Take The Land; Speak The Word

God has called you to take territory

Enter God's Rest - Heb 3-4

Promise: Ex 3:1-10; Ex 23:20-33;

Exploring the land: Num 13-14

Wipe out the Canaanites: Num 33:50-56

Wipe out the people of the land; Don't enslave them - kill them

Israel's failure: Josh 13:13; Judges 1:8 - 2:5

Conquering the territory around you

Wipe out your old way of thinking and living

Wipe out everything that stands in the way of obeying God

Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:14; 2Cor 10:4-5; Col 3:1-10

Take no prisoners!

Leave no wound unhealed

No excuses!

Rebreak the leg and reset it if necessary

Internal bleeding results in anemia which saps energy

Tapeworm consumes your food leaving you undernourished

Heart defects can inhibit the oxygenation of the blood

Sickle Cell can inhibit the oxygenation of the blood

Bring the circumstances around you into alignment with God's Word

Don't be timid - 2Kings 13:13-19;

Twelve Step programs are doing the work of John the Baptist

Key Questions:

Why do we want to operate in the promised land?

Sabbath rest for God's people - Heb 4:1-11

We rest from our own labor

We are not limited by our own ability and resources

What does it take to operate in the promised land?

Learn from the examples in God's Word - 1Cor 10:1-11

Crossing the Jordan - Josh 4:1-24

Hurry into the promised land: Josh 4:10-11

Windows of opportunity (kairos)

Those who want to settle have to fight too: Josh 4:12

Application

See the vision - where is God trying to take you?

Speak what the Bible says

Speak what God has said to you personally

Caleb and Joshua vs. the other spies - Num 14:20-38; Josh 14:6-15

Acts - Lord give us boldness to speak your word: Acts 4:24-31

Speak words of life - Eph 4:29

Rely on God's power - 2Cor 12:2-10; Philip 2:12-16; Philip 4:13; 2Pet 1:3-4

Circumcision at Gilgal - Josh 5:1-12

Canaanites afraid of Israel - Josh 5:1

Report of the spies - Josh 2:1-24

Circumcision commanded - Josh 5:2-3

Origin of circumcision - Gen 17:10-14

Zipporah circumcises Moses' son - Ex 4:20-26

Flint knives

A new generation - Josh 5:4-7

Children of the disobedient generation that died out

Have no "Passover" experience? - Ex 12:43-51

Have no "Red Sea" experience

Have no circumcision experience

Needs to be consecrated

They stayed in the camp until they were healed - Josh 5:8

Reproach of Egypt rolled away - Josh 5:9

Only our complete consecration removes the reproach of the past

Passover celebration and local produce - Josh 5:10-12

Celebration of Passover

Origin of Passover - Ex 12:1-27

Circumcision required - Ex 12:43-51

Enjoying the fruit of the land

Manna stops

Application

Requirements for enjoying the fruit of the land

Commit - cross the Jordan

Consecrate - circumcision

Identify with God's people - Passover

Commit

Be obedient

Don't imitate the fearful

Accountability

Humility - Philip 2:3-5

Confess your sins to one another - James 5:16

Obey your leaders - Heb 13:17

Write down what God says to you about these areas of commitment

Push beyond your comfort zone and your personal convenience

Areas of Commitment

Personal Time with God

At Sunday Service

At Life Group Meeting

To Specific Brothers and Sisters

To Expanding God's Kingdom

Consecrate

Expose your most sensitive areas to God

Organ for procreation

Organ for elimination

Exposed underneath your clothes

Not exposed to the world

Circumcision ----> Baptism: Col 2:9-15

Forget about human rules: Col 2:16-23

Baptism

Identification with Jesus

Prayer of renunciation

Identify with God's people

Exposure precedes identification with God's people

Live this way: Col 3:1 - 4:6

Your congregation

Your life group

Intimate sharing

Answer questions personally

Don't hide behind giving advice

The Good Shepherd - John 10:1-21

To take the land you must belong to the shepherd

Forshadowing Jesus heals

He heals the official's son by speaking the word - John 4:43-54

He heals the man at the pool by speaking the word - John 5:1-16

Do you want to get well?

You must be committed to health and wholeness.

You can't speak the Word effectively if you won't receive the Word

Take the Land; Speak the Word (cont)

The Good Shepherd - John 10:1-21 (continued)

The Setup - Jesus heals a man born blind - John 9

The Pharisees faced two problems:

The healing fell outside their paradigm

The healing threatened to attract followers to Jesus

New paradigm

The miracle

The miracle fell outside their paradigm

The miracle demanded a new paradigm

The Pharisees resisted the paradigm

The Structure Of Scientific Revolutions

Paradigm Shifts

Sun-centered vs. earth centered planetary understanding

USSR / US cold war vs. Current status quo

Aircraft carrier-based navy vs. battleship-based navy

We resist change and complexity

We have a strong desire to fit new data into old paradigms

New paradigms are messy

Like new buildings not yet completed

Requirements for successful paradigm shift

pay attention

be open to the evidence

devote time to reflection

Why do people follow Jesus?

