Prepared in Secret | Bryson Koch

What's up Pando family? My name is Matt Robinson. I'm a Grateful Recovering alcoholic and addict and I'm a pastor here in Southeast And we're so glad that you're with us today joining Online in the Pando app. So grateful that you're a part of our church family and thank you for the way that God is using you In all of our lives to remind us of how God is up to things and his plan Is bigger than any place we find us in ourselves in or any situation Would love the opportunity to get up I'd love right now to ask you and to write in to us like I got just got back from a mission trip in Uganda And got to spend a lot of time the first day back answering five or six letters from You that have written in to us and it was such a it's such a blessing to me It's not a piece of like my job. I'm supposed to do. It's getting to hear what God is doing in your life Is an incredible blessing to us and so please write in let us know what's going on What God is doing with you in the situation with the season that you're in Let us know ways we can pray for you and pray for the people that you love The one another part of the gospel the connection to other people is how we see God more fully. So, please write in Also, if you're loving the stuff that we do on the Pando app, I'm gonna invite you right now to subscribe to our channel It takes the guesswork out of knowing like when is something new come up or is when is something hit? So if you subscribe it'll pop to your thing every time and you'll stay up to date and connected with us As you're on this journey with us as a part of our Southeast family I'm grateful for this sermon series that we're kicking off this week Bryson does does a great message great time unpacking some stuff that I really believe is gonna land it really hits with me as a person in long-term recovery and Just the journey that I'm on the journey of knowing that, you know Maybe I'm thinking that my life was too far gone or that there was nothing left for me to be able to do And so really grateful for this message today grateful that you're with us and would love for you just to get ready right now So let's move into a time of worship See through the fire When it don't make sense Sometimes you gotta stare down the giant worship from the lion's den Sometimes you gotta shout it from the mountains Trusting that he's gonna get you there sometimes you gotta

I Praise you Oh Sometimes you The highest Oh Is Worthy of it all Faithful all my life blessings day and night countless reasons why i'll praise you anywhere I'll praise you anywhere I'll praise you anywhere ♪ I'll praise you anyway ♪ ♪ Praise, give Him praise, give Him praise ♪ ♪ In the highest praise, give Him praise, give Him praise ♪ ♪ In the highest He is worthy, yes He is worthy of all of the praise ♪ ♪ Praise, give Him praise, give Him praise, give Him praise ♪ ♪ In the highest praise, give Him praise, give Him praise ♪ ♪ In the highest He is worthy, yes He is worthy of all of the praise ♪ ♪ He is worthy, yes He is worthy of all of the praise ♪ Is anyone grateful to be in the house of God together this morning? This is a song of gratitude about who He is and what He's done. Let's sing it together. You give it. We sing. Hallelujah. Come on you sing. And who am I that You keep me on Your mind? I'm just grateful for You. I'm just grateful for You. I'm just grateful for You.

I'm so grateful for You. All my life You've been right here by my side, God. I'm just grateful for You. And God, I'm just grateful for You. Sing, who am I? Who am I that You keep me on Your mind? I'm just grateful for You. I'm just grateful for You. I'm just grateful for You. All my life You've been right here by my side, God. I'm just grateful for You. And God, I'm just grateful for You. Oh yeah, oh. You never left my side. Oh. Who did that? And oh. I'm lifting both of my hands. Because You gave me chance after chance after chance. And oh. Well, I'm giving all that I have. Because You gave me chance after chance after chance. And oh. I'm lifting both of my hands. Because You gave me chance after chance after chance. And oh. Yes, I'm giving all that I have. Because You gave me chance after chance after chance. And who am I? Who am I that You keep me on Your mind?

God, I'm just grateful. I'm really grateful. God, I'm just grateful. I'm really grateful, yeah. ♪ And all my life You've been right here by my side ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ Who am I, who am I ♪ ♪ That You keep me on Your mind ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ And all my life You've been right here by my side ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ Sing I survive, I survive ♪ ♪ I'm here to testify, God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ Yes I'm all right if they say I'm not my God ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ God I'm just grateful for You ♪ ♪ Oh yeah, we magnify Your name ♪ ♪ We worship You ♪ ♪ All my words fall short, all my words fall short ♪ ♪ All my words fall short, all my words fall short ♪ ♪ All my words fall short, I got nothing new ♪ ♪ How could I express all my gratitude ♪ ♪ I could sing these songs as I often do ♪ ♪ As I often do, but every song must end ♪ ♪ And You never do, we sing together today ♪ ♪ So I throw up my hands and praise You again and again ♪

