God's Personal Pursuit

September 16th, 2025
by CityRise Church

Have you ever lost something really valuable? Your phone. Your wallet. A child in a crowded store. That panicked feeling, that rush of adrenaline—it compels you to drop everything and go after what’s missing.

Why?

Because when something is valuable, you pursue it.

This morning, I want to show you something even more powerful than our pursuit of what’s lost: God’s pursuit of us. Not because He’s lost, but because we are. And here’s the wonder of the gospel: God doesn’t wait for us to find our way back. He moves first. He comes looking. He calls out our name. Even when we’re wandering. Even when we’ve failed. Even when we’ve convinced ourselves that we’ve blown it too badly to ever be used again.

God pursues you.

Today we’re going to look at four principles from the life of Moses that show how God relentlessly and graciously moves toward us—sometimes in our failure, sometimes in our wilderness, and sometimes in our suffering—but always with a purpose: to bring us back into relationship with Him.

So, let’s begin with the first principle…

4 Principles of God’s Pursuit of Us

God Pursues Us in Spite of Our Mistakes

Exodus 2:11-15
11 One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. 12 He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. 13 When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?” 14 He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” 15 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well.

Look what happens here.

First, Moses was burdened by what he saw as injustice.

What does he see? He sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew.

So, notice what he does in verse 12.

Exodus 2:12
He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

This was premeditated murder. That’s what the phrase, “He looked this way and that,” indicates.
He knew it was wrong, and it would get him in trouble.
But he couldn’t help but to take vengeance.

Moses can’t stand to see what he has witnessed. So, he takes matters into his own hands, choosing violence to solve a systemic injustice.

Charlie Kirk Assassination
This week when Charlie Kirk was assassinated in Utah, a young man named Tyler Robinson, allegedly took matters into his own hands to try and stop what he saw as a message that had to be stopped.

Brooke Singman, with Fox News, has reported that Robinson was in a romantic relationship with a transgender person who was transitioning from male to female.

It appears that Robinson wanted to stop Kirk’s pro-Christian Marriage and Family stance. So, he resorted to violence and took the life of a father and husband, an influencer, and a man who loved Jesus Christ.

In our hyper-media environment, there are very aggressive views on both sides of these issues. People are losing their jobs for their social media posts.

People are rejoicing in Kirk’s death, and they feel that his murder is justified because of his “evil views.”

So, the irony here: Both Sides are Calling the Other Evil.

Let me ask you a question: In a culture with opposing sides calling the other evil, how do you know which is right?

Good or Evil? Who is right?

Notice what the Scripture says in Isaiah 5:20.

Isaiah 5:20
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Friends, this is the day and time in which we live.

So, who gets to decide what is good and what is evil?

Let’s go back to the first time where we see the words good and evil.

Genesis 1:3
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good.

Genesis 1:10
God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:12
The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1:17-18
And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

Who established what is good? And who gets to decide what is good?

God does!

Now, notice something in Genesis 2.

Genesis 2:9
And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

What is introduced here?

Here, we have the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Genesis 2:15-17
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

So, now, man has a choice. He has a choice to obey or to disobey. Consuming the fruit of this tree, rebelling against the creator, will be the introduction of evil.

At the creation, Man’s ability to choose to love and obey God, or to rebel and pursue his own way is fundamental to whether or not there will be evil in this world.

Notice it says, “for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Look now at the introduction of the tempter and deceiver, Satan.

Genesis 3:1-6
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.

As you know the story:

this is going to bring death into the picture.
This will also bring with it a sin nature that we inherit as descendants of Adam.
Our nature is prone to sin and rebellion and deciding our own way.

But the temptation and lie of the Enemy is this: You Get to Decide for Yourself Your Truth! You get to decide what is good and evil.

That’s why you see many calling that which is evil, good. And that which is good, evil. They are deciding in their own eyes what their truth is. This is the very thing Moses did.

To the Christian, the Bible is the final word on what is good and evil. I’m amazed at the number of people who want the church to embrace their truth, and they don’t understand our conviction to stand on the Scripture as our source and authority for truth.

But if you are here and have always wondered why Christian people are dogmatic, it’s because we have submitted our lives to this authority. God decides what is good and evil, and we have adjusted our lives to this.

Application: And if you are here and you call yourself a Christian and yet you are embracing things that the Bible condemns and calls evil, you haven’t submitted your life to the authority of Scripture.

My friends, truth isn’t relative, and you don’t get to decide what is good or evil. God has already declared it.

Now, listen, let me make a little more application.

When we fundamentally take actions in our homes and marriages that go against God’s word, we are choosing our own truth. We are deciding what is good in our own eyes.
When we don’t serve our employers with excellence because we don’t like them or the way they treat us, we are deciding what is good in our own eyes.
When we are unwilling to reconcile, seek forgiveness or extend forgiveness, we are deciding what is good in our own eyes.
When we fudge on our expense reports, don’t tithe our income to the Lord, or cheat on our taxes, we are deciding what is good in our own eyes.

