Ethan:

Today’s scripture reading comes from Joshua 1, verses 1 through 6.

Joshua 1:1–6 (NIV)

¹ After the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: ² “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. ³ I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. ⁴ Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. ⁵ No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. ⁶ Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.”

The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our Lord endures forever.

Rachel Ingram:

Well, good morning once again. Thanks, Ethan, for reading Scripture for us. My name is Rachel. I’m one of the co-directors of student ministry, and I have some of our seniors who are here with us. And they have been spending all kinds of time reflecting and thinking about these verses and what they might want to share with you all this morning.

But before they do that, I want to make sure we’re all on the same page about how we get to this moment in Scripture. So if you’ve been with us this year, we’ve been doing this ONE series, which means we have been following stories of the Bible one by one. And a few months ago, we talked about a man named Abraham who was promised by God that he would have many descendants. And those descendants eventually became enslaved in Egypt. And what happens is God calls a man named Moses to go and free those people. So the Israelites have been traveling through the wilderness with Moses, which leads us to a moment where they are camped outside the promised land. And Moses is giving them these commands so that this nation can show other nations what God is like. And in this moment, we find today this book of Joshua comes right after this leader we’ve been following. Moses has died. So what Joshua is doing is he is being called as the new leader of these people. He’s not stepping into this calm situation. He’s actually stepping into a moment of pressure and a moment of grief and a moment of great expectation.

Joshua is stepping into something new. Which is what leads us to our theme verse for today, which is Joshua, chapter one, verses five and six, which says, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you, nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore their ancestors to give them.

So before Joshua does anything, God speaks to who he is. Joshua’s identity is not something that he has to prove, but instead it’s an identity that God has given him. God’s presence is with him. God’s promise is over him, and God is leading him forward. This is a moment of commissioning, but it’s also a moment about identity, about who Joshua is becoming. So Joshua is not just leading the people, but he’s stepping in to who God created him to be, trusting that God is going to continue to lead him forward.

And this is a moment that holds true for all of us because life is about becoming. And our seniors very much know something about this moment right now because they are people who are preparing for what’s to come. New responsibilities, new places, new questions about who they are becoming. But like Joshua, they don’t walk this journey alone. The same God who is with Joshua is with them and with all of us, guiding, forming, and calling each of us forward to who we are created to be.

So this morning, we’re going to hand the mic to Daniel and Zoe and Asher and Nora to hear some of their reflections and their stories and their insights and their wisdom on becoming who they are as they prepare to graduate. Go ahead, Daniel.

Daniel:

Right. Hey, guys. Hi. My name is Daniel and I go to Amador Valley High School, and I’m a senior, of course, and I’m going to Berkeley. Is anyone Bears here? Yep. Go Bears. Go Bears.

So, yeah, the passage Joshua 1:5–6 stood out to me the most because God is telling Joshua, you’re not strong enough on your own, but instead he’s saying that you can be strong because I am with you. That really stood out to me the most because learning to rely on God instead of myself is something I’ve been growing in my life.

So I was born and raised in a Christian family, which is a huge blessing. But for a long time, I didn’t really recognize what that truly meant until middle school, when I was in Korea. Church often felt like another hangout place where I hang out with my friends and just get free lunch and just wait until the boring sermon. It felt like a routine in a relationship. So on the outside I was a Christian, but inside I was actually not following what Jesus was trying to lead me through. I was always nervous to pray at school during lunch because I was afraid to get judged by people even though they didn’t really actually do it.

And after I moved to the U.S., things slowly began to change. Through high school, one of the biggest changes in me was that I started to care about the environment around me. I began thinking more seriously about who I spent time with and where I was spending my time and how those things were shaping me. Because I realized the people and places around me affect me the most. That’s what I started to think more about. And I also started to rethink the way that I spoke and the kind of language I used, asking myself what it really reflected about someone trying to follow Jesus Christ.

