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Cityview Community Church of Elmhurst

  1. 5d ago

    The Cost of Sin (Joshua 7)

    PODCAST The Cost of Sin October 18, 2026 | Kyle Bjerga Kyle Bjerga discusses that sin has consequences, and the story of Achan in Joshua 7 makes that truth impossible to ignore. After Israel’s miraculous victory at Jericho, one man’s secret act of disobedience led to a devastating defeat at Ai and affected an entire nation. God’s response revealed both His justice and His patience, as He gave Achan multiple opportunities to come forward before the truth was exposed. Achan eventually confessed, but confession alone is not repentance. True repentance, as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 7:10, is driven by godly sorrow that leads to genuine change, not just regret over consequences. Ultimately, Achan’s story points forward to Jesus, who bore the penalty for our sin so that God’s wrath could be fully satisfied. The invitation is not to feel bad about sin but to truly turn from it and trust in what Christ has already done. TRANSCRIPT_______________________________________________+ The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Good morning. To learn from Jesus. Today we’re going to be in Joshua, chapter seven. So go ahead and turn there. It’s page 173. If you’re using one of the black pew Bibles there in front of you or maybe underneath your pew. If you have watched any of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies, the mcu, then, you know, if you’re in the theater, you never leave when the movie’s done and the credits start, because you know there’s going to be a post credit scene, some sort of teaser to get you ready for the next movie, the next 50 movies. If Joshua Six last week is the Lord’s victory over Jericho. If that was a movie, it would end triumphantly with the Israelites going in and defeating Jericho. And once those walls come down, the final dust settles in the victory. You can almost hear the narrator kind of finish up some storylines that we’ve been paying attention to throughout Joshua so far. And so we hear about Rahab and her family being saved from the rubble because of the promise made to her. Maybe there’s another scene where we have some men carrying some things to a pile that they’re going to light on fire and destroy while some other men take the gold and the silver and they walk over to the treasury in the Lord’s house. And then the screen turns to black and the credits start rolling. Time to grab our empty popcorn buckets and head out. And as we’re headed down the stairs, the credits stop for a second and there’s a figure standing in the middle of the screen. We don’t know who this is. We’re thinking, this Joshua. No, it’s not Joshua. We know who he is. We don’t know this man yet. But here he is in the rubble of Jericho and he’s looking at the plunder. He sees some beautiful clothes. He sees some silver shekels, he sees some gold bars. And he quickly does a scan. Anybody around? Nobody’s around. Nobody’s watching him. So he grabs a bag that he finds and he starts to put some things in there, just enough that he can carry. And then in the distance, we hear somebody say, hey, Achan. Achan turns and looks. He’s got his little bag. And he runs off to celebrate the Israelite victory with the other soldiers. The screen goes black again and we leave the theater thinking, who is this man? Who is Achan? What has he just done? Why does it matter? We have to wait till next summer to find out. So as good as the battle of Jericho was and how it turned out for the Israelites, we’re going to see the tables turn on them very quickly in chapter seven, as they approach their next enemy, the city of AI. But what we learn is that the real enemy is not an external one. The real enemy ends up being in their camp. Actually, the real enemy ends up being inside of each one of them. And the reality for us is that the real enemy is inside each one of us. Because the enemy that they will face, the enemy that we face is the sin in our lives and the seriousness with which God deals with sin, while at the same time understand the amazing grace of God, of how he treats sinners, how he treats the rebellious, even in our sin. So the great thing is that we don’t actually have to wait until next summer to find out about this movie, this sequel. We get it today in chapter seven. So we’re going to see kind of in four scenes here, we’re going to learn a lot about sin. And so we’re going to start off first with the result of sin. So let’s look at verse one, reading through verse nine. But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things. Achan, son of Carmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel. Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to AI, which is near Beth Aven, to the east of Bethel, and told them, go up and spy out the region. So the men went up and spied out AI. When they returned to Joshua, they said, not all the army will have to go up against AI. Send two or three thousand men to take it. And do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there. So about 3,000 went up. But they were routed by the men of AI, who killed about 36 of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this, the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water. Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face down to the ground before the Ark of the Lord, remaining there till evening. The elders of Israel did the same and sprinkled dust on their heads. And Joshua said, alas, sovereign Lord, why did you ever bring this people across the Jordan? To deliver us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us. If only we had been content to stay on the other side of the Jordan. Pardon your servant, Lord. What can I say now that Israel has been routed by its enemies, the Canaanites and the Other people of the country will hear about this and they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. What then will you do for your own great name? So first, the result of sin. So verse one connects the last movie with the sequel. And so if we imagine this chapter seven being the next movie, the sequel’s gonna start off with a battle scene and the Israelites are losing and losing badly to their enemy. And as they do, we’re gonna hear these words from verse 1. The Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things. Achan took some of them. So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel. So sin and its consequences, including God’s wrath against sin, are major themes in this chapter. We’re gonna see it all the way throughout and we’re going to see it on display through most of the verses. Then we’re going to get to verse 26 and we’re going to see verse one and verse 26 kind of bookend this chapter with God’s wrath. And yet God’s anger is talked about in two different ways in these two verses. We read here that the people, Israel plural, were unfaithful. And how were they unfaithful? Achan, the Israelite singular, took some of the devoted things from Jericho. So was it Israel or Achan who took the devoted things? Yes, you see in verse one, it sets up a very important spiritual and cultural truth that we have a really hard time understanding in our hyper individualistic corporation culture. When Achan sins, Israel sins. In a strong group culture, which Israel was, you are not just an individual, you are part of the whole. You are representing the group. There was a corporate responsibility. You would help each other out, you would support each other, you’d pick each other up, you would raise each other’s kids. Some of you even know what that was like. How many of you got in trouble from somebody else’s parents back in the day? Right? Ask my dad. He got called on quite a few times with neighbors because that’s what you did. It’s a strong group culture. We’re all in this together. You feel the personal responsibility for the well being of other people. Not so today. We go in our garages and try and avoid everybody else. This isn’t the case here. And it’s important to understand because we’re going to see this pop up again later. Where do we see this today though? If you’ve ever been a part of a sports team, you know, you get a little bit of what this is like. We win and we what as a team, right? We win as a team, we lose as a team. When somebody does well, we all do well. When somebody goes after one of us, they go after all of us. One player breaks the rule, we all break the rule. One person misses curfew, we all get on the line and run sprints because we’re part of a team. We’re running for their stupidity, but they’re our teammate, and so we’re going to be there right alongside them running. The thing is, we all know the rules on a team. And Achan knew the rule. Achan knew the rule, just like all Israel did, because God’s instructions through Joshua in chapter six were very clear as they’re about to enter into Jericho. So you can look over in the last chapter, but I’ll just read it for us in Joshua 6, 17, 19, this is what God says through Joshua. The city and all that is in it are to be devoted to the Lord. But keep away from the devoted things so that you will not bring about your own destruction by taking any of them. Otherwise you will make the camp of Israel liable to destruction and bring trouble. And on it, Achan knowingly put himself, the nation, and his family at risk for trouble. By the way, Achan’s name means troubler. So he’s living up to that name, really leaning into it here. So that’s just verse one. So we as a reader know what’s going on right now, and Joshua has no idea. Joshua does not know what Achan has done at this point. So as he comes up to AI, there’s no

