Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Good morning, everybody. Good morning, Westgate Chapel. Please stand and worship with us this morning.
This is the day you made so I'll rejoice. Rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad in it.
This is where I believe you are more than enough.
More than enough for me.
Cause you are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak When I'm standing in your presence I, I have everything I need.
The joy of the Lord the joy of the Lord is my strength.
The joy of the Lord the joy of the Lord is my strength.
Oh my soul, bless his name all that is within me say the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength.
Jesus, come one day you are worthy of all. You're worthy of all my praise.
Cause you are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak.
When I'm standing in your presence I have everything I need.
[00:02:09] Speaker B: The joy of the Lord.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: The joy of the Lord is my strength.
The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Sing oh my soul, oh my soul Bless his name all that is within me say the joy of the Lord the joy of the Lord is my strength.
So let it rise up like a river overflowing Holy Spirit.
Let it pour out with no limit Overflowing Holy Spirit.
Let it rise over river overflowing
[00:03:29] Speaker B: Holy Spirit.
[00:03:31] Speaker A: Let it rise and rise with no limit over glory Holy Spirit,
[00:03:54] Speaker C: You got
[00:03:55] Speaker B: the joy of the Lord.
[00:04:01] Speaker A: Oh the joy of the Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength. It's more than a feeling.
The joy of the Lord is my strength. Singing O my soul. O my soul. Bless his name all that is within me say O my soul, bless his name all that is within me say all my soul, Bless his name all that is within me say the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength.
[00:05:03] Speaker D: Good morning, Westgate Chapel. You may take a seat. If I have not met you before, my name is Hilary Suan and I head up the women's ministry here at Westgate.
Whether you're here in person or joining us online, I want to welcome you and say thanks for joining us today. We're so glad you're with us. If you are newer and you have not yet visited our guest services center out in the main entry there, make sure to stop by on your way out. Also, for all of you, go ahead and look in front of you in the pew there is a connect card where you can let us know prayer requests. You can also let us know ways that you would like to get connected or know more about Westgate.
Also, we have a couple of announcements. In two weeks from today, August 23rd, we have our annual church picnic. You're all invited. We're going to walk across to the adjoining property. We're going to have hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, drinks, all for free, along with yard games and bounce houses for the kids. So make sure to mark your calendars for two weeks from today.
Now. Also, I'd love for you to open up your worship guide and bring out this little card here that says, this fall at Westgate. There's lots of important start dates here coming up in the fall. I know summer's not over yet, I get it. But we want you to make sure to have these dates on your calendars. There's things for kids, students, adults, men, women, everybody. So make sure to get these dates on your calendar. Now, there's one thing that's not on here that I want to make sure to bring your attention to. So go ahead and turn your attention to the screen.
We, as Westgate women have not gotten together as a whole group since all the way back in May. And we finally get to reunite August 30th. We're gonna get together for a lunch right after second service in the gym that day. So come eat fellowship with us, ages 9th grade, all the way up. You're all welcome.
We at Westgate are all about unity. Our vision for women's ministry is Christ centered, unity among women so that the world will know who Jesus is. So I'm gonna be giving a challenge that day to up our level of unity so more people about Jesus. You don't want to miss it. Women, make sure to invite the younger women in your life, the older women in your life, anybody in your circles to join us that day. Can't wait to see you ladies there. Make sure to let us know you're coming. There's a QR code on the screen. There are cards at every single entry of the church.
And you can look on the back of your sermon notes and there's a QR code there as well. We want to make sure we have enough food for you. So please sign up, let us know you're coming. We'll see you there.
Hand it over to Pastor Rob.
[00:07:52] Speaker E: So we are super excited. No doubt. We are just about. If you can think about it, summer is almost over. Can I.
I'll leave. I'm sorry, guys. No, I mean college students preparing to go back to school, high school students preparing to go back. Parents doing crazy shopping, getting Ready.
As I think about the season that we're in, it's also a reminder that our fall ministries are getting ready to kick off. And one of the things I love about our fall ministries here, especially with kids and students, is just the intentionality that is put into helping our families disciple their kids, whether that's children or in our youth department. And one of the things that I wanted to make you aware of that's gonna be kicking off soon is our Wednesday Night Kid programming. Wednesday Night Kids has been such an incredible tool that many families are a part of to disciple our young.
At Wednesday Night Kids, we use the Awana curriculum and it's an opportunity for kids to store God's word in their heart to continue to learn more about who God is. So that. And you'll hear this a lot in our message this morning so that they would develop a lifestyle of worship. And so we want to make sure that you are aware that Wednesday Night Kids is going to be kicking off on September 9th. And if you would like your young person to be involved, you can go to our website or to the app and register them to be a part of that. We'd encourage you to check that out as well. One of the things that no doubt as we kick off Wednesday Night Kids is it takes an army of volunteers in order to pull this off. And I want to encourage you to think about, would God use you to pour into the life of the next generation? Again, we're going to be talking about this. This correlates so well into our message this morning. But it really takes intentionality on our part to develop the faith of future generations. I want you to think, you know, when I think back to when I was a young kid, I can remember the name of every single person that poured into my life. I can remember from first grade in my program at my church, Art and Helen Borja, Kathy Jaramillo, Manuel Jaramillo, Charlie Lundstrom, Dave and Jody Rouse. Like, I have all of these people that made significant impacts in my life as a young person because they were the ones discipling me to know God. And I want you to church to really take the ownership and investment of that to say, hey, could God use me to pour into the life of our young people and help in the development of their faith? I know our kids ministry is still looking for more people to help serve on our Wednesday nights. We usually have anywhere from 100 to 120 kids that are here. And so we would love it if you would be interested in participating. You can Also sign up to volunteer through our app or through our also through the website. But most importantly, Deneen Silvernail this morning is going to be out at the small table next to the cafe. She's got cards that are here that can give you more information.
