Divine Deliverance: Wisdom, Community, and Salvation

### Bible Reading
1. **Exodus 17:14-16** - "Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.' Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. He said, 'Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.'"
2. **Exodus 18:9-12** - "Jethro was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He said, 'Praise be to the Lord, who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and of Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly.' Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God, and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses' father-in-law in the presence of God."
3. **Exodus 19:1-2** - "On the first day of the third month after the Israelites left Egypt—on that very day—they came to the Desert of Sinai. After they set out from Rephidim, they entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain."

### Observation Questions
1. What did Moses do to ensure the victory over the Amalekites, and who helped him? ([30:37])
2. What advice did Jethro give to Moses regarding leadership, and why was it important? ([34:19])
3. How did God provide for the Israelites in the wilderness, and what was their reaction? ([27:31])
4. What was the significance of the law given at Mount Sinai, and how did it aim to transform the Israelites? ([41:56])

### Interpretation Questions
1. How does the story of Moses, Aaron, and Hur during the battle against the Amalekites illustrate the importance of community and support in fulfilling God's mission? ([30:37])
2. In what ways does Jethro's advice to Moses about delegating responsibilities reflect wisdom in leadership, and how can this be applied in modern contexts? ([34:19])
3. What does the law given at Mount Sinai reveal about God's expectations for His people, and how does it serve as a tool for transformation? ([41:56])
4. How does the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt parallel the spiritual deliverance offered through Jesus Christ? ([55:54])

### Application Questions
1. Reflecting on the story of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt, how can you recognize God's deliverance in your own life? What struggles or bondage has He helped you overcome? ([26:45])
2. In what ways can you actively support and uplift members of your community, similar to how Aaron and Hur supported Moses? Think of a specific person or group you can help this week. ([30:37])
3. Consider a leadership role you hold, whether in your family, workplace, or church. How can you apply Jethro's advice to delegate responsibilities to avoid burnout? ([34:19])
4. How can you allow God's word to transform your life? Identify one area where you need to align more closely with His teachings and make a plan to address it. ([41:56])
5. Reflect on the ultimate deliverance through Jesus Christ. How does this salvation call you to live a life that reflects God's love and righteousness? What specific actions can you take to grow in your faith and understanding? ([55:54])
6. Think about a time when you found yourself grumbling or complaining despite God's blessings. How can you cultivate a heart of gratitude and trust in God's provision? ([27:31])
7. How can you share your faith with others, even when it feels uncomfortable or challenging? Identify one person you can share your testimony with this week. ([50:10])

### 5-Day Devotional

#### Day 1: God as the Ultimate Deliverer
**Description:** The story of the Israelites' exodus from Egypt is a powerful reminder that it is God who delivers us from our struggles and bondage. The Israelites did not free themselves by their own might; it was God who conquered Egypt and led them to freedom. This act of divine intervention underscores God's power and sovereignty in our lives. We must recognize that our victories and deliverances are not by our own strength but by His grace. This understanding should lead us to trust in God's timing and methods, even when we face seemingly insurmountable challenges. [26:45]

**Bible Passage:** "And the Lord said, 'I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey.'" (Exodus 3:7-8, ESV)

**Reflection:** Think of a current struggle or challenge in your life. How can you actively trust God to be your deliverer in this situation, rather than relying solely on your own efforts?


#### Day 2: The Importance of Community and Support
**Description:** The narrative of Moses, Aaron, and Hur during the battle against the Amalekites teaches us the value of community. When Moses' hands grew tired, Aaron and Hur supported him, ensuring the Israelites' victory. This story highlights the importance of having a supportive community to help us fulfill God's mission. We are not meant to walk this journey alone; we need each other for encouragement, strength, and support, especially in times of spiritual battles. [30:37]

**Bible Passage:** "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, ESV)

**Reflection:** Identify someone in your life who may need your support right now. How can you reach out to them today to offer encouragement and help?


#### Day 3: Wisdom in Leadership
**Description:** Jethro's advice to Moses about delegating responsibilities highlights the importance of wisdom in leadership. Moses was trying to handle all the disputes among the Israelites by himself, which was leading to burnout. Jethro advised him to appoint capable men to share the load, ensuring sustainability and preventing burnout. Effective leadership involves recognizing our limitations and empowering others to share responsibilities. This wisdom is crucial not only for leaders but for anyone in a position of influence. [34:19]

**Bible Passage:** "The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty." (Proverbs 21:5, ESV)

**Reflection:** Reflect on an area of your life where you are taking on too much responsibility. How can you delegate some of these tasks to others to ensure sustainability and prevent burnout?


