February 13, 2022 - Pastor Chuck Swindoll preaching, “What to Do After You’ve Blown It”

good morning and welcome to this sacred place into this worship service and welcome to those who are viewing online we were told this week that our services are seen in 36 different states of the united states and 25 countries around the world every sunday so yeah we welcome those of you who are viewing [Applause] well this service is is the highlight of my week i'd rather be here with you than any place in the world and we're going to have a wonderful time worshiping the lord and hearing his word priests this morning our string quartet is leading in worship and uh our concert master lucas aleman is back lucas had uh achilles heel surgery about four months ago so he hasn't been able to be with us this morning he rode in on a scooter so lucas we welcome you would you stand please we want to honor you [Applause] it can be said of many people including lucas it's just not the same without him you know they're going to play an arrangement for the beauty of the earth for the prelude [Music] [Applause] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] um [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] um [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] oh it's beautiful music for the beauty of the earth a la mozart and brahms and a few little snatches of tchaikovsky maybe wonderful to have our string quartet with us but most importantly to have you among this assembly to be with us for this time of worship we are to come together and in doing so we encourage one another so much so as we see the day approaching when our savior will come and receive us for his own so glad to have you who are online with us welcome and we're glad you're here to sing with us and pray with us and be with one another for this worship time be sure before you leave that you have met at least someone else you've not known before i'll have you do that when we have finished our time rather than do this now the akis are here to bring us words regarding marriage and other facets of our church ministry listen to dave and his wife as they share with us in this stonebriar minute well hey stonebriar family we're david and jamie your marriage ministry leaders and we're here to share with you a few upcoming resources for couples and families first up if you're dating engaged or newly married you're invited to our marriage foundations class we'll help you build your marriage on a strong foundation by exploring god's design and purpose for marriage discussing practical topics like communication and finances and connecting you with a coach couple our next class is coming up on march 25th and 26th so learn more and sign up online next up parents do you ever feel like you and your kids are speaking two different languages at our next parenting class you'll learn how to communicate more effectively with your kids by discovering how god designed their unique temperament sign up online to join us for knowing your kids on sunday february 27th and finally if you have a preschool-aged child or a grandchild we'd love for them to join stonebriar preschool pals our weekday preschool offers play-based education and a caring environment with bible-based curriculum that'll prepare your little one for kindergarten and a lifetime of learning enrollment for next school year opens february 14th so visit our website to learn more and schedule a tour you can find details on these announcements and more at stonebriar.org events and one more thing if you're a visitor here today we'd love to help you connect with our church family to get started scan the qr code on the back of the seat in front of you or stop by any info desk today [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] [Music] foreign jesus [Music] [Music] the way [Music] so [Applause] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] free [Music] bye is [Music] is [Music] [Music] nice free [Music] [Music] there was a time in the earthly ministry of jesus where he spoke i think the most tender empathetic compassionate invitation that has ever been spoken he was speaking to a large crowd of people so it's as if he was speaking to us as well and he gave this invitation he said come unto me he said if you're tired if you're overloaded if you feel disjointed if you're fearful if you're anxious come to me and i will give you rest and i will give you peace what a gracious invitation the choir's anthem this morning is based on that thought coming to christ and as you hear the choir sing instead of analyzing it musically or or thinking you know logistically about the text let's spend this time as a time to personally come to the lord you know we all got stuff stirring inside of us do we not all got stuff that's kind of tying us up in knots so let's during this song come to christ and he will give us grace and peace after the choir sings we'll invite you to sing sort of a congregational response to this text as well [Music] calm [Music] calm [Music] calm god [Music] come to me [Music] [Laughter] come to me and i will give you last [Music] [Music] for your souls [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] oh oh [Applause] [Music] oh [Music] see [Music] oh [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] hey oh [Music] [Music] ah [Music] oh [Music] [Music] cold [Music] oh [Music] [Applause] so [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] uh [Music] jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] three [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] the beautiful part of that