♪ Cause all that I have is Your glory ♪ ♪ We worship You, hallelujah ♪ ♪ For no it's not much, I'm nothing else fit for a king ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I've got one response, I've got just one move ♪ ♪ With my arms stretched wide, I will worship You, yes ♪ ♪ So I throw up my hands and praise You again and again, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Cause all that I have is a hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ For no it's not much, I'm nothing else fit for a king ♪ ♪ Except for a heart singing hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ Hallelujah ♪ ♪ Lord, You're the author, the perfecter ♪ ♪ My provider and my defender ♪ ♪ So come on my soul, oh don't you get shy on me ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, you've got a lion inside of those lungs ♪ ♪ Get up and praise the Lord, let the people say yes ♪ ♪ Come on my soul, oh don't you get shy on me ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, you've got a lion inside of those lungs ♪ ♪ Get up and praise the Lord ♪ ♪ So come on my soul, oh don't you get shy on me ♪ ♪ Lift up your song, you've got a lion inside of those lungs ♪ ♪ Get up and praise the Lord ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Raise the Lord, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ All my hope is Yours, God ♪ Whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ So I throw up my hands and praise you again ♪ ♪ Yeah, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ Oh, we worship you, Lord

We love you, Lord ♪ Oh, alleluia, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ I know it's not much I'm nothing else but a, for a King Except for a heart singing ♪ Alleluia, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ We say ♪ Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia ♪ ♪ Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia ♪ Hey. All creation sing. We join with all the angels, sing it loud. Hey. Hey. Sing it. Yes. ♪ These bones will say, great are You, Lord ♪ ♪ And all the earth will shout Your praise ♪ ♪ Our hearts will cry, these bones will say, great are You, Lord ♪ ♪ It's Your breath in our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise, pour out our praise ♪ ♪ It's Your breath in our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to You, Lord ♪ ♪ It's Your breath in our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to You Lord, we pour it out ♪ ♪ It's Your breath in our lungs ♪ ♪ So we pour out our praise to You, Lord ♪ ♪ How great, how great are You, Lord ♪ ♪ How great, how great are You, Lord ♪ ♪ How great, how great are You, Lord ♪

♪ We sing great, how great are You, Lord ♪ ♪ How great, how great are You, Lord, we worship You ♪ ♪ Lord, we worship You, Lord, we worship You, Lord ♪ God, You are worthy to be praised, Lord. By Your name today, God, with whatever we've brought in here today, Lord. Whatever we're walking through, God, we lay it at Your feet today, Lord. Maybe we're standing here and we don't know the power that is Your name, God. The love that it provides, the peace that it provides, Lord. If that's any one of us here today, God, I pray that we leave here forever changed today, Lord. In the name of Jesus, amen, Lord. And everybody said, amen, amen. Hey there, I'm Bryson Cook, and I am the Franklin Campus pastor. It is so great to be here with you all this morning. Yeah, you know, if there's one thing that I know about us as humanity, it's that something stirs within us when we hear a good story, especially the story of an unlikely hero, someone rising out of obscurity to save the world or overcome evil or make an impact that they never could have dreamed of. You know, it's the picture of an ordinary teenage girl from District 12 who's just trying to protect her sister, and all of a sudden she's a symbol of hope for thousands. Or it's a frustrated farm boy staring into the desert sunset wondering if there was just more to life than this,