We would love for this also to be an outreach and it's a great way to invite people, kids in your schools or in your neighborhoods to come and to be a part and so be sure to check that out. Grab a card if you'd like to look at the Awana curriculum. It is there and you can kind of pick that up and see what that is all about. But even more, if you want to volunteer, connect with Denini today and it'll be great as we get kicked off into our fall programming for kids.
Now, as we continue in our service today, I want to take a moment to invite you to stand on up, turn around, find someone you haven't said hello to yet this morning and tell them the name of at least one person that made an impact in your life as a child. Go ahead and stand on up.
[00:11:42] Speaker C: Amen. It's good to be together. Will you join me in prayer as we prepare our hearts for what God wants to do today?
God, we love you and we thank you.
We know we are singing to the great I am God, the one who conquered the grave.
Lord, I pray you prepare our hearts this morning for what you want to do. God is you have already been doing. Lord is preparing us. Lord, we expect to be changed by you and we love you you. It's in your name we pray. Amen.
[00:12:25] Speaker B: I know a name that can silence roaring ways I know a name that can end up empty out a grave I know a name it's the only name that saves and it's worthy of all praise. I call you Jesus I call you I call you Healer Risen and reigning in power Something comes out of the grave Every time I call you Jesus I call you I call you Savior Worthy of glory forever.
Something comes out of the grave every time I call your name.
You believe that?
Oh I have a key with dominion over death and he holds the keys. Yes he does.
In his holy nail scarred hands. He is the he that has crushed the serpent's head A resurrected great I am I call you Jesus I call you I call you Healer Risen and reigning in power Something comes out of the grave oh, every time I call you Jesus I call you I call you Savior Worthy of glory forever.
Something comes out of the grave oh, every time I call your name Chains break dry Bones wake every time I call your name the gates of hell shake every time Every time Chains break triples Wake every time I come call your name the gates of hell shake every time I call your name
[00:15:12] Speaker D: There
[00:15:12] Speaker B: is power in the name Amen.
[00:15:28] Speaker A: O death is now your sting and where O grave victory.
From where all death is.
[00:16:17] Speaker B: Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Alive in the name of Jesus declares Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive in the name oh, I call you Jesus I call you, I call you he risen and reigning in
[00:16:59] Speaker A: power
[00:17:01] Speaker B: Something comes out of grave oh, every time I call you Jesus I call you, I call you he worthy of glory forever Something comes out of the grave oh, every time I call your name Change break trap on to way Every time I call your name
[00:17:34] Speaker A: the gates of hell shake right Hell
[00:17:37] Speaker B: shake every time I call your name Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus Dead things come alive Dead things come alive Dead things come alive in the name of Jesus Christ yes, yes, let's get an amen there, right?
[00:18:06] Speaker C: There is power in the name of Jesus Amen.
[00:18:13] Speaker B: I call you Jesus I call every voice.
Yes, every time I call you Jesus I call you, I call you Savior Worthy of glory forever Something comes out of the grave Every time I call your name Amen.
Amen.
[00:18:55] Speaker C: God is so good to us. God is so good to us. Can I get another amen there?
Amen. We're testifying this morning.
[00:19:01] Speaker B: I know.
[00:19:04] Speaker C: God is so good to us. I want you to think about for a moment the times when you've experienced God's goodness.
Maybe one time in particular where you've experienced God's goodness in your life.
We've all experienced God's goodness in our lives. Even if you're here this morning and you don't know Jesus, I guarantee you've experienced his goodness in your life.
Maybe you're here this morning and you're struggling and you're having a really hard time. Maybe you're going through something.
This is the place for you.
Get another amen there.
God loves you so much.
He wants to be in communion with you. He wants to be in relationship with you. So what I want everyone to do right now, just bow your heads and close your eyes for just a moment.
I want you just to thank him for his Goodness. Thank you for his love. You can do it out loud.
[00:20:19] Speaker E: Now.
[00:20:19] Speaker C: If there's something that you're struggling with, something that you're. You're having a hard time with this morning, whether it's an illness you're mourning or whether you're grieving or whether there's just something that you're holding on to, maybe an area in your life God needs to prove, I want you just to begin to surrender that to God right now with open hands.
Surrender that to God.
And even if you're not struggling, pray for those around you.
Pray for those around you.
[00:21:00] Speaker E: Sam.
[00:21:25] Speaker B: I almost can't believe it.
Far beyond what hearts could ever dream the God who set the galaxies in motion would descend to give his life for me.
For what could make perfection Bleed for sin and bleed.
What leads a king to pay so great a cost?
All my life my heart will sing the answer Only the love of God Singing oh, how great is the love of God he paid our debt on the cross for all our days we will sing our Savior's praise How great is the love of God.
It's so kind it leads us to repentance and it's so cried the darkness has to flee Hallelujah. He cleared my guilty sentence For I was bound but now I stand redeemed for what could break the chains at any prison and what force could rob the power from the grave what would trade my racks for heaven's riches?
Only the love of God Singing oh, how great is the love of God he paid our debt on that rugged cross for all our days we will sing our Savior's praise How great is the love of God
[00:24:02] Speaker C: thank you, Jesus.
[00:24:05] Speaker B: No, I try.
My mind can't comprehend it.
It's so high.
Too marvelous for words.
I could sing a million songs about it and barely scratch the surface of your world this all my life the banner I'll be waving My anthem Cry no matter what may come all my life and walk the streets of heaven I'll still be singing this song for everything that you've done how great the love of God.
Singing oh, how great is the love of God he paid our death on that rugged cross for all our days we will sing our Savior's praise How we raise is the love of God we're singing oh, how great is the love of God he paid our debt on that broken cross for all our days we will sing our Savior's praise
[00:25:59] Speaker A: Praise
[00:26:03] Speaker B: how great is the love of God how great is the love of God thank you, Jesus.
[00:26:26] Speaker C: Can we sing that chorus one More time, just your voices singing.
[00:26:30] Speaker B: O, how great is the love of God.
Singers.
How great is the love of God.
How great is the love of God.
[00:27:06] Speaker E: Yes.
