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Hendersonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, NC

David Wright

The No Limit Christian

He is known in the college football hall of fame as being identified without question as America's, American football's most renowned coach.

And here's a picture of him here, Newt Rockne.

Now he tragically died in an airplane crash while he was still relatively young.

But some 80 years ago, Notre Dame had a big game with USC Trojans in college football.

And the fighting Irish coach, Newt, knew that this other team was far superior than his own.

They had an unbeatable record for that season.

And he was trying to think, how could I possibly compete with this other team?

Well this is back in the days before all the regulations that there are today.

And So he went out into South Bend, Indiana, and scoured and looked for anybody who was over 6 feet tall and over 300 pounds.

Now I don't have a picture of the biggest guys he could find, but this was the time of football, where you just had a leather cap almost for a helmet.

So he scours around and he finds the biggest guys that he can find.

He puts them in Notre Dame uniforms, and as they open up the game and all the players come out, he leads with about 12 or 15 of these enormous Goliath-looking guys.

And as they run out onto the field, you can just see the intimidation of the other team.

This is back before you probably did all this research and knew exactly who was on the other team.

You'd get in the bus and you'd drive forever and you'd see who you're going to match with that night, right?

And Of course, the real team players were behind these big guys, and the big guys in uniform never played at all, but they sat right there on the front line.

USC watched those Giants line up, and they forgot about their talent and their undefeated record and began mentally preparing themselves for defeat.

I can't quite imagine playing football without all the protection that we have today, but his trick worked.

And his team played as hard as they had ever played, and at the end of the game, they came out on top.

An undefeated team, by 1 that really was far less superior, but the mind games in the heads of the other team that were played, the tricks that were pulled, and all of a sudden they just thought there's no way.

Does the devil ever use intimidation tactics today?

Does he play mind games with us from time to time?

Perhaps this semester you have a new teacher who is very intimidating.

Their requirements, what's gonna be due and how quickly and on and on and on.

I remember 1 teacher at the seminary assigned so much Reading.

And somebody in the front, there's always that guy that asks the question that you wish you could ask but you don't have the guts to.

And the professor just very plainly put, if you try to read all of these word for word for word, you will die.

You must skim or you will die, this is master's course level.

Perhaps it's a new boss, a new co-worker at work, and they seem very self-assured and confident, so much so that you feel intimidated.

Maybe the nominating committee will be calling you in the next few weeks, and they'll be asking you to do something that you just honestly feel a little bit scared to do and to take on.

Is this something that you really could do?

You know I can't help but think of Moses passing the mantle to Joshua.

And the word intimidated certainly comes to mind.

I mean, stop and think with me, if you will, for a moment.

Moses had been trained in the king's palace in Egypt.

And he'd been called in a miraculous way through a burning bush experience.

And God used him, Moses, to announce the 10 plagues that fell on Egypt.

Moses was the 1 that stood up against Pharaoh and his rod turned into a snake of all things.

It was through Moses that God did the impossible and parted the Red Sea.

Then at Moriah God through Moses turned the bitter water sweet and God through his servant Moses brings water forth from a rock and his staff.

It's Moses who meets with God up on the mountain and receives the 10 Commandments.

It's Moses that oversees the building project of the sanctuary.

And on top of it all, we read in Numbers chapter 12, verse 3, Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth.

It was Moses that sent spies into Canaan.

And all the spies, except for Caleb and Joshua, discouraged the people, and the people rebelled and were condemned to wander in the wilderness for 40 years, until all those that had rebelled had died.

But because of Moses' sin, his 1 slip up while under pressure.

Moses commanded to speak to the rock but instead he strikes the rock twice, ruining the analogy that God wants to give, and furthermore he brings credit onto himself.

As a result of his sin, he's not allowed to lead the children into the promised land.

And we read here in Deuteronomy 31, verse 6, Be strong and of good courage.

Do not fear nor be afraid of them, for the Lord your God, He is the 1 who goes with you.

Then again, in the 7th verse, again we read, be strong and of good courage.

The Lord, he is the 1 who goes before you.

Do not fear nor be dismayed." Just in case you missed it, we're gonna say it again.

And then a third time in Deuteronomy 31, then he inaugurated Joshua the son of Nun and said, What?

Be strong and of good courage, I will be with you.

3 times in that chapter we see those familiar words, be strong and of good courage.

And why is it being so ingrained into Joshua?

Is it perhaps because God knew the challenges that Joshua would face?

The challenges of the times, the challenges of the surroundings.

Could it be that God knew Joshua's insecurities?

For whatever the reason, the command is repeated over and over again.

Because Joshua is going through a time of transition.

Perhaps someone here finds himself in a time of transition.

Maybe you're a first-time parent or experiencing empty nest.

Maybe for the first time in your life you're unemployed.

There's new responsibilities at work or you just retired from work.

You move to a new area, or perhaps 1 of your closest friends is moving out of the area.

Maybe it's a diagnosis that changes everything.

Maybe it's a parent that's moved in with you and everything seems to have changed quite drastically.

Whatever it is, I'm quite certain many here today are going through some significant transition.

And in the midst of transition we tend to feel insecure, not up to the task, not possessing the right skill set, not able to fulfill the expectations placed on you.

If so, we might do well to consider God's words to Joshua.

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The No Limit Christian

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