morning, everyone. We're so glad you're here with us today. Welcome, Smyrna Campus.We love you guys. Glad you're connected there. Everyone is connecting with us online. We're sohappy to have that connection with you as well. Before we begin today, I want us to have a prayer.We've got a group that's just heading out this morning of high schoolers and staff and sponsorsthat are going with them to a week of CIY camp, CIY move. And it's our largest group ever thatwe've sent to.The high school moves. So we want to thank God for that. Let's just thank him first of all for that.But let's pray over them too as they're traveling right now out to Lee University. Father, we justthank you for this group of high schoolers, for their parents that are making sure they'reconnected and involved with something like CIY move. We thank you for our staff and our sponsorsthat are going to help out with this week. We thank you for the CIY crew and their staff andall the good work they do for these conferences.These weeks of camp that they put on all summer long. Father, we pray for safety as they travel. Wepray for friendships to grow and develop within the group. We pray for spiritual heart developmentthrough the programming and the teaching and the music and everything they're going to be doingthis week at CIY move. Father, this is a great time and opportunity for growth and developmentfor their hearts and their minds and their walk with you. We just pray that you would use it toyour glory in Jesus name. Amen.I've joked about this a lot, but it's true. I'm not a great singer. I'll let you know that right upfront. That's why we turn off the mic during the invitation hymn and everything because you don'tneed to hear me sing. It's just not going to help with drawing people to Jesus. But I know it andI'm okay with it. I'm honest with it. And I really don't work at it very much because I really focusmore on preaching and teaching and that kind of thing. That's what I spend my time trying
todevelop more. But back in grammar school, I used to be a teacher. I used to be a teacher. I used tohave a program for a music teacher to come in to our grammar school and we would learn these songsto sing and we would practice them and then we would sing them in programs at school and thingslike that. And you probably did some of that too. Well, I took that pretty seriously back then andI didn't realize I wasn't a good singer. So I would practice at home and everything. And oneday I asked my mom, I said, mom, why do you always stand out on the front porch when I'm practicingfor the school?musical. She said, well, honey, I just want the neighbors to know I'm not beating you.That's not exactly true. Exactly. But that reminds me of this guy who, he's a rough looking guy whocame into a bar one day and he asked the bartender to fix him a drink. And the bartender looked himover and he says, can you actually, do you have any money? Can you pay for the drink? And he said,well, no, I don't actually have any money, but I can show you something like you've never seenbefore if you give me a drink. He said, well, I want to know what it is first. So he reaches inhis pocket and he pulls out this hamster. This hamster runs across the bar, down the side,across the floor and climbs up on the piano there at the bar and starts playing the piano. And it'sreally good. And the bartender says, well, you're right. I've never seen anything like that before.Here's your drink. And the guy drank it down really fast. And he said, can I have another?And he said, well, listen,I know you don't have any money. He already told me that. And I'm sure you don't have anything elseas spectacular as this that you could show me. He says, well, I got one more thing if I could getanother drink for it. He says, okay, if it's really good. So he reaches in his pocket again,he pulls out a frog and he walks over to the piano and he puts the frog on the piano whilethe hamster is there playing. And he walks back
over to the bar and the frog starts singing.And it's great. I mean, it's just every note's right on pitch. Everything's really good.And bartender says,I can't believe it. That frog's amazing singing like that. A guy at the other end of the barruns over. He says, listen, this is all the money I've got with me, $300. I'll give you $300 forthat frog right now. He says, you got a deal. So he takes the $300. The guy takes the frog and heruns out of the bar and the bartender says, man, you're crazy. Why in the world would you sell asinging frog for $300? He's got to be worth a whole lot more than that, right? He says, well,not really. You see, the hamster is actually not only a good piano player, he's also a ventriloquist.I got one more for you. Actually, I got a lot more, but for the sake of time,it's a question for you. A lot of you will know this answer if you're native to Nashville.How do you get an aspiring singer off of your front porch here in Nashville?You pay them for the pizza.Now, why am I talking about singing this morning? It's because we've been in this series in Exodusand the chapter we're coming to you,uh,to,to today. Exodus chapter 15. If you want to be turning there, go ahead and get to that.And Exodus 15 is actually most of this chapter is a song that they sang. That's what takes up mostof the narrative here in Exodus 15. Now we've been leading up to this time. Last week, we finished upwith God leading the people out of Egypt. Remember after the 10th plague and Pharaoh said, go, andthey gave them all the supplies and everything and sent them on their way. They encamped by the shoreof the Red Sea.And, uh, the Egyptian army pursued them. Uh, God through Moses had them, uh, raise up the staff overfor all through the night. He, he brought up this great wind that parted the sea. They crossed overon dry land. And then as the Egyptian army pursued them, he caused the waters to come back over themand drown all of the Egyptian army that was pursuing them. And