Through my family, friends and church, God placed me in a stronger Christian community. And that helped me open my eyes to what faith really looked like. I began to notice God working in my life in more real ways, especially during the Native American ministry, Irish ministry incorporation, which is called Naomi Mission Trip. And through prayer and through learning how to tell a difference between the right and wrong choice in daily life, I started to realize that being raised in a Christian family was not something to be embarrassed about, but instead something that I should be really thankful for.

As all of that built over time, I started to realize that the deepest comfort could only come from Jesus Christ. He is the only one that I can fully rely on and he is always there, even when I fail him or ignore him. For a while I felt guilty that I only seemed to look for Jesus when I was struggling in distress. But through that, God was teaching me to put him first, and not just when life felt hard, but in every moment too.

I still sin and I still fail him. But the difference now is that I recognize the sin that I make and I know I can bring it to God honestly and ask for his forgiveness. And one thing I have learned through the Harbor, the high school ministry, is that home is not just a place where you sleep, but it’s a place where you truly feel like you belong. For me, the Harbor has become that kind of place. It feels like a cabin at Lake Tahoe that you can visit anytime you want. Every Thursday night at 5pm after my work, I keep looking at my clock. Oh, is it time to go to Harbor yet? And it’s not. I still have to wait like an hour more. And that shows me how much the Harbor really means to me.

When I first started going, my main reason was to build my social skills after I moved from Korea and to learn English. And I wanted to form strong relationships with people at church, especially with my age group as well. And over time, that’s exactly what happened to me. And I’m especially thankful for Matt and Rachel who helped make that possible through the games, conversations and also small group studies we share every week. Because of that, the Harbor became more than just a church ministry I attended. It became a place where I feel safe, comfortable and understood. A place where I could be honest, open up and share things that I did not really tell people easily. That is what I would say the Harbor feels like to me. It taught me how important it is to have a community where you feel like you belong, and that is something I hope to carry with me into the next stage of my life as well.

One encouragement I have for our church is that if you’re confused about who you are and who you belong to, I will read the Book of John in the Bible. In John we see again and again that Jesus does not give up on people. He meets them where they are and still invites them to come to him. I especially want to give an example of John 4, when Jesus speaks to a Samaritan woman at the well. She was someone who likely carries shame, pain and embarrassment from her past of having several husbands. Yet Jesus approached her and asked for water. That moment is really powerful because it is unexpected that Jews and Samaritans had a deep hostility toward each other. And in that culture it’s really uncommon for men to bring up conversation with a woman. But Jesus crossed those social and religious barriers anyway.

So what stands out to me is that Jesus did not define her by her brokenness and appearance, but rather he saw her completely and he still chose to speak to her with truth and grace. He did not avoid her, shame her, or leave her where she was, but instead he offered her living water and showed her that her identity could be found in him. And I think that this passage really connects with Joshua 1:5–6 as well. In both passages we see that identity is not something we build only by ourselves. It is something God speaks over us. And God tells Joshua, I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. And Jesus shows that same truth in action when he meets the Samaritan woman. And both remind me that we belong to God before we prove ourselves.

If I only had one thing to share lastly, it would be this: Our identity is not defined by our past, our failures, or what others think about us, but by the fact that God sees us and stays with us every time we need him in our lives. Thank you.

Zoe:

Hi, I’m Zoe Allen, and I’m a senior at Los Lomas High School. I started coming to the Harbor in sixth grade, and my family joined the church my freshman year. Recently, I’ve been thinking a lot about what comes next. College, a career, my future. Graduating is exciting, but if I’m being honest, it’s really overwhelming. This past year, it’s felt like I have to have a plan and know exactly who I want to be. But a lot of the time I don’t feel like I have that figured out. And I don’t think that’s just a senior thing. I think a lot of times a lot of us can feel that pressure in a lot of different ways.

