Untitled Sermon (69)

Case Study of the Life of Moses

Case studies are stories. They present realistic, complex, and contextually rich situations and often involve a dilemma, conflict, or problem that one or more of the characters in the case must negotiate.

A case study is an in-depth study of one person, group, or event. In a case study, nearly every aspect of the subject's life and history is analyzed to seek patterns and causes of behavior. Case studies can be used in various fields, including psychology, medicine, education, anthropology, political science, and social work.

A traumatic childhood

Moses childhood

There is a decree in the land by the King of Egypt

Exodus 1:22 ESV

Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.”

Moses mother saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months.

When she couldn’t hide him anymore she put him in a basket sealed it up so it would float.

She put the child among the reeds by the river bank

Exodus 2:5–6 ESV

Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.”

Cleary there was a difference between Egyptian people and Hebrews…

Exodus 2:7–8 ESV

Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother.

Exodus 2:9–10 ESV

And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.”

Let’s Dive Deeper! Case Study.... (Break into a group)

Exodus 2:11–12 ESV

One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

What do you see that stands out to you?

Moses has developed

He knew who he was…

His culture

His God

His mother instilled in him morals

“He looked on their Burdens”

to look v. — to perceive with attention; direct one’s gaze towards.

He was compassionate

He was aware

“He saw” -

Sight is connected to our senses

Our senses form our perception. Perception is vital to human survival, as our senses help us do things like detect threats, locate food, and communicate with other humans.

Our Thought process has 4 functions:

Perception

Association

Evaluation

Decision making

An Egyptian beating a Hebrew

The cultural tension

“One of his people”

“He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.”

Tell me what do you see?

I see a person who doesn’t mind getting physical…

I see built up aggression

Aggression: hostile or violent behavior or attitudes toward another; readiness to attack or confront.

I see someone angry…

Angry: feeling or showing strong annoyance, displeasure, or hostility; full of anger.

Anger is my friend! (David Kaiser)

First, Anger gives you the energy to confront a threat. Angry people “aren’t going to take it anymore,” they are going to do something to right a wrong or put a stop to an injustice or defend against an attacker, and these people are fired up! That’s important because threats can be scary, and, you know, threatening, and it helps to have the energy that angers gives us to confront them.

Second, Anger helps you to set boundaries. When you find yourself feeling Angry, you know that someone or something just violated your sense of boundaries, your sense of what is right and wrong, and you feel compelled to do something about it.

Lastly, Anger helps you to show others you are serious. Clean Anger, as opposed to blind rage (Anger’s very troublesome twin brother), demonstrates your willingness to confront that threat, to enter into conflict and to stay present.

Discerning anger Vs. Blind rage =

Blind Rage!

There’s a fairly primitive part of our brains that flips into “fight” mode when we feel threatened—even if the threat is only imagined, or if it’s triggered by a total stranger on the internet who happens to disagree with us.

Once this area of the brain takes over, we get angrier and angrier even if nothing changes around us.

THE DISCERNING BRAIN

Where blind rage is all about passing judgment, discerning anger is about making judgments. When our discerning minds experience something that triggers anger, we don’t dive immediately into that river of boiling blood and start biting faces. Instead we take a deep breath and a closer look. We get curious. What are the facts at play in this situation? What really happened? Why are people arguing, and what do they really want?

What do you see that is making you angry?

Discerning anger is vital to my leadership development!