Cold Feet At A Fiery Bush Series

COLD FEET AT A FIERY BUSH

Exodus 3.1-22

S: Change

C: God’s call to mission

Th: Movin’ On Up!

Pr: GOD USES BROKEN PEOPLE.

Type: Inductive

I. ROUTINE

II. CURIOSITY

III. “HINENI”

IV. MISSION

V. DOUBT

VI. “YHWH”

VII. SUCCESS

PA: How is the change to be observed?

• Understand that when God is on the inside, it does not matter if you are broken (He is enough).

• Put away your excuses.

• Fulfill your mission.

• You are a deliverer (everyone of us).

Version: ESV

RMBC 17 February 08 AM

INTRODUCTION:

CONTEXT:

We have begun a series on the book of Exodus, and we learned two weeks ago that a new pharaoh was in charge that no longer remembered Joseph, and so…

1. The Hebrews are in bondage in Egypt.

The Israelites were increasing in population and it was a threat to the Egyptians.

And every time the Egyptians take measures to stop it, it is thwarted by the hardiness of the Hebrew population.

They were an increasingly fertile bunch.

Finally, the pharaoh commands that all Hebrew baby boys are to be thrown into the Nile.

It is at this time…

2. A deliverer is born – Moses.

Jochebed, his mother, hides her new baby boy for three months, but she knows that it is only a matter of time until he is discovered.

She places him in a basket, in the Nile River, among the high reeds, right near where the pharaoh’s daughter bathes.

Pharaoh’s daughter does take pity on this baby, and thus, the very one pharaoh wants to kill is saved by his daughter.

Named Moses by this daughter, he is educated by the Egyptians.

In spite of this, as he grows and mature, Moses retains his Hebrew identity, and somewhere along the line, understands that God has called him to deliver the Hebrews out of bondage.

But…

3. Moses runs before He is sent.

He is so anxious to fulfill this duty, and when a fellow Hebrew is being beat up by an Egyptian, he kills the Egyptian.

Instead of appreciating this act of salvation though, his fellow Israelites refuse to acknowledge his authority as a leader and judge.

ILL Personal

I can identify with what Moses went through to a point. At the end of my college years, I was anxious to get into the pastorate. I began considering what role God would have me in, and I was sure God wanted me in the pastorate.

What I did not expect is that God would call me to be a youth pastor. This was not my desire. This is not what I wanted to be. But I was a youth guy for eleven years.

It was quite an intense time. I kept waiting for the go ahead from God to enter into a different kind of ministry. I was champing at the bit, ready to gallop out and do God’s will. I kept telling Him to just set it up and I was ready to go.

Eventually, God did give me the go ahead, obviously. But I had to do a lot of growing in the meanwhile.

Now I am less than a year of being a half a century (as my dad likes to remind me), and never have I felt so inadequate, unready, and unqualified to be a shepherd.

That is probably what Moses felt by this time – inadequate, unready, and unqualified.

He was on the run now, but for a different reason.

He was running away.

And now…

4. Moses just wants to forget Egypt.

He moves to Midian.

He meets a nice family, with a nice girl.

And at the age of forty, he settles down, raises a family, and lives peacefully as a shepherd.

Egypt disappears from his memory…

ILL Routine (H)

An Episcopal priest was preaching in an unfamiliar church one Sunday morning. As he stood in the pulpit to begin the service, he tapped the microphone to make sure that it was on. He heard nothing, even though, it was working fine. So he leaned closer to the microphone and said, he thought, to himself; "There is something wrong with this thing."

The well trained congregation immediately responded, "And also with you."

There is something wrong with us!

Don’t be insulted by this, but we are all failures.

But here is the good news.

Our failures are not the last word.

Note this…

5. Note that GOD USES BROKEN PEOPLE.

In fact, God seems to prefer it.

We each qualify for God’s service, just as we are, failures and all.

You see, when we know that we are a failure and we know we have nothing to offer, it is then the light and glory of Christ’s salvation can shine through.

We know it is not about us.