Because he is the true shepherd

Jesus - Israel's true shepherd - John 10:1-21

Jesus introduces the shepherd metaphor - John 10:1-5

His audience doesn't understand - John 10:6

Jesus is the gate - John 10:7-9

shepherds lay across the gate at night

shepherds inspected their sheep

in the morning as they left the sheepfold

throughout the day

at night when they returned to the sheepfold

Jesus is the good shepherd - John 10:10-18

lays down his life for the sheep voluntarily

knows his sheep

his sheep know him

He has more sheep from another sheepfold

Wants his flock to be one.

gives his life freely

The Jews struggle with Jesus words - John 10:19-21

Application

Treat Jesus like the shepherd he is.

The new paradigm starts with the shepherd

Be one of his sheep.

Listen to God's voice

The Lord wants his people to know his voice.

The first thing we should pray for new converts to experience.

God's voice warns us, encourages us, directs us, rebukes us

Only those who know God's voice can operate in Canaan

How do you prepare yourself to hear God's voice?

Get alone with God!

At midnight - Psalm 119:62

Early in the morning - Psalm 119:145-152; Mark 1:35

Worship

Seven times a day - Psalm 119:164

Worshippers want relationship (e.g. fans of celebrities)

Section 1: Reflect on Josh 5:1-16; Col 2:9-15; Col 3:12-17
(repeated from last week - skip this if you've already covered it)

How deeply have you exposed your inner self to others?

Who are the people in your life who know you intimately?

Are there any barriers that keep you from revealing yourself to your life group members?

What have you done to establish trusting relationships within your life group? What are you doing to maintain those relationships?

What is some of the "produce of the land" that you want to enjoy in the promised land?

Section 2: Reflect on John 4:43-54; John 5:1-16
(repeated from last week - skip this if you've already covered it)

Have you ever experienced physical healing in response to prayer or a spoken word?

Is there any area in your life in which you have been disabled (physically or emotionally)? If so, how long has it been? Do you want to be healed?

How would you serve the Lord differently if you were healed?

Is there anyone in your life group that you believe needs healing (emotional or physical)? Has God put anything on your heart to say to them or do for them?

Has the Holy Spirit ever led you to pronounce healing over someone?

Reflect on John chapter 10

Describe your earliest memory of hearing God's voice.

Describe your most recent memory of hearing God's voice.

Considering vs. 5 - Describe an occasion when you encountered a "stranger's voice".

Considering vs. 7-10 - Shepherds inspected their sheep at the gate as they went out in the morning and as they returned in evening. In what ways do you allow Jesus to inspect you?

Considering vs. 10-18 - Are you experiencing "having life to the full"?

Considering vs. 10-18 - In what ways do you give your life freely?

Reflect on Psalm 119:62; Psalm 119:145-168; Mark 1:35

Describe the time that you set apart for prayer and Bible study. How much time to you spend and how often do you do it?

Describe one of the least satisfying experiences you have had in prayer. What made it unsatisfying? How about your experiences with Bible study?

Describe one of the most satisfying experiences you have had in prayer. What made it satisfying? How about your experiences with Bible study?

How much do you treasure your relationship with God? Does the time you spend in prayer and Bible study reflect the value you place on your relationship with him?

General Questions

Has God ever warned you about anything?

Has God ever encouraged you? How did he do it?

Has God ever rebuked you? Tell us about it?

Has God ever told you "well done"? Tell us about it?

Review the current prayer partnerships in your life group.

Make sure that everyone has someone to pray with on a weekly basis.

These can be long-term assignments or your can rotate them.

If you rotate them, the assignments should last at least one month.

Review the list of people you are praying for in your life group.

Make sure that everyone knows who to pray for and how to pray for them.

Make sure that the people who need salvation are getting prayed for every day by the members of the group.

Review each person on the list of people you are reaching out to.

Has anyone invited him/her to lunch/dinner or some other informal activity along with at least one other life group member?

Has anyone invited him/her to a life group fun event?

Has anyone invited him/her to a life group meeting?

Has anyone invited him/her to a Sunday service?

Follow the Shepherd (Part 1)

Pastor Rocklyn E. Clarke - Sunday September 24, 2006