1 00:00:00,834 --> 00:00:04,254 Exodus chapter 2:23 through 25. 2 00:00:04,771 --> 00:00:08,641 During those many days, the king of Egypt died, and the people 3 00:00:08,641 --> 00:00:12,212 of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. 4 00:00:13,013 --> 00:00:18,501 Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God, and God heard their groaning. 5 00:00:18,802 --> 00:00:21,688 And God remembered this covenant with Abraham, 6 00:00:21,688 --> 00:00:24,691 with Isaac, and with Jacob. 7 00:00:24,708 --> 00:00:28,128 God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. 8 00:00:31,431 --> 00:00:31,731 Their way. 9 00:00:31,731 --> 00:00:34,401 Good morning and welcome to CCC. 10 00:00:34,401 --> 00:00:36,469 So glad you're here. 11 00:00:36,469 --> 00:00:38,271 Thanks for coming. 12 00:00:38,271 --> 00:00:43,226 We are all ready for the kids camp, which will start tomorrow. And 13 00:00:43,860 --> 00:00:45,378 holy cow. 14 00:00:45,378 --> 00:00:45,662 What? 15 00:00:45,662 --> 00:00:47,597 The work that's been done in the atrium 16 00:00:47,597 --> 00:00:49,699 and all around the building is just amazing. 17 00:00:49,699 --> 00:00:51,568 I just want to take, 18 00:00:51,568 --> 00:00:55,021 just a second and thank those of you who volunteered to do all that. 19 00:00:55,522 --> 00:01:00,677 And I want to thank those 400 plus volunteers who will be starting on Monday. 20 00:01:01,194 --> 00:01:06,750 And my last count was we have 997 kids signed up for kids camp. 21 00:01:07,050 --> 00:01:07,350 Yeah. 22 00:01:11,604 --> 00:01:12,272 And we are going to 23 00:01:12,272 --> 00:01:15,258 find three more kids somewhere, 24 00:01:15,475 --> 00:01:17,694 right? 25 00:01:17,694 --> 00:01:18,661 But thanks. 26 00:01:18,661 --> 00:01:21,831 I love, the way we care for kids here. 27 00:01:21,831 --> 00:01:25,552 It makes me wish I was a kid in this church, and that's good. 28 00:01:26,119 --> 00:01:26,669 All right. 29 00:01:26,669 --> 00:01:30,590 This is the final message of our ten week series in the Old Testament. 30 00:01:30,590 --> 00:01:32,942 We've been looking at the life of Abraham. 31 00:01:32,942 --> 00:01:36,229 We've called this series Promises Made, Promises Kept. 32 00:01:37,247 --> 00:01:41,034 The story of Abraham begins in Genesis chapter 12. 33 00:01:41,034 --> 00:01:43,253 And it begins with a promise. 34 00:01:43,253 --> 00:01:46,039 And this is the promise God makes to Abraham. 35 00:01:46,039 --> 00:01:49,042 God says, and I will make you of you a great nation. 36 00:01:49,609 --> 00:01:53,813 I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing. 37 00:01:54,114 --> 00:01:58,168 I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse, 38 00:01:58,168 --> 00:02:02,372 and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. 39 00:02:04,007 --> 00:02:05,458 Here's the 40 00:02:05,458 --> 00:02:09,512 promise of Abraham, our promise of God to Abraham, 41 00:02:10,346 --> 00:02:13,616 our lives, Abraham's life on earth by a long shot. 42 00:02:14,968 --> 00:02:17,153 God's promises to you 43 00:02:17,153 --> 00:02:21,057 will outlive your time on earth by a long shot. 44 00:02:21,891 --> 00:02:24,894 The verses we had read from Exodus chapter two 45 00:02:25,562 --> 00:02:28,731 really are about a approximately 400 years 46 00:02:28,731 --> 00:02:31,734 after God makes this promise. 47 00:02:32,268 --> 00:02:36,606 And it says that God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant. 48 00:02:36,623 --> 00:02:39,859 That's another word for a promise to Abraham. 49 00:02:41,327 --> 00:02:44,814 So that's the way this starts, right? 50 00:02:45,081 --> 00:02:49,652 There's a lot that happens in those 400 years between Genesis chapter 51 00:02:49,652 --> 00:02:54,207 22, where which is where we left off last week in Exodus chapter two. 52 00:02:54,240 --> 00:02:56,492 Let me kind of fill in the blanks. 