Have you ever felt like you were in a season of waiting? Right. Maybe you felt like you were in a season. Of not being seen. I know throughout my life, there have been times where I felt like I was putting in a lot of work, but yet it was going unseen. Maybe it was sports in the offseason, trying to develop and train for the season to come. Maybe it was growing in leadership and in service, right? I remember my, my first gig as a youth pastor, I was also the janitor at the church, and, and so, you know, you feel called into the ministry and you find yourself cleaning toilets and, and going through that and, and, and just processing ministry as it goes. I, I remember getting the seed planted into my heart 9 years before we ever actually planted Mission Grove Church. But God placed this desire to plant a church on my heart, but I was also told not yet. So that was kind of a weird waiting time frame. Uh, I remember getting called out to Arizona. Uh, I'm gonna actually share that story later because I actually was connected with a moment Moses had as well. Um, I'll save that for that week. But I remember, uh, a, a season when my wife and I in the middle of church planting, felt called to foster and adopt and, and going through, uh, just 30+ hours of, of classes and training, uh, when we're already busy and full and seeing, OK, God, why, why are you having us take these steps? And I remember even the early stages of the church, where those 1st 5 years surviving a pandemic, moving from location to location and just every day, every week, just kind of that grind of just showing up and, and wondering, God, are you, are you gonna show up? Are you gonna come? You're gonna be here? And, and I remember in those moments saying, OK, God, what is this for? And then I realized, as I look back. That he was there the whole time. And much of that journey was for me, you see, when you have a calling in your life. It's actually not for you, it's for the benefit of others. But when you have a waiting season in your life, that part actually is for you. Because sometimes you're not ready for the calling that God's asking you to step into. But we see this pattern over and over and over again in Scripture. And so this morning, I wanna start our new series and we're gonna study the story of Exodus and the people of the people of God and Moses, this unlikely leader. Uh, what we're gonna kick things off with this morning is really the hidden years of Moses. That's when when God seems silent because before God ever split the sea, he spent generations shaping a people. Before Moses ever confronts Pharaoh, God was hiding him. First in a basket, then in a palace, and then in a desert. And over the next 9 weeks leading up to Easter, we're gonna be studying the story of Moses and the people of God through the books of Exodus. And while the book is filled with miracles and actually the first time you hear the word redemption, the first time you see the word salvation, there's so many connections, it's actually seen as the gospel of the Old Testament. And before any of that happens. The book starts off. With waiting, suffering. In silence And what I want to encourage you with today is that that waiting season is more than just OK. It's actually a God-ordained part of the process. Why? Because hidden seasons are where God does his deepest work. Hidden seasons are where God does His deepest work. That God is most active when he seems least present. Now that doesn't seem to make sense, but I want you to think about this, that God is most active when he seems least present, because what do you need to trust in? What do you need when God is not visibly present in your life? Faith, right? And so sometimes when you can't see God moving, he's actually using that. To shape your faith, build your character, and test your obedience. Because before God will ever use you publicly, he's gonna shape you privately. Now, why in 2026 are we studying the Old Testament and Moses and Exodus? Isn't that? Long ago, soon we'd just be studying Jesus. Well, Actually, Moses and the and the people of God and the people of Israel, actually, everything we see actually points to Jesus. It's the gospel of the Old Testament. It is this transformation story and our theme this year is to transform as a church. And what we're gonna see here is this incredible testimony of God's faithfulness with an unlikely leader and with unlikely people in an unlikely situation. And the other thing is, is that the more we study the Old Testament, the more we get a better picture of the fulfillment in the New Testament. You see, Moses was actually mentioned in the New Testament over 75 times. And so if we want to better understand the New Testament of the scriptures, it actually makes sense that we would also study the stories of God in the Old Testament. Let me give you an example. In Hebrews chapter 3, verses 1 to 3. It says, therefore, oh holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all of God's house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, as much more glory as the builder of the house has more honor than the house itself. And so by understanding Moses, we're gonna actually gain a deeper understanding of who Jesus was. Because we can see that Moses was a type or a foreshadow of what Jesus would ultimately fulfill. Another example would be, and, and I'm not gonna put it on the screen here, but, uh, the first martyr in the New Testament, Stephen, in Acts chapter 7. Actually, the entirety of his speech is centered around the story of Moses, and then ultimately the