Known and Trusted

Transcript

Do y'all remember Juicy Fruit? Do you remember you could a pack of five slices for what was it, a quarter? 25 cents? It was a bargain. And it's funny, the young man just asked me what flavor.

00:00:14

I have no idea what that yellow flavor was. Does anybody know it was yellow? It's a yellow pack. That's the one I liked. It's Juicy Fruit.

00:00:22

Yeah, that's all we know. And it was cheap and we liked it last long, but for those few seconds it was good. So, yes, I am Emily and it is my honor and my privilege to join with you today. Your pastors, Marshall and Jessica are good friends of mine. I was raised with with Marshall.

00:00:44

We went to the same church growing up. And so I just love them. And y'all are blessed to be pastored by them. Amen. And so today, yes, we are going to be in the Old Testament.

00:00:58

I'm going to be reading From Exodus chapter 3 today if you want to try to find your way there. But as we begin, I would ask you, do you remember how God made himself known to you? Do you remember how God made himself known to you? Take a moment and think back to when God was pursuing you. Do you remember the people that he used?

00:01:31

Do you remember the places where you were when God made himself known to you? You may be remembering Sunday school. You may be remembering the time you accepted Christ as your savior. You. You may be remembering a time where you sinned and you felt conviction.

00:01:51

You might be remembering this past week. You might be remembering 30 years ago over and over. As you think back in your life, you can see the moments where God was making himself known to you. I think about God using a famine and in a mother in law. Take reach Ruth.

00:02:14

And God used a cousin to reach Esther. God used an angel to speak to Mary and he used a dream to speak to Joseph. God used a runner to an Ethiopian eunuch. God used a piece of candy with a scripture on it for my friend Mimi as she was in jail. What did God do to make himself known to you?

00:02:46

God made himself known to me with Sunday school teachers. God made himself known to me with a lady named Cheevy who would drive by my house and pick me up in her van to take me to church. God made himself known to me. When I went to camp one summer, I was 16 years old. I'd been raised in church.

00:03:13

And somehow I thought very legalistically that if I did enough things and if I walked a straight line that I could earn somehow this thing of salvation. And I Found that I was inept and incapable.

00:03:32

That year, as I was going back to camp, I said, I will go, but I will not go to that altar. Because every year I go and I have an encounter with Jesus and I go home and I fail, and I'm a firstborn and I'm a perfectionist, and I don't like to get things wrong, and if I just can't do it perfect, I'd rather not do it at all. So I'll go to camp, but I'm not going to the altar. That year we go to camp. It was different than any other camp we had gone to.

00:04:09

We always went to Camp Eupora. And that year somebody had made a connection. And we were going to a camp near Florence, Mississippi. Different area. We get there, not only is it a new campground, new camp food, there is an evangelist there who was a theologian and spoke way over my head.

00:04:32

I remember being there thinking, well, this is going to be easier than I thought. I'm not going to the altar, because I don't even know what he's talking about. And on that Wednesday of the week, the directors, Hal Dagg, is there and he says, we're all packing up and we're going to a different camp. Unbeknownst to us kids, they had changed the price of the camp halfway through the camp week, and we had to leave. Now, for us teenagers, we're like, what in the world?

00:05:04

They're like, go pack your sleeping bag. There's a college campus nearby, and they're out for summer, and we're going to move over there to stay. Whatever. We're here at camp. So here we go.

00:05:15

We pack up our stuff and they drive us bus load after busload to a new college campus, which was Wesley College in Florence, Mississippi. Never been there in my life. We get there, there's a girl's dorm and a guy's dorm. Y'all go put your stuff in a room and then join us in the chapel. So I go, I put my stuff down in this dorm room and I go to the chapel.

00:05:40

And that Wednesday, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart. I don't remember what that theologian said, but I know the Holy Spirit had free reign of my heart. And when it came time for the altar call, I do not remember going forward. I do not remember having a go. What are people going to think?

00:06:03

All I know is I hit the altar and this lady came up to pray for me, this counselor. I had seen her before. She was not from our church, did not know her name, and she asked me why I was there. And I remember telling her, I love, I love Jesus, but I can't do this. And I really, really hear him speaking to me, but I don't want to fail him again.

00:06:33

And she had her Bible because this woman was prepared. And she brought her Bible to the altar and she turned it open and she turned to Philippians 4:13. And she read this verse, I can do all things through Christ. And she said, emily, would you read that ve verse? And I read it.

