Messages by Ryan Lenerz (Page 13)
Circumcision Matters
Some parts of the Bible are unsavory and some stories leave us scratching our head. Today’s story about God wanting to kill Moses right after calling him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt is one of those stories. And even stranger, the entire story is centered on circumcision. But with a surprise twist, looking at other parts of the Bible we see that God has always desired a “circumcision of the heart.” What does this mean? It means God…
Moses’ Reluctance
It’s an honor for God to be willing to work through us, yet we so often find excuses to say NO to God. That’s the story of God calling Moses to lead his people out of Egypt, and more often than not, that’s the story of our lives. Let’s learn to instead say YES to God and stop with the excuses!
God’s Plan
God heard the cries of the Israelites due to their suffering under the Egyptian oppression and responded by meeting Moses at a burning bush and telling him the plan to rescue His children. Most importantly, it’s a plan of rescue and victory that still applies to every single one of us.
God’s Man
After fulfilling his promise to create a nation through Abraham, God raises up a man, Moses, to set His people free. This week we look at the early life of Moses from Exodus 2 and see how God prepares us for whatever he calls us to do as well.
God’s Faithfulness
On the surface, the beginning of the book of Exodus appears to be about Pharaoh’s efforts to eliminate the Israelites in Egypt. But behind the text we see God is at work in fulfilling his promise to Abraham, to create a nation of people as numerous as the stars in the sky. And Pharaoh’s actions can’t stop God.
Renewal of All Things
Looking at the world around us, full of hate, injustice, sickness, and war, it’s easy to lose hope. But God promised us that regardless of what we see with our eyes, one day he will restore all our mess into something beautiful and better than we can imagine. His original plan for a perfect world as he created in Eden will one day be restored to all of us who hold onto a hope in the one who promised.
Community Renewal
When we think about Heaven, oftentimes we think about clouds and harps. But when Jesus speaks about the Kingdom of Heaven in the Gospel of Matthew, he speaks of God’s divine authority breaking into our world around us. As followers of Jesus we have the opportunity to join with God’s work in bringing the Kingdom of Heaven to our community.
Church Renewal
God works through the bride of Christ, His church to bring His Kingdom to the community around. As the church, we want to experience a fresh outpouring of the Spirit of God and be willing to be like a flexible new wineskin, open to new ways of doing ministry, as we are filled with the new wine of the Spirit.
Personal Renewal
I believe God wants to do something amazing in our community and in our church this year. But he can’t do any of that through us if we don’t first experience a personal renewal of our faith and our passion for him.
Remember to Look back
Day to day, moving through the busyness of our lives we sometimes fail to see the forest through the trees. Spiritually speaking, in the middle of the chaos of our lives, we can feel like God is nowhere to be found. But if we take a moment to look back, to gain some perspective, and to remember the big story of our lives, we will often see the fingerprints of God at work in our lives.