I Have Now Come Lives Service | Sunday, April 2, 2023

Good morning, Cross Connection Church! You can be seated. Welcome to Cross Connection Church. If you are new here in the last couple of weeks, or if you forgot who I was, I’m Pastor Miles, the senior pastor here at the church. I want to welcome you this morning.

Before we get into the Scriptures, I just wanted to take a second to acknowledge and thank our team here, our staff. They hold things together in an awesome way when I am traveling to various places. I look forward to sharing with you guys in the next several weeks about this trip that I was on. Our team here at Cross Connection Church is amazing. I don’t have to think about hardly anything when I am gone, so I just want to thank our pastoral team. Pastors Garrett and Jason gave some great messages from Joshua while I was away.

I also wanted to recognize Pastor Mark. Would you stand up for a moment? Pastor Mark joined us on staff ten years ago yesterday. It’s kind of a weird thing that it fell on April 1st when Mark joined our staff, but it wasn’t a fooling sort of thing. I am very grateful that you are part of our team and have been here for ten years. I just wanted to thank you for partnering with me in the ministry here. It’s a beautiful labor, so thank you, Pastor Mark. Thank you so much!

Now, get out your Bibles if you can. If you don’t have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. We are in the Old Testament of the Bible, which is the first two-thirds of the Bible, specifically the sixth book, the Book of Joshua. You can open there this morning.

Two Sundays ago, right about the time that you were getting up in the morning, I was on the side of a mountain in Saudi Arabia called Jebel Makla. You may be thinking, "Pastor Miles, what were you doing on the side of a mountain called Jebel Makla in Saudi Arabia?" I can assure you there were more than a few times that I asked myself the exact same question as I was hanging onto the side of a mountain that had no clear path.

I was there with my friends: Pastor David Guzik, Pastor Lance Ralston, who pastors Calvary Chapel in Oxnard, and Pastor Chuck Muscali, who pastors The Village Chapel in Lompoc. We are all part of the board of Enduring Word Ministries. The full answer to the question of what I was doing there is kind of a bigger story that I’ll share with you more about in the coming weeks and months. I took over 1,500 photos, and...

I have a whole bunch of video that I need to try and figure out how to put together into something coherent at this point in time. The short answer to the question of what I was doing on the side of that mountain is that I was there several times in what seemed to be an unworkable situation.

Has anyone ever been in an unworkable situation? You find yourself in one of those moments where you ask yourself, "What on Earth am I doing here?" or "How did I get into this moment?" The larger lesson that I want us to consider this Palm Sunday morning is this: if you're taking notes, there's a sermon guide in the bulletin.

Point number one is that God often works us into the unworkable to work into us greater dependence and trust. If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you have likely seen that there are situations and circumstances in your life that seem unworkable. When you look at them, often in retrospect, you realize that God actually led you into that situation. He brought you there to teach you a lesson about dependence and trust in Him.

I believe there are ways in which God brings us into what appear to be unworkable situations so that, in those moments, we will call out to Him. We will see that He is faithful and good, and that He answers our call to Him, which increases our dependence and trust in Him. Oftentimes, those unworkable circumstances involve the people we know, the places we find ourselves or go to, and sometimes the possessions we have or the positions we hold within a job or within the community.

We may find ourselves in what appears to be an unworkable situation, and those are the places where I think God wants to teach us a really great lesson. Have any of you found yourself recently in an unworkable situation? It seems that God brings us into those places to teach us great lessons. This was true with the children of Israel, and we have seen this over the last several years as we've been thinking a lot about the...

The children of Israel in the Book of Deuteronomy, and now as we come into the Book of Joshua, reflect on their Exodus from Egypt. The story is told in the Book of Exodus, the second book of the Bible. Immediately after they left Egypt, they found themselves in a situation that was totally unworkable for them, given their own strength, power, or strategy. The early chapters of Exodus describe how they were trapped, with the Red Sea in front of them and two mountains on either side—Pi-hahiroth on one side and Migdol on the other. The pursuing Egyptian army was behind them, creating an absolutely unworkable circumstance.