#### Day 4: The Transformative Power of God's Law
**Description:** The law given at Mount Sinai was meant to shape the Israelites into a people who could live in a way that pleases God. It was not just a set of rules but a means of transformation. Similarly, we must allow God's word to transform us, revealing our sins and guiding us towards righteousness. This process of transformation is ongoing and requires us to continually seek to align our lives with God's word. True wisdom comes from obedience and learning from the past. [41:56]

**Bible Passage:** "The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes." (Psalm 19:7-8, ESV)

**Reflection:** What is one specific area in your life where you need to align more closely with God's word? What steps can you take today to begin this transformation?


#### Day 5: Salvation Through Christ
**Description:** Just as the Israelites were delivered from physical slavery, we are delivered from spiritual bondage through Jesus Christ. This salvation is a gift of grace, calling us to live lives that reflect God's love and righteousness. Our deliverance through Christ should lead us to continually grow in our faith and understanding, living in a way that honors Him. This ultimate deliverance is not just a one-time event but a daily journey of living out our salvation. [55:54]

**Bible Passage:** "He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:13-14, ESV)

**Reflection:** How does understanding your salvation through Christ change the way you live your daily life? What is one practical way you can reflect God's love and righteousness today?

Jesus, Jesus. Morning, everyone. Good. Do not adjust your sets. Good. I want to welcome everyone that is on streaming over at Smyrna campus. Randy is out of town today, as you can obviously tell. As he travels to Georgia and Maryland, he will definitely covet your prayers as he travels to Georgia and back. And for those of you who don't understand Georgia, it's God's country. That's right, we've got some Georgia fans.

But I wanted to just enlighten you today about some things that possibly you've heard before. Maybe some things that are in the stories that we are continuing in the book of Exodus. Maybe some things you haven't heard. And in studying books, one of the things that I love about reading the Bible is I can read something many times and go back and still find something that I've never heard before. I don't know if that's what you do, but it's almost like I actually read this before.

But in our chapters today, it may be a little ambitious because we're going to try to cover two chapters. Now don't worry, we're not going to do every verse. Some of you I can already tell were about to go for the door there. But it's like chapters. And we're going to do this in a good amount of time. But there's something bigger going on in this story than just the story. It's bigger than the Amalekites. It's bigger than Jethro, which was Moses' father-in-law. And I want to try and show that to you this morning.

But before we dive into that text, let me catch you up on where we are in the story. God has delivered the people of Israel out of slavery and out of bondage to the Egyptians. Now the Egyptians, remember, they are the greatest single power in the world of that day. They had been, nobody could outdo them in their might. Nobody could outdo them in their wealth. They had the best of everything in every way.

Now we also see that God destroys Egypt and brings the people of Israel out of slavery. Now Israel didn't rise up. Think about this now. And there's something I want you to actually keep in mind. Israel did not rise up and destroy Egypt. God did. God conquered Egypt and called his people. Israel did, when they get into the wilderness, they, like us, have a tendency to complain and grumble. But that's okay. Because God covered that with grace and blessing. He put bread on the ground called manna, which is sweet-tasting bread. He had water flow from rocks as he cared for his people.

Now if we go back into the story a little bit further, we remember that when Moses shows up to Pharaoh, what does he do? He demands that Pharaoh let his people go. Or that God's people go. And Pharaoh asked this question, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?" Now one of the things I want to do as we continue on with this study is we're going to do a comparison. The title of this sermon was "Wisdom and Mission." And I've got to be honest with you. As I was reading through the scriptures for this sermon, it was at first a little bit hard to try to figure out the wisdom part of this particular part of the scripture. But it wasn't too hard. It was hard to figure out the mission. Because the mission has not changed since day one.

But maybe what I'd like for you to do is do a little comparison. Because I think that's what we need to do when it comes to scripture, when it comes to our forefathers and what they've done wrong, but also what they've done right. And so we can learn from that. And I gather from that, when we see what our forefathers have done before us, whether it be good or bad, we learn from it. What does that do? It gives you wisdom. It makes you wiser in your future tasks. And also, hopefully, it will help you on your spiritual journey so that you don't make the same mistakes that our forefathers did.

And so, when I hear questions like, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?" I liken this back to us as well. Because I believe in our actions, especially when it comes to obeying God, even though we may not verbally say, "Who is the Lord that I should obey his voice?" Our actions definitely speak louder by not doing what he says. But God answers that question to Pharaoh. And the forefathers, in the form of a series of plagues, that reveals the gods Egypt worshiped, were not really gods at all. He, the Lord, was the only true God. And after each plague, or at the pronouncement of the plague, God answers Pharaoh's question. He sends the plague, and then he says, "That you may know that I am the Lord." That's pretty clear.

