Fbc Online

This week we will be looking at the construction of the tabernacle, God’s place of dwelling among His people. We will see how God provided the resources for the tabernacle and moved the hearts of His people to obey the instructions He had given them through Moses.

This Sunday we examine an account of colossal failure – the golden calf. Have you ever wondered why the record of salvation history appears to be dominated by a litany of failures, sweeping up even the most revered of biblical heroes (men like David) into the disappointments of our own lives? Why would God want to rehearse this for us over and over? Why would he drag us through generation after generation of disillusionment for more than 1500 years? What could God be trying to tell us? All sin is at its root a failure to trust God. But to become completely convinced of God’s trustworthiness, we must first become utterly disillusioned with our own selves. Otherwise, rather than trusting in God, we become idolatrous.

We are on a 3-year journey through the Bible. And this Sunday we reach the ‘high-water-mark’ of the Old Testament – the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai. When you see or hear the word ‘law’, what other words come readily to your mind? Are they negative words? Eight of the Ten Commandments are stated in prohibitive form. And yet, in the Jewish mind they were a beautiful thing to behold; to be loved and cherished and valued above all else. Is it possible the commandments have just gotten a bad rap in more recent thought? Our tendency to see prohibitions as a negative thing with negative consequences says a lot more about the psychology of our day than it does about the reality of our situation. That reality includes the sin and guilt that we experience and the temptation we face continually. And this is the reality revealed to us by the perfect Law of God. The law was not given to save us. Saving is what God does through the Gospel. But God uses the revelation of the Law to show us our desperate need for

How are you with advice? With taking it, I mean. The deeds and revelations of Moses were unmatched until Jesus. We would say that Moses was a great man. But curiously, Moses was also known as the meekest (humblest) of men. (Num 12:3) In this week’s passage, the great Moses takes some advice and learns some important lessons about leadership. Leadership is important, and it’s also misunderstood. Sometimes we see leadership as something that causes one to rise above others and therefore something to be coveted or hoarded because of the honour it bestows. But leadership isn’t really like that at all, or at least it shouldn’t be. It is not a matter of exclusivism or elitism. Leadership is meant to be shared and shared as much as possible. That makes leadership a lot like other things in the kingdom of God. The more you share it, the more you have.

The Crossing of the Red Sea is such a monumental deliverance! It’s considered (biblically) to be the birth of the nation of Israel. It was the establishing of their national identity as a people belonging to God. And it was completed and marked by a celebration of worship that must have been quite something to see. And what happens next? The victory out of the slavery of Egypt was absolutely real and couldn’t have been more substantive. But do you know, that even as God’s own beloved children, we are always only one step away from failing miserably as human beings. We are forgiven. We are blessed with God’s presence, provision/leading and protection in our lives. But we are still fallen men and women in a fallen world. Being purchased by God and adopted into His family is something that happens once in a moment of time. Learning to follow Him and live fully for Him involves a lifetime of learning … sinning… confessing… repenting… trusting…

Exodus 13-15 “But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” (Ex 5:2) “The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring out the people of Israel from among them.” (Ex 7:5) But no one will need to realize this fact and remember it more than Israel herself. Because this is her birth as a nation; a people of God. “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” (Ex 6:7) The passages we are considering in these days narrate the final plague (the Passover) and the Exodus of Israel out of the slavery of Egypt (the bondage of Pharaoh). They also contain extensive instructions from the LORD, reiterated over and over, for all the future generations. These are to be national laws and customs that entrench the recalling of these events into the fabr

In an act of faith and courage such as few of us will ever be called on for, Moses and Aaron go to the Pharaoh and they do it! They command him in the name of the LORD to let His people go. Pharaoh’s response? “Who is the LORD?... I don’t know the LORD … and moreover, I will not let Israel go” Those are fighting words! So, it kind of goes like this. Moses and Aaron demand Pharaoh to let the people go. Pharaoh refuses so God strikes them with a plague. Pharaoh ‘repents’ and God causes the plague to cease. Then Pharaoh changes his mind, because his repentance wasn’t the real kind, because his heart was hard and just kept getting harder. So, God sends another plague, worse than the one before. But all of this was God’s plan, not just to bring Israel out, but to thrust them out with ‘a mighty hand’ so that not only Israel, but all of Egypt would know “that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth.” (Exodus 8:22) They say that the number ten in the Bible is the number of completion, and when God sends the tenth a

We’ve covered a lot of ground already since September when we began our 3-year trek through the Bible. Two weeks ago, we finished our time in Genesis. But biblical scholar R. Alan Cole refers to the book of Exodus as ‘the centre of the Old Testament’. We’ve already seen a lot of drama, but things are about to ramp-up significantly! This Sunday, God hears, and His timing is perfect – the call of Moses.

