The Torch Is Passed

FBC Eugene

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The Torch Is Passed

Joshua

May 16, 2021 • Pastor Ben Cross

This past decade has seen change at an alarming rate. Then, the pandemic hit and change accelerated exponentially. Many feel that, post-Covid, things will never be the same again.

However, our situation is not unprecedented. Deuteronomy 34 records one of the most definitive change moments in the history of God’s people. Like our own day, Deuteronomy ends on a note of emotional uncertainty. However, in God’s kingdom, Joshua 1s always follow Deuteronomy 34s.

In this introductory message to the book of Joshua, we are reminded of what never changes in times of epoch change. Read Deuteronomy 34:5—Joshua 1:6 to prepare.

Last Words: The Sequel

September 12, 2021 • Pastor Ben Cross • Joshua 24

Richard Baxter, a renowned Reformed pastor from the 1600’s, captured, in his own experience, Joshua’s urgency at the end of his life. He said, “I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.” In chapter 24, Joshua challenges Israel, after all Yahweh their Elohim had done for them, to repent of their half-hearted loyalty and choose to be fully devoted to him. What Joshua confronted in Israel that day is a common delinquency found in God’s people in both the Old and New Testaments, including our own times, maybe even in our own lives. Read Joshua 24 to prepare.

Last Words

September 5, 2021 • Pastor Ben Cross • Joshua 23

A person’s last words are typically their most significant and the most important to remember. Maybe the last words of a loved one are a treasure you hold dear in your heart. Last words matter. In the final two chapters of Joshua, he shares his own, first to his fellow leaders (chapter 23) and then to the nation as a whole (chapter 24). Joshua’s last words are a treasure we can hold dear in our hearts. They reveal the secret to overcoming spiritual strongholds in and around us, which will lead us into a time of Communion, where we remember Jesus and all he has done for us. Please read Joshua 23 to prepare.

The Danger of Assumptions

August 29, 2021 • Pastor Ben Cross • Joshua 22

The topic of this Sunday’s message is the danger of assumptions—how civil war nearly broke out in Israel because of wrong assumptions. Mexican author, Miguel Ruiz, wrote: We make all sorts of assumptions, because we don’t have the courage to ask questions. Without asking a question, I’m going to go out on a limb. I think it’s safe to assume that everyone reading this has experienced conflict with someone—a spouse, friend, relative, classmate, neighbor, or work colleague—over an issue you later discovered was completely unnecessary, because it was based on a wrong assumption. Israel’s story in Joshua 22 reveals important insights for the division and strife in our own times and how to deal with the danger of assumptions.