How Ordinary People Do Extraordinary Things
“Be Courageous”
(Part 3)
Intro: Courage is a trait everyone admires. We love to hear stories of courage; stories of those
who overcame the odds; real life examples of courage that resulted in something extraordinary.
Even our military recognizes the value of exceptional courage under fire. No one gets the
Medal of Honor for being a coward. You get it for extreme heroism under enemy fire, above
and beyond the call of duty. You earn it through being courageous!
Not only does our culture value courage, God desires this quality in each of us. In fact, it is
going to require courage from each of us to follow Jesus in this life. It is the trait of courage
that allows ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things for the Kingdom of God.
 Summarize the context of Josh. 1- Joshua assumes command.
Josh. 1:9 “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged.
For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (NLT)
 3 times in the first chapter of Joshua, God challenges him to be courageous. God was
ready to do something extraordinary, but courage would be required. When God does the
miraculous, often we are not spectators of his power, but are called by Him to participate
in His power. This will require courage.
 This is where God has us as a church. God is wanting to do something extraordinary.
BUT we cannot be spectators. He wants us to participate with Him. He wants to use
ordinary people. This will require courage.
 How do we pursue a life of courage?
1. The Extraordinary Requires Courageous Responsibility
Josh. 1:6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess
all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.” (NLT)
 We must understand the context of what is going on in this story. Moses has been the
leader for 40 years. Now, he’s dead on the eve of entering the Promise Land. They are
on the threshold of a huge transition as a nation and God decides to change leaders. This
is a big deal! God needed Joshua to embrace courageous responsibility.
 Embrace your responsibility to lead these people. You are the one I have chosen to
do this! Be courageous in this responsibility. Do NOT doubt this!
 What is courageous responsibility? It is accepting the fact that “you are the one” God
wants to use. It is agreeing with God that He is calling you to make a difference. It is
refusing to no longer make excuses for your inactivity or non-involvement. The problem
or issue now becomes personal. You own it!
Listen to this message at foothillsonline.com
Page 1
Copyright © 2014 Dale Satrum. All rights reserved.
 Cowards refuse responsibility. Cowards make excuses. Cowards pass the buck.
Cowards only see what is impossible. Cowards operate their lives out of fear, doubt, and
pessimism. Cowards are always the loudest voices you hear criticizing the courageous!
Only cowards criticize.
 What does courageous responsibility look like for us?
 Embrace that you are the one God wants to use.
Eph. 4:1 “Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your
calling, for you have been called by God.” (NLT)
It’s not just Pastors who are called by God, every believer in Jesus is called by
God. You are the one God wants to use. It’s hard to find courage if you never
embrace your calling. WHY? Because you’ll always be doubting yourself.
 We have a huge building project that God has called us to participate in.
Many of you are still doubting “you’re the one” He wants to use to help
accomplish it. You have yet to own your personal responsibility in it.
 You refuse to trust God; refuse to pray for additional resources; refuse to
even give God the opportunity to do something miraculous in your life.
Instead of trust, you have a “wait and see” attitude. This is not courage. It’s
time to embrace: “You are the one”.
 Stop making excuses denying responsibility
Prov. 24:11-12 “Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die; save them as they stagger to
their death. Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all
hearts, and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew…” (NLT)
How often and how easy is it for us to think we have no responsibility. Courage is
that quality that does not make excuses for embracing responsibly. Courage is that
trait that says; “It is my responsibility.”
 How easy is it for us to think: It’s not my responsibility to serve / to help in
Kids church / FSM / help purchase a building / help feed 200 kids every week /
Guatemala – poverty / be friendly to visitors /
 I realize that we cannot take responsibility for every issue and problem, but
what I see so often is an indifference towards responsibility!
 Prov. 24 is very clear indicating that if we know and have the means to help and
do nothing, God sees this.
 Get off the sideline and get in the game
Eph. 4:16 “He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special
work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of
love.” (NLT)
Do you see the results of “each part doing its own special work”? There are three:
Health / Growth / Love. These are the results of courageous responsibility. We
Listen to this message at foothillsonline.com
Page 2
Copyright © 2014 Dale Satrum. All rights reserved.
end up with a church that is characterized by these three qualities. Do you want a
healthy church? A growing church? A loving church? Then get in the game!
 You are either helping the church be healthier / helping it grow / and helping be
loving or you are making it unhealthy / hindering its growth / and being
unloving.
 Courageous people are those who are actively involved. They are the one’s
God uses to help the church become all that He desires it to be.
 Cowardly people sit on the sideline and criticize those who are playing the
game. Can I just say this; “We need you! You are the one we need. We need
your contribution, your gifts, your abilities, your resources. You are the one.
God is calling each one of us to courageous responsibility for His Kingdom. Will you heed His
call?
2. The Extraordinary Requires Courageous Obedience
Josh. 1:7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave
you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be
successful in everything you do.” (NLT)
 If you don’t think it requires courage to obey everything the Lord tells you to do then
you’re not obeying. Here God tells Joshua to have courageous obedience. He tells
Joshua that success hinges on his courageous obedience to everything. As you read
several chapters later, God gives Joshua the strategy to conquer Jericho. (explain)
 How many people follow God only if it makes sense to their rational mind? How many
people obey only if they think they can do it on their own strength and resources? How
many people move in the direction Jesus calls them only if there is no risk or the path
seems easy?
 Even a casual reading of the word of God will reveal it takes some pretty courageous
obedience to follow everything the word of God says. Yet…this is the path to
success…blessing…and the extraordinary.
