The first sermon
Moses' five excuses mirror our resistance to God's calling. It's not about who you are — but about Who calls you.
Hear · Resist · Obey
Key verse
Imagine you're at your routine job when, suddenly, God shows up and asks for something that feels impossible. What's your first reaction? Moses shows us that even the greatest spiritual leaders started by questioning the call. — Exodus 3:11
Act one
A bush burning without being consumed. A name spoken in the desert. The first command isn't "go" — it's "take off your sandals." The call begins with reverence, not strategy.
Moses
Exodus 3:1-6Moses was tending sheep. Routine work. No spiritual peak — just another day in Midian.
A bush in flames that didn't burn up. He turned aside to look — and God spoke from the middle of it.
"Take off your sandals." Before the mission, the reverence. The ground was holy because God was on it.
Notice
He doesn't wait for us to be in a perfect spiritual state. The burning bush appears alongside the sheep.
What "burning bush" have you been walking past on the way to your usual work?
Act two
From Exodus 3:11 through 4:17, Moses lists five reasons he can't go. God answers every one. The pattern of the excuses is the pattern of our own resistance — and so is the pattern of God's response.
Moses
Exodus 3:11-12Focus on personal unworthiness. Looking at the past, the failures, the inadequacy.
"I will be with you." Not "you're qualified" — but "I'm coming."
It's not about your ability. It's about His presence.
Moses
Exodus 3:13-14Wanting to fully understand God before obeying. Theology as a stalling tactic.
"I AM WHO I AM." A name big enough to obey, small enough to remember.
God reveals Himself progressively — to those who start walking.
Moses
Exodus 4:1-9Fear of rejection. Pre-living the conversation that hasn't happened yet.
Signs in his own hand. The rod. The leprous skin restored. Confirmation provided, not earned.
God confirms His own call. He's not sending you to defend Him.
Moses
Exodus 4:10-12Focus on the limitation. The disqualifier you've quietly accepted as final.
"Who made man's mouth?" The maker is the equipper.
God uses our weaknesses for His glory — not despite them, through them.
Moses
Exodus 4:13-17The polite refusal. No more arguments — just no.
His anger is kindled — but He still sends Aaron alongside. Mercy that doesn't excuse.
God can use someone else. But you lose the blessing of having been the one called.
The pattern under all five
Every excuse points back at Moses. Every answer points back at God.
Whose name does your hesitation keep landing on — yours, or His?
Act three
The bush is gone. The voice doesn't come from a flame anymore. But the call still arrives — quieter, more familiar — and the excuses still come, dressed in modern clothes.
Today
Your weekA ministry. A testimony at work. Forgiveness owed. Reconciliation refused. A step of faith you can name.
"I don't have time." "I'm not ready." "What if it goes wrong?" "It's not my gift." "When things calm down."
Each modern excuse maps to one of Moses' five. Same fear, same script, different costume.
What changes when we stop arguing
God doesn't call the equipped. He equips the called.
Our limitations are opportunities for His glory. (2 Cor. 12:9)
The past doesn't decide the future when God walks in.
True humility is saying "yes" to God — not "I'm not worthy."
The question that won't leave
"Lord, like Moses, I take off my sandals and recognize this is holy ground. Forgive my excuses. Help me say yes. May I trust Your ability over my inability. In Jesus' name, amen."
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