53 00:02:56,492 --> 00:03:00,413 So last week in Exodus chapter 22, God tells Abraham 54 00:03:00,413 --> 00:03:04,968 to take his son Isaac up to Mount Moriah and sacrifice him there. 55 00:03:05,401 --> 00:03:10,723 And then God intervenes and provides a substitute sacrifice, and Isaac is spared. 56 00:03:10,740 --> 00:03:13,793 But let me let me stop right there, because a lot of people have trouble 57 00:03:13,793 --> 00:03:19,249 with that story, because it's easy to just think, man, what kind of monster is God? 58 00:03:19,883 --> 00:03:23,052 To tell Abraham to take his son and sacrifice his son? 59 00:03:23,069 --> 00:03:25,922 But let me just try to give you a different perspective. 60 00:03:27,173 --> 00:03:30,176 The most dangerous thing for any human being 61 00:03:30,410 --> 00:03:34,731 is to put something other than God in the place of God. 62 00:03:35,448 --> 00:03:37,817 It's the most dangerous thing for you. 63 00:03:37,817 --> 00:03:40,320 It's the most dangerous thing for me. 64 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,790 And the thing that we usually put in the place of God is not a bad thing. 65 00:03:43,790 --> 00:03:45,925 It's usually a really good thing. 66 00:03:45,925 --> 00:03:48,928 It's just not meant to be the ultimate thing. 67 00:03:49,462 --> 00:03:52,315 It's not hard to imagine that for Abraham. 68 00:03:52,315 --> 00:03:55,652 Isaac was starting to creep into that spot. 69 00:03:56,569 --> 00:04:02,659 And for any parent who makes a child in the position of God, 70 00:04:02,659 --> 00:04:06,479 it will destroy the child and destroy the parent. 71 00:04:06,629 --> 00:04:09,482 So God intervenes 72 00:04:09,482 --> 00:04:12,302 to make sure that Abraham keeps him 73 00:04:12,302 --> 00:04:16,639 in his rightful place, and in doing so, he spares both Abraham and Isaac. 74 00:04:16,673 --> 00:04:20,310 I just wanted you to see that from a different perspective. 75 00:04:21,077 --> 00:04:21,361 All right. 76 00:04:22,378 --> 00:04:24,180 But he spares Isaac. 77 00:04:24,180 --> 00:04:27,183 Isaac has two sons, Jacob and Esau. 78 00:04:27,533 --> 00:04:29,402 Jacob then has 12 sons. 79 00:04:29,402 --> 00:04:32,155 And then the promise to Abraham, 80 00:04:32,155 --> 00:04:34,707 to make of him a great nation really takes off. 81 00:04:34,707 --> 00:04:38,995 In fact, God changes the name of Jacob to the name Israel, 82 00:04:38,995 --> 00:04:42,231 which is the way we refer to that nation today. 83 00:04:43,166 --> 00:04:46,819 And one of those 12 sons of Jacob was named Joseph. 84 00:04:47,420 --> 00:04:49,555 And the family is super dysfunctional. 85 00:04:49,555 --> 00:04:52,258 And that dysfunction, 86 00:04:52,258 --> 00:04:54,711 common traits in Joseph's brothers 87 00:04:54,711 --> 00:04:59,349 actually selling him into slavery, which is just wild, right? 88 00:05:00,233 --> 00:05:02,402 But the dysfunction of Joseph's family 89 00:05:02,402 --> 00:05:05,538 does not derail God's plan for Joseph, 90 00:05:05,688 --> 00:05:09,592 even though there were times where Joseph probably thought it had. 91 00:05:10,576 --> 00:05:13,563 Which means that if you grew up in a dysfunctional family 92 00:05:13,563 --> 00:05:16,549 or you're in the midst of dysfunction now, 93 00:05:17,150 --> 00:05:20,003 that does not derail God's plan for you. 94 00:05:20,987 --> 00:05:23,489 But Joseph's story begins in Genesis chapter 95 00:05:23,489 --> 00:05:26,726 37 and goes all the way to the end of Genesis chapter 50. 96 00:05:27,593 --> 00:05:30,263 And it starts with him being sold into slavery. 97 00:05:30,263 --> 00:05:33,750 And then he rises to have tremendous success 98 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,386 overseeing the household of man named Potiphar. 99 00:05:36,386 --> 00:05:41,057 Then he gets wrongly accused of a crime, gets thrown in prison for a few years. 