SPEAKER_00: I told you this year is a year full of blessings.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: A year full of blessings.
SPEAKER_00: You are going to be blessed in 2023.
SPEAKER_00: Do you agree with me this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: I hope you do.
SPEAKER_00: We've been talking about the blessing of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: And we've been on this series, the third topic on this series called blessing.
SPEAKER_00: Can you say blessing this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Blessing.
SPEAKER_00: We've been looking at the story of Moses before he leads the Israelites out of Egypt, before he leads the Israelites through the Red Sea into the Promised Lamb.
SPEAKER_00: We see before the wondrous words of God unfold before the Israelites' eyes under the leading of Moses, we find a revealing of blessings taking place between God and Moses.
SPEAKER_00: There's a realization of the blessings that come with having the knowledge of who God is.
SPEAKER_00: Blessings that I believe are in store for each and every one of us in here in this room and watching at home.
SPEAKER_00: Blessings that are already being revealed in this year 2023.
SPEAKER_00: We've been uncovering these blessings in the book of Exodus during this encounter where Moses finds himself standing on holy ground, holy ground where he has to take the sandals off his feet because God's presence is so powerful.
SPEAKER_00: And God begins to speak to Moses amidst a burning bush, and we're looking at Exodus chapter 3.
SPEAKER_00: And it says, 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.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said, Do not come near here.
SPEAKER_00: Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.
SPEAKER_00: See, prior to this encounter between Moses and God, we see Moses has fled Egypt and is now shepherding a flock.
SPEAKER_00: In this state, I believe Moses' life represents the way our lives looked before we encountered Christ.
SPEAKER_00: What did your life look like before you encountered Christ?
SPEAKER_00: What did your life look like before you gave your life over to Him?
SPEAKER_00: Well, we wake up, we work to survive, we come home, we eat, and we go to sleep.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the extent of most people's lives outside of God.
SPEAKER_00: But at his encounter with God, Moses realizes that there is such a bigger purpose in life.
SPEAKER_00: Such a bigger purpose in life.
SPEAKER_00: Moses will now be the mouthpiece of God.
SPEAKER_00: Moses will now be a reflection of God's character.
SPEAKER_00: Moses will now draw people to surrender their lives over to God.
SPEAKER_00: Moses will lead people to the promised land.
SPEAKER_00: I want to tell you this morning: God has a purpose for you.
SPEAKER_00: God has a plan for you.
SPEAKER_00: And he might still be revealing it to you this morning.
SPEAKER_00: God wants you to realize the same because he's given each of and every one of you a purpose to what?
SPEAKER_00: To be his mouthpiece.
SPEAKER_00: He wants you to draw people unto him.
SPEAKER_00: God wants you to lead his people to the promised land.
SPEAKER_00: Can I get an amen this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: But just like Moses, just like Moses, we need to receive his blessing.
SPEAKER_00: We need to realize the blessings that he has showered upon us so that we can live a purposeful, blessed life.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say that again.
SPEAKER_00: We need to realize the blessings that he has showered upon us so that we can live a purposeful, blessed life.
SPEAKER_00: A few weeks back, we looked at the story of Moses, and we looked at the first blessing that was given to Moses in verse 10 of the same chapter, chapter 3 of Exodus.
SPEAKER_00: And now come, I will send you to Pharaoh so that you may bring my people, the sons of Israel, out of Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: But Moses said to God, Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and that I should bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt?
SPEAKER_00: And he said, Assuredly I will be with you.
SPEAKER_00: Can you say that with me this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Assuredly I will be with you.
SPEAKER_00: And this shall be a sign to you that it is I who have sent you.
SPEAKER_00: And when you have brought the people out of Egypt, and you shall worship God at this mountain.
SPEAKER_00: The blessing that God has for you this year is an assurance of the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: An assurance of the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: He is with you wherever you go.
SPEAKER_00: The presence of God, the presence of God.
SPEAKER_00: A realization that God is in the room.
