Smoke - Week 4

Topic: The Priority of God

Passage: Exodus 3:7-15, Matthew 22:37-38

Big Idea: When God is our priority, we make God’s priority, our priority.

Intro/Recap:

If you’ve missed any of the last few weeks, I’m going to quickly catch everyone up, and also test your knowledge to see if you remember what we’ve talked about and what we’ve learned.

Moses and the __________________?

Revere, Repent, Realize, Recognize

God led the people of Israel with a ________ of cloud, and a _______ of fire.

God’s provision is not a treasure chest but a ________________?

How did Elijah’s sacrifice get lit on fire?

Alter the Altar

Transition:

That leads us to this week, as we take a look at what it means to accept God’s invitation to be THE PRIORITY in our lives.

Have you ever received an invitation you couldn’t refuse?

The invitation could be one that’s good or bad.

You could’ve received an invitation to go to Disney with a friend, all expenses paid, and had no reservations about going!

Or maybe you got invited to go to a concert that your favorite artist was headlining the event, and you did everything you could to make it there.

Maybe you got in trouble with your parents, and had to attend a family meeting/intervention.

Are any of you dating or have a girlfriend/boyfriend right now?

Ever had a DTR conversation?

Personal story of getting in trouble with Bethany’s Dad

Sometimes, an invitation you can’t refuse isn’t much fun, and sometimes we get invitations that are too good to pass up. But whatever the scenario, these invitations that you can’t refuse are invitations that come with expectations.

Already in this series, we’ve stared into the smoke to let our hearts be set on fire by the presence, power, and provision of God. As we’ve discovered, the smoke reveals a God that is present-tense and prevailing as He provides by guiding. But before we close our series, we must turn the corner to see what the God we find in the smoke wants from us, and we discover that God wants to be our priority.

In this final session together, we’ll find that SMOKE SIGNALS THAT GOD’S INVITATION TO BECOME THE PRIORITY IN OUR LIVES.

Scripture: Exodus 3:7-15

Moses is an Israelite who grew up as an Egyptian in Pharaoh’s household. He made the mistake of killing an Egyptian who was fighting an Israelite, and had to flee for his life.

He came to Midian where he settled down, got married, and got a new job tending to his father-in-law’s sheep.

He has this encounter with God who reveals Himself in a burning bush. We see initially that He responds well to God by recognizing his presence and holiness, but now we are going to look at the rest of their conversation, and see how Moses responded to what God called him to do.

7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. 9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” 11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” 12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.” 13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” 14 God replied to Moses, “I am who i am. Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me to you.” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember for all generations.

Explanation:

So remember, we saw that God was present even in the midst of Israel’s suffering. He heard their cries, and is responding to their request for help.

God then interrupts Moses’ life to awaken his heart, and we took a look at how he responded.

You see - GOD’S INVITATION TO REVERE, REPENT, REALIZE, AND RECOGNIZE HIS PRESENCE CAME WITH EXPECTATIONS, AND THAT EXPECTATION WAS TO RETURN.

God calls Moses to make His mission a priority in his life, and that required him to go to Egypt to speak to Pharaoh.

God also invites us to make Him our priority.

You see this story is not so different from our own. Moses is awakened to God’s presence in His life, and He is told to go and deliver the people of Israel.

Now for those of you who know the Gospel, this is similar to what Jesus does for us, is it not? I know for some of you, you see the Old Testament or even the different stories in the Bible as separate from the story of Jesus, but I want to show you how it’s all connected. One story from beginning to end!

Exodus 6:6-8

6 “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the Lord. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God who has freed you from your oppression in Egypt. 8 I will bring you into the land I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I will give it to you as your very own possession. I am the Lord!’”

Gospel Correlation

Jesus comes as our mediator and He:

Rescues us

Redeems us

Claims us as his own

Saved us for a purpose

As we return to the burning bush today, we see that smoke signals that God’s invitation comes with expectations. IF WE ARE TO MAKE GOD OUR PRIORITY, WE SHOULD EXPECT HIM TO SUMMON US TO FOLLOW HIM ON MISSION.