invitation to come is that it is available to us 24 7. you can awaken in the middle of the night troubled anxious over something and who hasn't had that happen and you can come to him you won't awaken him he neither slumbers nor sleeps he who watches over israel never slumbers or sleeps he cares for us who may we lord but the soul thirst to satisfy exhaustless spring the waters free all other streams are dry at any part of our meeting today you you are free to come to christ he'll never turn you away he'll never chide you or push you back he'll welcome you in come today if you have a bible with you please turn to the eighth chapter of joshua an ancient book with a very practical and relevant message for all of us i'm calling it what to do after you've blown it for that is exactly where joshua and his warriors found themselves after the defeat at an ancient place named a.i just a i they had done everything wrong along with losing 36 of their best warriors and they returned back only to find sin in the camp which had to be dealt with so they are flat on their faces broken defeated and the lord speaks to them in words of grace and they hear him and it leads to a great victory i want to read the first seven verses out of the new living translation follow along in your bible please joshua 8 1-7 please stand with me for the reading of the scriptures then the lord said to joshua do not be afraid or discouraged take all your fighting men and attack ai for i have given you the king of ai his people his town and his land you will destroy them as you destroy jericho and its king but this time you may keep the plunder and the livestock for yourselves set an ambush behind the town so joshua and all the fighting men set out to attack ai joshua chose 30 000 of his best warriors and sent them out at night with these orders hide an ambush close behind the town and be ready for action when our main army attacks the men of a.i will come out to fight as they did before and we will run away from them we will let them chase us until we have drawn them away from the town for they will say the israelites are one are running away from us as they did before then while we are running from them you will jump up from your ambush and take possession of the town for the lord your god will give it to you dear father we are grateful for your grace meeting us in our need often in our brokenness frequently following failure but you're there not to chide us but ready to forgive us and send us on our way we call it what you have called it grace for where sin abounds grace super abounds where we fall and fail you were there to hear and forgive and lift us up remind us of that again and again through this morning especially those who are hearing the sound of my voice and are in retreat discouraged broken disappointed in themselves momentarily forgetting that your grace is sufficient for our every need i pray today for those who live alone that you will be for them a companion a friend that sticks closer than a brother or sister a caring presence that brings hope her hope seems lost and mercy in the midst of misery take away the loneliness and replace it with encouragement and refreshment i pray for those who are struggling many have tried again and again and yet again only to fail again remind them especially that you are constantly at work and you never reach your end of giving and providing and rather than our arguing with you and answering back or pushing back may we be still and remember that you are god and you do all things well so help us to tell our souls to be still to be still and to come and to accept what you offer so that we might go on through this week with a whole new attitude thank you in advance father for what you will do in the moments that lie ahead for the beautiful music that follows this prayer may we meditate on your great grace in the name of christ i pray everyone said amen please be seated [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] hmm [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] uh [Music] [Applause] failure is never final mistakes are never unforgivable we're fallen creatures even though it may not help you feel better being fallen means that we fail more often than we succeed matter of fact we have many more small failures than we ever have large successes in our lives it gives me a lot of encouragement when i realized that in the baseball major league hall of fame no one in that hall has ever batted a thousand or for that matter 750 or 500 or 400 which means they have struck out far more often than they have gotten a hit so it's true of us we strike out we blow it now the answer is not to lie there and wallow in our self-pity but to get back up it's never too late to acknowledge the wrong get up and start again doing what is right never too late never the goal in life is to press on regardless i realize that today i i speak to some of you who are in retreat you feel as though you will never get up again i know that feeling i understand it because i remember when cynthia and i first tried to snow ski first of all we thought it looked beautiful we had watched enough of the winter olympics to think that would be fun wow our oldest was married and gone from a home but our youngest were the younger ones were still teenagers they were all for it they loved the idea of my spending half my fortune on snow gear and so i did i could have bought a car with what i spent on everything from caps to goggles to gloves to underwear to tights to snow outfits to boost boots skis and all that goes within the sticks probably