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Big Idea

I am the LORD your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.
Leviticus 26:13 ESV

God’s Law flows from His life giving nature. Through the Law, He invites all into a deep relationship with Him and to a life of flourishing.

Ice Breaker

1. The shaping of our character is based on the choices we make along the way. Share with the group a hard choice you made that you are thankful for today. Ask group members if anyone is facing tough choices in their life currently. Consider pausing at some point during the evening to pray together for those group members.
   

2. Consider reading the following to prepare the group for the Next Step:

   God gives us His law and invites us to honor Him and to receive both His presence and all the blessings of living out His law, but our culture has rejected God and His laws. As Christians, we can be tempted to fit in better with our culture by constructing a theology around it instead of God.

   For example, we may try to keep God but redefine marriage, trade sanctity of life for “choice”, trade creation for evolutionism, trade a full tithe with something less, trade living in harmony with others for living with grudges and bitterness toward others, or we may trade honoring the widow, orphan and sojourner with a safer alternative.

Next Step

Discuss :: In what ways do I pick and choose my theology to fit my desires rather than God’s? How does it affect my individual relationships?

Additional Discussion Questions

1. Read Leviticus 26:3-16 together as a group. God says to honor him, so don’t have any other gods before Him. Don’t focus your heart on what will block you from Him.

   Take some time as a group to be quiet and reflect. Ask yourself the question, “What is there in my life that tends to block me from God?” Share your answer with the group.
   

2. Please read John 13:34-35 together. In this passage, we see that the Law of God takes us to the foundational core of loving God and loving one another. If there is a problem between us, we work to reconcile it. We bear well our relational pain. We live out a ministry of reconciliation through the Double Love Command.

   Ask each group member to share any current relational conflicts or tensions. Are we willing to engage with people in a redemptive way? Are we avoiding the ministry of reconciliation?
   Try to create a safe place within the group to talk about these relational tensions and move together toward taking a redemptive step.