How to raise a Moses

H2E Heaven to Earth
Here is a very simple premise we will be working from for the next several weeks. The formula is H2E which means, “heaven to earth.” We are to be bringing heaven to earth. Everyday, wherever we are, to every person, in every situation you are a person of heaven and you are bringing heavens riches and the Glory to earth. After all, we are the light to the world!

You might remember that Jesus taught us to pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on the earth as it is in heaven.” That is a powerful prayer, we are essentially calling for God to show up in power like a King would. Jesus taught us to pray that the kingdom, God’s bounty and God’s abundance God’s grace and God’s power would show up on this earth.

You might remember another time where Jesus said that the kingdom of God is within you.

So my premise is that you are part of the answer to this prayer, to be bringing the kingdom to this earth. You are an emissary of this kingdom. The answer to Jesus is prayer is often for you to show up, you is a kingdom man or woman -That you would bring heaven to earth. That when you show up a little bit of heaven shows up as well. That when you show up that some of the kingdom shows up as well.

Today is obviously mother’s day and I wanna talk to you about bringing heaven to earth into your home. Isn’t that where it’s all supposed to start? Isn’t that where faith is lived out first and foremost?

So, I want to talk to parents who are raising the next generation of leaders. And I want to talk to grandparents who are great influencers in the lives of their family still. I want to talk to spiritual mothers and fathers, those people who walk in our life and blaze a trail of Godly integrity and example. In other words all of us have a part to play in the raising up of the next generation of leaders.

I have been mesmerized by the scripture I am about to read. It is so countercultural, it is so illogical, it is not what most parents are teaching their children to do. I hope that this scripture will challenge us at the deepest levels and make us think about what kind of people we are raising up these days.

Maybe I should call this sermon, “how to raise a Moses.”

Heb 11:23-29 (NLT)
23 It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.24 It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter.25 He chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin.26 He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward.27 It was by faith that Moses left the land of Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger. He kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible.28 It was by faith that Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover and to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.29 It was by faith that the people of Israel went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to follow, they were all drowned.

Do you see the, may I say, stupidity of this verse?

Moses refused, rejected, disowned royalty, privilege, safety, security, comfort, having it made? Which one of us as parents born as grandparents are instilling this kind of value into our kids?

Moses chose oppression? He opted for suffering? He knew that behind door number one was hardship, a life of discipline, a life of giving up things, the hot dry desert, and he chose that over door number two - the easy life? He chose abstinence over drinking? He chose purity over promiscuity? He chose serving people over being served by people? He chose dirty hands over clean hands? Which one of us as parents or spiritual leaders are living by example and are telling those that follow us to choose the hard road?

And verse 26 he thought it better to be insulted, criticized, questioned, talked about, reproached, offended and slighted instead of being wealthy, driving a nicer car, living in a better place, being able to pay for things that other people don’t have, living in a better neighborhood, enrolling the kids in the right schools, being esteemed and sitting on the most important boards, and having your name in the newspaper? What parents in their right mind are telling their kids this kind of stuff?

And the scripture goes on to say that Moses stepped out on some pretty big limbs and some pretty small ones as well. He did stuff by faith which means that he did things without any proof that anything was going to happen but he simply did it because God told him to. People thought he was crazy.

But he was Moses and this man brought heaven to earth.
- He brought the power of heaven to earth when a series of miracles forced the pharaoh to let the people of God leave from Egypt.
- He brought the love of heaven to earth when his prayers for his people stopped their destruction.
- He brought the grace of heaven to earth when his people sinned and he prayed that God would give them a second chance and God did.
- He brought the word of heaven to earth when he instructed his people about God’s commands.
- He brought the leadership of heaven to earth.
- He brought the wisdom of heaven to earth.

I’m just saying that Moses was a man who stood between God and people and brought the power of God, the kingdom of God, he brought heaven to earth. When Moses was around people knew that it was going to be alright. When Moses started praying people knew God was listening. When Moses started leading people followed. When Moses taught people took notes.

I want to preach for a minute…
How do you raise up a Moses?

I look at this man Moses and I wonder how it is that he grew up to make choices that were so counter cultural, so out of the norm, so not what everybody else was doing. How did he defy the pressure of his day to go the safe way, to do the normal thing? Where did he find the courage to leave the nest of safety and try something daring for God?

I’m just believing that we need some people like Moses today.
How do you raise someone who’s not afraid of suffering? How do you raise somebody who takes big risks and takes on pharaohs and takes on empires with nothing more than faith in the almighty God?
How do you raise someone who looks at sin and instead of being attracted by it is totally disgusted by it and brokenhearted over it? How is it that you raise a Moses who walks away from safety, who walks away from power, who walks away from status, who walks away from popularity, who walks away from friends, who walks away from the easy life, who walks away from all the enticements and temptations that our culture dangles front of us?
And then embraces people who have been slaves their whole life, and embraces an impossible task?

