Our Exodus

by Pastor Bruce Ball

Senior Pastor

CrossWinds Bible Church

(given while Associate Pastor of Grace Christian Church)

The Israelites were kept as slaves in Egypt for over 400 years before God had Moses lead them to their new beginning. To the place where they would start to grow. To their Exodus.

When they were fleeing Egypt, there were many among them that were afraid of the new unknowns that they would face. There was a lot of bemoaning the fact that they had left Egypt in the first place. After all, as bad as it was in Egypt, the Israelites were familiar with it and they were used to it. IT WAS THEIR COMFORT ZONE! Sometimes, as humans, we actually prefer a familiar negative to an unfamiliar positive. Just because we are familiar with it.

EXODUS 14:10-14

10- “As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.

11- They said to Moses, ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12- Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have

been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 13- Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the

deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.

14- The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still.”

This scripture tells how the people of Israel were afraid of moving away from Egypt. And, when they encountered difficulties, they began to voice their fear and they began to wish they were back in Egypt. But Moses tells them that God will be with them and that God will protect them. He tells them that all they have to do is relax and have a real and true faith that their problems will be handled by God.

LET US OPEN IN PRAYER

Sometimes, we find it very easy to talk about how much faith we have, but during times of stress it seems that we tend to look for human ways to handle situations and forget that we are supposed to seek God’s guidance and help first. Or, we sometimes decide to not take any action because we do not really have faith that we can succeed. Like a car low on gas, we often find ourselves a bit low on faith. It is in those times, it is necessary to go into prayer and get closer to God. The closer we get to our Father, the more we will have a "filling up" of renewed faith. And, we need to rely more on pure faith in God to get us through our times of questions, or times when we encounter our GREAT UNKNOWNS!

MATTHEW 28:19,20

19- “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20- and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

That is called the GREAT COMMISSION – it calls us forth to do His work in the field.

1. We are supposed to go out into the world - verse 19

a) The world in this case is our community around

us.

b) People need a central place to worship and

fellowship with the Lord.

2. We are to baptize people - verse 19

a) We would eventually like to have a church with a

baptistery

b) God normally does not give EVERYTHING you desire

in one shot

c) If we prove to be faithful harvesters, I am sure

God will give us that baptistery, no matter

where it may be. It only takes faith!

3. We are to teach people to obey all of God’s holy Word - verse 20

a) And God has given us the place to teach His

Word. Our new church! Our own building!

4. And God will be with us until the very last day - verse 20

a) We need to step out in faith; faith that God

will be the provider for us

b) We need to have explicit faith that God will be

our guide – all the way.

This service marks the end of an season for Grace Christian Church of Mesa, Arizona. We have been called by God to increase our work for Him. We have before us, our Exodus, if you will. Tonight, we have both a happy and a sad victory to live through. But, remember that it is, indeed, a victory for the LORD!