Slavery to the Fear of Others

Hi, good morning.

Good morning.

My name's Chris.

I help oversee community groups here at Watermark.

And I have a confession to make to you.

I live in fear of other people.

I was with colleagues a while back,

and all of my colleagues, not the ones I work with at the moment,

but my previous comments were bad-mouthing Christians.

Everyone was joining in about how believing in Jesus was a complete joke,

and I said nothing.

I was afraid of being ridiculed.

A friend of mine was entering into an unhealthy relationship.

I knew that I should say something to them, but I didn't,

because I was afraid of losing the relationship.

I was asked to help out at a Christian event,

and I was already overworked, already had too much to do,

but I couldn't say no,

because I was afraid that I'd be seen as maybe not a good Christian,

not serving as I should do.

People.

We're surrounded by them.

Our lives revolve around their expectations of us.

And their likes on Facebook make us feel good if we get them,

or bad if we don't.

People carry weight in our lives.

They shape how we view ourselves, whether we like it or not.

In some way, all of us are controlled by other people

and what they think of us.

We're afraid of them in some way.

Some of you may not think you're that particularly terrified of many people,

but some people may say,

well, I'm a rebel.

I do what I do.

I don't care what other people think.

Well, the only way you can show a rebel

that actually they are controlled by people

is just tell a rebel,

you know, you're so conservative.

You know, you're so boring.

You're so conventional.

And see how they respond when you tell them that,

because they will not be unaffected by what people think.

Now, sometimes fear of other people is a healthy fear.

The reason I came to church this morning wearing clothes

was because I was afraid of what other people would think.

That is a healthy fear,

and I'm sure you're relieved by that.

But it's true that people, wherever you look at it,

people carry weight in our lives.

And the question is,

do we give them too much weight?

In the Old Testament,

the word, the most common word for glory,

is a word kavod,

which literally means heaviness, weightiness.

And it's someone's glory in the Old Testament

is their possessing weight and influence over you.

We say a weighty person, a weighty argument.

And a weighty person inspires from other people

different reactions, terror, fear, or respect, honor, worship.

That is what glory does.

And the question that we want to look at today

is who causes you to have those responses in your life?

Who is glorious in your eyes?

And we've been looking at this series

just over the last couple of weeks

of the things which enslave us as Christians

and stop us living out the identity

that Christ has bought for us on the cross

and the freedom he wants us to live in.

Galatians 5 says this.

It says,

It was for freedom that Christ has set you free.

So don't submit yourself again to a yoke of slavery.

Don't live as slaves when you're actually free,

is what he's saying.

And the Exodus story, which we're going through,

is a story of redemption.

Redemption meaning release from slavery,

release from bondage, release from captivity.

And that's what God is doing in this story in Exodus.

But it's the story of how the Israelites,

though they were set free,

still wanted to keep being back as slaves.

We looked last week, two weeks ago,

at how idols, things we worship and love more than God,

the idol of control,

can be one of those things which enslaves us.

Last week, we looked at how the idol of self-reliance,

relying on our own ability or inability,

can hold us and handcuff our hearts.

And today, we want to look at how the fear of other people

is like a ball and chain,

which you carry around with you

when we were made to run free.

So we're going to look.

And if you've got your bulletin,

you'll see on the back,

there are just the key three points,

God's glory,

our fear,

and God's deliverance.

So just kind of track with me through this.

The backstory.

Imagine you're an Israelite.

Your whole world has been dominated

by the rule of one control freak

called Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

You've lived your whole life

in hard labor,

under the hot sun,

obeying the wishes of your masters,

your slave masters,

who do whatever Pharaoh tells them to do.

Like working in your offices in Hong Kong

under your slave driver boss.

And everyone hates the boss,

but no one is willing or able to stand up to him.

So we serve them slavishly.

And God raises up this guy called Moses

to go to Pharaoh

and to say to Pharaoh,

let...

Good.

Someone's watched Prince of Egypt.

Let my people go.

But in Prince of Egypt,

they missed out the next part.

Do you know what the next bit says?

Let my people go

that they may serve me.

