Be Strong and Courageous | Pastor Daniel Gouveia | Installation Ceremony

[Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey so 537 [Music] good morning and happy sabbath well there was at least one child that got the message got the memo some of you uh need to be awakened from slumber good morning and happy sabbath it's so much better so much better it is so nice to be in the house of the lord this morning what do you say i know many have been talking and waiting uh for this moment and it has arrived and we're thankful for it we are thankful to see your smiling faces amongst the attendees here at church and we also want to welcome our viewing audience on our live stream we hope and we anticipate that god will bless you richly as you worship with us today in spirit and in truth i do have a few announcements and i'll try to get them covered as quickly as possible they were kind of like rabbits you know they just multiply quickly so many of you who came in this morning as you pass by the greeter's desk were able to receive a flyer why should we vote and i think pastor jensen prepared that for us i would encourage you to seriously take a look at that read through it uh pray if you need to so that you can participate in your duty of your dual membership uh your dual citizenship kingdom of god and this a citizen of the united states of america all right also this morning i want to read for you a memo from our health committee as a reminder to keep our church family safe as our community recovers from the covet 19 pandemic please wash your hands frequently frequently and use hand sanitizer please remember all masks are to cover the face and the nose both simultaneously masks are to be worn at all times while on the church campus social distance six feet apart in all areas of the church campus at the end of the service today please stay seated until you are dismissed till you are excused the congregation will be excused from the right to the left now i'm not sure if it's my right or your right but the deacons know so just follow the directions of the deacons alternating and will leave out the front right door through the small courtyard so we're going out this way please do not congregate at the doorways and the walkways see yourself down the walkway and out into the parking lot and if you choose at that time uh to disregard uh our instructions that's on you but we would like to follow the rules that have been given passed down to us so we ask you to do the same also there is there will be a box here it's there currently for your offering remember the church and its needs from week to week by depositing your offerings and ties into the offering box there as you depart also uh today in our service we will have a pastoral installation done by uh elder rasmussen and so from the conference and so that will be a part of our divine worship service this morning i need to also let you know that our air conditioning is not functioning properly here in the sanctuary as many of you probably have detected by now the social hall is open we have reached capacity in the sanctuary but if anyone is too uncomfortable there may be still a few seats over in the social hall where the air conditioning is working and so we just wanted to offer that to you okay i think that covers most of the announcements here now we're going to move into the time where we all participate together in prayer and there are some requests that have come we have some folk amongst us some of our members who are ill let us remember them as we pray this morning also we want to remember those who have been and are currently being affected by the wildfires here on the west end of our nation and we also we want to remember our the president of our country who is suffering to what degree we're not sure but who's hospitalized with the covet 19. as well as those who are around him who have been who have been affected and inflicted with this pandemic as well as those even in our own communities and neighborhoods i just found out that my neighbor across the street who had just moved in had a for sale sign up on their house and i went to check on them to make sure i hadn't been a bad neighbor and her mother said oh no no no but my daughter contracted pneumonia and then went to the hospital contracted covert 19 and died and we had gotten this house for her so they had sold it so you know there are people right around us who are suffering and hurting let us remember them as well in our prayers the servant of the lord says when every other voice is hushed and in quietness we wait before him the silence of the soul makes more distinct the voice of god let's kneel as we pray this morning oh god our god in ages past our hope for years to come our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home we come this morning your children into your house of worship for all people because we have grateful hearts we are thankful for all that you have done for us this week how you have watched over us and sheltered us taken care of us fed us and brought us close to you and so we come this morning to say thank you father while we are here we remember those with special needs those who have been affected by this pandemic worldwide in our country and even in our neighborhoods and homes we asked father that you would do for them what they cannot do for themselves we ask that you would bring healing to us and to our community we remember the leaders of this great nation as we pray father we remember our president as he is in the hospital we asked father that you would bless the leaders of this church worldwide and locally we ask also a special blessing for our pastor this morning who will be installed officially we ask father that you would bless our children as they pursue their educations even in these strange and unusual times that heaven would be foremost in their learning so as they finish their educational courses and can and and continue to pursue them they can help others to learn of jesus and his love in whatever fields they endeavor to work we also pray father that you would put your words in the pastor's mouth this morning as he breaks the bread of life to us that jesus would be seen and heard and that our souls would be lifted up and pointed heavenward we asked lord that you would bless us in our worship today and that you would accept our offerings of praise and prayer we look so forward to the time when sickness and death when ill health and difficulties are no longer a part of our existence we look forward to the second coming of jesus christ and we want to be amongst those who proclaim that our god has arrived and will save us we want to be among those who shout out he has come hallelujah we look forward to hearing the words well done and we ask you