I Have Now Come | Sunday, April 2, 2023

Welcome to Cross Connection Church online! We're so happy that you're joining us today. Before we get started, we want to let you know that if you want more information about Cross Connection Church and some of the things that we do, make sure that you check out our website at lifeinkconnection.com.

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Also, stick around to the very end of our broadcast this week to see some announcements about things that are currently going on here at our church. If you're prepared to give today, you can do so at give.lifeinkconnection.com.

Thank you for being with us!

Bright as day, Your love amazes me. Amazing, cause you are good, and I dance because you are good. I shout because you are good; you are good to me.

Hey everybody! Before we get into the Scriptures today, which we are going to explore in the Book of Joshua in just a moment, I have a couple of things that I want to share with you online this morning. First, happy Palm Sunday! Today is an important day in the church's calendar, not just our church's calendar but in the global church's calendar. This is the day that we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, just five days before His crucifixion and a week before the most important event in all of history: the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Next week is the Sunday that we celebrate the resurrection. We call it Celebration or Resurrection Sunday. Some people refer to it as Easter; that's probably what you think of when you hear "Resurrection Sunday." But it is Resurrection Sunday, the day when we remember that Jesus rose from the dead. Through His death, burial, and resurrection, He makes it possible for us to experience new life now and into eternity as well.

So that's the first thing that I wanted to share with you: happy Palm Sunday, happy Passion Week, and Good Friday. Easter Resurrection Sunday is coming up next Sunday, and it’s going to be a great time here at the church.

Being that next Sunday is Resurrection Sunday, I want to invite you to join us here at Cross Connection Church for one of our in-person services if you live here in North San Diego County. I also want to share with you our online group of people who have been following these services faithfully for a long time. Next Sunday marks something new for us here at Cross Connection Church. It will be the first Sunday since the beginning of all the global chaos that started in March of 2020 that we will not be pre-recording or producing our online services here for YouTube. In other words, this is going to be our last pre-produced video message here on YouTube.

Now, that does not mean that if you watch on YouTube, you will not be able to follow along with our messages.

Here at Cross Connection Church, we will be recording the Sunday services live in the sanctuary. Later in the day on Sunday or Monday, we will post those recordings on YouTube. You can still follow along with us and receive the same great teaching and services online that we have been offering for the last several years. It will just be a little bit later in the day, and I believe it will be a better version of the message given here in the sanctuary during our Sunday morning services.

I want to invite you, if you're in the area of North San Diego County, to join us live in person on Sunday mornings at 8:30 or 10:30. This is especially important next Sunday, as it is Resurrection Sunday. It will be a great time of worship, and we will partake of communion together. We will remember Jesus's death and burial, but more importantly, we will celebrate His resurrection. The New Testament book of First Corinthians, chapter 15, states that this is the most important event in all of human history and especially in the Christian faith. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, the Apostle Paul says in First Corinthians chapter 15 that our life is in vain.

I hope you will join us either on Resurrection Sunday here in the sanctuary or on another Sunday at 8:30 or 10:30. Life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus is what Cross Connection Church is all about. While it is possible to connect online, I don't think it is ideal. I appreciate the technology we have; I have just been traveling overseas and love being able to FaceTime my wife and kids back home and talk with our team here at Cross Connection Church, no matter where I am in the world. However, true Christ-centered, life-giving fellowship or community that Jesus wants us to experience happens when we interact with one another in person.

I want to encourage you to come and connect with us. This is a great opportunity coming up next week on Resurrection Sunday. We have a whole bunch of really great things happening here at Cross Connection Church, and I can't wait to share some of those with you.

Over the next few weeks, we will be starting new groups, including growth groups and activity groups, to encourage people to spend time with one another in Christ Jesus. This is what God wants for us. I'm sure you've noticed, and it's been in the news quite a bit over the last several years, that loneliness and isolation are at an all-time high in Western civilization, particularly here in the United States and in other parts of the world.

Despite having the ability to connect with one another through social media and our phones, people are still lonely and isolated. We want you to experience life in connection with God, one another, and the world through Jesus Christ. That is where we find true connection. We will be sharing a variety of great things happening here at the church in the coming weeks, including the launch of new activities and groups. These will provide wonderful opportunities to rejoice with one another and fellowship.

Of course, next week is Easter, but just about 50 days after that is another important celebration within the church life that we will discuss. These messages will still be available online; our live services will be recorded and posted later in the day on Sunday or Monday. However, we will no longer be pre-producing those services.

Now, finally getting to what I want to talk about today, I have been thinking about this passage of Scripture not just in preparation for what we are looking at here today on Palm Sunday. We are in the Book of Joshua in the Old Testament, and I have been reflecting on this passage for a long time. It is one that has stuck in my mind for many years. I remember sharing this passage of Scripture in Joshua chapter 5 here at Cross Connection Church 20 years ago, and I still love it. I believe that God has an important word for us to consider today.

Two Sundays ago, right about the time you were beginning your day here in Southern California—perhaps starting with a cup of coffee or brushing your teeth, planning to go to church—I was hanging onto the side of a mountain called Jabal Makla in Saudi Arabia. You might be wondering what I was doing on the side of that mountain, and I can assure you that was the same question I asked myself.

