1. de·fine/di fīn/ What defines us? Do we have any say in it?

2. What defines us? What defines us? What defines us enslaves us Or sets us free

3. Never put a period Where God has placed a comma

4. David:

5. David: - What they say about him (I'm no one) - What's been done to him (I'm a victim) - What he's done (I'm guilty) "if only"

6. David: What God says (Forgiven, Loved, Set Free, God's Child) "Even now"

7. Can you imagine Going back to the place Where you were hurt so bad?

8. Can you imagine Going back to the place Where you committed such public sin?

9. What defines us? What defines us? Do we allow our limitations to define us?

10. Age Weight Money What are your limitations? Past Present Physical Defects Personality and Shyness

11. Age Weight Money Can they really stop God's purposes For you? Past Present Physical Defects Personality and Shyness

12. What defines you Either enslaves you Or sets you free

13. God wants to Set you free

14. He's hated before he's even born Because he's the wrong race

15. Worse than slavery in the US Talk about being a victim!

16. Raised in Pharaoh's household 40 Years Old…

17. Becomes a killer Who flees for his life

18. What's been done to him: Barely knew his mother What he's done: Murder Consequences: Laughed at and under a death sentence

19. So God says… Great- let's send you back!

20. God doesn't choose Moses for his qualifications God chooses Moses for his disqualifications

21. God's glory will shine through Moses' Weakness

22. Now 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 desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.

23. There 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.

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

25. When 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.”

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

27. What makes it holy?

28. What makes it holy? Places aren't holy Unless God's presence is there

29. Christ in you, the hope of glory… Holy Ground= Fear, Awe, Reverence Changes how we act Treat one another Handle ourselves

30. Then 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.

31. Then 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. God comes on the basis of his history with Moses' ancestors

32. What's my heritage?

33. What's my heritage? Has he lost his power?

34. The 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" The 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"

35. "So 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…"

36. They've been crying out They thought I didn't care I care…more than they know But it's about my timing, not theirs

37. "And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

38. "And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." That thing you wanted to do… You're gonna do!

39. How's Moses gonna feel about this?

40. A lump develops in his throat His heartbeat quickens His hands sweat

41. A lump develops in his throat His heart beatquickens His hands sweat But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

42. Is that the right question?

43. Is that the right question? What does it say about his focus?

44. I'm the wrong guy! Wrong race- Hebrew Wrong side of the law- Murderer Wrong leader- Laughed at

45. And 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.” Right question: Do I trust you?

46. And 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.” 2 Reasons to Trust: - God's Presence - God's Foreknowledge

47. Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

48. Fear puts up excuses- What if…? Faith finds reasons to follow God- Yes God!

49. Moses is full of fear Because of his limitations: - Race - Past Deeds - Past Failure

50. “Go, assemble the elders of Israel and say to them, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—appeared to me and said: I have watched over you and have seen what has been done to you in Egypt"

51. "And I have promised to bring you up out of your misery in Egypt into the land of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites- a land flowing with milk and honey'"

52. "The elders of Israel will listen to you. Then you and the elders are to go to the king of Egypt and say to him, 'The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. Let us take a three-day journey into the desert to offer sacrifices to the LORD our God'"

53. "But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand compels him. So I will stretch out my hand and strike the Egyptians with all the wonders that I will perform among them. After that, he will let you go"

54. God knows the outcome But doesn't give all the details In advance Why not?

55. God knows the outcome But doesn't give all the details In advance Why not? God is constantly teaching us That we can trust him

56. Can you trust him right now With what you're facing?

57. "And I will make the Egyptians favorably disposed toward this people, so that when you leave you will not go empty-handed"

58. "Every woman is to ask her neighbor and any woman living in her house for articles of silver and gold and for clothing, which you will put on your sons and daughters. And so you will plunder the Egyptians."

59. OK, the guy talking to the burning bush Should have heard enough By now…

60. Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” They laughed at me last time, Lord! I'm not enough…

61. Is he right?

62. Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The LORD did not appear to you’?” "What if's" are fear that we are not enough "Yes Lord's" are exclamations of praise That God is more than enough

63. Staff, Leprous Hand, Water to Blood

64. Staff, Leprous Hand, Water to Blood God uses the ordinary to do extraordinary things

65. Why do we keep arguing with God, saying we're not enough It was never about us being enough, but about God being more than enough? Will you let your limitations define you? Or cause you trust God even more?

66. God uses the ordinary Water into wine Fish and loaves into a buffet Are you really gonna tell God he can't do the same in you?

67. Staff, Leprous Hand, Water to Blood God uses the ordinary to do extraordinary things Quit telling God you're not enough… And start believing that he is

68. Moses said to the LORD, “O 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.”

69. My Past- "Doesn't matter" My Race- "Who cares?" My Physical Limitations! You think I didn't know that?

70. The LORD said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the LORD? Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say”

71. Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” God's help comes When we stop trying to be enough And simply follow by faith Because we're not enough

72. Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say” Your weakness Is your greatest strength Because that's where God Is most Present

73. God gave Paul weakness!

74. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”

75. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong - 2 Cor. 12:8-10

76. The hardest times and the weakest areas Are the greatest opportunities To see God at work in me

77. What are your limitations? Do the define you? Or set you free To see God at work in you?

78. When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

79. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power - 1 Cor. 2:1-5

80. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us - 2 Cor. 4:7 Why choose untaught fishermen And tax collectors to change the world?

81. Paul's Background: Pharisee Paul's Commission: Gentiles Peter's Background: Fisherman Peter's Commission: Jews

82. If Onlys (limitations) and Even Nows (faith in God)

83. Your "if only" Was purposed by God to be your "even now"

84. God does not work through Perfect, strong people But he delights in using Weak, imperfect people Who will simply trust and obey

85. Weakness Past Present Limitations When God defines you, These things are redeemed by him For his glory and his purposes

86. Argue for your limitations And sure enough- they're yours!

87. "Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” But Moses said, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

88. Then the LORD’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite?"

89. “I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do" - Exodus 3-4

90. The Cost of Focusing on Limitations Instead of Trusting in God: - Idolatry - Dissension - Seeing God's Power through Him

91. God wants more for you Than where you've been What your past says about you What people continue to say

92. If only is an excuse based on the past What if is fear looking towards the future Even now is faith that overcomes In spite of

93. If onlys place a period Where God wants to place a comma with Even now

94. The cross is an if only… God didn't stop there Even now you can be forgiven Endings are great beginnings…

95. Your limitations can't limit you Unless you choose to let them Will you offer to God your limitations And give up your excuses And rationalizations?