2020: Vision Leads to Victory
This past Sunday we continued in our time of Vision-Casting for what the church stands by on a core, foundational level. Pastor Robbie spoke about the reality that Vision is what Leads us to Victory; our next series, Grace Bomb was also introduced, see what that is about here. We also hope that your participation in our 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting is going well - if you’re not familiar with what we’re talking about, check out our different plans at legacycity.church/21days and join us in this time of dedicated spiritual practice! If you were not able to make it to our Gathering this past Sunday, know that we missed you and hope to be able to see you this upcoming Sunday!
We have now entered into our final week of Legacy City Church’s 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting, and we are so excited to see what God is doing in everyone’s lives over this very intentional time. So many different people have joined us in so many different ways of doing this. Some of us are doing a more secular fast i.e. not spending time watching TV, or not spending time on Social Media; others of us are getting more physical with this time, doing fasts like a Jewish fast (only eating when the sun goes down) or a Vegetarian-type fast (only eating fruits, vegetables, and nuts). No matter what you feel God calling you towards, we hope that by giving up many different good things in your life, you are able to find more unique times to spend with God in prayer! As Luke 4:1-4 also declares, We’re not called to live by bread alone but by the spirit of the Lord! He provides for us, he sustains us, he satisfies us - and let me tell you church, it is so incredible to get to a place where you not only know that in your head, but you feel that in a very real way in your spirit! So, let me challenge you, take up the prayer and fasting over these last 7 days. Go longer if you want, but for these next 7 days, commit to praying and giving something up to see God move in your life, in the body of this church, and in this community.
Ps. Robbie stayed in Joshua 14 throughout most of the sermon and brought out some incredible points to be made from the journey the people of Israel went through. The first main section we went through was verses 6-8 saying, ‘Then the people of Judah came to Joshua at Gilgal. And Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the Lord said to Moses the man of God in Kadesh-barnea concerning you and me. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought him word again as it was in my heart. But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God.’ We have to keep in mind here, after wandering in the desert, after fleeing from Egypt, the people of Israel have come up on the Promised Land after being supernaturally led through such a journey. Knowing what power God possesses when they were led through the desert by way of a pillar of smoke by day and a pillar of fire by night, 10 of the 12 spies Moses sent to scout out the land doubted their ability to be able to take the land - they ‘made the hearts of the people melt’ meaning they convinced them of their inability. 10 out of the 12 that Moses appointed to scout out the land came back with a flawed and incomplete vision of the task that they had been given by God through Moses - their lack of vision directly affected their ability to succeed. We see this even further in Joshua 14:9-15, particularly in verse 10 saying, ‘And now, behold, the Lord has kept me alive, just as he said, these forty-five years since the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, while Israel walked in the wilderness. And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old.’
“You see, Caleb could have been viewing things a negative way. But he chose to have a positive vision, a Godly vision that would lead to victory. He chose to see that God was leading him through the desert, that God had promised this land to him, that God had kept him alive when all of of his other friends and older family members had died out. Even when he says in verse 10 that Israel walked/wandered in the wilderness - did you catch that? He didn’t say I wandered, he said Israel wandered. Yes he was right there with them, but there’s a difference - Israel was wandering, Caleb was waiting.” - Ps. Robbie
In this same section, we see Caleb embodying an identity that was very unique among the 12 spies (along with Joshua then).
Caleb knows who he is, he knows his identity. He’s a follower of God.
Joshua 14:8 - ‘But my brothers who went up with me made the heart of the people melt; yet I wholly followed the Lord my God.’ He’s strong in the Lord.
Joshua 14:11 - ‘I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming.’ He knows exactly who he is.
That’s what allows him to view things through the filter he has. That’s what gives him the perspective he needs. If he didn’t know the Lord, he couldn’t see things that way.
‘You have to know your identity. In fact, I said Identity is important for victory, but in actuality, identity is crucial for victory. There is but one way to the Father, and that’s through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.’ - Ps. Robbie
To conclude the sermon, our Core Values were discussed and reiterated, that you can find listed at legacycity.church/vision - leaving us with this resounding declaration,
“This is who we are, who we believe that God has called us to be. And this year, we believe that we are taking new ground. We believe that it’s time to take the land and advance the gospel in this community and elsewhere. We hope you’ll join us not just on the journey, not sitting by and watching the journey unfold, but I hope you’ll get involved. You’ll begin to take on and live out the vision of this church.” - Ps. Robbie
SOME KEY TAKE-AWAYS
2020: Vision Leads to Victory - Our ability to see God working in our lives, and in the lives of those around us enables us to accept the identity given to us by the blood of Jesus - we are called to walk in a mode of living unlike any other people; embracing our calling is our path to victory!
Main Scripture Passages - Luke 4:1-4; Joshua 14:6-15
21 Days of Prayer and Fasting - Go to legacycity.church/21days for more details! We hope to Humble Ourselves, Seek God, Hear from Heaven, and Dwell in His Kingdom’s power during this time!
Vision is Important for Victory - Without a proper vision of who God is, what He has done, and what He has called us to be, we cannot dwell in the mode of living needed to push onward to victory!
Identity is important or Victory - Without a proper vision, we cannot embrace a proper identity in Christ. We have seen God work in many majestic ways through Joshua, and His identity unto God played such a critical role in this coming about!
If this topic piques your interest or if you would enjoy listening to this sermon in more depth, check out Legacy City’s Podcast, available here, or on Spotify and Itunes.
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Join us next Sunday as we continue our 2020 vision casting series!
We’re saving you a seat, and know that You Are Loved!