Exodus Chronicles: Part 10
Pastor: Rollan Fisher
Focus: To walk with Christ is to find your value, meaning, purpose and grace.
A Christian Call to Leadership
Value and Meaning
God’s Purpose and Grace
A Christian Call to Leadership
As you walk with God, every Christian will be called to grow in how they influence others for Christ.
Exodus 18:1-16
Jethro, the priest of Midian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the Lord had brought Israel out of Egypt. Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her home, along with her two sons. The name of the one was Gershom ( for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land”), and the name of the other, Eliezer (for he said, “The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh”). Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. And when he sent word to Moses, “I, your father-in-law Jethro, am coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her,” Moses went out to meet his father-in-law and bowed down and kissed him. And they asked each other of their welfare and went into the tent. Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the Lord had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the Lord had delivered them. 9 And Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the Lord had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. Jethro said, “Blessed be the Lord, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh and has delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians. Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods, because in this affair they dealt arrogantly with the people.” And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, brought a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God. The next day Moses sat to judge the people, and the people stood around Moses from morning till evening. When Moses' father-in-law saw all that he was doing for the people, he said, “What is this that you are doing for the people? Why do you sit alone, and all the people stand around you from morning till evening?” And Moses said to his father-in-law, “Because the people come to me to inquire of God; when they have a dispute, they come to me and I decide between one person and another, and I make them know the statutes of God and his laws.”
Moses gave testimony of all that Yahweh, the God of Israel, had done for them in delivering the Israelites from the hand of the Egyptians.
In doing so, Moses influenced Jethro to worship Yahweh as the only true God above all other false deities.
Each of us have a BC (before Christ), cross (how we turned to Christ) and AD (how things have been different since coming to Christ) experience of God’s deliverance that we should regularly share with those around us to bring glory to God.
If you do not have this, now is the time to turn away from your sins to Jesus, who died sacrificially on the cross to take the punishment for your rebellion against a holy God.
Through Christ’s resurrection from the dead, he not only grants you eternal life, but sets you free from your slavery to sin that you might have a testimony of deliverance in which others might also participate by faith!
When was the last time that you shared your story of God’s deliverance?
Though God had used Moses to deliver the Israelites and influence Jethro’s worship, God had leadership multiplication in mind.
Jethro understood that the work of God was not to be accomplished by Moses alone.
*We need humility, not a critical nature, to walk with Christ, his people and to fully execute God’s game plan.
“As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down you cannot see something that is above you.”
-C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Whether you are a doctor, lawyer, educator, businessman, actor, stay at home parent, techie, politician, athlete, entertainer, retired grandparent, social media influencer or facilities manager, you are called to influence the world around you for Christ.
Have you found your gift and place of service?
How are you using it to influence the world for Christ?
Value and Meaning
As you walk with God he illuminates your indisputable value and leads you to life’s all-sufficient meaning in Christ.
17 Moses' father-in-law said to him, “What you are doing is not good. You and the people with you will certainly wear yourselves out, for the thing is too heavy for you. You are not able to do it alone. Now obey my voice; I will give you advice, and God be with you! You shall represent the people before God and bring their cases to God, and you shall warn them about the statutes and the laws, and make them know the way in which they must walk and what they must do. Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And let them judge the people at all times. Every great matter they shall bring to you, but any small matter they shall decide themselves. So it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all this people also will go to their place in peace.” So Moses listened to the voice of his father-in-law and did all that he had said. Moses chose able men out of all Israel and made them heads over the people, chiefs of thousands, of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens. And they judged the people at all times. Any hard case they brought to Moses, but any small matter they decided themselves. Then Moses let his father-in-law depart, and he went away to his own country.
For all of the Israelites to grow in the knowledge, commands and worship of God, multiplying amongst their posterity and through the generations, it would take the appointment of leaders over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
This is why we have community groups as a vehicle for discipleship, with the goal of multiplication, for the influence of God to be established and Increased in our cities.
Why do people wander and find themselves trapped in the search for momentary pleasure?
“When a person can't find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure.”
-Viktor E. Frankl
Value is given by Him to whom you belong - God created you in His image (Genesis 1:26,27 - Imago Dei).
Meaning is given by the purpose to which He has called you.
“We don't seek to escape this life by dreaming of heaven. But we do find we can endure this life because of the certainty of heaven. Heaven is eternal. Earth is temporal. Those who fix all their affections of the fleeting things of this world are the real escapists, because they are vainly attempting to avoid facing eternity - by hiding in the fleeting shadows of things that are only transient.”
-John MacArthur
Therefore, there is no greater gift than to be delivered in the Great Commission of Christ and there is no greater eternal purpose than in seeing the Great Commission reach its end.
There is no fulfilling the great commission of God without expanding teamwork where every believer finds both their gift and place of service.
You influence the worship of God in things like hospitality, greeting, in children’s ministry, on the set-up team for service or baptisms, on the worship team, on the video and tech crew as you help the word and testimony of Christ to literally reach the nations.
This is why we have ministry teams for everyone to find a fruitful place of influence.
God’s Purpose and Grace
You find both God’s purpose for your life and grace when you finally serve Christ as Lord.
Matthew 20:1-16
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, 4 and to them he said, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.’ 5 So they went. Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, ‘Why do you stand here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’ 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.’ 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
This parable is ultimately about God’s common grace for all who would repent of their sins and follow Jesus, putting their hope in his work at the cross alone to secure salvation.
Yet it is also a call for us to embrace the lasting value and meaning that will only be found in Christ as we discover our purpose in his vineyard.
What is lasting always goes back to Christ and his vineyard.
God’s purpose for you individually will forever be aligned with his Kingdom purpose that surrounds you corporately.
It is in serving Christ in his vineyard that we find not only our eternal purpose, but our eternal reward.
Matthew 25 clearly states that God will not save us, but reward us according to what we have done.
“Desiring to excel is not a sin. It is motivation that determines ambition’s character. Our Lord never taught against the urge to high achievement, but He did expose and condemn unworthy motivation.”
-J Oswald Sanders in Spiritual Leadership: A Commitment to Excellence for Every Believer
Acts 2:36-47
Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Have you met Jesus in his vineyard?
Who’s vineyard are you living to tend - Christ’s or your own?
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher