Dependent Power | Bryson Koch

Well, hey, Pando family, welcome to church today. If you're new with us, we're so glad that you're here. We're at Southeast Christian Church. Normally we're in Louisville, Kentucky, but we have campuses all over Kentucky, not only Kentucky, but Tennessee and Indiana, where we're at today. My name is Derek Pardivese online, but this is Lucas, our Indiana campus pastor. Yeah, we're over on the sunny side. It is so good to have you guys today. We are just so excited. Hey, one of the things that we always talk about as a staff is hearing from you guys. We're always encouraged by your letters. And so we would love to know what you're facing right now, what you're going through, or do you have any questions? Do you have any things that we could help answer? We would love to hear from you. You can write into the address in the description below, and it'd be a great way for us to connect to the bigger church. And if you are someone today that is looking to grow in your faith of Jesus, maybe you're looking to understand a little bit more about this thing that we call the Bible. What do these stories mean? Are they real? Are they not real? How do I follow Jesus?

Well, when you subscribe to the Southeast Christian Church channel, and you not only get our weekly worship services, but you get our podcasts and our Bible studies that we create as an online team just for you, not anybody else, just for you, because we want you to be able to follow Jesus the best that you can in this season of your life. And so we would hope that you would step in and subscribe to our church channel this week. Today, we continue our series, The Unexpected Leader, and you're gonna be hearing from Bryson Cook, our Franklin campus pastor, and he's got a great word for us as we continue in the book of Exodus. And today we're gonna see Moses learn and see God in a whole new way through the miracles of the plagues. And we're gonna see that this was never just our mission. This was never Moses' mission. It's nothing we can take credit for, but this is God's mission. He's the one that leads our path and our direction. And so I'm excited to hear what Bryson's gonna have for us today. It is. Y'all, I think it is going to be an impactful day of worship. Like Lucas said, you are going to enjoy Bryson's message. But for now, y'all, we hope that you're preparing your hearts and you're ready.

So let's go worship together. ♪ There's joy in my heart today, oh ♪ ♪ There's joy in my heart today, oh ♪ ♪ This is the day you've made ♪ ♪ So I'll rejoice and be glad, rejoice and be glad in this day ♪ ♪ This is where I believe that you are more than enough ♪ ♪ That you are more than enough, you're more than enough for me ♪ We sing it out today. We sing. ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ ♪ All that is within me say, the joy of the Lord ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord is my strength, alleluia! Whoo! ♪ ♪ Amen, because you are worthy of all, worthy of all my praise, oh! ♪ ♪ You are faithful to your promise, you are strong when I am weak ♪ ♪ When I'm standing in your presence, I have everything I need ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength, yes it is! ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength, sing out my soul, oh my soul! ♪ ♪ Blessed is the name, all that is within me say, the joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength, alleluia! Whoo! Whoo! ♪ ♪ Alleluia! Oh, I've got the joy, yeah! ♪ ♪ To let you rise up like a river, like a river, like a river, like a river, like a river, like a river, like a river ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ And let it pour out with no limit ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit let it rise up ♪ ♪ Let it rise up like a river ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit let it pour out ♪ ♪ With no limit it's overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit let it rise up ♪ ♪ With no limit it's overflowing Holy Spirit ♪ ♪ Overflowing Holy Spirit let it pour out ♪ ♪ With no limit it's overflowing Holy Spirit ♪

♪ Oh my soul, oh my soul bless His name ♪ ♪ All that is within me sings ♪ ♪ Oh my soul bless His name all that is within me sings ♪ ♪ Oh my soul bless His name all that is within me sings ♪ ♪ The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength ♪ Amen. This joy in the house today is, oh, it is our strength. Three man church, we worship a great God. ♪ Thank you Jesus we worship you ♪ ♪ Look at the flowers and all of their beauty ♪ ♪ I don't have to wonder you know what you're doing ♪ ♪ So why would I worry at all when you're faithful to supply ♪ ♪ Come on we sing everything I need, everything I need ♪ ♪ We know my Father has it, my Father has it ♪ ♪ And every single time the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it, yeah ♪ ♪ Oh I know I'm testified, thank you Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh look at the sparrow lacking for nothing, oh ♪ ♪ No fear of tomorrow and what it will bring ♪ ♪ Lord if I have you I have emerged ♪ ♪ Cause your love will satisfy, oh ♪ ♪ Everything I need, everything I need, we can trust ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it, yeah ♪ ♪ And every single time the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it, yeah ♪ ♪ So seek first the kingdom and its treasures ♪ ♪ And everything else it will be added ♪ ♪ All that are needed ♪ ♪ I know the Lord will provide ♪ Come on we sing in faith, we believe.

