Ep 133 | Cover to Cover 12 | Pastor Ryan Clark | March 22, 2026

Hello, this is Pastor Ryan Clark.

You are listening to a message from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

For over 15 years of my life, I have had the privilege and joy of being the coach of my children's sports teams.

For over 10 years, I coached soccer out in New York.

I coached flag football for one or two years, and I coached all of my children in basketball from the time they were about five years old until they graduated middle school.

Now, like I said, it was a real joy in my life to be able to do that.

Well, mostly a joy.

And when it wasn't, I can honestly say that it wasn't my children who drove me bananas.

It was other people's children.

I remember early on in my daughter Hope's basketball career, she was in a Christian joint, boys and Girls Basketball League.

And I remember that as the coach we were in this very, back-and-forth game.

It was really close, very competitive, and it was getting toward the end of the game and we needed a basket.

And so I remember that I called a timeout.

I had the team come in and I wrote out on my basketball whiteboard the perfect play.

My point guard that year was this young man, slightly hyperactive, his name was Kyle.

And he was my point guard because he could handle the ball the best.

And so I said, Kyle, this is what I want you to do.

I want you to slowly dribble the basketball up to mid court.

And once you get to mid court, I want you to signal to the rest of the team.

And then one of the, one of the team members on the end there was supposed to go down and set a pick in the key, and the other kid was supposed to come out as soon as he got there to the wing, kyle was supposed to throw that person the ball, and then that person had the option of either taking the shot from where he was at or passing it down low to get a closer shot.

The perfect play.

I was so excited about it.

I thought, for sure we're going to score on this play.

And so one of the teammates throws in the ball to Kyle, and Kyle starts dribbling up the courts and I'm thinking, okay, he's nearing half court.

This is when he's going to start the whole long play.

Kyle gets to half court and just throws the ball up from half court.

And needless to say, he missed it by a country mile.

And needless to say, I called another time out and Kyle went right to the bench.

I had called the perfect play, the perfect plan, and how quickly it was all forgotten, how quickly it all got messed up.

And I was thinking about that this week.

As we continue our sermon series Cover to Cover as we make our way from Genesis all the way through the Book of Revelation, we're in the last few chapters this week of Exodus, and God over and over again is talking about this perfect plan, this perfect play he has for his people.

Something that'll blow you away as we go through this here today.

And how quickly God's people messed it all up.

In Exodus 19, God has these amazing words for his Old Testament people.

He says, you yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, how I carried you on Eagle's wings and brought you to myself.

Now if you obey me, fully, and keep my covenant, then out of all the nations you will be for me, my treasured possession.

Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me, a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

God had used miracles to bring his people, Israel, out of the land of Egypt, out of their slavery through the Passover, through the crossing of the Red Sea.

But it wasn't just that he was bringing them out of something, he was bringing them into something.

He said, after I bring you out, you're gonna be for me, my treasured possession.

Although the whole Earth is mine, although all the people in the world were created by me, I have chosen you people, to be my very own.

Let that sink in.

What a privilege, what an honor that God's people, Israel, had.

In Exodus 25, he says, then have them make a sanctuary for me and I will dwell among them.

So God goes into all the details of how to create this tabernacle so that he could dwell in their midst.

What were God's purposes for his people.

Number one was this, to live among them.

Once again, this had never happened before in all the world.

God said, I'm going to live with you people.

And not only that, in Exodus 25, in, in and amidst all of the things that were to be in the tabernacle, the greatest of all was the Ark of the Covenant.

And God said in Exodus 25, there above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and I will give you all of my commands for the Israelites.

So he said, I'm gonna live among these people.

And not only that, I'm going to meet with them regularly.

This is God who made the heavens and the earth the entire universe, and he says, I'm gonna come down and live with you.

I'm gonna meet with you.

And that wasn't it.

In Exodus 29, he said, for the generations to come, this burnt offering is to be made regularly at the entrance to the tent of meeting, before the Lord.

There I will meet with you, and I'm gonna speak to you.

God said that these people, he was gonna live among them.

He was gonna meet with them, he was going to speak with them.

It wasn't just gonna be them speaking to God.

God was going to make his voice so that they could hear him as well.

In Exodus 28, it says, also put the Urim and the Thummim in the breastpiece so that they may be over Aaron's heart whenever he enters the presence of the Lord.