  2. Oct 11

    Holy War (Joshua 5:13-6:27)

    PODCAST Holy War October 11, 2026 | Brandon Cooper Brandon discusses the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho confronts one of the most uncomfortable questions in Scripture: how could a loving God command the destruction of an entire city? Before the battle even begins, Joshua encounters the Commander of the Lord’s army, who refuses to take sides, reminding us that God is not partisan but is committed to justice and righteousness. The strange battle plan, with its seven-day march and trumpet blasts, was never about military strategy. It was a declaration that God alone wins the victory, and His people are called to trust and depend on Him completely. Rahab, a prostitute who believed what she had heard about God, was spared while the city fell, showing that salvation was available to anyone willing to respond in faith. Ultimately, this story points forward to Jesus Christ, who placed Himself under judgment in our place so that we could be rescued from the destruction we deserve. TRANSCRIPT_______________________________________________+ The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Good morning church. You can go ahead, grab your Bibles, open up to Joshua chapter 5, Joshua chapter 5. Starting in verse 13, Joshua 5:13. As you were turning there, there was a cartoon some years ago in a Christian publication. That’s an important part of the story. This was a Christian magazine, a cartoon that had two Israelite military commanders strategizing before a walled city, presumably Jericho. And the one looks at the other and says, what would Jesus do? The punchline captures the unease that most Christians. Again, this was in a Christian publication most Christians feel about the conquest of the promised land. And a holy war is in general because it feels so antithetical to the spirit of Christ, which we’ll leave undefined for now. The vibes that Jesus gives though, because Jesus said things like, love your enemies, pray for those who persecute you. So why exactly did God direct his people to invade this land and put the population to the sword? It’s a question that demands an answer, and a careful one at that. And I think we’ll get an answer as we examine our passage. This morning we walk through the famous story of Joshua fighting the battle of Jericho in three scenes. We’re going to do that first, kind of get the lay of the land, what exactly is happening, and then we’ll turn and tackle that question head on, armed with new understanding in the final third of the sermon or so. So let’s begin by walking through the story. Here is scene one. First of all, the plan. Joshua 5:13 through 6:5. I will read it for us now. When Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, are you for us or for our enemies? Neither, he replied, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. Then Joshua fell face down to the ground in reverence and asked him, what message does my Lord have for his servant? The commander of the Lord’s army replied, take off your sandals for the place where you are standing is holy. And Joshua did so. Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. And the Lord said to Joshua, see, I have delivered Jericho into your hands along with its king and its fighting men. March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams horns in front of the Ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times with the priests blowing the trumpets. When you hear them, sound a long blast on the Trumpets have the whole army give a loud shout and the wall of the city will collapse and the army will go up. Everyone straight in. Well, like Jacob at Peniel and Moses before the burning bush, we have here is a man of God called by God to be a leader, facing a life or death situation. Esau, Pharaoh, and now Jericho. So facing a life or death situation, who then encounters the living God. God. There’s a difference in this story, though, because of course, Jacob wrestles the angel of the Lord and Moses argues with God. But Joshua doesn’t do either, most likely because he’s got his sword drawn, this heavenly being that stands before him. Actually, are not too many times where we read that a heavenly being has his sword drawn. The only other two in the Old Testament are when Balaam is riding on his donkey to go curse Israel and the donkey stops because there’s an angel in front of their way with his sword drawn. Or David sees the angel with his sword drawn above the threshing floor when God sends his plague on Jerusalem after David’s sin. With the census in each case, you realize quickly, this is not somebody to be toyed with. That’s why the donkey stops and eventually talks to Balaam like, Bruh, we don’t want to keep moving here. Trust me on this, okay? Not somebody to be toyed with, because it’s the embodiment of. Of divine justice produces in those men, as it produces here in Joshua, a humble fear of the Lord. You can understand then, as he’s standing before a being like this, why Joshua went on to know what side he’s on. And so he asks, are you for us or are you for our enemies? And the commander of the Lord’s army says, no, not neither, by the way. He says, no, I think neither is a fine translation, but it’s a little blunter than that. It’s like he just declines to answer the question entirely, which makes sense because Joshua needs to remember what we often need to remember, which is that God is sovereign, not partisan, which will affect our answer. God’s answer here, maybe you’re getting the same texts I’m getting as it’s October and we’re coming up on election day, every couple of minutes, it seems somebody reaches out saying, hey, we just want to know, are you for us or are you part of the dark side? Are you for our enemies who are going to destroy this country in the next 12 minutes if they’re elected? Now, I just block the number at that point. That’s how I deal with the problem. But the answer is similar to what the angel of the Lord, the commander of the Lord’s army, says here. No, no. The answer I would like to give is, look, I am for justice. I am for the sanctity of life. I am for integrity, personal and professional in the lives of those elected to serve this country. I am for lifting the poor. I am. And I could go on from here, of course. Well, now, imagine how God would respond to that text. Hey, Jesus, you voting Republican or Democrat this fall? We want to co opt God for our side. That’s the issue here. We want to co opt God for our side, like snagging a celebrity endorsement. And that’s not how that works. That’s the point God is making to Joshua here. What he’s really saying is, joshua, you asked the wrong question. Like, imagine for a moment a kid in the back row of the lecture hall as the professor is droning on and finally raises his hand and goes, hey, will this be on the final? And then you leave off the second half of the question, but it’s there. Will this be on the final or can I forget it? And what would the professor say? No, you’re asking the wrong question. What you should be asking is, is this important information that will form me as a person, increase my knowledge and understanding so I can go out into the world equipped for what I have to do? Joshua asked the wrong question, as if to highlight just how uncomprehendingly he approached God. God says, why don’t you take your sandals off because you are standing on holy ground again like Moses before him at the burning bush. In both cases, God meets his man and then commissions him for service. In fact, this is a pattern often repeated in Scriptures. What happens with Isaiah as well. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. The temple’s shaking. Isaiah is undone. Woe is me. I’m a sinner. Seraph comes, burns his lips, Atonement, all of that. Now who will go? And Isaiah says, here am I. Send me Ezekiel. Same story. Even Mary, when the angel Gabriel comes to her. The same story. It is our story as well. If we follow Christ before God calls us to a life of service and discipleship, he meets us with his saving presence. Thank God. I mean, think what joy and relief Joshua must have felt in this moment when he figured out who this guy was. Joshua went to look at a problem and found himself looking at God like that is the sigh of relief. This is why we bring our cares to God in prayer. Because before we face the problem, we need to face God we need to meet with God, remember who he is, and then follow as he leads. And that is the point of this strange scene. And it is a strange scene before Jericho. It’s as if, as one commentator put it, we need to remember God’s position before we know his plans. Especially given how quick we are to jump to problem solving, to solutions. H.L. ellison put it like this. We can easily become more interested in special guidance than in a right relationship with the guide. And that feel like a good word for us today as we prepare to venture out in faith and plant a church. How many of you have problem solving questions right now? I know I do. How are we going to plant is not the question. The question is who? Who will build his church against which the gates of hell shall not prevail? The scene then continues, continues across the chapter break, but with this brief parenthetical note in verse 1, Jericho is shut tight. Gate is closed. It’s locked up. It is closed literally. It is closed spiritually, figuratively as well, because it has been closed to the invitation of God. Eyes are closed to God’s power, ears are closed to God’

  3. Oct 4

    Remembrances (Joshua 4:1-5:12)

