How to Kick-Start a Whole New Beginning │ Msg 12/16

If you have brought a Bible with you today, please turn to the book of Joshua, the first chapter. Let me read for you the first nine verses. Joshua 1, beginning at verse 1. Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, Moses, my servant, is dead.

Now therefore, arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel. Every place on which the soul of your foot treads, I have given it to you, just as I spoke to Moses. Watch closely the place from the wilderness and this Lebanon.

Even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, and as far as the great sea toward the setting of the sun, will be your territory. No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you.

I will not fail you or forsake you. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you.

Do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. If you came with a person sitting next to you, would you just reach over and take her hand or his hand?

And if it looks like someone that would feel comfortable doing that, just reach on over and take that hand, too. I'd like to lead us in prayer before we receive this offering. We learn so many great things from you, Father. With natures that are prone to wander, we learn from you obedience and holiness.

Because we are selfish, we learn from you how to release. Uh because we are by nature shortsighted, we learn to see farther and to think deeper. and to understand in a whole new way life from that other dimension, the dimension of the divine. And because our father we tend to grasp, we we learn from you the blessings of generosity.

We learn that it really is more blessed to give than to receive. We sit in this place today because you have through your people been most generous. And today we want to thank you for teaching us that joyful part of life that we are never happier than when we give and even sacrifice.

Thank you for being patient as we grow up. Lord, for some of us, it seems like it takes a whole lifetime to get some of these basic rules of life down. Thank you for teaching us so much through the lives of little children who believe in us and don't doubt and ever trust.

Who are able to laugh on dark days. who understand it seems what it is to fail and to forgive. Now Lord, in the midst of all of these good things, it is our pleasure and privilege to release again. We do it not in any way to gain your favor, for that is impossible.

We could not be loved more than you love us. And we do it not to be accepted because you have embraced us with your love. We give, Father, because you've taught us to do that. And it is such a joy to do it. And we do it in Jesus' name and for his sake.

Amen. New beginnings have their delightful moments and their unique challenges, don't they? Just think back to something that you went through that was new. Your honeymoon. No, let's don't go any further there. There were some delightful moments and then there were some challenges. Every time Cynthia and I I'm not going to tell them, honey, so relax.

Every time Every time we go back to our honeymoon, we just sort of roll our eyes and move on to another subject. That's the way we handle it. How about a new job? Remember the last time you started a new job? You didn't know where things were. You didn't know what door led to what.

You didn't feel that comfortable in somebody else's desk. you you had to get used to a whole list of names of people you had not met before and maybe you were in charge and they expected you to know their name but you didn't. I I remember my first uh day when it it was reality and I sat down at the desk of the presidency of Dallas Theological Seminary in the middle of the summer of 1994.

I sat at this desk and sat in that big leather chair. My rump was the wrong size for what had been formed in that chair and I didn't fit the chair and I I pulled out a drawer and that that's not what goes in that drawer that is over here.

And so I piled that over here and I pulled out these files. Files aren't there. Files are kept here and I put them over here and my phone was on the wrong side. I mean, uh, I realize that, um, I'm I'm sitting where giants have once sat, and I'm a dwarf, and I don't fit this setting very well.

And I I thought, not only is he a giant, he's a right-handed giant, and I'm left-handed. And so, that's why the phone is on a wrong side. And I remember changing it all around. I was putting this here and putting paper clips there and putting files over here and changing this to over there and all of a sudden I looked at my watch and I realized it was time for chapel and I was supposed to lead the chapel naturally.

And so it was a minute late and I remember I grabbed my Bible and I shoved one arm in my coat and I and I thought for a moment how I was going to start the meeting. I opened the door and walked right into the closet. Just directly into the closet.

And I laughed out loud and my secretary had never heard a laugh that loud in her life. She thought I was having a seizure and raced in and I said, "Everything's fine." She finally got you she never got used to the loudness, but she did get used to the laughter.

And uh we had a lot of moments like that. I I remember thinking uh it's not supposed to be like this. It's supposed to be like it was. Nothing new was ever like it was. There are not only delightful moments, there are some real challenges, aren't there? Um, moving into a new home, the light switch doesn't work.

Remember that? Or the toilet doesn't flush or this chair rail is is loose or the stairwell rail is loose. Or driven a new car out of the showroom [laughter] and it dies on you at the first red light. We've been through things like that. Uh bringing a new baby home.

