Hello and welcome back to the Living Water newsletter!
Last week we discussed God’s desire for a relationship with each one of us. Any relationship involves mutual trust, but a relationship with God, who has complete knowledge of everything and whose love for us can never fail, involves absolute trust.
The passage for this coming Sunday’s sermon comes from Joshua 3, but let’s back up just a little and take a look at Joshua 2. This chapter opens with Joshua secretly sending two spies out to inspect the land, including the city of Jericho.
Note that there is no mention of God commanding that spies be sent out (in contrast to when Moses approaches Canaan: Numbers 13). God has already said to Joshua, “Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given to you.” If Joshua had really put absolute trust in God he would have understood that no amount of spying or strategizing would change the outcome of Israel’s endeavors.
Nonetheless the spies do go to Jericho, and make lodging in the house of Rahab “the Harlot.” At this point in Israel’s military career, it appears that the general population of Jericho are extremely fearful of Israel, but Rahab, who is not even an Israelite, has no doubts about the imminent victory of the Israelites. “I know,” she says, “the Lord has given you the land.”
God takes the interaction of two unnecessary spies with a local prostitute and turns it into an opportunity for mercy in the midst of the carnage of war, and later even elevates this foreign, war-refugee prostitute to be the great-great-grandmother of King David and gives her a place in the genealogy of Jesus (Matt. 1).
You don’t have to have the right parents, position, or past to have a relationship with God, and a relationship with God starts with putting your trust in God. Pray today for the ability to trust in God’s wisdom and love for you.
Sermon Sneak Peek
This week’s passage: Joshua 3:1-17
Joshua 3 recounts the story of the Israelites’ crossing of the Jordan River. The Jordan is in flood season when God commands Joshua to get the people moving–probably not the best time for a large group of people to try and get across. The human solution to this would have been to say, “Maybe we can wait until the perfect time.”
But when, despite the unideal circumstances, the Israelites put faith in God’s word and (literally) placed God’s presence in front of them, God made the impossible possible.
The Israelites, in this particular instance, did everything in God’s timing–even when the logistics of it didn’t make sense. May we also be encouraged to carry God’s presence before us in every task and take that leap of faith into the unknown.
Watch for context on the whole book of Joshua: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqOqJlFF_eU
We’re Here to Help
If anyone in our church is falling behind on their bills because of the current economic disruption, don’t hesitate to ask for support from the Diaconal Ministry!
Simply take a photo of your bill and attach it to a message to diaconalministry@livingwatercrc.ppchurch.wpenginepowered.com. Make sure that the image shows the amount and number of days overdue, as well as the contact info and account number of the recipient of payment.
The Diaconal Ministry Team will then evaluate the requests, and as appropriate may contact service providers or pay some overdue bills directly on behalf of Living Water people.
We are also working on creating a system to support our brothers and sisters in Christ by sharing transportation and other resources. If you have any needs, questions, or ideas, feel free to reach out to the Diaconal Ministry as well!
Weekly Events
- Friday, August 14 4:00pm: LWYG Bible Study
- Sunday, August 16 10:00am: Sunday Worship
- Sunday 2:00pm: Children’s Ministry (Sermon Review)
- Monday, August 17 10:00am: Children’s Ministry (Old Testament Panorama)
- Thursday, August 20 10:00am: Women’s Bible Study
- Thursday, August 20 7:00pm: Prayer Meeting
All meetings will be held on Zoom. Click on the links to join or visit https://livingwatercrc.ppchurch.wpenginepowered.com/events/!
Service Opportunities
Living Water continues to seek people to serve in leadership. The following are in need of volunteers:
- Outreach Ministry
- College Small Group Leaders for the Fall
Please contact a leader if you feel called to step up!
Online Office Hours with Pastor David
Whether you are a student, regular attendee, visitor, or interested in joining the Living Water family, Pastor David would love to get to know you! If you would like to meet up with him, you can contact him at pastordavid@livingwatercrc.ppchurch.wpenginepowered.com to set up a virtual meeting.
Some Things to Pray About This Week
- Praise for the ongoing work behind the scenes by the faithful people of our church.
- For wisdom and strength for the leaders of our church
- For justice and healing for those hurt by discriminatory practices of law enforcement in the US
- For the softening of hearts and opening of the ears of authority figures
- For those struggling with finances
- For the healing of the sick
- For international students facing so much uncertainty
- For the College, Youth, and Children’s Ministries
- For the flourishing of the new Diaconal Ministry
- For a smooth start to the new academic year
- For the world to seek God’s face and ask for forgiveness and healing
We encourage each of you to come to Living Water’s weekly Zoom prayer meeting on Thursday nights at 7pm!
See you all Sunday.
Many blessings,
LWCRC
Just for discussion: we clearly need to trust in the God revealed to us in the Scriptures, but (and an important but) the God of the Bible takes a risk with us (take the story of Abraham whom God tested by asking him to sacrifice Isaac – if God knew what Abraham was going to do, it would not be a test), he doesn’t always know what we are going to do in the freedom he has given to us. Even thought he takes a risk by letting us do our thing, the one sure thing we can trust is that God will always make use of whatever we do to achieve his goal in redeeming his world. We are called to do the right thing, which we don’t always do, but which he most assuredly does. It strikes me that to believe in a God who takes risks, like we take risks, is an amazing God and one in whom we can trust.
Pastor Ep! So good to hear from you! God is so amazing how he does take risks and limit himself for our sake. The Almighty God wrestling with Jacob is another amazing story that shows his willingness to limit and struggle with us.
I hope you are doing well! We miss you!