    PODCAST Remembrances October 4, 2026 | Brandon Cooper Brandon discusses how we are a forgetful people, and that forgetfulness can quietly erode our faith over time. In Joshua 4 and 5, God commands Israel to stack twelve stones from the Jordan River as a permanent monument to His faithfulness, designed to spark questions and keep the story of His power alive for future generations. The real threat to our spiritual lives is not always dramatic moral failure but the slow, gradual cooling that comes from forgetting what God has done. Just as Israel rehearsed God’s faithfulness through the Passover meal and the stones at the Jordan, we rehearse His faithfulness through baptism, communion, and the intentional daily practice of looking up at who God is, looking back at what He has done, and looking ahead with trust in who He will always be. TRANSCRIPT_______________________________________________+ The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Well, good morning, church. You can go ahead and open your bibles to Joshua chapter four, Joshua, chapter four. As we continue in our series, we’ll be starting in verse 1, Joshua 4:1. As you were turning there. We are often forgetful as people. Some of us are more forgetful than others. I would count myself in that category, just constantly forgetting the most basic things. Just to give you an example, I think I put it together that I have now left my credit card in four different restaurants this year, thankfully all local. So I’ve been able to go back and get them one Time I did leave it at a restaurant in an airport that was not o’, Hare, but I caught it before I flew away. So that was great news. But that, I mean, like, the writing’s on the wall here. I know how this story ends. I’m one of those, and I’m sure some of you are too. Who forgets why I came into a room, almost every room that I enter. True story. It’s not on my notes, but I had written the sermon, already written this illustration, and then the next day walked into Kyle’s office, as I often do, and stood there for a while and said, like, you’re not gonna believe this. This is my opening illustration. And I have no idea why I’m here right now though. So, like, that’s how it goes. Now, some of these are funny, of course. We forget things. Ha ha ha, didn’t remember to get milk on the way home, whatever, something like that. Sometimes they get a little more serious, you know, where you’re like, I forgot to pick up the prescription when I’ve got strep or something like that. And you’re like, okay, this is going to be a little bit worse for me. And then they start to get really serious where it’s not just I forgot to pick up the prescription, but I forgot to take the life saving medication that I’m on that I’m really not supposed to miss. It’s important to remember. It’s important to remember a lot in life, and yet it’s so easy to forget. And that’s especially true spiritually. The good news is God knows that we are a forgetful people. And so he provides the remedy because he provides memory aids for us. He doesn’t want us to forget. He didn’t want Israel to forget what had just happened to them. Not for the first time either, as we’ll see. And so our passage this morning, a lot of it is just answering the question, how will Israel remember to remember? And there we got three scenes that will show us how the Lord is going to help them here and then show how he will help us as well. So our first scene, a mnemonic device. Let me read chapter 4114 for us. A little longer chunk of text here. When the whole nation had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, choose 12 men from among the people, one from each tribe, and tell them to take up 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan, from right where the priests are standing, and carry them over with you and put them down at the place where you stay tonight. So Joshua called together the 12 men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe, and said to them, go over before the Ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, what do these stones mean? Tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. So the Israelites did as Joshua commanded them. They took 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord had told Joshua. They carried them over with them to their camp, where they put them down. Joshua set up the 12 stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant had stood. And they are there to this day now. The priests who carried the Ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan until everything the Lord had commanded Joshua was done by the people, just as Moses had directed Joshua. The people hurried over, and as soon as all of them had crossed the Ark of the Lord and the priests came to the other side. While the people watched, the men of Reuben, Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle in front of the Israelites as Moses had directed them. About 40,000, armed for battle, crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for war. That day, the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel. And they stood in awe of him all the days of his life, just as they had stood in awe of Moses. And pause there. All right, so I said this to you last week, right? It was like Gandalf saying, morning, the fifth day, everybody’s ready, right? And then you’re all going to forget. That was the 12 guys, right? Now, at long last, we know what those 12 guys were there for that Joshua had appointed. To do what? Well, now we know what they were appointed to do. One from each tribe. These 12 guys, they’re representing the whole nation of Israel. They are supposed to grab a stone from the center of the riverbed as a monument. Set up as a monument. Now, these are big stones, big enough that they needed to carry them on their shoulders. But more important than that, they are smooth stone. These are stones that have been made smooth by the relentless battering of the river’s waters. At least they had been battered by the river’s waters until the Lord made those waters stand up in a heap, as we saw last week. Well, now, these stones, taken out of the center of the river, they are stood up in a heap in this monument. And as a result, they would stand out to passersby. They’d look and they’d go, why is there a pile of rocks here? But especially, why is there a pile of smooth rocks here? Like, how did these get here? I can remember as a middle schooler when my family took a road trip out west, that at one point when we were driving through Kansas or something like that, I looked out the window and there was an ostrich running next to me. And I was a very bright middle schooler, and I was like, I don’t think ostriches live around here, you know, So I had to ask about that. Like, why are there ostriches here? Because I saw a bunch of them. It turns out right. There was a farm, of course, was the answer to that question. But in my head, I’m thinking, these don’t belong here. How did they get here? That’s what God wants these stones to do, to stoke a holy curiosity in the people who pass them by. Especially for those who still have curiosity, which would be kids. Kids are the ones who go, what’s that doing there? We, if I could paraphrase G.K. chesterton, we sin and grow old and lose that sense of wonder, that sense of curiosity. We begin to think we know answers instead of asking questions to find answers. And so this pile of rocks is meant to be. You can see it there in verse six, a sign to the children. It’s the same word that’s used of the Passover meal was meant to be a sign. If you know anything about the Passover, you know that was for kids also. Big part of the Passover, even today, is the kids asking the questions, why are we having bitter herbs? Why are we dipping the parsley and salt water? Like, what is going on here? And so that’s what’s meant to happen here. When kids ask, what do these stones mean? The parents would have a great story to tell. And that is the hope. Now, parents, there is a world of application here in this chunk of text. Our primary responsibility as parents is to ensure that our kids know as much about God as they possibly can. When they leave our care, we cannot make them believe that work belongs to God alone, but we can certainly make sure they know what we believe and why we believe it. Who is this God? Why do we serve Him? What does His Word say? How should we follow Him? That’s what we teach our kids. Are you teaching your kids that? Are you opening the Word daily with them? I mean, this book is a finer monument than river stones, I can promise you that. Are you opening it together as a family? Do you talk about God? About your relationship with Jesus Christ? All the time? Like, this is everyday talk, not just Sundays. Maybe on our way home from church. What do you do with opportunities that are there in front of you, like Lent, Good Friday, Easter, Advent, Christmas? Do they see you following Jesus? Do they see you praying? Do they see you studying His Word? Memorizing it? Do they see you confessing sin? Especially when you confess sin to them and the ways you’ve sinned against them? Do they see you serving, sacrificing, sharing the gospel with those who ne

  4. Sep 27

    Crossing Over (Joshua 3)