to empower us through your holy spirit to increase the borders of your kingdom here on earth so our neighbors our families our co-workers and friends will shout with us and we'll hear the comforting words well done as well these and any unmentioned blessings we pray in the name of jesus and they all said right [Music] amen [Music] i have been told that auntie carolyn is going to bring us our children's story and so we'll invite her to come down here she is we'll invite her to come down and to bless us with a children's story after the children's story we'll have a special music and then a pastor rasmussen will turn it over to you for the installation it's so nice to be inside the church oh we had a wonderful children's program today for those of you who have small children um all of you young and old i know i've heard uh i know that a lot of people are very happy that i have to come up here and do the story instead of having my back to them because they always wanted to see the pictures so for all of you big boys and girls you'll get to see the pictures today i'm going to tell you about what is called nature slinky have you ever seen a slinky uh some of us that are older i think probably know what a slinky is i don't know if the young kids do these usually was metal and it was round and you could make it go walk down steps and things like that and it was a lot of fun to watch well nature has a slinky too and it's called a ferret and it can get up to 26 inches long including its tail now a ferret is different than other mammals because it has a very flexible very flexible backbone so it might have different colors but it has a very flexible backbone and it's very curious now farmers don't care for them because they've been known to kill chickens and other small mammals and they're part of the weasel family but they're very cute and they make some people say they make great pets i don't know i know they have an odor about them and from people that have owned them so they need to get bathed very regularly apparently but i'm telling you about these darling little animals because it's so important for us to be flexible one of the things that these little guys have been used for has been electricians electricians have used ferrets putting harnesses on them and sending them putting them next to a little hole having them hooked up with wire and go all the way through the conduit and can get in small places because they're so curious as soon as they see a hole they naturally have to go in it and see what's on the other side so it helps the electricians a lot and it is nice to be flexible it is a good thing except for one thing boys and girls there's times when we shouldn't be flexible it's good to be flexible with our friends always sharing let them go first don't be greedy those things are all good because nobody wants to be friends with somebody who always wants to be first who always takes the biggest snack and treat that's not being a good friend and that's not being flexible and god says we need to be flexible it's not good to be flexible though when it comes time to do what is right so it's good to let your friends go first and it's good to not always be first but if your friends suggest something that's not right it is not good to follow them it is not good to be flexible then we cannot be flexible then we have to stand firm so it's good that the ferrets can do all these cool things and that they have a flexible backbone and we can have a flexible backbone too sometimes but not when it comes to bad things then we have to stand firm on jesus let's say a little prayer now and ask jesus to help us to stay flexible dear heavenly father we thank you for us allowing us inside church today for a beautiful sabbath day again we thank you that we have many children listening from home and also some from here and we thank you for the little weasel to teach us a little lesson and that we're learning about flexible things like being flexible with our friends but not being flexible when it comes to bad things help us to be strong this week bring us back next sabbath we ask these things in your precious name jesus amen [Music] so [Music] you are my strength when i am the treasure that i seek seeking you as a precious jewel lord to give up i'd be a fool you are my only from jesus is your name jesus [Music] taking my sin my cross my shame rising again i bless your name you are my when i fall down you pick me up when i am dry you fill my cup you are my [Music] is [Music] jesus [Music] worthy is your name [Music] is your name so as elder rasmussen comes forward for the installation service i also would like to invite the elders who are present to come and join me over here to my left we'll space ourselves out but there will be a responsive reading and so elders if you are here please join me when bring your do they have these yes if you have the installation so all right very good thank you while we're getting some more copies of the responsive reading great to be here and worshiping the lord in this sanctuary amen what a joyful opportunity to do that so it's not just a time for the conference to come and share or just a time for pastor and family to share but a time for congregation and pastor and family and conference to come together to share how we love one another how we are supporting one another and working side by side with each other to hasten our lord's coming and so at this time i also want to invite pastor graveyard mrs gouveia and lucas gover if you'd come and perhaps if you stand within distance perhaps by the piano over here this installation yes once you come on there as long as you're i'll stand a little bit of ways there yeah i think we're about six feet there at least there you go and for those of you here on the platform if you're wanting to speak and read without masks that's that would be permissible as long as you're six feet away from anyone who's not part of your your household that would be the same for for the elders or if you choose to read with your mask on that's that's perfectly acceptable too as i mentioned this is a bit different because quite often when we have a pastor installation the pastor is brand new to the congregation and that's not quite the the same scenario we have here so i've modified the reading a little bit and then on the back page we normally list a little bit of a biographical sketch about the pastor and family academic degrees job experiences maybe some hobbies but most of you i hope most of you already know that about the governors and so what i chose to do is to place a photo of their of pastor gover's other congregation that what isn't he just pastoring this church this congregation truth be known he has at least one more congregation and that is this congregation