Ready for Impact (10 minutes)
Catch up on how things have been since the last time your Impact Group met. Allow anyone new to introduce themselves. Then ask group members:
- In your family or culture, what meals are associated with significant occasions and celebrations?
Ask for a volunteer to read Exodus 12:1-13, 29-34 to the group, praying a short prayer that – however much they’ve come to know Jesus, they’d get to know him better because of your time together.
Impacted by the Word (25 minutes)
Watch the first part of the video together.
Download this video to watch offline or read the transcript here.
God gives instructions for a meal to be eaten by his people. It’s a meal that tells them what is about to happen and will be a meal they eat annually for the rest of their lives.
- Write a list of the things that God commands his people to do in verse 1-11.
- Does anything particularly strike you about God’s instructions?
God has sent nine plagues on Israel. He’s given Pharaoh nine opportunities to listen to him and to free the Israelites. But Pharaoh has repeatedly refused to listen, so God brings one final plague: the death of every firstborn son.
The distinction between those families who will be spared, and those who won’t, depends on whether their door was marked by the blood of the lamb.
- Re-read verses 29-30. Imagine you’re a firstborn Israelite son. How do you think you would have felt as you woke up the following morning and heard of what had happened?
Now watch the second part of the video.
Download this video to watch offline or read the transcript here.
In verse 38, we hear of ‘many other people’ who joined the Israelites in their escape from Egypt, most likely including many Egyptian people.
- If any Egyptian painted blood on their doorframes, they too would have been spared. What does that tell you about what God is like?
We find God’s judgement hard to stomach. But it’s crucial to understanding how true freedom is found.
- If any Israelite didn’t paint blood on their doorframes, they would have faced God’s judgement. What does that tell you about the way that God saves his people?
Split into three groups, and each read one of the following: John 1:29, 1 Peter 1:18-19, Revelation 5:9-12.
Discuss and feedback:
- In what ways do the events of the Passover point forwards to Jesus?
If we shelter under Jesus’ blood we can know total security. However we have lived, we need not fear God’s judgement on our lives.
This final plague is an expression of God’s judgement against Egypt. We might find discussion of God’s judgement hard to hear, but God’s judgement is good news and is key to understand if we are to know what it means to be truly free.
God is holy and good. He is committed to holiness and goodness in his world. As he sees his people oppressed as slaves, prevented from worshipping him, he rightly confronts evil and brings judgement. God’s judgement is not erratic and hot-headed, but a settled opposition to everything that is evil. Because God is good, God judges.
However, this same propensity for evil amongst the Egyptians lurks in the hearts of the Israelites too. As you read on in their story, they go onto ignore the God they were made to worship. They make themselves god and ruler of their lives and end up oppressing others. The Israelites too deserve God’s judgement.
The same is true for us. We too ignore God and perpetrate evil. In his commitment to holiness and goodness in the world, he should remove us from the picture.
This is what makes the good news of Jesus so good. Though we deserve judgement, Jesus faces it on our behalf. Since God’s settled judgement has been placed on him, we can know the freedom that comes from knowing total security and safety.
Not only this, but we can hope for a day when God’s judgement will finally be done. Where everything evil will be done away with, where there will only be goodness and holiness in a physical new creation. It’s only because of Jesus, it’s only because of the blood of the lamb, that we can find ourselves as citizens of that new creation.
Impacting our Hearts (10 minutes)
Uncertainty can leave us feeling cautious and restricted. We don’t feel free if we’re always having to protect ourselves from danger.
Followers of Jesus can be certain. Jesus’ death for them in real history has secured their forgiveness, welcome, and eternal life. Nothing will ever change that. They are safe in God’s love forever, and that will never change.
How might knowledge of what God has already done, give us a sense of security and freedom when we face:
- Difficulty in our past
- Uncertainty in our future
- Challenges in our present
Pray and give thanks for the freedom Jesus has brought you into.
Impacting the University (10 minutes)
Whilst the kind of security Jesus offers may be appealing, it is also an exclusive claim. Just as it was only by sheltering under the blood of the lamb that the people could be safe, you can only draw near to God because of Jesus blood.
Students will often ask ‘Why is Jesus the only way?’
Discuss in groups.
- What might be motivating a student who asks this question? How would you respond?
- How do you feel about sharing such an exclusive message?
- What might it look like for your group to be a place in which questions like the above are welcomed?
What might it look like for your group to be a place in which questions like the above are welcomed?
Wrap-up – TACOS 🌮
Thank You – Thank everyone for coming, and ask someone to thank God for your time together in prayer.
Ask – Ask those who are new to reading the Bible if they’d like to explore Uncover, a set of sessions in Mark’s Gospel, allowing them to investigate one of the earliest accounts of Jesus’ life alongside one of you.
Church and CU – What does the CU have planned ahead? And what help would group members value in finding a local church?
Others – Who else could you invite to join your CU Impact Group next week? These friends don’t need to be followers of Jesus and may really appreciate being invited.
See You Soon – Tell the group where and when you’ll meet next week, and arrange who will bring snacks. (You might like to alternate healthy and less healthy weeks!). See if anyone would be up for sharing a meal or just hanging out in the meantime!