Joshua 3

Learning on the Way

Sermon Summary This sermon explores Joshua 3, where God’s people faced the seemingly impossible task of crossing the Jordan River at flood stage. After 500 years of waiting and 40 years of wilderness wandering, the moment had come to enter the Promised Land. The message emphasizes that faith often requires us to step into impossible situations before we can see God’s provision. Through examining Israel’s crossing of the Jordan, we learn that God positions us near impossible situations to prepare us, calls us to consecrate ourselves spiritually, and requires us to take steps of obedience before we see His miraculous intervention. The priests had to get their feet wet before the waters parted, illustrating that faith requires action even when we cannot see the outcome.

Key Points

• God often moves us closer to impossible situations to prepare us for His purposes
• Consecration of our hearts and minds allows us to recognize and appreciate God’s work
• Divine presence, not human strategy, makes impossibilities into possibilities
• God validates those He calls to leadership through demonstrable acts of power
• Faith requires taking steps of obedience before seeing the full provision
• Fear and courage are both cultivated through daily disciplines and decisions
• The same God who parted the Jordan still makes ways where there seems to be no way

Small Group Questions

1. The sermon mentions that we cultivate either fear or courage through our daily disciplines. What daily practices in your life tend to cultivate fear versus those that build courage in God? How can you be more intentional about developing spiritual courage?
2. God moved Israel closer to the Jordan River before asking them to cross it. Share about a time when God seemed to position you near a challenge or opportunity that felt impossible. How did being “closer to the edge” affect your faith and perspective?
3. Joshua called the people to “consecrate yourselves” before crossing the Jordan. What does consecration look like in your daily life? How does spiritual preparation help you recognize God’s work around you?
4. The priests had to step into the flooding river before the waters parted. Describe a situation where God called you to take a step of obedience before you could see how things would work out. What did you learn about faith through that experience?
5. The sermon contrasts trusting in military strategy versus trusting in divine presence. In what areas of your life are you tempted to rely on your own strategies rather than God’s presence and power?
6. What is your current “Jordan River” – that impossible situation God may be calling you to step into? What fears or obstacles are keeping you from taking that first step of faith?

Key Verses

• Joshua 3:3-4: “As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from your place and follow it. Yet there shall be a distance between you and it…for you have not passed this way before.”
• Joshua 3:5: “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do wonders among you.”
• Joshua 3:13: “And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing.”
• Joshua 3:15-16: “And as soon as those bearing the ark had come as far as the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped into the brink of the water…the waters coming down from above stood and rose up in a heap.”

Application On The Way This week, identify one “Jordan River” in your life – an area where God may be calling you to step forward in faith despite not seeing how things will work out. Take one concrete step toward that challenge while spending daily time in prayer and Scripture reading to consecrate your heart. Journal about how this step of obedience affects your relationship with God and your understanding of His faithfulness.

Want to Go Deeper? Additional Scripture Passages:

• Exodus 14:10-31 (Crossing the Red Sea)
• Hebrews 11:29-30 (Faith of the Israelites)
• 2 Kings 5:9-14 (Naaman’s faith requiring action)
• Matthew 14:22-33 (Peter walking on water)
• 1 Corinthians 1:25-29 (God using the weak)
• Isaiah 43:1-3 (God making a way through waters)
• Psalm 23:4 (Walking through difficult places)
• Romans 4:16-21 (Abraham’s faith in the impossible)

Personal Reflection Questions:

1. Read Isaiah 43:1-3 alongside Joshua 3. How does God’s promise to be with us “when you pass through the waters” encourage you as you face your own impossible situations?
2. Compare Peter walking on water (Matthew 14:22-33) with the priests stepping into the Jordan. Both required wet feet before seeing God’s power. What parallels do you see between their faith and the faith God is calling you to exercise today?