That's what it says.

And it keeps repeating

because the whole Exodus story

is not just about release

from a cruel dictator.

It's a release to serving

a loving, glorious, faithful God.

And Exodus is a power contest

between Pharaoh in the blue corner

and God in the red corner.

And in Exodus 2,

God right at the outset

tells Moses,

I know the king of Egypt

will not let you go.

His heart is so opposed to me,

he is not going to let you go

unless compelled

by a mighty,

a mightier hand.

And what he's got to see

and what the Israelites

have got to see

and what the Egyptians

have got to see

is that I,

the God of Israel,

am mightier than him.

I am more glorious

than the weight of Pharaoh

in your lives.

That is what God

is always up to.

He's up to in our lives.

He's always about

wanting to show us

that he is more glorious

than the things

that we are serving.

And so what you have,

you have 10 plagues

and in these 10 plagues,

God basically gets Pharaoh

in a headlock

and says,

okay,

you're going to let my people go.

Pharaoh says,

okay, I will.

And then he lets him go

and he releases Pharaoh

and then Pharaoh says,

only joking.

So God gets him back

in a headlock again

and says,

who's stronger?

Pharaoh says,

okay, okay,

you are,

lets him go.

He says,

only joking.

10 times he does that

until finally,

Pharaoh for the first time

in his life

has to admit defeat.

God is stronger.

He says,

get out to the Israelites,

worship your God.

That's where the story

picks up today.

Look in your bulletin,

verse 17 of chapter 13.

When Pharaoh let the people go,

God did not lead them

on the road

through the Philistine country,

though that was shorter.

For God said,

if they faced war,

they might change their minds

and return to Egypt.

What does this say?

There's an easy way

out of Egypt.

You kind of just walk out

along the main highway.

It's easy, okay?

It's short.

It's quick.

But God doesn't take them

that way.

Does God not have

a good GPS?

No.

It's just because

he knows that this is

a people who are fickle.

They haven't learned

to trust him.

As soon as they come

into danger,

they're going to be right

back to Egypt,

right back into slavery.

God supernaturally,

through a pillar of cloud

and fire,

leads them to this path,

another path out of Egypt.

And then he just,

without reason,

tells them,

okay, now turn back

into a complete dead end.

This is verses 1 to 9

in chapter 14.

On the left side

is the desert,

okay, behind you.

Here is the sea,

behind you.

And then what God does,

he says,

okay, I'm going to make sure

Pharaoh comes after you

so that you have

no way out, okay?

Desert, sea,

big Pharaoh

in front of you.

No way out.

And God's playing

this little game of chess,

it seems.

He's going to lure Pharaoh in.

He says,

I'm going to harden

this stubborn man's heart.

So he's not just going to give up

on the Israelites,

but he's going to block you in,

no escape route

at all.

What's God up to?

It's strange.

And Pharaoh,

you see in the story,

realizes half of his employees

have just left.

And you know,

how is his company

ever going to make a profit?

So he,

as the man of the hour,

gets his forces,

goes down,

and then the Israelites,

who I can imagine

they've been kind of

merrily contemplating

what they're going to do

with their free time.

I mean,

they're not slaves any longer.

They're thinking,

okay,

where are we going to go

to holiday?

Okay,

how are we going to spend

time with the kids?

Maybe they're surfing

in the sea.

And then suddenly,

they look up

and they see the Egyptians

in front of them.

Their masters

are coming back

to haunt them

and they're terrified.

Ever felt like

there's no way out

in life?

Well,

God's doing

the moving in this

and yet,

he's checkmate,

checkmated

his own team.

whichever way you look,

it's bad news.

And the worst thing is,

God,

the one who's supposed

to rescue you,

is the one who's doing this.

What?

Is it crazy?

Because think about it,

what kind of a God

would do that?

If you were a parent,

what kind of parent

would you be

if you led your kid

into a dead-end alley

and then pushed

the school bully

up into the other end

to go after them?

I mean,

that doesn't seem

very loving.

I don't know if you're parents,

but I hope you don't

do that regularly.

Okay?