Remember your first baby and you thought you're going to sleep by it all night. You didn't sleep for 12 months when you brought that baby home. If then and of course stepping into new church facilities. Well, this is wonderful. I even like the paneling on the walls. I like the color of the carpet.

This isn't the pulpit that I will have. This is a borrowed pulpit because the one we're building for me glows. No, I'm just kidding. [laughter] No, it doesn't. That's a joke. Just just a little smaller and a little more simple. [laughter] Why do I say things like that? >> [laughter] >> You know sometime when you when you are uh running an outfit you think well at least uh I'm beyond the problem of change and so it won't affect me but it does affect you.

I was I was reading Max Derri's wonderful little book leadership jazz this last week and he tells a terrific story on himself I could identify with. While CEO of Herman Miller and one assumed certain rights and privileges as the CEO. I arrived at work one morning with a long list of phone calls that I had to make.

As I turned to my telephone, I discovered my old phone with its 36 familiar buttons had been replaced by a gadget with an LCD display that looked like nothing I had ever touched before in my life. I asked my executive assistant, "What's this gadget?" And uh I was told it's my new telephone, but I didn't ask for a new telephone.

Well, Carol responded, "Everybody's got one. That's yours. At 300 PM, I was to be trained in its operation. I asked Carol if she could speed things up. I had a lot of work to do on the phone. Within a matter of a few minutes, Sally arrived and told me cheerfully she was here to teach me how to use my new phone.

Her first question was, "Are you computer literate?" I wasn't. Uh, "Can you read the instructions on the screen?" Well, I couldn't. She turned the brightness up. I still couldn't read the thing. In that case, she said, "Remember, and by the way, I am the CEO. It don't forget that."

She said, "Perhaps you can't have a phone after all." When I asked for my old phone back, Sally said they had already been junked. At this point, I was really a little perturbed. I I didn't want to change to a phone that rang with the tune, Mary had a little lamb.

Carol, sensing warfare was about to erupt, stepped in and said that she would work out the problem and Sally left immediately. Few hours later, a young man, this is great. Few hours later, a young man walked right into my office while I was holding an important meeting. As if we weren't there, he lay down on the floor and began to work on the cabling of the new telephone.

I inquired as civily as I could, "What are you doing?" He told me in a matter of fact manner, Sally said you didn't want a phone that rings Mary had a little lamb. I'm changing it to the battle him of the republic. Isn't that terrific? [laughter] Can you imagine every time you photo I could just imagine the CEO handling you?

You do not imagine the changes because no matter how few or how many, you don't want them. You don't like them. The ancient Jewish Talmud has great lying in it. I came across this week. Would that life were like the shadow cast by a wall or a tree, but it is like the shadow of a bird in flight.

We all wish that life stayed still. We get accustomed to it. We like certain things arranged certain ways. We like the feel of the familiar. We don't like surprises. We really want trees and walls in life. But we have birds in flight. And some of you could tell your own stories and keep us laughing at the things that occurred in your life as a result of adjustments.

But let me tell you something. Few people went through adjustments like the ancient Hebrews. They thought they had by now adjusted to all of the changes that were going to occur in their lives. Think of them. four decades in the wilderness setting up church, taking it down, [laughter] setting it up again, called the tabernacle, taking it down, rolling it up, and then unrolling it.

They had the system down. Pat, cloud moves, we move. Fire comes on the scene, we stop. Cloud moves, we move. Just as simple as that. Furthermore, they have Moses year after year after year. Four decades. Count them. Most of you have never in your life been under the same pastor.

Four decades. If you have, you can appreciate the adjustment they had facing them. Moses dies. They've never been under Joshua's leadership. They've never really heard much from his voice. Moses voice is in the woodwork. After 40 years, you've learned Moses' style. He's been your advocate before God. It's familiar.

You know his length of patience and you know his depth of wisdom. Probably no one besides Christ himself cast a more significant shadow across this earth scene than Moses the lawgiver. and he dies. And if that isn't enough adjustment, they are turning toward the Jordan, and they're going to be moving into enemy territory, who have not one God, but multiple gods, whose idol worship has led them down a path of what you and I would call gross immorality, which these Israelites by now are not even talking or thinking about.

That's where they're going. And of all things, under a brand new leader. I have found in this first chapter of Joshua uh six very helpful guidelines for what I'm calling how to kickstart a whole new beginning. Uh you probably have not taken notes before, and I rarely ask you to do that.