should call them poles but for me they were sticks and then the reason i did all that because i was invited to come to keystone ski resort and to speak to a group of campus crusade staff members most of whom were single known as crew today and the plan was that i would speak in the mornings and then the family and i along with all of them would eat a quick lunch and then we would we would hit the slopes for cynthia and me emphasize the word hit we were given the most wonderful instructor you could ever meet she should have a medal on patience never once did she lose her cool or cuss us out or show any kind of impatience or or say i told you that before she never gritted her teeth she smiled and prayed and read us the four laws several times and and went through all the process of putting us together and you can get back up get back up we'd get up with paul again we'd get back up with paul again what i need to mention is our children the teenagers they're already skiing they've never skied in their life and they're coming around us saying a number of not very respectful things to say to parents as kids come by on skis and they are zipping past having the time of their life finding delighted throwing the snow on us and we're trying to well let me let me tell you cynthia did perfect a whole new olympic entry though it's never been used it's called the rump slide and she would slide on her rump and she said look you can do this i said honey that isn't skiing she's i know but you don't fall you slide right down and i'm still trying to get up and you know the problem is everything is slanted what are they thinking and you have to get up on a slant and there are things down there in your way now we're on the baby slope the entire afternoon and i made the mistake on one occasion of actually getting up and i'm on one ski the other ski is out to the side horizontal from me and i'm now loose with my sticks heading right for a class of children they are adorable they've got their little caps on their gloves their outfits and there's a teacher in front that's a rather busy mother hen looking at me seeing me come and saying no no and as i go by the class about 45 miles an hour by now i can hear her say to them that is not what i want to see you doing when you ski what i didn't mention is that there is a 50 year old oak tree about six feet from the class now why are there trees on a ski slope that's like putting granite's blocks on freeways they don't do that but they have trees on slopes why you hit them when you're coming down the hill and i brushed off of this one never touched the children thank goodness and then i got loose and by now i've lost my stick so i'm free falling or free skiing i went several miles in the wrong direction wound up on gravel under a park bench a near a pile of bison manure right near me and i could see the 7-eleven for denver about a block and a half away i knew i was a long way off by then they had sent out the search and rescue team to find me they found me and had a few words for me when i got in the truck made it back up the slope and i said to cindy you know honey i have great idea over here i noticed when i zoomed past it that there is a lodge and it's warm inside and they have cookies and they have hot chocolate and they have a fireplace and they have comfortable chairs and they have a big window where we can watch people fall and some ski she said that's a good idea and so we we have a full set of ski gear that's available on ebay if we ever decide to get i think we've given it away by now so we we never mastered it but i did learn one thing i did learn this that if you're ever going to ski you're going to have to learn how to get up you can't stay down and ever learn to ski it's exactly the same truth in life you'll never learn to walk in victory if you lie there in defeat emphasis on lie there which the enemy wants you to do and encourages you to do by reminding you you'll never get this perfected you'll never get this figured out joshua 8 is a chapter of a group of people that learned how to get back up and did they learn what victory was all about as i read through these first several verses i didn't go much further than verse 7 verse 8 and i realized there's the message there there it is for all of us what to do when you've blown it and had they blown it they race unprepared into a.i they didn't pray they didn't make plans with the lord they didn't talk to him they didn't seek his mind they went overconfident because of jericho and how it had fallen into their hands and they got to aya and realized they were overmatched they didn't bring enough warriors and they were in retreat and to make matters altogether worse they lose 36 of their best men in retreat 36 wives will never have their husbands coming home after that retreat 36 sets of kids will never see their dad again that's enough to break any heart and with their tail between their legs they find their way back to jericho slumping down in their tents in the camp thinking we'll never never conquer canaan it may be the promised land but we'll never know the promise wait there's something more you need to know [Music] people of the hebrews there's sin in your camp you've got to get that out you remember last week they finally worked it down to aiken the deceiver finally took care of that and that's where we find them the beginning of chapter eight the key word in this beginning of the chapter is then verse 1 then the lord spoke isn't it great he breaks he breaks the silence he he knows how they're feeling he knows what they're going