100 00:05:41,341 --> 00:05:41,808 Then he gets 101 00:05:41,808 --> 00:05:45,445 pulled out of prison to interpret a couple of weird dreams for Pharaoh. 102 00:05:45,895 --> 00:05:49,048 And then Pharaoh decides to make him the most powerful man 103 00:05:49,048 --> 00:05:52,051 in all of Egypt, second only to himself. 104 00:05:52,318 --> 00:05:56,823 Now, during this time, there's a famine that hits the whole region. 105 00:05:57,140 --> 00:06:01,677 Joseph reconnects with his brothers, which is a a story in and of itself. 106 00:06:02,328 --> 00:06:05,998 But the result of the famine is that the entire clan moves 107 00:06:05,998 --> 00:06:09,052 down into Egypt, which sounds like a lot, but 108 00:06:09,052 --> 00:06:12,055 it was about 70 people at the time. 109 00:06:12,055 --> 00:06:15,408 Now, when they arrive in Egypt, they have favored status 110 00:06:15,408 --> 00:06:19,228 because of Joseph's position, and they flourish for a while. 111 00:06:19,429 --> 00:06:22,432 We don't know how long they flourished, 112 00:06:22,915 --> 00:06:27,387 but by the time we get to Exodus chapter two, things have changed. 113 00:06:27,987 --> 00:06:32,575 And to say they no longer had favorable status is an understatement. 114 00:06:32,575 --> 00:06:36,829 Because now, even though they number in the hundreds of thousands, these 115 00:06:36,896 --> 00:06:39,866 after being there for 400 years, 116 00:06:39,866 --> 00:06:42,869 they are oppressed and enslaved. 117 00:06:43,169 --> 00:06:45,838 And that brings us to the verses that we had read to us. 118 00:06:45,838 --> 00:06:47,507 And it's only three verses. 119 00:06:47,507 --> 00:06:50,510 So let me read it again that I'll give you my three points. 120 00:06:50,610 --> 00:06:55,381 It says this during those many days, the King of Egypt died, and the people 121 00:06:55,381 --> 00:06:59,602 of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. 122 00:07:00,453 --> 00:07:03,589 Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 123 00:07:04,190 --> 00:07:06,209 And God heard their groaning. 124 00:07:06,209 --> 00:07:10,196 And God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 125 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:14,517 And God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. 126 00:07:15,618 --> 00:07:15,868 All right, 127 00:07:15,868 --> 00:07:18,871 here are the three points that I want to use to guide our time. 128 00:07:18,871 --> 00:07:21,858 I want to talk about what the people feel, 129 00:07:22,408 --> 00:07:26,179 what the people feel, what God sees and what God does. 130 00:07:26,579 --> 00:07:30,533 Just that what the people feel, what God sees, what God does first, 131 00:07:31,400 --> 00:07:33,719 what the people feel. 132 00:07:33,719 --> 00:07:35,338 So they are in Egypt for 400 years. 133 00:07:35,338 --> 00:07:37,039 That's a long time. 134 00:07:37,039 --> 00:07:39,475 Like our country is going to celebrate 135 00:07:39,475 --> 00:07:42,478 our 250th anniversary next year. 136 00:07:42,628 --> 00:07:46,432 So that means they were in the Egypt 150 years longer 137 00:07:46,432 --> 00:07:50,119 than the United States of America has existed as a country. 138 00:07:50,903 --> 00:07:51,621 Right? 139 00:07:51,621 --> 00:07:54,657 And when they first started, it must have been amazing, because 140 00:07:54,657 --> 00:07:59,612 when Pharaoh welcomes them, he says, the best of Egypt is at your disposal. 141 00:08:00,213 --> 00:08:01,697 It's yours. 142 00:08:01,697 --> 00:08:04,433 And no one but Pharaoh was more powerful 143 00:08:04,433 --> 00:08:08,421 than Joseph, and few, if any, had more wealth than Joseph. 144 00:08:08,421 --> 00:08:10,406 By the time Joseph dies. 145 00:08:10,406 --> 00:08:13,409 He is generational wealth, right? 146 00:08:13,826 --> 00:08:17,430 And we don't know how long the prosperity lasted. 