Application:

So how do we stare into the smoke when it comes to the priority of God?

We are going to see what this passage has to say about God, about us, and about our response

Even more, as we dig into this passage, we discover what the priority of God’s heart is. God cares about people. THE PRIORITY OF GOD’S HEART IS PEOPLE.

In this passage, He cared about the Israelites.

We need to know that our cries reach Him as well. God cares about each of us deeply. That’s why God puts His people on mission.

God’s heart for a nation runs through the heart of a person. We see this as God’s heart for the Israelites ran through the heart of Moses.

God’s heart for the people around you can run through your heart as well.

Matthew 22:37-38

37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’

As God puts you on mission, He will use you to help and bless the people around you so that you can point those people back to God Himself.

WE MUST LISTEN FOR GOD’S EXPECTATIONS OF US.

This isn’t always easy for us to do because God calls us to do hard things. Leading the Israelites out of Egypt wasn’t going to be easy because Pharaoh’s heart was hard.

Read the book of Exodus, and you’ll see that Moses’ mission was difficult.

Our missions may be difficult as well. But we need to learn from the example of Moses and countless other people in Scripture that the abundant life and the obedient life are the same life.

FOLLOWING GOD IS THE BEST LIFE WE CAN HAVE. No matter how difficult it is, living on mission with God will be far more purposeful and fulfilling than living on our own mission for fame or riches or happiness.

Smoke signals that God’s invitation comes with expectations, and we need to realize that these expectations of obedience provide us meaning and joy and fullness of life.

If God is going to do something in our world, He’s going to use someone. Why not you? If God is going to do something in our city, He’s going to use someone. Why not you? If God is going to do something in your school or on your team or in your neighborhood or in your family, why not you?

WHEN GOD’S HEART AFFECTS OUR HEART, WE BEGIN TO SEE GOD’S EXPECTATIONS NOT AS BURDENSOM BUT AS AN INVITATION FOR US TO JOIN HIM ON MISSION.

Fireworks:

Teacher’s Note: As you create this picture, refer to a local fireworks display. Use personal stories, pictures, or video if possible.

Few spectacles are as impressive as an unbelievable fireworks display. The colors, designs, and sounds make us ooh and aah. But when the fireworks display is over, there’s not much left to help us remember it. Unless we’ve taken a picture, there’s no long-term light provided by the fireworks. It’s just a momentary display.

The reason we use the example of fireworks is that they provide a picture of the importance of joining God on mission.

We’ve talked throughout all four weeks of this Smoke series about stepping into the smoke and letting our hearts be set on fire by the presence, power, and provision of God. But as we conclude the series, we come to the truth that IF WE WANT TO BE FIRE STARTERS IN THE WORLD AROUND US, WE CAN’T STOP WITH OUR HEARTS BEING SET ON FIRE.

IF THE FIRE OF GOD AFFECTS OUR HEART BUT NOT OUR HANDS, THEN WE AREN’T FIRE STARTERS – WE ARE ONLY FIREWORKS.

We can enjoy moments of great worship and great intimacy with God, but it’s just a momentary display. God calls us to more than being fireworks. He calls us to be fire-starters who make God our priority and share God’s heart for people.

Closing:

Fire starters, not just fireworks. This is what it means for us to be people of smoke.

“Stepping into the smoke” isn’t just a place where we encounter the present-tense presence, the prevailing power, and the provision and guidance of God. It’s a place where God becomes our priority. It’s a place where we come to share God’s heart for God’s people. And by God’s people, I don’t mean only those who believe in or follow Him. Everyone was created in the image of God. That means God’s heart if for everyone to have their hearts lit ablaze by His saving mercy, grace, and salvation through Jesus Christ.

Are you ready to live more than a life of fireworks? Are you ready to be a fire starter?