OURUF

John Baber- Freedom Project Part 8- Freedom to Trust God

ESV  Exodus 16:1 They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt.

 2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,

 3 and the people of Israel said to them, "Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger."

 4 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

 5 On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather daily."

 6 So Moses and Aaron said to all the people of Israel, "At evening you shall know that it was the LORD who brought you out of the land of Egypt,

 7 and in the morning you shall see the glory of the LORD, because he has heard your grumbling against the LORD. For what are we, that you grumble against us?"

 8 And Moses said, "When the LORD gives you in the evening meat to eat and in the morning bread to the full, because the LORD has heard your grumbling that you grumble against him-- what are we? Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD."

 9 Then Moses said to Aaron, "Say to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, 'Come near before the LORD, for he has heard your grumbling.'"

 10 And as soon as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud.

 11 And the LORD said to Moses,

 12 "I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.'"

 13 In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp.

 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground.

 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.

 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Gather of it, each one of you, as much as he can eat. You shall each take an omer, according to the number of the persons that each of you has in his tent.'"

 17 And the people of Israel did so. They gathered, some more, some less.

 18 But when they measured it with an omer, whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack. Each of them gathered as much as he could eat.

 19 And Moses said to them, "Let no one leave any of it over till the morning."

 20 But they did not listen to Moses. Some left part of it till the morning, and it bred worms and stank. And Moses was angry with them.

 21 Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted.

 22 On the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers each. And when all the leaders of the congregation came and told Moses,

 23 he said to them, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Tomorrow is a day of solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to the LORD; bake what you will bake and boil what you will boil, and all that is left over lay aside to be kept till the morning.'"

 24 So they laid it aside till the morning, as Moses commanded them, and it did not stink, and there were no worms in it.

 25 Moses said, "Eat it today, for today is a Sabbath to the LORD; today you will not find it in the field.

 26 Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, which is a Sabbath, there will be none."

 27 On the seventh day some of the people went out to gather, but they found none.

 28 And the LORD said to Moses, "How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?

 29 See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Remain each of you in his place; let no one go out of his place on the seventh day."

 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.

 31 Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.

 32 Moses said, "This is what the LORD has commanded: 'Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, so that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.'"

 33 And Moses said to Aaron, "Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD to be kept throughout your generations."

 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the testimony to be kept.

 35 The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. (Exo 16:1-35 ESV)

Freedom Project Part 11- Freedom to Know God Clearly- Exodus 20

ESV  Exodus 20:1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

 2 "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

 3 "You shall have no other gods before me.

 4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me,

 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

 7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

 8 "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep 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, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

 11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

 12 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that 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 bear false witness against your neighbor.

 17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."

 18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off

 19 and said to Moses, "You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die."

 20 Moses said to the people, "Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin."

 21 The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. (Exo 20:1-21 ESV)

Freedom Project Part 10- Freed to Be a Treasure

Exodus 19

                1 On the third new moon after the people of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that day they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They set out from Rephidim and came into the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness. There Israel encamped before the mountain, 3 while Moses went up to God. The LORD called to him out of the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: 4 You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel."

                7 So Moses came and called the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the LORD had commanded him. 8 All the people answered together and said, "All that the LORD has spoken we will do." And Moses reported the words of the people to the LORD. 9 And the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud, that the people may hear when I speak with you, and may also believe you forever." When Moses told the words of the people to the LORD, 10 the LORD said to Moses, "Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their garments 11 and be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. 12 And you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, 'Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. 13 No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot; whether beast or man, he shall not live.' When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain."

                14 So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people; and they washed their garments. 15 And he said to the people, "Be ready for the third day; do not go near a woman." 16 On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the LORD had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.

                19 And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. 20 The LORD came down on Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.

                21 And the LORD said to Moses, "Go down and warn the people, lest they break through to the LORD to look and many of them perish. 22 Also let the priests who come near to the LORD consecrate themselves, lest the LORD break out against them." 23 And Moses said to the LORD, "The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, 'Set limits around the mountain and consecrate it.'" 24 And the LORD said to him, "Go down, and come up bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the LORD, lest he break out against them." 25 So Moses went down to the people and told them.

 

Big Idea: Through Faith in the God who meets us, you are free to be someone’s treasure!

 

1.      Treasures are sought

 

2.      Treasures are not common

 

3.      Treasures are communicators of glory

 

1 Peter 2:4-12

4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God

chosen and precious,5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame."7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,“8 and "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

Sermon after the SAE Video: Trading Bad Songs for Glorious Good Songs

²¹ And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.

