What Lies Ahead - Joshua 1:1-11

          I love looking at old church histories. There is something about the history of a church that can speak a lot to their future. When I read over these booklets or websites, I tend to be drawn to the times that the lay people took risks. When they stepped out of the mindset of how we have always done things, for the sake of reaching new people. It may be starting a new ministry that the community is in need of or deciding whether to relocate the building or start another worship service. Most churches have times in their histories when they took great risks.
           But most churches also have times in their histories when risks were taken and it didn't pay off. Times when we poured time and energy into something and it was considered to be a failure. When we consider God's words to Joshua, which are also God's words to us today as the Church, to be strong and courageous, we must pause and consider what part of our history we let define us - what part of who we are move us forward: our risks or our failures.
        The truth is the two go hand in hand. If we take risks we will sometimes fail, but if we refuse to take risks by insisting on keeping things just as they are, we won't enter into the promise land. Are we willing to take a risk for the sake of the Kingdom of God and what are we willing to give up in order to get to the Promised Land?