now we're picking up withtheir on the other side, safely, the Egyptian army has been destroyed that was pursuing them.And that's where we are here in Exodus 15. Now, if you've been listening to this, you've probablymissed any in this series. They all connect to each other. So you could go back and catch anymessage that you missed. They're archived on our YouTube channel. But I want us to look at Exodus15 today, because I believe there are three main themes, uh, in this song and in the, in the lastpart of this chapter that, that we could see, uh, themes that are talking about God, who God is,and how great God is. It's celebrating the goodness and the grace of God, uh, with thissong that is a response to his deliverance. Uh, so I want to read through chapter 15 one time. Ijust want you to follow with me and then we'll go back and break it down into these three themesthat we see here in this chapter. Okay. So just follow along as I read. Then Moses and theIsraelites sang this song to the Lord. I will sing to the Lord for he is highly exalted, both horseand driver. He has hurled into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my defense. He has become mysalvation.He is my God and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a warrior.The Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots in his army. He has hurled into the sea. The best ofPharaoh's officers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them. They sank to thedepths like a stone. Your right hand, Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, Lord, shatteredthe enemy in the greatness of your majesty. You threw down those who oppose you. You unleash youranger. It consumed them like stubble. By the blast of your nostrils, the waters piled up. Thesurging waters stood up like a wall. The deep waters congealed in the heart of the sea. The enemyboasted, I will pursue you. I will overtake them. I will divide the spoils. I will gorge myself onthem. I will draw my sword and my hand will destroy
them. But you blew with your breath and the seacovered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. Who among the gods is like you, Lord? Whois like you?You are majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders. You stretch out your right handand the earth swallows your enemies. In your unfailing love, you will lead the people you'veredeemed. In your strength, you will guide them to your holy dwelling. The nations will hear andtremble. Anguish will grip the people of Philistia. The chiefs of Edom will be terrified. The leadersof Moab will be seized with trembling. The people of Canaan will melt away. Terror and dread willfall on them. By the power of your arm, they will be as still as a stone. You will be able tobring them in, plant them on the mountain of your inheritance. The place, Lord, you made for yourdwelling, the sanctuary, Lord, your hands established. The Lord reigns forever and ever.When Pharaoh's horses, chariots, and horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought the waters of thesea back over them. But the Israelites walked through the sea on dry ground. Then Miriam, theprophet, Aaron's sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her. She waswith timbrels and dancing. Miriam sang to them, Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. Bothhorse and driver he has hurled into the sea. Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea, and they wentinto the desert of Shur. For three days they traveled into the desert without finding water.When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water, because it was bitter. That is why theplace is called Marah, which in Hebrew means bitter. So the people grumbled against Moses,saying, What are we to drink?Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into thewater, and the water became fit to drink. There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them,and he put them to the test. He said, If you listen carefully to the Lord, your God, and dowhat is right
in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I willnot bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.Then they came to Elam, where they were brought to the desert of Shur, and they were brought to thedesert of Shur, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees, and they camped there nearthe water.Now I want to go back and break this down and look at these main themes that we see. Most of itwithin the song, but some of it applies to God's response there at the end of this chapter.The first theme I see in this song is the theme that has been repeated over and over again,and now is being sung about in praise, and that is the strength of the Lord.The strength of the Lord.Back in verses 1 through 10 again, look at it.I will sing to the Lord, why? Because he's highly exalted. Both horse and driver, he hurled him intothe sea. They sing, the Lord is my strength and my defense. He's become my salvation. He's my God.I'm going to praise him. He's my Father's God. I will exalt him. And then they describe the Lordthis way, the Lord is a warrior. The Lord is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and his army he has hurledinto the sea. The best of Pharaoh's chariots, and his army he has hurled into the sea. The best ofofficers are drowned in the Red Sea. The deep waters have covered them. They sank to the depthslike a stone. And it goes on to talk about his strength. Your right hand, Lord, was majestic inpower. Your right hand, Lord, shattered the enemy. In the greatness of your majesty, you threw downthose who oppose you. You unleashed your burning anger. It consumed them like stubble. By the blastof your nostrils, the waters piled up. The surging water stood up like a wall. The deep waterscongealed in the heart of the sea. The enemy boasted that I will pursue you. I will overtakethem. I will divide the spoils. I will gorge myself on them. I will draw my sword and my handwill destroy them. But you
blew your breath and the sea covered them. They sank like leadin the mighty waters. The strength of the Lord. In this Exodus narrative, we've been going throughweek by week. We've been seeing God has a plan, remember? And his plan is for his glory.But it's also for our good. And God had sent Moses and Aaron there to Egypt to go before Pharaoh.Now, Pharaoh, remember Pharaoh at that time, Egypt is the most powerful nation on the earth. It hadbeen for a while at that point. They controlled more territory. They had more wealth. They hadmore resources than any other peoples around them. They were mighty powerful. And people looked atEgypt. They were mighty powerful. And they were mighty powerful. And they were mighty powerful.Egypt, as if this is a nation that could never fall, could never be overcome. They are so mighty,this nation of Egypt at this time. And they were oppressing the people of God. Now,God had allowed it to happen. It was part of the discipline of God for his people. Butat this time, God decides in his plan for his glory and in his plan that's good for his people,he decided it's time to deliver my people from this oppression and this bondage. And when Goddecided to do that, he decided to do it. And he did it. And he did it. And he did it. And he did it.And he did it. And he did it. And he did it. And he did it. And he did it. And he did it. And he did it.It was as powerful. And God decided to act. This great, powerful nation of Egypt,this Pharaoh who thought of himself as a God, decided to go up against the God of the Israelites.Thinking they were so powerful. Thinking they were so strong. Thinking they had all the advantagein any battle against anyone, anywhere, anytime. And God says to that Pharaoh in that nation,let my people go.and he remember the question he asked who is the lord that i should obey himand when god answers pharaoh's question part of the answer is i am the god who really has the powerwho really has all the strength all the advantage
