WEBVTT 00:00:01.120 --> 00:00:04.959 So uh a few months ago, my sister called maybe two months ago. 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:13.919 My sister called uh my older sister, and she called and she said, Hey, uh, well, I knew she was turning 40, and she said, We're having a we're having a big party. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:16.239 She lives in Virginia, she said, We're gonna have a big party. 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:19.760 Um, they have this really nice, beautiful home on the James River. 00:00:19.839 --> 00:00:26.399 She said, We're gonna have a big party out on the lawn on the river and have a river day, and y'all are invited. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:36.079 And we looked at our schedule, and it just it it was not looking good for us to be able to get up there and back, the five of us, to drive up and back and be back here on Sunday. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:42.880 And so, you know, I had to kind of break the news and say, you know, I can't, I'm not gonna be able to make it, and we can't make it. 00:00:43.039 --> 00:00:57.600 And then Christian and I kept talking about it, looking at it a little bit, and she goes, Okay, well, what if like now that I've told her no and crushed her completely of any brotherly love coming from me, uh, why don't I fly up there and surprise her? 00:00:57.920 --> 00:01:03.280 And so uh so you know, my mom and I we work together and and we got on the same flight to go up there. 00:01:03.359 --> 00:01:23.359 And so Thursday evening, uh I drive to the airport, I park, uh, get into the airport, um, get in there, uh, you know, waiting, don't like to wait, and then the waiting thing at the gate, we get on the plane, and so my mom and I start to, while we're on the plane, we figure out like, okay, how are we gonna do this? 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:29.519 My sister's gonna pick up my mom, she's gonna be there, but how what's the surprise moment gonna be? 00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:33.760 And I'm feeling really confident at this point. 00:01:33.920 --> 00:01:36.319 Like I'm feeling like she has no clue. 00:01:36.480 --> 00:01:37.599 I'm I'm good. 00:01:37.760 --> 00:01:39.840 Like I feel like I'm I'm gonna nail this. 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:42.959 And so uh so I'm feeling so confident. 00:01:43.040 --> 00:01:45.120 I'm going, she's not looking for me. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:56.879 I, you know, I'm in as far as she and I give her a few texts during the day, you know, like really misleading, like I'm at home, like yeah, just hanging out in the kitchen, you know, like really misleading texts. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:01:58.879 And so I'm like, she has no clue. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:04.400 So so we get out to the pickup area, and I'm like, well, mom, you know, she's not gonna be looking for me. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.840 So I can literally be anywhere, and she's not looking for me. 00:02:07.920 --> 00:02:14.080 So so we figured like this one bench, and there's some people around, this one bench, and I say, okay, well, why don't you stand? 00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:18.960 You wouldn't sit next to a strange man, so why don't you kind of stand up on the far side of the bench with your bags over there? 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:24.719 I'll sit on the other end with my back to that area, kind of looking in at the doors, people coming out. 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:28.719 I'll put my hat on, my glasses on, and I got my phone out like I was looking at my phone. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:31.840 And I'm thinking, you know, I make sure my face so she can't see me. 00:02:32.000 --> 00:02:39.680 And so, and then the plan was was uh the plan was is my mom and my sister was in get out, she was, you know, hey, good to see you. 00:02:39.840 --> 00:02:46.080 And then my mom was gonna start walking with her her bag, but leave one bag behind and then say, hey, you know, Sherry, can you grab my bag? 00:02:46.159 --> 00:02:55.439 And then so that was kind of to my right, and then when she, when my sister came to pick up the bag, I was trying to be like, happy birthday, you know, and so that was the plan. 00:02:56.560 --> 00:03:11.360 Instead, what we get is uh, I get is my sister walks right by my mom and looks around at my face and then goes, ah, gotcha! And it's like you ruined it, sister. 00:03:11.520 --> 00:03:15.759 You you ruined everything we've been working for. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:24.240 And she had been tipped off a little bit, but then she was kind of suspicious because of that, and then she saw a strange man sitting next near her mom and knew that her mom probably wouldn't do that. 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:32.159 And so she was tipped off, but it was still lots of jumping and lots of hugging, and we went on and we had a great, great uh weekend. 00:03:32.240 --> 00:03:44.960 Um, and we had party and we set up for the party and like lots of good logistics, and I got to wake up yesterday morning and kayak across the James River, good Saturday morning activity, more setting up for the party. 00:03:45.280 --> 00:03:51.439 Came back last night, knees shoved against the front, you know, the chair in front of you working on this sermon. 