Sermon May 24, 2009 exodus pt 2 – wilderness numbers 20:1-11
Exodus, pt two set up the series….leaving, wilderness, arriving
Last week we talked about leaving Egypt
How difficult it can be to change
Real change always begins with a decision to go
The biblical story of wilderness
Pharaoh’s army is destroyed
Pillar of cloud by day, fire by night
Straight to the Promised Land
Spy out the land 12 spies – Joshua, caleb
Bad report – like grasshoppers
Went back in to try and fight the battle………
The lord was not with them, the enemy prevailed.
Wandering
Death of an entire generation
Complaints
Manna, quail
Water from the rock
Complaints
Ten Commandments
Golden calf
Set parameters for worship and feasts
Moses lays down the law of relationship and society
The tabernacle is designed and built
The time of wandering is over.
On the brink of conquest
Moses dies, on a mtn overlooking the promised land.
That is picture 2 of the biblical story
For the church
Churches have wilderness times. It can be a time of lostness
Don’t know what we are about- never knew what we were about….
The church that didn’t want to grow
The church that preferred the pastor visit them in the hospital than new
people who were visiting.
Forgotten what we were about
Off mission. Onto unmission. Shadow mission
• Taking care of the beautiful building.
• Supporting historic liturgy
• Leading a particular program
• Doing a particular mission
Any time an issue, person or program gets ahead of the real mission,
We are in trouble……..
When we forget about Jesus Christ, pretty soon the Christian faith becomes more important than Jesus. Then our denomination is more impt. Then our local church. Then our particular program.
If I could show you that your pet program is causing disruption to our mission of connecting people to jesus Christ, would you be willing to drop it or change it, or do we go to the mat to save your program?
Wilderness for a church could be a time of pastoral change
A time of Conflict. Wrong agendas in play
Devastating to the life of the church
No one wants to invite their friends, and no friends want to come.
Wilderness isn’t always lost, sometimes its more like the time in-between…
This is good time…..
In-between the last season of growth and change.
Praying, looking to what is next.
People r being the church, but yet are looking for renewal
Time to clarify the vision
Where is Wcc
Very easy to enter a time of institutionalism
Must always be on guard against shadow mission
We must keep focused on the Things that help us keep on mission
• Missions- living outside of ourselves
• The ten ten branch
• The new church start
What does The wilderness mean for us as individuals?
The wilderness can be an in between time.
It happens a lot
In-between jobs, in between stages of life
In between where you are and where you want to be
The wilderness is a time of natural worry and concern
Yet, good leaders help people be ok, even in the wilderness.
When scott was sick I was mad at Cathy because she acted so stoic
I confronted her about it
She said, you’ve been acting crazy. Someone has to keep feet on the ground
Being in the wilderness can also feel like being lost
If you are feeling lost. If you are struggling
This is a normal part of life
Not our favorite part, but a normal part.
People that we admire in life are most often those who have faced hardships with grace
Hebrews 11- Noah, Abraham, Joseph, Moses…….. 32And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35Women received back their dead, raised to life again. Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37They were stoned[f]; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
39These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.
Memorial day
Do you admire your parents………what wilderness did they face
Grew up in the depression
Dad was unemployed for a year in 1975. ate lots of hotdogs.
They kept it together
Three things that help us in the wilderness of change
God wants us to Listen- circumstances will get your attention
Lost on a back road in Alabama, a motorist asked the way to Montgomery. An old farmer, sitting on a fence, looked down the road, scratched his head and gave explicit instructions. Half an hour later, after following the farmer's directions carefully, the motorist found himself back at the starting point. The farmer was still sitting on the fence, in placid contemplation of the landscape.
"Hey, what's the idea?" the motorist demanded. "I did just what you told me, and look where I wound up!"
"Well, young feller," the farmer explained, "I didn't aim to waste my time telling you how to get to Montgomery till I found out if you could follow simple directions." –
God wants us Learn- once they have your attention, learn the character for success
God wants us to Trust- we usually trust God the best when we can no longer make it on our own.
There is an old story about a West Virginia lad who was sitting on a fence at the crossing of two narrow roads. A man in a very large car with New York plates roared to a stop in front of him, let down the electric window and said, "Young man, I'm lost. Can you tell me where this road goes?"
He said, "No sir, I can't."
The man said, "Well, can you tell me where that road goes?"
The boy said, "No sir, I can't."
The man said, "Well, young man, don't you know anything?"
The boy said, "I know I'm not lost."
When you find Christ, you know this: You are not lost.
Sometimes the best that we can say is that we are not alone. We are not lost. God is with us.
Trust……..Keep forging ahead.
You may not see the pillar of cloud. You may not see the fire.
But he is still there. The bush is still burning.
Trust in God. He will provide. He is with us.
Let us pray.
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