IT’S TIME TO MOVE ON.
Deut. 1:6-8
6 The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount:
7 Turn you, and take your journey, and go to the mount of the Amorites, and unto all the places nigh thereunto, in the plain, in the hills, and in the vale, and in the south, and by the sea side, to the land of the Canaanites, and unto Lebanon, unto the great river, the river Euphrates.
8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give unto them and to their seed after the
Background of Text: Israel has been delivered out of Egypt. They have been camped out at Mount Horeb for about a year. However, this was not the promised Land. Now it was time to move on
QUESTION?
WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THIS TEXT?
#1 Camping out in our comfort zones.
It’s Easy to settle into a life of ease.
CONSIDER THESE THOUGHTS.
There is Danger in any business or ministry to become self-satisfied.
Instead of advancing to new levels, people become content with the status quo and staying within their comfort zone.
We have nice cars, nice homes, nice kids, nice neighborhood, nice jobs, nice clothes, and nice church. Why change anything?
Christians often fall into this trap: I’m saved and going to heaven, I’ve been baptized, I have a nice church, nice friends, I read three or four chapters in my Bible everyday, why change anything? Aren’ I doing enough?
Churches can succumb to the same complacent attitude: We have a nice building. Nice congregation, nice music, nice workers, nice ministries, nice preacher.why change anything?
God never intended for the Christian or the church to stand still!
. We are soldiers, NOT SQUATTERS! As the song says. Like a mighty army MOVES THE CHURCH OF GOD.
We need to be advancing not camping out around the mountain.
God says, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount. Or, to put it another way
It’s time crack it up a notch. It’s time to move on.
Yes, we’ve seen improvements in some of our ministries.
#2 It’s a COMMAND TO MOVE ON.
A stagnant river breeds mosquitoes, diseases, and death.
An unmoved vehicle is destroyed by rust.
A person who only lies in bed develops bedsores.
A person That wont work becomes Lazy
A. WE NEED JUST TO MOVE ON.
.
. I’m not talking about changing our message.
I’m talking about improving the quality and effectiveness of our methods.
We still haven’t knocked on every door within a five-mile radius of our church.
STILL LOT’S OF WORK TO DO
Joshua 13:1. Now Joshua was old and stricken in years; and the LORD said unto him, Thou art old and stricken in years, and there remaineth yet very much land to be possessed.
Even after Israel entered the promised land and defeated 31 different kings, God reminded an aged Joshua (90 years old), ?There remaineth YET very much land to be possessed.
#3 THERE’S A CHALLENGE TO OVERCOME THE OBSTACLES.
VERSE 8.
STORY
.
I have never seen one time that the lord pulled on my heart to move onto another duty, without they’re being many Obstacles to overcome. But I have found them all to be very challenging.
Between where Israel was camped and the possessing the Promised Land, there were several obstacles.
LETS VEIW THEM.
#1. Enemies to confront / GIANTS in the land
deu 1:28 Whither shall we go up? our brethren have discouraged our heart, saying, The people is greater and taller than we; the cities are great and walled up to heaven; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakims there.
#2. Battles to be fought. IT WON’T BE EASY.
Josh. 17:15-18 15 And Joshua answered them, If thou be a great people, then get thee up to the wood country, and cut down for thyself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim be too narrow for thee.
16 And the children of Joseph said, The hill is not enough for us: and all the Canaanites that dwell in the land of the valley have chariots of iron, both they who are of Bethshean and her towns, and they who are of the valley of Jezreel.
17 And Joshua spake unto the house of Joseph, even to Ephraim and to Manasseh, saying, Thou art a great people, and hast great power: thou shalt not have one lot only:
18 But the mountain shall be thine; for it is a wood, and thou shalt cut it down: and the outgoings of it shall be thine: for thou shalt drive out the Canaanites, though they have iron chariots, and though they be strong.
#3. Stumbling blocks of unbelief!
Likewise, there are some obstacles that stand between where we are now and where the Lord is taking us.
#1 The evaluation obstacle.
We need to honestly assess where we are. What’ working and what’s not.
#2 The vision obstacle. What is our vision for the future of Troutman church of God?
Improvement of facilities / paving parking lot / landscaping;
Equipping our new building
Enlarging our outreach;
Upgrading our educational ministries
Raising the quality of music ministry
Feeding the Hunger.
#3. The expertise (leadership) obstacle
#4. The cost obstacle. Funds needed.
#5. The commitment obstacle. Are we committed to do what is necessary to help us to move on?
6. The faith obstacle.
Will we step out in faith, trusting God to bless and meet our needs?
SUMMATION: General Douglas MacArthur once said that a man is old when he begins to look backwards more than he looks forward. We have a choice: We can look forward and enjoy God’s blessings in the days ahead, or we can live in the past and forfeit what God wants for us today.
As a church we need to move on.
As a Christian, YOU need to take your spiritual life and move on.
Some of you don’t know any more Bible than you knew a year ago.
Some of you still have never won a soul to Christ.
Some of you haven’t read your Bible through cover to cover. Some of you are still reading the Bible at the same rate you did last year.
Some of you are still giving what you gave last year (maybe less).
Some of you still only come to church on Sunday morning.
Some of you have still not taken on any responsibility of ministry. You are content to camp-out in your pew and let everyone else shoulder the work.
Some of you are don’t pray any more than you did Last year
Some of you have not memorized verse of Scripture in months.
; There is still much land that needs to be possessed! Will you join me in Moving on?
LETS PRAY
