Author: Philip

‘Meet the Lord God who brings His people safely through’ (Exodus 14:15-31)

AudioPhilip

The account of Israel’s crossing through the Red Sea is quite stunning. Stuck on the western side of the Sea, crying out to God in anguish and despair, the people of Israel were in desperate straits. Pharoah and his armies had pursued them and all looked bleak…except for God. He had to act and He did – in a most powerful and amazing way – delivering His people through the Sea to safety. It’s good to reflect that when Jesus faced the awfulness of the wrath of God on the cross, He did not seek to please Himself, but when through what was before Him to bring us, His people, to safety.

Message

Outline

  • The thirteenth and last in this series
  • The climax of the story
  • Everything had unravelled!
  • Note how Moses tells us of how God was glorified by…
  1. Encouraging them forward (v.15-18)
  2. Protecting them from behind (v.19-20)
  3. Taking them through (v.21-28)

The Exodus event
God’s intervention!
Rescued!

Footpath construction works ongoing… but all’s okay…

Philip

Forest Street has been a busy place in the last few weeks with ongoing foothpath construction works being carried out the the City of Greater Bendigo… and access to our car park has been ‘off limits’ last week. Thankfully, however, all is in order for access again. Come join us as we meet for worship, learning, Sunday School, fellowship and encouragement at 10:30am on Sunday.

‘Meet the Lord God who saves His people’ (Exodus 14:1-14)

AudioPhilip

In Exodus 14:1-14, the people of Israel who have just departed from Egypt, find themselves in a very, very tricky situation. With Pharaoh and his armies in pursuit of them and impassable mountains to the left and the right, the people (who had been led clearly by God through pillar of cloud and fire) were sitting ducks! Naturally, their reolved and trust in the Lord fell apart. Any hope they had known was now gone. Any trust in the Lord was completely eroded. But God wasn’t finished yet. And all the people had to do was ‘stand still’ and ‘say nothing’ and God would do the rest!

Message

Outline

o The twelfth in this series
o More than exciting history
o Where we were last week
o Note how Moses tells us of …

  1. How the Lord changed their direction (v.1-4)
  2. How Pharaoh changed his mind (v.6-9)
  3. How the people changed their perspective (v.10-14)

Peter’s situation
God’s command to Moses
Salvation!

‘Meet the Lord God who leads His people on’ (Exodus 13:17-22)

AudioPhilip

When the Lord God led His people Israel out of Egypt, there was an ongoing need for the people to be led the right way. They did not necessarily know the way that God was taking them nor was it explained to them. All they knew what that God had a plan for them, and that plan involved leading the people into further trouble. This was not because He wanted to punsish them, but they might see the fulness of his saving power – being fulfilled right before their eyes. And so by night and by day, by pillar of cloud and fire, He led His people along.

Message

Outline

o The eleventh in this series
o A quick recap
o More than exciting history
o Note how Moses tells us of …

  1. God’s providential care for His people (v.17-18)
  2. God’s promise being fulfilled to His people (v.19)
  3. God’s presence with His people (v.20-22)

Predicament
God led them to a place of trial…
The God who is too big to fail!

A mother’s (costly) decision for her son…

Philip

As Mothers’ Day comes around again, it’s good for us to reflect on the story of Hannah, found in 1 Samuel 1:1-28.

Faced with the difficulty of being the second of the two wives of her husband Elkanah (hardly a good situation to be in!) as well as not being able to conceive, this was probably enough for any young woman to either complain bitterly about her circumstances or at least seek the nearest exit from them. But when God granted her prayer and blessed her with a son, Samuel, her life took upon a whole new dimension.

Having desperately prayed for a son, and then being granted that privilege, what would she do with him? And what would she want for him? Maybe lots of options were available to him – including the possibilities of him growing up to be rich or popular, educated or powerful. What would she choose?

The answer is seen in the promise that she made in verse 11, “I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life”, which reaches its fulfillment in verse 28, “Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.” And that’s what she did. She gave Samuel to the Lord that he might serve Him.

Parents, what do you want for your children? Are you willing to make the hard sacrifices in terms of this world in order to ensure that your children end up serving the Lord? It will cost you. It doesn’t mean that you must send your children away to for rigorous learning and training from infancy like Samuel, but it will mean that your lifestyle will come under scrutiny. Serving the Lord is not just taught, it is also caught.

It will also be costly in terms of time, because if serving the Lord is your aim for your children, then surely prayer must be one of the keys that opens doors in that direction. And because prayer takes time and effort, it will be costly to you. You will have to let go hopes and dreams that junior will turn out to meet your expectations – none of that will matter as much as whether or not your child serves the Lord.

What a blessing to be a mother (or father), but also what a responsibility and a challenge this blessing brings! If you are one of those, may God’s grace equip and enable you to be all that you should be.

