Sermon Summaries

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August 22, 2026

Dwell #6 -- Promises

Phew!! What a couple of weeks it's been!! My oldest returned safely from her trip to the Dominican Republic just before I had posted last. Since then, Mike was here from the 7th to the 17th, then I took a couple of days to just relax. Then, on Thursday, I ended up having Brandi again for the afternoon, along with Rob. Yesterday, Rob had come up to drop off a couple of food items and ended up staying for over an hour, so that put a stop to my posting then. And so here we are, just after 3 p.m. on a cloudy Saturday.

While Mike was here, I went up to my friend Andrea's to help one day. Matt is now in long term care permanently. Andrea's health has simply deteriorated to the point where she can no longer care for him at home. It's heartbreaking after having had him home for most of a year now, but it's going to be the best thing for everyone in the long run. Continued prayers for them. So, that was early in the week. On Friday, the 14th, we went to the Sunflower Festival nearby. Thankfully, we were able to time it right so that we took the bus both ways. Mike has lost around 60 lbs. in the past 6 months or so, but with the pain he's been in, it's just easier if he doesn't have to walk all the time.* I had specifically chosen Friday morning because there was an animal exhibition from a wildlife refuge about an hour north of here, called Squam Lake Science Center.* The woman had a blind opossum named Virginia, and a screech owl named Carolina. (They name the animal according to where it came from.) I don't remember what the owl's issue was, but she was beautiful. We came back with 2 sunflower blossoms. On Monday the 17th, Mike had a consultation with a Neurology Specialist at Dartmouth Hitchcock Hospital in Lebanon, NH, about an hour NW on the highway. He said that Mike's pain IS being caused by the Chiari Malformation. The fact that his brain sits tipped backward in his head means that a piece is sticking down through the gap between his skull and spinal chord. This is pinching everything on the left side of his body between his ears to just below the knee. They will have to go in and cut away some of the bone at the base of his skull to relieve the pressure. This will also fix the cyst that turns out to be inside his spinal chord, rather like fruit blocking a straw in a smoothie, except that this shows up as a long, narrow streak of white on his scans. They will also be taking more scans all the way down his back to be sure there are no others below his neck. Pray that everything can be scheduled fairly soon so he can feel more himself again.

When it comes to promises, there may be a variety of things we think of. One of these may even be broken promises. In thinking about what I would write in this paragraph today, I noticed my note about crossed fingers behind one's back, thus not making a promise sincerely. Now, I had just watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory again recently, so I thought about the scene in the Inventing Room where Veruca Salt has her fingers crossed when promising not to share the secrets of the "never-ending gobstopper" candies. She was a spoiled brat who whined until she got her way, and never intended to keep the secret to herself. How many of us know or have known people like that?? Or how many have BEEN that person?? Just going along with others in order to get what we want, then betray everyone when we're done with them. (Now that I think about it, I had a friend like that from HS.)

In today's lesson, however, we will discover one of the many ways in which God was faithful to His promises, thus empowering our own faith.

Sadly, although Mike was here that Sunday, he wasn't up for attending Church with me, so he sat here at my place until I got back. I could have set up the computer for him to watch online, but didn't think about it until I had already left.

When Pastor Matt was preparing to open his message that morning, he did something he hadn't done in a while. He asked for us to suggest things relating to promises. I caught all answers except one -- love - sickness and health - raising children to know God - love thy neighbor - friends - truth - military/government oath* - addiction recovery.

In relation to the last one, Pastor Matt talked about his love for cake. He could eat a 6" round by himself, but he won't. He then mentioned the bit I used above, about how some people make promises insincerely. The fact is that promises guide actions. It's also true that some people struggle with God's promises.

Our Scripture today is from Exodus 5 and 6 --

Exodus 5:22-6:12

New International Version

God Promises Deliverance

²²Moses returned to the Lord and said, “Why, Lord, why have you brought trouble on this people? Is this why you sent me? ²³Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has brought trouble on this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.”

²God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. ³I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty,^[^a^] but by my name the Lord^[^b^] I did not make myself fully known to them. ⁴I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. ⁵Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

⁶“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. ⁷I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. ⁸And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”

⁹Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and harsh labor.

¹⁰Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹¹“Go, tell Pharaoh king of Egypt to let the Israelites go out of his country.”

¹²But Moses said to the Lord, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips^[^c^]?”

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The message itself opened with the takeaway statement of the day --

"He is Yahweh, and He is good for His promise.". As I said before, some people struggle with God's promises when we don't see results, or not the results we were hoping for. The good news is that God meets us in those places of doubt and confusion. In our passage above, we see Moses continuing to doubt God in choosing him to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. He directly questions God on His promise here.

At the same time, the Israelites themselves doubted God from the place their discouragement. Likewise, as Pastor Matt mentioned, we may doubt God about sharing His Word.