all the resources at my control under my lordshipit all comes under me pharaoh and he begins to plague after plague show pharaoh how useless hisgods are how useless their resources were that they had piled up how quickly all of that couldbe taken away how quickly they could lose everything that made them what they thoughtwas so great and so powerful he was demonstrating that the real strength is the lord's it's thelord's friends that's a theme we need to hear again today isn't ityoui'm so thankful i've talked about this a few times in this series and i want to remind all of us howblessed we are to live in the united states of america what the blessings we have are justimmeasurable they really are the resources at our disposal it's amazing the resources that we havedisposal we have great military might we have great resources for education and food andshelter and all those things it's amazing all that is herein america and a lot of men and women have sacrificed over the years for theus to have that and they've not always done everything right it's not always been good butwe are so blessed to be living where we live having all of the resources of the strength ofthe united states of america at our disposal it's it's a pretty amazing thing but it's in the middleof that kind of setting that god's people often forget where the real power is where the realstrength is in fact especially in an election year we start thinking the real power is and whogets elected here right the real power and who's going to be the president who's going to controlcongress because that's where the power is that's where the strength is that's where that's where wecan have our security is in that and people have different opinions right about who that ought tobe but the idea is that's where the strength is that's where the power is is in thisis in thispolitical struggle that's going on right now and i've said before christians ought to be involvedin politics and we ought to take our beliefs our
scriptural scripturally grounded beliefs intohow we vote and how we support canada that's a great thing to do as christians but we need tounderstand that politician is not where your strength is i don't care which side of the aisleyou're on that politician is not where your strength isis that political party is not where our strength is not for us personally and not for our nationas a nation that's not where our strength is and the israelites when they get to the other sideof the red sea and they see god take the most elite powerful fighting force on the earth atthat time and just pulls the sea over them and drowns them and destroys themjust like that what a great visual reminder that the lord is the one who holds the strengthof all the world of all of creation of all that exists it is the lord who has all of the strengthabove all of those things all of those people all of those nations all of those institutionsthat is the lord who has strength greater than any of those things and all of those thingsso as god's people today we need to start remembering again that the strength we needfor the life god wants us to have to represent him well to live the life he wants us to live todemonstrate his goodness and his holiness the strength we need is found in him and nowhere elsehe is the one that we need to turn to i love how david praised god in that way in first chronicles29of verse 10 david praised the lord in the presence of the whole assembly saying praise me to you lordthe god of our father israel from everlasting to everlasting right the eternal nature of godthat's part of his strength yours lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and themajesty and the splendor for everything in heaven and on earth is yours yours lord is the kingdomyou are exalted as head over all wealth and honor come from you you are the ruler of all thingsin your hands are strength and power to exalt and to give strength to all now our god we give youthanks and praise your glorious name
and we as his people need to be crying out that kind of praiseto god today too that was a theme of this song in response to what god had done for them now eventhough i'm not a good singer i'm so thankful god says make a joyful noise right all of us need tobe making a joyful noise and praise to the lord in the presence of the lord in the presence of thestrength of our lord see we can rest secure no matter what happens politically in this electioncycle we can rest secure not because our person did or did not get elected or has control ofcongress after all the elections are over we can rest assured and our safe care and keeping in thehands of a god who has all strength all power all authority all control that'swhere we find our security our strength now that's good because here's the thing the rest of thelandscape will change it's always changing if our hope is in those things how secure is that hope ifit's always changing it's not very secure is it but if we rest our hope in the one who never changeswho has all power and all authority and all strength and control then we can always restsecure and strong no matter what the landscape is doing around usno matter what's happening not only nationally but around the world and not only that but in ourown houses we can still rest strong in his strength not in our own sometimes we start thinking we'vegot more strength than we do and if you ever think you're really in control of anything just give ita week we don't really have control we're not supposed to have control we're supposed to putour trust in the one who is powerful enough to control all thingsand so we have to be strong in his strength and we have to be secure and secure in his strengthwell these things are all connected the first thing of course is the strength of the lord whata great theme to be singing praises about the next theme i see in this song is the personalreign of the lord who has that strength let's pick up again in verse 11 because now he's notjust
