Discussion Guide for Sunday, March 1, 2020

CUT IT AGAIN!

Series: Tracking Transition – Following God into Your New Beginning

Big Idea

Pastor Mickles closed this series with a message centered on Joshua 5:2: “At that time the Lord said to Joshua, ‘Make for yourself flint knives and circumcise again the sons of Israel the second time.” Transition challenges you to make your relationship with God a priority. Joshua 5 opens with the Amorites and Canaanites shaking in their boots. Any wise military strategist would have said it was time to attack, but God called for Israel to recommit herself to Him.

Deuteronomy 9:23-24 tells us that Israel rebellion began in Kadesh-Barnea and had continued the remaining 38 years in the wilderness. Their rebellion can be seen in the fact that an entire generation did not bear the sign of the covenant – circumcision, and, consequently, that generation was cut off from the covenant people (Genesis 17:11, 14). Joshua physically circumcised the men, but it was only a symbol of something deeper – a circumcision of the heart (Deuteronomy 10:16). Now that they were circumcised, the nation could participate in the celebration of the covenant – the Passover. The first Passover was celebrated in Egypt. It represented their ending. The second Passover was celebrated at Mt. Sinai. It represented their messy middle. The third Passover was celebrated in the Promised Land. It represented their new beginning.

Discussion Guide for Sunday, February 23, 2020

DON’T FORGET TO REMEMBER!

Series: Tracking Transition – Following God into Your New Beginning

Big Idea

Pastor Mickles has been teaching principles of transition. Here’s a quick review: Transition can be a scary process, and, sometimes, it requires you to take a risky step of faith. But did you know that you could waste your time on your transition journey? When you do not learn the lessons your journey was designed to teach you, you cannot enjoy the fullness of your new beginning. This was a risk Joshua did not want to take. Joshua built two memorials, one in the midst of the Jordan River and the other on riverbank in the Promised Land.

These memorials were visual reminders that would trigger memories of Israel’s journey from Egypt through the Wilderness and into the Promised Land, and they would provide an occasion for the retelling of the story. The Bible doesn’t tell us why Joshua built the memorial in the midst of the Jordan River (Joshua 4:9), but Pastor Mickles taught us that it was a reminder of our private battles. It became a reminder of what happens when you face your fears and step out on faith. The memorial built in the Promised Land was a reminder of our public victories. It became a reminder that the God who can do anything was on our side. It also became a tool for passing our faith on to the next generation.

Discussion Questions

• Have you ever seriously considered the lessons you have learned over the course of your faith journey? How many of those lessons can you recall?
• Do you share your testimony with others? Why? Why not? How often?
• How has those life lessons changed the way you live? How have they improved your quality of life?
• Which of your life lessons are worth passing on to the next generation?

Prayer Focus

Look where You’ve brought me from! Father, You promised that You would be with me when I went through deep waters and that You would not let me drown when I went through the rivers of difficulty (Isaiah 43:2, NLT). You have kept Your promise, and I thank You. Touch my mind. Help me to not forget the many lessons You’ve taught me along the way. May I meditate on them and tell of Your goodness all the days of my life.

Next Steps

It is so easy to forget the lessons you’ve learned along the way. You have to be intentional about remembering our private battles and our public victories and about passing your experiences on to others. Spend some time writing a list of the things you’ve learned in the last season of your life. Then pick one of those lessons you can share with someone else.

Want to Get Ahead?

Read and meditate on Joshua 5 in your devotional time this week.

Discussion Guide for Sunday, February 16, 2020

GET YOUR FEET WET!

Series: Tracking Transition – Following God into Your New Beginning

Big Idea

Sometimes, transition requires you to take risky steps of faith. We learn this lesson from Joshua 3. Joshua is completing his first full week as the leader of the children of Israel, and it’s time to move in on the Promised Land. There’s a problem – to do so, they have to cross the Jordan River. Verse 15 tells us that the river has spread to almost a mile wide and twelve feet deep. They didn’t know how they were to get across. All they had was faith in a promise from God that “He brought them out from there in order to bring them in” (Deuteronomy 6:23)

In Joshua 3, there is a recurring phrase – “that you may know”. It shows up three times, and each time reveals why God wants us to take risky steps of faith. The phrase appears for the first time in verse 4. It teaches us that God wants to direct our path. They did not know all the details about where they were going, but God knew because He’d already been. The only requirement was to follow His leadership. The second time it appears is in verse 7, and from it, we learn that God wants to distinguish our potential. Joshua did not have to promote himself. God was going to do it, and He would confirm His work for both Joshua and the people. The final time we see our phrase is in verse 10. There we discover two things: 1) God wants to display His presence, and 2) demonstrate His power. The reason the text refers to Him as “the living God” is because the gods of the Canaanites were dead. To possess their Promised Land, they had to take a risky step of faith.

Discussion Questions

• What has stopped you from taking a risky step of faith in your past? How did it affect your walk with God? Did you miss out on one of God’s promises?
• How are you feeding your faith? What devotional habits have you built into your daily routine to deepen your walk with God? If not, what habits can you start?

