Staff in Hand

Well, good morning. It’s good to see all of you. Thank you for joining us today, especially if this is your first time here, you’ve been checking us out the last couple of weeks or maybe even the last couple of months.

If you haven’t had a chance to introduce yourself, I, along with some of the other staff will be in our West Lobby in the center of it after the service. And if you wouldn’t mind just coming up and introducing yourself, we would really appreciate that. And it gives us an opportunity to thank you for joining us today.

Also want to welcome all of those that are streaming in online or watching later on demand. And of course, our really good friends that are streaming in from First Lutheran in Algonac. As we are starting the second month, can you believe it’s February 1st, by the way, folks? Can you believe that? Which side note, don’t you feel like February and March are kind of the two hardest months in Michigan? Because like November and December when the weather starts making the turn, you got Thanksgiving and Christmas to kind of distract you.

And then January, you still have, you know, football playoffs and all of that stuff. And it’s like the transition. But then it’s like you get to February and something weird happens to us, doesn’t it? And I don’t know why, but the older I get, the harder I’m struggling with winter.

Does anybody else feel that in their bones? Is it not just me? Okay. Just wait, okay. The snowbird lifestyle, which hide all our snowbirds, is starting to sound a lot nicer.

But here’s the cool part, is that because there’s nothing else to do, there’s no better place than to be in church every single week. And so if you weren’t with us last month, we got through three chapters, three chapters of the second book of the Bible, Exodus. And I’m gonna catch you up really, really quick because a lot happened in three short chapters.

In fact, we started off by getting introduced to this baby named Moses. And it was his mom’s hands that made a basket and put him in this basket and placed him in the Nile in order to save his life. And God, through a series of events, actually saved his life.

He used Moses’ sister to actually hand deliver Moses back to his mom, who nursed him. And then, wouldn’t you know, through another series of events, she ended up giving him to Pharaoh’s daughter. And how old was he when he was a toddler? Who remembers? Three years old, he was handed over to Pharaoh’s daughter.

So he got to spend the first 37 years of his life, or actually the first 37 years after that, living in a castle, living in a mansion, living amongst everything you could ever hope, dream, or imagine, food, clothes, servants. The guy did not really have a big struggle the first part of his life. And one day, for whatever reason, he turns 40 years old and he decides to walk around the kingdom and he sees an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite.

So the Egyptians are in charge, the Israelites are enslaved. And the first recorded act that Moses does in scripture is he kills somebody, he murders somebody, which is just kind of crazy because he still has not been caught. He still hasn’t gone to trial.

He’s just living this crazy life out in the wilderness. And so when you kill somebody and everybody finds out about it, what’s the first thing you should do? Just remember who you’re sitting next to, okay? That’s what he does. He runs and he escapes and he relocates and meets these women at a well, ends up marrying one of them, and then instantly becomes a husband and a father.

And then the Bible literally fast forwards another 40 years, so now he’s 80 years old, which is where we left off last week with Pastor Ben, where after being a shepherd for 40 years, God shows up to him in this miraculous way. There’s a bush that’s on fire, but it’s not being consumed. And God is literally talking to Moses.

So that’s where we get the burning bush encounter from God at. And so just so you know where we’re headed in February, we’re gonna be getting through chapter four and chapter five and half of chapter six. And I want you to see this, especially if you’re new to Shepherd’s Gate, we would love for you to join us all of February because we believe if you check us out for three or four weeks in a row, you’ll really get an appreciation for our church and you’ll probably really sense whether or not God is calling you to call this place home, but also so that you can see how intentional we are about slowing down the scriptures and being methodical and really taking our time as we unpack and unfold how we believe God speaks to us, which is through his word.

And so last week, as we looked at chapter three, it’s God, again, speaking to Moses, and he tells Moses, so now what? I am sending, very good, to Pharaoh to bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt. Then he says to him again, and assemble the elders of Israel. So here, you’re gonna go to Pharaoh first, which you can imagine the mental game that was playing for him, because he hasn’t seen Pharaoh since he murdered the guy.

Then you’re also gonna go to the people that are associated with you, who are my people, and you’re gonna get the elders and you’re gonna do this as well, and he gives them further instruction. So today, if you have your Bibles, which we encourage you to bring your Bibles to church, if you wanna grab those, open them up, get your pens and highlighters ready. Exodus chapter four, verse one says this.

