Response Work:

This past week we spent time looking at the 10 commandments and looking at the deeper intention for the rules He gave. (Scroll down to see them) Needless to say, what God intended for good became corrupted by becoming a system of religious rules rather than moving people towards a relationship with Him. When Jesus comes, He explains the intention of God's law.

For April 8th: Read Matthew 5:38-48. What are the two "rules" that Jesus explains? (Hint: You've heard it said...) and what does He say the real meaning of God's law is? WRITE DOWN YOUR EXPLANATION and come prepared to share what Jesus is saying and why people should follow it. (Similar to what we did with the 10 commandments last Thursday)

And join us this Thursday night as we look at the sacrifice of Christ at our Maundy Thursday service. It will be held in the sanctuary and will start by 7pm, running no later than 8pm.

God's Story: Exodus 11-13, 20

What we learn about God/life:
God's delivers His people by the blood of the lamb (Grace) is the motivation for living covenant lives.


God delivers His people by the blood of the lamb:
THE PASSOVER
Exodus 11-13:
"The instructions I will give you for tonight should be followed each year in a festival of celebration. Each family must choose a one year old male sheep or goat, one that is flawless and clean.

Take special care of this chosen animal until the time you are to kill it at twilight. You are to take some of the blood from the lamb and smear it along the sides and top of the doorframes of your house.


On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the Lord! But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.


Continue to observe this festival every year as a time of remembrance. And when your children ask what it means, tell them: 'It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for he passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt. And though He struck the Egyptians, he spared our families.With the power of his mighty hand, the Lord brought us out of Egypt, the place of our slavery."


Why should we follow what God says?

o Identity: (Leviticus 20:26, John 2:3-6)

God set Israel apart to be different from the rest of the world. They follow a different Kingdom.

o Protection: (Jeremiah 29:11)

They’re not rules for the sake of rules but are the best way to live and for our good.

o To avoid sin: (Romans 3:20)

Sin disrupts the intimate relationship God desires with humanity and causes damage to ourselves and others.

o Act of Worship: (Romans 12:1-2)

In response to God’s grace and faithfulness, we offer our lives in gratitude. God’s sacrifice for us bought us back from sin because of love.

10 Commandments
When we read them now, they can seem like cold and harsh rules. We must remember that the Israelites are coming out of slavery and need their entire worldview re-shaped. In many ways they have the mindset of children and God needs to direct them for their best. They would have been used to a clear cut way of being lead. We re-wrote the commandments in a more positive tone in order to get a deeper sense of God's intention for these rules. Here's some examples:

1. You should have no other gods before Me.
There is only one God, and He is good and faithful. There is no reason to look to anything else becaues there's no one else out there.
2. Do not make any idol or image of worship.
God is beyond our wildest dreams and we could never fully express or represent Him with mere physical images. Don't put Him in a box, He's too great for that!
3. Do not take the name of the Lord in vain.
He is so good and so worthy of our praise that we should only speak of Him with humility, excitement, and honor because He's awesome!
4. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
God desires us to not be so busy that we forget to rest: physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally...It is for our best interest to take time to be refreshed, especially in His presence.
5. Honor your father and mother.
Your parents love you and want what is best for you. We show our gratitude for them by obeying and respecting them with our words and actions.
6. You should not committ murder.
Cherish life! It is a gift that should be protected and honored, for both yourself and others.
7. Do not committ adultery.
Be faithful to the commitments you have made, and to the people you have made them. The marriage relationship is an expression of our relationship with God, built on a covenant, and we should place a high value on it.
8. Do not steal.
Respect others by respecting their stuff. Be happy with what you have.
9. Do not bear false witness against your neighbor.
Live with honesty in the things that you do and say.
10. Do not covet your neighbor's house.
Be content with the gifts you have been given. God has blessed you with so much and we should be more grateful for what we have.

Response Work:
Here's another simple assignment that you need to bring with you in two weeks to Disciple: Whether typed up or hand written, I want you to explain in your own words 3 major points you've learned during our first four weeks of Disciple. 

What things have stood out to you the most so far? What thoughts have stayed with you? The explanation doesn't have to be more than a page, and you can include verses, illustrations, etc to help you explain. 

Have your parents read it and sign the bottom of it and bring it along on March 25.

The Candlesticks of Grace

We began our night looking at a scene from Les Miserables. It was an illustration of what grace is: It is a free and undeserved gift from God. The following scene looks at this more closely:

"Don't ever forget. You've promised to be a new man...You no longer belong to evil. With this silver, I bought your soul. I ransomed you from fear and hatred."

These words are echoed throughout the Gospel as we have been bought by the blood of Christ and ransomed our souls from a life separated from Him. This is one of the most important pieces of God's Love Story and a truth that we must never forsake.

What about the Covenant?!

Last week we looked at promises made to Abraham about 1) having a great nation and name from his descendants 2) all who bless his family would be blessed, all who cursed his family would be cursed 3) his descendants would have land of their own and 4) that all the world would be blessed through his family. 

