Have you ever had a family member or close friend who you really enjoyed being around? Of course, right? Have you ever been surprised to learn something new, and perhaps unsettling, about that person? You assume that this person sees the world the way you do, agrees with you on most everything. Then you find out you’re not quite as similar as you thought. This can be quite upsetting. We can even begin to undo years of agreement and friendship over the first hint of disagreement. Our ‘fight or flight’ instinct starts to kick in. We feel like we have to attack or avoid someone who was once so close to us. In the midst of ever increasing polarization this feeling is probably more common than it’s been. In the midst of ever increasing polarization, Jesus’ call for us to be peacemakers may be more important than it’s ever been.

We found out this year in a unique way how just gathering regularly as a church has an impact on how we are able to handle the burdens of life. While there are many different explanations and viewpoints, we know that heavy times can wear us out and that having others to bear the weight with us is essential. In this story, we see Moses having to bear a weight that is exhausting and unsustainable. God uses two others to help him in this role. And the amazing part is that God is actually the One doing the work anyway. As a church, we want to be people who hold up one another when God’s path for our lives gets overwhelming and exhausting. So let’s allow this story to remind us of how God invites us to do exactly that.

Today we want to remember that we serve the God who can do the impossible. Each of us have known moments when our lives seemed impossibly broken, stuck, or empty. Heartache and grief, or frustration and anger, or panic and fear threaten to swallow up our hope. So this day, we look at a story that is meant to help us remember and believe that God can do what we can’t. He is able to bring us through any struggle and heal any wound. He redeems what is wrecked and brings life to the dead. Moses faces strong criticism based in the impossible. Water for an entire nation was needed, but they were in a desert. So Moses turns to the Lord, and God answers in a way that showed His people that nothing is too hopeless or difficult for Him.

We all need food. Some of us could skip a meal or two, but the human reality is that without food for a prolonged period of time, we would die. Many in our world today know that danger very personally as hundreds of millions of people face starvation this year. So there’s nothing unclear about our need for nutrition through eating. With that reality in view, any time there is a question about having what we need, we feel some panic. What will we do to make sure our needs will be provided? Or the needs of those we love? Truthfully, we can panic for things that aren’t quite needs. And our desperation to get what we think is essential to our lives can make us fall out of synch with our faith. So let’s look at how God used this basic need to try to teach Israel to depend on Him – for more than just food!

We are probably all complainers. It is as natural to human beings as breathing and sleeping. We experience something we don’t want, or we don’t get to have something we do want, and we complain. Not all complaints are evil; sometimes there are very good reasons to raise our voice and talk about what isn’t right. But the tendency is for our own judgment about ‘how things should be’ to replace true faith in our living God. Ultimately, we complain because we aren’t in charge and don’t have the power to make everything exactly how we think it should be. Not long after being delivered from Egyptian bondage, Israel starts a pattern of complaining… about God! In our story for this Sunday, we’ll see that God understood their tendency to complain, and invited them to trust Him more. Maybe when we complain, He’s inviting us to do the same!

At some point in all of our lives, we have been desperate. The need we faced was so essential that we couldn’t just brush off our lack of resources. But it seemed there was nothing we could do to meet that need. In this moment, most people panic, or pray, or both. We talk about a God who cares for us and watches over us. So why would He bring us to desperation? Since that’s exactly what He did right after parting the Red Sea and delivering Israel, let’s dig into what happened and see if we can grow in our trust for the One who delivers and provides!

Music is a huge part of our lives. We engage with music differently than almost anything else we do. We move our bodies, we sing along to lyrics, and we take the mood of the music into our souls. God gave us music as a gift, and designed us to be moved by it. There’s nothing wrong with enjoying music about love or life. But there is a special place in the life of a Christian for the truest and best use of music: to worship our God. After Israel’s deliverance, the nation sings together to the Lord. This is much like what we do today in worship music as we gather. Let’s look at the elements of this song and see how to take the gift of music and use it for God’ glory.

Have you ever tried to walk through a corn maze? What seems like a simple puzzle can quickly frustrate and confuse us. From our perspective, everything looks pretty much the same and there is no real way to assess where you are or where you should go. What would really help is a map! And some sort of ‘you are here’ indicator. Once you know what the maze looked like from above and where you were in the maze, getting out would be much simpler. But the point of the maze is that you don’t have that perspective. As Israel is finally and completely delivered, they see once again that the Lord is the One who actually has the needed perspective. Each step in their deliverance is evidence that trusting and following the Lord is the way to deliverance!

Paul tells us that man is the head of the home. And he gives us instructions as men in how we are to interact with our family. So let’s take a look at something essential to manhood: courage. If we are to raise a generation to know, love, and follow Jesus, it will require courage from our men to step up into their faith and leadership. What does it mean to lead? How does leading as a believer differ from what the world (and often the church) have assumed? Our church, our homes, and our world are desperate for our men to step into the roles for which God has designed them. Whether you are single or married, young or old, let’s dig into this foundational element of being a man.

We don’t believe much in being still. Our lives and our minds are constantly in motion. But no matter how fast we run or how much we ‘multitask’, we can never seem to get ahead of all there is to do. Unfortunately, this reality does not deter most of us at all from going at maximum speed, straight into some kind of breakdown. In our story, Israel has been freed. But not long thereafter, they find themselves pinned between the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army. They couldn’t go anywhere. But when they begin to panic, Moses tells the people that this is exactly what they need for deliverance. Let’s see if we have as hard of a time believing that we only need to be still.