What are you actually living for, and what will you do with the rest of your days, which pass so quickly? This sermon takes us to the desert, where eighty-year-old Moses, a slave by birth, a prince by upbringing, a fugitive by necessity, meets at the burning bush the God who introduces himself: “I am who I am” (Exodus 3). In this encounter Moses discovers that what matters is not who he is, but who God is, and that no chapter of his tangled life was wasted. Listen if you are searching for meaning, this could be a completely different first day of the rest of your life.
Discussion questions
For your small group or for personal reflection after the sermon.
- What questions and excuses does Moses raise with God in Exodus 3:1-22 and 4:1-17, and what does each of God's answers reveal about His character?
- Moses grew up surrounded by the many gods of Egypt. What might the name "I am who I am" and the reminder of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have meant to him?
- The speaker pointed out that a bush that burns but is not consumed stopped Moses on his everyday path. What tends to be that kind of burning bush in your life, turning you toward God?
- When Moses asks "Who am I?", God answers "I will be with you." What changes in your thinking when, instead of asking whether you are good enough, you ask who God is?
- The years in Pharaoh's palace and forty years in the desert turned out to prepare Moses for his mission. Which difficult or seemingly wasted seasons of your life could God use in His plan?
- Which of Moses' excuses do you most often repeat to God, and what one step of trust can you take this week, remembering that it is His mission and not yours?