and all of a sudden he grows up to be a Jedi Master. Or it's a simple hobbit living a quiet life that goes on to liberate an entire realm from the clutches of evil. You know, all of these stories, as different as they are, they paint a picture of the same kind of person. Someone who could have never imagined the impact that they would one day have. Someone who couldn't see the full story when it began. Someone who didn't know how their ordinary lives would become part of something much bigger than themselves. And for many of us, I truly believe this, like, we want these stories to be our stories. Because deep down, we all want to know that our lives matter. That God can use us to impact and change the lives of those around us. That our ordinary lives are part of something much bigger than ourselves. And yet, if we're being honest, most of us, I think, struggle to believe that. I've seen it in my own life. Like, we believe that God uses people, yeah, but we're just not convinced he wants to use us. We look at our lives and see our ordinary routines and jobs and responsibilities and struggles, and it's easy to think that real significance and impact belong to someone else. The heroes of other stories. Like, surely those that seem more gifted or more qualified or more spiritual than us. But, we open up to the book of Exodus. Like, this incredible story of God delivering his people from slavery through the leadership of a man named Moses. It's a book full of burning bushes and miracles and split seas. And yet, before there's ever a bush on fire, or before the sea itself is ripped in half, before Moses becomes one of the greatest leaders in all of Scripture, there's simply a little baby in a basket. Because here's the thing, one of the great themes of Scripture is that God loves to raise up the unexpected leader. The ordinary person, the seemingly unlikely people the world looks over, the people who don't yet see what he sees or know what he's doing. Like, that's who he changes the world through. And so, over the next four weeks, we're going to be working through the book of Exodus in a series that we're calling The Unexpected Leader. Exploring how God uses ordinary people and ordinary places to make an extraordinary difference for his kingdom. Now, if you were to walk into a bookstore and browse through the section titled Leadership,

you'll find a thousand different definitions of what a leader is. But through a gospel lens, quite simply, leadership is not about position, or platform, or qualifications, or being up-to-date on the latest trends. Leadership is really all about influence. Like, to lead is to influence, to inspire, to point others towards a vision, or a goal, or a way of life, whether you know you're consciously, actively doing it or not. And for followers of Jesus, that looks like leading people towards relationship and life with him. This is what this means. Leadership isn't reserved for the few people with the right title or the biggest stage. Like, it's a call on every one of us. And it branches into every sphere of influence that God places you in. Like, whether you recognize it or not, you're leading in how you're shaping the emotional and spiritual atmosphere of your home for your spouse and your kids. Or the decisions that you make influence the culture every day in your workplace. Or how you're helping your friends believe and value and pursue different things. Like, that's leadership. Listen, the question that we want to hone in on in this series isn't, am I a leader? The question is, hey, what kind of leader am I? Because your life is always leading and pointing somewhere. And the people most influenced by your life, like your kids, your spouse, your friends, like, they're watching. And they're following your leading, even when you don't realize it. And the greatest truth, ultimately, behind your leadership and influence is that God is always moving and working as the ultimate leader in whose image you're made. Forming you more and more into the leader that you were made to be. And the book of Exodus opens showing us that reality. That before Moses ever has a title, before he ever speaks a word, before anyone else sees God working through him, God is already shaping people and circumstances that are pointing his life towards something long before he'll ever see it. In this first week, what we're going to see is God is constantly working behind the scenes, preparing his unexpected leader for unexpected things and how he might be moving and preparing you. If you've been with us this year as we've studied through the book of Genesis, you'll remember how... It ends, God's working powerfully through a man named Joseph to save his family, to bring them into a place of stability in Egypt. And then you turn the page to Exodus,

and right away the story shifts. Goes like this, eventually a new king came to power in Egypt who knew nothing about Joseph or what he had done. Joseph's forgotten, history's ignored, a new Pharaoh rises to power and feels threatened by the growing population of Israelites. And immediately things go dark for God's people. Look, the people of Israel now outnumber us and are stronger than we are. We must make a plan to keep them from growing even more. Maybe your translation might say that Pharaoh wanted to deal shrewdly with Israel. And if you've been tracking the language of Genesis, like that should stop you for a second because all the way back in Genesis three, the serpent who tempted Adam and Eve in the garden is described with that same language of shrewd and crafty. You know, like the cobra symbol that often adorned the headdresses of Egyptian kings, like Pharaoh here in Genesis one sounds less like a king and more like the serpent from the garden targeting God's people. He steps into the same pattern from Genesis four. Just like Cain allowed insecurity to turn into violence when his brother's blessing felt like a threat, like Pharaoh responds to Israel's blessing and growth with fear. And unchecked fear quickly becomes oppression

and the blessing of others turns into personal insecurity. It goes this way. So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor and worked the people of Israel without mercy, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all of the work in the fields. They were ruthless in their demands. We're keeping the Genesis themes going because if some words sound familiar there, the only other time that bricks and mortar have appeared in the Bible up to this point was all the way back in Genesis 11 with the building of Babylon in the Tower of Babel, the picture of humanity building a monument to their own power in defiance of God. The picture that Exodus one is so clearly demonstrating about Egypt is this, that with their snake-like king of violence, they're operating like another Babylon. This is arguably the most bleak moment for God's people up to this point in the story outside of Genesis three itself. And yet, look at this one line that refuses to let the darkness have the final word in this moment. But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread. The more that Pharaoh builds oppression,