Hundred times while I was on the side of Jabal Makla in Saudi Arabia, I found myself reflecting on a question: what in the world are you doing on the side of a mountain in Saudi Arabia? The bigger answer to that question is a story that would take way too long for me to get into this morning. I'm sure that I'll get a chance to share a little bit about it at some point in the future. I really want to share about it. I took over 1,500 photos while I was in the countries of Jordan and Saudi Arabia, and I have hours and hours of video footage as well. I need to go through all this material to put it together to share on YouTube or here at the church.

The short answer to the question of what I was doing on the side of a mountain in Saudi Arabia is that I was at this mountain called Jabal Makla. What seemed several times to be an unworkable situation reminded me of a very important and valuable lesson. This is not something new, but it is an important and valuable lesson that I want us to consider here on this Palm Sunday at Cross Connection Church.

Here is the simple reminder that was driven home to me as I was on that mountaintop a couple of Sundays ago: God often works us into unworkable situations to work into us greater dependence and trust. Let me say that again: God often works us into the unworkable to work into us greater dependence and trust.

If you have been a Christian for a while, I think you have probably seen this play out in your life. You find that the twists and turns of life, which I believe God is involved in, sometimes lead us into situations that feel unworkable and impassable. There are challenges and troubles that are too big for us. Oftentimes, these unworkable circumstances involve the places we go, the people we know, the possessions we have, and the positions we hold.

We can find ourselves in challenging, unworkable situations. In fact, I want to ask you a simple question: have you been in any unworkable situations lately? The answer is probably yes in some cases. Have you ever asked yourself that?

What on Earth am I doing here in this situation? How did I get myself into this mess? I want to encourage you today: God often works us into those unworkable circumstances, into those situations that seem to be a mess in the moment. He takes us into those situations because He is trying to do a work.

This was certainly true when God led the children of Israel out of Egypt. He led them right into an unworkable situation at the Red Sea. They had a mountain range on either side of them. The Bible even tells us the names of the mountains in the book of Exodus. On one side, there was a mountain called Paya Hahiroth, and on the other side, there was a mountain called Migdal.

If you can imagine it, they were in a valley with the Red Sea in front of them and mountain ranges on either side. Behind them, the book of Exodus says that the Egyptian Army was pursuing them after they had left the land of Egypt. This was an unworkable mess, and freedom was tangibly in front of them, just across the sea. That portion of the Red Sea, there on what we call the Gulf of Aqaba, is only about ten miles from the beach they were standing on in Egypt. They could see it; they could almost touch it. The wind was maybe coming from the other side, blowing toward them, and they could smell freedom.

But what could they do? They were hemmed in, in an impassable situation, a veritable mess. They had the sea in front of them and mountains on either side. There were as many as two million of them among the children of Israel, based on the best numbers we can come up with. I know there are many critics of that estimate, but that is what you determine when you read the Scriptures. Behind them was the pursuing Egyptian Army.

What could they do in that situation? Maybe you have found yourself in a place like that before, where you say, "How did I get here? What in the world am I doing here?" The only thing they could do in that moment was trust in and depend upon God. They had nothing within themselves to address that situation. There was no way they could deal with the army behind them. In a similar sense, that is where I found myself two weeks ago.

On that side of Jabal Makla, which is in Saudi Arabia, Israel had been in a tight spot not only at the Red Sea but also when they were hungry in the early days of their wandering in the wilderness. In Exodus chapter 16, they had no food at all, and all they could do was depend upon and trust in God. As they did, He delivered them; they were given Manna from Heaven.

Not long after that, in Exodus chapter 17, they found themselves in a place called Rephidim, where they had no water. It was there again in that passage of Scripture that God delivered them when all they could do was trust in and depend upon Him. In that same passage, some enemies came out and fought with them. The group of people was called the Amalekites, and once again, all they could do was trust in and depend upon God in that situation. God showed up and delivered them.

In each of those circumstances—whether it was at the Red Sea, in the wilderness with no water, in Rephidim with no food, or against the Amalekites—we read of Israel being worked into unworkable circumstances. When you closely examine the stories in the Scriptures about those situations, you find that it was God who brought them there. He was the one who directed them right into these circumstances, and His endgame was to work into them a greater dependence and trust in Him.

The unworkable situations and circumstances we go through can abound both in Israel's story thousands of years ago and in our lives today. All of these are God's working in you to increase your trust and dependence upon Him. I want to encourage you. I keep repeating the same thing over and over again today, but I want to encourage you because if you are not in an unworkable mess of a situation right now, you probably will be at some point in the next week or months.

In that situation, I want to remind you that God is using it to bring you to a place of greater trust and dependence upon Him. It is in the unworkable, when we are doing everything in our own power and strength and by our own strategies to fix the mess we are in, that God shows up in manifold and sometimes mysterious ways to resolve the issues we face.

As I have said previously, it is God who works us into unworkable circumstances to cultivate a greater trust and dependence in us. To say it another way, sometimes God puts you and me into a fix to fix something in us. I then try to fix the fix that I find myself in, only to discover that my fix gets me into a much greater fix. This is typically the point at which I realize I need the great fixer, God, to come and bring a fix to the fix that I got myself into, to address the fix that He had put me in in the first place.

You can try to slow that down and think through it a little bit later, but that is often what we go through in our lives. It is in those places, or at that point in time, that God shows up in mysterious and awesome, sometimes miraculous, ways. I hope that you have experienced God's mighty and miraculous power in your life. I can tell you stories about times when I've seen God show up in powerful, mysterious, and miraculous ways to meet whatever need I had.

