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The Exodus Way Part 6 - Where is the Lamb? 

As we have already seen, the plagues aren't God losing His temper. They are God exposing false gods, handing people over to what they insist on trusting, and repeatedly inviting repentance. The story isn't just about one stubborn man. It's about an entire death-shaped system. An empire built on fear, power, and the lie that some lives matter less than others. Pharaoh embodies it, but the machine is bigger than him.

When we get to Exodus 12, we find God finishing His work to bring "judgment on all the gods of Egypt." The plagues pull the mask off a whole way of life. The Nile, the sun, livestock, even Pharaoh himself. Each one is exposed as impotent, empty, and ‘unable to save’. And then we arrive at Passover.

Modern ears find it stark. The death of the firstborn is grievous. It's meant to be. It forces us to face a sobering truth: evil, when welcomed in, does not stay small. Egypt had already ordered Hebrew sons to be killed and had chosen a world where that kind of violence was permitted. The night of Passover is a terrible moral symmetry in a world where death has been normalised because it is now Egypt’s firstborn who are the target and the Hebrew’s who are shielded.

But even here, something deeper is happening. We often picture "Passover" as God skipping certain houses. But the language hints at something richer. God does not merely avoid the marked homes. He stands over them. He shields. He covers. The blood is not a sign to keep God away. It is a sign of refuge. This house belongs to Yahweh. Outside that protection, people are handed over to the destroyer whose way of life they have chosen. Inside, they are covered over by mercy.

And Jesus uses this event as the key to explain what He came to do.

The Gospels spend extraordinary space on Jesus' final week because the cross is the centre of the story. At the Last Supper, Jesus doesn't give a lecture explaining His death. He gives a meal. Herbs for bitterness, because evil and suffering are real and God does not ask us to pretend otherwise. Bread for urgency, because salvation calls for a response. A step. A decision to seek shelter. Wine for promise, because God binds Himself to His people.

And the Lamb? In Matthew's account we hear about the dipping bowl for the herbs, the bread, and the cup, but the lamb is conspicuously absent. Not because there is no lamb, but because Jesus is the Lamb. In Exodus, God judges a death-world and makes a doorway through judgment by a lamb handed over in the people's place. In the Gospels, Jesus is handed over by Judas, by leaders, by Pilate, and ultimately He walks into the "hour of darkness" so that darkness can spend itself on Him. And because He is handed over, we can be covered.

Under Him there is protection. Safety. Deliverance. We don't talk as much about the blood of Jesus as Christians once did. But Scripture does. The blood of Jesus is not superstition. It is shorthand for the finished work of Christ. It means guilt is removed. It means accusation loses its voice. It means you belong to God. And it means the destroyer does not get the final word. Passover isn't a religious tradition to admire. It's a shelter to step into. A God who stands between His people and destroying power. A God who says, "You will not have them."

Take time to read Romans 5:9; Hebrews 9:12–14; Hebrews 9:14; Ephesians 2:13; Colossians 1:20; and Revelation 12:11. 

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Send us your questions or feedback here

The Exodus Way Part 5: Who is the LORD, that I should obey Him?

In this podcast we spend time in the Exodus story asking a question that still sits behind much of everyday life, whether or not we notice it: "Who is the LORD, that I should obey Him?"

Pharaoh doesn't doubt God's existence. He questions God's right to rule. And everything that follows in Exodus 5–12 is God's response. These are not random acts of power, but a revelation of reality itself.

We see that the plagues are not just about showing Pharaoh God's power; they are also about defeating Egypt's gods and exposing the deeper assumptions Egypt lived by - assumptions that didn't feel like "religion" at all but felt instead just how the world worked:

•  Life comes from the Nile.
•  Security comes from power.
•  Stability comes from control.
•  Worth comes from success.

God doesn't debate those assumptions. He shows that they cannot be trusted and that He alone is Lord.

That's what brings the Exodus story uncomfortably close to home. Most of us don't bow down to false gods. We simply assume them. We assume money will keep us safe. That control will keep us steady. That comfort will make life good. That success proves our worth. And most of the time, those assumptions work… until pressure comes.

Exodus shows us that when false gods are asked to save us, they don't just fail, they enslave. Anxiety rises. Rest disappears. Fear takes over. And when those "realities" start to collapse, people either harden like Pharaoh or begin, slowly and imperfectly, to trust God again.

The gospel doesn't just expose what can't save us, it replaces it. Where false gods collapse under pressure, Jesus carries the weight. And He carries us with Him.