[00:27:07] Speaker C: Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus.
Father, I pray for every heart and soul and mind in this place tonight to this morning, God, I pray
[00:27:19] Speaker D: that
[00:27:19] Speaker C: as we go home that we would remember these words, God, as we lay our heads on our pillows tonight, Lord, that you would be at the forefront of everything, God, we would think about the love as we wake up in the mornings, Lord, think about your love and just dwell on the richness of your mercy.
We love you. I pray you speak to each and every one of us today. Today it's in your holy name we pray. Amen.
[00:27:45] Speaker E: Amen. You may be seated.
Well, it is good to be together. If we haven't met, my name is Rob Zimmerman, lead pastor here at the church. And before we move towards our morning offering, I wanted to share a quick update with you. Last week was our partner Sunday, and one of the partnerships that we have been blessed to develop is with Door elementary, and mentioned briefly in the video with Principal Jenna last week is a project that we have been working on with them. As she had said, there are times where the finances within the school district do not allow for them to do some of the things that they need to do, whether it's upkeep with facility or things for students. And so we have come alongside them and are working on a project of remodeling an inner courtyard that they have that is significant because it's a great place for them to bring classes where they don't go outside and kids can just kind of run away. But it's enclosed. But as you look at this picture, this is kind of the before picture.
All of those plants, you might think to yourself, oh, look at the plant. No, those are weeds. Most of them severely, severely overgrown. And the area was just in pretty bad shape. And so we kind of came together with Jenna and talked about a plan to redo this. And thanks to AI, we came up with a picture of what it could look like. And so you'll see here.
Yeah, that's not it. That is AI, but we are working on this project. And yesterday we had about 12 people from various life groups and people that were invited to come and begin work on this project. And you'll see on the screen, we dug about 2 to 3 inches of dirt out of all of the flower beds and were able to remove the majority of the weeds. Actually, all of the weeds that were there. If you look at the next picture, it'll give you another shot down. And we began the process of laying out to put pavers down. It's been a great project. This area is going to be used again for classrooms to come outside to be able to do some things there. But as well, it's going to be a solace for teachers as well to have small breaks throughout the day. And so we are transforming this space. One of our. I should mention that our legacy team. Our legacy team is a group of people here at the church that give above and beyond their regular giving to help push forward the vision of our church. And this is one of the projects that they have been giving to to. I'm excited to say as well that we had a partner in the community donate the majority of the supplies that we're gonna need to do this project, which is awesome.
But what I would love to say is this is we still need next weekend to finish the project. On Saturday from about 8am to 1pm we're looking for about another 10 to 12 people who can come out, help finish laying the pavers, put down some weed barrier and. And then throw all of the mulch on top. And that'll finish out this phase of the project before we can move on to the next things, which is putting in some stone, creating a mural on a wall and those sorts of things. And so if you would be interested in being a part of that, can I just say we would love your help. If you would like to be a part, you can talk to me. You could talk to Todd Frent, our director of operations, who is in the back. Talk to Pastor Adam. But again, next Saturday from about 8 to 1 and maybe even on into the afternoon, we would love help at Door Elementary.
I'm blessed by the opportunity God has given us to really make an impact with the staff at this school, but also with the families and as schools starting up, this is going to be such a blessing for them. So let us know if you're interested. We would love to have you be a part. And as always, I want to say thank you. Because of your generosity, when you give here at Westgate, it enables us to care out this vision of partnering with our community so that people will know the love of Jesus. And so let's go to the Lord with that heart this morning as we prepare to take our offering. Would you pray with me? Father, I thank you so much for again allowing us to be here together as a church family to worship you.
God, you've been so good to us. You have provided for us in ways that are beyond anything we can imagine. And I you thank. Thank you, God, because I know that you will always continue to provide for every need that we have.
But I thank you, Father, for each individual here because of their generosity.
It enables us to move this vision forward that God you have given us. And so, Lord, as we give today, I just pray that again it would be unto you a beautiful offering and sacrifice as we acknowledge all that we have comes from you. And it's our job, Father, to give back a portion.
Ultimately, God, because it's an expression that you have all of our hearts and we want to be a part of the work that you are doing to make your name known in this community and throughout the world.
So, Father, take our gifts, be glorified, multiply them so that more people will know your son. In Jesus name we pray. Amen. As we take our morning offering. We have our offering buckets here on the center aisle. We'll pass them out to the sides. If you're in the balcony, they're in the corners. We'll pass those in. And let's just continue to worship the Lord together as we take our offering.
Well, again, it is good to be here. I got a question, I got a question for you this morning. How many of you love going to the movies or like going to the movies? Anybody here like going to the movies? Okay, great, great. I love that. Rochelle and I a couple weeks ago went to the movies, movies together, probably for the first time in a while. We haven't gone to the movies a lot, but one of the things that I noticed when we went is there's nobody there.
Like literally like when I was a kid and we went to the movies, the place was jam packed. You got there early trying to fight for the best seat. Now I walk in five minutes before the movie starts and sit with my feet on the railing, which is exactly where you will find me every time I go to the movies. But when Rochelle and I went, we went to see a movie. It was about a three hour long movie that was recommended to us.
I didn't know much about was the Odyssey and very interesting. Never read the Odyssey by Homer, none of that. Kind of went in blind. And I'll tell you, three hour long movies, it really wasn't my thing per se, but. But I felt like I was lost almost the entire time waiting for the last 30 minutes. And the last 30 minutes were riveting, I'll tell you. It's like you have all this information thrown at you and Then you get to this, like, big final battle. I won't ruin it for you if you haven't seen it or read the book. But the last 30 minutes, you can show up late and just go to that. So anyway, but just kidding.
