June 8, 2025

• Welcome and Announcements
• Prayer of Invocation
• Battle Belongs
• Give Us Clean Hands
• Scripture Reading: Joshua 6: 1-5
• Recognition of Graduates
• Gracefully Broken
• Pastor's Message: The Thrill of Victory, the Agony of Defeat
• Lord's Supper
• Change My Heart Oh God

Joshua 6:1-5

¹ Now Jericho was tightly shut because of the sons of Israel; no one went out and no one came in.
² But the Lord said to Joshua, "See, I have handed Jericho over to you, with its king and the valiant warriors.
³ And you shall march around the city, all the men of war circling the city once. You shall do so for six days.
⁴ Also seven priests shall carry seven trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
⁵ It shall be that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and when you hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight ahead."

SERMON NOTES - Called By God

INTRODUCTION

• Joshua chapter 6 chronicles the victory of Israel in conquering the city of Jericho and chapter 7 records the embarrassing defeat of Israel in attempting to conquer Ai.
• The children of Israel have successfully crossed over the Jordan river at flood stage by the miraculous provision of God's power. They have arrived in the promised land but now it is time to possess it. The battle must begin and the first obstacle in their way is Jericho.
• Jericho knew Israel was coming and was under serious lockdown.

THE DESIGN FOR VICTORY (vv. 2-5)

• Notice that God told Joshua, "See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and the valiant warriors." The tense of the Hebrew describes a future action as if it were already accomplished. Since God had declared it, the victory was assured.
• Trusting the Lord does not always make sense to how the world sees and understands things.
• Jericho was the first city captured by the Israelites, and, as such, its capture represented the entire takeover of the land. With the "conquest by concert" of Jericho, Israel experienced the thrill of victory but they are soon going to know the agony of defeat.

THE DISALLOWING OF PLUNDER (vv. 18-19; 7:1)

• It may be a tough concept for us to grasp, but Jericho was devoted to God for destruction; in essence, consecrated to a curse.

THE DISASTER AT AI (vv. 2-5)

• The root cause of Israel's defeat was that there was sin in the camp.
• Hidden sin doesn't just impact the individual. It can ripple through an entire community, causing spiritual, emotional, and even practical harm.