Cleared to Play | Guest Speaker Version

Cleared to Play

Exodus 3:1 NKJV

1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Exodus 3:7–10 NKJV

7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Exodus 4:18–21 NKJV

18 So Moses went and returned to Jethro his father-in-law, and said to him, “Please let me go and return to my brethren who are in Egypt, and see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go, return to Egypt; for all the men who sought your life are dead.” 20 Then Moses took his wife and his sons and set them on a donkey, and he returned to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the rod of God in his hand. 21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do all those wonders before Pharaoh which I have put in your hand. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.

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Illustration: Weston broke his finger | Sidelined from Basketball and FORTNITE?

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Contextualize Moses

Born during genocide

Hidden by his mother (Basketcase Joke)

Found by Pharaoh’s daughter

Raised in Pharaoh’s House {TRIED TO KILL HIM BUT PAID HIS BILLS INSTEAD}

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Something different about Mo’

Moses realized there is something different about himself.

He doesn’t look like the Eyptians

THAT’S BECAUSE HE’S A HEBREW

Exodus 2:11–12 NKJV

11 Now it came to pass in those days, when Moses was grown, that he went out to his brethren and looked at their burdens. And he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his brethren. 12 So he looked this way and that way, and when he saw no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

Did you know Moses was straight outta the mafia?

He thinks he’s gotten away with it…but then some hebrews call him out the next day.

Moses runs to the desert of Midian and meets a man named Jethro

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Jethro’s Daughter

Jethro has a daughter named Zipporah (AVOID @zipporah in your DM’s)

ZIpporah and Moses have some kids,

Moses begins his new life in the desert.

THIS ENTIRE NARRATIVE HAS BEEN PRE PURPOSE FOR MOSES.

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We tend to believe this is the happenings of Moses in his young adult years.

MOSES IS 40 years old at this point.

In fact, Moses' timeline is pretty crazy in its actuality.

Egypt for forty years

Midian for forty years

Wilderness for forty years.

Over half of his life is spent in obscurity.

We know him as the red sea parting, ten commandment retrieving, face closing hero from the OT…but for over half of his life he was a fugitive hiding in the wilderness.

WE ENVY OTHERS’ SUCCESS WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING THEIR STORY. {Overnight successes are often over time sowers}

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MAIN CONCEPT:

If you feel overlooked or undervalued, Moses’ story shows us that you’re cleared to play

If you feel ashamed and unworthy, Moses story shows us your cleared to play

If you feel washed up and past your prime, Moses story shows us that you’re cleared to play.

NO MATTER WHO YOU ARE…YOU’RE CLEARED TO PLAY!

SETUP: There are some tremendous reminders in Moses story | I want to share three with you today.

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1. THERE ARE NO WASTED SEASONS WITH GOD!

We have a tendency to get discouraged when our circumstances don’t seem to line up with our calling.

Moses time in Egypt seems wasted

Especially when you consider the fact that He’s supposed to be receiving the law of God for the Israelites.

Going through Egyptian education seems pointless. | HE WRITES THE CREATION ACCOUNT Acts 7:22

Acts 7:22 NKJV

And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.

LEARNING TO TALK TO EVERYONE WHILE TALKING TO NOONE (RADIO)

Midian seems wasted

because HE’s A SHEPHERD

Stupid Sheep | Stupid Sand | Stupid Season… But in the midst of his frustrating days…He’s learning the terrain

THE FRUSTRATING WILDERNESS SEASON IS ACTUALLY WHAT BEST PREPARED HIM TO LEAD THE NATION OF ISRAEL TO THE PROMISED LAND!

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Difficult = Developmental

We are probably not going to pray that God will give us a season that is unrelated to our purpose.

We probably won’t ask for a wilderness season…but WE OFTEN NEED ONE

Difficult seasons are not desirable but they are developmental.

God is not punishing you…He is simply preparing you.

Your dead end job is not wasted

Your class is not wasted

Your season of singleness is not wasted.

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Mismanaged Pain

You will remember that the entire reason Moses ended up in Midian is because he had killed an Egyptian.

The rage that would drive him to commit murder was derived from a deep place of pain.

He experienced what Bill Hybels would describe as a holy discontent.

HE MET HIS HOLY DISCONTENT WITH AN UNHOLY RESPONSE.

Righteous anger does not always translate to righteous action.

This act doesn’t seem to be in keeping with Moses typical character…but Pain effects us in significant ways.

PAIN WILL CHANGE A PERSON FAST!

My brisket story

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2. Pain can destroy or develop us

Many of us have been effected in far greater ways by our deepest pains than we have by our greatest triumphs.

The death of a loved one

The loss of a job

The diagnosis of a disease

The ending of a relationship.

Moses ended up in a tumultuous season not because He experienced pain but because he mismanaged his pain.

The question is not whether we will have pain in our life…the question is if we will steward our pain well or not.

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Properly stewarded pain

Moses shows us this incredible fact: THE POINT OF OUR GREATEST PAIN IS OFTEN THE POINT OF OUR GREATEST PURPOSE.

Often what I’m called to looks like what I’ve been through.

Depression and Miscarriage | We have been able to minister to people.

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Passion often equals purpose

Maybe it’s not something you went through, but It’s a passion that is greater than just an interest.

WHEN YOU NOTICE A PROBLEM…YOU HAVE A CHOICE…

Will I be an agent of change?…

or an agent of criticism

WHATEVER YOU’RE PASSIONATE ABOUT…

you can be critical or you can do something about it.

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Why I can’t

God interrupts Moses time in the wilderness to remind him of his purpose.

Moses tells God all of the reasons that He is not the guy to lead the nation out of captivity.

Many of us fall prey to the same lie that Moses fell prey to…

we let our inability serve as an excuse for inactivity.

In Exodus chapter four we see how God feels when we tell him why our handicaps are hindrances to His purpose. HIS ANGER WAS KINDLED.

The response of others to my purpose is honestly none of my business…

I AM ONLY GOING TO ACCOUNT FOR MY OBEDIENCE.

__________ Inability creates space for anointing

We often miss the whole point of what God is asking us to do.

God will not call me to what I’m capable of…

The place I have the least ability is the place I am most qualified for anointing!

When we obediently walk into what God calls us to in spite of our inability to make it happen we put ourselves in position to see the supernatural.

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3. God’s power is most evident when we are doing God’s work.

I believe that many believers are missing out on seeing the miraculous because they are trying to see it from a distance.

I’m discouraged pastor…

I haven’t seen the miraculous

ARE YOU SERVING?

ARE YOU GIVING?

ARE YOU ATTENDING?

You will never see front line miracles from the back row.

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You’re not too far gone….

THE STORY OF WILLIAM.

What are you waiting on before you make the jump?

You don’t have to get your life together before you come to Jesus

You don’t have to prove anything before you start serving on the dream team

You don’t have to have a masters degree to start sharing your faith.

We all have a role to play and we have been cleared to step back on the court.