Today we celebrate the culmination of a collection of messages centered on the book of Exodus.

Theme #1: Domination

How did God's people end up in Egypt?

The story of Joseph is a wicked dinner story.

At first, things are good, but then they are bad - they're enslaved as a people

The Lord said, 'I have indeed 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.'

-Exodus 3:7-8

Moses is born, is hidden for 3 months, puts him in the river, he is found by Pharaoh's daughter, Moses means drawn out of the water (also because he will draw God's people out of their slavery), God blesses his mom's faith and she gets to nurse him, eventually adopted into the house of Pharaoh.

All of this happens after 400 years of relative silence from God.

Truth #1 - Don't Mistake God's Silence for His Absence

God is often working behind the scenes. And in this case, God has been birthing a nation - 75 has turned into 2 and a half million, and now God is raising up a hero to liberate His people.

Have you ever felt like God was silent but later you found out he was just quietly working behind the scenes of your life?

Sometimes God doesn't meet our expectations because he wants to exceed our expectations.

You don't understand now what I am doing but someday you will.

-John 13:7

Theme #2 - Liberation

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people. Glancing this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, 'Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?' The man said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?' Then Moses was afraid and thought, 'What I did must have become known.' When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.

-Exodus 2:11-15

Kills Egyptian, flees southeast to Midian, named after one of Abraham's sons, desolate

And for 40 years he waits. The Bible tells us that he gets married, and he gets a new job as a shepherd, but at age 40 he goes from the palace to the pasture, and he waits.

We know that:

For the first 40 years, Moses was trying to be something in Egypt. For the next 40 years God showed Moses that he was nothing. And for the final 40 years, God showed Moses that he could take nothing and make something out of him.

-D.L. Moody

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, 'I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.' When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, 'Moses! Moses!' And Moses said, 'Here I am.' 'Do not come any closer,' God said. 'Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.' Then he said, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.' At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God. The Lord said, 'I have indeed 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 — the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.'

-Exodus 3:1-10

Moses doesn't want to go to work. He spends a full chapter  making excuses as to why he can't do what God is asking him to do.

Truth #2 - God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

Someone needs to hear this… God can still use you… Despite your lack of qualifications…

I mean…

Friends… Do you get the point??? God's army isn’t perfect…in fact it’s been called the The March of the Unqualified… the question is will you and I get in line?

God doesn’t call the qualified… he qualifies the called… And He calls Moses… This failed pharaoh to lead 2.6 Million Person Relocation Project… at the age of 80… And he does…

If you know how the story goes… God sends 10 plagues on Egypt as they continually refuse to set God’s people free… (interesting study… Each of these plagues was a direct affront to the gods of Egypt.)

Then they get to the Red Sea… Moses lifted his staff and stretched out his hands…

Cross the Red Sea (Mariah & Whitney Hit the High Notes)

Chapter 16… Rejoicing, Singing, Dancing… But what happens after the party???

Theme #3 - Identification

Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.

-Exodus 19:5-6

Now that I've set you free, I want to show you the best way to live.

God's Top Ten

We too often think of the Ten Commandments as constraining us—as if God’s ways will keep us in servitude and from realizing our dreams and reaching our potential. We forget that God means to give us abundant life (John 10:10) and true freedom (John 8:32). His laws, 1 John 5:3 tells us, aren’t burdensome.

The Ten Commandments aren’t instructions on how to get out of Egypt. They are rules for a free people to stay free.

God isn’t trying to crush us with red tape and regulations. The Ten Commandments aren’t prison bars, but traffic laws.

Jesus makes it simpler for us. All of God's law can be summed up: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.

Identity drives motivation, motivation drives action, and action drives results. For example, if someone speeds past me at ninety miles per hour on the highway, odds are I won’t chase them down and issue a ticket. I don’t have an identity that says, 'I am a police officer,' so I have no motivation to act. A police officer, on the other hand, does have that identity and therefore has the motivation to take action (chasing down the speeder) and get results (issuing a ticket). Every action we take in life has a sense of identity behind it. How we see ourselves matters.

-David Lomas

Dominated by sin ... Liberated by Jesus (Second Moses, Last Moses, Perfect Moses)

We are given a New Identity… Highly beloved and favored…

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