It’s probably worth reminding ourselves about our vision month. The four things we preach are connected. I do believe that if people attend church regularly, serve wholeheartedly, give generously and pray continuously they grow and mature in their faith. It does require openness and humility, as we can do all those things out of duty rather than love. I’m happy for you to choose the passage that allows you to bring this message out. There are also unexpected blessings that come from such an approach. The vision Sunday slot will be an interview.

The book of Exodus is a foundational story. It’s where we learn about God’s promises, provision, protection and presence with his people. We see God choosing and calling, and we also see in Moses an early picture of how God works through human weakness. Moses first tries to bring freedom to his people and fails completely. That’s important, because it reminds us that deliverance doesn’t come through human strength or cleverness, but through God’s power and timing. The people themselves wanted freedom, but when it came to the journey, they often wanted to go back to slavery. It was familiar, it was comfortable, it was what they understood. They were willing to reject Moses and reject God to return to what they knew. Added to that was a constant spirit of complaining, both their rejection of God and complaining amounted to a spirit of unbelief. They couldn’t/wouldn’t believe that God could actually do what He had promised. All of that, God’s deliverance, their unbelief, his faithfulness, and their formation, makes Exodus a mirror for our own journey of faith, because the truth is we are no different to them.

The book itself falls naturally into three main parts (NIV Study Bible):

Redemption (chapters 1–18),

Covenant (19–24),

Worship (25–40).

When preaching Exodus, there are three main lenses we can use to approach each chapter. You can preach any part of the chapter you choose, please use one or more of theses lenses to help you.

Life Lessons - taken directly from the story, what it reveals about God’s character, his plan and purpose, the human heart, and the life of faith.

Historical context - trace the connection to Israel’s wider history, especially where laws or events in Exodus reappear later and how Israel remembered, forgot, or broke them. That keeps the book rooted in its unfolding story.

Gospel fulfilment - we can draw out the gospel fulfilment, many of the passages point forward to Jesus and the New Covenant. Some chapters will connect clearly to the cross, eg the Passover, or the tabernacle fulfilled in Christ. Others will simply carry lessons of faith, dependence, and obedience that still speak today.

Conclusion God redeems His people, He makes a covenant with them, and their response is worship. That same pattern runs through the gospel and through our own lives: He has redeemed us, He has made a new covenant with us, and our response is worship. Keeping that big story in view will help, whatever chapter we are handling, to find the thread of grace that runs through it all. Furthermore if we hold those three lenses together, the immediate lesson, the historic connection, and the gospel fulfilment we should be able to find a way in.

So we will preach through each chapter or on occasions a couple of chapters, except for the plagues which will be done over two weeks. I’m hoping that the above context etc will give enough for us to find something in each chapter and not worry so much about repetition. A certain amount of repetition is not a bad thing anyway.

I haven’t decided upon these yet. Easter and Christmas I want to liaise with kids and possibly youth work. Summer will be used for new and emerging people who we hope to train, through a preaching workshop in the early part of the year. I have a summer series.

Our preachers fall into three groups. The core group are made up of members of the elders and core team. They carry the bulk of the preaching. There is around them a small emerging team and then a group of new preachers that we are looking to identify and equip. Further to conversations that I’ve had with Elisha around preaching development, I will be running a three week preaching workshop. This will be open to all preachers, but is aimed specifically at new and maybe emerging. There are a few people that we will invite onto this from Beacon, plus others can come along just for a preaching refresher. Some of those that do the workshop will be encouraged to do a 10-15 minute talk and get feedback. The workshop will also be applicable for people who might do smaller Bible studies.