147 00:08:17,480 --> 00:08:20,433 We don't know whether the people were obedient or disobedient, 148 00:08:20,433 --> 00:08:24,887 because the text doesn't tell us, but we can be pretty sure they didn't cry out 149 00:08:26,239 --> 00:08:29,492 because human beings don't cry out when things are going well, 150 00:08:29,492 --> 00:08:32,812 when things are going well in my life, I don't cry out to God. 151 00:08:32,845 --> 00:08:35,731 I still pray, I'm thankful. 152 00:08:35,731 --> 00:08:38,718 I'm hoping the streak continues, 153 00:08:38,968 --> 00:08:40,770 but I don't. 154 00:08:40,770 --> 00:08:42,939 I don't cry out. 155 00:08:42,939 --> 00:08:43,489 Right. 156 00:08:43,489 --> 00:08:46,559 Prosperity, particularly health and wealth, 157 00:08:47,610 --> 00:08:50,363 has the ability to kind of, 158 00:08:50,363 --> 00:08:52,698 give you a false sense of security. 159 00:08:52,698 --> 00:08:55,735 Like I exercise, 160 00:08:56,152 --> 00:08:59,338 I try to stay physically fit, and I'm a person of routine. 161 00:08:59,338 --> 00:09:03,776 So building exercise into my routine was pretty easy. 162 00:09:03,776 --> 00:09:06,779 And I've done it for a long time. 163 00:09:06,779 --> 00:09:09,298 But, about, I don't know, a month and a half ago, 164 00:09:09,298 --> 00:09:13,436 I reached awkwardly for something and I felt something pop in my back. 165 00:09:14,036 --> 00:09:17,240 First time I've ever thrown my back out and my, 166 00:09:17,340 --> 00:09:20,343 you know, confidence in my physical fitness evaporated 167 00:09:20,876 --> 00:09:23,462 and I found myself incapacitated 168 00:09:23,462 --> 00:09:26,582 for a couple of days, and I felt really fragile. 169 00:09:28,284 --> 00:09:28,918 But feeling 170 00:09:28,918 --> 00:09:31,921 fragile is much closer to reality 171 00:09:32,338 --> 00:09:35,508 than feeling super fit and invincible. 172 00:09:36,142 --> 00:09:39,262 Hey, the people of Israel had had a bunch 173 00:09:39,262 --> 00:09:42,265 of winning seasons in a row, 174 00:09:42,715 --> 00:09:45,534 but now things had changed 175 00:09:45,534 --> 00:09:50,273 radically and now they felt trapped. 176 00:09:51,691 --> 00:09:53,309 They felt hurt. 177 00:09:53,309 --> 00:09:55,561 They felt abandoned. 178 00:09:55,561 --> 00:09:58,014 They felt hopeless. 179 00:09:58,014 --> 00:10:00,349 They felt helpless. 180 00:10:00,349 --> 00:10:02,301 And they had tried everything 181 00:10:02,301 --> 00:10:07,023 that they knew to try to try avoid that slow slide into slavery. 182 00:10:07,023 --> 00:10:10,376 Undoubtedly, there have been rebellions and attempts to get free, 183 00:10:10,876 --> 00:10:13,879 but by Exodus chapter two, they're out of bullets. 184 00:10:14,597 --> 00:10:16,649 And so all they could do is cry out. 185 00:10:16,649 --> 00:10:19,652 It doesn't even say they cried out for God. 186 00:10:20,102 --> 00:10:21,921 They just cried out because they knew. 187 00:10:21,921 --> 00:10:27,326 They knew they needed somebody, anybody, because they could not help themselves. 188 00:10:29,011 --> 00:10:30,112 That's what the people feel. 189 00:10:31,430 --> 00:10:32,515 That brings about a second point. 190 00:10:32,515 --> 00:10:34,917 What God sees. 191 00:10:34,917 --> 00:10:38,671 So the people who are in in Israel for for 400 years, 192 00:10:39,322 --> 00:10:42,325 I it's like, how many generations is that? 193 00:10:43,292 --> 00:10:45,628 Right? That's a ton. 194 00:10:45,628 --> 00:10:45,861 Right. 195 00:10:45,861 --> 00:10:50,933 It it's you know, I, I was thinking my father was born in 1933. 196 00:10:50,933 --> 00:10:53,719 My grandfather born in 1901. 197 00:10:53,719 --> 00:10:56,639 His father was, I think, born in the 1870s. 198 00:10:56,639 --> 00:11:00,176 Father before him was born sometime in the 1850s. 199 00:11:00,326 --> 00:11:03,212 He's my great, great, great 200 00:11:03,212 --> 00:11:06,198 grandfather was born like 200 years ago, 201 00:11:07,283 --> 00:11:10,219 but for 400 years, 202 00:11:10,219 --> 00:11:13,222 was there anybody who remember the promise? 