00:06:53

And she said, no, you read it again. And I read it again. And she said, no, you read it until you mean it. And I read it. We're having a full on Bible study.

00:07:05

People were there. I don't know if they were waiting, it didn't matter. I was having an encounter with God and he was making Himself known to me. When I got up that day from the altar, the weight had been lifted and I knew there was freedom in Christ. And as I walk back to that dorm room, I'm going into the room where I had just set my stuff a few hours earlier.

00:07:27

And as I walked into the room there by that door was a verse.

00:07:34

And on the verse you know what it said? Philippians 4:13, I can do all things. And here I am 16 and I'm reading the signs and I look around at the other rooms and every verse, and every verse is different. But the room where my stuff was was Philippians 4:13. And you can say that it was a coincidence if you want to, but I know the Holy Spirit who goes before us had made a way.

00:08:03

And he knew that my 16 year old heart needed confirmation that I could do all things when I went home. Not because of Emily, because of him within me. That is our God who makes Himself known to us in the passage. Today we have a familiar story and we see the lengths that God will go to make Himself known to us. A little background on the story.

00:08:34

Joseph and his brothers have all died. There is a new king in charge, new Pharaoh. And the Israelites are multiplying. And he says, we need to do away with these Israelites, so they begin to oppress them, make them work. There's a verse in Exodus 1:12 that I love that says the more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied.

00:09:00

The more they oppressed them, the more they multiplied. So the king said, all right, Hebrew midwives, when you go to help one of these Hebrew women have a baby, if it's a boy, you kill it. And these Hebrew midwives feared God and they would not obey that Pharaoh. So Pharaoh said, well, everybody. Everybody is commanded.

00:09:23

If you have a son, you must throw him into the Nile River.

00:09:30

And Moses mother has a baby boy. And she hides him, the scripture says, for three months, until she knows she can't hide him any longer. He is going to grow up, and he is a boy. So what does she do? I think she had an encounter with God herself.

00:09:49

She turns a basket into a baby float, and she puts her baby in there. And she says, sister, I want you to go with your brother and. And place them in the reeds of the Nile and then step back and watch babysit from a distance. And as God would have it, that very day, Pharaoh is going out to have a bath in the Nile River. And all of a sudden, on cue, Moses begins to cry.

00:10:19

And they get the baby. And she has compassion for him. She has compassion for him. And she says, okay, I'll take him. He's one of these Hebrew boys, Hugh's sister, who comes out of the bushes and says, do you need a mama to nurse that baby?

00:10:35

I know somebody. And Pharaoh's daughter says, yes, I'm going to pay her money to nurse her own son. And then as he got older, Moses, mama would give him up a second time to Pharaoh's daughter. So now Moses and Pharaoh's daughter got to name him. And she named him Moses because that actually means drew out to draw out of the water or to rescue Moses.

00:11:07

Moses gets older. Moses begins to notice all that's going on. And you know the story how one day he goes out and there's a Hebrew that's getting beaten by an Egyptian, and Moses wants to rescue. So he steps in and actually strikes the Egyptian and kills him. Looks around, doesn't see anybody, and buries them in the sand.

00:11:29

And the next day he comes out, and there are two Hebrews. And he's like, what are y'all doing? Y'all are the same. Why are you fighting? And they say, are you going to kill us like you killed that Egyptian?

00:11:41

And Moses says, okay, they know he's fighting. Fearful Pharaoh gets word, and Pharaoh tries to have him killed. Moses then is a fugitive and leaves and finds his way in the desert of Midian. And he sits down by a well. And if you read the scripture very long, you'll find that great things happen at the well.

00:12:04

Love stories tend to happen at the well. And he's at the well, and the priest of the town has seven daughters. And the seven daughters have come to the well, and there's some shepherds that come and that are running them off. And Moses begins to rescue them and he steps up for them. So the girls go home and they tell the priest, there's an Egyptian at the well and he rescued us.

00:12:30

And he said, well, bring him here. Moses is invited home to the priest. He finds shelter there. He marries one of the priests daughters. They have a son.

00:12:42

And Moses now becomes a shepherd of his father in law's sheep in the desert of Midian. That's where we find ourselves today in our passage, it's interesting, at the end of Exodus 2, verse 24, there's this beautiful verse that says, and God heard their groaning. This is the Israelites. God heard their groaning. God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.

