From the Burning Bush to Burnout
Series: Burning Bushes and Burnouts • Sermon • Submitted
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· 8 viewsAnyone can find themselves in the middle of burnout. Even Moses, after all the miracles God performed on his behalf found himself burned out and in need of help. The real question is, will we allow people to speak into our lives when this season comes as Jethro did into Moses’?
Notes
Transcript
Handout
HANDOUTS!!!
1 Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, heard about everything God had done for Moses and his people, the Israelites. He heard especially about how the Lord had rescued them from Egypt.
7 So Moses went out to meet his father-in-law. He bowed low and kissed him. They asked about each other’s welfare and then went into Moses’ tent.
8 Moses told his father-in-law everything the Lord had done to Pharaoh and Egypt on behalf of Israel. He also told about all the hardships they had experienced along the way and how the Lord had rescued his people from all their troubles.
9 Jethro was delighted when he heard about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel as he rescued them from the hand of the Egyptians.
10 “Praise the Lord,” Jethro said, “for he has rescued you from the Egyptians and from Pharaoh. Yes, he has rescued Israel from the powerful hand of Egypt!
11 I know now that the Lord is greater than all other gods, because he rescued his people from the oppression of the proud Egyptians.”
12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God. Aaron and all the elders of Israel came out and joined him in a sacrificial meal in God’s presence.
INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
I Love What God is Doing at New Life!
I Love What God is Doing at New Life!
I am thankful for Pastor Ed and Janet
Loved Matt Baker’s Testimony from two weeks ago
If you missed it, you can listen online
If you have a testimony (story) of what God has done in your life through our “21 Days to Overflow,” let us know!
Every story will be different!
What’s Your Story/Testimony from our recent 21 Days to Overflow? Email us at prayer@newlifepolson.com and let us know.
A Lot’s Been Happening in Our World!
A Lot’s Been Happening in Our World!
Briefly talk about what’s been going on lately
:) Remember when I asked the other week, “How would you explain to someone who just woke up from a coma all that’s transpired in the last year?”
Well, I just read a headline the other day, “Man wakes up from 11-month coma, as family weighs how to explain pandemic to him”
But here’s the real kicker—while he was in a coma, he came down with Covid twice!
With all the changes taking place all around us, it’s nice to know that there is still one thing that that we can rely on no matter who’s in office or who win’s today’s Super Bowl...
The Word of God!
So, I gotta ask...
How Do You Read Your Bible?
How Do You Read Your Bible?
Every year, I like to do a daily Bible reading plan (listening).
Listening gives me more freedom...
When I’m in the shower
In the car
Before I go to bed (actually helps me sleep better!)
Lots of ways to listen...
Bible app
Easiest because it has built-in reading plans that take you right to the daily passages
Online
Audible (my preference)
Or just pull out an old-faithful and start reading!
If you need one, we’ll give you one.
Just ask at the info booth!
Talk about how going through the Bible helps me see the story of God’s great...
love
grace
and yes-judgment
in a world full of imperfect people just like you and me
The Bible Puts It All on the Line!
Talking with Melissa about the Bible not covering up the sins and mistakes of the people, yet God still loved and used them for His great plan.
What Bible reading plan do you find helpful? Do you need help in finding one?
One such person happens to be the guy that I seem to be drawn to the most...
MOSES: The Man Who Knew God Face to Face
MOSES: The Man Who Knew God Face to Face
Talk about imperfect, the Bible is brutally honest in telling us that Moses...
Came from a split family
Born Hebrew, raised by Egyptians
Had a stuttering problem
Was impulsive
Was a murder
He was FAR from perfect!
Yet...
Even with all his imperfections, he was humble, and God still used him in the most unimaginable ways!
10 Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face,
11 who did all those signs and wonders the Lord sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land.
12 For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
Moses had such an incredible relationship with the Lord that God reveled His name to him.
2 And God said to Moses, “I am Yahweh—‘the Lord.’ 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty’—but I did not reveal my name, Yahweh, to them.
Talk about why I love and identify with Moses so much
:) Moses at Disneyland
I can’t wait to talk with Moses when I get to Heaven!
I wonder if he will have a handler like the Princess’ do at Disneyland.
For Moses, his relationship with God started out spectacularly with…
The Burning Bush
The Burning Bush
We find this story in...
1 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai, the mountain of God.
2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up.
3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.”
4 When the Lord saw Moses coming to take a closer look, God called to him from the middle of the bush, “Moses! Moses!” “Here I am!” Moses replied.
7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.
10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”
Talk about the passage
so...
:) Moses goes back to Pharaoh and says… ______________ (Sing it with me)
But...
That’s not the part of the story I want to focus on this morning.
I want to jump past all the incredible faith-inspiring miracles of...
the plagues
the first Passover
crossing the Red Sea
manna and quail from Heaven
and drinking Water from a rock...
And land at the part of the story where Moses meets up again with his father-n-law having just led a group of people the size of Montana through all these miracles.
That’s right… Around 1 Million People!
Because that’s the season of Moses’ journey that I want to focus on this morning.
Moses had had his Burning Bush experience with God.
And later, in the story, He would have other incredible encounters with Him.
But right now, in this season of his life...
1. MOSES WAS ON THE FAST-PATH TO BURNOUT
1. MOSES WAS ON THE FAST-PATH TO BURNOUT
Remember all the incredible things Moses had experienced?
You would think they would be enough to keep him on a spiritual high, even through the tough times in life—right?
We literally get the proverbial “high on the mountain” saying from the story of Moses!
Even though Moses literally had a Burning Bush moment with God, just like us, like happened.
Life and circumstances drastically changed on the road between The Burning Bush and Burnout.