So what does courageous obedience look like for us?
 Stop picking and choosing what we obey
Mark 7:9 “Then he said, “You skillfully sidestep God’s law in order to hold on to your own
tradition. If we’re not careful, we can “skillfully sidestep” God’s word as well.
We can develop a tendency to obey what we consider easy or reasonable and
ignore what we think is hard, difficult or unreasonable. It requires courage to obey
all that God has said.
 It takes courage to forgive people / it takes courage to love people / it takes
courage to serve people / it takes courage to remodel and purchase a building
/ it takes courage to sacrifice your resources / it takes courage to live God’s
priorities not our own / courage to seek His kingdom first.
Listen to this message at foothillsonline.com
Page 3
Copyright © 2014 Dale Satrum. All rights reserved.
 Are there things in God’s word you have been skillfully or not so skillfully
ignoring?
 Stop viewing obedience as restrictive but empowering
James 1:25 “But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what
it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.” (NLT)
Some of you are still stuck in a mindset that looks at what God asks you to do as
restrictive, confining, and as something that limits your freedom. Obedience =
Blessing, power, success, freedom, victory and the extraordinary. Some of you
still view God’s word negatively…this robs you of courage.
 Notice the promise to Joshua IF He followed everything that was in
God’s word? “Then you will have success in everything you do.”
 Some of you are trapped in a lie from the evil one that believes obedience
will restrict your life. Obedience = Life NOT death. It’s the law that sets
you free not the law that imprisons you.
 Pick one Biblical truth you’ve been avoiding and courageous obey
Since the promise is obedience results in freedom and blessing, why not try it?
What is one truth you have been avoiding, doubting, dreading, squirming over? If
you want to experience God showing up in your life in an extraordinary way, it
will require some courageous obedience in the areas you have been avoiding.
 Serving / Loving / Forgiving / Giving
 Last week I had another person tell me that they asked God for additional
resources to give towards the building fund…and He did.
 Courage crosses the line. If you want to see God’s power, cross the line
of obedience. Don’t wait for the power…it’s on the other side of
obedience.
The extraordinary requires courageous obedience. Where now is God asking you to obey?
3. The Extraordinary Requires Courageous Trust
Josh. 1:9 “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged.
For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” (NLT) Trust Me!
 Joshua was definitely going to need some courageous trust in God for the task ahead
of him. He was going to need the assurance that God’s presence was with him and
would help him as they conquered the Promised Land. His courage needed to be
anchored in the presence and provision of God Himself. Since God was with Him
God would help Him.
 Fear is something that results when circumstances outmatch our resources. Fear is the
result when our situation is bigger than our trust in God’s presence and God’s
provision.
Listen to this message at foothillsonline.com
Page 4
Copyright © 2014 Dale Satrum. All rights reserved.
 Courage is experienced when we have courageous trust that God is with us and will
provide for us.
How do we develop courageous trust in God?
 Begin doing things that make you uncomfortable
It is fear that makes you uncomfortable. Fear of failure / fear of the unknown / fear of
looking stupid / fear of rejection / fear of not having enough. Fear can be the greatest
influencer on your faith. As long as you never trust God in areas of your fear you will
never develop trust in His presence and provision.
 We must purposely resist this addiction we have to comfort. It is comfort
that causes our faith and trust to be spiritually anemic. Comfort is the
enemy of courage!
 We have a worship and prayer time tonight. I know that for some, these
times make you uncomfortable. Apply some courage and come tonight.
We need you!
 Does serving make you uncomfortable / giving / what about inviting
people to Easter next week? Who are you inviting?
Courageous trust is choosing to do those things that make you uncomfortable or fearful, but
trusting God anyway and experiencing Him come through for you.
 Associate with other believers who have courageous trust
We become like the company we keep. Therefore, if you hang out with cowards you
will begin thinking, sounding, and acting like a coward. If you hang out with people
who courageously trust God, it is contagious.
I Thess. 5:11 “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already
doing.” (NLT) We are commanded to help build in courage to each other. What do you think
the word “encourage” means? It literally means to give courage to someone!
 Are you giving courage to others around you to trust and follow God or do your
words and actions discourage others from following? Do your words fall into
the courageous or cowardly category?
 Are you encouraging each other in your life groups? Are you encouraging each
other in your ministry teams? Are you taking your cues and watching the lives
of those who are courageously following Jesus and trying to so the same? OR
are you listening more to the words of cowards who are sowing fear into your
soul?
Who are you associating with will determine whether or not you will courageously trust God.
Maybe it’s time for some relational changes so you can better courageously trust God?
What God has called us to corporately will require courage. “Follow Jesus Fully, Transforming
the City Completely.” As glorious as this phrase sounds, it will require tremendous courage
and sacrifice to see it fulfilled someday. Yet, if ordinary people will courageously follow Jesus,
the extraordinary will happen.
Listen to this message at foothillsonline.com
Page 5
Copyright © 2014 Dale Satrum. All rights reserved.
Jesus is calling to us to be courageous. What courageous decisions do you need to be making?
 Is it courageous responsibility? (You are the one)
 Is it courageous obedience? (To His word)
 Is it courageous trust? (In God’s presence and provision)
Every one of us wants to be known as a person of courage. No one wants the title of coward.
Then let’s choose courage today. May we hear the voice of Jesus saying; “Foothills, be strong
and courageous. For I am with you wherever you go.”
Listen to this message at foothillsonline.com
Page 6
Copyright © 2014 Dale Satrum. All rights reserved.