The Season Changed the Work Has Not

0:00 What's going on, everybody? Thank you so much for listening to this week's message from Zoe Church. We are concluding today a series we've been in in the book of Joshua. We've been studying the life and the story of Joshua. We're concluding today. Open up your Bible. Turn with me to Joshua chapter 12. We're so excited to conclude this series. If you've missed out on any of the messages, go back and you can listen on our YouTube or anywhere our podcasts are streamed. I want to thank every person that gives to and through Zoe Church. If you'd like to begin to give today, go to our website. Click the top right button. It'll drop down in the menu. Click give, and you can give a tithe or an offering there. But let's jump into this week's message. It's called The Season Has Changed, But the Work Has Not. We are concluding today.

0:52 We've been studying the life and the book of Joshua. And we're concluding this series today. We'll start a new series next Sunday. But we've been studying this man, Joshua. And I just want to make sure we're clear that our goal is not to be like Joshua. Joshua is an Old Testament character. We're drawing some truths about God from his life. But our goal is to be like a greater Joshua. Joshua, his name is Jesus. So I'm going to just sprinkle in and show you Jesus throughout the story. So I just want to make sure we're all on the same page, that our goal is not to be like Josh. Our goal is to be more like Jesus. Amen to that? So we're concluding. They have gone from Egypt, from bondage. They had to cross the Red Sea, and they had to cross the Jordan. They have now entered into the promised land.

1:48 They are here. They finally made it to the promised land. I want to preach a message today. Write down the title. It's called, The Season Changed, The Work Has Not. And I just want to remind you today that you're going to face all kinds of seasons in life. You're going to have all kinds of different seasons in your world. I turned 47 years old yesterday, people. I'm an old man. I'm old. I got the minivan to prove it, okay? And I've gone through some seasons. I've gone through some seasons where we had a lot. I've been through some seasons where we ain't had nothing. I've been through seasons where we had fun. I've been through seasons where you got to cry yourself to sleep at night. I've been through seasons of laughing. I've been through seasons of crying. I've been through seasons of tear it all down.

2:42 I've been through seasons of build it all back up. I've been through seasons change. But I want to tell you, the work always remains the same. so never change your work based upon your season no matter what season you're in you put your best foot forward to fulfill what God has for your life the season change the work never changes I want to show you what God says here go to Joshua chapter 13 verse 1 it says now Joshua was old how old you got to be for the Bible to call you old God's like yo you so old we putting it in the scriptures you old dang now Joshua was mad old advanced in years and the Lord said to him you are old it's like really you gotta rub it in and you were advanced in years. Joshua was like, yeah, my back is telling me the same thing, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed.

3:50 Write down point number one today. There's still more to do. There's still more to do. See, I just think it's funny that most of us are like, once we get into the promised land, once we get into our Jericho, we're like, man, I'm about to post up. I'm about to just have some fun because I did so much work to get here. I did so much sacrifice to get to this spot. Now that I'm in the land, I'm ready to just to chill out. It's so funny. I don't know if you knew this, but last year, the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl. Okay. I'm just a messenger, don't get mad. In the last service, there was a couple wearing a Broncos jersey and a couple wearing a Niners jersey. I said to the Niners guy, you're about to lose at 130. I said to the Bronco fan, church, stretch your hands. A demon is here.

4:43 But when you win the Super Bowl our whole life, what's the first question they ask you when you win the Super Bowl? The first question they ask you is, what are you going to do now that you won the Super Bowl? And the answer my whole life has been the same answer. I'm about to go to where? Disneyland. Because most of us are, once we get our epic victory, we're ready to coast. We're ready to chill. We're ready to just post that. We're ready to celebrate. We're ready to go on a podcast tour. We're ready to go see Jimmy Kimmel, and we're ready to go see Jay Leno. We're ready to just chill out. But I'm telling you, God says to Joshua, now that you're old, the work is not done. Now that you're old, there's still more to do. See, you used to have to do this to get to here, but what got you here, that's not going to get you there. You've got to change in your mentality. You've got to change in this new season. You've got to change in this new iteration. Now it's about stewardship. Now it's about possession. Now it's about inheritance. Now it's about distribution.