amen that's right i heard i heard amen here i hope i hope you're also saying amen obviously there's a great deal of work hours involved in pastoring a church you already know that at times it's much more than 40 hours a week it could be 60 70 sometimes even as much as 80 hours a week we pray that that's not the case every week and when those times happen that at times the family can have less time of husband of dad so i shared this with you that at times let's remember there's another congregation and so at times pastor governor may need to spend a little bit more time with with family members to do that and so we appreciate we want to have balance in our lives and we want to make sure that jesus is first and foremost in our life we're wanting to live for him we're wanting to serve and we're also wanting to be the example and then have the experience that he wants us to raise our our families godly families amen and so i'm going to invite you to join along as as this congregation now in a reading it's a a time of dedication and of commitment not just of pastor and mrs gavaya and lucas but also a chance to dedicate and commit ourselves you'll find through the reading of this there are various times and things that we'll be saying that we're committing to god that we will pledge ourselves to do great things wonderful things and so that's why we have this opportunity so i will lead in this uh when we conclude we'll have a special prayer for pastor coveya and his family and for us too and then i will also be reading with the congregation let us participate let us read now dedication of pastor daniel govea to faithful ministries today is a day of thanksgiving and rejoicing the lord has provided us with a spiritual leader pastor govea god has promised i will give you pastors according to my own heart that will shepherd you with knowledge and wisdom the gifts that the holy spirit gave were that some would be prophets some evangelists some pastors and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry for building up the body of christ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the son of god to maturity to the measure of the full stature of christ as a congregation god has given us diverse spiritual gifts and has called each of us to a ministry today god is blessing us with pastor gavia to guide equip mobilize lead and encourage us in our diverse ministries i am grateful to god for leading me to this new face in my ministry i seek to minister and serve this congregation i resolve to lift up and exalt jesus that we all may grow together as one body we are inviting you today to lead us to equip us to carry on the mission of jesus christ and our church we want to deepen our walk with god central california conference's vision for the fresno central seventh-day adventist church is that the congregation will reflect christ and transform communities by empowering every person to be a disciple of jesus christ and a center of influence for the kingdom of heaven may it always be a church that believes in the priesthood of all believers and a spiritual body that is energized through the utilization of all its spiritual gifts we are here to serve this church and its surrounding community with a deep sense of love and the conviction that my husband and i are a team we seek the direction of the holy spirit in order to be of the utmost blessing to you i will pray for and support my husband as he seeks to give direction and guidance to the ministry of this church today as we continue with you in ministry we request your love understanding grace patience and family prayers we committed to assisting supporting loving caring and praying for you while you fulfilled us god will never give you a task that he will not empower you to fulfill successfully has given you the challenge to serve as the pastor of this congregation with one purpose that you prepare this church for the second coming of christ may god find you faithful in this assignment when jesus appears in the heavens with glory and majesty i accept the challenge god places before me today i recognize the hand of god leading my life and i trust that with the anointing of the holy spirit i will be able to lift up christ and him crucified brothers and sisters god are giving us another opportunity to share the love of jesus with our community under the leadership of the pastor let us love and respect him let us not criticize him let us pray for him and his family family and remember that he is we accept this challenge with god's help we will love our pastor we will respect him we will pray for him and we will refuse to be satan's instruments of division we will work with him side by side to extend the kingdom of god in this community and anywhere god leads today we are being called to walk the same path and in the same direction let us be one in mind spirit and truth we have one god and father of all who is above all and through all and in you all we promise before god angels and all the present witnesses to place the kingdom of heaven in his redemptive mission as a priority in our own lives we commit to study his word regularly and we seek the guidance of the spirit through prayer in all we do and to work together as a team until the glorious coming of the king of kings and lord of lords amen let us pray oh god you have heard us today we pledge ourselves each one of us to be your instruments of peace of good will of gospel of extending the kingdom of of heaven and so we just pray that you would continue to to use each one of us we we have said that we will commit ourselves to study your word father regularly and that we will seek the guidance through the spirit of prayer and all we do we come together as a team you've heard the the commitment the words of elder and mrs govea you've heard the word of our elders here you've heard our words as a congregation you've heard my words as a conference leader and so we just pray that you would bless this new chapter in the ministry of the fresno seventh seventh-day adventist festival central seventh-day adventist church and in this this new ministry assignment per for pastor gavaya bless him bless suleian bless lucas continue to give each one of them good strength and health in all that they do we look forward to having jesus come soon in his name we pray amen amen amen amen god bless you thank you pastor gover this is good and lucas bless you very much [Music] um [Music] oh [Music] bye [Music] hey [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hey guys amen wasn't that beautiful when you see a church that can take beautiful music out of a saw you know that church is special amen so i praise the lord that i am serving a church that has so much talent praise god and i'm i i imagine that a few years ago