Newlife Anglican Church, Oran Park
Religion & Spirituality:Christianity
The early Hebrews, living as slaves in Egypt, had known only a life of hardship, abuse, persecution and oppression. For four hundred years they were forced to build and prop up the Egyptian empire, working as slaves for more than 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. The severity of this persecution and maltreatment was so in-ground in their very being, that their worth was measured in their ability, (or lack thereof), to work - indelibly scarring the psyche of the people. The distant memory of a life in freedom was nothing more than a story. To liberate a people from this kind of oppression by force, (or miracle), is one thing - but how do you un-work the very real and lasting effects of the systematic subjugation and enslavement of an entire nation?
God starts by reminding them that they are His people, and that He is on their side. He alone has heard their cry and He alone has carried them on eagles wings out of slavery. He then gives them new words to live by, so that they would also remember who they were. He gives them words to remember that their worth is not measured in the quota of bricks that they could make. He reminds them that He is looking for a people to show the world his redeeming love.
It’s easy to see why our modern culture sometimes misses some of the major themes in the Bible. The Ten Commandments are often understood as how far short we fall from God’s standard - yet for the Hebrews, these powerful words essentially recalibrated their understanding of what it was to be human. The Ten Commandments reaffirmed that God has gone on ahead of them and is leading them into a new day, and that the moral arc of the Universe is bent towards justice and is on the side of the weak and the oppressed.
Join with the NewLife@10 service, as Lead Pastor Stuart Starr reveals that the Ten Commandments are reminders for us too, how we can carry right living and relationship with God and each other through our lives, and to remember the name of the Lord wherever we are.
[bible passage="Exodus 19" heading="h3"]
[bible passage="Exodus 20:1-12" heading="h3"]
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