Moses is answering God, and he says, what if they, the Israelites, do not believe me, or listen to me and say, you’re full of it? There’s no way that God showed up to you in a burning bush, and the Lord certainly didn’t give you instructions on delivering us. And so what you find with Moses is that over and over again, he keeps questioning God, he keeps doubting what God is actually telling him to do. And so in verse two, the Lord says to Moses, what is that in your hand? Which, whenever God asks a question, what kind of question is God asking? A rhetorical question, because God is all-knowing, so he already knows everything.

So he’s being set up in one regard, in that, hey, Moses, take the cue here. He knows what’s in your hand, he can see what’s in your hand. For crying out loud, he’s appearing to you in a burning bush.

But Moses responds, it’s a staff. And what’s fascinating about a staff is this is what was used by him primarily to lead the sheep, which was his form of income at the time. He’s a shepherd.

I want you to think about this. He has spent 40 years being a shepherd, and the staff in particular is very significant. In fact, when you become a pastor in our denomination, they actually give you one of these staffs.

Both Pastor Ben and Pastor Eric have those in their office. They’re really super cool. I didn’t get one, because they didn’t give them out when I became a pastor.

But if any of you want to borrow them, I’m sure they’ll let you borrow them if you want to beat your kids with it or something. It’s really cool. But they have, so every once in a while, I go in there and I like to, you know, whatever with that.

Okay, here we go. So the staff represents, be jealous that I don’t have one, I guess. The staff represents his identity, his income, and his influence.

It represents his identity because he’s a shepherd. This is what he’s kind of resolved that he’s gonna do for the rest of his life. He’s gotten married, he’s started a family, he works with his father-in-law.

I mean, the guy’s 80 years old. Probably just feels like this is how he’s gonna live the rest of his life out, until God interrupts his life, until God decides he’s gonna change his plans. It also represents his income, because back then it wasn’t about your financial portfolio or the house that you have or your bank account.

All of your income was tied into your livestock. And so that represents that for him as well. And of course, his influence as the leader, as the person that is the leader of his family, but also the one that’s the leader of his estate.

And so God comes up with this crazy plan to try to convince Moses that he is, in fact, the one that he has chosen to deliver his children out of Egypt. And so God says, throw that thing on the ground. And Moses throws it on the ground, and it becomes a servant, and what does it say? And he, that’s the part I think a lot of people forget.

I mean, think of that. First of all, you’re throwing it on the ground because you’re told to, and then ultimately, instantly, it’s churned into this snake. Now, is there anybody in here you actually like snakes? So we got one, okay, we got two, oh, three, three people.

Believe it or not, I found out this week that we hired somebody on our staff that likes snakes. And I said, how did they get through the interview process? We really need to add that as a prerequisite. I hate snakes.

You know, when you used to go to the Detroit Zoo when the kids were little, and you’d go to that area in the middle, and I just like that they’re behind thick glass. There’s always that funky smell in that particular place. You know what I’m talking about? Or people that have these things in their home.

Well, recently, we hired a guy who has no problem putting snakes around his neck, I guess. If you didn’t know, that’s Pastor Eric. He’s the one that’s hosting our service today.

He’s been with us since September 1st of last year. And I was thinking to myself, what if this thing just decides it doesn’t like you? What if it just decides it’s gonna coil around your neck and kill you? Is there like life insurance for that? Is that like one of those things that you can’t collect if that happens? The second thing that I noticed about this picture is that he’s got a really, really strong mustache game, doesn’t he? And you know, Pastor Ben’s been growing his mustache out, so I’m kind of wondering if those two, maybe we should just start a mustache contest between the two of them. But man, snakes, we know from Scripture that snakes are not regarded as a good thing.

It goes back to Genesis 3, where the devil was an angel and decided he wanted to be God, so God sends him to the earth. He shows up in the form of a snake or a serpent. He’s the one that convinced Eve and Adam to sin.

And so here you have this symbol of something that’s slithering on the ground. Moses, I believe, had the proper response. I would’ve done the same thing.

I would’ve ran away. The other interesting part about this is that Egyptians actually worshiped snakes. Now, I want you to think about this.

They worshiped snakes. In fact, next month, we’re gonna get into the plagues that are coming. And every single one of the plagues that God sends to the Egyptians is things that they worship.

And so in one way, this is God actually saying that he is the ultimate creator of the universe. This is like the first sample of that. And Egyptians would worship serpents because they felt that they could get wisdom from them.

It was tied to fertility, which is very odd, and that they also represented healing. And hold on to that, because we’re gonna get into that in the future of Exodus. So here’s this snake slithering on the ground.

