FIRST BAPTIST RAYTOWN LORD USE ME MAY 17, 2015
LORD USE ME MAY 17, 2015 PREPARATION > Spend the week reading through and studying Joshua 3:1-6. Consult the commentary provided and any additional study tools (such as a concordance or Bible dictionary) to enhance your preparation. > Determine which discussion points and questions will work best with your group. > Pray for Pastor Brandon, the upcoming group meeting, your teaching, your group members, and their receptivity to the study. HIGHLIGHTS BIBLICAL EMPHASIS: As the Israelites were about to enter the promised land, God used Joshua to give them final instructions before they followed God into the land where He would do the impossible and use them as a blessing to the world. TEACHING AIM: God calls us to follow Him in wholehearted obedience to His Word. When we surrender to His Lordship we experience His power to do more than we could think, ask, or imagine. 2 Lord Use Me First Baptist Raytown
INTRODUCTION As your group time begins, use this section to help get the conversation going. 1 Have you ever gotten lost trying to follow someone? What was that experience like? 2 How do landmarks help us find where we are going? I have been driven When Joshua was leading the people of Israel across the Jordan and into the promised land, they had one steady and fixed point to follow: the ark of the covenant. Because the ark signified God s presence among His people, following the ark meant they were actually following God. They followed God s directions. They couldn t get too close or go too far away. But as they followed and gave their lives to God in obedience, they were able to see Him work wonders before them. UNDERSTANDING Unpack the biblical text to discover what Scripture says or means about a particular topic. > Have a volunteer read Joshua 3:1-3. Where were Joshua and the people at this point? What were they about to do? many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day. - Abraham Lincoln on surrendering to God and being used by Him What had happened to the Israelites to lead them to this point? At the end of 40 long years of wilderness wandering, Joshua was about to finally take Israel into the land God had promised them. After much planning and preparation God was finally going to allow them to enter in, but before they took the land, Joshua had some final instructions to give them. 3 Lord Use Me First Baptist Raytown
What instructions did the officers give the people in verse 3? What sticks out to you about these directions? People God Delights to Use What was the ark? What was inside of it? What did the ark symbolize to the people of Israel? Why was it carried by priests? Why was there a sense of urgency to the officers directions? The ark of the covenant contained the tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron s rod, and a jar of manna. It usually resided in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and symbolized God s protection of and presence with His people. Because of the importance of the ark, only Levites could carry it. The people followed as soon as they saw the ark pass before them. Following the ark symbolized following God who requires our obedience. > Have a volunteer read Joshua 3:4. The Foolish - God is able to work through the non-intellectual things in this world. D. L. Moody was an uneducated and uncultured man. With no educational advantages, he established the Moody Press, Moody Bible Institute, the Moody radio stations, and the list goes on. He s an example that God s power is not resident in our wisdom. God uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. The Weak - Weary, feeble, powerless... Sometimes when we feel physically or spiritually weak, we re tempted to take a time-out, thinking that God will use us again when we are stronger. In Judges 6, we re introduced to Gideon who was taking a time-out. It was wartime, and Gideon was hiding when an angel of the Lord appeared to tell him that he would be the one to save Israel. Imagine Gideon s astonishment: How can I save Israel? Lord, I come from a nobody family, and I m the lowest nobody in my family. And You re going to use me? How much distance was to be maintained between the followers and the ark? What reason was given for maintaining this distance? Have you ever heard someone speak of God s transcendence? What does that mean? The Base - Of the four women in Christ s genealogy, one played the harlot, Tamar; another was a Gentile, Ruth; another an adulteress, the wife of Uriah; and the fourth a harlot named Rahab living proof that God can and will use anyone, regardless of their past actions, class or occupation. http://www.lifeway.com/article/ pastors-laymen-god-uses-nobodies 4 Lord Use Me First Baptist Raytown
