Flip Flops Red Sea Exodus 14:9-16 07/08/2012

Sermon 7-8-12 Red Sea Exodus 14: 9-16

9 The Egyptians—all Pharaoh’s horses(L) and chariots, horsemen[a] and troops(M)—pursued the Israelites and overtook(N) them as they camped by the sea near Pi Hahiroth, opposite Baal Zephon.(O)10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried(P) 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?(Q) 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!”(R)13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid.(S) Stand firm and you will see(T) the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see(U) again. 14 The LORD will fight(V) for you; you need only to be still.”(W)15 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me?(X) Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff(Y) and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water(Z) so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

Continue in our series on Exodus - flip flops….

Tell the story

Story of deliverance – of facing a terrifying moment
Story of change, story of pain

Stages of change-
Leaving, being in between- in the wilderness, arriving- adusting.

Three stages of the exodus
Leaving Egypt
Wandering in the neutral zone
Arriving

We all face change and it is often very difficult, even painful.
As a church.
• Moving – relocating
• Capital campaigns
• Loss of a staff person
• Pastoral change
• Budget shortfalls

As individuals
• Loss of a loved one
• Divorce
• Dealing with children
• Empty nest
• Loss of a job
• Loss of a friend
• Aging

Hebrews are slaves

Hebrews are physical and mental slaves
Stockhold syndrome – Patty Hurst, JC Dugard
10 generations in Egypt……how long have you been stuck in your outlook
Almost everyone is a slave to something. Almost everyone plays the story of the exodus out in their lives.

The pain we know is better than the fear of the future pain
Romans 12- mind needs to be renewed – look it up
Liberate the mind, not just the body.


Change is necessary
Change is unavoidable

Ford station wagon 3rd seat – like a rumble seat
you only see where you have been, never where you are going.

Normal human responses include
Fight or flight
Seek comfort
I want to go back to eqypt

How do we choose to face adversity?

Fear or faith?
Demand an easy life. Get mad at God because it isn’t going so well.
Learn to trust God in the wilderness.

Quotes regarding change

1. Given the choice between facing change or proving that there is no need to do so, most of us start immediately on the proof.
2. Those who are the most comfortable in Egypt are going to have the most trouble in the wilderness
3. No one discovers new lands unless they are willing to leave sight of their boats at anchor for a very long time. [peter walking on the water]
4. Just because things are different, doesn’t mean that things are bad.

5. When you are fighting something, is it because you know God’s will is something else or because you prefer something else? Check with quote from easum audit

6. transition begins with letting go of something. – if you cant let go of Egypt, you will never enter the promised land.
7. We must always be willing to sacrifice what we are for the sake of what we might become.
Draw a box on a piece of paper…..how do things get in? how do things get out?
8. Unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it will bear no fruit.
We must die to one life before we can enter into another
a. A man does not want his parents to die. Yet it is his destiny to someday be the family patriarch. The oldest. The one with the most life experience. This is his destiny and it will never come to be until his parents die.
9. What does all of this say about Christian maturity….we must constantly be thinking, be open be looking for those things that take us closer to Christ. Is our life designed by moving forward or trying to keep everything the same?

Conclusion - There is an alternative
We spend our lives fighting that which we cannot control
We know what its like when we don’t, so why not try something different
Trust God

How to learn to trust
Pray. “Father, if this is the new reality; let me see the good in it. Let me learn to find the joy in that which I cannot control. Give me your peace that passes understanding.”