talking about the individual strength of the lord he's talking about the scope of his reignas a lord who has that strengthWHO AMONG THE GODS IS LIKE YOU, LORD?WHO IS LIKE YOU, MAJESTIC IN HOLINESS,AWESOME IN GLORY, WORKING WONDERS?YOU STRETCH OUT YOUR RIGHT HAND,THE EARTH SWALLOWS YOUR ENEMIES.IN YOUR UNFAILING LOVE,YOU WILL LEAD THE PEOPLE YOU'VE REDEEMED.IN YOUR STRENGTH, YOU WILL GUIDE THEMTO YOUR HOLY DWELLING.LISTEN TO THIS PART.THE NATIONS WILL HEAR AND TREMBLE.ANGUISH WILL GRIP THE PEOPLE OF PHILISTIA.THE CHIEFS OF EDOM WILL BE TERRIFIED.THE LEADERS OF MOAB WILL BE SEIZED WITH TREMBLING.THE PEOPLE OF CANAN WILL MELT AWAY.FEAR AND TERROR AND DREAD WILL FALL ON THEM.BY THE POWER OF YOUR ARM,THEY WILL BE AS STILL AS STONEUNTIL YOUR PEOPLE PASS BY, LORD,UNTIL YOUR PEOPLE PASS BY.YOU WILL PLANT THEM, HE SAYS.YOU WILL BRING THEM INAND PLANT THEM ON THE MOUNTAIN OF YOUR INHERITANCE.THE PLACE, LORD, YOU MADE FOR YOUR DWELLING,THE SANCTUARY, LORD, YOUR HANDS ESTABLISHED.THE LORD REIGNS FOREVER AND EVER.THE PERSONAL REIGN OF THE LORDIS NOT, EVEN THEN, LISTEN,WAS NOT JUST FOR ISRAEL.THE PERSONAL REIGN OF THE LORDWAS OVER ALL THE NATIONS,ALL THE LANDS,ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH.SEE, HE RULES AND REIGNSNOT JUST FOR THIS SMALL GROUP,THOUGH IT WAS A PRETTY LARGE GROUP,RELATIVELY SPEAKING,THERE WERE HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ISRAELITES AT THAT TIME,BUT WORLDWIDE, OF COURSE,THERE ARE MANY MORE PEOPLE,BUT GOD'S REIGN AND RULE AND HIS STRENGTHIS OVER THE WHOLE WORLDAND ALL OF CREATIONAND EVERYTHING THAT HAD EVER BEEN CREATED.THAT'S WHAT THEY'RE SINGING PRAISES TOIN THIS PART OF THE SONG,THAT HIS REIGN IS OVER ALL THINGS,THE PERSONAL REIGN OF THE LORD.LISTEN, HE LISTS SOME OF THESE.WHY DOES HE LIST THESE PEOPLE, ALL RIGHT?Philistia, the chiefs of Edom,the leaders of Moab,the people of Canaan, you know why?Because on their journey to the Promised Land,guess where they're going?They're going through the landswhere all those people were,where all those nations existed,where all
those rulers had territory they ruled over.And he's telling them in advancethrough this demonstration of his power,Egypt was the most powerful nation on earth.Don't you think I've got powerover these other nations as well?I just showed you that Egyptcould not stand up against my power, my strength.There's no nation on earth that can.So as they start singing praises,they start realizing,look at all these other people around us hereand all the land that we're going in right now.They don't have an opportunity.They don't have the ability.They don't have the resourcesor the strength or the power that our God has.Our God reigns over those territories too.So we can walk in with confidence.We can travel through with assurance of God's reign.Now that's a good reminder to have.I'm so glad they're singing that part of the praise.Now they're not always going to remember that welllike they should.As they go to those places.They're going to have moments of doubt and fearthat come up again.But isn't it great that they've got this song nowin their head that they sang to Godthat they can go back to and remember.Oh yeah.The Lord's strength was greater than Egyptand Egypt was the most powerful nation on earth.And here we are facing Moab.And here we are facing all these up list you.And here we are the Philistines.And here we are facing all these other people.And they're going to need to remember.Oh yeah, God.God reigns over them too.He reigns over all the earth.And that's important for us todaybecause there are things you face,maybe you're facing right now,that seem awfully big and awfully hard.And you don't see, you can't seehow in the world you're going to get through this.Or somebody you love that's going through somethingthat you care about deeply.It looks like it's so deep and so darkand so powerful.So hard to get through.How in the world are we going to get through that?And that's when we come together on Sundaysand we sing these praises.I love the song that they included
todaythat we sang here at the Antioch campusabout the Egypt deliverance, about the exodus.I love that because it's a reminderas we sing these praises,we are reminding ourselveslike when they sang these praises,they would remind themselves.Oh yeah, God's reign covers that stuff.That hard stuff, that deep stuff,that stuff that brings so much fear and challengeand pain sometimes into our lives.He reigns over those things too.His strength and His power is not limitedto just certain areas or certain peopleor certain circumstances.That reign covers everything in your lifeand everything in my life.He rules over all of those things.And so we don't have to faceany of it.It doesn't mean we don't ever get afraid.People, God understands that we get scared sometimes.That's why He talks about the answer to our fearsbecause He knows we're going to have those fears.It doesn't mean we're not ever going to hurt or feel pain.God knows we're going to feel hurt and painand we're going to be scaredand we're going to struggle with the things,the challenges, the mountains that we see in front of us.He understands that.That's why we have a record like thisof a song of praise to the reign of God.So that we will remember who it isthat's got us in the palm of His hand.He rules and reigns over all of those areasthat we struggle so much with in our lives.So the key is not that we're not ever going to be afraid.That's not what He's doing for us here.What He's doing for us here is saying,when you get scared, run to me.You run to me.I have the power.I have the strength.I reign over the thing that you are afraid of.I love there's a contemporary Christian songthat's been out a little while now, a few years,but I love one of the lyrics in there.It says,the things that I'm afraid of are afraid of youas he's singing to God.Isn't that the truth?The things we get scared about,they're afraid of God.That's exactly what this song of praise is saying.That all of these people will tremble at God,before