Yet, as they cried out to God, He parted the Red Sea, allowing them to cross over on dry ground. This was not the only time they faced an unworkable situation. Immediately after this miraculous event, they lacked water after being three days in the wilderness, and God provided water for them. Then, they lacked food, and God miraculously provided food for them, which He did for forty years. In fact, if you were here last week, you saw in Joshua chapter 5 that the final meal of manna was given to the children of Israel after they entered the Promised Land. For forty years, God provided this miraculous food and the ability for them to overcome their enemies. We see this throughout those texts, illustrating the bigger stories of God working in unworkable situations.

I had a smaller sense of this a few times while I was with my friends on a mountainside, where I found myself asking, "Lord, what am I doing here?" In those moments, I prayed for guidance on how to navigate the situation. God wants us to come to those places where we increase our dependence and trust in Him. Many times, this won't happen unless we find ourselves at the end of our rope, lacking the ability, power, or strength to figure out the situation. It is at that point that we call out to God.

If you're taking notes, point number two is that God shows up in manifold and sometimes mysterious ways to resolve the fixes we find ourselves in. If you've been a Christian for any length of time, you have likely seen this truth manifest in your life as you called out to God.

It seems that God often leads us into unworkable situations so that we will call out to Him. It is when we depend upon Him and trust in Him that we see God show up in manifold and sometimes mysterious ways to fix the predicaments we find ourselves in. Sometimes, God allows us to be in a fix to fix us, but we often try to fix the situation ourselves. Then, He has to put us in another fix to address the original problem so that He can ultimately do the work He wants to do in us. You can try to deconstruct that later, but that is the situation. God is constantly leading us in this life to a place where we will come to greater dependence and trust in Him.

If you follow the stories of the great individuals of the Bible, such as Abraham and David, you will see that this is what God is doing. As you follow the story of the children of Israel through their Exodus, you notice that it is in those moments where they are at a full stop, and there is nothing they can do, that God parts the Red Sea, provides miraculous food for them, or brings water out of a rock in the desert. God performs these miraculous and awesome acts.

A couple of weeks ago, while coming down the mountain, I was reminded of a significant reason for my trip. It hit me with full force as I was about 7,500 feet up on this mountain with David, Lance, and Chuck. I wanted to remind you that the events we read about in the Scriptures actually happened. The mountain Jebel Makla in Saudi Arabia is the most likely site of what is called Mount Sinai in the Bible. All of the archaeological evidence aligns with this reality, reinforcing the idea that this is very likely the place where God came to the children of Israel.

There is an altar site in the valley where the Tabernacle probably was, and many other details align with this site. Being there served as a reminder of something I already knew, and perhaps you already know, but it was something God wanted me to remember and share with you again: these are not just stories; this is history. These events actually happened—the places, the people, the situations.

We visited the site believed to be the crossing point of the Red Sea in the Gulf of Aqaba. We also went to the site thought to be the Split Rock, where Moses struck the rock and water came out in the desert. I saw these sites with my own eyes, and it was a powerful reminder that these events truly occurred.

It is a good thing for us to remember the unworkable circumstances and situations faced by Israel, where God showed up and proved His faithfulness to them time and time again. Whether it was to the whole nation of Israel, or just to Joshua, Moses, or Abraham, God remained steadfast. This is a crucial reminder, especially as we navigate 2023, where we are bound to encounter impasses and impossible situations. Perhaps you have already faced some challenges in the first few months of the year. It is in these places that God wants to reveal the greatness of His power and strength.

I was reminded again of things I have known since I was very little, taught to me in kids' ministry, youth ministry, and within the church, as well as through my own Bible reading and studies over the years. God makes good on His promises; He is faithful and good. Another important truth I was reminded of is that God finds great joy in seeing us experience the fullness of His blessings. As our joy increases, it brings God joy to see that happen. If you are a parent, you understand this well. There are many things you do for your children simply because you love to see their joy increase. I believe our Father in Heaven loves to do the very same thing.

All of that leads us to Israel, 40 years after their exit from Egypt by God's mighty and miraculous power. They have finally come into the promised land. This is where our story has brought us in the last several weeks. Pastor Garrett shared about their crossing over another body of water, not as big as the Red Sea, but the Jordan River at flood stage. They crossed over on dry ground and took up stones from the center of the riverbed to serve as a memorial, reminding them of what God had done.