you would not expect an instrument like myself to be your pastor i come from the other part of the world and my english is not always perfect well it's not perfect anyways um but god can take beautiful music out of a saw right and fresno central can do that used by god so with your prayers even though i have my frailties even though i may look like a sauce sometimes i hope that the lord may use me to bless you that's my prayer amen and i want to thank you all for being here today it's good and a blessing to have people inside the sanctuary again even though we have to wear masks keep social distance be careful not to hug or hate or shake hands i thank you for your patience i know this is hard it's hard for me i don't like wearing masks i don't like to keep socially distance from people i like to hug but we need to abide by these guidelines now thank you for your patience you have been exemplary when we opened up in june i saw most of you you were doing such a great job today you are doing a great job thank you very much thank you also for your patience i know it's a little bit warm inside the sanctuary i want to say hi not only today to those who are watching in their homes via our live stream but those who are watching in our social hall and i want to tell you that even though you are not inside the beautiful sanctuary we feel that you are here with us and you are much cooler than us so praise the lord you have to look at the glass half full in every situation so thank you very much to pastor ron rasmussen for being here today for this installation ceremony for representing the central california conference and thank you to the central california conference for their vote of trust now i also want to praise god for our leadership at the central california conference and for the hard decisions that they needed to make during these hard times i know it's not easy some churches like our church have a big capacity they're large churches but we are down to one pastor now because the conference is trying to keep every pastor with a job and i think that is a reason to praise god what do you say praise the lord thank you very much for the hard but merciful attitudes that you have been taking all right this being said i would like to pray with you and to open god's word with you today god be merciful to us and bless us and cause your face to shine upon us so that the nations may know your ways and that the peoples may praise you amen today i would like to talk to you about a special character in the bible that i really love um the title of my sermon is be strong and courageous now you probably have guessed what character that is when i was a young student of theology in france i was invited to preach at the portuguese church in geneva switzerland that is very close to the border with france and to our french faculty of theology and they invited me to preach at a revival series and i was invited to preach on joshua now my colleagues several of them they were more experienced they had been studying for a few more years and they were invited to preach on abraham daniel moses and all those big names and they gave me joshua and i thought i'm just a young theology student they thought let's give joshua to this guy and see what he can come up with and i thought lord they really don't think i'm important they gave all these great bible characters to other people and i got joshua and i really thought that they didn't love me but you know god loves you and he always wants what is best for you never doubt that god always wants what is best for you that's the lesson that he's been teaching me over and over in life i went to my room i prayed after two hours i had material to last me for many sermons i thought that there was nothing to say about joshua guess what there's a lot to say about joshua i'm sure i'm not going to be able to say everything today before i preach my wife told me there's the installation ceremony today so keep your sermon short and i was like but this my installation day and she said yeah you're more than installed already don't worry but i do believe there's a lot to say about joshua i'm so excited when i speak about joshua first joshua was born as a slave like you and me amen the bible says we were brought forth in iniquity right we were born already with sinful tendencies we were born in a world where satan rules and human beings are slaves to sin and to satan and if you don't believe me believe the words of jesus have you ever read john chapter 8 let us go there to start today john chapter 8 if you have your bibles with you jesus said to the jews that believed in him this is verse 31 john chapter 8 verse 31 then jesus said to those jews who believed in him if you abide in my word you are my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free they were a little bit offended i mean what do you mean i mean we're abraham's descendants we weren't evident we were never in bondage to anyone they really would like to throw sand to their eyes and not see the obvious they were even in bondage to the romans but they would say oh we're not in bondage to anyone jesus said verse 34 most assuredly i say to you whoever commits sin is a slave of sin have you ever committed any sins come on be honest now are you sinners or are you angels up in heaven whoever commits sin is a slave to sin how can we be free and a slave does not abide in the house forever but a son abides forever therefore if the son makes you free you shall be free indeed what is the only way that human beings can have freedom is by having an encounter with the living christ by receiving his sacrifice and his blood as an atoning sacrifice for their sins and giving their hearts to christ knowing the truth this is jesus is the way the truth and the life and being free amen joshua lived this as the symbol when he encountered moses in egypt and through moses moses a man sent by god joshua and the people of israel were delivered amen now you know joshua i know that many of you know that joshua is the hebrew name for jesus jesus is the greek name jesus is a greek name right but joshua is the hebrew name do you know that joshua was not always called joshua that was not his name before he met moses the first part of the life of joshua is a symbol of the christian before he became a symbol of jesus he was a symbol of the christian now you may ask how do you come to that conclusion pastor was moses a symbol of christ yes or no was moses chosen by god to deliver the people of slavery yes or no was moses in the desert for 40 years before he had his ministry with a lot of miracles yes or no was moses called to die with the feeling that he had lived to make a people free to bring a people to the promised land to canaan and now we would have to die so