Essentials | Week 1 · Rewind

Pastor Hunter Jones · Aug 4, 2026 · 72 min watch · 3 min read

Essentials | Week 1

Edited by the church

Big Idea

Quoting the message: Our lives are shaped by the God we believe in, end quote..

Kicking off the Essentials series, Pastor Hunter Jones preaches from Exodus 34, where God reveals His own name and character to Moses after Israel had distorted Him into a golden calf. The sermon argues that the smallest distortion in our view of God leads to major distortions in how we live, so we must let God define Himself rather than shaping Him into a comfortable idol. God reveals Himself as the self-existent "I Am," triune, overflowing in chesed (loyal, covenant) love, and perfectly just. Rightly seeing God produces the same response Moses had: falling down in humble, overwhelmed worship.

Key points

1
1What we believe about God is the most important thing about us, because our lives are shaped by the God we believe in.
2
2God is not left for us to guess about; He reveals Himself, and Exodus 34 functions as the Old Testament's 'John 3:16' of who God is.
3
3God calls Himself Yahweh, 'I Am' — the eternal, uncreated, self-existent Creator who holds all things together, and who exists as one God in three persons (the Trinity).
Related passage
4
4Because God is the great 'I Am,' we are not — meaning we don't have to control everything, earn our own value, or earn our own love; we can surrender to Him.
5
5God reveals Himself as compassionate, merciful, slow to anger, and full of chesed — an unbreakable, generous, covenant-based, overflowing love that is not conditional on our performance.
6
6God is also just — He does not excuse guilt or let cycles of sin and hurt go unaddressed forever; He will make all things right.
7
7When Moses truly saw God for who He is, his only response was to immediately fall down and worship; an accurate view of God always leads to humble worship, not a comfortable, self-made image of Him.

Application

Pastor Hunter calls the church to stop settling for a comfortable, self-made picture of God — like Israel's golden calf — and instead let God reveal His true self: the great "I Am," fully loving, and fully just. For those who feel God's love is conditional on their performance, he urges them to run toward God in repentance rather than pulling away in shame, trusting His chesed love. For those carrying unaddressed hurt, he calls them to release the need for immediate justice, forgive, and trust God as the ultimate judge who will make all things right. Above all, he invites the congregation to move from merely knowing facts about God to truly encountering Him, since a real encounter with who God is will reshape a life far more than head knowledge alone, and that transformation is meant to overflow into how we love and treat others.

Take it into your week

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

Edited by the church

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

Sign in to track your progress through this devotional.

Pastor Hunter Jones opened the Essentials series with a bold claim: what we believe about God is the most important thing about us, because our lives take the shape of the God we believe in. Just before this moment, Israel had shrunk God down into a golden calf — a version of Him they could see, manage, and feel comfortable around. So God does something stunning. He calls Moses back up the mountain and reveals His own name and character. He does not leave us to guess or invent Him. Pastor Hunter called Exodus 34 the Old Testament's John 3:16 — a concentrated revelation of who God actually is. That matters for you and me, because the small distortions we carry quietly reshape how we live. A God we imagine as distant makes us anxious. A God we imagine as harsh makes us hide. This week is an invitation to set down the calf we've built and let God tell us who He is. Start by admitting you have a picture of God at all, and asking whether it came from Him or from you. The God who revealed Himself to Moses is still willing to be known.

For reflection

What picture of God have I been living from lately, and where might it be more my invention than His revelation?

Pray

Pray for honesty about the picture of God you've been carrying, and openness to let Him reveal Himself.

Related passage

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Small-group discussion guide

Edited by the church

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

Think of a time you pictured someone a certain way, then met them and realized they were quite different. What was that like? This message kicked off the Essentials series with the idea that who we believe God to be shapes everything about us.

Discussion questions

1
In this message, Israel had reshaped God into a golden calf they could see and control. What are some ways people today shape God into a more comfortable version of who He really is?
2
Instead of leaving us to guess, God reveals Himself in Exodus 34 — Pastor Hunter called it the Old Testament's 'John 3:16' of who God is. What stands out to you about how God chooses to describe Himself here?
3
God names Himself 'I Am' — the eternal, self-existent One. Pastor Hunter said that because God is the great 'I Am,' we are not. How might really believing that change the way we try to control things or earn our own worth?
4
The sermon described God's chesed as an unbreakable, covenant love that isn't conditional on our performance. Why do you think people so easily assume God's love rises and falls with how well they're doing?
5
This message held together two things we often keep apart — that God is fully loving and fully just, the One who will make all things right. What does it do for us to hold both of those truths at once?
6
When Moses truly saw God for who He is, his immediate response was to fall down and worship. Pastor Hunter invited us to move from knowing facts about God to truly encountering Him — what might that shift look like for us, and how could it overflow into how we treat others?

Pray together

Ask God to reveal Himself as He truly is — the great 'I Am,' full of loyal love and perfect justice — and to move us from head knowledge into humble worship that overflows in how we love others.

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

Sign in to save this message.

Go deeper

Continue the series

Essentials

Week 1 · 4 messages

Where these passages are preached

Exodus 34 John 3 Exodus 3 Deuteronomy 4

Explore related topics

Covenant Love God's Character Idolatry Knowing God Worship

Related sermons

Weekday Warrior | Week 3
Pastor Chris Hilken · Jul 20, 2026
Shares scripture
Playlist For | Week 6
Pastor Rocky High · Jun 29, 2026
Shares scripture
Vitals | Week 2 | Full Service
Pastor Rocky High · Jan 19, 2026
Shares scripture
Basics | Week 6 | Sermon
Pastor Bill Bush · Oct 20, 2025
Shares scripture
Evidence of Eternity | Week 4 | Message
Pastor Ron Merrell · Aug 17, 2025
Shares scripture
Ephesians | Week 3 | Full Service
Pastor Bill Bush · Jan 20, 2025
Shares scripture

Powered by Rewind · make your church's Rewind →