The Journey of God's People - Sean Murphy

Hello, Hillside.

Can we take a moment again?

Because we can't do it enough to celebrate God's transformation in the lives of our people.

Please just give a praise to God.

My name is Sean Murphy.

I'm the junior high director here.

And one of my favorite parts of our baptism process is the classes that happen before the baptism.

We can sit down with people and hear a little bit of their story, but see them write out their one sentence why.

That you we saw a few of them during the video earlier.

Why are you getting baptized?

And they try to summarize all of their thoughts into just one sentence.

It's a hard task, some are a paragraph, but they're all beautiful of people saying, This is why I'm getting baptized, to rededicate my life, to show everyone that God has transformed my heart.

And I love being part of that process.

And especially with our junior hires, and something that's close to my heart with that process is letting junior hires and really everyone know that their story, their why, is part of a greater story of God's people, of the people of God.

For everyone who believes, we join this greater story of God's love.

If you didn't know that, now you know.

You are part of a greater story, not just you here in these seats, but for all of history, God's been making a way.

And in that song we just sang, we've been singing it a lot in student ministries.

We had a whole series even based on it, telling those stories.

I was but God.

That there's parts of our life for us as Christians that we realize we cannot go forward without God moving.

That there's nothing we can do on our own to change ourselves.

We need God.

And so not only do all of us have our own personal stories of God changing our lives, but we join again this greater story of God at work in us, a greater I was but God that everyone who follows Jesus is a part of.

That we were stuck in sin, headed towards death and destruction, but God, as Paul writes in Ephesians chapter 2, but because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ, even when we were dead in our transgressions.

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

It is by grace you have been saved.

Amen.

It is by grace we have been saved.

That is part of the journey of God's people, recognizing I was in this place headed for death, but God made a way.

And last week Aaron outlined what that journey looks like for us personally as Christians, that critical journey, this process of following God and what it looks like.

And if you're here last week, maybe you put yourself in one of these categories of where your journey with Jesus is at.

Beginning with a recognition of God, that starting point saying, I am not enough.

I need to be saved and need God to deliver me.

Starting with that recognition of God, then going into a life of discipleship, following after Jesus, learning how to follow God, then a productive life, and then into that tougher part, this journey inward, where God says, I don't want just a piece of you, I want all of you.

All of the hidden parts, the sins you hold on to and the hurts that no one else knows.

I want to bring healing to that.

And that's often where we hit a wall.

We say, Oh, that's too much.

I can't go there.

And so we begin this cycle again and living that life of discipleship and a productive life.

But if we allow God into those places, he delivers us and frees us and leads us into this journey outwards of serving others and serving God and then living a life overflowing with love from God's wisdom in our lives.

That's the personal journey we walked through last week.

And today I wanted to just zoom out a little bit for us to know that yes, we have that personal journey we're on with Jesus, but also that for those who believe that we are on this greater journey of God's people, like I mentioned, for those who believe to know that you are not alone on this journey, that we have tons of pages and thousands of years of history to be encouraged by, to learn from, where people have made mistakes and turn back to God and we can see and to know that we have access to God's saving power.

But maybe for those here that don't yet believe or have a lot of questions, that invitation to join that family, to join this journey is open, is open to you.

But all of us today, I hope we get to this place that we recognize, rest, and remember that God alone makes a way to true life.

Amen.

That God alone makes a way to true life.

And God shows us what that way looks like in the book of Exodus.

Exodus more than just a book, it's about the people of God and hardship and God delivering them into freedom.

God establishes this pattern of how he will work in the book of Exodus, but also through the lives of his people and with us today.

And once you learn this pattern, you can't unsee it.

You begin to see it throughout Scripture in your own life.

And this is what the pattern looks like.

There's three symbols that I've used to help remind myself.

X, arrow, cross.

Out, through, and into.

Can you say that with me?

Out, through, and into.

Let's do that one more time.

Sorry, I'm Junior Junior High Pastor, the old habits.

Out, through, and into.

This is how God works.

That God leads his people out of slavery, out of sin and death.

God leads his people through the wilderness, seasons of waiting and trust and dependence on God.

And God leads his people into the promised land, into his promises and blessings.

