Who is God (in the light of Genocide)? A sermon on Exodus 3 and the persecuted church in Iraq

Summary: Does God care?Is God powerful?Who is God, really? These deep questions about the character, power and identity of God have been raised throughout the history of God's people, especially in light of vast evil such as genocide. Tens of thousands of Christians in Iraq have been driven out of their homes, systematically killed and cleansed by the militant Islamic group calling itself 'Islamic State'/ISIS. This story of human suffering and tragedy on a vast scale is possibly the closest contemporary equivalent to the situation faced by the people of Israel at the beginning of the book of Exodus.When God appears to Moses he addresses questions about God's character, power and identity, and calls Moses to be his agent to set his people free.This sermon compares God's response at that time and in our time through Jesus to such evils as genocide.It was used with the Prezi zooming visuals found at this link.It includes audio from this youtube clip from the speech of a Bishop of the Orthodox Church at a rally in Melbourne in support of Iraqi and Assyrian Christians. The Bishop calls for both forgiveness of the perpetrators of these evil actions, and for divine and human intervention in this horrific circumstance.Please pray for persecuted Christians and others suffering under such evil.If you want more information on the persecuted church, please visit opendoors.org.This sermon was preached at Sunday Night at St John's Southgate Lutheran Church on August 31st, 2014.I usually finish my posts with 'Enjoy.' You may not enjoy this sermon. But that does not mean it is not important.