In the last couple of weeks, with the start of the fall season, I know many of you are new to City Church, and probably don’t know a whole lot about me.

So I’m gonna give you 4 things about me this morning that vary in importance, but hopefully, in the end, will help you understand the Scripture we’re talking about today.

1) Growing up, I moved every 3 years of my life. Tennessee, Texas, Germany, North Carolina, then back to TN.

2) I am the 3rd & youngest child in my family. Which means for the first 18 years of my life, I looked up to people. Mainly, my 2 older brothers. They were the only constants in my life, because I always had to leave my friends behind. And in a world without email, social media, and free long distance phone calls...it was impossible for a kid to keep up with friends from the past.

3) I am incredibly sentimental. My wife does not particularly like this about me. I like to keep things. I hate to leave things behind. Every time I have ever moved I’ve always walked through every room of the house, said goodbye, and had a conversation with the room about the memories I had in there.

4) I listen to hip-hop & rap when I write sermons.

This comes, I think, from a connection to hip hop that started in 1990 with MC Hammer and Bel Biv Devoe.

But I never liked the really hard stuff.
Being sentimental, I was always drawn to hip hop that was smooth...and reflective.

I guess its kind of like if you listened to the hair bands of the 1980’s, but only listened to the Power Ballads.

Thing is, I loved any music where the artist was able to take lyrics, and actually take a moment to reflect on who he was, on his life, on what was broken about the world and, and it could be fixed. ...that’s the kind of stuff that always drew me in.

So, 5 or so years ago when I started writing sermons every week, I started a playlist. A lot of it is just sentimental. Early 90’s stuff that reminds me of my teenage years.

But, also some newer stuff...that reminds me of something else. Something about who we are...and who God is...and what we’re made for.

Let me digress for a minute: in case you are a parent worried that your teenager is going to hear this and say, “SEE, the pastor listens to the kind of music you won’t let me listen to...”

A couple of things.

One- kids, honor your parents. Obey them.

Two- It matters what you watch and listen to. It matters how you watch it and listen to it. Everything affects you. Everything can be soaked up. You should never watch a movie, read a book, or listen to a song without thinking through it...and there are some songs that should be entirely rejected because of their affects on you...and generally that there are so many lies present that the tiny bit of truth you find isn’t worth it.

BUT- Parents, I’d urge you never to throw away an entire genre of music simply because you don’t like it or your experience with it is negative.

Hip-hop artists like Trip Lee, Lecrae, Shai Linne, Beautiful Eulogy, Propaganda and KB have all been instrumental in my sons’ discipleship.

Additionally, we have folks that are a part of our church using hip hop & rap to glorify God. (That’s why I’m wearing this Indie Tribe shirt). You should Google indie tribe and take a listen.

But I ran across a song 3 years ago that made my playlist that I’ve grown to love for a lot of different reasons.

It’s called “Old School Love” by a rapper who goes by Lupe Fiasco.

First, I love this song because its about late 80s early 90s old school hip hop music...which is my jam.

Second, I love this song because, like a lot of intelligent rap, the lyrics have these beautiful layered meanings...which, for a wordsmith like me...is speaking my love language.

Third, I love this song because its about the power of remembering the people who have done something before you.

So you can see, as a kid who always had to look up to people to understand life, and person who is incredibly moved by remembering the past...and somebody who loves old school hip-hop...well, this song had me hooked from the first note.

So here’s the line that struck me 3 years ago when I heard “Old School Love” for the first time.

“Takes a long time to happen so fast,To Remember that your future is somebody else’s past.”

You know what that line means?

It there’s a moment in most people’s lives where they grow up and realize they’ve turned into their influences. Positive and Negative.

You know, I talked about this last week, you suddenly realize you’re becoming your parents.

Or you’ve turned into all the friends you used to think did stupid things. Now you’re doing all those things.

You become your influences.
On one hand, it happens slowly. It takes a long time to absorb all those habits. On the other hand, it happens so fast.

Because you aren’t really paying attention...life goes on...and you wind up repeating the same mistakes your influencers did because you never really thought about how to break the cycle.

And that’s what Lupe Fiasco’s song is about.
Its about listening to the past to change the future.
“Remember that your future is somebody else’s past”...so learn from it.

Today, we are to a point in the book of Exodus where everything changes. Israel has just been let out of slavery by Pharaoh...and they have made their way out of Egypt toward the Red Sea.

But here’s the question we’re asking today.

When do they actually become free?

Remember your future is somebody else’s past.

So when you read about Israel and their freedom today...you’ll find the answer to a question every single one of us is asking...When do I actually become free?