♪ I know my God's not empty handed ♪ ♪ He gives us blessings upon blessings ♪ ♪ I'm still believing, oh ♪ ♪ I know the Lord will provide ♪ I'm a living witness, come on. ♪ Seek first the kingdom and its treasures ♪ ♪ And it's treasures that everything else in ♪ ♪ Will be added for all that I'm needed ♪ ♪ I know the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ And I know my God's not empty-handed ♪ ♪ But He gives us blessings upon blessings ♪ ♪ And I'm still believing ♪ ♪ I know the Lord will provide ♪ ♪ Everything, everything, everything I need ♪ ♪ Everything I need, my Father has it, my Father has it ♪ ♪ Every single time, the Lord will provide, my Father has it ♪ ♪ My Father has it, my Father has it, everything I need ♪ ♪ Everything I need, my Father has it, my Father has it ♪ ♪ Every single time, the Lord will provide, my Father has it ♪ ♪ Because my Father has it all, my Father has it all ♪ If you ask. If you're hungry, if you're thirsty. He has it all. If you ask for bread, he'll give it. It's what is true, yeah. It's not empty, yeah. Every blessing, look at the miracle. I believe that my God, yes, he will. Come on, we sing. Yes, amen.

Yes, amen. ♪ I am an answer of exaltation ♪ ♪ Of all creation, I was born to lift your name above all names ♪ ♪ You hear the melody of all creation ♪ ♪ There's a song of praise that all, all against you let it rise ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There's no one, there's no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Sing who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There's no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ You are the infinite, the God of the ages ♪ ♪ And you chose to make my heart desert, thank you Lord ♪ ♪ You heal my brokenness, show me your glory ♪ ♪ So I have songs of thanks, not even names, let it rise ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There's no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ There's no one, only you Jesus, let it rise ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, who else is worthy ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, no one like our God ♪ ♪ There is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ You deserve the praise, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Who else is worthy, there is no one, only you Jesus ♪ ♪ No one, only you Jesus, let it rise, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ Oh God, this morning, the honor is yours. As we ascribe all worth to you, King Jesus, the only one worthy of our attention, our affection, God, we praise you today. Go on, church, let's sing, let's declare. The Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is.

Come on. Who was and is and is. He's so holy, holy, a righteous one who shed his blood, who proved to us the Father's love, Jesus Christ. He's so holy, holy, Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is. And now we sing it all around the world. He's holy, holy, a righteous one who shed his blood, who proved to us the Father's love, Jesus Christ. He's so holy, holy, you are the Lamb of God. Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is. He's seated on the throne above. He's holy, holy, a righteous one who shed his blood, who proved to us the Father's love, Jesus Christ. He lives in us. You say. Who else is worthy? Who else is worthy? You alone. There is no one, only you Jesus.

You deserve the praise. You're worthy. You can have my worship. You're worthy. You deserve it all. There is no one, only you Jesus. Lamb of God, anointed one, who was and is and is. And now we sing it all around the world. He's holy, holy, a righteous one who shed his blood, who proved to us the Father's love, Jesus Christ. He lives in us. Amen. Can we just give him some attention this morning, some praise. Well, hey, if we haven't had the chance to meet, my name is Bryson Cook, and I have the honor of serving as the campus pastor at our Franklin campus. It's great to be here with you this morning. You know, I don't think that there is a title worn as a badge of honor more in our culture than the title self-made, like self-made millionaire or self-made success. It's printed on book covers and dropped in bios and big and bold on podcast thumbnails. It's the image, for instance,

of the garage where Apple started with a founder grinding alone at 2 a.m. before anybody gave him the time of day. It's the underdog athlete who everyone overlooked, who trained harder than anyone else and reached the mountain peak of a championship. It's the award show speech of, hey, nobody believed in me, but look what I did. I made it. We don't just enjoy these stories. If you think about it, we've built entire industries around them, all promising to teach you the secret of becoming a self-made success yourself through self-help materials and life hack tips and tricks and influencer culture, you name it. But you don't have to run a startup company or stand on a podium to know what this feels like in your own life. It's the picture of the parent whose kid finally starts thriving, like the grades and the behavior and the faith, and you love it a little too much when someone says, you're such a good parent. It's the friend who walks someone through a hard season and all of a sudden when that person says, well, I don't know what I would have done without you, something in you wants to hear it again and again. Keep telling me that. It's you as a boss or a coach or a mentor,

