From Generation to Generation | Fortify Series

We are continuing our journey in this series called Fortify. And we are, this has been one of the series that we've gained a lot of traction over the last couple of weeks. And prayerfully, it's been impacting your family in a deep way, and we're praying for that. And this morning, we're gonna kind of continue the conversation that Pastor Kyle started last week, and we're gonna talk about from generation to generation, our responsibility that we have as a church and as a family to raise up the next generation to know and love the Lord. And here's the thing. We take that very serious at New Beginnings. We love pouring into the next generation. We have a strong preschool ministry, kids ministry, student ministry, college ministry, young adult ministry, because we believe that God has entrusted to us this great responsibility, and that is to raise up the next generation who are gonna take the baton of the gospel, and they're gonna champion it. And here's what I've learned through the years. A church that does not reach the next generation is a dying church. We're one generation away from extinction. And so there has to be a passion, and so here's what I want us to see is the Bible tells us this is a responsibility. In Psalm 145, this is what the psalm writer writes. He says, one generation shall commend your works to another

and shall declare your mighty acts. So we have a responsibility to see the Lord work, to know the Word of God, and then impart that into the hearts and lives of the next generation. And so there's a partnership that we have within the church, the local church, and the families that make up the church so that the church comes alongside the family. Family is priority. The family is the number one place of discipleship of the next generation. The church comes alongside the family, and together we work in harmony to see that the faith is being passed on. You with me, say amen. And this is something we've gotta be all in on as a faith family. So I'm gonna get you to grab your Bibles if you would. We're gonna go to Joshua 24. Joshua 24, and the backdrop as you're turning there, this is a very significant moment in the life of God's people. So they spent 450 years in captivity in Egypt. God delivers them through Moses. 40 years they're wandering in the wilderness. Moses dies. A guy named Joshua steps in, becomes the leader of God's people. They go through what's called a conquest where they're now taking the land that God promised.

So there's this military campaign. They're now at the end of this military campaign, and now they're settling into the land that God promised. That's what's been going on. And so what they do is Joshua knows, man, my time is running short. We're all gonna be scattering and settling in to the region that God has given us. And here's what Joshua knows. Joshua knows that God's people have a track record of following Jesus for a season and then getting distracted by the gods around them, and then turning over there and kind of tinkering with the gods, and they don't really forsake the Lord altogether. And it's just like we're gonna play both sides of the fence. Like we're gonna trust the Lord, but then we're gonna trust the gods of the culture with these other areas of our life. And he knows this is their track record, and God has called them to faithfulness. He knows that when they enter into this new land that some of the people in the culture that's gonna be left there, it's gonna be a temptation for them. And that the cultural norms of the land is gonna be wooing and calling for the heart and affection of God's people. And so here's what Joshua does. He takes, there's three sermons that he gives the people.

And in these sermons, he's laying, and he really says the same thing in all three sermons. We're gonna be in the last sermon in Joshua 24, but in essence, here's what he's doing. He is like a good football coach that after training the team and preparing the team, he gathers them up right before the game, and then the coach is gonna give this speech. And what the coach is gonna do in the speech, he's gonna remind them of what they worked on, remind them of their identity as a sports program. And then he's gonna tell them that, hey, this is what you're up against, this is what we gotta do if we're gonna win, this is what he's doing. This is like that coaching moment. And here's what Joshua does. He reminds them of what God has done, he reminds them of who they are, and then he calls them to faithfulness, preparing them for the temptations that are gonna come their way. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna jump in, really only gonna look at two verses, but this is full of helpful information. If we're gonna be families in a church that takes seriously passing on our faith from one generation to the next. Joshua 24, verse 14, if you're there, say the Bible is true.