5:42 He says, Josh, I know you're old, but I'm not done. I know you've done some great stuff, but I'm not done. Is there anybody thankful today that God's got more for your family, more for your business, more for your children? Come on, clap more for Zoe Church. I think the problem for most is we're like, once we get our miracle, we're like, I'm good. Just want to go to Disneyland. Just want to celebrate. I got married. Do you know how many? I met a guy from Zoe this week in the wild. Love meeting people in our church in the wild. Just met a guy. Like, you go to Zoe? He's like, I know. The guy walks up and he goes, I know who you are. Like, well, let's meet. Let's talk. and I was like, wow, he's like, I'm sorry, I haven't been here a little bit, my wife and I just had a baby, the baby's three months, praise God, I said, how did you guys meet, hoping he said, Zoe, he said, hinge.

6:46 God will use anything, people. but it's like you get married you're like all right i i did all the work you know the work man we florist and dj and and photographer and venue and all no no the work hasn't ended the work has just begun some of us we get into our jericho and we're like i just want to chill and god's like no i've got more for you he's saying to joshua there's more for your future There's more for your life. There's more in store with God.

7:22 It reminds me of this story of Jesus. Jesus is standing somewhere, and this messenger comes up and says, can you go help this family? Their daughter is sick. So Jesus goes and makes his way to this girl that needs a healing. And on his way, she dies. So the second messenger comes and says, don't worry about it. She's already gone. And he's like, you don't understand who I am. I'm the type of God that ruins funerals. So he just keeps on going. When he gets to the house, there is boohooing and crying and everybody's in mourning. Jesus said, y'all got to get up out this house. He kicks everybody out, closes the door. Watch what Jesus says here in Luke chapter eight. He put them outside, took her by the hand and said, little girl arise. Then her spirit returned and she arose immediately and he commanded that she be given something to eat.

8:20 And her parents were astonished, but he charged them to tell no one what had happened. Oh, I love this story because Jesus is saying to this family, only I can do what only I can do, but only you can do what only you can do. I'll do the resurrection. You do the feeding. You do the sustenance. Now that I've done what I've done, I want you to go make her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. you give her something to eat. What is he saying? He's saying, I'll do the resurrecting, but you've got to do the stewardship. You've got to do the possession. You've got to do the inheritance. God is saying to Joshua, I know you inherited and took over Jericho, but I'm telling you, buddy, there's more possession. There's more in store. There's more land. Clap today if you're willing to be a vessel that goes after all that God has for your life. put it on the screen anyone can conquer not everyone can steward oh i read this i listened to this book last year called the psychology of money and my biggest takeaway from this book was the author said most people can make money few people learn how to keep money see it's one thing to get married it's one thing to have kids it's another thing to learn how to steward your marriage, steward your children, steward your business. See, we thought the work was moving into Highland Park and lifting up this ceiling and opening up these windows and hanging some plasmas. But the work I found out was not building the building. The work I found out was building this campus, building this location, trying to reach Highland Park, trying to get more parking spots. Thank God we just found 50 new parking spots. Praise the Lord.

10:01 Anybody can conquer. Not everybody can steward. And I'm wondering today if you've gotten in to what you've been praying for and believing in and you've grown lackadaisical or complacent with the thing that you used to beg God to give you. And some of us forget that we fastened and prayed. My guy was on Hinge for five years, people. I cannot relate at all. I'd be the furthest testimony from that. but do you know what it's like to go through all that you've gone through? Do you think God brought you here to bring you this far?

10:48 No, God's got more in store for your future. He said, Joshua, I know you're old. You're so old that I, God, am calling you old. You are old, old, but I'm not done. While you've got breath in your lungs, I've got a promise planned for your life. Clap today if you're willing to step into God's full potential and God's full plan. Come on, clap and give him praise today. See, gratitude looks backward and says, look at what God has done. But faith looks forward and says, he's not finished yet. Thank God for all the things God has done. But I'm still believing God for the things that have yet to be finished. Man, I'm thankful for all the victories and all the breakthroughs. Man, praise the Lord for the last Super Bowl last year. But I'm believing we're going to go back to back. Come on, City Hawk fans, in Jesus' name, hallelujah.

