Exodus

Crying Out

/ The Pastor

The theme for worship tonight is the call of Moses. The people of Israel called out to God and God heard their cries. God chooses Moses to be His instrument of freedom and but he resists…at first. Has God chosen you for for a specific task; to proclaim freedom in someway? Have you resisted? Are you doubtful that you can do it? Listen and trust God.

Oh God,
Your people are crying out, and You hear them.
They are crying out from bondage;
lost and alone.
They cry out, but I often know not their cry.
Their cries are often missed by my ears and I perceive them not.
Some even cry out without knowing they do.
They cry out through their actions and choices.
They don’t know their dire situation.
They are in bondage.
They fight and struggle.
They search and search, but they find no relief.
They search for meaning but find no firm foundation.
They cry out, and YOU hear them.
Oh God,
I cried out once, and You heard me.
I cried out, and You showed me mercy.
I cried out, and You sent Jesus.
Your people are crying out, and I either do not hear or refuse to hear.
I confess my deafness to You.
Forgive me.
Heal me of my deafness, oh God, and send me.
Send me that Your people may hear and know Jesus.
Oh Lord, my God, hear my cry:
I repent…

The Pastor -|—

Now therefore, go…

/ The Pastor

Exodus 4:10–12 (ESV) ~ 10 But Moses said to the LORD, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.” 11 Then the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Who makes him mute, or deaf, or seeing, or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? 12 Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall speak.”

Oh God,
through Jesus Christ,
You have called me.
You have called me to Yourself.
You have called me to a new life and to New Life.
You have called me to Go therefore to all nations…
You have called me to bring glory to Your holy name.
You have called me to things that scare the living daylights out of me.
You have called me to suffer in many ways.
You have called me to set aside my selfish desires.
You have called me to obedience.
You have called me,
an unqualified sinner,
to speak of You and to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
You have called me.
Some days I just want to run away.
Some days I just want to say, “Send someone else“.
Some days I just want to hide.
When those “Some days” rear their ugly head,
Kick me in the butt as you did Moses.
Now therefore go…
And may I have the faith to trust You,
and rejoice in the certainty of Your plans.
Oh God,
You have called me.
Help me to go.

The Pastor -|—

Lenten prayer ~ Your Holy Law

/ The Pastor

Tonight I get to lead worship as my brother in Christ from First Presbyterian Church proclaims the word from Exodus 20:1-17. What a joy and privilege it is to worship with our brothers and sisters in Christ; not getting caught up in denominational lines, but focusing on the fact that we worship an awesome God in Jesus Christ.

Below is the opening prayer I wrote, for worship tonight, to help us prepare as we confess our sins. We also need to recognize that God’s Law is still God’s Law; and that it is holy and perfect and sweeter than honey from the comb.

So I invite you into prayer and when you get to the part that says PAUSE, then do what it says; pausing to lift your confessions to God. Let us pray…

Holy God, we approach the throne of grace this evening as a community of believers. We also approach as sinners in need of Your grace. Your holy Law is very clear in that it demands obedience without fail. But we have failed. We have fallen short. We have turned away from Your holy Law. So as we prepare to bring our worship this evening and hear Your word proclaimed, receive now our confessions…[PAUSE]…It awes me to think that You just received the prayers of sinners. And it humbles and scares me to think that you know the sins that we didn’t confess. And so in the name of Jesus we throw ourselves at Your feet and appeal to Your boundless mercy through Jesus Christ our Lord. Forgive us, heal us and restore us. And through our restored souls may we bring glory to Your holy name. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.

In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. Praise be to God!

The Pastor -|—

God, not gods

/ The Pastor

“You shall have no other gods before me. [Exodus 20:3]

The first and greatest commandment…

…because without this commandment, everything else falls apart. If God Almighty is not your God then why would you care about honoring His name or remembering the Sabbath Day or have any respect for the other commandments?

You might say, though,

I honor my father and mother.
I don’t go around killing people or stealing from others.
I am faithful to my wife/husband.
I don’t back stab/gossip about people or covet their stuff.

That’s GREAT (on the surface) but you still violate these commandments in your heart and mind; sinning against God. Even thinking about killing someone or just getting angry with someone still violates the commandment (according to Jesus). Looking at another woman/man is cheating on your spouse (according to Jesus). Etc, etc… But then again, if God Almighty is not your God then why would you care?

Jesus says that this is the first and greatest commandment:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:37)

So what does it mean to have others gods (and we all have them; even this pastor)? Anything we fear more than God has become our god. Anything we put before God has become our god. Anything we honor more than God has become our god. And anything we fear losing more than God has become our god. Convicting, isn’t? At least for me it is when I meditate on this commandment.

The fact is: We worship gods.

Think about it:
~ You withhold giving to God because you fear you lack the resources?
~ You skip worship because you fear reprisal from others for not attending a certain event.
~ You spend more money on yourself than giving to others in need.
~ You nurture relationships with people more than you nurture your relationship with God.

And the list goes on. We all fall into one or more of these examples.

Oh God, please forgive me.

So we need to take a faith inventory of our lives and see what gods are taking up residence in our hearts; turning us away from God Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth. Consider what things and people you think you can absolutely NOT live without. These may be your gods. And then lift these up to God in confession and ask for a heart inclined towards Him. Don’t fall for the lie that the gods in this world can give you anything of value. Only God Almighty can through faith in Jesus Christ. Only the One and True God is worth worshiping. Only the God of heaven and earth can give you your heart’s TRUE desire; eternal life.