That doesn't sound like

the kind of God

you want to serve.

And it's even worse.

If you look in verse 4,

verse 17,

verse 18,

God says,

the reason I'm doing this

is to get glory

for myself.

Not only is I loving,

he sounds like

an arrogant egomaniac.

Right?

C.S. Lewis,

the author of Chronicles of Narnia,

he said,

one of his greatest struggles

in coming to believe in God,

the God of the Bible,

was that when he read it,

God seemed to constantly demand

praise and glory.

And he said,

it sounded to him

like a vain woman

who wants compliments.

It sounds like God

is just a little,

we're just little pawns

in God's kind of chess game.

And it doesn't matter

if people suffer

a little bit or not.

And as long as God

wins the game,

gets credit at the end of it.

Hallelujah.

Isn't he good?

Seems crazy.

But here's what I think

is going on.

Because the Bible says

that's not the God

of the Bible.

When I was at school,

we had a school bully.

In fact,

we had quite a lot

of school bullies.

I went to a pretty rough school.

Most of my classmates

are now in prison

and all kinds of stuff.

But it's true.

My best friend at school,

he was a drug dealer.

And this guy,

he thought he was tough.

He would threaten

and menace the people

around him

to get what he wanted.

Everyone lived in fear

of this one guy.

His name was Grant.

And I don't know why.

There are certain names

which are connected

with bullies.

In my mind,

Grant is a bully.

But never mind.

If there's anyone

called Grant,

forgive me.

But if you saw this bully,

even if I was outside

of school,

I would be in fear.

Fear would kind of

well up inside of me.

But imagine one day

my father hears

about this situation,

what's been going on.

And just as the bully

starts coming towards me

in the playground,

my dad shows up.

The bully backs off.

Dad takes me

out of the situation.

But I'm still fearful.

I still live in fear

of this bully.

The next day,

my dad arranges

without me knowing

for this bully

to meet me.

But this time,

I'm with my dad.

And I'm there

in the corner

of the playground.

The bully shows up.

He's towering.

He's menacing.

He's threatening me

for candy,

sweets, you know,

money, anything.

There's nowhere to run.

And I panic.

And I begin to reach

into my pocket

to give him

the little money

that I have.

And just then,

my dad steps out

from beside me

and says,

don't give him anything.

I'll take care of this.

This guy has been ruling

this joint

for far too long.

He gets down

in front of him

and just hammers him

with a right hook,

knocks him out

cold on the floor.

Imagine the reaction

of all the students

in the playground.

Imagine the reaction

of me.

Everyone is in awe

awe of my father.

Because who is more

glorious now?

Who is worthy

of honor and respect

in that playground?

My dad is not

some tyrant

who is trying to control

and keep people

living in fear.

He's truly the one

who rules.

So the next time

I'm out

and the bully

comes to me

or another bully

comes threatening me

in that playground,

if I know that my father

is with me,

even if intimidation

comes,

I know

my dad rules.

And fear

is not going to

enslave me

before.

I can say,

I trust you

to take care of this one

because I know

you've already

dealt with it.

God wants us

to give him

the glory

so that we will

be truly free

from every

lesser power

that may

enslave us.

Now,

I'm not saying

that God

is some violent

thug,

okay,

and we should all

go around

punching people.

That's,

the Bible says

vengeance belongs

to God,

not us,

because he is

the judge.

He is the judge.

And Pharaoh

in this story

had stood

opposed to God

for so long

that God

said,

now is the time

I'm going to

bring freedom

from his rule.

In the Bible,

God's judgment

is actually

celebrated

as a good thing.

We think,

ooh,

it's terrible

hurting people

like that.

But actually,

the Bible says

God's judgment

is the way

freedom

is brought

to the oppressed.

Freedom is brought

to the victims

of injustice.

Freedom is brought

to those

who have been

terrorized.

And in the New Testament,

that same language

of freedom,

the language

of redemption,

is used

not as a release

from Pharaoh,

but as a release

from our sin,

which is that bully,

which,

our self-centered

pride,

captures us

and holds us

and keeps us

enslaved.

