Hearing God’s Voice from His Word
James 4:8 says, “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
Take a moment and turn your attention to God. Tell God that you desire to trust and obey Him. Ask God to speak to you from His word.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 131:1-3 Lord, my heart is not proud; my eyes are not haughty. I do not get involved with things too great or too wondrous for me. 2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted my soul like a weaned child with its mother; my soul is like a weaned child.
3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord, both now and forever.
Put Your Hope in the Lord – Ask for a calm and quiet soul. Work for a calm and quiet soul by giving your cares to God. There are things that you are concerned about that are above your pay grade, they are too great or wondrous for you. This does not mean you should ignore these things but instead bring them to God. He is Great. He is Wondrous.
SCRIPTURE READING:
Joshua 24:14-18 – The Message
14 “So now: Fear God. Worship him in total commitment. Get rid of the gods your ancestors worshiped on the far side of The River (the Euphrates) and in Egypt. You, worship God.
15 “If you decide that it’s a bad thing to worship God, then choose a god you’d rather serve—and do it today. Choose one of the gods your ancestors worshiped from the country beyond The River, or one of the gods of the Amorites, on whose land you’re now living. As for me and my family, we’ll worship God.”
16 The people answered, “We’d never forsake God! Never! We’d never leave God to worship other gods.
17-18 “God is our God! He brought up our ancestors from Egypt and from slave conditions. He did all those great signs while we watched. He has kept his eye on us all along the roads we’ve traveled and among the nations we’ve passed through. Just for us he drove out all the nations, Amorites and all, who lived in the land.
“Count us in: We too are going to worship God. He’s our God.”
Having God’s Ear through Prayer
- Express thanksgiving to God.
- Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal sin to you.
- Confess your sin to Him and receive forgiveness.
(1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sin He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins.”) - Bring your personal requests to God.
(Psalm 62:8 “Pour out your heart before God”) - Pray for someone in your small group.
- Join with others from River and pray for Christian Challenge students as they return home or move into their summer jobs. Pray that they would be open to the Holy Spirit’s continued work in their lives.
Living as God’s People by applying the Bible
Scripture Reflection from the Sermon
You need to live with both passion and pace. Passion is about a settled direction, but it is also about having energy and enthusiasm for that settled direction. Pace is staying faithful over the long haul. Often, for various reasons, passion is harder to maintain as you age, and pace is harder to maintain when you are young. This is not always true, but generally speaking it is. When we are young our ambitions and desires (which are not all bad) can make us think our emotions and choices are always good and right. We can look down on the older people who seem to have lost ambition and desire. As we age, we can look with disdain or can patronize younger people because we believe their passion to be naive. All this points to the fact that we need each other. It shows that God was smart when he designed the church. On our own we tend to congregate with people just like ourselves. Much has been said about how the church needs to be diverse. This is true, but if you have a completely young or completely old multi-ethnic church it is not truly diverse. Let the young generations challenge the older ones to return to their first love. Let the older generations challenge the young ones to walk in passion and wisdom, lest their flame become a fizzle or even a great fall. Our God is eternally old and eternally passionate. Together we can all be more like Him.