Sermon Summary

Blaise Pascal’s private note of a life-changing encounter opens a meditation on the necessity of meeting God afresh and often. Encounters with the divine are not relics of the past but present possibilities—moments of awe, rescue, and reorientation that can happen in hospitals, markets, graves, and fields alike. The narrative of Exodus marks a turning point from slavery and suppression toward deliverance and promise, illustrating that God’s arrival can shift the whole trajectory of a life or a people. Moses appears not as a passive recipient but as a working man— diligent, imperfect, and strategically placed—whose ordinary labor becomes the setting for an extraordinary call.

Going further than usual, Moses sees a burning bush that does not consume itself: a visible paradox that signals God’s presence within human vulnerability. That sign reframes mundane toil and painful detours as the ground where vocation meets revelation. Objections rise naturally—questions of adequacy, past failures, and fearful “what ifs”— yet the response is not condemnation but assurance: God promises presence and power rather than mere permission. The rod becomes a sign of transforming power; the divine call comes with accompaniment. The text insists that calling and capability are not identical: God supplies what is lacking and meets fear with covenant fidelity.

This theology refuses sentimental shortcuts. It calls for sober acknowledgment of suffering and honest engagement with excuses, while insisting that God’s timing and providence often work through long, circuitous journeys. The resurrection is invoked as the summit of divine power—an enacted promise that God’s intervention is both historical and present-empowering. The faithful are invited to live expectantly: to cultivate daily encounters, to recognize strategic placements in hardship, and to step forward despite felt inadequacy because God’s presence and power attend the call. The result is not automatic comfort but a horizon of deliverance, where ordinary lives become instruments of divine deliverance and praise.

Key Takeaways

1. Pursue daily encounters with God [01:44]
Regular, personal encounters with God reshape perception and sustenance. They are not one-off events but disciplines of attention that pull faith out of habit and into awe. Such encounters refuse to privatize God as Sunday-only and instead make God the active center of life’s trials and triumphs.

2. Ordinary work can be sacred ground [07:44]
God often calls people while they are actively engaged in mundane labor, not in perfect circumstances. The place of daily service can be the precise locus of vocation and revelation; discontent with the journey can blind one to this. Recognizing ordinary work as holy reframes detours and delays as preparation rather than punishment.

3. Don’t let excuses define calling [15:09]
Self-doubt, past failures, and hypothetical fears are common barriers to obedience, but they are not final verdicts. Theological courage means bringing weaknesses before God’s promises rather than letting them become reasons for paralysis. Faithful response involves honest confession of limits paired with reliance on divine accompaniment.

4. God’s presence brings active power [21:53]
Promise without power would be mere sentiment; God’s assurance comes with the enabling presence that changes situations. The biblical picture links covenantal promise with concrete acts—transforming tools, liberation from bondage, and ultimately resurrection power. Trust unfolds when presence is expected and power is believed.