But today, I'm going to change my game plan. In your Bible, you will find some blank sheets, probably some pages that nothing has been written on. If things are written on it, don't change it. But if uh you've got a blank page where you're able to write a note or two, put down first Sunday sermon, new building, February 4, 2001.

And uh we'll we'll call these six guidelines that are still in vogue today. Just as they worked for the people of the Hebrews, they will work for us. Just as they worked in the land of Canaan, they will work for us in this territory where we find ourselves.

Here's the first guideline. Let's face reality. Let's face reality. Now it came about after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' servant, saying, "Moses, my servant, is dead." Stop reading. That's reality. Now, in case you wonder what these people have been doing for the last few days, go back to the previous chapter, Deuteronomy 34, verses 7 and 8, and we'll see how they've been spending their time.

Deuteronomy 34:7. Although Moses was 120 years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated. So the sons of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab 30 days. Then the days of weeping and mourning for Moses came to an end. Joshua the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom.

For Moses had laid his hand on him, etc., etc. Back to Joshua 1:2. God tells them the obvious. They not only know it, they have been praying through the mourning of it for 30 days. It's like my coming to you 30 days after your own mother or father has died and remind you your parent has died.

Why would I do that if for no other reason it would be to say it's time for you to face the reality they are gone. You will not hear their voice. You will not see even their shadow. Their clothing will hang limp in the closet until you remove it. remove them.

There will be reminders of them, but they are gone. Those days are passed. Those experiences are over. I have found that it is imperative before anyone can move on. They must face the fact that the past is over. Some of you have gone through the horrors and disappointments of a divorce.

Your partner has left. The marriage is over. For you to live in the backwash of those years and to shape your life for the future as it has been in the past will only hold you there longer needlessly so in the sorrow and sadness of what once was.

In this case, the Lord is preparing them for the new leader, Joshua. Start here. Moses is dead. I'm old enough to remember the newscast FDR is dead. We were still in the Second World War. I was a young lad. I remember my mother and dad's shock as they got the news of the death of the president. 18 years later, I was by then married and had a family living in Texas.

And I remember the newscast JFK is dead. Most of us remember where we were when that newscast was made known. I can tell you exactly where I was. I remember a few years later hearing, in fact, seeing it on television the resignation of a president in shame as Nixon resigned.

Those are vivid memories. For us as a nation to stay stuck there would only hold us back from the blessings of a future that would go on past those significant people in our nation's history. Start here, Israel. Face reality. Moses is dead. By the way, before I go to the second guideline, I remember a line from Awtoer in his book, The Divine Conquest.

Isn't that a great name for a book? As he describes moving from Moses on to Joshua and then on to other leaders, the divine conquest. He said, "When a man of God dies, nothing of God dies." Remember that when someone who has been very significant in your life passes away, nothing of God has passed away.

Nothing of God has changed when a man of God changes. Nothing of God falls when a man of God falls. Nothing of God moves on. When a man of God moves on, he is the same. Hebrews 13:8, he is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Moses is dead.

The implication is, but I'm very much alive. And the baton has moved from Moses to Joshua. And the implied command is, follow him as you have followed your longtime leader, Moses. Guideline number two. Let's move on. Let's move on. The end of verse two down through verse four.

My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise, cross the Jordan. Isn't that great? You've mourned 30 days and it's appropriate. You miss Moses. Of course, who wouldn't? No one quite like Moses. But now arise, get up off your faces, get past the burial site, move beyond Mount Nebo, where you last saw Moses climbing to his place of death.

Let's go on to Canaan. Cross this Jordan. Take on the challenges that the future will bring. Look at how it reads in verse two. He even describes the boundaries. You and all the people, move to the land which I am giving to them, the sons of Israel. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads, I have given to you, just as I spoke to Moses.

Then he puts the boundaries down from the wilderness and this Lebanon, even as far as the great river, the river Euphrates, all the land of the Hittites, as far as the great sea, that's the Mediterranean, toward the setting of the sun will be your territory. They were standing on the east side and looking west toward the setting of the sun.

Your territory will go all the way to the Mediterranean, the great sea. As I read that and I came across Lebanon, I thought, how good of God. He had us in mind. When he saw verse four there, the wilderness to this Lebanon. So I put it in a paraphrase. from the campus of Colin County Community College and this Lebanon.

