Sunday Service - Thanksgiving Service

3/9/06
<Joshua 1:1-9， 14:9-12>

THE PROMISE OF GOD WILL BECOME OUR ANSWER

• Although we have a new sanctuary, it is not the most beautiful thing.

The most beautiful is our lives. No matter how glorious or beautiful a
church or sanctuary is, a person’s life is a thousand times more
glorious and beautiful
• God’s love is shinning upon us continuously. Therefore, let us lay aside
all our burdens and sufferings and receive the love of God
• God is with us today and He really loves us. His love is not dependant
on our conditions or weaknesses
• Jesus Christ had already died on the Cross for us. Therefore, let us offer
our thanksgiving offering today. However, God does not want us to do
it reluctantly
• We can find reasons for thanksgiving for any situation. For example, we
can give thanks for our problems because we tend to follow the
footpaths of this world. Thus without problems, we will not want to
follow God

Read <Joshua 1:19>

v5 This is the truth. We should always remember this
v9 God’s power cannot be displayed through us when we are terrified or
discouraged

Read <Joshua 14:9-12>

v9 We will receive the best when we follow God wholeheartedly
v13 Joshua had received the best land, the best inheritance

• The best thing that God has given us is His Promise

• What promises did God give us? Do we know His promises? Did we
receive His promises?
• Although it may seem that all our conditions are still poor even after we
have received God’s promises, we must know that with our poor
conditions, God can still use us
• If everything seems to go wrong even after we have received God’s
promises, we must know that God will give us the wisdom to find a way
out of our problems
• When God asked the Israelites to go conquer the Canaan Land, He did
not give them any weapons or a super strong army. What God had
given them was only His promise
• All God wants Joshua to remember is that only God can help him
• God often reminds us that He has given us everything. He says that
because He has already given us His words and He is with us always
• God only wants to give us things that are of the highest standard, that
means things that are not temporary (i.e. things that are here today,
but gone tomorrow)
• And the best and highest standard thing that God has given us is His
Promise. Moreover, God takes His Promise very seriously
• If we do not take God’s Promise seriously, we will not be able to see
any other blessings
• The Promise must become our thoughts, our motivation, and our
habits. Without these, we will surely fail in everything

1．Begin with the Covenant

• We have never seen anyone who holds on to God’s covenant failing
in his/ her life. We have also never seen anyone or believer
becoming truly successful when he/ she does not believe in God’s
covenant
• If a believer who does not believe in the Covenant dies after
meeting an accident, it is God’s love for him/her. God wants to
spare him/her the agony to live on this world, and thus He brought
him/her back to the heavenly kingdom earlier
• The Bible is not a history book or a story book. It holds God’s
covenant for us
• From the Bible, we know that God blessed Adam and Eve after
creating them <Gen 1:27-28>
• God has given the whole world to Noah after he came out from the
ark <Gen 9:1-3>
• Just as God’s concern was on Abraham when He wanted to make
Abraham great,. His concern is always “you” <Gen 12:1-2>
• God’s concern is you, your family, your region and the era that you
are in
• Covenant means God has become my life, my purpose, my
conditions, my joy and my satisfaction
• Money cannot become our conditions
• Our joy should not come from people
• God, Himself must become our conditions
• When a person is joyful because of God, his joy is of substance (i.e.
not shallow). He will not become joyful today because good things
happened or become sad easily when faced with not so ideal
conditions
• A person will be successful in all things when he lives his life for
God’s purpose alone
• If a person can give thanks because of God alone, his thanksgiving
is real. He’ll not complain when he faces problems. He can give
thanks even when he meets an accident
 • However, 95% of the believers in churches today do not understand
God’s covenant. Thus, they work just for money and become
nervous easily in their work
• People will become legalistic when educating their children when
they do not have the covenant. They are afraid of everything as
they do not know who is the one protecting them and their children.
• Some parents will scold or beat their children when the children do
badly in their studies. However, they did not tell their children the
purpose of having good results
• As such, the children will become very proud when they do well
• A person who does not have the covenant is either very prudent or
a spendthrift who spends money only for himself on entertainment,
to satisfy his own desires
• A person who does not have the covenant will have imbalance in
everything he does. Thus, he will fail in all things
• Who does God want to use in this era?
• God need not only use the pastor, elder or deacons who serve in the
church. Neither does He need to use only those who are successful,
rich or with good conditions
• Who did God use – Cain or Abel?
• Who did God use – Esau or Jacob?
• God uses Joseph, who is one of the youngest of Jacob’s 12 children
• God uses David, a small shepherd boy whom nobody really cares
• God wants to use those who can really believe in His covenant
• No matter what our conditions are right now, as long as we truly
believe in God’s covenant, He is able to use us
• This being the case, we still often hear people say “I simply cannot
believe”.
• God knows we have such struggles too
• In fact, there is only one thing that Jesus Christ rebukes His disciples
and that’s their disbelieving hearts (i.e. small faith)
• Therefore, we ought to establish a covenant with God
• There were times where Abraham had disbelieved also. He fled to
Egypt after leaving his home town as soon as he learnt about the
famine