It always seemed to happen when I was in a place that felt like a fix. I felt stuck, with a mountain on either side, the Red Sea in front of me, and a pursuing army behind me. I faced bills I couldn't pay, a broken vehicle, or some sort of illness in my family or life. I would come to that place where all of my resources of power, strength, strategies, and plans were gone. I had nothing, and I was put into that position where I could only trust in and depend upon God.

When I look back on those experiences years later, I often see that God either allowed that circumstance or led me into it so that my trust and dependence upon Him would increase. God shows up in powerful and mysterious ways. A parted Red Sea is not just an awesome and miraculous thing; it is a testament to His power. For 40 years, God provided for the children of Israel as they wandered the wilderness, supplying them with a mysterious food called manna. They didn't even know what it was. In fact, the word "manna" in Hebrew literally means "What is it?"

For 40 years, God provided miraculously for their food—manna from heaven. He also provided a split rock in the desert through which water flowed to them when they were thirsty. Now, I think it's important at this moment to...

Pause for just a moment from where we are going to go in the Scriptures. I haven't even gotten to where we're going in the Book of Joshua, chapter 5. I promise you that we will get there in a moment, but I want to pause to answer the question that I put into your mind a few minutes ago when I kind of exercised some Inception. What in the world were you doing 7,500 feet up on a mountain called Jabalmaka in Saudi Arabia?

To answer that question in part, I will have to talk about it more in the future. I just don't have enough time today to discuss it fully. However, let me say that sometimes when I get up on a Sunday morning here at Cross Connection Church to share from passages like we've been going through in the Book of Deuteronomy or the Book of Joshua, I think it is easy for us to view these as just cool old stories that may or may not really be history. They might be embellished; they might not fully connect all the dots. So, we sometimes think they are just interesting tales that may have some important truths we can draw out for our lives.

But listen, two weeks ago, I was on a mountain in Saudi Arabia for a trip with several of my really good friends: Pastor David Guzik, who runs enduringword.com; Pastor Lance Ralston, who is the pastor of Calvary Oxnard; and Pastor Chuck Muscali, who pastors The Village Chapel in Lompoc, California. I was there in Saudi Arabia, on the side of this mountain, 7,500 feet up, to remind myself of the fact that God did these things in times past. I want to remind you that the events we read about in Deuteronomy and Joshua actually happened; they are true.

These things that we read in the Scriptures, both Old Testament and New, throughout the 66 books of the Bible, are not just made-up fictional accounts or stories. The individuals we read about, the places we read about—these people and these places are real. The amazing thing is that God did incredible things in those places and with those people. Those events are real, and one of the amazing things I was reminded of...

Two Sundays ago, I was slowly making my way down from the top of a mountain. Evidence points to the fact that this mountain, called Jabal Makla in Western Saudi Arabia, is actually the Mount Sinai of Exodus. This is where the children of Israel and Moses went to receive the law from God. There are three traditional sites that are potentially considered the location of Mount Sinai, but the archaeological and geographical evidence all points to this mountain in Saudi Arabia being the true Mount Sinai.

As I stood on the side of this mountain, I was reminded that God makes good on His word and that His word is true. He fulfills His promises; He is faithful and true. He can be trusted and depended upon. One of the other things that really struck me as I made my way down a treacherous path on the side of this mountaintop, with some friends accompanying me, is that our God enjoys perfecting our joy. He does amazing things in our lives to bring us into experiences of great joy, where we are just blown away by His power and magnificence.

I was reminded again, as I was there in that land, that the stories we read in the Bible are not just fictional tales; they are true. The lessons I learned about the faithfulness of God, His goodness, and how He enjoys perfecting our joy are not new, but they are good reminders.

Now, to finally get to the main point of the message this morning: Israel, 40 years after they exited from Egypt, has finally entered into the promised land. Over the past couple of weeks here at Cross Connection Church, I have been very grateful for Pastors Garrett and Jason, who have given messages on Israel's Jordan River crossing and the twelve memorial stones they set up after crossing over the Jordan River. Pastor Garrett shared a great message about that a couple of weeks ago, and then Pastor Jason tackled a challenging passage of Scripture discussing the recommitment of the children of Israel to God in the promised land at the beginning of Joshua chapter 5, in a place called Gilgal, at the hill of foreskins. It sounds like a really weird place, and yes, that is what the Scriptures call it.

But now, Israel is in the promised land after 40 years of wandering in the wilderness since they left Egypt. They have come to that place where the journey has finally led them.

The Red Sea was in front of them, with mountains on either side and the pursuing Egyptian army behind. God opened the Red Sea, and they crossed over on dry ground. They came into what was then called the land of Midian; today, it's called Saudi Arabia. After wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, they were finally in the promised land. Israel was in the land, but now what?

Picking up where Pastor Jason was teaching last week, let’s look at Joshua chapter 5, verse 10. It says, "Now the children of Israel camped in Gilgal, and they kept the Passover on the 14th day of the month at twilight in the plains of Jericho. They ate the produce of the land the day after the Passover, unleavened bread and parched grain on the very same day." Then, the manna that they had for 40 years ceased on the day after they had eaten the produce of the land. The children of Israel no longer had manna; they ate the food of the land of Canaan that year.

It came to pass that when Joshua was by Jericho, it was 40 years to the day since Israel was released from Egypt and began their journey to the promised land. I mention "to the day" because the night before the children of Israel left Egypt, or began their Exodus, was the very first Passover. Here they were, 40 years later, in the promised land, at a place they called Gilgal—a place of recommitment, where they rolled all of their things over to the Lord. Here, they partook of the Passover, 40 years to the day after the Exodus.

