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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
In Exodus 6, the people of Israel are too bitter and broken to believe. Sometimes we can be too. But the gospel takes us from grumbling, “God, why have you done this to me?” to gratefully exclaiming, “God, why have you done this for me?” Listen to the sermon to learn more about the Savior who takes bitter and broken hearts and makes them whole again.
It’s the best time of year! What better way to celebrate the birth of Christ than by singing loud for all to hear.
This Sunday at 6pm, we’ll gather in the heart of French Park to sing carols, spread Christmas cheer, and welcome our neighbors into a night of community. We’ll serve up some hot chocolate, enjoy sweet treats, and extend an invitation for our neighbors to join us at church on Christmas Eve.
Here’s how you can get involved:
Invite Santa Ana neighbors, family, and friends to an evening of Christmas festivities! We’ve got songs to sing, cookies to eat, and the joys of the season to share with them! You can send out the digital invite linked here.
Along with extending an invitation, consider ways you’d like to get involved, either with setup, joining the choir, or bringing a batch of cookies. Contact us here to sign-up.
In Exodus 5, Moses arrives in Egypt, marches into Pharaoh's palace, and says "Let my people go." The time for salvation has come! The people are ready to be delivered! The mumbling, reluctant, former shepherd of Midian finally obeys God’s call…and it all seems to backfire. Pharaoh responds to the request for the Israel’s freedom by laying even heavier burdens upon them. The work gets harder. Their treatment becomes harsher. And they seem more enslaved than ever! So why does God write the story this way? Why in Exodus 5 and in the stories of our lives do things get worse before they get better? As we follow God’s call and obey God’s will things often become messier, more complex, and more difficult than they were before. Causing us to cry out, “O Lord, why?” “Why is it so hard?” “Why did I ever bother with this?” But God writes the story this way to show us more grace. To prove to us time and time again that where sin, difficulty, trouble, and all kinds of evil abound, grace really does abound all the more.
Oftentimes in stories, the journey is just as important, if not more important than the destination. Now, when it comes to the story of Exodus, the destination is pretty important! This thing is going somewhere! It’s not just about Moses finding himself along the way. God’s salvation is breaking into the world! That said, in stories, in Scripture, and in life - journeys matter. They are meant to teach us, shape us, and prepare us for the destination we’re headed toward. In Exodus 4:18-31, Moses’ journey back to Egypt is purposeful and preparatory for what he’ll experience in Egypt. It helps to shape our stories as well. Teaching us to finish well as we move from one chapter to another, to put God's promises in our pocket and take them with us as we go, to be faithful even in the littlest of things, and, most importantly, to worship even while we're waiting to get to where we’re going.