Joshua says. Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods of your fathers that your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt and serve the Lord and if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord choose this day whom you will serve whether the gods of your father 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. I mean this is a defining moment this was a significant moment where Joshua draws a line in the sand and says in you're either gonna be in or you're gonna be out here's what I want to do I'm gonna give you three insights that we learned from this moment with Joshua and God's people that will help us establish homes that that that say we're going to focus our attention on the Lord and raising up the next generation of Christ's followers there are three insights I want to give here's the first one write this down the first thing we got to do is that we've got to resolve to follow Jesus no matter what we've got to resolve to follow Jesus no matter what this is what you see in verse 15 this is the famous passage that many of us if you think of Joshua this is the verse that you think of he says this he says and if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord listen to this choose this day whom you will serve whether the gods of father serve the region beyond the river the gods of the Amorites and whose land you dwell but as for me in my house here's the defining moment we will serve the Lord so here's what Joshua is doing here Joshua is helping the people understand that following Jesus demands that we make a choice and he's warning the people and he understands the tendency of their of their of their heart that that they'll follow Jesus faithfully for a while and then all of a sudden they get distracted by some of the the gods of the culture and they're gonna go and tinker with those things and they're gonna begin to straddle the fence and Joshua says listen if you're gonna follow Jesus with faithfulness that you've got to have a resolve that I'm gonna follow Jesus no matter what when he says choose this day whom you will serve the language in Hebrew it implies

this decisive choice like it's a moment where you're going to choose something and the effect of that choice is going to be ongoing in other words here's what Joshua is saying hey choose today whom you're gonna serve and continually make that choice every single day in other words he's saying you got to get off the fence and you got to go one way or the other choose this day whom you're gonna serve and he makes this statement I think it's interesting he says if you think it is evil to serve the Lord and then he says choose this day and here's I think why I was wrestling with that phrase all week here's why I think I think there are moments when we despise the fact that God calls us to faithfulness you mean I can't do that and follow Jesus at the same time well who do you think you are telling me what to do you mean I can't live like this part of my life and I can't hold on to that part of my life and follow Jesus at the same time and so what happens a lot of times is that that when God's Word convicts us of areas of our life where there's compromise rather than listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit leading us to conviction which then puts us in a place of repentance we look it with disdain and we put our hands up we go no no no you're tinkering with some stuff there and here's what's happening that's gonna it's revealing the idols in your life that you refuse to let go of and he just tells the people do you think it's unreasonable for God to call you to faithfulness okay he says that's fine but you got to make a choice now it's interesting that he when he gives them the choice the choice is this you're either going to go all in with the gods of your past or the gods that are in the present land or you're gonna go all in with Jesus but here's what he wants them to understand very clearly everybody has to make a choice can I tell you what the problem with the church in America today is we got too many people with one foot in the church and one foot in the world we got too many people who are serving the little G gods of culture most of the week and and then they they come to church on Sunday to get their religious fix and there's check in the box and there may be even a little bit of prayer time and we pray over meals and we might read our Bible but if you looked at our life other than our Sunday

attendance and a few religious activities there's really no distinction between us and the rest of the world because our heart devotion affection go to the same things that everybody else's heart affection devotion goes toward the only difference between us and them is that We got a little Jesus sprinkled in here. And here's what I'm telling you. There is a generation of young people rising up right now, and they are tired of playing both sides of the fence. What they're looking for is authentic Christianity. They're looking for truth. They're looking for people whose lives look the same on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, as it does on Sunday. And they're turned off by those who claim to follow Christ, but Christ isn't expressed in their real life on the everyday basis. And what we got to see is this, is that this is a defining moment for us where we have to decide once and for all, are we in or are we out? And I love what Joshua does. Joshua says, you've got to make a choice, but I'm telling you my choice. As for me and my house, we, watch this, we will serve the Lord. He closes the door on every other option. Not we might, not we will try, not we'll work on it, not give me some space, no, we will serve the Lord. This is who we're gonna be. Fathers in the room, we need more men to rise up and say,

