Sermon Tone Analysis

Welcome/Introduction

Thank you so much for joining us today.

It is our hope that you feel welcome.

If there is anything we can do to serve you, please don’t hesitate to let us know.

As we dive into our series, The Exodus, Captivity to Promise.

I sincerely believe that we are all on a journey where we are trying to and get grab hold of all that God has for us.

That is what this series is meant to help us recognize; what God has for us and give us the faith filled steps to receive it.

Because this is truly, in my opinion, one of the most epic stories in all of scripture, we want to resource you as you take this journey with us.

I hope the journal has been a blessing to you.

If you haven’t got your copy, download a digital copy and hop right in with us.

Our key verse is...

In the series we have talked about:

Identity; Compromise; Commitment and the importance of Following the Pattern that God has established for us

Compromise

Commitment and the importance of Following the Pattern that God has established for us

As we continue on the journey from Captivity to Promise, let’s explore the next pit stop

Numbers 13:1-

Numbers

Numbers 13:25-

I believe there are a few instances within the Exodus narrative that ultimately served as a catalyst for others; that created a ripple affect that can still be felt today.

This text is one of them.

Their response to this assignment directly determined how long they would be in the wilderness.

Today’s message title is: Perspective is Everything.

Illustration

Perspective is a powerful thing.

We have phrases like, perspective is everything, or you have to change your perspective, it’s a matter of perspective.

Perspective means a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.

Synonyms include: outlook, viewpoint, frame of reference, filter.

We all know about filters.

Our homes have filters that are meant to capture particles in the air so that we have clean air.

Filters in our cars do the same thing.

Filters set the atmosphere.

We see this all the time in photography and digital media.

Maegan and De’Nira serve as our family’s digital historians.

Maegan is a bit more extreme than my daughter.

She takes pictures of everything.

When I say everything, I mean everything.

I was looking through her camera roll and she had pictures of sticks, grandkids, squirrels, clouds, houses, cars, stores, trees, concrete, bugs.

Some of the funniest moments occur when Maegan and De’Nira start looking through pictures and applying filters.

Filters can resurrect a dead picture.

Filters can remove flaws.

Filters can blur things out in the background so that you can focus on the big picture.

Filters determine perspective.

Transition

This seems to be the same in our daily lives, filters determine perspective.

When looking at circumstances, our filter determines our perspective.

When we use the filter of the past in the present, it can obstruct our vision for the future.

We all have a perspective but have you ever watched a movie and walked away with a completely different view point from a friend or critic?

Have you ever been a part of a conversation in a group and each one has a different take away?

Our filter determines our perspective.

If we look through the lens or filter of offense or bitterness, that will be your perspective.

Your input will determine your outlook.

From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

What filters are feeding your perspective?

Background/Context

The children of Israel have been free for roughly 2 years.

God has done some amazing things in that time including giving them His law, the tabernacle, which was the literal presence of God.

God establishes His expectations of His people, He leads them to the Red Zone with the lead.

All they have to do is manage the clock, don’t turn the ball over, and kneel.

Why are you running in your own strength when you would win if you just kneeled.

Why are you doing so much, all you have to do is kneel?

God instructs His people to capture the image of who He is, who they are, what He has done and what He is going to do.

Knowing the next generation didn’t have first hand experience with them being rescued from Egypt and seeing God provide water from a rock, bread from heaven, God wanted to ensure they had the proper filter.

The box on their wrist and forehead was meant to serve as a reminder of the strong hand of God.

When we lose perspective, we lose hope.

For the Israelites, this moment served as an eye test to see if they lost perspective.

Points

For the Israelites, this moment served as an eye test to see if they lost perspective.

Moses sent 12 leaders to spy out the land.

He instructs them to get a sense of the people, places, and produce.

He tells them to be of good courage.

In other words, don’t freak out, God’s got this.

They go for about 40 days, which serves as a number that reflects testing.

They scout out the land and go to an area called Hebron.

This is powerful because this is the place where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are buried.

This should have served as a symbol of freedom for them, like the statue of liberty of faith; bring me your tired and poor and those looking to breathe free air…it should have been a monument the confirmed God’s faithfulness, but perspective is everything.

We can look at where we are as tombstone where we died or a monument of what we survived.

Abraham is here, Isaac is here, Jacob is here; God led us here.

We can see it as the place where we will thrive or as the place where we determine our best days are behind us.

They return and give an executive summary.

Two to be exact.

Two that reflect different perspectives.

I believe there are two overarching filters, that determine our perspective.

Filter of Feelings

12 scout out the land and 10 determine that the land is uninhabitable.

They are not desolate places.

They didn’t have to start from scratch.

They had walls, massive fruit and some pretty influential and powerful people.

None of this should have been a surprise since God told them the land He was giving them was currently occupied.

However, their feelings kicked in.

Instead of looking at what they saw as a blessing that was about to come, their perspective was there is no way we can occupy this land; we are going to die here.

They got caught up in their feelings.

Feelings are good, they are given by God.

Feelings are like the instrument panel on a car, they serve as indicators.

Years ago my check engine light came on and I spent considerable amounts of time and money to repair it only to discover the censor needed to be recalibrated, not the engine.

The lesson I learned was, censor was an indicator but it isn’t fact.

The same can be said of our feelings, they are indicators, but they are not facts.

When our feelings become fact we lose objectivity; we lose hope; we lose perspective.

The Israelites looked at the land and didn’t see the promise, they obsessed over the problems.

Feelings began to communicate, there is no way we can win a battle with these guys.