Our text for this week, Joshua 10:1-15, reminds us that “The Battle (Still) Belongs to the Lord.” That Yahweh is the source of their victory and the general whose commands they follow and whose guidance they trust is a point has already been made in the early stages of the conquest. Apparently it needs repeated. There is also a fascinating interplay between God’s sovereign hand and man’s activity in light of it, a point made clear in the remarkable comment of the sun standing still all day in response to Joshua’s petition.

This week, we will look together at Joshua 8:25-30: “The Importance of Renewal.” You may want to take some time to read all of chapter eight to get the full context. In contrast to the stunning defeat due to Achan’s sin in chapter seven, we find Joshua and the people receiving words of encouragement and paying much closer attention to God’s instructions in their next encounter with Ai. The next scene (our text) is not rebuke (a la Achan) but renewal! They pause for worship and recommitment, for remembering and rededicating – lest they go astray once again. It’s a fitting reminder of the need for rhythms of renewal as well.

Joshua 7 is a heavy chapter, portraying the real and severe consequences of disobedience. Yet, despite that sobering reminder, we find in it as well a powerful reminder of the rich grace lavishly extended by God to his people. How so, you may wonder? Listen in as we explore how the story of Achan’s sin calls for us to be “Taking Sin (and Grace) Seriously.”

As the Israelites make preparations for their first stop in the conquest of Canaan, God shows them in numerous ways that “The Battle (Ultimately) Belongs to the Lord.” The reminders of this reality are in the text from beginning to end as Joshua has an unusual encounter with a heavenly armed figure and the victory itself arrives through unorthodox means. It is something like a divine reset, especially with the reinstitution of circumcision as a prequel to their next steps, graphically demonstrating that God’s work is always greater than ours, and therefore we can trust and obey no matter what lies ahead.

After 500 years of waiting and wandering, the Israelites finally cross the Jordan River and pass into the Promised Land in Joshua 4. While Joshua’s actions seal his place as Israel’s leader, he and all the people are simply following the enduring presence of a God who is forging their path. The imagery of twelve stones marking the event is a powerful reminder of God’s faithfulness, and a signal to generations to come of his work and his character. Although a unique moment in redemptive history, we still remember and observe memorials of this kind, today, such as in communion.

This week, Ryan Zhang joins us as guest pastor from New City Presbyterian Church. Ryan moved to the United States from Guangzhou, China at the age of twelve, and attended middle and high school in Fairfield, OH. After receiving a B.A. in Government and American Studies from Georgetown University in Washington D.C., Ryan worked at a law firm in D.C. for three years and became a member of Grace DC (PCA), where he met his wife Abigail. Ryanreceived his Master of Divinity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in 2015, worked as a staff member at Christ the King Presbyterian Church in Cambridge, MA and joined the New City team in 2016.

As Joshua and the people prepare to cross the Jordan River in Joshua 3, we see once again that the presence of God--which the ark of the covenant represents, mentioned seventeen times in chapters three and four--provides the assurance needed to take the next steps in their long-awaited journey into the Promised Land. Crossing over the Jordan at flood stage and walking on dry land to the other side is nothing short of a remarkable demonstration that their God truly is God of heaven and earth. He is with them in the amazing, but also in the ordinary. Events such as this reinforce that he will never leave or abandon us!

This week, we encounter Joshua sending spies into the land of Canaan in preparation for the invasion. The spies are nearly discovered, but they find refuge with Rahab, a prostitute. Because she saves their lives, the spies reciprocate by agreeing to spare her and her family when Israel invades the city. The spies return to Joshua and share that “The LORD has given all the land into our hands!” As with the Israelites, so with us, seeing God's amazing work in such unlikely places ought to be enough to help all of us move forward into the world with great confidence and holy hope.

Welcome to our new sermon series on the book of Joshua, “Faithful on the Journey.” Our plan is to march straight through the book, taking one or two chapters at a time, and follow the flow of God’s redemptive work in fulfilling his promises as the Israelites cross the Jordan into the Promised Land.

As we start with chapter one, it is a watershed moment for those who have been wandering through the dessert over the course of four decades: they are about to reach their long-awaited destination, but they are doing so without their established leader. Moses has breathed his last; he is not with them. His absence leaves a tremendous void, but also serves to reinforce that the One who was with Moses is still with them.

Easter Sunday reminds us that Christ is risen from the dead, and the same Spirit whose power was the source of that resurrection now indwells his followers. It is a fitting day to consider Core Value #5: "Spirit-Empowered." Using 1 Peter 1:3-9 as our main text, we will see how the resurrection of Christ invites us both to embrace our dependence and find strength in the Spirit's work in our lives.