Sunday Worship Service June 2, 2024

Prelude
Call to Worship 2 Timothy 2:1
Hymn JBC # 33 Lord, the light of Your love is shining
The Prayer Time
The Lord’s Prayer
Hymn JBC # To God be the glory
Offering
Scripture Joshua 1:1～9
Prayer
Sermon “Be Strong, Courageous”
Prayer
Hymn JBC # 520 My soul n sad exile
Doxology JBC # 673
Benediction
Postlude


This year our church is focusing its activities on the theme of “Standing on the Word of the Lord.”
The Lord is speaking to us even now through His Word, in other words, the word of Bible. Through the events and stories written in the Bible, God speaks to us.
I hope that our souls can be nurtured, and our lives supported through richly receiving from and standing firm in God’s word.

　This year we are undergoing the extremely ambitious challenge of attempting to cover the entire Bible in this year’s worship messages.
In just two months(!), we have covered Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. In today’s passage, we will look at the beginning of ‘Joshua’.
　Moses, who was the central character of Exodus, and who led the people of Israel out of slavery in Egypt, died.
Moses’ death was written in the part just before today’s passage in the end of Deuteronomy. In last week’s worship we heard a message about that passage from the Word.
In today’s passage, Joshua, the son of Nun, is officially appointed by God to lead the people of Israel after the death of Moses.

The Lord said the following to Joshua.

“Moses my servant is dead.” The Lord called Moses His servant. In the first verse of today’s passage, it also says, “After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord.”

Moses, who lived as a servant of the Lord, God, died while being remembered as “the Lord’s servant”.
If we also, as believers of Christ, are able to be remembered by God and by people as well as “His servant”, then I believe that would be a great honor and joy as believers.
Back when I first became a Christian (when I was in my late 20s), I once thought about how I would like to be remembered by others if I died.
At that time, I thought it would be nice if people thought, “This man (Sakai), died believing in Christ.”

　However, I understand now that that is still self-focused. Now I believe that, learning from Moses, it would be nice if people thought, “That man was the Lord’s servant.”
If people think, “Christ was his Lord, and he a servant who obeyed the Lord,” then I believe that gives glory back to Christ.
Then the servants of the Lord are those who live serving other people as well.

The Lord Jesus Christ said the following to his disciples:
whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”　(Mark 10:43b~45)
Our Lord Jesus Christ came to serve people. Amazingly, Christ our King came to become a servant to people of the world.
Therefore, if we Christians want to obey Christ, we must learn from Jesus and live as people who serve others and serve God. Shall we not aim for that?
The Lord had already chosen Joshua to succeed Moses in leading the people of Israel. Joshua was Moses’ aide and had always been with him as his assistant.

Let’s look at the Lord’s words in the beginning of today’s passage (verses 2-4) once more.

2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

Jushua and the people of Israel must have been worried and uneasy about Moses, the one who had led them thus far, had died.
Deuteronomy Ch.34 states that the people of Israel wept and mourned for Moses for 30 days (Deuteronomy 34:8).
However, the Lord told Joshua once again to remind him of His promise. The land that God promised to the people of Israel was now right in front of them.
Even though Moses died, God’s promises will never die, and we can see that through the people who continue in the faith, God’s promises continue.

The Lord continues, saying the following (verse 5):
5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Are there not times when our circumstances or the things around us dampen our desires or hinder our plans?
However, believers who trust in the Lord and work to obey Him will not have their paths blocked.
If it is the Lord’s will and plan, then it will definitely come to be. Let us trust that if we walk in line with God’s will, nothing will obstruct our path.

However, there may be more times when we do not know exactly what God’s will is.
Although God spoke directly and clearly to Moses and Joshua, it is not normal for us today to hear God’s voice speaking to us.
However, we have the words of the Bible. God also sent the Holy Spirit to help us understand His Word.
Let us walk in prayer, receiving guidance from the Holy Spirit, and choosing the path shown to us in scripture.
When we walk the path shown to us through prayer and the Word, that path will surely not be obstructed.

　Next in verse 6, the Lord tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous.” That phrase is today’s message title. The Lord tells this to Joshua three times in today’s passage.
The reason the Lord tells Joshua to be strong and courageous so many times like this is that, despite us hearing God’s Word, He knows that we are still weak and fear various things.
The Lord knew that Joshua, as well as the people of Israel, and even us today, tend to look to ourselves, and rely upon ourselves, which leads to us to fear.
This is why God encourages us by telling us to “be strong and courageous”, not focusing on ourselves or our circumstances, but urging us to focus on the Lord God.
Today’s passage says the following: “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it.”

Through faithfully obeying the Lord’s law, or the words of the Bible for us today, we can be strong and courageous.
“Do not turn from it to the right or to the left,” means that we are not to read His word and interpret it too-self-centeredly.
“Meditate on it day and night,” means that we are to go throughout the day being supported by the word and without forgetting it.
Always remembering God’s word may seem like a tall order, but as believers we are to live in the Word, so we should remember it.
Also, it is crucial to understand that the Word gives us life when we obey the Word and act upon it.
A while after I become Christians, I used to believe that “Believing in Jesus Christ is all we need to be saved.
This is true, but it is also mistaken in a way. You only need to believe in Jesus Christ to be saved is correct, but we need to think about what the true meaning of “to believe” is.

James 2:19 says the following:

You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.
Even demons believe that the Lord God is the only God and they shudder. Therefore, how you believe is important.
Believing in the Lord means to trust in Him and obey Him, which means to live in obedience to His Word.
Rather than trying to make ourselves lord, we let the Lord God be our Lord, and walk as His servants and servants of other people. We also put our faith into action, obeying everything the Lord tells us to do. This is what it means to believe in the Lord.
If in this way we obey the Lord and faithfully live in his Word, then surely we can become strong and courageous as the Lord desires.

Finally, let us look at the last verse (verse 9) of today’s passage.

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

　The Lord promised Joshua, “the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
When God became man as Jesus Christ, resurrected, and appeared before His disciples, He promised them, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).
This promise that the Lord God will always be with us, no matter where we go also applies to us and is a great source of hope.
Just as the Lord guided his servant Moses and strengthened and guided Joshua, He is also with us now, guiding us.
Let us stand and walk out in the grace of the path that God shows us when we stand in obedience to His Word.