Life Groups // Winter 2024 // Week 6
Posted February 16, 2024 — Lincoln Berean
That You May Not Sin // Exodus 20:8-21
Introduction
In this week’s passage God gives Moses and the Israelites the last 7 commandments of the decalogue. Since we are covering many commandments this week, the questions are laid out a bit differently. You will notice a table on page 3, that you should either fill in before group or take time in your group to complete it. This will enhance your discussion about these 7 commands and then don’t forget the last question about the epilogue on page 4.
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) How are you different now than before the pandemic?
2) Who was your least favorite teacher growing up? Why?
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 stuck out to you from Pastor Bryan’s sermon this past weekend and what do you find interesting from our passage (Exodus 20:8-21)?
2) Take a moment to remind yourself of the context of the 10 words given by God in our passage by reading Exodus 20:1-2. From the previous week, why did Pastor Jeff say these verses are foundational to the 10 words (commandments) as a whole?
3) Take a moment to fill in the table on the next page. Then discuss it with your group. (If people do not have this table filled out, you can take time in group to pair them up and have them fill it in together, before discussing it as a group, or fill it in together as you work your way through it.)
4) In the epilogue (vv. 18-21), the people again experience the presence of God manifested on the mountain as thunder, lightning, smoke and a trumpet blast and they respond with fear. How do you think you would have responded in this situation?
How should we understand Moses’ counsel to the people in verse 20? “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you so that you will not sin.”
What is the alternative to verse 20?
How do we obtain a reverential and worshipful view of God that will remain with us to keep us from sin?
What is one thing you can do this week to grow in reverence and awe of God?
(See Personal Spiritual Exercises below for suggestions on this.)
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 Isaiah 40:12-31 several times this week. Take time to ponder the amazing descriptions of our God in this passage. Respond to God in prayer.
Prayer Focus: Take a prayer walk outside this week during the day or night. As you walk praise God for his creation that you are experiencing, whether that is birds singing, the sun shining or the breadth of stars at night.
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?