that they could be entered the land is that true was jesus chosen by god to save us yes or no did jesus come to this world and performed amazing miracles to save us yes or no was jesus in the desert for 40 years 40 days before his public ministry did jesus have to go through the feeling that to give us the everlasting canaan to give us the eternal life he would have to even be cut off from god that he had to go through that feeling jesus was represented by moses joshua as the servant of moses that learned everything with moses in the first part of his life was a symbol of the christian do you have to learn everything with jesus are you a follower of jesus are you a servant of jesus yes or no so as we study the life of joshua especially the first part of the life of joshua we need to learn important lessons that god wants to share with us followers of jesus today let us go to exodus chapter 17 the first time that we learn about joshua what are we reading there what happened there and it's very very interesting because you know that the israelites were coming from slavery they were not trained in war they were not a nation of great warriors i read somewhere i heard somebody say in a sermon i think i am more afraid of an army of sheep led by a lion than an army of lions led by a sheep and it is true that it had to be a special man for moses to tell him i want you to lead this army of slaves that don't know how to fight i want you to lead them in battle it had to be somebody that moses trusted and look at what happened let's read the story in exodus 17 verses 18 through 14 says now amalek came and fought with israel in a rephidim and moses said to joshua choose us some men and go out fight with amalek tomorrow i will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of god in my hand so joshua did as moses said to him and fought with amalek and moses aaron and her went up to the top of the hill and so it was when moses held up his hand that israel prevailed and when he let down his hand amalek prevailed but moses hands became heavy so they took a stone and put it under him and he stepped on it and aaron and her supported his hands one on one side and the other on the other side and his sands were steady until the going down of the sun so joshua defeated amalek and his people with the edge of the sword then the lord said to moses write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of joshua that i will utterly blot out the remembrance of amalek from under heaven what is the first thing we learn with the life of joshua as christians when you encounter christ when he gives you freedom when you become a follower of jesus he has a mission for you he will give you a work that seems impossible to do but joshua had some secrets to give him courage to lead that army what were those secrets first of all moses was interceding for him do we have our high priest interceding for us today yes or no he lives always to make intercession for us in the morning you pray and your savior tells you i have delivered you from sin i want you to go and fight for me amen god has a mission for you he wants you to fight satan yes satan is more powerful than you but he is not more powerful than jesus he wants you to go out and fight and conquer people to his kingdom amen not defeat them but conquer their hearts with the love of jesus win their hearts with the love of jesus draw their hearts with the love of christ and christ is interceding for you and receiving power to give you for that mission and joshua had something else not only the assurance that moses was interceding for him but the assurance that god would make him an overcomer he overcame amalek you have the assurance that through the blood of christ revelation 12 11 you will be an overcomer amen and there's a third assurance given to joshua that day that god gives you and me the war will not last forever you will not have to fight forever we are bleeding and we are sweating but one day the end will come and we have the promise in romans chapter 16 that god will crush satan's head under our feet amen so there's good news for us christians today if we accept jesus as our leader like joshua was following moses we follow jesus and we know that he is interceding for us he will give us the victory and he will destroy satan soon amen exodus 24 let us go there exodus chapter 24 verses 12 and 13 we find joshua again in an amazing amazing episode in the life of moses and the people of israel exodus chapter 24 verses 12 and 13 tells us that and this was the moment when the people were afraid because god spoke his law from mount sinai the mountain was shaking there was smoke and the people said this is back in exodus 19 and 20. moses you speak to god we don't want to hear his voice or else we're going to die so eventually moses went up the mountain and he was not alone he went up with aaron nadev abayhu and 70 of the elders of israel and of course they stopped at a certain point they saw something of the glory of god read that story is fascinating and now look at what happens verses 12 and 13 exodus 24 then the lord said to moses come up to me on the mountain and be there and i will give you two tablets of stone and the law and commandments which i have written that you may teach them now look at verse 13. so moses arose with his assistant joshua and moses went up to the mountain of god now of course joshua was not permitted to enter the cloud where god was there was a point that moses went by himself but joshua was as close as another human being could be to god because he was close to moses if you live your life close to jesus you will be as close as a human being can be to god you will never know everything about god not even in eternity you will never be jesus i'm going to say this again you are not the savior of anyone not even your own savior you cannot save yourself only jesus can save you and only jesus knows the father fully and the ones to whom jesus wants to reveal the father but if you live close to jesus you are as close to god as a human being can be when you kneel down at the foot of the cross confessing your sins you are you are in the highest place that a human being can be amen and as you live and walk close to jesus he will teach you things believe me look at exodus 32 verses 17 and 18 they were coming down the mountain moses and joshua and when joshua heard the noise of the people this is exodus 32 17 17-18 when joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted he said to moses there is a noise of war in the camp but he said no no it is not the noise of the shout of victory nor the noise of the cry of the feet but the sound of singing i hear friends there's a lot of voices in our world today and i wish it was only in the world there's a lot of