Colossians 1

says this,

for he has

rescued us

from the domain

of darkness

and transferred

us to the kingdom

of his beloved son

in whom we have

redemption,

the forgiveness

of sins.

Jesus did the

ultimate prison break

from the master

of sin,

the domain

of darkness.

He smashed

its power

through the cross.

He knocked

sin out

on the ground

so that for

whoever trusts

in him,

when sin comes

and starts

getting up again

and tries to

intimidate you,

tries to make you

a slave

to itself,

to the fear

of other people,

the Bible says

God has already

dealt with it.

You're free.

You're secure.

He is the one

who has victorious.

He rules.

He reigns.

You can trust him.

And anybody

else around

as they see

the tyranny

that we live in

under fear

only needs to see

that God is stronger

and greater

and we can trust him.

If God,

who created

the whole universe,

your breath

right now

is given by him.

He can pull

the plug

at any time.

He's the judge

of all

and yet

he loves us

enough

to die

on a cross

for us.

Isn't he worthy

of the greatest

weight and glory

in our lives?

Because his rule

is good.

It's not tyrannical.

Even if you're

not a Christian,

author

William Foster Wallace,

who's not a Christian,

says this,

we all

worship

someone

or something.

And remember,

worship is giving

glory,

giving great weight

to something,

the ultimate weight.

He says,

in the day-to-day

trenches of adult life,

there is actually

no such thing

as atheism.

There is no such thing

as not worshipping.

Everybody

worships.

The only choice

we get

is what to worship.

And the compelling

reason

for maybe choosing

some sort of God

or spiritual

type of thing

to worship

is that pretty much

anything else

we worship

will eat you alive.

If you worship

money and things,

if that is where

you tap real meaning

in life,

then you'll never

have enough.

Worship your body

and beauty

and sexual allure

and you'll always

feel ugly.

And when time

and age

start showing,

you'll die

a million deaths

before they

finally grieve you.

He's saying

what the Bible

is saying.

We are all

worshippers,

so God

wants you

to worship

him

because he's

the only one

in worshipping

him that you

will gain

true freedom

to live

free

in the playground

of life.

God's not interested

in just getting you

like the Israelites

out of your

kind of spiritual mess

and then the quickest

way possible.

He doesn't save us

so we can have

a spiritual spa

where Jesus is like

your kind of

personal love

dispensing machine

so when you feel

a little bit empty

you just kind of

put in your

church going coins

and out pops

some of Jesus'

love and blessing

and it's fine

we can just go on

and live our own way.

He says

the reason God

wants you to

center your life

around his glory

is because

he alone

is worthy

of worship.

And when you

make glorifying

him your

greatest desire

you'll be free

from everything

else that tries

to enslave you.

including the fear

of the people

around you.

So I want to ask you

as you look

at your circumstances

what looms

who looms

large in your life

right now?

How much of your

concern

is that God

would gain glory

in your life?

Or how much

of your

prayers

your church

going

is simply

about just

making a better

life for yourself.

God says

I love you

that much

I want you

to be free

serve me

and you will

find liberation

in your lives.

That's God's glory

the way

to freedom.

Secondly

our fear.

Verse 10

when Pharaoh

drew near

the people

of Israel

lifted up

their eyes

and behold

the Egyptians

were marching

after them

and they greatly

feared.

See the Israelites

look up

and they see

the most powerful

army in the world

bearing down on them

and they panic.

They cry out to God

but he doesn't see

much use

so they shout at Moses

is it because

there are no graves

in Egypt

that you've taken us

away to die

in the wilderness.

They've forgotten

there's the pyramids

there which are

actually the biggest

graves around

but they say

this incredible thing

they said

what have you done

in bringing us

out of Egypt?

Is not this

what we said

to you in Egypt?

Leave us alone

that we may serve

the Egyptians.

We may serve

the Egyptians.

They seem to have

forgotten what it was

like to serve

the Egyptians.

God has already

shown the Israelites

that he's bigger

than Pharaoh

but for the Israelites

Pharaoh and the Egyptians

are bigger

in their eyes.

