The Deliverance Dilemma

Has God ever brought you out of something, but not fully delivered you to the next thing? Many of us consider this the waiting period, but Caleb Southern, our youth coordinator, refers to it as the deliverance dilemma- a time when you're waiting for God to bring you into something new. We’ve all been there.

The Israelites know all about the deliverance dilemma.

As a nation of people enslaved by the Egyptians, they were treated horrifically as slave laborers for many years. Moses, following the commandment of God, comes to their rescue, setting them free from the Egyptians, and delivers them to The Promised Land, otherwise known as The Land of Milk and Honey. God brought them out of bondage and into something new and wonderful!

Caleb, however, points out that 40 years elapsed from the moment the Israelites leave Egypt and when they arrive at The Promised Land. For 40 years they were wandering around in the wilderness tired and starving. In this period of waiting they start to reminisce about what they used to have, even though they were slaves- they were still well fed. Comfort and familiarity can keep us enslaved, even when we know we're choosing the wrong path.

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” - Exodus 16:2 (ESV)

The Israelites had been delivered out of Egypt but had not yet been delivered into The Promised Land. They were experiencing the deliverance dilemma.

They had followed God, but they were still experiencing issues. Can you relate? You gave your life to Jesus and you’re trying to be obedient, but you're still struggling in different areas of your life. Maybe with anger, temptation, depression, anxiety, and/or addiction? God is bringing you out of sin, but you're not fully delivered from it.

Here are four key takeaways from Caleb’s message, The Deliverance Dilemma, that I think will help you navigate your season of waiting.

1) Don’t choose to grumble over being grateful:

The Israelites only focused on what they did not have- meat and bread- and chose to grumble and complain. They should have been focused on the promises God had for them and all He had already done for them.

We must always focus on what we do have, choosing gratitude over grumbling and complaining.

2) Remember that God will provide:

Even though the Israelites chose to grumble and complain, God gave them grace and provided them food to eat. They didn’t deserve it, and they didn’t pray for it, but God gave it to them.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not.

-Exodus 16:4 (ESV)

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp, and in the morning dew lay around the camp. - Exodus 16:13 (ESV)

God will provide all that we need too. His provision may not look exactly like you would think, but He will provide.

3) Keep coming back for what God has for you:

God only gave the Israelites enough bread for one day at a time. They were not to store it up, but they had to keep coming back for more. God only gave them exactly what they needed for that day. We have to keep coming back to God every day for His blessings. We have to keep showing up at church, keep giving our time, talents, and treasures, keep reading the Word and praying prayers and God will keep blessing us.

And Moses said to them, “Let no one leave any of it over till the morning.” Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. Morning by morning they gathered it, each as much as he could eat; but when the sun grew hot, it melted. -Exodus 16:19-21 ESV

4) What you do today matters to the generations that come after you:

The people of Israel ate the manna forty years, till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. -Exodus 16:35

Two generations of Israelites continued to feast on the blessings that God gave.

Have you decided to follow Christ? Have you decided to put God in the center of the generations that come after you? Will your kids and your grandchildren inherit a generational blessing or a generational curse? You get to decide if Jesus is the center of your life and your home, and that decision directly affects more than just you!

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. - John 6:35

Just like the Israelites needed bread, we do too. Jesus is the bread of life. Step into a generational blessing.

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How The Bible Teaches Us To Celebrate Christmas

We celebrate Christmas because Jesus our Savior was born. We celebrate his birth because we know what his birth and death means for us. It means that we can have eternal life in heaven if we believe in him. The Bible gives us the reasons for our celebration, but it also tells us how to celebrate. We are to worship God and give to others.

After Jesus was born several different people wanted to see him. First an angel appeared to some nearby shepherds. The angel told them that the long awaited Savior had been born. They went to see Jesus and when they found him they told of everything the angel had told them. After they left they started worshipping God. We are to worship God in the same way, giving thanks to him for giving us a Savior.

Another group of people that went to see Jesus were the wise men. These wise men were from a far away land. They had seen a star arise and they wanted to worship this newborn king. They used this star as a guide to find Jesus. When they found him they also bowed in worship. These wise men also gave Jesus gifts. They gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh (very expensive items for that time and region).

