Life Groups // Winter 2024 // Week 4

Posted February 2, 2024 — Lincoln Berean

How to Approach a Holy God // Exodus 19:1-25

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Introduction

The children of Israel have finally arrived at the foot of Mount Sinai. Just as promised in Exodus 3:12, God has delivered them from Egypt to worship Him on this mountain. We see through their experience that hearing from a Holy God is a meeting unlike any other. 

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) If you could automatically speak a new language, what would you like to be able to speak and why?

 

2) Recall a time when you looked forward to a trip or family vacation as a child. Was it all you’d hoped; did it exceed expectations or leave you disappointed? 

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) Based on what you learned in the sermon this week, how would you describe the Holiness of God in your own words? 

 

 

 

2) In Exodus 19:3-6, God speaks with Moses alone before He engages with the whole nation. What does God want the people to remember about Him?  

 

 

 

What does God want the people to understand about themselves and their role as His people?

  

 

 

 

In the New Testament, Peter refers to the imagery in Exodus 19:6 to describe the church today. Read 1 Peter 2:9-10. According to those verses, what is the purpose for which we are called a “holy nation” and “kingdom of priests”?

  

 

 

 

If this is your experience, share a time you proclaimed with words and actions that you have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light. 

 

 

 

 

3) In book of Hebrews the author refers to God’s appearing in Exodus 19 and then shows how Jesus made a way for us to approach a Holy God. Read Hebrews 12:18-24. How does the scene with Moses on Mount Sinai compare to what we experience on Mount Zion? 

 

 

 

What are some reasons for this difference?

 

 

 

Now read Hebrews 12:28-29. According to these verses, what should our response be today as we stand before a Holy God?

 

 

 

What does it mean to fear the LORD even though we get to approach Him boldly? Discuss how you understand this seeming inconsistency and how it may remain a mystery.  

 

 

 

4) As we’ve seen throughout the Exodus story, God is teaching His people how to follow Him by faith AND action. What acts of faith does God ask of His people in this chapter? 

 

 

 

Why was it necessary for God to place strict boundaries on the Israelites approaching Mount Sinai?  

 

 

 

Consider if there is a healthy boundary God wants for your life that you are resisting. What can you do this week to make keeping that healthy boundary a priority? 

 

 

 

 

 

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.

Prayer Focus: The last part of question #4 above asked you to consider keeping a healthy boundary in obedience to God. We all know how challenging that can be. In prayer, we allow God to be strong in the areas we are weak. Here are some steps you can take in prayer for that this week: 

1. Pray in reverence and awe of God’s goodness to you. 
2. Pray to be convicted of any healthy boundary about which you are resisting God. 
3. Pray for the strength to let go of control and trust God’s best for you. 
4. Express gratitude and hope for what God is doing within you as you trust Him. 

Scripture Focus: Psalm 19:7-14 extolls the goodness of the Law of the Lord. Begin and end each day reading this passage and noticing the way God’s Word is meant to nourish us. At the end of the week, reflect on your thoughts and emotions. How were you nourished in God’s Word by making time for this simple practice?

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?