Here we go.

Exodus 14:5-31

When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, the mind of Pharaoh and his servants was changed toward the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” So he made ready his chariot and took his army with him, and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the other chariots of Egypt with officers over all of them. And the LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued the people of Israel while the people of Israel were going out defiantly. The Egyptians pursued them, all Pharaoh's horses and chariots and his horsemen and his army, and overtook them encamped at the sea, ....

When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the LORD. They said to Moses, “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness? What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt? Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

The LORD said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, clogging their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the LORD fights for them against the Egyptians.”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the LORD threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Thus the LORD saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses.

Exodus 15:1-2a

Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the LORD, saying,

“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him,...

You may have noticed that this great act of salvation ended in a song. You also may know that Israel didn’t immediately enter the promised land once they got across the sea...yet... they still understood after that moment that they were free...that God had become their salvation.

And its this song... ...that allowed future generations of Hebrews...and now...all of us, too... to remember the past that can be your future, too.

Incidentally, all the points today are slightly altered lines from raps that I like. The first one is from Old School Love...the other two, you can Google them later.

Sin is a cycle, and everybody bike it.
There are a couple of questions that I get all the time as a pastor that go hand in hand.

People ask me, “Why do I keep falling into the same patterns of sin? Even when I resolve to do “better”. Why does the same old stuff keep dragging me down?”

And that question is typically followed by “How do I know that I’m really saved?”

For those of you that might be new to this Christianity thing...when people talk about being “saved” they typically mean that their sin is forgiven and they are no longer on a trajectory away from God toward hell...but on a trajectory toward God and eternal heaven.

The way it often goes, in our southern context, is someone went to Vacation Bible School and prayed what’s the Sinner’s prayer...or went to a youth camp and had a super emotional experience and someone told them, “Ok, now that you’ve had this experience...you are saved. No matter what, you are saved.”

And that’s it. That’s what they hang onto. That’s what their entire eternal destiny is based on.

And they leave resolved to be a better person...to do good things. To honor God with the way they live their lives.

But, a year, a month...a week later, they seem like the same person. Unchanged. Doing the same things.

People who swore off pornography are alone in a room looking at someone have sex on a computer screen.

People who swore they would never say nasty things about their friends again end up posting a rant on Facebook, and burning their relationships again.

From eating disorders to lying to stealing to acting out in anger...people that swore they believed God had changed them...end up in ugly, repetitive, life-consuming sin.

You want to know why?

Because most of us define freedom as being free of a master.

But that’s not what freedom is.

In fact, that’s an absolute impossibility.

If you are a human, you will always serve something.

Exodus 10:3b

“Let my people go, that they may serve me.”

When Moses went to Pharaoh and told him to release the Hebrews...he didn’t JUST say “Let my people go...”

He didn’t just talk about the departure from Egypt...he talked about an arrival, too.

Remember, the first 19 chapters of the book of Exodus are about the Hebrews exit from Egypt. The last 21 are about their arrival at the Mountain of God.

See, you aren’t free when you are serving nothing...you can’t do that. You are only free when you are serving the right god.

There’s a good chance if you’ve “accepted” some sort of salvation from God simply looking for him to free you up to “do your own thing”...that you haven’t really been freed at all. You are just enslaved to another cruel master.

Just like our Lupe remix says, “Sin is a cycle....and everybody bike it.”

Let’s take a look at how the Hebrews rode this cycle of sin...see if it sounds familiar.

Remember, Israel has just witnessed God bring 10 plagues against Egypt to free them.

The last several, Only Egypt had to endure...while Israel was protected.

Moses told them that God did this to set them free from slavery so they could worship God.

So, when Pharaoh and all his armies have Israel hemmed in against the Red Sea...what is the most logical response?

Well, probably something like, “God brought us this far, he’s probably not going to let us die now. He just did 10 plagues in a row...so...I suppose he’s going to do #11 now.”

Right? That makes sense.

But when you serve other masters...you don’t exactly think straight.

Do you see what they said?

“Is it because there are no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die in the wilderness?

First off, listen to the sarcasm. The cynicism. This isn’t an honest cry to God...this is a backhanded accusation...masked by a little humor.

What have you done to us in bringing us out of Egypt?

Listen to the blame shift. If we die, its your fault God. Its your fault Moses. You know people blame shift? Because they are afraid of their own sin. They can’t own up to sin because they know if they take the blame for it, they’ll be defined by it.

Is not this what we said to you in Egypt: ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”

Do you know what that line is? That’s remaking the past and reading your own righteousness into it.