Christmas today is filled with people worshipping God and giving gifts because that is what the Bible tells us happened as a result of Jesus’s birth. We should all worship God and care for those around us because of what Jesus means to us.

Besides the story of his miraculous birth, we know strikingly little about Jesus’s childhood. This most likely means that he had a fairly normal one. He most likely played with his friends, went to school, and did chores around the house just like we do now. However, we do have one story from his childhood and that is also found in Luke 2.

When Jesus was 12 years old, his family traveled to Jerusalem for the annual Passover festival. After the festival was over and Mary and Joseph were traveling home they realized that Jesus had been left behind. They went back to Jerusalem and found him sitting with the teachers in the Temple. Jesus was astounding them with his understanding of the Bible and how wise he was at such a young age. It proves to us that we are never too young to learn and to grow.

The end of Luke says that Jesus continued to grow in many ways. Just like we grow in size, we also are to grow spiritually. The more we study and the more we spend time with God the more we will grow. That is what Jesus did. Jesus was just like us, but he grew in God and became the person we all know and love. It was through this growth that he gave his life for us. We are called to this same growth. This is what we have the opportunity to do day in and day out. The more we learn, the more we grow. And learning about God is the best thing to learn about.

Key Takeaways:

• Worship

• Give

• Grow

Parents, 3treesKIDS will be covering “Jesus is Born”, both in-person and online this week.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.

Jesus Is Born

Christmas is one of the most celebrated holidays in the world. On December 25th, friends and families gather together to open gifts and spend time together. Most people that celebrate Christmas know about its origins. Christmas was and is still a day that Christians celebrate Jesus being born into the world. In hectic and busy times during the holidays it is easy to lose sight of the meaning behind Christmas. So, we must ask ourselves why we are celebrating in the first place?

The meaning of Christmas goes much deeper and further back than the night Jesus was born. In the Old Testament, God’s people were struggling. Because of sin, there was a gap between people and God. This gap made it hard to connect with God, therefore, people continued to sin and turn away from God. However, God gave them a promise. Throughout the Old Testament, the promise of a Savior emerges time and time again. This Savior would be a person that could bridge the gap between people and God and allow for a new relationship to take place.

For years God’s people waited for this promise to be fulfilled. The New Testament picks up with this promise coming into fruition. Matthew 1-2, and Luke 1-2 tell the story of Jesus being born.

Here we see that God sent angels to visit Mary and Joseph (Jesus’s parents). Even though Mary and Joseph were not married yet, the angels told them that the Holy Spirit would conceive a baby in Mary’s womb and that baby would be Jesus, the long awaited Savior.

The Bible explains that Jesus was God’s son, even though he had human parents. Because the Holy Spirit put Jesus inside Mary’s womb it became clear that this child was special. Mary and Joseph were entrusted to raise and care for Jesus, but they knew that Jesus was God’s own son.

The backstory behind Jesus’s birth is very interesting, but the reason we still celebrate it is because of what it continues to do for us. A significant part of the promise of the Savior was for God to be with humanity. Jesus was with his father in heaven but came to the world so that he could relate to us. While Jesus was 100% God he was also 100% man. Jesus knew what it was like to laugh and have fun, he knew what it was like to have pain and to be sad. Jesus was God with us, he helped those around him to see God in new ways and to further their journey with him.

But the promise did not stop there. Jesus was killed on the cross, but arose three days later. This proved to people that he really was the Savior that the Old Testament talked about. It is through Jesus’s death and resurrection that we can be saved from our sins, be connected to God, and have eternal life.

We celebrate Christmas because Jesus became God with us and became our Savior.

Key Takeaways:

• Jesus is the promise of a Savior

• Jesus is God’s Son

• Jesus is God with Us

Parents, 3treesKIDS will be covering “Jesus is Born”, both in-person and online this week.

Be sure to check out their lesson at www.3trees.com/kids.

To find service times and locations, visit https://www.3trees.com/planyourvisit.