00:03:51.599 --> 00:03:53.680 Um, and so a trip, right? 00:03:53.840 --> 00:03:56.639 A trip full of highs and lows, right? 00:03:56.800 --> 00:03:59.280 Any journeys full of a trip, highs and lows. 00:03:59.360 --> 00:04:08.639 I mean, some of you have been a lot further than Virginia, you maybe been like to the Amazon River, like a like a real adventure, and like full of some sometimes just going to Walmart to get three things. 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:10.159 You're like, that was a journey. 00:04:10.319 --> 00:04:14.240 That was more of a journey than going to the Amazon. 00:04:14.400 --> 00:04:17.360 Um, I've I've been there and tried to pick up three things. 00:04:17.439 --> 00:04:20.240 I know that journey is full of highs and lows. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:21.439 And that's what a journey is. 00:04:21.519 --> 00:04:27.120 And maybe we even roll our eyes at that word, like at this point, like journey, like we're all on a journey. 00:04:27.360 --> 00:04:28.639 How's your journey? 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:33.279 I just, I'm just on a this is my journey, it's not your journey, it's my journey. 00:04:33.439 --> 00:04:42.800 Um but it doesn't mean it's not true, and it doesn't mean that the word doesn't really uh help us put a word on what life is like. 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:48.879 Because life is, even though maybe the words are a little cliche at this point, life is is a journey. 00:04:49.040 --> 00:04:58.160 I mean, it is just filled with these highs and lows, and then we come to this Exodus story, this huge story of these people who were in slavery. 00:04:58.319 --> 00:05:12.240 They get pulled out of slavery, and the army chases them, and God provides for them, and then they're in a desert, and then they get all these kind of rules for life, and then they fail miserably at the rules, and God comes back and loves them again and says, I'm still with you. 00:05:12.480 --> 00:05:16.639 And just a huge, epic story. 00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:30.240 And so, point number one is so I'm I'm looking at this this week, this this Exodus 40, and I'm looking at this very final passage of this book, but I'm also thinking about the entire story. 00:05:30.560 --> 00:05:35.839 So this is sort of like a sermon on this text, but also sort of a summation sermon. 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:41.120 Point number one is this this story wants you to see that it's all a journey. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:43.199 I mean, this is what it wants you to see. 00:05:43.360 --> 00:05:46.480 He even says that in verse 36, throughout all their journeys. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:50.399 Let me reread the text just so we get refamiliarized with it again. 00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:55.279 Uh jumping in at verse 34 of chapter 40, then the cloud covered the tent of meeting. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:05:57.680 So Moses had built the tabernacle, and all that was finished up. 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:04.240 So then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:11.839 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:18.399 Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. 00:06:18.560 --> 00:06:23.839 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:29.759 For the cloud of the Lord, and if you've noticed, it's the cloud is mentioned in every single verse. 00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:41.680 Verse 38, for the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys. 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:50.160 So several things jumped out to me, and that is first this idea of journey that they've been through a lot. 00:06:50.639 --> 00:06:54.079 And they're gonna go through a lot if you know more of their story. 00:06:54.240 --> 00:06:56.240 I mean, that they keep going through a lot. 00:06:56.399 --> 00:06:58.959 It is filled with highs and lows. 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:00.959 And if you remember where they came from, right? 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:10.800 That Egypt, when they were in slavery, and if you remember what they were doing at the beginning of this, 40 chapters ago, what they were doing is they're making bricks. 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:11.600 Right? 00:07:11.759 --> 00:07:13.680 And we talked about this for so many weeks. 00:07:13.759 --> 00:07:21.120 So they were making bricks all day, every day, in the hot sun, they had a certain quota and they made brick after brick after brick. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:33.439 They've been doing it for generations, and the conditions were getting harsher and harsher and harsher, and every day they woke up and they had a quota, and they had to meet that quota, and the quota was always a little more than they could perform to. 00:07:34.480 --> 00:07:38.959 And so they were exhausted, and then when they didn't perform up to it, they were beaten. 00:07:40.000 --> 00:07:43.040 And they did this every day over and over and over again. 00:07:43.199 --> 00:07:45.680 The text says that they had so difficult. 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:48.000 They had bitter cries. 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:53.680 You have to live up to the quota, and the demand never ends. 