Focus 2024: Week 1
Author:
December 31, 2023
January 1st: Before the Battle
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 14:1-7: “And his armor-bearer said to him, ‘Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.’”
So What:
It’s January 1st, and our calendars are rolling into another year. Like us, we see Jonathan, King Saul’s son, standing on the edge of something incredible. Just before him lies a battle with the Philistines – well trained soldiers, who have come to subdue Israel. We’re standing on the edge of something as well – all that God has for us in this coming year.
As a church, we’re spending time focused on the calling God has for our lives, and on our church family. We know that God has called us to some incredible things – a new church plant, discipleship at every level, and clearly displaying the message of Jesus to our communities. None of those things are possible without God’s help and the community he’s surrounded us with.
As a part of the family, you’re standing right in front of what God has for you as well. You may have some goals – helping your own family develop spiritually, getting fit, or advancing in your career. You may feel a specific calling from God to serve somewhere or to do something wildly different from what your life looks like today. None of those things are possible without God’s help, and leaning into the community he’s surrounded us with.
That’s exactly what we see in this passage. Jonathan has a huge vision for what he needs to accomplish.
“Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” In this moment of desperation and adrenaline, Jonathan is looking towards his community for support; His armor-bearer’s response is profound and encouraging. “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish. Behold, I am with you heart and soul.”
Now What:
God has a plan and purpose for your upcoming year, within your family, within our church, and personally. As we stand on the edge of another year, it’s worth asking God what He’s calling us to. We need to take time to consider who God has placed around us, and how He would have us live out His calling on our lives as we care for those around us, and seek to go after what God has for us, even when it’s difficult.
Questions to consider:
As you consider your family and personal life, how is God calling you to move forward in this next year?
God has placed community around us to encourage us – however, He has also placed us to encourage others, like Jonathan’s armor-bearer. Who can you reach out to in the next few days to be intentional about encouraging as they follow the Lord?
January 2nd: Confidence in the Battle
Scripture Reading: 1 Samuel 14:8-15: “And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, ‘Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.’ Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him.”
So What:
With encouragement from his armor bearer, Jonathan scaled the hill on his hands and knees to take the fight to the enemy. He may have been afraid, or, if we’re being honest, tired of climbing. However, he reminds us that “the Lord has given them (the Philistines) into the hand of Israel”. Jonathan doesn’t waste words talking about his own skill or strength. Rather, in the middle of the battle, he reminds his armor-bearer that the Lord is the one who is going to take care of His people.
As we consider all that the Lord has called us into, we may grow anxious, fearful, and feel like we’re unable to move forward. Scripture calls us to remember that the fight is not our own. God is taking care of His people. Even as we follow Him into difficult territory, we’re reminded that the Lord is our hope in the battle.
Now What:
Yesterday, you spent time considering what God has called you, your family, and our church to, and you may be feeling anxious or like you’re unable to do the things He’s called you to. Whether it’s leading your family spiritually, wisely managing your finances, or making a major life change, God is with us in the middle of it. As a church family, we’re looking at some incredibly exciting new things this year, that we will mostdefinitely need God’s guidance and help in. We can’t move forward without Him. The good news is this; on our path to what God is calling us to, we can go to Him. He invites us to seek His help in whatever He has called us to do.
Questions to consider:
When you consider how God has called you to move forward, or even how God is asking our church to move forward, what are your major fears and concerns?
In the middle of your own battle, what are some ways you can remind yourself of where your hope truly comes from?
January 3rd: In Need of a Change
Scripture Reading: Exodus 1:6-14: “So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.”
So What:
As we enter into the book of Exodus and begin to answer questions about what God has called us to and how he’s getting us there, it’s important to start with another question; Why? This week, we’ll be leading up to answering this very personal question for Moses, and what drove him to boldly go where God called him to. But before we get there, it’s important to set the stage for why God sent Moses to intervene in the first place.
The answer is simple; God saw his people in need of a change. Read verse 13-14 again; “So they ruthlessly made the people of Israel work as slaves and made their lives bitter with hard service, in mortar and brick, and in all kinds of work in the field. In all their work they ruthlessly made them work as slaves.” They were a futureless people, working without purpose. They were enslaved and hurting. Scripture says their lives were made “bitter.” They needed God to bring change into their lives.
Now What:
In our own lives, we have a need for God to intervene. We’re in need of a change. We need salvation, freedom, and hope. We need God to fuel our faith with His own strength and for Him to give us his peace along the way. For many of us, we feel burdened like the people of Israel. Isolated, working without a purpose, and feeling like we’re barely making it. Some of us need God to change our family situations, or help us feel connected again. Thankfully, as we’ll explore over the next few weeks, God is calling us out of slavery and isolation, and into His freedom and purpose for our lives.
Questions to consider:
Have you ever felt purposeless, or like you didn’t have much of a future? What was that time in your life like? What changed for you?
Are there areas of your life currently where you need God to intervene? Ask Him, specifically, today!
January 4th: An Echo of the Future
Scripture Reading: Exodus 1:15-22: “Then Pharaoh commanded all his people, ’Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile, but you shall let every daughter live.’”
So What:
In the middle of one of Israel’s most desperate times, when things couldn’t get much worse, they do. The Pharaoh of Egypt, their leader, begins committing genocide against the people of Israel, dooming every son born within their people. The midwives step in to save the day, but things certainly aren’t going well. And while we know a rescuer in the form of Moses is on the way, it’s important to note that we’re seeing some incredible foreshadowing of what’s coming when God truly rescues us, by sending Jesus, His Son, to us.
In Matthew, we read: “Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’”
While Jesus is fleeing the opposite direction (towards Egypt, instead of away from it), we see Herod, someone in power, seeking to rule and reign over the people of God. Pharaoh commanded genocide to avoid Israel growing strong enough to rule themselves. Herod attempted to destroy Jesus, fearing the rule of another king.