watching someone that you've poured into finally succeed and catching yourself, hoping that they mention your name when they tell the story. It's the itch that seeks to be scratched by recognition and praise and attention, the craving of the moments where things finally click in our areas of influence, where something we worked hard for or strived towards finally pays off, and where others look to us with admiration or give us the attention or recognition that we've worked hard for and we think we deserve. You know, as opposite as this might feel to our culture, the Bible. warns us about what's actually underneath that itch and desire, it's what the Bible calls pride. It's not always the loud and boastful and obvious kind, like usually it's the quiet kind. Like the kind that just wants a little bit of credit and fishes for a little recognition that our effort mattered, or we're looked up to by others, and if we were to dig even deeper underneath that pride, if we really look closely and honestly, what we would find typically even deeper at the root of it all is insecurity. Beneath the pride is the fear that if we don't get the credit, or if we're not seen as capable or impressive or self-sufficient, then maybe we don't actually matter. Or our lives lack purpose, or all the messages about us in our head and our heart that keep us up at night, like they may be true. As weird as it might sound, pride and insecurity, they're not opposites. Like pride is actually insecurity's defense mechanism or shield. Like insecurity hides behind and thrives behind pride. The label of self-made and that deep down prideful itch for recognition and praise and attention, like it really feels dangerous in the moment. It feels normal, like even culturally acceptable, like I've earned this, right? But left alone, it cuts deeper oftentimes than we realize. Like maybe it costs the relationship, like family and friends start to feel like it's it's your way or the highway, like every

conversation is really just you needing to be right or needing to stay in control, and so they stop bringing you their honest thoughts because they already know how the conversation is gonna go. Or maybe it costs you your peace, like you replay the conversation on the drive home over and over, or you have the anxiety over the decision-making in the middle of the night. And oftentimes, it's not because you're worried about others, it's because you're worried about how you're gonna be perceived by others. Eventually, it costs you the very thing that you're actually called to do as someone whose life is leading and pointing somewhere in your sphere of influence. Because listen, the goal that we're talking about through this series is never to be the most impressive in your different areas of life. It's to point people to Jesus. And pride can't do that. Pride always ends up pointing back to itself. Like that's the danger underneath that identity badge of self-made. It quietly replaces God with us in the one role that only he can actually hold as the ultimate leader and whose image we're made as he seeks to shape us more and more into the leaders that he's made us to be. We've been making our way through a series called The Unexpected Leader, looking at the book of Exodus through the context of leadership, exploring how God uses ordinary people in ordinary places to make an extraordinary difference for his kingdom. We said that leadership in a gospel sense, it isn't about position or platform, it's about influence. And to lead is to influence and inspire and point others towards a vision or a goal or a way of life. And it happens whether you know you're actively doing it or not. For followers of Jesus, that looks like us leading people towards him. And what we've talked about is it means that leadership isn't reserved for the few. It's a call for every one of us. It branches into every sphere of influence in our lives that God has placed us in. Like whether you're a parent or a teacher or a boss or a peer or even just a really good friend, like your life is always leading and pointing somewhere to those around you. So the question isn't like, am I a leader? It's, hey, what kind of leader am I? To kind of recap, two weeks ago, we watched God quietly position Moses before he had any idea what he was being prepared for because he was a baby and all. Last week, we watched God call him at the burning bush in the wilderness.