Now, what's important to know about this process is this isn't a blueprint for how we're able to save ourselves.

This is the pattern of how God saves us.

God does it.

And we can walk faithfully and gratefully into his grace.

But God is the one, God leads his people, God leads us through this process.

So are you ready to jump into the journey?

Are you ready?

All right, I'm telling myself too, because oh, it's a journey ahead.

But in this book of Exodus, and even before, we see that God has called this group of people his own.

And he says, I'm going to use you to bring blessings to the entire world.

And this group of people found their way to Egypt and laid down some roots.

And it was a place of safety for a while, but they continued to increase in number, and they were enslaved and oppressed by Pharaoh 400 years in slavery, crying out to God, a God maybe they thought had forgotten them all this time.

But this begins the journey out, where God raises up a man named Moses to help bring freedom to God's people.

In this epic encounter Moses has with God in this burning bush, this bush that's on fire but isn't burning away.

God speaks to Moses, and this is what he tells him.

The Lord said, I have seen the misery of my people in Egypt.

I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am 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 that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.

As a kid growing up, I said, I don't want a land with a bunch of hot milk flowing around in rivers and getting sticky and maybe it's not literal, but this place that is goodness overflowing, I have in store for you, but I'm coming down to rescue you.

And I want you to highlight or underline, if you have your Bibles, these actions and responses of God, I have seen.

I have heard.

I am concerned about their suffering.

And this concern isn't like when my parents sat me down in high school and said, Sean, I'm concerned about your grades.

You gotta get them up.

Like it's not just a little worry, it's God knowing.

God knowing their pain and coming down, God says, I have come down to rescue.

Even on that personal journey we talked about, starting with recognizing who God is.

What I want you to know that is that even before we recognize God, God recognizes us.

God sees us, you right where you're at.

Whatever pain or things you're holding on to.

And you may even believe that God sees and hears those pains and hardships.

But do you believe that God actually comes down and enters into those pains and hardships?

You may say, Oh, yes, I know that, Sean.

That's later in the Bible with Jesus coming around, spoiler alert.

But guess what?

It happens here too.

It says it right there.

God says, So I have come down to rescue.

And this is just setting up what Jesus will do, but God says, No, I'm coming down now to rescue my people.

And that's what God does.

God faces off against Pharaoh and all of the gods of Egypt, these false idols, to prove once and for all, hey, I am the one who is all powerful.

I am the one who loves you and I will show you.

And this is his battle cry in Exodus chapter 6, verse 7.

Exodus 6:7

I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God.

Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.

And God lets them know ten plagues, ten signs of power, each with an opportunity for Pharaoh to release his people.

Let my people go.

Anyone seen Prince of Egypt?

You hear that ringing true?

Let my people go.

And it takes all ten of those plagues of power, pain, and suffering until Pharaoh finally relents and allows God's people to leave.

Go, be gone.

And the people of God pack up their things and they leave.

But Pharaoh's heart is already stubborn and hardened and twisted, and he says, Changing my mind, go get them.

Sends his armies after them.

And this is where we're met with God's people with the Red Sea in front of them, and Pharaoh's army approaching in chapter 14 of Exodus.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians marching after them.

They were terrified and cried out to the Lord.

Pay attention to that.

They said to Moses, Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?

What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?

Didn't we say to you in Egypt, leave us alone, let us serve the Egyptians?

It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the deserts.

400 years of slavery, crying out to God, and in the moment God's offering freedom, they say, Maybe it was better back there.

I could be alive in slavery at least, instead of stepping out in faith like this.

But Moses answers the people with a phrase used so often in Scripture, do not be afraid.

Because we get afraid.

Do not 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.

Those fears in front of you, you will never see those again.

The Lord will fight for you.

You need only to be still.

And in one of their articles, I just read and it just still sticks with me.

So simple, but to word it like this: the way out of slavery often means going through what looks like death, but actually God makes it into a path to life.

This is the moment where, like in our personal journey of faith, we may hit a wall to say, I don't see a way forward.

Maybe it's better if I go back.

And this wall that we hit often starts with a question, what's in it for me?

Stepping into freedom means facing death.

