February 26th, 2006

The ten commandments, Exodus 20:3-17

Intro…The pre-pastors convention bus-swearing breaking of the third commandment episode…

Text: (Exodus 20:3-17) 10 commandments from

The general view of the 10 comm. is that they are a nice set of suggestions, a salve for the conscience. Like the girl who visited our church once and then told me she thought is was “cute”.

It’s easy to forgo the value of the 10 comm when you don’t acknowledge God as the sovereign ruler and creator. Rom. 1:21-23

However, many people still have a vestige of conscience and realize there is some sort of “religious” standard. Most people want just enough religion to make them feel better, to acknowledge a “higher power”.

“In reality, the 10 comm are impossibly difficult laws set forth by the holy, righteous, sovereign creator God to show us the impossibility of keeping these laws and our utter dependence on God for our salvation.”

Studying the 10 commandments should bring conviction of sin. We see where we fall short. We can’t save ourselves.

We’re going to review the 10 comm and remember...
(Here’s the killer)...God wants us to obey these commands in our hearts and minds and not just outwardly!

So let’s dissect them, one at a time: (and we’ll see how these apply in lots of ways and not just the obvious. I think we all know what they mean on the surface, but let’s dig a little deeper).

1. No other Gods. V. 3
Worship means “worth”. Only God is truly worthy of our adoration and complete allegiance. He is our only leader. God won’t share his place as God.

Isaiah 45:5

Even if we say God is our ruler, yet don’t give him first place in our hearts…

How ‘bout putting yourself in God’s place? (I can do it on my own…) Trusting in yourself is breaking the first comm….check me out! Self credit, horoscopes,

2. No idols. V. 4
God is supreme and sovereign

What about the whole “Jesus on the toast” stuff? Jesus toast web site…worshipping any man-made things they think will bring them closer to God.

No such thing as a “Christian idol” either...

Never make anything that looks like God?? I’m feeling convicted here…

How can we tell what God looks like? By reading the Bible!

3. Don’ t misuse the name of God. V. 7
It comes down to respect for God, not using his name in a careless way... “O my God!” “Jesus” YHWH JHVH (Hebrew tetragrammaton)

Why the temptation to swear? “O Buddha” or “O Allah” just isn’t the same, whether you believe in God. Even the atheist uses God’s name in vain!

After all, what if God really did damn someone?

4. Remember the Sabbath by keeping it holy. V. 8
It’s about respect for God and taking a needed rest. No one is exempt from that. God set the example in creation

Darrren saying he like to get up on Sunday’s cause it helps him take a Sabbath...

5. Honor your father and mother. V. 12
Learning to respect elders = learning to respect God...

What if you have a lousy relationship with them?

6. No murder v. 13
God is the creator and life giver. This is about valuing life.

Matt. 5:21-22 If you curse someone, you’ve committed murder. God knows our hearts.

War? Self-defense? All life? Capitol punishment? What about the rat I killed in my attic?

7. Don’t commit adultery v. 14
Pastors conference, Jack Hayford’s “confession”

We get in trouble again with our heart and thoughts... Matt. 5:27-28

8. SLIDE Don’t steal. V. 15
Software? Downloading songs? Burning CD’s...

9. No lies about your neighbor. (gossip) v. 16
Telling lies, starting rumors...it’s so fun...

10. Don’t covet other people’s stuff. V. 17
Don't set your heart on anything that is not yours. O man, this is a tough one…

Learning to be satisfied and content is so hard,

Living within your means is so un-American though!

The ten commandments are timeless and universal.
The Israelites, (like us) were born sinners, unable to please God.

The Israelites were sure they could keep God’s covenant. We’re the same way, “If I could just keep the Ten Commandments.”

Don’t we all just hate being told what to do?

Yet God knew that: We could not keep his laws, that we need his sovereign standard of righteousness. By seeing his standard for us, we see our own sinfulness.

GOSPEL...heart, church, social justice...my prayer is that as you hear God’s word each week here at CC, you’ll know when to act on it...however you need to act...

Conclusion: Video clip from Lord of the Rings

February 19th, 2006

Moses, Exodus 19-20:2
Preparation for the giving of the ten commandments

Intro…Winter Olympics...Preparing for the biggest event of your life...you’d be full of fear, reverence, awe, respect, nervousness, etc.

