Welcome to Westside Online!
Please fill out an In-touch card to let us know you’re with us online!
Offering—Thank you for your generosity! Online giving is available in the app and on our website. Offerings can be mailed or dropped off at the church office (Mon-Thu, 8am-noon and 1-5pm)
Walking By Faith Series
The Big Idea: Faith is the decision to trust and obey today based on God’s faithfulness in the past and His promises for the future.
Hebrews 11: Ordinary people who showed extraordinary faith.
The Story of Moses: Faith enables us to make great
“24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel. “By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned.” —Hebrews 11:24-29 (NIV)
Hebrews 11 focuses on Moses’ willingness to leave his life of luxury and fight alongside the suffering.
Moses’ Story
Born In an Era of Oppression—Exodus 1
“12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with harsh labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their harsh labor the Egyptians worked them ruthlessly.” —Exodus 1:12-14 (NIV)
A Time of Genocide — Pharaoh orders the execution of Hebrew babies: Exodus 1:22
Moses’ Early Life — Exodus 2
1. Born into Luxury
2. Left the Palace to Defend his People
3. Fled Egypt to Escape Pharaoh
The Brokenness of the World
The Brokenness of The World for Today’s Graduates:
1. Born in the wake of 9/11
2. Constant Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
3. Great Recession
4. Era of School Shootings
5. Modern Day Slavery—40 million + across the world
6. Income Inequality
7. Global Pandemic
8. Pervasive Racial Injustice
Is this what Jesus had in mind when he prayed for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven?
What can we do to bring Heaven to Earth?
God sees and hears the suffering of his people:
23 Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.” —Exodus 2:23-25 (NLT)
The Burning Bush
God appears to Moses to call him to free his people:
7 The Lord said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. 10 So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” —Exodus 3:7-10 (NIV)
God declares his intention to free his people, but calls Moses to put the plan into motion.
God moves from “I have come to rescue them” to “I am sending you.”
The Big Idea: By faith, we can be the
What If I’m Not Qualified?
11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” 12 And God said, “I will be with you.” —Exodus 3:11-12 (NIV)
Jesus Enters Our Suffering
Moses is a foreshadow of Jesus, who left his life of luxury to fight for the oppressed.
“Jesus, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” —Philippians 2:6-10 (NIV)
Response
- Remember: God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called.
- Remember: God’s plan always works better than our “Great Ideas.”
- Response: Have the faith to answer God’s call, no matter where it leads or what it costs.
Tap here to Respond to today’s message
Let us know if you’d like to commit your life to Jesus, respond in baptism, or request prayers using the in touch card in our app.
Questions? Contact Bryan: (609) 356-3147 or bfojtasek@westsidelife.org.
–
Life Group Questions
- Ask everyone to share about their week—highlights and lowlights.
- This morning’s message was about Moses’ decision to leave life in the palace to go serve alongside his people. What were some of your biggest takeaways from the message?
- What are the important ways that Moses is a foreshadow of Jesus?
- Moses’ parents risked their own safety by violating Pharaoh’s edict because they wanted to protect their innocent child. How does that act of love tie into the theme of Moses’ life and ministry?
- Kyle Idleman wrote book called Not A Fan in which he defined a Fan as someone who admires Jesus from a distance while it is convenient, but a Follower was someone who sacrifices everything to follow Jesus no matter how much it costs. What term best describes your relationship with God right now, and why did you choose that?
- God declared his intention to free his people, but chose Moses to carry out the mission. Brainstorm some ways with your group that God might be calling us to be a light in our world right now.
- Read Luke 9:23-26. What does Jesus need us to know about following him, based on this passage?
- It probably wasn’t popular for Jesus to tell his potential disciples that their lives would be full of suffering. Why did you think Jesus set this expectation for them, and what can we learn from this blunt truth from Luke 9?
- Bryan mentioned the popular quote “God doesn’t call the qualified; he qualifies the called.” Moses didn’t feel capable of leading the people of Israel, but God chose him anyway. What lessons can we learn from this?
- End your time in prayer for our church, our community, and our world. 11.