Westminster Reformed Presbyterian Church Sermons

Sermon Serie              “Be Bold & Courageous: The Gospel According to Joshua” Sermon Text:               Joshua 9:1-27 Sermon Title:               “A Really Bad Deal” Sermon Slides: * * SLIDE 1 – Sermon Title Slide * SLIDE 2 – Today’s Big Idea:    Both Israel and Gibeon Lose … in Their Really Bad Deal. So, We Must Trust God’s Covenant … Not Make Our Own.   * * SLIDE 3 – Point 1: Israel’s Bad Deal … is a Covenant of Compromise with Gibeon. (vv. 1-21) * SLIDE 4 – Principle (from vv. 3-5): “Satan’s most successful warfare against us is strategically subtle, gradual, and indirect.” * SLIDE 5 – Insert a Copy of Point #1 of Sermon * SLIDE 6 – Deuteronomy 7:1-2 – “When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering … and clears away many nations before you … seven [Canaanite] nations more numerous and mightier than you … then you must devote them to complete destruction. You shall make no covenant with them and show no mercy to them.” * SLIDE 7 – Deuteronomy 20:10-11 – “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it. And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you.” * SLIDE 8 – Insert a Copy of Point #1 of Sermon * SLIDE 9 – Principle (from vv. 14-15): “A prayerless Church is a powerless Church that becomes a susceptible Church to the strategies of Satan.” * SLIDE 10 – Insert a Copy of Point #1 of Sermon * SLIDE 11 – Conclusion: “Israel signed a Covenant of Compromise with Gibeon attempting to make life easier in the Promised Land. But instead, their bad deal made conquering the Promised Land that much harder.”   * * SLIDE 12 – Point 2: Gibeon’s Worse Deal … is a Covenant of Works with God. (vv. 22-27) * SLIDE 13 – Principle (from vv. 22-27): “Just because the Church messes up, doesn’t mean we quit on God.” * SLIDE 14 – Insert a Copy of Point #2 of Sermon * SLIDE 15 – Conclusion: “God will not befriend those who come in disguise, nor bargain with sinners who offer their labor as tribute. God alone sets the terms of relationship.” * * SLIDE 16 – General Sermon Uses: Three to Help Us Grow in Boldness and Courage. * SLIDE 17 – Rahab and Gibeon … are a Tale of Two Covenants. * SLIDE 18 – By Grace, we are Never More than Servants, but Never Less than Sons. * SLIDE 19 – Christ Didn’t Compromise God’s Covenant … But Kept It to the End.

Sermon Series:            “Be Bold & Courageous: The Gospel According to Joshua” Sermon Text:               Joshua 8:1-35 Sermon Title:               “Don’t Call It a Comeback” Sermon Slides: * * SLIDE 1 – Sermon Title Slide * SLIDE 2 – Joshua 7:8-9 – “O Lord, what can I say, when Israel has turned their backs before their enemies! For the Canaanites and all the inhabitants of the land will hear of it and will surround us and cut off our name from the earth. And what will you do for your great name?” * SLIDE 3 – Today’s Big Idea:    God’s Grace Not Only Takes Us In … But Keeps Us Going. So Don’t Call it a Comeback … Call it a Covenant.   * * SLIDE 4 – Point 1: God Renews His Covenant with Israel … and They Defeat Ai. (vv. 1-29) * SLIDE 5 – Principle (from vv. 1-9): “We must consult God about everything, and trust God with everything. This attitude strengths faith and brings repentance.” * SLIDE 6 – Insert a Copy of Point #1 of Sermon * SLIDE 7 – 1st Principle (from vv. 10-29): “Trusting in God leads to trapping our enemies, namely, this fallen world, our flesh, and the devil.” * SLIDE 8 – Insert a Copy of Point #1 of Sermon * SLIDE 9 – Genesis 9:22-26 – “And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside … When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, ‘Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.’ He also said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.” * SLIDE 10 – Psalm 105:23 – “Then Israel came to Egypt; Jacob sojourned in the land of Ham.” * SLIDE 11 – Insert a Copy of Point #1 of Sermon * SLIDE 12 – 2nd Principle (from vv. 10-29): “God has mercy on whomever He chooses and blesses whomever He wants. Both are by grace, not works.” * SLIDE 13 – Conclusion: “When we disobey, even the smallest of sins can overtake us. But when we obey, even the greatest of sins will be trapped and killed. What a difference obedience makes.”   * * SLIDE 14 – Point 2: Israel Renews Her Covenant with God … and They Return to their Mission. (vv. 30-35) * SLIDE 15 – Romans 12:1 – “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” * SLIDE 16 – Insert a Copy of Point #2 of Sermon * SLIDE 17 – Principle (from vv. 30-35): “God’s warnings are directed at God’s people, not someone else.” * SLIDE 18 – Conclusion: “When Israel stumbled, they didn’t pick themselves up – God did. But once they’re up, they take back up their covenant commitments. Real repentance avoids dangerous repeats and brings Godly renewal.” * * SLIDE 19 – General Sermon Uses: Three to Help Us Grow in Boldness and Courage. * SLIDE 20 – Jericho Represents our Justification … Ai Represents our Sanctification. * SLIDE 21 – We Must Deal with Idolatry to Advance in Ministry. * SLIDE 22 – Just Like Israel … We Need to Renew Ourselves in God’s Covenant.