In the passage Joshua, chapter 1, verses 5 through 6, God reminds Joshua that he will not be abandoned and that God will be with him. During one of the hardest times of my life, I felt alone and stuck. But through my faith, God got me through it. My sophomore year was probably one of the biggest seasons that shaped my identity. At the beginning of the year, I made the decision to leave my friend group. I felt like it wasn’t the right fit for me anymore, so I wanted to be a part of something new. On the first day of school, I sat with a different group of girls, but it became pretty quickly that they didn’t want me there, and they made that known. As a high school girl who put my identity in what other people thought of me, I remember feeling so unwanted and like I didn’t belong. I wanted to be seen as someone that people liked and someone who fit in, someone who was cool. So when that didn’t work out, it hit me pretty hard.

A month or so later, I tried out for my school’s soccer team. Soccer had been a huge part of my life, and I had played for about 10 years. I was even the captain my freshman year. But I didn’t make that team. On top of not feeling like I had people, I lost the thing that I had always relied on to define me. I isolated myself that year, both physically and mentally. At school, I was eating lunch by myself in the library or in my mom’s classroom. And in my head, I felt like I wasn’t wanted and I didn’t belong. Looking back, I realized I put a lot of my identity and views of my worth into external things. I put it in my peers, my sports, my grades.

But by the end of the year, through my faith, I was able to get out of that hole I was in. In the second semester of my sophomore year, I got involved in forming my school’s Faith club. I started to meet new people and rebuild my friendships through that club. It was a safe space that I could go during lunch to connect with God, but also feel like I had people around me. I got more involved in the Harbor and I started to make really meaningful friendships with people at the Harbor. Friendships that started to not only be at church, but moved outside of church too, doing things like surprise parties for each other’s birthdays, going on sunset hikes, or doing a slideshow night.

I joined the Harbor’s leadership program and started volunteering every Wednesday in the middle school group. I helped middle schoolers grow their faith as I built mine. I got connected in the Women’s Bible Study where we meet every Wednesday morning before school to study the Bible and help get to know each other more. I’ve attended five different Mount Hermon camps, learning more about God, meeting more people that shared the same values as me, and helping me to grow my identity. At Mount Hermon, I met people from our area that attend other churches. I’m now very close friends with people from Lafayette, Danville and even San Francisco who I would never have met otherwise.

As I found more ways to get involved in my faith, I started to let my faith shape my identity. I felt more and more like I had a sense of self. As I read the passage Joshua chapter one, verses five through six, I think about how in one of the hardest times of my life in my sophomore year where I felt weak and completely alone, God did not leave me. Through my faith, I was able to meet people and join things I truly enjoy and am passionate about. I know as I move forward, there will be times in my life where I may feel stuck or alone, but I know that I will be able to turn to God and he will connect me in ways that will help me be back stronger than ever. Just as the passage says, he will not forsake you and to stay strong because he will lead us.

Next year I’ll be attending Texas Christian University studying psychology. Right now I’m scared for next year, hoping I chose the right school where I will connect with the right people and take the right path for me. But I find comfort in knowing that God will lead me right where I need to go and I do not need to worry because he has a plan for me and he will get me through it. I will take that knowledge with me into the next stages of my life. I will also take what I’ve learned from the Harbor. Knowing that some of the most pure and meaningful friendships can come from your faith. Always being open to learning new experiences and trusting that my identity is found in God, not in the things around me.

As I look back on my own experience and think of advice I could give to all of you, I would just remind you that in moments where you feel confused, stuck or alone, to find peace and comfort in your faith. Your faith will help guide you through your ups and downs. And God will not leave you alone.

Asher:

Hi, my name is Asher Kemp. I am a senior at Los Lomas, and next year I’m going to Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I just want to preface this and say in the spirit of procrastination, this was made last night, so it’s not going to be as well thought out as theirs, but I’m going to do my best. And also I’m trying to look to the left side since Bart over here tends to look to the right side. So I got you guys. I got you guys.

So I just wanted to really quickly reread Joshua 1:5–6. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them.

So if you notice, God kind of did two things there. He started by kind of bolstering Joshua, and then he gave Joshua a task, which I’ll talk about shortly, but I just want to talk about Joshua. God saying, I will be with you always. Nobody will be able to stand against you. I mean, that’s just got to be one of the best feelings ever. You know, if you’ve got bullies at school and then you have a big brother who comes with you, right? Nobody will be able to stand against you. Or if your class average on a test is 70% and your teacher looks at you and says, you did a great job. The feeling that you get just—it’s gotta be incredible. So knowing that you are starting kind of ahead of everyone else, I mean, right on. Nothing else to say.