That's why they're

willing to become

his slaves again

because when people

are big

God is small.

When people are big

God is small.

And our fear

that creates

we give other people

the keys to our heart

and the right

to tell us

what to think

what to feel

and what to do.

When people are big

God becomes

like

you know you have

the iPad Mini

or we begin to have

my God Mini

who is just kind of

pocket size

he can fit in there

you can carry him

around with him

but you have no awe

of him.

And there is this theme

in the Bible

that there is awe

when you see God

and the awe

the level of awe

that you experience

of how amazing

God is

will correlate

to how much

freedom and satisfaction

you find in him.

Do you ever

easily get embarrassed?

Do you feel the need

to impress clients

all the time

so that you act

out of character

and say things

you wouldn't normally?

you know

this

this sermon

is for me

because I

I have some

very silly things

that just show

my fear of people

I

I think it can be

going out to meet

somebody

and I'm

I have some food

before I

grab a curry

before I go out

I'm going out

I'm going off

to meet somebody

and then as

halfway to get there

I suddenly look down

and I realize

on my shirt

half of the curry

is on my shirt

and at that moment

depending on who it is

that I want to go and see

if it's just

I'm going to meet

a friend

you know

somebody who's

kind of fairly relaxed

chilled out

you know

I'll think

oh

and maybe I'll go

and try and wash it off

but it's still there

stained

and I'll think

okay

and then I'll make

a joke of it

okay

to my friend

and it'll be fine

but if I go out

the same thing happens

and there's somebody

that I want to really

I want to respect me

I want to gain respect

from them

I want to impress them

and I go out

and that happens to me

and I'm going there

I run to the bathroom

I'm panicking

and I'm trying to get it out

I'm trying every possible

known method

known to man

to clean my shirt

because

and if I can't

then what I'm going to do

is I'm kind of

going to go along

and find them

and I'm going to try

and hide and cover

as much as I can

so they don't see

that actually

I'm a complete mess

and I'm clumsy

and all those other things

and if my wife

had told me earlier

that

not to wear that shirt

because I might

mess it up

and I didn't listen to her

do you think

I would go and tell her

about the incident later?

I've got to hide

I've got to hide

why?

because these people

even my wife

the people I want

respect from

the people that I have

locked my identity in

that if I can get

respect from them

then I will feel

better about me

and that good desire

for respect

can morph very quickly

into needing respect

from them

and I become dependent

on them

for my sense of worth

and identity

and when that is threatened

then I begin

to panic

and fear

and I will cover up

because I'm controlled

by their expectations

of me

Dr. Ed Welch

who's a counselor

says there are three things

that cause us

to fear people

we fear people

number one

because they can attack

oppress

or threaten us

attack

oppress

threaten

do you fear

criticism

or the words

of other people?

number one

number two

we fear people

because they can expose

and humiliate us

do you fear

being exposed

as a fraud

and a failure?

we fear people

because they can reject

ridicule

or despise us

do you fear

sharing your faith

because you might

get rejected

from the group

you want to impress?