look, the world can do what they want to do, but as for me and my house, we're going all in with Jesus. Now, I'm gonna give you some practical things because I don't just wanna yell at you about it for 40 minutes and not help, all right? And I'm not done yelling yet. So just get just, I'm gonna give you some stuff that's gonna help you, all right? Let me give you a couple of things to write down. What does it mean to resolve to follow Jesus no matter what? Here's the thing, I think it comes down to devotion, what you're devoted to. And parents, I want to encourage you to write this down. And this is for not just parents, this is for those of you who are in the younger generation and this and your parents may not be leading the way. Well, guess what? You're responsible for your walk with Christ if you know him. And while we want to be that example and raise you up, but listen, there's some decisions you can make. You can make this choice like Joshua in your own life. A couple of things that I wanna encourage you to be devoted to, number one is this. Listen, parents, we need to be devoted to God's vision as our aim in parenting, God's vision as our aim in parenting. You say, what in the world does that mean? Well, Genesis 128, you don't have to turn that up

to be on the screen, listen to this. This is when the whole idea of parenting concept comes up in the Bible. And God blessed them, talking about Adam and Eve, and he said to them, be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Be fruitful and multiply is another way of saying this, go make some babies. So he tells Adam and Eve, listen, I'm gonna put you in a union called marriage. You're gonna commit to one another. Now watch this, previously he tells them they are made in the image of God. So they are reflection, representation of God on planet Earth to reflect his image and his glory. That's why they were created, image bearers of God. And then he tells these image bearers, enter into the covenant of marriage and go make some babies, why? Because God wants to fill his creation with his image. And parents, that's the aim of parenting. That's God's vision for your parenting. It is for you to raise up image bearers of God who glorify him with their life. Now we know that sin has marred the image of God. Christ has come, he lived the life we couldn't live, died in our place, resurrected from the grave. And when we give him our life, the Holy Spirit is deposited in our life. And now Christ in us, watch this,

we are growing in Christ to look more and more and more like him. In other words, God is restoring Christ's image in us. So what is the aim of parenting? The aim of parenting is to have babies, teach them about Jesus, and when the Holy Spirit saves them, we begin to nurture them and grow them and pour into them so that Christ is formed more and more and more and more in their heart so that all of creation, there might be image bearers of God who are in a loving relationship with Jesus who reflect his image for all the world to see. That's the aim. Nowhere in the instructions of parenting in the scripture is God's like, hey, listen, your kids need 4.0 GPA. Can I just help you parent? God could care less what your kid's GPA is. Do they love Jesus? Do they know Jesus? Are they looking more and more and more like Jesus? Like nowhere, it was like the Lord's like, okay, hey, I need you to teach them the 10 commandments. I also need them to perfect their bat swing and their jump shot. And you're failing as a parent if you don't do that. Nowhere in scripture has God ever given us instruction to make sure. that our kids excel and all of the things that gets the majority of our attention.

And here's what we do, we substitute, listen, that's the world's vision for our children. And what we've done in American culture is we've substituted the world's vision for parenting from God's vision from parenting. And so we grow up and we're raising a generation who know a lot of stuff and they're well educated and they get great jobs and they have a lot of trophies in the attic somewhere, but they don't love Jesus. And we've got to be devoted to God's vision, not culture's vision. Here's the second thing we gotta be devoted to. We gotta be devoted to God's word as the authority of our home. Parents, listen to me, we say the Bible is true, amen? And listen, this is the guide. This is the source of truth. This should be the foundation for every decision we make. Like how our kids date and who they date should not be determined by their emotions, but by God's word. So Susie's got her eye on this dude. And so we've got to ask some questions, who is he? Does he love Jesus? Not does he know Jesus, everybody knows Jesus. Does he love Jesus? Is there evidence of a growing relationship with Jesus? And then you're like, well, no, but he's a nice guy. Well, nice guy doesn't cut it. You know why?

The Bible says do not be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. And that's not just a dating verse, that's a lot of things verse, but it certainly applies to dating as well. Like who your kids run around with. Like in the friends group that they have, you gotta know who they are. The Bible talks about the one who runs with a fool will suffer harm. So why is it that Johnny is straying away from the Lord? Look at the way you've decided who he's friends with. Well, it's all interest group or it's all like he's on the sports team with them. And so they all connect really well. But the question is this, is he running with people who were fools? Because if so, he's gonna suffer harm. The Bible informs those things, how we spend our money, how we spend our time, what's the priority of our family. The Bible speaks to that. And we've got to get back to a place where the Bible rather than culture is the loudest voice in the decision-making process in our families. Amen? Here's number three. We gotta be devoted to God's people as the center of your activity. God's people as the center of your activity.