Moses runs away. And then the Lord says to Moses, just reach out your hand and catch it by the tail. Terrible idea.

Why? Is the burning bush not enough? Like if God showed up to me in a burning bush and said, listen, this is where you’re at in your life, you’re this age, and I want you to move to this country or to do this ministry or whatever the case may be, I think the burning bush would be enough. God, did you hear that? I don’t need a snake. And I certainly don’t wanna catch this thing by its tail.

But for whatever reason, he reaches out, he takes hold of the serpent, and in an instant, it turns back into a staff in his hand. Now, this is important. This is why God is doing it.

This, said the Lord, is so that they may believe. You’re gonna go and you’re gonna repeat this miracle in front of the Israelites so that they believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob have appeared to you. And you’re gonna hear those three names over and over again in Exodus, just as you heard them over and over again in Genesis.

And if you’re new to the Bible, if you’re new to studying the Bible, these guys, these names are the patriarchs of our faith. But they’re also all screw-ups. They also have crazy past and deep, dark sins that we actually get to read about.

This is what I love about scripture. This is what I love about when you actually dig into scripture and you read who the people are in scripture because they’re never the hero. They’re just the vessel that God uses for a greater purpose as he sees and as he sees fit.

So then the Lord says to Moses, put your hand inside your cloak. So he puts his hand inside his cloak. And when he takes it out, well, wouldn’t you know, his hand is covered in leprosy.

Which, okay, the snake is one thing because that’s outside of you and that’s happening. And okay, that’s really cool. So now we got a burning bush.

We got the snake. Now it’s affecting him personally. And what was that moment like? As he’s looking down and his hand is completely as white as snow.

And so God tells him again, well, put it back in your cloak. So he puts it back in his cloak and he takes it out. It’s restored like the rest of his body.

I mean, that’s pretty significant. That should be proof enough that God is with you and that God is the one that’s speaking to you and that God has a greater purpose for you and what he wants to do in and through you. And what I find fascinating is that even with one of those, but now he has two, God is actually going to give him a third one.

Because the Lord said, if they do not believe you or pay attention to the first sign, that they may believe the second sign. And if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, here’s what you’re gonna do. Here’s your insurance policy, Moses.

You’re gonna take some water from the Nile. You’re gonna pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood on the ground.

Here is yet another way that you can show that it is in fact I that is commanding you and has appointed you for this historic and important moment in your life. And if that was you and God did all of those things because he hasn’t done this for other people. When he called Abraham out of his comfort zone, Abraham didn’t get all these crazy signs.

I mean, Moses is getting more than the people that came before him. I mean, come on, Moses, what else do you need? How do you expect Moses to respond? Hey, let’s go, let’s do this. This is gonna be awesome.

But that’s not how he responds. He says to the Lord, excuse me, pardon me, great creator of the universe, almighty God who knows everything. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past.

Maybe you forgot about me. Maybe you haven’t been watching over me. Maybe you don’t realize this.

But since you have spoken to your servant, I’m actually slow of speech and tongue. But God hasn’t really asked him to do any major speeches at this point. He just said that you’re gonna go and that I’m going to instruct you in what you are to do.

Like I’m gonna go with you and I’m actually gonna give you the words to say. You just have to be obedient in what it is that I’ve called you to do. Why is Moses so insecure? Why? Who knows? Maybe because he killed, yeah.

What is it about what’s going on in this interaction with God that he is just not convinced that he could actually be the one that God wants to work this thing through? Remember, go back to what we talked about a few weeks ago. Moses is the one that sees the Egyptian mistreating the Israelite and he can’t handle that injustice. Something deep down in him causes him to kill that guy.

And then the next day when he goes and sees two Israelites fighting each other, there’s something because of that injustice in him calls them to stop, to break it up, and that’s when he finds out that everybody actually knows that he committed murder. And even after he flees and goes to the well and those shepherds were picking on all those sisters, he’s the hero in that moment because he didn’t like that they were being picked on. Moses, this is your opportunity.

This is your opportunity to be the hero of all of Israel. Did too much time pass? Did he just not have those feelings anymore? God is trying to build up in him that self-esteem. And not only maybe looking at it from like, okay, Moses, why are you so insecure? What if we did this? Why are men so insecure? It’s quiet in here.

