September 28th, 2022

Principles of the Promise 

Sermon by: Brett Esslinger
Summarized by: Christianne Visser 

Sunday was one for celebration...celebration of the four year anniversary of Kingdom Church and the grand opening of our new building! 

This week, Pastor Brett Esslinger took us through the book of Joshua, extracting principles from the scripture that we can apply to our own lives and as a church stepping into the promised land of the new season.  What is the "Promised Land"? The promised land is God's prepared place for you, or God's promise to you. So how do we enter God's prepared place? 

1. You got to get out- To enter into new land, you have to leave behind the old. This means leaving behind the curse of whatever isn't healthy to carry forward.

1 Early the next morning Joshua and all the Israelites left Acacia Grove and arrived at the banks of the Jordan River, where they camped before crossing.
Joshua 3:1 

2. Follow the Leader-  The Ark of the covenant is the resting place of the holy spirit that always went ahead of the Israelites. We have to let the Holy spirit lead us. Draw near to him. He's taking us somewhere we haven't been before. 

3 Giving these instructions to the people: “When you see the Levitical priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, move out from your positions and follow them. 4 Since you have never traveled this way before, they will guide you. Stay about half a mile behind them, keeping a clear distance between you and the Ark. Make sure you don’t come any closer.
Joshua 3:3-4

3. Get Ready, Get ready, Get ready- God has called you to stand apart from our culture.  Live His way, NOT your way.

5 Then Joshua told the people, “Purify yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do great wonders among you.”
Joshua 3:5

4. Rolling in the Deep-  The Israelites begin to cross the overflowing Jordan river. Our circumstances are not always ideal, life isn't what you expected and things can get hard. We have to  step out in faith and believe that God will be true to his word. And so, the people stepped into the water getting their feet wet and God dried up the river before their eyes. God says " Watch what I can do if you trust me." 

15 It was the harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priests who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river’s edge, 16 the water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.
Joshua 3:15-16

5. In Front, In the Middle, and Around back- Joshua, the Israelites and the priests, along with the Ark of the Lord crossed over safely. The whole time God went before them, He was with them and had their back. God is omnipotent and  omnipresent. He goes before you, is in the middle with you and is behind you. 

10 The priests who were carrying the Ark stood in the middle of the river until all of the Lord’s commands that Moses had given to Joshua were carried out. Meanwhile, the people hurried across the riverbed. 11 And when everyone was safely on the other side, the priests crossed over with the Ark of the Lord as the people watched.
Joshua 4:10-11

6. Life finds a way- Life spills out when God finds a way.  When God breaks through, life spills out and all of a sudden those things that were dead and dry start popping up all around. This is the goodness of God, and it's all around us and we carry it with us everywhere we go.

16 The water above that point began backing up a great distance away at a town called Adam, which is near Zarethan. And the water below that point flowed on to the Dead Sea until the riverbed was dry. Then all the people crossed over near the town of Jericho.
Joshua 3:16

7. Remember, Remember - It's important as we enter a new season to remember the faithfulness of God and what He did in the past. Let's celebrate,  but also continue to tell the story of what God has done and is doing. 

1 When all the people had crossed the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Now choose twelve men, one from each tribe. 3 Tell them, ‘Take twelve stones from the very place where the priests are standing in the middle of the Jordan. Carry them out and pile them up at the place where you will camp tonight.’” 4 So Joshua called together the twelve men he had chosen—one from each of the tribes of Israel. 5 He told them, “Go into the middle of the Jordan, in front of the Ark of the Lord your God. Each of you must pick up one stone and carry it out on your shoulder—twelve stones in all, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. 6 We will use these stones to build a memorial. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these stones mean?’ 7 Then you can tell them, ‘They remind us that the Jordan River stopped flowing when the Ark of the Lord’s Covenant went across.’ These stones will stand as a memorial among the people of Israel forever.”
Joshua 4: 1-7

8.  Word Gets Out - God's favour is over Kingdom Church and over you. But there will be times of pushback. Anytime you take ground and threaten darkness, the enemy will use whatever he can to discourage us. God is greater and stronger. The pushback is confirmation that we're moving in the right direction at the right time. 

1 When all the Amorite kings west of the Jordan and all the Canaanite kings who lived along the Mediterranean coast heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear because of them.
​Joshua 5:1 

9. No More Manna -  Often, that which we had been accustomed to was only a temporary measure to move us in a forward direction. In a new season, there's new provision and His provision may look different.  

12 No manna appeared on the day they first ate from the crops of the land, and it was never seen again. So from that time on the Israelites ate from the crops of Canaan.
Joshua 5:12 

10. This is the Starting Line, Not the Finish Line. - We must continue to work the land. It's not the time to settle in comfort. 

7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. 9 So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
Galatians 6: 7-9
​
God ​wants you to reap a harvest and step into His goodness and mercy. Whatever your promise land may, trust that God is leading you there.​

Thank you for being here! If this message resonates with you and you want to see more, here’s our YouTube channel, where we post live sermons every Sunday.  

Listen to the sermon podcast on Spotify here. 

Join us IN PERSON every Sunday at 175 Carleton Dr #170, St. Albert, AB
Doors Open at 9:30 a.m.
Service starts at 10 a.m.