Before Pharoah

Opening Framework:

Prayer

Series Intro: Theology Today

Message Title: Before Pharaoh

ME: ‘Church’ - Kid’s - Obedience

Grateful for this church and God’s word

We live in a world where many others are sugarcoating God’s word… And it fires me up… but

Realizing kids are watching my faith and obedience more than they are watching anything else.

They don’t just hear what i preach, they see if I live it. They’re watching how I speak, what I do when stressed, if I actually repent or pray.

I cant expect my kids to serve a God that I talk about onstage if I’m not obeying Him off stage.

I can’t stand up here and tell you to be obedient to God and yet negotiate my own obedience at home.

We: We all know what this feels like

It’s easier to talk about faith than to model it. Easier to sing about surrendering all rather than surrendering all. It’s easy to show up publically than to obey privately.

Young - You can post verses and you can say you love Jesus but who are you when no one’s watching. Who are you when you’re alone at home or in your relationship?

Married - Your spouse knows the real you. Your kids know the real you. They see if the faith is real or only real on Sunday.

Seniors - It’s easy to coast. It’s easy to assume you have maturity but the truth is God never stops refining.

We all have the same tension - This gap between what we say and how we live.

God: Continuing through Moses

EXCUSES

Exodus 4:1 - Moses dropping an excuse

Exodus 4:2 - To Moses it’s just a staff.

Exodus 4:3 - God uses exactly what you have in your hand. You don’t need anything else or new.

Exodus 4:4 - Grabbing it by the tail = total reliance on God.

Exodus 4:6-7 - God will use that which is dead, thrown aside, and not important to restore.

Exodus 4:9 - Unlike the first 2 this one doesn’t turn back. It stays blood… judgement.

Exodus 4:10 - An excuse when obedience is hard. Under the influence of the holy spirit Stephen say’s otherwise… Acts 7:22 - He wasn’t always bad with words

Exodus 4:11 - Now that you can’t rely on the strength you used to have… I will be your strength.

God is patient with weakness, but serious about obedience.

These signs weren’t random tricks. They revealed something about the kind of power God carries. Authority over evil. Authority over sickness. Authority over judgment.

And centuries later, when Jesus comes, what does He display? Authority over demons. Authority over disease. Authority over sin.”

THE STOP

Moses see’s the authority but in order for him to walk in it… he has a stop moment.

Exodus 4:21-23 - God shows him his calling/mission

Exodus 4:24-26 - Moses obedience was more important than his calling.

Before Moses ever confronts Pharaoh - God confronts Moses

Our first calling is to obey God personally so that He can use for others

Joshua 24:15 - Joshua in OT understood the importance of serving God

James 1:22-25 - James understood this importance in NT also

You: So what does this mean for us today?

We live in a world that thinks obedience is optional. They think parts of scripture are good and other’s should be tossed away.

But before we try to fix the church out there… What if God is trying to align the church in here first?

Where have I been negotiating obedience in my own life? Where am I making an excuse for something? Where is the gap between what I say and how I live?

I’ll say this again… God was patient with Moses’ weakness but he stopped him over his disobedience.

The way we confront whatever pharoah’s are out there today is by letting God confront us first.

We: What if’s…

- What if the most powerful thing our church did in 2026 isn’t yell at culture… but we live obedient lives at home? - What if revival didn’t start in Washington DC but it started in our homes today? - What if we were a church where our young adults were stronger in private? - What if we raised kids who saw constant repentance instead of fake perfection? - What if our seniors finish strong?

That’s theology today… we look outside at the chaos… then we look at Moses story… and we realize the best way to deal with the chaos is to let God deal with us.

Alter Call:

Give the Holy Spirit space to do what He did with Moses… stop us.

Whatever that may be. If we have an area where we need to trust God more and obey Him more… let’s pray.