EXODUS 15:1-21

When the people of Israel came upon the Red Sea shore, they must have been like astronauts returning to earth. The ordeal they suffered in Egypt is finally behind them. Life in the Promised Land is before them. They fall down to their knees and kiss the ground under their feet. But then, they look up and direct their gaze beyond where astronauts have ever gone. They turn their eyes to heaven and they raise a song to God. This moment in the story teaches us that we should sing too. Not that this text is really about singing. This text is about God. But what this text tells us is that when you see God for who he really is, you can’t help but sing.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

STAND BACK, KEEP SILENT, AND SEE GOD’S SALVATION

Just when Israel thought they were done with Egypt, they realize that Egypt is not done with them. In Ex 13:17-14:31, Pharaoh makes one last stand. Pursuing the people to the edge of the Red Sea. Leaving them with their backs against the wall. Stuck between a hostile army and the deep blue sea. Death is before them. Death is behind them. And the people have no idea what to do. What should we do when we’re struck with fear like this? When life seems beyond us? When we realize we’re in a fight we just can’t win? Moses tells us the only thing we can do: stand back, keep silent, and see God at work. Because salvation is the Lord’s. Our help comes from the Lord. Our every battle belongs to the Lord.

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BY RETELLING AND CELEBRATING

Immediately after getting out of Egypt (11:1-12:42), the Book of Exodus provides instructions for how to celebrate the story of getting out of Egypt (12:43-13:16). Every year the people of Israel were commanded to keep the Passover and Feast of the Unleavened Bread. Telling and re-telling the story of their rescue. This reveals just how prone to forget we are, even when it comes to the most important things. Even more, it reveals the goodness of our God. Because he not only redeems us, but helps us to remember it. He does so by giving us a story that comes with sacraments. Visible, tangible, experiential means to immerse ourselves in all he’s done for us. He commands his people to partake of them together and pass the story on from generation to generation.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

ISAIAH 55

We're all spending our lives on something. But on Sunday we learned from Sal Valenzuela, church plant resident at Cross of Grace El Paso, that the best things are offered without money and without price. In Is 55 God throws a party. He invites those who are wasting their lives on what will never bring them life. He welcomes the poor who have nothing to contribute to the meal. He opens wide his doors to those who could never earn or afford the blessings he provides. But this seems too good to be true! How could he give all this to people like us? Because another has already paid the price. Jesus Christ has shed his precious blood to secure our seats at this table. Today, he's risen, reigning, and inviting us to come and eat the very bread of life and have our thirst quenched by living water that will truly satisfy. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

EXODUS 11:1-12:42

It's time for the 10th and final plague. The knockout blow in the fight against Pharaoh and all the powers that stood behind him. But this blow lands differently than all the others. Because, for the first time, it lands on Israel too. This plague involves them in a way none of the previous have. To teach them - and us - that freedom comes at a price. That the only ones whose chains are getting broken are those who are covered by the blood.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

COLOSSIANS 3:1-4

This Sunday, we were joined by our dear friend, Kyle Houlton from Sovereign Grace Church of Orange. He pointed out that while we’re all living, everyone wants to be even more alive. We all want an ideal life. So where do we get it? What does it look like? What shape does it take on when it’s lived out? The answer is Jesus Christ. The One who is not just some kind of life dispenser, but who is himself our life. If we’ve died to sin and been raised with Christ, the only life we have now is the life of Christ in us. Which means that the way to be most alive is get more and more of Christ. Striving to make all that is precious to him precious to us. Increasingly taking on his shape so that all that displeases him affects us in the same way. Eagerly waiting for that day when the One seated at the right hand of God in heaven returns to this earth and our ideal lives are fully realized.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

ACTION THAT SEIZES OUR ATTENTION & SHAPES OUR HEARTS

We come to the most familiar part of the Exodus story: the plagues upon Egypt. It’s the great action sequence of the story. Images of blood, destruction, and power from on high in our minds. Undrinkable waters, devastated farm lands, the death of livestock, and darkness reigning over Egypt. All this is true. All this is real. All this is what God did back then. But why did he do it? Why 10 plagues and all that came with them on the way to breaking his people out of slavery? Unlike so many stories today, does all this “action” mean anything? God could have said the word and shattered the chains that bound them. He could have done things any other way - he is the potter and the whole world is his clay! Yet, he chose to write the story like this to teach us something significant about who we are, the universe we live in, and the whole purpose of it all. He wants us to see the dead-end road of any man who resists his Maker. How much better a Savior he is than anything else we could trust in. The worship that we - and everyone and everything else - was made for. This is the purpose of the plagues. 

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

SO LET YOUR HEART GO OUT TO HIM

As we head into a new year, we need to make sure we don’t lose sight of the Christmas Jesus. It’s one thing to believe that he was born into this world for sinners like us back then. But it can be another thing to believe he’s still just as willing to draw near to the strugglers we are right now. Then, he was humble, gentle, and approachable by people like us. But now he is enthroned in glory, surrounded by angels, and seemingly distant, out of reach, and unapproachable by people like us. Hebrews 4:14-16 reassures us that Jesus took on flesh and never took it off again. Meaning, that he became and always remains the God-man. The Savior who fully embraced our human nature. The Savior who invites us to come to him with our every human need. All with the confidence that there’s no place in our lives that Jesus won’t go out to us, because there’s no place he hasn’t already gone for us.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

SPIRITUAL REPRESENTATIVES IN A SUPERNATURAL DUEL

We’re all looking for someone to stand in for us. To go for us. To represent us. Someone who will step into the dark and scary places on our behalf. To face down our fears. To make the villain of the story easier to deal with. Deep down, we’re all looking for a priest who can offer a sacrifice that will make everything okay. In Ex 6-7, that’s just what we see. It’s a battle of the priests. Moses and Aaron vs. the magicians of Egypt. Two old priests and a wooden stick against the king of the world and all the powers of darkness that stood behind him. Looking forward to that one perfect priest who’d take the fight to Satan on a wooden cross.

LISTEN TO THE SERMON HERE

BY SINGING LOUD FOR ALL TO HEAR

This Sunday evening, we hosted our third annual Carols in the Park - and what a joy it was! Church members and neighbors gathered together in French Park for a night of singing classic songs, sharing warm drinks and sweet treats, and celebrating the holiday season. We enjoyed community, welcomed our neighbors to join us for Christmas Eve, and worshiped Jesus Christ - the One who was born to bring us into his joy forevermore!

Thank you to all who served us by singing in the choir, bringing cookies and drinks, and setting up the event! Relive the celebration by scrolling through some photos from the night.