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:57.040 And then you actually get these Ten Commandments later in the story. 00:07:57.279 --> 00:08:01.680 I mean, they're such great, I mean, good moral guidelines. 00:08:03.120 --> 00:08:05.680 And even that proves to be impossible for them. 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:07.120 I mean, it's not long after that. 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:09.519 They go and build this golden calf and break three of the commandments. 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:14.800 I mean, even if even that, while while it was a good thing for them, they can't live up to it. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:19.920 See, the demand was always greater than they could perform. 00:08:20.879 --> 00:08:22.240 Anyone know that feeling? 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:27.680 You know that feeling from being in church or in your workplace or from being in the gym or being in school? 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:31.600 Do you know that feeling of being in friendships or relationships or social status? 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:37.759 And the demand is always greater than you can perform unto, and then you get exhausted underneath it? 00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:51.840 It's that feeling that I'll never be able to live up to that list or that ideal, to that measure of influence, or that measure of the ideal body or the ideal, whatever. 00:08:52.159 --> 00:09:03.120 It can be that feeling that I will never get better, this will never get better, this condition, this situation, that my journey will never change. 00:09:04.159 --> 00:09:05.519 That is all demand. 00:09:06.080 --> 00:09:07.360 Without relief. 00:09:08.000 --> 00:09:14.399 And so, what we said 32 sermons ago, I went back and I looked at the very first sermon of this book. 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:34.639 32 sermons ago, this is what we said, that this book becomes the great picture in the scriptures of what life is like when you're owned by something, or you're trying to escape from something, or you're trying to self-deliver from something. 00:09:36.960 --> 00:09:38.480 You're not looking for a savior. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:47.759 You're not you're not looking for grace, you're looking for your own saving, your own effort to get yourself out of this brickmaking. 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:56.399 And that this story reveals that we need an outside, an outside source of saving. 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:01.360 So back to the text. 00:10:01.519 --> 00:10:09.519 Two ideas have jumped out to me this week as I've been learning about these two different words: Israel and Egypt. 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:17.759 So in 36a, that phrase throughout all their journeys, and then the name of these people is written Israel. 00:10:17.919 --> 00:10:24.559 So here's here's in Hebrew, uh, well, in throughout the Old Testament, we have we have Israel, the land of Israel. 00:10:24.879 --> 00:10:34.480 We have uh the people of Israel, and then you have this guy, Jacob, who's, if you remember, you know some Bible, his name is changed to Israel. 00:10:35.200 --> 00:11:08.159 And what happened with him was he stole his brother's birthright and he goes off and he's like he's off like running around, and then he has this interesting thing that happens in Genesis where he's he's out in the wilderness and he wrestles with like some sort of angelic being is a bit mysterious, he's a little bit of a crazy story, and he's wrestling with this angelic being, and after this, his name is changed from Jacob to Israel because that's what the text says, because he has struggled and wrestled with the divine. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:15.120 So this name Israel is is is wrapped up in the understanding of struggle. 00:11:15.519 --> 00:11:29.360 And I'm learning this this week, and then I'm thinking about the Exodus story, and I'm thinking about these people, Israel, and thinking about them in slavery, and I'm thinking about them coming out of slavery, and even once they're out, even once they get the Ten Commandments, you think, oh, smooth sailing. 00:11:29.440 --> 00:11:33.440 Like things are gonna be good, and it's still struggle. 00:11:35.279 --> 00:11:36.720 And this is good news. 00:11:36.960 --> 00:11:38.320 This is actually good news. 00:11:38.399 --> 00:11:49.279 That being a child of God embraces struggle, this is actually really good because it's not really pessimism and it's not cityism, it's just reality. 00:11:51.200 --> 00:11:53.200 That you are imperfect. 00:11:55.600 --> 00:11:57.440 That we live in an imperfect world. 00:11:58.080 --> 00:11:59.360 We don't have to ignore that. 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:03.919 We don't have to pretend like it's not that way, we don't have to try to escape from it. 00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:14.559 We can actually finally be free to not pretend like it's anything except what it is. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:18.159 That it's a struggle. 