This Sunday we will be jumping ahead from our normal timeline in the Gospel Project, and we will be looking at Isaiah 9 and focusing on the Prince of Peace. Jesus is the Prince of Peace of whom Isaiah and the other Old Testament prophets spoke of. We will be examining one of the more well-known Old Testaments prophecies of the coming of Jesus. When the Prince of Peace made His way into the world he brought light, joy, freedom, peace, justice, and righteousness. Through His sinless life, death, and resurrection, Jesus makes right what we made wrong because of sin. Jesus is the perfect gift in every way, but not everyone is ready to receive this gift. What are you doing this year to help share God’s perfect gift?

What God did in Joseph’s life was stunning. And what God did with and through Joseph’s life far exceeded that even. He skilfully warded off mass starvation quite literally saving the world from a devastating famine. But God sent the famine!? That means there was something much bigger going on here. Have you thought well about the life God wants for you and how simply surviving is not worthy of what God calls life? God doesn’t merely want us alive. He wants us to thrive. But what does that look like, really?

So many words to describe the same thing! Because it is such a big deal in our lives - difficulties … hardships… obstacles… calamities… tragedies … adversities… trials… Joseph’s life could be described as one tragic turn after another. But God was with him all the way, in the pasture … the pit… the prison… and the palace. And God had a plan for Joseph’s life and it wasn’t just about him. It’s important, not only knowing what is wrong and what is right, but also knowing that God uses what is wrong and what is right for what is good; not just good for ourselves, but for His plan; that’s His plan for our lives which is part of His greater plan for our world. God uses freedom, but He also uses imprisonment. He uses strength, but He also uses weakness. He uses abilities and He uses disabilities. “God works providentially in our lives, even through adversity, for His glory and our good.” The Gospel Project

This week we are in Genesis 37 as we begin to consider the life of Joseph. The dominant themes of Scripture continue. God works everything together to bring about His will, even our own sin and shortcomings. He allows our sinful behaviours and even uses them, but He is never the author of sin. And we are never absolved from moral responsibility for our actions or free from the repercussions of our choices. It’s important that we both understand the greatness of God and His salvation, but also our sin and our great need of salvation. The sin and dysfunction featured prominently in this week’s text are favouritism and jealousy. Oh, what a mess we make when we play favourites or when we compare ourselves with others.

What’s in a name? That is what we are going to be looking at this Sunday with Jacob’s name change. What were the implications of his name change? What parallels can we draw when we compare our spiritual walk and Jacob’s account of wrestling with God?

It took a lifetime for Jacob to learn that God's plans for his life were neither shored up nor nullified by his almost endless scheming, trickery and treachery. The Love of God doesn't depend on human effort, but is centred in the essence of who He is. His plans for Jacob - and for us, too - succeed because He has, in His love, declared it to be so.

Esau was totally unworthy. He despised his birthright for a bowl of soup; a single meal! But the text goes out of its way to demonstrate what a scoundrel and how unworthy Jacob was too! And Rebekah! And Isaac! And us! But the other glorious truth of the matter is despite Jacob’s unworthiness God in His great grace chose him as His own. This didn’t mean a pass for Jacob when it came to the repercussions of his actions. But it did mean that God would stick by him no matter what. And if you can authentically say that you have come to know God through the grace that is found in Jesus Christ, you too have the same assurance that God will never leave you because He is faithful to His promise, no matter what.

Our passage this week is a classic example of the biblical view of the single most perplexing, most haggled-over and wondered-about aspect of life in this world – the sovereignty of God and the free will of man. God is sovereign over all creation. He plans every detail of our lives and His plans will prevail. However, God chooses to work in a world that is very broken and messed up by sin and dysfunction, more so than we can fathom. Yet God is so great and so good that He is able and willing to work with all the broken pieces of our lives. And, in ways about which we can only wonder, He is able to sweep all of it up into His own amazing hands. The result is a masterpiece; a mosaic of God’s own making. How does He do that? We don’t know. It’s a wonder. But there is no worship without wonder.

When we think of God’s provision we think of our wants and needs. But ironically our lives will continue to lack meaning, purpose and fulfilment until we begin to realize that our existence and the choices we make need to fit into God’s bigger plan, a plan much bigger than our personal lives; a much bigger story. There is a direct linkage between God’s provision for our lives and God’s direction for our lives. When we recognize and are willing to surrender to the directives of His bigger plan, then we can begin to experience His provision for all we need.

Everyone has struggled with direction in their life and in their relationship with God, sometimes more than we'd like to admit. But God's perfect plan and unconditional love is always a constant. Even if it's hard to see in the moment. This Sunday we explore Abraham's calling from God to sacrifice his son and where we need to look when life is turned upside down.

This Sunday we will be spending some time in Genesis 12 considering the promise God made to Abraham. We will also be journeying through Scripture to look at a similar promise God makes to us. Hint - You may want to take a look at Hebrews 11 between now and Sunday morning.

A lot of people know about the book of Job. It has even made its way into our language with expressions like,'He's got the patience of Job'. But it's one thing to know about Job. It's another thing to know Job. This Sunday we will have an opportunity for just that.