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Sermon text Joshua 3, 4
More important than what your last name is, is whether or not your name is in the book of life.
The title of this sermon is a question that was meant to be asked by the generations following the ones that are written about in our text. What did they experience? How did God work that day in our ancestors? How can I apply these truths to my life today?
How can I pass these truths to the next generation?
We live in a changing world. It seems like a lot of thing become obsolete almost as soon as we start to use them. Its likely that no time in history has seen as many changes as we are seeing in these days. Changes in the way we live, the way we think, the way we relate to each other, etc.
The human race has a pretty poor track record when it comes to learning from what has happened in the past. There are always weaknesses and inconsistencies. Often the same mistakes are made, perhaps in a different way.
Some questions to consider.
- What do we learn from past generations? Did they have good things to teach us?
- Am I, are you, passing on to the next generation truths that can help them along their walk with God?
One of our problems as humans is that we forget. The challenge for us this morning is to remember, and to apply what we have learned to our lives in practical ways, passing these truths on to the next generation.
This isn’t the only time in that Joshua did “something with stones.” These stones have a message. What was the message? “God is at work, he made a way where there wasn’t a way.” Remember it! Don’t forget it! Pass it on!
There are these piles of stones. Each one has a story to tell, something to remember. A reminder of God’s provision.
God doesn’t forget his promises. We as humans tend to forget though. We need reminders.
Deuteronomy 4:9 – Moses stresses there importance of remembering the things that God has done.
Judges 2:7-10 – It took them one generation to forget. These people seem especially prone to forgetfulness… but they don’t have a corner on the market. We forget constantly as well. It is amazing how quickly not only the story, but also the principles can be lost.
We are all writing a story right now. It is a continued story, we don’t know how long our story will be.
Does my little pile of stones point to God? A God who has met my need every single time?
Israel didn’t cross the Jordan by themselves. These stones were intended to tell the story, to cry out, that God did a miracle leading the children of Israel through on dry land.
With time, the decedent turns into the ancestor.
It is very easy to make decisions based on the feeling of today instead of the basis of the long term. The decisions we make today are going to affect those who come behind us.
Psalm 71:12-18 – What does my pile of stones mean?