Exodus 3:1-10 Getting unstuck / A Fresh Start / A new vision

Have you ever been stuck? I got my truck stuck 4 times this Spring. I was trying to park my travel trailer behind my house on the yard. I have driven on my grass many times and it was never a problem. But then the circumstances changed. I knew we had a lot of rain, but the sand base looked pretty dry. But underneath the footing was gone. Sure enough I was able get both truck and trailer completely off the pavement when the wheels started to spin. And within moments that truck was going nowhere.

I tried on my own to get out. I pushed – I was still stuck. I dug out the ruts – I was still stuck. I tried putting boards under the tires – I was still stuck.

Other tried to get my unstuck. My neighbor came over to help me push – I was still stuck. A man with a pickup stopped, but he had no way to pull me out. Others good intentions didn’t help.

Finally, another neighbor came by with a four-wheel drive pickup and a tow strap. We attached the strap and out I came. When the right person with the right tools offered help, I got unstuck

Now I subsequently went right onto the grass (another three times) and got restuck every time. It took me a while to learn all there was to learn, but I finally got the trailer out of my backyard and to the side of my house. I finally, achieved a fresh start.

Life is like that too. We get stuck. Sometimes by accident. Sometimes because it is our fault and no better. Sometimes we just misread the circumstances.

And often when we are stuck, we try all types of ways to get unstuck that are doomed for failure. Often only as we exhaust other possibilities do we turn to the one who has the power to pull us out and give us a new start.

Do you need a fresh start this morning?

Perhaps it is s fresh start in life and you need to come to Christ for salvation.

Perhaps it is s fresh start in your Christian walk – putting failures and sin aside and deciding to have a fresh start with Christ

Perhaps you are at a place of hopelessness and need a fresh start by find hope in Christ

Perhaps you in a place of complacency, treading water and you need a fresh start to pour your life into Him, His kingdom, and His mission

Perhaps as a church you need a fresh start / a fresh vison.

Can I say His plan is bigger than our plans. He is seeking to draw people to Himself. He desires to use you in this plan. He desires to give you a fresh start.

He is seeking you out. But will you recognize Him? Will you respond? Will you engage in His plan?

Let’s look at His encounter with a man in the Old Testament. Here we will see what it looks like to get unstuck / to find a fresh start.

Exodus 3. (ESV) Exodus 3 1 Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

Let’s pray

I. A Fresh Start: The Lord God meets us where we are

Text tells us three things about this man

A. A man with a history

Exodus 3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

1. A person who had started with hope

2. A person who had cared

3. A person with unique gifts and experiences

4. A person who was dominated with failure

B. A man in a secure place

Exodus 3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

1. No longer in a risk laden place

2. Comfortable & at home (trusted with flocks)

3. Busy engaged in his vocation

4. Oblivious to what God was wanting to do – settled for what he had become

C. But a man in a wilderness place

Exodus 3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

1. Yet something was wrong -- Hint: Horeb=Desolate Waste – in the desert

2. Imagery of wandering

3. Perhaps had given up on all expectations of God doing much in his life

D. About to have a divine encounter

Exodus 3:1 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

1. unlikely place / timing

E. ***God steps into ‘everyday’ lives to offer a fresh start

II. A Fresh Start: The Lord God reveals Himself

God meets us where we are and reveals Himself as we respond

A. God was already at work around him

2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed.

1. God was at work around him (all along He was continuing to work – for 40 years in the isolation)

2. In the midst of the ordinary / in the midst of the defeats / in the midst of decline

3. Using ordinary means

4. Shows up in an extraordinary way

B. Looked for a response

So he looked (in amazement), and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

1. Moses detected God at work and responded

C. Revealed Himself personally

4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

1. As Moses responds

2. A cycle of revelation and response

3. Individual revelation as respond to the external revelation

D. ***God’s revelation of Himself is tied to our response

We can draw as close to God as we desire

III. A Fresh Start: God reveals who He is

It is not enough to recognize a God exists – must understand who He is

Balance of far / unreachable / holy and the One who desires a relationship with man

A. The powerful God

6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

1. Elohim - The one who has done what you have seen – bush not consumed

2. The creator God

3. Able to do what He wills

B. The Holy God

5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” … And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

1. Altogether other from anything else – set apart – not us – mystery except what He has revealed

2. Unapproachable by sinful man

C. The God desiring relationship

6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.”

1. One who knows people individually / at work individually in lives

2. The God who reached out to Abraham / Isaac / Jacob and worked in their lives – same God at work now – Same power to direct / to redeem

3. The God of His promises – still delivering on them

4. The same God of all generations

5. The God who is the same _Was / Is / Will be

6. The God of covenant promises

D. Our fresh beginning depends on our deep understanding of God – Faith rests in our believing that God is who He says He is

IV. A Fresh Start: God invites us to share in His mission

God has a plan that is more than just about us – He is about redeeming people --- and He desires to use us as part of His plan

A. God is intimately aware of people’s trouble

7And the LORD said, “I have seen clearly seen (inf abs) the humiliation of my people in Egypt, and I have heard their cry of distress at the pressure of their work-bosses. Indeed I know their pain."

1. People in slavery / Suffering – no hope

2. Seen / heard / know

B. God intends to deliver them

. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey

1. When God has empathy He does something about it

2. God is coming down – enter their midst - to deliver them in the midst of their trouble

3. Snatch them out of trouble

4. Contrast from a tight spot (pressure/tight spot/constraint) to a broad land

5. Came down to bring them up

C. God desires for Moses to share His heart

9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.

1. Do you hear the cry / see the oppression like I do

D. God plans to use Moses as the means to deliver

10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

1. God heard and saw

2. God will deliver – through Moses

3. Use Moses to answer their prayer

God invites us to be active and a part of what He is planning to do to redeem and transform those held captive