Opening Questions and Prayer
What’s an irrational fear you have? (This is something that will most likely never happen, i.e. getting trapped in a time travel loop, dinosaurs, sharks in the swimming pool, etc.)
When you’re afraid, what do you do?
How does the world handle fear?
How did Jesus handle fear?
Ask the Lord to guide you as you study His Word today. Pray that He would show you how to live in the fear of the Lord.
Read Exodus 12:11-13
Exodus 12:11-13 (all scripture is in the NLT unless otherwise noted)
11 “These are your instructions for eating this meal: Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand. Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover. 12 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! 13 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.
Why did the Israelites have to make a sacrifice to be protected from this plague?
How was the Lord showing the Israelites that He had power over death?
What are some things people fear about death?
How does the Lord want us to view death?
How does the Lord want us to live life?
Read Luke 22:7-8, 14-16
Luke 22:7-8, 14-16
7 Now the Festival of Unleavened Bread arrived, when the Passover lamb is sacrificed.8 Jesus sent Peter and John ahead and said, “Go and prepare the Passover meal, so we can eat it together.”
14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before my suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”
What was significant about this last Passover meal before Jesus’ death?
What are some parallels between the sacrificial lamb of Passover, and Jesus?
How did Jesus approach this Passover meal differently knowing He was about to die?
What are some ways you can approach the hardships of life living in the fear of the Lord instead of the fear of the world?
Read Luke 22:19-20
Luke 22:19-20
19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.
What is the significance of the unleavened bread?
What is the significance of the cup of wine?
How did Jesus repurpose Passover?
What is the significance of Jesus’ sinless death in your daily life?
How can you remember Jesus’ sacrifice daily?
Read Exodus 14:10-12, 16:3
Exodus 14:10-12
10 As Pharaoh approached, the people of Israel looked up and panicked when they saw the Egyptians overtaking them. They cried out to the Lord, 11 and they said to Moses, “Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? 12 Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’”
Exodus 16:3
3 “If only the Lord had killed us back in Egypt,” they moaned. “There we sat around pots filled with meat and ate all the bread we wanted. But now you have brought us into this wilderness to starve us all to death.”
Why had the Israelites forgotten the Lord had rescued them from death?
What were some things that may have kept them from fully trusting God?
What are some things that keep you from truly trusting God?
How has He shown you that He has defeated death and will take care of you?
Why do we return to our worldly fears?
What can you do this week to walk by faith and not by sight?
Read 5:14b-17
2 Corinthians 5:14b-17
14 ...Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
What does Paul want the Corinthians to know?
What are some ways you are a new person in Christ?
What are some things that keep you from living the fulfilling life that Jesus gives to you through His death and return to life?
What is one thing you can do this week to live in the new life and not step back into that old life?
Read 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
2 Corinthians 5:18-21
18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. 20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” 21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
What does reconciliation mean?
What does being Christ’s ambassador mean?
What changes would you have to make in your life to be Christ’s ambassador?
Who in your life do you need to tell “Come back to God!”?
When will you talk to them this week?
Who will remind you to do this?
Memorize it!
2 Corinthians 5:20
20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
Closing thoughts and prayer
God showed the Israelites that He defeated death so they could live the fulfilling life He had for them, but time and time again they returned to a fearful life. Through Jesus, God has shown us clearly that He has defeated death, but like the Israelites, we have a tendency to return to worldly fear instead of Godly fear. Paul reminded us that we are made new in Christ. We don’t have to live like our old self, full of fear and worry. Not only do we have a new life, but we are to use that life to help restore people back to God.
Spend some time praying for those fears that you have that keep creeping back in your life. Then pray for someone you know who needs to hear about the message of reconciliation between Jesus and His people. If you can’t think of anyone, pray that the Lord would put someone in your life this week that you can share His love with. Pray for boldness in sharing.
End your time praying for our country and those who are hurting and need healing from the Lord. Pray for our church and the leaders.