May 3, 2026 “As for Me and My House, We Will Serve the Lord”(Joshua 24:14-18)

Joshua 24:14-18 

 

In Korea, during the month of May, we celebrate family. Often, we think of the good times and love we experience with our family, but all of us can also think of the bad parts of family. 

 

The first mission field is the family. We need to make sure that our family knows who God is and experience God. Joshua makes a declaration concerning him and his family. 

 

Joshua 24:15 ESV 

[15] And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” 

 

We need to fear God, and this means to put God first in everything. The first generation of Israelites who left Egypt to go to the promised land wanted to return to their old lives, culture and their old gods. 

 

We might say that we are Christian families, but what is the focus in life? What is that you and your family serve?  

 

Families are not built by words alone. When God is the centre, we are grateful. We might become anxious or sad, but we return to God when He is the centre. When we argue, we can forgive each other. Before we eat, we can take some time to pray to God.  

 

When Joshua declares that he will serve God with his family, the people respond with the memories of grace. 

 

Joshua 24:16-17 ESV 

[16] Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods, [17] for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed.  

 

When we remember how much God has given us and done for us, we experience gratitude.   When we are grateful, our words change and this changes our situation.  

 

By remembering grace and what God has done for us, we keep our focus on God. We must remember the answered prayers, the hardships God rescued us from and His intervention.  

 

We can praise God now for what He has done for us. When we put off our praise to God, we start to lose focus on God. We start to focus on our problems and might look for other solutions. This is why Joshua calls on the people of Israel to make a choice today. 

 

Even as Christians, we need to confess that God is Lord. We need to praise God and renew our faith. 

 

When our lives are busy, when our lives are full of uncertainty, when our lives are experiencing pain, we will put God first and confess that he is our Lord. 

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Sep 28, 2025 “Step Into The River” (Joshua 3:5-8)

Joshua 3:5-8 New International Version

⁵ Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

⁶ Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on ahead of the people.” So they took it up and went ahead of them.

⁷ And the Lord said to Joshua, “Today I will begin to exalt you in the eyes of all Israel, so they may know that I am with you as I was with Moses.

⁸ Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”

Step Into The River 

Joshua 3:5-8

 

We read about how the Israelites were ready to go into the promised land. Similar to leaving Egypt, we see the Israelites cross the red sea. At that time, God first parted the waters to let them cross. The miracle happened first.

 

With crossing the Jordan River, the priests had to step into the water before it parted. God was testing their faith again God wanted them to grow in faith and obedience.

 

Our God is strong and He will rescue us. But we need faith and to be obedient.

 

Often, we want God to show us that He is listening to us and is ready to help us. We want to see the waters part first before we move forward.

 

We should not stop, waiting for God to act. We need to step out and act in faith. God will be with us even when we make mistakes.

 

What kind of mindset should we have?

 

Joshua 3:5 ESV

[5] Then Joshua said to the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”

 

We need to cleanse ourselves first. We need to fully walk away from Sin. We have to be free from sin. It is not as easy to say no to sin, moreover, we need to say yes to God.

 

Joshua 3:6 ESV

[6] And Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people.

 

God's word and presence went before them in the Ark of the Covenant. We need to stay close to God and that means knowing and following God's word. Drawing closer to God will keep us from sin. God's word will.

 

Everyone of us must cross the Jordan River at some time. We might want to see the miracle first before we act. God wants us to take a step first to let our faith grow.

 

The same God, who parted the Red Sea, parted the Jordan River, and brought down the walls of Jericho is the same God who gave His Son for us. We can look at the cross and see His guarantee

• Open The Eyes Of My Heart
• Praise
• Rock of Ages

Mar 3, 2024 "Crossing Jordan" (Joshua 3:5-8)

 

Crossing the Jordan

Joshua 3:5-8

 

In this passage the Israelites are getting ready to cross the Jordan River. Forty years before Moses led the Israelites across the Red Sea. God made a safe dry path for the Israelites to cross. This time verse 8 shows us how it is different this time.  

 

Joshua 3:8 ESV

[8] And as for you, command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, ‘When you come to the brink of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”  

 

Here we see that God does not make a safe path first before they cross the body of water. We see God wants them to take the first step before the miracle happened.

 

Joshua 3:15-16 ESV

[15] and as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the brink of the water (now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest), [16] the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap very far away, at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, and those flowing down toward the Sea of the Arabah, the Salt Sea, were completely cut off. And the people passed over opposite Jericho.  

 

We read the Jordan River is full of water and it would have been impossible to cross. God stops the flow of the River when the priests feet touch the river.  God wanted the Israelites to grow in faith and the dry ground would not appear until the first step was taken.

 

As Christians, we might not see the evidence that God has saved us or the benefits of following God, yet it is the act of faith. We often want to see the dry path first before we take another step. However, we only grow when we act in faith.

 

Before we step out in faith, we need to consecrate ourselves. That means to purify ourselves and that is to distance ourselves from all sins. We do this by living by God's commandments. Our mindset is to get away from sin.

 

The Ark of Covenant always went before the Israelites . All that was in the Ark was the ten commandments on the stone tablets. We need to read, hear and meditate on the word of God. It is His word that will purify us as we draw closer to it.

 

The Bible is like a mirror.

 

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God Is with Us(Joshua 1:5-9)

Joshua 1:5-9

 In the first chapter of Joshua, we read that God is telling Joshua to be strong and courageous. God is commanding Joshua to be this way because God is with him. It is not that Joshua cannot experience God unless he is strong and courageous, but rather, Joshua should be strong and courageous because God is already with us.

Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:6-7, 9 NIV

 We read that God commands Joshua three times to be strong and courageous so that Joshua would be victorious.

 

1.       We must fight a spiritual battle. There are sinful desires that we need to fight. In fact, because is in you, evil cannot coexist in you. Because God is in you, you can be successful. In addition, we must fight in the place that God has put us. We experience defeats all the time in this world as parents, workers or any job God has placed us in, but we must endure and continue knowing that God has won the fight.

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

Joshua 1:8 NIV

 

2. We need to meditate on God's word constantly. Moses made mistakes and eventually he could not enter the promised land. Yet, Moses is called a great leader by God. Moses also communicated with God. He spoke with God whenever there were problems. Moses had his quiet time with God and so must we do this. It is not enough to just speak to God in our prayers, but we must also listen to God. God speaks to us in many ways. The word of God is the best way to hear God. We need to read through the Bible and meditate on what God is saying.

 

3. We must keep the law. It is not enough to know the law; we must practice the law. Moses followed God's commandments. Although we may be fixed, we still need to follow the law. It is like having your car repaired because of neglect. After getting your repaired car, you neglect it again until it breaks down. After salvation, we still need to follow the laws. The laws will not save us, but we do this because we want to please God.

 When God is with us, it is almost impossible to sin. We want to please God and are aware that God is watching us. It is difficult to sin if we think that God is always with us. Although it may seem daunting to try and keep the laws, we can take heart that Jesus summarized God’s commandments into two commandments.

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 22:37-40 NIV

 Jesus gives us salvation through grace, but we still need to be strong and courageous so that we can do the good works God has given us to do while he transforms us,