The day after they partook of the Passover, they entered into the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We are just about to come into that this week here at Cross Connection Church. It is fitting that we find ourselves in this passage of Scripture, 3,428 years after this event. But 40 years prior to this, Israel was in an "okay, now what?" situation because they had been released from their bondage in Egypt. It was like, "All right, now what?"

Well, they moved forward, and here they were once again, partaking of the Passover as they were in the promised land. Once again, they found themselves in that situation: "Okay, now what? We are in the land, but now what do we do?" I think in this passage, Joshua, the leader of the children of Israel at this point in time, does what any leader would do. He goes out and begins to look around, trying to figure out what their next move should be after they crossed over the Jordan River.

Remember that the Jordan River parted, as Pastor Garrett talked about a couple of weeks ago. The Israelites walked over on dry ground, and now the flood stage of the Jordan River has come back. They are in the Promised Land, and there is no turning back. Just like they couldn't go back to Egypt after crossing the Red Sea, which closed back up, they cannot go back now. They have crossed the Jordan and are in the land. The manna that they have had for 40 years is no more; it is time to take possession of the land.

What is the first obstacle that they face? We just read in that passage of Scripture in Joshua chapter 5 that Joshua was by Jericho, a fortified city. We talked about Jericho just a few weeks ago, and I mentioned the two spies who went into the land to spy out the city of Jericho. There, they met a woman named Rahab. This was a great fortified city, and there are still ruins of Jericho today, located about eight miles north of the Dead Sea. You can see it for yourself if you're ever in Israel. Extensive archaeological digs have been conducted at the ruins of Jericho, especially in the 20th century.

The amazing thing is that these digs confirm the biblical account we will see in Joshua chapter 6. The archaeological evidence supports that Jericho was a large walled city. If calculations are correct, the first Passover in the Promised Land probably happened on April 30th, 1406 BC. That may seem incredible, but you can actually build the dates by looking at First Kings chapter 6, verse 1, and then tracking it back to the point where they came out of Egypt. When Solomon established and consecrated the temple in his day, which happened in 966 or 967 BC, it was on the 480th year after they had come out of Egypt.

You can track it right to this day, April 30th, 1406 BC, when the children of Israel are in the Promised Land partaking of the Passover. That is an amazing thing, showing how exact the Bible is. In that area was this great city called Jericho, and the ruins of it are still there today. This walled fortified city means that Joshua was out in the plains of Jericho, surveying this walled city and trying to figure out what to do next.

Not on Passover, but maybe the day after or two days after, May 1st or May 2nd, 1406 BC—3,428 years ago today. Why was Joshua in the plains of Jericho? Why is he looking at this walled city? He is looking at the walled city because he is Israel's leader, and he has to figure out what to do now. Just like you and I have been in situations before where we find ourselves at an impasse, we encounter some sort of obstacle, trouble, or mess, and we ask ourselves, "What do I do now?"

Here I am, on the side of a mountain, climbing down, and it looks pretty treacherous. What am I doing here? What do I do now? I want to suggest to you that although I think Joshua was a great leader, I'm not sure that he fully understood what he ought to do in that moment. Joshua and all of Israel had never besieged a fortified city, as far as we can tell from the Scriptures. They were in an unworkable situation, but he and Israel were there by God's design. God is the one who opened the Red Sea; they crossed over on dry ground by God's mighty power.

God often works us into unworkable situations to cultivate greater dependence and trust in Him. This is what I've been saying since the very beginning of this message, and I just want to drive it home: God works us into the unworkable to instill in us a greater dependence and trust. God shows up in manifold, sometimes mysterious and miraculous ways to resolve the issues we face when we find ourselves in those unworkable situations.

Look at what we read here in Joshua chapter 5, beginning at verse 13. It says, "And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man." Maybe circle the word "man" there and note that there is something special about that word, which I'll talk about in a moment. A man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. Joshua went to him and said, "Are you for us or are you for our adversaries?"

As I said earlier, I love this story, and I've been looking forward to this passage for quite a while. Joshua is surveying the walled city of Jericho. I'm assuming that he is trying to come up with some sort of plan or strategy. How are we, the people of Israel, who are now here in the land, going to take this city? For all intents and purposes, Joshua is, at this moment, in enemy territory. As he is in enemy territory, he lifts up his eyes.

His eyes looked, and behold, there was a man standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. Now, I'm assuming if you are in enemy territory and you see a guy with a sword in his hand, probably wearing some sort of soldier-like warrior garb, you have to assume that this guy is ready for a fight.

I'm thinking that you probably assess the situation and consider your readiness to meet that situation yourself. That's probably what Joshua was doing at this moment. He sees a guy standing over there with a sword in his hand, and Joshua is kind of figuring out, "Okay, now what do I do? I'm in kind of a predicament here."

So, Joshua went to him and asked this great question. It's actually two questions in one sentence: "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" That's a spectacular question. Are you on our team, or are you with the other guys? Maybe Joshua was thinking, "I've got a pretty big fight ahead of me, and you look like you are ready for a fight. I need all the help that I can get. So, do I have to fight you, or can I get you to fight for or with me?"

Joshua asked this question: "Are you for us or are you for our adversaries? Are you with us or are you against us?" The answer from the armed man is spectacular. Look at it with me here in verse 14. The man with the sword in his hand said, "No."

