Traditional Livestream | 5/31/2020

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] you [Music] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] welcome the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church for our traditional worship service today we will be continuing our series God's story our story as pastor Rob looks at Joshua chapter 5 to access a digital bulletin for the service as well as worship guides for children and youth visit CRP Sea Org / Sunday now let's join live in the Corps Ridge sanctuary has been worship together this morning [Music] good morning and welcome to online worship here at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church whether you're worshiping at home or outside or maybe even enjoying brunch this Sunday morning we are so glad that you are worshiping with us together on this Lord's Day the last few weeks I've heard from a lot of people and they're absolutely exhausted exhausted from the pandemic exhausted from maybe what's even happening in our nation but we need to remember as a people of God where our rest comes from and so why we come to worship on Sunday morning and why we gather wherever we might find ourselves this morning the reason we enter into worship is to remind ourselves where true rest comes from and so as we are called to worship by our God this Sunday morning may you hear the very words of the Son of God who cause us this morning Jesus himself says come to me all who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your sauce [Music] [Applause] [Music] would you pray with me our Father and our God Lord we believe that it is according to the power of your son Jesus Christ who has been raised from the dead that intercedes for us this morning and by the power of that spirit that has made us come alive that we are able to stand in your presence to stand in your midst lord I thank you that we are able to gather in worship wherever we might find ourselves this morning that we are able to worship in both spirit and in truth and so Lord would you make us come alive yet again would you reorient our souls to understand and be reminded where true rest is found on this Lord's Day and we pray this in the matchless name of the one who taught his own when they pray to say our Father which art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever amen [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Amen over the last few months we as a people of God have been praying for revival we've been praying for Jesus to be our hope in the midst of brokenness in the midst of this global pandemic and we are constantly reminded of the brokenness of our world brokenness in our land and brokenness in our community once again this past week and over the weekend reminded us of the brokenness of our people that live amongst this land and the division that exists and time and time again throughout history God's people have been the ones leading on the front line saying Jesus alone is the answer that Jesus is alone is the answer whether we're in a global pandemic or facing the division that we have been reminded of this past week Jesus alone is the answer but Redemption and revival cannot come unless God's people first go to the Father and confess it has always been repentance that leads to revival it has always been God's people turning away from their sins and turning back to God and that is why we don't believe in simply individual prayers of confession but we believe in what we call a corporate prayer of confession that if we want to see God's cosmic Redemption happen across our land it must first begin with our the people of God praying to him for hope and for salvation so as one people of God let us go before the father not just individually this morning but as one people corporately confessing our sin to our merciful God would you repeat these words with me almighty and most merciful Father we have erred and strayed from your ways like lost sheep we have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts we have offended against your holy laws and we have left undone those things which we ought to have done we have done those things which we have not to have done and we have fallen short of your glory oh lord have mercy upon us restore those who are penitent and according to your promises declared unto men in Christ Jesus our Lord by your Holy Spirit come and work repentance in our hearts grant that we may hereafter live a godly righteous and sober life to the glory of his name amen and may we be people that are often reminded that our hope is in Jesus and Jesus alone and may the words of this next song forever remind us yet again that Jesus alone is the answer for the brokenness in our own lives and the brokenness that exists in our world amen [Music] the moon and stars they wept the Morning Sun was dead the savior of the world was far his body on the cross his blood poured out for us the weight of every curse upon [Music] one final Bradley gave has had been locked away this ton of God was laid in done a battle in the grief of war on death was waged the power of Hell forever in the ground began to shake the stone was rolled is perfect love could not be overcome now death where is your sting [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] please sing Hallelujah we sing Hallelujah we sing Hallelujah the lamb has overcome we sing Hallelujah we sing calm we see yeah overcome we see how we see we see [Music] you [Music] you [Music] well morning we're glad you're here with us in the contemporary service I brought with me my friend Ralph today Ralph today pastor Rob is gonna be telling us about something that happened in in Joshua would the whole silver no not the walls fell down he's gonna be telling us about something else he's gonna be telling us about something that's called a christophany hmm it's called a christophany is that something no it's it's not something you eat it's it's did