And by the way, a few weeks ago, the message was kind of more focused on women. The message right now is gonna have a little bit of a turn toward the men. And some of you men are saying to yourselves, I’m not insecure, what are you talking about? Show you my bank account.

Drive by my house. Show you the business that I created. Show you the degrees that I have on the wall.

Men need validation. So there’s been a lot of research lately in this area in particular and I’ve been digging more and more into it to try to figure it out for honestly my own life, for the men here at the church. And then I’m also raising two boys.

I have two sons and trying to figure this out and there’s so much that we could say in this regard. So I’m just gonna try to give you three high level things to see if you agree with me and to see how this relates to actually our main character today, Moses. Men are taught that their value is actually tied to their performance, true or false? Think about that.

And when does that start? What age and what stage in a boy’s life? Very early on. And a lot of it, some of you, I heard you say it, sports and the competition and kind of the way that our society is structured. Like a lot of men are aggressive and a lot of men love competition and those things but yet you get to a certain stage and you’re supposed to be at a certain status level in order to be accepted by society or what we think we’re supposed to be accepted by society.

I know pastors that are like this. Their whole identity is in what they do instead of who they are in Christ. And that’s a dangerous place to be is if you have to be a pastor just to be, you know, so that people are reliant on you.

You have to be a pastor and if you don’t preach, then you’re not fulfilling, you know, the pastoral duty. Like that’s not actually your primary role or responsibility. The first thing that God has called you to do is just to be a child of God and if God decides to use you and work in and through you, then great, then that’s what he’s given you to do and he will have you lead people in that regard.

And you know that because it’s not just in what I do, it’s what all industries in all facets of life. How about this one? Men are trained to hide vulnerability, true or false? And when did that start? What generation did that start with? You’re not supposed to cry, you’re not supposed to show weakness, you’re not supposed to talk about your feelings or your emotions. You know, men, you know, you can hug, but only if it’s in the context of like a sporting event.

And last week was kind of fascinating because after the service, Pastor Eric and I had the opportunity to have lunch with our widowers here at Shepherds Key. And to be honest, they’re kind of the group that gets pushed aside. Usually churches, because of scriptures, talk about it that you focus on widows and orphans and you know, rightly so.

Our widows group’s really strong here, they’re great at organizing things, getting the ladies together. For our Step Out and Serve that we do every year, we do a lot at widows’ homes or single moms’ homes. And I’m glad that we have those things in place, but the men in our church that lose their wives, it’s kind of like, well, you’re a man, I guess you’ll figure it out.

And yet, what I learned and what was meaningful to me is as we sat there and they went around the room and they each told their story. And almost every single one of them were connected in one way because almost all of them had dealt with a spouse that had suffered and passed away from cancer. And the level of treatment that these men gave to their spouses and how some of them had lost them recently and some of them had spent several years, but yet those feelings and emotions came right back up and welled up inside of them.

And I was so thankful that they were so open and honest and transparent. And yes, weren’t even afraid to show emotion in a room that was full of all men. Why do we keep buying into this? Why do we keep letting other people dictate what we can say and not say or how we can feel and not feel or even how we can express ourselves as men? And trust me, I’m not advocating that we become something that we’re not.

There’s a good and healthy balance in all of this. Last one is this, men are conditioned to compare themselves to other men. True or false? I’d say most of you said true.

Somebody said false, that’s fine. And you can interpret this if you’re a woman as well because women do this as well. And so I think this is why, this is just me, that sometimes men retreat and men just kind of go back to themselves.

And men, statistically, most men only have like one, maybe two close friends. So they’re attached to their wives, they raise their families, they love their families, they contribute to society. But it’s just like, they just get sick and tired of all of the noise and all of the things that we’re told or how we’re supposed to live at this certain level.

It just becomes too overwhelming. And I wonder if that’s just maybe where Moses is at. I just wonder if he’s like, listen, dude, did you check my birth certificate? I’m 80 years old.

There’s gotta be somebody younger back in Egypt. There’s gotta be some, you know, ripped guy that’s got a wonderful tick-tock and huge biceps. You know, it’s got fabulous hair.

Certainly he can be the one that can go to Pharaoh. Certainly he can be the one to lead this charge to liberate your people out of 400 years of slavery. Here’s the internal struggle.

Let’s look at Moses’ internal struggle and see if you resonate with this as a man. This is what he kept asking. Well, who am I that I should go to Pharaoh? The focus on himself.

What if they don’t believe me, God? Or by the way, did you forget, I have this little issue in my life. I don’t know exactly what it is, but I’m kind of slow of speech. I’m not a really good communicator.