00:12:19.440 --> 00:12:31.679 That we struggle with ourselves, we struggle with what's going on inside of us, we struggle sometimes with our behavior, we struggle with other people, we struggle with our families, we struggle with our kids, with our parents, we struggle with friendships, we struggle with what we're gonna do with our lives, that it's that it's it's a struggle. 00:12:32.320 --> 00:12:32.639 Right? 00:12:32.799 --> 00:12:36.639 I mean, we walk through fire and we acknowledge it. 00:12:36.799 --> 00:12:39.360 Even if we don't understand it, we can acknowledge it. 00:12:39.600 --> 00:12:42.240 We face tough questions, we may not get the answers to. 00:12:42.320 --> 00:12:45.759 We acknowledge hurt and shame and doubt and all of our brokenness and imperfections. 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:57.600 We feel, we can feel our sin, we can actually uh face it, we can actually feel our shame and face it and not ignore it or escape from it or just pretend like it's not there. 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:03.679 See, this is what it means to say I'm a child of God and struggle is a part of it. 00:13:04.240 --> 00:13:09.200 And that's not shamed and pushed away, it doesn't mean you're less mature. 00:13:11.519 --> 00:13:13.120 Yes, Israel. 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:15.200 Yes, struggle. 00:13:15.840 --> 00:13:16.639 Struggle. 00:13:17.360 --> 00:13:22.159 This story tells us that we will always be struggling. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:28.799 But listen, your your problem is not when you're struggling. 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:34.080 Your problem is actually when you're not struggling. 00:13:35.279 --> 00:13:37.759 See, if you're not struggling, now you got a problem. 00:13:39.039 --> 00:13:44.080 Because that means you're you're ignoring something, you're escaping from something, you're numb to something. 00:13:44.399 --> 00:13:48.000 I mean, if you're alive, you're struggling with something. 00:13:49.919 --> 00:13:50.480 Some measure. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:59.039 It doesn't have to be huge, it doesn't have to be paralyzing, it doesn't have to be like, you know, just you know, totally smothering joy, but there will be some wrestling. 00:14:00.399 --> 00:14:10.399 It means you're in recognition that what's going on in you and around you, and then, then, then, then, then we see our need. 00:14:11.279 --> 00:14:12.720 Then we see our need. 00:14:13.600 --> 00:14:16.159 That we actually need God's grace to us. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:19.519 We need his grace and we need his care. 00:14:19.759 --> 00:14:25.120 So all week I've been driving around, walking around, I've been thinking about the journeys we are on. 00:14:25.919 --> 00:14:29.120 And some of you, maybe some of you are in a bad job. 00:14:29.360 --> 00:14:33.039 I mean, the kind of job that you start to dread at about 3 p.m. 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:36.240 Sunday afternoon, thinking about Monday morning. 00:14:37.919 --> 00:14:52.480 Maybe you're wondering about some sense of purpose for your life as you just feel like you have none, or when will we ever get any measure of peace or a bad relationship, or maybe you're wondering about when marriage will finally get easy, or when marriage will finally happen. 00:14:52.799 --> 00:14:54.720 Maybe somebody's broken your heart. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:00.000 To the degree that you just wonder if you can, can you keep going? 00:15:01.679 --> 00:15:04.240 Maybe you're on a journey of doubt. 00:15:04.799 --> 00:15:14.240 And you've never done that before, and you're deconstructing past beliefs, and you're not even sure if you're allowed to do that, and that that's a current journey for you. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:21.600 Maybe you're on a journey of personal worth because somebody told you something at some point about who you are and what you aren't. 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:26.240 Maybe that tape is replaying of that thing. 00:15:28.080 --> 00:15:31.679 That thing you did, and is that shame, and is that guilt? 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:37.600 We're all on a journey. 00:15:40.000 --> 00:15:42.639 And the story is saying he hasn't left you. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:45.679 He isn't finished with you. 00:15:46.080 --> 00:15:48.080 See, this is what the glory cloud is about. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:54.399 I say all that to get to this, to say, this is what the glory cloud in this text is about. 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.879 It's in every verse. 00:15:58.080 --> 00:16:03.840 Present by day, and it's about God's presence and guidance. 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:11.919 So when I left for the airport to go up to Virginia, I was in Decatur at a hospital in Decatur. 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:16.480 We had a church family, a little baby who had open heart surgery. 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:21.840 You want to talk about people who desperately want guidance and care, right? 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:23.759 Not from me, but from God. 00:16:23.919 --> 00:16:29.200 Like their baby is going, you know, having open heart surgery. 00:16:31.039 --> 00:16:32.639 And I leave there and I'm in Decatur. 00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:33.840 You ever been to Decatur? 00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:38.879 Decatur's cool, but man, I mean, you can't, you don't know where to, where do I get to go expressway from Decatur? 