00:13:13

And God saw the Israelites and God knew. It's been a long time. We'll learn from another passage. It's actually been 40 years since Moses left. They're still in bondage and they cry out to God.

00:13:30

And God heard their groaning. And God remembered his covenant. And God saw and God knew. Have you cried out to God? When you have that situation, do you cry out to God or do you just cry out to your friends?

00:13:46

God says he heard and he remembered. He saw and he knew. Exodus 3. It's verses 1 through 15 is where we are today. The passage says.

00:13:59

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father in law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. And Moses saw that though the bush was fire, it did not burn up. So Moses thought, I'll go over and see this strange sight why the bush does not burn up.

00:14:28

And when the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the Moses, Moses. And Moses said, here I am. Do not come any closer. God said, take off your sandals for the place where you are standing ground. And then he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.

00:14:51

At this, Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers. And I'm concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of the land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey, the home of The Canites, Hittites, Amorites and Jebusites.

00:15:25

And now the me and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. But Moses said to God, who am I? That I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt.

00:15:48

And God said, I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you. When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain. Moses said to God, suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you. And they ask me, what is his name?

00:16:08

Then what shall I tell them? And God said to Moses, I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites. I am has sent me to you. God also said to Moses, say to the Israelites, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has sent me to you.

00:16:29

This is my name forever. The name you shall call me from generation to generation. Amen. And let us pray. God, we thank you for your word and we thank you for your promises.

00:16:43

And I thank you for this message, for your people, for your children. God, I pray that you would have your way in this sanctuary. God, I pray that you have liberty. You are invited here. Jesus, will you come to our Bible study today?

00:16:57

Have your way, we pray. Amen.

00:17:04

It's been a long time. And Moses has been shepherding for 40 years. He is in the desert shepherding his father in law's flock. It's not even his flock. 40 years he has went from being the prince of Egypt to a shepherd in the wilderness.

00:17:26

Moses couldn't have known that he would one day need experience being a shepherd. He didn't know that one day he would need experience being a shepherd of someone else's flesh flock. He didn't know that he would need experience being a shepherd of someone else's flock in the wilderness. He didn't know that he would need experience being a shepherd of someone else's flock in the wilderness for 40 years. And this is where Moses is.

00:17:58

And the passage tells us that he is now on the far side of the wilderness. Now it's one thing to be in the wilderness, but if the scripture tells you you're on the far side of the wilderness, that's like you're in molten. You are out there on the far side of the wilderness. The Bible says he's at a place called Horeb. Now, Horeb means desert or desolation.

00:18:25

It gives you a picture of what it was like at Horeb. Desert, desolate. Horeb is the same as Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai is one of the famous locations in Scripture. It's referred to as the Mountain of God.

00:18:44

It is a place of divine revelation. It is a place where God gives the Ten Commandments. It's the place where God sets up his covenant with the Israelites. It's the place where Elijah would flee from Jezebel. And he goes and God speaks to him in a whisper.

00:19:05

Mount Horeb is where Moses is here. Can I tell you that God wants to be known? God wants to be known. Can I tell you that we have a God who not only can be known, but he wants to be known. And he enables us, his creation, to.

00:19:29

To know Him. What a gift. It's one thing for a God to create a people, but for God to create the people in such a way where we could respond and have a relationship with Him. God wants to be known. The burning bush is a classic story.

00:19:48

I think I have a visual in mind of that felt board in Sunday school. Does anybody remember the felt board? Can I have a felt board witness? Thank you. Back in Sunday school, there was this felt board.

00:20:02

It was magical. And the teacher would pull out different things. And sometimes we began to think that that shepherd always looked the same. But anyways, it might be Moses. And then the next week he was Abraham.

00:20:13

But I remember the felt board picture of the burning bush. Moses is here. It's been 40 years. Do you know that Moses is now 80 years old? He's 80 years old on the backside of the wilderness with his father's flock.

00:20:34

And he sees that there's a bush that's on fire. Now, if you're in the desert and something's on fire, that may not be surprising. But this was different because the Bible says it was a bush that was on fire, but it wasn't destroyed. You think about a picture of a bush that is not being burned, but it is on fire. You might see the holiness of God in the fire and yet the compassion of God that it's not destroyed.