What’s true in each story is that God, in the middle of our need, sent someone to rescue and save. As we continue looking at the book of Exodus, there will be many moments foreshadowing the reality of Christ’s coming. However, what we’ll see through this book is that our calling is to respond to God’s kindness.
Now What:
Throughout history, God has been kind to us and rescued us from ourselves, and our enemies. As we continue to head towards the entry of Moses on the scene, and start to look at why God saved, and why Moses felt compelled to faithfully follow God, it’s worth considering how God has rescued us. God, out of His great love, has invited us into His Kingdom, where we no longer live under the slavery of sin, but under His freedom and grace.
Questions to consider:
When you consider your past, what are some things God rescued you from? How has He changed your destiny and the course of your life?
The midwives intervened in Moses’ rescue before we even see Moses’ name on the page. How has God provided for you and your family, before you were able to be a part of providing for yourself?
January 5th: The Practice of Trust
Scripture Reading: Exodus 2:1-10: “When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.”
So What:
Moses’ mother suffered under the weight of living under Pharaoh. Her people were oppressed and families were being separated from one another all around her. And she was pregnant! She brought a child into the world in a time of incredible difficulty, with no way to provide or care for the child. And in the middle of all of it, we see her set her baby into a basket, and trust that God would care for the child. She released any control she had over the situation and let God do whatever He would do in her situation.
As we head towards looking at Moses’ ‘why’, and why God needed to rescue His people, it’s important to notice this: over and over again, God is faithful, kind in the miraculous and beautiful ways that go beyond anyone’s ability to control or predict. Moses’ story, from the beginning, saw the hand of God acting tangibly and wonderfully in his life.
Now What:
As a part of our Friday practice, we’re inviting you into intentionally trusting God with all that you have. Like in Moses’ story, God has been faithful and kind to us, even when we were unable to provide for or care for ourselves. Like Moses’ mother, we have an opportunity to set aside our control, and completely entrust our lives to the One who cares for us so deeply.
Questions to Consider:
One of the ways we can take steps to fully surrendering to the Lord is by reminding ourselves of His continued faithfulness. Remind yourself of a time that God answered your prayers and you saw His provision.
Sometime’s God calls us to trust Him, even in immensely difficult times. Think of the faith that Moses’ mother had to trust the Lord, even when she had no idea the outcome. Does it feel like God is calling you (or our church) to the impossible right now? How can you adopt the same posture of trust that Moses’ mother had?
January 6th: The God of Compassion
Scripture Reading: Exodus 2:23-25: “God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.”
So What:
As we read through the book of Exodus, you’ll notice that the nation of Egypt is not a particularly compassionate place. Every time Israel grows as a people group, they are loaded down with more burdens. They aren’t remembered, but rather, intentionally isolated and pushed aside. Some of us have dealt with people, companies, or families who have made us feel this way. When we look at the God of the Bible, He is constantly remembering His people, and taking care of them. It’s no different here; God sees the plight His people are in, hears their cries for help, and very shortly, He will answer.
Now What:
As followers of Jesus, as we begin to answer our “why”, it’s important for us to look at God’s character as the image we’re being formed into. God takes compassion on those who can’t help themselves. He cares for His people. When they are in need, He remembers them and leads them out of purposeless work, and into what He has for them.
It’s easy for believers to turn away from the mission, or be distracted. It’s easy to lose focus, or focus on ourselves as the most important mission. But when we look at the way God cares for His people, we’re reminded that we’re called to have a heart for the lost, the broken, and those in need. We should have a desire, like God’s heart expressed here in scripture, to see men and women brought out of slavery to sin and hopelessness, and into God’s purpose for their lives.
Questions to Consider:
Is there a group of people or a specific person that God has put on your heart to reach out to or minister to in this season? If not, spend some time asking God who He might be calling you to.
What are some practical steps you can take to connect with that person, or begin moving towards God’s calling in your life during this season?
January 7th: The Why Behind What We Do
Scripture Reading: Exodus 3:1-10: “Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
So What:
Today, we’re looking at a day of radical life change in the life of Moses. From this moment forward, he’ll move from living to himself, to living to make an impact. There will certainly be bumps along the way, but it’s important to look at WHY Moses is obedient to God’s calling on his life after this moment. Simply put, he has an incredible God in front of him, an incredible need around him, and an incredible future ahead of him. In this passage, we see Moses confronted by the Lord in the wilderness. He isn’t planning on it, or expecting it. God appears and shares who He is. But in the middle of their heated (see what I did there) conversation, the Lord reminds Moses of the pain (and need) his people are going through. God announces that He’s come to free them and lead them somewhere quite different. Finally, God shares with Moses that he has a part in their freedom. “I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the Children of Israel, out of Egypt.”
Now What:
God has revealed Himself to us as well – through scripture, prayer, and in our communities. And while scripture reveals some very real needs – for discipleship, for the poor and in need, and for those in our church community – we need to understand what God is up to when he places these needs in front of us. Often, when God places one of these needs on our hearts, He’s also revealing where we’re called to jump in and serve. If you feel compassion for the next generation and have a desire to see them passionately following Jesus, it might be because the Lord wants to use you in doing that. If you feel like your family is your greatest need, and that you want to see them begin living out the life that Jesus has called them to, it’s likely that God has placed that desire on your heart and is calling you to follow Him in that area.
Whatever God is calling you to, He has prepared the path, and will be with you on it, no matter how difficult the journey. He knows our future and will care for us on the way there.
Questions to Consider:
What needs has God placed in front of you?
What are some ways you might be a part of the solution to that need?
BACK