SPEAKER_00: Lest we forget when we're yelling out the window and screaming at the person that cut us off the road.
SPEAKER_00: Lest we forget when we're sitting in the hospital and though it seems like a lonely place, God is in the room.
SPEAKER_00: God is in the room, the presence of God is there.
SPEAKER_00: When you realize it, you realize that it's not just you anymore.
SPEAKER_00: But the one who created heaven and earth is with you.
SPEAKER_00: The one who formed you, the one who causes the sun to rise and the sun to set.
SPEAKER_00: He's on your team.
SPEAKER_00: Can I get an amen this morning?
SPEAKER_00: How could Moses stand before Pharaoh and walk through the Red Sea?
SPEAKER_00: Because he knew the presence of God was with him.
SPEAKER_00: How can you face the impossible?
SPEAKER_00: You need to realize that the blessing of the Lord is that the presence of God is with you.
SPEAKER_00: The second blessing God revealed to Moses was something that contains so much power, yet we take for granted how powerful it is.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 13 of the same chapter, Moses says to God, Behold, I am going to the sons of Israel, and I will say to them, the God of your fathers has sent me to you.
SPEAKER_00: Now they may say to me, What is his name?
SPEAKER_00: What shall I say to them?
SPEAKER_00: And God said to Moses, I am who I am.
SPEAKER_00: And he said, This is what you shall say to the sons of Israel, I am has sent you.
SPEAKER_00: A few chapters later in Exodus 6, we looked at this.
SPEAKER_00: God reveals to Moses that unlike his fathers before, God revealed his name to Moses in a completely different way.
SPEAKER_00: In verse 3 of chapter 6, and I appear to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name, Lord, or Yahweh, or Jehovah, I did not make myself known to them.
SPEAKER_00: Moses would receive the second blessing that God has for you and I, and that is the name of God.
SPEAKER_00: The name of God, men and women of God, you need to realize that the name of God is so powerful.
SPEAKER_00: In his name, the plagues of Egypt would unfold before their eyes.
SPEAKER_00: In his name, the Israelites walked out of Egypt through the wilderness and into the promised land.
SPEAKER_00: He is the I am.
SPEAKER_00: He is Yahweh, he is Jehovah.
SPEAKER_00: When you realize the power that is in the name of God, guess what?
SPEAKER_00: You can be just like David.
SPEAKER_00: Just like David who stands before Goliath and says, What?
SPEAKER_00: What did David say to Goliath?
SPEAKER_00: Do you remember this?
SPEAKER_00: In 1 Samuel 17, he says, But David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a saber, but what?
SPEAKER_00: I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, praise God.
SPEAKER_00: The name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus comes around, what does he say in John chapter 5, verse 43?
SPEAKER_00: He says, I have come in my Father's name.
SPEAKER_00: In my Father's name, and you do not receive me.
SPEAKER_00: If another one comes in his own name, you will receive him.
SPEAKER_00: When Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a colt and he heads, as he heads towards the cross of Calvary, what did they shout?
SPEAKER_00: Blessed be the king that cometh what?
SPEAKER_00: In the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because there's power in the name of the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus reveals that he is gone.
SPEAKER_00: He's come to save humanity, bringing even a greater fulfillment to the name of God, which includes the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says in Philippians chapter 2, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth.
SPEAKER_00: That every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
SPEAKER_00: There's power in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You speak to that situation, you call on his name, and you will watch.
SPEAKER_00: You will watch the walls fall.
SPEAKER_00: You will feel the power come.
SPEAKER_00: You will watch just like they watched in the plagues of Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: How could this be happening?
SPEAKER_00: You will stand in awe of what God can do when you call on the name this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Praise God.
SPEAKER_00: I want to highlight the third blessing, the third blessing revealed to Moses during the burning bush encounter.
SPEAKER_00: And this blessing has been made available to you and I, yet we very seldom realize it.