Then, Pastor Jason shared last week about their journey to Gilgal, a place of recommitment to the Lord, where they partook of the Passover. The manna ceased, and they tasted the fruit of the land for the first time. They are there; they are in the land. After all the twists and turns and the craziness in the wilderness, they have made it to the promised land. Israel is in, and now we are left with the question: okay, now what?

We're here. We got here. Now, what?

Joshua chapter five. If you have your Bibles open, look at verse 10. Joshua 5, verse 10: "Now the children of Israel camped at Gilgal." This was that place of commitment to the Lord. They kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month at twilight in the plains of Jericho. They ate of the produce of the land on the day after the Passover—unleavened bread and parched grain on the very same day. Then the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land. The children of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

It came to pass, in verse 13, as Joshua was by Jericho. Stop there. The night before they left Egypt, the Passover was instituted. This week is the week of Passover. It's fitting; we didn't plan it this way. It just happens to be that this is where we are. God, I think providentially, brings us to these points in time.

There, they partook of the Passover the night before they left Egypt, and now they have come into the land. It's kind of like a resolving of all of the things that have been happening for the last 40 years. They partake of the Passover, and they are in the Promised Land. On the day after they partake of the Passover, Joshua is standing there in the plains of Jericho. That's where we find him.

What is awesome and amazing about this is that we can piece things together from the Scriptures. First Kings chapter 6, verse 1 gives us what's called a temporal marker—a date in history. From that, it gives us a time period from which you can determine when these things actually happened in history. You can actually pinpoint in history that this is happening for Israel on May 1st, 1406 BC, 3,428 years ago. Moses, on the day after the Passover, stood in the plains of Jericho. We can pinpoint it in history. That's one of the awesome things that we realize when we study the Scriptures.

Joshua's there in the plains of Jericho. Why is Joshua there in the plains of Jericho? Well, he is the leader of this mass of people that has just crossed over the Red Sea and just has partaken of the Passover. He's got to be the one who answers the question: "Okay, what now? What do we do?" He has hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people behind him.

He is leading, and they're all looking to him, saying, "Okay, now what?" If you're the leader, like Joshua in that situation, what do you do? You probably feel the weight of it. You stand out there in the plains of Jericho and think, "What the heck am I going to do?"

There before him in the plains of Jericho is the first of many fortified cities that they are going to encounter. You can actually go to the ruins of Jericho today; it's just eight miles north of the Dead Sea, at the lowest point on Earth. You can see the ruins that fit with the biblical account. They have been archaeologically excavated at least three times in the last 110 years, and each time they have been excavated, it has confirmed the story of Scripture perfectly. It was a great walled stronghold in the valley, and that's the first place they are going to come to.

Joshua has to lead the children of Israel against this walled stronghold. He does not have a well-trained army; he does not have armor or arms to go against them. He does not have chariots, and they have never besieged a city. There stands this great city, so put yourself in Joshua's sandals for a moment. What do you do?

I imagine this man, who at least has seen a few battles in the past because he led the children of Israel against the Amalekites 40 years before this. He probably led them against the Ammonites and the Moabites, as noted in several passages in the Book of Numbers. But here he is, looking at this great walled city, standing in the plains of Jericho, trying to figure out what to do now. He is in an unworkable situation, at least according to his own strength and strategy, but he has to figure it out.

Yet it is God who often works us into those unworkable situations so that He might increase our trust and dependence upon Him. When we rely upon Him and trust in Him, God shows up in manifold and sometimes mysterious ways to fix the problems we find ourselves in.

Look at verse 13 again: It came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood opposite him with a sword drawn in his hand. That might be a problem. Joshua went to him. I love Joshua's tenacity.

Joshua went to him and said, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" I've been looking forward to getting to this passage of Scripture for a long time because I love it. I love the way that Joshua approaches this man who is standing there, apparently in battle array, with a sword in his hand. It's like he is on enemy territory, trying to figure out how to deal with the situation. He sees a guy off in the distance, standing there with a sword. What does he do? Well, Joshua just goes right up to him and asks, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?"

Some twenty years ago, I started out in ministry, specifically in Junior High Ministry. One of the things I loved about Junior High boys, and girls as well, was their rare tendency to ask two questions back to back all the time. For example, they would ask, "Can I go to the bathroom or do I have to stay right here?" I loved to answer with simple, one-word responses like "yes," and they would look at me like, "What?"