First off, when they were serving the Egyptians they WERE dying! It was slavery. It was miserable. They cried out to God to get them out of it!

Now they are asking to go back like Egypt was a lot of sitting around eating popcorn and watching Netflix.

Secondly, they never said “Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians.” Actually they thanked God for hearing their cry and worshipped him.

But listen, this is what happens when you don’t leave your sin to serve God, you always go back to it.

See, Israel isn’t a slave to Egypt at this moment, but they have a different taskmaster. Now they are slaves to fear.

See, the Hebrews are standing at an impassable sea...and they look up...but not far enough. They lift their eyes...but not any further than the Egyptian army charging at them.

They don’t see God. They don’t remember his promise. Instead they become slave to fear. And they start to worship their God of safety and comfort.

They aren’t really interested in Who God is...only in God giving them what they really want..to be left alone with oppressors.

But that’s not freedom.

Freedom is when you serve God.

Freedom is when you worship your creator.

Every other master will keep you in this repeating cycle.

Here’s how it works.

First, you choose something to live for.

This isn’t like you flip through catalogs and decide on a false god.

You are motivated by your broken heart. You are trying to find something to give you freedom.

Let’s take money as an example.

Most people would say, “Money can’t make you happy.” But most people don’t live like it.

That’s why so many of you are afraid of being generous.

That’s why Jesus talked so much about money and greed.

So, you think, “I’ve got have money to be happy and safe.”

And you fear losing money, because you fear losing your freedom.

So you hold onto money.

And so, whatever it is you live for you begin to serve.

You think you are holding onto your money, but your money is holding onto you.

It tells you what to do.

It demands that you not can’t be generous.

And it demands that you work hard to get more...because what if something happens and you don’t have enough money!

You can’t give it away, because YOU NEED MONEY. You need Money’s protection. You need the beauty money provides you. You need the power money gives you.

Finally, if you ever lose your money...you are devastated.

That god of money will punish you for not holding onto it.

You’ll despair because now you are poor. And its hell to you.

Or, if you do a really good job of getting money...you’ll find it never satisfies you. It makes big promises...but never deliver.

You will always work longer hours...think about ways to make more money and save more money...but you’ll find that even though you are “succeeding” in your worship of money... that it never satisfies you.

Just like the Egyptians on their way to kill Israel, the god that enslaved you will come after you saying “Serve me or die.”
And here’s the thing.

You won’t see this until something goes wrong.

It takes a long time to happen so fast,...
But one day you’ll wake up like the Rich Young Ruler...or Rich Homie Kwan

...and you’ll realize that you’re enslaved. And that your master isn’t saving you...those Dead Presidents are killing you.

And maybe you’ll go to church. Or maybe you’ll pray. And you’ll feel better. You’ll even give away some money.

But then, you start expecting God to pay you back....to give you the money back that you lost.

And you’ll forget how miserable it was serving money. And you’ll start talking to the real God like a cynic.

You’ll start thinking like the Hebrews, “Remember the good ole days in Egypt...when we were fat and happy. Safe and sound.”

And you’ll blame shift your misery to other people, and minimize how terrible a master your old god was...and then you’ll be right back there again.

Sound familiar?
It happens with any false god you serve.

It is absolute misery on the other side of your worship service to pornography, or eating disorder, or your angry outburst...BUT YOU JUST KEEP GOING BACK TO EGYPT...even as it charges at you.

But did you notice Moses?
He is the only one who is un-phased by 600 chariots. Look what Moses says...
Exodus 14:13-14

And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

Where everyone else is bowing to fear...Moses says “Don’t be afraid, Stand firm. And SEE the salvation of the Lord.”

Where Israel had lifted their eyes only as high as the Egyptian chariots, Moses says, “You need to look higher.”

“Sure, you see the Egyptians, today...but there is a future with no more Egyptians. If you’ll lift your eyes to see the God who fights for you...you’ll finally be free.”

And I love this line.

He says, “The LORD will fight for you...just do one thing. Be silent. Close your mouths. Stop the blame-shifting...stop throwing God under the bus...stop reminiscing about the Egyptians like they loved you and were good to you...they are coming to kill you.”

BE QUIET...and the LORD will fight for you.

Do you know why Moses is different than the rest of the Hebrews?

Because he’s had a personal encounter with God.

He stood in front of a burning bush.

The LORD revealed his name to him.

Here’s the thing. Moses has seen the God that is finally worth worshipping.

He’s found something more beautiful than all the other gods he served.