I really don’t know if this is something that I really should be doing. If this is what you want me to do, you really should go find somebody that’s way more polished and better at this than I am. I would submit to you that insecurity grows in the life of a man when a man stares at nothing but themselves.

And they work day in and day out and they feel that they’re all alone and they have to do it by themselves. And so they’re gonna work hard and they’re gonna produce an income and they’re gonna focus on just build, build, build, build, build, build, build, build, build, but yet everything that they have and everything they are is wrapped up in their own identity and God is not part of that equation. And you can find these men pretty quickly.

To be honest with you, the men that live this out are usually the ones that are the most sarcastic. They have sharp tongues, oftentimes will cut other men down. And the reason they do that is because of why.

Because deep down, they’re the most insecure men on the planet. If you always have to be cutting other men down and your tongue is like a razor or a sword, all that does is expose you in that moment to what’s really lying beneath. That there’s probably childhood drama or there’s something that happened to you or you got daddy issues, mommy issues, whatever they are that you’ve never properly dealt with.

And secondly, there is no Holy Spirit that’s working in that person’s life. Because when you take on the Holy Spirit, when God produces faith in your life, you humble yourself, you realize he’s God and you’re not, you take on the characteristics of God, you take on the fruit of the Spirit. Now, I’ll say this, I’m thankful we have so many godly men in this church.

So many godly men that I look up to that have influenced my life. That the reason I even stand here today is because of their words of encouragement, because of the influence that they’ve had on me. And sometimes it’s not even because of things they said, it’s just because I watch it the way that they live their lives out, the way that they love their wives, the way that they serve the church, the way that they talk to other people.

And I say to myself, man, I wanna be like that man. I wanna be like that husband, I wanna be like that father. Because security will grow when you’re actually standing on the promises of God.

Now listen to me, dads, those of you that have kids in the home, your kids, your kids see you. They know you. They know you’re not perfect.

Kids, mine’s falling asleep, okay? You’re gonna make mistakes. You’re not gonna get it right. But what they need to see in you is a father and a husband that has a heart after the Lord Jesus Christ, amen? All right, here we go, verse 11.

The Lord says to Moses, who gave human beings their mouths? Another rhetorical question. Who’s the, what’s the answer? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Oh, if it not I, the Lord. And then he tells them again, go, now go.

By the way, I will help you speak. I will teach you what to say. And this verse, this verse for me, I just feel like this is God getting down on one knee in front of a boy, even though he’s a man.

And some of you that are fathers, you know because you’ve done this with your sons. Coaches in the room, you’ve done this with your players, where you have to speak those words of life into them. You’re not doing this alone.

I’m gonna be there. I’m gonna coach you. I’m gonna help you.

No matter what it is, even in a sporting event, you’re the one that’s shouting from the sidelines, you know, what to do and how to help them and give them instructions. And then when they come out of the game to encourage them. Think of it this way, guys, you know how much fun it is when you’re teaching your kids to dive off a diving board.

How many of you remember that moment? Whether you were in a pool or maybe you were out on a lake and your kid’s shaking like a leaf and you’re in that water and what is it that you’re speaking into them? You’re speaking words of life into them. You’re telling them, man, you can do this. I’m here, I’m gonna be with you.

I’m not gonna leave you. I’m not gonna let you drown. I’m not gonna let you die.

I mean, see the significance of this moment. God is throwing everything possible at Moses. And how does he respond? God, huge, awesome, creator, amazing, omniscient God, could you send someone else? Bible becomes real clear real quickly, doesn’t it? Doesn’t it break your heart? Who wants to go give Moses a hug? Who wants to send him to counseling? Who wants to get him a life coach? Oh, Moses, come on, dude, this doesn’t make any sense.

This is not how the hero of the stories that we read about in the comic books. This is not what Superman and Spider-Man and all the other whatever man do. This isn’t how all the movies that we’re obsessed with.

Again, the guys with those huge ripped bodies in Hollywood and whatever, they’re gonna conquer and kill and all that other fun stuff that they do. Moses, Moses, Moses. And this is what I just kept going back to this week as I was diving deep into this text.

It’s like, is this true in our society now? Do we just live in a society where people love to just pick the path of least resistance? Just leave me alone. Don’t ask me to do something that’s beyond myself or my ability. God, just let me live my life.

