The Power of God

There are some movie scenes that I never get tired of: the rally speech in Braveheart, the reunion of Red and Andy in The Shawshank Redemption, the frozen flagpole licking scene in A Christmas Story.  But, I have to say, I am a sucker for the moment in both The Ten Commandments and The Prince of Egypt when Moses splits the Red Sea!  Or should I say, when God splits the Red Sea? 

It is the power of God coursing through the weak human flesh of a servant that just pulls me out of the ordinary and routine and reminds me again of the majesty and awe of God.  Isaiah understood this well!  In Isaiah 51:9-11, he pictures the splitting of the Red Sea in terms of a war between God and the forces of chaos.  And the New Testament pictures the splitting of the Red Sea as the onset of the Christian life (see 1 Corinthians 10:1-2). 

I hope as you read on your own this amazing story, that you will pause for a moment and relish in the greatness, the power and the salvation of God Almighty!

The Mission of the Church

The Book of Exodus is so critical to understanding the mission of the church. There is a split about what we are called to do and what the gospel is. Are we merely called to preach a message of personal salvation? Are we merely to attend to the needs of others?

Exodus 5-12 fleshes this out for us—it is both. It is what the Bible teaches in Exodus when God frees His people from real slavery and when He proclaims His covenant to the people in chapters 19-24. It is what the Bible teaches in the gospels when Jesus proclaims the kingdom and heals people of oppressive maladies (and commissions His disciples to do the same. It is what the Bible teaches in James when we are to proclaim God’s grace and show it through acts of care and compassion, for faith without works is dead! It is what we see in the Book of Acts as the church goes about proclaiming Jesus and seeing people surrender their lives to Christ (Acts 2:36-41) and taking care of the weak (Acts 6:1-6; 20:35).

When Stalin took over Russia, he did not outlaw Christianity. He simply took away their ability to meet people’s needs. That duty now belonged solely to the State. And the church in Russia almost died.

View the six-minute video at http://youtu.be/RohCIHXBZxY and see some of the work of the International Justice Mission in the life of a Ugandan woman named Grace. The cross was already a part of Grace’s life. And now the kingdom is having a tangible effect on her plight too! Such is the mission of the church!

"Who am I?" "Who are You?

I have to say, I am so excited about our Exodus series.  It is one of the books that made me truly fall in love with the Old Testament early on in seminary.  I still remember a lecture from one of my profs, Ray Ortlund Jr., on Exodus 32-34 that just echoed within me for years. 

As we come to Exodus chapter three, I would like to share one thought that I had to edit from the final draft of this morning’s sermon (I assume no one wants me going 90 minutes+, hence the editing J).  Moses had two questions for God when God called him to be His delegate to Egypt in order to free the people: “Who am I?” and “Who are You?”.  And here is the interesting thing about the answers - God never addressed the “Who am I?” questions (which were really excuses for why God should pick someone else).  God only addressed the “Who are You?” questions.  God told Moses, “I am the One who will be with you”, “I am the One who will give you power”, etc….  The absence of any comments to Moses’ “Who am I?” questions is an answer in and of itself. 

It doesn’t matter how weak or insignificant you feel.  It is about the power of God to work in and through us according to His good pleasure!

iHOPE and The Shawshank Redemption

I am so excited about this series in Exodus. As many of you know, I have a deep love for the Old Testament (especially the Torah). And I love the idea of paralleling this study with some of the insights and ideas from one of my all-time favorite movies: The Shawshank Redemption.

Let me make sure if you are going out to rent it that you are well aware that this is NOT a movie for children. It is a real and honest look at the despair and hellish existence inside a prison. You can bypass the very harsh language by watching it on TV (it is often on the AMC channel). But, I chose this story because it is such a brilliant tale of redemption even in the worst of places. Much like the Exodus story! God’s redemption is so much more than praying a prayer and saving yourself a spot in heaven! As we will see in the story of the Exodus (and the exodus that occurs in the movie), redemption is about living out freedom even in the midst of oppression and pain. It is about facing the powers-that-be with the truth of God’s superior power to bring freedom.

So as we go through this series, my adjuration is to think about what oppression and captivity looks like for you and to read Exodus through the lens of the cross where Jesus Himself proclaimed that He had come to “proclaim release to the captives…to set free those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). What will freedom look like for you? What do you have to hope for?

Unleash Love

As our Community Group was walking through Acts 19 this past Wednesday, one of the questions was, “Why does this world system react so aggressively towards Christianity when it shares the gospel?  Why is the hatred sometimes so palpable and intense?”  Some concluded that Christians have, at times, brought it on themselves because of their hypocrisy (which has been true at times).  Others concluded that it is a conflict in values that creates the intensity (which is also true).  But, at the end of the day, the “why?” question was replaced with the “how do we respond?” question.  And the guys in the group responded in unison - “Love”. 

One piece of our overall vision is to “unleash love”.  I wanted to use a phrase like “unleash love” rather than “be loving” or “show love” because the best way to be the church and preach the gospel is to as aggressively love our community as we do everything else. 

Evangelism is really quite simple.  Understand your message, speak it clearly and live a life of love that counters any antipathy that Christianity might have incurred.

Forgiveness

As we finish up the Gospel of John today (and a recap next week), it is important to see how John ends his gospel.

You could have stopped at John 20:30-31 and no one would have noticed the loss of John 21. But, in John 21, we see a critical loose end that needs to be tied up - Peter has betrayed Jesus and needs restoration! One wise man said that in order for true forgiveness to happen, the person who broke trust needs to come with one gift to the one offended - truthfulness. I can tell you personally how tempting it is to deal with someone who hurt you by just getting past things quickly so you can both move on. But, the truth is, without that kind of honest resolution, you will not have the kind of relationship God intends for you and I to have. It is the harder way, for sure. But, we are called to a ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:18).

Make sure that you take time this today to pray over any broken relationships you currently have. Ask God to open some doors and show you how to start moving in that direction… and heal.

Atonement, Power, and Faith

I was fascinated by some of the little details that John includes in John 20. John includes these so that we will think about the three appearances that Jesus makes after the resurrection.

Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene after she sees the empty tomb as a picture of atonement.

Jesus appears to the disciples and offers the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, Jesus appears to Thomas and offers answers to his lack of faith.

Atonement, power and faith. What an important trio! Here are three things that John would like us to know about what we have in Christ. We have atonement through Christ - we have been cleansed and brought back to God. We also have power - through the Holy Spirit to be effective in ministry. And we have faith - a belief that leads us to obedience when obedience seems so counter-intuitive.

Here is where the resurrection meets us directly and John wants us to see how this truth transforms life!