God is behind the scenes building his people and his unexpected leader. Most of us don't feel like we're probably in the midst of like a dramatic story of impact and difference-making right now with God preparing or positioning you in leadership and influence. Like if we're being really honest, most of us just feel like we're probably making bricks. You show up to the job and it feels repetitive and draining. Or you come home and you're exhausted and you wonder if anything that you do matters. You pray for your marriage, but nothing seems to shift. You watch your child make choices that you know will bring pain. And all it seems like you can do is pray. Listen, if you're being really honest, maybe you've started to ask these types of questions of God, where are you? If you're working, if you're really behind the scenes and all this, like, why can't I see it? And my prayer is this, that if you find yourself there, listen, Exodus one tells you another story. Silence does not mean God is absent. That what looks like delay might actually be God moving and preparing in ways that you can't yet see or wouldn't expect. Like Israel looks hopeless in chapter one. Pharaoh seems to be winning. And yet it's clear that God is orchestrating things

behind the scenes, moving his people towards something that they can't yet envision or imagine. Like the invitation of prayer in this season isn't God show me the roadmap, give me all the answers, but instead God give me the power to just trust that you are working even now, even if I can't see it. Your life, listen, is always leading and pointing somewhere even when you cannot yet see the direction because God moves and is active even when we can't see it. Well, Pharaoh realizes that crushing labor alone isn't slowing the growth of the Israelites. And so he begins to escalate things even more. Then Pharaoh gave this order to the Hebrew midwives, Shifra and Pua, hey, when you help the Hebrew women as they give birth, what I want you to do is watch as they deliver. And if the baby is a boy, kill him. girl, let her live. You know, Pharaoh's plan is this, let's eliminate the next generation of Israelite men before they can become any kind of military threat. But ironically, while Pharaoh's worried about the men, he should have been paying closer attention to the ladies. But because the midwives feared God, they refused to obey the king's orders. They allowed the boys to live. And so the king of Egypt called for the midwives, hey, why have you done this? Why have you allowed the boys to live? Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women, the midwives replied. They're more vigorous and they have their babies so quickly that we cannot get there in time. So listen, God was good to the midwives and the Israelites continued to multiply, growing more and more powerful. There's a beautiful

inversion happening here that often we miss. You know, back in Genesis three, we're given the picture of a woman who listens to the voice of the serpent and turned away from God. But here, these two women hear the voice of the serpent like king and they refuse to listen. They stay faithful. They choose to trust God over Pharaoh. And there's even this detail that I don't want us to miss. Shiphrah and Pua, these two simple, ordinary midwives, they are named and remembered in scripture all throughout history. But yet the most powerful king in the world at the time, like he goes unnamed through this entire book, like where the world remembers and honors power and status, like God values and honors faithful obedience and God's kingdom, true leadership and lasting impact. It's never ultimately about platform or position. It's about faithfulness in the ordinary moments. It's trusting God, even when no one important is watching, like God quietly moves through exactly that kind of ordinary faithful obedience. Like that's ultimately the upside down nature of leadership in God's kingdom. Like it doesn't always look like the visibility or the recognition. It's not even always knowing the long-term impact that you're making. It's a simple picture of always doing the next right thing of what he asks. You know, to illustrate this, if you were to take a moment and think about the people who have most shaped or impacted your life, like your mind probably doesn't go to the celebrity or the Instagram influencer or the politician as the leaders that you've looked to. Like who comes to mind, I'm sure, is a parent or a teacher or a coach or a grandparent or a friend, the person who like consistently showed up in the ordinary moments, the person who believed in you, the person

