Leading Israel was like herding cats. Moses had over 3 million kids on a road trip who were complaining and asking “Are we there yet?” The hard thing about road trips with little kids is their fussing, fighting and endless questioning. Another hard thing about road trips is taking a wrong turn and getting off the way to the destination. Every road trip includes a destination as well as the trip itself across the terrain. Thankfully we have GPS today – global positioning system – to help us as we travel. In chapter 6 of The Story, we come to the wanderings of Israel as Moses leads them toward the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey.
In Chapter 5, God wants to come down and dwell with Israel. This is the big idea, the big vision of the whole story of God. The trinity of God wants to extend their community to include people. God wants to come down and do life with us. That was the original vision of Genesis 1, and this is what God is desperately wanting to do, in page after page in scripture, chapter after chapter of The Story, he wants to get us back.
The number one barrier between us and God is sin. We all are in slavery to sin. And it is because of sin that the destroyer – death – is coming. We need the blood of a lamb just as the Israelites did. Where will we get it? John 1.29 “Behold, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 5.7, “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” One of the biggest clues in the Story is in the deliverance: the blood of a lamb.
Not only is Chinese New Year the most important Chinese holiday, it is possibly the oldest holiday in human history. It has been dated back to more than two thousand years before Christ. This Sunday, Pr. Chris will look at Chinese New Year and God who draws all men to Himself.
God is at work in the midst of the details of our lives accomplishing his good purposes (Romans 8.28). Knowing that God’s story line is unfolding even in bleak and confusing times allows us to live freely, being able to forgive those who sin against us. God tests us in order to build our faith in him and strong character in us.
This week we are excited to have John Snelgrove return to The Bridge to preach.
In choosing Abraham and Sarah to begin the new nation, God reveals a pattern. God chooses unlikely people who are not the smartest, the most beautiful, handsome or with the best resumes. God chooses ordinary people like you and me. You are not disqualified to be used greatly in God’s great Story. You may reveal God, too, and reflect his plan to win us back.
From the creation story we discover the value of all people. God wants to be with you. Think about that. You. God wants to personally be with you. At great cost to God, God has done everything possible to get you back. You are valuable. True, lasting self-esteem begins by believing what God says about you.
Living as strangers in a strange land, Christians are called to be different, to live humbly. But humility is not a popular nor celebrated trait in the modern world. It's not praised on talk shows nor celebrated in graduation speeches, its not touted as a core value for business. If you go to the self-help section of Dymocks or Page One you won't find many books on humility. The basic reason for this is because humility can only exist in God’s presence. You could say that humility follows God like a shadow. We can expect to find humility celebrated in our modern world as often as we find God celebrated – which means almost never.