SPEAKER_00: At this point, the Lord has given Moses his mission.
SPEAKER_00: He's assured Moses of his presence.
SPEAKER_00: He's equipped Moses with the name of God.
SPEAKER_00: Yet Moses still feels unequipped to accomplish the task given to him.
SPEAKER_00: How many times do we feel unequipped?
SPEAKER_00: Unequipped, God, I don't know how I'm gonna make it through this one.
SPEAKER_00: Are you ready this morning?
SPEAKER_00: Good.
SPEAKER_00: Because in Exodus chapter 4, I want you to watch what happens here.
SPEAKER_00: And this is a powerful moment between God and Moses.
SPEAKER_00: In Exodus chapter 4, starting at verse 1, and Moses said, now again, God has already revealed his name.
SPEAKER_00: He already said, Moses, I'm gonna be with you, don't worry.
SPEAKER_00: But yet Moses says, What if they will not believe me or listen to what I say?
SPEAKER_00: For they may say, The Lord has not appeared to you.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord said to him, What is that in your hand?
SPEAKER_00: What is that in your hand?
SPEAKER_00: And he said, A staff.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said, Throw it on the ground.
SPEAKER_00: So he threw it on the ground and it turned to a serpent.
SPEAKER_00: And Moses fled from it.
SPEAKER_00: But the Lord said to Moses, Reach out with your hand and grasp it by its tail.
SPEAKER_00: So he reached out with his hand and caught it, and it turned into, and it turned into a staff in his hand, so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord asks Moses an important question.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord asks Moses an important question that I believe he asks every one of his children.
SPEAKER_00: Whether you are feeling unequipped, whether you are searching for the blessings, God, where's my blessing?
SPEAKER_00: God asks you this question: What is that in your hand?
SPEAKER_00: What is that in your hand?
SPEAKER_00: Moses looks.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: How impossible.
SPEAKER_00: A stick can turn into a living creature.
SPEAKER_00: That's impossible.
SPEAKER_00: If we look by the power of the Almighty God, something so simple, something so insignificant, could turn into something so spectacular.
SPEAKER_00: With his hand, he grabs the tail of the serpent and it turns back into a staff.
SPEAKER_00: If we follow the story of just this staff, or the staff, I should say, if we look at the story of the staff throughout the book of Acts, Exodus, we see the staff turn into a serpent before Pharaoh's eyes and his servants.
SPEAKER_00: What else does the staff do?
SPEAKER_00: If we look, the staff is used to turn the Nile into blood.
SPEAKER_00: The staff is extended over the Nile so that frogs can come from it.
SPEAKER_00: The staff strikes to the ground so insects could crawl from it.
SPEAKER_00: The staff is reached up into the sky so that hail could fall from heaven.
SPEAKER_00: The staff was reached out so that locusts would come into the land of Egypt.
SPEAKER_00: If we move past the plagues of Egypt, we see that the staff is still being used to show the power of God.
SPEAKER_00: Watch when the Israelites reach the Red Sea in Exodus chapter 14.
SPEAKER_00: As for you, what does God say to Moses?
SPEAKER_00: Lift up your staff and reach out with your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.
SPEAKER_00: Then Moses reached out with his hand over the sea, and the Lord swept the sea back by a strong east wind all night and turned the sea into dry land.
SPEAKER_00: And the waters were divided, so that the sons of Israel went through the midst of the sea on the dry land, and the waters were like a wall to them on their right and on their left.
SPEAKER_00: This is impossible.
SPEAKER_00: How could something so insignificant, so simple, bring forth something so spectacular?
SPEAKER_00: When the Israelites were thirsty, Moses used his staff to strike the rock, and water came from the rock.
SPEAKER_00: Even with the presence, even with the knowledge of the presence of God, even with the knowledge of the name of God, Moses felt unequipped for where God was trying to lead him, attempting to take Moses from a simple shepherd to the one who would lead thousands to the promised land.
