Take Courage, Stand Firm: God Walks With You

Introduction

How are you approaching this year, 2026? With momentum, or with a weariness that's already starting to weigh on you? With enthusiasm, or with the fear that life is about to get even heavier? While talking around the year-end meals, the pastor of the Tabernacle noticed a common denominator running through all these different outlooks: we all need courage. Courage to undertake, to persevere, to face things head-on, to keep hoping, to stay faithful when it's hard. That's why the theme for the year 2026 will center on courage, drawn from Moses' final words to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:7-8. The message below opens a new preaching series called "The Keys to Courage" and lays the foundation from Joshua 1:1-2.

Message Outline

1. A need common to every season of life

Some are entering 2026 with big projects, a doctorate, a Christian school to carry, a business to launch. Others are walking through a father's illness, a recent loss, a professional setback.
Wherever you fall on that spectrum, you need courage. It isn't a secondary option in the spiritual life: a Christian is called to be courageous.
Courage isn't the absence of fear. It's moving forward despite fear, despite hardship, despite uncertainty, resting on what is right and true.
That's why the first preaching series of the year, running through Easter, is titled "The Keys to Courage" and will work through the book of Joshua.

2. Joshua steps into the shoes of a living legend

The book opens with the death of Moses. And Moses was no ordinary man: the one who led Israel out of 400 years of slavery, the one to whom the LORD spoke "face to face, as a man speaks to his friend" (Exodus 33:11), the one who received the law at Sinai.
Succeeding a man like that is nearly always doomed to fail. History confirms it: Mandela, De Gaulle, Napoleon, Steve Jobs, Mansa Musa, after them, greatness didn't automatically carry over.
Two reasons keep recurring: the successor wasn't ready, and the predecessor didn't want to prepare the way forward. "Après moi, le déluge."
One surprising exception: Zinedine Zidane succeeding Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid. Why did it work? Because he had trained for several years as an assistant, and because Ancelotti was willing to hand things over.

3. God chose that faith be passed on and learned

Joshua doesn't first appear in chapter one of the book that bears his name. He's been there all along: fighting against Amalek, at the tent of meeting, among the spies sent into Canaan. His training lasted roughly 23 years, at Moses' side.
Hold on to this principle: God chose that faith be passed on and learned. He could give you everything directly; instead He chose to have us grow through one another.
This principle runs through the whole Bible: David trained by Samuel, Elisha by Elijah, Paul by Barnabas, Timothy by Paul. Biblical faith is never a solitary matter.
Two questions for you this year: who are you willing to learn from today? And into whose life is God asking you to invest, to pass on what you've received?

4. Moses' final words: "Be strong and courageous"

To know what someone truly wants to pass on, listen to their final words. At the end of life, people stop talking about trivial things, they get to the essential.
Moses' very last words to Joshua, after 120 years of walking with God, are recorded in Deuteronomy 31:7-8: "Be strong and courageous… It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."
Moses could have spoken about boldness, discipline, obedience, prayer. He chose to speak about courage. That's the word he wanted stamped on his successor's life.
Here is the theme for the year 2026 for you: take courage, stand firm.

5. Two complementary realities that make courage essential

First reality: what lies ahead of you is not simple. Joshua inherits a rebellious people marked by fear and grumbling, and a decisive mission, leading Israel into the promised land.
Second reality: God is faithful. Moses had seen that God never failed to keep His promises, despite his own trials and his own fears.
It's the combination of both that makes courage indispensable. Courage is needed because life is hard; courage is also needed because God is faithful, and stepping into His plans requires moving forward.
Without courage, you cannot taste God's faithfulness. If some of us never experience that faithfulness, it may be because we give up too soon.

6. Two traps in passing the torch that Moses avoids

First trap: putting the spotlight on yourself. Moses could have boasted about the sea splitting in two or the rock he struck. He doesn't. He points to God.
Second trap: what could be called the "mirror-pep-talk trap." In one well-known film, a character repeats to himself in the mirror, "I see a strong man, I see a proud man"… and falls apart the moment life catches up with him.
This is the error of self-help thinking: "Believe in yourself and it'll be fine." Above all, don't believe in yourself. Believe in Him.
Believing in your own strength works for a while, until circumstances bring you back to your own fragility. Joshua was strong (he had fought Amalek), but his courage had to come from somewhere else.

7. Having God on your team changes everything

An illustration: as a young basketball player, the pastor had a teammate named Yannick on his team, 6'6", able to dominate the rim. When Yannick was on the court, everyone else played differently, with confidence, freely, without fear of mistakes.
Your life should work exactly the same way. "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Romans 8). Do you really believe that the one who created the stars, the sky, and the universe is on your team?
Because of Jesus Christ's death on the cross, you are reconciled with God. You can count Him on your team. That's why you can be courageous: not because you are strong, but because He is there.
Courage in the spiritual life doesn't draw its strength from your own abilities. It comes from God's presence at your side, even when life is hard.

Key Takeaways

The theme for the year 2026: "Take courage, stand firm" (Deuteronomy 31:7-8). A Christian is called to be courageous.
God chose that faith be passed on and learned. To refuse community is to refuse one of the means God uses to teach and heal you.
Courage is born from two realities: life is hard, and God is faithful. Without courage, you don't taste that faithfulness.
Your strength doesn't come from you. It comes from God's presence at your side. Don't fall into the "believe in yourself" trap.
Whatever you're facing this year, what you need is courage placed in the right source.

Personal Application

In what area do you especially need courage for this year, 2026? Name it out loud before God this week.
Who are you willing to learn from today? Which more experienced believer could you meet with regularly, listen to, and ask questions of?
Into whose life is God asking you to invest? Who could you invite into your home to share, pray, and pass on what you've received?
Where are you still leaning too much on your own strength, and not enough on God's presence at your side?
Is there an area of your life where you're on the verge of giving up? What if you held on a little longer, just to see God's faithfulness show up?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does courage become the theme of the year 2026 at the Tabernacle?

Because whatever season of life you're in (an exciting project, a trial, grief, professional uncertainty, spiritual fatigue), courage is the common denominator you need. The pastor noticed this while talking with many people during the year-end holidays. He also found it in Moses' very last words to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:7-8: "Take courage, stand firm." The preaching series "The Keys to Courage" will work through the entire book of Joshua until Easter to help you anchor this theme in your life.

How can I be courageous when I naturally feel anxious or fragile?

Biblical courage is not the absence of fear, nor a strength of character you have to produce yourself. That's the "believe in yourself" trap: it works for a while, until life brings you back to your fragility. Christian courage draws its source elsewhere: from God's presence at your side. As Moses tells Joshua: "It is the LORD who goes before you. He will not leave you." Your courage doesn't depend on who you are, but on who is with you. If God is on your team, that should change how you approach every decision this year.

Can I live out my faith alone, or do I really need to commit to a community?

God chose that faith be passed on and learned. This isn't a cultural preference, it's a constant biblical principle: Joshua learns from Moses, David from Samuel, Elisha from Elijah, Paul from Barnabas, Timothy from Paul. If you've been hurt in a church and would rather walk alone, that's understandable, but the Christian faith was never designed by the One who created it to be a solitary path. God can use other people to heal, encourage, and teach you. This year, identify one person you can learn from, and another you can pass what you've received on to.

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