through he knows they've blown it he knows they've failed he always knows that about us but he breaks the silence and comes into their lives and says i have something for you to hear so he says it first to joshua the leader i see here now in these first seven verses five very helpful principles to remember when you've blown it if you can find a little blank page in your bible somewhere or maybe you've got enough room in your margin you might want to write down these five there won't be a test at least not for me but in life you'll certainly find yourself in need of all five because they all apply to our lives since we are so good at falling so here we are with the lord speaking to joshua and he says to him do not be afraid or discouraged stop right there there's a period it's a good place to stop here's the first principle to remember after you have fallen and you're finally back on your feet remember this listen to the lord and not your guilty conscience your guilty conscience will remind you again and again what a failure you are what a fool to think you can ever be worth much those are all a pack of lies if you put them all together the enemy wants you to hear them and hear them often listen to the lord not in the lord's counsel not your guilty conscience notice what he addresses their fear and their discouragement both are very real after we've fallen we fear what others are saying and thinking we fear doing it again repeating the same thing which we may very well do but don't fear that that's not to be your focus we fear the future what it may hold by the way the number one command in all the scriptures is do not fear or fear not check it for yourself it's it's mentioned more often than any other command because we are such fearful people so don't go there your guilty conscience will say fear this fear that fear these things no he says don't fear and don't be discouraged that's the other remember this fear and faith cannot go coexist you cannot move ahead in faith while you're filled with fear so give the lord your fears lay them on him release them to him his counsel is don't fear don't be discouraged discouragement always looks back and reminds you of what was and by the way discouragement and hope cannot coexist hope always looks ahead discouragement will remind you [Music] this went wrong that went bad you didn't handle this right don't go there the lord says don't fear don't be discouraged so listen to him and his counsel not your guilty conscience here's the second middle of verse 1 take all your fighting men and attack ai i've given it to you the principle include others as you return to your responsibilities include others you see life's battles are not meant to be fought alone you remember the words from ecclesiastes many of you could repeat them two are better than one he goes on to say three are better than two we could add to it and say four are better than three five are better than four i noticed one thing about those who are living in their guilt they've drawn their shades they've locked their doors and they've pushed people away you become loners when you let your failures control you he says take all your men get them all together don't take on this battle with a few or alone take all these around you some of the greatest support you will ever have will be from other people they run in circles you have a tight circle of intimate friends these are the people you tell you can tell them everything you have no secrets this isn't a large group maybe as many as four three or four this is these are intimate friends the circle expands to maybe eight or ten might be the group you meet in you meet with maybe a bible study group maybe a group at work over lunch it may be a group you meet with regularly you may be golfers and you may you you may play the game together and then get together after the game you you're a this is a a group not intimate friends this is these are not the closest but these are very very good friends then there's another concentric circle that would be larger and then it finally winds up being your family at this place called the church family that's why we come together this is the only place in your entire week where christians are in the majority we need that we need places where we are pretty much in agreement with one another willing to listen to the same book pay attention to the same words pray to the same god and find strength in knowing the person on our right or left or front or behind us those individuals are on the team and i'm on that team with them we are the fellow warriors that take on life don't do it alone you're weakest when you are alone your mind plays tricks on you you will fight this because when you've blown it you you'll feel i'm not worthy of it give up the i'm not worthy lines okay we all know that the lord knows that give that up you don't hear a word from joshua when the lord gives them these directions take all your men and attack ai there's motivation in that word attack you're not going to ease in as if it's not that big a deal you're going to take it on because i'm going to give it to you in fact that brings me to this third principle that i want you to note third draw strength from what the lord promises you let his grace overwhelm you look at how he puts it toward the end of this first verse i've given you the king of a.i his people his town and his land i call that the whole shooting match he's got everything promised to him you're going to have it all i notice i've given it to you this is called grace this is called grace the lord pulls out all the