The Faith to Write a New Story - Joshua 2

And we've made it to May, and graduations are starting to happen. I think some of you have already graduated last week. Some of you went to seminary, may have graduated. There's high school college graduations around the corner, high school graduation company. The end of the school year is near. I don't know if this is still the case but in my school years, you started getting the yearbooks about this time of the year.. People getting yearbooks, getting yearbooks at Chen Elementary very soon. Man, the smell of a yearbook just takes me back to school, almost being done. I got down in the basement yesterday and drug out out my high school yearbook class of 1990. That's when I graduated. That was a long time ago. Yeah, you like that? Go Cougars. Hickman Mills High School, and I was flipping through this. I was thinking about this because I was remembering, I don't know if they still do this, did they still do senior superlatives? Is that still a thing? Most likely to succeed, best dressed, most athletic. Anybody voted anything, back in your day? I was slipping through this. You were, Bob, what were you? Most likely to win the lottery. Most likely to win the lottery, but lose the ticket. All right. very good. I was a theater kid in high school, and I was voted most dramatic. There is a super cool picture of me rocking an amazing mullet in this book. that I thought about pulling the screen and thought was probably a bad idea. So, but I was a lot of you think back to these folks who were voted most likely to be successful, most likely to lose a lottery ticket. If you could go back to Jericho High School, class of 1400 BC, and look up in the Jericho High School yearbook, a young lady named Rahab, she would be voted least likely to be used by God least likely to be used by God. We're going to see her story today in Joshua chapter 2 and see how God wrote a new story in her life. And I hope that as we read her story and talk about her story today, you might find yourself in her story Who might find themselves and raise Rahab's story today? If someone is here today, who wonders if God could ever love them? Could God ever love me? I hope you'll see in Rahab's story that God's grace is available to everyone. Maybe you're wondering, could God ever use me? Could God ever do something significant in my life? How will people remember me? Hope you see in Rahab's story today, how a God's grace not only reaches everyone, but God's power can work through everyone. God may want to use you in a way that you can never imagine. Maybe today, you're dealing with shame or regret or disappointment, or discouragement from your past. Hopefully you might see in her story today how God could write a new story for your future. Maybe today you wonder if your sins could ever be forgiven.. Could you ever be spared from the coming judgment of God if you stood before him? I hope you'll see today, how through faith in Jesus, you can be spared through God's coming judgment. What will we learn from Rahab least likely to be used by God until God wrote a new story in her life? Last week, when we jumped into the book of Joshua, we're going to be in here all spring and summer, we took a lot of time to review the timeline of how we got in here. We're not going to rehash all that. I just wanted to put up just a few of the key points to catch you up. God made a covenant with a man named Abram, or Abraham, years earlier, hundreds of years earlier. That covenant got passed down from one generation to another. The covenant promise was that he would cause a great nation to descend from Abraham. He would give that great great nation a promised land, and then from that nation, he would bless all the families of the earth. By the time we get a few hundred years away from that promise, the nation is growing, but their far far from the land. In fact, they're enslaved in Egypt, U until God raised up a man named Moses to lead his people out of Egyptian captivity and into the promised land and through what's called the Exodus, God sends a series of plagues on Pharaoh's land, and Pharaoh releases the people. Moses leads the people on the Exodus out of Egypt toward the promised land, but they don't actually get to enter the land because there was a point in time where they got to the edge of the land. Moses sent spies into the land to see what they were up against. 12 spies went into the land. They spent 40 days checking out the land. And they came back and reported back to Moses. Two of the men said, "You should see the size of the grapes. This land is amazing." Ten of the men said, "Yes, the grapes are big, but so are are the people, and so are the walls of their cities." And because the ten people had their focus on the size of the walls and the sides of the men, and not the size of the fruit they were disobedient to God.. They were unfaithful to God, they rejected God, and they wanted to turn back to Egypt. And God said as a result of that, this entire generation will die out in the desert. You've spent 40 days investigating the land. I'm going to make you wander in the land for 40 years, one year, for every day And so for 40 years, they wandered in the desert outside of that promised land until that entire generation had