Talk

The Five Words That Change Everything

Grant Partrick

July, 7, 2024

This Sunday, Grant Partrick opened Exodus and unfolded the story of Moses, which brought forth the question that so many of us get stuck asking in our lives: “Who am I?” God’s answer to this question changed everything for Moses, and it can change everything for us.

Key Takeaway

May we be people who look to our future hope while clinging to our present promise and live on mission in a foreign land, totally and desperately dependent on the Lord, with confidence that He (the I AM THAT I AM) is with us.

Our citizenship is in heaven, and this place is not our home. So what do we do in the meantime?

In the Scriptures, Moses saw that his people were oppressed, and he tried to take matters into his own hands. Acts 7 tells us that though Moses thought he was doing what God wanted him to do, he moved ahead of God and, without God, made a mess out of everything.

That tends to happen when we react and move instead of waiting on God.

Moses ends up guilty of murder. And the word spreads quickly. In less than 24 hours, Pharoah knows and is on the hunt for him. So now, Moses is a fugitive on the run in the Midian desert. He marries a foreign woman, settles in a foreign land, and lives his next 40 years taking care of her dad's sheep.

So, here he is in our text—80 years old. Plagued by his past. Downtrodden. Discouraged. Washed up. Nothing left to offer. Guilty. And in many ways, he thought he would just die in the desert, having lived an insignificant life.

Maybe you can relate to that.

Moses is at Horeb. Which means desolation, barren, solitude. And in that place, the Angel of the Lord appears. God knows how to find you.

You are not so far away, that God can not reach you.

Foreign ground…became Holy Ground. And from that desert and desolate place…God makes himself known to Moses.

Can you imagine what Moses must have felt? What must his first thought have been when God called to him?

He hasn’t forgotten me. He still knows my name.

He hasn’t forgotten you, friend.

The character of God is on display here:

I’ve seen the misery of my people.

I’ve heard them crying out.

I am concerned about their suffering.

I have come down To rescue them.

Seen // Heard // Concerned // Rescue

This is the heart of God.

He sees you, and what you are going through.

He hears your cries. No tears are wasted, and no cry has fallen on deaf ears.

He is concerned about your suffering. He cares for you.

He has come down through His Son to rescue you.

We also see here…that God is a sending God! Moses, I am sending you. “There is no such thing as an unsent Christian.”

In these verses, he is clear: “I” have come down to rescue them. It is God who rescues, but he includes and invites Moses to be a part of his plan.

The “Here I am” in verse 4 has turned into “Who am I?” in verse 11.

He didn’t forget who he was. This is not an identity crisis. Moses knew exactly who he was, and that was the problem: He was disqualified in his own mind for the task that God was calling him to.

Failures have a way of doing that, don’t they? They stay with us. They hang over us. They steal from our future. They paralyze us. They cripple us.

We lose sight of who we are when we see ourselves through the lens of our failures.

Remember that failure is an event, not an identity.

Who am I? We have missed so many opportunities by obsessing over that question.

If failure is hanging over your head. Own it. Admit it. Confess it. Apologize for it. Do anything you can to fix it. Be grateful for the grace of God. AND THEN MOVE ON.

40 years later….it’s time to move on.

God always gives us assignments that are over our heads. If not, we would have no reason to look up.

If you are not desperate for God to come through in order for you to do what you feel called to do, it’s likely that He isn’t the one who called you to do it. You may have settled for comfort at the expense of the mission.

Desperate and dependent on him—that is the best place to be.

God's response wasn't:

Come on, have some confidence

You’ve got what it takes

You got this, Moses.

His response was:

Why are we talking about you?

This isn’t about you

We do that ourselves, don’t we?

Especially in our culture where we are obsessed with self.

Self-motivation

Self-confidence

Self-talk

Self-care

Self-improvement

Self-help

He responds to Moses’s question. No, no, no, this isn’t about you. This is about me! This is my rescue mission, and I will be the hero of the story. And I will be with you!

God’s presence is essential to God’s call!

Never for, always with.

The question is not "Who is Moses?"

The question is, "Who is with Moses?"

The Lord is with you.

As the story unfolds, the promised coming one arrives in a no-name today into the calloused hands of a Jewish carpenter and a teenage girl. And his name is Immanuel…God with us.

Moses is just a foreshadowing of a greater Moses to come. Moses is a deliverer, but ultimately, he points to THE deliverer.

Moses miraculously escaped the decree of an evil decree by Pharoah that all the male babies should be killed. Jesus was born and miraculously escaped the evil decree by Herod that all male babies should be killed.

Moses was the mediator of the old covenant. Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant.

Moses led God’s people out of bondage to an evil ruler. Jesus led His people out of bondage to the ruler of evil.

Moses led people out of the oppressive taskmasters. Jesus led us out of sin and death.

The Hebrews writer tells us…..Jesus is the greater Moses.

An assignment over our heads. Isn’t’ it? I don’t think it’s the best plan. Not about me.

I AM WITH YOU. THE I AM IS WITH YOU.

“

"The guilt and shame of your past does not have to define and dictate your future."

”

Grant Partrick

Discussion Questions

What have you tried to take control of recently rather than trusting God to take control?
Have you ever taken control of something, thinking that you were doing what God wanted you to do?
What is one failure of yours that you keep coming back to?
How has your failure kept you from seeking God? Are you allowing that to label you?
How is your relationship with God right now?
He hasn't forgotten you. He sees you. How do these two statements settle your heart?
How is God using you as a part of His plan for rescue right now?
Are you desperate for God to move in your life right now? Why or why not?
How has the idol of "self" kept you from seeking God and instead looking to yourself?
It's not about us. How can we shift our perspective to focus on God's will for our lives rather than our own desires?

Scripture References

20But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

21who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

13All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance, admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.

1Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

2There the angel of the

Lord

appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.

3So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

4When the

Lord

saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

5“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

6Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

7The

Lord

said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.

8So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.

9And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.

10So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

11One day, after Moses had grown up, he went out to where his own people were and watched them at their hard labor. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his own people.

12Looking this way and that and seeing no one, he killed the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

13The next day he went out and saw two Hebrews fighting. He asked the one in the wrong, “Why are you hitting your fellow Hebrew?”

14The man said, “Who made you ruler and judge over us? Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid and thought, “What I did must have become known.”

15When Pharaoh heard of this, he tried to kill Moses, but Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in Midian, where he sat down by a well.

1God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

10Moses said to the

Lord

, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”

22Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

24That night the

Lord

appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham.”

9Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the

Lord

your God will be with you wherever you go.”

10So do not fear, for I am with you;

do not be dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you and help you;

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

17The

Lord

your God is with you,

the Mighty Warrior who saves.

He will take great delight in you;

in his love he will no longer rebuke you,

but will rejoice over you with singing.”

4Even though I walk

through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

2When you pass through the waters,

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers,

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze.

7The

Lord

said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.

9And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.

10So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

11But Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

18Then Jesus came to them and said,

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Grant Partrick

Grant Partrick is a part of the team at Passion City Church and serves as the Cumberland Location Pastor. He is passionate about inspiring people to live their lives for what matters most. Grant and his wife, Maggie, live in Marietta, Georgia with their daughters, Mercy, Ember, and Charleigh. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary where he earned a masters of theology degree.