This week I will be in the mountains of North Carolina at Luther Rock with our Advent 8th graders.  It is a good trip and a great way for them to conclude their time at Advent School.  One of the highlights of the trip for me is getting kids to spend time where cell phones don’t work and they can appreciate the beauty and majesty of God’s creation.  It reminds me of the words of Psalm 19.  Let’s look at them together today.

The heavens declare the glory of God;
    the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day they pour forth speech;
    night after night they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;
    no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,
    their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun. 

    It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
    like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

It rises at one end of the heavens
    and makes its circuit to the other;
    nothing is deprived of its warmth.

This week while I am with the 8th graders you will get a break from me and get to hear from several others in our daily devotions.  I encourage you to engage with those and also participate in our Advent Church week of prayer plan.  If you need a prayer guide respond to this email and we will get one to you.  I am enjoying the beauty of God’s amazing creation and I hope you will this week as well!

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Have any of you experienced having a child that was a bit willful?  Given the choice to do what you told them to and what they wanted you probably were in for some times of parental correction.  I sometimes wonder if that is how God feels at times toward us, His children.  I know He certainly felt like that at times toward the Israelites.  In Exodus 34 He gives His children the law for the second time, here we go again.  The first tablets were destroyed after the people created and worshiped a golden calf.  Let’s look at God’s opening statement to Moses and the people of Israel as He gives the law a second time.  

So Moses chiseled out two stone tablets like the first ones and went up Mount Sinai early in the morning, as the Lord had commanded him; and he carried the two stone tablets in his hands. 5 Then the Lord came down in the cloud and stood there with him and proclaimed his name, the Lord. 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” 8 Moses bowed to the ground at once and worshiped. 9 “Lord,” he said, “if I have found favor in your eyes, then let the Lord go with us. Although this is a stiff-necked people, forgive our wickedness and our sin, and take us as your inheritance.” 10 Then the Lord said: “I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the Lord, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.

God makes it clear that while He is a loving, forgiving God there are consequences for sin.  I’m sure we have all experienced this in our own lives.  The thing about sin is that it breaks relationships.  You lie and someone can’t trust you.  You get angry and others are hurt from your words or actions.  Sin destroys.  God’s law was not meant to be restrictive but rather protective.  Protecting our relationships with God and each other.  That’s the beauty of God when it was clear that we are all rebellious children He sent Jesus to do for us what we could not do for ourselves, restore our broken relationship with God.  By grace through faith, we are made right with God forever.  When we extend grace to others we restore relationships with each other that are broken as well.  We learn in this passage that God is a God of second chances. May we be a people who are willing to give others second chances as well.

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Does it ever feel like life is a continuing journey of ups and downs?  That certainly is the story of the people of Israel.  It is also the story of those God has chosen to lead them.  Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and now Moses all have times when they follow God well and others where well … Let’s just say it makes the rest of us feel a little better.  To me one of Moses’ high points comes in Exodus 33.  Let’s look at it together today. 

Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ 13 If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.” 14 The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” 15 Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. 16 How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” 17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

The people of Israel have just hit a low point and God is frustrated with them.  Moses knows that without God’s presence there is no point in them going on.  He pleads with God that His presence would go forth with them into the promised land.  This is significant because God has said that they will receive the blessings of the promised land even without His presence.  Moses is wise enough to know that the true blessings of God are not the things He gives us.  The true blessing of God is Himself, His very presence with us.  This is an important thing for all of us to hold to as well.  Like Moses we should long for the presence of God.  That is our true treasure.  

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

In the 40 days that Moses is on the mountain receiving the law from God a lot changes.  The people go from being in complete awe and fear of God to forgetting about Him.  They decide they need a new god to lead them forward.  They also give up on Moses.  Let’s look at the account together today from Exodus 32.