passed away, except for Joshua, who, because he was faithful, the Lord said, I'm going to use you to lead the people into the land. And the book of Joshua is the story of how God led the people into Joshua's leadership to finally step into that land he had promised them. And that brings us to the second chapter. We're going to be here all summer as we walk through this story through the book of Joshua. day, we're going to walk through the second chapter of Joshua. Going to kind of quickly survey these 24 verses, and then we're going to circle back and ask the question, what does Rahab teach us? What are the lessons Rahab has for us, and then we're to close out with three questions to consider as we look for ways to apply this to our lives? Let's jump in, Joshua chapter 2, verse 1,And Joshua, the Son of nun, sent two men secretsly from Shittim as spies, saying, "Go view the land, especially Jericho." And they went and came into the house of a prostitute whose name was Rahab and lodged there. So as the fighting men are preparing for battle, Joshua wants to know what they're up against, so he sends two spies into the land. They leave out of Shittam, where they're camped at the time, on the east side of the Jordan River. They cross over the Jordan River and began to explore the land that they're about to enter into. The first challenge they're going to have when they get into the land is the city of Jericho. Jericho is kind of a think of it like a kind of a city state. It had its own little kingdom right there, it had its own king, and it had its own city, its own walls, and they were it was a heavily fortified city, well equipped with food, well equipped with water. They could withstand this invasion for many days. We're going to see how God deals with that in chapter 6. It was just five miles over the river. They would encounter it pretty quick. It was a city that covered about eight or nine, acres, and it was surrounded by two walls. Archaeologists have gone and dug up the walls of the city and discovered that there was an inner wall about 12 feet thick, and then 15 feet from that inner wall, there was an outer wall about six feet thick. Both walls were in the neighborhood of about 30 feet high heavily fortified, defended city. And there were houses built between the two walls and even in some cases, houses built within those walls, and that's going to be significant, because that's we're going to find Rahab living in our story today. At some point, they come to Rahab's house, not just our places of business, but an inn where travelers would spend the night They weren't there for any impure purposes. They had practical reasons for visiting this inn where Rahab worked, maybe the inn that she managed. It would have been a good place to be inconspicuous. You could blend in as a spy, maybe no one would notice, you in this inn where many people gathered. It might have been a place where travelers had come to from all throughout the region, so you could have, in conversation with them, gathered a lot of intel about the surrounding region. It might even even be military personnel staying in the inn, so you could maybe overhear some things there. And because this inn was built in the wall of the city, it made for a very quick getaway if you were discovered. So a lot of practical reasons to hang out in the inn inside the walls of Jericho, but God had a greater purpose. We're going to see as the story unfolds. He had a reason for them to be this particular place at this exact time. Verse 2, it was told to the king of Jericho, "Beold, men of Israel have come here tonight to search out the land Then the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying, "Bring out the men who have come to you, who entered your house house,For they have come to search out the land." And so the king got word. They would have been on high alert. You know, you could just look over the river and see this massive army camped over there, and you knew that it was only a matter of time before they were going to try to cross over the river and invade your city. And so they were on high alert, and somehow word got to the king that some spies had entered the walls of the city and allegedly, they were hiding out in Rahab's inn. And so they sent men there to apprehend these spies there in Rahab's inn. their positioned had been compromised. verse four, but the woman had taken the two men and hidden them, and she said, "True, the men came to me, but I did not know where they were from. And when the gate was about to close at dark, the men went out. I do not know where the men went.Pursue them quickly for you will overtake them." She must have gotten word that the king's men were on their way. She told the men quickly, get up to roof. There's some flax up there that has been laid out to dry. Hide under that flax, and I'll try to distract and divert these men who are searching for you. She said,Yes, the men were here. I didn't not know where they came from. All I know is that they've already left the city, and if you leave right now and go very quickly, you might catch them. She needed to get them out of this house quickly before they begin to search for these men. She puts her life in jeopardyy. Her patriotic duty should have been to turn them in. The