Reflection:

• In the plagues, God exposes the things Egypt trusted to give life and stability. As you look at your own life, what things have you tended to rely on to keep everything "working"?
• When something you rely on feels shaken, what usually happens next for you? Do you find yourself anxious, defensive, or more open to trusting God? What might that reveal about where your security has been coming from?
• Can you think of a time when something that felt solid in your life failed, but God proved more faithful than you expected? How did that experience shape your view of Him?
• The plagues expose what can't give life, but they also point toward the freedom God is offering. As you reflect on your own life, you might be aware of something that isn't quite right — perhaps there's fear, control, or the need to keep everything together. Instead of stopping there, can you imagine what freedom might look like in that area if God were at work?
• What might it look like this week to respond like Israel rather than Pharaoh: not hardening your heart, but loosening your grip and choosing trust, even in a small way?

If you find what Dean has said interesting and have a question, please use the 'Ask Dean' link to get it to us as we will try to put together a Q and R podcast in due course. Thank you for your support and for listening in!

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Send us your questions or feedback here

The Exodus Way Part 4: Faith Under Pressure

In this episode we look at a hard but deeply real theme: faith when life gets worse, not better.

We begin with the story of a man called Peter, whose life seemed to unravel layer by layer. Just as he found faith and hope, and even stood ready to be baptised, he was arrested and sent to prison. What looked like everything falling apart was, in his words, the place "God finished setting me free."

That story leads us into Exodus. When God first spoke freedom over Israel, their lives didn't immediately improve. Pharaoh tightened the pressure. Work increased. Hope rose, but so did resistance.

We see a pattern that runs through Scripture and, often, through our own lives: right when freedom draws near, resistance intensifies. But hard times do not automatically mean abandonment. Pressure might not mean God has withdrawn. Sometimes it means the battle has shifted.

When the people cried out, "If God is bringing freedom, why is this getting worse?" God didn't give an explanation. He gave Himself.

"I AM."
 "I HAVE."
 "I WILL."

Faith, we saw, is not built on what is loudest (pain, pressure, fear) but on what is truest: who God is, what He has already done, and what He has promised to do.

We also connected this to Psalm 22 and to Jesus. Jesus cried out in real anguish, yet the psalm goes on to declare who God is (I AM) and what he has done (I HAVE) which enables him to commit himself to God (I WILL). His faith did not remove the cross, but it carried Him through it, trusting in resurrection beyond what He could see. Because He entered suffering, we are never alone in ours.

Communion then made sense in a fresh way. We live between redemption accomplished and fulfilment still coming. Between "It is finished" and "Your kingdom come."

So this week, the question is not simply, "Are things getting easier?" but, "Where am I learning to trust the I AM in the middle of what is?"

As you reflect

• Have you ever experienced a season where following God seemed to make life harder before it got better? What did that do to your faith?
• When pressure hits, what tends to take the lead in your response? Emotion (e.g. anxiety, frustration, sadness); Willpower (e.g. "I've got to fix this"); Overthinking (e.g. trying to solve every angle in your head); Something else?
• How do you see your response play out, and how does it affect what you do next?
• Which part of God's response speaks most to you right now: I AM, I HAVE, or I WILL? Why?

If you find what Dean has said interesting and have a question, please use the 'Ask Dean' link to get it to us as we will try to put together a Q and R podcast in due course. Thank you for your support and for listening in!

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Send us your questions or feedback here

The Exodus Way Part 3: What's in a Name?

In this talk we explore Exodus Ch. 3 which records the moment Moses encounters God at the burning bush. A strange sight gets his attention… but what really changes him is not the fire, it's a name.

At first, God introduces Himself as Elohim which means the Mighty One. But then something shifts. God says: "I am Yahweh… I have seen their misery… I have heard them crying out… I am concerned." It's the first time this personal name is spoken in Exodus expressing not just power, but presence.

But Moses keeps things formal. He responds to Yahweh like He's still just Elohim. 

Maybe you recognise that: when God feels distant. When it's safer to keep Him at arm's length. Because if He really knows you, your story, your shame, maybe He'll back away. But Yahweh doesn't. Instead, in his response, he reaches past his guilt, past his hiding, past his shame -  and in answer to Moses' question, "Who Am I?", calls him by name and simply says, "I will be with you." 

God isn't scared off by Moses' past. Moses' shame doesn't disqualify him - because there is no sin in us that exceeds the grace that is in God.

