Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon: Isaiah 11:1-10,Matthew 3:1-12.

1. Where do you experience peace, and the lack of it, in your life?
2. How does Christianity both satisfy and undermine exclusively human aspirations for the good life? (Don't take too long on this.)
3. What does it mean for the Christian life — personally and communally — to be anchored in and oriented toward Eden?
4. With whom do you need to make peace? [What appropriate steps can your life group take to support you in seeking peace?]

• Commentators: Aquinas, Calvin, Goldingay (Theology of Isaiah)
• James Davison Hunter, Democracy and Solidarity: On the Cultural Roots of America's Political Crisis
• Richard Crashaw, "In the Holy Nativity of Our Lord God," from Carmen Deo Nostro

Do you have a question about today's sermon? Email Sam Fornecker ([email protected]).

Sermon QuestionsResources ConsultedQuestions?

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

Sermon Outline

God's gift is the gift that keeps on giving far beyond Christmas. Advent is not about the past; it's about the future. It's all about the hope that shines in the darkness. When Jesus comes on that day to be glorified in his saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed." 2 Thessalonians 1:10Four Things to awaken the soul for Christmas and make us marvel.

1. The eternal God - God is and always wasExodus 3:14
2. The Creator Visits - the eternal Creator entered His creation as the God-man Jesus Christ.John 1:11
3. The Savior comes to give His life as a Ransom - Why He came to His creation.Mark 10:45
4. The Giver of the Gift - The Right to become the children of God.John 1:12

Sermon Questions

1. How can John 1:1-18 apply to both Advent and Christmas, to both the Incarnation and the Second Coming?
2. How can both the immensity of God and the minuscule presence of God help us in the challenges in our lives?
3. What happens when you both receive Jesus and believe in Jesus?
4. What would be the "rights" that would be granted as a child of God to those who receive and believe?

Questions?

Do you have a question about today's sermon? Email John Burley (

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Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

Sermon Notes:

1. Worship Is Historical

• Exodus 15:1 — Israel sings about God’s real rescue at the Red Sea.

• Christian worship responds to God’s real acts—especially the Cross and Resurrection.

• Without real saving events, worship has no foundation.

2. Worship Is Personal

• Exodus 15:2 — “The LORD is my strength… my salvation.”

• Salvation must be personally received.

• Personal worship fuels corporate worship.

• In seasons of grief or shame, others can “hold” our worship for us.

3. Worship Is Declarative

• Exodus 15:11 — declaring who God is: holy, majestic, powerful.

• Declaring truth reorients our hearts, deepens our joy, and functions as spiritual warfare (2 Chronicles 20).

4. Worship Is Beautiful

• Exodus 15 is a song—with poetry, rhythm, and movement.

• God uses beauty, music, and art to reach deep places in us.

• Worship leaders help communicate God’s beauty, not perform.

Conclusion

• Worship is historical, personal, declarative, and beautiful.

• Worship steadies us when life spins around us.

• It trains us for our eternal vocation: worshiping the Lord in Spirit and truth.

Discussion Questions:

1. If you don't believe all the stories in the Bible, can you still worship God?
2. Is quiet meditation or practicing mindfulness a form of worship? Why or why not?
3. Does it matter that we worship corporately? Is private personal worship just as good?
4. Can we still worship if we feel spiritually dry? What is the place of the emotions in worship?
5. Can you share about a time when "personal pain robbed your perspective but worship restored it"?

Questions?

Do you have a question about today’s sermon? Email Randy Forrester (

).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

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Sermon Outline

• God opposes the way of Egypt.
• God uses the way of Israel.

Sermon Questions

1. What is the way of Egypt? What is the way of Israel?
2. How do you relate to screens?
3. Where are you from?
4. How does the category of "exodus" make sense of what Jesus has done?

Resources Consulted

• Leon Kass, Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus
• Paul Kingsnorth, Against the Machine: On the Unmaking of Humanity
• Andrew Root, Evangelism in the Age of Despair
• "Confronting the Technological Society," The New Atlantis
• "Nick Cave: There is a Kingdom," Word on Fire

Questions?

Do you have a question about today's sermon? Email Sam Fornecker ([email protected]).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon: Exodus 12:43-51, 13:3-16. Luke 22:14-23, 1 Cor 5:6-8.