SPEAKER_00: With his lack of tools to accomplish the task, all God asks Moses is what?
SPEAKER_00: What is that in your hand?
SPEAKER_00: Well, this is just a wooden staff.
SPEAKER_00: Yet with a wooden staff, the wonders of God would unfold before the greatest ruler in the world at the time.
SPEAKER_00: That wooden staff would turn countless to recognize the one and only true God.
SPEAKER_00: Moses just so happened to have a staff in his hand.
SPEAKER_00: David, David had a slingshot in his hand.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: What did Samson have?
SPEAKER_00: Samson had muscles.
SPEAKER_00: Solomon had his brains.
SPEAKER_00: What did Peter had?
SPEAKER_00: Peter had a fisherman's attitude.
SPEAKER_00: Paul had his education.
SPEAKER_00: Esther had her beauty.
SPEAKER_00: Lydia had her house.
SPEAKER_00: Hannah had her child.
SPEAKER_00: At the Battle of Jericho, the Israelites had their feet and their big mouths.
SPEAKER_00: That's it.
SPEAKER_00: I know some of us got big mouths.
SPEAKER_00: And big feet.
SPEAKER_00: And small feet.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: I ask you this morning, what's in your hand?
SPEAKER_00: What is that in your hand?
SPEAKER_00: We don't realize the blessing that God has already provided for us this year.
SPEAKER_00: That God can use to add even more blessing to us and to those around us as we march into another year full of blessing.
SPEAKER_00: With whatever has been placed in your hands, I'm telling you this morning, God is able to use it.
SPEAKER_00: God is able to use it.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Why would God use the simple and make it so spectacular?
SPEAKER_00: What did he say to Moses back in verse 5 of chapter 4?
SPEAKER_00: So that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob has appeared to you.
SPEAKER_00: Moses was placed on a mission.
SPEAKER_00: And God was going to use the simple to show that he was God.
SPEAKER_00: This morning I want to tell you that God can use whatever is in your hands to fulfill the mission that He has placed you on.
SPEAKER_00: God can use whatever is in your hands to fulfill the mission that He has placed you on.
SPEAKER_00: Well, Pastor Stephen, I'm still waiting for my mission.
SPEAKER_00: He hasn't told me what I'm supposed to do yet.
SPEAKER_00: Ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00: That's not true.
SPEAKER_00: Because he set us all on the Great Commission.
SPEAKER_00: You all have a mission, whether you will receive it or not.
SPEAKER_00: The Great Commission going into all the world, making disciples of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Disciples of Christ, those who truly follow Christ.
SPEAKER_00: That all of humanity, all of humanity may believe that the Lord is here today, and He desires for them to enjoy life more abundantly.
SPEAKER_00: You've been placed on a mission.
SPEAKER_00: And God has already equipped you.
SPEAKER_00: He asks you this morning, what's in your hand?
SPEAKER_00: What is that in your hands?
SPEAKER_00: Some of you might say that's the problem, Stephen.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have anything in my hands.
SPEAKER_00: I don't have anything.
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing that I can give.
SPEAKER_00: And that's okay because I love how forget the staff.
SPEAKER_00: After Moses' staff turns into a serpent and back to his staff, the Lord says to Moses, Watch this in the same chapter in verse 6.
SPEAKER_00: The Lord furthermore said to him, Now put your hand inside the fold of your robe.
SPEAKER_00: So he put his hand inside the fold, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous like snow.
SPEAKER_00: Then he said, put your hand inside the fold of your robe again, and he put his hand in the fold again.
SPEAKER_00: And when he took it out of the fold, behold, it was restored like the rest of his flesh.
SPEAKER_00: So if they will not believe you nor pay attention to the evidence of the first sign, they may believe the evidence of the last sign.
SPEAKER_00: Whether there was something in his hand or not, by the power of God, the impossible was still able to come forward.
SPEAKER_00: The miraculous was still able to unfold.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: How could this be possible?