11:41 you. But my point is, you've got to look forward with faith. Gratitude says, thank God. But faith says, God's not finished with me yet. Come on, clap and give him a praise if you believe God's

12:43 Write down point number two today. Be faithful to God post-success. Be faithful to God post-success. Most people get a victory, and they get amnesia of all the things God has done for them. And God is saying to them, he is saying, look at what I've done. I have given you. In fact, put up this graphic. He says, I took, I gave, I sent, I brought, I delivered, I destroyed. God is saying, I gave it to you to protect us from saying, look at what I've built. So God's like, I gave you cities. I gave you vineyards. I gave you property. I delivered you. I did all these things. So none of us can look here today and say, look at what I've built. Look at my life. Look at how great I, have you ever been around somebody that's low key impressed with themselves?

13:32 Don't point at nobody right here. Don't put in church. Just, they safe here in church. But you get around somebody that's low-key impressed with himself, and they're like, look at what I've done. It reminds me in the Old Testament of this story of King Nebuchadnezzar. King Nebuchadnezzar one day gets up from his bed, goes to his balcony, looks out at his kingdom, and he goes, look at what, look, am I not awesome? Am I not, is this not impressive? is this not something to behold guys come on team do you love me or what and the Bible says that day the Lord struck him sent him out of his kingdom his hair grew out like crazy his nails grew out like a bird he got driven out like a madman it says that he went to his lowest point and one day at the bottom of the barrel he looked up and says now I kingdom Nebuchadnezzar, I recognize that everything comes from God. He is the one that sits people down. He is the one that lifts people up. Come on, anybody thankful for what the Lord's done for you? Clap if God has done something for you that you could never do for yourself. Clap loud if God's been faithful to you when you were not faithful to him. Clap today if you believe God's the one that brought you the victory. God's the one that brought you the land. God's the one that gave you your marriage. God's the one that built your business. Clap today if you're thankful. Look at what the Lord has done. Great things God has done. I could have never accomplished in my own strength what the Lord did for me. Come on, give him a shout of thanksgiving and give him a shout of praise.

15:11 Look at what the Lord has done. All right, that's enough. god's saying i did this i gave it i built it i i i delivered you so that none of us can sit here and say look at what i've done no live your whole life going i cannot believe how faithful god's been i cannot believe how generous god's been i give you all the glory and all the honor great things god has done great things god's gonna do and he says he says listen if you think that it's evil if you think that it's bad for for us to be fully devoted to god and and us serve the lord he says choose now whatever god you're going to choose isn't it amazing these people had experienced walking on the red sea on dry ground they had crossed over the jordan river they had fresh manna they had experienced the pillar of cloud and the fire by night. They had watched miracle after miracle, and yet still their hearts are being fought for attention with idols. He is still having to remind them, it's proof to me that you could be in church and not be devoted to God. You can see miracle after miracle and not be devoted to our Savior. I don't know about you, but I don't want to let God do great things in my life and still go serve some other idol. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

16:37 isn't that amazing he they experienced all those miracles and joshua's saying fine you you you want to go you want to go serve those idols you want to go serve those gods you you want to no no go ahead go ahead you choose remember in life you you got to choose your master The world is worshiping. Every human worships something. Jesus said, you cannot serve two masters. You will hate one and love the other. The world worships success, finance, fame. Josh is saying we my home we are going to be fully devoted to God God has been faithful to us our response is we want to be faithful to him Jesus by the way never demands faithfulness he never demands you are going to be faithful to me no but the more grace gets in your life he produces faithfulness the only way I could be faithful in my marriage is I worship Jesus The only way I can be faithful as a parent is because I worship Jesus.

17:53 And the more I worship the faithful witness of heaven, the more I become more and more like Jesus. Is there anybody here today that wants to be faithful to serve and follow God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Come on, lift up some thanksgiving and praise. See, Jesus doesn't demand faithfulness. His grace transforms us into becoming a faithful people. He transforms us into becoming someone that is faithful. And I just find so many of us, we get success, we get a little glimpse of good, we get some momentum, and we're like, all right, I can take my foot off the gas, I can just chill a little bit, I don't have to keep, go. It's so funny. This new ESPN documentary just came out on coach Nick Saban and coach Nick Saban coached Alabama for many years. I think they won 150 national championships in a four-year span. And that was a joke. And it said that the night after they won the national championship, sorry, the night that they won the national championship, he called a coach's meeting the next morning at 7 30 a.m. He called a coaches meeting the next morning at 7 30 a.m. to prove to them just because we won doesn't mean we coast. Just because we just dominated doesn't mean we let the foot off the gas. We're going to be faithful to complete all that's in our heart. Josh is saying God gave us land. God gave us possession. God fought these battles. God's been really generous.

