Life Groups // Fall 2023 // Week 10

Posted November 10, 2023 — Lincoln Berean

Dead End or God’s Plan? // Exodus 14:1-31

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Introduction

As we close this Life Group session in Exodus 14, God continues to guide his people on their path away from Egypt. As the heart of Pharaoh is hardened once more, he and his army pursue the Hebrews through the desert, and God shows His divine power yet again to save Moses and his people when they stand trapped between the Egyptians and the unforgiving Red Sea. 

To think through the main ideas in the sermon and prepare for your discussion together, we invite you to look over all the questions on the following pages and write your thoughts down before you meet with your group. Due to preferences over a wide range of groups, we do not expect you will cover every question each week.  

Warm Up (Suggested time: 30 min)

1) What are you looking forward to the most during the upcoming holiday season? 

  

 

2) Share the story of a time when you found yourself on an unexpected adventure. 

 

Getting Started

1) Open group discussion with prayer. Here are a few potential prayer items: 

a. For the Spirit of God to lead you in truth 

b. For the fruit of the Spirit to be cultivated in your lives 

c. For grace to hear and apply what the Spirit says to you  

2) Choose someone to read the passage aloud for the group.  

Study Questions (Suggested time: 40 min)

1) Discuss anything you found interesting from chapter 14 of Exodus, or from Jeff’s message. 

 

 

 

2) Read Exodus 14:10-12. The people following Moses find themselves in what seems to be a no-win scenario. Has God ever brought you out of a situation that seemed impossible? Share it with your group. 

 

 

 

When facing the impossible, the newly freed Israelites find themselves forgetting what God has done for them and wishing that they could go back to their bondage in Egypt, saying “It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert.” When we forget God in our lives, we similarly tend to seek out old patterns that don’t bring the true fullness of life that He provides. What sort of practices, disciplines, or habits help you to remember what God has done in your life?  

 

 

 

 

 

3) In Exodus 14:14, Moses tells the Israelites “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Together as a group, take three minutes of silence, and as you do so, think through what it would look like for God to fight for you in your life right now.  

 

 

 

It is God who delivers, we need only rest in Him. At the same time, sometimes God calls us to boldly take action in faith. Now that you’ve sat in silence and considered how God might fight for you, what will it look like for you to take the next step forward in your faith in God? 

 

 

 

 

How do you manage the tension between trusting in God and knowing when to take action in faith? 

 

 

  

 

4) A major part of the Exodus story so far has been the relationship between God and the people of Israel. How would you describe your relationship with God today? Is it where you want it to be? If not, what is one step you could take to move forward? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5) Verse 31 is a fitting conclusion to our time in Exodus so far: the people see what the Lord has done for them, and they put their trust in Him. What has God been saying to you throughout this series in the book of Exodus? In what ways has your worship of God grown and strengthened your trust in Him? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Personal Spiritual Exercises

Just like physical exercises help strengthen and stretch our bodies for healthy living, these spiritual exercises are meant to move us spiritually in ways that may be new so we might experience inner growth. Since God longs for us to experience Him with our whole selves—mind, body, spirit—we invite you along each week to strengthen your souls with suggestions and prompts. 

Scripture Focus: Throughout Exodus, we’ve seen God’s will and power executed using water: parting the Red Sea and bringing it down upon the Egyptians, turning the Nile to blood, and even the meaning of Moses’s name alluding to him being drawn out of the water. Read, pray, and meditate through some of the other Biblical instances of God using water to show His power, authority, and instruction. Here are a few examples to get you started:

  • Creation (Genesis 1:1-2) 
  • The great flood (Genesis 7:15-24) 
  • Jesus turning water to wine (John 2:7-11) 
  • The baptism of Jesus (Matthew 3:16-17) 
  • The woman at the well (John 4:7-13) 
  • The restoration of Eden (Revelation 22:1-5) 

Prayer Focus: Continue the practice of silence and stillness that we were reminded of in Exodus 14:14. Just as we did with our groups, take three minutes each day to be silent and pray over that promise: “The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.” And after you’ve taken that time to trust in Him, remember to look for any opportunities He has for you to take bold new steps of faith!

Prayer (Suggested time: 20 min)

A significant part of “coming together” is being open and honest with our lives. Sitting in a group of people for prayer may be new or it may be familiar to you. If you would rather not pray aloud when it is your turn, feel free to pray silently and then say “Amen” aloud signaling the next person in the group to pray. Whether or not you choose to verbalize your prayer, everyone is a participant in sharing this time before God together. 

 

Take a few moments to prepare a prayer request. What did the message, working through the above questions or the discussion cause you to notice about your own relationship with Jesus? Would you be willing to share your prayer request with the group?