Omc: Family Chapel

As the Israelites have been safely delivered across the Red Sea and saw their old masters in the waters behind them, they break out into song and worship. As they have just experienced salvation, we now see them celebrate salvation. Much in the same way it was for the Israelites, song and worship is a pivotal part of the lives of God's people as we declare and remember God's victory and deliverance with awe and joy.

After leading the people out of Egypt, God carries out his final act of deliverance to free the Israelites from Egypt: the parting of the Red Sea. Through this passage, we see the Israelites experience salvation in the face of death as they are pursued by pharaoh, by placing their faith in God, through the help of Moses as a mediator. And likewise for us, we experience salvation when we come to the end of ourselves as we put our trust in God through the mediating ministry of Jesus.

God brings forth the final plague to deliver His people out from Egypt. This exodus is a pivotal event of salvation and it sheds light on what it means for God to save His people. We see that salvation means we are rescued from sin through God's merciful provision of a substitute. Salvation means that we are commissioned to a new beginning and called to turn away from our old way of life. Salvation means we are consecrated to God for a life of faithful service. Ultimately, Exodus points forward to the Gospel with Jesus as our true Passover Lamb who serves as our substitute sacrifice, who leads us into a new way of life, and who calls us to serve His Kingdom.

God will wage war against Pharoah and all the false gods of Egypt and bring judgment so that all may know that he is the sovereign God Yahweh. He is the one who will also fully deliver and bring His people out from Egypt as he had promised. As we navigate through the cycle of plagues and Pharoah's stubborn heart, we will see God deliver his people with a mighty hand and outstretched arm. And His deliverance is absolutely powerful, total, and gracious.

Moses moves forward with the call of God on his life, but instead of seeing immediate results, things seem to backfire. Not only does pharaoh reject Moses' call to let the Israelites go, the Israelites themselves start to turn on Moses as they are faced with harsher working conditions. Oftentimes, carrying out God's call on our lives does not go smoothly. But what appears to be "failure" is actually fruitful action as God works through our faithfulness. If we want to faithfully follow through with God’s call even in the face of failure, we need to turn our face to God.

After receiving his extraordinary call from God to rescue the Israelites out of Egypt, we might imagine Moses to be filled with excitement, but Moses is instead filled with dread and doubt. He lists out multiple objections to God's call on his life. But with each objection, God invites Moses to trust in His provision. And in exercising trust, Moses is invited to move forward in obedience. Trust and obey - that's the appropriate response to God's call on our lives.

During his Midian experience, Moses has an encounter with the living God. God reveals Himself to Moses as "I am who I am". Through this encounter we see the God who is utterly holy draw near with compassion and faithfulness to his people. And when we encounter God, not only do we get a clearer picture as to who God is, but we also get a clearer picture as to who we are and to what God calls us to.

In the face of deep despair, there is a glimmer of hope with the birth of a baby boy. Everything about Moses' birth narrative points to the makings of a great hero. However, Moses seeks to take matters into his own hands and carry out God's work in his own way. He ends up fleeing to the land of Midian, where he receives preparation to rightly carry out God's call on his life. If we want to faithfully carry out God's call on our lives, we need to patiently embrace the Midian Experience - the detours of life that lead us into obscurity and humility that ultimately teach us to carry out God's work in God's way.

For this Sunday, we will look at chapter 1 that sets the context and picks up the story of the Israelites in Egypt after many generations have passed from Genesis. Through the oppression of Egypt, the Israelites face bondage and suffering. God will then initiate his plan to deliver his people and fulfill his promise for them. In similar ways to our own story, through Exodus 1 we will explore the bondage that God calls us out from, the suffering we can confidently face, and the faithfulness we can live out in suffering.

While Easter is all about the glorious reality of Jesus' victory over sin and death, we can sometimes grow numb to this wonderful Gospel truth because we forget what this salvation means. Ephesians 2:1-10 reminds us why Easter is so amazing. Before Christ, we used to be spiritually dead in our sins. We were under the power of the world, the devil, and our flesh. But God made us alive together with Christ so that Christ's resurrection and exaltation is our resurrection and exaltation. We receive this gift of grace through faith, and because God has made us alive, we can now live for His glory!

Here in the modern West, many advancements have provided us with a greater measure of control over our lives. But when control becomes an idol, we become deluded into thinking that we are God. Unfortunately, the idol of control leads to crippling anxiety and depressing isolation. The solution to the idol of control is to rest in the One who is actually in control. God is sovereign and He exercises His sovereignty by supervising all things, sustaining all things, and succeeding in all things.

The idol of comfort promises a life of ease where you can enjoy whatever you want without having to make any sacrifices. Unfortunately, the idol of comfort always disappoints. Thankfully, Jesus offers a better way. First, Jesus actually invites us into discomfort in order to carry out his internal work of maturation as well as his missional work of multiplication. Secondly, Jesus provides us with true comfort. Unlike the world's comfort which is flimsy and fleeting, Jesus' comfort brings true peace which calms troubled hearts and casts out all fear because Jesus' comfort comes with Jesus' very presence.

We are starting a new topical series for a few weeks on the "idols of the heart". Through this series, we will explore the things in our lives that can be stumbling blocks to our call of seeking Christ first. For the first teaching, we will be looking at various passages to explore how our Family can actually be a big idol of our heart. Then we will see how Christ frees us by calling us to a greater discipleship. And lastly, how Christ redeems and heals us in our family relationships.

Jesus is the Great "I Am". He is not merely a good teacher or a traveling rabbi, but He is God in the flesh. The eternal God has stepped into humanity so that all who believe in Him would be liberated from sin and enjoy true freedom in Him. The key question is: do you believe who Jesus says He is?

Jesus is the True Vine. As the True Vine, Jesus unites His people to Himself so that they can enjoy true life and bear much fruit. As branches, our role is to abide in Jesus. We can abide in Jesus as we regularly partake in the Word and prayer, as we engage in loving and joyful obedience, and as we love others with Christ's love.

Jesus is the Way. As the Way, Jesus provides exclusive access to our true home with the Father. He opens up the avenue for sinful people to dwell with the holy God through his work on the cross. Since Jesus is the Way, we should know the Way, trust the Way, and walk the Way.

Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. He has defeated our ultimate enemy, death itself. Therefore, we can confidently die to self and experience the power of the resurrection life.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd. As the Good Shepherd, Jesus exemplifies sacrificial commitment for his sheep, enjoys relational intimacy with his sheep, exhibits a missional impulse to find lost sheep, and exercises victorious authority over death to save his sheep. Because Jesus is the Good Shepherd we can wholeheartedly follow after Him.

Jesus is the Door. As the Door, Jesus provides protection in the midst of danger and Jesus provides entrance into a flourishing life. As such, we can take great risks for Christ because we are truly safe in His arms and we can enjoy great rest in Christ because we have true abundance through Him.

Jesus is the light of the world. As the light of the world, Jesus reveals the Father, so that we can rightly understand who God is. As the light of the world, Jesus exposes our sin, and thus lovingly invites us to confess and to repent of our sins. As the light of the world, Jesus leads us out of darkness, so that we have the hope that one day all will be bright and darkness will be no more.