Walking With God: Past - Present - Future Week Two

A Day To Remember

This week, while you meet with your Faith Formation Group you may want to reflect on our Scripture passage by reading Exodus 12:14 (printed below) and discuss the questions from the Scripture and Sermon as a way to begin a conversation. 

Exodus 12:14

“This day will be a day of remembering for you. You will observe it as a festival to the LORD. You will observe it in every generation as a regulation for all time.

Questions for Consideration:

1. Exodus 12:14 comes in the middle of the story of the passover––the night that God would pass over the homes of those who had the blood of the lamb brushed over the top and the sides of their doorframe––the night when God would liberate the nation of Israel. Can you remember a time when God came and did a miraculous work in your life or family? Take time to share this story with your group.
2. Why do you think it is important to remember our stories? What does your story tell you about yourself today?
3. The Jewish calendar revolves around special holidays where their story is told over and over again. Why do you think it is important to hear over and over the story of God’s work within His people? Can you tell the story of God’s work in your life? Take time to share some highlights with your group.

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: Do I give time for the Bible to speak to me every day? (Pages 49-52 in The Wesley Challenge)

Walking With God: Past, Present, Future

This week, while you meet with your Faith Formation Group you may want to reflect on our Scripture passage by reading Deuteronomy 1:6-8 (printed below) and discuss the questions from the Scripture and Sermon as a way to begin a conversation. 

Deut. 1:6    “When we were at Mount Sinai, the LORD our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. ⁷ It is time to break camp and move on. Go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all the neighboring regions—the Jordan Valley, the hill country, the western foothills, the Negev, and the coastal plain. Go to the land of the Canaanites and to Lebanon, and all the way to the great Euphrates River. ⁸ Look, I am giving all this land to you! Go in and occupy it, for it is the land the LORD swore to give to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and to all their descendants.’”

Questions for Consideration:

1. We have been blessed to be in the Eisenhower Recreation Center for the past four years. Name something that has blessed you during our time together in that place?
2. This Scripture implies that there are times to stay put and then times to move to the next place. This applies to both our physical locations as well as our spiritual and personal being. Describe a time when God has kept you still for a period and how then God directed you that it was time to move on?
3. As you look at your past what are the foundational things God has done in your life to prepare you for the moment you are now living in?
   

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: How do I spend my spare time? (Pages 79-84 in The Wesley Challenge)

Made for Shalom: A Heart at War

This week, while you meet with your Faith Formation Group you may want to reflect on our Scripture passage by reading Psalm 34:14 and Luke 18:9-14 (printed below) and discuss the questions from the Scripture and Sermon as a way to begin a conversation. 

Psalm 34:14

Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

Luke 18:9-14

Then Jesus told this story to some who had great confidence in their own righteousness and scorned everyone else: ¹⁰ “Two men went to the Temple to pray. One was a Pharisee, and the other was a despised tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed this prayer^a: ‘I thank you, God, that I am not like other people—cheaters, sinners, adulterers. I’m certainly not like that tax collector! ¹² I fast twice a week, and I give you a tenth of my income.’

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance and dared not even lift his eyes to heaven as he prayed. Instead, he beat his chest in sorrow, saying, ‘O God, be merciful to me, for I am a sinner.’ ¹⁴ I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Questions for Consideration:

1. When have you found yourself stuck in a box?
2. Which box(es) do you struggle with most?
3. How does the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (scripture above) teach about getting out of the box and begin to live with a heart of peace? 

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 57-62 in The Wesley Challenge)