The reason I bring that up is because. Because when we were in our series and preaching two weeks ago on the life of Moses, it felt like I was throwing a ton of information at you. There was this really long setup, and then I looked at you and said, to be continued. And today is that to be continued, where we hit truly the climax of the section of scripture that we have been moving through. Through. We've been in a series together on the life of Moses. And a few weeks ago, we were taking a look at the plagues specifically that were brought on the Egyptians. If you have your sermon notes, I'd invite you to pull those out. You can use those to follow along this morning if you want to turn in your Bibles to be prepared. We'll be in Exodus chapter 12 largely today. But as we've been going through this study, and specifically two weeks ago, looking at the plagues, we talked about this point. First one in your notes is that the plagues served the purpose of revealing God to his people.
There had been 400 years of silence since the time of Joseph, where the nation began to grow and expand in the land of Egypt.
Generations, it says, had passed since the time of Joseph, and there were no new revelations of God during that season. They had the promises of God to hold onto through Abraham and the covenant made with him, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. But the Israelites, as we read in the book of Exodus, had gone from being a prosperous people that were protected in the land of Egypt to slaves who were being mistreated by the Pharaoh of the kingdom.
Not only that, but the Pharaoh. Pharaoh saw them as a threat because of how large they were. And he decided that he was going to look for an opportunity to decrease the population.
So he makes the decision that ultimately what he's going to do is take the firstborn of every Hebrew child and throw them into the Nile. Yeah, I'm sorry, every Hebrew boy, throw them into the Nile. And again, that would cause population control.
But this is where God steps into the picture with his people as this is taking place. He preserves the life of Moses, and he does so in an incredible way by even bringing him as a young child into Pharaoh's household where he grows up. And we read in that passage that not only Hebrews. I'm sorry, not only Moses, parents But also within that household, there was this clear understanding that he had been chosen by God, that he was going to be used by God.
Fast forward a number of years, and as Moses is watching his people be brutally treated by the Egyptians, he kills a man and then he flees off to Midian. But as he flees off to Midian, we see that he has the encounter, his first encounter with God at the burning bush.
And at the burning bush, it was truly Moses introduction to God.
And we've talked about how that theme kind of runs through this section of Scripture, that really what God is doing is introducing himself to his people. And so God tells Moses, moses, I'm going to use you to deliver my people. I have heard their cry. And Moses has some things to say about that. He's not sure that he can do it, but God promises him, I will give you everything that you need. Just go. It will be my power that is put on display. And so as we got into the plague narrative, as Moses goes and he continues confronts Pharaoh and says, let my people go. Pharaoh keeps saying, no. What we see again is that what God is really doing is introducing himself now to his people, revealing more and more of who he is. And as we finish that message, here is where we really landed with the application of this section of Scripture. Letter A. It is meant to teach us that God is in control. God is in control of all things.
And we see in this passage, as he brings the plagues against Egypt, that he's in control of the water, he's in control of the land, he's in the control of the sky, he's in control of the weather, he's in control of the animal kingdom, he's in control of the sun and literally our very lives. God has control over all of creation, but not only does he have control, Letter B. God is unequaled in his power. There were a number of you. That reminds me after the message two weeks ago, that for you, it was new for you to hear and never heard about or considered how the various gods of Egypt related to the plagues. That's a very interesting study, because as you study the gods of Egypt from the time of Moses, it makes our understanding of this passage so much more fascinating. You see, God was doing so much more than just displaying his power. He was literally breaking down every single thing that the Egyptians would put their hope in. And we landed on this question, how were we to interpret and apply this passage to our lives?
No doubt the Israelites understood that. And we're going to gain a deeper understanding of that in our text this morning. But for the Israelites, this story, this account, held deep significance for generations of Israelites that lived after the Exodus. What they understood was that it was intended to be a gripping reminder to them of who God is.
Because the story of the plagues is not about what God does to save you, or perhaps even so much to say, how he saved Israel. It is about God, period.
And when we encounter God, it changes us and it draws us to a place of worship. You see letter C. Our response, our worship is a response to God's fearful might and also his great love. I want you to think about how that is true even in your own life. I asked you at the end of that sermon to take time to think about how you have experienced God's power and.
And him showing up in your life. Because as we remember those things, it's the thing that draws us into faith and into trust and into worship. Especially when we're walking through hard seasons and it seems that God is silent or not present.
It's in those moments that we have our own faith developed by remembering one of the most powerful reminders. I've shared so many stories with you over the past of how God has shown up in places in my life. One of the stories I can't remember if I've actually shared with you, but when I was a youth pastor in Southern California, very first job, Shore Life Church in Huntington beach, it was a very small church plant. I had probably about 10 kids at the time. I decided to do my first outreach into the kids with their friends to have them invite their friends that don't know Jesus to this event. And the event was, I designed a community scavenger hunt. They were gonna be on foot going through the community, doing this big scavenger hunt. It was gonna be a ton of fun. And then they were gonna come back, and we had a band and we had a speaker, and we were gonna share the gospel. It was gonna be really, really awesome. The only problem is that something happened that day that has never. That rarely happened in California. It rained a lot. And I can remember, like, leading up to the event, the sky, like, there were just clouds as far as the eye could see. It was raining. And I just was like, this whole event is going to be ruined. And about an hour before the event started, I had to run across the street to grab something that I forgot from the grocery store. And I remember getting out of my car, walking in, the rain is falling. And I'm just thinking to myself, this whole Event is going to be ruined. And I was so upset and I started talking to God as I walked in and I said, God, would you. You know, I have read all throughout scripture of the miracles that you did of how you delivered the Israelites with Moses, how you parted the Red Sea. And I like remember was talking to God about this and I'm like, lord, I'm doing this for you. I want these people that come to hear the good news of your son. Could you please stop the rain?
Do you do miracles like that, God?
And I went and I did my stuff and I picked up the few things I'd forgotten as I was walking out. I literally was flabbergasted.
I looked up as I walked out, like almost with this hope. And I saw what I hoped for. There were still clouds as far as the eye could see. But I kid you not, about a five mile circle over the area we were in had opened up to clear sky and stars.
And I went, huh, Does God still do those things, right? I mean I did just ask, but now some people I've told that to and they're like, I, oh, that's just coincidence. And I would just simply say pray more. And you'll see a lot of coincidences because it was so I like, I literally couldn't believe it. The event went on. That space stayed like that. When we moved inside for the last portion rained again.
