1. Living in the Promised Land (Part 2)
Pray for & dismiss children to Sunday School
Take 30 seconds and greet someone next to you.
PRAY!
From the Pastors’ Heart

2. Part 1 Recap Canaan: The Promised Land Jesus: The Promised Land
Grace: The Promised Land
FICF: The Promised Land
Part 1 Recap
Canaan:
Promise starts in Genesis
40 years of wandering
Entire generation dies outs
Joshua, Moses’ successor
Cross the Jordan River
Into Canaan, the promised land.
Jesus:
Promised land is a signpost to Jesus.
Jesus’ work enables us to enter the promised land.
Grace:
Story of Rahab and the Spies reveals the culture/ currency of the Promised Land
FICF:
The culture of His grace, that was revealed in the Promised Land, is to be the culture of our lives and of FICF.

3. Entering the Promised Land
6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-9)
God’s desire is that we, the people of God, would enter the promised land.
How we start is important…
Examples:
Meeting someone for the 1st time and saying something stupid.
Coming home from a job interview and realizing that you’ve had a stain on your shirt the entire time.
Getting home after a 1st date and realizing that you’ve had spinach stuck between your teeth the entire time.
Personal Stories:
Bike Ramp- Scraping the side of my face off when making my first bike ramp.
Silver Serving for the 1st time- pouring soup on someone.
Tom Field- that’s arrogant.
Team Talk God gave Joshua before entering the promised land:
(Command) Be strong & courageous
3 times
Attitude Joshua should possess
(Command) Obey all the law
Without obedience his leadership would fail

4. Matthew 5:17-18
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

5. Matthew 22: 34-40
34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

6. Entering the Promised Land
6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:6-9)
(Promise) I will be with you wherever you go
…Although starting right is important. It’s not as important as living right.
Grace enables you to change.
This doesn’t mean we avoid the need for forgiveness, repentance, change, bearing the consequences.
It does mean we avoid the guilt, shame and punishment of sin.

7. Experiencing the Promised Land
11 The day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land: unleavened bread and roasted grain. 12 The manna stopped the day after they ate this food from the land; there was no longer any manna for the Israelites, but that year they ate the produce of Canaan.
Joshua 5:11-12
God’s desire is that we, the people of God, would experience the promised land.
When the Israelites arrived at Gigal, their 1st destination in the Promised Land, they…
Shared their story (12 stones taken from the middle of the Jordan River)
Recommitted their covenant (circumcision)
Had Passover
Ate the food of the Promised Land:
New beginning (the wilderness has passed, the promised land has come)= new diet.
New connection between Passover & Promised Land
No longer a reminder of their exit from slavery and bondage but a reminder of their entrance into the Promised Land.
Marks their possession of the land. A foretaste of the abundant blessings that are to come.
How do we live in the Promised Land?
Easter marks a new Passover.
Communion this AM was a celebration of our new life in the promised land.
Transition: Entering & Experiencing the Promised Land is not sufficient.
2 groups of people that entered & experienced the promised land but never remained living in the promised land:
Transjordan Tribes [tribes of Reuben, Gad and half-tribe of Manasseh] (Numbers 32- they wanted to remain in the land, east of the promised land).
Spies.

8. Living in the Promised Land
20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,
Romans 5:20
14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 1:14
14 …the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
2 Corinthians 9:14-15
God’s desire is that we, the people of God, would remain living in the promised land.
How do we remain living in the promised land?
We must have a revelation of God’s grace.
God’s grace is a gift
Not a loan
Costs you nothing
You own it
You become richer, I become poorer.
Grace does not stop once we are saved; We forever live under His grace.

9. Earthly Promised Land vs. Kingdom Promised Land
Man owns It
We protect it
Limited Resources
The more you give away, the less you’ll have
It must be earnt
God owns it
We share it
Unlimited Resources
The more you give away, the more you’ll have
It’s a gift
How do we remain living in the promised land?
We must have a revelation of the Kingdom (promised land).
It must be earnt= promotes pride
It is a gift= promotes worship
FICF: The Promised Land
May we enter, experience and live in the promised land of Grace.
May we cultivate a culture of grace in this church family.
Where we’re going, demands a culture of the grace of Jesus Christ.

10. Questions to Consider Do I reside in God’s grace?
Where do I need to experience God’s grace?
To whom do I need to extend God’s grace?