²² The pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night did not depart from before the people.

 

Exodus 14:1 Then the LORD said to Moses,

² "Tell the people of Israel to turn back and encamp in front of Pi-hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, in front of Baal-zephon; you shall encamp facing it, by the sea.

³ For Pharaoh will say of the people of Israel, 'They are wandering in the land; the wilderness has shut them in.'

⁴ And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, and the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD." And they did so.

⁵ When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, "What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?"

⁶ So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him,

⁷ and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them.

⁸ And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly.

⁹ The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, by Pi-hahiroth, in front of Baal-zephon.

¹⁰ When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD.

¹¹ They said to Moses, "Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

¹² Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: 'Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians'? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness."

¹³ And Moses said to the people, "Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again.

¹⁴ The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."

¹⁵ The LORD said to Moses, "Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.

¹⁶ Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.

¹⁷ And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen.

¹⁸ And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen."

¹⁹ Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them,

²⁰ coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.

²² And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

²³ The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen.

²⁴ And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic,

²⁵ clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, "Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians."

²⁶ Then the LORD said to Moses, "Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen."

²⁷ So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea.

²⁸ The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained.

²⁹ But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

³⁰ Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.

³¹ Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

 

Exodus 15:1 Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying, "I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.

² The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. (Exo 13:21-15:2 ESV)

The Freedom Project Part 3- Exodus 2-4- Being a Moses

God took a baby out of certain destruction. He gave him everything he needed. Then he took it away and led him into the wilderness. In the wilderness, God met with Moses and gave him a special job. In spite of Moses' fear and excuses, God insisted that Moses would be his representative to lead his people into freedom. In spite of our fear and excuses, Jesus meets with us today and calls us to do many hard things. Enjoy the podcast. Go bring freedom to someone! 

The Freedom Project Part 2- Freedom from Band-aids

Throughout life, we medicate our wounds with band-aids, but then the magic of those band-aids runs out. But band aids only shield us from feeling the pain and slavery that we are in spiritually and emotionally, they can never heal us. In the beginning of Exodus, we see a pharoah and two regular midwives. We see how the pharoah lived a life of band-aiding his pride, a life away from God, where he was consumed with his reputation. We see two midwives become vulnerable by facing off against the most powerful force in the world. We all have the capacity to be afraid and cover ourselves and not risk leaving behind things that harm us, and we find ourselves co-existing and trying to manage our pain. But with faith in Jesus, we have the capacity to move away from coping toward new life and freedom, able to be bold, to forgive, to show mercy, and to resist the sin that so easily entangles us. 

The Freedom Project Intro- God's Story of Freedom

Why do stories involving struggling toward freedom, or of slaves set free, resound with us? 

We'll see that those stories of shadows of God's overarching outworking in history, and those stories also mirror our day to day struggles? But it all began in the garden of Eden and continued to when God's people became enslaved by what was initially a good thing: Egypt. What is your "Egypt"? 

The Death of Death #13- The Conclusion in the Tomb of Life

 ³⁸ After these things Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took away his body.

 ³⁹ Nicodemus also, who earlier had come to Jesus by night, came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about seventy-five pounds in weight.

 ⁴⁰ So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.

 ⁴¹ Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid.

 ⁴² So because of the Jewish day of Preparation, since the tomb was close at hand, they laid Jesus there.

 (John 19:38-42 ESV)

Story of Death #7 - Tommy Duffy

Listen in as OURUF worship leader Tommy Duffy shares his powerful story of death in the death of Jesus on campus. 

Death of Death #11 - The Centurion- Rocking of a Worldview

Matthew 27:50-54 ⁵⁰ And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.

⁵⁴ When the centurion and those who were with him, keeping watch over Jesus, saw the earthquake and what took place, they were filled with awe and said, "Truly this was the Son of God!"

Big Idea: Faith in the Death of Death in the Death of Jesus Messed up the Worldview of the Centurion

 

 

 

I.              The Death of Jesus changed the soldier’s minds about what is possible.

II.             The Death of Jesus helped the soldier see that reality is more complex.

 

III.            The Death of Jesus helps the solider believe that God is more unpredictable and complex

An Earlier Encounter with a Centurion:

⁵ When he had entered Capernaum, a centurion came forward to him, appealing to him,

 ⁶ "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, suffering terribly."

 ⁷ And he said to him, "I will come and heal him."

 ⁸ But the centurion replied, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

 ⁹ For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it."

 ¹⁰ When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, "Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

 ¹¹ I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven,

 ¹² while the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

 ¹³ And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.

 (Mat 8:5-13 ESV)