safe thing to do would be to turn them in. But she knew that these men were on a mission from God, and she put her her faithfulness to God, the God of the Israelite people, ahead of her loyalty to her own country, hides them in, sends the king's men on their way to pursue them. Verse 6 but she had brought them up to the roof and hid them over the stalks of flax that she laid in order on the roof. So the men pursued after them on the way to the Jordan as far as the Fords, and the gate was shut as soon as the pursuers had gone out. She didn't want to risk her home being searched. She fabricates the story, and these men head out on their vein search for the spies. Rahab's cunning saved the lives of these two Israelites. At risk her own life, she sides with God, rather than obeying the king. Well, the suspense increases the spies now seem trapped inside the walls of the city, but look at Versailles. Before the men lay down, she came up to them on the roof and said to the men, "I know that the Lord has given you the land and that the fear of you has fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land melt away before you, for we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea before you, when you came out of Egypt. And what you did to the two kings of the Amorites, who were beyond the Jordan, Sihon and Og whom you devoted to destruction. And as soon as we heard it, our hearts melted, and there was no spirit left in any man because of you. And listened to this last confession,For the Lord, your God, he is God in the heavens above and on the earth beneath. with the king's men rushing toward the river in their vein search. The city gates have now been shut. The spies are about to settle in for the night on the roof of Rahab's Inn when Rahab comes up to visit them.. Then she gives them a report First, she says, "We know, verse 9, she says, "We know that the Lord has given you the land. This is a tense that indicates that this is already a reality, an established fact. It's a done deal. It's only a matter of time for you to cross the river and in our city. We know that the Lord has handed us over to you. Victory has already been accomplished. And she says, because of that, the fear of you has fallen upon us, and all the inhabitabitants of the land melt away before you. Fear is spreading all across the land. We're going to see in Joshua 5 and Joshua 9 two more times, where people report the same thing. We've heard about you, we've heard about your God, we know what he's capable of, and our hearts are melting in fear because of the power of your God. God had promised Moses this would happen all the way back to Deuteronomy too. He says, there's gonna be a day when the hearts, the people are going to melt before you. They're going to tremble before you as they see what my hand can do. They've heard about the victories God has given And verse 11 says, our heart has melted. There's no spirit in any man. Everyone's courage has failed. And then the most important declaration she makes is the very end of verse 11. the Lord, your God, he is God in the heavens above and the earth beneath. We know that your God is supreme. Your God is not just the God of your people, but the God of all the earth, the God of all all heaven. And what she's expressing here is more than just fear, but genuine faith in the God of Israel. What she's confessing is, we know that Yahweh is God The realization that he is the sovereign creator, the Sustainer, the Supreme One, she believed in God rather than the multitude of pagan gods of her land. I know that your God is indedeed the true God, Rahab confesses. Verse 12. Now, then, please swear to me by the Lord that as I have dealt kindly with you, you also will do it kindly with my father's house. And give me a sure sign that you will save alive my father and mother, my brothers and sisters, and all who belong to them and deliver our lives from death, knowing her only hope was to follow the God of Isra Israel. She asks these Israelite spies for mercy. I have shown you kindness by hiding you. Will you in turn show me kindness when God hands our city over to you?? Verse 14, they agree, and the men said to her, our life for yours, even to death. If you do not tell this business of ours, when the Lord gives us the land, we will deal kindly and faithfully with you. They make a deal with Rahab. You keep quiet about our visit, we'll deal kindly with you when we enter into the land So, verse 15, she devises a way for the men to escape. She let them down by a rope through a window, for her house was built into the city wall, so that she lived in the wall, and said to them, "Go to the hills, or the pursuers will encounter you, and hide there three days until the pursuers have returned. Then afterward you may go your way. So let them down through the rope, through the window, in the wall, and all off they go to hide for three days before escaping back to the encampment on the other side of the river. First 17, the men said to her, "We will be guiltless with respect to this oath of yours that you have made a swear. Behold, when we come into the land, you shall tie this scarlet cord, red cord, in the window through which you let us down. And you shall gather into your house, your father and your mother, your