Church lover? Oh, you’re gonna love this!

But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”

God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain. — Exodus 3:11-12

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Exodus 3 (aka the Burning Bush chapter) is LOADED with so much great stuff, so we may miss some of what God is saying and doing when it comes to church and its life.

First, God says He hears us when we protest to Him. That is big in and of itself.

Name a boss who can hear and respond peacefully and proactively to a just or unjust complaint and we should all be on board.

Second, and here it is you church lovers, the go ahead that will make you think and smile. God says to Moses, “And if you want to find Me, gather again and worship. I’ll be there.”

Moses has been all over the board at the point in the story where this is shared. An unlikely candidate, Moses has done what we’ve all done at some point or points when we look at our own faith journeys—he’s run. He’s avoided. He’s dodged what he should be facing head on.

The promise from God here is a part of His great love story for you. God’s been trash talked, marginalized, ignored, pushed out and deemed unworthy. And that was just yesterday.

But God is God. He is still there. He still loves. He still cares. He still wants you. And here, as we read in scripture, He wants you with Him. Where? In a holy space with others.

And that means church, people. Mount Sinai is the mountain God is referring to here. Mountaintop experiences happen in groups of people who gather in His Holy name.

Gather again and worship. God will be there. In the sermon series that begins tomorrow, “Reset your clock: making time for God,” we have all we need to be reassured that God will be present in the intentionality we make to give a space and a place to the Great I AM.

PRAYER: Thank you for the mountaintops called churches, God. They’re really cool. Amen.