Here's what I mean when I say God's people. I'm talking about the local church, the local church. You see, the Christian community in the New Testament, the church was the center of all activity, not just one of many activities. And this is one of the reasons. Why is it that about 80% of those who graduate raised in church, when they leave home, they leave the church? Why is that? It's because the church was one activity among many activities, not central to their family. So we go to church, and we do club ball, and we got these activities that we're involved with. And when everything gets busy, we gotta decide which one on these weeks, months, seasons that we're gonna be devoted to. And since this is just one of the activities among others, and we can't do everything, does that make sense? But you know what the early church, it says in Acts chapter two, verse 42, as soon as the church was formed, this is families, not just individuals, these are families. It says they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to the breaking of bread, to gathering together. In other words, what you see is all of a sudden, these new believers, their common link in Christ became the center of their activity. So their main friend groups,

it wasn't like who I go to school with. It's who am I in covenant community with at church? The Hebrews chapter 10, verse 25, the believers are kind of facing some cultural backlash for their beliefs, and here's what was happening. Families were not going to church as faithfully as they once did. And the writer says, do not forsake the assembling of yourself together as some in the habit of doing. And I think if there's anything I can tell you, young parents in this room, look, I understand the attraction and the desire to be a part of this. I understand the attraction and the desire because all the other families are at ballparks every other weekend for seasons on end. I don't want my kid to miss out. Listen, they will miss out on something if you make a choice. The question is, what is it that they're gonna miss? this out on. The covenant community learning that the body of Christ, this is what Christ gave his life for. That's gonna be the center of our activity. And we're not gonna like go from church to church simply because my kids have this friend now because we're in this little friend circle. We're gonna go to that church and then maybe a little later when they're getting in this activity,

we're gonna go over here. And what happens is listen, you end up letting your little circle outside the covenant community become the primary community and you wonder why they don't go to church when they're grown. The local church is meant to be the center of the family activity, not just one of many activities. And let me just say this. So you say, well, I wanna teach my kids to grow and love Christ. You know how you can measure your love for Christ? Do you love the things that Christ loves? Are you devoted to the things that Christ was devoted to? You know what the Bible says about Jesus's love for the church? He loved the church and gave himself up for her. Jesus was all in with establishing the church. So if we're all in with Jesus, we gotta be all in with what Jesus was all in with. That make sense? So here's number two, number two. So we gotta resolve to follow Jesus no matter what. And by the way, it's gotten really quiet in here since I've been meddling, just so you know. I feel it, I feel it. But I am not scared. All right, here we go. Resolve to follow Jesus no matter what.

Here's number two. Remove every idol that competes for his place. Remove every idol that competes for his place. Look what he says, 14b. He says this. Put away the gods, little g gods, that your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt and served the Lord. He's like, you gotta put away these little g gods that are warring for the affection of your heart. Here's what he's saying. Listen, if we're gonna have a resolve to follow Jesus no matter what, here's what we gotta do. We gotta identify and remove everything in our life that competes with the affection and devotion that should rightfully go to Jesus. And here's what Joshua was saying. Listen, if you're not careful and you don't remove these as options, what's gonna happen is your intention is gonna be faithfulness. But because that idol is over there and it has an attachment to your heart, over time it's gonna be like, okay, we're gonna follow Jesus and you kinda out of the corner, you're like, no, no, no, we're gonna follow Jesus. We're gonna follow. And then before we know, we're like,

maybe we can follow Jesus and still. Am I the only parent that feels that? You know, when they did the conquest, one of the things God continually commanded his people to do when they would go into a region and God would give them that land, one of the first things they were called to do was to go and find all the holy places of the false gods, all the places of worship of the false gods, and destroy them. Why would he do that? Because he did not want to give them an option. He knew that temptation would come. So here's what he says. Don't flirt with the idols. Forsake the idols. What are the idols in your life? We got a lot. You say, wait a second, I don't have any kind of shrines in my house. I've never had a Buddha that I knelt down and prayed to. Listen, we got more sophisticated idols than they did. Let me tell you what an idol is. Let me give you this definition. An idol is anything other than Jesus. An idol is anything other than Jesus that gets our devotion and affection or that we pursue as a means of satisfaction. That's what an idol is. So let me give you a couple of idols in our culture.