Death to selfishness, to personal comfort, to control, to our desires, how we think life should be, death to all those things in order to step in to where God is leading us.

And it's at this moment that we must recognize that our God has already committed to freeing his people.

God's already committed to freeing his people.

And as the people of God, we ask, what is keeping us from stepping into that freedom?

What sin or struggle or hurt is holding us back from a freedom that God is offering us, even in the face of something we can't see a way through.

And this marks the transition out of slavery, out of sin, and marks the journey through.

God is leading them through a place where they need to trust him more than they've ever trusted him before.

In the face of death, God's people cry out, and this is how God responds.

The Lord said to Moses, Why are you crying out to me?

Tell the Israelites to move on.

Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.

God has already committed to this rescue mission.

He says, Start walking.

Why are you crying out?

Look, I am making a way.

And God parts the sea, and the people of God walk through on dry ground, make it to the other side.

Pharaoh's army rushes in, the sea collapses on them, the people cheer.

Moses writes a whole epic worship song about it.

You can read it right after.

And they celebrate.

And this is where the movie The Prince of Egypt ends.

Yes, there can be miracles.

What do we believe?

And the people are cheering.

And that's where that movie ends.

But for the people of God, oh, we're just getting started.

This is but a preamble to what God has in store next.

Because now they are in the desert with no food and no water.

And in that desert, I mean a little bit of hunger can stir up something in you you may wish wasn't there.

But in the desert, the whole community grumbled against Moses in Exodus chapter 16.

Exodus 16 · chapter mention

The whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

The Israelites said to them, If only we had died in the Lord's hand in Egypt.

There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted.

But you've brought us into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.

Do you remember that where God parted the sea?

How can you lose trust in God now?

I still dipped back into that way of thinking until what really killed it was this most recent time of reading through this passage as I put myself in the shoes of the Israelites, but not just as, you know, single Sean by myself, but married Sean, and I envisioned my wife next to me.

And my daughter, who's five years old.

And my son, even who's just one.

Like to have to, it's one thing for me to be a little hungry, and I say, come on, I believe God will make a way.

But then to see my wife and children also hungry and starving, and then I'm like, oh, God, you gotta do something.

And I'm like, no, I okay, I get it now, God.

Thank you for that.

I get it now.

There's a real felt need.

There's no masking that.

But there's an interesting shift in how the people respond.

Because before they've been crying out to God, crying out to God.

But what do they do here?

The whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

Doesn't say they cried out to God, it said they complained and grumbled against Moses and Aaron.

And yet, even with that, God still provides, gives them manna every day and provides for them in the wilderness.

And this is what marks the journey through.

The people must depend on God's provision every single day.

And as God gives it, trust is built as He says, I will provide for you.

There's this prayer, um, this prayer like it's some eloquent thing.

A prayer me and my wife uh pray over each other oftentimes before each of us leaves for work.

It usually just ends in, God give them the strength they need for today.

God give them the strength they need for today.

And then a little kiss on the forehead.

But it's this idea that I'm not praying for God to give Rebecca strength for tomorrow or the week after or the next month.

I'm saying, hey, just for today.

We pray that every day that we can to even remind ourselves, God provided for his people then, he'll provided, he'll provide now that I was the people of God.

They say I was hungry in the desert, but God provided every day, and I grew in trust in him.

And in that prayer and in the dependence on God every day, you start to enter the journey into God's promises, the journey into this promised land.

Because it's also important to know that the journey in the wilderness is still temporary, as long as it feels those seasons of waiting and patience.

Another word for patience, the Bible uses a lot of times, is long suffering.

I don't like that one.

I'll say patience every day.

But God will make a way through in his timing, but he will lead us into those promises, and he does for his people.

And as they get closer to this beautiful land God has in store for them, this is what God says Remember the Lord your God.

Remember, do not forget.

Why?

Because the promised land is one of the easiest places to forget God.

The promised land is one of the easiest.

Places to forget God, entering into God's blessings and provision and experiencing that for yourself, one of the easiest places to forget God's power.

And so, I mean, I'd encourage you that Deuteronomy 8 has been stuck with me in my brain these past few weeks and even months, and maybe even this week, read it over in Deuteronomy 8 to remember, if you do remember to read it, but God says, remember, because when you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you.

Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws, and his decrees that I am giving you this day.

Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increases, and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud, and you will forget the Lord your God who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.

When you save up to finally get this dream home that you've always wanted, and the car you've always wanted, and the life that is full of comforts that maybe doesn't need to depend on God so much, you might say, Maybe I don't need God.

Things are pretty good.

And the ultimate warning comes in verse 17 that you may even say to yourself, My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.

But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms this covenant which he swore to your ancestors this day.

This is why we need one sentence wise.

This is why part of the reason we give plaques to those that are baptized with a verse on the back and something to symbolize their baptism so they can look at it and say, God, you transformed my life.

Only you.

This is why sharing stories of I was but God is so important.

I mean, for the Israelites, they would share this story for years and years and years to come.

We were enslaved and oppressed, but God made a way to freedom and life.

In student ministries, uh back in April and May, we had a whole series just called I Was But God, sharing our own testimonies and stories and reading them throughout the Bible.

And so I got to sit down and make my own.

Because I'm like, I can't ask them to do this if I'm if I'm not doing this myself.

But it was a process, maybe a little painful, going back to these places of oh God, I was in a real tough place then.

But then celebrating that, oh, God brought me through in a way only He could.

And so this one was mine.

I was selfish and lonely, feeling undeserving of love.

Now I chose to follow Jesus when I was five years old.

And so this isn't my testimony as a four-year-old.

As a four-year-old, I wasn't, well, maybe I was, I don't really remember.

I this isn't, oh, four-year-old Sean was selfish and lonely, but then I chose to follow Jesus and everything's better.

No, this is my story as a longtime Christian, still wrestling with God and my own sin and in my own dark places.

And this is a place that I was.

End of high school, early college years, selfish and lonely, feeling undeserving of love.

But thank God there's another side to this paper.

But God showed me, showed me that I am fully known and loved by Him.

And it is only because of God that there's another side to this.

And I don't have time in this moment to share that whole story.

I've shared it with some of the junior hires and other close friends may know more of that story.

But I have that by my desk, that not the I was part, the butt God part, but God showed me how loved I was.

I have that by my desk so I can look at it every day, going in and be reminded.

Only because of God.

How can you remember God's saving power every single day?

Maybe you need to sit down and actually think through and write out your own, I was but God moment.

Or remember your one sentence why if you're baptized here.

Or if you don't know Jesus at all or haven't been following, to be able to say, God, I'm in that dark place.

Please deliver me, reaching out to God for the first time.

Because it's so important to have these kinds of reminders as followers of Jesus, because God's people forget, and we forget, and I forget God's goodness, and there's this new cycle of sin, and I won't say new, it's been going on for a long, long time, but this cycle of sin that God's people end up in when they forget who their God is.

I mean, it starts with being faithful to God and following God's commands and living this life that He's giving us, and then you step into temptation.

As the people of God enter into this promised land and they experience the blessings from God, they suddenly look around and see, well, those people worship a different God, a lowercase G God.

But things are going well for them.

What if I just try to worship that God for a bit?

And that's how it starts, that temptation, and then eventually the people enter into sin and are oppressed and captured and taken over by new people over and over, and in their oppression they cry out to God again, and God, so loving and faithful, rescues them again, and they say, Yes, God, thank you.

We'll be faithful to you for a little bit until we see something else that it's like, oh, let's do things our own way, and they go back into the cycle over and over again.

And you see that so clearly in the book of Judges, and the book of Judges ends with In those days, Israel had no king, Israel had no king.

Everyone did as they saw fit through judges, through kings of Israel, that some may worship and follow God, but then others disobey, going after other things.

Kingdom even splits.

People are captured and taken into new captivity in Babylon, and they cry out to God, and God in his faithfulness still rescues them and brings them back to Israel to rebuild.

They try to be faithful again, but the cycle continues and continues and continues, and you may feel that and see that in your own life and the lives of those around you.

That it seems like we can't get out of this cycle.

But who comes to break that cycle?

Say it boldly: who comes to break that cycle?

Jesus.

Not a trick question that God has heard the cries of his people.

God came down to bring freedom.

