Moses and the Tests of God

January 22, 2023 • Trey Van Camp • Exodus 14, Exodus 15, Exodus 16

In Exodus 14, Moses finally leads the people of Israel out of slavery and into freedom. But before they can enter the promised land, God tests them. He puts them between Pharaoh and the Red Sea, he leads them to undrinkable water, and then he makes them wander long enough to run out of food. Each time, the Israelites complain.

They would rather remain in slavery with stability than have their freedom without control.

In many ways, the story of Israel is the story of the Christian life. Like Israel’s struggle to detach themselves from Egypt, we struggle to detach ourselves from our sin. To confront us with this reality, God tests us. But from the life of Moses, we learn that the best way to endure seasons of testing and turn our attention away from our old life of sin, is to practice praise.

Moses and the Reality of God

January 15, 2023 • Trey Van Camp • Exodus 8, Exodus 9, Exodus 10, Exodus 5:1–2, Exodus 7

Our society is obsessed with redefining reality. We look to technology, entertainment, and education to pull our attention away from the reality of sin and attempt to control our future. But at some point, reality hits us. Whether in the form of a global pandemic that shuts our lives down, or 10 ancient plagues that shut a nation down, God often allows us to experience harsh reality checks to reveal our idols and point us back towards him. When we practice communion, we remind ourselves of this reality. We remember that we are not God, that we cannot save ourselves, and Christ is the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus loves us, he’s rescued us, and he’s here when we’re willing to surrender our control.

Moses and the Burning Bush

January 8, 2023 • Trey Van Camp • Exodus 3:1–15

When Moses first encounters God, he’s at his lowest. Defeated, alone, and in the midst of an identity crisis, he finds himself wandering the wilderness embarrassed and ashamed. And it’s in this moment that God meets him. God reminds him that he is gracious, personal, and that he’s not done with Moses yet. But to take the next step of faith, Moses must be willing to accept his limits and come face-to-face with his true self. Like Moses, the two most important questions we can ask today are “who am I?” and “who is God?” And also like Moses, asking these questions invites God to meet us with both comfort and confrontation. He comforts us by reminding us that he is gracious and wants to restore us. But he also confronts us by inviting us to see who we really are. To engage with our true selves and receive clarity on who God is, we practice the Examen. By praying through pivotal moments of our lives, decade by decade, good and bad, we invite the Spirit to reveal both who we truly and who God truly is.

Moses in the Wilderness

January 1, 2023 • Caleb Martinez • Exodus 2, Exodus 1

Moses’ origin story begins like any other story: he’s born among a people in need on saving, he goes through tests and trials to shape him as a leader, and he receives his calling from a divine encounter with God. But in the middle of his birth and his calling, Moses finds himself in the wilderness. His past mistakes have led him to a desolate place where his identity is lost, and his hope is destroyed. Like Moses, all of us will find ourselves in the wilderness at some point. Our sin, fear, and suffering bring us to a desolate place where we come face to face with our own brokenness and the brokenness of the world around us. But in the wilderness, God speaks. Like Moses, God often leads us into the wilderness to separate us from the external noise of the world around us and the internal noise of our anxious souls. By leaning into seasons in the wilderness, we turn our focus to a God who hears us, remembers us, sees us, and knows us.