The Boring Part Becomes the Best Part - The Wake-Up Call

Podcast Summary: The Wake-Up Call

Episode: The Boring Part Becomes the Best Part
Host: Andrew Forrest
Date: February 13, 2026

Main Theme / Purpose

This episode centers on finding spiritual depth and meaning in what many consider the “boring” or repetitive passages of the Bible, specifically focusing on the tabernacle’s construction in Exodus 36. Host Andrew Forrest encourages listeners to see these portions not as dull, but as profound reminders of God's faithfulness and grace—even in the aftermath of human failure.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Personal Friday Rhythms and Pastoral Reflections

00:03-02:50
- Andrew shares his weekly rhythm: after Thursday night preaching, Friday feels lighter, offering a chance to recharge and spend valuable time at home or with family.
- He encourages listeners to look forward to church, reflecting, “I always say to our folks, I want Sundays to be your favorite day of the week… when there are times I’m a little stressed or not feeling it, that’s when I know, okay, I got to get right with the Lord…” (01:25).
- Brief mention of Andrew’s new book, Love Goes First, focusing on reaching people different from ourselves.

2. Scripture Reading: Exodus 36, 35, 38

02:55-04:20
- Andrew reads detailed descriptions of the tabernacle’s construction, introducing the day’s reflection.

3. Repetition and “The Boring Part” of Exodus

04:21-07:15
- Andrew acknowledges, “Let’s be honest, this is a boring section of Scripture, but I think what is one of the Bible’s most boring parts can become one of its best parts. Let me explain.” (04:22)
- He breaks down the narrative:
  - The exciting parts of Exodus (Israel's deliverance) give way to long passages about tabernacle instructions and construction.
  - Remarkably, Exodus 35-40 almost repeats chapters 25-31: first comes instruction, then execution.
- Andrew asks, “Why the repetition?” He explains that despite Israel’s sin with the golden calf, God renews the covenant and allows the tabernacle to be built—a sign of “the grace of God.”

4. Key Spiritual Insight: God’s Unstoppable Purpose

07:16-08:30
- The repetition signals not boredom but grace. “Human sin doesn’t ultimately stop the purposes of God.” (07:32)
- Encourages listeners: even when we are discouraged by the world’s troubles, Exodus 36 reminds us the Lord will carry out His promises.

5. Encouragement for Bible Reading

08:31-09:05
- Andrew explains that reading these “boring” parts repeatedly strengthens spiritual roots, referencing Psalm 1: “...the person who studies, reads, gnaws on the Scripture will become like a tree planted by the water. And that’s what I hope is happening for you and for me as we study God’s Word, which always, always, always has something to say to us.” (09:00)

6. Journal Prompts for Deeper Reflection

09:06-09:33
- “Why does the Bible show more than it tells?”
- “Have you ever received a second or a third or a fourth chance?”
- “What is the appropriate reaction for a person who receives another opportunity to make something right?”

7. Seeing the Big Picture in Scripture

09:34-09:57
- Andrew stresses the importance of seeing the Bible’s overarching narrative, drawing on the “unified story that leads to Jesus.”
- He encourages repeated reading for true understanding: “You don’t ever complete [the Bible] once you read it through—you just read it again and again…” (09:45)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the “boring” Bible sections:

“Let’s be honest, this is a boring section of scripture, but I think what is one of the Bible’s most boring parts can become one of its best parts.”
— Andrew Forrest, 04:22
On God's grace in repetition:

“Despite their sin, despite the people’s sin, the Lord is committed to dwelling in the midst of his people, and his instructions are actually carried out.”
— Andrew Forrest, 06:40
On encouragement despite discouragement:

“Human sin doesn’t ultimately stop the purposes of God.”
— Andrew Forrest, 07:32
On the importance of daily scripture reading:

“...the person who studies, reads, gnaws on the Scripture will become like a tree planted by the water. And that’s what I hope is happening for you and for me as we study God’s Word, which always, always, always has something to say to us.”
— Andrew Forrest, 09:00

Important Timestamps

00:03 — Andrew’s personal update and Friday routine
02:55 — Scripture reading: Exodus 36, 35, 38
04:21 — Discussion of repetitive, “boring” Bible passages
07:32 — Key message: “Human sin doesn’t ultimately stop the purposes of God”
09:00 — Encouragement for continual Bible engagement
09:06 — Journal prompts

Hymn: “Victory in Jesus”

09:58-12:15
- The episode closes with an uplifting community singing of “Victory in Jesus,” drawing the listener back to joy and hope for the day ahead.