brothers, and all your father's household. Then if anyone goes out of the doors of your house into the street his blood shall be on his own head, and we shall be guiltless. But if any man hand is laid on anyone who is with you in the house, his blood shall be on our head, but if you tell this business of ours, then we shall be guiltless with respect to your oath that you have made us swear. So before they shim me down the rope, out the window, they say,Now, see this window we're climbing out of, just hang a scarlet cord, a red cord in this window. When we return, we're going to instruct our men. Everyone in the house where the red cord hangs will be spared. And so she gathers all of her family into that home. Anyone you get in this home is going to be spared. I think there's a connection here. Scholars kind of debate this, but a connection between the blood over the doorpost when they fled Egypt and the red cord over the window when they leave this Rahab's home, the blood would be over the doorposts, and God said, anyone in the house is going to be spared. He says, there's going to be this cord over the window, and in that house is going to be spared. And both pointing to the salvation we have in Jesus is foreshadowing that. Verse 21, She said, according to your words so be it. She went away and they departed, and she tied the scarlet cord in the window. They deported, they departed, and went into the hills and remained there three days until the pursuers returned and the pursuers searched all along the way and found nothing. Then the two men returned. They came down from the hills, passed over, and came to Joshua with the son of none, and they told them all that had happened to them. And they give this great report,Tuly the Lord has given all the land into our hands and also all the inhabitants of the land melt away before us, Different report than 40 years years earlier, when they were fearful, this time they are emboldened, and they say, God has indeed given us the land. All right, that was a quick walk through these 24 verses. Let's slow down now, let's look back, circle back, and say, what are the lessons? We've met Rahab. We've seen how God has used this pagan prostitute to spare the lives of these men and embolden the people of Israel for the victory God has given. And what does she teach us? Well, we know some of what she teaches us because she's going to be used three more times in the New Testament you're gonna find her name.. It's interesting, somebody, I don't know, you may think of others, but I had a hard time thinking of anybody who was mentioned so seldom in the Old Testament to be mentioned so frequently in the New Testament. We just had this little reference to her in chapter two, we're gonna get one we're going to a story chapter. We're gonna a quick little reference in chapter 6, and we're not going to hear about her again, and then we're going to hear about her in three very significant ways when we get to the New Testament. And we put this puzzle together, and we see the lesson she teaches us. First of all, she teaches us that God can save anyone. God can save anyone.. Throughout scripture, Rahab is repeatedatedly identified by her occupation as a prostitute. When we see her again in Joshua 6, they're going to say, "Reab the prostitute. She's going to show up in Hebrews 11:31. They're going to call her Rahab the prostitute. And again, in James 225,Rab the prostitute. Imagine something terrible about your past that just sticks as you title for the rest of your life. It'll always be linked to her. Every time she's mentioned, nearly all but one occasion, every time she's mentioned, they' we're going to be reminded of her story. Why? Not to shame her, but to remind us of God's grace towards sinners. She was a sinner, she was an outcast, she was an enemy of Israel and allthough a pagan prostitute, an enemy of Israel, Rahab was saved through her faith in Yahweh, the true God. Her faith in God spared her life and her faith in God, changed her destiny. And not only was her life spared, but she's going to be used in the New Testament as an example of someone who was saved by faith. When you go to Hebrews chapter 11, the writer of Hebrews is making the case that we are saved, not by our religious system that they were under before, but were saved now by faith in Jesus. We went through Hebrews, I don't know, was it two years ago? I don't remember when we went through Hebrews. You remember the challenge was, don't turn back to these religious efforts, keep trusting in Jesus. Keep trusting, keep having faith in Jesus." And then the writer gave a list of people from the Old Testament who were saved by their faith, and he chose Rahab as one of those people. Hebrews 11:31. By faith, Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, because she had given a friendly welcome to the spies. It's an interesting list. You go back and read Hebrews 11, you're going to find names like Noah and Abraham, and Moses and Gideon, and David, and Samuel. And right in the middle of those heroes, you're going to hear the name Rahab, the prostitute. Saved by her faith, a reminder an example to us of salvation that is available to all who call upon the Lord. Romans 10:13 says, everyone who calls on on the name of