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Tonight’s message came to me through the Holy Spirit. 16 days ago. I was working on a Bible study structure. I wanted to follow a reading plan that would take me through the entire Bible in a year. This is an ancient practice. Yeshua (Jesus) himself would have followed something similar within the Temple and Synagogues of his day. I will post the reading plan at the bottom of this blog post. We will be starting week 1 on July 20th at my home. You are free to join us and send me messages with your thoughts or questions. I will provide all of that below. With that all being said, let’s look at tonight’s sermon title, “Hardening of Hearts”.

“And the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders that I have put in your power, but I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go.” -Exodus 4:21

What does “harden his heart” mean?

Why would YHWH (God) harden his heart?

This text in Scripture is at the part where Moses is being sent by YHWH to testify to Pharaoh. To set His people free from Egyptian captivity. YHWH is giving Moses a heads up that, despite all the miracles He was going to show through Moses, that Pharoah would have his heart hardened. He would refuse Moses. This is what would lead up to all the plagues. They would eventually be set free. But not before devastation to Pharaoh, his household, and his people. Apart from the followers of YHWH.

Moving forward in Exodus, after the people were finally freed from what held them captive, they still chose to turn back to their old ways. Their own prisons. Idolatry.

“Our ancestors were unwilling to obey him; instead, they pushed him aside, and in their hearts, they turned back to Egypt, saying to Aaron, ‘Make gods for us who will lead the way for us; as for this Moses who led us out from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.’ At that time they made a calf, offered a sacrifice to the idol, and reveled in the works of their hands.” -Acts 7:39-41

These verses are from a man named Stephen before a council. He was a follower of The Way, what Christians were originally called when they were considered a Jewish sect. Before the schism. That same council would cause him to be stoned to death. But before he died, he was filled with the Holy Spirit and had a vision. He saw YHWH and then Yeshua standing at His right hand. Stephen was showing the council that he worshipped the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He retold the Exodus story. But this did not stop the onslaught. Their hearts were hardened.

“Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them.'”-Acts 7:60

Stephen’s statement is reminiscent of Yeshua crying out on the cross. Do you know what that was?

“Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.'”-Luke 23:34

The book of Acts is foundational to our faith. It showcases the Holy Spirit, who was sent by YHWH to be our guide until Yeshua comes again. Until the Lord’s Kingdom comes. His will be done. The Ruach HaKodesh. The Advocate. The Father’s promise is still in our midst. Guiding us. But will our hearts be hardened? Hardened against change? Hardened against new people? Hardened against old members? Hardened against the very place we are in now? A place some of us use to pray for? Will we be hardened so much by the evils of this age that we can no longer find its beauty? Its light?

Can you set down your stubbornness that is causing the Holy Spirit to harden your heart? Can we accept help for our physical or mental struggles? Can we allow constructive criticism from our siblings in Christ? Or will we allow the Enemy to shape us into something we no longer recognize? Twisted by anger. Twisted by revenge. Twisted to burnout.

There is a song that Elder Chris showed me the other night. Some of the lyrics I wanted to share with you tonight.

“Lord, I’m tired

But don’t let me go numb

Don’t let this pain turn me into someone I’m not

Sit with me here ’til this weight gets light

‘Cause I don’t wanna lose myself

Trying to survive life

Lord I’m tired

But I trust you tonight”

-Lord I’m Tired But I Trust You by Gracelight Worship

Dear Lord, keep our spirits strong. Keep us from turning back to Egypt. From chains you already broke us free from. Keep us from binding ourselves to new prison cells. Don’t allow the pain of this world to harden our hearts. Let us not grow cold. Cold to love. Cold to kindness. To each other. Let us still hear the whisper of your Holy Spirit even when we feel there isn’t any hope.

Help us to keep going in our jobs. Our ministries. Convict us to say yes or no when you will it. Give us the energy to keep pushing to keep sharing the Good News. The Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Bible Study In A Year (Reading Plan)

The following Bible reading plan is robust. It encompasses not only the Protestant Canon (Genesis to Revelation) but also includes the Deuterocanonical books (those that were left out during the Reformation), and the books quoted in the Scriptures that have been preserved in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible.

I hope you enjoy. Please email me at RevAlexBurchnell@ChristsRedemptionChurch.com with all your comments and questions. Let’s dive in together!

