Joshua 8:30-35: Renewing the Covenant
Theological Proposition/Focus: God has done things worth remembering.
Homiletical Proposition/Application: Take advantage of the divine memorial that God has set up by practicing those memorials.
Contents
- 1 Introduction:
- 1.1 Image: Why take so many pictures? So you can remember
- 1.2 Preview: We are going to look at Joshua 8:30-35 and see that God's promises are worth recounting. Then we will practice the two ordained memorials that God has provided for his people.
- 1.3 Text: Joshua 8:30-35; 1 Cor. 11:23-29; Acts 2:36-41
- 1.4 Setting the Stage:
- 2 Body
- 2.1 God's words, promises, and acts are worth recounting (30-35).
- 2.1.1 Joshua led the people in covenant renewal.
- 2.1.1.1 The Significance
- 2.1.1.1.1 In Deuteronomy 27:1-8 Moses commanded Israel to perform a covenant renewal ceremony on Mt. Ebal upon entering the land.
- 2.1.1.1.2 The march from the camp at Gilgal northward would have been about 30 miles through sparsely populated areas.
- 2.1.1.1.3 Why here? because from these centrally located peaks most of the promised land can be seen.
- 2.1.1.2 The Process
- 2.1.1.1 The Significance
- 2.1.2 Joshua led the people in corporate reading of the Law.
- 2.1.3 MTR: Commit to reading your Bible daily this week (5 min., 10 min. 30 min. 60 min.)
- 2.1.1 Joshua led the people in covenant renewal.
- 2.2 Christ's payment for sins is worth recounting (11:23-29)
- 2.2.1 The proclamation of the Lord's Supper is significant (26).
- 2.2.2 The seriousness of the Lord's Supper demands attention (27-29).
- 2.2.3 MTR: Corporate prayer of confession
- 2.2.4 The memorial of the Lord's Supper should be celebrated (23-26).
- 2.2.5 MTR: Let's practice the Lord's supper together.
- 2.3 Your personal decision to place your complete faith in Christ is worth recounting (Acts 2:36-41)
- 2.3.1 The nagging question we each must answer is that of what do we do with our sin (36-37).
- 2.3.2 The solution you need is to repent and believe in Christ's atonement (38-39).
- 2.3.3 The natural next step is baptism (40-41).
- 2.3.4 MTR: As we baptize today, recall your own commitment to trust Christ.
- 2.1 God's words, promises, and acts are worth recounting (30-35).
Introduction:
Image: Why take so many pictures? So you can remember
Emily loves to take pictures. I checked the other day and she has 41,000 photos saved. When we were on vacation as she was taking pictures I asked her, "why do you take so many pictures." She told me "because I know I will forget these things but if I have a picture then I will remember." You see we all have a tendency to forget and so we do things to remind ourselves of significant items. We need reminding!
Preview: We are going to look at Joshua 8:30-35 and see that God's promises are worth recounting. Then we will practice the two ordained memorials that God has provided for his people.
Text: Joshua 8:30-35; 1 Cor. 11:23-29; Acts 2:36-41
Setting the Stage:
Body
God's words, promises, and acts are worth recounting (30-35).
Joshua led the people in covenant renewal.
Defeating Ai essentially opened up the region for Joshua to begin a major military campaign. The foothold had been established and a military leader would likely have thought it appropriate to push the advantage and secure the entire central region. However, Joshua did something different.
The Significance
In Deuteronomy 27:1-8 Moses commanded Israel to perform a covenant renewal ceremony on Mt. Ebal upon entering the land.
With the entryway cities in ruin Israel could now perform this important ceremony.
