“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshipped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD. But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:14-15

Joshua was Moses’ aide. His name means “Yahweh is Salvation”. He was the warrior who led the Israelite army to victory. He ascended Mount Sinai with Moses (Exodus 24:13) and was given a place at the Tent of Meeting with God (Exodus 33:11). He was one of the twelve spies sent from Kadesh-Barnea to explore the land of Canaan. While ten of the spies said the land was too difficult to conquer, only Joshua and Caleb gave a faithful report that it could be conquered. The ten doubters died from a plague while Joshua and Caleb were promised entrance into the land God had given them. All this led to Joshua being chosen by God and appointed just before Moses’ death to be his successor and lead the people into the Promised Land.

The book of Joshua is the story of Joshua and the people of Israel as they, with God’s help, conquered the promised land. With God’s help, they miraculously crossed the Jordan River. With God’s help, they conquered Jericho. With God’s help they quickly took possession of all the main areas of Canaan. Here, in Joshua 24, just before his death, Joshua reminded the people of God’s covenant with them, God’s promises to them and finally, he instructed the people about the level of commitment that such a great covenant required. Joshua was calling them to make a choice between serving the LORD or serving other gods. He commands the people to love God and obey Him, then He makes his choice clear: “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”

Today, as we celebrate the Inaugural Service of the Chicago International Christian Church, we renew our covenant with God and vow to “serve him with all faithfulness.” We acknowledge that we are nothing and that God is everything (John 15:5). We know where we have come from and that God alone has pulled us out of the world and into His Kingdom (1 Peter 2:9-10). He has given us a family and He will continue to protect us in this life and in the one to come! We confess our sins and weaknesses and want to proclaim God’s power to change lives by openly and boldly sharing how he has changed ours. We know that we must watch our life and doctrine closely and persevere in them if we want to save ourselves and our hearers (1 Timothy 4:16). That is our mission.

We desire to know God and to make God known. We are eager to support and work with anyone who shares our love for God and our surrender to His mission of evangelizing the world. In the coming weeks and months you can get to know our members through a series of testimonials entitled “Meet the Mission Team.” God has gathered 31 “sold-out” disciples from New York, Wisconsin, Oregon, Connecticut, Arizona and Illinois to begin this great work.

Please pray for us.
Chris Broom

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