GOING DEEPER
10.13.2019 | GOD, PART 1 | Wk 5: “The God Who Leads”
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Breaking Ground
Share about a time when you got lost somewhere. Where was it? How did you find your way out?
The Dig
Read Exodus 13:17-18.
Take a moment to reflect on the movement of the Exodus mentioned in the sermon. First, God liberates His people. Then God leads His people. And, only then, does God work to transform people.
How do you respond to the idea that God liberates and leads people before asking them to change? Is that how you usually think of God working when it comes to life change?
What is the relationship between liberation and being led by God when it comes to spiritual growth?
Reflect on the route God leads His people down. He first leads them through the desert, which is symbolic in the Bible of trial, testing, and hardship.
Why do you think God leads His people through the desert before taking them to the Promised Land?
What is the relationship between this idea of the desert and experiencing liberation and being led into new life?
Next, read Exodus 13:19-22. Reflect on what this part of the story teaches us about how God leads.
First, God leads the Israelites by giving them a memory or story from their past (Joseph’s bones).
What role does remembering our past and sharing our stories play in growth and transformation?
Second, God gives them His Presence in front of them.
Why do you think God only leads them towards the next step in front of them, instead of giving them details about their final destination?
How does seeking to find God only in the very next step impact you when you think about your own growth and change?
Finally, close by reflecting on the struggles of the Israelites. Place yourself in their story.
Share about a time in your life when your path of growth made you want to return to Egypt (i.e., go back and give up on the transformation you are experiencing).
Share about a time in your life when growth made you feel like you were in the desert (i.e., a place of trial and testing).
Share a story that at times you reflect back on that has helped you pursue growth, even when it was scary.
Share about a time in your life when taking things one-step at a time led you to a better destination than you had originally imagined.
Getting Out of the Hole
This week, take time to think about the small steps of growth that follow liberation.
Take the area in your life that you identified as needing to change from last week and reflect on one, small step you can take towards that change.
Journal about that first step and what else you can do over the next month to see that change start to take place.
Share your thoughts with your group next week.
Additional Resources*
Practice Resurrection by Eugene Peterson
A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson
How People Grow by Cloud and Townsend
Coming Up This Week:*
Sunday, October 20: Join us for the next week of our series GOD PT. 1, where we will be looking at the God who fights our battles!
* Please see mye3.org for details