00:16:38.960 --> 00:16:40.320 Like, you're like, Do I do I get to the airport? 00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:41.759 I go through Atlanta, do I go to 85? 00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:42.639 Do I go to 285? 00:16:42.720 --> 00:16:44.000 You're like, how do I get out of this? 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.200 I have I need some guidance. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:48.720 And so, of course, you know what I you know, I waze it, right, David? 00:16:48.799 --> 00:16:49.679 Me and David love Waze. 00:16:49.919 --> 00:16:50.960 Anybody else waising? 00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:52.000 Waysing. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:53.039 I call her Wanda. 00:16:53.120 --> 00:16:56.240 I don't know what your name is for Wanda Waze, is what Krista and I call her. 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:00.879 So I pull Wanda up and she takes me here and there, and then I'm at 285, and it's like, that was brilliant. 00:17:01.039 --> 00:17:02.799 I would have never gone 285. 00:17:02.960 --> 00:17:05.920 I get a little pumped about how Wanda helps me out. 00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:07.119 So she guides me, right? 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.039 I mean, so she handles it. 00:17:09.200 --> 00:17:13.440 And I get there, and my friend Matt had told me, he had given me guidance about parking. 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:17.680 And I mean, I'll take guidance for anything, like any little tip to make something a little bit better. 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:20.880 And he had given me, he's he told me exactly where to park in the economy. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:28.000 He's like, I'm telling you, man, like I'm telling you this row every time, guaranteed. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:31.039 As he flies on, I'm like, I'm not quite sure if I believe you. 00:17:31.119 --> 00:17:34.559 And I pull in, I head straight to this row, perfect. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:35.680 I'm not telling you the row. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:38.799 I'll be honest, I'm not telling anybody where this row is. 00:17:38.960 --> 00:17:39.920 It was fantastic. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:42.400 It pulled right in, wonderful, right? 00:17:42.480 --> 00:17:44.079 Just to have the guidance. 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.359 Go into the airport, get on the train, the plane train, right? 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:48.319 We know the plane train. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:50.720 So I get on the plane train and I look around. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:52.400 Same thing that happened a few weeks ago. 00:17:52.480 --> 00:17:58.559 If you remember, I was at the playground, everybody's on their phones, I look around on the train, everybody's on their phones. 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:00.319 And I'm self-righteous as you get. 00:18:00.480 --> 00:18:02.480 So I'm like, I am not getting on my phone. 00:18:02.559 --> 00:18:12.160 I'm gonna prove to all these people who do not care about me or what I do that I can be on this train and not be on my phone, and I'm gonna prove it to them, although they don't care. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:15.839 They're not looking at me, but I'm self-righteous enough, I'm gonna put it on them. 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:19.200 I'm really gonna show them this can be done. 00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:20.640 Although I want to check my phone. 00:18:20.799 --> 00:18:21.440 I'll be honest. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:23.119 I really wanted to. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:25.039 I'm standing there and they're on their phones. 00:18:25.279 --> 00:18:29.680 I'm like, oh man, I'd really like to be on my phone, but I'm so self-righteous. 00:18:30.079 --> 00:18:32.319 I'm gonna put it on them that this can be done. 00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:33.200 And so I don't. 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:36.880 I don't check my phone until I get to the gate and then I check everything at the gate. 00:18:37.680 --> 00:18:38.000 Right? 00:18:38.160 --> 00:18:44.720 And I get there, I get to the gate, and I, you know, I check some different stuff and check some weather, what the weather's gonna be like. 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:46.480 I feel all settled, right? 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:49.599 I mean, like with with with ways and with weather. 00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:51.200 It makes you feel very settled. 00:18:51.279 --> 00:18:52.720 Like you've been you've been guided, right? 00:18:52.799 --> 00:18:54.960 This is feeling we do we all do it, right? 00:18:55.519 --> 00:19:01.759 You go to Amazon to buy a new hairdryer and you read 80 reviews, right? 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:03.920 Just because you want guidance, right? 00:19:04.799 --> 00:19:11.359 I mean, if we walk into a store to buy a hairdryer, we're stressed out because we need some guidance about the best one, right? 