Thanks Lord to Parkwood even beyond uh Preston Road near the Dallas North Tollway. All the land in Fris these 62 acres as far as the edge of it will take you. Let's move on. Now we all got a little bit attached to the college. Some of us a little more attached to those white plastic chairs than we should have been.

But the point here is that we move on. There is a tomorrow. There is a future. There is a different kind of future. And it is beyond buildings and chairs and sites that are even now becoming more familiar to us. Let's move on to territory we don't even know is upon us.

Let's move into new dreams and new directions the Lord will have for us. That's how you stay alive. That's how you you keep from being uh static and stale in life. You welcome it. You move toward it rather than run from it. Warren Wearsby in his fine book, Be Strong, makes this statement.

Over the years, I've seen churches and parurch ministries flounder and almost destroy themselves in feudal attempts to embalm the past and escape the future. Their theme song was, "As it was in the beginning, it is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen." Often I prayed with and for godly Christian leaders who were criticized, persecuted, and attacked simply because, like Joshua, they had a divine commission to lead a ministry into new fields of conquest, but the people would not follow.

More than one pastor has been offered as a sacrificial lamb because he dared to suggest that that the church make some changes. You weren't there, but Cynthia and I were. I will never forget when we did make that announcement before our friends at Insight for Living, telling them that they were moving, we were moving the ministry from Anaheim, California to some part of the metroplex, the Dallas uh area in Texas.

It was as quiet there as it is right now in in that place. And there were a whole series of emotions that came over different individuals. We had hammered away at the plan with our board. We had prayed, we had dreamed, we had thought, we had shaped, reshaped, rethought, reprayed, had gone through really, really years of this back and forth, back and forth. and finally settled and convinced, we made an announcement that we will face the reality.

We'll be here only so many more months and we will move on. Uh it said one thing to people living in Dallas. It said something else to people who couldn't make the move and that would mean for them the end of what had been a wonderful journey and experience with us. in our radio ministry.

Moving on is full of anticipation and hope for some, but for others it's tough. Here again, it means changes, alteration of life and lifestyle, adjustment to new things. Beyond the Jordan were things the Hebrews couldn't even have imagined. But the Lord said, 'Arise, get across the Jordan. Which brings us to the third.

Let's not be afraid. That's verse five. Let's not be afraid. Before I read verse five, let me just remind you that the most common response to the unknown is fear. And I have to say, the older you get, the greater the fears. the unknown, the uncertain loom before the aging with an enormous amount of concern.

Some of these people were beginning to get into those middle years and even beyond. And so the Lord says for them, "If no one else," verse five, "no man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life." What a promise. There's another verse of scripture that says, "No weapon formed against you will stand."

These Hebrews were about to face people that were larger in size than they, who handled weapons that were much more powerful than these Hebrews had ever even seen, to say nothing of handling. There were obstacles that were beyond the Jordan that could be intimidating. And again, each one of these bringing fearful thoughts.

My dictionary defines fear as a feeling of anxiety caused by the presence or imminence of danger. Fear is a feeling of anxiety caused by the presence or the imminence of danger. And then these synonyms are given dread, fright, alarm, trepidation, panic. questions begin with what if or but this could occur.

People who run for presidential offices often pray on the fear especially of the aging, dropping fearful thoughts in their minds, suggesting if you elect my opponent, this will fall through the cracks that you've now begun to lean on and rely on. playing on the fear of other people.

But here the Lord says, "Settle down. Relax." And I want to say by way of application to all of us at Stone Brier Community Church, we have nothing to fear. We have a lot of the unknown, a lot of the uncertain. All of that is out in the future, but none of it is to make us afraid.

Why? Verse five, just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you. Remember the comment, when a man of God moves on, nothing of God moves on. When a man of God dies, nothing of God. As I have been with Moses, I'm not any different. I will be with you.

So, he will be with us when faith is required to take on the new ventures. I will not fail you when you've come to the end of your resources. says, "The Lord will not fail you. He will not fail us as a church. I will not forsake you."

The word means to be abandoned, to be left. I will not abandon you. I will not forsake you. I just finished a deep study on the crucifixion. And uh I came to the saying on the cross where the Lord Jesus hanging in that uh uh tenuous place pinned to the cross with these uh square Roman nails screamed uh my God my God why have you forsaken me?

