Crossing Our Red Sea

Intro:

I like hard work very quickly… running up stairs, moving concrete in Mexico...

While this works for me, it often causes issues because the people that are with me don’t want to go as fast as me.

As Glen has been meeting with me this year and we discuss things, he has to remind me that I have to just trust God to move people. I can’t just talk or rush them into things.

And honestly, I don’t want to push or drag anyone…

have you ever tried to bath a cat?

Often putting Charlee in the tub or trying to take here out is like bathing a cat.

I want to get it done quickly and she doesn’t want anything that I want. period.

However, babies need baths and the church needs to follow God’s leading.

It’s impossible for me to know where each of you is in your journey of joining God and I certainly don’t know where you think you are.

follow me on this though...

I read two passages that really bookend what it means to follow God.

Jonah 1:1–3 ESV

1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah very clearly heard God’s call and decided, nah, don’t want to.

Then later that week I also read this passage...

Philippians 1:12–18 ESV

12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. 14 And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. 15 Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. 16 The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. 17 The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. 18 What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice,

Philip

Here we see Paul preaching the gospel to the point of going to jail and then kept on so that he lead the guards to the Lord.

As a result, now the guards are preaching the gospel.

These are two complete opposite ends of the spectrum.

This morning before we dig into what God has for us, let’s take some time to just pray and ask God to show us his perspective of where we are.

As I’ve told you guys before, I don’t want us to get to the end of this study and be the same. Can we just get before the Lord for a moment…? Just privately, take a few moments and ask God to show where you heart is.

I have loved this passage so much this week...

Exodus 14 ESV

1 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea. 3 For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, ‘They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.’ 4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so. 5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” 6 So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, 7 and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. 8 And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. 9 The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon. 10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” 15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.” 19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night. 21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.” 26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

God puts us in places where we must rely completely on Him.

God puts us in places where we must rely completely on Him.

If we are going to be a people that God can use to set People free, relying on God is a prerequisite.

We have to learn to trust in God to do the work, not on our ability to do something for him.

In the first two verses of this chapter we see God literally positioning the people into a place where he can use them.

Are you willing to let God back you into a corner and then let him be your lone defense?

God makes it appear, based on human perception, that they are boxed in with their backs to the sea.

This gives Pharaoh the false impression that He has a HUGE tactical advantage.

But he doesn’t know...

As we are following God and letting him move us, it may appear to unbelievers that we are doing something illogical.

They don’t, and you may not, see what God is doing...

Don’t let them talk you out of doing what you know he has instructed you to do.

God let Pharaoh think he could capture Israel so that God could show himself and God can and will do the same thing in your life.

God can and will do the same thing in your life.

Where do you run when life gets hard?

Do you know God well enough to be able to trust Him?

Are you willing to put your reputation on the line so that God can build His?

Do you know God well enough to be able to have that level of faith?

We learned last week that God is about his people. He puts it all on the line for them.

When we make changes to or diminish in any way what God is doing, by relying on our own abilities, we aren’t leading them to Christ.

We are leading them to ourselves.

If we are not leading people to freedom in Christ, we are simply leading them to slavery of something else.

God is going to make Himself known.

God has orchestrated this entire event for the purpose of making sure, once and for all, that all of Egypt knows that he alone is God.

Exodus 14:4 ESV

4 And I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord.” And they did so.

Several weeks ago when Carey and Kara shared their testimony, that it has been a little weird to me that a lot of my sermons have been on suffering

I’ve been using the wrong term. It’s not about suffering, it’s about dying to ourselves so that we can live for God.

If we are going to join God, we must, just like God, be about his people.

This is going to require that we allow God to use us in a way that we don’t get the credit, God does.

God makes himself known through his people.

We’ve talked so many times already about the fact that God’s plan to reveal himself to the world are his people.

God is doing all this work in the lives of Israel and Egypt to show himself.

It’s easy to say, “yeah, let’s do it!”,

We see Israel doing this as they follow Moses into the wilderness.

However, as soon as things got difficult they flipped on God and Moses.

Joining God to set People free means giving up the right to ourselves.

This is literally the example that Jesus sets for us.

We have to realize that all the things that the world say are important are not.

job - won’t change anyone’s eternity

where you live - won’t change anyone’s eternity

what kind of car you have -

who wins the sports ball event you love - won’t change anyone’s eternity.

this list can go on and on.

you know what does change someone’s eternity? God

God’s plan to reveal himself to your friends, family, and neighbors is you.

without Moses’ willingness to do crazy things as God led, Israel would still be slaves.