Money and possessions. Would y'all agree this is an idol in our culture? Man, we are a debt-loving people. And here's what we do. We spend money we don't have to buy things we don't need to impress people we don't even like. And we love, we love, listen, we love when we hit purchase on that Amazon order. And then we're checking like delivery day. What time is it gonna arrive? And we open and we're like, ah, this is so awesome. And then we're like, that's not so awesome. What's the next thing, right? And we end up becoming slaves to the things of this world and we pursue the, and it's never enough. There's never a good enough vacation. You never left a vacation and be like, hey, I never wanna go on another vacation again. Now, you may say at the end, like, oh my gosh, I don't think there's ever anything. And you're like, but I think I can find one that's better than that one. Now, I love vacations. I'm not saying anything's wrong with it. But listen, when your life is consumed with more and more and more. more, bigger, and better, and newer, and cleaner, and it becomes an idol. Here's another idol in our culture. Here's it.

Accomplishments and success. Now, I'm a driven, I'm a type A driven person. I love to get things done. But listen, we can make an idol out of accomplishments and success. I mean, we love us in our culture a title and status. I mean, we have all of our social media, there's status built into all of it, right? We spend more time in our description trying to describe us because we want to describe ourselves. It's so important. We love it. We're living in a day where we want to be influencers. And man, there's some weird stuff on YouTube with people who are, well, they're an influencer. I'm like, they're just weird. I don't know what they're influencing. Weirdness, yeah, they're influencing that. But we have this thought, like, I wanna be known. I want people to think of me and applaud me. Listen, here's the thing. When you live for the applause of the world, you will eventually compromise in your relationship with Jesus. You see, here's what happens. We find our identity in the approval and the accomplishments of the world around us when our approval should be in Christ and Christ alone. Listen, not in our accomplishment, but in his accomplishment.

He's the only one that can satisfy. Here's another one. Sports. And listen, this is coming from a guy that loves sports. In fact, I almost left this one off there. I was like, I'm not even gonna put that one on there. Listen, can I tell you, you know how you know that something is an idol? It's like when you don't wanna talk about it. It's like, I'd rather talk about money because I don't love that, you know? And some of you, like I've said some things and it's just like, I wish he wouldn't have said that. It's probably because it's an idol. We have sports as an idol in our culture. We're obsessed over it. We spend more time, money, and conversation. And at the end of the day, look, I love basketball. Again, at the end of the day, basketball is a ball that bounces, and overpaid athletic people make a lot of money, and guess what? The ball eventually, for everyone, stops bouncing. For everybody. And so what happens is is that we begin to look to sports and athletic competition and our kids. We're so obsessed. Like, can I just be honest with you? Now that I've gotten like two kids that are grown, we spend a lot of time, and I look back on some of that, I'm like, I cherish the time we spend,

but can I tell you the trophies and the awards and all of those things, the highlight, you know? They're like in the closet. Like, nobody even look at them anymore. Like, they mean nothing. But we're so obsessed, why? Because it's an idol. And oftentimes, parents, what we're doing is we're trying to give our kids status in the community by their accomplishments in the athletic and sports realm, and that's an idol. Here's another one, sex and sexuality. We've now built an entire like labeling system so that your sexual preferences now are not just a fleshly drive that you have. Now it's an identity of who you are. That's idolatry. That's idolatry. This is why there's so much rage when truth is spoken against immorality, because you're not just speaking of an act in our culture today, you're speaking to an identity. So it's not just an act or a cultural preference, it's like, no, no, no, no, you're actually talking about who I am, why? Because it's an idol, sex and sexuality. Here's another one, our kids. Our kids can be idols. I've seen this through the years. Parents pray like crazy.

