Sermon Notes
Hidden Places to Sacred Spaces
Is the Lord Among Us?
August 16, 2026
We need men who can be a non-anxious presence in the life of the people & in the life of the church.
Exodus 13:17-18; 21-22
When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.
By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.
Pharaoh’s change of heart:
Exodus 14:10-12
As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up, and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11 They said to Moses, “Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die? What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Didn’t we say to you in Egypt, ‘Leave us alone; let us serve the Egyptians’? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!”
Can you feel the anxiety of the people?
Fear distorts:
- Fear makes us remember the past as better than it was.
- Fear magnifies what Egypt provided
- Fear minimizes what Egypt cost us.
Exodus 14:13-14
Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”
Exodus 14:15-20
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to move on. 16 Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.
Exodus 14:29-31
But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. 30 That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. 31 And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
Through the desert to Rephidim:
Exodus 17:2; 4
“Give us water…” and “Why did you bring us out of Egypt”
The bigger question: “Is the Lord among us or not?”
Exodus 17:7
And he called the place Massah[a] and Meribah[b] because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”
God will answer their question by His presence.
Exodus 17:10-13
So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.
Hands up | Hands under | Hands on
Moses is not a bad leader because he is tired; he’s a great leader because in his humility he allows others to hold him up.
Peter tells the elders, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care” (1 Peter 5:2). Paul tells the Ephesian elders, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock” (Acts 20:28).
We are looking for men who will remind us: God is still here. God is still faithful. We can trust Him. We can keep moving.
We need shepherds who help us trust God’s presence when fear tells us He is absent.
The Good Shepherd
John 16:33
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”