voices in the christian church today and i wish it was only in the christian church there's a lot of voices infiltrating the seventh-day adventist church today you need to live close to jesus and hear his voice speaking to you every morning amen because only christ in his word can help you to discern the sounds that you are hearing believe me the signs will be so great in the end times performed by david by the devil and his agents that if possible even the elect would be swayed and destroyed right and deceived so please be very careful to know whom you believe in to know to know the lord in whom you believe and to hear his voice walk close to jesus in prayer in bible study that's the life of a christian because you need to live not by what the pastor says not by what a friend says not by what a group of christians believes but by what you know to be truth according to the word of god god will judge you by what you in your conscience have understood of the word of god not by what some pastors or members believe amen the bible and the bible only is our rule of faith amen we are limited and biased because of our education our culture our personal character and traits joshua was a man of war when he heard people shouting he was there's war could it be that our culture our education even the environment where we are sometimes our friends are leading us in a way that is not the best let us come back to the bible over and over again amen and let us walk very close to jesus look at exodus 33 verses 9 through 11 exodus 33 verses 9 through 11 i love this passage it's talking about the tabernacle where moses would encounter god and it came to pass when moses entered the tabernacle that the pillar of cloud descended and stood at the door of the tabernacle and the lord talked with moses all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the tabernacle door and all the people rose and worshipped each man in his tent door so the lord spoke to moses face to face now we know that moses was not actually seeing the face of god you just need to read the rest of the chapter but he did see the shekinah glory he saw something of the glory of god as a man speaks to his friend this very intimate relationship that moses and god had was happening and look at what it says verse 11 and he and he would return to the camp but his servant joshua the son of none a young man did not depart from the tabernacle joshua was as close to moses and to god as he could be walk close to me jesus invites you today i gave you freedom from sin and from satan from this world i get i give you freedom from your selfishness so you can walk in close association with me you could be as close to me as you can you cannot be physically in the most holy place now but by faith you can enter that holy place amen that most holy place hebrews tells us that by faith we can enter and we can pray to god in the name of jesus knowing that he hears our prayers joshua never lost an opportunity to be close to moses and to learn of moses's relationship with god never lose an opportunity i'm gonna say something because i'm imagining that you like the sermon so far so i'm gonna say something so you'll be a little bit mad with me at the end okay i have to balance things out okay joshua never lost an opportunity to be close to moses and to god there's a prayer meeting every wednesday night at 7 00 p.m amen never lose an opportunity to pray amen and to hear god's word amen yes we do it online it sees you can do it on your phones just have to have the link go to our website it's there right never lose an opportunity let me tell you something now it's my it was my installation earlier so i maybe it's appropriate alan white wrote at a certain point that a church will rarely go beyond the spirituality of its spiritual leader if it's pastor minister worker but let me tell you one thing the pastor may be used by god to influence the church but believe me if you are a praying people a people that prays earnestly for me for my family and for yourselves and for the ministry of this church that will influence me and impact me believe me joshua never lost an opportunity to be close to god never lose an miss an opportunity to hear god's word don't miss an opportunity to be engaged in your church because this is not daniel gover's church it belongs to jesus christ and to you his people amen all right well we continue and we there's an interesting very interesting um passage in numbers chapter 11. let's go there look numbers chapter 11 28 28-29 now joshua was a human being he was not an angel from heaven and at a certain point he had an attitude that was not the best and that also is a lesson for us numbers 11 28 and 29 let me give you just a little bit background of the background remember that moses at one point he complained he was saying god is too much it's too much i can't bear this people alone to the promised land and god told him okay bring the seventy elders i will take the spirit that is in you i'll pour that spirit in them too and they came to the tabernacle but two are not there when they came the god put his holy spirit upon the elders they prophesied two were not in the tabernacle and they started prophesying where they were in the camp somebody rushed to tell it to moses and when joshua heard that look at verse 28 numbers 11 28. so joshua the son of nun moses is assistant one of his choice men answered and said moses my lord forbid them they did not make it to prayer meeting and they want to call the shots then moses said to them are you zealous for my sake oh that all the lord's people were prophets and the lord would put his spirit upon them there was a lesson that joshua needed to learn and we as christians need to learn god does choose men and women to lead in his people god has appointed pastors teachers evangelists doctors god has appointed them but none of these men or women that are leaders in god's congregation we have many in our church none of them is more important than you for god nobody is more important than anybody god loves all of his children and god wants to pour out his spirit upon all of god's children upon all the followers of jesus christ amen this is important because as you look at me pray for me yes i have an important mission in the church as a pastor but i am no better than you in the eyes of god and the same spirit that needs to be leading my life needs to be leading your life amen ellen white wrote in the book acts of the apostles page 50 concerning the promise of the holy spirit it is not because of any restriction on the part of god that the riches of his grace do not flow earth were earthward to men if the fulfillment of the promise is not seen as it might be it is because the promise is not appreciated as it should be if all