I was blown away.
I will tell you that that moment for me was so deep in developing my faith in believing that God not only hears me, but he cares for me, he sees me and he will act and move. It's the reason that we talk about remembering, and you'll see this in the passage this morning is because when we remember how God has shown up in our lives, it develops our faith as we think of his power and his might, but also his great love for us. You see, the Israelites saw what God had done for them. And as they would look back on the Exodus account, they, they would fall back in awe, remembering and then worshiping.
You see, the plague narrative, indeed the book of Exodus and the entire Bible is a call to worship the one true God. And it calls us to that by telling us who he is.
But not only does this have important implications for the Israelites lives, but letter D, God's purpose in the plagues also had worldwide implications.
It wasn't just about Israel. There was a much bigger story that was being written aside from just their deliverance. We get a small snapshot of this in Exodus chapter 9, verse 16 where God.
Where there is this conversation that is happening with Pharaoh. And God says through Moses, Moses, for this purpose, I have raised you up.
He literally says, my power is what gave you your position and power. And he says, I have done this to show you my power so that my name would what be proclaimed in all the earth.
You see, what God's purpose was was not just to deliver the Israelites, but to allow this story to unfold in such a way, even raising up Pharaoh so that his name would be made great in all the earth. The extent of God's purpose is revealed in explicit detail in our text this morning as we begin to get that picture that this was about so much more than even just the Israelites. So let's dive into it. So together, I want us to take a look at the final plague this morning, the death of the firstborn in the land of Egypt that God would bring.
In context, letter A, we see that it was final judgment and deliverance for the people of Israel.
Judgment, as we understand in the passage, was against the gods of Egypt. God says that I am bringing my judgment against the gods of Egypt. The picture you'll see on the screen is you had all those individual pictures two weeks ago of the gods of Egypt. Remember that they were polytheistic, pantheistic. They believed that there were many gods, that God was in everything, and the gods controlled everything. And so these are the gods that they worshiped. But what's interesting is that God says he's going to bring judgment against the gods of Egypt. But I have this question that maybe you've wrestled with. How can you judge false gods?
These false gods do not exist. The consistent witness of the Bible is that they don't exist and therefore they cannot respond.
So what does it mean that God would bring judgment against the gods of Egypt? What we understand is that God was rendering judgment against those who would trust in those gods.
And also he was bringing judgment against the one who had set himself up as a God. You see, Pharaoh himself, as we talked about, believed that he himself was a God. He was worshiped by the people.
And now in this moment, we understand that Pharaoh has orchestrated the death of the firstborn of the Hebrew sons. But God is now going to execute just and measured judgment against the world, one who is most revered in Egyptian life and in the process is going to deliver his people from their enslavement and captivity.
And it begins, this last plague with a perfect lamb. Letter B in your notes. It begins with a perfect lamb. That holds much significance in Exodus 12, 3, 6. It says these words, words tell all the congregation of Israel that on the 10th day of this month, every man shall take a lamb according to their father's houses. A lamb for a household. And if the household is too small for a lamb, then he and his nearest neighbor shall take according to the number of persons, according to what each of you can eat. You shall make your head count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male, a year old. You may take it from, from the sheep or from the goats. And you shall keep it until the 14th day of this month, when the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill their lambs at twilight. It tells us that everybody in Israel was instructed to take a lamb for their family. And if you couldn't do so because your family wasn't big enough, then you would share one with your neighbor. And the idea behind that, as we'll talk about in a little bit more, had to do with making sure that, that you didn't have tons of leftovers. So they would share this meal together that they were gonna have. But the instruction that is given about the lamb is that it must be without blemish. It had to be perfect. And this is interesting. It really stands out in the passage. I want you to think about it. Why was this so necessary?
You know, I'm gonna be jumping on an airplane later tonight and flying out to California. My uncle, we are moving him to Texas.
Reason is my uncle has Parkinson's and it's come time, he needs to be around family and have a little bit more care. So my cousin and I are gonna jump in a car and we're gonna drive from California to Texas over the next couple of days to get some of his stuff there. It's gonna be great and riveting. I did this drive actually with my father a couple of years ago when I moved my dad and family to Texas. And one of the places my dad and I stopped was the Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo, Texas. And let me tell you, that place is phenomenal. They have like the 72 ounce steak challenge that, you know, if you can eat it in an hour with a salad, a potato, three shrimp and a baked potato, then. Then you, like, get your name on a wall and a T shirt and a whole lot of indigestion. But I'm not going to do it. By the way, guys, I've pondered and prayed about it, and the Lord has told me it would not be good for me.
But while I'm there, I Will have myself with my cousin, a very nice steak. And this is what I had the last time. Look at this thing. So good, that steak. Like, I cannot wait to get there and enjoy that again. And also, you all see the little trees of life on the right side.
It's gonna be fabulous.
Here's one thing that I've learned, learned though, about my love for steak in this life.
And I think it's important. It's instructive when you think about steak.
If there's one thing I've learned. A lame spotted, off colored animal is just as tasty as the perfect ones.
Makes no difference. The meat of an animal that has a split ear or a blind eye goes down exactly the same.
So why was the perfect lamb so important? Important?
They're about to have this feast and a meal. It's not about how it tastes or their enjoyment of it.
There was a deep significance and we're going to get a small picture and we're going to see that picture revealed to an even greater degree.
But the significance of the pure spotted lamb was this.
God was communicating to his people, for you to live, something else must die.
That's important.
And it's the beginning of a truth and a thread that is going to be pulled through the whole of scripture. For you to live, something else must die. But number two, a perfect God here is perfectly providing for his people as a part of the process of making them holy like himself.
I want you to see this as we continue to go through. You would think to yourself now that the perfect lamb has been chosen and they're gonna prepare for the me that the very next action would be to go and to begin cooking the meal. But that's not what happens. Letter C. What we see is that he instructs them to apply the blood of the lamb to their doorposts and to the lintel.
