This week I thought it might be helpful for us to think about the Ten Commandments,

or what the Hebrew Bible sometimes calls the Ten Words.

But I wonder how that strikes you.

If your pastor announced this Sunday that he was going to preach for the next three months But I wonder how that strikes you.

If your pastor announced this Sunday that he was going to preach for the next three months

on the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 verses 1 through 17, would you be thinking, oh,

that's great?

Or would you say, oh, groan, not again?

The commandments get a fairly mixed review these days, including among some Christians, at least

until somebody wants to remove them from some public space, and then it could be surprising

how violently some Christians react to don't usually give much thought to the commandments.

There's a kind of atmosphere that surrounds the expression, the Ten Commandments.

And rightly so, because when we read the account of God giving them at Mount Sinai,

Moses' experience is even more spectacular than it was at the burning bush. The event was surrounded by thunder and lightning and a thick cloud.

At the foot of Sinai the people trembled.

Truly God revealed himself as a God of power and might and holiness and righteousness. But we should notice something here, something from

the get-go when we think about the Ten Commandments. It's this. They were given by the God

of infinite holiness and righteousness, but they were also given in a context of grace.

I think perhaps this is the single most important thing to remember.

God's law is given in the context of God's grace.

How so?

Well, his first words are, I am Yahweh, your God, your God, who brought you out of the land

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