So here, this question that Joshua offers to the man with the sword in his hand—"Are you for us or for our adversaries?"—is essentially asking, "Are you on our team or are you with the other guys?" What does Joshua need at this moment as he faces a battle? He probably needs some people who know how to fight. Here he has a guy in armor with a sword in his hand, and Joshua is asking, "Can I rely on you to be on our team, or do I have to fight you right now? Are you the first guy I have to fight?"

Look at the answer in verse 14. The man with the sword in his hand said, "No." Are you with us or against us? No. But look at this: "As the commander of the army of the Lord"—Yahweh—"I have now come." Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped him. He said, "What does my Lord say to his servant?"

Are you for us or for our adversaries? Two questions, one simple answer: no, neither. It's a very short response.

Unclear answer, but it says so much. I'm not a part of your army. I'm not a part of your battle plan. I'm not a part of your strategy.

Point number three, if you're taking notes: beware of using God as a piece of your puzzle or a pawn in your game. The children of Israel tried to do this on a number of occasions. One instance comes to mind as I was thinking about it this last week, and we'll get there eventually in First Samuel chapter four. They have another enemy that comes against them called the Philistines. When the Philistines come against them in First Samuel chapter four, they decide to try to employ God as a good luck charm. They bring the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, which represented the presence of God, with them into the battle, and they get spanked—totally spent.

It's as if God, in that moment, is saying, "I'm not a toy to be trifled with. I am not your rabbit's foot. I am not your good luck charm. I'm not here just to be a part of your puzzle. It's not your plan, your strategy, your game." You need a reframing. God often brings us to these unworkable situations so that our dependence and trust in Him will increase, so that we'll call out to Him. When we call out to Him and rely on Him, then we see His manifold, mysterious, miraculous, awesome power at work in great ways.

But He does not want to just be part of the puzzle or part of the strategy, like, "Oh yeah, you know, point 17, let's work God in there. Maybe we should pray." That's not how this works. Are you with us or are you against us?

No, but as the commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come. If you've been paying attention carefully to the words that we've been reading here, you'll notice that this guy's pronouns—he, him—are capitalized. Now, in the original language, this was originally written in Hebrew, and that's not indicated at all. There's no way in the original Hebrew that it should be indicated that his pronouns or commanders should be capitalized here in this passage. That is something that the translators did on purpose. They're adding a theological note in their translation.

What is the theological note that they're telling us? They're telling us that there's something special about this individual. It is what theologians, Bible scholars, commentators, and Bible teachers like myself would say: this is a theophany, more specifically, this is a Christophany. What is a theophany or a Christophany? It is a...

The visible manifestation of the invisible God is specifically when Jesus shows up before His Incarnation. Now, I'm using some big words. The Incarnation of Jesus wouldn't come for about 1,400 years after this point, when Jesus would be born in Bethlehem. That's the Incarnation, when God becomes a man. However, Jesus is eternal; He pre-existed the Incarnation.

There are various times in the Old Testament, before the Incarnation, where Jesus shows up. I think of a passage of Scripture in Genesis, I believe chapter 16, where there is a woman named Hagar. She meets this Angel, with a capital A, of the Lord who meets with her, and that is Jesus. Another example is when Abraham, in Genesis chapter 18, has a conversation with three men. Two of them are identified as angels, and the third one is somewhat unclear, but it is Jesus who shows up.

Additionally, there is an individual who appears to the parents of a great man named Gideon, and his name is Wonderful. Who is this guy who shows up whose name is Wonderful? It is Jesus. There are numerous places in the Old Testament where Jesus appears at key moments in the lives of great men and women, and in our lives as well.

Jesus shows up in unworkable situations, when we have come to the point where we have no hope in and of ourselves, and we finally call out to Him. But beware of trying to fit God into your plan or your puzzle, as just a pawn in your game. That's not the way it works. This greater than Joshua, Jesus, simply says no. As the commander of the army of Yahweh, He declares, "I have now come." He is saying in those words, "I am not a part of your puzzle; I am not a part of your strategy."

