In this sermon, the preacher discusses the importance of obeying Jesus Christ as our king, even though it may invite opposition from the ruler of this world. The sermon emphasizes the temporary nature of this world and encourages believers to keep their focus on the ultimate end, which is eternity with God. The preacher uses the example of the Israelites crossing the Red Sea to illustrate how God delivers his people from impossible situations. The sermon also highlights the significance of worship and the Passover night in the journey from bondage to the promised land.

Who is pictured by John the Baptist in John's gospel chapter 1 verse 29 behold the Lamb of God That takes away the sin of the world The people of God Held captive as slaves Abused in deep pain And agony and Finally the destruction of the descendants and they cry out to God and God steps down the planes or horrid and he talks to Moses and You know the subsequent story if you read the Bible, which I believe you do How Pharaoh Will not let that happen So God said I Will do it. What was God's direction? What did he say Moses to do he said you go and tell Pharaoh Who has the power to let the people go from being slaves Let my people go So God claimed this massive numbers of people Maybe a couple of million people 600 men and all the rest. We know let my people go for what? Let my people go so that they may Worship me in the wilderness So here is a twist What is the objective on God's heart? for all these people being set free from bondage that they may worship me in the wilderness and And that's what Satan John's called chapter 4 Jesus talked about the kind of search God the Father Is doing he's searching Don't say for Worshippers or worship. He says the father is seeking for those who worship worshippers Now all this comes down to all the sudden on an individual basis and also in a collective base like we are here And I'm you could stay at home today and watch television or sing your song and worship but the call of God through the Old Testament is my people come gather unto me and so the the forerunner the key element That Happens For this journey of Knowing this God now who set them free and Be attached to him and become like him through worship It was through that great event the Passover night And the instruction Tonight I will pass over the land and the firstborn In every home in Egypt go and be killed lots of movies made on that by the way on Moses and Exodus and all that and There'll be a great cry and wailing I mean, can you just imagine that all the sudden but the salvation is going to be you take an innocent lamb and Take the blood of the lamb and put it on the doorpost and when I see the blood I will pass over you And so you see Pharaoh finally says please go go go get out go go and all the people get the gold and silver and everything else they could get and then they are going and that You see the journey begins a new season Now I Like it look at a couple of verses to make sense to this Because I'm not focusing on our given passages in the lectionary, but this is in Exodus chapter 15 Exodus chapter 15 verse 22 and 23 Okay, if you look in your Bible Keep in mind they've been through the Red Sea and they are now Walking toward sign their promised land That is like us look at this versus then Moses led Israel from Red Sea And they went into the desert or so for three days They traveled in the desert without finding water When they came to Mara, they could not drink its water because it was bitter This is why the place is called Mara. So the people grumbled against Moses saying What are we to drink Then Moses cried out to the Lord and the Lord showed him a piece of wood He threw it into the water and the water became sweet God really sees My agony God can really understand And I'm desperate for him to act but he doesn't And I have this great conflict between the goodness of God and the promise of God and my harsh Reality that I can explain or I can't explain But I Had to get out of myself and talk back to me and say you don't understand Don't try believe And so What do you have here is The incredible miracle take place the Lamb is slain and the blood of the Lamb becomes the reason the cross becomes the reason for our Deliverance for our redemption There's a mystery to this. This is this Truly a mystery. I cannot explain it as a matter of fact From Sunday afternoon or Monday in my mind on my heart. There's a longing something Strange about my heart. I look forward to the Eucharist. I Look forward the next day the Holy Communion It don't want to be this week The passage on Gospel of John chapter 6 Jesus said unless you eat my flesh and drink this blood. I Have no part in you. You are no part in me And this is beyond my ability to grasp That I cannot get any more closer to this Christ Who lived in flesh? Who gave himself for me and now I'm given the privilege to touch him once again and He me and I in him Not based on my faith or holiness or my ability to understand theology It is just his marvelous grace and the blood of the Lamb was on the doorpost of the worst people and the good people and ignorant and educated Nothing to do with them. It's just his grace and so now having seen this horrendous miracle and deliverance and This is where I look at the clock and say there's no way you can explain this to make it more serious But I must go on they are now faced with the Massive crisis They have seen the power of God But now They are faced with an impossible situation called Red Sea They must cross it now remember remember they're all happy and excited and and running for their life and and Pharaoh and these people are scared to death, but then all the sudden they realize something terrible happening a bad bad Turn that is Pharaoh and the army that chasing them and they're coming on their horses and these poor people Who were slaves? They look back and say oh my god. It is all over They're going to kill us they're going to butcher us all and Then you read now. I hope I gave you enough Incentive for you to go and read the whole three four chapters to get the full story. It is full of suspense Full of suspense you talk about making a movie. He got all the ingredients there and so Moses Cry out to God said Moses. Why are you crying out to me take your rod and stretch it over the waters Now something I found About the Red Sea you don't hear this It is not a little pond It is not a little river And here's here's