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This morning we are going to consider a place in Israel that is one of the oldest ruins on the face of the earth. Next to Jerusalem , no other Israeli city has received as much interest or research. It is the city of Jericho , and what took place there 3400 years ago has everything to do with us here this morning. The nation of Israel was a people of about 1million, living in a tent city called Gilgal, just 5 miles or so from Jericho . By faith they had been rescued from Egypt , by faith they had survived forty years of desert wanderings, by faith the Jordan River had stopped flowing so they could cross. Now the waters of Jordan flowed again, closing their exit, now they were ?in the cage with the tiger?- so to speak. In front of them was a fortress of incredible, even legendary, strength. It was the first city and perhaps the greatest city they were to face and God directed them to move forward. Consider for a moment what this meant. Here's a picture of the way it was built.

You will always be rich enough to be generous.

My good friend Gordon Patterson, minister at New Hope Baptist Church told me of a year he spent in mission work in Kenya. He said that on one occasion, he visited a home and that on leaving was presented with a coke bottle full of goat's milk. This was the best gift his hosts could afford.

Jesus remarks about the single penny a woman puts in the offering at the temple. It was the best gift she could afford. Both these examples were of extravagant generosity. It is not the amount that is the issue, it is extent to which these poor people went to be generous. No matter how poor you are, you will always be rich enough to be generous.

Paul says, "he who supplies seed to the sower will increase your supply of seed and increase your harvest as well." The obvious caveat is, "if you plant what you have."

You know the story of the two lakes of the Holy Land.
The first is the northern lake of Galilee. Sometimes called the Sea of Galilee in the north. In Hebrew its name is Yam Kinneret.
It is watered from the Jordan River and underground springs. It is rich in . . .

Reruns can be dull, boring, uneventful re-hashing of the same ole stuff you've seen a hundred times before...but I've got a re-run to recommend to you that, when God's the producer, will make your day! Well, it makes MINE--every October 21, I re-live my wedding day....28 years ago today...so join me for a rerun like no TV drama, comedy or documentary special you've ever seen!

You see, when God brings two people together for a lifetime, it will get off-the-chart ratings of the bride and the groom, the kids that follow--and the crowd of friends and well-wishers who watch! Like all TV shows, it's not perfect, for sometimes the screen's fuzzy, or the wires cross; sometimes the tape breaks or the TV tube burns out. And sometimes, in a "real live" show, "someone" messes up the script and ends up in-the-doghouse for a day or two (OK, an hour or two...grin!), but it's always a hit in heaven's eyes!

The Lord who put it together knows how to keep it together...He's the real "Someone" who makes it happen and today, we'd like you to celebrate His goodness with us--as we pray for you and God's love, joy, and peace in YOUR life and marriage too. Someone "up there" cares about us all--single, married, wish-to-be, or widowed. We--and lots of you--are proof that . . .

Have you ever been in someone else's kitchen and see them prepare raw hamburger on the counter, then as you watched they immediately prepared some bread on the same surface? Have you ever been in a public washroom and as you wash your hands you notice a person from another cubicle just leave without washing at all? Have you ever seen someone counting money and they lick their fingers to get a better hold on the bills? All of these actions have a ?contaminating? aspect to them. Is this just a phobic response, or is it a bad practice that can be harmful to yourself and others?

Go a step deeper, is it sin? I want to talk with you about purity from an Old Testament perspective this morning. In the days of Moses when the Law was given, impurity was a complex issue. A person could do many natural actions and be considered impure because of them. A woman gives birth and is considered impure for a certain number of days, and that depending on whether it's a boy or a girl. A person touches a corpse, perhaps of a relative as they bury them, and is considered unclean or impure. Eating a certain kind of meat or preparing food in particular way resulted in impurity. This was considered just as defiling as a moral impurity would be, like swearing, lusting, lying, thieving, murdering. Until it was dealt with in the prescribed manner, it would render that person impure.

Here's the point and the reason for why we consider this in light of what we are about to read?Purity, to God, is the starting point. Before God empowers or employs, He . . .