Richvale Community Church
Sunday, February 1 2026
- Good morningThis past Monday, Alex Honnold—famous for his solo climbs—scaled ONE OF world’s tallest buildings in Taiwan (101 FLOORS)He did it live on Netflix…He did so without any ropes, harnesses, or safety gear…I watched the end of his climb — where he was literally — at the top the skyscraper and he casually lifted up his leg up over the last barrier —and pulls himself up.. and stood on top of the building… without really too much effort..…If was pretty amazing.. and lots crazy..But here’s the thing..Honnold didn’t just wake up one morning and decide he was scale a building.He spent years preparing—practicing .. honing his skills — for year he climbed Rock faces like El Capitan in Yosemite —(there is whole Documentary about that)He Also had mentors who passed on their wisdom and skills that added …to his confidence..What looked like daring or recklessness act was the cumulation of years preparation and discipline —Now faith is never ment to be reckless…but Faith is developed over time …There is saving faith at salvation..and then progressive Faith..living out of that faith —The difference has been …described a channel first opened in salvation.., that brings life, and then the channel of Faith continues. and when increasingly used, Faith brings power, victory, and honor to God.But here is the thing. God rarely takes us straight to the summit.Our Faith is formed over years of walking with God and developed through practice and testing…A.W TozerFaith, like a muscle, grows by stretching.A. W. Tozer; Anita M. BaileyFaith also grows in community.. We learn from each other — we learn through our struggles and breakthroughs…We are in our sermon series on Starting Right… in the book of Deuteronomy..and today we looking at setting guardrails and building a Faith that last..In Deuteronomy 11, Moses is standing with the new generation of Israelites on the edge of the Promised Land.He knows both the problem of staying where they are and the dangers of stepping forward into the promised land unprepared…… and so Moses delivers a — series of sermons —=—to instruct the Next generation on how to build faith that lasts…He gives the tools that well serve guardrails to protect them as they enter into the land.. So they will thrive God had planted themT/s In Deuteromy 11 — Moses gives three guardrails..The first Gurardrail..Guardrail #1: Make Loving God Your Priority..… Moses in chapter 11 is retelling what God has done in the Past and his expectations for Israel going forward…It is message that comes with prophetic clarity… it’s is based on what God has said in the past.. through the Abrahamic covenant and blessing…H is preaching is prophetic in a true..— prophecy is always for our edification..in the NT it is one of the gifts of the spirit..But…Prophecy is always rooted in what God has already said in his word… It not some new idea or feeling… Restating what God has said…Prophecy is not fortune telling — it is not foretelling… It is forthtelling.. retelling what God had said…Prophecy speaks to God’s larger purposes in Salvation and Redemption history…Moses gives instruction.
Deuteronomy 11:1–7 ESV 1 “You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always. 2 And consider today (since I am not speaking to your children who have not known or seen it), consider the discipline of the Lord your God, his greatness, his mighty hand and his outstretched arm, 3 his signs and his deeds that he did in Egypt to Pharaoh the king of Egypt and to all his land, 4 and what he did to the army of Egypt, to their horses and to their chariots, how he made the water of the Red Sea flow over them as they pursued after you, and how the Lord has destroyed them to this day, 5 and what he did to you in the wilderness, until you came to this place, 6 and what he did to Dathan and Abiram the sons of Eliab, son of Reuben, how the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households, their tents, and every living thing that followed them, in the midst of all Israel. 7 For your eyes have seen all the great work of the Lord that he did.Moses is … giving this sermon..and He unpacks what is needed for them to thrive in the land,..Moses begins with Faith… .Moses provides the 4 Motivator for Faith…Deuteronomy 11:1–7 ESV 1 “You shall therefore love the Lord your God and keep his charge, his statutes, his rules, and his commandments always.The chief motivator from faith is love..1 Cor 13..Talks about the connection of gifts to love … we can have all the gifts of spirit.. speak in angelic languages.. butwith out love we just noise.First… Motivator islove for GodFaith begins with love for God. It is our Passion for God that fuels our obedience..Without love for God…, obedience becomes duty, and rules that become burdensome. second motivator is to..Love His Ways— Moses says love his statutes.. these the customs and ways God has set for His people…Gods says are higher than our ways..third motivator is to love His Word —and instruction—This love for truth ..Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God… Faith internalizes the wordThe second motivator is deeds …want has done.Moses Points to the Past… what God had done for them as ask a nation.. it is interest ingIn verse 2Moses speaks to Israel as collective group…about their story of deliverance...He talks a out their children who would have been to young to remember..But there is collec ive identity… .. as God people..God Deliverance …in the past were for there benefit….but future.. generations…We all have a story… how ended up where we are to day.. Israel had vivid stories of God’s intevention.. Moses mentions..Deliverance from Egptians at the red sea where drowned their enemies..When God sustained them in the wilderness… God provided miraculously for Israel..40years3. When God dealt with Israel’s enemies — he sums up Numbers 16 the story of Korah’s rebellion— Korah raised 250 men thats opposed Moses.. accusing him Spiritual pride… among them were Dathan, Abiram, and their families,—God warned there Israel to don’t go near them… good reason because literally open up and swallowed them.Moses point is that.. Faith Rehearses what God has done in the past…——Each of us has story of Faith…— Faith goes back to what God has done… prophetic word move from the past to the future….The say we build Faith is we reherse the story..T/s In Deuteromy 11 — Moses gives three guardrails..#1: Make Loving God Your Priority..Guardrail #2: Don’t Confuse the Past with the PresentWhat I love about bible is that it tells the whole storyIt doesn’t leave out the difficult parts…It deals with life in a real, tangible way, with struggles and challenges. The good, the bad, and the ugly.When you look at the history of the church, you see. …not all good..For example during the time of The Crusaders, people were baptised with the sword— they were literally given the options either die or Be baptized …I don’t think that was part of the great commision…..Not everything that is done in Jesus name is the Bible…or theologically sound..But..The Story of the Bible is one of Redemption… God takes our past… our failures and redeems it..That isThe power behind the Gospel is that God changes outcomes. He reverses fortunes.Paul said in RomansRomans 1:16–17 ESV 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”This was luthers revelation.. we are not justified by works but byFaith..What Moses is saying..We need to set guardrails around our past…Dont let’s you past dictate your future..some families have years addiction.. years .. Bo danger that be get brokenMoses helps us see the difference between the past we cannot changeMoses points this out..Deuteronomy 11:10–12 ESV 10 For the land that you are entering to take possession of it is not like the land of Egypt, from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and irrigated it, like a garden of vegetables. 11 But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, 12 a land that the Lord your God cares for. The eyes of the Lord your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.Moses tells the new generation to Not compare Egypt with Canaan.That might seem obvious at first, but think about it—Israel had lived in Egypt for 400 years in slavery.That is Four centuries of settling in one place!That’s long enough to get comfortable, long enough to romanticize, long enough to forget the truth of life there.Now, forty years wandering in the wilderness might feel long to a generation of parents,but in the grand sweep of Israel’s history, it was nothing. And this is where perspective becomes so important.Parents often spoke fondly of Egypt: “Oh, the Nile was so rich, the cities so grand… we had plenty of food…”But in saying this, they conveniently left out the hardships, the slavery, the oppression.They had “selective memory”—Moses is giving a prophetic warning: Don’t let the past define the future.God is saying…Don’t allow nostalgia to blind you to what he is preparing in The future—God’s promised-land—is brighter than anything behind you.Starting well means looking forward in faith,And Moses gives a concrete illustration.In Egypt, everything depended on the Nile. You had to draw the water, irrigate the fields, control the river, manipulate nature.Life there required constant effort just to survive.But in the Promised Land? He says …God Himself irrigates the land.