Video EBlast for Sunday, June 24, 2018

Back To The Basics: The Power of Prayer

Exodus 17:8-13

This week, while you meet with your Faith Formation Group you may want to reflect on the sermon using the following Scripture and questions as a way to begin a conversation.  

Read Exodus 17:8-16

Ex. 17:8    While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them. ⁹ Moses commanded Joshua, “Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.”

Ex. 17:10    So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. ¹¹ As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. ¹² Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. ¹³ As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle.

Ex. 17:14    After the victory, the LORD instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” ¹⁵ Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the LORD is my banner”). ¹⁶ He said, “They have raised their fist against the LORD’s throne, so now the LORD will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.”

When people read this passage today, sometimes they struggle with the fact that God would call the Israelites to go out and defeat the Amalekites. Most scholars recommend that we have to look at a people within the context of their time and place and that we cannot take our sensibilities and place them on this other people. We also have to remember that God has worked with each generation of people within its own context. 

• As you read the passage what sticks out to you in how Moses responded to God? 
• What are some real world struggles today that correspond with this story of the refugees that we see in the the Sinai Peninsula? Often people struggle with the welcome of Refugees, yet here we find the refugees are the people of God.  What do you make of that?
• Read Job 31:32 and Matthew 25:35. What do these passages say to you about welcoming the stranger?
• How did Moses intercede for the people? What was the significance of Aaron and Hur being present with him on the hill?
• How can you intercede for the people of your life today?
• Finish your time studying by coming up with some ways that your group can grown in your communal prayer.

As you meet this week, we encourage you to also take time to open yourselves up as a group and dialog on the following Wesley Challenge question:  Am I proud? (Pages 57-61 in The Wesley Challenge)