Sunday, September 28, 2014

Reflection of the sermon today at NRN - Abandon safe and LIVE BY FAITH!

It was awesome to be back in the pulpit today following our annual family vacation and a week of study.  Me deepest appreciation goes to Pastor Jordan, John Kelley and Jenny Compton for preaching during my time away.  

Today I concluded the teaching series I began several months ago.


In the final message in this teaching series we ask Moses to join us in the race of life to give us insight about our life with God.     

In this 6-week series, we have looked at some of the spiritual giants from the Bible.  

The theme of Moses’ life was, “abandon safe and live by faith.”



Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.                                                                              Hebrews 12:1

We all are running the race of life that is marked out for us.  What if some of those great men and women of faith could step away from the great cloud of witnesses and come along side us to give us some words of encourage us?    

Six Part Teaching Series:
                                   Noah  -  David  -  Abraham  - Joseph  -  Rebekah - MOSES

                               For when your problems overwhelm you…
ABANDON SAFE AND LIVE BY FAITH! ”

I think Moses would say “Each person’s life story if written in risk – the ones taken and the one avoided. Look at my life!  Do you think you would know my life story if I played it safe?   The greatest moment in my walk with God came at the burning bush. The decision I made there that day wrote the next 40 years of my life story. It is a decision that brought daily encounters with the living God!

Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert   and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight--why the bush does not burn up." When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush,

 "Moses! Moses!" And Moses said "Here I am." "Do not come any closer," God said. "Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground." …The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.                    Exodus 3:1-5, 7, 10



SAFE WILL KEEP YOU…

1. TRAPPED  in the past.

Forget about what's happened; don't keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I'm about to do something brand-new. It's bursting out! Don't you see it? There it is! I'm making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.                       Isaiah 43:18-19 MSG

2. SATISFIED  with today.

One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.                                                                                                                                            Exodus 2:11

3. AFRAID  of tomorrow.

But Moses said, "O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”                      Exodus 4:13

FINAL WORDS OF ENCOURAGEMENT

To live by faith, recognize that God is ALREADY AT WORK  in you.

By faith Moses' parents hid him for three months after he was born, 
because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king's edict.                                                                        Hebrews 11:23


To live by faith, REFUSED TO BE DEFINED by anything but God.

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.

He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.                                                                                                                                                    Hebrews 11:24-27

To live by faith _IMPACTS others around you.

By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.           Hebrews 11:28-29


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