Life Groups // Fall 2023 // Week 7

Posted October 20, 2023 — Lincoln Berean

Let God Be God // Exodus 9:1-10:29

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Introduction

In Exodus chapters 9 & 10, God continues to demonstrate His power over the Pharaoh with five more strikes against Egypt while also sending Moses and Aaron to appeal to the stubborn ruler. Through it all, God also shows favor for His people by sparing them from the hardships placed upon Egypt. As the strikes grow more severe, the consequences for Pharaoh’s hard-heartedness grow as well. 

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 is your favorite way to start the day?

  

 

2) What would you most like to be known for?

 

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) After reading these chapters, what stands out as particularly important, mysterious, or challenging? 

 

 

 

2) Last week, we discussed the ways in which God may be trying to get our attention and ask us to address the issues in our lives, similarly to how He probes for Pharaoh’s attention. Revisit these questions from last week together, and leave room for any new insights that may have sprung up since last week: What does God need to do to get our attention? Is there something in your life you know needs to be addressed but you keep avoiding it? What will it take for you to get serious about this issue? How can your group pray for you and hold you accountable in this area?

 

 

 

What is one way that you’ve seen God making Himself evident to you? This may have happened at any time in the course of your life, or even just this past week!

 

 

 

3) We might prefer God to deliver His people quietly and He certainly could have done this differently, but that would not fit His purposes. Look at Exodus 9:13-16, as well as Joshua 2:1-11, which contains a later retelling of the legacy of God’s actions in Exodus. What do these verses tell us about God’s purposes in delivering Israel the way He did? 

 

 

 

“The point of the plagues [strikes] for today is not so much in what we do with it, but in having our hearts and minds opened to what God has done and thereby understanding Him better.” (Peter Enns, NIV Application Commentary). What do these events tell us about who God is? 

 

 

 

4) Pastor Ryan discussed the idea of a surrendered heart in the message this past weekend. In one sense, Exodus is the story of different people surrendering their hearts to God (Moses, Pharaoh, Egyptians, Israelites, etc.). Based on different people’s responses in our passage (and the entire story of Exodus so far), how would you describe a surrendered heart? 

 

 

 

 

What are the areas in your life where you struggle with having a surrendered heart? 

 

 

 

 

What would be the outcomes of surrendering in those areas? 

 

 

 

5) On numerous occasions throughout the rest of the Bible, God’s people are called to remember YAHWEH as the God who delivered His people out of Egypt (see Jeremiah 23:7-8 and Psalm 81:10). Below are some other truths about God that can be found throughout the Bible. As you read through them together with your group, consider the following questions: Which of these statements of truth particularly resonates with you? Which one(s) do you have trouble believing? Which one(s) would you like to focus on seeking out in your relationship with Him? How might you cultivate the habit of remembering who God is and what He has done in your life? (For further reflection, see the Scripture Focus Personal Spiritual Exercise on the next page.) 

 

    • In Christ we are holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:4-5, Colossians 1:21-23) 
    • God desires our friendship (John 15:13-17) 
    • His lovingkindness endures forever (Psalm 118:29) 
    • His Word is trustworthy (Hebrews 4:12, Matthew 4:1-4) 
    • He does not condemn me (Romans 8:1-4) 
    • Christ makes me complete in Him (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Ephesians 1:13, Colossians 2:9-14, Philippians 1:6) 
    • He will make my paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6) 
    • He provides life to the fullest (John 10:10) 
    • God hears us when we speak to Him (Psalm 66:17-20, 1 John 5:14-15) 
    • He dwells within His believers (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:19-20) 
    • He is unchanging (Hebrews 13:8) 
    • He is eternal (Isaiah 40:28-31) 
    • Jesus advocates for me (1 John 2:1) 
    • God is my Father, and calls me His child (Galatians 3:25-29, 1 John 1:11-13) 
    • He has lavished His love on my whole life (1 John 3:1) 
    • He is making me like Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Galatians 2:20) 

  

 

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. Next week in Life Group, take a few moments to share how the Lord may have used this exercise in your life. 

Scripture Focus: It’s so great to discuss the truth of who God is with our group, and yet we would never know any of it without the fullness of God’s Word to teach us about Him. This next week, take the scripture passages that correspond with the statements about God that captivated you the most, and find a few minutes each day to think through those verses. What could they mean for your life as a whole? What would it look like to live them out today?

Prayer Focus: In chapters 9 & 10 of Exodus, God’s power is on full display for all to see. How often do we stop and praise God for all of the power that He holds? Together, let’s recognize His absolute reign over the world He created. 

 

Almighty God,  

No strength on this earth could compare  

to your power and glory.  

All of creation points to your greatness and divine authority.  

Everything in heaven and on earth is yours,  

and you uphold the universe by the word of your power.  

Allow me to see your majesty,  

and to praise you more every day.      

Amen 

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?