were willing all would be filled amen all would be filled with the spirit if we are all willing as a congregation we all can be filled with the holy spirit of god amen amen now let us read the passage that speaks about joshua's change of name he was not formally known as joshua let us go to numbers 13. now i love this passage and when i read it the first time i was amazed wow joshua was not always called joshua and when are we given indication of the change of his name it's very interesting remember that moses chose 12 men to spy out the land of canaan those 12 men were spies were sent out and the bible tells us the names of those men and numbers 13 gives us a list of those 12 names and it says in verse 16 these are the names of the man whom moses sent to spy out the land and moses called look at this hoshaya the son of nun joshua see moses made a little alteration to the name of joshua because in hebrew it's very cl is very close yeshua moses just put something in there oshawa means salvation yahshua means the lord yahweh if you will the lord is salvation the only way we can be saved is through the lord jesus christ amen and joshua received the name of jesus even before the incarnation of jesus and this is symbolic my friend remember that in the bible the name is a symbol of what character right what evidence do we have that in this particular episode of the life of joshua something happened that allowed god to give him the seal of the name of jesus now remember we all are supposed to be sealed before the second coming amen we are sealed by the holy spirit the holy spirit writes the law of love to god supremely and to our neighbor in our hearts in our minds amen and we are obedient to all of god's commandments including the fourth commandment that was established in creation the rest of the sabbath day amen now remember to be obedient to god's law of love is to have the character of jesus the name of jesus amen that's what it means to have a character that is similar to the character of christ that is the goal of every follower of christ we are not the savior we will never be exactly like jesus we can only be saved by the grace of god but the grace of god transforms us and makes us similar to christ and we receive the seal of god in the holy spirit and we have a christ-like character amen how does that happen well if you read the story in numbers 14 there's something very interesting that happens numbers 13 and 14 read it at home when 10 of the spies started speaking unbelief now you heard my word unbelief they were actually speaking things that you can describe as almost reality at a certain point they were exaggerating but they were describing what you can see with your eyes right they were walking by sight but at a certain point read it i'm going to give you the past i'm not going to read it but i'm going to give you the passages if you read it you will see numbers 13 verse 30 tells us that the first spy to speak up for god was not joshua the first one that spoke was caleb caleb spoke for god caleb spoke faith caleb was walking by faith and not by sight and ten of the spies were walking by sight were exalting the flesh and saying we can't win this war we can't conquer this land they were not connected to the source of power caleb stood for god first but you read chapter 14. and you will see that from verses 5 through 10 in many other verses joshua took the side of faith joshua stood up for god with caleb joshua chose to be on the side of god you and i human beings on this planet when we are given given freedom and when we are given salvation in jesus christ we do not lose our ability to choose amen joshua was a free man now delivered by the man of god we are free in christ but we are not deprived of our faculties to choose we will always be able to choose on this earth and god is inviting us in christ choose what is right choose to trust me every day choose to believe that i can do what you cannot do and i will be there for you because i love you and i proved i have proven that i love you giving my son for you while you were still a sinner let me correct that this was written by the apostle paul for us god gave his son for us even before we were born amen that is that's how much he loves us even before we were born before we made all the mistakes we have made in this life he gave his son for us to prove that he loves us so choose to believe in him to trust him and to obey his commands god said go and conquer the land they were being unfaithful unbelieving joshua chose the side of faith choose the side of faith and faithfulness to god amen well i'd like to read with you today also numbers 27. let us go there now numbers 27 verses 15 through 18. it came the point in the life of joshua where a transition needed to occur came a point when god told moses that he would not be able to enter the promised land and moses did something that sometimes we as human leaders fail to do he asked god for something very special numbers 27 15-18 then moses spoke to the lord saying let the lord the god of the spirits of all flesh set a man over the congregation who may go out before them and go in before them who may lead them out and bring them in that the congregation of the lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd and the lord said to moses take joshua the son of none with you a man in whom is the spirit and lay your hand on him if you want to serve god and you want to be used by god there is one special qualification that you need to have to put it very simply you need to love god amen what did jesus ask peter peter peter do you love me and peter confessed that his love in his human weakness he said yeah i like you lord you know that i like you he didn't say oh i love you more than everybody else and i'm going to give my life to you now after he's a repentance he was very humble but he did say i love you lord you know you know all things you know that i love you i don't love you without love that you love me but i love you how can we love god and how can we love the church of god and the souls that we are to reach out the souls that we are to bring to jesus romans chapter 5 verse 5 says hope does not disappoint for the love of god is what poured out in our hearts through whom through the holy spirit that has been given to us if we pray every day so that the holy spirit may pour out the love of god in our hearts and if we love god and if we love people we will be used by god joshua was a man filled with the holy spirit meaning a man filled with the love of god for the people and he was ready to work for souls acts of the apostles same page page 50 since this the receiving or the gift of the holy spirit is the means by which we are to receive power and remember for us or not for us hopefully but