    PODCAST Crossing Over September 27, 2026 | Brandon Cooper Brandon discusses how trusting God is easy to talk about but hard to actually do, especially when you are standing at the edge of something impossible. In Joshua 3, God carefully prepares His people to trust Him before asking them to take a single step into a flooded, raging river. He moves them through three stages: preparation, understanding, and seeing. At the heart of it all are two questions that conquer fear. Is God able? And is God good? The crossing of the Jordan points forward to an even greater act of faithfulness. Jesus, the true Ark of the Covenant, went ahead of us, crossed over first, and made a way for us to follow. God does not promise that every impossible situation will resolve the way we hope, but He does promise His presence. And His presence is enough. TRANSCRIPT_______________________________________________+ The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Good morning, church. You can go ahead and grab your Bibles. Open up to Joshua, chapter three. Joshua, Chapter three, as we continue in our series in Joshua today. As you’re turning there, if you’re a history buff, you may know General Pope, Union General in the American Civil War, who was famously incompetent. At one point, he basically marched his troops around in circles effectively, and they, as a result, ended up out marching their supplies so that by the time they arrived at the battlefield, they were already exhausted and hungry. And the officers under Pope were confused and nervous. So when they faced the famously competent Confederate general Stonewall Jackson, they were expecting the worst and knew that they had every right to expect the worst. Now, consider Israel, because at this moment, of course, they’ve been marching in circles effectively for 40 years, living off manna and not much else. Their illustrious leader is dead Moses, and they now have this unproven replacement, Joshua, over them. And you can imagine they stand on the brink of the Promised Land, exhausted, hungry, nervous, confused, maybe even doubting. Why would they trust Joshua to lead them into the Promised Land? For that matter, why would they trust God? Why would any of us trust God really, at any moment? Well, in today’s story, we’re going to see why. Because God is going to give Israel every reason to trust him. And Joshua, his servant, he’s going to give them encouragement to go on and to go into the Promised Land. It’s a slow process. It’s interesting here in Joshua 3, Joshua 4, which we’ll get to next week, the narrative slows to a crawl. This is the longest, most important scene in the book, which may surprise you. Most of us. You go, what’s the most important scene in Joshua? And you would all answer, Jericho. Yep. And that one’s important. It’s a long narrative as well, but this is the longest, most important part of the book. In fact, when you look at later Israelite writers, they point back to this moment when they crossed the Jordan river and not to Jericho. It’s memorialized in Israel’s history. Here is the prophet Micah, for example, speaking to encourage his generation to go on trusting God. And he says this. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord. Shittim is where they are. Gilgal is where they’ll be at the end of chapter four. So, like, this is the story that we’re talking about. And here you’ve got a later prophet going. You remember. Do you remember that? Like, that’s how important this is. So God Takes his time in telling this story so that his people and we today might know and trust him. So we’ve got three stages on the way to trust and on the way across the Jordan River. These three stages are a little bit like first time patient in a dentist’s office. You know, picture a little kid or something like that. And they’re freaking out because, you know, it’s the dentist and whatnot. What does the dentist do? How does the dentist help them get settled in? First stage of just kind of preparation, right? Like take deep breaths here. Mom and dad are probably helping out in this process. And then the second stage is understanding. That’s where the dentist will start showing the tools. Like you met Mr. Thirsty before. He’s just gonna all the saliva out and then he’s got the, you know that little hook thing. And he touches your finger and it’s sharp, right? And you’re like, yeah, why are you showing me this? And they’re like, but then we do it on your fingernail. Do you feel that? No. See? Okay. Okay, I got understanding now. I know these tools are going to be used for. And then ultimately they’re going to see the dentist is going to do a little bit and they’re going to go, okay, that wasn’t that bad. I think I can do this. I’m ready now. At this point, you notice they don’t show the drill that first time, do they? Right? But the kid’s like, I can do this. Leans back, you know, chair goes back. You’re watching Bluey on the TV on the ceiling. It’s great stuff. So that’s what the Lord is doing for his people here. So stage one then, as we dig in, stage one, preparing. Preparing God’s people to enter in. This is Joshua, chapter three. Let me read verses one to six for us. Early in the morning, Joshua and all the Israelites set out from Shittim and went to the Jordan where they camped before crossing over. After three days, the officers went throughout the camp giving orders to the people. When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the litical priests carrying it, you are to move out from your positions and follow it. Then you will know which way to go, since you have never been this way before. But keep a distance of about 2000 cubits between you and the ark. Do not go near it. Joshua told the people, consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you. 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. You notice it’s early in the morning, first thing. This is the people that is ready to go. They’ve been waiting for a while and they’re going to set out from Shittim. As I mentioned, they’ve actually been in this camp since numbers 22. So long time since they arrived in this camp. They’ve taken a second census. They’ve gotten extensive instructions and have been preparing themselves to go in. And Moses, before he died, preached a series of sermons to them that has come to us as the book of Deuteronomy. Now they’re there for this long time because it’s a strategic place to camp right near the Jordan river so they could get there quickly. When the Lord finally says, it’s time, let’s go, they’re right there. So the whole nation is like first time expectant parents at this point. You know, you’re coming up on nine months and you’ve got the go bags packed. That changes, by the way. But I can speak from experience here. By the fifth one, you don’t pack a bag, okay, until the baby crowns and then you’re like, we should think about this now. But first time they’ve had the bags packed since like month three. Set to go. The keys are right there on the table. You don’t need to look for them. If, you know labor happened in the middle of the night kind of thing. The car is parked facing out so that they can get to the hospital as quickly as possible. At which point they’ll hear it’s false labor and they should come back later. Because that’s how it also works your first time out. But like, that’s where Israel is. They’ve been waiting for 40 years for baby to arrive and they are ready to go. So the first part of preparation that they get here then is just simple instructions. The officers go throughout the camp. We met them back in chapter one. Here we know why they got appointed so that they can pass along instructions to the people. They’re giving orders. You notice they’re giving orders about the ark in particular. If you were here with us last year when we did our Exodus series, you know a lot about the ark. If you weren’t just kind of a brief synopsis here. First of all, if you are picturing Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, that’s it. That’s what we’re talking about. Okay, so it’s the gold box, got the angels on top kind of doing this. It’s was constructed at the same time that the tabernacle was constructed. And it’s important. I mean, in many ways, this is the holiest object on earth at this time, which is why it is then placed in the holiest place on earth, the most holy place in the tabernacle, right there. And it is seen as God’s very throne. Like, this is where God speaks when he speaks to his people. We saw in Exodus. Within it are the tablets of the covenant that Moses brings down off Sinai. There’s an omer of manna, so that they remember the Lord’s provision while they were in the desert, and Aaron’s staff that budded to show the Aaronic priesthood. So the Ark’s got all of these ideas associated with it, and a few of them we would probably think of, but maybe not one of them. So three in particular I want to highlight. First of all, there’s a military association, and that’s the one we wouldn’t necessarily think of. We picture, you know, the religious, the cultic association. But no, there’s a military one. The ark went into battle. In fact, that’s how the Israelites lost the ark for a time, because they lost the battle under the priesthood of Eli because of their sin and rebellion. But the ark goes first as this reminder that it is God, Yahweh, who leads them into battle, and it is Yahweh who gives the victory. Of course, there is the legal association.