whose life was pointing somewhere worth following, like the most powerful leadership, don't miss this, that you may do, may never happen on a stage full of applause or in front of a camera with an ever-growing Instagram following. But instead, it may happen in the moment that you refuse to join the gossip at work or when you choose patience when you're exhausted or when you apologize when your pride just wanted to justify or when you let your kids watch you choose forgiveness instead of bitterness or maybe when you stay faithful, when compromise feels so much easier. You might think, listen, that no one notices those moments, but I promise you the people closest to you do and ultimately heaven does. Like your life is always leading and pointing somewhere, especially in the ordinary faithfulness, because God moves by using ordinary people to advance his purposes. As we continue in the story, Pharaoh isn't done. Midwives have outmaneuvered him and so he once again escalates things, this time to a horrifying degree. He doesn't whisper an order to a couple women in a back room. He goes public to all of Egypt. Hey, every Israelite baby boy is to be thrown into the Nile River, drowned, no exceptions. Like this is the darkest the story has gotten to this point. God's people are enslaved, their children are being killed, and yet right into the middle of the darkness, as God has been moving and working through ordinary faithfulness and obedience, a baby is born. About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. Notice how the text sets this up. There's no fanfare, there's no announcement or baby shower full of gifts, just a baby boy born in secret into the

most dangerous moment imaginable for any Israelite family, and yet watch how the text does introduce this baby. He was a special baby. Words that I'm sure you've heard from every parent, but the Hebrew word there in particular is the word tov. It's the word good, the same word that God speaks over and over in Genesis 1 as he looks at creation. Don't miss this. Moses is introduced as a continual of God's good unfolding story. Like Pharaoh may be trying all his might to erase things, but God's story is still being written. And so Moses's mom kept him hidden for three months. And just for a minute, even as God is working behind the scenes and working through the faithful obedience of ordinary people, I want you to think about the reality of what those three months would have brought. That every cry would have created a sense of panic, that every knock at the door raised fear, that every day carried real life or death risk. And eventually the baby that she's held and fed and prayed over and sung to in secret has grown too big to hide any longer. And his mother has led to a moment where faith means releasing what she cannot control any longer into the hands of the God that she trusts. And so she got a basket made of papyrus reeds and waterproofed it with tar and pitch. And she put the baby in the basket and laid it among the reeds

along the bank of the Nile River. There's a detail here worth pausing on. The word used here for basket, it's not the ordinary Hebrew word for basket. It's only used twice really in all of scripture. And so to nerd out with us, listen, the only other time that this very word is used is the same word to describe Noah's Ark. Both are even waterproofed the same way. If you were to flip back to Genesis six with tar and pitch, God wants preserved Noah through the waters in an Ark. And now he preserves Moses through the waters that were supposed to be his death, but he's preserving Moses now in his own little Ark. God is carrying out another story of deliverance in the midst of chaos. As we read on, Moses is found in his basket by none other than guess who? The daughter of Pharaoh himself, the very man trying to kill him. And he's taken in by her and raised right under Pharaoh's nose in his own palace. You might wonder, how did she pull that off? Well, in fact, the name that Pharaoh's daughter gives him, Moses, could really be another act of God's deliverance in this moment. Like in Hebrew, that name means to draw out a picture of her pulling him out of the Nile River. And one day, if you think about it so beautifully, like he would be a part of drawing

God's people out of Egypt. But in Egyptian, Moses also had a meaning as a name. It meant son of, with no father identified. It's almost as if Moses' name allowed him to live in obscurity in the palace, like belonging to both worlds, learning Egyptian language and customs and power structures right under Pharaoh's nose that God would use in ways that no one could have planned. Yes, only God can work like this, like working behind the scenes and through ordinary faithfulness while also positioning us perfectly in places and environments like a basket in the river or the palace of the enemy, in environments that will prepare us for a calling and an influence that he has for us and our families or our schools or our workplaces or even our church. Even, even taking destruction and pain in our lives and somehow bringing out life from it. Many of us maybe can recognize that pattern in our own lives. Like it's the job you thought that was just a paycheck where actually you learned how to lead and develop people. Or it's the disappointment that you never asked for that taught you compassion. Or it's the season that you begged God to remove that developed a strength and a dependency on him that you didn't know you needed

