Principles to Live By

Exodus Principles to Live By

Text: Exodus 17:8-18:27

Intro: The Old Testament story of God freeing Israel from slavery in Egypt, traveling to the Promised Land, and wandering in the wilderness are examples for us living in the New Testament revealing principles about how to live our lives 1 Cor. 10:11. Today, as we see Israel continuing to move towards their promised land we see lessons that God taught them about how to treat one another and lessons about how we should live as well.

1. Hands Up Ex. 17:8-16
   1. Amalek came and fought against Israel. Israel was large in size but untrained.
   2. Moses Plan:
      1. Calls Joshua to choose men to fight on their behalf. For the first time, they will fight the battle rather than have God fight it for them, as at the Red Sea.
      2. He will sit atop the hill with his arms raised, holding the staff of God. Moses’ position pictures an intercession before God as Moses prays for victory.
   3. Whenever Moses’ hands would fail, Israel’s army would begin to lose, and when he raised his hands, they would win.
   4. Moses' prayer on the mountain was more significant than the actual fighting in the valley. It’s not the skill of the fighters, or the leadership of Moses, that wins the battle; it’s the power of God, and that power flows through Moses’ hands raised in intercession, which makes Aaron and Hur this day’s “players of the game.”
   5. Jesus intercedes on our behalf, and His hands never fall Rom. 8:34, Heb. 7:25, 1 Jn. 2:1 Jesus’ intercession for us is based on His completed work on the cross.
   6. I tap into the completed work of salvation every time I pray “In Jesus’ name.” Most believers pray in Jesus’ name but don’t understand what it means - sincerely or 10-4.
   7. Praying in Jesus’ name means to pray as His representative or to pray as He would pray. If we really did that, we would pray bigger, not smaller. When we pray, we should remember that the extent of Jesus's love for us is revealed at the cross, and his power is revealed at the resurrection.

• A young boy went to the local store with his mother. The shop owner, a kind man, passed him a large jar of suckers and invited him to help himself to a handful. Uncharacteristically, the boy held back. So the shop owner pulled out a handful for him.

When outside, the boy's mother asked why he had suddenly been so shy and wouldn't take a handful of suckers when offered.

The boy replied, "Because his hand is much bigger than mine!"

1. What if we paused right now and prayed in Jesus’ name for the pains of life and for the possibilities of the New Year?
2. The primary work of the people of God is prayer, specifically intercession, Mark. 11:17.
   1. If God’s house will be called a house of prayer, it means that those from the outside call it a place of prayer.
   2. Others reach out to us to pray for people who are hurting because they know we raise our hands to the Lord in prayer.
   3. Who are you praying for? What are you faithfully praying for?
3. Prayers in the book of Acts:
   1. In Acts 1, Jesus gives the Great Commission to the Apostles: to carry the gospel to every nation on earth. He gave that to a group of blue-collar workers with no formal education. Never had a more important, urgent, and difficult assignment been given to a less qualified group.
   2. They ran to the Upper Room to pray. No one told them; they just went. They prayed on their faces for 10 days, and then the power of God fell on them. I have a large whiteboard in my office, and I love to plan and strategize, but I am always asking, “Have I talked with God about this?”
   3. After 10 days, the power of God fell. Then Peter stood up (Acts 2) and preached for about 10 minutes, and 3000 people got saved. They prayed for 10 days, preached for 10 minutes, and 3000 people got saved. Today we plan for 10 days, pray for 10 minutes, and three people get saved. You see, it’s all about where you place the zeroes.
   4. In Acts 6, the Apostles urge the church to appoint deacons to address unmet needs. Acts 6:3-4
4. At NorthWoods Church, in many of our worship services we dedicate times for prayer, and at the end of every service, we offer an opportunity to come forward to pray individually or with a staff member.

• Charles Spurgeon was asked the secret to his great power in preaching, and he walked the person down to a big basement room under the church, called “the boiler room” (where they kept all the boilers that provided the building’s heat), and there was this mass of people on their faces praying throughout the whole service.

1. Speak Up 18:1-12
   1. Israel has travelled deep into the wilderness, but it is the same wilderness that Moses spent 40 years in, so he was familiar with the area.
   2. Moses hasn’t seen his wife, Zipporah, his two sons, and his father-in-law, Jethro, since he went to Egypt in obedience to the Lord. Jethro arrives with his wife and sons - things have changed. 18:5-9
   3. Moses reviewed what God has done. 18:8
   4. Jethro’s response:
      1. Rejoiced over what the Lord had done through Moses
      2. Jethro believed in the Lord because of Moses's testimony of what God had done.
         1. Moses recounts personal stories of how God has worked in his life, and afterwards Jethro becomes a follower and worshiper of Yahweh.
         2. When Moses was in the wilderness for 40 years, he hadn’t really been walking with God. That didn’t happen for Moses until he met God at the burning bush.
         3. After the burning bush, he immediately left for Egypt. So, Jethro doesn’t really know the “walking with God” side of Moses.
   5. Jethro offers a burnt offering as a symbol of atonement for past sins and shares a meal with the elders to demonstrate that he is part of the family.
   6. We all should give testimony of the goodness of God. Tell your friends and family about how God has saved you. Have I ever told you about how God changed my life?
      1. The church grows best not through my preaching but through your testimonies and invitations to others.
      2. If you are a new believer, the most evangelistic and easiest time to be evangelistic is now. Just tell others what Jesus has done for you and let them know that Jesus can change their lives as well.

