Joshua 1:1-9

This week we celebrate the graduating seniors with a sermon from our youth pastor.

You may recognize the sermon title as the title of a Dr. Seuss book. In the book, a young character leaves home and goes on a journey. The journey takes him to various places and requires courage. Today’s sermon is mainly directed at graduating seniors, but also applies to all of us.

God commissions Joshua to be the next leader of the nation of Israel. He must be courageous and step up to the task. … Joshua has seen many powerful works that God has done through Moses. Now, it’s his turn to lead his people and he has some big shoes to fill.

4 distinct pillars of courage to lead you into the future:

  1. Courage rests upon a clear assignment from God (Joshua 1:2-4). … These graduates have been doing assignments all their lives in school, and they are also on assignment from God, just as we all are. We’ve been given our assignment by Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 and are reminded of it in 2 Corinthians 2:17-20. That assignment is the great commission, to go and make disciples.

  2. Courage rests upon the assurance of God’s presence (Joshua 1:5). … God reminds Joshua that He was always with Moses and He promises to always be with Joshua too. We can also claim this promise for ourselves.

  3. Courage rests upon a focused determination (Joshua 1:6-9). … God repeats Himself, telling Joshua to be strong and courageous. We won’t be any more courageous without using what courage we do have, and sometimes we need to be encouraged to use that courage. … In Dr. Seuss’ story, the character needs courage as they go on their journey. There will be tough times and easy times and we need to be strong and courageous in all those times. … God is with us wherever we go and He gives us the courage we need for every situation.

  4. Courage rests upon the Word of God (Joshua 1:7-8). … As long as we trust in the Lord and His promises, His Word, we can be courageous. These verses tell us how to use His Word to live courageously.

    1. Proclaim Truth … Joshua proclaims truth, he speaks it and references Deuteronomy 6:7-9

    2. Possess Truth … We need to take ownership of God’s word and meditate on it as we see in Psalm 1:1-2

    3. Practice Truth … We are told do some things in the Word. James 1:22 also tells us we need to do as the Word states. We need to live out the Truth.

In one of his Unspoken Sermons, George MacDonald writes, “In whatever man does without God, he must either fail miserably--or succeed even more miserably.” MacDonald understood that wherever we go and whatever we do, God is there and we should do all things with Him. Many of the things we do require courage, and our courage rests upon Him, His assignment, His presence, His encouragement, His word.