Into the Wilderness: Trusting God’s Invisible Hand

• Introduction to Moses Series 00:28:13 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor introduces the new sermon series on the life of Moses, framing it as a 'grand adventure' involving risk and faith, and noting that Moses was used by God despite his flaws.
• Seasons of Waiting and Chaos 00:29:39 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor lists various life situations (hostile culture, job pressure, empty nest, retirement, unemployment) that feel like a 'holding pattern' or 'wilderness' to encourage the congregation.
• God's Invisible Hand 00:30:55 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that God is actively working behind the scenes even when His actions are not visible to the believer, using the metaphor of an 'invisible hand'.
• Biblical Civil Disobedience 00:34:42 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains the midwives' refusal to kill Hebrew boys as an act of 'biblical civil disobedience' driven by fearing God more than Pharaoh, establishing that human authority is not absolute.
• Symbolism of the Ark and Basket 00:38:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor notes the linguistic connection between the Hebrew word for Moses' basket and Noah's Ark, both coated with pitch and tar, suggesting divine symbolism.
• Desperate Faith and Obedience 00:39:51 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes Jochebed's act of placing Moses in the Nile as a 'desperate act of faith' and 'obedience' where she trusted God to bring about a different ending despite the risk.
• God's Sovereignty in Oppression 00:48:09 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor asserts that God works all things for good even amidst oppression, using the example of Israel multiplying despite Pharaoh's efforts.
• Faithful Ordinary People 00:50:10 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor highlights how God uses ordinary people like the midwives, Jochebed, and Miriam who feared God more than Pharaoh, emphasizing that their quiet courage preserved the deliverer.
• God's Preparation through Hardship 00:52:36 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that God's preparation often involves 'unexpected positioning and painful pruning,' contrasting Moses's 40 years in the palace with 40 years as a shepherd to build humility and dependence.
• Personal Application of Setbacks 00:54:12 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor applies the concept of 'palace to desert' to the congregation's lives, urging them to view job losses or relationship endings not as punishment but as preparation for God's next plan.
• God's Preparation vs. Punishment 00:54:59 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor instructs the congregation to view delays or ended relationships not as punishment, but as divine preparation for what is next.
• Personal Wilderness Experience 00:55:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares his personal story of leaving his previous church, entering a 'wilderness' period of uncertainty, and eventually starting a new church in East Naples.
• God's Redirection 00:57:54 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor explains that God's redirection often does not make sense in the moment but is clear in hindsight, citing his own reluctance to start a new church.
• Moses as a Type of Christ 00:58:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor contrasts Moses, who was flawed and could not save, with Jesus, the perfect and sinless deliverer from sin and death.
• Invitation to Salvation 00:59:26 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor issues a direct call to action for those who have not trusted in Christ, emphasizing God's ongoing work in their lives.
• Hidden Faithfulness of Parents/Grandparents 01:00:14 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor addresses parents and grandparents, encouraging them that their quiet faithfulness and influence are building future deliverers.
• God of Second Chances 01:01:29 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor uses Moses' life, including his flight after killing a man and his 40 years in the wilderness, to illustrate that God uses people despite their failures.

• Sermon Illustration 00:33:48 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the historical context of Pharaoh's order to kill Hebrew baby boys and the midwives' refusal to obey, highlighting their fear of God over the king.
• Sermon Illustration 00:37:06 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the story of Jochebed hiding her baby Moses for three months and then placing him in a papyrus basket coated with pitch and tar in the Nile River, emphasizing the tension and fear involved.
• Sermon Illustration 00:40:35 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes the irony of Pharaoh's daughter finding the basket of the baby she was ordered to kill, and how Moses' own sister arranged for his mother to nurse him, illustrating God's providence.
• Sermon Illustration 00:45:08 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts the biblical narrative of Moses being placed in Pharaoh's palace for his first 40 years, then stripped of that status to live as a shepherd in the harsh wilderness of Midian for 40 years, illustrating how God stripped Moses of self-reliance to prepare him for his calling.
• Sermon Illustration 00:55:31 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor shares a personal anecdote about starting over at age 43, leaving his previous church to start a new ministry called 'Leadership Outreach,' traveling 60 nights a year in hotels to help other churches, illustrating the transition from a known identity to a period of obscurity and preparation.
• Sermon Illustration 00:55:52 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor recounts his personal experience of leaving his previous church at age 43, entering a 'wilderness' period of uncertainty, and eventually being called to start Venture Church in East Naples.
