Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome

Well good morning, Park!

Good to be with you all!

If we haven’t met yet, my name is Dan Osborn and I serve as the pastor here for our Forest Glen location.

If you’ve got a bible with you, open up to Exodus chapter 14. .

It’s on Page 56 in you have one of the blue house bibles from the seat in front of you.

Men’s Study ANC

Introduction

Have you ever had a WHAT NOW moment?

Do you know what I’m talking about?

It’s one of those situations where you’re just left wondering what on earth is going on?

It feels like getting the wind knocked out of you a bit—the proverbial rug gets pulled from under your feet and you’re left holding the pieces; not really a clear way forward.

All of us have been there at some point—you just wonder about what is going to happen next…and yeah, there are a RANGE of different ways we experience that tension…sometimes it’s a bit more petty…though it probably doesn’t feel like it in the moment…but I’m talking about a season where maybe at work you feel stuck—job’s not really going anywhere soon.

You don’t particularly hate the work…but you’re not exactly excited about it.

And the end of the day—there not much risk of anything terrible happen if you stay in the same spot—but you know it’s time for a change—just not sure to what.

and there I know all of us have been there at some point—you just wonder about what is going to happen next…and yeah, there are a RANGE of different ways we experience that tension…sometimes it’s a bit more petty…though it probably doesn’t feel like it in the moment…but I’m talking about a season where maybe at work you feel stuck—job’s not really going anywhere soon.

You particularly hate the work…but you’re not exactly excited about it.

And the end of the day—there not much risk of anything terrible happen if you stay in the same spot—it’s just not very fun.

[expand example].

But then there are the crisis moments.

I’m talking about when you no longer have a job and you don’t have a back up plan.

What do you do when you’re cornered…

We’ve got to know it’s not a matter of if will experience this, but when.

And the question is....what do we do in the WHAT NOW moment?

How do navigate them?

The reason I’m bringing this up is because this kind of what now moment is exactly what is happening is the part of Exodus story we’re looking at this morning.

And they way Moses responds is not what we would expect.

So if you’re not there yet, open with me to Exodus chapter 14.

I’l pray, and then we’ll get started.

PRAY

Exposition

Recap

Passover ()

If you were here last week, two of our Elders at Park, Moises Sanchez and Brian Basler, did a great job of teaching through the Passover Story—that God was going to provide a way out of experiencing the last plague over Egypt; the death of the first born son in every family.

That the Israelites, were supposed to take the blood of a lamb and place it over their door-post…as a sign of their obedience to God…and the plague itself would passover their household and they would not experience death.

And this

But it’s NOT until this final plague—with the death of the firstborn son—that Pharaoh finally responds.

You can see what he says on the screen behind me () [SLIDE].

Exodus ()

And this is the moment.

The story has really been building to this point—where the Israelites are sent out by Pharaoh.

And it’s not just Pharaoh who sends them out…all the people of Egypt are pleading to have the Israelites leave because of Plagues they have experienced.

But it’s interesting…because we really don’t get very much detail about the actual exodus itself.

Moses, who we believe wrote the book, doesn’t spend way to much time on the details of what happens—He just tells us in a few verses that it happens.

And it’s odd because you’d think that if he’s spent 12 chapters leading up to this—he would spend a little more time describing it for us!

But he doesn’t.

And that’s not to say that the moment of the Exodus is unimportant.

No! In fact, God tells Moses to set up a yearly celebration of the moment they left Egypt—called the Feast of Unleavened bread… Moses explains it this way to the people (, ).

“Remember this day in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of slavery, for by a strong hand the LORD brought you out from this place…You shall tell your son on that day, ‘It is because of what the Lord did for me when I came out of t Egypt.’

And it shall be to you as a sign on your hand and as a memorial between your eyes, that the law of the Lord may be in your mouth.

For with a strong hand the Lord has brought you out of Egypt.

You shall therefore keep this statute at its appointed time from year to year.”

SLIDE

What’s the point?

See—the Exodus story is about SO MUCH MORE than just Israel being enslaved, and then Israel being free.

