Adonai

Manuscript Template

Title:  Adonai

Focus Statement:  

As life unfolds we need to continually submit - each day - more and more to His leadership / mastery over our lives.

Function Statement:  

We are all slaves to something; we get to choose if we’re slave to sin walking the path to bondage, or a slave to Christ walking the path to freedom

Tweetable Phrase:  

God doesn’t need your ability, He requires your obedience

Main Text:  Exodus 2-4

Supporting Text:  

Redemptive Closure (point to Jesus):  Acts 2:36 / Romans 12:1-2 / Romans 6:13 / Romans 8:7-8 / Luke 6:46 / Romans 1:1 / Philippians 1:1 / 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Benediction:  Romans 14:8-9

WELCOME

Good morning!!! My name is Ryan Hanson, and I have the honor of serving here at The Light KC as the lead pastor. I’m so glad you’re here with us.

‌Welcome to those joining us online. We hope you're doing well and hope to see you in person in the coming weeks.

And a special welcome to those joining us for the first time. We’re so glad you chose to be here.

ME/INTRO - Tension

At the risk of losing everyone in the room...There is one very popular movie franchise I cannot get into.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS

I don’t know, it’s probably personal preference but...

I never read the books (To be honest I never got into fiction reading).

I didn’t watch the movies when they first came out to the theatres

When I finally got pressured into watching them it was at my house with friends

The plot developed really slowly

The first battle was far too long (~45 minutes if I remember correct)

And during the first movie the screen went black at the 1 hour mark...SO I WALKED OUT of my basement where we were watching the movie

I didn’t go back

I only watched 1 hour of the whole franchise...to this day

But...even though I haven’t seen any of the movies...one aspect of the franchise has always stayed with me

Gollum

[Image: Gollum - 1]

I’ve watched enough YouTube clips of Gollum to know that he is the perfect introduction for today’s NAME OF GOD “Adonia”

Bear with me...

This is our final week in our Name of God series. And this is the only name we’ve talked about that God didn’t give Himself.

But to start to understand the name Adonai, we need to look at its root word “Adon”

Adon in Hebrew describes anything that has authority over you

And that is why Gollum is the perfect introduction to this week.

Let’s quickly look at the narrative arc of Gollum

Here’s a short video to help us

[Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knImeAiO1qc]

What did we see there?

Smeagol’s cousin Deagol finds the ring. Shows it to Smeagol who lusts after it, and ends up killing his cousin to get it

[Image: Smeagol with ring - 1]

Smeagol’s lust for the ring turns into submission to it, making the ring Smeagol’s master, leading to his transformation into Gollum

[Image: Gollum with ring - 1]

Gollum can’t imagine life without the ring and devotes his entire life to the ring, leaving everything he knew behind, and living in complete bondage to it

[Image: Gollum with ring - 2]

The ring is Smeagol / Gollum’s ADON - the Ring is his master - it owns him - it dictates every decision that he makes

WE - Tension

The problem is, we all have an ADON in our lives.

Because the truth is, just like Gollum, we are all owned by something. We all bow down to a master of our choosing.

We are all slaves to something.

So...

What owns you?

What is transforming you?

What can’t you imagine living without; that you’re devoting your life to, living in bondage to?

As we said earlier, the final name of God that we are going to discuss during this series is not a name that God chose for Himself.

It is a name that Israel chose to use as a respectful way to address God.

In fact, this is the name that the Israelites would replace YHWH with as that name was too sacred to pronounce out loud.

The name of God we’re going to talk about today is “Adonai” which means God is my MASTER / OWNER.

It is the same word as ADON, but specifically referencing God as the one who has authority over us.

So to see how this concept plays out, today I want to look at the story of Moses from a slightly different perspective that we have in the past.

If you missed the previous messages and would like to catch up, please feel free go to our website, TheLightKC.org, to catch up.

As we begin, please turn with me to [Exodus 2: Sanctuary Bible Page # 45]

We’ll have the scripture on the screen, but if you have a Bible with you, or Bible app on your phone, I’d encourage you to turn to the passage and follow along. There is nothing that replaces having God’s word in your hand.

AND... if you don’t have a Bible, we have Bibles under the seats. If you don’t have a bible and would like one, please come see me after the service and I’ll get you one you can keep.

Let's dive in.

GOD - Text

Good Desire Wrongly Expressed

When we meet Moses in Exodus 2, he is 40 years old. He was born to a Hebrew mother during a time when Pharaoh ordered all baby boys to be thrown into the Nile.

