SW // Half-Obedience - Judges 1:1-20

Sermon Quotes:

1. Be strong and courageous, for you will distribute the land I swore to their ancestors to give them as an inheritance. Above all, be strong and very courageous to observe carefully the whole instruction my servant Moses commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go….Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:6-9

2. “God, of course, knows the end from the beginning. He alone has the right and the knowledge to see a person who will be condemned on Judgement Day when His son returns, and to bring a judgment down on those people “early.” Thus God, the judge of all, can determine to begin to mete out justice on them now, rather than waiting for the Last Day. Therefore, the future judgment “intrudes” on the present. This is not totally unusual, because the blessings of the gospel are also intrusions of future grace into the present. 

Therefore, this is not a mandate for believers in general to move coercively against unbelievers, nor any warrant for a “holy war” by one faith against another. The way we know the Lord’s will is to read the Ten Commandments and the other directives of the Bible to us— not to try to imitate everything described in all histories of the Bible.”

— Tim Keller, Judges For You

3. But the descendants of Joseph said, “The hill country is not enough for us, and all the Canaanites who inhabit the valley area have iron chariots, both at Beth-shean with its surrounding villages and in the Jezreel Valley.”

So Joshua replied to Joseph’s family (that is, Ephraim and Manasseh), “You have many people and great strength. You will not have just one allotment, because the hill country will be yours also. It is a forest; clear it and its outlying areas will be yours. You can also drive out the Canaanites, even though they have iron chariots and are strong.”

Joshua 17:16-18

4. "True discipleship is radical and risk-taking, because true disciples rely on God to keep his promises to bless them, and not on their own instincts, plans, or insurance policies."

— Tim Keller, Judges For You

SW // Response of Praise - Psalm 67

Sermon Notes:

1. “The gospel is about Jesus Christ, and so in every evangelistic conversation we should try and take people to Jesus. He is the one we want to talk about. He is the one person that everyone needs to know about. He is the way we know God, the way we come to God and the one in whom we can have life. So, whenever we’re asked a question about what we believe –whatever the question –we’d do well to ask ourselves, ‘What did Jesus say on this issue?’or, ‘How can I answer this question from the life or lips of Jesus?’”

— Paul Williams, Intentional

2. “In all evangelism…our chief and overriding responsibility is to point people to Jesus. In every evangelistic proclamation, the wisest evangelist keeps bringing the conversation back to the person and work of Jesus Christ.”

— John Stott