• Show circles of invitation.
• My two favorite definitions of evangelism are “two very nervous people talking to each other” and “one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread.”

1. Biblical testimonies. John 4:27-30, 39-42 the woman at the well; Mk 5:19 a man controlled by demons wants to follow Jesus, and Jesus says no, but instead tells others in this community what he has done for him.
2. The most common form of evangelism in scripture is having a meal with someone who is not in a relationship with the Lord, telling them your story, which should lead to Jesus’ story, and allowing them to make it their story.
3. In the Gospel of Luke, the phrase "The Son of Man came to…" appears twice: once, he came to seek and save the lost (19:10), and the other, he came eating and drinking (7:34). The first was His purpose, and the second was His method.
4. Have meals with the lost and tell them everything that God has done for you.
5. First Next Steps:
   1. I commit to pray faithfully in 2026 for ___________
   2. I will evaluate who in my circle of influence is unchurched or does not know Jesus.
   3. I will commit to meeting with at least one unchurched person or someone who doesn’t know Jesus and to share how good God has been to me through Jesus.
6. Give Up 18:13-
   1. Jethro has been a follower of God for a hot minute, and now he is going to give his son-in-law, who has just led Israel out of Egypt, some advice.
   2. If you are a leader and there are people very far below you on the org chart who give you advice, listen - you might learn something.
   3. Moses sat to judge the people - he was the judge, counselor, therapist, police, CPS, and BMV. Moses was a one-man show.
   4. Jethro was concerned for Moses
      1. He understood that superman leaders wear out.
      2. He saw the heaviness of leadership.
   5. Moses was to return to his former position as an intercessor before God on behalf of the people. He should hear the complaints and bring them before God for the answer.
   6. Jethro encourages Moses to seek able men who fear God and hate bribery. We can categorize these as people with leadership ability, who seek after God and pursue holiness.
   7. Jethro encourages Moses to assign these men responsibilities for thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens.

• At NorthWoods, we shepherd the church through multiple elders, with each elder responsible for a defined number of families based on their last name—show list. NorthWoods Church has always believed that discipleship and shepherding happen best in small groups. (Give History of Covid leading up to the Gathering to Now) This fall, we will implement a change, as we strongly encourage everyone to join a small group to experience the greatest degree of shepherding. Shepherding and discipleship happen best in a small group of believers doing life together. Your small group might be through your table group in the Gathering that agrees to meet separately from the gathering or in a small group that is not part of the Gathering but is committed to growing in Christ together.

1. Moses made a simple leadership mistake that I have also made - prioritized giving himself away to others over making sure they received good leadership. There is a difference between receiving Moses and receiving good shepherding, leadership, and judgment. At NorthWoods Church, as the church has grown, you may not always get me, but you can always get good pastoral leadership and care.
2. I sit with our elders with one vote among them. I typically cast my vote last, and there are times when I am in the minority in decision-making. That should encourage you, as I am the furthest from a dictator or from a system in which everything fallss on one man.
3. Giving up responsibility to others and sharing leadership is more necessary the more a church grows.

• I want NorthWoods Church to grow, and as it does there will be growing pains. NorthWoods will not always feel the same. I want the church to grow because in some of your lives you have an unsaved wife, husband, son, daughter, friend, and coworker. Look at the circles earlier and recognize that we are to do everything possible to see unbelievers come to Jesus and the unchurched become engaged with the church again. By the way, when people complain to me about the church growing, I always want to ask who I should go to and uninvite? NorthWoods Church has a history of planting churches. I believe we will soon be planting more churches in southwest Indiana, giving some of you an opportunity to be part of a new church that makes disciples who makes disciples.

1. Last Next Steps:
   1. Be Committed to NorthWoods Church - join, serve, etc.

Conclusion:

• Hands Up (Prayer): “Who is the name God keeps bringing to your mind? Not ten people. One. Who will you faithfully intercede for in 2026?”
• Speak Up (Witness): “Some of you have been praying, but God is asking you to speak up—to tell your story, to invite someone to a meal, to say, ‘This is what the Lord has done for me.’”

Give Up (Surrender): “And some of us need to start looking for others who can help carry our leadership load so we can share with others the responsibility of leadership.” if you’re here today and you don’t know Jesus, I want you to know this: there is someone interceding for you right now whose hands never fall. Jesus Christ stands before the Father on your behalf. The battle for your soul has already been fought, and the victory has already been won at the cross and the empty tomb. The only question left is whether you will receive what He has done for you.”