In Exodus 12, 7, this is what it says.
They shall take some of the blood, put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the house. House in which they eat. The first order was not to cook the meal. It was to put the blood of the lamb on the entrance of the home. And the way that they did this is we see in Scriptures that they took a bunch of hyssop. Hyssop was this like small woody herb that was used for medicinal purposes. It was bushy, it had clustered stalks and it held liquid very well. And so what they would do is they would take the blood of the lamb and put it into a bowl and they would take the hyssop and dip it in and then begin to apply it and almost paint it onto the doorposts of the house. And then it also says on the lintel, which would have been the top portion, top beam of the entrance to the home.
And here's what Exodus 12, 12, 13 says as it continues. God tells them to do this. And he says, for I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast. And on all of the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgments. I am the Lord.
The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Now, the blood at the entrance to the home, it says in this passage, would be a sign. In other words, it was meant to communicate something.
What's interesting is that I find in our own culture today, we put signs on the doorposts of our homes to communicate things as well. Maybe you have one of these, a sign like this that says, welcome to our home. You see that and you say, oh, what kind? Inviting people like, it just looks so nice and inviting.
Or maybe you see other signs, signs at people's doors, like this welcome Ish. Depends on who you are and how long you stay.
Some of you are going to run out and buy that today. I know, I know. Or maybe a sign like this that communicates, yes, Amazon. This house again, right?
Or one that says, go away unless you have a package or snacks.
This one was my favorite.
If you hear me yelling, just know I said it nicely 26 times, right?
Signs communicate something.
But what does the sign of blood on a doorpost communicate?
When I was young, I believe that what was being communicated was. Oh, well, yeah, that way. So when the angel goes over, he knows which house to hit and which house not to hit, right? It was about who was going to be killed.
But it's so much deeper than that. God knew where the Israelites were. This was not a guessing game for him or just something to indicate.
The sign of the blood on the doorposts was more than a sign that they were Israelites.
This wasn't about proximity or who lived where. God knew.
This was about whose they were.
Do you understand what I mean by that?
This sign was an expression of faith, Letter D in your notes. It was an expression of faith through obedience.
Again, it was necessary so that God. It wasn't necessary so that God would know where the Egyptians lived or where the Israelites lived. The truth is that the destroyer, this angel that would come over in the night, was blind to ethnic distinctions. If an Israelite family had not painted the doorway with the blood of the lamb, the destroyer would have killed the firstborn in that home.
This was an act about Faith.
Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 28. The hall of fame of faith says this about Moses and the people of Israel. By faith he kept the Passover and sprinkled the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn might not touch them. The taking of a perfect lamb and placing its blood on the entrance of the home, then, was a pure act of faith that would bring salvation. Are you beginning to see how all of this is not just about the Israelites, but pointing forward then? They would come from this point and they would prepare the meal. But the meal itself had great significance. Letter E. It was a meal of urgency and readiness.
Oftentimes we might think that the meal was really about just getting together and celebrating, but it was so much deeper than that. Exodus, chapter 12, verses 8 through 11 says, they shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. They shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled, but roasted its head with its legs and its inner parts, and you shall let none of it remain until the morning. Anything that remains until the morning, you shall burn in this manner. You shall eat it with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand, and you shall eat in haste. It is the Lord's Passover, you know. An essential part of, of the expression of their faith was the posture of urgency and readiness.
They were to have literally their sandals on their feet, their belt fastened, and their staffs ready to go. They weren't just to be feasting and having a celebratory dinner with no care in the world. They were to be in anticipation of the moment of their salvation. And there was a strong attentiveness to the moment.
And I want you to think about that truth and how important it is for us in our own lives today and how we live our lives in faith following Jesus Christ. That it's not just about giving our lives to Christ and then going through doing our own thing, having fun, celebrating, and just occasionally going, yeah, we got God on our side. The Christian life is meant to be about waiting for his return with urgency and readiness, a theme that God has had for his people for all time, all throughout the thread of scripture.
And ultimately this Meal that they were to enjoy. Letter F was meant to be a memorial for the generations.
In other words, it wasn't just for that moment.
It was supposed to be celebrated in every subsequent generation that would come after.
Exodus 12:14 says, this day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations, as a statute forever. You shall keep it as a feast.
You know, I find that we've got our own holidays and days that we celebrate in our culture, Things that take place that are what we might call days of remembrance. We have a holiday called Memorial Day, a day that has been set aside by our country where we're to take time to remember the sacrifice of people who have served in our armed forces, having given their lives, where we gather together, maybe we enjoy a meal with friends or family, but remembering everything that they gave, that it would inform our future.
I think of things and holidays like Thanksgiving, where we get together and the whole point is to remember the good things in our lives and the good things that God has done, that we would have hearts of thanksgiving and expressing that to one another.
But here's a problem that I see in our culture.
The problem is, is that at times in our celebration, we easily forget the significance of the day.
We see it more as an opportunity to just get together, to have a meal and to not have to go to work.
But we often will lose. I'll get the. That we often will lose the significance of the holiday.
And God is speaking directly to his people to say, never lose the importance of this moment.
Exodus chapter 12, verses 24 through 27. He says, you shall observe this rite as a statute for you and your sons forever.
And when you come to the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, remembering back to the promise to Abraham, you shall keep this service. And then he says, when your children say to you, what do you mean by this service? You shall say, it is the sacrifice of the Lord's Passover. For he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, but spared our houses. And the people bowed their heads and they worshiped. This festival was so much more than just a celebration to have fun, to not work, or to enjoy good food.
It had intentionality attached to it in teaching future generations about who God is by recounting what God had done.
Think about the significance of that here it was about intentionality in teaching future generations each of the elements of the Passover meal. If you were to even see it practiced today, hold Incredible significance about who God is and what God has done. And the purpose is for people to know God, to understand his love for them and to worship him. And it was meant to be used to be a tool of remember so that future generations, young people for generations to come, would be taught about who God is, that they would know that God is all powerful, that they would know that God is for them and loves them, so that they would yield their hearts in worship.