for the Israelites

it seemed totally

legitimate

to panic

except that the Egyptians

don't want to kill them

they just want to

enslave them again

but we say

if I don't get

that person's respect

then I'm going to

lose out

and it seems legitimate

and it may be true

except

if you remember

that your massive

glorious heavenly father

who's already

demonstrated on the cross

that your identity

is utterly secure

your worth

your value

your approval

is already found

in him

and it's not going

anywhere

this other person

they are not the key

to your identity

because Christ is

and he will provide

for your needs

we fear

because we're needy people

with desires

people who are looking

for love

looking for comfort

looking for belonging

looking for acceptance

stability

security

and we all want to

worship something

bigger than ourselves

and sometimes

if we look to anybody

other than God

to ultimately fulfill

those needs

we become enslaved

to them

that's why God says

make me

big

in your life

because when you will be

then you won't have to live

in the fear

of all these other people

so who's boogieing

in your life

what expectations

from people

are you slaving

under

God's glory

our fear

third thing

God's deliverance

how do you get out

of slavery

to fear

of other people

chapter 14

verse 13

says this

don't be afraid

stand firm

and you will see

the deliverance

the Lord will bring you today

the Egyptians

you see today

you will never see again

the Lord

will fight for you

you need only

to be silent

the way to get out

of slavery

the way to fear

of others

is to have

a bigger fear

of God

when God is big

people are small

and to get

a vision of God

you need to be thinking

and meditating

about God

regularly

you need to talk

about God

and we need to stop

meditating on the

bigness of the people

around us

and to walk in obedience

to what God

calls us to do

if you look in this

Moses says

the Lord will fight

for you

you need only

to be silent

that's not saying

there there there

it's okay

it's gonna be fine

that in Hebrew

is a rebuke

to them

he's saying literally

God's gonna fight

for you

so be quiet

to be more rude

shut up

that's what he's saying

shut up

stop

thinking

thinking

and meditating

all the time

on how big

the Egyptians are

because they've

they've filled your eyes

so all you can see

is them in your screen

but you've taken

your eyes off

you can't see

that they are not

gonna bring you security

if you wanna rush back

to slavery

to them

that's not gonna be security

I'm the one

I've showed you already

will you trust me

because I

am the one

in this situation

who has already

gone before you

I have this sorted

will you trust me

I'm the judge

of these people

Jesus in Matthew 10

he says

don't fear those

who can kill the body

but cannot kill the soul

rather fear him

who can destroy

both body and soul

in hell

quite strong words

whoever

is big in your eyes now

one day

will be seen

in true perspective

they will look

as small

as you sometimes

feel

when God shows up

in this story

in verse 24

he looks down

on the Egyptians

he looks down

you know if Eric

is standing here

he looks down

on everyone else

when God is standing

next to whoever

is controlling us

in our lives

he looks down

he doesn't have

to look up

and you know

the very ones

who have caused

the Israelites

to panic

are themselves

panicking

because they're facing

a glorious God

and they've been

opposing him

all this time

and the chariots

that were their strength

that struck fear

into the Israelites

are now stuck

in the mud

like a car

trying to rev

its wheels

but it's stuck

in a pothole

it's getting nowhere

everyone

that we crave

that is big

in our eyes

we crave approval

from

we crave respect

we crave identity

from

will one day

stand before God

in judgment

and it's the great

equalizer

of everyone

who seems powerful

now

and I will stand

there

and you will stand

there

with Jesus

who has already

done the greatest

exodus

in our lives

he's already

taken the judgment

for us

and he's beside us

so we have

nothing

to fear

so the call

to get out of

freedom

out of slavery

to fear

is actually a call

to repent

of making

other people

bigger than God

in our lives

it's to take

the cross

and replay

what he has done

for you

so know that

you are secure

again and again

so your boss

your spouse

your parents

will see

so much smaller

in the light

of who he is

and what he's done

I want to just

play you

a little video

to show some of this

my name is

my name is May

and this is my story

I'm a pastor

kid

I feel so

in a church

I know one

I'm a long

teacher

I'm on here

as much as possible

when I got a little

older

I was a little

cancer

I'm a little

older

people found me

as a giver

and I kind of

had it all together

and I started

to get out

and I started

to get out

and the girl

grabbed it all

together

and I thought

I had this

family history

of people

who would love

to be with

and who were

willing to sacrifice

for others

and I wanted to be

like that

and unfortunately

I discovered

that I also

have a long

family history

of anxiety

and depression