• Sermon Illustration 00:57:15 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor describes his initial reluctance to start a new church, praying for God to convince him, and God's subsequent confirmation leading to the church's founding.
• Sermon Illustration 01:02:07 ▶️ 📄
  > The pastor references the biblical story of Moses, specifically his 40 years in the wilderness tending sheep before the burning bush, to illustrate God's timing and preparation.

• Pastoral Charge 00:27:42 ▶️ 📄
  > Applaud the NextGen ministry team and volunteers.
• Pastoral Charge 00:31:13 ▶️ 📄
  > Turn Bibles to Exodus chapter 1, verse 6.
• Pastoral Charge 00:42:06 ▶️ 📄
  > Study the story of Moses and its symbolism independently.
• Pastoral Charge 00:59:26 ▶️ 📄
  > Trust in Christ as Savior and accept God's invitation into a relationship with Him.
• Pastoral Charge 01:01:29 ▶️ 📄
  > Do not give up or quit; trust God and look for His invisible hand in their lives.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[00:00:09] We are here to celebrate and testify of the goodness. Let's put your hands together! The journey of God's faithfulness and goodness. That's one of the reasons I love this song and you know it. Sing with us. It goes like this. Every time you sing this song, there are testimonies of God's goodness and faithfulness all over this room. Out of the beautiful things that God created and all the praise creation brings, there's a song of praise that only you and I

[00:09:24] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:09:24] can sing because god made us to worship him to praise him so we when we come together to worship we are bringing forth a collective testimony of songs of praise to god there's a difference
[00:09:38] between worship and praise praise is your expression it's your testimony it's what happens outward worship is your surrender to posture that's what happens inward worship in praise out that's why the book of psalms the book of praise psalm 40 is david's testimony his story and life
[00:10:01] of praise to god it goes like this it says i waited patiently for the lord he turned to me and heard my cry he lifted me out of this slimy pit out of the mud and mire he set my feet on a
[00:10:17] rock and gave me a firm place to stand. And he put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God and many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Some of you are walking that
[00:10:34] provision right now. Some of you are still waiting for that provision. Some are making new songs of praise to God. I want to remind you that God made you to worship him. There is a song that only you
[00:10:48] can sing even if it's hard right now remember bring to memory the things that give you hope and think about all the things that God has done and praise him and in the faith sing a song of victory man so that's what we're gonna do right now with this song we're gonna
[00:11:08] sing a new song to the Lord where he has made us to worship him so lift your voice and sing to him I am an instrument of exultation And I was born to lift the name above all
[00:11:29] You hear the melody of all creation But there's a song of praise that only I can Who else is worthy?
[00:11:47] Sing who else?
[00:11:48] Who else is worthy?
[00:11:50] There is no one, there is no one, only you Jesus Who else is worthy, that's our response today Who else is worthy, there is no one, only you Jesus

[00:12:12] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:12:12] You are the infinite, God of the ages

[00:12:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_07]
[00:12:19] And now you choose to make my Your dwelling place You healed my broken Your gloom Who else is worthy

[00:12:42] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_09]
[00:12:42] Come on, it's your praise Who else is worthy Is known

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_11]
[00:12:50] Is there Is known I'm eternally grateful because you made the way for us to live eternally with you.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_05]
[00:23:37] So we thank you for that, Jesus.
[00:23:39] We love you.
[00:23:40] We praise you.
[00:23:41] And it's in you.

[00:23:53] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:23:53] Welcome to Venture Church.
[00:23:54] My name is Jamie, and we're so glad that you're here.
[00:23:58] If you're new to Naples or just checking us out for the first time, you picked a great Sunday to be here.
[00:24:02] Stop by the welcome desk in the lobby after the service.
[00:24:05] We've got a gift for you, and our team would love to connect.
[00:24:08] For everything happening at Venture, visit our website or tap your phone on that disc in the seat in front of you if you're here in person.
[00:24:15] The Making Your Case for Christ class kicks off today, and there's still time to sign up for next week in case you missed it.
[00:24:21] It's a six-week class designed to help you talk about your faith and why you believe what you believe in, in a clear and confident way.
[00:24:28] Head over to our website to sign up, and we'll see you next Sunday.
[00:24:32] And the Venture School of Leadership launches its brand new Bible Doctrine Survey class this Wednesday, July 29th.
[00:24:39] If you ever wanted to understand your faith on a deeper level, not just what you believe, but why it actually matters, this nine-week class was built just for that.
