Desert Breeze Community Church

We are emotional beings created in the image of an emotional God. There are no bad emotions, but because of the fall there are emotions gone bad.

God has created us as emotional people and we have times to weep and laugh, to mourn and dance, to hate and love (Eccl. 3:1–8). Sometimes emotions can be confusing in our walk. But as Brian Borgman points out, “They are always a significant piece of our lives because they are an inbuilt part of what it means to be a human being. They express the values and evaluations of a person, and influence motives and conduct.” Neither stoicism nor emotionalism is marks of healthy faith. It is God who helps us healthily deal with them and bring them under Christ’s caring lordship by His word.

The book of Exodus begins in slavery and ends in worship. The point of Exodus is that everyone lives for something. Anything you look to for your ultimate hope in life other than God will control your life and eventually break your heart. Not until God is the most important and central thing in your life and you are ravished by the beauty, glory, and presence of God, are you free. The climax of the story in Exodus is the tabernacle because the tabernacle is about God as the object of your ultimate worship and living life in His presence.

Ex1-19 Redemption by God->Ex20-40 Relationship with God Religion says, if I obey, God will love and accept me. But the Gospel says, if I know in my heart that God loves me and accepts me freely by grace, then I will begin to obey, out of inner joy and gratitude. In Exodus 25-27 you have the detailed instruction on building out of the tabernacle and in Exodus 37-39 you have the almost verbatim obedience to building it out. The Relationship with God (obedience) that saving faith produces will involve Hearing God’s Word (Ex25-27), Wrestling to Believe God’s Word (Ex32-34) and Doing God’s Word (Ex37-39).

Generosity isn’t something that God wants FROM US, but something he wants FOR US. He wants us to be so consumed with His Glory that we move instinctively in gratitude with Generous Hearts and Hands to a world of need around us. A heart that truly understands the gospel overflows with gratitude and generosity. If you don’t feel that way, then you probably don’t truly understand the Gospel.

Westminster Shorter Catechism: Q. 1. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever. God’s glory is best displayed in lives that are most satisfied in Him. No topic brings you greater healing, wholeness and happiness then beholding God's Glory and no topic brings with it more spiritual warfare.

We were created to enjoy the riches of God’s Glory. Man’s rebellion against God is the cause of our brokenness. Beholding the glory of God, we become Whole. What are the marks of people who are becoming Whole (Healthy/Holy)?

In Exodus 1-18 God rescues the Israelites from slavery in Egypt and in Exodus 19-40 in route to the Promise Land the Israelites come to Mt. Sinai, where God invites them into a covenant relationship and comes to live among them in the Tabernacle (Ex24-27—Blueprint for Worship). There is a major problem: We are sinful, and God is holy. God’s holiness is a consuming fire (Heb12:29). Nothing sinful can be in the presence of God without it being destroyed and consumed. How do we get into the presence of God? This is our greatest need! This text gives us God’s remedy.

The Israelites had been saved out of slavery by the mighty hand of the one true God and then given the gift of a covenant relationship with Him (Ex. 1-23:19). Through Moses on the mountain, God confirms his covenant with the people and tells them that he will lead them little by little into their new promised home (23:20-24:18). When Moses communicates this with the people, they respond with one voice, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do.” But God has more to say and give (25-27).

The Gospel gap we all struggle with is the disparity between what we believe and how we behave. It is the gap between the fact that your past sins are forgiven (justification) and your future in heaven secure (glorification) but how do you Live Your Faith in the here and now (Sanctification/Phil2:12-13; Gal2:14)? Having been redeemed (Ex19:4-5) and given the Ten Commandments (Ex20:1-17), Moses explains and applies God’s law to various aspects of everyday life (Ex21-23).

If you were to summarize the characteristics of a perfect person, a perfect family, or a perfect community, what would be on your list? No need to do that, God has done that for us by giving us The Perfect Ten (10 Commandments)! God boiled everything He needed to say to people about how to flourish in life, in our relationship with Him and others into the 10 Commandments.

Every Christian is a leader. Leadership is about influence. Whether you are a CEO, teacher, parent, or friend you will lead (influence) others either directly or indirectly for good or bad (Matt5:13-16). If you want to influence people for the gospel, you must learn how to live a grace paced life in a burnout culture.

In the book of Exodus, we are learning that redemption is liberation. God intervenes in our lives to liberate us from the things that we build our lives on more than Him, that will enslave us and eventually devastate us.

Jesus’ work on the cross is finished but the benefits we gain from His resurrection are never-ending!

If you are forgiven, reconciled to God, adopted as His child, lavished with His love, empowered by His Holy Spirit and guaranteed a place in heaven all through the atoning work of Christ, then you have a song to sing. And it’s a song that no trial, no disease, no difficulty, no persecution, no power on earth or in hell can stop. The critical question is not Do You have a voice? But Do You have a song?

The people of God had been delivered out of slavery and set free. However, they find themselves in what seems to be an impossible situation. They feel trapped and without hope, but with God nothing is impossible. God had determined that He would save his people through the Red Sea.

God created us (Gen1:26) and redeemed us (Eph1:7) and therefore owns us (1Cor6:19-20). We owe our life to Him! God sets us free (Redeems us) so that we would no longer live for ourselves but for Him as we were originally designed (1Pet1:18-19). He owns us, and we owe Him our lives.

Freedom isn't doing whatever you want to do, it’s doing what you were created to do. You were created to enjoy the riches of God's Glory. The Gospel is our declaration of dependence on God and His declaration of our freedom in Him

The book of Exodus is not just about redemption but also about the revelation of God who makes Himself known. We have now entered the great conflict between Yahweh, the one true God, and the false gods of the Egyptians. What triggers the series of plagues coming down and striking Egypt is Pharaoh’s response to Moses’ command from God to liberate His people: “Who is the LORD, that I should obey Him?” The plagues come to answer that question!

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James4:6; 1Pet5:5). We all need humility. Some of us will embrace it willingly and others will have it forced upon us by God himself. One way is the easy way and one way is the hard way. If you want God against you, be proud like Pharaoh. If you want God to be for you, be humble like Moses. The proud like Pharaoh are less than they imagine but the humble like Moses are more than they ever dreamed.