We Are People Who Remember

Jab 1

Think to a time when you have lost something important and it was something that you needed soon

-Keys

-Wallet

-Phone

-Purse

-Password to a computer

-TV Remote

-or maybe it was something you knew you should have remembered but it just escapes your mind right now.

An independent study done in 2015 shows that people spend an average of 30 mins a day looking for lost things key, remotes, sunglasses etc.

Thats 182 hours/year we spend looking for lost things!

What emotions do we go through when we have forgotten or lost something?

-Frustration?

-Anger?

-Fear?

-Worry?

-Agitation?

Jab 2

Have you ever had a situation where new leadership came to power and made life worse for you? Let’s say the job you have had for years comes under new management, and things change. Maybe they don’t like your department, your current position, you, or the way you express your faith at work.

I have been talking with many of you in our local Melwood community and in our conversations I have heard a tone of I dont know how to make sense of any of what is going on with COVID-19 the ongoing oppression that has resulted into these protests and riots.

-Its seems as though we made a wrong turn somewhere

-I was in one place in the world and almost overnight it’s like something else or someone else is now in control.

Right Hook

We are starting a summer series today looking at Exodus. This book is all about REDEMPTION and God’s Promise and Process of redemption. In this study we will see

The reality of our need for redemption

People who disobey God

How God redeems

How God deals with his people when they forget Him

The result of fear and impossible odds

War and the havock it wreaks in the life of the world

And finally the continued promise of ongoing redemption for the world through us.

But today we have to start at the beginning

Explanation

Exodus 1 NLT

These are the names of the sons of Israel (that is, Jacob) who moved to Egypt with their father, each with his family: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. In all, Jacob had seventy descendants in Egypt, including Joseph, who was already there. In time, Joseph and all of his brothers died, ending that entire generation. But their descendants, the Israelites, had many children and grandchildren. In fact, they multiplied so greatly that they became extremely powerful and filled the land. Eventually, a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. He said to his people, “Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. If we don’t, and if war breaks out, they will join our enemies and fight against us. Then they will escape from the country.” So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became. So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands. Then Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah: “When you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, watch as they deliver. If the baby is a boy, kill him; if it is a girl, let her live.” But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king’s orders. They allowed the boys to live, too. So the king of Egypt called for the midwives. “Why have you done this?” he demanded. “Why have you allowed the boys to live?” “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women,” the midwives replied. “They are more vigorous and have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time.” So God was good to the midwives, and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. And because the midwives feared God, he gave them families of their own. Then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people: “Throw every newborn Hebrew boy into the Nile River. But you may let the girls live.”

A King came to power who “KNEW NOTHING” about Joseph or what he had done

-Joseph was a representation of the presence of God in the Life of the people in his Kingdom.

-Much like in the records of the Kings when the King Acknowledged God and Knew him and followed him the people prospered

Generations passed and it was not overnight that Joseph and his laws and works were forgotten it was over generations and scripture marks the day ...

-When a King Came to Power who Knew Nothing about Joseph

As soon as this happens as soon as it was recorded that the King forgot or remembered not or knew nothing......the relationships between the Egyptians and the Israelites changed

-Mutuality and national congruence

-Changed to Fear, Anxiety,

-When we forget we enter into these feelings

-frustration

-anger

-fear

When the Egyptians forgot Joseph and in turn forgot God they turned into a nation filled with fear and they started only looking after their own self-interests.

Then Pharoah turned to 2 unsuspected heroes of the story Shiprhah and Puah

-Hebrew Midwives who feared God

-Fear in this context means to worship and to have deep reverence for God.

-These 2 Hebrew midwives “Remembered God” in all they did in their lives and at work.

-They received an order that they knew was in direct opposition to what they knew of God and who he is.....so they chose to obey God.

The midwives lied:

-I struggled with this part of the text this week

-When you follow all the cross references from this verse and run down the trail of letting scripture interpret itself it take you to the 10 commandments Don’t bear false witness,

-But it also takes you to Joshua 2:4 where Rahab hid the spies and lied about where they had gown.....She and her family were saved.

As I struggled with and just sat in this text reading and thinking and listening this is what I believe I heard.

-These midwives, Rahab these people stood in the gap when nothing else was able to be done and were the agents that worked to save lives.

-God moved heaven and earth to save us....Jesus stood in the place of punishment for us.

-As we stand in the gap to bridge the gap from God to our world to the best of our ability and in all things remember God he will honor our work in his name.

Israel went was going through some dark times, BUT GOD STILL PROVIDED SALVATION through these 2 women.

-It was his promise to the people that it is dark, but not all hope is gone.....there is a remnant that remembers God.

There is always a remnant God doesn’t need a huge army and in fact when he wants to make a point that it was him working he doesn’t use a huge army

Gideon 300 men against thousands

Leviticus 26:8 NLT

Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand! All your enemies will fall beneath your sword.

When Israel remembered God they succeeded and when they didn’t they were defeated.

So God doesn’t need a huge army of people BUT HE NEEDS A FAITHFUL FEW that will be willing to stand for him.

HOW DO WE REMEMBER GOD IN ALL THINGS?

Jesus gives us 2 things

Matthew 22:37–40 NLT

Jesus replied, “ ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

There is no substitute for spending time alone in the presence of God

-King david greatest king ever in Israel’s history

Spent time with God talking to him, writing songs to him,

How would you respond in any given situation if what happened to others happened to you?

With the love of God in your heart respond that way for others

God always has a remnant willing to be his hands and feet.....are you willing to be that remnant today?

-In your actions and in your words God is being remembered and through our lives God can call a nation back and bring salvation.

Titus 2:11–15 NLT

For the grace of God has been revealed, bringing salvation to all people. And we are instructed to turn from godless living and sinful pleasures. We should live in this evil world with wisdom, righteousness, and devotion to God, while we look forward with hope to that wonderful day when the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed. He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds. You must teach these things and encourage the believers to do them. You have the authority to correct them when necessary, so don’t let anyone disregard what you say.

We have to be people who remember God and in doing so we can be instruments of His salvation.