[00:24:47] It's part of our two-year VSL program, and we'd love for you to apply.
[00:24:51] Now, for our families, we're always looking for ways to invest in your kids.
[00:24:55] And this fall, we're launching something that we're really excited about.
[00:24:59] Awana Clubs is a midweek program that's helped kids grow in their faith, memorize scripture, and build real friendships for over 70 years.
[00:25:07] Every Wednesday starting August 26, your kids will experience Bible teaching, games, small groups, and community that help them to know and love and serve Jesus.
[00:25:16] We'd love for your kids to register to be there this fall.
[00:25:19] It's open on our website now.
[00:25:21] Last week, about 150 kids ran through these halls at Winshape Camp, and it was incredible to witness.
[00:25:30] They made new friends, played incredible games, and experienced a week of fun, faith, and adventure they won't forget.
[00:25:37] And in the middle of it all, 30 kids said yes to Jesus, and that's worth celebrating.
[00:25:43] None of that happens without your generosity.
[00:25:45] When you give, you make moments like that possible.
[00:25:48] You can give through the Venture app, online, or through the offering boxes around the campus.
[00:25:53] Thank you for giving today.
[00:25:55] Today, we're kicking off a brand new series called Into the Wilderness, a 10-week journey through the life of Moses.
[00:26:02] And if you've ever been in a season where life felt chaotic, slow, or just plain uncertain, today's message was made just for you.
[00:26:10] God is at work even when you can't see him.
[00:26:13] Let's hear from God's word today.

[00:26:14] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:26:14] Good morning, Venture Church.
[00:27:08] So good to see all of you here today.
[00:27:09] what a week this has been at Venture. This place was packed Monday through Friday with kids and excitement and energy. And I just want to say thank you to all of the NextGen ministry team,
[00:27:22] all of the amazing volunteers who made that happen, that made food, that did laundry, that taught kids. It was just an incredible week. 30 kids that attended the camp had no church background at all. 90 of the kids that came, came because folks like you sponsored them and
[00:27:42] took care of them. So I just want to say thank you and let's just give our NextGen team a big hand for the amazing things that happened this week. It was an incredible week. And I'm excited
[00:27:54] about this new series that we're kicking off here this morning into the wilderness, studying the life of Moses. It's just incredible. Life with God is a grand adventure. Amen. I really believe that. It's a major theme in our children's ministry. It's called Adventure Land right
[00:28:13] there on the wall. It says life with God is a grand adventure. We want kids to know that following God is an adventure, but that also involves risk and that, you know, it requires faith and risk is
[00:28:27] not bad it's a normal part of life but that's why we need faith in a world that is very uncertain so today we kick off this series and we're going to explore the life of what I believe is one of
[00:28:40] the greatest leaders in the entire bible not because he was perfect because he wasn't but because God used him powerfully despite the fact that he had lots of flaws the truth is Moses's story is your story and it's my story it's about a God who takes an ordinary person a broken person
[00:29:03] and then uses them he prepares them in hidden ways that they don't even see what's going on he calls them out of their comfort zone and then he sends them into the wilderness for his glory
[00:29:17] and for the good of others this morning we're going to start at the beginning we're going to look at the early years of Moses's life and you're going to see the invisible hand of God at work in
[00:29:28] his life when Moses isn't even aware of it when Moses is oblivious to what's going on yet God is at work and you can see it there let me ask yourself have you ever found yourself in a season
[00:29:39] where everything in life seems chaotic or overwhelming or or slow you ever feel like you're in a any holding pattern like you're in an airplane that just keeps circling the airport but never seems to land. Maybe you're raising kids in a culture that is hostile to faith and it's
[00:30:01] discouraging to you. Maybe your business or your job is under pressure and you're not sure how this is going to work out or where this is going to go from here. Maybe you're navigating a new season
[00:30:14] in life. Maybe you're experiencing the empty nest syndrome and you're not sure what you're supposed to do next maybe you've uh just entered into retirement and in in kind of building a new rhythm into your life and retirement is new maybe you've lost a job and this is just a phase where
