For Such A Time As This Series

MOSES

FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS

Scripture: Exodus Chapter One

Intro.

A. A few weeks ago I talked to you about genealogies and Family Trees. I thought I would share with you today a few comments that came from a genealogy support group.

1. My family coat of arms ties in the back…is that normal?

2. My family tree is a few branches short! All help appreciated.

3. My ancestors must be in a witness protection program.

4. Shake your family tree and watch the nuts fall out.

5. How can one ancestor cause so much trouble?

6. I looked into my family tree and found out I was a sap.

7. A family reunion is an effective form of birth control.

8. A new cousin a day keeps boredom away.

9. After 30 days unclaimed ancestors will be adopted.

10. Genealogy: Tracing yourself back to better people.

11. Crazy is a relative term in my family.

12. Heredity: Everyone Believes in it until their children act like fools

13. I researched my family tree and apparently I don’t exist!

B. What would happen if let’s say, 50 years from now someone looked back on your life? What do you think they would find? If they researched old newspaper clippings and photographs? If they looked at letters you had written or books you had read? Or even if they looked at bank records and credit card receipts?

1. I think that one thing people would discover is that all of us are products of our time. I don’t mean that in a negative sense to say that we were conformed to this world and not transformed as God’s Word instructs us in Romans 12:2. What I mean is that the times in which we live cause us to act in a certain way.

a) [] Let me give you an example of what I mean. I have known several people who lived through The Great Depression. As a result of living through that very difficult period of time they developed certain patterns of behavior. People who lived through the depression are not people who feel the need to have a TV in every room of the house, with cable hooked up to each TV. They are not people who complain that a two-car garage is not enough to house all the vehicles they own. People who lived through the great depression are people who know what it really means to do without. They understand what it means to not have change jingling in their pockets; they are people who believe in saving. They are people who appreciate the value of a meal and they are not likely to throw out the leftovers.

b) We to are products of our time. Many of us today have little concept of a depression. We do not struggle with IF we will eat but normally it is with WHERE we will eat. We are not a society of conserving. Many times if something is broke rather than repair it we simply toss it out and buy a new one.

C. Moses Was A Man For The Time.

1. Moses was born into a time when God’s people were undergoing great persecution. They needed a deliverer and Moses became that person. Now I want you to know something as we begin this study into the life of Moses. We are not going to look at Moses through rose colored glasses. We have a real tendency to look at some of the people in the bible this way. We just see them as great men and women with whom we really cannot relate. Even though Moses was certainly a great man, what I want you to see over these next nine weeks is that Moses was just like you and I. He had many faults. The difference between Moses and us is the fact that he said “Yes” to God and God’s plan for his life. Now we will soon see that he didn’t always do that well either but when he did yield himself to God’s purpose for his life God used him in incredible ways.

1. Now here is a key thought I want you to keep in your mind over these weeks that we explore the life of Moses. How does God want to use you in this time in history? Now I know that right now there are many of you who are minimizing that statement in your minds. You are saying that I am being too dramatic, that God has no plans to use you the way he used Moses. My response to you is “WHY NOT?” God used Moses to deliverer his people out of bondage and spiritual oppression. Are you trying to tell me that we are living in a time that is absent of bondage and spiritual oppression? If so can I just ask you what planet you recently arrived from? Listen to the word of God from Ezekiel 22:30 "I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.”