Text: Gen. 19:16-21 Re-tell the story...

God is so holy, so righteous, so big...we really can’t even comprehend it.
John 16:5-11…God of the OT is God of the NT

It’s not all about “Jesus is my buddy”! The truth of God’s holiness, wrath and righteousness is not a popular theme, yet it’s evident in today’s passage.

Grace, mercy and love HAS to be balanced out with judgment, righteousness and wrath.

What do you think when you hear these words? Holy, Righteous?

It means that God is not only pure and sinless, He is also a God of wrath who hates and punishes sin. Sinners cannot stand in the presence of a holy, righteous God.

Judge Judy article...hopefully she’s a fair judge...God really knows what he’s doing..

Today’s text sets the stage for the presentation of the 10 commandments which clearly show God’s law and righteousness.

The boundaries set around Mt. Sinai emphasize God’s holiness, the sinfulness of man and the impossibility of man getting to God on his own.

The 10 commandments remind us that God demands perfect obedience. Yet, at the same time they show us the impossibility of being saved by our good works.

Instead we receive this gift through Christ’s death.

Ex. 19:1-2 God brought the Israelites to Mt. Sinai. He directed their every step. of maps…
Mt. Sinai (also called Mr. Horeb) was also the place where Moses saw the burning bush. At that time, God had promised Moses He would bring them all back to this Mountain. Ex. 3:12

God is trustworthy. He protected Moses, delivered Israel and brought them to Mt. Sinai, just as he had promised. We can trust God to do everything he promises.

Yet, there are conditions to his promises. 19:5-6 (What are they?)
Obedience to his laws (the 10 comm.) Do everything God tells us to do.

How can it work any other way? How can God bless us if we are not obedient to his path for our lives?

The Law promises blessing on the basis of obedience, but a curse to those who disobey it.

However, we can’t mix Law and Grace. The Law demands obedience but gives no assistance to do what it demands. Grace is there when we realize we’ll never be able to keep all the commandments.

By seeing this we realize the impossibility of being accepted or blessed by God on the basis of obedience to the Law. Why?

The 10 commandments are there as a set of guidelines for us. It’s impossible to always keep all 10...that’s not the goal.

Even if we could keep all the commandments, it still wouldn’t save us.

Like the Israelites, we deserve death because of our sin. We have all broken God’s laws.

The Israelites realize the importance of keeping the laws and set off to try it. Ex. 19:7-8
They doubted God at the Red Sea, complained about no food and water.

If they could just obey God well enough, then he would give them everything they needed. Hmm, sound familiar?

What’s the problem with this type of thinking?

So why would God make this agreement with them? (Knowing the couldn’t keep all the commandments?)

This way it would be easy for God to show them that they were sinners and unable to please him through “good works.”

Example: Person drowning in a river while the “lifeguard” waits for just the right time to jump in and save him…

God gave the Law to the Israelites (and us today) to show them that they were unable to please God and make themselves acceptable to him.

Once they gave up and trusted him, then He was willing to save them.

Same with us today….GOSPEL...invitation
The commands of God are like a mirror. We can’t see our dirty faces until we look in the mirror. We see our sinful hearts when we compare them to God’s laws.

In reality there is no set of laws or standards that we could keep that would earn God’s favor. We are saved solely through his grace and mercy.

Conclusion: Eruvs, boundaries set up by the Jewish communities...

Boundaries were set (12-13, 23), again, God is holy and has rules.

V. 16 How can the people (at this point) not be afraid when God spoke?

James 2:10-13
Romans 3:10-12, 19-20

February 12th, 2006

Moses, Exodus 13-17

Intro…VIDEO Bruce Almighty parting the bowl of soup…(announce Theology in Film group)


The story of Moses parting the Red Sea is certainly one of the more fantastic stories of the Bible. It ranks right up there with Noah and the Ark. Most people have heard this story, whether they believe it or not.

What is your reaction when you hear this story?

What is a “typical” reaction to someone who is having a hard time buying all this?

Text: Exodus 14:10-18

What should we consider a miracle? (Really a miracle)

When God supercedes the natural, physical laws that we are normally bound to.

Our “miracle” yesterday with Ben and the camper...


