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Exodus 5:20-23 ESV

20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh;  21 and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”  22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me?  23 For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

Exodus 6:1-9 ESV

1 But the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”  2 God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the Lord.  3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself known to them.  4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners.  5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant.  6 Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.  7 I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.  8 I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.'”  9 Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

Continue reading 1/27/19 – Comfort and Contentment – Turning to I Am in Life’s Most Disappointing Moments →

Note: Due to technical difficulties we have no recording this week.

Exodus 5:1-21 ESV

1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.'”  2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”  3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”  4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.”  5 And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!”  6 The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen,  7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves.  8 But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’  9 Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”  10 So the taskmasters and the foremen of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I will not give you straw.  11 Go and get your straw yourselves wherever you can find it, but your work will not be reduced in the least.'”  12 So the people were scattered throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw.  13 The taskmasters were urgent, saying, “Complete your work, your daily task each day, as when there was straw.”  14 And the foremen of the people of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten and were asked, “Why have you not done all your task of making bricks today and yesterday, as in the past?”  15 Then the foremen of the people of Israel came and cried to Pharaoh, “Why do you treat your servants like this?  16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your servants are beaten; but the fault is in your own people.”  17 But he said, “You are idle, you are idle; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’  18 Go now and work. No straw will be given you, but you must still deliver the same number of bricks.”  19 The foremen of the people of Israel saw that they were in trouble when they said, “You shall by no means reduce your number of bricks, your daily task each day.”  20 They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh;  21 and they said to them, “The Lord look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”

I. THE BURDEN OF BUSYNESS (1-9,17-19)
A. If the Devil can’t keep you sinning, he will keep you busy, too busy to focus on Jesus. (Luke 10:38-42)
B. Busyness is a sickness & detriment to American families and American’s faith as a whole.
C. The remedy is to…Do Less Better.
D. Our calendars are not just telling us what to do, they are shaping who we become.Make the decision that certain things, the things that really matter to you, are non-negotiables.

II. CUTTING OUT THE INCONSEQUENTIAL (10-14, 20-21)
A. You can’t focus on the inconsequential and still accomplish the meaningful and monumental.
B. Everything that must be done does not have to be done by you. If you try to do it all, and all by yourself, you will begin to hate everyone else.

III. JUST MEN, NOT MACHINES (15-16)
A. I too often forget that I am just a man, not a machine.
B. God created us to work.
C. 2 things we need to never forget…
1. You were never meant to find satisfaction in your job, but in Jesus.
2. God did not just create us to work but to rest and to rest well, as well. (Mark 2:23-27)

IV. WORK, WORRY, AND WORSHIP
A. To rest is to worship.
B. Fear and insecurity are the reasons we don’t rest well.

NEXT STEP
1. For us to find the rest God offers us, things have to change.
2. Many of us are carrying things we’re not meant to carry. (Matthew 11:30)
3. Serve Christ, not your calendar!

NEXT WEEK: Comforter — Exodus 5:22-6:13

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Exodus 4:18-31 ESV

18 Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.”  19 And the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.”  20 So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.  21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son,  23 and I say to you, “Let my son go that he may serve me.” If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'”  24 At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and touched Moses’ feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.  27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him.  28 And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do.  29 Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel.  30 Aaron spoke all the words that the Lord had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people.  31 And the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

Continue reading 1/13/19 – Sonship – The Papa Bear God Who Loves His Sons and Wants Them Back →