God,and His power and His strength and His reignover all things.The things that we're afraid of, even today,those things that we're afraid of God.So let's run to Him.Let's find our shelter in Him,our security in Him,our safety in Him.But then I want to close with the last thingthat's really connected to the last part of this chapter,after all of the singing.I love the fact, by the way,that we have Miriam, the prophet, Aaron's sister,who's on this journey with them.Aaron's sister came with them,and Miriam is a prophet of God,and Miriam picks up the timbreland begins to play it and sing it.I don't even know what a timbrel is, right?But it's a lot likewhat we have today as a tambourine, all right?It was a lot like that.It was a circle,and they had metal cymbal-type things attached to it.As they hit it, it would make noise and sing.And sometimes they would stretch animal skins over it,like the tambourines we have todayhave the head on it, like a drum head.And she was singing that and playing that,and other ladies jumped in and joined in.I love that this Miriam just,it's like she just took the lead, right?They probably didn't have a lead pastor selected yet,and so they decided, Miriam decided,well, you know, we don't have anybody leading this thing.I'll get up, I'll lead.And Miriam joins up, and when she gets up and does it,all the other ladies start jumping in there too, right?Let's sing together, let's praise God together.And I love that they have just this time of praise and singing.So here's what I want you to know.Before we get to this last thing,I just want to remind you,because some people look at it this way.When we assemble on Sundays as the church,here at Lakeshore, but all around the world,when the church assembles,there are people who kind of look at the song part of itas a prelude to the rest.And so you're not getting into the auditorium when it starts,and you're kind of just waiting,and some people are just coming in, you know,when the preacher gets
started,because that's really, you know, I came in for the lesson,so I'm going to come in for the preaching time,and I'm glad you're serious about that,and you want to take notes, and that's a good thing.But friends, our God is worthy of us praising Him in song.That's something we need to participate in.We need to be part of.Throughout history, God's people,how did they offer praise to God?Not just with song, but singing was a huge part,and playing instruments was a huge partof how they showed worship and adoration and praise to God.And the scripture is clear.God is pleased with that.He loves that.He encourages that in His Word.That's why so much of scripture is calling on usto praise Him that way.That's why so many examples of that.In fact, in the early church, they had to be carefulbecause they might be, once persecution started,so they had to be a little bit more secretiveon where they were going to beand how much noise they were making and all that.But in almost every account, when they met together,they sang as a part of why they assembled together.It was a part of their offering of praise to God.So I know, like me,I'm not a great singer,so my leaning might be not to participate so much in that, right?Maybe you feel that way about yourself.But what God wants for our singingis not that we're on pitch every timeand hit every note perfectly,though that sounds beautiful,and I love people that can do that.I'm so thankful for thosewho do a great job leading us in that way.But it's about your heart crying out in praise to God.I'll bet,I'll bet of the hundreds of thousands of Israelitessinging on the shore of the Red Sea,a lot of them couldn't sing well either.But this wasn't about the performance.This was about the praise.And so we need to be sure we are a peoplethat are a people of praise.Now, we don't need to just call that part the worship either.There's two extremes.Some people just call the singing part the worship,and then the other part's the other part,
right?Well, all of it is worship.What I'm doing right now is worship.If you're listening, that's worship.If you're taking it in,if you're letting it transform youand your heart and your mind,that's worship too.But so is the singing.That's part of the worship.So is the playing of the instruments.That's part of the worship of God.And our worship then goes even beyond that, doesn't it?I hope it does.We come around the Lord's table.That's worship, isn't it?But when we pick up our thingsand we head out,the door,what should that be to?Worship.It's all worship.Our whole lives are being given to Godas a living sacrifice.That's our spiritual act of worship.But don't leave out the praise and song.Don't leave out the singingand the playing of the instruments.Make that part of the totality of how we worship Godand offer Him the praise that He's so worthy to receive.Well, let's look at this last part real quicklyas we see another thing.As I read it, think about this theme.The steadfast kindness of the Lordis the third theme today.The steadfast kindness of the Lord.Pick up with verse 20.This is where Miriam the prophet,Aaron's sister, took a timbrel in her hand.All the women followed her with timbrels and dancing.Miriam sang to them,Sing to the Lord, for He's highly exalted.Both horse and driver, He's hurled into the sea.So that kind of finishes up that experienceof praising God in song.And then it says in verse 22,Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea.They went into the desert of Shur.For three days they traveled in the desertwithout finding water.Now, you have to remember at this point,they've been traveling for a little while.Remember when they left Egypt,what did the Egyptians do for them?They gave them a lot of supplies.But they're traveling.They can't carry everything they're going to needfor this whole trip.They can't carry that volume.They can't carry that volume.They can't carry that amount of everythingthat they're going to need for the whole trip.After three more
days of this trip out of the desert,what are they running out of?Water.They're running out of water.Now, the word translated desert there,more accurately translated, deserted area,deserted place, okay?Barren place.Of course, what we call a desert today is that way, right?It's very barren.It's very dry.And they have areas like thatthat they were traveling through there too.But it's more than just dry,it's more than just dry and dusty.It's no place to go get something, right?You can't just hop down the road a few hundred feetand find a stream or something.Not in this area.This area didn't have that.So now they've traveled three days into the desertand they're getting thirstyand they can't find any water there.Verse 23,Can you imagine how disappointing that was?They're running out of water.They finally get to a place.Oh, look, there's water here.We're saved, isn't it great?There's water here.And somebody, I don't know who they put first, right?Hey, Bubba, try that.See how that water is.Somebody steps up and tries the waterand they realize it's not good for drinking.Now, we all know there are water sourcesthat aren't okay to drink.Even though they're there, even though they are available,they're not going to be good for you to drink.We all know that about certain water sources today,that this water,for whatever reason, was contaminated in some way,that it wasn't drinkable water.It wasn't good for them to drink this water.And that had to be one of the most disappointing things.After traveling that far,not finding any water anywhere else,they finally find some waterand it's not good for them to drink.what's their response?They just sang about what?The strength of the Lord.They just sang about what?The reign of the Lord.Right?His strength is greater than any other nations,any other people.He reigns over everything.All people everywhere, all the land,everywhere around us.God reigns all over all that.So, what do they do when they can't find water?They find water and they