Sermon text: Joshua 6:27, 7:1-26 Sermon title: Save yourself and others Today’s Big Idea: In God’s covenant community, which is the church, we rise & fall together. Therefore, watch your life & doctrine to save yourself & others. 1. The Character Of The Crisis The crisis affects everyone, it’s caused by a great sin, and it intensifies as God withdraws Himself. 2. The Correction Of The Crisis God himself executes church discipline through his godly-praying leaders and a repentant church, and how lovely when it’s well received by the sinner. 3. Conclusion (what should Achan have done differently?) 1 Timothy 4:16

Sermon Series:            “Be Bold & Courageous: The Gospel According to Joshua” Sermon Text:               Joshua 6:1-27 Sermon Title:              “Joshua Didn’t Fight the Battle of Jericho” Sermon Slides: * * SLIDE 1 – Sermon Title Slide * SLIDE 2 – Today’s Big Idea:    Joshua Didn’t Fight the Battle of Jericho … God Did. Therefore, both the Victory and the Spoils … Are His.   * * SLIDE 3 – Point 1: God Gives the Victory over Jericho … Israel Walks Obediently Around Her. (vv. 1-16) * SLIDE 4 – Joshua 5:13-14 – “When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand … And he said … ‘I am the commander of the army of the Lord.’” * SLIDE 5 – 1st Principle (from vv. 1-16): “Our faith must grow to overcome bigger obstacles.” * SLIDE 6 – Insert a Copy of Point #1 of Sermon * SLIDE 7 – 2nd Principle (from vv. 1-16): “Israel won’t have to draw their swords, because God already has. Therefore, put your faith in Him and He will fight for you.” * SLIDE 8 – Insert a Copy of Point #1 of Sermon * SLIDE 9 – 3rd Principle (from vv. 1-16): “God will eventually encircle our enemies. What God begins by grace through faith, He finishes by grace through faith.” * SLIDE 10 – Hebrews 11:30 – “By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days.” * SLIDE 11 – 1 John 5:4 – “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” * SLIDE 12 – Conclusion: “By faith alone we also must lay hold of God’s sword, which is God’s Word, and by doing so, we also will gain the victory.”   * * SLIDE 13 – Point 2: God Decides the End for Jericho … Israel Exacts Judgment Upon Her. (vv. 17-27) * SLIDE 14 – 1st Principle (from vv. 17-27): “The curse upon Jericho is a vivid and terrifying picture of the real nature of our sin, and shows what we all truly deserve: God’s fierce, righteous, and perfect justice.” * SLIDE 15 – 2nd Principle (from vv. 17-27): “The curse upon Jericho also reveals how sin, if left unchecked, is not stagnant but grows. When it reaches full maturity, it is judged.” * SLIDE 16 – Insert a Copy of Point #2 of Sermon * SLIDE 17 – Leviticus 19:2 – “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” * SLIDE 18 – 3rd Principle (from vv. 17-27): “God does not have a double-standard for sinners.” * SLIDE 19 – Insert a Copy of Point #2 of Sermon * SLIDE 20 – 4th Principle (from vv. 17-27): “God does not have a double-standard to become saints.” * SLIDE 21 – Exodus 33:19 – “And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” * SLIDE 22 – Conclusion: “YHWH, not Joshua, not Israel, is revealed as the brilliant commander and victorious conqueror of Jericho. Therefore, God decides its fate, exacting justice on the rebellious, and extending mercy to all who believe.” * * SLIDE 23 – General Sermon Uses: Four to Help Us Grow in Boldness and Courage. * SLIDE 24 – The Fall of Jericho … Provides a Warning to the Unrepentant. * SLIDE 25 – Our Spiritual Warfare … is Primarily About Obedience to God. * SLIDE 26 – God’s Ways Look Strange to the World … Worship Anyway. * SLIDE 27 – God’s Justice and Mercy … are Ultimately Intertwined at the Cross.

Sermon Series:            “Be Bold & Courageous: The Gospel According to Joshua” Sermon Text:               Joshua 5:1-15 Sermon Title:               “A Rest Stop on a War Path” Sermon Slides: * * SLIDE 1 – Sermon Title Slide * SLIDE 2 – Today’s Big Idea:    The Sacraments … are Spiritual Rest Stops on the Spiritual War Path. They Provide Rest from our Travels and Provide Fuel for our Battles.   * * SLIDE 3 – Point 1: The Sacraments … Provide Rest from our Spiritual Travels. (vv. 1-12) * * * SLIDE 4 – Exodus 4:24-25 – “At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him [Moses] and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, ‘Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” * SLIDE 5 – 1st Principle (from vv. 2-9): “God rewards obedience with rest and punishes disobedience with wandering.” * SLIDE 6 – 2nd Principle (from vv. 2-9): “While forgiveness is painful, it’s also healing. Thus, God’s saving work always wounds us, but it also restores us to relationship.” * SLIDE 7 – Insert a Copy of Point #1 of Sermon * SLIDE 8 – Principle (from vv. 10-12): “Israel is longer under God’s wrath but a recipient of His mercy. They are no longer His enemies, but now His friends.” * SLIDE 9 – Conclusion: “The sacraments give spiritual rest to sinful travelers like us, because they remind us of what God has done with our sin (He has removed it!), and what God has done with us (He has embraced us!).”   * * SLIDE 10 – Point 2: The Sacraments … Provide Fuel for our Spiritual Battles. (vv. 13-15) * * * SLIDE 11 – Principle (from vv. 13-15): “God doesn’t always fulfill our wishes, but always fights for His people … when we trust Him.” * SLIDE 12 – Insert a Copy of Point #2 of Sermon * SLIDE 13 – Conclusion: “The sacraments give strength to weak soldiers because they reveal our strong Savior … who causes our enemy to lose heart.” * * SLIDE 14 – Sermon Uses: Three to Grow Us in Boldness and Courage. * * * SLIDE 15 – The Sacraments … Should be Used Well and Not Neglected. * SLIDE 16 – The Sacraments Provide Assurance of Salvation … Not Salvation. * SLIDE 17 – The Sacraments are our Rest Stop … That Points to our Final Destination!