As I look at our world I see that our homes are in trouble. Not only are they in trouble, but they are troubled. We have families fighting against each other -- husbands against wives, wives against husbands, children against parents, and children against each other. It appears, as though everybody is just angry with everybody. What happened to the good times? What happened to the days when families used to sit down and eat together, laugh together, cry together, and share the Word of God together? I will tell you what happened. Prayer time has been replaced by Showtime . . . and HBO, and by X Box XS, and Play Station 5, by Nintendo Switch, and all sorts of video games like Call of Duty: Warzone and Minecraft, etc. Facebook and all kinds of social media have replaced the spirituality in our lives. Texting has taken the place of conversation. We allowed them to take prayer out of our schools. We have allowed them to take our rights to chasten our children. We stopped attending Bible classes, and “Mid-week services” have replaced “old fashioned” prayer meetings. (Probably none of us really know how to conduct a real prayer meeting today.) And if you think I am wrong, just check Sunday night and Wednesday attendance figures. In some churches attendance at those times is so low that they have just decided to do away with them and only offer Sunday morning worship - services just one day a week! People, God’s people, are not taking the time to learn the Word of God anymore, and these days we have to beg people to come and worship God (which they should want to do out of hearts of love and appreciation of what He has done for us). There is no way that you can say that you truly love and appreciate God when you can’t even even spend two days a week with him. There are a few things we note right off as we examine what Joshua said. First, when Joshua declared faithfulness to the Lord, he did so for HIS WHOLE FAMILY! He didn’t call the family together and take a vote. He didn’t ask Ms. Joshua and all the little Joshuas what they wanted to do in this matter. He recognized his responsibility as the spiritual leader of his family and said, “Family, here is what we are going to do.” I believe in this present day the one thing that is missing the most in the Lord’s churches is the willingness of husbands and fathers to seriously take on the role of spiritual leader in their homes. Many men have fallen victim to the Hollywood stereotypical idea of a man as being Mr. Macho, of being so “Ramboish” and so tough that he has no need of an Almighty God. Some have never accepted Christ as Savior and therefore cannot truly be a proper spiritual leader in the home. Others, for whatever reason, just do not desire that role and so pass it on to their wives. (I am thankful for mothers who will faithfully accept that role when dads refuse to obey God.) Churches today need MEN TO BE REAL MEN, men who will tell their families, “This is what we are going to do” . . . men who will take a stand for the Lord like Joshua did and stand up, stand up for Jesus! We need men who will say, 1) “We are going to go to church as a family.” “We are going to serve and worship God in our homes as well as in church.” “We are going to put away those things that are not pleasing to God.” “We are going to be a truly Christian family.” Next, when Joshua declared faithfulness to the Lord he set an example for all those around him. He said, “. . . choose you this day whom ye will serve . . . but as for me and my house . . . ” He didn’t say, “We’re going to take a poll and see what is popular among all of you and then do it.” He didn’t say, “We’re going to check for the least offensive way to serve the Lord and do that.” He didn’t choose to hide his candle under a bushel and only serve God at home and at church but not out in public. He said, “This is what we are going to do regardless of what you decide.” Our text is a charge and a challenge that is needed by God’s people today. And, lest we think we can get too old (or too old in the Lord) to be encouraged to faithfulness, be reminded that Joshua was about 110 years old at this time. We never get too old to declare our devotion to the Lord. And, we never get too old to faithfully serve the Lord. Joshua declared his devotion to the Lord and encouraged the people to do the same. We cannot possibly repay God for all His blessings, but I believe we owe Him a debt of gratitude for all He has done for us. There are a few other things I would like for us to notice from these verses.