can't drink this water.What do they do?They complain.Yeah.All of a sudden, instead of turning to who?They're turning to who?Moses.Like so many Christ followers today,instead of turning to Godor turning to their political candidateor to their bank accountor to this program or these people,instead of turning to God himself.Right?that we're looking for the answersto the problems and challenges that we face.Sometimes, in our lives, we have times,moments of water is there, but we can't drink it.It's not good for us.So, what do we do then?Where do we turn?Who do we turn to?And is our first response grumbling and complainingor is our first response to think,but the God I serve,I need to praise him even in this?because i know he has rule and reign and strength and power and control even over thissadly for most of us all of us probably that's not normally our first response isit needs to become more the first response as the people of god that when we face those timeswhere we are disappointed with what's going on we still praise god anyway we turn to him we seek himwe acknowledge him first well the people grumbled against moses i the hebrew word there grumbled isan interesting word i'll take more time with it as we go through because this happens a lotwith israel and it happens a lot with us but this grumbling means a little bit like what we todaycall gossip all right it's where there's this whispering and complaining behind the scenesagainst mosesthey're all getting all worked up and you know what it's like when you're not happy with somethingsometimes even at church probably not at lakeshore but sometimeseven at church something we don't like is happening or they didn't do something wewanted to do or they knew the way we wanted to do it and and so instead of going tothe person that maybe could give us the right answers we start recruiting trying to find outif other people are upset too sowe can recruit our team together and put our team together to go up against whoeverwe
think should take care of this for us more churches have suffered divisionand splits because people grumbled behind the scenes and recruited their own teamsto go up against the leaders at the church i've never experienced it i'm joking i'm beingsarcastic i have certainly experienced it as a pastor many timesin fact statistics are showing that more and more pastors are leaving the ministry than everbefore and the number one reason they're giving for it is the grumbling and complaining of thepeople behind the scenes this hebrew word describes exactly what's going on it's thei'm discontent and i'm not going to be quiet about it but i'm not going to actuallygo to the people that could give me the answers or if i do and they don't give me the answersi want then i'm going to go back and recruit my team right to try to get my way when it says theygrumbled against moses it doesn't even mean they went and had a nice meeting with moses directlyand talked to him about it means they're grumbling behind the scenes they're fussing andwell moses knows that they're doing that in verse 25 moses cried out to the lord where does moses gowith this to the lord where are we supposed to go with these things to the lord moses cried out tothe lord and lord showed him a piece of wood he threw it into the water now when it says it showedhim a piece of wood it doesn't mean that's all he did look moses there's a piece of wood we're justhe said you put the wood in the water moses that's what's going to take care of thisso he didn't just show him the wood that word show means he he showed him the revelation ofwhat to do with the wood okay so he showed him the wood he threw it in the water and the waterbecame fit to drink that doesn't tell us a whole lot about the response after thatof the people sometimes even when god provides we enjoy it in the moment when we're in the waterbut then we move right on with our lives without offering him the thanks and the praiseand the glory that he ought to
have how many times has moses seen god deliver in times oftrouble he's seen it over and over again right so he goes to god again knowing the history with godto do that but let me ask you how many times have we seen god get us through things the fact thatyou're here today or you're listening online today or you're at the smyrna campus today the fact thatyou're helping god today in the assembly of his people as the church means that god has gotten usthrough everything to this point or we wouldn't be here he has shown his faithfulness over and overand over and over again how many times does it take to take in our hearts and our mindsto settle it for us in our hearts and our minds that he's the one we run to he's the one thathas the answer he's the one that willprovide he's the one that will care it may not be how we thought remember we said god's got thisplan and it's for his glory and it's for our good but here's something else about the planit most likely most often won't look like we thought it was going to lookdo you think when moses saw that the water wasn't good to drink his first thought wasi wonder if there's a good piece of wood to throw in there of course not he wasn't thinking thatbecause that didn't look like he thought it should look that wasn't the answer he wouldhave come up with on his ownit wasn't the plan that he would have thought hey there's a good plan let's throw some wood in thewater but god had his own plan and his own way to provide for his own people just like he does forus today it may not look like we think it's going to look it may not turn out the way we thought itwas going to turn out but there will be a good plan that brings glory to god and it's good forhis people we have to remember to trust the god who has the steadfast kindnesssee that's what we're seeing here look at look at this then he issued a ruling god didof instruction for them put them to put them to the test he said if you will listen carefully tothe lord your god do what