Thus, Aaron will always bear the means of making decisions for the Israelites over his heart before the Lord.

God ordained Aaron and his sons to be the high priests over his tabernacle.

And in, in amid all of the things that Aaron and his sons were to wear in the generations to come were these two things called the Urim and the Thummim.

Now we don't know exactly what those were, many commentators believe that it was a white stone and a black stone.

And through those stones or whatever it was, God was able to speak to the people and guide them so that they would be able to make good decisions.

And then in Exodus 33 it says, now, Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp, some distance away, calling it the "tent of meeting."

Anyone inquiring of the Lord would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp.

What do we see through these two passages? He wasn't only gonna live among them, to meet with them, and to speak with them, but he also was to provide them with heavenly wisdom so that they could make good decisions.

This is quite the plan that God has for these people.

This is amazing.

And then in Exodus 31, it says, then the Lord said to Moses, see, I have chosen Bezalel, son of Uri, the son of Hur, from the tribe of Judah, and I filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge, and with all kinds of skills.

Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan to help him.

Also, I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you.

What was God saying? He was going to give them supernatural gifts and talents for service.

It just keeps on getting better and better.

And at Exodus 34, then the Lord said, I am making a covenant with you.

Before all your people, I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world.

The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you.

God is saying to his people that he would do miracles in their midst and through those miracles, all the surrounding nations would come to know who he is.

God said, I'm gonna do miracles for you.

And it's not only gonna be for you and for your benefit, but for everyone around as well.

And finally, in Exodus 33, the Lord replied, my presence will go with you and I will give you rest.

God said, I'm going to lead you through the desert during the day.

I'm going to provide a column of of cloud that not only is going to lead you, but it's going to take the brutal sun off of you and provide shade.

And then when it becomes night and the desert gets a little cold, then I'm going to provide a column of fire that will guide you and will also keep you warm.

And through that cloud and through that fire, I'm going to lead you all the way into the promised land.

And that's number seven.

God's purpose is for his people to go with them and to guide them all the way to the promised land.

Wow! You could say that was the perfect plan.

God had a perfect plan for his people never before seen in all of the world, but what happened? It didn't take long for the people to mess it all up.

So shortly after this, Moses leaves the people and goes up onto Mount Sinai.

All of the people watch him go, and he didn't come right back.

In fact, he was up there on that mountain for 40 days and 40 nights.

The people started getting a little nervous about this.

And in Exodus 32 it says, when the people saw that Moses was so long and coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, come make us gods to go before us.

As for this fellow Moses who brought us up outta Egypt, we don't know what has happened to him.

So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron Moses' brother.

He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool.

Then they said, these are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.

How offensive.

God had just brought them up from Egypt, had done miracles in their midst, had made this perfect plan that he was going to take them as his own special treasured people.

And as soon as Moses leaves for a few days, they form other gods that they bow down and worship.

So the next day, the people rose early and sacrificed, burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings to the golden calf.

Afterward, they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

And if you look at that last phrase in the Hebrew, in other places in the Bible, it refers to drinking too much and sexual immorality.

What were they thinking? God had just done something amazing for them.

He had promised them the world, you are gonna be my own special people.

I'm gonna meet with you, I'm gonna talk with you.

I'm gonna do miracles in your midst.

I'm gonna guide you all the way to the promised land.

What were they thinking? And it's so easy for us to think if I would've been there, I wouldn't have done that.

Really? I would hope not, but think about the promises that God has made to us as his New Testament people through Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit.

How much different is what God told the Israelites and what God has for us in his perfect plan as well? Think about it.

Did God promise to live among us? Yeah, in Matthew 28, but surely I am with you always, Jesus said, even to the very end of the age.

Did God promise to meet with us? He did.

In Matthew 18 For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.

Whenever we gather together like this, Jesus promised to gather here with us.

He's here right now.

Did he promise to speak with us? He did.

In John 14, Jesus said all this, I have spoken to you while I've still been with you, but the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I've said to you.

How can he do that without talking to you? Did God promise to provide us with heavenly wisdom to make good decisions He did in James 1, if any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you.

This is one of the promises that you and I have as his New Testament people.

If you are lacking wisdom in anything in your life, you can go before God and ask him for wisdom and he'll give it liberally to you.

Did God promise to give us supernatural gifts and talents for service to each other and to the world? He did.