And so the task God tells Josh is to lead these people to this kind of promised land, right? This land I’ve promised to their ancestors. And so, you know, that is to build up the people of God, to build the kingdom of God. And I think of that as kind of we all have a task, which is to raise a generation that is better than we are. I think as a parent, you know, your primary goal is to make a kid who’s better than you. Because if we all have kids who are better than us, well, then our world’s just only going to get better and better. So we all make kids better than us. We expand the kingdom of God, we raise them to be Christian, and, you know, in 100 years, the world’s twice as good, thrice as good. Who knows? Same way Joshua leads people to a promised land, a perfect land. And they will grow.

So one way the Harbor has helped me is probably more confidence. As you can see, I am totally not trembling up here, stuttering over my words. When I was in sixth grade, I did not want to go to the Harbor. My mom said, Asher, you’re going to go to a youth group. I was like, no. I was kicking and screaming. She had to drag me, threw me in the car, drag me over. And I stepped in that room, and I froze up, and it was the worst thing ever, and I hated it. And then when I got home that night, I was like, mom, I want to go every single week. That was the best night of my whole life. I laughed so much. It was the greatest night ever. So I kept going to Harbor. I’ve been part of this church for seven years. Been part of the Harbor for seven years. And, you know, through Covid, we were playing games online, and I was laughing so loud, my mom had to come into my room multiple times and say, Asher, please be quieter. We’re trying to watch a TV show, for Lord’s sake. So that’s just, you know, the Harbor has brought a whole lot of goodness to my life. You know, that was two years. I have had seven years with the Harbor. So just imagine all the fun I’ve had.

So I just want to—I was told to give advice to the church, so I’ll be doing that similar to Daniel’s over there. It’s gonna be that who we are is not who we were. That’s based off of a—I’ve been listening to a lot of Christian music lately, and there’s a song called “Who I Am” or “Who I Was” by Josiah Queen. He basically, you know, talks about how he’s got all this. He feels this weight of his sins, and he’s got all this heavy burden. And then he found Christ, and, you know, he learned to forgive himself. He, quote unquote, found hope on a wooden cross. So I just want to go into that. It is very easy to get caught in our past mistakes. I’m still hung up over something I did a decade ago. If I screw up a volleyball game or if I screw up a match point, it’s the worst feeling in the world. If I say something wrong to someone, it’s really hard to get over. But that’s something we do have to do. Because who I am, those mistakes that I have made, is not who I am today.

So that’s similar. In my English class, we’re reading a book, Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. I’m not sure who’s familiar with it, but one of the most powerful quotes is, each of us is better than the worst thing we’ve ever done. So similar message there. We move on. We must move on from our mistakes and learn from them. Because tying that back into raising kids who are better than us, if we see ourselves as lesser because of our past mistakes, then we’re not going to be able to raise kids who are greater than us.

And so my last thing to say to not the world, but the church is that the best is still yet to come. We—oh, God. I have come home from school multiple times from a long week, you know, and it’s—I feel exhausted, I feel so tired, or a bad game, and I feel like broken, and I just want to cry. And then, oh my gosh, I’ve got practice the next day. I don’t want to go after that horrible night. Or, oh my gosh, I’ve got homework this weekend. I just don’t want to do it. I’ve had a long week. I’m so done with everything. But, you know, it’s something to keep pushing through. We still have a job to do, which is to better the world, to expand the kingdom of God. So whether—even if you don’t want kids, you know, you can make someone else’s kid better, you can do their job for them, then that kid will be three times as good because he’ll have his parents and some random person making them better anyways.

So, yes, even if you feel tired, even if you’re exhausted and broken and you hate everything, you gotta keep moving. And I know that sucks. But, you know, hey, the world in 100 years will thank you, hopefully. So thank you for listening to me.