Moses’ mother (Jochebed) kept Moses hidden as long as she could, but when she could no longer hide him, in an effort to save him, she put him in a basket and floated him down the Nile.

Moses was found by the daughter of the Pharoah and raised as a Prince of Egypt, educated in the best schools, living as royalty.

At age 40, Moses checks in on his fellow Hebrews.

Exodus 2:11–15 NIV

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?” The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.” When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.

Even after living as an Egyptian for 40 years, there is something within Moses.

There is a desire for justice for the Hebrew people.

Relying on his education, position, and strength, Moses acts.

He kills the Egyptian guard and thinks he will be looked at as a deliverer to the Hebrew people.

But...it doesn’t work out. The Hebrews rejected him.

Moses desire to help the Hebrews was a good desire to have, but Moses expressed that desire through in all the wrong ways

God puts good desires in us, but if we go after those good desires in the wrong ways (like Moses), we’ll fall into the trap of Gollum of lust / sin / bondage / death

What desires do you have, that you have been trying to accomplish by your own strength?

Where do you need to stop trying to force those good desires to come true and trust in God’s path and timing?

A Period of Learning

I think we need to take a step back. Because one thing has always bothered me about the Moses story.

Why did Moses run?

He was a Prince of Egypt. Killing one person, although terrible, was probably not that big of a deal for a member of the royal family. Rulers killed people all the time back then with anonymity.

It turns out that scholars believe that the daughter of Pharaoh that adopted Moses was Hatshepsut, and she died in roughly 1480 BC, which is roughly when Moses would have turned 40. So right when Moses decides to stand up for his Hebrews people, he loses the protection within the royal family he had with his adopted mother.

Moses’ adopted brother, Thutmose III, who was now Pharaoh, according to history, thought his mother was controlling and after her death, in an effort to move on, destroyed all of his mother’s monuments and tried to erase her from history.

Needless to say Moses and his adopted brother did not get along as well as they did in the DreamWorks movie “Prince of Egypt”.

Moses had legitimate reasons to fear for his life and run away.

With that political situation facing Moses, he runs away and find himself in Midian.

Exodus 2:21–3:1 NIV

Moses agreed to stay with the man, who gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses in marriage. Zipporah gave birth to a son, and Moses named him Gershom, saying, “I have become a foreigner in a foreign land.” During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Moses goes from Prince of Egypt to a shepherd for his father-in-law, doing the job of a child.

Moses spends the next 40 years of his life as a shepherd

Learning Humility

Learning to depend on God’s provision

Learning patience

It took 40 years in the desert to teach Moses to learn to stop relying on

his intelligence

his strength

his instincts

and start relying exclusively on God’s timing and God’s direction

Sometimes God allows us to experience failure and hard times to teach us what we need to know to fulfill His plans for us later in our life.

What desert has God allowed you to enter?

Where in your life is God telling you to stop trying to solve your own problems?

Where is God trying to teach you to rely on His direction and timing?

Prevenient Grace

Now after 40 years, Thutmose III died and his son Amenhotep II became Pharoah.

Amenhotep II continued the oppressive policies of his father related to the Hebrew people, but conditions are now more favorable for Moses to return to Egypt.

Sometimes the delays we face in life, even when we don’t know it, are blessings from God, necessary to allow other things to happen.

40 years later, it is now God’s time for Moses to act on his original desire to bring freedom to the Hebrews.

Exodus 3:2–4 NIV

There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.” When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”

I want to take a moment to point out that we are a church within the Wesleyan Denomination.

As a Wesleyan Church one of our theological doctrines is the concept of Prevenient Grace.

Prevenient grace states that the universal love of God precedes human conversion. That God is actively working in every person to restore a measure of free will and enable them to respond to the gospel.

Moses is not looking for God.

After 40 years, it is probably safe to assume Moses had given up any thought of being the person to deliver the Hebrews from Egyptian oppression.

The only thing Moses is looking for is grass in the desert for his sheep to eat.

God seeks Moses out.

God initiates the conversation.

And...God does the same thing for me and the same thing for you.

Where is God showing up, uninvited in your life?

How is God trying to get your attention right now?

What is God calling you to, that is not even on your radar?

God is in Control

God makes the first move, showing Moses Prevenient Grace.

But Moses has a choice.

