Bulletins - First Baptist Church of Huntersville West Virginia

Exodus 14:10–15 CSB
10 As Pharaoh approached, the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians coming after them! The Israelites were terrified and cried out to the Lord for help. 11 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 by bringing us out of Egypt? 12 Isn’t this what we told you in Egypt: Leave us alone so that we may serve the Egyptians? It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” 13 But Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand firm and see the Lord’s salvation that he will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you must be quiet.” 15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the Israelites to break camp.
Israel has been set free from Egypt thanks to God’s intervention.
They trusted God to free them but now trouble is coming - remember not only were they set free but the Egyptians wanted them gone so bad that they loaded the Jewish people up with clothes, jewelry and other riches.
Here they are facing trouble and their first reaction was to freeze and want to go back… but God told them to MOVE!
Faith means stepping forward even when the past feels safer than the promise ahead.
Fear makes us cling to the familiar.
The Israelites want the predictable slavery of Egypt over the uncertainty of freedom.
We often prefer a miserable “know” over a mysterious “new.”
Think about someone who stays in a a job that’s draining the life out of them. They know it’s unhealthy - the environment is toxic, the work is meaningless, and the stress spills over into their home life - but they stay. Why? Because it’s familiar. They know the routines, the faces, even the frustrations. The thought of stepping into something new, even something better, feels terrifying.
God calls us to move, to grow, to trust Him in new territory - but we cling to what we’ve always known. We stay in spiritual routines that no linger stretch us, avoid new steps of obedience, or resist change in the church because “it’s how we’ve always done it.”
Comfort is not the same as calling. Faith means stepping forward even when it’s uncomfortable.
Faith is always forward. God didn’t rescue Israel from Egypt so they could build better tents in the wilderness - He freed them to move toward the Promised Land.
Lack of movement leads to slavery and death.
Pharoah was on the heals of the Israelites - verse 5 tells us Exodus 14:5 “5 When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about the people and said, “What have we done? We have released Israel from serving us.””
At minimum Pharoah intended to return the Jews back to Egypt and slavery - most likely many would have been killed in the process both as retribution and/or accidental in the struggle.
For Israel there was only one good option - if they turned back it was slavery - if they stayed put Pharoah would overtake them and likely kill most of them… the only option that provided life and freedom… move.
According to Pew Research 41% of churches are plateaued of declining.
Churches, like living organisms, follow life cycles: birth - growth - plateau - decline - death.
Refusal to change during plateau leads to irreversible decline; embracing Spirit-led renewal moves churches back into growth.
In studies of over 1,000 dying churches: >85% had not significantly changed any ministry, outreach, or worship approach in over 10 years - they are nostalgia driven and inward focused.
37% of pastors considered quitting ministry (highest recorded) - primary reasons include church resistance to change and burnout from maintaining unsustainable church traditions.
Research shows a clear progression:
Resistance Phase - Churches begin rejecting new ideas
Plateau Phase - Growth stops, attendance stabilizes
Decline Phase - Slow membership loss begins
Crisis Phase - Rapid decline, financial struggles
Closure Phase - Unable to sustain ministry
Characteristics of Declining Churches:
Resistance to new methods and approaches
Inward focus rather than outward mission
Preference for tradition over effectiveness
Lack of innovation in ministry approaches
Failure to adapt to cultural shifts
God is calling us to move forward
Moses told the people of Israel that they would never see the Egyptians again - that is the past.
Then God told Moses to tell the people to “break camp” - it is time to go.
Isaiah 43:2 “2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and the rivers will not overwhelm you, When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched and the flame will not burn you.”
God will not keep us from passing through some tough situations but His promise is that first and foremost - He is with us and second we will be okay.
Philippians 3:13–14 “13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, 14 I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”
We have not arrived and we do not have all the answers - the good news is God does. Our mission is to follow Him and His leading… but we must move forward.
We learn from the past but we are not to live there we must keep reaching forward…
So what do we do? We honestly evaluate what and how we are doing things. We must be willing to lay EVERYTHING on the altar.
We must let go of the past things or we cannot grab ahold of the new things God has for us.
Churches that intentionally evaluated ministry effectiveness and made adaptive changes within a biblical framework were:
2.5X more likely to grow numerically
3X more likely to baptize new believers
4X less likely to close within 5 years
Churches that embraced innovation in outreach and discipleship (e.g., digital engagement, community partnerships) reported significant revitalization in 18-24 months.
This is not a new concept - the early church showed adaptability:
Changed from temple to house churches
Adapted from Jewish to Gentile contexts
Modified practices while maintaining doctrine
Modern parallels show churches that mirror this flexibility are 3X more likely to grow than those that don’t.
For years the world said powered flight was impossible. People mocked the very idea that a man could lift off the ground and stay there. but Orville and Wilbur Wright refused to listen to the voices of limitation. In 1903, on a cold December day in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, they carried a fragile wooden frame and cloth-covered wings onto the sand dunes. Everything about it looked ridiculous - flimsy, awkward, destined to fail. They didn’t wait for the design to be perfect or for the conditions to be ideal. They acted on what they believed was possible. The engine sputtered to life and the craft lifted just a few feet off the ground- only for 12 seconds - everything changed. They flight was wobbly, uncertain, and brief… but it proved that forward motion was possible. That one step of courage redefined human potential and ushered in a new ear of discovery.
God blesses motion, not maintenance. He honors forward faith - even if the first steps are shaky, unsteady, or uncertain. We don’t have to soar on the first try. We just have to move.
God’s call is still the same today: “Break camp and MOVE forward.” Don’t let fear chain us to what was. Don’t let comfort keep us from what could be. One step can change everything.

Fear makes us cling to the familiar.

Lack of movement leads to slavery and death.

God is calling us to move forward