a calculation you can look in the computer on Google and get this the length of the Red Sea To 2250 kilometers long That is very long It's a big chunk of water to the width of the Red Sea 355 kilometers and The surface area of the Red Sea 438 Thousand kilometers and The maximum depth going down 2211 meters Just get a picture all these people are standing and looking at this massive Impossible Situation and the enemies are behind us. What are we going to do Moses? And Moses said just stretch your rod And he took the old cane and stretch it and all the sudden the waters from both sides stood up like perfect vertical wall Possibly hundred two hundred meters of dry highway Can you just imagine all these tens of thousands and millions of people walking through this massive Vertical wall both side made of water. I thought of bringing some water this morning I'm trying to make wall out of it, but I thought there's a mess of all this I decided not to do that But just can't just just just can you imagine this all the kids all the old people? I'm think about little children. I'm gonna think about them They are walking through and the parents are saying come come come mommy mommy. There is fish. There is fish and the pork But the water won't leak out and the fish moves away it's like it's like the biggest fish aquarium in the whole universe and God must be looking at say this is funny. They don't understand and And they walk through this dry ground the highway And of course God's glory Untouched incredible glory is given to them as Light and guide and Pharaoh and his army sees. Oh, they are not going to get away Whatever their God did We are going to use that to kill them and the chase after them all the sudden what happened Moses and his people gets to the other side and he stretches road back and and the wall collapses And so over now they have two huge miracles right they touched it. It's just just so raw that is the the the the Exodus The deliverance and now they see the the ocean the the miracle of they're walking through dry ground and all that and By the way, I want to throw this in To create a conflict and confusion for you that is in First go to this chapter 10 verse 1. Yeah, I don't going to read that That reference I will tell you first quote in this chapter 10 verse 1 Just note that this I'm saying to create I'm sure a conflict or problem if you get all out of it, don't worry, you can find the solution by yourself also and Paul looking back the people of God and Talking about the people of God in the new covenant faith. They all were baptized and unto Moses and And they all ate manna and he talks on I mean the whole context is a Whole different reason why he's talking about it, but it's interesting to note all All the people who were set free from bondage They didn't abandon their little babies the one-year-old two-year-old three-year-old babies in Egypt and say oh by the way This ocean this waters we are going to walk through this has to do with baptism Therefore we you're too young To experiences you all stay here when you are adults, then we'll come and pick you up See see see I told you if you're thinking Well, let me quickly move on See becoming part of the people of God Is the key to understanding theology It is not What we think or understand? How God designs things? But another time we'll talk about it But The journey is from Bondage to promised land. So it is with us. I Often say to myself, I wish I was 18 again You think I'm 18 no much older Life moves on Ecclesiastics nothing is permanent You are born. I am born. I live and I die somebody else comes along they die It goes on and as a matter of fact the entire world of philosophy end up either way Whatever way they say saying there's nothing it's empty No meaning if you can discover the meaning of life Other than Linking your life with eternal God. I Like to talk to you and so you see the amazing thing about this whole journey is that God who delivered his people from pain and agony and sorrow and desperation hopelessness and Destruction now his presence with them night and day his angels I'm an almighty God who created billions of galaxies his word just enough. Here is a question Dancing singing praising worship everything but all the sudden There's no water to drink Day one day two day three Where are you going? We are marching to sign a place where there's no sorrow nor death nor tears nor separation We are going to be just like him We shall be changed the promise is made But then the question you ask why these troubles Is God unjust What is wrong Did you ever ask yourself this question what did I do wrong Why me? Why I must go through this pain Why this disappointment why I'm criticized How we are asked yourself Why nobody think about me Why this happened to me, I mean if God knew everything from the beginning He knows how much I want to do his will and then he put me through this mess my broken home and no children and disobedient kids and Brothers and sisters abuse and misunderstand and no matter what I do. Nothing seems to work. Nothing makes really sense and Then We give up our thinking and divorce From agony and say I don't understand then we walk on to something new music or book or telephone call or email or Facebook trying to figure out how to occupy from going through the ache and the pain or trying to sort it out Well, you're saying well, that's quite interesting. You seems to understand what I'm going through Well count me in I'm part of the story See But I'm also convinced God is real and his word is given to us that we live by it and there is answer Note this verse down if you will 1 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 3 Paul says We are appointed to suffer Philippians chapter 1 verse 29. It's a gift most gift Given to you to suffer Well, if a doctor is appointed to work in a hospital He think or she thinks my what a rotten ugly thing that happened to me if a scientist is appointed to To do test in some discover something is a bad thing if a teacher is appointed to teach Is it a bad thing? How do we equate how do we bring these two ends together we are appointed to suffer Why do we complain why do we murmur we may ask me why do I Murmur why do I complain you say Metropolitan you do I tell you if only you know what often I think and thought You will think You're crazy All of us want to escape suffering and pain we don't want to But the question you ask Like this individual asked