the Lord will be saved through faith, you can write a new story for your life. And if you here today, and you say, I feel very far from God, I've made a bunch of mistakes, my life is full of all kinds of brokenness that you couldn't possibly understand, and I don't know how God could ever love me or save me. I have really good news for you. If you feel that way, you are very, very close. And I say this often. The further away you feel from God the closer you really are.Cause a person who doesn't have a relationship with Jesus, but thinks their life is great, has a long way to go. They have to realize their life is a wreck. They have to realize they are a sinner. They have to realize their need for Jesus. The person who doesn't know God personally, but realizes their life is a total wreck, that person doesn't need to go very far,'cause they already know their sinners. They just need to turn to Jesus. And if you're here today and you think you are far from God, your life is a total wreck, I've got good news for you. You're very, very close." I was at McDonald's several years ago with some youth group students from our church, and across the restaurant were some other high school kids, and I knew they knew each other because some of the high school kids in our group looked over at them and did this And then some of the people over here look back and did this. And I said, you know them? And they said, "Yeah. I said, "How do you know them?" They said,O to our school." I said, "Hey, have you ever invited them to youth group? You invited him to come to some of the youth things." And they said, "No, no, not those kids." I said, "Why not?" They said, "Well, those kids, they're not the church kind of kids. They're not the church kind of kids. Let me tell you, Jesus died for people who aren't the church kind of kids. Rahab was not the church kind of gal, but she was saved that day by her faith in the God of Israel. If you feel far from God, I was doing a funeral this week, and a young lady was going to share eulogy, and I went up to her, I met her I had't met her before, and I said, "How do you feel?" She said, I'm so nervous. I said, "Youre nervous about getting up and talking?" She goes, "I'm nervous about being in a church." And she kind of, I don't know if she's joking or really felt this, but she goes, " honestestly, I kind of feel like I'm going to burst into flames. And she said, " you got a rosary reaction? I could borrow?" I said, " don't got any rosaries around here." But anyone't gonna help you anyway." You see, she felt like I don't belong here. I feel like just, maybe you felt that. talked to a lot of people here, they walk in and we meet people every month at Northland that said, I haven't never been to church. I haven't been here a church a long time. I Feel very far from God.. Got good news for you. You're welcomed here, and you're welcomed in his eyes He died for you. His grace extends to you. God can save anyone. Second, God can use anyone. Her story is a beautiful reminder that God's grace can meet us right where we are and use us to accomplish his purposes in our life. Again, mentioned so little in the Old Testament to be mentioned so often in the New Testament. Here are the three places we find her. We find our first in Matthew chapter 1, verse 5, where God gives us the family tree of Jesus. In the Bible lists in Matthew chapter 1, a lengthy genealogy of how we get from Abraham to Jesus, and right there near the beginning there's Rahab, a branch in the family tree of Jesus, pagan prostitute to ancestor of Jesus. We find her in Hebrews chapter 11 versese 31, as the example of faith. Rahab the prostitute did not perish with those who were disobedient, but gave a friendly welcome to the spies, the scripture says. And then we see her in James, too, as an illustration of faith producing good works. When the writer said, I want to try to illustrate somehow how true faith puts itself into action, and then we find her story, and we see how God can use anyone. Here's what's interesting about this. It really shows us how God's grace extends to people of all backgrounds. In James chapter 2 when the author of James was making his point that true faith is shown by how it's lived out, he picked two people to illustrate that with. You know who they were? Abraham and Rahab the prostitute. Father Abraham the one with whom God made the covenant, the hero of all the people of Israel. And Isama give you two examples of people you can look at, Father Abraham and Rahab the prostitute. God's grace extends to the far extreams. And then in Hebrews 11, where he lists all these people to use as an example of faiths being saved by faith, in that entire list, you know, there's two women. You know who they are? Sarah the wife of Abraham. Mother Abraham. The mother of the nation. And you know who else? Rahab the prostitute. In the New Testament, the writers want to make a point about what real faith looks like.. They chose Abraham and Sarah, the recipients of the very first covenant and Rahab, the prostitute. God can use anyone. God can use anyone. She's an example of how God uses marginalized people who put their faith in him. She's an example of how unlikely people can be used by God when they put their faith in him. She's an