Then the language turns a little bit in the past of the plagues, where he says that the nations may know that I am the Lord. So it went from "that you" to "the nations." So we want to make it clear, it's not just you, buddy, it's everybody. So the judgment on Egypt, and the delivery of the people of God, the mercy shown to the people of God, are in a sense, a banner for the world to know that God is Lord. He is Yahweh. He is the only God who is.

Now, if we continue on with the story, now that this has happened, God has displayed his might to the world via the conquering of Egypt, and the deliverance of his people. The world is beginning to respond. Now, the first we see of this response, and we're getting to a little bit of this in just a minute, is of the Amalekites, who attacked the people of Israel. Then Moses goes up on a hill, if you remember that, he raises his staff. As long as his hand is raised up in the air, the Israelites prevailed. But when he got tired, and his arms started to go down, what happened? The Amalekites started to win. So that's when Aaron and another man, his name was Hur, H-U-R, went up on that mountain, and held up Moses' arms. And then we pick it up a little bit from there.

And so I really want you guys to just gain from this today, in the short time that we have, to understand that we are going to gain wisdom, and understand the mission, which is to continue to do what God says. Now, today, how do we see that mission? Now, I'm not sure if you understand, now the mission for the Israelites back in the time of Moses and Pharaoh was just to get out of slavery. Do whatever we can to get out of slavery. Do whatever we can to get out of here. But for 400 years, they were caught in pagan rituals. They couldn't do their own thing. They had to follow whatever the Egyptians did. And so for 400 years, you could kind of say, it's easy to say that the Israelites kind of got out of practice of following God. But that's okay.

If you turn in your Bibles, let's turn to Exodus chapter 17. We'll start there with verse 14. It says, "The battle is now over. Israel has won. Then we read this, 'Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.' Moses built an altar and called it 'The Lord is my banner.' He said, 'Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord, the Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.'"

I don't know about you, but when there's a scripture read that says that God is going to allow somebody to have war against them for generations, I'd be a little afraid of that because whoever's on the Lord's side is going to do what? He's going to win. By the way, everybody here on the Lord's side? Okay, just making sure you're all awake. Everybody's like, "I don't know. Who's on the Lord's side?" There we go. Some of you here. That's good.

Well, then Moses' father-in-law shows up. I am a new father-in-law, so I don't have a lot of experience with this. Although, as a father, I have a lot of experience in trying to tell my kids what to do. But in Exodus 18, verses 9 through 12, Jethro, which, by the way, I love that name, was delighted to hear about all the good things the Lord had done for Israel in rescuing them from the hand of the Egyptians. He said, "Praise be to the Lord who rescued you from the hand of the Egyptians and Pharaoh, and who rescued the people from the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all other gods, for he did this to those who had treated Israel arrogantly."

Then Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and other sacrifices to God. And Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat a meal with Moses' father-in-law in the presence of God. And this was a place of honor to do that. Now Jethro, as a father-in-law, watches Moses stand in front of hundreds of thousands of people, millions even, to lead and navigate. And Jethro engages him like a father-in-law would engage a son-in-law. It's one of those things that I love about the Bible. It's just very honest. And it shows the honesty in the people that we read about.

Jethro is like, "Hey Moses, I see the thing you're trying to do here. I get it. And I appreciate it. I mean, you're Moses. But I don't think it's good. You are going to burn yourself out. You're going to burn all the people out. If I were you, just hypothetically, I would appoint chiefs over a thousand, and over a hundred, and over a fifty, and over ten." Now what God is doing at this moment, I believe, through Jethro, is ordering the nation of Israel to receive the law of God from Mount Sinai.

Then from here we move on to Exodus 19. But before we do that, understand this. The time period where we're at is only going to be about three months from the time that they were delivered out of Egypt to being present at the foot of the mountain where they're going to be given eventually the law, which is what? Ten Commandments. Thank you. The Ten Commandments. The law. Just in three months, we see the continuing of God's people grumbling, complaining about what's going on. They're being delivered, for goodness sake, and they still find time to complain.

Now, once again, I want to remind us that there's a lot of what's going on in this story that reminds us of what's going on today. But not just outside. I'm talking about within the walls of the church. And so, or the building, because you are the church. But we have to really be careful that even though we are in the midst of God's blessings, we still seem to find a way to tell God that wasn't enough. And you truly appreciate who God is and what He does, every little thing He does, no matter how minute it might seem to you, could be big somewhere else.

