Last time I spoke on Sunday night I told talked to you about the mystery trip our youth group this summer. I really talked a lot about the first thing we did which was rafting on the Ocoee river and Josh Tobin getting stuck under his raft and stuff like that. Tonight I wanted to tell you about another pretty funny story about that trip. The trip the youth group took was called the mystery trip. Will called it that because nobody on the bus besides Will had any idea about where we were going. So after we left white water rafting in North Carolina we started heading farther north.. We ended up stopping in an amusement park called Kings Island in Cincinnati Ohio. King’s Island is very well known by its wooden roller coaster’s. There is one wooden roller coaster that really stands by itself. Its name describes it very well its called The Beast. The Beast is 150 feet tall, 7,400 feet long and has a top speed of 70 miles an hour. It is the second fastest and tallest wooden roller coaster in the world and the longest wooden roller coaster in the world. And I haven’t ridden a roller coaster in two years and I had developed a pretty strong fear of roller coasters. So I ride some rides at the park and at the end of the day David Ezell and Joseph both start telling me “Braley you’ve got to ride this roller coaster. I basically just tell them no way, so then they kind of start making fun of me trying to get me to ride this ride. I finally give in, so Me Joseph, David, and Will are all
In line to ride this ride and I don’t think I have ever been this mad or scared in my entire life. I am furious at them for actually talking me into this. So we wait in line for about 10 minutes and I don’t say anything basically I just sit there and stare at them. So finally it’s our time to ride the Beast. I get on the ride and our little car type thing and we slowly start going up the lift hill it seems like it took an hour to make it up that hill. We get to the top and drop 150 feet straight down and I go from being the maddest person in the world to the happiest. It ended up being my favorite ride I have ever ridden. I get off the ride and am thanking Joseph David and Will for getting me to ride that ride and after that I just wanted to ride anything I could before we left that park. I feel like this story really has a lot in common with the story of Joshua and Caleb
If you aren’t that familiar with the story then here is basically what has happened so far
Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and begins taking them to the Land god has promised them.. They get there and Moses sends 12 spies to scout the area. He wants to know everything about this place he wants to know everything about this place he orders them to see what kind of soil they have what kinds of towns they live in even what the seeds from the fruit look like. The 12 spies come back after 40 days and nights and say it flows with milk and honey. But the cities are too well fortified and the people are too big and strong. They said they even saw descendants of Anak there. The descendants of Anak were giants. 10 of the spies all said that they had no chance at taking Canaan. And told all of the Israelites that if they attempted to take the land then they would fail miserably. The only two spies that said they could take the land were the two youngest spies named Joshua and Caleb. Caleb says in Verse 30 that we should all go in and take possession of the land for we can surely do it. Now, Caleb and Joshua saw the same thing as all the other spies but they just didn’t see it the same way. They didn’t see things the same way because they had more faith than the rest of the spies. Having faith causes you to view things differently. The Israelites begin to say, “If only we had died in Egypt, or in the desert, why has the Lord brought us here only to fall by the sword. Let’s go back to Egypt and be slaves again.” These people would rather die or be slaves again than fight for the land that God has promised them. These people have no faith. God says to Moses how long will they treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me in spite of all the miraculous things I have showed them? It turns out that God rightfully becomes angry at the Israelites and makes them wander the desert until all the people besides Joshua and Caleb die off. This story is somewhat similiar to mine because I like Joshua and Caleb had to believe in God. Had to trust in David and Joseph that I would be ok. And I was rewarded by just having one of the best times of my life like Joshua was rewarded by God by taking Moses’s. spot after he died god even ended up naming an entire book after Joshua. I want to end on a word of encouragement that Moses said to the Israelites right before he died.” Be Strong and courageous, don’t be afraid or terrified because the Lord your God goes with you wherever you go. He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

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