fulfillment of Jesus. And so if we wanna deepen our faith, grow in our faith of Jesus in the New Testament, we can actually see the story starting to come together, right? In the origin story of the people of God through leaders like Moses and beyond. And so the origin story of Moses really has 33 components or 3 movements. So we have movement number 1 is there's hidden flourishing, movement number 2 was hidden faith, and then movement number 3 is hidden formation. So there's hidden flourishing, there's hidden faith, and then there's hidden formation. And this really plays itself out in the 1st 2 chapters of Exodus that we're gonna walk through together. First movement of the origin story of Moses. Think about this too, like, um, if you think about how. You have incredible movie trilogies or stories. Sometimes the story comes out, and then you actually go back and you hear the origin story, right? That's what's happening here. For many Christians or believers or even just skeptics and curious, you're gonna hear most often the story of Jesus, right? We're gonna go back like 1600 years, roughly, and actually See the inner workings that set up the stage for what would become the people of God and Jesus, the fulfillment and the great Lord and Savior that he is and continues to be today. And so it's this origin story, not just of, not just of God because God always was and always will be, but of our need for a savior. And we're gonna see this through Moses and the people of God. But first movement here is hidden flourishing. And what I mean by that is that God multiplies his people. In places that are often surrounded by oppression and pressure. So it's not just that God's people grow in spite of oppression and pressure, but actually through it. And so that's important for you and I to think about is because sometimes we go through difficult seasons in life, and we ask ourselves, God, where are you? And maybe it's that exact season that you're walking through, that God is molding, shaping, and forming you to step into a calling that he's preparing you for. See, before we go into Exodus, we have to go to the book before. And we have Genesis. In Genesis, we have the story of Abraham, Abraham, who was given the Abrahamic covenant. I'm gonna give you a place, I'm gonna give you a people, and you're gonna be, and I'm gonna give you a purpose. You're gonna be a blessing to all the world, through your household. Well, Abraham becomes the father of Isaac, Isaac becomes the father of Jacob. Jacob has lots of kids, OK? He's kind of a wild child himself, but his name gets changed from Jacob to Israel. OK? And then one of his sons, Joseph, has a dream. Joseph has this dream that he's gonna save his family, and he was kind of the favored child um of the family. And if, let's be real parents, you have a favorite kid. OK, um, you just don't typically tell the other ones to their face. But, uh, but yeah, and if you're wondering, if you're wondering in your own birth order of your family, if you're wondering if you're the favorite kid, and you don't know that for sure, you're probably not. Just say. Anyway, um, so, so Joseph here was, um, was actually hated by his brothers, gets sold into slavery. In slavery, ends up in this Potiphar's house. Potiphar's wife makes a move on him. He rejects it, actually does the right thing, even though he does the right thing, gets thrown in jail. Then he's in jail. He interprets a dream. He's gonna say, hey, now remember me when I interpret this dream, I'll get out. The other person forgets who he is, gets in, is in stuck in prison for years, and then interprets another dream and gets in front of the eyes of Pharaoh and and actually works his way up and becomes basically second in charge. And what happens, God works through all of the situation, because then there was a drought or a famine to where people are are dying and their families in need. And so this great incredible cinematic movie moment where the dad, Jacob, and all this, the family comes to Egypt in desperate need of food, and there was the brother. But instead of getting his revenge on his family, he actually says these words in Genesis chapter 50, verse 19 and 20. He says, but Joseph said to them, to the same brothers that betrayed him, do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive as they are today. And so Joseph would use that difficult situation, that hidden season, and ultimately save his family. Now there's about 400 years gap between Abraham and Moses, depending on where you're starting now. But Joseph would would live to be about 110, and then he, we, we know that because he's he's referenced that in the New Testament. Now, between Joseph and Moses is about 300 years. Now what happens during those 300 years is while they are in Egypt, a family becomes a nation, and they start multiplying, and they start growing. And some say there's hundreds of thousands, some say maybe there's upwards, so maybe 1 or up, even close to 2 million, like in over the next 300 years. And so they're in Egypt, they start to flourish and they start to multiply and a family becomes a nation. Now, the problem is, is that the leaders in Egypt eventually forget about the faithfulness of Joseph. And so we now come onto the scene here in Exodus chapter 1, about 300 years after that story, and there's a Pharaoh who says in there in verse 8, that there's a new king arose in Egypt who didn't know Joseph, meaning there is no frame of reference for the faithfulness of his people and what Joseph did. And so now you have all of these people and a