Life Groups // Fall 2023 // Week 8
Posted October 27, 2023 — Lincoln Berean
Remember // Exodus 11:1-12:51
Introduction
Our chapters this week give us the final strike of God against the stubborn Pharoah–led Egyptians that resulted in the death of every firstborn in Egypt. Even as we’re relieved by the Israelites’ deliverance, we wrestle with characteristics of God that are difficult for our human hearts to fathom – severe mercy and righteous judgment.
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) Take a few minutes to let each person share 3 things for which you are grateful.
2) If you could choose to carry over a tradition or experience of Fall into the rest of the year, what would that be?
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) What characteristic or response of God stood out to you from the sermon this week?
2) In this passage, God repeatedly instructs the Israelites to observe the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread for generations to come (Exodus 12:14, 17, 24–25, 42). Why did God instruct them to commemorate the exodus in this way?
What benefit is there in making this such a multi-sensory experience for them (taste, smell, actions, emotions)?
3) The First Passover foreshadows the sacrifice Jesus made to redeem all of humanity. Look up the following verses. For each reference, how does Jesus ultimately fulfill what the Passover could only partially complete?
John 1:29
Ephesians 1:7
Ephesians 1:11
Hebrews 9:13-15
4) When we choose to follow Jesus, accepting that His gift of salvation is the only way for our sins to be redeemed, we are like those Hebrews who walked out of their blood-marked thresholds the morning after the Lord passed over their homes. Imagine the scene. What would it have been like to realize the great loss others had suffered while you were celebrating deliverance?
How is this scene in Exodus 12:28-30 actually a picture of what is happening in the lives of people around us right now?
5) Pastor Jeff reminded us of the relevance of Romans 6:23 to our passage in Exodus: “for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” Just like in Moses’ day, we live among people who have not experienced deliverance and redemption. Take a few minutes to list five people in your life who have not yet accepted the free gift of eternal life in Jesus.
What step can you take to lovingly move toward one or two of them this week, seeking to be used by God to bring light, truth, and hope to them?
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: Read Ephesians 2:1-10 each day this week. Every time you read through it, make note of one aspect of the gift of salvation that you are particularly grateful for that day.
Prayer Focus: Ephesians 3:14-21 is one of Paul’s grateful expressions for the wonderful gift of grace experienced by all who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Take time to make it your prayer this week too!
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?