In Romans 12, in Christ, we though many form one body and each member belongs to all the others, and we have different gifts according to the grace given to each one of us.

And then he goes on to explain all of these supernatural graces in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12.

Did God promise to do miracles in our midst and through those miracles to make us his witnesses? He did.

In John 14, very truly, I tell you, whoever believes in me, Jesus said, will do the works I have been doing and they will do even greater things than these because I'm going to the Father and I will do whatever you ask in my name so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it.

Let those words sink in.

Jesus said, by the power of the Holy Spirit, you're gonna do the same things I've been doing.

Even greater things than me.

And in the process he said, you'll receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

God is gonna do miracles in us and through us, and it's going to be a witness to the rest of the world.

And finally did God promise to go with us and guide us to the promised land? He did.

In John 14, my father's house has many rooms if that were not so what I have told you that I'm going up there to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back to take you to be with me so that you may be where I am.

Jesus promise to personally escort us to the Promised Land when it's our time to go.

He has promised us everything as his New Testament people that he promised his Old Testament people.

But that being said, have we always obeyed him? Have we always done what he's told us to do? Have we always avoided those things that he forbid us to do? No.

And whenever we put something above God, we're making those things into idols.

Not a whole lot different than that golden calf in Exodus 32.

We have all failed, even though God has promised us so much.

And all that we can do is get down on our knees and say, God have mercy on me.

I'm a sinner.

And we do that every week in church, don't we? And every day of our life is a day where we can get down and say, Lord, I failed again.

I'm sorry.

In Exodus 32, after God saw them make this golden calf, it was deeply offensive to God for all that he had done for his people, and he said this to Moses.

He said, I've seen these people and they are a stiff-necked people.

Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them.

Then I will make you, Moses, into a great nation.

You can hear the heartbreak in God's voice.

But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God.

Lord, he said, why should your anger burn against your people whom you brought out of Egypt with great power in a mighty hand? Turn from your fierce anger, relent and do not bring disaster on your people.

And then some of the most amazing words in the whole Bible, then the Lord relented, and did not bring on his people the disaster that he had threatened.

God's heart was broken because of what the people had done in response to all that he had done for them in response to all that he had promised them.

But Moses interceded for the people, and God changed his mind.

God relented of the wrath that was to come upon the people.

Remember that tabernacle? One of the things that was supposed to be a part of the tabernacle each and every day was a whole sacrificial system where people would bring animals every day and night before the Lord.

And out of God's grace toward them, he would accept the blood of an animal in their place when they messed up.

When God's perfect plan was ridiculed, when it was not done according to plan, they could bring an animal and be sacrificed.

Blood was constantly flowing in that tabernacle.

And then we fast forward to the New Testament and we've got John the Baptist out there in the middle of the Jordan River, and he looks and he sees on the shore Jesus, the son of God.

And what does he say? He says, behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the whole world.

He said, Jesus came here to be that once for all Lamb to be sacrificed for every sin that would ever be committed by his people.

So you don't have to bring in the lambs, you don't have to bring in the bulls day and night, it would be one sacrifice, once and for all, for God's people.

Jesus is your Lamb of God.

And then on top of that, Jesus dies.

He rises again.

He ascends up into heaven.

He sits at the right hand of the Father, and now it says in Romans 8, Christ Jesus who died more than that, who was raised to life, is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Just like Moses interceded on behalf of the people you know who's interceding for you right now? Jesus himself.

Every time that you mess up, every time that you fire up that ball from half court, when God had a full plan for your life, a good plan for your life, there's Jesus seated beside the Father, saying, Lord, he or she believes in me.

He or she has been baptized.

Show them grace.

Forgive them.

Love on them.

For all the bad things that you and I do, for all the times that we fire up that ball from half court, you and I should be thrown off the team.

At least we should go to the bench, right? But because of Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away your sins because he is up there interceding on our behalf, you never have to be thrown off the team.

In fact, you never even have to go to the bench.

You just get down on your knees and you say, Lord, I'm sorry, I blew it again.

He forgives you and he says, keep going, forgetting what is behind and striving toward what is ahead.

You keep on following him, you keep on worshiping him.

That's God's good plan for us.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

You've been listening to a sermon from St.

John's Lutheran Church in Buffalo, Minnesota.

If you would like more information about St.

John's and any of our ministries to our community and beyond, you can go to our website, www.

stjohnsbuffalo.

org.

Thank you and God bless you.