00:21:08

If you do some research on the burning bush, there's a lot of different. Different viewpoints of what the burning bush means. Some would say it's a picture of the Israelites or the people of God in general, that they are afflicted but not consumed. They're afflicted but not destroyed. Why?

00:21:32

Because God is in the midst. Some would say you see the imminence of God and yet the transcendence of God, meaning the imminence of God that God would be present with them in the midst of suffering. And yet the transcendence of God, his holiness and his power and his otherness. You see the picture of both. Also, some would say that not only was this a bush that was on fire, the Bible shows us that it is a thorn bush or a bramble bush.

00:22:05

And when you think about the bush being a thorn bush, you might think about the cross and you might think about the scene at the crucifixion with the crown of thorns. And although Jesus was afflicted, he was not destroyed. The burning bush. I wonder to myself what would have happened if Moses 80 years old. It's been a long day.

00:22:30

I've been walking a lot of miles, and I see that burning bush on fire. And although it gets my attention, I think to myself, I. I'm busy today. I don't have time with this flock to go over and investigate. I think it's interesting that God knows the very personality of Moses because he created him.

00:22:48

He knew how to get Moses attention. Can I tell you that God knows how to get your attention? God will try to get our attention. And it says that when Moses went over to look closer, God saw him and called to him from within the bush. Moses.

00:23:08

Moses. God calls. When Moses moves towards the bush, God doesn't force us to enter his presence. Draw near to me, he says, and I'll draw near to you. James 4.

00:23:23

8. Notice that God set up the burning bush. God always moves first. God created this scene so he could get Moses attention, so he could deliver a message and an assignment. God speaks to us when he has our attention.

00:23:42

Does he have your attention as a mama, as a dad? You know, there are times when I am not going to speak to my children because I do not have their attention. I would waste my voice. Have you ever felt that way? If I keep talking in this moment, I'm wasting my voice because they're not listening to me.

00:24:01

I need you to pull them ear things out of your ears for just a minute so I can speak to you. No, no, no. I need to see your eyes. Like, I need to know that you're paying attention to me. God spoke when he had Moses attention.

00:24:14

And you may be saying, I haven't heard God's voice. And I'm waiting to hear from God. And I really want God to speak to me. And I would say, are you Paying attention. Have you leaned in?

00:24:27

God speaks when he has our attention. And God's first words to Moses. It's really precious. He says, Moses. Moses.

00:24:38

He calls them by name. This is an 80 year old forgotten shepherd. He is on the backside of the wilderness. He may think I'm too far. He may think I'm too old.

00:24:52

He may think nobody cares. I'm unseen. God knows. God sees. God calls.

00:25:00

God remembers. He says his name twice. Call. A double call in the Bible. You see that?

00:25:08

Abram. Abram. Simon. Simon. Martha.

00:25:13

Martha. Jerusalem. Jerusalem. When he says the name 12 twice. Moses.

00:25:20

Moses. And what I think is so beautiful about this particular case is, do you remember what Moses name means? To draw out or to rescue? So when he says, Moses. Moses.

00:25:35

Just by saying his name, he is reminding him that there is purpose for you. I have drawn you out. There is a reason, Moses, that you have been called out to the wilderness. There is a reason for you, Moses. I have been protecting you and rescuing you your whole life.

00:25:58

Moses. Moses. And I tell you that is the very same thing that Jesus from the cross speaks to our hearts when he says, there's a reason for your wilderness. I have been rescuing you your whole life. I know you.

00:26:15

And there is a purpose for this season. He's just waiting on us to pay attention. He's waiting on us to approach the throne. He's waiting. He is speaking.

00:26:25

Are you listening? God known. And God wants to be obeyed. God wants to be obeyed. When he speaks to Moses, Moses answers them.

00:26:36

And God gives them instructions. The first instruction he says is, don't come any closer. Which I love. Because this is a burning bush. And the bush was what, on fire?

00:26:48

Yes. And because he knows Moses and he knows Moses personality. Moses says, I need to check this out. And he's getting a little too close. And God says, don't come any closer.

00:27:00

This is holy ground. God is protecting Moses. God reminds him of who he is. And he says, take your sandals off. Now, I've always found it kind of fascinating that if all would say, as he is on holy ground, it was, take your sandals off.