There is a huge, walled, fortified city before Joshua and the children of Israel. They are in enemy territory, with no trained army and very little in the form of armor or arms. They have not much of a plan or a strategy. So, what do you do in that situation? I want to suggest that Joshua chose to do the right thing. He said, "No." In verse 14, as the commander of the army of the Lord, He states, "I have now come."

Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped. He said, "What does my Lord Adonai say to His servant? What are Your marching orders for me?"

Point number four: the proper position in the presence of Christ is the place of humble worship and open submission. Who was the earthly practical leader of the children of Israel at that moment? Joshua. But Joshua recognizes his proper place; he bows in worship and open submission. He asks, "What do You want me to do? Give me the marching orders. Are You for us or for our adversaries? Are You on the other team or my team?"

The response is clear: "Nope, I am the commander." Yes, He is. Joshua acknowledges, "You are Lord; I am servant." If you want to see God work mightily in your life and through your life, you have to come to the point where you humbly worship and submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. You are Lord; I am servant. I am going to model my life according to what You say.

I guarantee there are more than a few of you here this morning who have done a not-so-great job of mapping out your plan in life. It may be time to reframe it. Ask, "What do You want me to do?"

Then the commander, in verse 15 of the Lord's army, said to Joshua, "Take the sandal off your foot, for the place on which you stand is holy." And Joshua did so.

How do I know that this is a theophany, the invisible God showing up in a visible way? How do I know that this is a Christophany, Jesus showing up in this passage? Because Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and here He receives worship from one of His servants. Joshua bows before Him in worship.

Let me bring this around to an important point of application for this Palm Sunday. I'll ask that question again: Have you ever been in an unworkable situation? Probably yes. If you haven't, you will be. It is in that situation where God wants to increase your dependence and trust in Him.

Humbly submit yourself to His lordship, His plan, His purpose, and say, "God, what do You want me to do in this situation? I have done a good job of fixing the fixes to the point where I get into a greater fix. You are the great fixer; help me to figure out where to go in this situation."

God wants to bring you to that place. If you've never been there, you will be, but God wants to do a great work in your life. Now, maybe this morning you say, "Thank God I'm not in a situation like that right now." So, what I want to do is remind you of a situation that, up to this point in your life, you've given up on—a walled city in your life that is still there. You've said, "I've tried; I can't do anything. I have no way of dealing with this."

That walled city could be a brother, a dad, a mom, a spouse, or a child who has hardened their heart and put up fortifications against you and the Lord. You've prayed for them and shared with them. You've taken evangelism classes and apologetics classes to try to share the gospel with them and to answer their deeper questions. Yet, to this point, they remain a walled city, and you say, "I don't know what to do. I can't do anything."

Nothing you can do in this situation seems effective. I am more convinced than ever, especially within the last 24 hours, as I have seen people I follow online who are not Christians—those who have been antagonistic to the gospel, atheistic, or agnostic—saying, "I'm not about that Christian thing; I'm spiritual but not religious." In just the last 24 hours, I witnessed another one of them fall. A comedian by the name of Andrew Schultz, who is known for being crude and obnoxious, shared on his podcast that he went to church last week and was crying within the first three minutes. He is in an unworkable situation, which he won't go into in depth, but his brother-in-law said, "Why don't you come to church?" He finally came to church, and God is doing a work in his life.

This is a guy who has been publicly standing against God, and now God is doing a work right now. So, you have some fortified cities in your life. An offended brother is harder than a walled city, as Proverbs says. You have some of those people, and you've kind of given up, thinking, "Nothing I can do."

Look at verse 1 of chapter 6: "Now Jericho was securely shut up because of the children of Israel. None went out and none came in." The Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand." Wait, what? It is shut up, and God says, "It's yours. I've given it to you." It doesn't look like it; I don't see it. "See, I have given it into your hand."

Your hand, it's King, it's Mighty Men of Valor. So here's the plan, Joshua. I know you've been trying to figure out the strategy. Here's what you're going to do: you're going to march around the city, all of you men of war. You shall go out around the city once, and you shall do this for six days. Every day for six days, all of you, the children of Israel, are going to march around the city. Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of Ram's horns before the Ark of the Covenant.

