Exodus: Called by God (Exodus 3:11-14; 4:1-17)

·43 min·4 clips

A pastor reveals his teenage dread of not knowing God's calling, then explains how Moses' five excuses mirror our own.

This episode is a sermon from the First Baptist Church of Oceanway, part of a series on Exodus. Pastor Micah opens by discussing the anxiety many feel about discerning God's calling, sharing his personal experience as a teenager. He distinguishes between a general calling to glorify God and specific individual callings, noting that focusing on the general often leads to the specific. The core of the sermon examines Moses' encounter with God at the burning bush, where God calls him to lead Israel out of Egypt. Micah details Moses' five excuses: feeling incapable, unknowledgeable, doubtful, unsuitable, and inflexible. For each excuse, he provides biblical exposition and practical application. He explains that God's response to Moses' feeling of incapability is 'I will be with you,' shifting focus from human competence to divine presence. The sermon includes humorous anecdotes, such as the pastor's encounter with a snake, to illustrate points. Micah also references a list of absurd workplace excuses to highlight humanity's tendency to make excuses before God. He connects Moses' excuses to common modern excuses, like blaming others or feeling inadequate. The sermon concludes with an invitation to lay down excuses and obey God, warning that excuses will not hold up before God. The format is a solo sermon with Scripture readings and prayer, delivered in an educational and narrative tone.

As heard by us

Moses' excuses meet God's "I am" in a sermon about surrendering the call.

Calling is framed less as a clear assignment than as a pressure point, the place where anxiety gathers before obedience becomes possible. The message opens with the burden of trying to name God's plan for an entire life, then moves to Moses, whose response to God's call is…

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Why you'd press play

When calling feels foggy, hear Moses' excuses meet the God who says, "I am who I am."

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