Sermon Notes:

Introduction – Moving Forward by Looking Back

• Illustration: The Boys in the Boat — rowers face backward to move forward.
• God calls Israel to move forward from Egypt—but commands them to look back through Passover.
• In the same way, Jesus sends us forward in mission—but sustains us by remembering Him through Communion.
• Key Idea: We move forward in faith by looking back to God’s saving work.

I. Tactile Teaching

• God teaches not just through words but through embodied practices.
• Sacrament: Outward sign of inward grace.
• Passover: Eating the lamb — tangible memory of deliverance.
• Communion: Bread and wine — tangible grace of Christ.
• Exodus 12:26–27 – Children ask, “What does this mean?”
• Learning by participation.
• Application: “Taste and see that the Lord is good.” (Psalm 34:8)
• Simple signs, profound grace.

II. Out with the Old

Feast of Unleavened Bread—removing leaven as a symbol of leaving Egypt behind.

God not only removes His people from Egypt but Egypt from His people.

1 Corinthians 5:6–8 – “Cleanse out the old leaven… for Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.”

Application:

Confession before Communion clears away the “old leaven” of sin.

Communion humbles, not shames; we come needy and receptive to grace.

III. Assurance of Forgiveness and Love

• Passover: Blood of the lamb caused God’s judgment to pass over His people.
• Communion: Jesus, the true Passover Lamb, takes judgment on Himself.
• “This is my body, given for you.”
• Application:
• Communion assures us tangibly that God’s love and forgiveness are real.
• “As real as this bread and wine are, so real is God’s love for you.”

Moving Forward by Remembering

• The life of faith always moves forward—but draws strength from looking back.
• Personally: Remember God’s past faithfulness as fuel for trust.
• As a Church: In transition, look back with gratitude, not nostalgia.
• The Cross stands as our enduring sign of God’s faithfulness.

Discussion Questions:

• Share about your experience with Communion.  Did you grow up taking Communion regularly? How do you currently experience grace through it?
• Compare and contrast the act of celebrating a birthday or anniversary with Communion.  What are the similarities? What are the differences?
• Why is confession important before Communion? Do you practice personal confession?
• If you feel guilty over some sin, should you not take Communion that week? Why or why not? What are some reasons to refrain from taking Communion?
• Do you ever struggle to believe God loves you or forgives you?  How might taking Communion help you?

Extra Resources

Check out Sam Fornecker's Ridley Course - Jesus and the Jewish Feasts

Questions?

Do you have a question about today’s sermon? Email Randy Forrester ([email protected]).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

.

Sermon Notes:

I. The Fairness of God’s Judgment

A. Our concern for fairness

• We instinctively ask: “Do they deserve judgment?”

• Judgment must be fair, just, and true.

B. Pharaoh and Egypt’s guilt

• Pharaoh’s policy: murder of Hebrew boys (Exodus 1).

• Enslavement and oppression of Israel.

• God’s response: “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7 ESV)

• The death of the firstborn = not random, but reaping what was sown.

C. The hardening of Pharaoh’s heart

• Sometimes Pharaoh hardens his own heart; other times God does.

• Pharaoh’s rebellion becomes irreversible — God confirms his self-chosen path.

• God’s judgment is never arbitrary, always morally deserved.

II. The Realms of God’s Judgment

A. Judgment in both visible and spiritual realms

• Exodus 12:12 — God executes judgment “on all the gods of Egypt.”

• Not only Pharaoh and Egypt, but their false gods are judged.

B. The spiritual dimension

• Each plague confronts an Egyptian deity (e.g., darkness = judgment on Re, the sun god).

• Ephesians 6:12 — our struggle is not just “against flesh and blood.”

C. Implications for us

1. Conflict perspective: our true enemy is spiritual, not human.

2. Ultimate justice: final judgment must also occur in the spiritual realm — and that belongs to God alone.

3. Christ’s victory:

   • The cross = God’s judgment on “principalities and powers.”

   • Revelation 20 — final judgment, evil cast down forever.

III. Protection from God’s Judgment

A. The universality of judgment

• Both Egyptians and Israelites were under threat.

• Only protection: homes marked with the blood of the lamb (Exodus 12:13).

• Not ethnicity, morality, or family — but faith in God’s provision.

