Where's God? Finding Him in the Small Stuff

Moses was called by God to a burning bush that was not actually burning.  That will get your attention! Actually, all three persons of the trinity Godhead were present at the burning bush!  The Lord says He "knows" and "remembers" His people in Egypt.  What does that mean? Moses said, "I have become a stranger in a strange land." What did he mean? And what was it about life in Egypt for the Israelites that moved God to rescue them through Moses?

After Moses struck and killed an Egyptian slave master, he spent 40 years in the wilderness of Midian tending sheep. Why was it necessary for Moses to be there for so long?  How did God need Moses to change before God could use Moses to free His people from slavery?  What was the difference between the pre-Midian Moses and the post-Midian Moses?  How is the change in Moses identified by the language used in Exodus chapter 2?

Moses had been living in the Egyptian royal palace forty years when he decided one day to go check on the Hebrew slaves. Within hours, he had killed an Egyptian man who was a slave master. Moses' actions make us ask several questions. Why did Moses "look this way and that" before he sprang into action? Why was he so frightened by what he had done, and why did he hide the body? When Moses returned to the scene of the crime the next day, what kind of reception did he expect from the Israelites? And why was Pharaoh so angry when he found out what Moses had done? Lots of answers, some of which may surprise you, coming up in this episode!

As we read Moses' birth narrative, we are introduced to some very interesting people. In Exodus, chapter two, we will learn about Miriam, Moses' sister, and the role she played in his early life. We will wonder why Pharaoh's daughter, who pulled Moses from the Nile, let a Hebrew woman nurse him (instead of hiring an Egyptian). We will be amazed by the "rest of the story"" of Pharaoh's daughter's later life. And we will try to determine who gave Moses his name. This episode is all about the women in Moses' early life!

After Moses was born in Egypt, he was placed in a small basket, (or "ark") by his mother and placed in the Nile. She was trying to save him from the edict of Pharaoh which ruled that all male babies born to Israelite mothers should be drowned. How was Moses' ark similar to Noah's ark? Eventually, Moses was rescued by Pharaoh's daughter who snatched him out of the river. Did Moses' mother intend for him to be found by Pharaoh's daughter, or was it just a "God thing," or both?

When Pharoah commanded that all male babies born to Israelite women be thrown into the Nile and drowned, head midwives Shiphrah and Puah chose to disobey. When asked about it by Pharoah, their response served to further objectify the Hebrew women in his eyes. Even though Pharoah had Plans A, B and C to try to stunt the growth of the Jewish population in Egypt, they all failed. What were those plans and why were they unsuccessful?

As the book of Exodus opens, the Israelites find themselves in a predicament in Egypt. Once seen as a blessing by the Egyptian people and Pharoah, they are now feared as a blight, because their small group of immigrants has mushroomed into a nation which outnumbers the Egyptians themselves. As a result, a new Pharoah makes a ruling that all male babies born to Hebrew women should be drowned in the Nile. But Pharoah did not know that the two midwives who oversaw those childbirths had other ideas!

As we start a new series about Moses and the role he played in God's plan to deliver the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, we look at a bit of history. How did the Jewish people end up in Egypt in the first place? What did the Egyptians think of them from the beginning? And what promises did God make to their forefathers about bringing the Jewish people back to the Promised Land someday? During this series, we will learn some new things about Moses as we follow him from his tenuous birth, to the burning bush, across the parted sea, and o the top of Mt. Sinai.

Jesus made a couple of bold statements to His disciples as He was talking to them about Him being "I AM the Vine." He said, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given to you." Was that a promise? A guarantee? He also said, " This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." In practice, that requires us to be able to "point and prove" in our lives. Perhaps the most incredible thing Jesus said, though, was "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." How could Jesus have been "joyful" in that moment, just a few hours before He would be arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane? Have you ever thought of Jesus as a man of joy, when we so often refer to Him, instead, as a "man of sorrows, acquainted with grief?"

Jesus said that the "branches" which do not abide in Him will "wither" and be "thrown into the fire and burned." That's a lot of symbolism right there! What is His message to us as Christians? Does it mean that we might somehow be in danger of losing our salvation and heaven in the bargain? Or, is Jesus saying something completely different? We can find a companion passage in 1 Corinthians which might help us answer that question!

When Jesus said to His disciples, "I AM the Vine," He also spoke of "branches" and "fruit bearing." We know that Jesus is the Vine, and we are the branches as believers. But what is this "fruit?" How are we supposed to "bear fruit" in a way that is pleasing in Jesus' sight? If this is an important part of our life with the Lord, then we should probably know what this is all about!

When Jesus said, "I AM the Vine," He explained to His followers that they would be "pruned" and "taken away" as "branches" of that Vine. But maybe a better interpretation is that they would be "cleansed" and "lifted up." How does that change our understanding of what Jesus was teaching? What does it mean for us as believers today?

What was Jesus doing when He proclaimed, "I AM the Vine?" What relevance did the "Vine" have to Him? What did it symbolize? During this passage, Jesus said that "branches" of the Vine must be "pruned" or "taken away." If those "branches" refer to believers, how does this apply to our relationship with the Lord?"

As the Last Supper was coming to an end, Jesus' disciples were confused and upset. He tried encouraging them by telling them that they knew where He was going and they knew the way. But Peter and Thomas disagreed. Peter said that they did not know where Jesus is going, and Thomas said they did not know the way. Jesus' response was, "I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life." Did that make them feel any better?

The disciples were confused. As they shared the Last Supper with Jesus, He said to them, "One of you is going to betray Me." And then He told them, "Now the Son of Man will be glorified." Those two statements did not go together. And when Peter declared, "I will lay down my life for you," when speaking to Jesus, Peter didn't even know that he had a major problem. It was the same problem that had tripped up Moses.

They had walked with Jesus for three years, learning at His feet, watching His miracles, and devoting their lives to Him. They arrive at the Last Supper expecting it to be like the other Passover meals they have shared with Jesus. Then He says, "One of you is going to betray Me." What? How would you have reacted if you had been one of them? At the end of the meal, they go outside where, John tells us, "It was dark." An interesting comment, don't you think?

As Jesus sat at the Last Supper with His disciples, He knew them well, and He knew which one would betray Him. How did He know? Surprisingly, He knew them because He had watched them, and He had seen something different in Judas. Also in this episode, we will look at a prophecy about Jesus and Judas in the Old Testament, from Psalm 41.

When Jesus confided to His disciples, "I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life," He had just done something rather extraordinary. He had washed their feet before sitting down to the Last Supper. This was a fitting context for the astonishing statement. He was challenging them, and us, to do what He did, with a promise for us if we do.

The people who stood at the tomb of Lazarus had three different reactions when Jesus raised him from the dead. What were they? What made Jesus weep there? What feelings was He experiencing? When Lazarus walked out of that tomb, what did it prove about Jesus?

When Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, there were actually two "resurrections" taking place, as John describes it in his gospel. One Resurrection had a "big R" and the other had a "small r." Which one was which? Jesus also asked a question during this miracle that is one we all must answer for ourselves. And we hear Martha's mature understanding of who Jesus is now, even though she thinks He has disappointed her. A large crowd had gathered at Lazarus' tomb, which was important to Jesus' ultimate purpose.