Date:  May 16th, 2010

Speaker:  Pastor Kevin Snyder

Title:  Be the One

Text: Exodus 3,4

 

Introduction

Last week 20 leaders from East Side attended a simulcast here in town called: Be the One.

The theme was “Be the One “ who will make a difference

• Who will step out
• Who will pick up the mantle
• Who will act
• Who will touch a life
• Change the wind

We listened to some leaders who stepped out to be the one who would impact a life, a community, a company, a church.

 

Today,

Want to talk about what does it take to be the one.

 

If there ever was a person who was “the one who made a difference” it had to be Moses.

Talk about “Being the One.”

 

Let’s review his story. 

• Hebrew people moved to Egypt in time of Joseph to avoid the famine in Canaan.
• Multiplied and became a threat
• Forced into hard labor
• Male babies were ordered to be killed.
• They cried out to God to save them from their captivity.
• God sent a baby…God began to shape a leader with 4 women & a baby.

• Comes a day when Moses is grown.
• He gets out of the palace and sees the plight of his people.
• He’s shaken.
• Even though he had been schooled in Egypt he identified with the Hebrew people.  They couldn’t take the heart out of him.
• What he sees bothers him.
• One day sees Egyptian beating a Hebrew and blows a gasket.
• He seeks to be the one, but in anger and his own strength.
• He attacks the Egyptian and kills him.

• Afraid for his life he runs off into the desert to the land of Midian.
• There he marries.
• Becomes a shepherd for some 40 years.
• One day he is out watching the flocks and he encounters God at a burning bush.
• He experiences a call to get back into the game.  To quit watching from the stands and “be the one’ to lead the people out of Egypt.
• He experiences a call to lead.

 

But Moses is reluctant.

He struggles with God calling him.

 

He feels there are 4 reasons why he can’t be the one.

 

1. His past mistakes.

He killed a man.

He is a fugitive…..a wanted man.

Ex 2: 11 – 15

 Many years later, when Moses had grown up, he went out to visit his own people, the Hebrews, and he saw how hard they were forced to work. During his visit, he saw an Egyptian beating one of his fellow Hebrews. 12 After looking in all directions to make sure no one was watching, Moses killed the Egyptian and hid the body in the sand.

13 The next day, when Moses went out to visit his people again, he saw two Hebrew men fighting. “Why are you beating up your friend?” Moses said to the one who had started the fight.

14 The man replied, “Who appointed you to be our prince and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed that Egyptian yesterday?”

Then Moses was afraid, thinking, “Everyone knows what I did.” 15 And sure enough, Pharaoh heard what had happened, and he tried to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and went to live in the land of Midian.

 

2. His inadequacies

Ex 3:11

0 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”

12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”  

 

4. His Lack of Influence

Ex 4:1

4 But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you’?”

2 Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?”

“A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied.

3 “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back.

4 Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand.

5 “Perform this sign,” the Lord told him. “Then they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you.”

 

5. His Lack of Ability

Ex.  4:10

10 But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words. I never have been, and I’m not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”

11 Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person’s mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”

  

But finally, he goes.  Not with confidence in his adequacy, but confident in God’s sufficiency.

And we know the rest of the story.

 

Application

What can we learn from Moses about “Being the One”?

 

1. Get Out of the House More Often  

Story of young priest who was nervous about his new responsibilities.  He was especially worried of messing up the greeting at the beginning of the service.  It always began with “The Lord be with you.”

And the people would respond “And also with you.”

 

Well, time came and he was so nervous.  He practiced his line and was ready to go.  Went out on his Sunday morning, turned on his microphone only to find out it wasn’t working.  Frantically, he tapped the microphone and said, “Something is wrong with this microphone.”

To which the congregation replied, “And also with you.”

 

Friends, there are many things wrong in our world today and many people feel it.

And most people I have found who have committed themselves to “be the ones” to bring about change did what Moses did – they get out of the house.

They trace their engagement to a time when they went to a 3rd world country, a youth centre, a woman’s shelter, visited a reservation, a ghetto.

 

They did like Moses, they left their comfortable world in the palace, and traveled out and there they were shocked, troubled, stirred by what they saw.

 

i.e.

Recently read story of Blake Mycoskie.

Blake was on the Amazing Race 4 seasons ago.

He decided afterwards to travel to the countries he visited while on the race.  One of the things he witnessed was the many kids without shoes.  He heard the stories of cuts that got infected that resulted in amputations and deaths, and it wouldn’t let him go.

 

He also saw a type of shoe worn by the Argentinean farmers that he thought were cool.

 

He came back with an idea.  He started a company called TOMS shoes.

His commitment was for every pair of shoes he sold here he would donate a pair to a 3rd world child.

The concept took off. In 4 years he has given away over 400,000 pairs of shoes.

