege of choice. God respects that privilege even up to this very moment. God will not force us. God has no police unit that prowls around and grab us by the neck. God will not force us to read the Holy Bible, or attend a church service. God will not force us to pay our tithes, or lift our hands to praise Him. Again, God respects the power and privilege of choice that He gave to man.
With that power and privilege of choice, comes with it a heavy responsibility of living with the results or consequences of our choices.
Joshua said:
English Standard Version Chapter 24
But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Joshua was a man that understood results and consequences based from his choices.
The purpose of Joshua’s declaration.
1 Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel. And they presented themselves before God.
Joshua called all of the leaders, elders, heads, judges, and officers in , and they were all gathered in the presence of the Lord.
Many of the summoned were eye witnesses to what God did for them when He brought them out of Egypt. They saw the power of God raise the water that allowed them to walk on dry land. They saw how God destroyed the Egyptians when they pursued the Israelites. They saw the power of God work on their behalf. But still Joshua had called every person in authority to choose with road they will travel.
Even though Israelites witnessed the power of God, they did not commit themselves to God fully. They still had other gods they prayed to, and worshipped.
Relate to today’s world.
Now many of us may look at this history and shake our heads in shamefulness, but some of us behave in like manner.
Our gods may not be made of wood or iron, but we have money, titles, and reputations that we worship. We may not fail to assemble ourselves among our church family, but we are fully committed to God. But yet we call ourselves Christians.