WHY EXODUS?
Exodus Church exists to glorify God by multiplying disciple-makers who are redeemed in Christ, rooted in Grace, and reaching the lost for the good of Springfield and the world.
The Exodus story in the Bible highlights the redemption of Israel from Egyptian slavery and the catalytic event that Old Testament authors constantly refer to as the paradigm of salvation and highlights God as Redeemer. Fast-forward to the New Testament in which Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection form a “second exodus,” with themes of redeemed, rooted, and reaching of the Exodus story found in the gospel message central to the church and the lives of God’s people.
The grace and mercy of God are explicit in the Exodus story. God called the Israelites out of slavery and parted the Red Sea to ensure their salvation and escape. In the New Testament, Jesus is the one who saves us by his own work.
The gospel says we cannot earn our salvation by our performance; it is through the grace of God we are redeemed. This gospel truth is foundational to the church.
God redeemed the Israelites and then called them into covenant relationship. He then gave them the law to show them the good and right path for them to follow. Yet, the whole thing was couched in God’s grace, as the subsequent sacrificial system pointed them to God’s gracious provision for their imperfect loyalty to him. Similarly, in the New Testament the growth believers experience is in the gospel. The gospel transforms us as the truth of our union with Christ is more and more realized. We never move beyond the gospel, but grow more rooted in its grace.
Post-exodus, God called the Israelites to be a light to the nations. They were to be a display people for the nations to see and want to know the one true God.
We see in the New Testament that God calls his people to bear witness to Christ and to make disciples. We are reaching a lost world with the same life-impacting gospel message that has claimed us.