August 13, 2026

Dear Central Church,

Do you remember the first time you heard the story of the Exodus? 
I’m almost positive there was a flannel graph involved the first time I heard about God’s deliverance of his people from Egypt. Our primary Sunday School teacher kept a room of rambunctious boys spellbound as she told Bible stories using felt characters that magically adhered to the flannel board. Before PowerPoint, Keynote, or Google Slides, the church had Flannel Graph technology. 

The challenge with familiar stories is taking them for granted or dismissing them because we know how they end. 

The Word of God, however, is living and active. The story hasn’t changed since I first heard it, but its significance has grown as I’ve grown older. In this season of my life, I’m seeing the movement of the Israelites to the Promised Land as a journey of grace we are all invited to walk. Just as Pharoah threatened God’s life-giving purposes for His people, we all have gone through seasons and circumstances that appear to jeopardize God’s promises to us. The Exodus, however, reminds us that God remembers his promises to us. To quote a song, “He makes a way when there seems to be no other way.” 

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to walk through the Exodus story together. My prayer is that we will hear this story for the first time and see our own journey of grace in Israel’s deliverance from bondage. 

See you Sunday!

On the Journey Together,
Pastor Mark