But on the seventh day, you're going to march around the city seven times. After that, the priests are going to blow the trumpets. It shall come to pass that when they make the long blast with the Ram's Horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout. Then the wall of the city is going to fall down.

Wait, come again? We're going to do what? Yep, you know, march around the city, and the walls will fall down flat. All of you shall go up, every man straight before him into the city.

Point number five, and I'm going to wrap it up with this: God's mighty acts are seen by those whose eyes are set upon Him in prayer and worship. Now, we're not going to get to the resolution of this in chapter six for another couple of weeks because we have Easter next week and something else after that. We'll get there.

But every one of us has come to unworkable situations in our lives. Maybe it has to do with a person that you love and pray for in your life that is a walled, fortified city. We've given up hope because we have no plan, no strategy, no ability. I've tried the evangelism class, I've tried the apologetics, I've tried all these different things. I've tried bringing them to church. I tried all these things, and none of it has happened. None of it has worked. So we give up and say we can't do anything about that.

I want to suggest to you that God wants to increase your dependence and trust upon Him. About a week before I went on this trip, my friend David Guzik, who went on the trip with us, was speaking at a conference out in Tucson. He said, "Hey, I'm speaking at this conference; you should check it out." I went, and I was watching Summit online. This guy that I follow online, his name is Leighton Flowers, was speaking at the conference. I watched the live stream of the message that he gave. In the last portion of his message, he shared a story that I want to share with you this morning. I'm going to show a video. We have some time, not as much as I thought, but we have some time.

This story that he shares is an important reminder that aligns perfectly with this Jericho scenario. I want you to key into this; it's about a 13-minute long video, but it's worth it.

Just as your theology will drive your methodology, so too will your theology drive your prayer life. What you believe about God and what you believe about salvation will change the way you pray. If you believe that the prayer of a righteous man availeth much, then you will pray as if prayer changes things, as if prayer has impact. It’s not that everything is fixed in eternity past by divine decree, but you are praying knowing that you are impacting the present reality through your prayers, your persistence, and your persuasion. You are impacting the lives of those around you because it matters. Life matters when you live on purpose like this.

The value of prayer was instilled in me at a very young age. My dad was also a pastor; he was my youth pastor for a long time and later became an evangelist himself, traveling and speaking quite regularly. As the youngest son of three, I often got to travel with him when he would go and preach. Sometimes, I’ll be honest, I heard stories more than once. My own children have heard stories more than once, and sometimes I kind of roll my eyes, thinking, "Oh Dad, I heard this one before."

However, there was one particular story my dad would tell about a little boy named Chucky Poole, and I want to share it with you. Little Chucky was a sixth grader promoting up into the seventh grade youth ministry for the very first time. This is an exciting time for churches when the young people get to promote up to the youth ministry or young adults. Finally, they can feel like they are getting older and can go to all the Disciple Nows, youth camps, and youth events.

Little Chucky was so excited about being in the youth ministry. My dad was a youth pastor at one of his first churches, and on this particular Sunday morning, they were doing a promotion Sunday. My dad decided to introduce a new prayer strategy for the youth group called The Prayer Target. What my dad did was get an archery target that looked a lot like the one on the screen and put it right in the front of the youth room. He said, "What we're going to do is pray for the lost, and here's how we're going to do it."

To take one of these little map pins, just those little round white matte pins, I want every single one of you to think of at least one person in your life who doesn't know the Lord Jesus as their Savior. I want you to write their initials on one side of that little map pin. On the other side, I want you to write your name.

In just a little while, what we're going to do is let everybody come up here to that outer blue ring. We want you to place your name facing out so that we can pray for you as you pray for the person represented by those initials on the other side. We are going to pray for them to hear the gospel and to be saved. We will pray for every one of you as you pray for the person whose initials you put on that pin.

When that person hears the gospel, maybe they come to church because you invite them. They hear the gospel, or perhaps you share with them Romans 6:23: "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." You can teach them the one-verse evangelism strategy and how to share their faith with just that one verse. How easy it is! If you share that with them, then you can move that tag to the yellow ring, and we can pray that God will take the seed and that it will continue to grow, leading to that person being saved.

Once that person comes to know the Lord, you can turn that pin around, fill in their name, and place it in the red bowl. We can celebrate together a new life that has come to Jesus. This is your way of praying for the lost, isn't it?