brand new king, and he feels threatened by their multiplication. And so what he's gonna do here is that he's gonna say, nope, we have to stop this. So let's enslave them. Let's make it difficult. Let's make sure we have our power over top of them. And so now there's oppression, there's difficulty, and yet through this, the families keep multiplying. And what's really cool too is that there are There's preference to like, seemingly obscure people, but yet it was God who used them. Here, here's one example. There were two midwives named in the beginning of Exodus chapter one, Shaharah and Pua, and these midwives were faithful and kind of basically when they were given an order to kill the firstborn of the Hebrew women, they're like, nope, we're not gonna do that. We're actually gonna help these families flourish. And the reason that's ironic and also awesome is that the midwives are named, but the Pharaoh is not. So in the eyes of God, in the eyes of the story, we have the names of the servants, and not the names of the king. Why? Because the it was the servants who actually helped with the hidden flourishing of God's people. But now they're starting to grow, the numbers are starting to grow, and so now we're gonna pick up our story with the second movement, which is hidden faith. OK, hidden faith. So Exodus chapter 1 verse 22. Here it's the end of of that chapter. We have it here. Since then Pharaoh commanded all the people, every son that is born to the Hebrews, you shall cast into the Nile. But that you shall let every daughter live. Now that's, that's extreme, right? It's very pagan, it's, it's very evil, right? To kill or to expose. Newborn babies But now I want you to hear about the hidden faith of how God uses people for his purpose. Chapter 2, verse 1. Now a man from the house of Levi went and took his wife, a Levite woman. And the woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him 3 months. So this is gonna be Moses. It's important that he's the son of Levites, because Levites was the of the priestly tribe. Of, of the Hebrews of Israel. And that's gonna come be important to hear in the in future weeks, but for right now, we know, OK, he's got the origin of the priestly origin. Verse 3, when she could hide him no longer, she took him for, uh, she took him for a basket made of bulrushes and, and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds in the riverbank. What's really cool here is that, did you know that the same word for basket is actually the same word for ark? So the story of Noah that created this, this boat that brought salvation to the people in the same way you had a basket that brought salvation, ultimately for Moses, but then again, the people of God. Little cool side note. OK. Verse 4, and his sister stood at the distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of the Pharaoh came down to bathe in the river, and while her young women walked beside the river, she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, This is one of the Hebrew's children. Then the sister said to the Pharaoh's daughter, Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you? And the pharaoh's daughter said, yes, go. So the girl went and called the child's mother, and Pharaoh's daughter said to her, Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages. So the woman took the child and nursed him, and when the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son, and she named him Moses, because she said, I drew him out of the water. Now, what's awesome about this storyline is, is all the intricate little ironies here. OK, we have basket, that means ark, but also notice the faithfulness of the women in this story. You had the midwives, you had Moses's mother, you have a sister, you have Pharaoh's daughter, and it's the faithfulness of these women that ultimately not only saved Moses, but ultimately a nation. So that's an incredible starting point, right? But also notice here that She ends up paying Moses's mom to take care of Moses. Some of the moms in the room like, I wish, I wish we could get paid for raising our own kids right now. Um, and so, and then what's awesome about that as well, is that then, when it comes time to, and he becomes old enough, gets taken into the palace. And what's crazy about this irony, you're gonna see this all throughout the story, is that Pharaoh tried to kill all of the male children to keep a rebellion from rising up. But lo and behold, the leader of the ultimate rebellion would be raised in his home. In his house. Given the name Moses, right, to where, which is, can we just agree is an awesome name, right? Like it wouldn't seem, I wouldn't, I mean it. You know, it means connecting water and salvation and there's a lot of great stuff there that we'll, we'll jump into as the story continues, but like, I don't feel like it would have the same feel if like his name was like Bert. You know what I mean? Like, and sorry if your name is Bert, um, but, uh, maybe your time is now, but you know what I mean? Like, it's just like, it's a story of Bert. Bert split the Red Sea, like it doesn't work. OK. Anyway, sorry, this is how my mind works. Um. But we have hidden flourishing, that in those 300 year gap, it goes from a family to a nation. And they start multiplying and growing and growing and growing. But then when it got too dangerous for the power structure of the world, they try to eliminate those people, but because of the faithfulness of his mom, of his sister, of Pharaoh's daughter, of the midwives, of these incredible women, that that now he is