It's the reason that as I shared with you this morning talking about Wednesday night, kids like we don't ask for people to volunteer for stuff just because we need warm bodies to do a program.
We understand that what God has called us to is to pass on faith to the next generation. And we need people in our church family to recognize that God has called us to take that up, to see it as one of the greatest importances that we have to teach future generations about who he is, not just from the Bible, but also from our own lives, how we have experienced him, how he has shown up, that it would strengthen their faith and that they would yield their hearts to him and worship him as well.
The point is to remember, to build the faith of generations, to be true worshipers of God.
As we look at this, we see as the story were to continue, that exactly what God says happens.
The people paint the blood on the doorposts. They have this mule they wait in ready.
And the angel of Death comes over the land of Egypt. And the Bible tells us that there was great weeping and wailing from every home of the Egyptians. There was not one home that was left unscathed as the firstborn of every household and every beast was dead.
A time of great sorrow and weeping. But what I want you to understand about this play is that it has such deep meaning that we must catch next point. The 10th plague was so much more than a divine temper tantrum. It was not God just being angry at Pharaoh because of what he had done to his people.
It was a deliberate implementation of a redemptive pattern that would point straight to Jesus.
And I want you to see how significant God's word tells us that Jesus Christ himself is the perfect lamb of God.
Look at the similarities and the, if you will, the parallels that are drawn here in your notes. The Passover lamb was without blemish. It was to be perfect, the perfect sacrifice.
Jesus Christ, when he came, the Lamb of, of God who takes away the sins of the world was himself sinless, without blemish. Perfect Jesus was the perfect sacrifice because it would take A sinless sacrifice to satisfy the wrath of God against sinful people.
The Passover lamb was also slain for the Israelites. But Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, died in out.
You see, the Lamb for the Israelites was meant to be a substitute that would give his life to save the lives of the Israelites. And in the same way Jesus Christ has died in our place. We cannot save ourselves. There's not enough that we can do to be good enough for God. In order to be pleasing because of our sin, there had to be one that died in our place. And that was Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who died in our place.
And the passage tells us that the Passover lamb, the blood was taken from the Lamb and it was applied to the doorpost and to the lintel of the house.
And it was not just about people being able to see where the Israelites were. It was an expression of their faith and their obedience to follow God.
And in the same way, the blood of Christ and what he accomplished for us on the cross. Cross is about placing our ultimate faith and trust in God and what he has done to bring salvation to us.
Faith in the applied blood saved the Israelites. But faith in the blood of Jesus Christ is what saves us from our sin.
We see that the Passover lamb, that when people placed their faith in God and they followed and did as he asked, judgment would pass over them that they would not experience the death of the firstborn in their homes. And yet we also see with Jesus Christ that when faith is put in the Lamb of God that the wrath of God against sinful man is satisfied again. We can't possibly be good enough. But one of the beauties of Scripture is that it teaches us that when God sees you, he doesn't look at you. When you place your faith and your trust in him as a sinful, horrible failure. There are so many of us at times that are kept from a relationship with God because we think to ourselves, I've done too much wrong. I've rejected God for too long. If only you knew the sin that I wrestle with. And we allow it to keep ourselves away from him. Because we think to ourselves, God must look at me as a complete and abject failure. How could he ever accept me? But the testimony of Scripture is that God knew from the beginning of time who you would be, what you would do. And he still sent his son Jesus to die on a cross to pay the penalty for your sin.
So that if you would place your faith and trust in him, his death would take your place. And so when God sees you, even now, Christian, wrestling and struggling, he sees his son, who he dearly loved, who has taken your place and satisfied the wrath of God.
That is the love of God. And what does it do?
Well, the Passover lamb led to the freedom of the Israelites. They were freed from Egypt. They would go to serve the one true God. And in the same way, the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ Himself, frees us from sin. And the way that the faith of the Israelites led to freedom, our faith in Jesus leads to freedom from sin.
Does it give you a bigger picture of everything that's going on as we work through these passages?
Is that what God has been doing from the very beginning of time is helping us to understand his redemptive plan for his people. And that includes you and me.
And he has been displaying for us from all time the depth of his love for us.
And we see it even more as we move into the New Testament. Because the Passover was a shadow of what was to come.
And Jesus revealed and fulfilled God's ultimate plan for that redemption.
If you have your communion elements, I'm going to invite you to pull those out.
And I'll invite our ushers. If anybody didn't pick those up on the way in, just slip up your hand and they'll bring you elements that you can grab.
But I want you to just walk through the notes with me here as we recognize and take the Lord's Supper together.
The Passover was a shadow of what was to come.
[01:09:48] Speaker A: Come
[01:09:50] Speaker E: think about it in the upper room on the night that Jesus was betrayed. Letter A.
Jesus doesn't create something new.
What he did is he transformed something that was familiar.
Jesus gathered with his disciples in the upper room to celebrate what the Passover, a meal that held deep significance.
To teach about who God is.
That as we understand who God is and what he has done for us and understand the depth of his love that our hearts would be drawn to follow and to worship.
And Jesus in this moment, institutes the Lord's Supper coming off of it. No doubt all of the visual reminders of the meal and what was taking place would correlate perfectly to who Jesus was and what he was about to do for his people.
Because you see letter B. The bread that he took would remind us of purity.
Jesus.
Paul says in Scripture that when Jesus took the bread, he had broken it and he had given thanks.
He said, this is my body which is broken for you.
In the same way that the lamb at Passover was pure and spotless meant to be the perfect sacrifice.
Jesus himself was sinless and his body was taken and it was broken so that we could be restored to a right relationship with God.
And it's the purity of Jesus that covers over our sin, that we ourselves would be pure before a holy, living God.
Jesus says, do this in remembrance of me, remembering the pure, sinless Lamb of God that gave his life. Free you so that you would be holy before a holy God.