203 00:11:14,390 --> 00:11:14,640 Right. 204 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,927 And my point is that, you know, when when they cry out, they don't say, 205 00:11:17,927 --> 00:11:21,947 oh, God, remember your promise to Abraham. 206 00:11:21,947 --> 00:11:24,817 They don't cry out like that. And my point is this it. 207 00:11:25,851 --> 00:11:28,854 God is the one who makes promises, 208 00:11:29,004 --> 00:11:32,007 and God is the one who remembers promises, 209 00:11:33,059 --> 00:11:34,944 even when we don't, 210 00:11:34,944 --> 00:11:36,879 even when we don't. 211 00:11:36,879 --> 00:11:37,797 Right? 212 00:11:37,797 --> 00:11:41,367 But the text says that he heard their groans, 213 00:11:42,601 --> 00:11:44,870 and that means that he. 214 00:11:44,870 --> 00:11:46,439 I was thinking he he had to be close. 215 00:11:46,439 --> 00:11:49,442 You got to be close to hear somebody groan, right? 216 00:11:50,993 --> 00:11:53,996 Last year I had my knee replaced and, 217 00:11:54,714 --> 00:11:57,683 I if you've been coming for any length of time, then you know that 218 00:11:57,683 --> 00:11:58,968 because I've mentioned it. 219 00:11:58,968 --> 00:12:02,488 But and also, I mean, everybody who has ever 220 00:12:02,488 --> 00:12:05,491 had a joint replacement in this church has come up and talk to me, 221 00:12:06,058 --> 00:12:10,196 feel like we could start our own service, just the joint replacement people. 222 00:12:10,713 --> 00:12:12,498 Right. 223 00:12:12,498 --> 00:12:15,801 But when you get your joint replaced, there's physical therapy. 224 00:12:15,801 --> 00:12:18,571 And my physical therapist, he and he knows who he is. 225 00:12:18,571 --> 00:12:19,789 He actually goes to this church. 226 00:12:19,789 --> 00:12:22,792 I think at times he was trying to make me groan. 227 00:12:23,492 --> 00:12:25,127 Right. And he succeeded. 228 00:12:26,328 --> 00:12:29,331 But you still had to be close. 229 00:12:29,582 --> 00:12:32,184 You had to be close to hear me. 230 00:12:32,184 --> 00:12:32,451 Right. 231 00:12:32,451 --> 00:12:35,454 And and I thought, it's so amazing 232 00:12:35,938 --> 00:12:38,941 that God would be close enough to any of us 233 00:12:40,142 --> 00:12:40,976 to hear his groan. 234 00:12:40,976 --> 00:12:43,429 But then verse 25 235 00:12:43,429 --> 00:12:45,381 actually says something else. 236 00:12:45,381 --> 00:12:48,050 It says that God saw 237 00:12:48,050 --> 00:12:50,035 and God knew. 238 00:12:50,035 --> 00:12:53,038 And that struck me because it it takes it to a different level, 239 00:12:53,823 --> 00:12:57,593 because there have been times when I'm walking around even, 240 00:12:57,593 --> 00:12:58,677 you know, in the church, 241 00:12:58,677 --> 00:13:02,214 in the hallways of the church, and I see somebody and I can tell something's wrong, 242 00:13:02,815 --> 00:13:05,100 but I don't know what to do. 243 00:13:05,100 --> 00:13:06,752 I don't know if they want me to ask. 244 00:13:06,752 --> 00:13:07,052 I don't know 245 00:13:07,052 --> 00:13:10,473 if they want to be left alone out of they want somebody to sit with them 246 00:13:11,207 --> 00:13:12,892 because I don't know what's going on. 247 00:13:14,426 --> 00:13:16,262 But here 248 00:13:16,262 --> 00:13:19,248 it says that God sees 249 00:13:19,682 --> 00:13:20,549 and God knows. 250 00:13:20,549 --> 00:13:24,470 That means he knew that they were afraid. 251 00:13:24,470 --> 00:13:26,755 He knew they were hurting. 252 00:13:26,755 --> 00:13:29,158 He knew they felt trapped. 253 00:13:29,158 --> 00:13:32,161 He knew they were hopeless and helpless. 