you know that Christ sometimes appears in the Hebrew Bible the Old Testament no he does he was born no he was born I know he was born in the New Testament but he's still existed even in the Old Testament and in the Old Testament Joshua walks up to a man and the man says I am The Lord of hosts who's that he is the Lord of everything who's who do you think is the Lord of everything oh truth no no it's God is the Lord of everything and in person he comes down here and he takes on flesh and when he takes on flesh and Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament would call it a christophany he is Christ before he was even born that's true Christ came before he was even born and that's the reason that Joshua fell down and worshiped him he did he did he fell down and worshiped him and so all of us ought to realize that Christ has always been and he will always be and his birth in the New Testament is just him taking on flesh she was already existed before that oh no it's true so now you know that whenever you see somebody who is the Lord of Hosts you will know that it is what we call a christophany I got it no I got it I'll learn something well that's good I hope you learned something and we'll see you next time thank you Pastor Sam if this is your first time tuning in and worshipping with us online we would encourage you to stay connected with us during the week whether it's at our website see our PC org whether through our social media platforms or whether it's through the core rajaat which you can download on your Apple or Android devices there you can recap all of the messages and content that we're producing on a weekly basis you can send in prayer requests you can give and you can experience what is happening here at corage even though we are still distant from each other socially and not able to worship together in person we are still continuing our ministry to you and to your families throughout this pandemic and so please stay connected with us Alan our website social media platforms or our app this year we celebrate our 60th anniversary of as a church and we have been gathering stories to demonstrate God's faithfulness from generation to generation stories of what God has done in our midst and this morning we have a great story from a family that has been a staple here in this church and in this community for decades please enjoy this story of God's faithfulness from guy and Margie Metzger the church has been a wonderful wonderful encouragement to us and our family we actually first became involved at Coral Ridge in 1972 we felt great it was an immediate good fit for us as far as feeling welcome as far as being invited to get involved in the ministries of the church with dr. Kennedy as part of the membership process [Music] was that night in dr. Kennedy's office that Margie and I became born-again who gave our heart to Christ he came into us and we have been walking with him since theft time it has been the most wonderful walk we've ever been on it has been wonderful doing it together it's been wonderful telling our children about Jesus and what it means to to belong to him and Coral Ridge Church has been exemplary in offering opportunities to become involved in your Christian walk the church has been like another part of our family our children have been benefitted by going through Sunday school the youth program and choir the EE program the church has helped us raise our children in a biblical Christ centered way Margie started teaching at Westminster Academy immediately and was there as I said for 44 years and I started at Westminster in 1974 and was there for 38 years we had the opportunity as I was trained in EE to share it with parents to share it with children and knowing that they continued the sharing part which was just a blessing guy I remember when you were the director of a mission at Westminster you would come home and tell me stories about some of the students whose parents received Christ oh yes yes here's one that in God's providence who could see it coming but I remember interviewing a young man and his mom for admission to Westminster Academy and during the course of the interview revealed that the mom had not received Christ was not born again but I had the opportunity to share with her and she received Christ right there in that office in God's providence who knew and who was that young man that young man is the one that we know now has passed around we didn't know the plan but God did and it fulfilled just according to his will Margie and I are the in charge of the teenagers program and that's been a great joy to be at the other end of the age spectrum from teenagers now we're with the key nature's we are absolutely the most valuable aspect of the church and you say [Music] we've got silver in our hair we've got gold in our teeth we've got titanium in our joints and we've got pearls of wisdom to share whenever you're asked so teenagers are a valuable aspect of Coral Ridge Church we're excited about the future in church we're excited about the future in each of ministries children the same thing and passing gospel from generation to generation because generational continuities I don't even add a spell that we're excited to be a part of a gospel centered church that equips culture shaping Christians amen what a marvelous story of God's faithfulness I know there are people living right now all around the world that owe a debt of gratitude a guy Omar Jimenez now as the choir sings over us take this time to reflect and meditate on God's greatness and God's faithfulness in our lives [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] as we open up God's Word would you pray with me father your word is truth and your word reveals to us something our souls desperately need a word of hope good news for our weary Souls but Lord we know that we can find it in your word and your word alone because we're told that the word became