As he passes out the map pins, everybody writes down their names. He asks the students if anyone wants to share, if anyone feels comfortable sharing who it is they are praying for. Chucky, who is new to the youth ministry, is sitting right on the front row because he wants to be involved. He is the first one to raise his hand. My dad calls on him, and he stands up, turning around. He is nervous, and his voice is kind of cracking, but he says, "Will y'all please pray for my dad? He's an atheist, and I want us to pray for him."

My father was somewhat new to the church, but he was making connections because he had heard some stories as he came on staff. He was realizing this is little Chucky Poole, the oldest of three, and he is the oldest son of Dr. Charles Poole, who owns the bank in town. This is a small country town in the Bible Belt, and atheists in those days were known, especially the mean kind of atheist. This particular one was going to the city council and trying to get the nativity scene taken off public property.

My dad remembers hearing about Dr. Charles Poole, the man who owns the bank in town. He recalls the story of Dr. Poole's wife, a faithful Christian, who brings their three kids to church every single Sunday. The oldest is little Chucky Poole, the son of Dr. Charles Poole, who is known as the town atheist. My dad thought to himself, "No prayer in the world is going to help that man. He is gone, gone. He is hateful; he hates God and he hates the church."

Weeks passed, and months went by. Every time the church gathered, as was typical, they would come to the prayer request portion of the service. Chucky Poole was usually the first to raise his hand and always asked the same thing: "Pray for my dad." It became so expected that my dad would often start prayer time by saying, "Besides praying for Chucky's daddy, are there any other prayer requests in the room?" Everyone knew that one already.

Years passed, and that little seventh grader was now an eleventh grader in high school. It was a Sunday night choir night. I don't know if you all have those in Calvary chapels, but back in the Southern Baptist world, youth choir night was pretty big. My dad, being the youth pastor, also doubled as the choir director in this smaller church. That night, he was leading the youth choir as they led the worship service.

My dad took his place in front of the large Southern Baptist choir loft and captured the attention of all the students, which is not always that easy. He had them all stand, and they stood in perfect unison—except for one. He looked over and noticed it was Chucky, who was sitting still and looked like he was going to be sick. Those of you who are youth pastors know what that look is like. Chucky's face was white, his jaw was open, and he was just staring.

My dad was up there trying to get his attention. "Chucky, it's time to stand up." Chucky kind of snapped to and looked over at my dad, saying, "My father's here." My dad looked over his shoulder, and sure enough, Dr. Charles Poole had just walked in and sat on the back pew of the First Baptist Church in town. He was there, dressed in his three-piece suit, presumably to support his son.

As he leads in worship and sings, he may have been guilted by his wife or something, but he was there. Finally, Chucky stands, and they lead in the opening song service. It comes time for the sermon, and back in those days, I don't know, Calvary Chapel probably skipped this stage, but in the Southern Baptist world, there were thrones that we used to sit on on the stage. You see those thrones? They're probably out at garage sales all over the world now. I mean, these throne-like chairs—I’d like to get a set of them around my dining table just for the fun of it.

My dad said I was sitting in one of these throne-like chairs, and it was a perfect perch because I could see Dr. Charles Poole in the back pew. I could see his wife, who was sitting in her normal spot on the third row with their other two children. I could see little Chucky Poole just watching every word that was coming from the pastor's mouth and praying, no doubt.

When it came time for the invitation, of course, the choir was leading the song "Just As I Am." My dad took his spot, had them all stand, and began to lead in the first verse of "Just As I Am." As we came into the second verse, my dad said his back was to the crowd, so he could not see it, but he knew that Dr. Charles Poole was walking the aisle. He knew because he could see it in the eyes of his son, as they filled with tears. Sure enough, he looked over his shoulder, and by this time, Dr. Charles Poole was kneeling with the pastor, praying to receive Christ.

Everybody in that room knew about Dr. Charles Poole and the whole situation because little Chucky made sure they all knew. If you think this is emotional, you can imagine what that church was feeling at that moment.

About the time they stood up from their prayer, the wife and the other two kids were making their way over. Chucky—I’ve told this story a thousand times—was standing in the choir loft. They had those privacy rails, but those didn’t even slow Chucky down. He hurtled over them and ran down the middle of that aisle to embrace his dad. Everybody in the room was just praising the Lord, crying, and rejoicing. That’s not even the best part of the story, believe it or not.

