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There are three character traits in Joshua’s life that made him such an excellent leader…

1. Committed – Joshua knew what was right and led others to do it. (Joshua 5:2-7)

• Joshua was the only one recorded in scripture, other than Moses, who did not fall prey to the Golden Calf sin (Exodus 32). Committed to Moses and God, staying on the mountain when others’ hope had failed.
• Here as he leads the entire nation in a re-dedication to God’s commands and directs that all the men be circumcised. Joshua lived this way throughout his life. Joshua 24:15 is his final charge.
• Don’t think this was easy! Joshua grew up with a generation that was judged severely. Only he and Caleb were allowed into the Promised Land from his generation. The opportunity for sin was everywhere (Genesis 4:7).

2. Adventurous – Joshua moved beyond righteousness and into service. (Joshua 5:11-12)

• For over forty years the Israelites had manna, now it was gone. No longer would they wake up every morning, go to the edge of the tent, fall down and eat. They moved beyond the boring into the great! (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)
• We no longer hunger to read God’s word, believing we know it all already. We no longer pray expecting God to answer. We no longer come to church expecting to hear something new. We have lost our desire to explore the infinite majesty of God!
• Parable of race runners is in Brian McLaren and Tony Campolo, Adventures in Missing the Point: How the Culture-Controlled Church Neutered the Gospel (Zondervan/Youth Specialties, 2006).

3. Grounded – Joshua was constantly humbled in the sight of God and respected by the people.

• “Trees that grow tall have deep roots. Great height without great depth is dangerous. The great leaders of this world, like St. Francis, Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., were all people who could live with public notoriety, influence and power in a humble way because of their deep spiritual rootedness. Without deep roots we easily let others determine who we are. But as we cling to our popularity, we may lose our true sense of self. Our clinging to the opinion of others reveals how superficial we are. We have little to stand on. We have to be kept alive by adulation and praise. Those who are deeply rooted in the love of God can enjoy human praise without being attached to it.” -Henri J. M. Nouwen, Bread for the Journey (Harper Collins, 1997)
• Joshua had deep roots, grounded in God. (Exodus 33:11, Joshua 5:13-15)
• It was Joshua’s commitment to God and humility in his presence was what gave him credibility with God’s people (Joshua 1:17).

Today more than ever we need Christian leaders who will be like Joshua. Who will be leaders in the church! Who will be leaders in the workplace! Who will be leaders in the home! We need people that are committed to righteousness, adventurous in following him and grounded in humility before God.

(Sermon audio available here on Bowling Green Christian Church’s website.)

What a great week we had at CIY! We had a total of 15 students who went, along with three sponsors. There were three decisions made: two commitments to ministry with an interest in foreign missions and one rededication. All of our students were impacted! I’ve included some pictures for those of you who have been praying for us, below you see Katie Scott teaching our Tuesday morning D-group (Discipleship Group).

Every evening we would gather for worship, the Caleb Miller Band led our celebration time. Then each night our students could experience worship through reading, prayer, singing and some form of written expression of faith.

At the end of every evening we would gather together during youth group time to process the day. We would share about our experiences, have group building exercises. We even did a foot washing on Thursday and took communion on Friday.

On Thursday we were given extended recreation time and went to Johnson City for some fun!

Thank you all for your prayers! This week was a phenomenal success and life-changing event for many of our students!

There have been many trips (some of which I’ve been a witness to) that have unraveled and been derailed by the van ride home.  High school trips can be overcome by emotion, the wrong word or silence…it doesn’t help when everyone is exhausted from an intense week of conference.

Pray for safety as we travel.  Pray for our students as they are tired that they would not derail this week by a poorly chosen word.  Pray that our trip home will be a time of celebration and relaxation.

This is our final full day of CIY, tomorrow we’re heading home.  The final text is Acts 9:1-31 and the theme is “Move.”  “Move” is the new name of the CIY Summer Conference and describes the lifestyle that we have been working toward all week.  CIY is challenging our students to “Move” and become intentional about living a Christian life.  It is about moving toward the world with the love of Jesus.

Pray that in this final day of conference our students would have the strength to hear the final challenge tonight.  Pray that what every speaker has shared so far will culminate in a commitment to “Move” with the love of Christ in the world.  Pray that these commitments and connections will be lasting and changing.