is right in his eyes if you pay attention to his commands and keep allhis decrees i will not bring on you any of the diseases i brought on the egyptians for i am thelord who heals you what god is saying is this he's reminding them listen to me please if you'll justlisten to me and listen means not only hear but what take it in and apply it right it's like whenmy dad used to say randy did you hear me he wasn't asking me if i heard the noise i heard the soundof his voice he's asking me i know you heard me so why aren't you doing what i just told you to doright so god is saying please listen to me why because when you listen to god and you followhis teaching and his decrees the lord will not bring on you any of the diseases i brought onthe measure of his word and His instructions can bring all kinds of things because he saidlook at it what he's saying i bought came out of his hands so that they could command becausenoah nutrition can no deliver but as i will ask you to tell me why are youtalking things to me that right to me and my role here at home for the love and guidance of God bywas steadfast for them now he took him through a hard place but he took him to what a beautifulblessed place when he got him through the hard place knows exactly what we need when we needit he knows not only how to provide but in his kindness he wants to provide for his childrenhe wants us to be blessed he wants us to be cared for in romans 2 verse 4 paul speaks to the kindnessof god this way or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness forbearance and patiencenot realizing that god's kindness is intended intended to lead you to what repentancesee when god plopped them down in elam with 12 springs and 70 palm trees he wanted the kindnessthat he showed them to lead them to turn back to him again and stop their complainingstart realizing they could trust god again that god was going totake them back to him again and stop their complainingcare of them in every way and don't you
understand that god's been kind to youhe's been kind to me if god had not been steadfast in his kindness to me i would have been destroyeda long time ago and so would you we would have been lost forever but he's been steadfast andextending his kindness to us giving us every chance to come back to him again and put our trustin him and theephesians letter paul says this in ephesians 2 beginning with verse 1speaking to those of us who have experienced the kindness of god and jesus he says thisas for you you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live when youfollowed the ways of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air the spirit who's nowat work and those who are disobedient that wasn't me look at verse 3 all of us also lived among themat one time gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughtslike the rest we were by nature deserving of what i'll say it again people listen to me don't askgod to give you what you deserve i don't i learned a long time ago not to ask god to give me what ideserve because all of us at one time were deserving of god's what wrath why because ofour sin and our rebellion against god but look at verse 4 but because of his great love for usgod who is rich in mercy made us alive in christ even when we were dead in transgressions it's bygrace you've been saved and god raised us up with christ seated us with him in the heavenly realmsin christ jesus in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his graceexpressed in his kindness to us in christ jesus i want you to understand a part of this verse thatyou may miss it says in verse 6 god raised us up with him in the heavenly realms in christ jesusraised us up with christ what tense is he talking about there past tense if you are already inchrist you've already received the grace and the kindness of god that he offered to you throughjesus then he has already done this for you and for me paul's writing to people
who already arechristians who already know jesus and follow jesus he's saying god raised us up with christand he has already seated us up with him in the heavenly realms in christ jesus and he has alreadyin the heavenly realms with christ jesus we already have a place there with jesusit's already guaranteed it's already set it's already waiting on us it's alreadya reality for us in christ jesus we're already raised up and seated at the right hand of jesusin heaven talk about eternal life always as christians i hear it all the time in the churchi have this habit of doing it too like eternal life comes after we diebut if you know jesus today you already have what eternal life it's already yours it's a done dealjesus has already accomplished all that needed to be accomplished so now what we're doing isnot trying to earn eternal life what have we already got we can't earn eternal life whyshouldn't we keep striving to earn eternal life we can't do that but we already have it becauseof the kindness of god expressed in christ jesus so now what we're doing is living out our responsetowhat jesus has already done for us for the kindness that god has already shown us for thestrength and the faithfulness of the god that we serve for the reign of god over us and over ourlives we're supposed to be living out our response now to what god has done for us in christ whatdoes that look like it's living a life worthy of the calling we've received in jesus it's liftingup jesus to a world that so desperately needs to know him and come to follow him and to livewith him and follow him it's being representatives of jesus ambassadors for jesus the one who's beenso kind to us we want other people to know about this jesus you see god's plan for israel was thatthey'd be that set apart people remember who showed forth the praises of god the god whodelivered them that was the purpose for israel and that was just a looking ahead and a foreshadowingof god's purpose for the church todayit is the