flesh and dwelt among us in the person of Jesus so lord I pray that as we open up your word this morning that we would see the one who was dead but now alive and alive for us forevermore in Jesus name Amen this morning's message is the commander prepare prepares us for battle and we're going to be looking at Joshua chapter 5 verses 13 through Joshua chapter 6 verse 5 Moses is dead the patriarch of the nation of Israel is gone and God has raised up this new leader Moses assistant Joshua he is the leader of God's people and they have finally crossed the Jordan River and they finally set their feet on holy ground on the promised land that was promised to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and now that they're in the promised land they are about to face their first test the fortified city of Jericho the walled city and before God sends them into the city God is preparing Joshua and ultimately his people for what lies ahead and we're gonna read in this passage that God is promising them victory he's promising them that Jericho will be delivered into their hands but before they go to battle God has a very clear instructions and ways in which he must prepare Joshua for the battle that lies ahead Joshua chapter 5 beginning in verse 13 this is the Word of God which is delivered to you this morning when Joshua was by Jericho he lifted his eyes and looked behold a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in hand Joshua went to him and said to him are you for us or for our adversaries and he said no but I am the commander of the army of the Lord now I have come and Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him what does my Lord say to his servant and his commander and the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua take off your sandals from your feet for the place where you're standing is holy and Joshua did so now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel none went out and none came in and the Lord said to Joshua see I have given Jericho into your hand with its king and mighty men of valor you shall march around the city all the men of war going around the city once the shoot you shall do it for six days seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams horns before the ark on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times and the priests shall blow the trumpets and when they make a long blast with the ram's horn when you hear the sound of the trumpet then all the people shall shout with a great shout and the wall of the city will fall down flat and the people shall go up every one straight before him and on this Lord's Day the grass withers and the flower continues to fade but the word of our Lord it stands forever amen what does Joshua need in order to fight the battle that lies ahead but ultimately we have to ask the question if this word is not only written and delivered to Joshua but also written and delivered to us this morning the question must be asked what do we need to fight the battles that lie ahead we need to fight and face the battles that we're faced with how does God not only prepare Joshua for battle but I want to answer the question this morning how does God prepare his people how does God prepare us for the battles of our lives there's a few things that I want to identify here in this passage that before Joshua fights the Battle of Jericho God prepares him for the all-important battle that he faces the first thing that we see in God's preparation for battle for Joshua and ultimately for us as we see here in the passage that the commander redefines our agenda who is this commander who is this man that appears to Joshua with a drawn sword was pastor Sam told us in the children's message this commander of the Lord's army is none other than the Lord it is the Lord who has come in the form of a commander it is what as pastor Sam says what we call a christophany it is the pre-incarnate second person of the Trinity that is standing before you Joshua it's the visible expression of God and it is to remind us that Jesus has no beginning and no end and he is pre-existent with God the Father and he has come now to stand before Joshua as the commander of the Lord's army and as he stands before Joshua Joshua asked this question he says commander are you for me or you for them are you for us or are you for our adversaries and though the commander of the Lord's army answer's no no knows not an option are you for them are you for us knows not an option yes it is because what the Lord is trying to communicate to Joshua is you have the wrong agenda this is not about your agenda this is not about your battle Joshua this is about my agenda and my battle you see what the commander of the Lord's Army is doing for Joshua is he's redefining the agenda he's saying Joshua wrong question I actually reject both options the option is not whether I'm for you or for them the real question Joshua is are you for me this is my battle and my agenda and the same question needs to be posed to us this morning not whether the Lord is for us or for that the question needs to be posed are we for the Lord you see the one thing that we suffer from greatly as human beings is this self-centered self-absorbed paradigm of thinking this world revolves around us and God says no this world and this life revolves around me and so the question that is posed to Joshua by this indirect answer of no needs to be posed to us this morning not whether God is for us or for them but whether are we for the Lord his agenda his battle his fight his mission his ministry you see our problem is when we think about God we want God in our lives but we want God as an executive assistant we want God as a life coach we come to God when we need something and God says that's not how it works you come and you serve me this is what the servant of the Lord does and Joshua needed to be reminded and we need to be reminded as well life is not about you