This week we will be exploring Exodus 22:21-23:33, Living Out the Law's Priorities.
We will finish up the second half of the Book of the Covenant this week. And, as you saw last week, these are not always the easiest chapters to cover!
But the second half reminds us of some of the priorities of God's law. There are less laws about "if your ox gores someone..." and more about "You shall not mistreat any widow or fatherless child" (Exodus 22:22).
This gets to the heart of God's righteousness.
Bottom line, He calls us to love Him and to love our neighbor.
The Great Commandment shines through in these verses. We are even called to love our enemies, which is not just a New Testament command, but at the heart of God's abundant grace and mercy toward us.
There is a lot to cover in these chapters but I promise it won't be as long as last week...Lord willing 🙂!
May God open our eyes to understand His truth! May we be a people fed by His Word and led by His Spirit for His glory and our good!

Welcome to the our 5:16 Podcast series: "Understanding the Ten Commandments."

This podcast is a ministry of Community Bible Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As we move through our Exodus series on Sunday mornings, we hope this podcast serves as a fun and helpful supplement alongside what's happening in the life of the church and aids you in diving deeper into each commandment.

In this episode, Pastor Steve Foster and Pastor Zach Benton discuss the 7th Commandment.

This week we will be exploring Exodus 21:1-22:20, Understanding Difficult Old Testament Laws.
OK, now we get into some of the more difficult sections of Exodus. What are we supposed to do with three chapters of various laws about slaves, goring oxen, stolen sheep, knocked out teeth, seducing men, and sorceresses? Should we just skip all of this? (Believe me, as a pastor, there are certainly some passages that I would rather skip! 🙂
But all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable to us so we are going to dive into this section of Exodus for the next two Sundays and see what we find.
This Sunday, we will work our way through the first half of the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 21-23). We will look at the historical context, examining such texts as the Code of Hammurabi which gives us an idea of the legal and cultural milieu of the ancient world. We will also take a look at the issue of slavery which raises so many questions about the Bible in today's culture. Finally we will stop and consider what all of this means for us today. We are not under the Mosaic Law (praise God!) but we are under the law of Christ and there are principles that we can learn even in this section of Scripture.
So buckle up your seatbelts, do some work in your study guides, and join us on Sunday! I can honestly say that this is one of the most unique sections of Scripture that I have ever attempted to preach from. So pray for your pastor too!
May God open our eyes to understand His truth! May we be a people fed by His Word and led by His Spirit for His glory and our good!

Welcome to the our 5:16 Podcast series: "Understanding the Ten Commandments."

This podcast is a ministry of Community Bible Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As we move through our Exodus series on Sunday mornings, we hope this podcast serves as a fun and helpful supplement alongside what's happening in the life of the church and aids you in diving deeper into each commandment.

In this episode, Pastor Steve Foster and Pastor Zach Benton discuss the 6th Commandment.

This week we will be exploring Exodus 20:18-26, Hearing the Voice of God.
Last week we finished the Ten Commandments but we didn't finish chapter 20. We will be examining these verses this Sunday as well as introducing the next section of Exodus, the Book of the Covenant (Exodus 21-23). So if you are following along in the study guide, then you have an extra week to catch up 🙂!
Let's again imagine the scene at Mount Sinai.
Israel, a motley bunch of redeemed slaves who have seen God's miraculous hand in numerous ways, arrive at Mount Sinai. They have spent 50 days in the desert. They have experienced hunger, thirst, and war. But, in each situation, God has shown His grace to them and provided in ways that they could only stand in awe of.
Now they gather around Mount Sinai to hear God's voice. The whole nation is there--men, women, and children. God, their Sovereign King, speaks from the mountain in all His power and holiness. The earth shakes. The mountain smokes. Lightning flashes. And the voice of God thunders from the heavens.
Ten Words. Ten Commandments. Ten Rules to govern all of their relationships, to God, to their family, to one another.
Now the people shake.
I can only imagine that God's voice not only overwhelmed them in its power, authority, and volume but it also pierced deep into their hearts. They must have heard the words and felt their weakness and sinfulness at the same time.
When God is done speaking, the people are more ready to run than to obey.
But Moses steps in as their mediator.
He is both God's prophet and their priest.
The one who led a bunch of wandering, stubborn sheep up the mountain a year earlier is now leading a wandering, stubborn flock of people in the very same place.
While the people drew back, Moses drew near.
We will look at the fear of God, the mediation of Moses, and the book of the covenant this Sunday. This will give us a good introduction to the next three chapters of Exodus which are sometimes hard to understand and to interpret.
Thank God that we have even a greater Prophet, Priest, and Mediator than Moses!
And because of our Mediator's work on the cross, we do not not have to draw back but are invited to draw near, into the very presence of the holy, powerful, sovereign Creator God!
This Sunday we will also celebrate communion together as blood-bought, beloved, redeemed sheep of God!
May God stir our hearts to sing His praise!

Welcome to the our 5:16 Podcast series: "Understanding the Ten Commandments."

This podcast is a ministry of Community Bible Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As we move through our Exodus series on Sunday mornings, we hope this podcast serves as a fun and helpful supplement alongside what's happening in the life of the church and aids you in diving deeper into each commandment.

In this episode, Pastor Steve Foster and Pastor Zach Benton discuss the 4th Commandment.

This week we will be exploring the tenth commandment in Exodus 20:17, Redeeming Our Desires.
We have reached the last of the Ten Commandments.
Do not covet...anything that is your neighbor's.
It sounds straightforward...but its implications run very, very deep.
Just as the first two commandments aim at our hearts, so does this last one.
What drives you? What do you want? What do you desire?
At the core of our hearts, there is a fuel that motivates us, a desire that we pursue, a longing that we seek to meet.
Of all the commands, this was the one that even the apostle Paul recognized as the greatest conviction on his own heart.
"I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death." (Romans 7:7b-10)
Paul looked deep into his heart and realized that the very things that the law said not to do, he had a desire and an impulse to do.
Sin is rooted in the desires of our heart.
Quite simply we sin because we want to.
And then after sin takes root, we find ourselves in bondage and soon we can't stop even if we want to.
"Each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." (James 1:14-15)
If transformation is going to take place in us, then it has to begin in our hearts. It must go down to the level of our desires. It is when our desires change, that our direction in life changes.
But this kind of transformation can only happen through the regenerative work of the Spirit of God through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.
Only He can give us a new spirit and a new heart.
May God transform us from the inside out, giving us an increasing desire for His glory, His goodness, and His great name to be exalted all over the earth...beginning in our own hearts!

Welcome to the our 5:16 Podcast series: "Understanding the Ten Commandments."

This podcast is a ministry of Community Bible Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As we move through our Exodus series on Sunday mornings, we hope this podcast serves as a fun and helpful supplement alongside what's happening in the life of the church and aids you in diving deeper into each commandment.

In this episode, Pastor Steve Foster and Pastor Zach Benton discuss the 4th Commandment.