254 00:13:32,812 --> 00:13:35,364 And that, of course, means that 255 00:13:35,364 --> 00:13:38,367 God knows what you're feeling 256 00:13:38,667 --> 00:13:41,670 right here, right now. 257 00:13:41,987 --> 00:13:45,391 That God hears our groans 258 00:13:45,391 --> 00:13:48,377 even when we don't make a sound. 259 00:13:48,711 --> 00:13:51,180 And he sees 260 00:13:51,180 --> 00:13:53,549 and he knows. 261 00:13:53,549 --> 00:13:56,552 But then it says that God also 262 00:13:56,969 --> 00:13:59,972 remembered his promise. 263 00:14:00,990 --> 00:14:01,790 And I've talked. 264 00:14:01,790 --> 00:14:04,643 I've already mentioned that 400 years, 265 00:14:04,643 --> 00:14:07,646 no one remembered the promise. 266 00:14:08,180 --> 00:14:10,382 But God remembers, right? 267 00:14:10,382 --> 00:14:14,370 But the other thing is what the people were experiencing 268 00:14:14,370 --> 00:14:18,023 as a crisis God saw as an opportunity. 269 00:14:18,774 --> 00:14:20,242 And this is what I mean. 270 00:14:20,242 --> 00:14:22,978 God saw them suffering, right? 271 00:14:22,978 --> 00:14:26,732 But I don't think God, I know God doesn't experience crises 272 00:14:26,732 --> 00:14:30,236 the way we experience and think about crises. 273 00:14:31,053 --> 00:14:34,039 So when God sees what's going on, 274 00:14:34,757 --> 00:14:39,361 then it's an opportunity for him to show his power and his grace. 275 00:14:39,662 --> 00:14:41,964 Because when the people have run out of options 276 00:14:41,964 --> 00:14:44,967 and they've done everything they could do, that's God's time. 277 00:14:45,167 --> 00:14:45,684 That's true. 278 00:14:45,684 --> 00:14:48,537 With with anyway, it's I think it's his favorite time 279 00:14:49,638 --> 00:14:50,573 because it's the only 280 00:14:50,573 --> 00:14:53,576 opportunity he has to show grace. 281 00:14:54,360 --> 00:14:57,146 Because I think human beings by nature, 282 00:14:57,146 --> 00:14:59,632 I don't think we're seekers of grace. 283 00:14:59,632 --> 00:15:02,067 I think it's too embarrassing 284 00:15:02,067 --> 00:15:06,088 that when I figure that out, and I've used this illustration before. 285 00:15:06,105 --> 00:15:11,160 I was a young man living in Florida, and I got a van stuck in my backyard 286 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:15,598 because my backyard was all sand and I didn't live near the beach. 287 00:15:15,864 --> 00:15:19,101 It was just that I didn't have enough money to sod my backyard. 288 00:15:19,101 --> 00:15:20,853 I could only sod my front yard. 289 00:15:20,853 --> 00:15:24,440 And the whole state of Florida is a big sandbox if you don't sod. 290 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:28,644 But I got my van stuck in the backyard and I tried everything 291 00:15:28,644 --> 00:15:30,679 and it was just getting worse and worse. 292 00:15:30,679 --> 00:15:32,481 I was covered with sweat, sand. 293 00:15:32,481 --> 00:15:35,484 My neighbor come out and he was watching me for a little bit, 294 00:15:35,901 --> 00:15:38,904 and then he yelled over and he said, you need some help. 295 00:15:39,588 --> 00:15:41,790 And I was like, no thanks. I got it. 296 00:15:43,108 --> 00:15:46,111 I didn't got it. 297 00:15:47,363 --> 00:15:49,398 But I was so embarrassed, 298 00:15:49,398 --> 00:15:52,401 you know, because I would have to say, yeah, 299 00:15:53,035 --> 00:15:55,404 I can't do this. 300 00:15:55,404 --> 00:15:59,875 I, I don't know what to do right now. 301 00:15:59,875 --> 00:16:03,862 Fortunately, he came over anyway, otherwise that van would still be there. 302 00:16:04,630 --> 00:16:07,633 Right? 303 00:16:08,183 --> 00:16:11,370 But the problem is that we're not seekers of grace. 