  5. Sep 20

    The Kindness of God (Joshua 2)

    PODCAST The Kindness of God September 20, 2026 | Brandon Cooper Brandon discusses how Rahab was a Canaanite prostitute living in Jericho who made one of the most remarkable declarations of faith in all of Scripture. When Israelite spies entered her city, she hid them, defied her king, and boldly proclaimed that the God of Israel is God in heaven above and on the earth below. Her faith was not just words. It was proven by her actions before she ever spoke them aloud. The scarlet cord she hung from her window became a symbol of salvation, echoing the Passover and pointing forward to Jesus Christ. God not only spared her and her family but wove her directly into the genealogy of His own Son. No matter what is in your past, Rahab’s story is proof that no one is beyond the reach of God’s grace. TRANSCRIPT_______________________________________________+ The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Good morning, church. You can go ahead and grab your Bibles. Open up to Joshua, chapter two, Joshua two. As we continue in the series we began last week on the book of Joshua. As you are turning to Joshua 2. There is a familiar trope in cop movies, especially, where there is an insider, somebody on the inside of a gang or a cartel, something like that, who is working with law enforcement. And usually there’s some sort of relationship there, maybe because they’re the informant, they’ve become friends in this process or fallen in love or something, or sometimes it’s somebody they knew previously. This is a family member who took a bad turn or a friend who took a bad turn, ended up in this place. And so at a certain moment, the cop has to come to this insider and say, look, you need to get out. All right? There’s a raid coming tonight, tomorrow, first thing in the morning. Like, now is your chance. There’s this choice before you. You can either leave the gang, leave the cartel and be saved, or you can stay and be arrested or worse, killed in the raid. And so there’s always that suspense, of course, in the movie at that moment. That’s why you’re there. That’s why you paid good money to see it and stuff. But there’s also this tension because you’re realizing, you know, you’re asking them to leave people they know, people who have been friends to them, maybe even family. There’s a severing of allegiances that needs to happen. And so it’s this tough, tough moment that’s not altogether unlike what we’re going to encounter in the story before us this morning. Canaan, Jericho in particular, is about to experience God’s just judgment. And this is a wicked culture. In fact, the whole reason Israel’s been in slavery in Egypt for the past, you know, few centuries was to ensure that the sin of the Canaanites reached its full measure, so that when God brought his judgment on them, it would be just. So there’s this just judgment, the conquest that is coming to Canaan, and we have an insider willing to help. And so it’s got that same suspense. Will she get out in time? It’s got the same relational tension. Chapter two functions, in many ways, the way chapter one functioned for us last week. So last week we met the Israelites as a people, and we also met one Israelite in particular, Joshua, who was going to be a sort of savior to the people. Well, this week we meet the Canaanites, and we also meet somebody who could be a sort of savior to the people. But who that savior is is shocking and teaches us so much then about God’s kindness, his grace and love, and also his mission to the world. So we’re going to see that unfold in three scenes as we go. So let’s start with scene one, the commission. Joshua, chapter two, verses one through. Let me read it for us. Then Joshua, son of nun, secretly sent two spies from Shittim. Go look over the land, he said, especially Jericho. So they went and entered the house of a prostitute named Rahab and stayed there. The king of Jericho was told, look, some of the Israelites have come here tonight to spy out the land. So the king of Jericho sent this message to Rahab, Bring out the men who came to you and entered your house, because they have come to spy out the whole land. But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. I don’t know which way they went. Go after them quickly. You may catch up with them. But she had taken them up to the roof and hidden them under the stalks of flax she had laid out on the roof. So the men set out in pursuit of the spies on the road that leads to the fords of the Jordan. And as soon as the pursuers had gone out the. The gate was shut. This story starts off on the wrong foot in just about every possible way. If you were reading this story for the first time, having started at Genesis, like, tracked with Israel’s history until you got here, you would be understandably nervous when you got to chapter two, verse one. First of all, the spies are setting out from Shittim, which means very little to us, I know. But if you were somebody familiar with Israel’s history, having had, you know, ancestors who lived it, you would remember that Shittim is where the Israelites fell into some of their worst immorality, sexual immorality, especially associated with the BAAL of Peor near the end of Numbers, under the treacherous influence of the false prophet Balaam. Not only are they in Shittim, but then they’re also sending spies out. Joshua’s sending spies out, and you’re thinking to yourself, I’ve seen this movie before, because Moses sent spies out, 12 of them in that case, and it didn’t go well. 10 of the 12 spies come back and go, we have no hope. Like, God can’t possibly deliver us. And so the people didn’t believe and weren’t able to enter the rest of the promised land as a result, but perished out there in the wilderness. So here are their kids. And it seems like they’re doing the exact same thing. They’re in the same place. They’re sending out spies also. Now, Joshua was one of 12 spies. He came back and said, no, God has got this. So we’re maybe a little confident there at least. But will it go differently this time? Joshua sends the spies out to spy out the whole land, but especially Jericho, he says, which is important because Jericho is not just a town. It is a military garrison. It is an outpost. This makes sense because it’s right on the border of the land. Imagine for a moment that you somehow managed to cross the DMZ from North Korea into South Korea. What do you think you’re going to come to first as you cross into South Korea? Like a nice resort or military. And that’s Jericho. Right. So it’s the military right there on the border, because it’s a military outpost. There are probably very few families there, very few women there. And so it’s maybe not altogether surprising, then, that the spies enter a brothel. Well, except it is surprising because these are supposed to be moral Israelite men here. And even some of the language that’s used, the Hebrew words, are exactly the Hebrew words you would use euphemistically for somebody who’s visiting a brothel. Like the word translated, stayed means literally lay down there that night. Now, the Hebrew is quite clear that there was no sexual impropriety in this moment. It goes on to explain that. But even still, we got that nervousness as we start off this story. Now, I said they entered a brothel. They didn’t actually. They entered the house of a prostitute. That’s a little different. This would have just been an inn or a tavern in this place. But it would have attracted, certainly the usual vices. And so Rahab, whatever else we learn about her, and we will learn lots about her as we go, is guilty of a grievous offense against a holy God. We have to have that in our minds. And so we’re wondering, then why did the spies head here to this person who’s guilty of this grievous offense against God? Why would they go into a place where you’d have any question of impropriety even? It actually makes a lot of sense that they would have gone to this tavern. If there was a fifth column in Jericho, you would find it here. And even if not, you would find information. You’re just going to be hearing the gossip as people have a little too much wine or beer. You know, loose tongues are going to let slip the weakness. Or we’re shutting down the power grid for routine maintenance next week. And you’re like, great, that’s the day we should go. This is how spies work. Plus, it would give them a chance to blend in because this is where you would head if you were visiting. So they’re doing well morally, and they’re doing well maybe vocationally they head to the right spot. Except not so well vocationally. Apparently, they stick out like sore thumbs because they are identified immediately. Like, they’ve been in that town for 10 minutes and already everybody knows who they are. These are the Jack Sparrow of spies right here. You are, without doubt the worst spies in the world that I’ve ever heard of kind of thing. But at least we’ve heard of them, and we have. So. So the king sends the message to Rahab, like, look, we know who’s there. Would you send them out to us? It is not looking good for the spies at this moment. Except Rahab surprises us because she hides them and then lies to the king, says they’ve left already. Can I mention here, just as an aside, the Bible says nothing about her lie. You notice it wasn’t here in chapter two. Didn’t say it. When it talks about Rahab elsewhere, it doesn’t say anything positive or negative about the lie. Doesn’t justify or excuse the deceit, but also d

  6. Sep 13

    Rest for the Weary (Joshua 1)

