Exodus 19-20, 24-25, 32-34, 40

Just last year a wild storm blew through Grand Rapids, Michigan. If you live here, you might even remember it. 

That evening I was walking across the street to a neighborhood bonfire. The clouds were dark and, all of the sudden the wind picked up! I gathered up my kids in the front yard and we went inside to the basement. Before we knew it, the power was disconnected in our neighborhood and the all the lights turned off. It was hard to see which made it tricky to keep the kids calm. I really don’t like when the power is disconnected.

Do you have any stories of a time where the power or something else was disconnected in your life? How did it make your life more difficult?

In the book of Exodus, God frees Israel from captivity and they begin their journey into the desert. It’s here that something really cool happens. 

Both Israel and God want things to go back to they way they were in the Garden of Eden: perfect connection between God and Man. But there’s this nagging little issue: It’s called sin. And that sin keeps Israel disconnected from God. Israel wants to be with God so much that they try to make their own way of connecting with Him. They create a golden calf and start to worship it. This whole idol thing doesn’t end well and Israel still feels lost and disconnected from God.

Has there every been a time where you felt disconnected from God? What did it feel like? Did you do anything about it?

God sees and feels all of this disconnectedness. So he makes a new way for Israel to be connected to Him. It looks like this: 

First, God creates rules, or commandments, about how to interact with Him and with all other people. Second, God says He needs a place to stay. It’ll be called the tabernacle. Finally, God reminds Israel that they will have to have their sins atoned for, or covered, before they can be together with Him. This is because God is perfect, and he can’t be in the presence of Sin. 

Only if they did these three things could Israel be connected to and living in the presence of God. God is filled with love for his creation! He is doing every thing possible to be with his people in this story.

And God is doing everything possible to be connected with you too! Those three items Israel had to do to be connected with God, they are true for us today but it looks a little different through Jesus Christ!

Jesus agreed with the rules, or commandments, for Israel to live by. He said “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt. 22:36-40)

God has a place to live too! God’s Spirit lives in you when you believe in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. (1 Cor. 6:19)

Finally, You sins are able to be forgiven by Jesus who died for you. His blood covers the cost for all of your sins past, present and future. To receive this forgiveness, accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior! (Eph. 1:7)

I love this story. The same God in Exodus is the same God, the one and only God, who wants to be connected with you through Jesus Christ.

We all feel disconnected sometimes, and If you are feeling disconnected from God today, I want you to hear this truth from His word. God says: “Fear not, for I have saved you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you… when you walk through fire, you will not be burned… For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, I am your Savior…” (Isa. 43:1-3)