2. Establish the covenant with God

• We cannot believe without first establishing a covenant with God
• A person who has never established a covenant with God will never
able to see the fulfilment of God’s promise
• The temptations, culture, knowledge and voices of this world will
affect those who does not establish any covenant with God
• What is “establishing a covenant”?
• Establishing a covenant does not mean simply saying “Lord, I’d
decided to believe”
• Establishing a covenant means to wrestle with God after hearing His
voice because His instructions are hard to follow <Gen 15>
• We must wrestle with God until we can say “God, I cannot do
anything without you!” willingly
• God told Abraham that He is his shield, his reward in <Genesis
15:1>. And Abraham didn’t just reply God, saying “I believe you will
bless me”
• What Abraham had said was “Lord, how are you blessing me?”
Abraham thought his descendents are going to come from Ishmael
• The answer that Abraham gave shows that he was very truthful
• God wants to correct Abraham. Thus, God told Abraham that his
descendents will all come from him
• A lot of times, God wants to correct us too because our thoughts
towards God are all wrong
• True establishment of the covenant means: to believe after being
corrected by God
• God told us that He had laid down His own life for us. This is to fulfil
His covenant for us
• We will not be disturbed so easily when we have established the
covenant with God. Of cause, this also means that we can still be
weak even if we’d established the covenant
• However, once we’d established the covenant, we can discover our
disbelief more easily when we are weak and turn back to Him:
1) The head of the forces of darkness will only be broken after a
person has established the covenant
• Thereafter, the person will not be tempted so easily
• He will see that God is his provider
• God is our shield, our reward
• We need not fear giving our all to God as God will definitely
return more and abundant blessings upon us
• What are our values we use to educate our children? We
should teach them to seek God on their own
• We can only do so after we’d established the covenant

2) The battle will begin only after we’d established the covenant
with God
• We were hit by Satan before we establish the covenant
• After we’d established the covenant, the Red Sea will part
when we approach it. Red Sea represents our problems and
we should not avoid it
• The Israelites crossed the Jordon River when the water level
is at its highest, not when it’s low tide.
 • We must face the battle because we can be victorious only
after we’d fought the battle
• Although some people claimed that they’d established the
covenant, they do not really understand the meaning.
Though they believed in God, they wanted God to give them
something in return, e.g. wealth or blissfulness
• Such establishment of the covenant is not complete
• True establishment of the covenant means knowing God is
my everything no matter what my conditions are

3) True serving will begin only after we’d established the covenant
• It’s only during times of difficulty that we are able to
distinguish those who really believe and want to follow God

3. Add in another step

• It is exactly 2 months since we came back from the Singapore-
Malaysia Camp (SGMY camp). We have all grown in these two
months
• God will take care/responsibility of those who had established a
covenant with Him
• It is difficult not to follow God after we have already established a
covenant with God
• We will definitely see fruits by the end of this year if we have the
conviction now that “I cannot do it, without the Lord”
1) We should know the timetable for myself, my family, church, etc
2) We should know what our roles are
• We should get the correct role: Role as a husband, as a wife,
as parents, as children, as sister or as brother, etc. No matter
what roles we are playing, we must knowing it correct
• How can I receive even more blessings in my personal living?
• What is it that we must restore? Is it SSG? Is it to attend the Sunday
Service without stopping?
• What are the additional steps we must add in my family, church,
region, etc?
• God’s grace will add on to us every time we add in another step
• Those who have established a covenant will see the promise of God
being answered

Prayer and Sharing Topics

1. The greatest blessings that God had given to His children are
His Covenants. Every time I flip open the Bible with the Word of
God, do I see God’s promises written for me?
Examine: Does the Covenant given by God become the
beginning of my belief? Does my method of living, leading my
family, raising up my children, spending money, dealings with
 others, etc all comes from the covenant? If not, how should I
establish the covenant with God now?
2. Only those who had established the covenant with God are
able to believe God’s eternal promise. He will also use “God’s
given promises” to format his personal goal, system of
thoughts, system of living, and to use the “eternal covenant”
to judge all the personal conditions, relationships, work, and
time. As a result, he is able to examine God’s perfect will,
listen to God’s voice and submit to God’s guidance.
At the same time, the forces of darkness that have been
deceiving, testing, accusing, etc are being broken. God will use
the love, grace, and glory, which are displayed in his life, to
shine upon the people surrounding him thus breaking the
forces of darkness that are binding the family and the region.
Reflect: Do I have such experience in my life before? Did I ever
rearrange my thoughts, eyesight, speech, and lifestyle in
accordance to God’s eternal covenant?
3. Those who truly believe in God’s promise and have established
the covenant with God today must be willing to add in one
more step, in the timetable of individual, family, regional and
world evangelism.
Examine & receive assurance: What are the current timetables
for my life to sanctify, mould, and get equipped? What is the
timetable for my family evangelism? What are my roles and
positions for the great work of regional and world evangelism?
What is the inheritance that I will get in the future?