How might knowing God s character give us comfort as we follow Him to places we have never been? The people maintained a distance of 2,000 cubits or around 3,000 feet from the ark. Our God comes near to us, yet He is Holy, separate and above us. The directions symbolize both aspects of God s nature. The ark was amongst the people and near to them, yet they maintained some distance from it our of reverence and fear for the God it represented. > Have a volunteer read Joshua 3:5-6. What did Joshua ask the people to do? Why did He ask them to do it? Bible verses that deal with Surrender James 4:7 Romans 12:2 Mark 14:35-36 John 15:1-7 How can you know if you are trusting God wholeheartedly? What does a life surrendered to God look like? James 4:10 Proverbs 23:26 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Consecration makes us symbolically clean before a holy God. Obeying God communicates that we trust Him to provide for us and acknowledges He knows what is best for us. Surrendering to Him places His desires before ours. What Joshua asked the people to do allowed them to consider the God they served and prepared them to follow Him into the land He promised. Jeremiah 10:23 Romans 12:1 Matthew 26:39 Why did the ark go before the people? What wonders did God perform before the people in the promised land? 5 Lord Use Me First Baptist Raytown
When have you experienced the power of God? Have you ever seen Him accomplish something that seemed impossible? What was it? The ark went before the people because God is in charge. God led them out of the wilderness and only His providence will take them into the land He promised them. Israel were God s people, in God s place, for God s purpose. God proved this time and time again by His visible work in and through them. APPLICATION Help your group identify how the truths from the Scripture passage apply directly to their lives. 1 In what ways have you experienced God s holiness and greatness? In what ways have you experienced His nearness? Why does a proper view of God always include both? "Then Joshua said to the people, Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you. And Joshua said to the priests, Take up the ark of the covenant and pass on before the people. So they took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people." 2 Is your life surrendered to God? If not, what would have to change to be completely surrendered to God? If yes, how can you maintain a continual posture of surrender? -Joshua 3:5-6, ESV 3 Do you expect God to do impossible and wonderful things? Could it be that you have not because you ask not? What impossible thing could you ask God to do this week? 4 How is God using you where He put you? How might you make yourself more available to be used by Him right where you are? 6 Lord Use Me First Baptist Raytown
P R A Y Pray for God to always use you. Ask for God to shape your heart into one that obeys wholeheartedly and surrenders to God for the results. Acknowledge all the ways God has used you and the impossible things He has done. Plead with God to do even more impossible things through FBC Raytown. FOLLOW UP Midway through this week, send a follow-up email to your group with some or all of the following information: What have you seen God do in the last month? Meditate on God s nearness and greatness. The challenge to memorize Joshua 3:5. 7 Lord Use Me First Baptist Raytown
COMMENTARY MAY 17, 2015 JOSHUA 3:1-6. 3:1 4:24. These two chapters outline the ceremony of Israel s crossing of the Jordan River. This was not a casual activity but something specifically commanded by God. They illustrate the importance of hearing God s word and responding in faithful obedience (Mt 17:20; Lk 17:6). Notes: 3:1. Acacia Grove is the place where Israel had been since Balaam s failed attempt to curse them (Num 22:1; 25:1). This was some miles from the actual place where they crossed the Jordan River. In the south opposite Jericho, this meandering river was at that time surrounded by thickets, so it was not a place suitable for a stay of any length (Jer 12:5). The key word crossing again occurs here. 3:2-5. The ark of the covenant was the symbol of the presence of God among His people. The considerable distance of 1,000 yards may suggest the need to remain away from the presence of God, especially as a miracle was happening. This separation of a holy God from His people occurred at Mount Sinai (Ex 19:10-25). The command to consecrate yourselves recalls Ex 19:10-15 where consecration was defined as the washing of clothes and as abstinence from sexual relations. This would allow God to work through the people to accomplish His wonders a term that describes the plagues of Egypt in Ex 3:20 and more general acts in Ex 34:10. 3:6. Joshua s first instructions to the priests appear here. Note that the verse describes their precise obedience to his words. 8 Lord Use Me First Baptist Raytown