Exodus
From Bondage to Freedom
The Ark and the Tabernacle
December 15, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
In this sermon, we close out our series in Exodus. It’s almost hard for me to believe that it’s over so soon! I have loved the chance to walk through this foundational book of the Bible together. I hope you have been able to see how Exodus sets up the broader storyline of redemption that we see carried out through the rest of Scripture. Our closing study together will focus and the Tabernacle and the items within it. A major portion of the book of Exodus is devoted to the Tabernacle. Chapters 25-31 describe the preparation and plans in great detail, while chapters 35-40 describe how the Israelites carried out the plans to prepare it, with a dramatic close to the book of Exodus as the glory of God filled the Tabernacle. We won’t be able to read all 13 chapters in our gathering on Sunday, but we will walk through each item that made up the Tabernacle worship. We learn important things about God’s character and the nature of worship as we focus on the Tabernacle. As with all things in Exodus, the Tabernacle itself is a shadow of the ultimate that was shown to us in Christ. Because of the volume of text devoted to the Tabernacle, I encourage you to take the time to read those chapters in Exodus on your own. Making the time to do so will only enrich and illuminate this sermon for you.
Intercession & Covenant Renewal
December 8, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
This Sunday we jump back into Exodus. When we left off, the Israelites had created a golden calf to worship. God's anger burned against these people and Moses was working to intercede for them. This week we continue with Exodus 33-34 and we will focus in on Intercession and Covenant Renewal. We can learn a lot from Moses' approach to God in prayer. And, as one commentator put it, “In the lengthy dialogue between God and Moses in these chapters we may be brought as close to God as it is possible for Scripture to take us.”
The Golden Calf
November 24, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
Moses was gone on Mt. Sinai for 40 days and when he returned, the people had gone crazy in a festival to worship a golden calf they had constructed. We will take some time to try to understand the identity of the calf - what they were actually worshiping - and the reasons it was so offensive to God. There are revealing themes for us in the passage. It will be a fun one to get through together.
Of Grace and Law
November 10, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
We will continue our series in Exodus with a look at the Law. Last week we saw the covenant that God initiated with His people, Israel, and how that became a foundational piece of God's redemptive work, leading straight to us today. This week we will take a deeper look at the place and the role of the Law as part of that covenant, and how the Law applies to us today - what role Christ's work plays in how we see the Law.
God's Treasured Possession
November 3, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
Over the last month as we watched the Washington Nationals' postseason run unfold, there are clear moments that stand out as pivotal, crucial to the storyline as it developed. This Sunday we come to one of those pivotal, crucial moments in the storyline of the Bible - Israel at Mount Sinai. Now that God had saved the Israelites from Egypt, and brought them out into the wilderness, He invited them into a covenantal relationship, that Yahweh would be their God and the Israelites would be His people, His treasured possession and a kingdom of priests. I can't wait to open this transcendent text with you and see together how it sets the course for the rest of redemptive history in the biblical storyline.
Moses and Jethro
October 27, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
This Sunday we will jump back into our series in Exodus with 17:8-18:26. This passage starts with an amazing story of the Israelites' first battle after leaving Egypt. As Moses held his staff aloft overlooking the battle, the Israelites would win, but when his hands dropped, they would start losing. Moses needed help to carry the burdens of the people he was leading, and that was noticed by his father-in-law, Jethro, who stepped in to give Moses some advice on how to structure things to be more sustainable. This is a great opportunity for us to talk about dealing with the exhaustion of the burdens we carry, and the importance of community - having people around us to help with the heavy lift.
God's Provision in the Wilderness
October 13, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
We left off with the dramatic crossing of the sea, as God made a way for His people and destroyed the armies of Pharaoh. This week the story continues and we see the Israelites in the wilderness. Shortly after their dramatic deliverance, the people turn to complaining again. Even still we see God’s loving kindness and care for them as He provided for them in the wilderness - sweet water, bread from heaven, and water from a rock. We will see how our own wilderness experiences give an opportunity for God to show His love and care through providing for us as well.
The Sea Crossing
October 6, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
This Sunday we continue our series in Exodus with what is perhaps the most well-known story in the book - the crossing of the sea. After the Passover, Pharaoh finally told Moses and Aaron to take the people and go. Even that was short-lived, though, and he soon sent armies to chase the Israelites down. Faced with Pharaoh's armies behind them and the sea in front, the people had only one hope - that God would be their Warrior and Savior. On Sunday we will explore how these important themes extend to us and give us hope even today.
Plagues and Deliverance
September 29, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
This section is often known and thought of as the Ten Plagues. We are going to take a look at the overarching themes that emerge in Exodus 5-13 this Sunday. Last Sunday we saw that God revealed Himself personally to Moses, by name, and that God continues to reveal Himself to the brokenhearted. This week we will see Moses and Aaron walk in obedience to God's command, confronting Pharaoh and demanding that he let the people go. Pharaoh's response was to spiral down a path of an increasingly hardened heart. Eventually, God's power is put on display and the people are set free, but only through sacrifice. God's work of redeeming His people in this passage is foundational for the rest of the storyline of redemption in the Bible's narrative, leading us through the sacrificial system in Israel and ultimately and directly to Jesus Christ.
Moses Called by God
September 22, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
These chapters are packed full of vitally important and foundational realities. On Sunday we will focus in primarily on 3:1-12 and the scene at the burning bush, and 6:1-10. Up to this point in the story, the Israelites lived in a world that made it feel like God was distant or at least uninvolved - a world much like our own. In chapter 3 everything changes as God does directly speak and begins to incredible work of preparing to save His people. In all of it, Moses can only see his own limitations and weakness, but God reveals Himself by His personal name and promised to be with Moses.
God Remembered
September 15, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
This chapter introduces us to Moses, who will be an important figure in the rest of this story. As the chapter closes there is still a sense of God's absence that we saw so clearly in chapter 1, but there is also a glimmer of hope. This chapter is important for us because every one of us wonders at some time if God really hears us when we pray. We can feel alone and unheard. The end of chapter 2 will help us to understand that God sees, hears, remembers, and knows.
Enslaved in Egypt
September 8, 2019 • Pastor Bill Riedel
This Sunday we will walk through Exodus 1. As the book opens, the Israelites are in Egypt, the land that God had placed Joseph in to provide for his brothers and their families. But that was 400 years ago. And things had taken a turn. The Israelites had become enslaved by the Egyptians. The Egyptians were ruthless slave masters and the Israelites lives were bitter with hard service in building projects and in the fields. Their children were being killed. The opening chapters of Exodus leave the impression that God is absent, that He no longer responds or intervenes. Our own lives can feel that way, both in times of ease and suffering. This week and this series will help us to see who God is and how He works.