Family Celebration/ Exodus 12:1-14

Intro:

We are no strangers to a party/ celebration. It’s part of who we are made to be. We celebrate what we love.

We were created by the great Celebrator: Zephaniah 3:17 “…he will rejoice over you with gladness… he will exult over you with loud singing!” (God sings and celebrates!)

We were created as celebrators:

First song we have recorded in scripture is a celebration. Genesis 2:23 “this at last is bone of my hones and flesh of my flesh…”

Then Genesis 3…

When we disobeyed God, we said…We would rather celebrate ourselves.

The foundation of our celebration shifted.

We celebrate what we love. How can we measure that… oh right, our money…

ILL> Spending (Just came off of God’s Money series…)

in 2018 Christmas $721Billion, up from 2017’s $687Billion

average of $1,800 a year on clothing

average of $2,900 a year on entertainment

average of $140 a month for dog owners

average of $93 a month for cat owners

Finding the foundation of our celebration:

So what was God’s intended design for celebration? This passage that was read to you reveals three things to us. Who we celebrate, what we celebrate, and how we should celebrate.

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1) Who? (v14)

“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to The LORD…”

We are commanded to celebrate God, because God knows that without reminding, we won’t celebrate Him.

We saw this last week in our text…

Luke 10:27-28 “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.’ And (Jesus) said to him, ‘You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.’”

Sometimes the last thing your neighbors ever feel is celebrated.

“Who’s my neighbor?”

Spouse, Parents if single, Children, West Side, physical neighbors, co workers, clients…

APP> Celebration flows from celebrating God.

1 John 4:20 “If anyone says, ‘ I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

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2) What? (v12)

What God had done for the people of Israel… the Exodus…The Passover was a celebration of the Exodus. When God brought His family, his people, out of Egypt… (Exodus 4:22) “Thus says the Lord, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, ‘let my son go that he may serve me.’”

There were also other feasts that the Lord commanded.

The Feast of Weeks (Deut 6:9-12)

“…you shall rejoice before the Lord your God, you and your son and your daughter…”v11

The Feast of Booths (Deut 6:13-17)

“…you shall rejoice in your feast, you and your son and your daughter…”v14

Don’t have time to go into the details of these feasts, but the purpose they serve is simple. They’re celebrations of God, commanded by God because of God.

2 Chronicles 30:5-6 – “So they decreed to make a proclamation throughout all Israel, from Beersheba to Dan, that the people should come and keep the Passover to the LORD, the God of Israel, at Jerusalem, for they had not kept it as often as prescribed. So couriers went thought all Israel and Judah with letters from the king and his princes, as the king had commanded, saying, ‘ O people of Israel, return to the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyira…”

Hezekiah issued a decree because the people sucked at it.

Sometimes we suck at it, don’t we?

ILL> Russell and Brittany celebrating everything.

APP> Monumental moments are marked by celebration.

what is a monumental moment for you?

Marriage

Birth

Salvation (yourself or others.)

How should we celebrate these monumental moments?

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3) How? (v3-13)

This marks the first step of the Lord telling Israel how to specifically celebrate.

We have a specific day, a type of animal that is to be killed. They’re told what to do with the lamb and how they are to consume it.

The way we celebrate. The way God celebrates

Subtle Specifically

Sparingly Sacrificially

ILL> Family park adventures two weeks ago. Thinking about all the things that need to get done.

There’s always less to be done and more to behold.

How can you better celebrate those around you?

Spouse?

Kids?

Boss or Employees?

Extended Family?

APP> How you celebrate reveals who you celebrate.

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Conclusion: (BAND…) who, what and how do we celebrate this morning? As a church body and as God’s family, what do we do with this?

Throughout this passage is a story we see all throughout scripture. God redeeming his people. Jesus sits down with his disciples and has this passover meal with them. In Luke 22:19-20: “…and he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’ And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.’”

We celebrate by gathering, thanking God for who he is and what he has done, and by coming to the table to see what he has done. When we come to the table, we see the who, we see the what, we see the how.

BIG IDEA>>  The Foundation of all celebration is found in Jesus.