Let's let that settle for just a moment. Are you for us or are you for our adversaries? Are you with us or are you against us? No. But he continues, "As commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come."

Joshua's response is significant. Look at this: Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped. He said to him, "What does my Lord say to his servant?" He just simply says, "No."

Are you for us or for our adversaries? Are you with us or are you against us? Two questions, one short answer that says so much and yet says very little.

Very early on in my ministry years, when I first started serving in pastoral ministry, I, like many of the guys on our...

The team here was in Youth Ministry. I was a junior high pastor, and I noticed that junior high boys, especially, were notorious for asking two opposite questions. I loved giving them one simple or one-word answer. For example, when we were out on some trips, they would ask, "Are we going to go and get lunch, or are we going home?" I would just say, "Yes."

Sometimes, they would come to me at camp and ask, "Can I go to the bathroom, or do I need to stay right here?" I would again respond with, "Yes." This brings us to the question at hand: "Are you with us, or are you against us?" The answer is no, because these are not really the right questions.

The commander of the army of the Lord, this man—capital M—who was standing before Joshua in the plains of Jericho, with the fortified city of Jericho before him, said, "I am not here to join your army. I am not here to fight your battle. I'm not here to be a part of your plan or your strategy."

We need to note this very important truth: beware of using God as a piece of your puzzle or as a pawn in your game. He is not, nor will He ever be, a part of your strategy, plan, or game. If you ever try to play this God thing as a game, you will always lose.

We will see this in other places in Scripture. One that comes to mind is found in First Samuel, chapter four. In that situation, Israel faces an enemy in battle and tries to use God as if to throw Him into the mix of their plan, attempting to get Him to work for them. They get totally and utterly spanked.

If you are moving forward by your plan, strategy, and game, then I think what you need today is a kind of reframing. We face big challenges in this life, and looking around the world right now, it seems those challenges are increasing. We find ourselves in difficult, even unworkable, situations and circumstances in the places we go, with the people we know, and involving the possessions we have—your car, your house, whatever it may be.

The position you hold, whether in government, work, or any other area, can also lead to difficult circumstances and unworkable situations. Remember, God often works us into the unworkable to cultivate a greater dependence and trust in Him.

So, Joshua asked the man opposite him, "Are you with us, or are you against us?" The man, in battle array with a sword in his hand, replied, "No." But as the commander of the army...

Of the Lord, I have now come. Some of you who are paying attention to the scriptures that we're looking at this morning have noticed that the "He" and "Him" that Joshua is speaking to—the one who introduces himself as the commander of the army of the Lord—are capitalized. I will acknowledge that there is nothing in the original Hebrew of this text to force that translation; there are no capital letters in the Hebrew to indicate that "He" and "the commander" in this passage should be capitalized. However, most translations, especially English translations that I've seen, capitalize "He" in this passage and "Captain of the Army of the Lord." The translators are making a theological note by capitalizing those terms.

Most Bible scholars, commentators, and teachers, myself included, view this interaction as what we would call a theophany, or more accurately, a Christophany. What is a theophany? What is a Christophany? It is a visible manifestation of the invisible God—an appearance of Jesus prior to His earthly birth and incarnation. Fourteen hundred years before Jesus would come into the world as a little child in Nazareth or Bethlehem, we have a pre-appearance of Jesus.

Now, how is that possible? It is possible because Jesus is eternal. He is not a mere man; He is the Eternal God-man. I believe this is one of the instances where Jesus shows up in the Old Testament in a pre-appearance. There are others; you can read through the Old Testament and find Him in a number of different places. The one who walked with Adam and Eve in the garden, I think that was Jesus. The "Him" that Hagar saw in Genesis chapter 16, I believe that was Jesus. The man who spoke with Abraham in Genesis chapter 18—one of the three—was Jesus. The angel that wrestled with Jacob in Genesis chapter 32, I think, was Jesus. The angel whose name was Wonderful, who met Gideon's parents in Judges chapter 13, I believe is Jesus. The Fourth Man in the fiery furnace in Daniel chapter 3, which we're going to be studying through this summer, who looked like the Son of God, that's Jesus.

What that tells us is that at key moments in Old and New Testament history, and in our lives today, Jesus shows up in mighty and miraculous ways, providing unworkable fixes.

Impassable turning points in life can often seem impossible, hopeless, and overwhelming. When we reach the end of our plans, strategies, and strength, it is at that moment that Jesus has a way of showing up in mysterious and miraculous ways. However, when He does, we must beware of trying to fit God into our plans or using Him as a piece of our puzzle or a pawn in our game.

This individual, the commander of the army of the Lord, greater than Joshua, responds to Joshua's question of whether He is with them or against them. He says, "As the commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come." In saying this, He is making it clear that He is not part of Joshua's plan or puzzle. He is not there to follow Joshua's lead. The question is not whether He is with Joshua or against him; the real question is whether Joshua is ready to follow His lead.

You and I have certainly tried things our way. We have attempted to fix the difficulties we find ourselves in from time to time. As the psychologist Dr. Phil often asks, "How's that working out for you?"

There is a huge, walled, fortified city before Joshua and the children of Israel, just as there may be a daunting challenge before you at this moment. You may find yourself in enemy territory, lacking a trained army to address the situation. You might have very little in the way of armor or arms for the battle, and no real plan or strategy for what you are facing. So, what are you going to do?