Moses can choose to respond to God’s invitation or ignore it.

But God is very clear about the nature of the relationship He wants with Moses.

Exodus 3:5–6 NIV

“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

If Moses accepts God’s invitation, he has to stop relying on himself and follow God’s lead.

God instructs Moses to take off his sandals, acknowledge who God is, and accept God’s position as leader.

Moses had to spend 40 years being humbled in the desert to get to a point where he could move forward on the path that God set for him.

There comes a point when each of us face the decision to continue to live by our own strength, or accept God’s invitation to follow Him.

So, just like Moses, we have to face the truth of our condition.

Where do you need to be humbled?

What areas of your life do you need to give over control to God?

Moses’ Fears

Probably like most of us when thinking about these questions, Moses has hesitations.

I know I personally like being in control.

I like being the one to make the final decision.

But...God wants us to turn to Him.

Seek His guidance.

Let God make the decisions.

And...giving up that control is scarry.

And Moses voices that fear.

Exodus 3:11 NIV

But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

Moses fears that after his past failures, he is not the right one for the task God is asking of him.

Exodus 3:13 NIV

Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

Moses is afraid that he won’t be able to answer the questions the Hebrews ask of him.

Exodus 4:1 NIV

Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”

Moses is afraid that the Hebrews won’t believe him, just like they didn’t believe him when he tried to help them 40 years ago.

But it is here that, the conversation between Moses and God changes.

Exodus 4:10 NIV

Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

It is here that Moses starts by calling God “Lord”.

This is the word Adonai.

This is where Moses acknowledges that God is in control.

God is his master and he is God’s slave.

But even after acknowledging God’s position, Moses still feels inadequate.

God re-assures Moses that since He created his mouth, God can make sure it works.

But that is not enough for Moses.

Exodus 4:13 NIV

But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

Moses again acknowledges God as Adonai, his Master, yet asks God to send someone else.

Moses believes in God — but struggles with being obedient to God’s Lordship.

Moses acknowledges who God is, acknowledges God’s position as Master, but fails to obey God’s leading.

It is easy to be hard on Moses, but I think we’re all a bit like this.

We mentally agree with God as LORD and MASTER of our lives, but when the rubber hits the road, we don’t want to obey everything that God commands. We all hold something back.

There is a bit of Moses in all of us.

But, I think we should take this as a huge warning, in the next verse we see how God responds to Moses lack of obedience.

Exodus 4:14 NIV

Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you.

Moses wants reassurance without surrender.

He wants guarantees with no risk.

That is not how things work.

Remember Adonai means Master / Ruler

It is a name that, requires humble submission

Adonai does not need Moses’ ability.

He requires Moses’ obedience.

Where in your lives do you want God to bless the actions you’ve already chosen to take, but never stopped to consider seeking God’s will first?

Billy Graham once said,

“instead of praying for God to bless our personal, predetermined plans, we should instead ask God to reveal His plans to us and give us strength to follow them as His plans are already blessed”

This week, I challenge you to stop praying about your plans, but instead pray for God to reveal His plans to you, and pre-decide to act on God’s plans no matter what they are.

YOU - Takeaway

Moses eventually obeyed / submitted, but he took the hard path to get there, negotiating with God.

What is your burning bush moment right now?

What is God calling you to do that you are hesitant to obey?

What are you afraid of?

WE / JESUS - Redemptive Close - Call to Action

Remember our initial example, Gollum from the Lord of the Rings

We left out one piece from his narrative arc

While fighting with Frodo for the ring at Mount Doom, Gollum ends up falling into the lava and dying

[Image: Gollum with Ring - 4]

Gollum’s need for the ring ends up leading him straight to his death

We all submit to something.

Gollum submitted to the ring and ended up following its straight to his death in a volcano.

A lot of us do the same thing, choosing to follow things that don’t deserve our allegiance.

Wealth

Success

Control

Power

Comfort

The Approval of others

All these will fail us just like the ring failed Gollum.

If we choose to make these our masters, they will lead to our eternal deaths, separated from God.

There is only 1 thing / 1 person that deserves our submission - and His name is Jesus

Acts 2:36 NIV

“Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.”