for for men or for humanity deprived of god money means power position means power influence means power but for the christian the love of god means power amen god is all-powerful right and god is love so if you have if this is the means receiving the holy spirit by which we are to receive power why do do we not hunger endures for the gift of the spirit why do we not talk of it pray for it and preach concerning it the lord is more willing to give the holy spirit to those who serve him than parents are to give good gifts to their children for the daily baptism of the spirit every worker not only joshua every worker should offer his petition to god companies of christian workers should gather to ask for special help for heavenly wisdom that they may know how to plan and execute wisely there's already been people asking me so pastor what are we going to do evangelistic meetings should we do this should we do that wait a minute i'm not even installed yet and even now i may be installed but i am not the holy spirit we need to come together and pray we need the guidance of the holy spirit we may execute and we we may plan and execute a lot but all the activities all the plans without the leading of the holy spirit are nothing let us pray together let us let us receive the power of god the presence of the spirit of god's workers will give the proclamation of truth a power that not all the honor and glory of the world could give amen now we come to the second part of the life of joshua and if in the first part as a follower of moses he was a symbol of the christian in the second part i do believe he was a symbol of jesus amen joshua means jesus actually god told moses to tell joshua you are the one who is going to lead this people into the promised land right so what happened when joshua was made the leader of israel the human visible leader of israel joshua chapter one let us open our bibles to joshua chapter 1. let us read a little bit there now i'm not going to preach on the entire book of joshua i'm sorry i know you would like me to but you know the ac is broken so maybe another day who knows but let us just focus here on some passages joshua chapter 1 after the death of moses the servant of the of the lord it came to pass that the lord spoke to joshua the son of nun moses assistant saying moses my servant is dead now therefore arise go over this jordan you and all the people to the land which i am giving to them the children of israel every place that the soul of your foot will tread upon i have given you as i said to moses from the wilderness in this lebanon as far as the great river the river euphrates all the land of the hittites and to the great sea toward the going down of the sun shall be your territory no man mark this mark these words no man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life as i was with moses so i will be with you i will not leave you nor forsake you amen would you like to receive an encouragement an encouragement like this from god yes or no nobody will be able to stand before you nobody be strong and of good courage look god continues for to this people you shall divide an inheritance the land which i swore to their fathers to give them only be strong and very courageous verse 8 this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth but you shall meditate in it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it for then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success have i not commanded you be strong and of good courage do not be afraid nor be it is made for the lord your god is with you wherever you go my encouragement today for me from god's word and for you is that the apostle paul quoted at the end of the book of hebrews he quoted these these promises for christians for you and me i will not leave you i will not forsake you be strong be strong and courageous be strong joshua was anxious joshua had a people of 2 million at least to lead you may be 200 in attendance on regular sabbaths without the covid you're not 2 million but still i'm gonna be honest i'm a little bit anxious what's coming around the corner i need your prayers but i have and you have the encouragement of god's word be strong be courageous amen be strong be courageous moses read deuteronomy chapter 31 when you get home moses told the same words directed by god he repeated it twice to joshua be strong and courageous god said it to joshua chapter one at the beginning of the chapter you read the end of the chapter the people tells joshua only be strong and courageous be strong be strong and courageous today my friend as god is giving not only a new chapter to fresno central but god wants to turn the page of the world god wants to send jesus god wants this wants us to see the glory of the son of man coming in the clouds of heaven as god is about to turn that page he is telling you and me be strong be strong and courageous trust me i will get you through this be strong be strong and courageous amen joshua was strong and courageous until the end of his life he trusted god god performed amazing miracles he stopped the waters of the jordan river he appeared to joshua jesus appeared to joshua as the captain of the armies of the lord told joshua take the sandals off your feet joshua overcame you know how many kings moses won the war against three kings joshua won the war against 33 kings joshua was the man for the job it was the man that god has chosen to lead the conquering of canaan and at the end of his life joshua still invited the people called upon the people to be faithful to god joshua 24 verses 14 and 15 now therefore joshua said to israel fear the lord serve him in sincerity and in truth and put away the gods which your father 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 father 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 may this be true for me and my house for each and every one of you in your house may we serve the lord by the grace of jesus christ amen i invite you to bow your heads with me and pray our father in heaven as fresno central seventh-day adventist church is going through change we pray that our true leader may be jesus christ may we follow him with all our hearts may we live very close to him may we have the assurance of victory over sin and satan through the blood of christ and may we allow him through his holy spirit to lead us so that fresno central may be a light in this world to illuminate many and to bring many to the arms of god so that we pray in the name of jesus christ our lord and savior our captain and the good shepherd amen [Music] so [Music] 311. [Music] awesome job everybody are you sure you don't have some irish blood in here what questions you

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Published: Sun Oct 04 2020