SCRIPTURE: Josh. 3-6; 1 Cor. 4

Joshua 4:19-22
 19-22 The people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month. They set up camp at The Gilgal (The Circle) to the east of Jericho. Joshua erected a monument at The Gilgal, using the twelve stones that they had taken from the Jordan. And then he told the People of Israel, “In the days to come, when your children ask their fathers, ‘What are these stones doing here?’ tell your children this: ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry ground.’

1Corinthians 4:1-4
 Don’t imagine us leaders to be something we aren’t. We are servants of Christ, not his masters. We are guides into God’s most sublime secrets, not security guards posted to protect them. The requirements for a good guide are reliability and accurate knowledge. It matters very little to me what you think of me, even less where I rank in popular opinion. I don’t even rank myself. Comparisons in these matters are pointless. I’m not aware of anything that would disqualify me from being a good guide for you, but that doesn’t mean much. The Master makes that judgment.

OBSERVATIONS: The stories of the past point to the possibility of God’s power today. We are not here to protect the shrines. We are not here to preserve the museum for the sake of the museum.  The stones are not the important part. They are designed to illicit questions. That’s where we come in. With answers.

APPLICATION: We are to preserve the living promises of God, illuminating them by pointing out the movement of God in our lives.

PRAYER: Lord, help us to revere the cross, not for the sake of nostalgia and history, but for the sake of the One who died there. Let his example live on, and our memory be spurred by the sight of the cross. For His sake I pray, Amen.