Takeaways

Repetitive or “boring” sections of Scripture often reveal powerful truths about God’s faithfulness and grace.
Even after failure and sin, God provides second chances and remains committed to His people.
The act of reading and re-reading the Bible changes the reader over time, rooting them deeper in faith.
Encouragement for all: “Brothers and sisters, be encouraged. Today, God is committed to his plan, and in the end, everything is going to be okay.” (08:24)

For more spiritual encouragement and daily reflections, visit seedbed.com/wakeupcall.

Transcript

A (0:03)

Well, good morning, Sower Nation. It is Friday, February 13th, in the year of our Lord 2026. I am Andrew Forrest, and this is your wake up call. Well, everybody, I'm so glad to be here with you on a Friday morning. Friday is one of the best days of the week. See, I've been telling you about my schedule this week. Here's why I love Fridays, because I preach Thursday night. I preached last night. So I, I come home a Thursday night, usually pretty late, and it's like I made it, you know, it's like the weight is off and I'm ready to move into the weekend. Heading to Sunday. I started doing this Thursday thing during the pandemic. And what I just found was that it just really changed my weekend. See, I'm always kind of wired tight, tight, tight. Thinking about Sunday. I got to preach, I got to preach, I got to preach. And by having a draft of the sermon preached on Thursday evening, it just kind of lifts the load a little bit. I'm still thinking about it all day Friday, all day Saturday. I'm thinking, okay, what do I need to do? How do I preach better? How do I need to change things? How do I connect? Am I expressing things well, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But just being able to have that Thursday sermon in the can, so to speak, really helps. And so Fridays for me, I don't go into the office. I'm here with you this morning early. But then I don't have anything else for the rest of the day. And I tend to kind of just stay at home. I tend to work all day. Usually on Fridays I'm at my home office kind of grinding through some things. Often it's the kind of stuff I didn't do earlier in the week that I needed to have done that kind of thing. But I like it might pick up my kids from school, that kind of thing. And so Fridays is always a fun day for me and I'm pleased to be with you here today. I hope whatever you have going on this weekend will be fun, will be something to look forward to. I do think there's something about just like having something that you're wanting to do that you look forward to. And I hope it's church. One of the anecdotal signs, I think when a individual church has things going well is when people look forward to coming to church. I always say to our folks, I'm the senior pastor here at Asbury Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I always say, I want Sundays to be your favorite day of the week. You know I want you to be looking forward to it more than anything else. I do that. And when there are times when I'm a little bit stressed or not feeling it, that's when I know, okay, I got to get right with the Lord because I always want to look forward to Sundays. I kind of always want to make the mention that I'm the author of the seedbed book, Love Goes first, new book that just came out. It's about how we reach the people who don't think like us, vote like us, look like us. And I hope you'll check it out. I'm real proud of the book and I believe it's a message that the American church desperately needs to hear. So I take every opportunity I can to get it out. We're going to continue our study through the end of Exodus today. This might be the most skipped part of the entire Bible, but I think it is important and I look forward to sharing it with you this morning. So, Lord, thank you for taking us out of Egypt. Now. Lord, please take Egypt out of us. Let's go baby. Wake up sleeper Rise from the dead and and Christ will shine on you. Jesus, I belong to you. I lift up my heart to you. I set my mind on you. I fix my eyes on you. I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice. Jesus, we belong to you Praying in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Our scripture reading for the day is Exodus 36, 35, 38. Hear now the Word of the Lord. He made the veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twisted linen with cherubim skillfully worked into it. He made it, and for it he made four pillars of acacia and overlaid them with gold. Their hooks were made of gold and he cast for them four bases of silver. He also made a screen for the entrance of the tent of blue and purple and scarlet yarns in fine twined linen embroidered with needlework and its five pillars with their hooks. He overlaid their capitals and their frills were of gold, but their five bases