Sunday Service message: You have not passed this way before

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Amos 3:8 , "A lion has roared! Who will not fear? The Lord GOD has spoken! Who can but prophesy?"

When a lion roars, everyone pays attention; when a father speaks, his children listen. The same, when God speaks, those who are good listeners to His Word are blessed. They grow in knowledge and are strengthened in faith.

The Purpose of Sabbath: Rest and Peace

Genesis 2:1-3 illustrates how God rested on the seventh day after completing His creation. This is demonstrating  the importance of rest and peace, which God desires for human being. The Sabbath is a gift—a time to rest, and find peace in Him.

Word from the Lord to his people: This year, people are going  to work hard and be strong, but they will do it under rest and peace.

This peace comes from following the Way. To enter true rest, and peace a Sabbath everything we do must align with God ,who is THE WAY..

Who is THE WAY?

We cannot experience rest or peace unless we walk in THE WAY. Genesis 3:22-24 speaks how Adam, after his fall, was driven out of the Garden of Eden. The cherubim and the flaming sword blocked his access to the tree of life—THE WAY to eternal life—because of sin.

From there, Adam’s work became with no rest. Prophets Isaiah (Isaiah 40:1-3) and John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-3) spoke of preparing the way for the Lord. John says that he was not THE WAY but a voice calling in the wilderness. Then Jesus declared, “I AM THE WAY, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

The Early Church: People of the Way

Acts 9:1-2 Th early believers were called "people of the Way." Paul persecuted only those who followed the Way, which shows us  how being a follower of Jesus  THE WAY can bring trials. But, in THE WAY, we find leadership, restoration, and sustenance. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and us his flock He  leads us to green pastures and restores our souls.

You Have Not Passed This Way Before

Joshua and the Israelites prepared to cross the Jordan River. This crossing symbolized a new phase: moving from salvation into the establishment of God's promises. It was unlike their crossing of the Red Sea, which represented deliverance from slavery.

Joshua 3:1-4 Joshua 3 :1-4 Then Joshua rose early in the morning; and they set out from Acacia Grove and came to the Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before they crossed over. So it was, after three days, that the officers went through the camp; and they commanded the people, saying, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests, the Levites, bearing it, then you shall set out from your place and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure. Do not come near it, that you may know the way by which you must go, for you have not passed this way before.”

To successfully crossing this new path which is the Jordan, they were instructed to keep their distance from the Ark of the Covenant, which represented God's presence. And to us  Jesus is our Ark—THE WAY we must follow. The distance symbolizes faith, which is the  bridge, the gap between us and God. Faith helps us to remain focused on Him, to avoid distractions or doubts that could stop us to see THE WAY. Faith is the limit between us and our destiny, our hope. We need to keep our distance, our faith, if we lose it, we become doubtful, questioning everything, we are blind, without hope, without a future, we are lost.

The crossing by the ark who is Jesus THE WAY is an establishment crossing. keeping distance meaning faith help us to see the ark who is Jesus, THE WAY. 

Faith is the link between us and our maker, faith is the limit between us, our destiny, and our hope.

Declaration

I am in THE WAY. I follow THE WAY, and THE WAY is creating a new way I have never walked before.

Complied by Dr. Lydia