We must have more than a conviction of what is good and evil. We must also submit to it and be obedient. Proverbs 10:9 states:

Proverbs 10:9
Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
but he who makes his ways crooked will be found out.

Given the events of this week, and certainly other weeks, how does the follower of Christ respond to evil and actions of evil toward them?

The Bible gives you the playbook for responding:

Romans 12:17-21
Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Let’s get back to Moses and the next part of the story.

4 Principles of God’s Pursuit of Us

God Pursues Us in Spite of Our Mistakes
God Allows us to Wander in Life in Order to Get our Attention

Exodus 2:16-22
Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. 17 The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. 18 When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” 19 They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.” 20 He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” 21 And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. 22 She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

Notice again the desire for justice. This desire for justice will be a key part of Moses’ journey.

During his time in the desert, Moses will ultimately learn meekness – which is power under control. It’s taking our strengths and submitting them to Jesus so that we can be used. We aren’t careless with our strengths but harnessed and directed.

This pursuit of Justice is part of his story and make up. He sees the priest’s daughter being oppressed. He steps in and handles it. And God allows him to build a home here, and become a shepherd for Jethro, the priest of Midian. It is here that he will wander for 40 years tending to sheep, and God allows him to do so, in order to get his attention.

Application: Are you wandering through a desert? Maybe you have been wandering for a time. God is not wasting this. He is preparing you for something more significant. He isn’t wasting this season or journey. Make the most of this season because in doing so, you will see how God uses it.

You see, Moses will spend 40 years here:

He will learn the lay of the land
He will learn to lead and feed
He will learn to be patient
He will learn to see the big picture

Friends, God won’t waste your wandering. Something more is at work!

Let’s look at this third principle of God’s pursuit of us.

4 Principles of God’s Pursuit of Us

God Pursues Us in Spite of Our Mistakes
God Allows us to Wander in Life in Order to Get our Attention
God Uses Suffering to Cause Us to Search for a Better Future

Exodus 2:23-25
23 During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. 24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. 25 God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

Let’s get caught up here.

The King dies so a new Pharoah will be on the throne.
People enslaved are miserable – see that they “Groaned because of their slavery and cried for help…”
They are suffering… and their cries come up to God.

They are searching for a better future!

You see, God allows pain and suffering to elicit a response. Suffering can bring you to God or it can cause you to curse God.

Many people author their own suffering and then they blame God. Proverbs says, “that our heart rages against the Lord.”

But Suffering can also bring us to God.

Quote: C.S. Lewis said that…“Pain is God’s megaphone.”

And when we go through pain, it often brings us to God…so let me show you something I learned in Seminary when studying these early Old Testament books. This is especially true in the book of Judges. But it is a cycle of moving from Problems to Prosperity.

Here is the journey…Problems bring pain…Prayers and Petitions to God are lifted…You experience His protection…He brings Provision…and ultimately you experience his Prosperity.

This is what is going to happen to Israel through Exodus and into the book of Deuteronomy.
Thew will experience problems…they pray and petition God…they experience his protection…his provision…and his prosperity…

And more often than not, when they get to prosperity, they forget God. And that’s what gets them into Problems and Pain!

But make no mistake…this is a cycle of struggle.

And in the Struggle…what can we learn about God?

God Allows Calling Upon Him.
God Allows His Heart to be Moved to Action
God Hears
God Remembers
God Sees
God Knows

This is Anthropomorphic Language -- where God is being described in terms of a person that we might more appropriately understand him and relate to him.

He is entirely other, but he reveals himself in ways that we can grasp and understand.
And notice also how the story is moving from Egypt to the desert, to Egypt, and in the next section back to the desert.

The Lord is setting up something more…Bigger…Better…And He is allowing time – time for Mose to Learn how to Shepherd and lead and feed…And God is allowing time for the hearts of the people to be prepared for him to move.

Application: Would it be that this might be where we are right now -- God allowing us to struggle in order to get our attention?

Let’s look at this last principle.

4 Principles of God’s Pursuit of Us

God Pursues Us in Spite of Our Mistakes
God Allows us to Wander in Life in Order to Get our Attention
God Uses Suffering to Cause Us to Search For a Better Future
God, In His Pursuit of Us, Invites Us to Know Him

Exodus 3:1-6
Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” 5 Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” 6 And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

God Reveals Himself – Horeb is Mt. Sinai…where Moses will also receive the 10 Commandments.

Notice the Free Will Response…

Exodus 3:3-4
And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.” 4 When the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”

v. 3 – I will turn aside
v. 4 – When the Lord saw…God called to Him out of the bush.
Application: When God reveals himself, God does not force himself upon us. No, He invites us to Himself.

God Calls Moses

Notice how God Calls Moses by Name…Moses, Moses

Moses responds, “Here I am.”

“Here I Am” (Hebrew: Hineni) — A Word of Availability and Surrender

The Hebrew word Hineni (הִנֵּנִי) is more than just a statement of physical presence—it’s a declaration of full attentiveness, readiness, and availability. It conveys:

Attentive presence — Moses is not distracted. He’s listening.
Willingness to obey — It foreshadows his eventual response, even though fear and doubt come later.
Surrender — Moses is posturing himself before a divine encounter, open to what God might say.