Prayer Focus

Father, I am so grateful that You know all the details of my future. Help me to submit myself daily to Your Spirit’s leading. I trust You to promote me at the right time, but I need Your help to stay humble in the meantime. You are not dead! You are alive, and You fight all of my battles for me. Thank you, Jesus!

Next Steps

Taking a risky step of faith requires spiritual courage. It is doing what you’ve never done so that you can get what you’ve never had. Another way to explain is stepping out on the Word of God. One of the areas that God often speaks to us about is in the use of our spiritual gifts. Ask God where your gift, talent, or special ability can be used to build the Kingdom, and then take a step of faith by getting involved in one of our ministries.

Want to Get Ahead?

Read and meditate on Joshua 4 in your devotional time this week.

Discussion Guide for Sunday, February 9, 2020

GET A GOOD GRIP!

Series: Tracking Transition – Following God into Your New Beginning

Big Idea

This week, Pastor Mickles preached a message centered on Joshua 1:6-9. In this message, we learned that transition can be scary. Even for a military general like Joshua, the road ahead was enough to throw him into all out panic attacks and depression. Yet God gave Joshua a countermeasure – “Be strong and courageous!” These four words show three times in the space of 4 verses. To be strong is to grasp on something and to squeeze. To be courageous means to have the boldness to face your enemy without flinching. How does one develop this kind of resolve? Through the Word of God.

Verse 7 says, “be careful to do according to all the law. Verse 8 amplifies how we can accomplish this. We get a good grip when we “profess the promises”. No matter what, we have to keep saying what God has said. Ephesians 6:17 teaches that we use the Word of God as a weapon. Another way we get a good grip is when we “ponder the precepts”. The purpose of meditation is discerning the application of the Scripture to our personal lives. God wants to speak directly to us through His Word. We get a good grip when we “practice the principles”. As we walk out the God’s Word for our lives, we discover that God gives us the necessary wisdom to accomplish our goals.

Discussion Questions

• Can you remember a time in your transition journey when thing became a little scary? How did you deal with the sense of overwhelm? How well did you recover?
• Do you practice the spiritual discipline of meditation? Why? Why not?
• Have you ever experienced the biblical idea of success (God giving you the wisdom to navigate difficult situations to come out with the victory)? What made the experience different?

Prayer Focus

Father, I thank You for loving me enough to share Your Word with me. I do not know what lies ahead, but I trust you to keep me strong and courageous. Holy Spirit, help me to treasure the Word of God in my heart, so that when I need something to hold onto, You can bring the appropriate verse to my remembrance.

Next Steps

Getting a good grip on the Word of God takes our personal study to another level. Now we add disciplines like Scripture memorization and meditation to our routines. You can start by memorizing 1 verse each week for a month and meditating on each verse for a few minutes each day.

Want to Get Ahead?

Read and meditate on Joshua 3 in your devotional time this week.

Discussion Guide for Sunday, February 2, 2020

IT’S TIME

Series: Tracking Transition – Following God into Your New Beginning

Big Idea

Pastor Mickles opened this series with a message centered on Joshua 1:2: “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.” Transition is not the same thing as change. Change is what happened. Transition is how we come to terms with what happened. The trouble is that it’s possible to go through change and never go through transition. The children of Israel knew that all too well. Moses died. Israel has had her time to mourn, but God doesn’t want them to get stuck there. He had more for them, just like He has more for us.

When God wants to shake us from our complacency, He speaks His Word to us. This verse helps us identify where we are on our transition journey. We are in one of three places. For some of us, God is saying, “It’s time to say goodbye”. We cannot allow temporary people or tight places to keep us from pursuing God’s promises. For some of us, God is saying, “It’s time to get ready”. God is going to do His part, but we have to do our part in possessing what God has promised us. He’s going to bless what we do. For some of us, God is saying, “It’s time to go get it”. Israel waited 470 years to possess their Promised Land. When God says it’s time, it’s time!

Discussion Questions

• Where are you on your transition journey? Do you need to say goodbye? Is this your time to get ready for the next level? Is it time for you to go get what God has promised you?
• Based on where you are on your transition journey, what is keeping you from going to the next phase?
• God had already spoken to Israel about Moses’ death, Joshua becoming the leader, and their possessing the Promised Land. What has God spoken to you that can provide encouragement during your transition journey?

Prayer Focus

Father, I thank You for always speaking to me through Your Word by Your Spirit. Help me discover where I am on my transition journey. I believe that not one of Your good promises to me will fail. Every one of your promises to me will be fulfilled. Give me the courage to pursue them by faith.

Next Steps

One way we prepare to possess God’s promises is by studying His Word. Consider ways you can incorporate studying God’s Word into your daily schedule. You can start by reading one chapter from Proverbs or five psalms every day. If you haven’t joined one of our weekly Bible studies, you should join us and see how studying the Word corporately will bring clarity to your private studies.

Want to Get Ahead?

Read and meditate on Joshua 1:1-9 in your devotional time this week.