Sermon Notes: "God Is Calling"

Today's Sermon Notes come from the book of Exodus, chapter 3, verses 1-10

You may recognize this passage best as the story of Moses and The Burning Bush.  But the focus today was on "The Call of God".

Exodus 3:1-10 New King James Version (NKJV)

Moses at the Burning Bush

3 Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian. And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but the bush was not consumed. 3 Then Moses said, “I will now turn aside and see this great sight, why the bush does not burn.”

4 So when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!”

And he said, “Here I am.”

5 Then He said, “Do not draw near this place. Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground.” 6 Moreover He said, “I am the God of your father—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.

7 And the Lord said: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows. 8 So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Now for the sermon notes:

• God calls us when we least expect it...Moses was tending his father-in-law's sheep out in the desert.
• Moses was minding his own business when an "Angel of the Lord" appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. (vs. 2)
• Moses said he would turn aside and see the great sight of why the bush was not burning (vs. 3)
• What would have happened if Moses had not turned aside to look...He would have missed the call of God on his life.
• Too many of us are too busy, only interested in the pleasures of this world...and perhaps we are missing the call of God on our own lives.
• In verse 4 God saw that Moses turned aside to look at the burning bush, and when He saw that He had Moses' attention, He called to him.  God is the Messenger.
• God got Moses' attention...Moses responded..."Here I am". (vs. 4)
• Think about this...The Lord has also appeared to us...Jesus is His Name. I wonder if we have stopped and sought the meaning of this...
• Look at Luke 11:9-10

• 9.  "So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  10.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

• Have you asked? Sought? Knocked?  Moses stopped and sought to understand the burning bush.
• God's call goes out to the person who wants to know God's plan.
• Are you seeking God?

• Jesus tells us in the book of Revelation 3:20 

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me."

• Moses was called by name.  "Here I am", he replied.
• God knows us by name. He knows my name. He calls us by name.

Think about some the great ones of old:

• Abraham
• Samuel
• Isaiah
• Paul 
• Moses

They all responded to God's call by saying, "Here I am".

Have you responded to God's call by saying, "Here I am?"

God stopped Moses dead in his tracks and told him to take off his sandals, for the "place where you stand is holy ground"  (verse 5)

("We Are Standing On Holy Ground", with the Gaither Homecoming group)

It was Holy Ground because God was there... God is holy...separate and distinct, pure, righteous, just, eternal.  

When we are standing in God's Presence, we are on Holy Ground.  

• Be prepared
• Be respectful
• Be submissive
• Be ready to accept what we are being asked to do.
• Be ready to serve in whatever way we are asked.

Without God in our lives what would our lives be like?

In Exodus 3:7 God said to Moses:

"I have surely seen the oppression of My people 

who are in Egypt,

and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters,

for I KNOW their sorrows."

• God sees our suffering and pain. 
• God hears our cries
• God KNOWS our sorrows.

In I Peter 5:7 we are told to 

"Cast...all your care upon Him, for He cares for you."

Back to Exodus 3:8...

• God came down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians...to save them..
• God has power to deliver us.  He is more than willing to do so.

Listen to the call of Christ...He can and will deliver us.

John 8:36 

"Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed."

You will be free indeed.  Freedom from no direction and purpose in your life...to having direction and purpose in your life.

• Have you allowed the Lord Jesus to set you free?
• God redeems us from Satan and the world.
• Heaven is so spacious--there's more than enough room for all of us.

When God calls us He expects us to respond and accept that call.

• Go out as messengers to deliver others from the ways of this world...
• I can't imagine more of an urgent call
• God is interested in us...Are we interested in Him?

Can we respond, "Here I am, Lord" ?  Right now is the time to answer that call.