    PODCAST Rest for the Weary September 13, 2026 | Brandon Cooper Brandon discusses how we live in a restless age, constantly searching for peace in money, relationships, and achievement, only to find that none of these can hold the weight we place on them. Joshua chapter one speaks directly into this tension, revealing three daily choices that lead to genuine rest: believing God’s promises, obeying His Word, and following His leadership together in community. God’s promise to Joshua, that He would never leave nor forsake him, belongs to us as well, and it does not shift with our circumstances. Jesus is the true and better Joshua, the one whose name literally means ‘the Lord saves.’ Where Joshua and Israel ultimately fell short through unbelief, Jesus lived in perfect obedience and then took our failure upon Himself at the cross. Because of what He has done, we can receive an inheritance that cannot spoil or fade. Real rest is not something we manufacture on our own. It is something we receive from the God who loved us enough to make a way for us to have it. TRANSCRIPT_______________________________________________+ The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Well, good morning, church. Good to see you all today. You can go ahead and grab your Bibles, open up to Joshua1 if you haven’t got that yet. We’re starting a new season series in Joshua today. If you are using that black Pew Bible in front of you, you’re on page 169. Joshua chapter one. So we are starting this new series in Joshua, which is great news for those of you who may be visiting with us for the first time today. Perhaps you got invited to kickoff or something like that. Clean slate. You come in, you don’t need to catch up at all. You’re not in the middle of a series, except that the first word of Joshua, at least in the Hebrew, is the word. And so we’re actually picking up in the next chapter in a saga. This is the start of season six and you missed a lot in those first five seasons. So what are some of the things we might have missed? We missed for Example, God calling out of all people, all nations, a single man agent, Abraham, and promising to bring him into a land that would be his own and to make his descendants into a great nation. We miss the fact that his great grandson Joseph got sold into slavery in Egypt, which actually ended up being a really good thing because it meant he was able to save not just his family, but really that part of the world from famine. Except that they get stuck in Egypt for, you know, a handful of centuries and are made slaves in Egypt. So God raises up Moses to deliver them out of Egypt. He sends those 10 plagues on the Egyptians. He splits the Red Sea. We did all this last year at this time so that they could walk through it and into the promised land. Except there, on the brink of the promised land, when 12 spies returned from having looked at the land God was going to give them, terrified, scared, and then managed to scare the rest of the people. That group actually ended up perishing in the wilderness because of their unbelief. They were not able to enter into the land land. So here we are, 40 years after that, on the brink of the land again. Will they ever get in? Will this promise that’s five centuries old now ever come to fruition? Will they ever find rest for their weary souls and that matter, rest for their weary souls, the soles of their feet, because they’ve been walking for a long time at this point. So they are looking for literal rest. Yes, but we’re talking about something deeper. We’re talking about spiritual rest. We could almost say an existential rest. And as we begin to talk about that, we can begin to sense how relevant this ancient book is for our lives today. Because of the restlessness that we experience in our modern culture, ours has been called an anxious age. An anxious age. Despite the fact that we have more money, more health, et cetera, than ever before, we are an anxious people, an anxious generation. Which just goes to show you that our rest is not dependent on our circumstances. It must be something else that we’re talking about. So we’re restless because at this point, we are unmoored, drifting from the source of rest, which means it’s up to you, on your own at this point, to provide it for yourself, searching for that something that will make everything okay forever, and we still haven’t found what we’re looking for. Rest is so tenuous, so fragile, so constantly under threat in our age. It doesn’t take much. Like we’ve experienced it just as a family right now. We got evicted from our home for a few months while they remediate a mold problem that we have. We had car troubles this week. You start to think of the financial hit that those things can cause and you’re like, just like that. You know, my shoulders are tense when I think about what’s going on. I’m sure you all could fill in your own blanks in that story. Most of us feel unsettled so easily and feel it deeply. And so the good news of Joshua that we’ll see today is that there is hope beyond our circumstances when we return to the source. And so I want to give you the big idea up front. Here’s the takeaway from the passage that we’re going to start study this morning. It’s quite simple. It’s just this. Find your rest in Jesus. Find your rest in Jesus. Now I realize I’m gonna have to prove that that’s a good idea right there. We’re have to talk about whether or not we actually can find rest. And then of course the big question you all have is, what do you mean in Jesus? Because we’re in 1200 BC right now, so we got 1200 years before Jesus. Jesus is born into the world. God become flesh. So we’ll talk about both of those as we go. As we follow the narrative’s three scenes, we’re going to see three choices that we can make today and every day to find our rest in Jesus. So scene number one from Joshua, chapter one, verses one to six. Let me read it for us now. After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua, son of nun Moses, aid Moses, my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people get ready to cross the Jordan river into the land I am about to give them to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot. As I promised Moses, your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, from the great river, the Euphrates, all the Hittite countries to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. So we are in a moment of massive transition in Israel’s history. You see it right there in verse 1. Moses, the servant of the Lord is dead. Moses is at this point the only person who’s been called the servant of the Lord. And he is dead. We meet him. We meet Joshua, his aide. If we’ve read the previous few books, we’ve met Joshua already. He gets to go up partway up Sinai with Moses. So he’s kind of there with him. He’s one of the spies who goes out to check out the land initially. I mean, he’s one of the. Just two of them who come back saying, we can do this because the Lord is with us. Well, there’s Joshua, his aid. It’s actually interesting. Moses renamed Joshua. Anytime you get a new name in scripture, it’s pretty significant. We would go from Abram to Abraham, or we go from Simon to Peter, for example. Always means the Lord’s got some something for you. Well, Moses renames Joshua. His name was Hoshea, which means salvation. Just sort of generically. Moses renames him to Yehoshua. You just add a little prefix on. It’s no longer salvation. But the Lord says, yahweh saves. Joshua is actually the first person in recorded history who gets the Yahweh prefix attached to his name. Name all the people, you know, with that jo or something like that in their name, like Joel or Jonathan. Joshua is the first one. But Joshua faces an immediate problem, as do the Israelites, because Moses, the greatest leader in this young nation’s history, is dead. I mean, Moses is the one who’s brought them back from the brink of destruction. Literally, when he’s up on Sinai, he comes down, they’re all worshiping a golden calf. And the Lord says, tell you what, I’m gonna wipe them out. We’ll start over with you. And Moses intercedes for the people, and they are spared. Moses spoke face to face to the Lord. He had such an intimate relationship with God that when he would come away from meeting with him, his face was shiny like the glory of the Lord got stuck on him so that he glowed a little bit that Moses is dead. Who will take his place? Can anyone even take his place? We just have no parallel for this today, this sort of leader. I mean, you think Queen Elizabeth died recently after decades? Yeah, but she wasn’t the leader. You know, she was a ceremonial figurehead. Maybe it’s Steve Jobs at Apple or something like that. You’re like, sure, but that’s a company. That’s not a nation. This is different. And so we’re in this delicate moment in a young nation’s history. Transitions are always rough times for dynasties and all of that. And so we fully expect a pause. We start reading here. You know, Moses, my servant, is dead now, then you and all these people take a beat, mourn, recalibrate. Let’s get some democratic elections set up or something like that. That. No, we get none of that. Moses is dead. All right? So you and all the people get ready to rise and cross the Jordan river, which will be another major obstacle we’ll come to in a few w

  7. Sep 6

    Forgiveness from the Heart (Matthew 18:21-35)