I want to suggest that Joshua did the exact right thing in this situation. As he stood there surveying the valley in the plains of Jericho, he saw a man with a sword in his hand. After the man introduced himself as the commander of the army of the Lord, we read in Joshua chapter 5, verse 14, that Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped. He then asked, "What does my Lord say to His servant?"

The proper position in the presence of Christ is one of humble worship and open submission, and that is what we see here in this passage. Joshua sees Jesus.

Shows up on the scene 1,400 years before His birth and Incarnation because He is eternal. He says to Joshua, "I am the commander of the army of the Lord. I've now shown up. I'm here." Joshua falls on his face and worships Him, asking, "What do you want me to do?" This is a good place to be; it's the proper place to be. Joshua has no way to fix the situation he and the children of Israel are in. He recognizes that God has brought them to this place, and he is saying, "God, I don't know what you want me to do, but my eyes are upon You." That is the right position for us to be in.

Joshua prostrated himself in worship, in a position of total surrender and vulnerability. He is on the ground, saying, "What do you want me to do? You are Lord; I am Your servant." That should be the outcome of our humble, submitted worship: recognizing that He is Lord and we are His servants. When we reach that point, we are ready to see God's wonders and power.

Look at what we see here in Joshua 5:15. Then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, "Take the sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so. You might ask me, "How do I know that this is God? How do I know that this is Jesus?" Because Jesus is the image of the invisible God. Anytime that God shows up visibly or physically, that is Jesus. Jesus is God in the flesh.

How do we know that this individual, who Joshua is in the presence of, is God? Because the commander of the Lord's army receives worship and makes the place where He stands holy. He makes holy the place where His presence is. So, this is Jesus, and Joshua bows down before Him.

Let me bring this around today for our point, for where we are as a people at this moment in time on Palm Sunday. Again, I ask you a question that I've been throwing out throughout this message: Have you ever been in one of those challenging situations where you are asking yourself, "What am I doing here?" or "What on Earth am I supposed to do in this situation?" That's how I felt, to be quite honest with you, at a number of points when I was up on that mountain in Saudi Arabia a couple of weeks ago, especially when we found ourselves in a difficult situation, which I'll talk about at some point in the future, I'm sure.

Have you ever been in one of those situations? I know that you have; we all have. If you aren't there right now, you probably will be in the future, and I want you to recognize...

If you are in that place, I think you are exactly where God wants you to be. God wants to grow your trust and your dependence upon Him. He wants to show you the manifold mysteries of His miraculous power. He wants to take over leadership in your life, scrap your game plan, and replace it with His game plan. What God is going to tell Joshua to do, I guarantee you, is not something that Joshua came up with on his own. It was not the plan that he was thinking about for how he and the children of Israel were going to take Jericho. God had a totally different plan, which we'll look at in just a moment.

However, God can't take leadership in your life and give you His game plan until you humbly bow and submit in worship and prayer before Him. You don't have to go find some holy ground place to worship Him; His presence makes any place holy. It's your position to posture yourself in the right way. That's important. Positioning and posturing yourself in worship and humble, submitted prayer before God is essential.

Is there a fortified, impenetrable walled city in your life? Some sort of major issue or problem? Maybe right now you're saying, "No, there's nothing going on in my life; everything's going really well." Thankfully, everything might be good in your life, and you may not be in one of those situations. However, I want to direct your attention, as I'm preparing to close, to a walled city that you definitely have in your life, even if things seem to be going pretty well for you in work, school, or life with your family.

If things are going really well for you, there still is a walled city that maybe you've forgotten about—a fortified stronghold in your life that you may have given up hope on. Perhaps it is your brother, or maybe it is your son or your daughter. It could be your dad, your mom, a cousin, or another friend or family member—someone who has walled up their heart. They have made themselves an enemy in opposition to God, His ways, His works, and His plans in their life. You have prayed for them in the past and tried to share the gospel with them. You've even taken an evangelism or apologetics class to try to evangelize, share the gospel with them, or answer the hard questions they have. To this point, you've just kind of given up because they are like Jericho.

They are a walled city: impenetrable, uncrackable, hard-hearted, stiff-necked, stubborn, rebellious, and lost. I am more convinced than I have been in years that God wants to do a new work by His grace through the gospel in our day, in our moment. God wants to tear down strongholds and break down walls. He wants to do a unique, powerful, even mysterious and miraculous work in the lives of some of those people in our lives who have become like Jericho—a hard, impenetrable city.

We are going to see God's miraculous power with Jericho in a few weeks when we come back to Joshua chapter 6. God wants to do in our lives and through our lives a greater work of His love and His grace in the lives of those who, to this point, have refused the love and grace of God. Where does it begin? Where does that work of God start in the life of that mother, father, brother, sister, cousin, friend, daughter, or son?

I want to suggest to you today that it begins in a place of humble worship and open submission on your part. It begins when you bow before the Lord in open worship and prayer, petitioning Him for His power, for His plan, for His strategy, and for His Spirit to work in ways that you cannot, to accomplish what you have been unable to accomplish to this point.

When Joshua bowed in humble worship and open submission, what happened? I’m just going to give you a quick trailer, if you will, about where we're going in Joshua chapter 6 in the coming weeks. Joshua chapter 6, verse 1 says, "Now Jericho was securely shut up, this great walled, fortified city, 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, this hard-walled city in your life. I have given it into your hand, its king, and its mighty men of valor." Here’s the plan: as I said, I guarantee you Joshua did not think that this would be the way he would take this city with the children of Israel. "You shall march around the city, all you men of war. You shall go all around the city once. This you shall do for six days. Every day for six days, you're going to walk around the city of Jericho once."

Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of Ram's horns before the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, the same Ark that went before them into the Jordan River and caused the Jordan River to part. For six days, you are going to walk around the city one time, but on the seventh day, you are going to march around the city seven times. The priests shall blow the trumpets, and it shall come to pass that when they make a long blast with the Ram's horn and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people of the children of Israel, who have now marched around the city one time each day for six days and now seven times, shall shout with a great shout. Then the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, every man straight before him.

I'm not going to go any further into Joshua chapter six today; I've already gone way longer than I planned to. In this passage today, I hope you're still with us. If you are, we'll come back to what actually happens here in Joshua chapter six in a few weeks.

As you look at this plan that God gives to Joshua, just by the way, in the realm of reality, this was an absurd plan. God says to Joshua, "Here's what you're going to do." As Joshua bows before the commander of the army of the Lord, before Jesus, and he's looking for a way to take the city of Jericho down, Jesus says to him, "Here's what you're going to do. You're going to walk around the city once a day for six days, one time, and then on the seventh day, you're going to walk around the city seven times. Then you're all going to blow the trumpet and shout, and the walls are going to fall down."

That is an absurd plan. Any sort of leader in their right mind would probably think, "This is not going to work." But it was coming from God. Listen, with the fortified stronghold in your life, the holdout in your life, that family member who has hardened their heart, God is going to ask you to do something that may seem absurd to you as well.

I don't remember if it was Ian Bounds or D.L. Moody who said it, but I've shared it many times before: "Where prayer is focused, power falls." I have discovered that God's mighty acts are seen by those whose eyes are set upon Him in prayer and worship.

This trip that I went on the last couple of weeks to the countries of Jordan and Saudi Arabia was a reminder to me of that simple, great truth. I want to share much more about that trip with you in the future, and I'm sure I will, but this was just driven home to me the entire time. God's mighty acts are seen by those whose eyes are set upon Him in prayer and worship.

As we close today, and maybe you've already tuned out, I hope not. I want to close with a video this morning that I saw from a conference.

That took place in Tucson a few weeks ago. When I saw this video, I was watching it live, and I had to share it with you. It's from a guy by the name of Layton Flowers, who is a Doctor of Ministry. He talks a lot about salvation and various topics on YouTube. This message about prayer that he gave at the end of his message at this conference is something we will put up here as we close today because I think it's very important to remind us of the power of prayer and the strongholds in our lives.

Most often, those strongholds have to do with a person we have been praying for a long time who has not yet yielded their life to the Lord. To remind us that where prayer is focused, power falls, we will close with this video after I finish in prayer in just a moment. Remember, God desires to do a great work in your life and through your life. He often brings us into situations that seem unworkable so that we will grow in our dependence and trust in Him. When we are depending on and trusting in Him in humble, submitted worship, He moves mightily and powerfully.

He can still move mightily and powerfully in the life of that individual in your life who has, to this point, been like an impenetrable city, like Jericho, walled up in rebellion to God. God wants to do a new work, and I believe He is preparing to do that in our day.

So, God, I pray that You would remind us of that here on this Palm Sunday. Encourage us with the word we find in Joshua chapters five and six, as well as in this video that is to come. God, do a work in our day. We pray for those brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, cousins, aunts, uncles, or friends who have hardened their hearts towards You. We ask that You, by Your Holy Spirit, would move mightily and powerfully in their lives to break down strongholds. Lord, cause there to be an openness, just like there was in the city of Jericho with a woman and her family. Jericho had one woman named Rahab who had a family ready to receive You. Lord, there are those same people in our lives, and I pray that You would open the doors so that we can reach them with the gospel. For we ask this in Jesus' name, amen.

Listen, 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 avails 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 pray knowing that you are impacting the present.

The present reality is shaped through your prayers, persistence, and persuasion. You are impacting the lives of those around you because it matters, and life matters. When you live on purpose like this, the value of prayer becomes evident.

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

However, there was one particular story my dad would tell that I actually requested because I loved it. It was a story about a little boy named Chucky Poole. 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 young people get to promote up to the youth ministry. They finally feel like they are getting older and can participate in 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 having 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 placed it right in the front of the youth room. He explained that they were going to pray for the lost, and here’s how they would do it: he wanted each of the youth to take one of those little map pins, the round white ones, and think of at least one person in their life who didn’t know the Lord Jesus as their Savior. They were to write the initials of that person on one side of the map pin and their own name on the other side.

In just a little while, everyone would come up to the outer blue ring of the target. My dad instructed them to place their pins with their names facing out so that they could pray for each other as they prayed for the person represented by the initials on the other side. They were going to pray for those individuals to hear the gospel and be saved, and my dad promised to pray for each of them as they prayed for the person they had put on their pin.

What we're going to do is, when that person hears the gospel—maybe they come to church because you invite them, or maybe you share with them Romans 6:23, which says, "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." You teach them the one-verse evangelism strategy and how to share their faith with just 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. It's just one 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're praying for. Chucky, who is new to the youth ministry, is sitting right in 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. He's nervous, 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 since coming on staff. He realized this was little Chucky Poole, the oldest of three children and the 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. This particular atheist was going to city council meetings, trying to get the nativity scene taken off public grounds.

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

Weeks pass, months pass. In fact, every time they get together, as is typical...

To prayer requests, Chucky Pool was usually the first to raise his hand and always asked the same thing: "Pray for my dad." In fact, 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?" We all knew that one already.