304 00:16:12,655 --> 00:16:15,324 But grace is what we need. 305 00:16:15,324 --> 00:16:18,060 Grace not just to forgive sins. 306 00:16:18,060 --> 00:16:21,063 Which absolutely I need that. 307 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,767 But I'm convinced that grace is the great elixir of the human soul. 308 00:16:26,118 --> 00:16:28,170 That's the only thing that has the power 309 00:16:28,170 --> 00:16:31,457 to change me from the man I am into. 310 00:16:31,457 --> 00:16:36,161 The man that I want to be, could be, should be that one that God made me to be. 311 00:16:36,161 --> 00:16:38,297 And that's the same with you. 312 00:16:38,297 --> 00:16:41,633 There is nothing that has the power of grace 313 00:16:43,135 --> 00:16:44,870 to come into your soul and heal. 314 00:16:44,870 --> 00:16:46,321 What's 315 00:16:46,321 --> 00:16:48,624 what's wrong, 316 00:16:48,624 --> 00:16:51,110 what's wounded, 317 00:16:51,110 --> 00:16:52,795 what's hard, 318 00:16:52,795 --> 00:16:54,029 right? 319 00:16:54,029 --> 00:16:58,667 So that means every crisis I've ever experienced, every crisis I ever 320 00:16:58,667 --> 00:17:02,087 will experience, every crisis you experience is like a 321 00:17:03,022 --> 00:17:05,724 a crack. 322 00:17:05,724 --> 00:17:09,595 Like where God can pour in grace to your soul. 323 00:17:09,595 --> 00:17:13,282 That would not happen without the crisis. 324 00:17:14,216 --> 00:17:17,553 And all we need to do is cry out for that grace, 325 00:17:18,654 --> 00:17:22,491 I told you at the last time I spoke that God is a multitasker, 326 00:17:23,308 --> 00:17:26,478 and here he is doing all kinds of the people are suffering. 327 00:17:26,628 --> 00:17:27,513 He hears. 328 00:17:27,513 --> 00:17:31,166 He sees, he knows, and he decides to deliver them. 329 00:17:31,166 --> 00:17:34,169 He's going to have a display of his power. 330 00:17:34,737 --> 00:17:37,773 He's going to fulfill a promise he made 400 years ago. 331 00:17:37,940 --> 00:17:41,243 Their crisis is like a dark sky 332 00:17:41,243 --> 00:17:44,747 that's about to be lit up with the glory of God. 333 00:17:46,048 --> 00:17:49,051 And that brings me to my third point 334 00:17:49,284 --> 00:17:52,287 what God does, what God does. 335 00:17:52,488 --> 00:17:54,473 So the people are suffering. 336 00:17:54,473 --> 00:17:55,591 The people are in crisis. 337 00:17:55,591 --> 00:17:57,559 They've tried everything. 338 00:17:57,559 --> 00:17:58,944 God hears. 339 00:17:58,944 --> 00:17:59,728 God sees. 340 00:17:59,728 --> 00:18:00,446 God knows. 341 00:18:00,446 --> 00:18:03,749 God decides that he's going to save them 342 00:18:05,117 --> 00:18:07,553 with his power. 343 00:18:07,553 --> 00:18:10,322 And that results in the famous ten plagues. 344 00:18:10,322 --> 00:18:14,510 The last of those plagues was referred to as the Passover. 345 00:18:15,511 --> 00:18:19,615 And every time before every play, God would telegraph what was going to happen. 346 00:18:20,432 --> 00:18:23,068 But for the last plague, he told them, listen, 347 00:18:23,068 --> 00:18:26,071 judgment is coming for everyone. 348 00:18:26,822 --> 00:18:29,191 Everyone 349 00:18:29,191 --> 00:18:31,727 Jew and Egyptian alike. 350 00:18:31,727 --> 00:18:34,730 In every household, someone is going to die. 351 00:18:36,265 --> 00:18:37,833 But then to the 352 00:18:37,833 --> 00:18:41,970 to the Israelites, he said, you can avoid the wrath of God. 353 00:18:41,970 --> 00:18:45,541 The angel of death. You have to take a lamb 354 00:18:46,942 --> 00:18:47,843 and you slaughter the 355 00:18:47,843 --> 00:18:50,846 lamb, and you take the blood of the lamb. 356 00:18:50,846 --> 00:18:55,517 You put it at the top of your door and on the two sides and the top, 357 00:18:56,702 --> 00:18:58,937 and on the two sides, 358 00:18:58,937 --> 00:19:03,025 and then whoever would take refuge under the blood of the lamb, 359 00:19:04,009 --> 00:19:07,012 then the wrath of God, the angel of death, would pass 360 00:19:07,129 --> 00:19:10,132 over those people. 