stops i'm going to give you the king the people the town the land i have great plans for you attack ai and victory will be yours let me give you this all of it when you have blown it you tend to reduce grace to some kind of probation you're not on probation you're forgiven you brought your situation to the lord you've sought his forgiveness he's given it to you if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness that's a promise worth claiming claim it believe it stop wallowing there on your back reminding him of all you've done wrong he's telling you what he's going to do for you and he's unloading the truck if you will now here's the fourth principle you'll see it in verse 2. let me read the verse you will destroy them as you destroy jericho and its king but this time [Music] notice the difference you may keep its plunder and the livestock for yourselves he goes on to describe the way they will attack before he gets there let me give you the principle be willing and ready to receive even more than you had before you fell be willing and ready to receive even more more opportunities more grace more gifts remember before when they took a jericho don't touch the plunder you either burn it or if it's valuable like silver gold bronze or iron that's to go in the lord's treasury none of it's yours that's where aiken went bad he took the garment and he took some silver and gold you remember that he was to take none of it when they go into ayah take everything it's yours even the livestock so when they got back to the camp after ai they they had more than they had had before they left it's called grace and i love it that he does that for us i'll repeat because we're not on probation he continues to give it to us again and again we have trouble receiving we have trouble believing even though he writes verses like this we think well that that that's good for joshua like how great it was for the hebrews how encouraging this isn't given just for them these are principles for us today when he gives to us today he gives and gives and gives again now before i read this fifth and final principle i want to read the verses he tells them to set up an ambush into verse 2. read it now follow along joshua and all the fighting men set out to attack a.i joshua's look at the difference chose 30 000. before he took 3 000 now he's taking his best warriors and now they're going to fight at night that's different so they went out at night and with these orders hide an ambush the main army and i will go and when we go before the people of a.i they will come out they will come out as they did before and they will we will run from them he says in verse 5 verse 6 we will let them chase us no this is a deliberate running looking like a retreat until we have drawn them away from the town because they will say the israelis are running away from us as they did before then while we are running and they emptied the city you come in and take the town in ambush take possession of everything there because the lord your god is giving it to you i read that and read it and read it what is the principle here well the thing that stood out to me is how different this was from the battle of jericho remember the jericho sure you do they walked around once a day for six days the seventh day they walked around seven times blew those horns shouted and the walls came tumbling down they went into the city and conquered all of that during the daytime this says nothing about circling the city nothing about horns nothing about numbers like one or seven nothing about the priests this is a night attack this is an ambush and they catch the people unawares and it's a whole different approach so here's the principle be open and flexible as you recover from your failure the lord may lead you in a completely different direction than you were going before you failed that's a mouthful it's so practical if you're involved in a ministry and you fail you fall in that ministry you may forfeit the right to do what you did before but you may be involved in another phase of ministry completely different type just as they were involved in a different type of warfare if you're in business and you fail in this and and you fall on your face and you may even serve time as a result of the failure when you come out and you're on your own again you have a whole new beginning you may search out another kind of business all together uh interesting at dollar seminary where i'm still detached these days we notice that there are a number of people in second careers and they are taking courses even though they're middle-aged some of them in their 50s and 60s taking on a whole new direction in life doesn't necessarily mean they failed in the former but my point is there's a whole new direction for them and they're excited about that they've never studied theology before never gone into the languages of the scriptures and yet now that they're in this whole new direction they're excited about a redirection you may be led into a counseling ministry and you've never counseled before you maybe led into a ministry in the arts and you were never doing that before he's leading you in a whole new direction that adds excitement to the whole new beginning that's a whole new reference in life for you be open to that let it be don't think that now that you have come back you need to do just what you did before in fact think something different from that think what difference is the lord going to make now that he is using me in this whole new way be open to that let me carefully and slowly review these principles