‘Meet the Lord God who claims a people for Himself’ (Exodus 13:1-16)

AudioPhilip

In Exodus 13:1-16, the drama of chapters 7 to 12 of Exodus have passed by. The people of Israel are now free from the clutches of Pharaoh. Not yet completely free to ‘do their own thing’, but free to serve the Lord their God who led them out of Egypt into the desert regions in the direction of the Red Sea. There, God gave the people of Israel a reminder that they were His, and His alone, and their responsibility in the world was to be just that – His redeemed people for His very own – just like God’s people are today with Jesus as Redeemer and Master.

Message

Outline

o The tenth in this series
o The events of chapters 11 and 12
o Deliverance – more than just getting out of Egypt!
o Note how God delivered the people so that …

  1. They may serve Him (v.1-2, 12-16)
  2. They may live before Him (v.3-11)

The case of Kathleen Folbigg
Blood-bought children…
Coram Deo

‘Hated by the world’ (John 15:18-16:4)

AudioPhilip

In this message, Ryan Smith (AFES worker at La Trobe Uni, Bendigo) shares how as the people of God, believers should expect to be hated by the world… because the world hates Jesus. It’s hate by association. Jesus tells his disciples this in John 15:18-16:4 and he does this ahead of time so that those disciples won’t be surprised and to help them persevere and not give up, either following Him, or sharing Him. It’s what believers today also need to hear and know.

Message

Outline

Are you ever tempted to give up?

  1. Christians will be HATED (15:18-25)
    • The world will hate Christians
    • Because the world hates Jesus
    • Because it doesn’t know God
  2. Even so, Christians must TESTIFY (15:26-27)
    • The Spirit testifies
    • The Apostles’ testifying
    • Our testifying
  3. Jesus says this so that Christians won’t give up! (16:1-4)

So why would you be a Christian?

‘Meet the Lord God who judges but also saves’ (Exodus 11:1-12:51)

AudioPhilip

Exodus 11:1-12:51 details for us the tenth and last of the plagues that came upon Egypt. Of all the plagues this was the one that would really break Pharaoh’s stubborn will and also his father’s heart. The death of the first-born sons all throughout Egypt was a most dramatic event that the people of Israel would forever remember in the Passover feast they would hold every year that would bring themes of redemption through the blood of the lamb and deliverance from slavery to mind – matters that God’s people today see fulfilled through the death of Jesus, ‘our Passover Lamb’.

Message

Outline

  • The ninth in this series
  • Pharaoh’s continued refusal
  • How we got to where we are
  • See how this last (10th) plague …
  1. Involved an increase in intensity (11:1-10)
  2. Required a response of faith (12:1-13,29-32)
  3. Taught of salvation to come (12:14-28,33-51)

The perspective of ‘modern’ eyes
Romans 9:14-18
The (only) way of salvation…

‘Meet the Lord God, the Judge of all the earth’ (Exodus 7:8-10:29)

AudioPhilip

In Exodus 7:8-10:29, the showdown that had been threatening took place. Pharaoh, in his stubborn unbelief and refusal to let the people of Israel go, could only sit back and watch his nation and land be devastated by plague after plague – all designed to show him that he was not calling the shots. While the plagues were long ago, yet they will teach us many things – not only about the danger of unbelief, but also the coming judgement upon the whole world and the need to be safe through trust in Christ.

Message

Outline

o The eighth is this series
o The coming showdown
o How did we get here?
o Consider the first 9 plagues and …

  1. Nine observations about them
    Blood
    Frogs
    Gnats
    Flies
    Disease
    Boils
    Hail & fire
    Locusts
    Darkness
  2. Three questions about them
    Were
    How
    Is
  3. Three lessons from them
    Egypt:
    Pharaoh:
    Israel:
    Black Saturday
    The seriousness of sin
    The book Revelation & the coming wrath & whom to fear…

‘See the Saviour conquer death and the grave’ (Luke 24:1-12)

AudioPhilip

When the women went to the tomb early on the Sunday morning after the death of Jesus, they never expected to find that the tomb would be empty. The fact that the tomb was empty is recorded by all the gospel writers, even Luke in Luke 24:1-12. Perhaps there has never been a more important find of nothing! Because the tomb was empty, the New Testament tells us of some great truths that follow that should uplift the heartsof all God’s people

Message

Outline

• The overgrown tomb
• The story’s not over!
• The most important discovery of nothing!
• Consider how the empty tomb speaks and how it…

  1. Proclaims His divinity (Rom 1:4)
  2. Portrays His victory (Rev 1:17-18)
  3. Prepares our eternity (Rom 8:11)
  4. Previews our immortality (John 15:19)

Has the resurrection been disproved?
‘Pie in the sky when you die’
Hope in an uncertain world!