300 or so years later, the Israelite people are brutally oppressed as slaves working for one of the world's great super powers: The Pharaoh of Egypt:
"So the Egyptians made the Israelites their slaves. They appointed brutal slave drivers over them, hoping to wear them down with crushing labor. They forced them to build the cities of Pithom and Rameses as supply centers for the king. ¹² But the more the Egyptians oppressed them, the more the Israelites multiplied and spread, and the more alarmed the Egyptians became. ¹³ So the Egyptians worked the people of Israel without mercy. ¹⁴ They made their lives bitter, forcing them to mix mortar and make bricks and do all the work in the fields. They were ruthless in all their demands." (Exodus 1:11-14, NLT)


The people of Israel have been suffering as slaves for hundreds of years. Their identity and dignity as human beings has been all but erased. From later passages, it appears that no one knew who God was any more...Their covenant relationship with Him had long been lost under the weight of suffering. Where was God? When would He deliver them?




God Demonstrates His Power and Deliverance

We looked at God's plan of deliverance as done through Moses. In Exodus 7:1, God tells "“Pay close attention to this. I will make you seem like God to Pharaoh, and your brother, Aaron, will be your prophet. " From that point on, God demonstrates His power to both the Egyptian people and the Israelites through a series of explosive displays of His power, which we call the 10 Plagues.


Although it's too much to explain on this blog, we looked at how each plague could be linked to a specific aspect of Egyptian religious practice or deity. God shows that He is the One True and Only God by insulting the entire system of Egyptian belief, leading to the chief god Amon-Ra (the sun god) and Pharaoh himself (who was considered the reincarnation of Ra). It's a fascinating study to see how the plagues tie into specific gods. I would caution that the view we looked at isn't the only one as there are other theories and other gods that may have fit into plagues 1-8.

There's still more...

We didn't completely wrap up our story of the delivery from Egypt. We looked at God's demonstration of  who He is to Egypt and Israel, but we left with the Jewish people probably fearfully unsure of what to do with this God who came to save them. Is this a god to fear? If He can destroy the Egyptians, what could He do to a bunch of worthless slaves?


Next Thursday we take a break from the Love Story to look at the early church history. In two weeks, we'll continue our look at the Passover and life after Egypt.

Response Work:
Ok, this is real simple...I want you to do this week is bring your parents to this site and explain to them what we went over during our night (including the new videos we weren't able to get to). So this should be real easy since there's so much material right here online and you know so much anyway! You're essentially TEACHING your parents :) Then, I want you to ask them for a time in their lives when God has shown up or provided in a way that was unexpected...both in what He did and when He did it.


Lastly, re-read the verses underneath each point (Covenant, Grace, Timing, Provision) and re-read it at least 15 times throughout the week before we meet again. What does that verse mean to you? Journal your thoughts. Come prepared to share both of these things next week!


God’s Love Story: Genesis 12:1-3, 22

Truth about God, ourselves and life:


God’s Covenant:

Our relationship with God is based on HIS faithfulness rather than OUR efforts/actions/good works. In the story of Abraham, we looked at Genesis 12 and how God promises 4 things to Abraham...What were they??


This video gives a modern day telling of the story of God's Covenant with Abraham:





(God promised Abraham would be a 1) great nation 2) have his own land 3) have a great name and 4) the whole world would be blessed through his descendants.)

God saved you by His GRACE, when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this because it is the free gift from God. Relationship with Him is not a reward for the good things we have done! (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Covenant vs. Contract
A contract is an agreed upon set of expectations between two parties. It is an IF, THEN relationship. Our example was: IF Mac cleans up the Youth Room, THEN I will pay him some cash. If either side doesn't hold up their end of the bargain, the contract is broken.



Your parents are a good way to remember the difference that a covenant is: They provide food, clothes, shelter and protection to you not based upon how well you do your chores, get good grades, or even obey them. They provide those things based on their love for you. If they set up a contract relationship, you'd probably all be living on the streets by the time you were 8.


Your parents still have expectations, rules, and responsibilities for you to follow. Thankfully, however, their relationship with you is based not on how well you live up to some of those rules.

What is grace?
A free and undeserved gift.


The relationship we have with God is based on grace, which is a gift from Him, nothing that we can earn. Remember the differences between JUSTICE, MERCY, and GRACE? What were they?


Those who have remained faithful because of God’s grace—which is His undeserved kindness in choosing them. And since it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved. (Romans 11:5-6)




God's Timing

We often want God to work on our schedule, but sometimes God’s plan is a longer road that helps us develop into the people He wants. Do you remember how long Abraham and Sarah waited for God's promise of a son? Can you imagine waiting and waiting and waiting for something like that!? But it was all apart of God's plan and His timing was perfect.

This is also true for all of humanity and His plan to win us back:

At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for those who had been separated from Him. (Romans 5:6)





God's Provision

God doesn’t promise life will be easy, but He promises He will provide His presence during the hard times. We read this really strange request that God makes of Abraham in Genesis 22. He asks that Abraham sacrifice his one and only son...The son he waited and hoped for 25 years...And now God wants him killed?! Why does God ask him that?


But God always provides and in Isaac's place, He provides a SUBSTITUTE SACRIFICE.



For Jesus Christ is the sacrifice that covers our sins, not just ours, but the sins of all the world. (1 John 2:2)