then i want to apply it in one further way before we're through here we go number one listen to the lord's counsel and not your guilty conscience remember don't fear don't be discouraged listen to his counsel rather than your own conscience number two include others as you return to your responsibilities battles are not to be fought alone rarely does the lord send us on a solo journey into something that is challenging take a partner with you dig the foxhole big enough for two other people not just one the battle can get pretty heated go with others number three draw strength from what the lord promises you let his grace overwhelm you be ready to say yes and thank you rather than i'm not deserving of that or i shouldn't be given this opportunity no take that opportunity it's his way of opening doors for you remember you're forgiven you're not on probation number four be open and flexible as you recover from your be willing and ready to receive even more than you had before the lord is ready to give you more than you had the first time you're forgiven his grace is marvelous finally be open and flexible to recover from your failure you may be moving in a new direction be willing to do that be open to it sometimes second careers are far more fulfilling than your initial career sometimes it's the third career you pursue and it's even more exciting now my final application you've heard all your life as i have that the bird with a broken pinion will never fly so high again remember hearing that i heard it all the way through my childhood the bird with a broken opinion never flies so high again that's got guilt written all over it it's a lie that's nonsense first of all we're not birds and we don't have wings so not being birds we are valuable human beings valuable human beings who have eternal souls and the lord takes delight in doing things in our souls he wants to use you and develop you and cultivate you and the scars you have learned and gained from your failures will give you wisdom to minister and to serve and to lead and to be involved in others lives far more effectively so remember not being a bird you will fly high again you may soar higher than ever before in your life second you're not flying you're walking and you're taking it one day at a time and remember you're walking as a fallen human being meaning you'll fail again but rather than being surprised or fearful of that understand that's part of being human you will never get to the place where you have perfected life since you're fallen and forgiven god is faithful to take you from where you are to where he wants you to be i find great encouragement in that i could keep you busy for the next hour but there's a super bowl to watch and we don't want to have that happen today knew we by the way i do have a word of warning to some of you there are some of you who may never really soar unless you turn to christ you see we're not made to make it as i said earlier on our own and that's true into eternity you may pretty well stumble along through life but you won't stumble along through eternity you either have a destiny that's sure with the lord or it's not and you can know that kind of destiny you can have that kind of assurance the lord is yours if you trust in the lord jesus christ you don't have to clean up or dress up or or make up or put something together to somehow get ready for him he takes you just like you are sins and all all of your track record being what it is he accepts you like you are so i urge you to trust him come just as you are and christ will accept you into his family as you trust in christ and him alone for eternal life now with me please let's sit quietly before the lord for a few moments are you absolutely certain that jesus is your savior your master do you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that if you were to die this night you would be in the presence of the lord you can know that but it doesn't come by just thinking positively or listening to sermons or even reading a bible it comes by an act of the will a prayer begins it all dear lord i'm i'm lost i made a mess of my life i'm sinful and i'm coming just as i am to you and i trust christ as my own savior thank you for coming into my life help me now as i walk with you to learn how to do that and to do that well for your glory thank you for forgiving me and accepting me into your family if we can help you with this decision that's why we exist i often tell people that's why we're here connect with us and we'll help you go from there to where you want to be in the christian life thank you father for speaking today in such simple direct and practical terms we will learn to listen to your counsel may we include others in our return to responsibilities may we draw strength from what you have promised us may we be willing and ready to receive even more than we had before we have failed may we be open and flexible to whatever change you have for us in our lives now encourage us i pray as we begin this walk with you reminding ourselves that we need not remain on our faces broken and dis discouraged but on our feet walking with you in the name of christ jesus i pray these things everyone said amen [Music] [Music] thank you for joining us this morning if you're looking for hope and belonging we invite you to connect with our church family get started today at stonebriar.org we'll see you soon [Music] you

Channel: Stonebriar Community Church

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Length: 82min 38sec (4958 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 13 2022