Excerpts from the Walking in the Word series by Trinity Christian Centre, Singapore.
Sunday, 05 Mar 2006. Preacher: Ed Pousson of Trinity Christian Centre, Singapore
Title:
The Heartbeat of God - The character and choices of Moses
Verses:
Heb 11:24-27
Lesson:
1. The book of Hebrews is a call to commitment in a time of crisis. Some people in the early church were wavering, but this was written to encourage the church during difficult times. Chapter 11 tells several stories about faith and the definition of faith. It tells of God's message of missions for his people.
2. Moses was faced with several difficult choices. But by faith, he turned from royalty to suffering servanthood in order to serve God. In vs 24, we see that:
Mission of Man - status
Mission of God - servanthood
3. It came into his heart to come to see his brethen, the Jews who were Egypt's migrant workers. He turned from royalty to servanthood, faith requires self downgrading. In vs 25, we see that:
Mission of man - pleasure
Mission of God - pain
4. Moses also turned from affluence to abuse, this is seen in vs 26:
Mission of man - affluence
Mission of God - abuse
5. What do we truly value? The world's wealth or Jesus' sacrifice? Things of the spirit far outweigh the things of the world. We must also choose because we cannot serve both God and mammon. We cannot make affluence our ambition in life.
6. The throne of phaaroh was designed to be so intimidating that it created fear in all who approached it. But Moses feared God instead. He went there and demanded phaaroh to release the Jews, the entire migrant workforce of Egypt. In vs 27, we see that:
Mission of man - fear of man
Mission of God - fear of God
Most Meaningful Statement:
Things of the spirit far outweigh the things of the world.
Thoughts:
1. The mission of God is contrasted with that of man as follows:
Mission of Man: status, pleasure, affluence, fear of man.
Mission of God: servanthood, pain, abuse, fear of God.
2. I think most of us would not mind the servanthood and fear of God bit. But I am sure all of us would be a bit more concerned about the pain and abuse part. Yet character is built only when we go through difficult times. And in order to accomplish a mission from God, a large dose of character would be in order !
3. What is important is not the mission per se but our relationship with God as we walk the journey. Remember that the mission itself is still subservient to the giver of the mission, God Himself.
3 comments:
I really appreciate the true word of God! Especilly in a time when all we want to do is the exact oppisite.
thank you!
I don't believe God's mission for us is pain or abuse. I believe His mission is to change us to become what He intends us to be when He created us. Sometimes in order for us to become that, we must go through pain. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11
Hi Susan, you can't imagine how timely and appropriate your comment was for me ...
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