How do you raise a Moses who was putting on his clothes when everybody else is taking off theirs? How do you raise a man or woman who says yes to God’s will when it isn’t popular? How do you raise someone who chooses to be holy in a world of smut? How do you raise somebody who wants to serve and keep serving when it’s not convenient and when disappointment surrounds us?

We live in a culture that puts a lot of pressure on us to conform to its way. A culture that does not tolerate deviance from political correctness. A culture that laughs at 40 year old virgin’s. A culture that calls those with clear bible convictions about the great moral issues of this day bigots, ignoramus’, rednecks, right wingers and a host of other names.

We live in a culture that shapes us to conform to get the safe jobs, the guaranteed income, and yet we abandon our dream and our passion as we do this.

Don’t you feel that you were called to be a Moses? Isn’t there something in your soul that says “I wanted to be that guy?” Isn’t there something in us that wonders if we have ever made a real God decision that went against our own comfort? Isn’t there something in us that says a “I was called and created for something more than a good paying job with Health Insurance and a pension plan?”

I’m pushing the envelope but let me go on… Are we raising up any Moses’ this day, in your family, in our church? Are we modeling and teaching our kids and our students to be nonconformists, to be risk takers, to thumb their nose at the world, to choose to identify with Jesus Christ and hurting people, to refuse cushy jobs, to get off the merry go round of what everybody expects, to go to a Mission Field, to walk up to a red sea somewhere and walk through it?

We don’t raise up Moses’ because he’s not a hero anymore. Nick Swisher is a hero, Ben Rothelsberger is a hero, king Lebron James is a hero, or Sandra Bullock or JoLo or the latest movie star is a hero. And why? Because they can hit a ball, or hit a shot, or make lots of money?

In the book “the barbarian way” Erwin Mcmanus recounts a conversation with his daughter that typifies where we are these days. He said that his daughter told him, “daddy, one day I want to make up $1,000,000,000, and I want to give it all away. I want to help the four; I want to help the needy. I want to make $1,000,000,000, and I don’t care if I have nothing, but I want to give it all to help people.
Erwin Mcmanus listen any thought to himself, “her dream is almost right, I can fix it and make it right.” He said to her, “I want you to make $1,000,000,000 in gift to the poor and the needy, but it’s not a good idea that you have nothing. Then you would be needy and somebody would have to take care of you.”
She said, “I don’t care if I have nothing, daddy. I just want to make $1,000,000,000 and given away. I don’t care if I’m homeless. I don’t care if I have nothing.”
“But if you’re homeless, our taxes would have to pay for you.”
“I don’t care if I have nothing. I just wanna make $1,000,000,000 and give it away I don’t care if I have nothing.”

Finish on other page…

Just like that story, and we have all done this as parents and grandparents, but we want to domesticate and tame our children. We want them to be sensible. We want them to be protected. We want them to be safe. We don’t want them to struggle. We want them to carry sanitizer with them to avoid germs.
But I’m just saying you can’t raise a Moses, you can’t raise that kind of man or woman who takes on the powers that be, who leads people to a promised land, who hears from God in a way others don’t if all were concerned about is safety and protection and comfort.
It’s almost as if we spend our whole life as parents keeping our children away from danger, away from challenge, away from hardship. We tell them, “don’t climb up there, don’t go down there, don’t try that, stay off, stay out, stay in.” And when they get to be an adult we don’t want them moving away from home anymore than 50 miles!
As a parent and as a coach over the years I have watched as we have tried to correct every injustice and every unfairness in the lives of our kids. We protect them, we pay for their mistakes, we make excuses, we fight their battles, we won’t let them fail, we provide them with every distraction and gadget that we can find them make their life easier.

I’m just saying that’s not how you raise up Moses. That may be how you raise up of video game addict, or a spoiled brat, or an undisciplined mouthy rebellious teenager, or a sniveling baby… But it’s not how you raise a Moses.

I’m just a little concerned that we have lost sight of raising up daring, risky, God standing, devil fighting, fear conquering, faith believing, go anywhere, do anything, kind of kids.

I look at the scripture and I see three things that we can do as parents, grandparents, and spiritual parents;

1. Dangerousity from the top.

Hebrews 11:23 starts like this 23 It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.

How did Moses get to be a dangerous man? It’s because he had dangerous parents. His parents weren’t politically correct. His dad’s name was Amram and his mother’s name was Jochebed. They already had a daughter named Mariam who was about 14 years old and a son named Aaron who was about three years old. The word in Egypt was that all baby boys were to be killed because they were afraid of the explosive population growth among the Jews.

