Pastor Patrick Austin brings Leaf's journey through the Book of Exodus to a close with a message centered on Exodus 40:34–38, titled "The God Who Dwells With Us." From the very beginning of Exodus, God's people were suffering under the crushing weight of Egyptian slavery, crying out in darkness and despair. Yet as Pastor Austin reminds us, even then, "God heard. God remembered. God saw and God knew." God was never absent — He was always working to redeem His people, even when it didn't look like it.

As the book draws to a close, the tabernacle is completed, and the question hanging over the people is a weighty one: after their rebellion and idol worship, will God still come and dwell among them? The answer comes swiftly and powerfully. The cloud covers the tent of meeting, the glory of the Lord fills the tabernacle, and not even Moses can enter. God's presence is overwhelming, it is directive — guiding His people day by day, cloud by cloud, toward the promised land — and it is unceasing, remaining with them throughout all their journeys.

Pastor Austin draws a straight line from the wilderness tabernacle to the person of Jesus Christ, who came to tabernacle among us (John 1), and to the Holy Spirit, who now dwells within every believer. The same glory that filled the tabernacle is the glory we see in Christ. And the same promise that God made to Israel — that He would dwell with them — is the promise Jesus makes to His disciples before ascending to heaven: "Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." The sermon calls the church to be overwhelmed by that reality, directed by God's Spirit, and deeply grateful for a presence that will never end.

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Pastor Jared Richard opens Exodus 32–34 by grounding the sermon in Romans 15:4, where Paul reminds us that everything written in the Old Testament was written for our instruction, that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. With that foundation laid, Pastor Jared sets out to answer one of the most important questions the Bible addresses: how can a holy God continue to dwell with a continually sinful people? It's not just Israel's question — it's ours, too, for every one of us has sinned, and some of us have confessed the same sins to the Lord over and over again for years.

The answer unfolds through Israel's devastating act of treasonous rebellion — the golden calf — and four conversations between Moses and God that follow. In each conversation, we see what the people deserved because of their sin: to be consumed by God's wrath, to wear the guilt of their sin forever, to be abandoned by God's covenant love, and to be kept at a distance from His presence. And in each conversation, Moses intercedes, pleading with God on their behalf, and God — merciful, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love — responds with mercy rather than the full measure of judgment the people had earned.

But the real gift of this passage, Pastor Jared argues, is what it teaches us about Jesus. Moses was a faithful mediator, willing even to offer his own life in the people's place, but he was unfit because he was not holy. Jesus is the better Moses — the one who doesn't merely pray these mercies into being, but actually accomplishes them. He bore God's wrath so we could be spared. He wore our guilt so we could be forgiven. He was forsaken so we could be loved. He was cast out into death so God could dwell in our midst. That is the Gospel according to Moses, and it is the hope every sinner desperately needs.

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In this sermon from Exodus 25–31, Pastor Jared Richard opens with a memorable story about a pop quiz designed not to test knowledge, but to form students into the kind of people who slow down and follow directions. In the same way, he argues, God's exhaustive instructions for building the tabernacle were never merely architectural — they were formational. God wasn't just building a tent; He was building a people. Every act of sacrifice, service, and submission called for in these chapters was designed to both express something true about God's worth and press that truth deeper into the hearts of His worshipers.

Yet Pastor Jared is careful to surface a tension in the text: sinful people cannot draw near to a holy God simply by doing the right things. Even Israel's most faithful worship was compromised by their sin, and they needed a High Priest to carry them into God's presence and make their offerings acceptable. This points unmistakably forward to Jesus — the true and better High Priest — whose spotless blood, offered once and for all, tears the curtain, cleanses the conscience, and brings us with Him into the presence of the Father. As Hebrews 9:14 declares, "How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"

Finally, Pastor Jared draws attention to the Sabbath command that closes this section in Exodus 31:13, arguing that rest — not work — was always the destination. The tabernacle was built so God's people could dwell with Him and rest in His presence, a foretaste of the eternal rest still to come. The call to the congregation is clear: stop striving, find your rest in Christ alone, and live as faithful worshipers not to earn that rest, but from that rest — with hearts set on the day when God's people will dwell fully and freely in His glory.

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ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION.

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Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613

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In this sermon from Exodus 25, Pastor Jared Richard takes the church on a guided tour through the tabernacle, unpacking one of the most important visual aids in all of Scripture. From the outer courtyard's bronze altar and basin, through the holy place with its lampstand, table of bread, and altar of incense, all the way to the ark of the covenant resting in the holy of holies, every element was deliberately designed by God to communicate something true about Himself — His majesty, His heart, and His holiness. Just as God enriched Israel with Egypt's plunder to build this dwelling place, every piece of that tent was a declaration that the God who brought them out of bondage still desired to be in their midst.