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” 2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” 5 When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival to the Lord.” 6 So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. 7 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt, have become corrupt. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’ 9 “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked people. 10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” 11 But Moses sought the favor of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

God is so upset that He is ready to start over.  Moses speaks to God on behalf of the people and God relents and Moses goes down to confront the people. Moses sees the people and throws the tablets of the Ten Commandments down breaking them.  He burns up the golden calf throws the ashes in the water and forces the people to drink it.  He then offers the people a choice.  Who will follow the God of Israel?  There is a sense in which this is a turning point.  The reality is this is a question for us all each day.  Will we follow God or take our own path?  I pray that we would not be a stiff-necked people stubborn to go our own way.  My prayer is that we would be a people striving to follow the leading of our God wherever He may take us.  

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Hello Advent Family,

The people of Israel are about to receive the law from God and are waiting at the base of the mountain.  The scene is so amazing that they are terrified.  As we will soon find out this fear is temporary.  Let’s look at the Ten Commandments God gives to the people together today.  

And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. 7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 18 When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance 19 and said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.”

The people are afraid of God because of His holiness and power.  They want Moses to be the bringer of the law to them.  We all remember that God gave Moses the Ten Commandments but in reality Moses was on the mountain for 40 days and nights receiving the law.  He was covered in a cloud but the glory of God still burned through the cloud like a fire.  The next 11 chapters of the book of Exodus are dedicated to God’s law for His people.  What a scene!  I wonder what the people thought.  We know they were afraid and many thought they would never see Moses again.  They heard the first Ten Commandments audibly as God gave them to Moses, but Moses was lifted up in a cloud to the top of the mountain for the rest of the law.  To me this should have been a scene that insured the people’s faithfulness to God.  We also have seen and heard of God’s amazing works.  The lives He has changed, the people He has healed, the relationships He has restored.  Like Israel we forget too quickly.  Today and everyday may we remember the amazing works of God and follow Him. 

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

How do you feel about rules?  There are some people who love rules and laws.  They help them to feel safe and secure and give them rails by which to go through life.  There are others who are not necessarily rule followers.  God leads His people out of Egypt and toward the Promised Land.  They stop at Mt. Sinai where God wants to give the people laws and rules to guide their life.  Ultimately these laws will show us all our need for God.  They keep the people safe, illustrate God’s holiness, and are rules to live by.  God wants the people to be clear who the rules are from so He intends for them to hear His voice as He speaks to Moses.  Let’s look at the passage together today.

Then Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the descendants of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: 4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” 7 So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the Lord had commanded him to speak. 8 The people all responded together, “We will do everything the Lord has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the Lord. 9 The Lord said to Moses, “I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, so that the people will hear me speaking with you and will always put their trust in you.” Then Moses told the Lord what the people had said. 10 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes 11 and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 Put limits for the people around the mountain and tell them, ‘Be careful that you do not approach the mountain or touch the foot of it. Whoever touches the mountain is to be put to death. 13 They are to be stoned or shot with arrows; not a hand is to be laid on them. No person or animal shall be permitted to live.’ Only when the ram’s horn sounds a long blast may they approach the mountain.”

There are even rules about how to wait to receive the rules.  God promises that Israel will be His people, His treasured possession if they simply follows His rules for them and keep His covenant.  They have seen God do such amazing things and agree to do what Moses has asked of them while they wait on the law from God.  I wonder what the people thought.  They were probably excited, in awe, and I’m sure a little fearful.  What is amazing to me is how quickly things can change.  At this moment the people are all ion on following God and obeying His rules.  We know that it doesn’t stay this way very long.  We can experience the same in our relationship with God.  We feel close to Him and want to obey Him and honor Him.  Until we don’t.  Until we get distracted, forget, and do our own thing.  I pray that we might be a people who keep ourselves in a consistent state of being in awe of God.  When we have a sense of awe and amazement at the goodness of God it is much easier to follow his rules.  So remain amazed at the awesomeness of our God.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

As God continues to lead the people of Israel out of slavery and to the Promised Land they begin grumbling again.  It’s as if they expect 5 star traveling and have quickly forgotten that they were slaves treated harshly back in Egypt.  Once again, Moses cries out to God and God provides for His people.  Let’s look at the account together today.