361 00:19:10,399 --> 00:19:13,468 1500 years later, a man named John 362 00:19:13,468 --> 00:19:17,539 the Baptist would point at Jesus and cry out, behold 363 00:19:19,158 --> 00:19:22,127 the Lamb of God! 364 00:19:22,127 --> 00:19:25,013 The night Jesus has betrayed, 365 00:19:25,013 --> 00:19:26,899 he sat with his disciples 366 00:19:26,899 --> 00:19:29,902 at a Passover meal, and he took bread, and he broke it. 367 00:19:30,085 --> 00:19:33,088 And he said, this is my body 368 00:19:33,689 --> 00:19:36,108 broken for you. 369 00:19:36,108 --> 00:19:38,427 And then he took a cup of wine, 370 00:19:38,427 --> 00:19:41,547 and he said, this cup is the covenant. 371 00:19:42,497 --> 00:19:43,999 It's the promise for the 372 00:19:43,999 --> 00:19:47,853 forgiveness of your sins, because is my blood poured out for you? 373 00:19:47,853 --> 00:19:49,705 Listen, 374 00:19:49,705 --> 00:19:52,140 everything in the Bible points to Jesus. 375 00:19:52,140 --> 00:19:55,344 Every single thing, and maybe nothing. 376 00:19:55,727 --> 00:20:00,115 No story more clearly than the story that begins in Exodus two, 377 00:20:00,115 --> 00:20:04,703 because the people are enslaved, they're trapped. 378 00:20:05,337 --> 00:20:06,205 They're helpless. 379 00:20:06,205 --> 00:20:08,540 They're hopeless. They've tried everything. 380 00:20:08,540 --> 00:20:11,660 They're in desperate need for a savior, 381 00:20:12,377 --> 00:20:15,380 and God decides to save them 382 00:20:16,081 --> 00:20:19,067 with the blood of a lamb. 383 00:20:19,618 --> 00:20:22,621 So in every crisis you go through, 384 00:20:23,422 --> 00:20:26,425 every crisis you are in 385 00:20:26,541 --> 00:20:29,011 is an opportunity for God 386 00:20:29,011 --> 00:20:31,997 to fulfill his promise to you. 387 00:20:32,297 --> 00:20:35,334 Because every crisis, when you have done everything 388 00:20:35,334 --> 00:20:38,453 that you know to do, that becomes God's time. 389 00:20:38,453 --> 00:20:41,690 And God sent a Savior not because we deserve it, 390 00:20:41,873 --> 00:20:45,177 precisely because we don't deserve it. 391 00:20:46,912 --> 00:20:49,398 And then his grace 392 00:20:49,398 --> 00:20:50,849 and grace is what you need. 393 00:20:50,849 --> 00:20:53,118 Grace greater than all our sin? 394 00:20:53,118 --> 00:20:56,121 Absolutely. Yes. 395 00:20:57,773 --> 00:21:00,776 But grace so powerful 396 00:21:01,727 --> 00:21:04,162 that whoever you are, 397 00:21:04,162 --> 00:21:08,600 it can give you the life that you are longing to have. 398 00:21:08,600 --> 00:21:11,753 Which is why Jesus in John chapter ten 399 00:21:12,838 --> 00:21:15,924 says, I came that you might have life 400 00:21:16,908 --> 00:21:19,911 and have it to the full. 401 00:21:20,312 --> 00:21:22,381 That's Jesus promise. 402 00:21:22,381 --> 00:21:25,367 Promises made and promises kept. 403 00:21:25,734 --> 00:21:28,170 Would you pray with me, 404 00:21:28,170 --> 00:21:30,622 father in heaven, we come to you 405 00:21:30,622 --> 00:21:33,625 and I pray for every person here that, 406 00:21:34,259 --> 00:21:38,297 whatever crises are going on that it would become an opportunity, 407 00:21:38,297 --> 00:21:42,567 a crack in their souls where you can pour grace into them. 408 00:21:43,368 --> 00:21:44,853 Because grace is what we need. 409 00:21:44,853 --> 00:21:46,855 You know that. 410 00:21:46,855 --> 00:21:49,741 Grace is what I need 411 00:21:49,741 --> 00:21:50,242 to be. 412 00:21:50,242 --> 00:21:52,577 What you have created me to be. 413 00:21:54,479 --> 00:21:55,280 Father, thank you 414 00:21:55,280 --> 00:21:58,283 for, what you did through Abraham. 415 00:21:58,500 --> 00:22:02,838 That was the beginning of your plan of salvation for all of us. 416 00:22:02,838 --> 00:22:04,489 That you would bless the entire world. 417 00:22:04,489 --> 00:22:08,193 And you have blessed us the coming of Jesus. 418 00:22:08,393 --> 00:22:12,798 Thank you for giving us such a wonderful Savior, and we pray this in his name. 419 00:22:13,548 --> 00:22:14,032 Amen.