Yet the tabernacle also holds a deep tension at its center: God draws near to His people, but His people can only come so close. The veils, the restrictions, the cherubim guarding the inner room — all of it echoed back to the Garden of Eden, where sin first separated humanity from God's presence. Even the holiest of priests had to be ritually cleansed, and even then, the glory of God remained veiled and partial. The sacrifices offered on the bronze altar could allow for God's presence among His people, but they could not fully erase the distance that sin had created.

The resolution to this tension, Pastor Jared makes clear, is Jesus Christ — the true and better tabernacle. As John 1:14 declares, "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" — and that word dwelt literally means tabernacled. Jesus is God's glory walking the dusty roads of Galilee without a veil, welcoming children into His arms, and ultimately tearing the temple curtain at the moment of His death (Matt. 27:51) so that all who repent and believe can finally draw near to the Father. And because of His finished work, the Spirit of God now lives in His people (1 Cor. 6:19), making the church itself the living tabernacle — called to display God's majesty, heart, and holiness to a watching world.

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Drawing from Exodus 20–24, Pastor Jared Richard unfolds God's covenant with Israel through the lens of a marriage ceremony. Just as premarital counseling and wedding vows are meant to help a couple fully understand what they're committing to, God walks His people through a declaration of intent, a detailed set of expectations, a promised blessing, and a blood-sealed covenant. God's heart in all of it is not cold or distant — it is warm and pursuing. As Exodus 20:24 makes clear, God promises, "I will come to you and I will bless you." His deepest desire is fellowship with His people.

Yet the weight of the law — God's call to value human life, truth and justice, holiness and purity, and God-honoring worship — reveals something sobering: we cannot hold up our end of the deal. The people of Israel declared with one voice, "All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do" (Ex. 24:3), and yet they broke that promise almost immediately. But God knew this was coming. The sacrifices, the substitute blood, the covenant meal on the mountain — all of it was pointing forward to a better sacrifice, a better blood, and a better table. Jesus Christ, the true and pure offering, is the fulfillment of everything the law was preparing God's people to see. His faithfulness is the only ground on which we can enjoy covenant fellowship with God.

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Pastor Billy Driver opens by pointing to a sobering reality: we live in a world that spends over a trillion dollars a year convincing us that contentment is just one more purchase away. Drawing from Exodus 20:17, he defines covetousness as an illicit desire for what God has not given us — a heart that is dissatisfied with God's provision and seeks satisfaction somewhere other than Him. Paul reinforces this in Colossians 3:5, calling covetousness a form of idolatry, warning that it places people and possessions on the throne of the heart where God alone belongs.

Pastor Billy then traces the Marks of a covetous heart — it doubts God, envies others, and breeds sin — walking through examples ranging from the fall in Genesis to David's sin with Bathsheba in 2 Samuel 11. Against this, he sets four characteristics of a contented heart: it trusts God, gives thanks, loves others, and lives generously. Drawing from Philippians 4:11-13, he reminds the congregation that contentment is not natural — it is learned through dependence on Christ in every circumstance.

He closes with a challenge rooted in the Gospel. The law exposes our guilt, but it cannot change our hearts. Only Christ can do that. The secret of contentment, Pastor Billy urges, is not to suppress desire, but to replace covetous desires with a desire for God Himself — the great exchange made possible through faith in Jesus Christ. 

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Pastor Jared Richard opens with the sobering story of Naboth from 1 Kings 21, an innocent man stoned to death because two worthless scoundrels bore false witness against him at the orchestration of the wicked Queen Jezebel. That story, Pastor Jared argues, perfectly illustrates why God gives the ninth commandment in Exodus 20:16: "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." The commandment is not merely a rule about courtroom behavior — it flows directly from the character of God Himself. Because God is a God of truth and a God of justice, His people are called to be a truth-telling people who faithfully represent Him to the world.

From that theological foundation, Pastor Jared lays out three Biblical expectations for the people of God. First, we are to speak the truth and refuse to lie, in all its many forms — from grand deceptions to half-truths, flattery, and gossip. Second, we are to speak life-giving words, refusing to demean, slander, or defame those made in the image of God, because as Ephesians 4:29 instructs, only words that build up and give grace should come from our mouths. Third, and most importantly, we are to be faithful witnesses to the gospel, because a compromised tongue compromises our witness to the truth of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Jared closes by pointing the congregation to the gospel. Just as Naboth was condemned by false witnesses, so was Jesus — and Matthew 26:59 tells us the chief priests and council actively sought false witnesses to secure His death. But that act of injustice was woven into God's redemptive plan. Jesus was condemned by false witnesses so that commandment-breaking people like us could be forgiven, freed from condemnation, and transformed into faithful witnesses of the truth that sets us free.