The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” 4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

It is interesting the repeated pattern of behavior by the people of Israel.  In the last several chapters of Exodus God has brought down 10 plagues on Egypt.  Passed over the people of Israel with the Angel of Death.  Led Israel with a pilar of fire and a cloud.  Parted the Red Sea.  Closed the Red Sea on the Egyptians.  Fed the people miraculously every day with quail and manna.  Had a bitter salt lake produce fresh water simply by throwing some wood in it.  Finally now hitting a rock and having fresh water flow from it.  Somehow the people still are wondering if God is actually with them.  Perhaps we aren’t quite as bad as the Israelites in this case but sometimes we can develop a what have you done for me lately attitude with God.  We just do things on our own strength and go in our own direction instead of relying on God’s direction and leading in our lives.  Then when things go bad we cry out to God and say that we need His help and His leading.  We aren’t that different from the Israelites.  We need to remember to seek God’s leading always not just when we feel like we need Him.  This will keep our paths straight and help us to avoid those times when we have a tendency to wander off. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever been guilty of grumbling or complaining in the midst of your circumstances? I remember once after taking the kids to Disney hearing complaints about the boring ride home.  I didn’t receive those complaints well.  Only a short time after God has rescued the people of Israel from Egypt and shown miraculous signs, they begin complaining greatly.  God receives His people’s complaints and grumbling better than I did for sure. Once again God provides for them.  Let’s look at the account today.

The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions… 9 Then Moses told Aaron, “Say to the entire Israelite community, ‘Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.’”10 While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud. 11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’” 13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.’”

One thing about God that is consistently true throughout Scripture is that He never leads people to a place and then leaves them to their own devices.  When God is leading people He provides for them.  It’s when the people of Israel wander off and do things their own way that God allows them to suffer the consequences.  Even then when they cry out He rescues them.  The question for us today is are we following God’s path and leading or are we going our own way?  Following God’s path is gonna work out a lot better for us.  I pray that we would all follow the path that God has laid out for us.  It’s not always an easy path but God is always with us!

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

As God frees the Israelites from Egypt, Pharaoh once again changes his mind (surprise surprise).  He gets soldiers together and chases the people of Israel on Chariots.  God, once again provides deliverance for His people.  Let’s look at the account together today.

As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!” 13 Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” 15 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. 17 I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them. And I will gain glory through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen. 18 The Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I gain glory through Pharaoh, his chariots and his horsemen.”19 Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, 20 coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, 22 and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. 24 During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. 25 He jammed the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” 27 Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. 28 The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.

Perhaps God knew that the Israelites would need yet another amazing sign for them to keep their faith over the long journey into the Promised Land – (spoiler alert) it’s still not enough.  The people of Israel are terrified when they see Pharaoh coming.  Despite all that God has done they still don’t have faith that He will deliver them.  Then He parts the Red Sea, causes the Egyptians to get stuck and then ultimately destroys them by having the Sea close on them.  What an amazing combination of God’s provision and a display of His power!  God probably won’t part a sea today that you will see but His power and creation are always on display for us.  The rising of the sun.  A beautiful rainbow.  Even the power of a thunderstorm.  Today be on the lookout for a display of God’s greatness.  He truly is amazing and too often we simply take His majesty for granted. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

The plagues continue and Pharaoh still will not let the Israelites leave.  God tells Moses that there will be a final plague and gives him specific instructions on what he is to do.   Let’s look at the account found in Exodus 12 together today. 

21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down. 24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron. 29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead. 31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” 33 The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!”

Pharaoh finally relents and sends the Israelites on their way. The Passover is celebrated to this very day as a reminder of God’s rescue and faithfulness to His people.  As Christians we celebrate another Passover.  When Jesus died for us so that God would Passover us as a punishment for sin.  It is interesting that both things are celebrated in the spring when we celebrate new life.  For the Israelites they had new life, new freedom, and ultimately a new home.  We celebrate the very same things as Christians.  We are given a new life, an eternal one.  We are given freedom from sin and death and we are given a new heavenly home.  Today take time to thank Jesus, our Passover lamb, for this incredible gift.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave