September 28, 2014 Exodus 17:1-7 ( Thanks to all the youth who helped to share this story by wandering through the wilderness with me! ) Our story from Exodus tonight needs a little background. Long, long ago, the Israelite people were living as slaves in Egypt. The king of Egypt, called the Pharoah, would not let them go. They had to work when the Pharoah said work, and sleep when the Pharoah said sleep, and eat when the Pharoah said eat. They were slaves in the land of Egypt, and it was a hard, hard life. But God heard the cry of the people groaning in slavery. And God choose one of them, named Moses, to lead them out of slavery into freedom. Moses confronted Pharoah many times. With God’s help, Moses performed miracles to convince the Pharoah to let the people go free. When Pharoah changed his mind and sent his army after the Israelites, God parted the waters of the sea so that Moses could lead the people through and then God closed the waters so that