CCW Podcast

Breakthrough: a sudden, dramatic, and important development. What does it take to break through ancient walls and obtain God's promise? We can feel that Israel is right on the brink, the precipice - an over 700 year old promise dating all the way back to Abraham is brimming and about to bring a revolution! There's just one thing left: complete submission to the supremacy of God and His circling plan, and the walls (of Jericho) and (of your) will come crashing down.

God has been mighty at work in our services and outreach. What a great time it has been to see God at work! Have you ever had a person in your life who made everything better when they showed up? In our sermon series, FORWARD, there are just a few things left to complete for Israel to cross over into the Promised Land. As they are preparing in Joshua 5:13 "a man stood with his sword drawn" and Joshua said,"Are you for us or against us?" We are going to be looking at the impact of that man's presence on the nation!

This Sunday is going to be unforgettable. We are honored to have the Landreth family share a special testimony of how God has miraculously worked in Eli's story. It is God's sovereign timing because in our FORWARD study this week, God tells Joshua to have the Israelites build a memorial of stones to celebrate the crossing of the Jordan River. Why? In cases like these we can forget to ascribe glory where it belongs - to God. In the moment, we are aware that it’s of God but as minutes flit away, so often goes our memory - forgetting just who God is and was in big life moments. And, when we forget the things that He’s done, our focus can shift to everything wrong. The issue, of course, is that we forget because we fail to make a memorial; we fail to rewind and revisit the powerful testimony of God's work. This Sunday at 10 AM we are going to be studying Joshua 4, "The Power of a Testimony."

For 40 long years Israel had been wandering in the wilderness. Finally, we get to the point where Joshua is going to lead the Israelites into Canaan and it’s easy street, right? Wrong. Immediately, they are met with an insurmountable obstacle: it’s fall and the Jordan River's banks have swelled. When you Burn the Boats and begin to move FORWARD, expect adversity. Satan doesn't want the child of God moving forward 1 inch. Satan would prefer we take up residence in the wilderness, living comfortably, quietly, eating our manna, and not making much of a stir. We are going to see what happens when the people of God, armed with the power of God face rough waters.

This week we are peering into Joshua 2. Often while working on the needs of many, God will divert His attention to one. Luke 15:4 says, "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it?" Rahab was one of the ones.

We are introduced to Rahab the harlot in Joshua 2, and her story tells me that sometimes God chooses people with rough resumes, gritty pasts, and audacity to move His plan FORWARD. There are a myriad of reasons why God might have chosen this particular woman to help the Israelites, but the one that sticks out is that other people might have underestimated Rahab's potential based on her past circumstances. But not God. He saw her potential and took her "From Shame to Fame."

Do you have a unique recipe maybe one that shows up at holiday's or very special events? There are 1,189 chapters with over 783,000 words in the Bible and God shares for the one and only time the word success and the recipe for obtaining it. In Joshua 1:8- "This Book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have good success." As a Christian it is vital to understand the way to move Forward. This Sunday at 10AM, we are continuing our new sermon series Forward with Pastor Rick's sermon "The Recipe for Success."

Joshua is one of the greatest characters in all of the BIble. He was Moses' protege and chosen to lead God's people courageously into the promised land.

There is a great hymn with these lines "Onward Christian Soldiers Marching as to war with the cross of Jesus going on before" and the theme running through the pages of Joshua is moving Forward. Forty years the children of Israel had to wander in the wilderness and wonder what could have been, what should have been, but Joshua because of his commitment and obedience to God would get to see the Promised land.

What if in 2023 the people of God marched not half hearted, not semi-Christian, no looking back, everyone put everything all in for Jesus! In Joshua chapter 1, God tells Joshua three times to Be Strong and Very Courageous and anytime God reiterates something it is important!

Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision the people perish." This Sunday, Pastor Rick will be bringing a vision message that is a 2023 rally cry entitled, "Burn The Boats." In Numbers 13 and 14, we study the story of Israel on the brink of going into the Promised Land with only one thing that could hold them back, and that one thing was Israel.

In 2023, we want to challenge the whole church to be ALL IN with the vision: BURN THE BOATS. This Sunday will be an amazing time of worship with our CCW family! It will serve as the prequel to the story of Joshua that we will be studying in our first sermon series of the year called "FORWARD."

It's 2023 and it's time to step "Forward" into Uncharted territory. To Paraphrase Joshua 3:3-4-God told the Israelites when they see the ark of the covenant (which represents the presence of God) you should follow after it, that you may know which way to go for it is a new way that you have not gone before. God wants to take us to deeper places with more of Him. Join us in prayer, that in 2023 we walk with the Lord finding His presence and being wholeheartedly committed to HIs ways seeking every avenue to making much of Jesus!