Then Moses asks, "Who shall I say sent me?" This is no longer about Moses,  it's about God and in response, God reveals His personal name: you can say Yahweh sent you, not Elohim, but Yahweh. 

It's a name that invites Moses from distant awareness into deep relationship. A name that connects a wandering man to a faithful God. A name that says, "You are no longer alone. I am with you. I am for you. I know your name... and now you know mine."

Whilst it may not be your usual listen, here is a song called 'Who Am I?' by Casting Crowns, that might help you reflect on some of the truths we looked at: https://youtu.be/3rT8Re1EIQc.

As you reflect:

• When life is hard, how do you relate to God? Do you find yourself speaking to Him like He's distant (Elohim) — or personal (Yahweh)? What does that reveal about how close you feel to Him?
• Have you ever kept God at arm's length? What was going on at the time? What helped you move from formal faith to a more personal connection?
• Is there a part of your life you're keeping hidden — out of shame, fear, or self-protection? What might it look like to let God meet you there — not to condemn, but to call?
• Think about the "fire" in your life — a difficult experience, a trial, a loss. How might God have been present in that fire? Did it shape you in ways you couldn't see at the time?
• Moses asked, "Who am I?" — and God answered, "I will be with you." If you asked God that question today, what fear or insecurity would be behind it? And what might it mean to trust His answer — not "You're enough," but "I am with you"?
• God's name is not just a fact — it's an invitation. What would it look like this week to walk in deeper relationship with Him — not as a distant figure, but as Yahweh: the God who sees, hears, and stays?

If you find what Dean has said interesting and have a question, please use the 'Ask Dean' link to get it to us as we will try to put together a Q and R podcast in due course. Thank you for your support and for listening in!

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Send us your questions or feedback here

The Exodus Way Part 2: Fear and Faithfulness

In this podcast we continue in the book of Exodus, looking at chapter 1 & 2 and the world it describes - a world shaped by fear. Pharaoh isn't threatened by rebellion or violence, but by fruitfulness. Israel is multiplying and flourishing, and he panics. That alone says a lot. Fear doesn't always wait for danger. Sometimes it shows up when things are going well.

We saw that fear often begins with distorted vision. It sees blessing as threat, difference as danger, and growth as loss. And once fear takes hold, it reaches for control, even if others have to pay the price.

Scripture helps us name what's happening beneath the surface by using two images that run all the way through the Bible.

The first is the serpent which represents deception. It whispers lies about God, about scarcity, and about self‑protection. It tells us there isn't enough, that God can't be trusted, and that we must secure ourselves before someone else takes what's ours.

The second is the city which represents fear organised into systems. It's what happens when those lies get embedded into cultures, policies, and ways of life that operate without reference to God. Fear stops being just a feeling and becomes a structure that shapes how people live.

Pharaoh embodies both. He believes the serpent's lie, and then builds a city shaped by fear and control.

But Exodus doesn't just expose fear. It also shows how fear begins to unravel, not through loud defiance or heroic power, but through quiet faithfulness:

• Midwives who choose to fear God rather than obey a fearful system
• A mother who entrusts her child to God when control runs out
• A sister who stays present when it would be easier to look away
• A daughter of Pharaoh who chooses compassion instead of compliance

None of them overthrow the city. None of them silence the serpent by force. But each one refuses fear's story, and in choosing love, they begin to loosen its grip.

And in Jesus, we see that same pattern brought to fullness. Where fear says, "Take," love says, "Give." Where fear says, "Save yourself," Jesus lays His life down. His is the love that casts out fear, not by force, but by faithful presence.

Reflection

Here are some simple questions to reflect on this week, either on your own or with others:

• Where might fear be shaping the way I think or act?
• Do I ever see others' blessing as a threat to my own?
• Which of the women's responses in Exodus 2 resonates with your own story right now?
   
  • Like the midwives, are you being called to quietly stand your ground against the serpents lies and choose what's right, even when it's costly?
  • Like the mother, are you learning to release something precious and trust God with what you can't control?
  • Like the sister, are you staying close and watching carefully, ready to step in when the moment comes?
  • Like Pharaoh's daughter, are you in a position to use your influence to show compassion and protect the vulnerable?
• What would choosing love over fear look like in this season of life?

