I ripped the cellophane wrapping off the small package with delight. The cards my mother had bought that morning were perfect. They were bright red with hearts all over them and short funny sayings appropriate for Valentine's Day. I spent all that evening addressing the envelopes and signing my name to all the cards. All, that is, but one.

There was one card in the package that was larger than the rest. It said, ?Be Mine,? and the verse inside was not funny. In fact, to me, it was so serious that my heart beat faster. This card was going to someone I thought was deserving of something so special. His name was Darryl. I was ten years old and I was ?in love.?

I did not sign my name to the card addressed to Darryl because I was afraid. I did not want to admit my feelings for fear of being rejected. What if he just laughed? What if he threw the card in the trash and someone else saw that it was from me? What if he left it behind on an empty desk for anyone to see? No. I would not put my name on that card, but I would pray that Darryl would know who it was from.

Giving your love and affection to someone is a risk. You become vulnerable to being hurt, to rejection, perhaps even . . .

Have you ever talked with a young couple who are engaged. They look forward to the date of their wedding with great joy and anticipation. The day draws nearer and nearer, as you talk with them they tell you about all the preparations that are going on, their eyes are on their wedding day. In a similar way, we have been talking about the promises God made to Israel for a land, a promise that had been a long time in coming. First promised to Abraham in 2100 B.C., then to his son Isaac, then to his son Jacob whose name was changed to Israel, they all waited for the land. Jacob, or Israel, had twelve sons and this promise of land was passed on to them. One of them, Joseph, secured the survival of all his family as he rose to power in Egypt. Then over 430 years passed and a man named Moses receives the promise of entering the land in around 1450B.C. Then around 1390B.C. the promise is finally realized, Joshua brings conquest to the land of Caanan. We have been following this story of Joshua for several months now and here we are at the ?wedding day? so to speak. It was a time of entering into the rest that this land symbolized, of no longer being slaves and wanderers. As Christians we know that every wedding, as wonderful as it is, is but a picture of something much greater, a picture of the uniting of mankind to Christ Jesus for all eternity. Every wedding in that sense is absolutely heavenly! In this mornings sermon we're going to watch the process of how the land was actually given to the people and then we?ll stand back and look at how this ?wedding? is but a picture of something so much greater. For starting point in scripture let's read Joshua 14:1-5.

I. The Division of the Land is Sourced in a Love Story.

It all goes back to a love story, a man named . . .

Islam is a religion with many adherents, and many intelligent, educated people believe in the teachings of the Koran. In a similar way many intelligent, educated people believe in the altered Bible of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The same can be said of followers of Buddha and his collected sayings, Mary baker Eddy and her own ?Bible, the Mormons and their leader's books and so on. Every religion has a body of beliefs which are either contained in some sort of text for transmission to new converts.

Obviously, the fact that a person is intelligent and educated gives us no assurance that what they believe is reliable truth.

Christianity shares some things in common with all the religions of the world, but also stands in stark contrast to all of them. Only Christianity, for example, teaches that Jesus is God the Son. Only Christianity holds Jesus up as the one and only Saviour of the world. But despite this exclusivity, religions other than Christianity have much appeal, and satisfy, to a certain extent, the spiritual hunger within people's hearts.

Dr David Catchpoole, plant physiologist and science educator, has made some careful comparisons between the Bible and the Koran. Comparing the accounts of creation he noticed the following differences:

The Koran says Man was created . . .

I enjoy creative humor--and one day I found the most delightful Web site for women: "Maxed Out" by Debi Stack, Christian author and speaker (see link below). Debi, like me, is a fan of Mary and Martha, AND a chocoholic, and of course, immediately saw a connection with Mary, Martha--and "M and M's"!! She DID have one major concern--"Which sister is plain and which is peanut?" What's YOUR guess?

Martha, of course! That poor lady was as stressed out as you can get, unless you live in my shoes and some days, I think I may just beat her! We all lead such stressful lives--and when we're "maxed-out," we make a bee-line for the chocolate....OK, be honest--if it's not chocolate for you, it's SOMETHING, and it's usually found in the fridge!!

Not going to be TOO hard on Martha--cause there are an awful lot of Marthas--or Michaels--out there! We're busy people--and when you're busy, you CAN get a little cranky and create a priority lapse for yourself! I believe the Lord understands us better than we do ourselves. He doesn't send us sternly to the corner chair for "time-out" discipline! He does gently lead us to His feet for "time-out" delight, where like Mary, we can fellowship with Him and feast on His Word.

And so the cure-all for stress? It's certainly not . . .