    PODCAST Forgiveness from the Heart September 6, 2026 | Kyle Bjerga Kyle Bjerga discusses how forgiveness is one of the most challenging teachings in the Christian faith, especially when the person who hurt you is someone close to you. In Matthew 18, Jesus answers Peter’s question about how many times we must forgive by making it clear that true forgiveness does not keep score. The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant puts our situation in sharp perspective: we have been forgiven an impossible debt before God, and that reality should shape how we respond to the far smaller debts others owe us. Forgiveness does not mean erasing consequences, rebuilding trust overnight, or pretending something never happened. It is both a decisive moment and an ongoing process, one that requires drawing fresh grace from God each day. Forgiven people forgive others, not because it is easy or natural, but because the King has already paid the debt. TRANSCRIPT_______________________________________________+ The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Well, good morning. Go ahead and grab your Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 18. If you’re using one of the black pew Bibles there in front of you, it’s page 799. If you don’t have a Bible, that is our gift to you so you can find your place in it and then take it with you today. Two weeks ago, Daniel shared with us the story of Corrie Ten Boom, one of my heroes of the faith. I mention her a lot. And the story he shared is one that we have talked about here, here a lot. Because Corrie, as a concentration camp prisoner and survivor, was able to forgive a Nazi guard whom she met years later after he became a Christian. She shook the hand of a man whose hand was responsible for her own suffering, for the suffering of family and friends. And she was able to look at him in the eye and say, I forgive you, brother, with all my heart. Corrie Ten Boom, the lover of Jesus, the forgiver of a Nazi prison guard, never Struggled with forgiveness again. False, false, she says in one interview. I wish I could say that merciful and charitable thoughts just naturally flowed for me then on, but they didn’t. Years later, she was hurt by a group of Christian friends of hers. And the pain caused by this group led to anger and bitterness. It led to sleepless nights of replaying that situation over and over again. Maybe you understand what she’s talking about. Was it possible to forgive again? Because here’s what we know. We talked about this last week. Sin is going to happen in the church. We are going to sin against each other. But what if that sin isn’t just a sin you point out in somebody because you see it in them? What if that sin is something against you? What if that sin is committed against you? What if the sin of that person and their gossip is actually gossip about you? What if the lie that they tell is a lie about you? You see, there’s a little bit of a difference when we just point somebody’s sin out, when we actually experience that sin ourselves. Maybe even as I talk about this, there’s some pain in your own heart because a face or a name, you see them right now. Someone who has sinned against you, maybe even a brother or sister in Christ, maybe even in this room. And I will tell you, if you are sitting as a family, they are in this room. Because we all sin against each other. If we are brothers and sisters in Christ, this will continue to happen, happen until he returns. So here’s what I know. Jesus sees that person that you see, and Jesus has forgiven that person. So the question is, have you or will you? This whole series, the Little Kingdom we’ve been talking about, what does it mean to enter into the kingdom of God and then live as the people of God in the kingdom of God? And so we saw that we come into this kingdom, humility before the Lord like a child. We help each other out. We deal with sin in our life. We pursue each other because we love each other. And today we finish by focusing on forgiveness within the community of God, within His kingdom. So let me give you the big idea right up front. It is this. Forgiven little ones, forgive others. Forgiven little ones, forgive others. Worth defining forgiveness. Forgiveness is giving up the right to punish. It’s canceling a debt. And so in the definition, what we understand is there is a real wrong that has been done in order to forgive. We have to reconcile that there is wrong done toward someone. And yet in forgiveness, we choose to absorb that wrong and not hold it against that person. Not treat them as they deserve. So I want to give a few preliminary thoughts on forgiveness, kind of looking at the whole of Scripture, because this is just part of a much larger understanding of one of the most important teachings in the Bible, and that is forgiveness. So I hope this grounds us a little bit more as we dive into Matthew 18. But before we get there, some things that we need to talk about. Forgiveness is not because there are some unhelpful and unbiblical teachings out there about forgiveness. So when we talk about forgiveness, we do not mean that there aren’t consequences. This isn’t a way to get out of those natural consequences. Or maybe a standard has been crossed and there’s consequences for it. So, for example, if you think of somebody’s sin against you and it also breaks the law, then they need to be held accountable to the law, even if you forgive them. So you can forgive them and they could still be prosecuted and penalized if that was the case. Second, forgiveness does not equal trust. You can forgive someone even when trust is broken. So think about somebody who gossips about you. You can forgive them for that gossip, not treat them as they deserve. But the next time you have something to share, you’re probably not going to share with that person. Or at least not in the same detail for a while. Because forgiveness doesn’t equal trust right away. And finally, forgiveness does not mean forgetfulness. Remember I said maybe even a face or a name popped into your mind as I was talking just a few minutes ago. That just means you haven’t forgotten, but maybe you have forgiven them. Maybe you have forgiven them, but you have not forgotten. And forgive and forget is a very common phrase when we talk about forgiveness. It is impossible. And it is also not the teaching of Scripture. And then people will point to where it says, God remembers our sins no more. It’s right there. But that doesn’t mean our sin slips God’s mind. He is omniscient. He is all knowing. If he forgot our sin in that sense, then he would cease to be God. Because he is different now. He forgot something. No, he knows all of it. The amazing thing is that he chooses not to remain. He chooses not to punish us as our sins deserve. That’s the amazing thing. Because if God forgot our sins, then he would wonder why Jesus was on the cross. He knows why he’s on the cross because of our sin. And he chooses not to remember. He chooses not to punish anymore, and he cancels our debt. So with those things said, let’s turn to Matthew 18 where we see a continuation of Jesus teaching after Peter, good old Peter is going to interrupt him with a question. Jesus is going to tell us a story, and then we’re going to get the lesson from that story, all on the important topic of forgiveness. And so that will serve as our outline today, the question, then we’ll get the story and finally the lesson. Let’s look first at the question, verses 21 through 22. Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times. Jesus answered, I tell you, not seven times, but 77 times. Peter has a good question. It’s a good question. Coming on the heels of what we looked at last week, we love each other enough to confront sin in our lives. And once that person then repents of that sin, we should forgive them. Them. So we saw that process last week when somebody is called out for sin. We saw the process of going to them, just you and them, and then the smaller group, and then taking it to the church. And the hoped for outcome in all of that is reconciliation. So it’s confession, repentance, forgiveness, reconciliation. That’s where hoping comes every time a sin is pointed out to us because we want to restore fellowship between them and God and fellowship between us and them. So repentance from the other person is key to forgiveness, since forgiveness should always include at least a desire and a pursuit for reconciliation. So let’s look at Luke 17 should be on the screen for you, I believe Luke 17. This is Jesus talking again. He says, if your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke. That’s what we looked at last week in Matthew 18. Okay, and if they repent, forgive them. That’s what we’re looking at today. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying, I repent. You must forgive them. So it’s clearly stated here that there’s repentance coming out of our passage last week. It is assumed that at some point in that church discipline, this person comes to terms with their sins, confesses, repents, and seeks forgiveness. And so, as brothers and sisters in Christ, how do we respond? In the church, we have a heart ready to forgive. We have a heart ready to forgive. Think about it this way. How terrible would it be to call somebody out for their sin, see them go through the process. We looked at last week, week, see them repent, and come to you and say, I’m repenting. Would you forgive me? And you say, I gotcha. I Told you you were wrong. Like, how damaging would that be to the person? Cause we point out the sin not for that moment. We