But if we go down to Exodus 19, it says, let's look at these first two verses. It says, "On the first day of the third month, after the Israelites left Egypt on that very day, they came to the desert of Sinai. After they set out, they entered the desert of Sinai and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain." Now, what I want to tell you is if some of these words are familiar to you, Rephidim is actually the place where Moses struck the rock and was able to give the people of Israel water. After what? After they were complaining. After they were grumbling. "We're thirsty. We need more water. What have you done for me lately?" And so, God was able to, through Moses, to give them water.

And then as we get to Mount Sinai, now, some of you might realize that Sinai might sound like a weird word. It's also in the scriptures, another name for Mount Sinai is Mount Horeb. And so, in the scriptures, it says some of that definition. So, don't get confused. Sinai and Horeb are actually the same thing. But one of the things that I thought was interesting in reading was, and getting back to the fact that, remember, these people have been in captivity for 400 years, and they have learned some bad habits and have gone through some things they probably shouldn't have gone through. And it might be their fault, maybe not their fault. It doesn't matter. They chose to practice in things that were not of God. And so, there's going to have to be some training, if you will, that's going to have to happen.

And I know some of the things that we talk about in scripture, especially what I'm about to tell you in just a minute here, seems extreme. And it seems crazy that God would do something like this. But we have to understand, you have to always remember to go back to what the Israelites were going through for the last 400 years. Now, if you were involved in a household that didn't follow rules, didn't follow the law, what do you think would eventually happen to the kids in that house? They would do the same thing. They wouldn't follow the law. They wouldn't. And in order for them to get back into training and learn how to follow the law, somebody's going to have to take the time to show them, "Hey, did you realize that you were breaking the law? Did you realize this was not right? Did you realize that this was immoral?" These are the things that Israelites are going through at this moment.

Even though they were listening to Moses, for the most part, at the mountain, God had to set some rules. And so he told Moses, he says, "Be sure that there are limits on the people to not go up this mountain." Now, I can't tell you why other than the training process. But it was extreme. He even said, "Moses, if anybody goes up this mountain that's not supposed to go up this mountain, I will kill them." Nobody's even touched the foot of this mountain until they hear a horn blast. And at that horn blast, they still can't come up, but they can come to the bottom of the mountain. And so even still, I mean, God set this rule and told Moses to tell them, and Moses did. He went to the people and he said, "Listen, don't go up that mountain."

And what God's worry was is that all these people are going to be rushing to see him. That's a good thing, right? But at the same time, God had a purpose and a plan. And so he got them to the mountain, which, as far as the rest of the book's concerned, will kind of play out a certain role. The promise that he gave. You have to remember, this is the place where he's about to go up the mountain to receive the Ten Commandments. And so we know some of the things are going to happen. I don't want to give away anything that we're going to talk about next week, so I'll leave you hanging. But there's some great things that are going to happen and some bad things that are going to happen along the way before they receive those Ten Commandments.

But as of right now, they're on their way to the land that was promised to them, the land flowing with milk and honey. And we also, one of the other cool things that we're going to realize from this story is we see the emergence of Joshua. And it was Joshua who led all the people against the Amalekites to defeat them in battle. And so we continue on with some of these great figures that we know in history. Now, the promise is that they'll be led into a land, of course, flowing with milk and honey. We're going to get to that.

But in that moment, if you remember, God first approached Moses and he said, "Go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go that they might come out in three days' journey and worship me on this mountain." It was going to be on this mountain that God began to shape his people. They had known nothing except 400 years of pagan culture. Now God is going to begin to shape them into what it looks like to be the people of God. And I believe that even today that we can take that same advice. Is that even though we might know, we may know a lot of things about scripture, we may try to follow some things, there are still things that we can learn. And if you're in this room and you believe you've learned it all, you've already failed.

I've got a kid that believed that at once upon a time. I had to set him straight. He's good now. But anyway, so Moses at Sinai is going to make seven journeys up this mountain to hear from God. It is on this mountain, God will audibly speak to his people in a way that's unparalleled in human history. And according to John Corson in his application commentary, it would seem only natural that God would choose Mount Sinai to speak to this congregation of about two to three million people. After all, rectangular in shape, Mount Sinai not only looks like a huge pulpit, but its name means thorny. An apt description of the law God would give to Moses. A law perfect and glorious, but one which pricks mankind because of our inability to keep it.