The choir director is responsible for locking up after everyone is done. The pastor says, "You handle it; you're young, you can manage." The parking lot slowly empties after all the embracing and celebrating. My dad, pretty sure everyone is gone, heads over to his office in the youth building. All the lights are turned off as he loads up his suitcase, gets things ready, and puts books away, remembering all the great things that have happened throughout the night.

Suddenly, he hears a noise. He looks around, and the door of his office is just open enough for him to see down the hallway. There is one security light hanging in the hall, and it happens to be shining right over the old prayer target that has now been moved into the hallway so everyone can see it when they pass by. He sees a figure standing in front of this prayer target. He is about to walk out to ask who it is, but something stops him. He recognizes that it is an 11th-grade boy, Chucky Poole, standing in front of the prayer target.

Chucky doesn’t know anyone is there. He reaches up and grabs that old map pin, now yellowed with time. He stares at it for a little while, then grabs one of those little golf pencils and writes in his dad's name. Looking up, he says, "God, thank you for saving my daddy." He grabs a pen and pushes it down hard. As he turns to walk out, he exclaims, "Yes!" My dad is there in his office, and this is what I remember the most: little boys hearing their daddies cry. There is something that sticks with a boy when he sees the emotion of his father.

My dad says that night he cried tears of joy throughout the evening, along with everyone else. However, he also said that there in his office, he fell down on his face and wept bitterly. The reason he wept so bitterly is that it took a little seventh-grade boy to remind him of the power of prayer and that he had forgotten that God still saves souls. This is the reason I still share that story decades later.

It's because every time I've had the chance to share that story, I have people come up to me and say, "I'm still praying for my dad. I'm still praying for my wife. I'm still praying for my husband. I'm still praying for my son. I'm still praying for my daughter." I just want to say, don't stop praying. Don't stop persisting. Don't stop persuading. Don't stop loving them.

Sometimes it's not about beating them over the head with the Bible. Sometimes it's about being there for them and showing them the unconditional love of a Savior. Pray for them. Get on your knees, weep for them, and love them. I'm here to say that God wants them saved as much as you do. Jesus died for them. Don't give up hope. Keep praying.

I'm going to ask the worship team to come back up, and I want you to take out your bulletin or the seat back in front of you. You probably have a prayer card. You might even have a Uconnect card; we were kind of running out of these, but we used them a number of years ago. At the very least, you have a prayer request card. Every single one of you has at least one person in your life who is like a walled city, Jericho. God moves mightily by prayer when we trust in and depend upon Him.

Maybe you've given up hope because that city looks like a huge city, and you figure there's no way that you can do anything to get them. My guys made something for us. You know, we did this about five years ago. There are a whole bunch of pens in here, so don't hurt your finger when you go and take them out. I wrote my father-in-law's name and my mother-in-law's name on this, and about six months after that, they came to the church for the first time. They've both come to the Lord since then, and they watch us online because they live out of town a little bit.

God moves mightily by prayer, so I'm going to ask you to write down maybe one name or maybe five names. I don't know. We're going to spend some time singing a song that is based on this passage of Scripture about Jericho, and you can feel free to come up here.

Fold it if you want, put a pin through it, and place it anywhere you want on this target so that we can pray. God wants to move mightily in their lives, and for you to see that He moves mightily, especially when we call out to Him in prayer.

So, Father God, we pray that You would do a work—maybe this week, maybe it's six months from now, or maybe it's a year from now. We don't know, but You can move mightily and powerfully. Every single one of us knows one, if not ten, people for whom we've been praying and maybe have given up on. God, we pray that You would move mightily and that You would break down walls.

We know that the Scriptures teach us that prayer is a powerful weapon that tears down strongholds. So, God, would You tear down the strongholds of the enemy or the fortifications that our loved ones have put up around their own hearts? Whatever it may be, draw them to Yourself, we pray. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.

As we sing, you can feel free to come up and put it on here, or maybe after the service—whatever you want to do. But I'd encourage you to write their names down, and we're going to pray, not just for you, but for those people. Let's worship the Lord.