God, would you give us a baby? And then God blesses them with a baby, and then we don't see them for three years. Seriously, they just lay, like, oh, we got kids, and we're just too busy, and I don't want them to get sick, and I just don't know if I can put them in the nursery. I just, we're just gonna lay out for a little bit. So you, so, God, give us a gift. God says, here's a gift. And then with that gift, we walk away from Christ being priority. There's something wrong with that. But when our kids become the center of our universe, and here's how you know, parents, if you're looking to your kids and their childhood experiences to heal some wound or pain in your past, Your kids have become an idol. Your kids were never meant to be the one that heals the pain of your past. And by the way, when your kids become your idol, here's what you're doing. You're looking to your kids to find in them what you can really only find in Jesus, and here's what happens. You end up crushing your children under the weight of that responsibility because they can never live up to that expectation. Here's number three.

Y'all ready to be done with that? We're done with idols, all right? So we need to resolve. We're gonna follow Jesus no matter what, amen? We need to remove every idol that competes with him in our life. And then finally, listen to this. We need to remember, or respond rather, to the gospel with awe and devotion. We need to respond to the gospel with awe and devotion. With awe and devotion. You're like, hold up, you're in Joshua. Where's the gospel in Joshua? Well, here's where you find it. Verse 14, listen to this and listen closely. Joshua says this. This is, he starts the section. "'Now therefore, fear the Lord "'and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness.'" Now, you've heard me teach the Bible and I've made this silly statement a lot, and you've heard other pastors say it as well. When you're reading the Bible and you see the word therefore, you ask yourself the question, what is it? What is it therefore? Because here's what we know. When we see the word therefore, what's happening is they're attaching what they're about to say with what they've already said.

So there's something in the transition here where Joshua is going to say, hey, now therefore, in other words, in light of what has just been spoken. Now, here's what's just been spoken. Through verses 12 through 13, Joshua isn't speaking. The Lord is speaking. And what the Lord does is he reminds them of his grace and his mercy and his redemption, that he was the one that delivered them, that he was the one that rescued them, that it's his grace and his power at work in their life that has brought them to this place. He's reminding them of his goodness, of the good news that though they were slaves in Egypt, they are now free, God's covenant people, inheriting a land that he provided for them. Are you with me? Now, here's what the Lord does. From verses two through 13, 18 times, God uses the word I to remind them that everything they have came from him. Let me just give you a summary. I'm not gonna read the whole section, but I'm taking the I statements in that section. I just want you to listen to what the Lord has said to them. He says, I called Abram. I led him to the land. I gave him Isaac. I gave him Jacob and Esau.

I sent Moses. I struck Egypt. I delivered you. I parted the sea. I destroyed your pursuers. I brought you to the Amorites. I gave them into your hand. I defeated them before you. I delivered you to Balaam. I gave Jericho into your hand. I gave your enemies into your hand. I sent the hornet before you. I gave you land you did not labor for. You live in cities you did not build, and you eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant. What he's saying to them is everything that you have is a gift that God has given by his grace and mercy. He reminds them that before Abraham received the call to follow the Lord and to go and start this covenant community, that Abraham was a pagan worshiper living in Ur. And yet God intervened by his grace and called him. And even though the people lived in idolatry while they were in Egypt, although they turned to other gods in the wilderness, God redeemed and restored them. And now that they're entering into the land, he wants them to respond to the gospel with awe and faithfulness and devotion.