See, if you want to want to escape the cycle of sin...you have to have something better to worship. If you want to stop sinning...you have to have a reason to start singing. And...

2) God don’t make songs for free. He makes ‘em for freedom.

Did you know the Bible has a rap collective?

Well, kind of.

In the book of 1 Chronicles you can read about King David assigning these worship leaders for the tabernacle.

One of these guys was named “Asaph”, who was a skilled singer and poet. He is also called a “seer”. In other words, Asaph’s job is to use his music to help people SEE the LORD.

Later, a group called “the sons of Asaph” would follow in Asaph’s footsteps...making poems that were put to music to help Israel remember who God is and what he’s done.

So, Asaph is kind of like the Grand Master Flash of the Psalms.

And when you play his stuff...it takes you back to the Old School/ Psalm 77 is one of those songs. Take a look.

Psalm 77:1-2

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and he will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.

Asaph didn’t exactly write bubble gum pop.
In fact, he wrote some of the darkest most troubling songs in the Bible.

But when he felt absolutely defeated, the way many of you do in the middle of the ugly sin cycles...look what he does..

Psalm 77:5-6

I consider the days of old, the years long ago. I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.” Then my spirit makes a diligent search.

He goes back to the Old School.
In the night, when you realize the your future is somebody else’s past...

When you look in the mirror and see yourself turning into the person that you swore you’d never be...he says... REMEMBER my song.”

Sing the lyrics that remind you of what God has done.

So, what does Asaph sing about, when he needs to remember the salvation of the LORD?

When he needs to sing himself out of the abyss?

Psalm 77:15a, 16, 19

You with your arm redeemed your people...

When the waters saw you, O God, when the waters saw you, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled.

Your way was through the sea, your path through the great waters; yet your footprints were unseen.

He sang about the crossing of the Red Sea.

Do you know why?

Because this the even that started all the singing.

Did you know that Moses’ song in Exodus 15 is the first of its kind?
It's the first time that God’s people respond to his actions in spontaneous worship.

And it set a new kind of standard for worship.

From this point forward, worship would be become a re-telling of the story of what God had done.

See, when Israel looked back to what God had done...when they looked back to the beginning of their freedom...to their salvation...they looked back to the crossing of the Red Sea.

Whenever they were in a dark place...where they were waiting for God to act in the future... the remembered what he had done in the past.

This is why I tell you guys so often that being a Christian is about Remembering and Waiting.

To live in the Present as a Christian, you have to Remember God’s past salvation, and Wait for his future salvation.

So...do you know why the Red Sea becomes the defining event for Israel to remember...to write songs about?

Because it is THE DECISIVE ACT where they know they are no longer under condemnation.

Think about it.

Even after the Passover, Pharaoh still had the opportunity to change his mind and come after them to kill them.

And he did.
But at the Red Sea...God put the threat of the Egyptians to rest once and for all. Exodus 14:19-20

Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind

them, coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night without one coming near the other all night.

God, in a pillar of cloud that lit up the night like fire, steps in between the Israelites and the Egyptians.

The very second that Israel crossed the line into the dry seabed, they had behind them an invisible warrior fighting for them against Egypt.

It was, like I told you last week, the Ghost and the Darkness...on their side, hunting their enemies.

Listen, you need to understand this about following Jesus.

Because its different than every other religion.

See, other religions tell you, “If you want to be saved, you’ll have to start this long process...and if you complete it...then you’ll be a full on disciple. You’ll be saved.”

But with Jesus, you are saved in a moment.

The problem that so many of you have is that you are remembering the wrong moment when you think about salvation.

You are remembering a youth camp, or a VBS, or something a pastor promised you. Or your remembering some experience you had.

But that’s not what lights up the darkness. That’s not what convinces you that you are finally free.

You need to shut up and see the LORD fighting for you.

God writes these songs so you see your freedom.

You don't look back to what you did...you look back to HE did.

Christianity is the only religion that takes you its deepest most profound point at the very moment you are saved.

The rest of your life as a Christian is realizing exactly much God has done to save you. See, the gospel is that this God, stood in between you and the sin that condemned you.

That even though you were as a good as dead, that God himself fought for you to free you from that condemnation, so you could be free to worship him.

Look at

Colossians 1:13

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

In Jesus Christ on the cross and in his resurrection, God crossed you over from a death sentence...to a kingdom where you have forgiveness...and redemption.

But so many of you live like you aren’t a Christian.

You live like a Muslim, or a Buddhist, or Hindu.

Like your job is to do better and try harder to be saved.

Like if you can just stop making mistakes, then God will save you.