Because of the sinless life Jesus lived, and the sacrificial death He died on the cross - Jesus is the only one who deserves to be the master of our lives - who deserves our unquestioned obedience

Paul puts it this way

Romans 12:1–2 NIV

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The reality is, we are all slaves to something. We need to make the choice. We can be slaves to a loving God who wants the best for us and wants to partner with us to bring His Kingdom to Earth

or...as Paul writes

Romans 6:13 NIV

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

We can be slaves to sin, indulging in every desire that we have, choosing to walk the road that leads to death.

Jesus puts it this way

Luke 6:46–49 NIV

46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. 48 They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49 But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Choosing to live a life with Jesus as our Adonai, our LORD and MASTER, directing our choices and actions, is the life built on a firm foundation.

It is the best kind of life.

Choosing to live a life based on our wants and desires, being a slave to our emotions and feelings, is a life built with no foundation, and will at some point collapse.

The writers of the bible knew that we can’t live with any other master than Jesus.

Paul starts the book of Romans

Romans 1:1 NIV

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—

Paul and Timothy start the book of Philippians

Philippians 1:1 NIV

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

The word servant in both of these verse is the Greek word for Adonai (kyrios)

It would better be translated, “Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ”

Jesus is the owner of every follower of Jesus Christ

We’ve all as a followers of Christ accepted him as Savior

The daily battle we face is will we renew him as LORD of my life and acknowledge his ownership of every area of my life

1 Corinthians 6:19–20 NIV

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

Salvation is not just forgiveness from the consequences of our sins,

It is daily yielding the throne of our hearts to Jesus.

Entire sanctification is not perfectionism,

It is complete surrender to Christ’s Lordship, refusing to willfully do anything that goes against God’s will.

Pastor Tony Evans

Until you see Elohim (the all-powerful creator) and Yahweh (the ever-present God) as your Adonai (LORD and MASTER) you will never fully see the hand of God move in your life

Like Moses, your self-reliance may be the very restriction God is experiencing in doing what He wants to do through you

We are all slaves to something; we get to choose if we’re a slave to sin walking the path to bondage,

or a slave to Christ walking the path to freedom

The life of a Christians is a life of continual submission - each day - more and more to God’s leadership / mastery over our lives

What is Adonai calling you to submit to Him right now?

PRAYER 

Will you join me in prayer...

Adonai,

You are Lord.

Forgive my resistance.

Take the throne of my heart.

Where You send me, I will go.

Where You lead me, I will follow.

Be not only my Savior —

Be my Lord.

Amen.

SONG 

As we enter into our final song, I want to open the steps up front as an altar to anyone who needs God this week. The steps are open for you to pray to the God who is with you, who loves you, you wants to give you His peace.

‌

You may feel a hand on your shoulder as I or one of the elders join you in prayer.

BENEDICTION 

Romans 14:8–9 NIV

If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.

This week...

Let’s stop giving our lives over to things that don’t deserve our attention, time, and devotion

Let’s stop choosing to follow our sinful desires that lead to bondage and death

Let’s instead submit to the only person who deserves our devotion

Let’s humble ourselves, recognize that we don’t know what’s best for us, and choose to follow Jesus, Adonai, our LORD, OWNER, and MASTER who

loves us

wants what’s best for us

and wants to lead us down a path to freedom

And let’s renew that choice every day, yielding the throne of our hearts to Jesus, surrendering anything in our lives that goes against the will of God

Quick reminder...

Digging Deeper Bible Study - Wednesday at 6 PM - Programming for all ages

Good Friday - April 3rd from 4-6 PM

Easter - April 5th - 9 AM community celebration - 10 AM service

Financial Peace - April 22nd - free yourself or invite friends to free themselves from the bondage of money

Bookmarks - Names of God bookmarks at the info desk

If you’re new, please fill out the card in the seat back and stop by our info desk, or see me. We’d love to say “hi” and get you know you a bit better.

If you’d like to get more information about taking your next step of faith, fill out the card in the seat back and give it to me or turn it in to the info desk.

I hope you have a great week.

Go in peace.

You are dismissed.

DISCIPLESHIP QUESTIONS (download into APP)

What parallels can you draw between Moses’ life and your own journey towards obedience?

What are some things in your life that you might be allowing to control you?

What is a 'burning bush' moment that you are currently experiencing?

What does it mean for you to you personally to acknowledge God as your Adonai?

How can recognizing God as your master change your daily decisions?

What fears do you have about submitting your plans to God?

How can you trust in God's timing rather than forcing your own plans?

In what ways can you be more intentional about seeking God's will in your actions?

In what areas of your life do you feel you are struggling to submit to God's authority?