Our closing hymn was "Where He Leads Me"  

MY personal notes on this message... My husband and I both discussed this sermon all the way home from church.  Husband asks me, "What did you think of that message? What does it mean for us?"  I responded, "I don't know. We've answered God's call on our lives over and over again in our lives. " We spent over 30 years in full time ministry.  We have answered the call to serve Him, we even at one time said we would go to the foreign mission field, but God said "Thank you very much, but I want you to stay here "at home" and serve Me."

So, Okay, Lord, what are you asking of us now? We are supposedly retired, but we've been waiting for Your call...actually thought we already heard it, and we have answered by putting our house on the market and making plans to move to this community where we attend church, thinking that is where You want us to be.

We don't know what the future holds...at this point we are beginning to wonder what God's plan is . Our house hasn't sold...we haven't found a home to move to either...so we wait and pray and trust that God will show us His plan in His time.

Another familiar hymn we sang this morning is one that I know I've sung so many times, usually at a point in our lives when God was about to do something, like call us to a new "mission field"...

"Have Thine Own Way, Lord"

And then to finish it off, we also sang, "I Surrender All"

I've seen this all before in my life...many times...God calls us from the "burning bush" of His Word, His Messenger, whether it be a Godly Pastor or friend, or even through a still small voice speaking to our hearts and giving us the inspiration to to stand still and listen, and look and wait for the "call".  

And we open our hearts and cry out, "Here I am, Lord..."

We know that God is faithful...and in Exodus 3:12, just as He promised Moses, He promises us

"I will certainly be with you..."

Sermon Notes: FUMC, Interlachen, FL, Pastor A.C. Myers, 2/10/2019

Please Note : I want to repeat this disclaimer here...the notes, outline, and content included here are based upon my own personal understanding of the message that was being given. I am not attempting to completely quote or reproduce this message or any other message I've shared previously. Just as each person reading these notes may glean insights and thoughts that seem to directly apply to one's own situation and interpretation, my own delivery of these messages is skewed by my hearing and translation of what is being said. Some may read my notes here and wonder if they were hearing the same message as I...and I say, God speaks to each of us as He wills...there are things He is trying to get across to each individual that may be entirely different than what the person sitting next to you in the pew is needing to hear... That is how the Holy Spirit works! He knows what we need to hear and how to apply it to our hearts. So it is with that understanding that I present these sermon notes to you.

"Has the Lord's Arm Been Shortened?"

Numbers 11:23: "And the LORD said to Moses, 'Has the LORD'S arm been shortened? Now you shall see whether what I say will happen to you or not.'"

Poor Moses.  He was in a predicament...a very tight spot...a tough place.  If you ever think you've got too many problems, or too much responsibility, or overwhelming issues...take a look at Moses.  I won't go into the whole story of the travails of the people of Israel and their sojourn in the desert and the wilderness after their escape from their captivity in Egypt...but suffice it to say that Moses had a huge problem.  He never wanted this responsibility in the first place...to be the leader of these stubborn, rebellious, cranky, complaining group of people whom God had chosen as His own special nation.  Moses felt under-qualified, ill-prepared, and unequipped for the task he had been given.  He would gladly have given this "great honor" away to another and gone back to being a shepherd.  But God had other plans for Moses...God had great confidence in him...God specifically chose Moses for this purpose even before Moses knew who God was.

So in the eleventh chapter of the book of Numbers, the thousands of Israelites are hungry. They are sick and tired of eating manna...it was like eating cornmeal or flour for every meal.  They had no meat or fresh vegetables. They had no dessert or snacks.  Just manna, every day, every meal.  And they complained and cried and moaned and groaned, so much so that Moses just wanted to die himself rather than deal with their complaints any longer.  He poured out his misery to God and in verse 15 he said, "If You treat me like this, please kill me here and now..."