By the way, Mount Sinai is also called Mount Horeb, as we just said in scripture. Horeb means to kill or destroy. That's what the law does. It destroys my concept of my goodness and it brings me to a realization that I'm a sinner in desperate need of a savior.

So what I want to do now is very quickly, I want to highlight three things that God does and teaches to shape his people that continue on this day. So it's not just the things that help shape the people of that day, it's the things that will help shape us today. The first one is this. The redeemed. The redeemed come under his word. Thank God for glitches on computers. We need them, but can't shoot them.

The first thing we're going to see at Sinai is those who God redeems. Now, what does it mean to redeem something? To save. It's just a fancy word for save. The first thing we're going to see is that God saves. He brings under his word. Those who are saved, you have to come under God's word. That has to be your authority. Here's what we see and what we're going to see as we finish out Exodus at Sinai. We're going to see that God is very serious about the law, as we just described, about the mountain. And those who he redeemed begin to come under the law over time. We learn that his will in his word and we come under the teaching and are transformed by it. That's the important part. It reveals sin and brings correction.

Now, here's one of the reasons why I believe the word is so important. Hebrews chapter 4, starting in verse 12. God is alive and active. Did you hear that? It's still alive. It's still active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

So the word does a lot of things, but the first thing it's going to do is it's going to reveal who we are. Because if we're not following God's word, then the truth will reveal itself, will it not? I can fake a lot of people out if I wanted to. I can fake you out and say things. I can fake you out and say things. I'm good. I can tell you that I was on the archery team of the Olympics when I was in high school. There's no proof that you can prove me wrong other than if you Google it. I'll just say I changed my name. But the point is, is I can say anything I want to say. Thank you for that. I could say whatever I want to say about anything. I can tell you how spiritual I am. How spiritually strong I am in the Lord. How I give money to everybody I see on a street corner. Or how I give to all these organizations. But what's going to find me out is who God is and his truth.

So I might be able to fake you out all day, every day, and yesterday. But God knows who I am. And he knows the truth in me. And so it's that word. And not only that, I have to keep myself accountable. Trust me, my wife will let me know. She will let me know that I'm not all that. In a loving way, of course. Because that's who she is.

But we go on down to Colossians 1, verse 13. It says, "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." This just continues that process. It's like, guys, when we're in sin, when we're living in sin, what are we in? We are in darkness. There's no light involved with sin. But when you come close to him, when you reveal your sin, when you confess your sin, you get rid of those things, those obstacles that separate you from God, which brings you into his glorious light.

Psalm 119 says, starting with 105, it says, "Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. I have taken an oath and confirmed it that I will follow your righteous laws. I have suffered much. Preserve my life, Lord, according to your word. Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth and teach me your laws." One of the things that I love about people who are young Christians is that they're teachable. We seem sometimes to get into an attitude when we're being Christians. I've been a Christian since I was seven. I gave my life to the Lord at seven. Now, some people think that if you're seven, you can't know what you're doing. Trust me, I lived a lifetime before I turned seven. And so, I know some of you can feel the same way. When you go through things, you have that experience and you understand that when God calls you to do something, you do it.

And it's those times when we hear God's voice and don't listen to what He's telling us that we find ourselves getting in trouble, I believe. It's not easy to follow God. I'm not going to say that. But the decision is. Because I believe when you make that decision to follow God, He's not just going to leave you out hanging. He even tells us He'll be with us always. But this is the accountability that we need for ourselves and to each other. If we have been saved by the blood of the Lamb and call ourselves the redeemed, then it is out of love to the One who has saved us to do our best to follow His Word, which is His law.

And just a thought, how can we expect God's protection if we don't follow His word? The thing, the law is given to show a life pleasing to God. Now this might seem like a duh moment, but I want you to understand that doing good things does not make you somebody who pleases God. It's not doing good things. What pleases God is a very simple word. It's called obedience. Because obedience is hard. Now think about this. We're told to do a lot of things in Scripture that involve sacrifice, that involve things that make us uncomfortable, that definitely get us out of our comfort zone. But if you do these things and you're faithful to God, guess what He says? He is faithful to you. And that's the thing we have to hold on to.

Hebrews 11, 6 says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." Now, this seems like a really simple Scripture to me, but it's not. If you're like me, you have a tendency to watch a lot of videos on your phone. There's a particular group of videos that I watch. There's a dude that, I say dude because I don't know his name, but he preaches on the street. And he does a really good job because he's always got a large crowd around him, and they're always asking these great questions, and he's got the word on his lips, and he's ready to go, and he challenges guys.