I I did a study on the word forsaken and found that it it was an intense term uh that was used by the Lord Jesus meaning absolute abandonment. Abandonment. And you know why the Lord God forsook the son while on the cross? He was bearing the sins of the world.

And a holy God cannot fellowship with sinfulness at any point. Even when the sinfulness is borne by his precious son. So for that moment of time when he took the sins of the world on himself, the Lord Jesus realizing the absence of the father screamed alama right from his own native tongue uh Aramaic why have you why have you abandoned me?

He felt that sense of abandonment. The good news is we will never know it. It will never be a cry from our lips. As tough as the journey may get, he will never abandon us. Put in the margin of your Bible Romans 8:31. If God be for us, who can be against us?

I love the question. I think uh Eugene Peterson in his paraphrase the message says, "If God's on our side, what does it matter who's on the other side? When I was a little kid playing Sandlot football, which is as far as I got in high school playing football, when I was a little kid playing football, I did most of it on Sandlot down at the end of our street in Houston um right next to St.

Andrews Methodist Church. Uh there was a kid that showed up just about every day to play football in the afternoon for the sunset. His name was Bruce. Bruce was a big kid. I didn't know anything about Bruce except a kid could play football. He was a mother of all football players.

And I don't know why he didn't play for high school. Probably a dropout. But I remember really being envious of Bruce. He had hair on his chest. And I used to think, boy, that'd be great. I still think that would be great, you know. And I used to think, boy, it'd be great to have hair coming out of your t-shirt, you know.

And uh Bruce was too big for his size. And but I'm going to tell you something. When Bruce took that ball and ran, he scored. And I learned when we're choosing up sides, get over near Bruce because when they get to the end, they'll choose you. They'll take you.

And so I was usually on Bruce's side. Uh because whoever was on Bruce's side won. Whoever is on God's side wins. If God is for us, you have nothing to fear. No matter how large the hurdle, we have nothing to fear. Let's not be afraid. Let's admit we don't know what the future holds, but let's not succumb to even imaginary fears.

I have found in my life with the Lord that faith and fear cannot grow together. When there's fear, faith stops. There's a fourth. Let's stand tall. It gets better, doesn't it? The negative is let's not fear. The positive side, let's stand tall. Now, I want you to observe something in this context.

I want you to watch as I read these verses. I want you to see what is mentioned several times. Let's start at verse six. Watch closely. Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.

Verse seven, only be strong and very courageous. Be careful to do according to all the law which Moses my servant commanded you. Verse nine, have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Verse 18. Anyone who rebelss against your command and does not obey your words and all that you command him shall be put to death. Only be strong and courageous. When God says something once, it's important. If God says something a second time, it is mighty significant. If he says it a third time, it is of highest priority.

But when he says it four times in the same section, it is inexpressibly indispensable. You can bank on it. four times the commands. Be strong and courageous, even sometimes very courageous. Not proud and arrogant, but firmly confident. Not self assured, but absolutely determined. not conceited or vain, but fiercely committed to scriptural principles.

That's the thought. Standing tall in obedience, refusing to turn, verse seven, to the right or to the left, standing tall. Our own Steve Ferrar who will uh before too long be involved in the leading of our men's ministry at our church has written several fine books. One of my favorite that he wrote is called by that name Standing Tall.

His very first chapter is fascinating. He entitles the chapter Riding for the Brand. If you love the Western world and the world of the Cowboys, you'd love this book, man. Standing tall. In the chapter riding for the brand, Ferrar writes this. The brand. Every man and boy in the Old West knew the importance of a brand.

A brand was the mark a rancher would burn on his stock. But it was more than that, much more. When a man hooked up with a certain outfit, it was then said that he was riding for the brand. Louisie Lamore, the great storyteller of the American West, etches out for us the significance of those four potent words.

Now he quotes Lamore. The term riding for the brand was an expression of loyalty. loyalty to a man's employer or the particular outfit he rode for. It was considered a compliment of the highest order in an almost feudal society. If a man did not like a ranch or the way they conducted their affairs, he was free to quit.

Many did. But if he stayed on, he gave loyalty and he expressed it. A man was rarely judged by his past, only by his actions. Many a man whom came west left things behind him he would rather forget. So it was not the custom to ask questions. Much was forgiven if a man had courage and integrity and if he did his job.