saved. And he's first preserved in a basket, and then he's preserved in the palace, growing up in the very place that was trying to kill him. Now learning the language and the people and the prestige, and really in the palace for about 40 years. You're gonna see this theme of 40 coming throughout, OK? And so we see this incredible picture of how God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and now positions Moses for what's gonna happen next. So we have hidden flourishing. God develops his people. Then we have hidden faith, how God used the ordinary people to do extraordinary things to save Moses, and ultimately a nation. But the 3rd movement of his origin story is now hidden formation, hidden formation. He's gonna continue to work through the life of Moses. We pick it up here in verse 11. One day when Moses had grown up, so now we fast forward. Like, we're from birth to now about 40 years. So there's there's discussions on when did he make the transition to the palace, but what we know is that he became an adult in the palace, with all the rights of the palace. But he keeps his identity as a Hebrew, and he keeps his sense of justice. And so let's read through this. One day when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one was there, he struck down the Egyptian and hit him in the sand. Whoa, this got dark. I don't remember that part of the story in Sunday school. You know what I mean? Like there wasn't like a flannel graph with Moses with like an ax, like, OK, sorry, that's dark. Um. But that's what it says, and he struck them down and hit him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together, and he said to the man in the wrong, why do you strike your companion? And he answered, Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me like you killed the Egyptian? Then Moses was afraid and thought, surely. This is known. When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian, and he sat down by a well. So here's here's this thing, is that God did all these things to position Moses where he needed to be, and it looks like Moses screwed everything up, doesn't it? Because why? Well, he's got his, his calling, he identifies with the Hebrews. He's got a strong sense of justice, so that's already inside. But here's what we know to be true, that when you have passion and calling but no character, that's gonna lead to disaster. How many times has somebody who's very skilled, very competent, who's got passion, and he's got a purpose, but they don't have the character developed yet, and it, it leads to disaster. Here's what's beautiful about this story, is that God even works through our deepest, darkest mistakes. That God continues to work through our mistakes. Because now he flees to Midian. And now it's in Midian, where he's going to be there for about 40 years. So first, God preserves him in a basket, then God preserves him in a palace. Now God's gonna preserve him in a desert. Now it's interesting that he's gonna be developed as a person for 40 years. To ultimately go back and lead the people out of Israel to then what? Walked through the desert for 40 years. Right? He's shaping Moses privately before he's gonna lead the people of God publicly. Now, when he's there, he becomes a stranger, he becomes a shepherd. Ultimately, he, he saves this lady, the daughter of a shepherd, from attack of of men. Her name was Zepporah, gets married, has a son, names him Gersham, which the Hebrew word for that. It's very similar sounding to the word sojourner, so a stranger in a foreign land. And so, why did Moses spend 40 years in the desert? We spent 40 years. To be shaped, to be formed. To learn what it means to be a shepherd, to learn what it means to be a husband, to learn what it means to lead. See, next week we're gonna go into his calling when God says through speaking through a burning bush like it's time. But what I want us to understand here is that God continually shapes his people. Saved Moses in a basket, in a palace in a desert. We see hidden flourishing that even when they were oppressed, the people of God started to flourish. They went from a family to a nation. Then we see hidden faith, that it was the faithfulness of the servant girls, of the midwives, of the Hebrew mother, of Pharaoh's own daughter, right? Pharaoh's trying to kill the people of God, and yet it's Pharaoh's own daughter that preserves their leader. And then Moses kills a man out of anger and rage, his sense of justice, he's got passion, he's got a calling, but he doesn't have that character yet. So then for fear for his life runs away, but it's in that desert, in that low moment, where he learns what it means to be a stranger. He learns what it means to depend fully on God. He learns what it means to be a shepherd, to be a husband, to be a father. And God is shaping him. For when his time comes. And what is God doing with the people of God during these 40 years? Well, we pick it up here in verse 24. Uh, let's go verse 23, if it's up there. If not, I can read it. Oh verse 23. During those many days, the king of Egypt died. So Pharaoh is gone at this point, but now a new one comes in, comes to play. So, and the people of God groaned because their slavery, and they cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. Here's what's important here, verse 24, and God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel, and God knew. Right. When you're hurting When you're struggling, when you're questioning. I want you to know that God sees you. God knows you. And that God's working Don't mistake God's silence