Today marks the first day that we held our autonomous service under the name of "Voice in the Wilderness Bible Church"
The Episcopal church in our town was gracious enough to allow us to use their facility and most of us were taken back with the simple beauty of the church. I really liked the stained glass windows and being a sunny day today really let the light shine through in their magnificence.
The attendance was rather small, but I wouldn't judge that as a bad sign. This is because we held our service at 2 pm rather than the accustomed 10 or 10:30 am, as we did prior and also many other churches do.
As this isn't what we could call our permanent home so to speak and is just a stop-over in our new journey, I gave a sermon based on parts of Exodus 15, 16, and 17 and the Israelites journey into the wilderness to the promised land.
I think we could all agree that the "world" at large is much like the wilderness as described in Exodus and also in Matthew where Jesus was tempted.
Its so easy to fall prey to the things of the world and not give God His due.
Many of us have done our time in the ways of the world only to find disappointment and dissatisfaction with the ways life takes you, and until we put our trust and our faith in Jesus, it will remain that way.
Part of that process is putting the "Old Way" behind us and live a new way. Jesus' way.
Remember what the people said in Exodus 16:2-3
""Exodus 16:2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,
Exodus 16:3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” ""
The people felt some hardship in their lives and used the excuse that the "Old Times" were better. They were inclined to go back to their old ways when things got tough.
My question would be is the oppressive slavery better than what they are enduring at the present time? And were your pots really filled with meats and bread, because my assumption was that the Israelites were the bottom of the food chain when it comes to the concern of the Egyptians. I would venture a guess that the food they received from their oppressors were meager at best, and only enough to sustain a person so that they could work for them.
As with our new church, we have to realize we are in that wilderness and we have to trust that God will create a path for us to follow.
We need to roll up our sleeves and get to work, Keep our ears open so we may hear what God is telling us, keep our eyes open to see what God is showing us, and most of all trust in the Lord that He will give us what we need when we need it most and on His time , not ours.
The Episcopal church in our town was gracious enough to allow us to use their facility and most of us were taken back with the simple beauty of the church. I really liked the stained glass windows and being a sunny day today really let the light shine through in their magnificence.
The attendance was rather small, but I wouldn't judge that as a bad sign. This is because we held our service at 2 pm rather than the accustomed 10 or 10:30 am, as we did prior and also many other churches do.
As this isn't what we could call our permanent home so to speak and is just a stop-over in our new journey, I gave a sermon based on parts of Exodus 15, 16, and 17 and the Israelites journey into the wilderness to the promised land.
I think we could all agree that the "world" at large is much like the wilderness as described in Exodus and also in Matthew where Jesus was tempted.
Its so easy to fall prey to the things of the world and not give God His due.
Many of us have done our time in the ways of the world only to find disappointment and dissatisfaction with the ways life takes you, and until we put our trust and our faith in Jesus, it will remain that way.
Part of that process is putting the "Old Way" behind us and live a new way. Jesus' way.
Remember what the people said in Exodus 16:2-3
""Exodus 16:2 And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness,
Exodus 16:3 and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” ""
The people felt some hardship in their lives and used the excuse that the "Old Times" were better. They were inclined to go back to their old ways when things got tough.
My question would be is the oppressive slavery better than what they are enduring at the present time? And were your pots really filled with meats and bread, because my assumption was that the Israelites were the bottom of the food chain when it comes to the concern of the Egyptians. I would venture a guess that the food they received from their oppressors were meager at best, and only enough to sustain a person so that they could work for them.
As with our new church, we have to realize we are in that wilderness and we have to trust that God will create a path for us to follow.
We need to roll up our sleeves and get to work, Keep our ears open so we may hear what God is telling us, keep our eyes open to see what God is showing us, and most of all trust in the Lord that He will give us what we need when we need it most and on His time , not ours.
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