By taking a look at some of the miracles in today’s story, we’ll get a more accurate view of God.
Cloud by day, pillar of fire by night (13:21-22)

There were so many of them, they needed God’s guidance.

When the Israelites first went to Egypt, there were only 70 of them. Now 430 years later, they were over 2 million. (No wander Pharaoh felt threatened by all of them and didn’t want to lose all those slaves.) (See Ex. 38:26)

Pharaoh’s heart was hardened by God and he was guided by Satan. Even after all the plagues and finally letting the go, he still tries to chase them down in the desert. Exodus 14:5-8

God will give us direct guidance today to if we’ll only listen…

The parting of the Red Sea (14:21-22, 28)
“Red Sea” in Hebrew means?? “sea of reeds” Most likely a large inland “sea” or lake, north of the tip of the Red Sea. We do know it was deep enough to drown the Egyptians.

Remember, God created the sea, so he has completer power over it. He divided the seas during the creation of the world. Gen. 1:9

God had promised to lead them safely out of Egypt and into the land he had promised Abraham and the sea wasn’t going to stop him.

Israelites were freaking...look at Moses’ words of encouragement...Don’t be afraid, Stand firm (the Lord will fight for you and deliver you), Be still (14:13-14)

The coming together of the Red Sea. (Let’s not forget this miracle!)
God is holy and righteous. He demands death as a payment for sin.

No one can fight against God and succeed. He will punish all who fight against him.

Psalm 77:16-20 (The Message)

At the same time though, he is full of mercy and offers a way of salvation.

Parting of the sea then, Jesus for us today…GOSPEL

Communion intro...invitation…

So far, so good. You’d think the Israelites had seen a big enough miracle to trust in God from this point on...14:31

There is even an entire chapter devoted to their celebration of God’s provision and goodness, Ex. 15

God even does another miracle: Bitter water turned into sweet drinking water from a piece of wood. 15:22-25 (Bible trivia, Elim..as in Elim chapel OB, from 15:27)

Now jump to 16:1-3.

Even though God had just delivered them in a huge way, they still had not learned to trust him fully.

So God does yet another miracle for them. 16:4-5 Manna and quail in the wilderness (Who’s this guy? Keith Green, and what album? “So you wanna go back to Egypt…)


No Vons or Albertsons just around the corner...just a barren desert. How many years did they eat the Manna? 40!

Once again, only God could save them. (God is showing them this same lesson over and over and over and over….) Yet he tested them in v. 5, HOW? Deut. 8:3 & Matt. 4:4

Daily bread is a gift from God; we are to live in daily dependence on him.

God wants each of us to realize that there is only one way that we are saved too.

God helps the helpless, he delivers those who have no way of escape.

Check out the pattern here: Adam and Eve tried to make clothing from leaves, God provided them with animal skins...God saved Noah and his family from the flood...called Abraham out of idolatry...protected Jacob’s family from starvation through Joseph and is now delivering the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. The pattern never ends, even to us today!

God provides living water then and now...17:1-7

He didn’t let the Israelites die of thirst...us neither. Rock vs. the ground...a “God thing”

Psalm 105:41

A great thing we can learn from Moses is how we took his problems to God...v.4

Some keys to remember when we re-tell stories like this:
The miracles of God recorded in the Bible are absolutely true. To say they didn’t happen “cheapens” God.

Either God is capable of pulling miracles like this or he’s not God!

These miracles are consistent with the nature of God, what seems impossible to man is possible to God. (It didn’t make any logical sense to the Israelites that the Sea would part…)

Just like in the story of Pharaoh and the plagues, we are unable to save ourselves….

If God is the sovereign creator of the entire universe, then I think he can pull off the parting of the Red Sea. God made the natural laws of the world, he can break them if he wants to...

If you reject these miracles of God, in actuality you are rejecting God.

How else could 2 1/2 million people survive 40 years of wondering in the desert!

Conclusion
In less than six months they had witnessed ten plagues, the pillar of cloud and fire, the opening and shutting of the Red Sea, the miraculous sweetening of the water, and the sending of food and meat from heaven; yet their real question came down to this: "Is the Lord among us or not?"

This is us, we are all standing at the sea of impossibilities/we are the doubting Israelities