God liberates the Israelite's from slavery in Egypt. Then, they find themselves trapped between the sea and the approaching Egyptian army. In the most climatic moment of the Old Testament, the Red Sea parts and they walk across on dry land. They are finally free.

How we reconcile the violence of this story with a God we know as loving and merciful?

Moses obedience actually leads to WORSE circumstances for the Israelite slaves. This kind of thing happens to real people all the time. We mistakenly assume that just because we are being obedient to God that things will go our way. When things go from bad to worse for Moses, he takes his disappointment and pain to God. In a moment of raw honesty, he turns to God.

As followers of Christ, we believe that God issues a call to all of us. First and foremost, God’s calls us into relationship with Jesus Christ. Secondly, we believe that God calls, all of us who are in relationship with Jesus, to be actively involved in working to bring about the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. God uses Moses to free the Israelite's from slavery. This is how God works in the world--- through people. We are invited to partner with God to make a difference in the world.

Moses encounters an injustice, an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave, and he responds with an even greater injustice, murder. He murders the Egyptian; he makes a huge mistake. His intentions are good but his actions are sinful. He makes a mistake but he isn’t a mistake. He goes on to be used by God to lead the Israelite's out of slavery, to write the 10 Commandments, to record the first 5 books of the Bible. He isn’t a mistake. He is a leader. A hero.

God’s people are in trouble. They are living as slaves in Egypt. They need a liberator. Someone to rescue them. The book of Exodus is the story of their rescue and of Moses the one used by God to liberate them.

Pilgrimage is an actually an old spiritual practice that has been revived today. Psalm 121, our passage of scripture for today, is a pilgrimage song. It belongs to a group of psalms ranging from Psalm 120 to Psalm 134 . Together this group of Psalms bears a Hebrew inscription that is translated as the Psalms of Ascent. Most scholars agree that “ascent” in the title refers to going up to Jerusalem. Judaism has a long tradition of pilgrimage to the temple at Jerusalem. Christians have also often taken pilgrimages to Jerusalem, Rome and other places of spiritual significance.

The story of Cain and Abel is about the choices we all face about how we treat the people around us. If you have ever struggled with holding a grudge against someone, who succeeded when you failed, you will find yourself in this story. If you have ever felt like life or God isn’t fair, you will find yourself in the story. If your parents have always favored your sibling over you, you will find yourself in this story. If you have ever been jealous of a co-worker, you will find yourself in the story.

The real trouble in Genesis 3 starts happening when Adam and Eve begin listening to the snake instead of God.