life is not about us and just as Joshua needed to hear that word know many of us need to hear that word know this morning and just as a parent lovingly tells their child know sometimes God the Father needs to tell us as his children know sometimes it's the most important word we can hear no stop not about you but it's about me here the commander in order prepare to prepare Joshua for the Battle of Jericho has to really define the agenda it's not about me serving you it's about you serving me the second thing that we see here in this passage is that the commander destroys our boasting the only proper response to encountering God as Joshua did on that day it's to bend the knee and fall on your face and take off your sandal the response we see from Joshua is the only proper response because originally in verse 13 it was the posture of arrogance Joshua with her with his sword drawn and saying are you for me or for them was the epitome of arrogance but then in an instant he is brought to his knees and to his face and the posture we now see with Joshua in verses 14 and 15 is a posture of extreme humility you see God has amazing way of destroying our boasting so that Joshua when he won the battle at Jericho would not be the one to Pat himself on the back and would not be the one to boast about himself and his own efforts but God wanted Joshua to be reminded that when you secure Jericho there's only one you will boast in and it is God God's glory God's greatness and all throughout the Scriptures we are told that's God's servants and as God's children if you're gonna boast in anything what does Paul say we boast in the cross of Jesus Christ we see a man who is in one instance in a posture of arrogance and in an instant a posture of humility this is the posture of the servant of the Lord on our face on our knees taking off our sandals and I want to ask you this morning how often are we in this posture how often do we find ourselves in this posture of utter humility where we are not boasting and who we are and what we've accomplished and what we've done but find ourselves boasting in God and his glory and his greatness the commander of the lord's army before joshua goes into battle needs to destroy his boasting it needs to destroy his arrogance so in order to prepare for the Battle of Jericho the commander redefines agendas and he destroys our boasting but lastly the commander fights our greatest battle you see the commander of the Lord's army God himself has his sword drawn we're told in verse 13 ready to fight when the when the the sword is drawn that is not a posture of defense but it's a posture of offense he is on the offensive ready to fight the question we must ask ourselves is how in the world that Joshua survived if he comes to God with such arrogance if he comes to God with boasting and God has his sword drawn the question must be asked how in the world did Joshua survive the commander of the Lord's army you see we understand that through Scripture God is holy and we are not God even reminds Joshua you are standing on holy ground you see this passage reveals a greater battle that not only Joshua faced but a greater battle that you and I face you see the greatest battle for Joshua was not Jericho but the greatest battle for Joshua was how in the world would a person like Joshua stand in the presence of a holy God and that sword not come down and that is our greatest battle this morning our greatest battle is how in the world can people like you and me stand before a holy righteous god you see God reminds Joshua no not for you and not for them and for myself well the only answer for how Joshua survives the sword and how Joshua survives that day has actually found thousands of years later in the book of Romans and it's in Romans chapter 8 that Paul says these words Paul says in verse 31 of chapter 8 what then shall we say to these things if God is for us who can be against us but wait a second I thought we just learned in Joshua chapter 5 that God is for himself Paul saying here that God is for us so what is it is God for himself or is God for us and the answer is finally yes God is both for himself and for us how in the world can that be well the answers found in the next verse verse 32 he who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all how will he not also with him graciously give us all things you see my friends it is at the cross of Jesus Christ in the cross alone that God can both be for himself and for us God is for himself that his holiness and his righteousness is perfectly satisfied in the person and work of Jesus Christ but also at that same cross it is a demonstration for all who believe that yes God is now no longer against us but for us only in the cross and this is why Jesus is our only hope and this is why God can both before us and against us the reality that the sword fell on Jesus so that the sword would never fall on us the commander of the Lord's army fell on the sword so that God would always be for us you know what good news that is this morning that because the sword fell on Jesus and not on us that Jesus fought our greatest battle for us it is the good news that now we can bend our knee and fall on our face as servants of God and we can go through this life facing everything why because our greatest battle has not only been fought but our greatest battle husband won Joan Ovitz and is a pastor in our denomination and he recalls a story of one time traveling to India for a missions trip and Joan Ovitz and on the last night of his missions trip was talking with a local pastor there in India and that pastor asked him Joe I want to know do you believe your Bible Joe said yes well I want you to read this passage and he handed him his Bible and he wanted him to read a passage of what it meant to be a servant of God and to be a servant of the kingdom of God and then he asked Joe this Indian pastor I want to ask you how many of those