00:27:22

Take your sandals off. Can I tell you that even though the sandal was thin, God didn't want anything separating him from his presence. Can I tell you that Moses had been walking a long way and he had trekked through some dirty ground. And he approaches at 80 years old. He's got some stuff he's carrying with him.

00:27:44

And God says, for us to have this encounter. I want you to take those shoes off your feet. Take the Sandals off. Can I tell you that some of us may think I have a little bit of sin, that it's in my life, but it's not hurting anybody. I've got a little bit of a secret here, something that I am participating with, but it doesn't hurt anybody else.

00:28:07

It's just me. Can I tell you that God loves us so much? He says, I want all of you take your sandals off. Take your sandals off your feet. I could come today and I could take my shoes off and I'm not, but I could take my shoes off.

00:28:25

And can I tell you that when you stand barefoot around other people, you feel exposed. When you're in the presence of other people and you have your shoes off, but nobody else does, it's a vulnerable position. And as you stand there exposed, I am reminded that God sees all. And whether or not you have your shoes off in the premise of other people, God still sees it. You're still exposed.

00:28:57

God sees all. He says, take your sandals off, Moses. Then he says, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob. I love that God introduces himself by saying who he is. He says, I'm the God of your father.

00:29:18

And I wonder if Moses thought which one? Like in the moment, you're the God of my father. And he says, no, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac. He gives Moses, Moses identity by telling who he is. God introduces himself by describing these patriarchs relationship.

00:29:40

And not only is it telling Moses who Moses is, it's saying to Moses, I am the God of covenant. Even though it's been a long time, I have not forgotten the covenant with my people. I have not forgotten the promise to Abraham. I am the God of covenant. 400 years in slavery.

00:30:01

Can you imagine that? 400 years in Egypt. God was working, God was preserving Egypt, Israel was multiplying. And Moses in his response to God, hide. We can understand if we're standing in front of that burning bush and God himself is speaking to us from this bush that's on fire, he hides his face.

00:30:29

And I think about Isaiah, chapter six. I think about Isaiah when he sees the throne room of God. And in the presence, there's the seraphim that are flying above the throne. And they have six wings. And remember, with two of the wings they cover their face because they're in the very presence of God himself.

00:30:49

In the scripture there's this beautiful passage and it says, God tells Moses, I have seen the misery of my people. I've heard their cry. I Know they're suffering and I've come down to rescue I've seen the misery I've heard the cry I know they're suffering and I come down to rescue from the power of the Egyptians I've seen, I've heard, I know I've come, I know I've come, I've seen, I've heard I know and I've come to rescue When I read that, I think about Jesus.

00:31:35

I've seen, I've heard I know and I've come down to rescue Jesus rescuing us. God is saying, I'm ready to rescue them from the Egyptians. And he says to us, I'm ready to rescue you from sin and sin itself, the very nature of sin, from shame itself. I come to rescue you. And he says, and I'm going to take them to a good land.

00:32:01

I am Jesus. I am going to deliver them from the wilderness. Them in a good land, a place where we would live with him forever. The rescue story of Israelites, I believe, is a picture of the greater rescue story, which is Jesus Christ coming as our atonement for sin. And he says, sin, I'm coming down to rescue.

00:32:31

Like God's going to handle it himself. And he says, and I want you to go, and I want you to go. I want you to lead them out of Egypt. Can I tell you that Jesus chooses to use us? Would it be easier for God to do all the rescuing himself?

00:32:50

I think so. He chooses to use us because it opens up a whole new relationship. When God calls us to act and to do things, to show kindness, to visit those in the prison, to take food, hand out food. When we get to participate in being the hands and feet of Jesus, we get to know him in a whole new way. The relationship.

00:33:16

When we hear the assignment and we obey, if we will obey, our relationship grows stronger. God wants to be known by us. God wants to be obeyed by us. And lastly, God wants to be trusted. God wants to be known.

00:33:35

God wants to be obeyed. And God wants to be trusted. Moses asked the question, okay, now picture this. You're burning bush. God says, you know, I want you to go to Pharaoh.

00:33:47

Now, he left Pharaoh as a fugitive. You remember, I want you to go back and tell Pharaoh to let my people go. And Moses response is, who am I? Like, who am I to do that? And God's response to him is, I will be with you.

00:34:09

God doesn't answer who Moses is. Moses says, who am I to have that authority? Like, I don't really know God. If this is a good Idea who am I? And God doesn't respond to that argument.