[00:30:32] you never thought you would be but you're looking for a job and and that's that's surprising to you maybe you're in just kind of a waiting season that that feels like a a wilderness to you because you
[00:30:43] just haven't clearly heard God's calling you know you're supposed to go somewhere you know something is in your future but you don't yet know what that is well if if any of those is true of you
[00:30:55] I want you to know that God is always at work behind the scenes and that God's invisible hand is doing things that even you can't see and especially when you can't see it but he's
[00:31:13] orchestrating some things if you have your bibles turn to the book of exodus that's where we're going to be. Exodus chapter number one. We'll begin reading in verse six. Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful. They
[00:31:33] multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them. Then a new king to whom Joseph meant nothing came to power in Egypt. Look, he said to his people the israelites have become too numerous for us tom we must deal shrewdly with them or
[00:31:54] they will become even more numerous and if war breaks out we'll join our enemies fight against us and leave the country let's pray heavenly father we come before you this morning and god we want you to speak to us through your word today lord these good folks have come today to
[00:32:13] hear from you not from me so may i fade into the background and god may your holy spirit use the words of scripture to speak to the hearts of your people give clarity some to someone who may need
[00:32:23] clarity comfort to someone who may need comfort father there may be someone here today that just doesn't even know you that god i pray that today perhaps they would have their aha moment when it
[00:32:33] would just make sense for the first time lord we just dedicate the next few moments to you and pray that you would open our eyes our ears and our hearts to the truth you'd have us to receive and
[00:32:42] so god we just humbly just put this before you and god ask you to speak in jesus name amen So the book of Exodus is obviously where the book of Genesis leaves off, but many generations have
[00:32:55] happened since then. Joseph, who was the great hero that saved Egypt from the famine, well, he died a long time ago. And a new king arose who didn't even know Joseph. And the descendants of
[00:33:09] Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, well, the people of God, they multiplied greatly as God had promised that they would but instead of experiencing blessing they experience brutality because pharaoh sees this growing group of israelites who were living in his land as a threat
[00:33:28] so he enslaves them and he oppresses them with hard labor and when that doesn't break their spirit he orders the ultimate evil kill the boys kill the baby boys verse 16 when you are helping the
[00:33:48] Hebrew women during childbirth on the delivery stool if you see that a baby is a boy kill him but if it's a girl let her live what a horrible order what a horrible king what a horrible person
[00:34:03] Pharaoh was thankfully the Hebrew midwives to whom he gave this terrible order they recognized this and they refused to obey the king's command we see that in verse 17 the midwives however feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do. They let the boys live. Then
[00:34:21] the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, why have you done this? Why have you let the boys live? The midwives answered Pharaoh, Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women. They're vigorous and they give birth before the midwives arrive. That's a lie. That's not at all true, you know,
[00:34:42] but it was the story they had you see what these midwives did is called biblical civil disobedience like we're not going to follow what the king says if what the king says violates what god tells us
[00:34:57] to do right why did they do this because they feared god more than they feared pharaoh and their courage reveals a vital truth and that is that human authority is never absolute when our earthly rulers tell us to do things that contradict what God tells us to do we obey God
[00:35:19] civil disobedience that's what it is but it's not out of any kind of rebellion it's out of higher allegiance you know we answer to a higher authority the highest authority verse 20 so God was kind to the midwives and the people increased and became even more numerous and because the
[00:35:37] midwives feared God he gave them families of their own so how do you think that went over with Pharaoh Verse 22, then Pharaoh gave this order to all his people.
[00:35:47] So the first order was just to the midwives, right?
[00:35:50] The first order was, listen, you deliver a baby, it's a boy, you kill it.
[00:35:54] Now he issues a new edict to all the people.
[00:35:59] Every Hebrew boy that is born, you must throw into the Nile, but let every girl live.
[00:36:06] What a land, what a time, so oppressive.
[00:36:10] How fearful that must have been.