But what's surprising to me is how many people don't even believe in the existence of God. They live in a world that has just got the wool all over their eyes. Because, I mean, to me it's simple. If you believe that there's evil in the world, then you've got to believe there's a God. Because if you don't believe there's a God, then the evil's going to take you. It's going to keep you, and it's going to be really hard for you to get out of it, whatever it is. But God is a redeeming God, as we find here. And he did that, not just through the acts that we see in our forefathers, but when he gave us his Son, the shedding of his blood that washed us white as snow.

But, as we continue on trying to please God, there are things that we can do. It doesn't mean you just sit back and just let things happen. Hebrews 13, 16 says, "And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." Now, I love this verse for this reason. Because of the way it says this, "for with such sacrifices God is pleased." All it's talking about is sharing. Now, most people think when you talk about sharing, you're talking about your food, or maybe your money, or something like that. But I go a little bit a step further than that. Sharing your faith.

What's harder today? Giving somebody a dollar, or giving somebody a testimony? I would think that for a lot of us, it's a testimony. Because that testimony might come in the form of in a grocery store, in the street, the mall, wherever. It might come in an odd place. And you just feel awkward. Well, should I give them a testimony? Yeah, you do. And it's sacrificing because it gets you out of your comfort zone. How many people are just like, I mean, some of you might be. Some of you might be like, you get up in the morning, "All right God, let's go do this." And you go out and you're ready to hit somebody with the word of God. That's awesome. If we all could be that way, we'd change the world.

But I know some people, they don't have that public speaking ability, or they're shy, they're not sure what to say. There's different reasons why people don't want to do that. And that's fine. There's different reasons. Different gifts for different people. Different avenues to use your gift. But, the reason why it's such a sacrifice is because we're not used to it. And we're being called names now. We're being given titles of, if we believe in God, then we must be this, or we must be that. And so, why share our faith when all we're going to be is criticized? Well, that's part of the sacrifice, is it not? Who cares what people say? Who are we supposed to please? God, exactly.

The law sets the standard for what is pleasing to God. By the way, what is considered the most, not just important commandment, but the greatest law? If you're not real sure, turn over to Mark chapter 12, verse 30. And Jesus answered it this way. He says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." I love it. You know, if we're in a place in our lives where we're not sure what direction to go, you feel like you're not pleasing God, you feel like you're just, then these are things you can follow. Just love the Lord.

There are some things that go with that, obviously. If you love the Lord, you're going to do certain things. You're going to sacrifice certain things. You're going to let go of certain relationships. You're going to let go of these obstacles that are interfering in your relationship with God. That's if you love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. But if you don't, then you're going to let some of those things hang on. And those things are going to drag you down. They're eventually.

And then if we're not worried, if we're not going to love God, which, by the way, loving others is loving God. So there's a bunch of sacrificial things that we have to involve ourselves with if we're going to do what God wants us to do to please Him. I don't think God's up in heaven going, just waiting for you to go, "Okay, I'm pleased." And checking it off, you got a little checklist. We do things, it has to, the best way I think to say this, it has to be in your DNA. It can't be in your DNA. It can't be something that you have a checklist off every day that you're going to do. It has to be a part of who you are.

You know, I'm a huge Bulldog fan. Georgia Bulldog fan. I know some of you guys are UT. David, where you at? Some of you guys are big UT fans. Some of you are other fans from the schools. And you, if it comes on, you got to buy the gear. You got to, you know, I'm that person. If it comes on television, if I can't see it, I got to record it and watch it later. I feel like it's part of my DNA. If I was cut myself, it'd be black and red. You know, I mean, it just comes, that's how I feel about it.

But you know what? That's exactly what I get mad at myself about sometimes. Because there are moments where I think, why am I not like that about God? And I should be. I have my moments. We all do. But it's got to be part of my DNA to where I'm not trying to do it. It's just what I do. Like coming to church. Coming to church is not something you're supposed to do. It's not something you do. It's a part of who you are. Because to be a part of the family of God, to be a part of the body, to get that encouragement, to get what you need so that when you leave these doors, that you don't just go back to the world.

So remember that. When God gives a law, one of the things he's doing, remember, is the people of God, they came out of slavery in Egypt. They were 400 years of slavery. They knew nothing of what it looked like to please God. Nothing. God gives a law to help them understand and to help us understand. This is a life that pleases me. It also reveals the fact that none of us keep it perfectly. It'd be nice. We all sin and come short of the glory of God according to Romans 3, 23. And that's another purpose of the law to show us that we need a savior.