00:34:23

All he says, I will be with you. I will certainly be with you. And I can't help but think, what if here, in this season of Lent, when we are fasting, when we are pressing in, when we have questions for God and we've been waiting for God, would you please answer, where will such and such, or who will or what should I. And we have these questions, questions, and we're waiting on God to answer. And what if God's response is, I will certainly be with you?

00:34:57

Is that enough? I will certainly be with you. What if we don't have all the details, but we know that we can trust his presence? Is his presence enough to trust him?

00:35:17

God will absolutely invite us to participate in assignments that we feel we have no business being a part of.

00:35:28

If God showed up to you, I want you to go and do you know to Pharaoh and tell him, okay, Moses had no business demanding for the Israelites to be set free. But under the authority of God, God was doing the rescuing. And he was using Moses. Using Moses. God's identity was more important than who Moses was.

00:35:51

When we know the God who is with us, we can step forth in confidence. When you trust God and you know his character, I can be obedient to the assignment. I can be obedient to the assignment. Corrie Ten Boom is one of my best friends that doesn't know me and lives with Jesus now. And she may know me if God has told her.

00:36:14

There's this girl that's really kind of obsessed with you. I don't know. But Corrie Ten Boom said, never be afraid to trust an unknown future with a known God. Never be afraid to trust the unknown future. College, marriage, the children, where I'm going.

00:36:33

Never be afraid to trust the unknown future with the known God. And Moses responds and says, if I go, who do I tell him is your name? And I love that. He says, if. Because if you've been there with God and God gives you an assignment, can I tell you that that moment of saying, okay, God, if I do this, I'm going to need.

00:36:56

And God doesn't, you know, say, what do you mean if? He's patient with us and he knows us. He says, if I go, what's your name? And God says that phrase, I am who I am. And you're like, that is unbelievable.

00:37:12

And yet I have no idea what that means. And it's, I am who I am, meaning you can't say God is equal. Sign one word that Explains it all. I am who I am. There is no comparison.

00:37:26

There is no other God to say like this, that full, I am who I am. And yet, one thing that's interesting, it correlates with the word Jehovah and Yahweh. Yahweh and Moses mother. Side note, his mother, who gave him up twice, who I hope one day to hang out with in heaven. And I can talk about the whole baby boat float thing, but anyways, her name was Jochebed.

00:37:56

And that very phrase means, yahweh is my glory. Yahweh is my glory. And so he's talking to Moses and he says, I am who I am. And I wonder if he thought about his mama that moment. And in Scripture, in the New Testament, you hear, I am the bread of life.

00:38:19

I am the living water. I am the way, the truth and the life. The same phrase. Jesus, God the Son. I am.

00:38:29

You remember In John chapter 18, when they come to, to arrest Jesus? And Jesus says, you know, who are you coming for? And they said, we're coming for Jesus. And he says, I am he. And remember, they fall down.

00:38:45

He said the phrase I am.

00:38:49

He invites us to know him, to obey him, to trust him. As I finish that passage, verse 15, God says, Go say to the Israelites, the Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you. It mimics verse six, when God is introducing himself to Moses himself. And I love it because God says, when you go to collect my children, the Israelites, you tell them it was me. I'm the one coming to rescue them.

00:39:22

I heard them, I saw them. I know they're suffering and I'm coming to rescue them. And the same thing God says to us when we have all the problems that we have. And we're saying, okay, God, do you even see me? Do you hear me?

00:39:39

And God, today, I've heard you. I've seen you. I know. And I've come to rescue you. That is our God.

00:39:49

Hallelujah. That is our God. God wants to be known. He didn't have to have a burning bush in the backside of the wilderness, but he knew what Moses needed, and he put himself there to be known by him. He wants to be obeyed.

00:40:06

He is a holy God. He says, get your sandals off. This is holy ground and you are welcome here. But you can't carry that with you. Take your sandals off.

00:40:19

God wants to be trusted with all of me, with all of the assignment, with all of the priorities, with all of the outcomes. We can trust him with it all. We can trust him with it all. I thought to myself, known, obeyed. Trusted.

00:40:40

Known, obeyed, trusted. Can I obey someone that I don't trust? I think the answer is yes. I think there have been times in my life where I may have obeyed a teacher that I didn't really trust her. Or maybe for some of us, we obeyed a parent that we did not necessarily trust.

