Faithful

How many have you ever been in a church softball league?

Well if you haven’t you would probably think they would probably think everyone is really sweet and the sportsmanship is amazing, but if you have played then you probably know its actually pretty scary.

What about a church softball league?

If you have you probably know that a church softball league is cut throat.

Church softball transforms the sweet old man who sits in the front of the sanctuary into a monster.

because when you go to a game people get a little to into it and there ends up being people yelling at eachother and not saying the nicest things.

and one of the things that church leagues do is they have to provide their own umpires.

So the team I was apart of decided I would do a good job umping a game.

But the issue is I was terrible at playing softball and they did not know the first thing about softball.

So I would make awful calls.

and I remember almost every play I would handle the situation wrong and make a terrible call.

and by the end of the game I think that I was probably an enemy to both of these churches.

Have you ever made calls that bad in your life?

Have you ever handled a situation that poorly?

Maybe in softball but probably other areas in our lives.

You know there are all sorts of different situations that happen in our life but how we react to these situations often ends up having a strong effect on different areas in our lives.

When your child comes home from school and has done something awful and you have to respond to that situation

When someone who you thought was your friend ends up losing your trust because of something they did and you have to respond to that situation.

When your spouse might be in a bad mood and you have to respond to the situation

and the list keeps going.

But our response in these situations has the ability to impact not just our lives but also the lives around us.

Because the truth is when we start responding poorly to these situations it is easy to get to a place where you feel lost.

Where you feel like you are in a maze.

Your kid cant stand you

your spouse wants a divorce

your friend wishes you would just go away.

and when you feel like you are caught in the middle of a maze in your life its easy for depression to sink in.

Its easy to look at your life with a bad outlook because you have dug your hole deep.

So today we are going to be looking at a story of a person who made a poor decision and we are going to be looking at the decision but look at how God redeemed the situation.

So we are going to start out by looking at if you want to follow along in your Bible

but before what is happening is we see the Hebrew people are being oppressed by the Egyptians and are actually slaves to them. So they are treated poorly which most likely meant they would get abused pretty often if they could not keep up with the Egyptians commands.

However the man in the story Moses sees this abuse taking place and this is where the passage starts.

So once again we are in

The New International Version Chapter 2

11 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. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 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?”

14 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.”

15 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.

So in this passage as I mentioned Moses see’s this person getting beat by an Egyptian which he would have seen all of the time and you can almost picture his blood boiling.

Because he is seeing this situation day after day and it is finally at a point where he decides he needs to do something about it.

and like I said you can probably relate to this because of different situations that might make your blood boil day after day.

and we have to decide how to handle these situations but look how Moses handles this situation,

because when you look at this passage you can see that Moses ends u making this spontaneous decision on his own and ends up taking the Egyptian who is beating the Hebrew mans life.

But if you look a little further you can see that Moses handles the situation wrong, because the next day he is trying to help another situation thats happening where two other men are fighting and they both bring up that he murdered someone,

and Moses knows he is in trouble because he tried to keep it a secret and it gets to the ruler at the time and he actually wants to have him executed.

So you see Moses running for his life and he ends up in Midian which is in the desert and he ends up sitting by a well.

And if you are like me you look at this and think Moses stood up for a man who couldn't and he’s being punished?

11 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. 12 Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 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?”

Thats not fair, but when you look at what Moses did is he handles this situation poorly because he could have done something different, but he didn't.

14 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.”

Really what Moses does is he responds in his own way,

15 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.

He says I want to be the one who delivers the Hebrew people, I want to be the one to save this man, when he should of went to God

And I know

The New International Version. (2011). (). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. being punished?

and I know that I already brought this up but how often are we this way.

Our kid comes with that bad report card,

Our spouse is mad at us

Our friend hurts us

and this situation happens and instead of seeking what God desires for us we do what we think is best.

and when we do that we often end up just digging ourselves in a whole.