God is going to give all the evidence that anyone needs to know he is real through you.

This is how God uses Moses and Aaron.

This is how God wants you use you.

As things get crazy...

We must keep our eyes on God and let Him deal with the enemy.

Where do you run when things get hard?

Exodus 14:10–14 ESV

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Ex 14:10-

Exodus 14:10–12 ESV

10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

ex 14:

When Israel sees that Pharaoh is coming, with every chariot he has available, they see the same circumstances that Pharaoh does.

In the heat of the moment, they seem to forget all that God has already done in order to get them out of Egypt.

Their enemy finds them, surrounds them, and is coming in for the kill.

Pharaoh thinks he has already won the battle and so does Israel.

Y’all this is still the enemy’s plan.

The enemy’s plan is to get us to focus on the overwhelming circumstances instead of an almighty God that is controlling all of it.

When life gets hard, it doesn’t matter with what.

marriage

work

kids

health

The enemy wants us to focus on the idea that we are surrounded and there is no escape.

Are those things hard? yes! But we have to keep our focus on the FACT that God is able, with no effort, to overcome all of those things.

As we follow God, he is going to lead us into places where we are completely surrounded.

Song: Surrouded

This is how I fight my battles

It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by You.

God is going to do this on purpose so that we and others around us can see that He is God and He is bigger than all of those things.

Just this week, I shared Bethany’s cancer story with someone and they were blown away by not only the fact that the cancer is gone, but that God told me she would be ok and she is!

When we were in the thick of it, it was so easy to get overwhelmed.

I constantly worshiped with the song surrounded so that I could keep the right perspective.

Song: Surrouded

This is how I fight my battles

It may look like I’m surrounded, but I’m surrounded by You.

When things get hard...

I know this isn’t going to be a statement

God is going to use you to show people what He is doing.

Israel completely loses it and again, God uses Moses to communicate his plan.

Exodus 14:13–14 ESV

13 And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Ex 14:13-

There are people all around us that are going through hard times and are searching for relief that God can give and they don’t know it.

God may be wanting to use you to help them see what He is doing.

Most importantly, He wants us to know that God will do all the work of delivering his people.

Remember that God is going to show himself through us.

This is going to require that we are

paying attention to what is going on in their lives.

praying for them and seeking God on their behalf

willing to communicate what God saying.

not being upsetwhen they don’t receive it

If we will follow God, people will be blown away with who He is.

So here is the big finale of God delivering Israel.

Can you imagine what people where thinking when Moses is like, “Y’all, God’s got this. Ima raise my staff.”

Ex 14:

Israel: What?

God splits the sea...

Israel: oooohhhhhh

Even after all that Israel had been through with God, they still didn’t trust him.

Do you still struggle with trusting God when life is falling apart?

Israel did. they looked at the circumstances in their lives and panicked.

they had to rely on the faith that Moses had in God...

Part of our role in joining God is to simply be in tune enough with God that when circumstances get crazy, we know and communicate that we are trusting God.

Our faith is going to help people see and understand who God is and how much he loves all people.

They are going to get front row seats to see what God is doing in our lives and that is going to wet their appetite to want to discover God for themselves.

Moses had to be play this role for Israel and...

They get to see God complete the work that he promised.

Because of who God is, they are free.

Completely free from the grip of Egypt.

Exodus 14:31 ESV

31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.

Ex 14:

Israel wouldn’t have had this experience if Moses hadn’t been willing to give up his life for the sake of others.

Isreal wouldn’t have had this experience if Moses hadn’t been willing to do things that others would think were crazy.

God intends for us to play the same role in others lives, but we must be more concerned with what God is saying than what the enemy is saying.

i guarantee you that when God is speaking,

Outro:

Israel gets a front row seat to see their God, their rescuer do the impossible again.

I’m super pumped about next week because their response is worship.

Because of who they know God to be and what they have seen him do because he loves them causes them to erupt in worship.

This week I would like for each of the life groups to take some of their time to share...

What has God done in your life that causes you to respond in worship?

I want each of us to be thinking about how much God loves us and how much he does for us because he loves us.

Come next week with your hearts ready to respond to who God is in worship.

If you don’t have any stories, this is a perfect time to ask God to reveal himself to you. Ask God to show you who he is.

God loves his people and he wants them to know.

We have to be willing...