00:41:01

But God, our Father, he wants us to trust him.

00:41:08

Can I say that we don't have to know all the details of how God is going to accomplish it if we know him. I've heard a preacher say, it's not as important you know the answer as it is that you know the teacher. It's not as important that you know the answer if you know the teacher. There was a toddler backstage, and her dad picked her up, and he was going a different route. And the little girl in the back seats said, daddy, where are we going?

00:41:38

It says, we're going home. A few minutes later, daddy, where are we going? We're going home. We're just going to go a different way. A few minutes later, daddy, where are we going?

00:41:49

Some of you know what that's like.

00:41:53

Even though they were going a different route, she was a little confused. The route was different. It was unfamiliar. But after a few times, she quit asking anymore because her daddy was driving. When he got home, he pulled in and went to get her out of the backseat, and she's asleep.

00:42:13

And he said he thought to himself, the Holy Spirit checked him and he said, that's what I want you to do, even when I'm carrying you, a different route. And even though the route seems unfamiliar to the path that you would have expected to take, you can rest in me, because I am your father. And I'm going to take you home.

00:42:35

I'm going to take you home. I would invite our worship team if you guys want to come forward. It was the past few weeks of my life, I have been walking in uncharted territory. Me and my husband are trying to walk by faith and not by sight. And I've thought about that quite a few times, how I want my children to trust me and how much it would hurt Mama if they didn't trust what I was saying.

00:43:08

And I'm not perfect, and I have failed them, and I have lied. But I want my boys to be able to trust me as their mama. And I think to myself, how much more does God, our Father, want us to trust him? And how does it hurt his heart when when he tells us, and he leads us in a certain direction, and we question his very nature, we question who he is. It was a beautiful day.

00:43:37

Sunny day. Louisa, her husband, and their little girl Lily, are going for a picnic. They were going for a picnic on Long Island Sound. And during the picnic, the Steeds, that was her last name. Suddenly they hear a scream from the water.

00:43:57

It's a little boy. He's drowning. Mr. Steed takes off, runs to the water to go save this little boy. Louisa, her daughter Lily are watching helplessly as both this husband and this little boy drowned in the water.

00:44:17

After that time, he runs to the rescue. He dies. The little boy dies. Louisa and Lily are just overwhelmed with grief. And yet God never left their side.

00:44:30

She was struggling poor. Her husband's gone. She has no income. In this season of life, she learned to trust God. And these are the words she wrote.

00:44:47

Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus and to take him at his word Just to rest upon his promise and to know Thus saith the Lord Jesus Jesus, how I trust Him How I proved Him O'er and o'er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus oh, for grace to trust him more Just a little time after that, Louisa and her daughter Lily went to South Africa to be missionaries. She ended up meeting a South African and got married and they pastored a church. She wrote the hymn, Tis so Sweet to Trust in Jesus. Can I tell you that Jesus wants us to know Him? He wants us to obey him, and he wants us to trust Him.

00:45:52

And he gives us grace to trust Him. He knows us. He knows us. I want to tell you guys that as I was preparing for this message, it was very clear. God wanted me to remind you that he can be known, that he can be obeyed and he can be trusted.

00:46:13

He sees, he hears, he knows. He came down to rescue. That's a God that we can trust. He invites us to know Him. Are we paying attention?

00:46:27

He spoke when Moses leaned in to hear, when he had our attention. Do you need to remove your sandals today? Is there something that you've carried with you that God says, no, no, no. I invite you into my holiness, but this you're not. It doesn't.

00:46:45

It doesn't give you any benefit. You need to get rid of this. You can't take this. It's not doing you any service. You think it's only hurting you, but it's hurting more.

00:46:55

I don't want you to be hurt. There is freedom in the name of Jesus, even from that. God says, take your sandals off. It's time to trust his presence. And if for some of us, God is asking us to move in obedience.

00:47:11

But we've been demanding certain answers. And what God says is, I will certainly be with you. I will certainly be with you. Is it enough for us? Can we trust our Father that His presence is enough, even without the answers?

00:47:30

As we sing this song of worship, I invite you to lean in. Yes. There is altars here. There is altars there. There's an altar there at your heart, where you can stand before this holy God and surrender yourself to Him.

00:47:46

He is worthy. He is worthy. Amen.

Total Duration 00:47:52