You say, what do you mean? When he gives the I statements, the very next phrase is, now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and faithfulness. In other words, here's what he's saying. Now that you've seen the redemption and the grace and the mercy and the power of God, the appropriate response is to stand in awe and never get over the good work, the grace of God, his power that's been displayed in your life. And let that be the motivation for your faithfulness to him. Church, do you realize today that there is a greater redemption that we've experienced? There's a greater exodus. because Jesus is a greater Moses who has now set us free from sin and shame and guilt who has brought us in to be his very own people let me remind you that when Adam and Eve sinned against God and they deserved to be put to death on the spot he is the one that slaughtered the animal and clothed their nakedness that though they rebelled he is the one that says I'm gonna establish a covenant people that ultimately the Messiah is gonna come from listen remind we remind you he is the one who left the glory of heaven and he veiled himself in flesh and he lived the life we couldn't live he died the death we deserve to die he was the one put in a tomb for three days and on the third day he is the one that resurrected back to life he is the one who says I'm gonna deposit when you call on my name the gift of the Holy Spirit so that you can be made alive he is the one that dwells inside of us he is the one that is redeeming us and refining us and transforming us into his image he is the one that walks with us and never fails he is the one that's coming again and when he does he is the one that's

gonna make all things new and he is the one that we will reign with for all eternity this is his work not ours amen and what we have got to do is get to the place where we go God and in light of that I stand in all of you and so whatever you call me to do whatever our family is supposed to be doing whatever it is that you want us to walk away from we are all in because you were all in with us you cannot look at the cross and then say to Jesus you're asking too much you can't do it and so in light of this Joshua he stands in front of people this is gotta make a choice are you in are you out we cannot we cannot play both sides and to not be all in hear me say this is to say I'm all out so Joshua says is with me in my house we're gonna serve the Lord you know what he's saying in this moment he stands in front of the people here's what he declares I have decided to follow Jesus my house we have decided to follow Jesus no turning back no turning back in fact that's one of my favorite one of my favorite old songs you never heard that I have decided to follow Jesus this week I learned the story behind the song the story really articulates what it is that we're invited to follow Jesus the story is in the late 1800s there was a revival in Wales it's known as the Welsh revival and there was a missionary in the middle of that revival that God said you're gonna go to northeastern India and you're gonna share Jesus with a tribe that have never heard the gospel multiple tribes in this region never heard the gospel and they're very hostile in fact if you go in there they are headhunters you're probably not gonna live and this missionary packs his bags and he says I'm going and it was very difficult he gets in he's run out a lot of villages and finally after proclaiming the gospel there was one man in a village one of the tribe tribesmen of a village who says he hears the gospel he's overwhelmed Holy Spirit saves him he shares with his wife his wife gives her life to Christ they share with their two boys their boys give their life to Christ's family has now been reached and they are so overwhelmed with the gospel that the God of the universe would send this missionary and

they would experience forgiveness and redemption that they got a passion they started going around to their village people and to other tribes around begin to share the gospel and people began to listen and then the chief rose up full of anger because of the pagan practices and he says I've got to put a stop to this so he sends men and They capture the family, and they bring them before their very own tribe, and they surround this family, and the chief looks at him and says, you have brought this message into the village. Right now, you will deny this man named Jesus, or it will cost you. The story says this man, with fire in his eyes, he stepped toward the chief, and he looked him in the eyes, and this is what he says, I have decided to follow Jesus. No turning back, no turning back. This enraged the chief, and he says, this will cost you, and immediately he calls his guards, and they grab the two boys, the man's sons, and they drag them out, and the archers shoot them through the heart with arrows, and they drop dead at the feet of their father. And the chief looked at him and says, now you know that I'm serious. Deny Christ. Standing next to his lifeless sons, with tears in his eyes,

he looks at the chief, and he says, though none go with me, I still will follow. No turning back, no turning back. And the chief says, okay, and he grabbed the man's wife, and brutally put her to death. The chief said, now, you will die if you don't reject. He says, I will not reject. The chief grabbed him, and just before he put him to death, he said these words to him. These words, the cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back, no turning back. And with that, they took his life. You hear that story, and you're like, man, that is a tragedy. It's a tragedy. But is it? But is it a tragedy? Let me tell you, I think there's a bigger tragedy. I think it's more of a tragedy for a family in America to know the gospel, and to attend church, and yet never prioritize Jesus in their home. And there is no suffering, there is no persecution,