Nora:

Hi, everyone. My name is Nora Palzine, and I’m delighted to be here today. I’ve been going to the Harbor for four years now, and I go to Los Lomas. Next year, I will be attending Baylor University to study theater performance. And if you haven’t met me or if we hadn’t had the chance to talk, you might recognize me from three years ago when I was up here on Student Sunday and I cried in front of the whole church. I still joke about this with my family and friends, but I think if a stranger were to ask me, like, why I cried that day, I would probably just say I was shy. And I’m definitely not a shy person. But I do think that freshman year I certainly carried myself different than I do now. And I think the story of Joshua is a wonderful example of how God shapes us into who we are.

Throughout my life, theater has always been incredibly consistent in who I am. I’ve been performing since I was in third grade, but it didn’t truly become important to me until high school. I almost didn’t audition for my play the freshman year, but I did, and I really don’t regret that. From there, I have seen God shape me into who I am and who I’m becoming through theater. In a musical or play, you’re playing a character. And part of that process as an actor is to study your character and how you’re going to play that character. Part of the process for me as an actor is really digging deep into that character’s past and how they are now. I played many different characters, including a yearning mother, a selfless grandmother, an enthusiastic bridesmaid, a grieving sister, a heartbroken best friend, a joyful messenger, and many others.

I think the wonderful thing about a character is the opportunity to play someone who you aren’t. You’re playing a role and there’s no pressure to be you. But when you come out of playing that role and you have to be yourself again, that’s when, for me at least, it can become challenging to say, yes, I am enough in God’s eyes, because life isn’t a role that you’re playing. I’ve always been a huge people pleaser, and for me, especially in high school, that has meant a difficulty saying no to people or worrying about what other people might think of me rather than what God thinks of me. However, with each role I’ve played and each show I’ve done, I’ve started growing more into who I am when I let go of the characters and I’m just myself again. Through these roles, God has given me numerous opportunities to realize what traits I might want to find valuable in myself, as well as what traits I might often want to get rid of.

But when going into an audition for a show, a role, or even for college, I can often find myself asking these questions of, am I good enough? Am I ready for this? What makes me different from anyone else? Will I mess this up? And I can imagine that Joshua feels exactly that when having to lead the Israelites without Moses. In the story of Joshua, God says, as Moses was with you, I will be. And I think that can be applicable to many scenarios involving change. As I was stepping into something new and uncomfortable my freshman year, auditioning for the fall play, God was with me, helping me to become more involved in theater. And as I was stepping into each new role that I would play throughout high school, God was helping me become more confident in myself. And as I’m heading off to college, I can have faith that with whatever changes come my way, God will be with me.

And I think the beautiful thing about the story of Joshua is just as he carried out his role with the Israelites, God has a role for me. I’m constantly learning out how to live this role. And God has a role for each of us. And what’s amazing about these roles is there isn’t any audition or spot to earn. You’re just loved and valued and enough in God’s eyes, simply because we are his children. One of my favorite lyrics from a musical that I hold very dear to my heart is growing up understanding that growing never ends. And I think that’s actually—well, that’s actually my senior quote also. And I think it’s very applicable to the season I’m in because I’m learning that as important as it is to feel confident and strong in who we are, it’s equally important to live out God’s plan for us. So just as God helps build up Joshua’s identity, he’s also shaping us into who we are. And that role is meant for us. Thank you.

Rachel:

Well, I will say, as someone who has had a front row seat to you guys growing throughout high school, we are—I think I speak for all of us—being the church and the youth group that we are so incredibly proud of you guys and all of the ways that you’ve grown. So what I’m going to ask now is that you will join me in prayer for these outgoing seniors.

God, we thank you so much for Student Sunday and for these stories that these seniors shared. God, we thank you so much for the role that you play in their lives that they know and have reflected on their time in high school and their time in youth group and have seen over and over again the ways that you show up. God, help these seniors to know and remember, and help us to know and remember that we, too, can be strong and courageous, knowing that you are with us wherever we go. In your name we pray. Amen.