Week 41 - Exodus 32:1-14
Broken Vows
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Broken vows on the wedding night.
God rescues his people from slavery, takes them to the wilderness and initiates a marriage covenant with them. Then on their "wedding night," they are already breaking their vows. What hope is there for a people so rebellious?
And if not them, then what hope for you and me!?
Grace and Peace,
Week 40 - Exodus 20:1-17
It’s not about cussing!
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What does it really mean to "not take God's name in vain"? Hint: it's NOT about using g-d as a swear word!
We overview the 10 commandments with a special look at taking the Lord's name.
BOOK REFERENCE: Carmen Imes, "Bearing God's Name" (IVP)
Grace and Peace,
Week 39 - Exodus 19 & 20
What are we missing?
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When God wants us to come near, and we say "NO."
God gives Israel this incredible call to be his priests for the world, and they immediately put up their hands and say "no thanks." What a disappointment! It seems, once again, that God's plan to bless the world has fallen off the tracks before it even started.
Grace and Peace,
Week 38 - Exodus 19:1-9
Was God unfair?
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Why did God choose Israel?
It sounds so exclusive and unfair to our ears. Shouldn't God care about the whole world? Why would he choose one people? What makes them so special! In this pivotal text, we see why. Connected to the incredible calling Abraham received in Genesis 12, this week's text lays out the identity for Israel—they were chosen precisely because God desired to bless the whole world. It all centers on the remarkable idea that they were, all of them, supposed to be a nation of "priests."
Grace and Peace,
Week 37 - Exodus 16:13-30
Give us our Daily Bread
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Give us our daily bread.
God takes these former slaves into the desert where he begins to teach them a whole new outlook on life and work and rest. The Israelites didn't know what to call this mystery bread, but it pointed them toward a posture God needed to instill in their community.
Grace and Peace,
Week 36 - Exodus 14:5-18
Be still and get moving!
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Be still and get moving!
At the heart of this text is a fascinating picture of the paradox of faith. The great showdown between Egypt and Israel, the one we've been expecting from the beginning, is finally here. God's people seem to have already forgotten all that God did to get them here. They complain (typical!) and God saves the day anyway.
Grace and Peace,
Week 35 - Exodus 12:1-13
God resets the calendar
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This is worth resetting your calendars.
On the eve of God's great redemptive act for the Israelites, God tells the people to restart their calendar and takes time to discuss the significance for future generations. In a moment of suspense building, God stops the narrative flow to unpack these important instructions.
Grace and Peace,
Week 34 - Exodus 10:1-11
Who has a seat at God’s table?
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Who is valued in God's economy of worship?
Pharaoh once again his heart hardened against letting the people go. This time his excuse is that only the men should go, but why would he allow anyone else. Moses' response shed light on God's idea of who should be allowed a seat at his table in worship.
Grace and Peace,
Week 33 - Exodus 9:13-35
Do they even have a chance? YES!
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A hurricane of mercy.
We're jumping in at plague 7 of 10 that God sends against Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Some key ideas come out this week that help underline God's character and intent behind these severe plagues with which God is judging Pharaoh. What chance do the Egyptians have against the wrath of God? Turns out quite a lot.
Grace and Peace,
Week 32 - Exodus 5:1-23
When helping makes it worse.
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Ever feel like all you’re doing is making it worse?
Moses' first encounter with Pharoah doesn't go too well. Now everyone seems to be angry with him—Pharoah can't believe his audacity, and his own people are complaining. What is God up to and why is this happening?!
Grace and Peace,
Week 31 - Exodus 4:18-31
God tried to kill Moses?
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So that happened... Moses finally agrees to be God's messenger—to begin the great rescue of God's people. And then GOD shows up that night to kill Moses???? Well no one ever said the Bible wasn't interesting! This week we'll dive into this strange moment at the beginning of Moses' journey back to Egypt.
Grace and Peace,
Week 30 - Exodus 4:1-17
What makes God angry?
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Here is the first time God is ever described as being "angry." So what is it that makes God furious, what is it that makes his face hot? The answer might surprise you, and will hopefully challenge us. Let's look at round 2 of Moses objecting to the call and see.
Grace and Peace,
Week 29 - Exodus 3:11-22
What’s this god’s name?
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"When they ask what's this god's name, what am I to say?" Moses is a very unwilling servant. He keeps making excuse after excuse, and right in the middle, God tells Moses his name. This God binds himself to a very unlikely group.
Grace and Peace,
Week 28 - Exodus 2:23-3:10
What kind of God is this?
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When God decides to act on behalf of an oppressed group of slaves he sets in motion one of the greatest acts of redemption in the entire Bible, surpassed only by the cross. This moment sets the tone for how we understand God and God's relationship toward us for the rest of the story.
Grace and Peace,
Week 27 - Exodus 2:11-22
Where do you belong?
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Moses is having an identity crisis. He's a Hebrew, raised to look and talk like an Egyptian, and he doesn't quite seem to fit in anywhere. He tries to help but only seems to make things worse. Is this really the man God is going to use to rescue his people?
Grace and Peace,
Week 26 - Exodus 2:1-10
What’s with this baby?
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We should expect great things from this baby. As we dive into Moses' birth story we start to see connections to the rest of God's redemptive history. And once again, God chooses the overlooked and marginalized.
Grace and Peace,
Week 25 - Exodus 1:8-22
Ladies 1 : Pharaoh 0
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Ladies 1 : Pharoah 0 — Israel is enslaved and God begins his rescue plan in an unlikely place. Pharoah thinks he has all the power, but when he overlooks the women it's the beginning of the end.
What do you notice about who takes center-stage here?
What does this tell you about God?
Grace and Peace,
Week 24 - a look back at Genesis
Pause and reflect
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Take some time this week to look back on what we've covered so far. In 23 weeks we have studied Genesis 1-22, looking at the origin stories that create the foundation for the rest of the Bible. What insights did you have? What new lenses did you find for interpreting the Bible? What lingering questions come to mind?
Use the links below to find any previous studies you may have missed.
Grace and Peace,
Week 23 - Genesis 22:1-14
Child Sacrifice? Yikes!
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Child Sacrifice? Really God? Abraham being willing to kill his son Isaac is one of those stories that offend many people in today's world. How do we make sense of such a barbaric sounding test and what does this passage tell us about God and our faith?
Grace and Peace,
Week 22 - Genesis 18:26-33
What if you could save an entire town?
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God said he would rescue an entire town if he could find just a handful of faithful worshippers. What if that were still true? Sometimes our approach as Christians is to run away from our world, but what if a few faithful witnesses could change everything?
Grace and Peace,