Missions Paul

6 things about calfs.

Acts 7: 41
“That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honour of what their hands had made.”

1. Leaderless people need an idol. (Moses had disappeared)
2. Idols don’t replace God, they just replace His presence. (The account in Exodus shows they tried to worship God through the idol)
3. When an idol replaces His presence then the next step is the worship of it. (
3. The reason why people chase idols is because they need to personally experience the divine. (They wanted the guidance of God)
4. Idols will need sacrifice.
5. Idols of Gods people are identical to those who are outside the family of God. (There were many calf or bull worshippers found at that time).
6. It is possible to idolise our past work (The golden calf represented all the sacrifices made by the people over the years)

7 possible consequences for a leader going up a mountain

Acts 7:40
“They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt-we don’t know what has happened to him!'”

1. When a leader disappears from their post then those who were following start retreating.

2. When a leader does not preach or speak to his followers regularly then the followers start listening to other things.

3. When a leader is out of sight the leader soon becomes out of mind and the followers put their attention elsewhere.

4. When a leader does not explain their absences then the followers begin to fill the vacuum very quickly.

5. When a leader spends all of the time seeking God, to the expense of encouraging the followers to do the same, then these people will soon be seeking other gods.

6. When a leader leads people out of Egypt their next task is to shepherd the followers to stay away from Egypt.

7. When a leader delegates they need to delegate to someone who is strong enough for the task otherwise compromise will come.

Where is your back?
Acts 7: 39

“But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt.”

It doesn’t matter how gracious God is or what He does and saves people from, there is one thing He will not do and that is to break the will of a person. That is ours.
What will we do with our will?!
There is only one thing we should do with it and that is to submit it to Him.
God’s people in the story of Moses didn’t. They did not obey and then they rejected Him. To say No and then to turn their back on God was what made them die in the desert.
The submission of your will is the greatest challenge of your life.
Yesterday I talked with one of our missionaries who has done exactly that. The person hasn’t got what they perhaps originally had wanted and still want. But they are content to have a heart that is turned towards God and not to their past.
Your back should be towards Egypt, your past, instead of your back against God.
Take your will and submit it.

Living words

Acts 7:38
“He was in the assembly in the desert, with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers; and he received living words to pass on to us.”

Living words are what we need.
Words that don’t manipulate or groom or destroy a reputation or bring to shame through exposure. We all are familiar with words of death. They come out of the mouths of many outside and unfortunately inside the church too.

Give me living words.
Living words are carved out of desert experiences, tried and tested.
Living words are found at the feet of the mountain experiences of instruction and guidance, coming with purposes and direction.
Living words are passed down from our fathers, they are filtered through and remain because they cannot die.
Living words are received.
Living words are for passing on to others.

Be seekers of living words today. Watch what comes from your mouth, will this bring life?

This is that

Acts 7:37
“This is that Moses who told the Israelites, ‘God will send you a prophet like me from your own people.’

‘This is that’ is a phrase which has been used by Luke before. He quotes Peter’s sermon in Acts 2:16 who was using the prophecy of Joel to explain the Spirits coming. This present outpouring is that what was promised.

But now he uses it again and this time it the defence of Stephen who uses the story of Moses. The Moses that did all those things in their history was the same Moses who prophesied the Messiah to come. This is that.

Moses had become an object of worship for them and Stephen was saying that even this great man was just a forerunner of who was to come.
This Moses is that Moses who spoke of now.

Your history spoke of the future, we are in that future, this present generation, the Jesus generation. That is what Stephen was saying.
I’m a firm believer in honouring the past but not worshipping it.
The generation that have gone before us experienced God but they also prayed for more, the more that we are now experiencing.
Isn’t that an amazing thought?
The stories of the past can sometimes loom over us and we can feel overshadowed by their brilliance. However let us not be intimidated for the past stories also spoke of the hope and the presence of God that we are experiencing in our story.
You may feel the great days of your church have now gone but they contained prayers of greater days to come. Days that you are in now.

Do you need a miracle, a sign and a wonder?

Acts 7:36
“He led them out of Egypt and did wonders and miraculous signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the desert.”

Sometimes we need miracles, signs and wonders in the place where we feel oppressed and downtrodden, where there is no hope and we have many burdens.

Sometimes we need miracles, signs and wonders when there is no way through, we are at a dead end and we do not know where to go and what to do.

Sometimes we need miracles, signs and wonders when we are going round in circles and we feel scorched by life, we are dry, tired and cannot carry on.

Miracles, signs and wonders are given in order to release us from the snares of man (Egypt) or they are given to open a way where there is no way (the Red Sea) or they are given to provide for us when we are at our most desperate place (the desert).

Where are you today? I am sure you need miracles, signs and wonders whenever the place is.

Who sent you?

Acts. 7:35
“This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, ‘Who made you ruler and judge?’ He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.”

When you know you have been sent by God Himself then:
a) you can return to the place of your failure.
b) you can face those who previously rejected you.
c) you can give people more than they ever would expect. (He was accused for trying to be a judge but he became their deliverer.)

Some missionaries get detached from their sending church. Some look back to when they were commissioned and sent out by wonderful prayers and encouragement, but today it is a distant past.
However what keeps them doing what they are doing is knowing it was God Himself who sent them.
Whether you are crossing borders or crossing the street to tell people of the love of God knowing who sent you can be crucial to keep going.

What is Missions?
Acts 7:34

“I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.'”

I have seen.
I have heard.
I have come.
I will send you.

There isn’t a better Missionary model than this.

Take those shoes off!
Acts 7:33

“Then the Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

When I travel to the many countries of the world there is one thing that I find people have in common. They don’t like shoes in the house. If they come into the house the shoes remain at the door. It is the case for mosques and synagogues as well as for the many churches, in the eastern part anyway. It’s a good job my mum taught me this childhood discipline for taking ones shoes off as I fit in very well in these situations.

In the west we think it is because we are being polite towards the home owner, we don’t want to dirty their carpet etc.
In the east it is different, it is not so much about the carpet or floor but about respect for the home owner. It is their presence not what they have that commands our respect which we show by taking off our shoes.

“Moses the ground isn’t holy because it is special, the ground is holy because I am here”. “Take off your shoes. Respect my presence.”

At that time Moses was shielding his face in respect of God. But that wasn’t enough. Now he has to turn his attention to his sandals. Why?
God was about to call Moses to GO. His sandals were the means to GO. Moses had to submit his rights and his means to GO. God was to be the authority, the leader, the provider of his life. Nothing Moses had would be enough, he had to let go and submit everything he had in order to follow God’s call to GO.
Nothing has changed, so go ahead take off your shoes.

The story of God
Acts 7:32

“I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look.”

What an amazing way of introducing yourself?!
I am talking about God.
Can you imagine your next generation encountering God and He meets them and says “I am the God of (insert your name)”?
The encouraging thing is that all 3 men were not perfect:
Abraham gave his wife away saying she was his sister.
Isaac did the same thing as his father with his wife Rebekah.
Jacob followed suit in being known as a deceiver and cheat.
But God became their God.
Let us not forget the commitment that God has towards us.
“I will be your God.”
It is not based on our ability but His love.
Such grace! He wants to be known as the God of you!

Now why did Moses respond like this?
Simply because he knew the story of God in all 3 of these men.
If the next generation are going to fear God then we are going to have to demonstrate to them the story of God in us. It won’t make us perfect and sometimes the story of God will have to reveal our weaknesses so that people can see His grace. But let us keep on living out the story of God that others may also respond to His calling after we have gone. That story is simple: “He knows He is my God. “