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Send us your questions or feedback here

The Exodus Way Part 1: A God Who Rescues

In this podcast we begin a new series of teaching around the book of Exodus. Exodus is not just the story of Israel escaping Egypt. It's the pattern the Bible keeps returning to as it explains who God is and who we are through the story of a people in bondage, held by a power that refuses to let go. In the darkness of that captivity, we are introduced to a God who hears the cries of His people and rescues them. God makes a way where no way seems possible.

This is not just the story of a people held in captivity in Egypt, it's Jesus' story … and it's our story too.

Whether you're feeling stuck, tested, or tired, Exodus shows us that God isn't just rescuing people from something. He's rescuing them for something. To form a people who know Him, walk with Him, and are changed by His presence.

If you find what Dean has said interesting and have a question, please use the 'Ask Dean' link to get it to us as we will try to put together a Q and R podcast in due course. Thank you for your support and for listening in! 

Prayer and Reflection: The Journey Ahead

• As we enter this Exodus series, let's ask God not just to show us the destination but to help us trust Him in the wilderness.
•  Pray for hearts that are soft, lives that are teachable, and a church that longs not only for rescue, but for deeper formation.

 "Teach us your ways, O Lord, that we may walk in your truth." — Psalm 86:11

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Send us your questions or feedback here

Inhabiting the Gospel Part 4: Who the Bible Says We Are

 The Bible says we are God’s handiwork and thus a most wonderful creation. Sadly, too often, as we journey through our lives, we forget this and allow the world to define us – our friends, our family, our selves. The enemy delights in distracting us from becoming the person God wants us to be. This sermon seeks to make us think about this truth and how we should define ourselves in Christ.

If you find what Dean has said interesting and have a question, please use the 'Ask Dean' link to get it to us as we will try to put together a Q and R podcast in due course. Thank you for your support and for listening in!

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Send us your questions or feedback here

Inhabiting the Gospel Part 3 – Guarding Our Hearts

In this sermon, Dean looks at our hearts. Jesus said that it is not what goes into our mouth that defiles us, but what comes out. What we say, and what we do, all come from our hearts. If we truly want to inhabit the gospel and transform our walk with Jesus, we need to pay attention to our hearts.

If you find what Dean has said interesting and have a question, please use the 'Ask Dean' link to get it to us as we will try to put together a Q and R podcast in due course. Thank you for your support and for listening in!

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Send us your questions or feedback here

Inhabiting the Gospel Part 2: Making and Inhabiting Space

We continue to work through this series on  how to not only live but inhabit the Gospel story. We know what Jesus did during His life, and we know the promise of what is to come but, in between, there is now. This is the space that we occupy.

In this sermon, using the story of Elisha and the widow of Shunem (2 Kings 4 v. 8-37) Dean explores what happens when we make a space for God in our lives.

If you find what Dean has said interesting and have a question, please use the 'Ask Dean' link to get it to us as we will try to put together a Q and R podcast in due course. Thank you for your support and for listening in!

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.

Send us your questions or feedback here

Inhabiting the Gospel Part 1 – Hearing the Gospel Afresh

In this new series of sermons, we are challenged to look afresh at our relationship to the God who fashioned every detail of our lives and the world around us and who, recognising our inability to live in the way He intended us to, sent His Son to walk among us. He did all of this out of the abundance of his love for His creation.

We know the story of the Gospel: that Jesus died for our sins and three days later, rose from the grave. His death and resurrection was witnessed by many and neither the Jewish or Roman authorities could, despite their deep interest in doing so, could refute this truth. Jesus said that all who believe in Him will be adopted into his kingdom and become coheirs. 

In John 14 v. 1-6 Jesus says, 

“Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so I would not have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

And when his disciples expressed doubts that they knew the way, Jesus added, 

“I am the way, and the truth and the life.”

Reflection

We are not so unlike the Twelve disciples. We can sit in the presence of the Lord every minute of every day just as they sat in his presence. But how well do we know our Master’s voice? As we reflect on this fresh re-telling of the Gospel can we say that we have embraced its message in every aspect of our lives? The challenge Dean lays down to us today is not to just know the Gospel, but to step into the Gospel.

This sermon was preached in January 2025.

You can see past sermons on the Leominster Baptist Church website at  Leominster Baptist Church - YouTube and can contact us directly with your feedback or queries through the Contact Us link at the top of the episode description text.

Leominster Baptist Church can be found on Etnam Street in Leominster, Herefordshire. To find out more about us, visit our website leobc.co.uk. If you would like to speak to someone about anything that you have heard on our podcasts please give us a call and ask for a chat.