Digging in Deeper: Exodus 17:14-16

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“The Lord then said to Moses, ‘Write this down on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua: I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven.’ And Moses built and altar and named it, ‘The Lord is My Banner.’ He said, ‘Indeed, my hand is lifted up toward the Lord’s throne. The Lord will be at war with Amalek from generation to generation.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever had someone you know do something completely out of character when you were with them? That kind of thing usually catches us totally off guard and leaves us wondering if we know them nearly as well as we thought we did. Walking through the various Old Testament narratives can give us that kind of an experience with God. What we see right here is a good example of this. If you are used to thinking of God as good and gracious and loving and patient and gentle and kind, seeing His response to the Amalekites’ totally unprovoked attack on Israel seems to come straight out of left field. Let’s talk about what’s going on here, and why God might have responded like this.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 17:12-13

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“When Moses’s hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat down on it. Then Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other so that his hands remained steady until the sun went down. So Joshua defeated Amalek and his army with the sword.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The writer of Hebrews told his audience of believers that they should not give up on meeting with one another – that is, being the church together. The reason for this command was rooted in their need for one another as they sought to advance God’s kingdom together. The idea that we need help doing God’s work was not a new one. Even relying on God’s power is not something we can manage on our own. Moses experienced that here. Let’s talk about what’s going on here, and why doing God’s work in community is better than trying it on our own.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 17:8-11

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“At Rephidim, Amalek came and fought against Israel. Moses said to Joshua, ‘Select some men for us and go fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the hilltop with God’s staff in my hand.’ Joshua did as Moses had told him, and fought against Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. While Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, but whenever he put his hand down, Amalek prevailed.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

How does God’s power work? If you are someone who believes His power exists and can accomplish things in our lives, that would seem to be a pretty important question to answer. Sometimes God answers big questions like this at unexpected times. As we take the next step forward in our journey with Israel in this new year, we find ourselves faced with an opportunity to reflect on this very question. Let’s take it and see what we can learn.

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A Timely Invitation

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Happy New Year! As we get started on this brand-new adventure, we are going to spend a couple of weeks taking a look at what God has been doing in our midst and how we can experience more of that together. Part of experiencing more of that means honestly addressing the cultural situation we are facing. If we are going to grow God’s work in this culture, there is something specific we will need to commit ourselves to doing. Let’s talk about that today.

A Timely Invitation

The culture around us is changing. That’s a pretty bland start for a sermon, so let me explain what I mean. I mean, the culture around us is changing. Clearer now? In a sense, that’s always true no matter when or where we live. Culture is not a static thing. It is constantly moving and morphing and mutating from one thing to another. It ebbs and flows like the tides. Because of this, if you look at it in just the right light, it always appears we are on the precipice of a great shift even if in reality, we are sitting squarely in the middle of a movement. Of course, you can’t see that until long after the fact, so that’s not a terribly helpful observation in a given moment. 

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Grace Upon Grace

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Merry Christmas to you! Blessings to you and your family as you celebrate this special day together. We’ve been talking all this season about Jesus’ coming and the difference it makes in our lives and in our world. There’s one last wonder to marvel over together today: God sent Jesus to save us when we were still in our sins. We weren’t worthy of it. We didn’t deserve it. We hadn’t earned it. But He did it anyway as an act of pure grace. Let’s bask in the glory of that grace as we reflect together this morning on just how good this greatest of all gifts is. As one last note, this will be the only post this week. We’ll get back on our journey through Exodus starting in the new year. I’ll see you then!

Grace Upon Grace

This is a fun day, isn’t it? I mean, it’s Christmas Eve. Who wouldn’t be happy on a day like this? So, on this happy and joyous occasion, I thought we would take a little mental field trip. Doesn’t that sound exciting? Where are we going on this great and special day? Close your eyes for a moment, climb in the mental church van with me (the fun thing about mental field trips is that we can all fit in the same van together without anyone having to worry about being squished in the back), and let’s take a little drive over to one of yours and my favorite places to visit: the DMV. 

Anybody’s eyes pop back open in shock there? 

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