As the years passed, 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 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, which often called upon him. That night, he was leading the youth choir as they led the worship service for the evening.

My dad took his place in front of the large Southern Baptist choir loft and got 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 that Chucky was sitting still, looking like he was going to be sick. Youth pastors know what that looks like; they are well experienced in that look. Chucky's face was white, his jaw was open, and he was just staring. My dad was up there trying to get his attention, saying, "Chucky, it's time to stand up."

Chucky kind of snapped to and looked over at my dad, saying, "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 led in worship. He may have been guilted by his wife or something, but he was there. Finally, Chucky stood, and they led in the opening song service.

As the service progressed, it came time for the sermon. Back in those days, I don't know if Calvary Chapel skipped this stage, but in the Southern Baptist world, there were thrones that we used to sit on the stage. You know the thrones—those probably came from garage sales all over the world. I mean, they were 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. Poole.

Charles Poole was sitting in the back pew, and I could see his wife in her usual spot on the third row with their other two children. Little Chucky Poole was watching every word that came from the pastor's mouth, praying without a doubt. When it came time for the invitation, the choir began to lead the song "Just As I Am." My dad took his place, had everyone stand, and started leading the first verse.

As we reached the second verse of "Just As I Am," my dad mentioned that his back was to the crowd, so he couldn't see what was happening. However, he knew that Dr. Charles Poole was walking the aisle because he could see it in the eyes of his son, who was filled with tears. Sure enough, when he looked over his shoulder, he saw Dr. Charles Poole kneeling with the pastor, praying to receive Christ. Everyone in that room was aware of Dr. Charles Poole and the situation, thanks to Little Chucky, who made sure they all knew.

If you think this was emotional, you can imagine what the church was feeling at that moment. Just as they stood up from their prayer, the wife and the other two kids made their way over. Chucky, who I have told this story about a thousand times, always brings me to tears, so forgive me. He was standing in the choir loft, and despite the privacy rails, he hurtled over them and ran down the middle of the aisle to embrace his dad. Everyone in the room was praising the Lord, crying, and rejoicing.

That’s not even the best part of the story. Believe it or not, another role of the youth pastor and choir director is to lock up after everyone is done. The pastor said, "You handle it, you’re young; you can manage." The parking lot slowly emptied after all the embracing and celebrating. My dad, thinking everyone was gone, headed over to his office in the youth building. All the lights were turned off as he loaded up his suitcase, getting things ready and putting books away while reminiscing about the great things that had happened throughout the night.

Suddenly, he heard a noise. He looked around, and the door of his office was just open enough for him to see down the hallway. There was one security light hanging in the hall, and it just happened to be shining right over the old prayer target that had now been moved into the hallway.

He can see it when they pass by. He sees a figure standing in front of this prayer target, and he's about to walk out to ask who it is, but something stops him. He stands back because he recognizes it's that 11th-grade boy, Chucky Poole, standing in front of the prayer target. He doesn't know anybody's there, and 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. He looks up and says, "God, thank you for saving my daddy." He grabs a pen and goes like that really hard.

As he turns to walk out, he just says, "Yes, my dad is there in his office." This is what I remember the most: little boys hearing their daddies cry. There's 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 everybody else. But he said there in my 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.

The reason I still share that story decades later is that every time I've had the chance to share it, 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, praying for them, and getting on your knees.

Weeping for them and loving them, I’m here to say God wants them saved as much as you do. Jesus died for them. Don't give up hope; keep praying. You are good.

Thanks for joining us for our broadcast today. As we close, we would love to invite you to our services at Cross Connection Church campus at 8:30 and 10:30 every Sunday. Also, if you’d like more information about Cross Connection Church, go online at lifeinkconnection.com.

Hey, Cross Connection Church! We record these announcements on Thursdays, and it is pouring rain. Thunder just started. If the latest rains have you concerned that the end of the world is near and another global flood is about to happen, remember to keep your faith strong.

I want to encourage you. God said He would never again destroy the Earth with a flood, but there are some other things that might come down the pike. It is time to be ready to begin to share the gospel with your friends, loved ones, and neighbors—whoever you are connected with. God wants you to connect them with the Lord, and we have a perfect opportunity this week.

Today is Palm Sunday! Happy Palm Sunday! This means this week is Passion Week. On Friday, we have a special service here at noon, from noon to one, for Good Friday. We will gather together to worship and go through some of the scriptures talking about the crucifixion of Christ, one of the most pivotal events in all of history, leading to the most important event in all of history: Resurrection Sunday.

Next Sunday is Resurrection Sunday, and this is a great opportunity for you to invite someone to come to church. Make sure this week you grab some of the cards we have for the Easter invites or just a general invite to come to church. Next Sunday is one of the best Sundays, and we know from research done by a number of groups that pretty much eight out of ten people said they would come if invited to church by a friend. This is a great opportunity for you to invite someone, whether for next week for Easter or for any upcoming Sunday.

We have a lot of great things happening here at the church in the coming weeks. One of those things that we are starting to announce today, and will be talking about a lot more over the next several weeks, is that we are going to be starting some growth groups. These will start on the 19th of April, so they are coming up pretty quickly. Be listening to the announcements for those, and check out our website, ccchurch.com, for upcoming events, including those growth groups. Lots of great stuff is going to be happening here as we move into the springtime of the year. We are excited about all of these things, and we hope that you will be involved as well.