Moses is parents obeyed a higher law. They were not afraid. They were not afraid of a Kings command, they were not afraid of political correctness, they were not afraid to stand against an immoral law. So they hid baby Moses and defied the king of Egypt until they could hide him no longer. At that point the bible says that by faith they came up with this plan to put baby Moses and a basket and float him down the river trusting that God would meet the need.

That is crazy. That is dangerous. That is unheard of. That is a reason to call HHR, DHR, 911, CPS, and anyone else you can think of.

But God had a plan and it was a beautiful plan. That basket floated until of reached the daughter of the pharaoh of Egypt. She adopted that baby for herself. And Mariam, Moses’ sister was right there to suggest someone who could nurse that baby and it was none other than Moses’ own mother.

This baby Moses was given over to be nursed and taught and partially raised by a mother who knew God in a personal way and had a dangerous faith and was politically incorrect and didn’t care what the culture was promoting and as significant and imperative to be and believe.

How can we raise kids who will be dangerous and risky if all we ever do as parents is play it safe? It begins with us. Do our kids see a spring great prayers? Do our kids see us serving in great ways? Do our kids see us writing out significant checks for God’s work? Do our kids travel with us as we go on a missions trip into some of the most poverty stricken places in our city or in our world? Do our kids see us standing against the spreading virus of sin in our time?

Me, Dave Boone, Marvin, and some other adults that I’ve been with have stood on a waterfall at Summersville Lake 40 feet - 50 feet in the air and jumped off. Our kids followed.

Our kids followed.

Leave the nest of safety, leave the life of comfortable religion, leave the life of Sunday morning church, leave the life of never sharing your faith in a strategic way, leave the life of hiding talents, minimal giving, little faith, and playing it safe. Become dangerous for God. Take a jump off of a 50 foot spiritual waterfall and see how it feels!

2. Instilling a destiny.

…They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command.

I love how the bible says that when they looked that Moses they immediately knew he was an “unusual child.” There was something special about him. His parents had already felt that he was destined for something more and for something great.

I think parents to raise up a Moses look at their children and see something more than the run of the mill, just like everybody else kind of kid. I know that I have sensed about certain people that God’s hand was touching them in a special way. But I also believe that God’s hand is touching everybody in a special way and it is our responsibility as parents, as grandparents, as spiritual parents to see to it that our children and students reach that spiritual destination, that God adventure for their life.

I hope every children’s church worker, every rock kids leader, every youth counselor, every Christian education leader, and every small group leader sees a special spiritual destination, a special vocational destination for the kids that they are working with. If you don’t see and communicate to our younger people this special destination then get out of the ministry!!!!

The church is not a hiding place from the world it is a training center be equipping us to take on the world, the flash and the devil. We raise champions for God not a bunch of wimps who can’t deal with what the world is dishing out.

What do you see in the lives of your children? Who are you promoting his heroes in their eyes? What experiences are you giving them that enhance their faith? Would you be more proud of your kid if he were leading a bible study on the campus of PHS or quarterbacking its football team? Let’s get our priorities right!!!

3. Don’t neuter deuter.

Here is some pretty practical stuff and we can do to raise a Moses.

Deut 6:4-25 (NLT)
4 “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. 5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.

It begins with us! Love Him with every fiber of your being! Honor, obey, serve, you can’t pass down what you don’t have!

7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.8 Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Intentionally give your faith at every opportunity to your children. Reminders everywhere.
“But I want them to make up their own mind…” doesn’t that sound educated, and tolerant…. And absolutely stupid!!!!
- Try that with high school!
- Try that with drugs!
- Try that with sexual experimentation!

We don’t do with there that somehow we want to do that with Jesus Christ?

20 “In the future your children will ask you, ‘What is the meaning of these laws, decrees, and regulations that the Lord our God has commanded us to obey?’21 “Then you must tell them, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand.22 The Lord did miraculous signs and wonders before our eyes, dealing terrifying blows against Egypt and Pharaoh and all his people.23 He brought us out of Egypt so he could give us this land he had sworn to give our ancestors.24 And the Lord our God commanded us to obey all these decrees and to fear him so he can continue to bless us and preserve our lives, as he has done to this day.25 For we will be counted as righteous when we obey all the commands the Lord our God has given us.’

This is our story. He brought us out and he took us in.

Moses wrote these words. This is what he practiced.

I’m all for raising up a few more Moses’ kind of people.




During this time, there was a Hebrew couple named, who wanted very much to save their baby boy from being killed. They already had a daughter, Miriam (about 14 years old), and a son, Aaron (3 years old). But their baby was very special to them, too, and they wanted to protect him. For three months they managed to hide the baby boy but, after a time, Jochebed and Amram knew they had to do something else.