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Pastor Patrick Austin opens by pointing out that while we live in a $16 billion home security Market — a world full of people desperate to protect their stuff — we are also surrounded by people who are perfectly comfortable taking what doesn't belong to them. But before we point the finger at the burglar or the carjacker, Pastor Patrick brings us back to the garden, where Adam and Eve stole the very first fruit, setting in motion a pattern of sin that runs through every human heart. Theft, he reminds us, goes far deeper than an outward action. It shows up in cheating, in wasted time at work, in gambling, in the pornography industry that fuels modern-day slavery, and at the root of every sin we commit. When we steal, we are essentially telling God, "You have failed to provide for me" — the same lie the enemy whispered to Adam and Eve in the garden.

But the eighth commandment doesn't just expose the problem — it points us to the solution. Through the story of Zacchaeus in Luke 19, Pastor Patrick shows us a man who had everything the world said he needed and was still empty, still seeking. And Jesus, rather than wagging His finger at this broken, despised thief, walks straight to his tree, calls him by name, and says, "I must stay at your house today." Jesus pursues broken thieves. He takes their place on the cross — literally crucified between two robbers — and He transforms them. Zacchaeus walked away from that encounter giving half his goods to the poor and repaying fourfold everyone he had wronged. That is the evidence of a transformed life: greed gives way to faithful stewardship and generous giving.

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Pastor Jared Richard opens by challenging the common assumption that the Ten Commandments are merely a list of prohibitions. While the "don'ts" are real and important, every prohibition is ultimately protecting a gracious gift from God. In the case of the seventh commandment — "You shall not commit adultery" (Ex. 20:14) — the gift being protected is marriage. Drawing from Genesis 2:24-25, Pastor Jared shows that God designed marriage for human flourishing, because it is not good for man to be alone. But marriage is also a gift for us, not just to us — it is a living, breathing picture of God's covenant faithfulness to His people. As Isaiah 54:5 declares, "Your Maker is your husband," and Paul deepens this in Ephesians 5, showing that the oneness of husband and wife is a mystery pointing to the union of Christ and His Church.

Against that backdrop of beauty, adultery is exposed as a profound tragedy. Using the story of Hosea and his unfaithful wife Gomer, Pastor Jared illustrates how adultery destroys human flourishing and lies about covenant faithfulness. Jesus intensifies the commandment in Matthew 5:27-28, making clear that lust in the heart is adultery before God — meaning the real problem is not just giving our hearts to another person, but failing to give our hearts fully to God. Yet the sermon does not leave us in condemnation. Just as Hosea pursued Gomer and bought her back from bondage, God sent a greater Hosea in Jesus Christ, who paid the price to redeem even the most unfaithful soul. The answer to our unfaithfulness is never merely a stronger resolve — it is always Jesus, the faithful Bridegroom who will never fail His people.

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ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION.

Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614

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Preaching from Exodus 20:13, Pastor Jared Richard opens the sixth commandment — "You shall not murder" — and immediately pushes past the comfortable assumption that most of us are safe from its conviction. While many may not have committed physical murder, Pastor Jared argues that we live in a culture that has grown increasingly comfortable with the destruction of human life. From the rapid legalization of medically assisted suicide to abortion, to the casual glorification of violence in entertainment, we have built a culture of death that stands in direct opposition to God's heart. The commandment, rightly understood, is not merely a prohibition against killing — it is a call to value every human life as God values it, because life is His gift, human beings bear His image, and every person exists to worship Him.

Pastor Jared then turns to the heart of the matter, following Jesus' teaching in Matthew 5:21-24, where Christ makes clear that murderous anger, contempt, and hatred toward a neighbor carry the same moral weight before God as the physical act of murder. This is what John Calvin called "murder of the heart," and by this standard, none of us escape the conviction of the sixth commandment. Yet the sermon does not end in condemnation — it ends in the Gospel. Jesus, the most innocent life ever taken, was murdered unjustly so that murderers of every kind — actual and of the heart — could be forgiven and set free. Pastor Jared calls the church to rest in that forgiveness, to be reconciled to one another, and to rise up as a countercultural people who champion the gift of human life in a world desperate for it.

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ONE CHURCH. TWO LOCATIONS. ONE MISSION.

Bay Leaf at Falls Lake: 12200 Bayleaf Church Road, Raleigh, North Carolina 27614

Bay Leaf at 540: 10921 Leesville Rd, Raleigh, NC 27613

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Come join us on Sundays at Bay Leaf at Falls Lake (8:30 AM or 11:00 AM) or at Bay Leaf at 540 (10:00 AM)

CONTACT

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(919) 847-4477

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