Text Box: weekly sermon 4-29-07 Three Words for the Journey Celebrate, Innovate, and Dedicate This week I want you to look at Exodus 15. This will require you to follow along with me, as I will not be printing all the verses here due to time and space restraints. This is the continuation of the story of Moses and the children of Israel after they have crossed the Red Sea. Verses 1-21 speak about the children of Israel as they celebrated and sang songs. Verse 1 "Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord..." They sang because they were no longer slaves, their enemy had been destroyed, and they were on their way to the Promised Land. This is the same reason we should sing, we are no longer slaves to our sin, satan our enemy has been defeated, and we are looking toward our promised land. Verse 13 "Thou in thy mercy hast led forth the people which thou hast redeemed..." God redeemed the children of Israel and led them forth out of there captivity, just as God had mercy for us by sending His Son to lead us forth and redeem us. Verse 15 "Then the dukes of Edom shall be amazed; the mighty men of Moab, trembling shall take hold of them..." We see here the dukes were amazed at Gods works, just as we spoke of last week that the disciples were amazed at Jesus works. Verse 16 "...they shall be as still as a stone; till thy people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over, which thou has purchased." The "they" in this verse being as a still stone speaks of the enemy and its defeat, and we would see in the New Testament that satan was defeated and us being the people passing over because of the ultimate purchase, Jesus dying for us. Verse 17 "Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance..." In the end we shalt be planted in the place of our inheritance bought for us by Jesus, that being our place in Heaven. In verses 22- 25 we see the second word in our journey, "innovation". In verse 22 we see that the Israelites have been in the wilderness for 3 days without water. So they were very thirsty and angry because they had no water. Now they came to Marah and found water, but it was really bitter tasting, so Moses went to God with the water problem. God told Moses in verse 25 to take a tree and put it in the water. Verse 25 "And he cried unto the Lord; and the Lord shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet..." Here we see the innovative solution God came up with to resolve the children's problem with the water. Notice how God uses a tree here to make the water sweet. Notice also how Jesus, the sweet living water, was hung on a tree. In this verse casting the tree in the water to make it sweet was a new approach for Moses but it worked. Just as this new innovation worked for Moses, so must we be innovative in our problem solving. Don't be afraid to try something new. In verses 26-27 we find the last of our three words for the journey, "dedication". Verse 26 "...If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee." Verse 27 "And they came to Elim where were twelve wells of water..." We see here that Moses was showing the children of Israel that if they were dedicated to God then they would receive all the promises that God had made to them, including going to the Promised Land. We should also see that if we keep our eyes on the true prize then we will receive all that God has promised us. God did not send His only Son just to die, He sent Him as a promise to us that if we believe on Him then we shall inherit the Promised Land to live with Him You can see that the journey of a Christian, just like this journey for the Israelites, is not an easy one. The Israelites were afraid because they were cornered at the red sea, then they were angry because they had no water to drink. We go through our journey and we become afraid of things or angry because of things. But in the end if we keep in mind those three words for the journey that is all we need. Celebrate for what the Lord God has and will do for us, be innovative in solving our problems that lay ahead, and finally be dedicated to God and His word and He will be our guide. If you need a guide for your journey in life and do not know who that is, then please say this simple prayer with me, Lord come into my heart and be the guide for my journey in life and forgive me of my sins, I want you Jesus as my Lord and saviour that I may have a relationship with you, Amen. If you said this simple prayer please let us know so we can rejoice with you and send you a few things to get you started on your new journey as a child of God. With Love in Christ, Pastor Stone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

               

                                             

The Christian Counter
The Christian Counter