Moses’ job turned from leading the people to the Promised Land to what we would call today “a managerial position.”
Except Moses had to manage a million people!
Can you think of a time in your life where one moment where you were experiencing a “Burning Bush” season in your life and a “Burnout” the next?
Instead of leading the children of Israel, Moses became a fireman, running around putting out the fires of the people.
13 The next day, Moses took his seat to hear the people’s disputes against each other. They waited before him from morning till evening.
14 When Moses’ father-in-law saw all that Moses was doing for the people, he asked, “What are you really accomplishing here? Why are you trying to do all this alone while everyone stands around you from morning till evening?”
15 Moses replied, “Because the people come to me to get a ruling from God.
16 When a dispute arises, they come to me, and I am the one who settles the case between the quarreling parties. I inform the people of God’s decrees and give them his instructions.”
One moment, the people were grumbling and complaining behind his back and the next, they were coming to him for every need.
Someone was sick; they went to Moses to pray for them
Someone got into a fight; they went to Moses to help settle the dispute.
Someone needed counseling; they went to Moses for advice
Someone needed to give a prayer request; they asked Moses to take it to God on their behalf.
Someone stole their goat; they went to Moses to find the guilty and make them pay!
When you think about it, you have to wonder, how did Moses make it this far without completely burning up and burning out?
Moses Had Gone from A Burning Bush Experience with God to A Burned-Out Administrator
Moses Had Gone from A Burning Bush Experience with God to A Burned-Out Administrator
Talk about all that Moses went through to get him to where he was
so...
Jethro takes a look at all the craziness going on and said to his 80-year-old son n law...
:) “Now listen here, you young whipper-snapper, you’re in trouble!”
17 “This is not good!” Moses’ father-in-law exclaimed. 18 “You’re going to wear yourself out—and the people, too. This job is too heavy a burden for you to handle all by yourself.
17 Moses’ father-in-law said, “This is no way to go about it. 18 You’ll burn out, and the people right along with you. This is way too much for you—you can’t do this alone.
Jethro
“Moses, if you keep doing what you are doing, you will burn out!”
That’s bad...
“And you’re going to drag everyone along with you…!”
Even worse!
Not only was he on his way to burnout...
2. MOSES WAS LEADING HIS PEOPLE TO THE SAME CONCLUSION
2. MOSES WAS LEADING HIS PEOPLE TO THE SAME CONCLUSION
Imagine how tired the people must have become having to wait all day and night just to have Moses hear their case, only to be rushed along for the next, and the next, and the next.
:) Movie: A Christmas Story:
Ralphie waiting in line to see Santa.
The people weren’t getting the care or the time they needed because one man was doing the job of literally thousands!
No matter how long or how hard Moses worked...
It Was a Loose/Loose Situation
It Was a Loose/Loose Situation
:) Think about it...
What would the people have done if Moses called in sick for the day?
What would the people have done if Moses accentually fell off the side of the mountain in the middle of his prayer time?
There was absolutely nothing that Moses could have done to make this situation work.
There was absolutely nothing the people could have done to make this situation work.
Could the Lord have stepped in and performed a miracle to make it work—sure!
But He didn’t… Why?
Because...
God Doesn’t Perform Miracles to Keep Us in Destructive Situations
God Doesn’t Perform Miracles to Keep Us in Destructive Situations
What are your thoughts on the statement, “God doesn’t perform miracles to keep us in destructive situations?”
Talk about this statement
If any man could have made this work, surely it would have been Moses—right?
Remember what the Bible said about him in...
10 There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.
11 The Lord sent him to perform all the miraculous signs and wonders in the land of Egypt against Pharaoh, and all his servants, and his entire land.
12 With mighty power, Moses performed terrifying acts in the sight of all Israel.
But...
If Moses could have done all of this on his own, he would have never needed God—and that was never an option.
Moses could no more care for all the people’s needs than he could part the Red Sea on his own.
Not only was Moses on his way to burnout and leading the people off the same cliff, but the most dangerous part of all was also...
3. MOSES COULDN’T SEE THE LAND MINES
3. MOSES COULDN’T SEE THE LAND MINES
Moses had no idea he was burning out!
God could see it coming.
Jethro could see it coming.
Reading the story, we can see it coming!
But Moses couldn’t see it coming.
That’s why...
We Need People in Our Lives to Help Us See the Land Mines
We Need People in Our Lives to Help Us See the Land Mines
Thank the Lord for great Father-n-laws!
Give a shout out to Frank
Thank the Lord for Jethro!
He was older than Moses
He was wiser than Moses
He had been around the block a couple times more than Moses
He loved him
He had Moses’ best intentions
He had an outside vantage point
Thank goodness, Moses was wise enough to listen to him.
All the wisdom would have been meaningless if Moses wouldn't have listened to Jethro.
Talk about why it’s important to have people in our lives who can help us see the land mines ahead of us.
Who do you have in your life that you allow to speak truthfully into your life?
CLOSING
CLOSING
Are you in a “Burning Bush” (Overflow) right now?
That’s great!
Nothing to be ashamed of!
Let’s all rejoice together!
Even if you aren’t, let’s all STAND and give the Lord praise for what He is doing in and around us!
What about you, have you ever experienced your “Burning Bush”?
Give Salvation Call
Maybe, you find yourself more like Moses, on a path towards burnout—or your already there!
I want to take a moment and pray for you.
In just a moment, when we begin to sing, if you want someone to pray for you, we have some people who would be happy to pray for you up here as well or after service.
Next Week
This morning we focused on going from the Burning Bush to Burnout, next week I want to focus on from Burnout to the Burning Bush and share a little of my personal journey in this area with you.