there is no real cost in their life. They're just gonna attend church, and they're gonna live in the world, and they're gonna play both sides of the fence, and they're gonna make a good living, and their kids are gonna be really well-educated, and they're gonna go get really great careers, and there's gonna be some awesome vacations, and some great memories, and there's gonna be some trophies that are on a shelf that eventually ends up in a box in an attic, and then those parents are gonna get older, and they're gonna have an unbelievable retirement, and then they're gonna have family vacations with grandkids where there's more sports, and more activities, and more education, and they're just gonna kind of live in the church, and a lot in the world, and then they're gonna go to their grave, and never know the thrill of seeing the power of God unleashed in their family, and then those kids will stand before Jesus, and give an account for their life. That's a tragedy. This man and his wife and two sons received a martyr's crown, and shortly after this death, the people in the village were so moved at their devotion for Jesus that every single person in that village,

and then villages all around, including the chief that put them to death, gave their life to Christ, and then as this words of this song, this man just spoke these words, all of a sudden somebody began to tell the story, and a songwriter got it, and they put music to the words, and now those phrases that he spoke that day that he died has now been a part of millions and millions of people coming to faith in Christ. You tell me what the tragedy is. This is a moment of choice for us. I'm gonna ask you to bow your heads, and I'm gonna give two responses to this. The first is this, and I'm gonna make this very direct and very blunt. There are some of you here, you do not have a relationship with Jesus. You have religion and you have knowledge, but you've never been born again. been made alive. You've got one foot in the church, one foot in the world, and you're trying to figure out why is it that my life is empty? Why is it that church isn't working? It's because church was never meant to work. Jesus is the only one. And there's some of you in this room today, and it's time that you stopped following culture and following religion. And it's time that you start following Jesus. You've never trusted Jesus as your Lord and savior. You've never been born again, but you say, pastor, you're speaking. And I feel like the Holy spirit is saying, today is the day. I want to choose today to follow Jesus. I want him to be the Lord of my life. I want to be born again today with no one looking around. I'm going to ask you if that's you again, I'm very simple,

very blunt. If that's your life, pastor, you're talking to me. I'm going to encourage you to stand and say, I've never trusted Christ, but man, I'm all in today is the day. I want to give Jesus my life. I want him to be my Lord and my savior. If that's you, I'm just going to ask you to stand. I know it takes courage, but following Jesus takes courage. But if you're here today and you're saying, you're speaking to me, just stand where you are. Praise Jesus. Is there anybody else? Is there anyone else? Praise God. Praise God. If you're standing, I'm going to encourage you to stay standing. And there goes me some encouragers that are going to come your way. If you look to your, to your left, there's going to be some people that are going to want to meet with you and pray with you. Who else? Anybody else? Just slip out of your seat. If you're standing and praise God, anybody else? If you're standing, just continue to stand right up here at the top. If you're standing, would you just slip out of that, of that seat, look to your left, to your right, there's going to be somebody making their way to you and praise God. Anybody else? Praise God. Praise God. We need one of our encouragers right here. I'm so proud of everybody who's making this stand. It takes a lot of courage. I'm going to take a moment and I'm going to speak now to families in the room and everyone in the room. For some of you individuals, some of our young adults, some of our parents, grandparents, today needs to be a line in the sand moment for you. You're like, we're, we are all in as for me and my house, we will follow Jesus. And we're going to begin to prioritize him and remove idols. And we're going to be everything God's called us to be by his power. Here's what I'm going to ask you to do. Our team is going to come out and they're going to sing over us. And I want to encourage you. I'm going to say a prayer. And when I say, amen, this altar should be flooded with people who are saying, this is a line in the sand moment for me. I'm all in. And I'm going to take this and lay it before the Lord. And we choose today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day. And the next day we're in, we're going to reorder our life. We're going to reprioritize some things. We're going to, we're going to do things different because of this call that God has given us. So father, I'm asking now that you would take this

moment. You would use it for your glory. Would you get us beyond playing the game Lord? And in light of the gospel, give us the strength and power to say, yes, we choose to follow Jesus. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.