Ferrar adds this thought. Riding for the brand is a high calling. No, that's not quite right. It's the highest calling. It's the brand that is above every brand and every other name. For it signifies the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. When a man begins to understand the privilege and responsibility of owning this brand, he will give it nothing less than his best.

That's called standing tall. We at Stonebrier Community Church have no reason to be proud or arrogant. It would be important that we not get caught in the sense of self asssurance or conceit and vanity. But I will tell you, having had a little experience in churches on the move, we have got some tough days in front of us.

If I knew what they were, I'd already be warning us. But like you, I don't know them. We're in a culture that's lost its way. We're in an area that's caught up in this world's stuff. To be a church that continues to count for Christ will require that we stand tall.

That's not we just in a blurred group of a few hundred or a few thousand people. That's you standing alone when you must. I challenge us as we face the future that we not only face reality and move on and not be afraid, but that we stand tall when we come to those times.

Let me add that there will be occasions when it will be necessary for us to be led, and I'll say more about this in a moment, by the book rather than by some church members preference. We'll go with the book, not to be ugly, not to be offensive, but to be right.

This book will guide us into the way we must go. and its principles will never catch us up short, but neither will they make us popular. If you are committed to Stone Community Church, understand you're going to be committed to biblical principles for the way we do what we do.

It gets specific in verses 8 and n gives us our fifth guideline. Let's stay focused. Let's stay focused. Look how focused these verses state. Verse eight, this book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night. Why? So that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it.

Verse nine. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you. Look at this. This is God's book. This is God's word. Nothing I say is more important than what appears in this book. No conviction that I hold is more important than the conviction set forth in this book.

My counsel on how you rear your children is not as valuable as the counsel that comes from this book. So, let's seek its counsel in the rearing of our young. What I feel from my past about churches and how things ought to be handled here is not nearly as important as the guidelines set forth in this book.

I stand under its authority and I give you my word. You will not be abused because I have the book in my hand and I preach more than anyone else. I will not abuse you with that. But what I will do is take you again and again and so will your teachers in your adult fellowships, in your teenage groups, in your children's group.

Your teachers will guide you from this book because this book is not to depart from our mouths. We are to meditate in it day and night. It doesn't mean we're reading it constantly because we have work we have to do. We've got to take care of our business, of course, but it means having poured over it, we begin to mull it over.

We we think it through in light of the way we do our business, the way we conduct our homes, the way we seek our educational future, the way we make plans for for specific ministries, the the the way we deal with sin and failure in our life. All of this is guided by the book and we meditate on it.

I think of a of an old cow. I don't know much about cattle, but I sometime watch them as they go and they bring up I don't know where it comes from. I it it's down there somewhere and they start to chew again. It's called chewing the cud.

I guess if it's a good meal, you enjoy it several times. So that that's what they're doing. Now you get a good meal in the in the scriptures and you bring it up again and you're at work. You you maybe I shouldn't go any further with that illustration, but the point is you meditate on it.

You turn it over in your mind. You think it through. You determine the decisions you need to make in light of what scripture teaches, not how you were raised necessarily, or not because Dr. So and so used to teach such and such. That that's fine. But if it squares with the word of God, great.

If it doesn't, you can cast it aside. But if it's found in the scriptures, that's what we want to get a hold of because we want to stay focused regardless of size, increase or decrease. We're going to stay focused on the word of God. If this is the kind of thing that interests you, you'll be interested in our future.

If our if it isn't, you you won't enjoy us. You won't it won't be the kind of place you'll find delight. But we're going to stay focused because we want to we'll learn to do according to what we read and study and learn. We want to do that.

Now then there's one more. Been waiting all through the message for this one. It's these others are really serious. But this one number six is let's enjoy this place. Is that a great principle or what? You say where did you get it? Well, I kind of rammed it in.

I mean up here at the end of up here at the end of verse eight, you will see after you have taken in the word of God, it will make your way prosperous. That's a happy thing, isn't it? and then you will have success. By the way, rarely does the scriptures speak of success in the Old King James Bible.

That's the only place it appeared. It was called good success. Remember, you shall have good success only time in the KJV. It appeared. It appears here and it appears in the previous verse, verse 7 in the NASB. So that you may have success wherever you go. Uh we're going to stay in this book.

We're going to stand tall. We're not going to be afraid. We're going to uh move on. We're going to we're going to face reality, but I want us to enjoy this place. This is not an endurance run till Swindoll dies or until one of you passes off the scene.