Third thing. Salvation from slavery preceded the law. This is a condensed version of what the entire Bible is all about. Moses doesn't show up to the people, you know, stuck in slavery and say, "Here's the thing, guys. Got good news. I got 10 things here. If we can just knock out these 10 things, God is going to pull us out of oppression and slavery. He's going to set us free. We can just obey. There are 10. I mean, how easy is that? Just 10. Like this one. Don't worry. You know, don't worry and don't worship gods that aren't gods. How easy is that? Let's not do that. Here's one other one. Let's not lie. Let's not murder. Let's not look at everybody else's stuff. But just be glad that we have what we have. Let's not compare ourselves with others. Let's just nail down some of these 10. Or all these 10 and God is going to get us out of here. He's going to get us out of our oppression."

What did Israel do to get out of slavery? And what do we do to get out of our slavery? Of the chains that bind us? We do nothing. We don't do anything. Because God is the one that saves. And it's through His Son, Jesus Christ, by His grace that we are saved. So you don't need to do anything. All you need to do is believe and receive. And He will do the rest.

I know that what Rainey talked about last week is the people all he did was grumble and complain. And I tend to do that when I'm driving. I do a little bit of that. I always imagine, if you've ever seen Bruce Almighty, which is a really weird movie, but it's funny. But he's always stuck in traffic. But when he becomes, when he gets the powers of God, what's the first thing he does? He's like, he splits the cars like the Red Sea so he can drive down the road. I have that picture in my head all the time when I'm driving. I just want to be able to go.

But you know what? God gives us each other to hold each other accountable. And we need that accountability as the law dictates. Because I love you, even though I don't know most of you, I share the gospel because I don't want you to go to hell. And that seems very black and white, doesn't it? Because it is. If you don't receive Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, that's what the Bible tells us. That's what the law tells us. Is that you have no place with God. But, when you do receive him as your personal Lord and Savior, not only do you receive him, but you receive his eternity.

The law outside of the grace of God feels like death. It feels impossible. It feels like a checklist that for our best efforts we can never fulfill. But enter Jesus Christ. Enter his perfect life. Enter his atoning death and his resurrection revealing that all our sin has been paid in full and now the people of God can rejoice. Romans 5, 8 says this. "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

There's something bigger going on in this Exodus text from today than we see it today. We see on the surface, namely that God is bringing the nations to himself, forming a new people. That's what he had to do with the Israelites. He had to form a new people, stuck in slavery for over 400 years. Now, if we bring this to today, what are we stuck in? What are the things that we've been stuck in for whatever time period and we need to get out of? Well, you can get out of it today. He formed a new people. You can form a new person through the power of the Holy Spirit, pleasing to God and being transformed by the renewal of God. By the renewing of your mind.

That's what Romans 12, 1 and 2 is so important. It says, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. This is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed. How? By the renewing of your mind. Then you'll be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will."

True wisdom is not only learning from the mistakes of our forefathers and those that have come before us, but true wisdom is following the law. It's showing that you can be teachable. It's showing that you can, that you don't have it all and that you still can learn and improve and get closer to God. And if that's you today, I want to challenge you to that. I know that we've had people in the past that they were baptized and then we now have people that we never see them again. I want you to tell you something that when you give your life to Christ and you are immersed, that is the beginning of your ministry, not the end.

And so I want to challenge you today. If you're here today and you've never accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, this is your moment to take that opportunity. It doesn't, if you don't want to be in front of all these people, we can find another time and place to do it. Those of us who have been redeemed, who have been saved, understand the importance of accepting who Jesus is, not just because he's there, not just for today, but to continue in his truth and his law as we live daily in his life.

If that's you today, I'd like to ask you to please just come forward here today. We'll pray with you. We'll talk with you. The water's warm. We can get it done today. All right, let's pray.

Father God, we thank you for the blessings. We thank you for the opportunity that we have today to just open up our hearts to you, Lord. Lord, I know that there are people in this room that are just walking the fence. I'm not really sure if they're for you or against you. They want to be for you, but they know that it's going to take some sacrifice. God, I pray that even if nobody here wants to take that next step, I pray that they will continue to pray and just ask for God's direction. We can be trained. We can be taught. We can be a new person. 2 Corinthians tells us that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation. We can be that new person today, Lord.

And I just pray for all those in here that are struggling. They're struggling either with relationships or they're struggling with their personal spiritual journey. Lord, that you show them that the way that they can see your will is to be that living sacrifice on a daily basis. And we just want to thank you, Lord, for sending your son. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.