He went on to say that Christian Author, Christopher J.H. Wright, in his Biblical commentary on Exodus, explores the 7 "I Will" statements God makes in chapter 6, verses 6-8. They are summarized here --

Bring you out -- they had trapped themselves by not fighting for their own freedom.
Free you - God would free them, both physically and spiritually.
Redeem - God would eventually send Jesus as their "kinsman redeemer". For those who are not familiar, this was a person who, according to Jewish Law, could pay the debt of a family member who was in need. Someone from every family had a person who was closely related and able to afford whatever price may have been necessary to help, assigned as their kinsman redeemer. Whether this person was designated ahead of time or in the moment, I'm not sure. Most likely, in the moment as situations can change over time, but there may be a "permanent" person initially chosen, too.
My People -- Your God -- this is a "two-fer", as they are inherently connected. This is Covenant language that speaks to the life and death of the people and to the identities of both them and God.
Bring you Land -- God had the parameters of the Promised Land outlined from the time of Abraham. (See Genesis 15 for details)
Give you possession -- this spoke of long term dwelling, not just ownership. (My thought here is of a landlord who lives onsite rather than elsewhere, even in another state, here in the US.)

We notice in these verses that there are 3 main things being addressed. Numbers 1-3 deal with Redemption. Numbers 4-5 are about Covenant. Numbers 6-7 are about place.

The truth we can see in this is that God is not begrudging in delivering on His promises. He is not like the dog owner, as Pastor Matt mentioned here, who either moves the couch to retrieve the ball, or lies down on the floor to reach for it... again... 😑😑 Rather, He is inviting them to join in His love and abundance. The other thing that's important for us to understand here is that providing a place is about more than the dirt under their feet. It seals the deal.*

In verse 7b, the last part, God reveals Himself as Yahweh ONLY WHEN He is able to redeem the unredeemable. This pattern of Exodus, as Pastor Matt, pointed out, is threated all through the Bible. It exemplifies the very definition of Salvation.

So what does all of this mean for us, exactly?? There are four key things outlined in this passage that we can take hold of for ourselves, as we choose to follow God --

Freedom from sin -- The important thing to understand about this is that we accept God's forgiveness the moment we ask to be Saved. We are then meant to walk out this freedom throughout our lives.*
Identity -- Like the Israelites would be known forever as God's Chosen People, and He their God; Salvation changes our status and identity from being enemies of God to Sons and Daughters of the Most High God. (See John 1:12) When we accept Salvation, we are receiving the rescue God has provided through our "kinsman redeemer", Jesus Christ.* In Him, we now identify as "Rescued and Rescuer".
Relationship -- this speaks to the dwelling of the Holy Spirit with us from the moment of Salvation. Due to the nature of this relationship, we are transformed from the designation of "enemies" to "reconciled children".
Hope -- Just as God's rescue from Egypt gave the Israelites hope for a better future, our passage above alludes to The Garden of Eden, where God first promised to dwell with His Creation. The mention of milk and honey is the physical connection here. For us, the future of Heaven and Earth being reunited forever + ever + ever is the hope we cling to in Christ. All things new, not just a "Pollyanna"*, find the good in everything, existence; but no pain, tears, or brokenness of any kind, ever again. This is the deep truth we find in Yahweh. The One Who made it and sustains it will fix it.

In closing, Pastor Matt called our attention to Romans 8:31-39 --

Romans 8:31-39

New International Version

More Than Conquerors

³¹What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? ³³Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. ³⁴Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. ³⁵Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”^[^a^]

³⁷No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[^b^] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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We are invited to trust Him, anchored in hope. He is Yahweh - He is good to His promises. Amen??

-- God Bless!!

Footnotes:

It's about a mile each way, which I do nearly every day on my walks to the parks, but for him, like I said, it's easier if he doesn't have to. At home in Brattleboro, he walks most of the time, even uphill both ways, at times, but it depends on where he's going and how long he plans to be.
Squam Lake Science Center is a school Field Trip standard for NH students in the 2nd grade. I remember going, myself. We saw a milk snake and a de-scented skunk on our trip.
Incidentally, in relation to the military/government oath, both Mike and I have taken it. Him when he joined the Army, and me when I worked for Census 2000.
In relation to dirt meaning more than possession, I'm thinking of a great Country song that came out a few years ago called, "Dirt Cheap". I'll include it below.
When we hear about the details of Salvation from different sources, we may hear one of two messages. One is that our position in Christ immediately sanctifies us to enter Heaven. The other is that sanctification is a process as we live out our lives in faith. The truth is that both of these may be true for each of us. The first is supported by the fact that Jesus accepted the confession of the Thief on the Cross, as well as by others who choose God in their final moments of life. The second is the rest of us, trying our best to live in the freedom Jesus paid for on Calvary. (See Galatians 5:1) The other point that's important when we accept Salvation is to understand that, while we are Saved BY grace, we are not Saved TO grace. That's where my comment about doing our best to walk in the freedom from sin Jesus died to gain for us comes into play. There are those who will tell you that we are free to do whatever we want, because all is forgiven. This is a gross misinterpretation of Scripture that does nothing but make a mockery of Jesus' Sacrifice as these people take advantage of God's grace. The freedom is about Jesus' having disarmed the powers of Satan to influence us to sin. (See Ephesians 6) It's NOT about being free to sin. After all, the Gospel is meant to challenge us, not just give us "Fire Insurance", Amen??
The fact that Jesus is our kinsman redeemer is exactly why He was sent as a human being. No one else could qualify to bring Heaven and Earth back together in that way unless they were a human with divine origins. (For more on this, see my article on the Trinity, found on the Reflections page.)
For those unfamiliar with the "Pollyanna" reference, there was a Disney movie about a girl from Littleton, NH who made the choice to find the good in everything, despite challenging circumstances.