Just, you stay over there, I’ll stay over here, I’ll go to church, I’ll be a good husband, I’ll be a good father. Man, taking that next step or having to actually submit to you or to go further in the things of you, I’m just not comfortable doing that. I like the comforts that I’ve created for myself.

I like the family that I’ve created. I’ve liked the house that I’ve created. I’ve liked the bank accounts and all the investments or the businesses that I’ve created.

What’s the problem with all those statements? I, me, me, me, I, I, I. And you know why people pick the path of least resistance? Because it’s convenient and there’s a comfort level in doing that. And I think the last one is this, is that most people don’t like confrontation. You want me to go speak the truth.

You want me to stand up and to, you know, be the person and the vessel that needs to speak this out for other people. I know many of you are like, you, Tim, you say it, you give it to them. The truth is, I never thought I’d actually be doing this.

When I went to school, I actually wanted to be a missionary. I felt like I’d get through by myself. I went to Bible college.

God would pick a nice warm country for me to go serve at. I wouldn’t ever have to stand in front of a group of people. I was terrified of public speaking.

I tried so many times to get out of pursuing ministry in my life. In fact, the speech classes that we were required to take and then the preaching classes, the fancy words called homiletics, I waited until my senior year to take all of those classes because I was too afraid to stand in front of a group of people. And to give, back then, we had to give three to five minute sermons, imagine that.

And I’m telling you today, I am nothing special. I mean, look at me, okay? 48-year-old, kinda, sorta, good-looking, bald guy, right? That’s it. I screw my words up all the time.

Mix phrases up, use the wrong sentences, use the wrong phrases, use the wrong verb tenses. How in the world did I become where I’m at? Because God has a sense of humor. And God uses the people that we don’t expect it.

What I always love is, because I’m from Michigan, is people sometimes will come into my life that I haven’t seen in years, sometimes decades, that knew me when I was little Timmy. And they’re just like, oh my gosh, what happened to you? I’m like, it wasn’t me. It wasn’t me, it had to have been God.

Here’s the thing, Moses kept asking, am I enough? God keeps asking, or God keeps answering him, I will be with you. Here’s the final verses today. The Lord’s anger burned against Moses.

Which I wish we had a little more context to this, because Moses is actually the one that wrote the first five books of the Bible. So imagine Moses is writing this about himself. What did he see and what did he hear? And God says, what about your brother Aaron, the Levite? I know he can speak well.

He is already on his way to meet you and he will be glad to see you. It’s kind of cool, I wish we had more context to that and how many times he had seen his brother. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth.

I will help both of you now. Speak and you will teach you what to do. He will speak to the people for you and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.

And I’ve kind of gone two ways with this. I wonder when Moses heard this, one response could be he was relieved. Oh man.

Great, thank you for listening to me. Thank you for recognizing that I have these limitations and now you’re gonna give me my brother and he gets to be the public speaker. Or I wonder if there was part of him and men helped me out here, if there was like this disappointment in the heavenly father.

Like, oh man, why did I just keep coming up with excuses? Why didn’t I put myself forward? Why didn’t I believe that God could actually use someone like me? And then I love this because he says in the end, take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it. Oh, by the way, Moses, you’re not getting out of this scot-free. You’re still gonna take that symbol of who you are, your identity and your income and your influence and you are now gonna watch as I work through that object.

Because Moses’ staff from this point on actually is referred to as the rod of God in scripture. Because whenever God takes something and someone and it’s his power that’s working in and through it, he will accomplish far more than we could ever hope, dream or imagine. Amen? So let me ask you this, what’s in your hand? What has God placed in your life? Men in particular, are you leading well? Are you leading yourself well? How is your relationship with the Lord? Are those hands, hands that open God’s word and read God’s word, are those hands that come together and you pray and you put God in his rightful place in your life? Men, are you spiritually leading your families, starting with your wives? Are you praying with your wives? Men, do your kids see that this is important to you and that you are the spiritual leader, the God-ordained spiritual leader of your home? Do they hear you making church a priority and not something else outside of this place? Do they hear the prayers that you pray over your wife and over your family and over their future? And again, hear me this morning, nobody in here is perfect, me included.

My wife’s available for interviews after the service, she’s right up here. I’m in this with all the rest of you, but let God’s word this morning convict all of us to realize what it is that he has blessed us with, what he has placed in our hands. And it comes with a great responsibility and yes, sometimes it feels like a burden, but yet he doesn’t do it without him being by our side and giving us everything that we need to be the godly men that he’s called us to be, amen.