Despite every excuse that Moses could offer or everything that he thought might disqualify him, where we pick up this week, Moses has left the burning bush in the wilderness, he's returned to Egypt, and he's gone to Pharaoh. And over the next 10 chapters, we're gonna watch God do something really specific. He's gonna confront the prideful, self-made attitude wherever he finds it with whoever's holding it. Because Exodus 5 through 14, some of the most famous chapters in the entire Bible, it's not just a rescue story. It's a declaration of who is the real ultimate leader. And it's God's invitation to all of us to stop reaching for that badge, that identity of self-made and its prideful desires for recognition and praise and credit, and instead start letting him build something that looks more like God made in us. So we're gonna move through 10 chapters today, but really it's just three pivotal scenes, like three invitations of rejecting self-made pride and letting God lead instead. As the ultimate leader who made us that we get to lead through. It looks like this. Obey when it's hard, step down off the throne, and watch where you're pointing. Scene 1 in chapter 5 opens with Moses and his brother Aaron returning to Egypt and presenting themselves before Pharaoh with a short but powerful request. And if you've seen the Charlton Heston's Ten Commandments or the Prince of Egypt, like you know this scene, this is what the Lord, the God of Israel says, let my people go, right? And Pharaoh's response tells you everything that you need to know about where this story is headed. And who is the Lord? Why should I listen to him and let Israel go? I don't know the Lord. Like you can just hear Pharaoh's posture behind that question. Like Pharaoh already believes the answer is obviously,

well, nobody who matters more than me, that's who the Lord is. The self-made pride is already being heard loud and clear. A man who has built his entire sense of worth around being the most powerful figure in the world. And yet beneath the pride, there's insecurity. Like if some God that nobody's ever heard of can simply tell Pharaoh's slaves to walk out and they listen, then Pharaoh's entire influence and sense of power is exposed, is smaller than everything he's actually made it out to be. There's Pharaoh, but now put Moses right up next to that picture. We don't see him posture or seek to push back in his own strength. He simply delivers the message that he was given and he obeys regardless of what comes next. And honestly, what comes next makes everything harder and worse. That same day, Pharaoh sent this order to the Egyptian slave drivers and the Israelite foremen, hey, do not supply the people with any more straw for making bricks. Make them go get it themselves. But hey, still require them to produce the same number of bricks as before? They're lazy. Like that's why they're crying out, let us go. Pharaoh doesn't just say no, like he retaliates. He strips away the materials the Israelites need

while demanding the exact same output. And when the Israelite foremen can't keep up, they're beat by their Egyptian slave drivers. And so these Israelite foremen battered and bruised, they make their way to Moses and Aaron, not to thank them, not to celebrate that God's deliverer has finally arrived, but to confront them. Hey, may the Lord judge you for the trouble that you've caused us. And I want us to just sit in that reality for a moment. Moses obeyed God and the very people that he was sent to lead, well, now they see him as the problem. There's no applause, there's no credit, there's no immediate confirmation that he's doing the right thing. Like he's actually obeyed into being perceived as a bad leader by those that he's come to lead. He got blamed by the people he was trying to lead well for a mess that he didn't even make, like Pharaoh created it. If pride is front and center and the need to be seen as the reason that things are going really well and you're experiencing success in your life, like this is the moment when insecurity is ripped out from hiding behind pride into the light and has nowhere to hide. It's the moment you corrected your kid or you remain firm on a boundary

or you had a hard conversation with someone and instead of being thanked or respected, you got resented for it. Maybe it's the moment that you spoke the truth and love to a friend in a hard season and you watched them push back and the relationship actually became strained instead of strengthened. It's the moment that you tried to lead your family towards something really good, like less screen time or more prayer at the dinner table. And it felt like you were the only one who wanted it while everyone else just seemed really annoyed. I said, you're not doing it wrong. You're just in Exodus chapter five. Notice what Moses doesn't do in the midst of all this pushback. He doesn't allow pride to take the reins to try to self-make his leadership. He doesn't defend his reputation. He doesn't argue his case. He doesn't try to convince anyone he's actually on their side. He just keeps going back to God. Like that's the humility at the heart of God-made leadership staying obedient, even when it costs you because you know it's what God is asking of you. Moses doesn't get to see where we're going at the end of chapter 14. He just has to obey into chapter five

in the midst of the beatings and the accusations and a situation where his influence looks like the opposite of good leadership to those around him. Listen, the call is for us too. The call isn't to obey because it's easy or we'll receive credit. It's to obey and lead and how God's leading us simply because God has told us to. To be the leaders that God has called us to be is to obey even when it's hard. Like obeying even when it's hard, it kills that self-made pride and it allows God-made leadership to be built up in us. As we shift to scene two, it opens with the dramatic movie montage that many of our minds immediately go to when we think of the exodus, darkness and locusts and rivers of blood. is going to quickly begin to answer Pharaoh's question of who is the Lord. And what follows isn't just this random series of 10 disasters or plagues of Egypt that Exodus is so famous for. If you know anything about Egyptian religion, you may actually start to notice something really remarkable as you work your way through these chapters. And here it is. Nearly every plague is a direct strike against a specific Egyptian god or goddess. Like the Nile River turns to blood in Exodus chapter seven.

