Pastor Scott's Musings

  [Title Slide] Journey to Promise: Bittersweet (Exodus 15:22-27)   Moses and the Hebrew people crossed the Red Sea and walked three days into the wilderness. Now when I hear three days, I know that God is up to something. And God is good, so whatever God is up to it’s going to be good for the world.   [Slide] They got to a place with water, but the water was bitter. They were thirsty but they could not drink the water. So, they complained.   [Slide] Psychology Today states that people have negative thoughts more frequently than positive, at a 5:1 ratio. Our tendency toward negative thinking is related to our survival instincts. As hunter-gatherers we needed to think fast to avoid dangerous predators. Snap judgements don’t always serve us well. Complaining has its rewards: protection, and self-validation. We seem to enjoy complaining because it serves as a form of self-validation. When we vent to others, we give ourselves the reward of being heard. Bu...

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC... Journey to Promise: Through The Sea ( Exodus 14:1-22 ) Joey was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday school. “Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then he used his walkie-talkie to radio headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.” “ “Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?” his mother asked. “Well, no, Mom. But if I told it the way the teacher said, you'd never believe it!”   "The Lord will fight for you. Just be still.”   Exodus 14:14 Imagine the scene. Moses followed God’s lead to the edge of the Red Sea. [Slide] Suddenly Pharaoh’s army of charioteers appeared in the distance. The people were terrified. They cried...

 Sermon for Milledgeville and Centenary UMC... [Title Slide] Journey to Promise: Staff and Stoll                      ( Exodus 5:1-9, 22-23; 6:1-8 )   [Slide] A mother told her children what to pack for vacation. Once they were done, she inspected. Instead of finding enough underwear and socks, they had packed 6 dolls and two toy trucks. The children didn’t pack what’s practical. They packed what brought them joy.   [Slide] When God sent Moses to Egypt to confront Pharaoh, God told him to take his staff.   [Slide] Take in your hand this staff , with which you will do the signs.” (Ex 4:17)   That staff was the only thing God told Moses to take to Egypt. With that staff, Moses unleashed 10 plagues upon Egypt. He turned the River Nile into blood and split the Red Sea. With that staff, God broke Egypt and freed His people.   [Slide] In...

 Sermon for MIlledgeville and Centenary UMC... [Title Slide] Journey to Promise: The Call ( Exodus 3:1-14 )   Today we begin a journey through the wilderness with Moses and the children of Abraham. Moses was born in Egypt, the son of Hebrew slaves. The Pharaoh feared that the numerous Hebrew immigrants to his land would one day pose a threat to national security, so he enslaved them and he ordered all male babies to be thrown into the Nile. Moses’ mother hid her son in a basket and set him adrift, hoping to save him. The baby was discovered by Pharaoh’s own daughter who took him as her own. Moses was raised in Pharaoh’s palace.   When Moses was 40 years old, he killed an Egyptian taskmaster who was brutally beating a Hebrew slave. He fled Egypt in fear for his life. He met a kindly priest in Midian who sheltered him, gave him work, and eventually one of his daughters for a wife.     [Slides] Read Exodus 3:1-14   Here are a few comical mem...