[00:36:13] to be living in a time when infanticide was accepted and commanded sadly there are times it sounds like the headlines on our own world where innocent lives are devalued where God's people are pressured to conform or be crushed we see it in the news right in the middle of this
[00:36:36] nightmare though God is at work the invisible hand of God is quietly and sovereignly working out an unbelievable plan and it's incredible as we see this unfold it's just God's handiwork is just outstanding in chapter two we we meet a Levite family a man and a woman man's name was
[00:37:06] Amram the wife's name was Jochebed they give birth to a baby boy and for three months they they hid him they did their best to conceal his cries can you imagine the tension that that would
[00:37:23] be where you have this little baby that is supposed to be thrown into the Nile and you're trying to make it so that nobody else sees nobody else knows I mean clearly they saw Jochebed when she was pregnant now she's not pregnant and so clearly the baby was born and
[00:37:36] the rule of the land is you got to throw the baby in the Nile and she's trying to nurse the baby and keep the baby quiet and not have any screams because a scream could mean that authorities
[00:37:44] are going to come in and grab the baby and throw it in the Nile it was just it was just a scary scary time and so Jochebed she does something she she makes a basket of papyrus and then she
[00:37:58] coat she coats the whole thing with with tar and with pitch now interestingly for those who like trivia there's only two times this word for basket is used this Hebrew word for basket is used
[00:38:12] in the Old Testament one is here when it's talking about this cradle this this little basket that Jacob had made for Moses and the other time is Genesis chapter 6 verse 14 when God told
[00:38:25] Noah to build an ark the word for ark is the same word that's used for basket here both of them used pitch and tar so there's a lot of symbolism there we don't have time to dig into the symbolism
[00:38:37] between those two things but i i find that very interesting so she makes this little arc if you will and she places her baby in the ark and then into the nile verse three but when she could hide
[00:38:50] him no longer she got a papyrus basket for him coated it with pitch and tar then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the nile his sister that's moses's older
[00:39:01] sister stood at a distance to see what would happen to him so I can't even imagine the agony that must have filled Jochebed's heart as she put her little baby boy in this little ark and out
[00:39:14] into the river for three months she had hidden him and nursed him and silenced his cries but the risk now had just grown too great so with trembling hands she takes this little waterproof basket down to the river and it was the same river that had swallowed up countless lives already many
[00:39:38] little Hebrew boys clearly this was not an easy task it was a desperate act of faith that was wrapped in heartbreak we can't even fathom the pain that she must have endured as she did this
[00:39:51] it was just a you know a terrible thing but she had faith that the God who sees everything would somehow intervene and so as she walked away she never knew if she would see her little baby boy
[00:40:04] again she never knew if she would hold him in her arms again and that's the obedience we see of Moses's mother who's loved her son enough to let him go but trusted God enough to believe
[00:40:17] that he could bring about a different ending and friends God specializes in bringing about amazing endings amen we're going to see that in verse five when then pharaoh's daughter went down to the river to bathe and her attendants were walking along the riverbank she saw the basket
[00:40:35] among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it she opened it and saw the baby he was crying and she felt sorry for him this is one of the hebrew babies she said then his sister that's
[00:40:48] moses's sister asked pharaoh's daughter shall i go and get one of the hebrew women to nurse the baby for you yes go she answered so the girl went and got the baby's mother jacob ed pharaoh's daughter
[00:41:01] said to her take this baby and nurse him for me and i will pay you so the woman took the baby and nursed him like can we give god a hand right there like that is awesome like really incredible
[00:41:13] god is always at work around you the invisible hand of god even in the saddest places in the darkest hours of your life God is working out an incredible plan so don't ever don't ever doubt
[00:41:28] I mean the irony here that it was Pharaoh's own daughter he was the one who made the edict that all of the baby boys should be killed it was his daughter that pulled the little baby out who would
[00:41:40] once be one day become the deliverer of Israel well they named the little boy Moses because the name Moses means drawn out because he was drawn out of the river. But prophetically, this is also
[00:41:54] the boy that was going to draw a nation out of bondage. So much symbolism in this story. I encourage you this week to study it on your own and read up on it. Really, it is just a terrific
[00:42:06] story. But we're going to keep moving. It says, Exodus chapter 2, verse 10, when the child grew older, she, that's Jochebed, his mother, took him to Pharaoh's daughter and he became her son.