and allowed you to share with others what he's given you. Guess God wastes nothing. He wastes neither pain, nor waiting, nor disappointment. He often uses the very thing that we understand the least in our lives to prepare us for what he intends to do through us. And before God does something through a leader, he almost always positions them perfectly to do something in that leader for their calling. Your life, Southeast, is always leading and pointing somewhere. Especially in the places that God currently has you planted because God moves by positioning us perfectly before he calls us. Katniss Everdeen, Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins. Here's what's true about every single one of those stories. The leader never saw it coming in terms of how their lives would play out and ultimately the leader that they would become. Their stories, if you think about it, they didn't begin with a dramatic announcement or a commissioning ceremony. They began in an ordinary place with ordinary lives and ordinary problems with preparation they could not see. And in the same way, Exodus 1 and 2 begin and end rather quietly. There's no burning bush, there's no plagues, there's no sea splitting open yet, just a baby in a basket, floating in a river, and being brought into Pharaoh's palace. But behind it all, God was working, even when it didn't seem like it, and working through the courage of two women most people would have never noticed, and through a faithful

mother along the banks of the Nile, and a household of the enemy king, like quietly positioning his unexpected leader for something no one could have scripted. And honestly, that's the story he may be writing in your life right now. Some of us are waiting for the moment when everything seems to finally make sense, like when our lives finally feel like we've reached that place of impactful mattering and influence and service for the kingdom, like, hey, once I get the promotion, or once the kids are old enough and I have more time, or once life settles down, like, then I'll really know what God has for me and be ready to step out boldly. Because, listen, God was already active, already using ordinary people, and already positioning Moses long before Moses could possibly have any idea. And God is active even when he can't see it, and he uses those ordinary people, people just like you, to lead and advance his purposes through faithfulness, and he may just be positioning you right now, in this season, in these circumstances, for something only he can see, where you will influence and inspire and point others around you in your spheres of life to Jesus in ways that you don't realize even the impact of. Listen, your life, Southeast, is already leading and pointing somewhere right now, like in this season, in this job, these family dynamics, this neighborhood, this marriage, every choice, every conversation, every decision, everything you intentionally and unintentionally model to those around you. And in this season of waiting or exhaustion or clinging to faithfulness, your life is already leading and pointing somewhere. And he may be using this very season to shape the kind of influence that one day, uniquely through you, points others towards Jesus in some of the simplest yet powerful ways that you can't begin to imagine. The question is never, hey, am I a leader? The question is, what kind of leader am I? Or rather, what kind of leader may God be forming me more and more into? Let's pray. God, we thank you. We thank you that you are the ultimate leader who works behind the scenes, who works through

ordinary faithfulness, who positions us in perfect places to be formed and shaped more and more into the leaders that you have called us to be and made us to be. And so, Father, we thank you for the words of Exodus today, of the story of the Israelites in Egypt and Moses as a baby. We pray that these would be truths that we cling to, that we hold onto and have eyes open to the ways that you may be moving, even when we can't see it, even when we least expect it. Help us to have eyes to see the world around us, that we are all leaders, and that we, through the power of your Spirit, have the ability to step into places and spaces and make an impact for the kingdom even now. Father, we love you. It's in the name of Jesus that we pray, amen. Well, church family, as we begin this series on Moses, aren't you glad that we serve the greatest leader of all, our Lord himself? Jesus, the Good Shepherd, came into this world and laid down his life for his sheep. And he did this because he loves us. Romans 5a reminds us that God demonstrated his own love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. As we enter into a time of communion online together, I want us to dwell on that truth, that God demonstrated his incredible love by sending his Son. Jesus lived the life that we could never live. He died the death that we deserved and rose again on the third day so that everyone who trusts in him might have eternal life. And why would the Son of God leave his throne? Take on flesh and willingly endure the cross? Well, as scripture tells us, he did it because he loves us. So as we take the bread and the cup together, let's do so with gratitude, remembering that the cross is the clearest demonstration of God's love for us. And let's thank him for his body that was broken, his blood that was poured out for us.

Let's thank him because he loves us. He is the good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. He is the good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. He is the good shepherd who laid down his life for his sheep. I don't talk like I used to. I've been washed from the inside. I've been washed from the inside. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. I know it was the blood, could have only been the blood. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. I know it was the blood, could have only been the blood. Thank you for the blood. Oh Jesus. I cannot explain. Oh, but nothing's more real than this. In the presence of God. Oh, when my heart experienced. When my shame hit the wayside. When my sin met the most high. I was washed from the inside. I was washed from the inside. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. I know it was the blood, could have only been the blood. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. I know it was the blood, could have only been the blood. Could have only been your blood.

