HOW TO MAKE AN IMPOSSIBLE MISSION POSSIBLE PART 3
Text - Joshua 3:1-17
Introduction
This morning is our theme day for 1992. During this year we are focusing on how to become a church with a mission.
We are studying through the Book of Joshua and looking at how God gave Joshua and the Nation of Israel a mission. They were to enter and conquer the promised land.
For some of the people it might have looked like it was an impossible mission. In fact, the first time they were told to enter the land, just after they came out of Egypt, Moses sent 12 spies into the land. Ten of them came back with a negative report saying it was impossible for them to conquer the land. Only Caleb and Joshua believed it could be done.
As a church we too have been given a mission from God. Our mission is to spread the Gospel to everyone. To tell the world about Jesus Christ. To many people that looks like an impossible mission to accomplish. But look at what God did with just a handful of faithful disciples. They started with 120 people in Jerusalem and in just a matter of years they had hundreds of thousands of people that made up the church in Jerusalem. Then God caused them to branch out into Judea, Samaria and into the entire known world.
This morning our text is found in Joshua 3:1-17 and the title of my message is, “How To Make An Impossible mission Possible.”
Have you ever thought something was impossible?
The nation of Israel is camped near the Jordan River getting ready to cross it.
The Jordan is typical of the times in our lives when we are faced with obstacles.
It is similar to the troubles that we all face from time to time.
How do you handle your troubles?
Do you curse them, ignore them, cover them up, hope they’ll go away or concede to them. Do you feel like a failure when it comes to your troubles?
A sad looking man made an appointment with his pastor. As he sat across the table the pastor tried to help him by saying, “You say you’ve failed in ever business you’ve tried? You speak only of failure.” “That’s right,” the man nodded, with his eyes looking down. “Well, now!” the pastor said encouragingly. “I say that you need to get the power of positive thinking. You need to forget about failure and think positively, never negatively. You can start right now. Would you like to do that?” “Yes sir,” the man responded, showing a spark of hope. “I see what you mean. I now know positively that I’m a failure.”
For some, life seems impossible because they have come to some kind of obstacle or hindrance in their life that they just can’t seem to get through. The troubles and problems of life seem so gigantic that they just throw up their hands and say this is impossible.
Israel had come to a gigantic obstacle. It was the Jordan River. It was a River that was 65 miles long and in some places is very narrow, but in others is as wide as much as 1/4 mile across.
At the time Israel was getting ready to cross this River it was at flood stage. It reminds me of the time when we had so much rain that Ball Road looked like a river.
In order for Israel to get into the Promised Land they had to cross this river. But how do you get across something that looks impossible to cross? How do you make an impossible mission possible?
This morning I would like us to consider three ways to make the impossible in your life possible.