Clean house
Sweep away those gods
Seek God

And, love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Let’s pray…

Father God, what a travesty that we turn away from you and seek after other gods. Please accept my confession (and the confession of anyone else here seeking You). Please incline my heart to you that I may mediate on your promises and cling to the hope that you give through Jesus Christ. All praise and honor are due to You and You alone. In Jesus name, Amen.

The Pastor -|—

The Fighting God (Exodus 14:14)

/ The Pastor

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” [Exodus 14:14]

This short, little verse captured my heart this morning; as God spoke words of comfort after a very long and difficult day.

But first the context of this verse…

The Israelites are being lead out of Egypt by God through Moses and Aaron. God commands the group to head towards the Red Sea and set up camp. Once there, God hardens Pharaoh’s heart and he comes out with everything he has to capture those slaves again.

God did this to show God’s glory.

As they are beside the Red Sea the people see Pharaoh and his army and are scared silly (and a little angry that Moses lead them out here to die). Moses then speaks the word of the Lord to them:

Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14:13-14)

Basically, no need to worry, God has this. You don’t even need to raise one finger. Trust God. God will fight this battle.

With that God parted the Red Sea, the people walked across on dry ground and the rest is history. Praise be to God!

And I needed that verse this morning. Without going into all the details, yesterday was a long and nerve fraying day. I had been up since 2:30 AM with a 4 month old who refused to be put down. My wife was out of town for work. I had two kids not feeling well; both demanding attention and it seemed like at the same time all the time. My toddler was being naughty because she wasn’t getting the attention she demanded. And my 4 month old was difficult to sooth. When I would try to put the younger one down for a nap, the older one would come in crying; waking up the younger.

My emotions and nerves were frayed and I found myself on the verge of tears a number of times. Lots of praying ensued and when Connie finally got home I just crashed.

And then I read this verse this morning:  The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.

[Cue the tears]

Amen!
Praise be to God!
Alleluia!
Thank you!

Have you ever felt defeated or nearly pushed over the edge?
Have you ever felt like the world was ganging up on you?
Have you ever felt like Satan’s onslaughts were going to destroy you?

Have you been there? That was me yesterday, but God fought for me even though I was trying to fight. And this morning God reminded me to give it up to him next time. Satan may try to destroy me in so many ways, and on my own I have no chance but God will fight for me. And God will fight for you.

What an awesome promise.
What a faithful God.

Through Jesus Christ God has defeated Satan but Satan is still trying do as much damage as possible until that day when God makes him a footstool for is Son. So when you see the forces of Satan baring down on you; do not be afraid. The salvation of the Lord has been won for you through faith in Jesus so therefore the Lord will fight for you and the Lord WILL win.

Praise be to God and Alleluia!!!

Thank you, powerful God, that you fight for me. When the forces of evil are marching against me, you are there to push them back. May I have the sight of Elisha to see the chariots of fire around me and may I rest in your promises, oh God. May you be praised, always and forever. Amen.

The Pastor -|—

Remove your shoes

/ The Pastor / 2 Comments

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” (Exodus 3:5)

The Old Testament small group and sermon series takes us to Exodus this week (despite the fact that the small group have been canceled tonight because of weather).  I didn’t get very far in my reading before I was hit by some pondering and thinking ~ holy ground.  Moses saw this “strange thing” on the mountain ~ a bush burning but not being consumed by the fire.  Of course he had to take a closer look (me…I might have been a little more leery).  As Moses approaches the bush God belts out that this is holy ground so take off your sandals. Why take off his sandals ~ more on that later.

As I read that section I got to thinking about “holy ground” today.  What is considered holy ground?    Many people would define holy ground in various ways.  Some might say their home is holy ground.  A guy might say his man’s den is holy ground.  A golfer might say that St. Andrew’s golf course in Scotland is holy ground.  But what is holy ground?

The word “holy” means special, set apart, different.  The Bible is holy and therefore special, set apart and different ~ it is a book like no other book; for it is a living word.  God is holy and therefore special, set apart and different.  Communion, baptism is holy…and you get the picture.  But do we treat these things as holy?  Do we give such things in our lives the same respect that Moses did for some dirt around a bush?  I am not saying we should take off our shoes during Holy Communion or a baptism (that might not be a good idea for some), but how do we treat and view such events?  How do we treat the truly holy things of God?

We can get so caught up in protecting “holy things” that we miss the fact that the very things we are protecting are not truly holy.  They may be special, set apart and different in our lives, but in relation to our souls they do nothing.  I have seen people treat sports as a holy event; protecting it at the expense of time in worship.   I have seen people protect their status at the expense of the promises they made in Holy baptism.  I have seen people protect their pocket book at the expense of their relationship with their holy God.  Our “holy things” do nothing for us in the long run.  They provide some happiness and security now, but do nothing for our souls.

But consider this ~ we are ALL living on holy ground.  We are living holy lives.  We were created by a holy God to do holy things.  We were redeemed by a holy savior through a death and resurrection that is indeed special, set apart and different.  All that we consider “holy” is only available to us to call “holy” because our holy God created such things and such opportunities.  We may have special things, people, places and times in our lives but they are nothing outside of God.

So if I can dare to be allegorical here let me suggest that we take off our shoes ~ which is anything that gets in the way of truly encountering God ~ and worship God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength.  Let us treat the things of God for what they are ~ special, set apart and different.  Only God is life-giving and life-sustaining.

We are indeed standing on holy ground ~ remove your shoes.

-edh-