leadership conferences in North America have you been to you know those conferences where where they talk about how how to be a great leader and you you pay $300 and you get a three-ring binder and everybody leaves knowing what it means to be a great leader how many conferences like that have you been to and Joe thought about and he said I think it's about 9:00 or 10:00 and then the Indian pastor said Joe how many conferences have you been to about what it means to be a servant of Christ and to be a servant of the kingdom of God Joe said none he says you know what the problem is with you American Christians you want to lead everyone but you can't serve anyone so keep your Christianity to yourselves and don't bring it here to India because you will only hurt God's people so a lot of truth in what Pasteur said we tend to grow very comfortable we tend to grow very passive and we tend to lead lives even as Christians that are small and weak and anemic and powerless because we forget where the true power is found the true power is found and not us being Lord of our own lives but true power is found in laying our lives down as servants of God and servants of Christ you see Joshua needed a wake-up call that day that you want power to face any battle then bend your knee and fall on your face take off your sandals that is the power because when we realize that Christ has solved our greatest battle that is where power comes from and you will never get that from the world the world can never offer you that power the power to understand that your greatest battle was won for you at the cross therefore you can face any battle in life as servants of the Most High God then listen what Paul eventually says in Romans chapter 8 he says because of Christ winning your greatest battle for you he now calls you more than conquerors that you can now face any battle in life because the greatest battle has been won for you so when I asked you this morning do you believe and have you encountered God as Joshua encountered and believed that day here in this passage because it is not a question of whether if you will encounter God you will encounter God one day the only question will be will he be for you and because of Jesus Christ and for all those who place their faith and trust in him alone the promise is both now and forever God is always for you and he is never against you you see the day you realize and you believe in God and you believe and acknowledge that Jesus took the sword for you your life will never be the same so how about today let's Bend our knee let's fall on our face let's take off our sandals or after all you are a servant to the Lord the commander of the army let's pray our Father and our God Lord it's in this moment that we need to be reminded of where our hope lies that our hope does not lie in this world and what this world has to offer but our only hope is in the one who came to lay down his life so that we can live forever and if there is anyone listening and watching this morning or at any point they do what millions have done for centuries that they wake up to the reality that there is no hope beyond Jesus and like Joshua they would fall on their face and confess you as their Lord and Savior but I pray that people get saved this morning because they realize that Jesus paid it all and that God can actually be for us and not against us not on the basis of anything we have done but on the basis of what Christ has done on our behalf so I pray this morning that hundreds would bend their knee and become servants to the commander of the Lord's army the only way that they can have hope both now and forevermore that they can go through this life saying yes I can face anything because Christ saw of my greatest battle oh what a glory what a hope what a beautiful message we surrender our lives because Jesus surrendered his life for us and we pray this prayer in Jesus name amen if you prayed with us this morning or want to know more about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus I wouldn't invite you and encourage you to reach out to us as a church we would love to answer your questions and walk alongside of you as you begin this new relationship with Jesus and if you did pray this morning I want to welcome you to the family of God you said yes to God because he said yes to you in the person of Jesus Christ thank you for worshiping with us online this morning and now as you go made this good word sustain you today and tomorrow as you live in light of the victory of Jesus Christ on your behalf and you could say yes I can face anything because God in Jesus is for me here this good word and receive it may the Lord bless you and keep you may the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious unto you and may the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace now and forevermore amen you you with our church family in person for a 9:30 a.m. contemporary service an 11:00 a.m. traditional service our detailed phase 1 reopening plan can be found on our website see our pc org along with information on other studies and events we have multiple online events coming up this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. David Bybee and Heather Clark continue our series Lord of all on Sunday June 7th at 4 p.m. our next virtual concert songs of hope will feature sacred and modern classics featuring the soloists from CR PC and on June 18th at noon we are excited to welcome author and speaker Bob Gough as he closes our final lauderdale meet of the season we invite you to give to the ongoing work in ministry here at Coral Ridge you can give online at CRP Sea Org /give you can also mail checks to the address below from wherever you're watching thank you for worshiping with us today you you

Channel: Coral Ridge

Views: 1,219

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: nHYC9FToh1k

Length: 72min 38sec (4358 seconds)

Published: Sun May 31 2020