+ it inspired 2 other companies

a. a computer company decided to donate a computer to a child for everyone it sold

- a real estate company decided it would donate a house in the 3rd world for every one it sold here.

 

Where did it start?

It started with Blake getting out of the house.

Seeing the need.

 

Transition

Well, there are so many needs, how do I know what to give myself too?”

 

How many of you remember “Popeye the Sailor man?”

  

Cartoon back in my childhood years.

The plot was simple.

Brutus was always trying to steal away Popeye’s lovely sweetheart girl olive Oil.

Brutus would beat the pulp out of Popeye, or humiliate to no end.  And then there would come the moment.

Popeye would say “I can’t standz it no more!”

He would eat a can of spinach – gain supernatural strength.  Beat up Brutus and win the heart of his beloved Olive again.

 

Question is:

• What is there that you can’t standz no more?
• What is it that causes you to get so angry 
• at the injustice?  
• The abuse?
• The disregard for human life? 
• The treatment of a someone you identify with?  

• What is there in your school
• Your church
• Our community
• Our world that you can’t standz it no more.

One thing we have said – is we can’t stand by and watch our youth get pulled into the alcohol and drug scene anymore.

We can’t stand and watch it go on and not do anything.

We can’t stand to see the poor in our community not be treated with dignity and respect and feel the compassion of Christ.

We decided we want to make a difference.

 

i.e.

In this next week you may hear about a new programming initiative to come to the Centre.

Something that was troubling me.

Building is good.

A Friday /Sat drop-in is good.  But I didn’t feel that was going to really address the problem.

 

And so I put together a Community Initiative Proposal.

1st person I gave to was Sally.  She wanted to club me.  Get the building done first.

 

But she knew what I knew.  We had to be working 6 months out and have a program for this centre.

 

Proposal has 5 major components:

1. Outreach Volunteers – special shirts and jackets that go and connect with kids where they are (only 1 in 5 youth will take initiative to access help)

- high school cafeteria – looking for kid sitting alone

-skate park – some coke and engage the kids

- on the street – talking to kids

 

2. Counselling – for youth and families at centre. Some can’t afford.  Some have long waiting lists. Some are fearful of.

 

3. Peer support – kids coming back from treatment programs – support group

 

4. 24/7 helpline

 

5. In-reach programming – support groups, after school programs, drop-ins

 

Began to float this proposal out there and see if it would find traction in the community because I knew we have our plate full.  I knew I would be probably be tossed if I came saying “Folks, on top of the building purchase – do you think we could come up with $75,000 / year for a director to make these things happen.”

So floated it out there among community organizations, government.  & leaders.

Found some traction & we formed a steering committee.  MLT authorized me to do that.

To make this happen we were able to reallocate $11,000 in the fresh Start contracts to assist.

But that still was a long ways away.

And so I felt led to go talk to innovation Credit Union.  Never been on 3rd floor.  Never met Pat Friesen.  Agreed to meet me.

Anyways, they have committed themselves to $25,000/yr for 2 years.

 

And so, we are ½ way there.

Steering committee on Thursday took another step of faith and hired Jim Magee as the director.  Jim was willing to step out in faith with us , with no salary guarantees. He is the perfect guy for this job.

And so we hired him to start Aug 1.

We are going to be promoting this, and doing some fund-raising to get the other $45,000 we need by Dec 31 to make this turn this year.

 

Why are we doing this?

Because we can’t standz it no more.  We can’t sit idly by and do nothing.  We in faith have stepped out and said “we will be the one.’

 

This never would have happened if years ago this congregation wouldn’t have stepped out of this house.

If wouldn’t have started DivorceCare, GriefShare, fresh start, a care ministry that touched people in the community. 

 

To be the one a 1st step is we have to get out of the house more.

 

To be the one…requires a

2. Decision: My Way or God’s Way

Moses learned a hard lesson.  When he saw the need he reacted. He acted impulsively.

He tried to do something in the power of the flesh.

As Dr. Phil would ask:

How did that work for him?

Not very well.

It didn’t make a dent on the problem, and Moses ended up having to run.

You see, Moses did what it is so easy to do.  He wanted to help out not give a hand up. He discovered his solution wasn’t going to bring about much change.  It didn’t empower the people.

 

Later, he came back in God’s strength.  With nothing but a staff in hand.  But God used it to many miraculous things.

For any meaningful difference to happen we need God in it.

In the strength of the flesh this will fail.

 

And so folks, I call you to pray.

• Pray for God to go before us.
• God place his hand of blessing on this centre.
• Place his hand of anointing on the leaders.
• Provide the resources.

(By the way, - Good Friday service – we received a cheque for $2900.)

 

But friends, to be the one means we also have to overcome some hurdles. 