Person	Passage	Context
Abraham	Genesis 22:1	God calls him to sacrifice Isaac — he answers “Hineni.”
Jacob	Genesis 46:2	God speaks before Jacob moves to Egypt.
Samuel	1 Samuel 3:4	The young prophet hears God's voice.
Isaiah	Isaiah 6:8	Isaiah responds: “Here am I! Send me.”

One writer says of this table:
In each case, “Here I am” is a turning point—a moment of divine encounter and commission.

Moses’ Response Shows Receptivity Before Clarity

It’s important to note: Moses says “Here I am” before he knows what God is about to ask.

He doesn’t yet know about the mission to free Israel.
He doesn’t know that he’ll have to confront Pharaoh.
He doesn’t even know who is speaking to him yet.

And still, he responds.

This models faith before details, and openness before certainty. It’s a beautiful image of how God often calls us: not with full clarity, but with an invitation to step closer.

When God Reveals Himself:
He Reveals His Holy Nature
He Reveals to us our Sinfulness – “take off your sandals…”
He Reveals He is the God of Covenant Promise – Of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob…of the Hebrew People.

What are the covenants with Abraham?

In Genesis 12 – Call to Go to Land I will show you…make you a great nation.

Genesis 12:2-3
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 15 – renewal of promise of land and people.

Covenant ceremony. It is a Suzerain/Vassal Covenant –
Traditionally – vassal brings to the king an offering…animals cut in half!
This is happening here, where God and Abraham agree.

Genesis 15:6-10
6 And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
7 And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” 8 But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” 9 He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
They are entering a covenant together.

Abraham believed God…God made another covenant with him.

Animals cut
Blood spills
Walk through the middle
“May this be my lot if I fail to keep my promise.”

Genesis 15:12-16
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. 13 Then the Lord said to Abram, “Know for certain that your offspring will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and will be servants there, and they will be afflicted for four hundred years. 14 But I will bring judgment on the nation that they serve, and afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15 As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried in a good old age. 16 And they shall come back here in the fourth generation, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete.”

Genesis 15:17-21
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates, 19 the land of the Kenites, the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, 20 the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21 the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites.”

Notice something. Who was the one who walked through the middle? What was the one who declared:

“May this be my lot if we fail to keep these promises.”

The Lord was the one who said that he would be the one…

Moses knows these stories. They have been passed down from one generation to the next.
Moses knows that this is the God of the covenant.

Now, just so we can see the beauty of all of this…let’s fast forward in Israel’s history…just for a moment.

Plagues…Red Sea…now they are back on the Mount of God – Mt. Horeb!

God is then going to establish A Souzerain/Vassal Covenant – Through the Giving of the Law.

Notice what Moses says to the people just before the Giving of the Law in Exodus.

Exodus 19:4-5
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”

Now, this is important. The Law of God is going to be given, and it is a conditional covenant.
The unconditional covenant – Abraham – I will bless all the nations through your lineage. It is a land and a people.

God then brings the Law for this land and people on Mt. Sinai.

So, they have a land, a people, and now a law.

But the ability to stay in the land was based on obedience. And that’s what the law will say.
At the giving of the law a second time, Deuteronomy, we have the Blessings and Curses of the covenant in Chapters 28-32. If they failed to keep the covenant, they would invoke the curses of the covenant.

Notice these words:

Deuteronomy 28:36-37
“The Lord will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. 37 And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away.”

If you don’t keep the covenant…you will be evicted!

As you read the story of the Old Testament, you see that Israel failed miserably at keeping the covenant. And so, the curses of this conditional covenant came upon them.

They were taken captive
Their temple was destroyed
The walls of their cities were destroyed
They Rebuild…and then by the time of Jesus…
They were occupied and ruled over by Rome.

And Remember the covenant. Remember the covenant of Genesis 15:17.

God had told Abraham to cut the animals in half…it was a covenant ceremony. But in this covenant ceremony, Abraham fell asleep.

During this time, God himself, through the theophany expressed by the Smoking Pot and Flaming Torch, God himself walked through the animal carcass. And recall, that meant, may it be unto me, if this covenant is not kept.

So, God took responsibility for both Abraham’s Part and His Part.
So, when Israel could not keep the covenant, what happened?
There was the promise and establishment of a new covenant.

Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

My friends, this new covenant wasn’t established by the slaughter of animals. But instead in the blood and body of Christ himself.

Luke 22:19-20
19 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.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Remember that covenant promise that God made for both parties…if this covenant is broken, may this be my lot…

Well, my friends, Jesus blood and body established that covenant! When we couldn’t keep the covenant, he took the penalty on himself! This is what the Cross is!

When we put our faith in Him for our salvation, he comes into our hearts, brings us salvation, and puts his Spirit in our lives that we might know him. He pursues us. He comes to us. And he forgives our sins. And we know him.

Do you know him? Have you taken Christ as your savior?
A - Admit
B - Believe
C – Confess

This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson on Sunday, Sept. 14, 2025 from our CityRise Church West U Baptist campus. Check out the full message below!