“the land drinks water by the rain of heaven”.God’s eyes are always upon it. The provision is abundant, the water is pure, the blessing is ongoing.God is not asking us to carry weight of the past.. He is asking us to walk forward, trust Him, and receive the blessings He pours out in ht present…One of the most freeing Scriptures is.Romans 8:1–2 ESV 1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.Paul goes on to remind us:.Romans 8:33–34 ESV 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us.Paul says .In Christ, we no longer live under the shadows of past mistakes, failures, or shame. We are no longer defined by what we once did or what others have done to us.Instead, we walk forward in faith, trusting that God’s Spirit guides and shapes us each day.T/s In Deuteromy 11 — Moses gives three guardrails..#1: Make Loving God Your Priority..#2: Don’t Confuse the Past with the PresentGuardrail #3: Be Alert and Avoid Mission DriftIn the 2004 Olympics...Matt Emmons had the gold medal in sight.He was one shot away from claiming victory in the 50-meter rifle event.All he needed was a score of 8.1 or more and he would have taken the gold medal...Which for an Olympic Athlete like Emmons would be relatively easy.Basically Hit the target…a huge Mistake... Standing in lane two, hefired at the target in lane three.He had an excellent shot and hit the target perfectly, but it was at the wrong target... Instead of walking away with the Gold medal, Emmons ended up coming in eighth place.Moses wanted Israel to make sure … Hit the right target!Until this point Moses — had been the leader, teacher and judge over the people… Even though he had divided Israel tribes— with various leaders — and judges..He was still the main prophetic voice for the Nation….There is going to be transfer of leadership to Joshua who lead people into the promised land…Time of transition…Moses gives warning…as guardrails to protect them from the gods in Canaan.Deuteronomy 11:16–18 ESV 16 Take care lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them; 17 then the anger of the Lord will be kindled against you, and he will shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain, and the land will yield no fruit, and you will perish quickly off the good land that the Lord is giving you. 18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.Moses teaches them that faith doesn’t stop once they enter the Promised Land.In fact, living there will require even greater faith.Because Prosperity has a way of quietly pulling the heart toward complacency. When life is good, it’s easy to forget where the blessing really comes from.If would be easy to ingrate in to the culture..The surrounding culture worshiped Baal, believing that rain and fertility were controlled by nature gods., Israel could easily adopt a natural, cause-and-effect way of thinking—Moses calls them to resist the deception of self sufficiency.Moses gives them practical instruction..Deuteronomy 11:18–21 ESV 18 “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 20 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens are above the earth.Moses gives really practical applicationMoses says the way you deal with drifting … is to first…Lay up God’s Word in your heart— The word “Lay up” here is the Hebrew word (soom) — it means - to move into a specific place or location… Means to place God Word …in your Heart.. .—- It means to internalize God word…To have God word impressed on the mind and the heart …We do this by binding it to our hand..— the word Bind means to secure or fasten with a string or rope…Israel did this in the literals sense with a leather strap..But spiritually speaking - Binding the words reading God word… praying God words… keep the word front and center..Keep it before your eyes — make it visible to otherTeach it to your children — pass faith to the next generationWhen we do this we setting spiritual guardrail — that will serve us well.:conclusion..— We all have tendancy to drift… Today in newer cars we have this lane assistance — I remember the first time driving with lane correction…Pull back to the center of the Road… on the last car we rented told me it was time stop for a cup of Coffee..Guard rails work like those lane assistance..When we drift.. bring us back into alignment..Moses in gives us 3 guardrailsMake loving God your priority —Don’t confuse the past with the present —Be alert and avoid mission drift —Maybe this morning you … you find n yourself driftingMaybe your passion for God is wanning…The good news is that..God has set the guardrails, He had given us His Word, and given His Spirit to guide us…But it takes walking in-Faith ..To step out. Trust Him. Obey Him. And your faith will endure—not because it started easy, but because it was built to last.Maybe you need prayer today… that is available — We need to encouraged.. That God with you regardless what you faith… God will is that each of Thrive and grow in the season we find ourselves…He can be trusted today! Deuteronomy 11:1–7CSB
Romans 1:16–17CSB
Deuteronomy 11:10–12CSB
Romans 8:1–2CSB
Romans 8:33–34CSB
Deuteronomy 11:16–21CSB
Deuteronomy 11:18–21CSB
Richvale Community Church
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