He did it then, and then he does it again in Matthew, and Jesus had his eyes set on something bigger than Pharaoh or the Roman government or whatever it may be.

He had his eyes set on even greater evil and oppression, sin and death and separation from God.

That's what Jesus had his eyes set on, because Jesus is the way.

Say that with me.

Jesus is the way.

Let's try that one more time.

Jesus is the way.

Jesus is the way out.

He comes down to save.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son.

That Jesus is the way through.

He's tempted in the wilderness.

He goes into the wilderness fasting.

And for 40 days without food or water, and the enemy, Satan, the devil, comes and says, Take the easy way out.

Turn these rocks into bread.

Feed yourself.

Take the easy way out.

And Jesus answered him, answers him, It is written, man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.

Jesus is the way through.

Jesus is the way into.

He leads us into that blessing God had in store, that whoever believes in him would not perish, but have eternal life.

And as Jesus is dying upon the cross, taking the sins of the world upon him, the man on the cross next to him says, No, this man has done nothing wrong.

Jesus, please remember me.

And Jesus says, Today you will be with me in paradise.

Because Jesus did not just die on the cross with all of our sins, he conquered them and rose on the third day for the saving of all of his people.

Amen?

Jesus is the way.

And he told his followers that he was this way to freedom.

John chapter 8, to the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples.

John 8 · chapter mention

Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

And they answered him, We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves to anyone.

How can you say that we shall be set free?

Those followers are saying, Jesus, we know we're God's people, but we've never actually physically been enslaved by anyone.

And Jesus says, You don't know how enslaved you really are.

Jesus replied, Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

Now a slave to sin has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.

So if the son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

The invitation to freedom is accomplished by Jesus and extended to us.

How will we respond?

And knowing these patterns of this Exodus journey, X arrow, cross, out, through, into.

For me at least, it brings so much life to the Bible and reading through the scripture and say, oh, God did it there and He does it again and He does it again.

And hopefully it brings life for you in the Scriptures, but also in our own faith journeys.

That God made a way for them and He makes a way for us.

And He will continue that process until He comes again.

Because we are on this journey together as God's people.

And even though each of us are in our own places individually, together as the people of God, we are in the wilderness.

We are in this in-between phase as Jesus came down to make a way and rescue, and Jesus will return again to make all things right.

Amen.

Jesus will return again to rescue and redeem, but in this in-between wilderness phase, what do we do?

What do the people of God do in the wilderness?

We have to depend on God every single day and believe that God will provide what we need every single day.

And so what is the call for God's people?

What's the call for us today?

To recognize that Jesus has made a way out of sin.

To rest in the knowledge that he will provide what you need every day in seasons of waiting, and to remember his sacrifice and praise him for his blessings out through and into his blessings.

But I want us to take some time to respond to this.

Respond to God's never-ending work in redeeming and saving and making a way.

So in just a second, you're gonna have some time to yourself to pray, to call out, to cry out to God.

You can even take on the chair backs, there's some cards.

If you have a prayer, something that's heavy on your hearts, or even maybe a way that you are feel stuck and need God's deliverance, you can take one of those cards and write down a prayer, and our team prays over those.

It's one of my favorite emails that comes in with those prayers that our team can pray over alongside you because we are on this journey together.

You can write down a prayer.

You can take a moment to respond in generosity.

Again, uh a giving envelope, even on the back, to take those and respond with generosity, thanking God, knowing that our wealth does not come from ourselves but from our all-powerful God.

But also, you can take this moment just to be still, to hear from God, to cry out to Him.

Maybe some of you for the very first time, just genuinely praying, God, this is the first time I'm hearing this, and I need you to rescue me.

So you're gonna take time to think through, pray through all of those things.

I'm gonna pray.

We'll take a minute to do that, and then we'll pass the engagement buckets across to collect those prayers and those offerings to God, and then we'll have another response after that.

But let me pray for all of you right now.

God, you've been you've been doing this for thousands of years, and you are so gracious and loving to us that you're gonna do that again in our lives, in the lives of those around us.

Give us the faith to believe that, God.

And we take this time for you now, in the midst of a busy week, that we may not get a moment like this again.

We take just a minute to say, God, we need you.

We pray that together.

Amen.