SPEAKER_00: If we turn back one chapter to Exodus 3, God says this to Moses.
SPEAKER_00: And I want you to watch this here.
SPEAKER_00: Because you're right, it was just a staff.
SPEAKER_00: You're right, these are just hands.
SPEAKER_00: Human hands.
SPEAKER_00: You might have things in your hands that seem so insignificant.
SPEAKER_00: God, how can you use something so small?
SPEAKER_00: How could you use something so meaningless?
SPEAKER_00: But I love this in Exodus chapter 3, verses 19 and 20.
SPEAKER_00: Watch what he says.
SPEAKER_00: But I know that the king of Egypt will not permit you to go except under.
SPEAKER_00: compulsion so read this with me so I will reach out with my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles which I shall do in the midst of it and after that he will let you go so I will reach out with what my hand my hand and strike the land of Egypt the third blessing you have been given this year is the hand of God it didn't matter what was in the hand of Moses a staff Moses could have had nothing in his hands God revealed to Moses that it would be the hand of God that would strike Egypt with all his miracles whether a staff whether a slingshot whether a penny whether absolutely nothing when the hand of God comes upon you whatever is in your hands or not can become the biggest game changer in whatever situation you are in.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter what's in your hand but when the hand of God comes upon you it can be the biggest game changer in whatever situation you're walking through all Moses had to do was be willing to be used by God.
SPEAKER_00: All Moses needed to do was be willing to be used by God and by the hand of God Moses's hands and whatever was found in them became useful tools in accomplishing the work of the Almighty God because the hand of God was upon him people of God wants to do something in your life this year God wants to take you to a new realization a new revelation of what life is all about but you have to be willing to allow God to use you have to be willing to allow God to use you it doesn't matter how unequipped you are it doesn't matter how much you have or how little you have God asks you this morning what is that in your hand what is that in your hand because he can use it he can use it and he can use it for the purposes far beyond you could ever imagine but first you must be willing to allow him to and in your willingness the hand of God will come upon you giving you the power to accomplish great things for his kingdom and his glory how did Moses do it yeah with a staff but the hand of God was upon him how did David do it with a slingshot that's all that was in his hands but the hand of God was upon him and he had the power of the name of God isaiah 41 10 says this do not fear for I am with you do not be afraid for I am your God I will strengthen you I will also help you I will uphold you with my righteous right hand in first Peter 5 67 it says this therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that he may exalt you at the proper time having cast all your anxiety on him because he cares about you Joshua 424 says this so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty so that you may fear the Lord your God forever.
SPEAKER_00: And although there is nothing currently in these hands I want our hands this morning to represent all of the gifts that God has given to us whether education whether he's given you a skill he's might have he might have filled you with experience he might have blessed you with finances he might have blessed you with knowledge a home a job a car clothes food and all these are gifts from God that our hands possess.
SPEAKER_00: For every good gift comes from above let me remind you maybe our hands this morning that are raised towards heaven maybe they represent a lack thereof and there is nothing that we feel is in these hands that can be useful.
SPEAKER_00: Either way we lift our hands as an act of surrender this morning showing our willingness to be used by the Lord He's already set us on a mission a mission to live our lives as a light in the darkness a mission to draw others to Christ through word and example to be his mouthpiece.
SPEAKER_00: And as we go about our mission we ask that watch the hand of the Almighty God would come upon us just like Moses just like David just like Esther just like Joshua or Ezekiel or Paul and God that you would take whatever is in these hands God that you would take whatever is in our hands and you would use them to show your glory God we ask that you use these hands and whatever is found therein to break down walls to break down strongholds God I pray that you would use these hands to rescue the perishing God that you would use these hands to teach the poor in spirit God that you would use these hands to show forth the miraculous power of the Almighty God.
SPEAKER_00: God that you would use these hands to build up your kingdom and not tear it down.
SPEAKER_00: That you would use these hands for good.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we say Amen