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:14.400 We all want some guidance. 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:20.640 We're constantly looking for some guidance because we're all more fragile than we want to admit. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:28.480 And I can tell you something, I've had enough lunches and counseling sessions, some for me and some with other for other people. 00:19:28.880 --> 00:19:34.480 Um coffees to know none of us really have our acts together. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:36.079 None of us. 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:40.240 Some of us are better at dressing up. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:43.119 That's the real difference. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:47.519 We're all wanting guidance. 00:19:47.920 --> 00:19:54.559 We are dying for some guidance because we so badly want to control the future. 00:19:58.240 --> 00:20:00.160 It's mentioned in every verse. 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:03.039 It's a poetic emphasis, is what this is. 00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:08.880 I'm with you. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:13.759 I'm with you. 00:20:14.400 --> 00:20:15.359 You will struggle. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:17.519 Life will have struggle. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:20.079 And I'm with you. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:25.359 And so point number two is this, and this is sort of a point for this. 00:20:26.000 --> 00:20:27.279 It's also a summation point. 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:29.279 This story wants you to see. 00:20:29.519 --> 00:20:31.680 He is good. 00:20:33.759 --> 00:20:35.359 And you are imperfect. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:39.039 And he is still with you. 00:20:40.559 --> 00:20:45.200 And I think I've said close to that in every sermon that I do this book. 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:48.720 But it's about the most freeing thing you can know. 00:20:50.480 --> 00:20:52.480 So here's a second word is Egypt, right? 00:20:52.559 --> 00:20:55.440 We talked about Israel being struggled, and then there's a second word, Egypt. 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:57.119 This is where they came from. 00:20:58.960 --> 00:21:02.319 And it's the idea of a narrow place. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:07.200 They have come out of a narrow place to a wider place. 00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:12.640 See, leaving is about moving from the narrow place to the wider place. 00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:26.960 I think the imagery for me, at least, the imagery for me, for my heart, is uh a lot of a lot of you might go to the beach this summer, um, you'll get there, you'll unpack your bags in the house, um, you'll walk down the little path. 00:21:27.039 --> 00:21:41.119 Um, there's always maybe some dunes where you're at, and it's it's real narrow, like when you're walking, and you can hear like some really fantastic stuff up there, but you're in this real narrow place, and then you get out, and then it opens up. 00:21:41.359 --> 00:21:52.480 And this is just the imagery that I've been thinking about this week is is is the idea of leaving a narrow, confined place to a broader, more freeing place. 00:21:55.599 --> 00:21:58.559 Verse 35, I think, is an interesting place for us to finish. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.680 Here's what it says and Moses. 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:06.880 Was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the clouds settled on it and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:09.200 So Moses is unable to enter. 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:13.759 So if you remember, he was able to enter God's presence on Sinai. 00:22:13.839 --> 00:22:21.519 So he was able to enter God's presence on Sinai, but now he's unable to enter, and here's the point, and it has everything to do with us, and it's actually really, really great for us. 00:22:22.559 --> 00:22:27.359 God makes the conditions by which he chooses for someone to be connected to him. 00:22:28.640 --> 00:22:36.400 So Moses never entered God's presence by his own means, but by the invitation, the provision of God. 00:22:36.559 --> 00:22:38.000 This is fantastic. 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:43.599 Because what it means is it means it's not based upon your performance, but upon God's performance for you. 00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:45.279 That's what Jesus is about. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:50.079 That we shift faith from our performance to his performance for us. 00:22:50.400 --> 00:23:01.200 This is fantastic news that Moses was invited in, not based on his means, but based on God's choosing of how somebody would come in. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:09.440 Because how God chose was for him to come and go, yeah, yeah, those Ten Commandments, they're great moral guidelines for us. 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:10.400 And you know what? 00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:14.319 You also go build a golden calf like just right after I give them to you. 