B. The necessity of faith and obedience

• Belief must lead to action.

• They didn’t discuss the lamb’s symbolism — they applied the blood.

C. The principle of substitution

• The lamb dies in place of the firstborn.

• “One life for another.”

• God’s mercy through a substitute.

D. Fulfillment in Jesus Christ

• John 1:29 — “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

• Jesus = true Passover Lamb — spotless, no broken bones (John 19:31-33), slain for sinners.

• His blood is the believer’s protection from judgment.

• God’s justice is satisfied; His mercy extended.

Conclusion: The Cross Is Our Passover

• God is both Judge and Savior.

• To our sins he says: “this kind of offense cannot be tolerated in my Kingdom.”

• Yet God Himself provides the way — through the blood of His Son.

• At the Cross, justice is satisfied, grace is extended.

• Because of the Lamb, God’s judgment passes over us forever.

Discussion Questions:

1. Does a God who judges evil make you uncomfortable? Why or why not?
2. In what ways does it help us to understand that God executes judgment in the spiritual realm?
3. What is the difference between making moral judgments and being "judgmental"? How does the idea of humanity being universally under God's judgment eliminate judgmentalism?
4. How does the Cross of Christ bring together God's judgment and grace?
5. Should we fear God's judgment - why or why not?

Questions?

Do you have a question about today’s sermon? Email Randy Forrester (

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Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

Sermon Outline

• Not a hoof shall be left in Egypt.
• Christ will have the whole person and all of our possessions.
• Christ will have His Church He purchased with His blood.

Sermon Questions

1. Are we fully surrendered to the Lord?
2. Are there areas of our lives that are still left in Egypt?
3. How does taking all the livestock out of Egypt in our text apply to a total commitment in our lives?
4. "There shall not an hoof be left behind" Is that so with us? Are we conscious that all our possessions and talents are withdrawn from all Egyptian unrighteousness and sinful self-indulgence?

Questions?

Do you have a question about today's sermon? Email Anthony Kowbeidu (

).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

.

Sermon Outline

• When Moses comes to God in his helplessness, God reveals
  • Who He was
  • Who He is
  • Who He will be

Sermon Questions

1. Why did God seek to kill Moses (Exodus 4:21–26)?
2. When Moses comes to Pharaoh, he sits lightly to God's word. How does he add to it? How does he subtract from it?
3. How are you tempted to add to, or subtract from, God's word today?
4. Is there some area of life where you are feeling helpless? What would it look like to bring that helplessness to God? Could it start by bringing it to one of God's people (through a request for prayer, mutual confession of sin, or some other way)?

Resources Consulted

• Brevard Childs, The Book of Exodus: A Critical, Theological Commentary 
• Leon Kass, Founding God's Nation: Reading Exodus
• J.A. Motyer, The Message of Exodus

Questions?

Do you have a question about today's sermon? Email Sam Fornecker (

).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

Sermon Notes:

I. The Harvest and the Hesitant Worker

• Jesus sees a plentiful harvest (Matthew 9:37–38) — hearts ready to be gathered into God’s kingdom.

• Every Christian is placed in a “harvest field”: family, work, school, neighborhood.

• Like Moses, many of us feel hesitant or unqualified to join God’s mission.

• Exodus 4 shows how God responds to our hesitation with grace and provision.

II. Four Pieces of Good News for Hesitant Workers

1. God Calls the Unqualified (Exodus 4:1)

• Moses feels disqualified: he has a past, he’s failed, and he isn’t eloquent.

• God doesn’t deny Moses’ weaknesses—He calls him anyway.

• Key truth: God always uses calls unqualified people.

• Feeling unqualified often means we understand the weight of God’s work and our dependence on Him.

2. God Gives Signs (Exodus 4:2–9)

• Moses worries: “They won’t believe me.”

• God gives three signs: the staff, the leprous hand, and water turned to blood.

• The point: it’s not about our power, but God’s.

• God confirms His work through signs, wonders, and spiritual gifts (Hebrews 2:3–4).

• Today, the Holy Spirit still bears witness through prayer, healing, prophecy, and other supernatural signs.

• Our role is to step out in faith — results belong to God.

3. God Gives His Words (Exodus 4:10–12)

• Moses says, “I’m not eloquent.”

