NJ Mosaic Christian Fellowship Mosaic Christian Fellowship

Live as a child of God and pass on the gifts I have received as an inheritance to my children.

We begin our family sermon series looking at Joseph's family story. Family is both beautiful and broken at the same time. We begin by looking at God's design and intention for family. Family was designed to be our first Jesus community. In this community we were to ground ourselves in God's Word, intimately commit to one another and experience the joy of having all things in common. Sin came broke God's design for family. We see the brokenness of family in Joseph's family story. Joseph had a deeply flawed family who scarred him and wounded him. Despite this, God does not allow Joseph to move forward without redemption for his family. In seeing God's fatherhood and care, Joseph is able to not only forgive his family but move towards them with redemption.

We come to the end of Joshua. The people of God are settling into the land and they are about to start their lives after all this time. But as they were prepared to get on with their lives, Joshua stuns them with a startling ultimatum. He says to them: "Choose this day whom you will serve." Joshua shows them that they cannot make a life without either serving or rejecting God. They will either serve the gods of the world or they will serve God. They don't have the choice not to choose. In this sermon, we will see how choosing ourselves is choosing idols and to try to serve both God and idols is death. We will finally count the cost together as a congregation and see why choosing God every day is choosing life.

Joshua is at the end of his life and now he is no longer the young man leading the charge into battle. Joshua is now an older man and he is to give hsi faith away- his life away. We also are called to give our lives away in the second half of life. We can only do that when we find our home with God. We must wrestle with God and be overpowered by his love for us. Joshua’s inheritance to them is the call to love the LORD. We are also to pass on the way of heaven to others as we get older.

The main theme highlighted here is that God has and is establishing His people as a nation in the land of Canaan. Most of the land has been conquered and now being portioned out to the twelve tribes of Israel. Two things remain. The portioning of the land for cities of refuge and for the levites. Of the 48 Levite cities, six of them, are to become the cities of refuge. God displays His concern for His people by showing Justice and mercy. For the one who accidentally kills someone, they can flee to the the city of refuge and after due process if found innocent will be protected and cared for by the city. The only way the accidental killer can go back to his home town is when the High Priest who was serving passes away. Then that person is able to go back home with no record or fear of revenge. The Church is called to be the city of refuge (little c), because our King is our City of refuge (Big C - Christ).

The main theme that is being highlighted here is God’s unrelenting commitment to His people—that once you are His, you are forever His and there’s nothing you can do that will make Him let go of you. We’re going to read this passage together and I pray that as you read along you feel just how much God is committed to His people. The 3 points that will help us see just how vast God’s covenant faithfulness is: (1)The reach of God’s covenant faithfulness; (2)Our response to God’s covenant faithfulness; and (3)Life in light of God’s covenant faithfulness.