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:19.039 And you keep, you get some stuff right and you get some stuff wrong. 00:23:19.279 --> 00:23:22.400 And because of that, I'm gonna come and I'm gonna do it all right. 00:23:22.880 --> 00:23:26.880 I will be the person that you never were. 00:23:27.119 --> 00:23:33.359 I will show you, this will be the great sign of humility and love for you. 00:23:33.519 --> 00:23:46.640 And I'll go to a cross, I will be the sacrificial lamb, I'll go to the cross, and my sin and your sin, my sin, your sin, it will be put upon Jesus, and Jesus' righteousness is put upon us. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:23:49.039 So these people started under a cloud. 00:23:49.200 --> 00:23:52.160 Remember, the very beginning of Egypt started under a cloud, right? 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:54.960 Bitter, dark, narrow. 00:23:56.079 --> 00:23:59.119 It's days of darkness and days of shadows. 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:00.640 No hope. 00:24:00.799 --> 00:24:05.359 I mean, the idea of a good journey is so far away from their thinking. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:09.119 And now they're under another cloud. 00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:15.599 But it is so relieving that they still have God's presence. 00:24:16.240 --> 00:24:17.599 You know this feeling, also, right? 00:24:17.680 --> 00:24:19.039 It's the middle of August. 00:24:19.359 --> 00:24:24.640 Your friend invites you over to a backyard barbecue at 4 p.m. 00:24:24.799 --> 00:24:27.519 in the middle of August, and you know his backyard. 00:24:27.759 --> 00:24:29.759 And you're going, this is gonna be miserable. 00:24:29.920 --> 00:24:30.799 There's no trees. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:33.440 He doesn't have a screened porch, there's nothing. 00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:36.319 Like we are going to be standing around sweating. 00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:37.839 It's going to be awful. 00:24:38.079 --> 00:24:49.680 And you know it before you go, and you go and you're standing there and it's partly cloudy out, and you're just sweating, but he's just sipping sweet tea and heaven nice, and you're all talking like it's not miserable, but we're all miserable because it's so hot. 00:24:49.839 --> 00:25:02.000 This is Georgia in the middle of August at 4 p.m., but we're there and we're gonna have fun and we're gonna pretend like we like it, but we're all hot, dripping sweat, and it's partly cloudy, and every once in a while, right? 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:08.480 A cloud comes by, blocks the sun, it's like, oh, relief. 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:13.839 It's that great feeling of relief. 00:25:14.880 --> 00:25:18.799 The grace of God is that cloud. 00:25:19.119 --> 00:25:21.119 Jesus is that cloud. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:24.240 Our relief in a world of demand. 00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:27.200 Your effort is not your relief. 00:25:27.519 --> 00:25:30.559 His effort for you is your relief. 00:25:30.799 --> 00:25:38.960 He is the one that takes us from slavery to freedom, from Egypt to Israel, from the narrow place to the wide. 00:25:40.000 --> 00:25:42.880 So, my brothers and sisters, I have a question. 00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:50.880 Where is the place in your heart that you need God to deliver you from the narrow place to the wide? 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:55.039 May you always see you need an Exodus and a Savior. 00:25:55.200 --> 00:26:00.720 May you live peacefully under the sufficient cloud of Jesus even in the struggle. 00:26:00.880 --> 00:26:02.400 Let's pray together. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:24.640 God, thank you that while we are imperfect sinners, self-bent, loving to save ourselves by secular means, by religious means, by our own pride, by comparison, you still love us. 00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:26.880 You never give up. 00:26:28.400 --> 00:26:30.480 That you are our redeemer. 00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:37.680 Help us to see in greater ways that we cannot redeem ourselves, we cannot live up to the law. 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:40.400 But it breaks us. 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:43.119 And we need you. 00:26:44.559 --> 00:26:46.240 There's so many of us. 00:26:49.599 --> 00:26:52.240 There's so many of us who are trying to self-deliver. 00:26:53.839 --> 00:26:58.079 Stuck in narrow places, but unsure how to ever get out of them. 00:27:00.160 --> 00:27:03.359 And God, we need you. 00:27:04.880 --> 00:27:20.240 And God, I pray that in great ways you would continue to move us to places of freedom where we are not depending upon our effort to feel secure with you, to feel righteous today. 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:24.079 But would we rest greater in Jesus' sacrifice? 00:27:24.240 --> 00:27:26.480 Would we rest greater in Jesus' righteousness? 00:27:26.640 --> 00:27:32.640 Would we rest greater in the covenant that you have forever sealed in the work of Jesus on our behalf? 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:39.200 That we would be at rest and our lives would give great, great glory to this work. 00:27:39.839 --> 00:27:41.680 We pray all things in Christ's name. 00:27:41.839 --> 00:27:42.240 Amen.