Have you ever felt like that?  Those of us who have had children, or who have been leaders of large groups of people or employees, know what it feels like to feel helpless and frustrated when we can't take care of everyone's needs.  Or perhaps when we are overwhelmed with pain, sickness, sorrow, anxiety for our future or our loved one's future...we cry out in anguish and fear to God just as Moses did, in verse 14, we wail, "I am not able to bear all these people (or illness, or financial burdens, or attacks from the enemy-you fill in the blank) alone, because the burden is too heavy for me."  And like Moses in verses 21-22, we question God's ability to provide for our needs...we doubt His authority over our circumstances, we fear we will not be able to accomplish exactly what He has ordered.  But look at God's response to Moses in verse 23:

"Has the Lord's arm been shortened?"

Sadly, because the people of Israel continued to be so rebellious and disobedient to all that God had commanded them, they suffered greatly. They refused to trust in the One who had already opened the Red Sea for them so they could escape Pharoah's army...He had shown them His power and mercy and great love over and over, and they continued to rebel and complain.

I don't know about you, but I don't want to be like the children of Israel in the wilderness.  I want to hear His voice, I want to trust His Word. I want to enter "The Promised Land". 

Lord, In my heart I know that You are all-powerful, all-wise, and all-loving.  In my heart I know that You love us so much that You were willing to give Your "only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)  In my heart I know that the thoughts that You think toward us are "thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give (us) a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)

"Lord, I do believe. Help my unbelief!"  (Mark 9:24)  Amen.

God Has a Plan!

Exodus 14:13 "And Moses said to the people, 'Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.'".... and in verse 14, "The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace."

This morning I was reading in my devotions the above verses, and was struck by the powerful message it contained for our present circumstances. Actually, it never ceases to amaze me how God directs my reading to exactly whatever message He has prepared to encourage me for that particular moment.  But that is just how God works...I could read the same passage everyday and it would be fresh and new and pertinent, because that is how God ministers to our hearts. 

Right now all of Christendom is waiting...waiting for Easter sunrise...waiting for the angel to proclaim the astounding message, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!" (Luke 24:5-6)  On this, the day after the crucifixion, Jesus' disciples were hiding and afraid. They did not understand what was happening, even though Christ had tried over and over again to tell them what was going to take place, but their hearts were broken, their eyes were still blinded by doubt and confusion, and they just couldn't see how anything good could come out of His death.  They did not realize that God had a plan!  And oh, what a plan it was! 

Tonight I am where the disciples were over 2000 years ago...we have had some shocking news regarding our son's possible future...a diagnosis that strikes fear into our hearts and causes us to ask, "Why Lord? What good could possibly come from this assault on our son's body?  Hasn't he already had enough health issues? How many more miracles is he allowed to have in his life?"  I don't know what kind of plan God has...and as a mother, to be honest, I really don't want to see our son have to go through all of this.  It just doesn't seem fair.  But don't stop reading here...

In the book of Exodus, God had a marvelous plan to help the children of Israel escape the cruel Egyptians.  The passage above is talking about when God parted the Red Sea and the Israelites crossed over on dry land.  Then, as the Egyptians were pursuing them, the sea closed in on top of them and they were all destroyed, and the children of Israel were safe on the other side...and free from their hundreds of years of slavery.

Exodus 14:30 says, "So the Lord saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians.." 

Fast forward about 1450 years, and to the book of Matthew 1:21, which is talking about the birth of Christ,

"and she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.".... God's plan for the salvation not only of the children of Israel, but all of humanity...for all who would believe.

What about our situation?  God has a plan...yes, for our eternal salvation, and also for our lives here on earth...there is nothing that happens in our lives without a purpose and a plan.  We may not always understand at the moment...we may not even like what we have to go through and may feel that it isn't fair...but if we can just wait until Easter morning...if we can just trust God enough to walk dry shod across the Red Sea...if we can stand still and watch...we will see the salvation of the Lord...we will sing with Moses and the children of Israel:

"I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously! The horse and its rider He has thrown into the sea!  The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him..."

Exodus 15:1-2

Okay, Lord,...I will trust You and wait for You...I know You have a plan...