The Nile, it wasn't just a river to Egypt, like it was worshiped. It was tied to the god Hopi, the god of fertility and life. It was perceived as the very reason Egypt could exist and flourish in the midst of a desert. So listen, God doesn't just turn water into blood. He turns the source of Egypt's life into a symbol of death and cast shame over their idol of fertility. How about the livestock being struck down in Exodus chapter nine? It's a direct hit on Hathor, the cow goddess of motherhood and childbirth, one of Egypt's most widely worshiped deities. And in fact, one of the reasons that scholars think Israel makes a golden calf statue in the wilderness. The animals that Egypt depended on economically and worshiped religiously, they're wiped out in a single stroke. How about the darkness that covers the land for three full days in Exodus chapter 10? It's this direct affront to Ra, the sun god, arguably the most powerful deity in the entire Egyptian mythology, the king of the gods, the father of mankind. Pharaoh himself was considered Ra's son, descendant on earth. God doesn't just darken the sky for an afternoon. Like he's silencing the very idol that Pharaoh claimed to descend from

while Israel, just a few miles away, lives in uninterrupted light. Like what's painted here in chapter seven through 13 of Exodus, it isn't just a list of 10 arbitrary plagues that God thought might wake Egypt up and get on their nerves. It's really the picture of like a courtroom. One by one, if you were to go through every plague, God is over and over again, putting every competing idol and power that Egypt has built its identity around in its proper place, underneath his feet. And over and over again, the text tells us exactly why. I will show you that I am the Lord. Hey, then you will know that I am the Lord. But I have spared you for a purpose to show you my power. And that phrase, then you'll know that I'm the Lord. It's the heartbeat of this entire section of scripture. Every plague answers Pharaoh's mocking question of who is the Lord with the same way. There is no other throne. There's no other God. There's no other power in this story that gets to sit above God. At the center of all of it sits one man who refuses to believe that. But Pharaoh's heart was hard, and he wouldn't listen to them just as the Lord had predicted.

Here's what gets me every time I read this story about Pharaoh, like he's not stupid. Like he's watching miracle after miracle, really devastation after devastation that he cannot explain away. And instead of softening his heart, he continues to build up this wall. And you ask the question why? I think it's this, because his whole identity is the most powerful man in the world. Bending the knee doesn't just cost him politically or a labor force, it costs him his identity that he's worked to build up as a leader. He's self-made. Admitting that God is God means this, that Pharaoh isn't God. If we're being honest, that's just not something that Pharaoh just wrestles with. I know we don't have a Nile River or a sun god in our own lives or a throne that we sit on over a physical empire, but maybe it looks like this. Maybe it looks like the parent who can't apologize because admitting fault feels like losing authority. Or maybe it's the coworker who can't share and delegate because their worth is wrapped up in being the only one with the answers. Or maybe it's the friend who can't be vulnerable for fear of not being looked up to any longer. Listen, where have you built a throne

that you need to come down off of? Maybe it's the throne of competence. If you work hard enough, like you won't need to depend on anyone else and you'll prove everyone wrong who doubted you. Maybe it's the throne of people's approval that every decision has to be filtered through. Well, what will they think of me? So you people please and you feel paralyzed in decisions because of trying to maintain everyone's view of you. Maybe it's the throne of control, like needing to meticulously make sure the outcome goes your way because trusting someone else could lead to failure in your life. Pharaoh shows us what happens though when we stay on those thrones. Hardness, blindness, exhaustion, and a kingdom falling apart while you insist that you're still in charge. And the worst part is sometimes. times like we can't even see when it's happening around us. As a family splinters, or a team becomes tense, or influence that points to Jesus becomes me driven until suddenly your spouse sits you down in tears, or your kids openly push you away, or you realize that everyone around you at work or school operates in fear or walks on eggshells around you. But humility shows us the other option,

