Sermon help

Below is my sermon for Sunday.  Read it over if you get a chance and give me some feedback.  I will warn you that I haven't proofed it yet so there could be some major mistakes or words left out.  I tend to do that when I type.  Thanks for your help.

A Savior has come....now what?  We are formed into people of the Kingdom of God.

Exodus 16
Isaiah 9:2-7
Matt 5:2-16, 43-48; 6:19-34

Previously we have been answering the question, “a Savior has come, now what?”  Last week Pastor Dave and Pastor Doug answered that the Savior challenges the status quo.  This week I want us to take this idea a step further and look at how the Savior begins in us a process that forms us as people of an alternative kingdom that stands in contrast to the kingdom of the world.  But before we begin to talk about how we are formed, I want to talk about the kingdom of the world.  This is a rather popular catch phrase that we use in Christianity, especially around the Christmas season if you’re listening to Handle’s Messiah.  Deep down as Christmas rolls around each year, we know that we are supposed to be celebrating something unique that has happened at a point in human history.  But how often do we forget this unique event and get sucked into celebrating a totally different holiday?  How often does our citizenship in the Kingdom of God get traded in for a citizenship of the kingdom of the world?

Today I want to talk through 3 periods in history and what the kingdom of the world looked and acted like and how the alternative Kingdom of God speaks to something radically different.  First let us talk about the central story that is found in the Hebrew scriptures, the exodus.  The world in which the exodus story unfolds is wrapped around the narrative of power and domination.  The Israelites find themselves in slavery because the Pharaoh of the day thinks that they might be a threat to his rule and reign as Pharaoh.  So instead of trying to build a bridge of friendship to this foreign people group, the Pharaoh enslaves and oppresses them.  They are forced to build bricks without straw and to labor for the glory of Egypt.  There is even a law passed that all of their male babies are to be put to death upon birth.  It is out of this situation that they cry out to God and God begins to intervene on their behalf.  The story goes that God, through 10 plagues, begins the process of freeing the Israelites from Egypt.  Now it is important to note that as the Israelites are leaving Egypt that God leads them every step of the way and even performs a miracle, in parting the Red Sea, that saves them from the Egyptian army who is coming to force them back into slavery.

Life in the desert

So if you haven't heard, the weather is really gloomy and rainy here in the Philly area today.  This is one of those days in which you just want to stay in bed and sleep the day away.  But instead I have to come into the office and am attempting to get some work done.  Anyways, I am looking for a bit more sermon help if you are willing to think along with me.  This week we are continuing with our look at the Exodus, which I started last week, and focusing on the wandering in the desert part.  My original intention was to talk about living faithfully on the journey with God and how the desert is a place where our relationship with God is tested.

So here's my questions for this week:  What is your view of the desert metaphor in Scripture?

Is it punishment?  It is a place of testing?  Of preparation?

Is it necessary?  Did God have to lead the people through the desert?

What does the desert look like in our spiritual life?  Is the desert only times in our life when things seem like they're going down the crapper?

Thanks in advance for the conversation.  I'll try to do the Tim Keel post sometime this afternoon.

Story of Jacob

I'm speaking on the story of Jacob this weekend and am having a bit of trouble trying to figure out where to go with it.  This year Doug and I are trying to work through a majority of scripture looking through the lens of God's call in Micah 6:8 to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.  Our desire is to talk through how the people of God have done this well, failed miserably, or been challenged by God in a new way.  We hope to connect the story of God into our story so that we can learn, grow and understand that we are a part of God's story.

So back to my question.  Do you feel that only focusing on the reconcilliation part of the story of Jacob misses out on the bigger story of God choosing Jacob to be the one to carry on the promise of Abraham?  I've read quite a bit the past couple of days on Jacob and I want to make sure that I do his story justice.  Any thoughts?