What else could make us clear? Nothing more. Thank you for your blood. It's never been about performance, perfection, or striving for acceptance. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. It's never been about deserving, or earning. It's a gift that's freely given. Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody wanna get holy, and righteous, purified, and spotless? Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Does anybody wanna be worthy, forgiven, justified, really living? Let me tell you, it's only by the blood. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. I know it was the blood, could have only been the blood. Hallelujah, Hallelujah. I know it was the blood, it could have only been the blood. ♪ Only a bloodline that can make us clear white as snow ♪

♪ Jesus, You love red red ♪ ♪ For our sins You washed it all away, oh come on ♪ ♪ Does anybody wanna be holy and righteous ♪ ♪ Purified and flawless, let me tell you ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood, come on we sing ♪ ♪ Does anybody wanna be worthy, forgiven, justified and living ♪ ♪ Let me tell you, it's only by the blood, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Does anybody wanna be holy and righteous ♪ ♪ Purified and flawless, let me tell you, we sing ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood, it's only by the blood ♪ ♪ Does anybody wanna be worthy, forgiven, justified and living ♪ ♪ Let me tell you, it's only by the blood, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, I know it's what we sing, oh oh oh ♪ ♪ It's only by the blood, hallelujah, hallelujah ♪ ♪ I know it was divine, it could have only been the blood ♪ Man, there was so much about that message that landed with me, felt such a connection to God through the worship time and then listening to that message. My hope is that it really hits and lands for you, knowing that God chooses people from unexpected places to do His purpose and His will. Jesus' prayer was that God's kingdom would come on earth just like it is in heaven, and for an alcoholic and an addict like me to know that God is in the business of choosing people from unexpected places is such an encouragement, and I really hope that it hit and landed for you because I'm sure there's some times when you're watching these messages with us

where you hear things that don't necessarily land, like there's illustrations about things that don't connect, and sometimes I'm guessing maybe you hit and it goes, I've still got five years before I'm even up for a chance to get out, or maybe you're in a spot where it's like, I don't know if I'll ever get out. How does this message apply to me? Man, today's message hit, and I hope that God uses it to encourage you to know that no matter where you are and no matter what the exact details of your scenario and your situation are, God has a plan for you, and God's plan for you is not something that's gonna be stopped or changed simply because of the setting that you find yourself in or the circumstances that are around. So really, really hopeful that God connected with you in that and that you are able to walk away from this with eyes and a heart for saying, okay, God, how can you use me? No matter what my story is, no matter what my situation is, God, his plan and purpose is big, and you have a part to play in that, like you specifically have a part to play in that, and so really hopeful for that. This Thursday, our Pando Exclusive podcast will drop just like normal, so make sure you're subscribed to our channel so you hit that. We just follow up the sermon,

and so it's a little bit deeper dive into the scripture and the text that Bryson talked about today, and also what's gonna be really cool is we've got coming up a special Q&A episode, so if you've got questions, write those things in, ask the questions, and then be prepared for that when we drop this episode where we're gonna answer the questions or try to answer the questions that you have submitted to us. Also, this Wednesday is our last episode of Eden to Eternity, so if you've enjoyed that, jump into it. If you've not got connected to it yet, it's on there, so just go back and watch the other ones. It's been a seven-week study, and I'm really hopeful that it's been good and grateful that it's been there for us, so jump on this Sunday, this Wednesday, for our last one. Now, we'll come to the time today where we close, and it's my favorite time. Prayer is something that still is so difficult for me. As a person in recovery, I know I have to pray first thing because my mind will get off on a tangent really, really quick, but it's still hard. Like, I try to pray, and five seconds into it, my mind starts wandering, and it's a challenge, and so I found, for me, in my relationship with Jesus and my recovery, that sometimes just reading prayers

that are written, the Prayer of St. Francis, the Third Step Prayer, Seventh Step Prayer, the long version of the Serenity Prayer. Reading those things are really helpful. And so like today, I'm inviting you to pray with me as we close our time. The words will be up on the screen and we'll read and pray this together. Jesus, thank you for being a great Redeemer. Even when my 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 have lost. Please fill me with your Holy Spirit. I am not in control. I'm 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. Can't wait to see you guys at the podcast stuff this week. Can't wait to connect with you further. See you soon.