not weakness, just stepping down off the throne and finally letting God sit where he's always belonged so that he can actually do what only he can do through you instead of in spite of you in a way that actually ultimately builds you and others up. Listen, to be the leaders that God has called us to be, we need to let him sit where he belongs. Above every idol that we've built, above every fear that we're protecting, like stepping down off the throne, it kills self-made pride and it allows true God-made leadership to be built up in us. Oh, we skip ahead to our final scene in scene three where 10 devastating plagues in, Pharaoh has finally broken and let Israel go. And you'd think that the danger was finally over with sunshine ahead for Israel. It's not, like not even close. Moses and Israel have made their way out from Egypt through a stretch of wilderness to the coast when suddenly Pharaoh changes his mind. The Egyptians caught up with the people of Israel. As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and they panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. And they said to Moses, hey, why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Same dynamic again as scene one, except the stakes have multiplied. Like the people are trapped between an impassable sea

and the most powerful army on earth. And once again, the first thing they do is turn on their leader, Moses. Except back in chapter five, it was only making brick baking more difficult. Here, it's an entire nation's survival at stake with their backs against the sea. And yet what Moses does in that exact moment with the army's dust cloud rising up on the horizon is this. Moses told the people, hey, don't be afraid. Just stand still and watch the Lord rescue you today. The Lord himself will fight for you. Just stay calm. And before there's a single shred of visible evidence that anything is about to change, Moses' first move is to not only obey in the impossibly hard moment and step down off the throne of pride that may have been fighting to swell up in him in that moment. But lastly, this, he watched where he was pointing. He doesn't say, hey, give me a minute. Like, I'll figure this out. I have a plan. He doesn't say, hey, watch what I'm about to do. I've got this handled. He says, hey, the Lord will fight for you. Stay calm. Like, that is a dependence spoken out loud in front of a panicking crowd

that before the proof shows up, it takes so much nerve in that moment to do that. And humility, and that in itself is a miracle. But then all of a sudden, the unthinkable happens. Moses raised his hand over the sea and the Lord opened up a path through the water with a strong east wind. The wind blew all night, turning the seabed into dry land. So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground with walls of water on each side. And when all the Israelites had reached the other side, the water rushed back into its usual place. And the Egyptians tried to escape, but the Lord swept them into the sea. This moment of deliverance, it's been captured in so many breathtaking ways in art and movies, and it's easy to get as mesmerized as I'm sure everyone was witnessing in that moment on that day. But there's a couple of details here that are worth slowing down for because this, once again, isn't just about a rescue story. It's a story written in deliberate echoes of everything that's come before us to show who is the Lord. First, the word wind. That God sends to blow over the sea. In Hebrew, the word is ruach.

The exact same word for spirit. And that's not a coincidence. If you were to go back to the very first page of the Bible, you'd see this phrase. The spirit of God was hovering over the waters. Same word, same picture. Before God speaks creation into existence, his spirit, his ruach, hovers over the chaotic, formless waters about to divide them and bring about new creation and order in life. And now at this sea, these chaotic waters, God's ruach moves again all night, driving back the waters, turning chaos into dry ground to walk on. And God is bringing about new creation again through the deliverance of his people, creating a new freed nation just as he created the world in the beginning. This in the original Hebrew, this is never actually called this body of water. It's never actually called the Red Sea. Like the actual phrase is Yom Suf, or the Sea of Reeds. That word should stop you because we've heard it before. Back in Exodus chapter two, baby Moses was hidden in a basket among, what? Among the reeds along the bank of the Nile, completely at the mercy of the water. God delivered him through the water then, and now decades later, God delivers an entire nation through the water

at the Sea of Reeds. The same God who once preserved one helpless child among the reeds is now preserving an entire helpless nation in the exact same way among the water he reeds. And where is Moses in all of this just screaming God's leadership and power to the tens of thousands of people around him? Like he had just become the man who raised his staff and the sea split. Like from their perspective, he could have stopped and built a monument right there on the shore with his own name on it. Like undeniable public proof that could have made him like a king or a God in the eyes of the people. Like Pharaoh spent nine chapters hardening his heart against evidence that should have humbled him. Moses gets the single greatest vindication moment of his life. Every beating, every year of obscurity, every moment nobody believed in him answered all at once in front of everyone. Like this is exactly the moment where self-made pride wants to grab the moment and never let go. In fact, let me ask you this, like where would you be standing at in this moment? And where do you find yourself?

Maybe it's the dark season that you walked through and people ask you how you did it. Or maybe it's the kid who finally turned a corner and people started asking you what you did right in your parenting. Or maybe it's the recovery or the reconciliation or the turnaround that everyone thought wouldn't happen and they ask, hey, how'd you do it? Like self-made grabs that moment with both hands. It's the whole reason self-made exists for moments like this where the spotlight is on you, where you get the credit. But Moses, he watches where he points. And in chapter 15, Moses writes a song. It's the very first worship song ever recorded in scripture. And in that song, in verse 13, there's a word that has never once anywhere appeared in the Bible before this exact moment. With your unfailing love, you lead the people you have redeemed. Redeemed. It's the very first time that word ever shows up in all of scripture, a word with economic connotations, but also the idea of recovery and rescue. And God puts it in a song pointing to God, not about him. Like the man with the single best comeback story in the entire Old Testament up to this point, from wilderness obscurity to deliverer, picks up a pen and he writes someone else's name

in the spotlight. God, you are the ultimate leader who has led and rescued your people back into your arms. I'm simply a tool in your leading. This is the God-made leadership that this entire stretch of scripture has been building and forming Moses towards. The same dependency of baby Moses in a basket, the same trust he needed walking into Pharaoh's court with no plan, the same patience and confidence and rejection of insecurity and pride that he needed to obey in chapter five and in the chaos of the plagues in chapter seven through 13, it climaxes at this moment with the splitting of the sea in a moment of ultimate victory bathed in humility. Listen, to be the leaders God has called us to be means we watch where we point, especially in the moments of victory. Like watching where we point, it kills that self-made pride and it allows God-made leadership to be built up in us. Who is the Lord? That's the question that Pharaoh sneered back in chapter five, asking it like the answer obviously didn't matter. It's the question every plague and every act of surrender and every wave of that parted sea answered over and over, louder and louder until there was no honest way left to dodge it that you may know that I am the Lord, not Moses, not Pharaoh, not Egypt's gods

and not the idols any of us have quietly built in our own lives around masking our insecurities. The ultimate leader is the Lord. And we reframe that continually in our minds and leadership when we obey when it's hard and we step down off the throne and when we watch where we're pointing. Look, maybe you're in your own version of chapter five right now. Like you obeyed and it got harder and it's not easier. Listen, stay there. You're exactly where Moses was. Or maybe you're steering down your own version. version of Pharaoh's throne, like your own idol of control or approval or competence, and you know it's keeping you from loving and caring for others the way God actually is calling you to, like, watch Pharaoh and choose a different ending than his. Or maybe you're standing at your own sea right now. You're watching God do something that you could have never engineered on your own or imagined and the only question left is whether your story is going to be about what you did inaccomplished or what he did. Listen, your life is always leading and pointing somewhere, even, like, especially in the moments that pride and really insecurity could quietly take the seat and that belongs to God alone. So the question of who is the Lord, self-made prideful leadership asks that as a way of maintaining status and identity, but God-made dependent leadership, it offers an answer to that through the pointing to the ultimate leader who is working to shape us into better and better leaders that he has created us to be. Remember, the question that we're wrestling with in this series isn't, am I a leader? The question is and always will be, what kind of leader am I? And so, Southeast, let's be God-made leaders who help people see and know Jesus. Let's pray.

Jesus, I'm reminded of the words of Paul and Philippians 2 of your humility, of your humble, servant-hearted attitude that led to you stepping into our world and going to the cross for us. Jesus, we pray that as leaders, we, through the power of the Spirit, could walk with that same kind of humility. Spirit, that you would show us the self-made prideful areas of our influence and the way that we've been operating in our families and schools and workplaces and relationships. Root that out of us. Father, we want to be obedient. We want to be faithful. We want to be formed more and more into the leaders that we were created to be. So, Father, Son, and Spirit, help us. Help us to walk in humility and obedience. It's in the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Well, Southeast, what a great reminder from Bryson today that we, like Moses, are God-made people. We're not supposed to be self-made people, which means that we are not like the world. We are not meant to be people who are self-sufficient and self-reliant, people who only draw from our own strength and trust only in our own understanding. We, like Moses, are supposed to be people who are dependent and reliant on the Lord alone. And this is especially true for our salvation as well. Ephesians 2, 8-9 tells us that, by grace, we have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves, it is a free gift of God, not a result of work, so that no one may boast. Paul reminds us that even the greatest gift we have ever received, our salvation, was not something we earned, achieved, or even deserved. It was something God graciously gave to us through His Son, Jesus. This gift of grace is based upon Jesus alone accomplishing everything necessary for our salvation. And because of this free gift, Paul tells us again in 2 Corinthians 5-17 that if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation.

