Adding sugar to iced tea does not make sweet tea. If you want sweet tea you need to just throw that out and start over. Adding Jesus to a bitter life really can make life sweeter. Let’s look at the end of Exodus 15 together and talk about the language of allegory.
In the past I have preached a Memorial Day themed sermon but don’t plan on it this year. We will honor all men and women who served especially family members and friends of our church family. Then we will continue the God is Near sermon series currently in Exodus.
The weather is beyond our control but we will plan on having our church picnic/cookout Sunday evening beginning at 5 pm. We will be in the Fellowship Hall regardless and will only cancel in the event of an active tornado/ severe thunderstorm/ flash flood warning at that hour.
There’s an old saying about being between a rock and a hard place. In Exodus 14, the children of Israel found themselves between the Red Sea and the Egyptian army led by an angry Pharaoh. This by God’s design as he continued to demonstrate to Egypt who and what he was. Hopefully it’s not a tired cliche: If God brings you to it, he will bring you through it.
The sermon I almost preached last year. Three scriptures from Luke and John’s Gospel accounts in which Jesus sets the example for us to follow. Happy Mother’s Day from all of us at Unity Baptist Church.
When Jesus and his disciples took Passover together for the last time, he gave his followers new meaning to a tradition they knew well. “Do this in remembrance of me.” The Passover meal was meant to remind Israel that God is near. Communion reminds Christian believers today that God is near. Circumcision was an outward sign identifying those in covenant relationship with God. Baptist is our outward sign of an inward change. Neither makes one righteous. Our ordinances of communion and baptism are constant reminders that God is near and that he does for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
We have identified the first nine plagues and read a warning of the tenth. Last week, in the first passage of Exodus 12, the instructions for preparing the Passover sacrifice and eating the Passover meal were given. In this sermon we will not only get to see Israel allowed to leave but commanded to get out quickly. It marked a new beginning for the children of Israel and a night they would always remember as solemn before God.
Passover | Exodus 12:1-14 | April 15, 2018
We had technical issues recording this sermon so there is no audio file. But I don’t want to just skip past it and go on to the next sermon either, so here is a written synopsis.
In the first half or so of Exodus 12 God explains what the Hebrews need to do in preparation of the Passover. First, he tells them to make a new start. They are about to leave Egypt and put everything about that culture behind them. The night they leave Egypt will be the first day of a new month and a new year. Then he tells them about choosing a sacrificial lamb from the sheep or goats. They are to put it up on the tenth day of the month and watch it until the fourteenth. Finally, they are to be ready to go on the night the sacrifice is eaten; belt fastened, sandals on feet, staff in hand. They will be leaving in a hurry.
I spent very little time talking about the displaying the blood on the doorposts or God’s judgement passing over the Hebrews. We will do that on the fifth Sunday in a sermon focusing on communion and baptism. On April 22nd we will continue with the death of the firstborn and the actual Exodus beginning.
Moses and Aaron appeared before Pharaoh and showed him and Egypt many signs and wonders. And as God had said, Pharaoh hardened his heart.
Without the resurrection Christianity is just another religion, the Bible is just a book, and believers have nothing but false hope. But since Jesus has the power to lay down his life and the power to take it up again, he is alive and lives forever more!
Jesus described himself as the Good Shepherd, noting that the sheep know the sound of his voice. John the Baptist called him “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” before his public ministry even began. Jesus is the sheep, the shepherd, the bright and morning star, the pearl of great price, he is the Way, the truth and the life, our great high priest, and more still. All of these symbols and metaphors help us to understand but fall short in describing a love that surpasses our understanding.
On the cross, Jesus was the perfect sacrifice. Matthew 27 describes his death and burial.