Jackson doll So Chuck Before I came to Christ. I was so happy. I had no problems in my home. I Was with my friends in the pub drinking and enjoying I can tell my secrets and stories. Nobody rejects me We have buddies and I was so happy But now I have come to this Christ and and believe in him and my sins forgiven and I come to church I'm the most miserable person there is I have all kind of problems and difficulties. I never knew this is going to happen What am I supposed to do? This is the reason why I'm so anti this Prosperity gospel it is a false Satanic gospel that make poor people Be deceived more by offering if you follow Christ You will have money and house and wealth and car you speak it. You'll get it where on earth they get that and People are losing their faith Because they equate material things and blessings and less pain with the genuineness of their faith It is not in the Bible But anyway, I must go on Here is the thing If someone belong to a nation like we are citizens of this country As long as we obey the laws of the country we are okay, right And When I was in North India, I heard stories of soldiers in our army who actually betrays the nation and becomes spies for some other country and They when I heard real stories There they disappear. You don't you don't hear about them anymore. They're finished Why They disobeyed they went against the nation and the rule and The expectation now here is what I wanted to think Okay, we went through the season of death and resurrection and and Christ with us and we are now journeying toward Some day to hear the trumpet sound and be with him, but this journey is through the desert But then The question is why we suffer Why? Difficulties why sickness why setback why disappointment may I say this to you if you can listen to me? Personally forget your wife your husband your brother sister your friend just about you and you alone God has designed you specially for eternity and all that happens to you and around you has a unique purpose of creating you in this image and Once it is done. It will be revealed and so your personal journey has Significance in this that you are disobeying and Violating the laws of the king who ruled this world Jesus said the Prince of the world is coming He is the ruler Adam and Eve were given The authority to rule the earth, but they handed it over to Satan and now he is the ruler of this world And we those who belong to him even when we are redeemed and see the miracles often as we experience we still are in the desert journey and there are times of Nothingness and emptiness and no answers. No water All there is is thirst and longing and all the sudden these people turn to Moses and said Moses Why Why you do this to us? We are dying of thirst kids are crying young men are desperate. We just don't know what to do We can't even limp anymore. No you go and I'm gonna sit down. I'm gonna die There's nothing I can do. I can't give me water and Then they saw some water what excitement And God said Moses you see that stick out there that part of the tree take it and throw it in the water and he did and the waters of Mara bitter water Became sweet and they all drank from it well, I must stop It's funny it is funny I can read this kind of things And about job About David and Paul and I can read 2nd Corinthians I can do all this and teach and explain and dissect but when I am in trouble I Don't know how to even explain why I'm in trouble and Then I pray look like that. There is no God. No, I nobody talks back to me. I'm alone And I want some answers and God says Trust me Bring the cross into your life experience That would represent the cross of Christ Why we do have this empty cross every time I come out I look at the cross and I say dear Jesus you died on the cross for me, but you are alive and you are with me and in me and before me and May your grace be given today and that is the cross when I bring the cross into my life not other people's help and experience and counseling and money and Positions and titles and promotions and understanding. No, nothing. Nothing can really answer that ultimately you have to bring the cross into your life experience on a continuous basis and Say Lord whether I'm In five star seven star ten star facility or in a hut in a shack it make no difference all that I am belongs to you and Suffering is a gift God gave To change us for the purpose of sign That's what the Bible says God did with these people, but they didn't understand it. I must conclude Just a few statements that might make sense One following Christ is the call God gave us to pick up the cross our cross Identified the suffering You can or you can reject it choose the cross number two We are called to follow in his footsteps. That means no questions asked but obey obedience It's not what do I get out of this if I obeyed no, that's up to him Just follow The process he allows you to go through is insignificant Number three the promise. I will never leave you nor forsake you Throughout the scripture was always true for the people of Israel, but they forgot Even when they failed miserably and got radically stupid God won't leave them When you fail when you do the dumbest thing in the world, he will not leave you you belong to him Believe it Number four obeying your King the Lord Jesus Christ will invite opposition from the ruler of this world because you are in the enemy's territory and And you are not obeying the ruler of this world Number five keep your eyes Try try I try fix your eyes on the end What is the end of all This world is not our home. I'm only passing through It is only for a little while whether you got billions or you got pennies You got the most handsome face in the world or the ugliest face in the world. You got all friends around you or no one Nothing really is permanent Keep that focus don't let distractions good things or bad things take us off from following the Lord How can it be I ask It was bright and warm, but without any warning Sun went to sleep It is so cold and so dark Can you tell me please? Where do I find shelter? Where do I find? Hope it is so cold So alone I feel Darkness I fear Which way I? mistake Will Sun rise again? if so How long must I wait My strength is spend Emotions dry. I wish I knew what must I do to find hope and Finally to smile again The answer is my friend is Jesus He is The Lord and the Lord of all and you are his Trust him the end will be better than the beginning