Here is a link to the sermon notes
The sermon opens by honoring this week's Christian Theater Workshop performance of Promised Land, which brought Moses's story to life through the Red Sea crossing. Todd affirms that Moses truly is one of Scripture's greatest heroes — called God's friend, uniquely humble, honored throughout the Old and New Testaments, and even carved above the entrance to the U.S. Supreme Court as a great lawgiver. The Law he delivered at Sinai was remarkable even by secular historical standards, protecting the vulnerable and standing apart from other ancient law codes.
But the play stops at the Red Sea, and the sermon pushes further — into the giving of the Law, and beyond it. The turning point is John 1:17: "the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." Moses himself pointed forward to someone greater still to come (Deuteronomy 18:15), a promise the apostles identified as fulfilled in Jesus. Hebrews 3 makes the comparison explicit: Moses was a faithful servant in God's house, but Jesus is the Son who built it.
This launches the first installment of a new series, Parishioner's Picks, based on a member's request to preach on grace. Todd defines grace not as God overlooking what we deserve, but as God giving us the opposite of what we deserve, freely, at His own cost through Jesus. He then unpacks four things grace accomplishes that the Law never could:
- Grace removes guilt. The Law exposes sin like a mirror but cannot cleanse it (Romans 3:20). Grace erases the condemnation entirely (Romans 8:1).
- Grace provides assurance. Under the Law, assurance was never settled — there was always another sacrifice required. Christ's single, perfect offering settles it permanently (Hebrews 10:14).
- Grace creates intimacy with God. Under the Law, barriers kept people at a distance — Israel couldn't touch the mountain, and only the high priest could enter the Most Holy Place. When Jesus died, the temple curtain tore, and believers are now invited to draw near with confidence (Hebrews 4:16).
- Grace motivates righteous living better than the Law. Rules produce dutiful servants; grace produces grateful children. Paul — a blameless, Law-trained Pharisee — testified that grace, not his own effort, made him who he was (1 Corinthians 15:10), yet that grace also fueled him to work harder than anyone. Grace forgives and transforms.
The sermon closes by returning to the congregation, especially any visitors present because of the children's play. Some, Todd suggests, only know God as a rule-giver — a distant figure to be kept at arm's length, the way Israel stood back from Sinai. But the God revealed in Jesus didn't stop at the mountain; He tore the curtain and ran toward humanity instead of waiting for it to measure up. Moses was great, and the Law he gave was great — but the grace that came through Jesus is greater still, and it invites everyone to draw near.