• God replies, “Who made your mouth? … I will be with your mouth and teach you what to say.”

• God is Lord of both abilities and disabilities.

• Gospel work requires words, not just actions — the gospel is good news that must be spoken.

• When we go, God provides the words we need.

• Even weak or awkward speech can carry the power of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:3–5).

4. God Sends Us in Community (Exodus 4:13–16)

• God provides Aaron to go with Moses.

• God’s mission is shared work—He sends His people together.

• Jesus sent disciples two by two.

• The Church is one body with many gifts.

• Everyone has a part in the mission.

Discussion Questions:

1. Are all Christians called into "harvest work?"
2. Does sin disqualify us from being gospel workers?
3. Have you experienced God bearing witness to his own message through a sign, wonder, or some supernatural expression of his power? What happened? What was the result?
4. If we're meant to rely on the Holy Spirit for the right words to speak to others, is it still important to study the Bible, prepare a testimony, or equip ourselves for ministry in other ways?
5. What gifts or roles do you believe God has given to you to help the body in gospel work?

Questions?

Do you have a question about today’s sermon? Email Randy Forrester (

).

Bible Study

Don't just take our word for it . . . take His! We would encourage you to spend time examining the following Scriptures that shaped this sermon:

.

Sermon Notes:

Introduction

• Illustration: Gift wrapping → multiple boxes → unwrapping reveals more gifts.

• God gives Moses the gift of His name.

• Like unwrapping a gift, we discover multiple blessings within God’s name.

Context (Ex. 3:10–13)

• God calls Moses: “I will send you to Pharaoh.”

• Moses: “Who am I?” (hesitant, insecure).

• God’s answer: “I will be with you… here is my name.”

The Gift of God’s Name – Five Blessings

1. Presence (vv. 12, 14–15)

• Name: “I AM WHO I AM” → Yahweh (“HE IS”).

• God’s most foundational truth: He exists, eternal, absolute.

• His presence goes with us. Pharaoh = nothing compared to Yahweh, the One Who Is.

2. Personal (v. 15)

• God shares His covenant name, Yahweh.

• Illustration: King Charles → “Call me Chuck.”

• A privilege of intimacy. God’s name = invitation into covenant relationship.

3. Promises (vv. 16–17)

• A “good name” = trustworthy reputation (Prov. 22:1).

• God’s name = tied to His promises.

• Example: Exodus 6 – “I am Yahweh… I will bring you out… I will redeem you… I am Yahweh.”

• Yahweh = Promise-making, Promise-keeping God.

4. Power (vv. 19–21)

• Pharaoh will not let Israel go “unless compelled by a mighty hand.”

• Yahweh demonstrates power through plagues, Passover, Red Sea.

• Yahweh reigns over nations, nature, life, death.

• Subtle power too: influencing Egyptian hearts to give Israel gold & silver.

5. Plan (John 8:58; Phil. 2:9–11)

• Yahweh was not the final revelation.

• Jesus claims: “Before Abraham was, I AM.”

• In Jesus, Yahweh’s name is fulfilled and exalted.

• “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow…”

Applications

1. Cherish the Gift – Don’t misuse the Name

• Commandment: “Do not take Yahweh’s name in vain.” (Ex. 20:7)

• God’s name is sacred → not to be used flippantly.

• Use His name with reverence, worship, love, gratitude.

2. Call on the Name – Especially in Mission

• God gave Moses His name to empower mission.

• Jesus: “Whatever you ask in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:12–14)

• We carry the name of Jesus into brokenness, suffering, and mission.

Discussion Questions:

1. Someone has observed: "the larger God is in our hearts, the smaller our problems seem." Do you agree or disagree? How might the meaning of God's name "I AM/Yahweh" help us magnify the greatness of God?
2. In the Lord's Prayer, Jesus teaches his disciples to pray "hallowed be your name."  What does it mean to pray these words? How does it connect to the gift of God's name? What are different ways we can apply that prayer petition today?
3. Can you think of times when God displayed his power in your life - either overtly or subtly?
4. Give examples of misusing the gift of God's names (God, the LORD, Jesus, etc).
5. Why is the context of mission important for asking for things in Jesus' name (see John 14:12-14)?

Questions?

Do you have a question about today’s sermon? Email Randy Forrester (

).