Exodus Part 6: God & Verbs

Sermon Texts:

Genesis 16:1-16

Matthew 27:45-56

Exodus 2:23-25

Today we look the conclusion of Exodus chapter 2. These are some significant verse because this is the first time God enters the story in the book of Exodus. In this sermon we discuss how God is revealed in ways very different from our modern western categories of philosophy. Along the way we attempt to answer the question of what God revealing Himself at this particular point in the story tells us about God. In order to answer this question we look at the crazy story of Hagar in Genesis 16. There is also a discussion about placemats from North Carolina fish camps in the 1970s.

Exodus Part 5: Walk Like an Egyptian?

Sermon Text:

Exodus 2:1-22

John 4:1-42

This sermon looks at two stories from the life of Moses in which Moses acts to bring justice to the oppressed. One approach is a failure and one is a success. We explore what features differentiate these two approaches and how it fits in with this theme of power we have been discussing. Also we connect the well type scene with the story of the Samaritan woman at the well and see how Jesus epitomizes Moses’ successful intervention at the well at Midian.

Exodus Part 4: Breaking the Cycle

Sermon Texts:

Genesis 44:18-34

Mark 10:35-45

Exodus 1:1-22

We are still in Exodus chapter one. This week’s sermon answers the question of how the Israelites became slaves in the first place. At several points we see the text hint that the Israelites may not be innocent victims. Pharaoh is certainly bad, but does that mean the Israelites are without fault? Looking back on the Joseph story we find evidence that Joseph may not be the perfect hero we make him out to be. We see how Joseph and Pharaoh are both trapped in a cycle of violence and oppression. However, we see hope in the most unlikely of places; Joseph’s brother Judah. Judah’s actions break the cycle and allows healing for Joseph’s family anticipating the work of Christ. Again we examine power and how power is meant to be exercised in God’s plan to bring life, abundance, and flourishing into the world.

Exodus Part 3: Building an Ezer

Sermon Texts:

Genesis 2:18-23

Luke 1:46-55

Exodus 1:15-2:10

Our passage from Exodus centers our a series of three incidents in which a woman or women work in creative and surprising ways to thwart Pharaoh’s plan to kill the Israelites’ babies. We examine the similarities in these stories and then examine them in light of the story of the creation of the woman from Genesis 2. Undoing centuries of misogyny, we arrive at a better reading of the account of God’s formation of the woman and see God’s plan for creation involves the woman as a delivering ally known in Hebrew as an ezer. Far from an aberration simply designed to humiliate the Pharaoh, the stories from Exodus are part of a pattern that illustrate how God’s power is exercised in the world. We see that pattern reach its apex in Mary’s song and in the life and work of Jesus.

Exodus Part 2: Fear & Scarcity in Ancient Egypt

Sermon Texts:

Genesis 11:1-9

John 1:14-16

Exodus 8-22

Today’s sermon looks at the Exodus from Pharaoh’s perspective. Why does Pharaoh think the way he does and why does he persist in his plans even as they achieve the opposite results. To answer this question we look at the connection with the Babel story in Genesis 11.

Exodus Part 1: The Hiddenness of God

Sermon Text:

Genesis 12:1-3

Mark 8:27-30

Exodus 1:1-14

Today we begin a study of Exodus. This sermon looks at the importance of the connection between Genesis and Exodus and how creation, the covenant with Abraham, and the Joseph story are all “hyperlinked” in the first 14 verses of Exodus. We also notice the mysterious absence of God. Using the same rationale for Mark’s messianic secret we see God demonstrating power not in traditional human ways. Rather we see God acting according to His own character which fundamentally that of a creator who desires life, fertility, flourishing, and abundance for His creation.