  8. Aug 30

    Sinning & Winning (Matthew 18:15-20)

    PODCAST Sinning & Winning August 30, 2026 | Brandon Cooper Brandon Cooper discusses that confronting sin in the church is uncomfortable, but Jesus addresses it directly in Matthew 18 with instructions rooted in love. The goal is never punishment but restoration, winning a fellow believer back to faithful living. The process moves from a private conversation to bringing witnesses, and if necessary, to involving the whole church. Even the most serious step, removing someone from membership, is meant to be redemptive. This kind of accountability only works when church membership means something, because membership is the covenant framework that makes discipline possible. Christ Himself is present in the process, guiding the church as it pursues the spiritual health of its members. The motivation for all of it is the gospel: Jesus was cut off so that we could be won to Him, and that same love drives us to pursue one another. TRANSCRIPT_______________________________________________+ The following is an uncorrected transcript generated by a transcription service. Before quoting in print, please check the corresponding audio for accuracy. Good morning, City View Community Church. Take two. Good morning, City View Community Church. Let’s all rise. As we prepare our hearts for worship. We gather expecting an eruption of the sacred. An in breaking of the holy that will mark off our time from what preceded to what will follow in powerfully transformative ways. In silence, prepare your hearts for the sacred to break in. To all who are weary and need rest. To all who feel alone and want community. To all who mourn and long for comfort. To all who feel worthless and wonder if God cares. To all who fail and desire strength. To all who worry and want peace. To all who sin and need a savior. To all who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And to whoever will come. This gathering offers are welcome. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us sing to our Maker. Now. In my mother womb you formed me with your hand known and loved by you. For I took the bread when I doubted. Lord reminds me I’m wonderful be made. You’re an artist and a potter of the Kansas and place. And to make all things work together for my future and for is you make all things work together for your glory and for your name. Nothing has been wasted, no failure or mistake. You’re an artist and a potter. The canvas and a blade. To make all things work together for my future. Let lo my good unique work together for your glory. It’s all your name. You make all things work together for my future and for my. Work together for your glory. Your name. When I down and Lord, remind me my wonderfully made. You’re an artist and a potter. The canvas and the place I know nothing has been wasted, no failure or mistake. You’re an artist and a potter. Understand? A flame. You make all things work together for my future and for my good. You make all things work together for your glory and for your name. When I doubt it, Lord, remind me I wonderfully made. You’re an artist and a potter. On the canvas and the plain I know nothing has been wasted. No failure or blame. You’re an artist and a potter of the can. You’re not finished with me. You’re not finished with me yet. You’re not finished with me, Lord. You’re not finished with me yet. You’re not finished with me. You’re not finished with me yet. You’re not finished with me. You’re not finished with the end. Let’s read Leviticus, chapter 19, verses 17 to 18. Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not Share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people. But love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. The scripture reminds us that true love means clearing our hearts of bitterness and choosing to seek peace with others as we sing. Take my life. Let it be. Let’s offer God our relationship, our anger and our hearts, asking him to use us as instruments of his love. Take my life, Consecrated Lord to thee. Take my hands and let them move as the impulse of thy love. As he impulse of thy love. Take my feet and let them be with them beautiful for me. Take my voice and let me speak Always only for my keep. Always only for my king. Take my silver and my gold. I love, my good, I withhold. Take my moment and my days. Let them flow in deep pray let them flow and be. It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is thine own. It shall be thy royal throne. It shall be thy royal. Take my heart, it is thine own. It shall be thy royal throne. It shall be thy royal throne. With our hearts restored, he has done great things. We will stay together. We will see and we too. We will not be burned by the fire. He is the Lord. We got by the blood of hell. Protected, gathered up. We will be in the house of Zion. We will sing in our heart restored. We will sing together we will sing and we go. In the dark of night, before the dawn. My soul is not afraid for the promise morning of our O God of Jesus be the same. We will be in the house of fire. We will sing with our hearts before we have done great things. We will sing together we will sing and we, we. Every vow we broke. You are the faithful one and from the dun to the grave find us again the great shallow. We will see the rock of fire. We will restore the sun rain. Please remain standing as we answer the catechism questions today. Question 18. Will God allow our disobedience and idolatry to go unpunished? No. Everything is against the sovereignty, holiness, goodness of God and against his righteous laws. That’s a downer. How about a little bit more good news? Here’s the next question. Is there any way to escape punishment and be brought back into God’s favor? Amen. Please be seated. Good morning and welcome to City View Community Church, where we as a church are made to magnify Jesus and sent to serve others. My name is Reeve. I’m a pastoral resident, church planning resident here. And if you are a guest with us, we’re so glad that you’re here. I encourage you to scan the QR code on the screen, fill out the connection card so that we know you were here and we get to reach out to you at the end of the service. Our pastors Kyle and Brandon will be out in the lobby and they would love to meet you as well. And if you did fill out that connection card, they have a gift back for you as well. If you’re following the church’s Bible reading plan, we recently finished 1st Chronicles 29. From verses 14 onwards, we see David proclaiming these words, but who am I and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you and we have only given you what only comes from your hand. David’s proclamation is this acknowledgment that Lord, all I have is yours, and that truth remains true for each and every one of us. The God who cheerfully gave Himself to us loves the cheerful Giver as well. If you came prepared to give this morning, you can do either online, on the website or in the giving station at the back. I was in my trivia group this past Wednesday and I kept thinking to myself, I’m forgetting something. I am forgetting something and I don’t know what it is. And then Thursday morning I was doing announcements and I forgot to invite them to kickoff. That is not good. But don’t be like me. So we celebrate kickoff in the fall and it is a time where you get to invite that person that you’ve been thinking of, whether that’s a neighbor, a family member, someone in your circle they react to. Like it would be awesome if these people could come and see my church. See what a Gospel proclaiming church looks like. This is your time to invite them. It’s a place for them to come and see not just this community, but the God who is behind this community. And I was told to echo Brandon’s words from last week as well. The desserts are plenty, but the cleanup laborers are. So if you’re willing to stay a little longer and help up, that would be greatly appreciated as well. Every third Sunday of the month at 6:30pm the church gathers to pray. This is the time dedicated to acknowledging that without God, this church, this family of believers simply would not exist. It is God who sustains. It is he who guides. And our prayer will always that be that when we depend on him, he is glorified through us. So I encourage you to join us as we pour our hearts out to the Lord. We clothe ourselves in prayer so that when the world sees us, they don’t just see the church, they see the God who is clearly evidently working in and through us. Speaking of depending on the Lord, here’s a quick reminder that we will be having a meeting at the end of the service regarding our vision to plant churches. As exciting as new opportunities are, it is important that we humble ourselves and acknowledge that it is God. It is him who has brought us thus far and we need him to lead us again. In moments like this, Brandon will give us a little bit more information about childcare and everything that goes in there. But for now, let’s bow our heads in prayer, praying that bring for the church plans as well as the sermon that Brandon will be giving us. Praise be to you Lord, the God of our Father Israel. From everlasting to everlasting. Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power, the glory and the majesty and the splendor for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom you are exalted as head over all wealth and honor come from you. You are the ruler of all things. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all. Now our God, we give thanks to you and praise your glorious name. But who am I and who are my people that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you and we have only given you only wha

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Cityview Community Church of Elmhurst

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