 

3. Hurdles

 

a. Hurdle #1: Our Past

Sometimes we think our past disqualifies us from being the one. 

Moses was a murderer.

 

i.e.

Henry Nowen: The Wounded Healers

When we confess our sins and allow God to work in our lives, he begins to heal and restore us. And as he heals our brokenness he takes those wounds and begins to use them to pour his comfort and healing through us to others.

And so in God’s hands your past doesn’t disqualify you.  In God’s sovereign hands it uniquely qualifies you to touch the lives of others who are hurting.

 

i.e.

Demoniac – cutting himself & living among tombs.

Jesus heals him.

Wants to come with Jesus.

But instead what does Jesus do?  He sends him back to the villages from which he came.

To do what?

To tell what God had done in his life.

 

And God can do the same with you.

 

b.. Hurdle #2: Feelings of Inadequacy

 “Who am I?”

We all face feelings of inadequacy. That’s not the issue.

Question is: “Do you feel God is sufficient to make up the gap between your inadequacy and what he has called you to?”

 

Never under-estimate what can happen.  What God can do with kids, what he can do with pennies.

  

God can use pennies and kids to be the one. 

c.  Hurdle #3: Our Lack of authority/influence

“Who sent you?”

 

Have you ever asked yourself

• “What right do I have for doing this?”
• Who authorized this?
• What credentials do I have?

 

Sometimes we allow our lack of education credentials, our lack of experience, our lack of connection, our lack of authority to stop us from doing anything.

 

What did Moses have as God’s answer to this question:

“I will be with you.”

And if God is for us who can be against us?”

 

d. Hurdle #4: Our Lack of Ability

Moses claimed he couldn’t speak.  God didn’t care for that excuse.  He got upset and said “Who gave man his mouth? ….now go and I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”

 

Truth:

If God has called you he will give you what you need.

 

Conclusion

Moses became” the one” – the one to lead his people out of Egypt.  God used him.

 

And you and I can be the one

 The One God uses to make a difference

 at our school

At church

In this community

In our world

 

Will you be the one

Who steps out of the house

Who chooses to do something because “you can’t standz it no more”

Who chooses to put his hand in God’s and trust him

Who won’t let his past, his inadequacies, his lack of credentials, his limited abilities be the excuse for not doing something.

 

Let me tell you of a defining moment in my life.

Time when I said “I would be the one.’

Decision I have had to reaffirm specifically many times over in my life.

 

Defines why I am here today….why I am in ministry.

I was in college.

Young- frustrated, and critical of the church.

More I learned of Scripture more I saw gap between church here and what I experienced and saw in reality.

Wasn’t sure I wanted to be identified and representative of it.

Critical moment on my 3rd year – internship in Ft Collins Co

• pouring out my criticisms of the church.  It wasn’t this and it wasn’t that.
• Went on and on.
• Supervising pastor, Ed Nelson, listened & then said something that forced a decision in my life.

“Kev, you don’t hate the church.  You just want to see it become all that it can be.”

 

Turning Point for me.

Decision was: Would I be a critic or would I be a reformer?

In those moments I sensed my unique call to ministry. That question defined my call to ministry. 

• Never came into ministry to maintain an institution.
• Never came to “play “ church and go through rituals and motions.
• Never became pastor because I thought it would be cushy job – 25 min on Sunday.
• Never came because I liked all the things the church was doing…cleaning the fish before they caught them, talking but not doing, not going outside walls, not accepting the messy people,    .no some of it made me sick.
• I came to ministry with a decision to throw my life into helping the church become what I read in this book.
• A church that loved, accepted, welcomed all people
• Who held out grace not judgment.
• That surrounded the wounded with prayer not shot them
• That got serious about living 9 – 5 , Monday – Friday cnity not just Sunday morning
• That was willing to engage the world and get its hands dirty.
• That was a place where sinners feel they can go and find a friend, and love, and grace.

 

And in that moment, I chose to offer God all my inadequacies, all my mistakes of the past, all my lack of abilities, all my lack of credentials…I offered to be the one who would give his life to make a difference.

 

My question to you is:

• Will you be the one?
• Will you be one who will get out of the house?
• Will step out of the stands on to the playing field?
• Will you move from being a critic to a reformer – get involved in making a difference.
• Will you say to God today
• “Yes Lord, I will be the one…”

The one to reach out to that new immigrant kid at school

To get involved in a ministry

To do something because I can’t standz it no more. 

If that is your commitment today – as we sing this last song.

I want you to confirm it, declare it, and make a stand today.

Invite you to come and kneel at altar and tell God and this congregation

“I will be the one… step out with my life and commit to make a difference?

Click here to return to sermon page

 

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Ex 2:11-15

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Ex 3:10-12

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Ex 4:1-5

Tyndale House Publishers: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 2nd ed. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, S. Ex 4:10-12