But your salvation is not in that. It is in the finished, once for all work of Christ on the cross, dying for the sins you committed past, present and future.

See, the songs we get to sing as Christians aren’t free. Jesus Christ purchased our right to sing them on the cross. These songs aren’t free, but they are for our freedom.

See, when you stop looking back at a some prayer you prayed for your salvation and you lift your eyes up to the finished work of Christ...you can put to death the voice of condemnation in your life.

You can stop being afraid.

Can you imagine if Israel, on one side a huge pillar of fire in a cloud, on the other a parted Red Sea and dry ground all the way to other side...can you imagine if they fell down in fear and started crying because they heard an Egyptian on the other side of that Fire yelling, “Hey, You guys are slaves! You’ll never make it to the other side alive. We’re going to kill you!”

Or imagine one of these Hebrews cowering in fear on the other side of the Red Sea looking back at the drowning Egyptians and listening to them say as they take on more water, “You’re dead meat!”

That’s crazy!

But so many of you do it.

You know what God has done to rescue you from your sin...yet, you live your life afraid of your sin and condemned by it.

Wake up...and sing!

Stop fearing the sin that Christ died for...and I bet when you do that...you’ll get off the cycle...and start singing like Asaph.

Often, somebody will say to me, “I’m trying to be a Christian.”

Every time I hear that, I know the person who says it probably doesn’t understand the gospel.

See, a Christian is not something you “TRY” to be any more than you “Try” to be tall.

A Christian is not something you do, its something you are....and that’s why you need to...

3) Remember the story ‘bout the Hero dying for the villains.

It seems pretty obvious that Israel isn’t saved because they tried hard to be good.

You know, they are terribly forgetful and even ungrateful people at times.

Do you know why God saved them?

Because of His Old School Love.

In the middle of Moses’ song that he led the people to sing, he says “You have led your people in your steadfast love...you have used your strength to lead them to your holy abode...or your home.”

See, God saved Israel at the Red Sea, with the same motive and the same power that he saved you with...his unstoppable love.

And that unstoppable love that protected you from the condemnation of your sin...is the same love that will finish the work of getting you all the way home.

You know, walking through the middle of the Red Sea is no picnic. Its scary.

Two walls of water that everything in your being tells you are supposed to crash down on you at any moment...and yet...God says keep walking through them.

1 Corinthians 10:1-2

For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, that the walk through the Red Sea is kind of like being a Christian.

Those waters, as the sea often does in Scripture, represent the chaos and the unwinding of our lives because of sin.

Those walls are the waters of God’s judgment.

But baptism, is a sign that even though you were condemned to die for your sin, because Jesus died in your place...you now safely pass through the waters of God’s judgment.

You are condemned...you are free to worship...which is the only kind of freedom there is.

Jesus is the way that you remember that your future is somebody else’s past.

Your past became Jesus’ on the cross. When he died. He was dying for your sin.

And now, you get his future. Which is the guarantee that he will get you to the holy abode of God the Father.

That one day as the book of Revelation describes the New Heavens and New Earth, there will be no more sea...not even a threat of condemnation any more.

But you don’t get there by being good...you get there by faith. Faith that God will keep his promises.

Because in Jesus, the hero didn’t die for the good guys...he died for us...the fickle villains.

On the cross, the waters of God’s judgment came crashing down on him, so we could cross over into the kingdom of God.

Colossians 3:1-4

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

You know, Paul tells us in Colossians 3 how to Remember and Wait.

He says, if you are a Christian...if you have been raised with Christ into newness of life...

Remember...Look up...Set your mind where Christ is seated at the right hand of God...all his work finished. He’s already fought and won for you...Don’t listen to the voice of condemnation from the Egyptian shore...look at Christ seated in between you and your sin.

And he says Wait...with patience...even in the middle of a terribly scary journey through the Red Sea...you are hidden in Christ...your future is safe because its his past. His righteous life now becomes your future reward...and it cannot be taken from you.

Remember and Wait.

You will appear with him in glory.

1 Corinthians 11:24-26

and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”

Jesus on the night before he died, gave us something to remember and wait with.
He took bread and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the Lord’s supper Jesus is calling us to remember his death in our place.

And with the cup, he is calling us to proclaim what we are patiently waiting for. The future we are sure to have, not because we are good enough...but because his Old School Love is better than our sin and shame.

By the way, That night...after they took the first Lords’ Supper together...do you know what Jesus did with his disciples?

Matt 26:28-30

for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom.” And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Well...of course...They SANG!!!

And maybe...maybe...Jesus rapped when they hit the bridge.