This is not grinded out evangelical Christianity. This is not about staying grim. This is about having the time of our life. I think for the believer in Christ, there is more fun than the law out. Well, I shouldn't put it quite like that, but there is a lot of fun that many people don't tap into because they think I'm a Christian.

I should not I should not enjoy life so much or I should not be laughing like this. I shouldn't have so much fun and such a delight. I want to tell you, we are in this building to enjoy it. We were sitting around here as it was being finished up this week and we were having more fun together.

We were laughing about God providing this and God doing that and different people coming in helping doing that. I I thought as we left, this is one of the one of the great places where you can have fun to the maximum and you never go home with a hangover.

You you go home feeling great. There some of the best people on planet earth are sitting around this this room and we're sitting here in that first service. It's our privilege to share life with them. Remember the major statement of the Westminster confession. The very first question, listen to the question.

What is the chief end of man? You who were raised Presbyterian know the answer because you went through catechism. The chief end of man, meaning the ultimate purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. I think that's great. Written by those Presbyterian prelets that look like they've been eating corn cob through a picket fence.

I mean, TO ENJOY him forever. That's right. To glorify God, to enjoy him forever. Let me ask you a question. You enjoying the Lord? You You enjoyed him? Some of your faces haven't learned that yet, but if you say yes, I'll believe you. Uh, are you really having a great time?

I said for the longest time, whenever we stopped laughing around the seminary, I'm on my way. I I'm not staying beyond that. It's got to be fun. We We got to be sure it's fun. Doesn't mean everything we do is fun. It just means more things than most people realize is fun.

You say, "Well, uh I'm not sure that uh that that really is is is our goal." Well, I am. Uh let's start there. And uh and let me let me tell you something else. Uh uh I've I've known some folks who reached the pinnacle and had everything but joy and it was it was empty.

One of them is our friend Chuck Coulson. He writes his book Born Again, the story of when they won the 1972 election for the president Nixon. Remember months and months of struggle, strategy, and sacrifice? Three long years. Listen to this. Three long years I had committed everything I had, every ounce of energy to Richard Nixon's cause.

Nothing else mattered. We had no time together as a family, no social life, no vacations. Then victory came. I'll never forget that night. Listen to the picture he draws of the Oval Office that night. Three figures were in the Oval Office. Halddederman, arrogant and sullen. Nixon restless and gulping scotch.

Myself feeling let down, deflated. There was a deadness inside me. No laughter. Three men at the pinnacle of the world's power and not a single note of joy discernable in the room. Can you imagine? Sounds like a church conference. You think about it. It can happen to us.

We get so set on getting the job done and winning in the world and getting serious about Jesus that everything's got to go that direction. First of all, our kids split because they hate it. And second is phony. It's legalism. Lacks balance. Let me tell you about my first car.

Speaking of that, my first car was a 1948 Fleet Line Chevy. It was slick, man. I tell you, it was a great little car. This was 195 three or four. It was a 48, so it was a used car. And my dad uh put tires on it. I got white walls, big gangster walls.

We big white wall. And uh it was dark blue. Never have a didn't have a spot on it. I polished it every week. The chrome knockout. I had skirts on it. Not in it. Skirts on it. On it. Had 4inch lowering blocks. Had pipes. Boom boom boom boom boom. clean the engine every week with gunk.

Gunk. It's called gunk. You spray it on there. I polished parts of the engine. Every month I was underneath it washing off the differential and the transmission and every Greek grease zer I cleaned and painted orange. everyone. I mean, I made $68 a month payments on that mother to you.

I thought I would never see the end. And I'm working to keep this car perfect, but the upholstery, it was out of this world. Fabulous car. My granddaddy, who really liked having a good time in life, came to visit me, visit us as a family one weekend. And he sat on the back porch and watched as I was finishing my third hour on his car.

He said, "Son," I said, "Yeah, granddaddy." He says, "I'll make you a deal. If you just start enjoying this car, I'll pay it off. [laughter] He said, "You need to drive this silly thing. Burn rubber down the driveway. Go on dates. Eat hamburgers. Go into Prince's hamburgers with a date and throw French fries all around and cruise down to Galveastston."

He says, "You know the problem, son? You own the car. Really? It owns you and you're not enjoying it. My granddaddy was right. Began a whole life of out of control joy as a result of that counsel. I'll never forget it. Son, I'll pay the silly thing off if you just start enjoying it.