19:29 If you think it's evil to serve God, that's on you. You've got to choose your master. Me and my house, I can't listen. At the end of the day, your parents can't choose who you worship. At the end of the day, your friends can't choose who you follow. At the end of the day, you've got to make a resolving decision for me. For me and my house, we are going to be in the house of God. We are going to lift our hands in praise. We are going to give our tithes and our offerings. We are going to be in a connect group. Come on, clap a little bit louder. if your response I am not initiating faithfulness. I am responding to God's faithfulness.

20:08 And I'm saying, God, if you've been that good to me, why would I ever chase some dumb idol? Why would I ever chase some, an idol was set in my life to destroy me. Why would I go after an idol when I can go after a really good God? See the difference? so after success the challenge is not just to coast and just kind of chill the greater challenge is who are you going to serve because you're going to choose a master. And I pray for us that we just say, well, I'm going with God. God's gotten me out of some really tough seasons. Has anybody here today found God to be really faithful in your life? So the response, because he's been so good, is, Lord, help me. I don't know how to do this, but I know that grace will empower me and teach me how to be faithful.

21:07 I want to remind somebody, if you didn't have a good father and a good model of marriage in front of you, and you don't know what commitment and covenant relationship looks like, you don't need to go to the internet to find a good couple. You just follow Jesus. He'll teach you. He is the perfect example of faithfulness. So he never says, be faithful. You guys better be, because look at what I've done. You guys better. No, Josh is like, hey, man, you guys, it's up to you. You want to go serve those gods? Hey, man, when you die, you got to go give account for your life. You choose whatever you want. At my house, we're going to serve God. In my home, we're going to put God first. And if you're wondering, well, I don't know if I put God first in my life, show me where you spend your time and show me where you spend your money, and that's what's first.

22:02 so for me the way I check to see if God's first in my life is I do I give my time to God and do I give my treasure to God I want to signal to God not just gratitude with my verbal commitment I want to choose and serve God even with my feet with my finances with my faith and with my future come on clap if you believe that today be devoted to God post-success. Watch here, Joshua 21, verse 43. So the Lord gave to Israel all the land of which he has sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it. And the Lord gave them rest all around according to all that he had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them. The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand, not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All of it came to pass. Write down point number three today. Not one word from God will fail. I just love this. Not one word that God said to them he didn't do. Because I want to tell you, our God is a promise giver. He's a promise keeper. Let me show you two scriptures. Look on the screen.

23:24 Numbers 23. God is not a man that he should lie. How about first Peter one? The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures. How long? Forever. So listen, everything that God has spoken to you, he's not a man that he would lie to you. He's not a man that he would change his mind. No, God gives the promises of his word, and every word of God will come to pass. Anybody today believe in the power of the living, breathing word of God? Come on, clap today if you believe in the power of scripture. So he says, not one word, not one word that God said he didn't fulfill. When we first started the church, there was this guy, he told me this great story. His daughter was a little bit younger, and he told his girl on the way to school, okay, today I'm going to pick you up at 3 p.m. I'll be here for pickup, and then we'll go do something together.

24:18 And so that day, during the day, he got called in his office. His boss called him into a meeting, and so he had to miss the pickup for 3 p.m. he sent his wife. When the wife rolled up, the little girl said, where's dad? And she says, oh, sweetie, you know, he got called into a meeting and blah, blah, blah. So the dad come in the door at 6 p.m. for dinner and walked in. And the little girl looked at the dad and said, you lied to me. And he says, no, sweetie, I didn't, no, I didn't lie. I just, you know, my boss wanted to meet and I had this. He says, no, you lied to me. And he's trying to explain, you know, what happened and what transpired, but she said, I don't know if I can trust you after this. Some of us are still trusting God through some things that don't make sense. And I wanna just remind you that sometimes God, when he says not yet, it doesn't mean never. You've got to hold on to the promises of God because God is not a man that he would lie to you and God is not a man that he would change his mind.

25:14 The Bible says all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ. In Jesus, I have the victory of healing. In Jesus, I have the promise of freedom. In Jesus, I have the truth of deliverance. In Jesus, all the promises of God. Not one word of God will fail because of Jesus. So I don't know what you're going through today. I don't know what you're up against. I don't know what this season looks like, but I want to tell you if God said it, we believe it. Every word from God, we're standing on it. The grass could wither and the flower could fade and the clippers will keep losing, but God will reign forever. Oh, I felt the spirit when I said it.