[00:42:17] she named him Moses saying I drew him out of the water so now Moses grows up in Pharaoh's palace he's educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians he would have learned science and leadership and
[00:42:30] military strategy in the book of Acts chapter 7 verse 22 it says Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action so here's a man who was positioned
[00:42:42] for influence and we're going to fast forward now through his life so he gets delivered to the princess when he was probably just a young boy when he was weaned I don't know maybe two
[00:42:56] three years and then we're going to fast forward through those years fast forward through the teen years and the 20s fast forward through the 30s don't have much story about what happened to his life in those periods and we get to the age of 40 now Moses is a man of 40 years old and something
[00:43:11] begins to stir within him exodus 2 verse 11 one day after moses had grown up he went out to where his own people were and he watched them at their hard labor he saw an egyptian beating a hebrew
[00:43:26] one of his own people looking this way and that and seeing no one he killed the egyptian and hit him in the sand the next day he went out and he saw two hebrews fighting and he asked the
[00:43:36] one in the wrong why are you hitting your fellow hebrew verse 14 the man said who made you ruler and judge over us are you thinking of killing me as you kill the Egyptian then Moses was afraid and
[00:43:48] he thought what I did must have become known so Moses now realized that what he had done was about to become the front page in the local newspaper and so he decided he had to run he decided to flee
[00:44:04] so he fled to Midian so we're talking you know now he has to cross the Sinai wilderness it's a three to four hundred mile journey uh probably took him a month to do it traveling
[00:44:21] alone uh in some very treacherous lands and he ends up uh he ends up in in midian and uh this is a dry desert region uh in what is now northwestern uh um uh saudi arabia so we're talking about a
[00:44:41] rugged land sparsely populated it was a wilderness it was harsh very little very little vegetation walking through rocky dry you know stream beds and valleys a completely different environment than the palace that he grew up in very different from the experience he had in Egypt
[00:45:08] but God used this period of obscurity in Midian to really strip Moses of self-reliance him thinking that he had it all figured out or him relying on his own ingenuity or his own education but instead all of that was stripped away and God was preparing him for the call that
[00:45:29] he had on his life that would happen at the burning bush friends if you've ever had it all and then lost it you'll be able to understand a little more of what Moses went through
[00:45:47] I mean he went from the palace to the desert from the prince of Egypt to a nobody on the back of the desert Moses grew up in the highest levels of Egyptian society being the adopted son of a
[00:46:05] princess. He would have lived in one of the royal palaces, likely down by the banks of the Nile River. He would have had servants and wealth and political power. Daily, he would have worn fine linen. He would have eaten the best foods. He would have been surrounded by art and music
[00:46:25] and luxury. So Moses spent the first 40 years of his life at the very center of power, wealth and influence he was trained and polished and positioned for greatness in the world's eyes and yet God now was preparing him for a different kind of greatness you see the lifestyle that he
[00:46:53] enjoyed for 40 years was done and the next 40 years well we find Moses living as a shepherd shepherding in the ancient near east was hard it was lonely it was unglamorous work a shepherd's life really revolved around a constant search for pasture and water it was a
[00:47:21] rugged land filled with rocky crags and and wild animals days would start early and end late as he walked he would look for shade in the daytime and at nighttime he would sleep very lightly because he had to always be paying attention for wild animals and and lions and
[00:47:40] wolves and even thieves that would come and steal his sheep it was a life of patience of vigilance of quiet endurance um quite different from the life that he left of power and luxury and recognition so as we begin to wrap this up here this morning what does this mean for us
[00:48:09] I mean how how does Moses's life affect me and how does this apply to me well I want to I just want to draw four conclusions here this morning the first is this God is always at work even
[00:48:25] when evil seems to have the upper hand mind you Pharaoh thought he was in control but God just kept multiplying the Israelites right even in the midst of the oppression the more they were afflicted the more they multiplied and folks you know we just need to remember that our God
[00:48:46] is sovereign and that God works all things together for good to those who love him even in the midst of oppression and difficulty and pain and slavery God continued to multiply God continued to bless you may be in a difficult relationship or you may be facing some kind of
[00:49:05] financial pressure maybe the cultural hostility that your kids face at school or wherever they're at you know is difficult for you and you just need to remember that God is not absent though you may not see him but understand that God is preparing something God is preparing someone
[00:49:27] you God is preparing you in seasons of difficulty in times when you are in the wilderness series of life begin to look for him recognize his activity you see that's where experiencing God begins is
[00:49:45] when you begin to recognize the things that God is doing around you the way that he is moving the pieces of the puzzle to put them in place so that at the right time you will be right where God wants
[00:49:55] you to do just what God wants you to do so the best thing you can do is just cooperate with him Second, never forget that God uses faithful, ordinary people who fear him.
[00:50:10] You look at the story of Moses, the midwives, Jochebed, Miriam, Amron.
[00:50:16] They didn't have any fancy titles.
[00:50:19] They didn't have platforms.
[00:50:23] But they obeyed God in small, costly ways.
[00:50:27] I mean, the midwives risked their lives in not killing those babies, right?
[00:50:31] Pharaoh could have killed them.
[00:50:33] Amram, Moses' father, hid the baby for three months with his mother.
[00:50:38] They did what they could to protect the boy as long as they could.
[00:50:42] Jochebed didn't just throw him in the Nile.
[00:50:44] She built an ark.