example of how the weak and ordinary can be used by God when we put our faith in him. How might God use your story? How is your story impacting others? A couple of years ago, we baptized a lady named Carrie, and then Carrie, not long after following Jesus and being baptized, said, I God to save me out of addiction. I want to start a ministry for people who are wrestling with addictioniction. And last night, they had 22 people at their gathering that she's been leading now for several months God rewrote her story, Misty, you saw her videos during our Easter series of the Brokenness that she came out of, and she said, "I'm struggling so much with the Spec needs child that we're raising and the struggles " I want to start a support group for now. Now every Sunday, hope, a support group for fam in our community with special needs, gathers here in our building because she said, I want to use my struggles to be a story for someone else, with which to inspire someone else. I watched my own kids, Mason, and Cody, as they lost our granddaughter, Oakley, and how God is using that. They went to dinner last night with a couple who their daughter, me, their son, is buried in the cemetery right next to Oakley. This new cemetery has a baby section, and there's two babies in that cemetery Oakley, and now Maverick. And last night, maybe Mason and Cody took Maverick's mom and dad to dinner to say we would encourage you and share our struggle. says, saying, God, take my struggle, take my weakness, take my difficulty, and use it somehow. That was rare Rahab's story She's a shining example of how God can use anyone. We also learned from a story that faith has demonstrated by our actions. What do us celebrated in in the New Testament about the life of Rahab? It was how God can take our faith and put it into action And said in James 2, we were told reminded of the story of Rahab in verse 26 He makes the point for is the body apart for the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. She didn't have a dead faith. She had faith in God, and that faith in God led her to risk everything to be faithful to God was doing. She was willing to take a short term risk for the long term reward. It had to be a scary and anxious moment to hide the spies to divert those who searched for them. But the payoff was the salvation God had for her and her family. She put her faith into action. And then finally, the lesson we see in Rahab is that faith delivers us from judgment Faith delivers us from judgment. The city was condemned by God. It was only a matter of time. And it was interesting. When I think about it, Rahab wasn't the only one who knew the army was coming, and she wasn't the only one who knew what the army was capable of by the power of God. And there was lots of time for anyone in the walls of that city to profess their faith in the God of Israel. In chapter 4, verse 19, they were camped at Gilgel on the eastern limits of Jericho. and chapter 5, verse 10, it says they were camped at Gilgal on the plains of Jericho. And then in chapter 6, we see them day after day for a week mark marching around the city of Jericho. Everyone knew this army was coming But Rahab was spared because she put her faith into action. She trusted in the God of heaven and earth, and her life was spared, and those of her family. It would be interesting. There are a lot of archaeological discoveries that have been done in the city of Jericho, and you can look this up later just if you're interested in diving deeper. There is a section that they found that they believe could have been Rahab's home. There's a place in the walls of Jericho where they found a small section still standing when the walls around it have been leveled. No, no, 100%, if that was Rahab's house, but I knew I know 100%, if you went back in time, you'd be able to see it. because what you'd see is the the entire city leveled, except for one section of the wall, standing up as a testimony to God's grace. About 20 something years ago, some of you might remember the exact year, there was a tornado that came through the Northland. I remember it came through Carriage Hills. It took out a lot of houses in the Carriage Hills neighborhood, and then it had a touchdown there in Pleasant Valley and then went on to liberty and did some damage there. Anybody remember remember that tornado? I remember that. We were living in Pleasant Valley at the time and we started grabbing the jewelry and the photo albums and running to the basement, and then my family was safely in the basement. I did whatever Midwestwestern dad does. I stood on the porch and watched it come. and I remember seeing it approaching, and I dove down the stairs, and we huddbleled in the corner, and we prayed together and the storm passed. We came outside, our house had been spared, but some of the houses in our neighborhood had been destroyed by that tornado. And I remember very vividly, one of them, a few blocks away, the house, almost the entire house had been leveled. The only thing standing up was the staircase. and there in the middle of the home stood the staircase, and everything else was gone. And I remember thinking of I' ever in a tornado again, I'm getting under the staircase." Because that's the one thing that survived. When the