25:57 And he says, look at what God's done. Look at what our enemies have fallen and we've got these victories and everything that God has spoken to us, it will come to pass. Everything God, he's never led us astray and not shown up at 3 p.m. Every time he told us he would come through, he's come through. Clap if you're thankful for the goodness and the faithfulness of a generous God. Worship team, come join me. Here's the last thing. I just love this chapter 24. Here's the last scripture in the study of Joshua. Joshua chapter 24, verse 29. It says this. Now it came to pass after these things that Joshua, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died being 110 years old. My God, 110.

26:52 That's mad old. You know how they have on the Today Show? They're like, you know, Margaret in Wisconsin turned 107. And Thelma in Seattle turned 104. You know, like Joshua was for sure on the Today Show. 110, like you post a 110, that's old. Read it again. Watch what it says. Now, it came to pass after these things that Joshua, who was the son of none, the servant of the Lord. He died. He died. Write down the last thing today. It ends where it begins. It ends where it begins. now Joshua the son of none he died he died 110 and that's pretty good I don't know if he's living in a funeral home or what you know if you have family around him but you know what you post to 110 that's a good life how much vegetables and stretching and 10,000 steps a day you got to do to live to 110 110 you post to 110 I'd be like man that's a good number. Now Joshua, the son of Nun, at 110 years old, he, the servant of the Lord, he died.

28:12 It ends the same way it begins. Because in Joshua chapter 1, it says, now Joshua, the servant of the Lord, took over for Moses. And then here we are in chapter 24, and we still calling him a servant. It ends the same way it begins. And I just find so many people are like, man, when I started, I was serving and I was serving and I was a servant, but you know, I made money and I got success and I got a little following and I'm doing good. I got a business. No, Joshua started as a servant, but the Bible says he ended as a servant. And I just want to preach to somebody today that says, when does it ever end? No, the season could change, but the work remains. The season will shift, but our goal of the kingdom of God advancing, this work will never end.

29:10 Oh, the contrast between this, when Joshua died, he died, but when Jesus, he died, he rose from the dead. He lives forevermore. Joshua was put in the grave, but Jesus ascended back to the Father. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. Today, he's interceding for us. And I'm telling you today that Jesus, there will be no end to his rulership. There will be no end to his kingdom. Jesus is eternal. Jesus, out of his faithfulness, gives to us the work of the kingdom of God.

29:49 He puts into our life the work of the kingdom of heaven and kingdom work, the Bible says in Isaiah, has no end. And so I don't know how old you are today. For me, I'm 47. Four kids, four chest hair, one minivan. I'm going up on Thursday. I'm really excited. I'm preaching at the church. Chad and Natalie are from, and a lot of us are from this church. I was at for 10 years. I showed up when I was 24 years old. I was 24 years old, just started as a youth pastor.

30:31 I was there for 10 years. When I left, I left with two kids and a wife. Holler at your boy. and I'm going up on Thursday to say thank you to the church that raised me. I'm bringing an offering on behalf of my wife and I to the church that changed us. and in some ways, I'm going to remind myself, you're just a kid that serves the Lord. You're no different than you were when you showed up in Puyallup in 2004, just there to serve and worship and try to be devoted to God. Nothing's changed. The seasons have changed. The work remains. I don't know what season you're in today. I don't know what you're going through. I don't know what you're facing but God's brought you through too much for you to go to Disneyland and chill out God's been too good for you to coast he said to Joshua there's more there's more land to possess and I want to say over Zoe there's more souls to reach there's more buildings to build there's more people to welcome home there's more prodigals to pray for there's more things for us to do I don't know about you but I'm hungry for more of God I don't know about you but if Joshua served God all the days of his life.

31:50 Why don't we make the decision today that we'll serve God all the days of our life. Oh, come on, jump up to your feet today. Come on, if you're willing, come on, just pray with me. God, we thank you that you're the example of faithfulness in life. We don't wanna be like Joshua. We wanna be like Jesus. Jesus, we give you the honor and the glory. For thine is thy kingdom and thy power and thy glory forever. We give you the worship that's due to your name today. Break the chains. Again, thank you so much for listening. We pray that today's message brought you great strength and great encouragement. We'll be back next Sunday with a brand new series. And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss out on any of the messages coming out from our church. We'll see you next Sunday.