Jared, won't you, you know all the details. I'll let you tell it, man. We have somebody we can pray for here. I'll do the prayer, but you can do the... Amen. Let's pray.

Father God, we just want to thank you for the opportunity that we have now to just lift Grace up. I know, Lord, she's hurting in her body, but you're the great physician. You're the great healer, Lord. So we trust in you and over her ailment. And, Lord, anybody else here for the same reason, Lord, we just trust in you. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Amen. Amen.

Come on up here, bud. Tell everybody what your name is. The cool thing is our kids just got back from a convention this past week and a lot of bonding. Look at the group over there. Look at those fine-looking young people over there. But they're coming to support him and they had a great week. And one of the things I love as a former youth pastor is the bonding they do and the education and the wisdom they gain from being at those conventions they can take with them, especially this close to the new school year.

And so I'm going to ask you to just make that confession. Say, "I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and I accept him as my personal Lord and Savior." Amen. Tito is going to do that for you. So just go this way and Tito will help you out with that. Just while back there getting changed, if you have your communion out, everybody else deal with you. No better way to end a service than that, is there?

At this moment, that's, where'd Jeremy go? There he is. Jeremy's gonna come up here and give us our announcements before we're dismissed.

### Quotes for Outreach

1. "God conquered Egypt and called his people. Israel did when they get into the wilderness, they, like us, have a tendency to complain and grumble. But that's okay. Because God covered that with grace and blessing. He put bread on the ground called manna, which is sweet-tasting bread. He had water flow from rocks as he cared for his people." [27:31] (24 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "The law outside of the grace of God feels like death. It feels impossible. It feels like a checklist that for our best efforts we can never fulfill. But enter Jesus Christ. Enter his perfect life. Enter his atoning death and his resurrection revealing that all our sin has been paid in full and now the people of God can rejoice." [58:05] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "If you believe that there's evil in the world, then you've got to believe there's a God. Because if you don't believe there's a God, then the evil's going to take you. It's going to keep you, and it's going to be really hard for you to get out of it, whatever it is. But God is a redeeming God, as we find here. And he did that, not just through the acts that we see in our forefathers, but when he gave us his Son, the shedding of his blood that washed us white as snow." [49:13] (30 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "If we have been saved by the blood of the Lamb and call ourselves the redeemed, then it is out of love to the One who has saved us to do our best to follow His Word, which is His law. And just a thought, how can we expect God's protection if we don't follow His word?" [46:51] (19 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "If you're in this room and you believe you've learned it all, you've already failed. I've got a kid that believed that at once upon a time. I had to set him straight. He's good now. But anyway, so Moses at Sinai is going to make seven journeys up this mountain to hear from God. It is on this mountain, God will audibly speak to his people in a way that's unparalleled in human history." [40:52] (26 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




### Quotes for Members

1. "True wisdom is not learning from, is not only learning from the mistakes of our forefathers and those that have come before us, but true wisdom is following the law. It's showing that you can be teachable. It's showing that you can, that you don't have it all and that you still can learn and improve and get closer to God." [59:33] (20 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




2. "The first thing we're going to see is that God saves. He brings under his word. Those who are saved, you have to come under God's word. That has to be your authority. Here's what we see and what we're going to see as we finish out. Exodus at Sinai. We're going to see that God is very serious about the law, as we just described, about the mountain. And those who he redeemed begin to come under the law over time. We learn that his will in his word and we come under the teaching and are transformed by it." [42:29] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




3. "When God gives a law, one of the things he's doing, remember, is the people of God, they came out of slavery in Egypt. They were 400 years of slavery. They knew nothing of what it looked like to please God. Nothing. God gives a law to help them understand and to help us understand. This is a life that pleases me. It also reveals the fact that none of us keep it perfectly. It'd be nice. We all sin and come short of the glory of God according to Romans 3, 23." [54:32] (27 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




4. "The promise is that they'll be led into a land, of course, flowing with milk and honey. We're going to get to that. But in that moment, if you remember, God first approached Moses and he said, go and tell Pharaoh to let my people go that they might come out in three days journey and worship me on this mountain. It was going to be on this mountain that God began to shape his people. They had known nothing except 400 years of pagan culture. Now God is going to begin to shape them into what it looks like to be the people of God." [39:48] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)




5. "The law says, sets the standard for what is pleasing to God. By the way, what is considered the most, not just important commandment, but the greatest law? If you're not real sure, turn over to Mark chapter 12, verse 30. And Jesus answered it this way. He says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this, love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these." [51:26] (29 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)