mySundaySermons

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.” When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.” You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God. Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.[NRV]

The People of God Response to the delivery of the Promised Land

The people were instructed to recite the story of the journey and struggle of who they were and who they had become.

This is a story of multiple generations and the summation of many stories. It is the before and after the Chip and Joann Gains ritual near the end of the show, right before the big reveal they tell where they started with a base, a dream and a plan. Looking the picture of the starting point come the… commercial.

So after the commercial is the reveal and response. Are you ready to see your dream home? your forever home? The most typical response is “Oh my God.” What in the world does this have to do with Deuteronomy and the Promised Land.

This passage calls for the people’s response to their new home in Canan, the prize over the Jordon, the Promised Land. When you arrive say these words or sing this song:

When you have come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you as an inheritance to possess, and you possess it, and settle in it, you shall

1. take some of the first of all the fruit of the ground, which you harvest from the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you shall put it in a basket and go to the place that the Lord your God will choose as a dwelling for his name.

2. You shall go to the priest who is in office at that time, and say to him, “Today I declare to the Lord your God that I have come into the land that the Lord swore to our ancestors to give us.”

When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God:

3. “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor;

4. he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien,

5. few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous.

6. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors;

7. the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression.

8. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

8. b. “Where are the forty years wandering in the wilderness?”

9. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.”

10: ACTION: You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God.

11: IN WOSHIP TOGETHER: Then you, together with the Levites and the aliens who reside among you, shall celebrate with all the bounty that the Lord your God has given to you and to your house.[NRV]

So What is this to us? We weren’t there?

This passage not only teaches us about the Hebrews entering the promised land it is a model of our PRAISE, Worship, and Celebration to God’s leading us:
Q: What had God brought us through to where we are today…think of the struggles, loses, failures, illnesses, divisions and look where we have come to this day..
God has loved us through the lean times

God has guided us thought our foolishness

God has blessed us when we didn’t have what we thought we needed or deserved,

Where are we now?

We have one another.We had breath of this day, this moment?

Think of the division of the nation, and the church these are signs that we all have forgotten the God is leading us. We have placed our trust in our own ideals instead of the heart and mind of God.

We are not in the Promised Land at the moment: We are lost and the world with us. BUT we need to remember where we are headed.

This is where we begin to remember were God has shown up before

and commit ourselves to looking for God to save us in this time.

We are called to gather in worship, praise and celebration of God’s work and not our own.

Let us share where God is showing up in our families and church family and retell the stories and introduce for those who have never heard or were unwilling to hear.

Our Response is to Remember, Retell and Celebrate God’s work in our generations and in our present