Look around. Just a great joint. Uh, nice building, I should say. This is a great place. It's going to have what do you call those? Banners. It's going to have banners up here. It'll have a cross. Okay. So, don't worry. Some relax. Have we'll finish all the lighting and all the speaking.

We'll have people come. We'll have we'll have groups here. We'll have a great sing with the thing. But let me tell you something, folks. It's it's it's a place to enjoy. Okay? It's a place to enjoy. Now, not everything that happens here will interest you. So, don't come to everything.

Church has too many meetings. Don't come to all the meetings. Leave some of them out. It's more fun at home sometimes. It's more fun for your kids. So, relax about the church thing, okay? Not forever, but I mean, pick and choose. If the if the king's brass interests you, show up and enjoy it.

Have fun. If it doesn't, stay away. Nobody's going to hammer you because you miss a meeting. This is about enjoyment. We're not here to serve the church. We're serving the Lord Christ. And this is where we meet to do it. But I'm going to tell you something. I will tell you this.

I need to warn you. Stuff we do here is going to be so good, it's going to be hard to miss. So, you got a choice. You want to miss it. Hey, it's your call. But I'm going to tell you, anytime you come, it wasn't worth it. We failed.

Unless your heart wasn't right. If your heart's right and it doesn't really meet a need, there's something wrong with what we're doing. This is about needs being met. It's about leaving saying, "Man, that's just about one of the greatest times I've ever had in my life." like I started having in my 48 Chevy.

Boy, I had fun in that sucker after a while. That's great, man. Get that over out of the way. [laughter] Going to call for the benediction, baby. This is stopping that stuff. [laughter] Oh, man. I love doing this stuff. This is so great. I love you and I believe in what we're doing.

I just think it's the greatest thing. It's a fulfillment of a great dream. I just want it all to be so balanced. And I want real needs met. I don't want anything around here worshiped, including me. I want us to worship the Lord Christ. And I want us to spend our days collecting grand memories which will be connected to this place.

I want us to enjoy it. Then we will have great success. We will know prosperity like God gauges prosperity. I'd like us to bow our heads. I just like you to close your eyes and just relax. I'm not going to embarrass you. I'm I'm not going much longer here.

You're really sure you got your priorities in the right place? I can't know. If I spent an hour with you, I couldn't tell you. Between you and the Lord, it's your call. First of all, take a trip back to the cross. That old place of horror where he died for you where he had you in mind when he said, "Father, forgive them because they don't know what they're doing."

You ever met him there? What a place. It's the beginning of bliss. As John Bunan wrote, "Here is the beginning of bliss. Just come as you are. Just a sinner. Naked, undone, foul, messed up, profane, dirty. Just come like you are. He won't even ask you to try real hard to get cleaned up before you meet him.

He'll clean you up afterwards. I invite you to come today. very small select group of people in the prayer room are there to talk with you quietly and intelligently about how your life can be transformed. You can start having real fun. The kind you can take right on with you into eternity.

Maybe you just need somebody to pray with. That's why we're here. Lord and Father, I'm so grateful that you are easy to live with. I'm so thankful that the the sacrifice was paid by your son and you have taken away the offense and you've broken down the wall that was between us and you've given us peace.

Forgive us, our father, for being more rigid than you are. Forgive us for our shortsightedness, our fears, our doubts, our lack of authenticity, our intense desire to impress somebody else and all that foolishness. And uh Lord, begin a process. Start today making us real people. Make us real. make our our our leaders at this church real people and our staff real people, our flock as they impact other people with the good news of Jesus.

May it be the most winsome and contagious message that could be heard on the streets of this city. how we love you for accomplishing this for us. We get no credit. You get it all. For we couldn't have operated one second without breath in our lungs or blood in our veins.

You kept all that going. Thank you. Now, Lord, continue to do a great work even when this meeting ends. guide us carefully and clearly through these guidelines so that we kickstart this new beginning and really get off to a great start, great beginning. We give you our praise.

We're out of words and knowing how to say it. So, we just express it in the name of Jesus for his sake. Amen. Don't stack your chairs. ((applause)) The preceding message, how to kickstart a whole new beginning, was copyrighted in 2001, 2002, ((music playing)) and 2019. And the sound recording was copyrighted in 2019 by Charles R.

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