It’s actually all about what GOD has done!

It’s all about how GOD has brought them freedom.

How God has done for Israel, what they could not do themselves…and you see this even in the celebration that Moses sets up for them [SLIDE with underlines].

They are to remember how THE LORD brought them out—they are to remember who brought them freedom—not just the freedom itself!

Or to say it another way, the details of what happened are not nearly as important as why it happened…And what Moses understands is that going forward, God’s people need to be convinced that they are free because God did exactly what He had promised to do!

It’s this reminder to:

Look back to see what He’s promised.

Why am I telli

Look back to see where He’s been faithful.

Look back to see where He’s been kind.

Look back to see where He’s come through.

Look back to see what He’s provided!

And it really is brilliant the way Moses articulates this for the people because when we hit one of those What Now moments…looking back is often the last thing we do.

Instead, we get hyper focused on what’s playing out right in front us and our current situation.

And as you continue going through the story of Exodus…this is exactly what happens to the Israelites almost immediately after they leave Egypt.

They have one of those What Now moments.

Courtney and I went to Park City Utah on our honeymoon [picture].

At that point in our lives, neither of us had really been to see real mountains like we saw out there…and it was great timing when we went because it was the VERY beginning of the summer tourist season—so everything was open for business, but it kinda felt like we had the town to ourselves because no one was really there.

We got these passes to ride the ski gondolas through the city—they’d take you up in the mountains and you could hike down—that kinda thing.

So one morning, I decided to get up early…I went down to the coffee shop—got some coffee for us—and we took our first early morning ride through the mountains…which honestly, in my head, was going to be MUCH cooler than it was.

See, here’s the thing.

If I looked strait down—it really didn’t look like we were that high…you know, it was like 20 feet off the ground…which was NOT what I was expecting…and then of course, you look ahead of you and there’s still this mountain…you don’t really feel like you’re making that much progress—at least it doesn’t much look like it.

[EXPAND]

Confusion in the Wilderness ()

As they are leaving Egypt, we’re told at the end of chapter 13 () that, “…the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.”

[SLIDE].

And miraculously, it’s God himself who is leading them out…but he doesn’t take the route that makes the most sense.

We’re told He takes them out into the wilderness toward the Red Sea.

But they end up taking this pretty erratic route.

If you follow the details of the story, Israelites move from a place called Succoth to Etham, and then they turn back to settle in a region called Pi-Ha-hiroth.

Normally, I’d show you on a map where these places are…but actually we really know know exactly where these things take place—but let me show you the general region.

And Pharaoh is keeping an eye on what the Israelites are doing—and seeing this erratic behavior, he comes to the conclusion that they have no idea what they’re doing…they’re just wandering...and all of a sudden, something clicks in Pharaoh’s mind again.

He says this in chapter 14 verse 5 (), “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

And Pharaoh is keeping an eye on what the Israelites are doing—and seeing this erratic behavior, he comes to the conclusion that they have no idea what they’re doing…they’re just wandering...and all of a sudden, something clicks in Pharaoh’s mind again.

He says this in chapter 14 verse 5 (), “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?”

He thinks he’s made a HUGE mistake in letting them go!

In his mind—it doesn’t matter everything that’s happened with the plagues…the death and destruction that came with them…all that matters to Pharaoh is that he’s just lost his work force!

So he get’s his army together—hundreds of chariots and soldiers—ready to descend on the people of Israel who are camped out near the sea and have no idea what’s about to happen!

And at some point, Pharaoh and his army gets close for the Israelites to see them—and you’ve got imagine the position they’re in for a moment.

They’ve just left Egypt…they’ve got no standing Army…they’ve got no way to defend themselves…they’re cornered in because the Sea is behind them…they enemy is on horseback and chariot so there’s no outrunning them!

This is their WHAT NOW! moment!

What are they supposed to do?

If God was the one who was supposed to be leading them out…then what’s happening now.

And one of the things I love about this story is how real the responses are that the people have when they recognize what’s happening!

Really, they have the same kind of response to their WHAT NOW moment that we do to ours—at least in principle.