The old has passed away, and behold, the new has come. And that is exactly what we get to celebrate and remember as we take communion together today. That we are God-made people. We are a new creation in Christ, forgiven and accepted because of His body that was broken, His blood that was poured out for our sins on the cross. And we can take the elements with a thankful heart, knowing that we have been made in His image, redeemed by His Son, and given a new identity and a new future in Christ. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ Blessed assurance ♪ Jesus is mine ♪ He's been my fourth man in the fire Time after time ♪ Born of His Spirit ♪ Washed in His blood ♪ And what He did for me on Calvary Is more than enough ♪

I trust in God My Savior The One Who will never Fail He will never fail I trust in God My Savior The One Who will never Fail He will never fail ♪ Perfect submission ♪ All is at rest ♪ I know the author of tomorrow Has ordered my steps ♪ So this is my story ♪ This is my song ♪ Praising my risen King and Savior All the day long ♪ I trust in God My Savior The One

Who will never Fail He will never fail Oh, I trust in God My Savior The One Who will never Fail He will never fail ♪ I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered That's why I trust in That's why I trust in I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered

That's why I trust in That's why I trust in I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered That's why I trust in That's why I trust in I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered I saw the Lord And He heard And He answered That's why I trust in That's why I trust in That's why I trust in God ♪ He's my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, oh I trust in God ♪ ♪ He's my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, oh I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪

♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ I saw the Lord and He heard and He answered ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him God ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him, that's why I trust Him God ♪ ♪ That's why I trust Him God ♪ ♪ Yes I trust Him, yes I trust Him God ♪ ♪ Oh I trust Him God, my Savior, the one who will never fail ♪ ♪ He will never fail, yes I trust Him God, my Savior, the one ♪ ♪ who will never fail, He will never fail, I trust Him God ♪ Thank you! Abram, my God, I love you. We will always love you, God! Yes, I've come! I love your voice. You have led me through the fire in darkest night. You are close like no other. I've known you as a father. I've known you as a friend. And I have lived in the goodness of God. All my life you have been faithful. Oh, you know my life, you have made so, so good With every breath that I am able Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God Yeah You're good, God Your goodness is running after, it's running after me

Your goodness is running after, it's running after me With my life laid down, I surrender now I give you everything Your goodness is running after, it's running after me Your goodness is running after, it's running after me Your goodness is running after, it's running after me With my life laid down, I surrender now I give you everything Your goodness is running after, it's running after me You know my life, you have been faithful You know my life, you have been so, so good With every breath that I am able Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God Sing it again You know my life, you have been faithful You know my life, you have been so, so good With every breath that I am able Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God Your goodness is running after, it's running after me Your goodness is running after, it's running after me With my life laid down, I surrender now I give you everything Your goodness is running after, it's running after me Your goodness is running after, it's running after me Your goodness is running after, it's running after me Oh, we give it all in love Your goodness is running after, it's running after me Well, what a powerful sermon from Bryson. I love the question that he asked, who are you pointing to? If I'm being honest, there's so many times where I'm trying to build up my own kingdom,

my own idols, but today just cuts to the chase. Who are we pointing to? And I hope you heard the word redeemed today. I know I needed to hear that. We have a God who is on a mission, who is wanting to redeem our stories and our lives, and you are redeemed because you're a child of God. And I just love hearing from Bryson in that message. What a powerful message. One of the things at Southeast we want you to be in the know of is we have an exclusive podcast that drops every Thursday, additional content. Sometimes, most of the time, it is what we just heard, kind of diving into the sermon. Sometimes it's an additional content, so make sure you see on Thursdays we drop that podcast. You know, we end the same way every single week with a prayer. Would you pray with me? Jesus, thank you for being a great redeemer. Even when life doesn't look the way I planned it, you are good. I trust your promises. I feel your provision. I love your word. Please protect me from temptation. Please restore what I've lost. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. I am not in control. I am waiting on you. In chaos, I need your peace. In loss, I need your comfort. In confusion, I need your truth. I trust you with everything. I love you. In your name, amen.

Well, Pando community, it's been a great week. We'll see you next time.