Christ is born - He is Immanuel, God with us.

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Pastor Alex teaches on the joy we have because God is with us.

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The word for peace is “shalom”, which means wholeness or being complete. This is peace that puts an end to famine, war, and corrupt governments and dictators. This is peace on earth. In due time, Jesus will bring peace to the planet. All of this will happen at Jesus’ second advent…when He returns!

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Advent means “arrival” or “coming”, and we are currently living between the advent of Jesus’ first coming and His promised return. During this time, we wait. To wait for something means to hope for it. Isaiah 7:14 says, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.”  Too often, we associate waiting with boredom. Our culture is fast-paced, and we don’t have the patience to wait for much. Waiting often feels like a disservice or inconvenience, but there is so much good in waiting too. We learn the discipline of patience.

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There are consequences for sin. We are forgiven, but actions have consequences, so we need to think deeply about our decisions. The tragedy is that Yahweh could get them out of Egypt in one night, but couldn’t get Egypt out of them in 40 years. Moses was a pointer to Jesus. He was not the hero, He was flawed. He was an amazing leader, but he wasn’t the answer. Jesus is. 

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Ex. 34:5-6 is a powerful description of God’s person spoken from Himself. He says, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.” He does not reluctantly forgive sins against Himself and others. He does so eagerly. Moses longed for God’s presence. We, through Jesus, have seen it fulfilled! (John 1:17-18) What Moses couldn’t grasp, we see clearly. Moses could only see the backside of God’s glory, but we can see His face.

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The story of the Israelites moves from the action-packed saga of chapters 1-18 to the more monotonous explanations of the law in chapters 19-40. That said, without understanding the law, we all would still be slaves. James M. Boice said, “Deliverance from slavery is one thing, but freedom without law leads to license and license is only another form of slavery.” The Law was insufficient to forgive us of our sins, but it points to the person of Jesus Christ!

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Grumbling “romaticizes yesterday”. If we really think about it, the “good ‘ol days” were filled with tough times too. It just gets blurred because of the present troubles of the day. When we grumble, it is against the Lord. Grumbling matters because:

1. It harms the body of Christ
2. It devalues the character and goodness of God (Ex 17:11)

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When we see a dead end, God sees an opportunity. When we see impossibility, God sees possibility. When we can’t see a way, God sees the way. The journey TO the Red Sea is just as vital as CROSSING it.

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