Let's take together.
First Corinthians, chapter 11. Paul continues as he talks about the cup.
And what we see, letter C in your notes, is that the cup, his blood, not body, his blood reminds us of the cost of our salvation.
The Lamb, when it was slain at Passover, was a substitute. Its life was given and its blood was used to purchase their freedom in the same way Jesus gave his life.
And this is meant to be a representation of his blood, the cost of our salvation that was poured out fully so that we could be perfectly reconciled to God.
And in it we see the depth of his love for us.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever would believe in him would not perish but have everlasting life.
After supper, Jesus took the cup, said, this is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this in remembrance of me. Let's take together.
One of the things that Paul says right at the very end of this is he says, whenever you. You eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until what he comes again.
Letter D.
The Passover meal and also the Lord's Supper remind us to wait with readiness and expectation for his return, which Scripture calls the day of our salvation Church family.
These passages we've been working through are meant to teach us who God is so that we would understand his power and his love, and so that our hearts would be drawn to worship. That's not just seeking or singing.
Worship is that we would live every single day in pursuit of him until the day of his return, and that we would do so with readiness and urgency.
Living our lives in a way that is pleasing and worshipful to God, but also passionately telling others about the good news of Jesus so that they too would find and follow Him.
May this section of Scripture cause us to fall even deeper in love is that we see from the very beginning as the Passover is instituted and God's people are rescued, that he has been writing a thread of redemption that extends to today and revealing the depth of his love for us. May that Change your heart.
Father, we thank you and we love you.
Thank you for the opportunity we've had to dive deep into your word, to have such a deep appreciation for who you are. I thank you that you have written these accounts in scripture so that we can go back and we can see and look and not only know who you are, but fall deeply in love with you. Because you didn't just write a story for the Israelites, you wrote a story to help us to understand that from all time we have been in your mind and you have been preparing a way of salvation for us if we would simply place our faith and trust in you.
So God teach us to do that daily and to worship you with all that we are. It's in Jesus name that we pray. Amen.
[01:16:05] Speaker A: Let us stand as we continue to worship. This morning.
I was a wretch.
I. I remember who I was.
I was lost, I was blind.
I was running out of time.
Sin separated, the breach was far too wide.
But from the far side of the chasm you held me in your sight side.
So you made a way across the great divide left behind heaven's throne.
To build it here inside and there at the cross you paid the debt I owed, Broke my my chains, freed my soul.
For the first time I had hope.
And thank you Jesus for the blood applied.
Thank you Jesus, it has washed me white.
Thank you Lord Jesus, you have saved my life.
Brought me from the darkness into glorious light.
You took my place, laid inside my tomb of sin.
You were buried for three days, but then you walked right out again.
And now death has no sting and life has no end.
For I have been transformed by the blood of the lamb.
Thank you Jesus, Jesus for the blood of life.
[01:18:35] Speaker B: Thank you Jesus, you has washed me wide.
[01:18:43] Speaker A: Thank you Jesus, you have saved my life.
[01:18:50] Speaker B: Wash me from the darkness into glory glorious life.
[01:19:00] Speaker A: There is nothing stronger than the wonder working power of the bl.
The BL that calls us sons and daughters. We are awesome. By. By your Father through the blood.
The blood.
[01:19:32] Speaker B: There is nothing stronger than the wonder
[01:19:37] Speaker A: working power of the blood.
The blood.
Thank you Jesus for the blank you. Thank you Jesus, you has washed me wide.
Thank you Jesus, you have saved my life.
You brought me from the darkness into glory light.
Glory to his name.
[01:20:50] Speaker B: Glory to his name.
[01:20:58] Speaker A: Near to my heart was the blood applied.
Glory to his name.
[01:21:22] Speaker E: When we go through this and we read these sections of scripture, does it not just cause your heart to fall more in love with Jesus, to recognize like to just dive deep and to understand that even from thousands and thousands of years ago, when God's people were enslaved in Egypt, that it was about more than just the Israelites, it was about you.
And God is allowing you to see that picture in His Word. How all of the imagery of the lamb in the meal was meant to point for you to have an understanding that God was going to send his son, the Lamb of God, to take away the sins of the world.
God loves you. You have always been at the forefront of his mind.
May that cause you, as a follower of Jesus Christ, as you go out to daily worship him with all that you are, allow it to change and to transform your heart and your thinking and the way that you worship him, but as well the way that you passionately go and share the goodness of his son with other people.
And I would say that this morning I know that there are there people here that have never placed their faith in Jesus.
My hope is that your eyes would be open to see that God has always had you on his mind and that he has loved you so much that no matter what you have done or how far you think you have gone from God, that He sent his son, Jesus to, to be the one, the perfect substitute and sacrifice to take your place, to die on your behalf for the penalty for your sin, because he loves you that much so that you could be reconciled to him. If you want to make that decision today, to place your faith in Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior, I want to invite you at the close of the services, people come to the front for prayer. Whether you have needs of prayer for healing, or you just need someone to talk to and work through things and be ministered to, you can come at the close of service. But if you've never made that decision and you say, today is the day that I want to give my heart to Jesus, come. Our team would love to talk and to pray with you today.
Make that decision. Do not wait.
Church family, as we close our service, we go out into a world that is running far and far away from God. But you go as his instrument of light to bring this good news that Jesus loves the world.
And so share that in the way that you worship with your life every single day. Not just words with words, but also in the way that you love others so that they would know the love of God.
God bless you, Lord. As we go into this week, may you continually transform our hearts. Teach us, God, as we remember who you are in the pages of scripture and how you have revealed yourself in your word, but also in the ways that you have shown up in our lives in powerful ways. May it be the thing that transforms us as worshipers, that it would deepen our faith and our trust in you. Teach us to be a people who remember that our faith would be contagious to a world that surrounds us. As they look forward to for hope and God. May they find their hope in you. So use us. We are your instruments. We love you, Jesus. Amen. God bless you. Have a great week as you serve the Lord.