but I never

thought that

that was going

to affect me

because I

I was a pretty

kid I had

all together

and I was

a good church

girl and girl

last year

I moved out

of my parents

house

I was working

the whole time

I was still

trying to maintain

this image

of being really

involved

my body and

mind

started because

I didn't

work anymore

but I ignored

that

and I just

kept going

and I was

thinking that I

hadn't used

up

all of a sudden

I found myself

having panic

attacks

on the way

to work

or in meetings

at work

on the way

home

or during

days

and I

didn't know

what to do

with that

because it

didn't fit

with my image

and I didn't

want people

to think

that I was

crazy

because I was

afraid that

my community

was going

to label me

as crazy

asking to not

keep all

the community

until I got

myself figured

out

so I would

have a panic

attack

on the

time

that works

and I

come home

and I

tell my room

in bed

she was kind

of anxious

I'm not an

equity counselor

and she

was like

okay

but I didn't

want her

to see the

depth

of my head

it didn't

work very

long

I found

myself out

with co-workers

wishing that I

were out of the

day

and through that

the voice

really

was able

to say

I have

more for you

for it

something

that this

way

was going

to happen

to me

I

was able

to make it

outside

and call

my boyfriend

and say

listen

listen

listen

this

I'm an

absolute mess

but this

is where I'm at

right now

and I need

I just need help

I just can't do

this anymore

and within 10 minutes

I had my family

around me

taking me home

to my parents

house

and I was

in the middle

of the night

after packing me

up and taking

care of all my

tasks

and loving

me

even though

I was so

messy

that kind

of

was what

allowed me

to see

that it

found out

that

God is

concerned

with him

glory

and that

Jesus is

an important

to make

God glory

if I'm so

concerned

to my

own

image

in front

of other

people

so I'm

never going

to experience

a freaking

three dimension

of the perfect

for me

on the cross

by a great

end of my life

I'm not saying

I have it

altogether

by a meaning

but I'm

concerned more

and more

than I'm

ever saying

if I

accept that

I'm not

being

and that

I'm

never going

to be

perfect

and that

when I'm

able to be

make that

face

make

look

so

good

if you're

a Christian

if you're

not a

Christian

some of

us

have been

hiding

things

because we

fear other

people

I know

what that's

like

there are

things that

we don't

want to

share

because there

are things

we're worried

what other

people say

there are

things that

are going

on in our

lives

where we

have been

fearful

that

other people

may

ridicule

us

if only

they knew

what was

really going

on

and yet

God

says

I want

you to

live for

my glory

because I

want to

set you

free

from those

things

I want

to set

you free

because I

want you

to see

how much

I love

you

our

CGs

our

groups

the way

we do

community

we can

just do

community

on a

superficial

level

where we

put up

masks

and where

we hide

because we're

actually afraid

of each

other

and yet

God

wants to

bring us

a reality

where we

are messy

people

and we

can be

a community

where God's

grace

is evident

where we

see him

as the

one

who's

given us

our

identity

then it

frees us

to take

that step

to say

here's what's

really going

on in my

life

living for

God's

glory

doesn't

mean that

you won't

feel

any

fear

it doesn't

mean trying

not to

fear

people

but it

does mean

that if

you walk

in obedience

to what

God is

calling

to you

to do

today

and for

some of

you

you need

to go

and share

you've been

hiding

things for

so long

and today

is a day

where you

actually have

to go

to a

Christian

brother or

sister

and say

hey this

is what

is really

going on

in my

life

I need

you to

walk

with me

God is

calling us

to walk

in obedience

to him

in spite

of our

fear

how do I

know this

because if

you look

in the end

of this

story

you see

as God

parts the

waves

and the

walls

of water

on both

sides

and the

Egyptians

are behind

them

God says

move forward

I want you

to take a

step

but it's not

how strong

the faith

of the people

were

because I can

see there

will be

some people

who are

walking

through

thinking

hey this

is good

my God's

good

you know

Egyptians

fine

nailed

and there

will be

other people

who are

walking

through

and they're

looking at

the way

it's gonna

fall

it's gonna

fall

the Egyptians

are gonna

get us

they're gonna

get us

and yet

all of them

got through

to the other

side

because it's

not

the strength

of your

faith

that will

save you

from fear

it's the

gloriousness

of his

power

and his

goodness

and his

love

and what

he's done

that will

get you

through

God

is

glorious

so I

do not

have to

fear

others

I want

you to

look on

your

bulletin

maybe if

the musicians

would like

to come

up

I want

to do

something

slightly

different

I want

to give

you a

few minutes

to actually

reflect

on

who

is big

in your

life

you look

in your

the insert

on your