for God's absence. That it's in those hidden seasons. That God does his deepest work. I want you to think for a moment for yourself. Are there people in this room right now who are in a hidden season? You're in a job that just seems mundane and, and you just have to keep showing up. You're single, and you're waiting for the right one. Maybe that season, if that's you, maybe that season is not about waiting for Mr. Right or Ms. Right, but becoming Mr. Right or Ms. Right. When I counsel young adults to talk to them, I'll, I'll often say this, like, are you becoming the person that you're looking for is looking for? Right? Sometimes we think we want this godly woman or this godly man, and we want these things like, well, are you becoming a godly woman or a godly man? Right? You have the chance right now to develop your character. It's not like you live for the world being single, that all of a sudden when you're married, you're gonna follow God. You think you talk to any married couple. It just reveals all of your flaws, right? Now's the best time to work. If you're thinking about having kids or going through, it's a chance to work. If you're in the unseen hidden hours of raising little ones, we just dedicated children this morning. God is with you in that feeding at 2 in the morning. God is with you in changing that diaper, right? For the 15th time. Right, trying to get out of the house, looking for that pair of shoes, right? Where, like, when you're just, when you just wanna pull your hair out, right? When you just want to like scream, like, God, where are you in this? He's there. He's shaping you. He's developing you. You know who loves your kid more than you do? God. So those unseen moments, those unseen hours, trying to get healthy. It's not about just posting so everybody can follow, right? It's, it's, what are you doing when you get up in the morning? What are you doing in the quiet? Of the sunrise The darkness of the night. Are you turning to his word? Are you spending time in prayer? Right? Daniel in the lion's den was faithful for 70 years before the lion's den came. Moses was developed for 40 years before God would call to lead him out. Jesus. Didn't start his public ministry till he was 30. Over and over and over again, we see people who were faithful and ready for that moment because they were developed. In the hiddenness David, before he ever faced Goliath. was able to stand up and face Goliath. Why? Because God delivered him from the paw of the lion and the bear. Those unseen, hidden hours. So let me ask you, I want, well, not even just ask you, I wanna challenge you. If you are in. A waiting season right now. I want you to challenge, I wanna challenge you to write down. What is one truth you know about God? And what is one thing that you can do while you're waiting? Because that doesn't negate the necessity of obedience. Right? What's one truth you know about God? What's one thing that you need to obey right now, even in this hidden waiting season? Because God's here And for those that have come out of a crazy season, I wanna challenge you to do this. I want you to write down one thing that God did and worked in your life. And I want you to share it with somebody. I can tell you this, just from a personal standpoint, church planning. Like I love that we're seeing just crazy growth right now in the season of the church. But I can tell you that I'm a different person and a different pastor now than when we started 7 years ago. That those 1st 56 years of grinding, I realized now God was shaping me, molding me. Working in my life. To position for this moment right now and I still got a long way to go. I'm not, don't get me wrong, but I look back like, oh. That's why we didn't move yet. That's why you think for yourself, why I didn't get the promotion. That's why I didn't, I wasn't ready for that relationship. That's why, even in the brokenness, God positioned me for this next season. You might not know what that next season is, but I'm telling you, God does, and while you wait, he's working. So what we're gonna do now is that we're gonna spend the last few moments of the service taking communion together. And here in a few weeks, you're gonna learn the connection between Passover and communion, because again, this starts with Moses and his story. That's why we're studying it. But it's one of the ordinances of the church, we're gonna take communion to remember. That God sees us. God hears us, and God is working right now, today. Right now today And we know that based on what Jesus did and who Jesus is. And so let's spend some time remembering that. Will you pray with me? Dear Heavenly Father. I pray right now that you would. Help us to remember what you did on the cross. That it's in the hidden seasons of life that sometimes you do the deepest work. That while we celebrate the story of Moses leading your people out. God, you spent years shaping, molding, working in his life through the faithfulness of others, and through his ultimate obedience at the end. Through the ups and downs of life, God, you were there working in his life to ultimately lead out of his purpose to save others. So God, whatever season. We find ourselves in right now. Whether it's waiting, whether it's difficulty, whether it's trials, tribulations, God, in all things, but we consider it joy because you are with us and you are for us, for us. Let us remember who you are and what you did. To know that we will not waste the wait. But rather we will trust that you are working and we can stay obedient. Senor sons and we pray. Amen.