[00:50:46] She protected him as long as she possibly could.
[00:50:48] And his big sister Miriam, she didn't just abandon him at the river.
[00:50:52] She followed him down the river.
[00:50:53] And she was there when Pharaoh's daughter come out.
[00:50:57] And it was Miriam, his big sister, that said, Hey, you want me to go get somebody to nurse her for you?
[00:51:05] You see, God was using it all.
[00:51:09] None of them could know just how far their quiet courage would reach.
[00:51:14] They were just being faithful in the moment, protecting a child, taking a risk, trusting God, even when it felt like very little.
[00:51:22] Yet it was those hidden acts of obedience that became the very means that would preserve the man who would be the deliverer of the nation.
[00:51:33] You see, the story of Moses does not begin with a burning bush.
[00:51:36] or the parting of a sea.
[00:51:40] The story of Moses begins with ordinary people who feared God more than they feared Pharaoh.
[00:51:45] And they just simply did the next right thing.
[00:51:51] And can I tell you the same is true for us today?
[00:51:54] God is still looking for people who will obey him in the small things, in the unseen places, when no one is watching, when it costs something, when the outcomes are unclear, you just never know how far your quiet faithfulness will reach but trust that the invisible hand of
[00:52:18] God is at work in your life next I want you to see that God's preparation often includes unexpected positioning and painful pruning you know the idea of God placing Moses in the palace of Pharaoh that
[00:52:36] made sense right that was like strategic like look what God is doing he put an undercover agent from Israel right in the palace this makes sense go God this is awesome but Moses as a shepherd
[00:52:55] on the backside of the Sinai desert in the wilderness hmm what's that all about you see for 40 years, 40 years, Moses was in the wilderness as a shepherd, learning patience, learning desert life, learning dependence on God. You see, when he was in Egypt, the first 40 years
[00:53:29] of life, he learned math and he learned language and he learned leadership and he learned military strategy. Now God had a different school for him. Sometimes the school that only you learn in the hard places, in the dark places, in the tough places. And God began to build humility
[00:53:47] and dependence into Moses's life, taking off those sharp corners of pride. The man who would one day lead two million people through the wilderness first had to learn how to lead a flock of sheep. And listen, if you've ever been from the palace to the desert, from success to
[00:54:12] setback, well, maybe what Moses endured makes a little more sense to you. Maybe you lost a job that you never saw it coming. You thought this was it. You were, this was what you were going to do
[00:54:27] forever. And then one day it wasn't. Maybe there's a relationship that ended and you thought this was a forever relationship and you can't even fathom how this happened. Maybe you had a dream for your
[00:54:44] career, for your business, for ministry, and it feels like it's just been put on hold, delayed.
[00:54:59] Listen, friends, when God does that, don't view it as punishment. View it as preparation.
[00:55:10] God doesn't necessarily say he's done with you. He's at work in your life preparing you for what's next, because something is always next. You know how I know that? Because if you have a pulse,
[00:55:22] you have a purpose when God's done with you he'll call you home if you're still here you're on this side of the earth then God has a plan for your life there is something that God is going to do
[00:55:31] in you or through you and you just believe and trust and walk in faith and believe that there's an invisible hand of God at work in the circumstances around you I've experienced this in my own life at 43 years of age I started over I left the church that I was at before
[00:55:52] and walked into the wilderness not knowing what was next started a ministry i called leadership outreach i began to go to churches and non-profit organizations around the country and do strategic planning and kind of help them figure out what was next a couple years there i would spend about
[00:56:13] 60 nights a year in hotels around the country just working with different church groups kind of helping them but for the first 21 years I'd been a pastor it was it was what I knew it was all I
[00:56:26] knew and now I'm out here doing something that I don't understand I didn't know what God was doing I didn't know if I was ever going to be a pastor again didn't even know if I was a pastor I didn't
[00:56:37] know what I was I was in limbo it was a wilderness it was a desert experience for me I wasn't sure what God was doing, but I believed that he wasn't done. I just didn't know what was next
[00:56:54] until one day at a conference in Tampa, God spoke to my heart. And I just, I just felt this urge, this nudge. You should start a church in East Naples. No, thanks. Really? I didn't want
[00:57:15] to do it. In fact, I prayed and told God, listen, if you want me to do this, you're really going to have to convince me because i'm not sure i've got it in me to do that again and um well god
[00:57:34] confirmed it and this january we'll celebrate 10 years as venture church you know and the praise the lord but can i tell you that god's redirection doesn't always make sense at the time looking back
