Welcome to South! We are happy you are worshipping with us today! These sermon notes are there for you to encourage you, and help you follow along with Pastor Scott's message. We are in a series entitled "Exodus: God's Presence and Glory," and we hope that you will be uplifted by all that you experience in our service today!

This Series

Our desire for this study has been that, as we grow in our understanding of the book of Exodus, we would also grow in our understanding of how amazing God is, and therefore want to live for His glory and share His glory with others.

God's faithfulness is great

The Hebrew word for “great” means boundless or immense - there is no limit to it.TIME can’t limit it, even OUR ACTIONS can’t limit it.

One way God has chosen to help us have some kind of comprehension regarding the kind of faithfulness that He has for us, is by ESTABLISHING THE MARRIAGE RELATIONSHIP. Which helps us in our comprehension, because in God’s establishment of this relationship, He set up an EXPECTATION for those who are married that they have great faithfulness to one another. An expectation that He clearly laid out for us in Genesis 2:24, where it says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”

You shall not commit adultery.

While there is more than one way for someone to be unfaithful in a marriage relationship, this command focuses on PHYSICALLY maintaining God’s expectation of faithfulness. God leaves no room in a marriage relationship for a spouse to break their covenant promises by running into the arms of another person.

You shall not covet.

This commandment highlights the twisted nature of DISCONTENTMENT, and besides the first commandment, this is the only other one that focuses on the HEART.

God is informing us that a lack of faithfulness to a spouse begins long before the physical act of adultery, but rather… It starts when your heart begins to covet another person’s spouse, or another person in general-- Leading your heart to become discontent with the spouse God has given to you--Leading your heart to lustfully think about what your life would like with the other person--Which can ultimately lead you to take the step of physically being with the other person.

Repentance and Restoration

In 2 Samuel, chapter 11, we are told about how David, God’s chosen king for the nation of Israel, a man after his own heart, broke the tenth commandment, which in turn caused him to break the seventh. And yet, because of God’s never ceasing love, and never ending mercies, God remained faithful to David - forgiving him, restoring him, and transforming him upon David’s confession and repentance.

What do I do now?

First, IDENTIFY THE "RIVAL LOVER" IN YOUR LIFE. You cannot turn away from what you have given your heart to and turn back to God until you have clearly identified who or what it is. Ask yourself - who or what do I turn to first for comfort, identity, security, or validation?Second, you need to PRACTICE RADICAL REPENTANCE.In the New Testament, the antidote to spiritual adultery is a sharp, immediate turning away from something and a turning back to God. In James 4:7-8: In the exact same passage where James calls his readers "adulteresses," he gives the immediate remedy: "Submit to God. Resist the devil... Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you." Third, you need to RETURN TO YOUR "FIRST LOVE" In the Book of Revelation, Jesus addresses a church that had done many good things but had abandoned its love for the Lord. His advice to them was to go back to the basic, foundational habits that built their original intimacy with God(prayer, reading scripture, simple worship, and honest community).