🗓️ The 52-Week Expanded Canon Reading Plan

Start Date: Monday, July 20, 2026

Quarter 1: Foundations of the Covenant (Weeks 1–13)

Week 1 (07/20/2026–07/26/2026): Genesis 1–25
Week 2 (07/27/2026–08/02/2026): Genesis 26–50
Week 3 (08/03/2026–08/09/2026): Book of Jubilees (The creation and patriarchal secrets)
Week 4 (08/10/2026–08/16/2026): 1 Enoch (The Watchers, astronomical secrets, and the Son of Man)
Week 5 (08/17/2026–08/23/2026): Exodus 1–20 (The Exodus and the Decalogue)
Week 6 (08/24/2026–08/30/2026): Exodus 21–40 (The Tabernacle instructions)
Week 7 (08/31/2026–09/06/2026): Leviticus 1–27 (Sacred cycles, Purity, and the Holiness Code)
Week 8 (09/07/2026–09/13/2026): Numbers 1–18 (The Wilderness Census)
Week 9 (09/14/2026–09/20/2026): Numbers 19–36 (Journey to Canaan)
Week 10 (09/21/2026–09/27/2026): Deuteronomy 1–17 (Recounting the Covenant)
Week 11 (09/28/2026–10/04/2026): Deuteronomy 18–34 (The Shema, Blessings, and Curses)
Week 12 (10/05/2026–10/11/2026): Joshua 1–24 (Entering the Land)
Week 13 (10/12/2026–10/18/2026): Judges 1–21 & Ruth 1–4 (The Era of the Judges)

Quarter 2: The Kingdom and the Prophets (Weeks 14–26)

Week 14 (10/19/2026–10/25/2026): 1 Samuel 1–31
Week 15 (10/26/2026–11/01/2026): 2 Samuel 1–24
Week 16 (11/02/2026–11/08/2026): 1 Kings 1–22
Week 17 (11/09/2026–11/15/2026): 2 Kings 1–25
Week 18 (11/16/2026–11/22/2026): Isaiah 1–39 (Prophecies of Judgment)
Week 19 (11/23/2026–11/29/2026): Isaiah 40–66 (The Comfort of Israel and the Servant Songs)
Week 20 (11/30/2026–12/06/2026): Jeremiah 1–25
Week 21 (12/07/2026–12/13/2026): Jeremiah 26–52 & Lamentations
Week 22 (12/14/2026–12/20/2026): Ezekiel 1–24
Week 23 (12/21/2026–12/27/2026): Ezekiel 25–48 (The Vision of the Restored Temple)
Week 24 (12/28/2026–01/03/2027): Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah
Week 25 (01/04/2027–01/10/2027): Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah
Week 26 (01/11/2027–01/17/2027): Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

Quarter 3: Wisdom and the Deuterocanon (Weeks 27–39)

Week 27 (01/18/2027–01/24/2027): Psalms 1–72
Week 28 (01/25/2027–01/31/2027): Psalms 73–150
Week 29 (02/01/2027–02/07/2027): Proverbs 1–31, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs
Week 30 (02/08/2027–02/14/2027): Job 1–42
Week 31 (02/15/2027–02/21/2027): 1 Chronicles 1–29 & 2 Chronicles 1–9
Week 32 (02/22/2027–02/28/2027): 2 Chronicles 10–36, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Week 33 (03/01/2027–03/07/2027): Tobit & Judith (Deuterocanonical narratives)
Week 34 (03/08/2027–03/14/2027): Wisdom of Solomon & Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 1–25
Week 35 (03/15/2027–03/21/2027): Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 26–51
Week 36 (03/22/2027–03/28/2027): Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, & Prayer of Manasseh
Week 37 (03/29/2027–04/04/2027): 1 Maccabees (The history of Hanukkah and religious freedom)
Week 38 (04/05/2027–04/11/2027): 2 Maccabees (The theology of the martyrs and resurrection)
Week 39 (04/12/2027–04/18/2027): Daniel 1–12 (Including the additions: Susanna, Bel and the Dragon)

Quarter 4: The New Covenant & Apostolic Witness (Weeks 40–52)

Week 40 (04/19/2027–04/25/2027): Matthew 1–28 (The Messiah of Israel)
Week 41 (04/26/2027–05/02/2027): Mark 1–16 & Galatians
Week 42 (05/03/2027–05/09/2027): Luke 1–24 (The Gospel to the Outcast)
Week 43 (05/10/2027–05/16/2027): Acts 1–28 (The Outpouring of the Spirit)
Week 44 (05/17/2027–05/23/2027): Romans & James (Faith, Torah, and Radical Justice)
Week 45 (05/24/2027–05/30/2027): 1 & 2 Corinthians
Week 46 (05/31/2027–06/06/2027): Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon
Week 47 (06/07/2027–06/13/2027): 1 & 2 Thessalonians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus
Week 48 (06/14/2027–06/20/2027): Hebrews (The Heavenly Priesthood and Tabernacle)
Week 49 (06/21/2027–06/27/2027): John 1–21 (The Word Made Flesh)
Week 50 (06/28/2027–07/04/2027): 1, 2, & 3 John, Jude (Pairs explicitly with 1 Enoch references)
Week 51 (07/05/2027–07/11/2027): 1 & 2 Peter (Pairs with the Genesis/Enoch stories of Noah and the Watchers)
Week 52 (07/12/2027–07/18/2027): Revelation 1–22 (The New Jerusalem and Restored Paradise)

Pastor

Alex Burchnell

Further Study on “Hardening of Hearts”

This Week’s Music Lineup