city of Jericho was leveled, the one safe place was Rahab's room, Rahab's house. That was the the one place where you're going to escape destruction. It was only a matter of time till the entire city would be wiped out, except those who listened to Rehab, and their lives were spared. John 31:116 is a pretty popular Bible verse It says this, for God so love the world that he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. We often stop there. It's important we keep reading. Verse 17 says this, "For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him And whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe in him is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. Our only hope is faith in Jesus And apart from faith in Jesus, we all stand condemned. The only safe place for the people in that house was under the staircase. The only safe place in the city of Jericho was Rahab's Inn. And the only safe place at the end of the day we stay before God is the shelter of the cross on which Jesus died for us. And Rahab's story reminds us that through faith, we can be delivered from judgment. What do we do with this? Let me give you three questions to consider. The first is this. Do you want to see God write a new story in your life? God wrote a new story for Rahab. The headline would have been, Pagan prostitute found buried in rubble. That would have been the story. But because of her faith, the headline was former pagan prostitute trust in God, and became becomes shining example of faith for generations. Her faith in Jesus spared her life, her faith in Jesus gave her a new purpose, the faith her faith in Jesus, sets her today as an example in scripture of faith put into action. Through your faith in Jesus, God can write a new story in your life. If your future can be different. can you escape condemnation? God can use you in exciting ways, and your life can be a shining example to others of faith in action. He can write in new story. Second, what are you willing to risk to put your faith into action? What would it look like for you to live out your faith? What would it look like for you right now? What's God putting in front of you an opportunity of short term risk for a long term reward? What short term sacrifice is God calling you to make? short term step of faith for the bigger picture of what he wants to do through your life. If you put your faith into action. and then finally, who are you gathering into your house? Who are you gathering into your house? She gathered up everyone who was important to her and said, those who are in the house where the scarlet cord hangs will be spared. Those who seek shelter under the cross will be spared. I did that funeral a few days ago. I mentioned earlier, I was asking people about, we lost two women in our church the last few weeks. Betty Norfleet and Fern Bashire. And I was asking people about Fern's life, and I texted Sandy, you are Fern's life group leader. And I said, tell me what you how you remember, Fern, what would you say? And say to you, one of the things you said was, she prayed consistently for the salvation of her family She wanted to gather her house in the home with the scarlet cord hung. I'll do another funeral in a few days. The funeral for Betty, I met with Betty's daughter on Friday. We were planning the service, and I said, what do you think your mom would want to make sure we do in her service and she said, "You know, we didn't talk a lot about it. I wish we had talked about songs and these things And then she said, I know one thing. She said, "I would want my mom would want her service to be a witness to the gospel.. She would want the people who come to her funeral to hear about Jesus. She wants those at her funeral to gather in the room where the red cord hangs. Who are you going to gather in your house? Let's pray together. What are the names that come to mind? This might be a good time to pray for them, God. We lift up our family, our friends, who would be the names that you would list before him? God give me the boldness to share the gospel with them. God opened doors of gospel opportunity. God helped me to pray daily that I'd gather my household in the room where the red cord hangs. Maybe you would want to see your faith put into action. God, give me the boldness to step out in faith, to take the short term risk for the bigger picture of what you want to do through my life. Or maybe your prayer would be God, write a new story in my life. God, I bring to you my brokenness, my sinfulness and my rebellion. in Jesus, I come to you putting my faith in you. Jesus, forgive me. of my past. Help me follow you into a new future. Father, we thank you that your word is alive today, that this is not just a historical event that you recorded, but it's your words for us this week. Help us look to Rahab as an example, and this week, burden us for the loss that are not gathered in the safety of that room. God show us how we can take steps of faith that show our faith in action. And God, for someone here today who desperately needs a new story to be written, they realize the rebellion in the sinfulness of their past. Draw them to Jesus today and help them find in him. Your grace and your mercy, through their faith in him. We pray to Jesus' name. Amen.