church the people of god today that have this covenant with god through jesushe wants us to be the people that represent well jesus to the world and if we lift up jesus jesusmade this promise if i am lifted up i will draw all people to me may we be people who lift upjesus let's pray father we thank you we thank you that as we see this song of praise in exoduswe see a people that have just been delivered and they're so gratefuland their immediate response is to give you thanks and praise but father so quicklyin our flesh we forget at the first sign of trouble or problem we return to all the wrongplaces for help help us to always know we can run to you that you want us to run to you thatyou welcome us running to you and our struggles and our problemsthe things that challenge the things that hurt the things that leave us empty because you're theone that can fill and heal and restore anything and all that was lost and more father we thank youthat we have you to run to i pray that for someone today hearing this message who's readyto let go of their own striving and accept your offer of the kindness of your heart and your lovetoward us through jesus christ and we pray that you would be with us in this moment and we praythat you would be with us in this moment and we pray that you would be with us in this momentthat today even today they would run to you and there they would find the salvation they'relonging for it's in jesus name that we pray amen we stand and sing today we invite you to come rightup front if you have a decision you need to make let's all stand and sing togetherHey man, everybody have a seat please.Mary, come on up here with me.Mary comes up today.She's a long-term member here at Lakeshore.She's going to be having some surgery a week from Wednesday.We're going to be praying for that, of course.But Mary also comes just to make our total recommitment of our life to the Lord.We're so thankful that she is ready to take that step of commitment, a recommitment
of our life to Jesus.And, you know, there are times where we all just need to renew that commitment, just, you know, really come back and make that anew again.In fact, it's an ongoing thing that we all need in our lives to come back and make that commitment strong again.And many of you could probably remember when you first came to know and follow Jesus, how excited you were when you did that.Maybe we need to get back to that again, right?Back to that excitement, that fervor, that commitment level that we were at when we made that decision.So let's pray with Mary right now.Father, we just lift up Mary to you.We thank you for her love for you.We pray, Father, for your covering for her as she looks for the surgery coming up.We pray for the medical team that will be working with her for her family and their concerns.We pray for her and, Father, we just pray for success with the surgery and that you would receive praise and glory for that.Father, we thank you for her commitment, her recommitment of her life, her whole life to you, Father.She surrenders it completely to you.And she wants to be the person that you can look to to know that she's going to be faithful in representing you well in the world.Help her, Father.Strengthen her with that.Renew her confidence and the power and the presence and the provision of your strength.Renew her spirit that dwells in her.It's our prayer in Jesus' name.Amen.God bless you.Thank you, Mary.This time, Dr. Ed's going to come and lead us in a time of communion.We're so glad that you're here with us today.It's a joy to have this assembly time together.And believe it or not, we're just a week or two weeks away.We're away from most schools starting back up.And we've got a lot of teachers that are getting ready for that.They're preparing their classrooms and all that.And we wanted to take some time today for the teachers that are part of our Lakeshore family who are attending with us here today to recognize you, pray for you.And we have a
little gift that we want to give you to help you in preparing for this next school year.So any teachers, please stand up where you are.Any teachers that we have in the service today, would you come up front here with us, please?Come on up.Thank you.Come right on up here, guys.All right.We are so grateful for our teachers and all that you do.We have these gifts for you.It's just a little gift to help you out because we know teachers are known for having to take money out of your own pocket to get supplies and things that you need for your classroom.And we wanted to help you with that and just bless you in some way with that.Now, do we have any teacher assistants here today, too, because you help out in the classrooms, too?Any teachers assistants with us today?All right.Well, I want us to pray over these teachers.We'll do this again in our second service with any teachers that we have present.But I want you to know we love and appreciate what you do.It's a hard job, but it's a job that really impacts the lives of young people in a powerful way.Tell us what grade you teach.Sixth grade math.God bless you.And sixth grade math is the last thing I wanted to learn, right?All right.What about you?What grade?Second.Second grade.Young lives, you're molding.What about you?NinthNinth grade.Oh, my goodness.We got a good spectrum here.Ninth grade, they're getting into that.Whoa, boy.I love young people, but they can be a challenge, can't they?And I'm thankful for the heart of teachers that are willing to invest time and effort and energy into helping to mold young lives in the direction they're going to go in life.Let's pray over them right now.Father, we thank you for these teachers, for the love they have for you and for the children that they teach.Father, we know they face great challenges.The world around.The world around our kids today is a different world that is just full of so many distractions and challenges and things that could hurt or harm or destroy their lives.And
teachers have such a huge role to play, impact in their lives.I pray that you would be with these teachers, guide and direct them, give them wisdom and discernment.Refresh them, Father, with the energy and the joy that only you can provide, even on those hardest of days in the classroom and preparing to be in the classroom.Father, I pray that they would know they are loved and cared for by this church and that we will pray for them throughout the school year.In Jesus' name we pray.Amen.God bless you.Thank you.want you to know if you want to continue your worship today through the giving of offerings, we have offering boxes available.One in the back of the auditorium mounted on a pole there.One in the hallway as you exit mounted on a post there.You can drop your offerings in the top slot of those boxes.You can also give online at lakeshorechristian.com or scan the QR code.There in your bulletin shell, it will take you to that page to give online.And of course, you can mail in your offerings to the church office.We're so grateful for your offerings, honoring God and supporting the work and the ministry of the church.Don't forget those kids that just traveled today.They're going to the C.I.Y. conference.Be praying for them all week long.Now I'm going to ask Jeremy to come on up here and close us out with our other announcements and close us with prayer.Jeremy, thank you.
on Jul 21, 2024