I used to go into a prison and speak with some of the inmates who were there and I remember they knew this feeling because they often did somthing to try and help

We end up in the same place as Mosses just feeling like we are in the desert in the middle of no where.

Well Moses ends up spending around 40 years in the desert and is now around 80 years old

Some of you might feel like Mosses today, because you made a mistake and its messed up your life for a long time.

I used to work with men who were currently in prison who made some pretty big mistakes and I would talk with them and they would go talk about how their wife doesn't trust them anymore there kids don’t like them and they are going I placed my trust in Christ but why is everything still awful?

and I remember telling them that God is redeeming the situation but it might take some time.

Because when we make a mistake it can sometimes cause issues in trust because our sin harms our relationships and makes and we have a mess to clean up.

But I want to jump a little further to Exodus chapter 3 and I am not going to read it, but just to sum it up Moses is now a shepherd and he is working out in a mountain alone when God starts to call Moses through a burning bush

and I want to jump a little further to Exodus chapter 3 and I am not going to read it, but just to sum it up Moses is now a shepherd and he is working out in a mountain alone when God starts to call Moses

and basically what God says is “Look Mosses I have seen what you have seen.

I have seen the pain that the people are going through.

and really I have seen the situation you are in and I have a plan to deliver these people out of slavery.

and Moses actually questions God’s way a good amount (especially in the beginning).

And throughout our series we are in we are going to be talking about some of the different situations that come up in Mosses life where he is just going God what are you doing here.

But what I really want to focus on today is when you have a situation come up in your life are y

but what we are going to see as time goes on Moses ends up trusting God more and doubting less.

and you now that true in our lives as well. When we place our trust in God and have faith in Him a few times, it becomes easier.

But that first time is hard.

Its hard to look at a situation and give it to God.

I think that might be a major reason why Moses handles it himself at first.

So this morning I just want to ask you what situation is going on in you life where you are just going what am I going to do about this?

Because when a situation occurs in our life, like Moses we have an option.

We can either handle it on our own like Moses did at first.

or we can look at the situation and turn to God.

Because what we see is when God calls Moses and Moses is obedient God knows the situation and He helps Moses accomplish some amazing things.

It ends up taking time, their end up being trials, but Moses is faithful to God and God handles the situations.

You know some of us may have already made a decision and kept God out of it and maybe we are feeling the pain from that decision today. Maybe we feel like Moses just sitting at the well in the desert after he made his mistake.

Like I s

Thats a hard place to be, but God didn't abandon Moses. God provided for Moses andI am sure that Moses dident live as nice as he did, but God was with Him.

In the middle of the bad decisions that we make God is with us (redeeming whatever mistake we have made)

I want you all to think about the entire Bible because from the moment Adam and Eve rebel against God, God is sitting there redeeming His people from sin.

Its easy to feel discouraged when you've made a mistake and its just had consequnes tat have been around a little to long. But what would happen if we said God I know I did wrong.

I know I messed up but I am going to place my trust in you despite the issues that are going on.

You might feel like Moses this morning and you are going I am in that 40 year period in the desert.

and I don’t know when its going to end.

But can I assure you that in the midst of the hurt, in the midst of the pain we have a God who is faithful.

Faithful in the heart ache

Faithful in the pain

Faithful in whatever you are going through.

He was even faithful on the cross for us.

And we are going to be receiving communion this Sunday morning in remembrance of what he did for us on the cross.

Because Christ has been faithful to us.

On one of the nights before he was heading to the cross, Jesus was in a room with the disciples where they were having a meal together and He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Likewise, when the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.”

And today we gather together to remember what Christ has done for us on the cross.

So I am going to pray and we are going to sing one more song and when I finish praying I invite you to come forward and receive the bread and Juice but bring them back to your seat and we will take them together as the body of Christ.

Everyone is welcome to recieve communion as long as you have placed your trust in Christ and have accepted him as your saver.

Will you pray with me?

Song:

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.