Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

My family and I were able to get down to see my parents early this week.

My dad is doing really well, so thank you all for your prayers.

We had some very meaningful connection time.

On our way back we heard many weather reports full of warnings of driving issues, but we drove most of the way home on clear roads.

At one point on our journey I wanted to know how far we had left to get home so I asked “Siri” on my phone.

“Hey Siri”

“Yes”

“How far are we from home” Then I got a response I had never recieved before.

Siri said,

Then I got a response I had never recieved before.

Siri said,

“You are about 2 hours and 8 minutes away from home, as the crow flies”.

Have you ever heard that expression before?

I have, but never from my GPS.

“As the crow flies” is an expression meaning the straightest distance between two points.

This old saying is taken from the observation that Crows are often seen flying in a straight lines rather than darting back and forth like other birds.

But until I grow wings or they get that jet pack thing perfected, I am pretty dependent on a system of roads to get from one place to another.

For those of us who use GPS, we are typically looking for the fastest route that we actually can use to get to our destination.

Typically when I use my cell phone like this, Siri gives me driving directions and tells me how long it will take me if I take particular roads.

You see until I grow wings or they get that jet pack thing perfected, I am pretty dependant on a system of roads to get from one place to another.

These roads travel around all the ground obstacles that I could fly over if I was a crow.

The idea is that depending on where you are and where you are journeying to, you might have to travel a lot longer than the “crow” would to get to your destination.

But that got me thinking, can you even set your GPS to guide you to other kinds of routes?

What if you wanted to kill some time, could you set to guide you to the longest way to your destination?

Or what if you wanted to set it to “The most scenic route”?

In a world where something like that was possible, maybe you could even set your GPS to the journey that would “grow the most character”.

Yeah right, none of us would chose that one would we?

Because we know that “growing the most character” is just code for a longer, harder and more threatening journey.

For those of us who use GPS, we are typically looking for the fastest route that we actually can use to get to our destination.

But that got me thinking.

I don’t even know how you set a GPS guide for any other goal.

Can you even set your GPS to guide you to the longest way to your destination?

Or could you imagine being able to set your GPS to “The most scenic route”?

In a world where something like that was possible, maybe you could even set your GPS to the journey that would “grow the most character”.

Yeah right, none of us would chose that one would we?

Because we know that “growing the most character” is just code for a longer, harder and more threatening journey.

Tension

But life doesn’t really opperate “As the crow flies” does it?

The jourLife doesn’t always On the way home we were inundated with all the weather reports and the threats of poor driving conditions I asked S iri about how far it was to “home” and it told me 2 hours as the crow flies.

But we all know that it will take longer than that - many obstacles in the path that we have to navigate around and follow the path that is laid out for us.

- GOd’s people had to do this too, but they did not really understand all that God was doing.

Sometimes life is like that.

God took them into Sinai to avoid having to battle some things that they were not ready for yet.

So He took them down to Sinai to again show his power again over Pharaoh and his hardened heart.

I don’t think you could make a GPS for something like that, but as Christians, it sometimes feels like our guide is leading us like that, doesn’t it?

Sometimes following God’s will for our life sends us in directions that do not seem like the most direct route.

At times like this, we often look over at other people’s life and wonder why they seem to be living life, “as the crow flies” and we feel like we are hitting all these detours that send us up alleys and down streets that we would never have aimed our life toward.

After a while we start to wonder if we are even heading in the right direction anymore.

Could we still be following God when we end up somewhere as scary as this?

Have you ever felt like that?

Has your life ever headed down a path that made you wonder if you were even going the right way anymore.

I am not talking about a path that you can trace down to the source.

Like you have been intentionally and rebelliously living in some sin that has lead to serious consequences.

There is no questioning in something like that.

The Bible is clear that....

Hebrews a choice to willingly sin will lead to devestating consequences.

God in his love for you will do whatever he needs to in order to get your attention.

then the consequences come flying

If we choose to live in sin then God will bring us to a place of difficulty to get our attention.

You might not be living in the freedom from sin that Jesus has given you.

even says that there are some in the Church who are weak, sick and dying because they are taking their sin so lightly.

I hope you don’t need me to tell you to run from something like that.

To take sin, any sin lightly is to make a mockery of what Jesus did to rid you from having to be subject to sin anymore.

If you need you to tell you that…then...there you go.

Repent.

Turn around.

The life you are living feels like it is going the wrong direction because it is.

It is going away from the freedom that you have from that sin.

Don’t listen to the lie that any sin can be anything but devastating to you.

Return to a right relationship with God where He is the LORD of every part of your life.

There are eternal things at stake in this.

But that is not really what I am talking about this morning.

What I am talking about here is times when we are following after God, and then we end up somewhere that we would never have chosen.

Sometimes we just went through a season of repentance and forgiveness like I just explained and we have again felt the freedom from that rebellious sin and are walking right with God again…and then BOOM! something horrible happens.

Something threatening.

Something that seems to be in the opposite direction of where God would ever lead someone who was earnestly following after Him.

At some point in our journey, every Child of God will find themselves in a situation like this.

But what would happen if we were able to forego our typical reaction of panic and worry and instead anticipate and look the ways in which our mighty God was going to use even this situation to bring Him the glory He deserves?

That is what we are going to look into this morning, so if you haven’t already would you open up your Bibles to Exodus Chapter 13, page 55 in the Bible in the chairs, I will pray and we will dive into God’s Word together.

Truth

Truth

In our text today we are going to find the Children of Israel in a situation where they feel like they took a wrong turn somewhere, even though they were finally following the LORD as they should.

Remember that through the reluctant rescuer Moses, one of their own, God’s people were just reintroduced to the LORD, YHWY the God of their fathers Abraham Isaac and Jacob.

And what an introduction!

With incredible wonders and signs greater than anything they had ever seen, He proved his power over all thing.

This very God called them to leave their life of affliction in Egypt and follow Him to the promised land of luxury.

Through these incredible signs and wonders the LORD YHWY made his name known and He showed that He was more powerful then every false god that the Egyptians trusted in, even down to Pharaoh himself.

Finally, YHWY said it was time for the Children of Israel to leave EGYPT.

He would visit the 10th and final plague on Egypt and this time He gave his people careful instructions to follow.

Each family would sacrifice a perfect and unblemished lamb.

They would put the blood over the doorway of their home and that would tell the messenger of the LORD to “Passover” this house and not execute the last plague on those that remained in that house.

Reminder that I didn’t go into all the detailed connections of the Passover because we have an event coming up just 10 days before Passover in April.

Jews for Jesus is coming to do a “Christ in the Passover” demonstration so I hope you are able to make plans to join us that Tuesday night.

demonstration of the Jewish Passover Celebration where Christ is found in it.

This is coming up in April, so mark your calenders and make plans to attend this event and invite someone else who might be interested as well.

Before they at the Passover meal, they were to have all their belongings packed up, and after the meal they were to remain in that house and wait.

Deep into the night they began to hear the screams as the every Egyptians family all the way up to Pharaoh himself lost their most treasured and protected possession.

The life of their first born son.

Finally, Pharaoh relented and told them to go.