[00:57:54] oh, it's easy to see God's hand, how he was orchestrating and what he was doing. But when you're going through it, it doesn't make a lick of sense. Like, what are you doing, Lord? I've
[00:58:07] been through it. Moses has been through it. Maybe you're going through it. Maybe you're feeling the same thing. Like, is this it? Is it over? Am I done? Is there more? What's next? You're going to
[00:58:23] be amazed by the story of Moses. I'm so excited about this series. You are going to be able to see yourself through his story in so many different ways. We're going to learn so much
[00:58:33] together in these next 10 weeks. The last thing I want you to see this morning is that God's ultimate preparation points us to Jesus, our true deliverer. You see, Moses was a type. He was a
[00:58:48] shadow of someone greater. He was drawn from the water so that he could one day draw others out of slavery. But Moses was flawed. He was impulsive. He was reluctant when God called. In the end,
[00:59:05] he did good things, but ultimately he couldn't save. But Jesus was the greater Moses. Jesus was perfect and sinless, born under oppression like Moses, hidden as a baby like Moses, rejected by his people like Moses. He came to be a deliverer, but not from Pharaoh, to be a deliverer from sin
[00:59:26] and death. Listen, if you're here today and you've never trusted in Christ as your Savior, this is your moment. The same God who worked in Moses's unlikely story is working in yours.
[00:59:44] He sees you. He knows you. He loves you. He invites you into relationship with him. You have no idea, but God may have orchestrated all the events for you to be here this morning to hear this message
[00:59:56] because he wants to tell you i'm not done with you and i've got a plan for your life just believe me just say yes just follow me i want to speak to a few groups of people here in closing
[01:00:14] to parents and grandparents i just want to say that your hidden faithfulness matters more than you could possibly imagine jacobed amran miriam they all played a part in Moses being who Moses was.
[01:00:37] That prayer you pray at night, that story you tell at bedtime, you just may be building a deliverer.
[01:00:45] So never discount that.
[01:00:48] If you're here today and you feel like a failure, you feel like you messed things up, you feel like you blew it, like Moses, you go, now everybody's going to know, what have I done?
[01:01:05] I'm just, I'm going to run.
[01:01:11] Maybe you're running.
[01:01:13] maybe you're in your own wilderness maybe you had that dumb moment now you're running and you're not sure what's next and can I just tell you God is not done with you yet don't give up don't quit
[01:01:29] trust him look for the invisible hand of God at work in your life what you may be going through is not punishment it may be preparation for what's next God is a God of second chances Moses killed a
[01:01:45] man, spent 40 years in the run, and then God used him as the deliverer of his people. Not only that, God used Moses to deliver the Ten Commandments, to give us the law. But first he had to spend 40
[01:02:07] years in the wilderness tending sheep. But one day, one day, on the far side of the wilderness, something caught his eye. It was a bush that was burning. It was on fire, but it didn't burn up.
[01:02:24] next week we're going to learn what happens when God finally breaks his silence so don't miss it be here next week church, our God is a God of unlikely preparation he worked during times of
[01:02:43] slavery, he was at work in a basket in a river, in a palace in a desert and he's working now around you, in you, and through you if you'll just trust him just believe following god is a grand adventure and you're going to learn that there are going to be twists
[01:03:08] and turns plot changes scenery changes there's going to be a few crash and burns some start overs but you just have to realize it's all part of life that god's hand is always at work you just have to trust him that he's going to work all things out for your good and
[01:03:32] his glory amen let's pray heavenly father thank you for moses what an inspiration in the good times and the bad god there's so many lessons we can learn from this man so father i pray today
[01:03:54] maybe there's someone here today that's feeling like they're in the wilderness maybe they're feeling like they've messed up and they've they've just uh done things that they're not going to be able to recover from and god i pray that the story of moses will inspire
[01:04:08] them that they won't give up and they won't quit and they'll they'll say yes to you even though the next chapter may look different than the first chapter that's okay I mean they have the courage
[01:04:22] to just step out follow you trust and believe so God thank you thank you that you're a God of a second chance and a third chance and a fourth chance that you love us and that you're always
[01:04:38] is at work always at work in the background thank you for that god lord we love you and we praise you in jesus name and all god's people said amen let's stand as we sing our final song

[01:04:48] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_10]
[01:04:48] lights went out death had flamed its victory of the giving of his life in history no breath and it was spinning we could have known