were of bronze. The Word of Lord so let's be honest, this is a boring section of Scripture, but I think what is one of the Bible's most boring parts can become one of its best parts. Let me explain. So we're working our way through the final section of Exodus. The opening chapters of Exodus are the part that most people are most familiar with. The exciting recount of God getting the people out of Egypt. The second half of Exodus is about how God starts to get Egypt out of the people. There are long passages about the appropriate way to worship and how to build the tabernacle. And then you come to the final chapters of Exodus chapters 35, 40, and if you're honest, you're going to think, wait a minute, haven't I read this before? And the answer is yes. Exodus chapters 35, 40, repeat, repeats much of the material in Exodus chapters 30, 25 to 31, the instructions for the construction of the tabernacle. In chapters 25 to 31, we read of the instructions for the tabernacle, whereas in chapters 35 to 40, we read of its actual construction. You understand? So 2531, do it like this. And then 35, 40, this is how they did it. So why the repetition? Now remember, while Moses is on the mountain receiving the instructions for the tabernacle, the Israelites are below creating the golden calf. Moses then goes down the mountain and has to deal with their sin, and the tabernacle doesn't get built. Even though the people don't deserve it, the Lord remains faithful to them and he renews the covenant and begins again here. Then the fact that we are told that the tabernacle is constructed is a remarkable sign of the grace of God. Despite their sin, despite the people's sin, the Lord is committed to dwelling in the midst of his people, and his instructions are actually carried out. So what might at first seem like the most boring part of the Bible is in fact one of its best parts. Human sin doesn't ultimately stop the purposes of God. Chances are that in the past seven days you've become discouraged or dismayed or become fearful because of something that has been happening in the world. What Exodus 36 reminds us in this repetitive account of the construction of the tabernacle is that the Lord will do what he has promised. All this other stuff is just temporary. So for me, this part, when you come to the end of Exodus and you go, I've read this before, and it seems so boring. It's about them constructing what has already been given to them to construct. And they're doing this, and we've already heard that, and it seems like, oh, why am I reading this? For me, this boring part actually is one of the best parts of the Bible. God is faithful to his promises, and even human sin doesn't stop it. So, brothers and sisters, be encouraged. Today, God is committed to his plan, and in the end, everything is going to be okay. And so we pray, Lord, thank you for your commitment to your creation. Thank you for taking up the cross and paying to redeem sinners. Let your kingdom come today. Let your kingdom come today on earth as it is in heaven, O Lord, and make our hearts more hopeful. All this we pray in Jesus name. Amen. Some journal prompts to get you thinking. One, why does the Bible show more than it tells? That is, why doesn't the Bible just tell us outright why the repetition in Exodus is there? Two, have you ever received a second or a third or a fourth chance? Three, what is the appropriate reaction for a person who receives another opportunity to make something right? Now, admittedly, it is really easy at this part of the Bible to get lost in the trees and miss the forest. But one of the things I try to do as a pastor, and I'm trying to do with this little series as well, and is to give you an overview of the whole thing, how the whole thing fits together and tells, to quote Bible Project, a unified story that leads to Jesus. And so these, these little details at the end of Exodus and then we'll see more of this kind of thing in Leviticus. It actually has a beautiful story that it's telling. It's got to step back a little bit and see it. And the way you, you come to understand the Bible is by reading the Bible. You read it over and over. You don't ever complete once you read through the Bible once, you just read it again over and over and over again. And the Lord says in Psalm 1 that the person who studies, reads, gnaws on the Scripture, will become like a tree planted by the water. And that's what I hope is happening for you and for me as we study God's Word, which always, always, always has something to say to us. Well, friends, it is Friday. You made it. And we're gonna sing the great gospel hymn, Victory in Jesus, which is hymn 1:19 from the seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer's Praise. This is hymn 1:19, victory in Jesus. Here we go. This will get your blood pumping. You ready? Let's sing it together.