David and Michal

Scripture:

2 Samuel 6:14-23

Quick Summary:

King David came into Jerusalem dancing before the ark. His wife was so embarrassed. He said, “I don’t care if I am king. I will praise God with all I have, even if it is embarrassing.” 

The Point:

Praise God like nobody’s watching.

Questions for Family Time:

1.     Why was Michal embarrassed of David?

a.      He was dressed in like a commoner, dancing in the street.

2.     That is embarrassing! Why was he doing that?

a.      He was praising God, and celebrating God’s ark coming into God’s city.

3.     How do you praise God?

a.      (with singing, dancing, shouts of praise, praying aloud, etc.)

4. Do you ever feel too embarrassed to worship like that?

   

    *In this lesson, I used the word Praise and Worship interchangeably. While these 2 words are similar, they are not exactly the same. Praise is when we show gratitude to God. Worship is when we give God our attention. We have worship services in which we praise God, along with other things like pray for the needs of our community, read the Bible together and learn together. Worship includes praise, but also includes lament (crying out to God) and mourning. 

Deeper:

            The Ark of the Covenant had been a spoil of war, taken far from the temple of God by the Philistines. When Israel got it back, they discovered it was no random piece of property. David’s act was not a celebration of war. It was a celebration of God.

            To make it clear this was not a normal military procession, David took of his king robes and regalia to enter as a common man. This was a huge symbol of humility. It was his way of saying God was Israel’s real king. He came in dancing on foot, not reverent and regal on the king’s horse. He came celebrating and inviting the nation watching this parade to join in celebration that God was among them.

            This horrified Queen Michal. Unlike David, Michal had been born royalty. As King Saul’s daughter, she had been given to David as a prize of war. She had never lived outside of a palace and knew how dignified royalty acted. This was not it. Royalty didn’t dance around in plain linen. People were to bow to the king, not dance alongside him. Yet this is exactly what David did. He was willing to look the fool for God to look like the king.

            Sometimes, like Michal, we get caught up in perceptions. We think worship should be reverent, and interpret reverent as quiet, calm, and without joy. But God reminds us that true praise is filled with embarrassing moments. God is glorified when we stop being self-conscious and follow the Holy Spirit’s leading. At Wednesday Worship, that means dancing during our centering song, or lifting up a personal prayer request. It may mean reading even though we may fumble over the words, or singing a song even if we may hit wrong notes. True Praise of God happens when, like David, we get over ourselves and are honest with God. It is when we are less concerned about what people will think and more concerned with what God thinks.   

Personal Reflection:

             


   When have you been willing to be embarrassed to worship God?

Lesson 5: Water and Manna

Scripture

Exodus 15:22-16:18

Quick Summary

            The Hebrews are free from Pharaoh’s rule but are now stuck in the desert without food or water. They complain because they have nothing to drink, and God gives them water. They complain because they have no food and God give them meat for supper and bread for breakfast. The bread which falls from heaven as dew in the morning is called Manna.

The Point

God will provide.

Questions for Family Time

1.     What did God provide for the Israelites/Hebrews in the desert?

a.      Water, quail (meat), manna (frosted flakes, bread)

2.     What has God provided for you?

Our Song for today:

I hunger and thirst for you, I hunger and thirst for you.

In the desert of my need, you’re the fountain that I seek.

You’re the living water I keep running to.

I hunger and thirst for you, I hunger and thirst for you.

I hunger and thirst for you, I hunger and thirst for you.

Heaven’s Manna, Bread of Life, fill the emptiness inside

Nothing else can satisfy me like your do.

 I hunger and thirst for you, I hunger and thirst for you.

Deeper

            My daughter was 4 months old when I got a call from the emergency room. My husband had been working in construction when a table saw on his work site fell off of its makeshift stand and deeply cut his fingers. With the rest of the week off to recuperate, we went to visit his parents over the weekend and came home to get the call Monday morning that he had been fired. That Thursday, we got another call that his mother had passed away. After two funerals and two weeks away from home, we came home to discover our electricity had been out and all of our perishable food had perished. Our credit cards were maxed out and we had no income. It was the desert of our need.

God fed us in that desert. A Methodist woman came by with groceries to fill our house. Our church provided baby clothes. Most miraculous of all, within a week we got a call about a church in need of a pastor. We had sent that resume long enough before that we had forgotten we sent it.

God met our every need, just as he met the need of the Hebrews in the desert. God doesn’t promise life will be smooth sailing when we trust in him. But when we trust him, he provides what we NEED to get through the desert.     

Personal Reflection

1.     What deserts has God fed you in?

Lesson 3: 10 Plagues of Egypt

Scripture

Exodus 7:14-12:30

Quick Summary

            When Pharaoh would not let the Hebrew slaves leave with Moses, God sent 10 Plagues to Egypt. The last plague was called Passover. In this plague, God had all his followers paint their door frames with sheep blood. That night, the angel of death killed all the first born not inside those door frames. That included Pharaoh’s oldest son. Pharaoh finally released the Hebrew slaves, and let them leave captivity.

The Point

God is God Alone!

Questions for Family Time

1.     Which do you think was the worst plague and why?

2.     Why did God send the 10 plagues?

a.      To show he was stronger than all the Egyptian Gods/ to get Pharaoh to let the slaves go

Our Song for Today:

Our new song names all 10 plagues and goes to the tune of “12 Days of Christmas”

On the 1^st Day of Plagues our true God sent to Egypt…

                    ….A river that turned into blood

            2^nd….a fleet of jumping frogs           

            3^rd…a bunch of biting gnats  

            4^th…a swarm of silly flies    

5^th…diseased, dying cows     

6^th…breakout of boils           

7^th…a rainstorm of hail                     

8^th…a load of hungry locusts            

9^th…darkness over the land  

10^th…the death of first born

Deeper

            The last of the 10 plagues is still celebrated by Jews throughout the world to commemorate God freeing the Hebrews from slavery. The last meal before leaving Egypt is served as a yearly holiday called Passover.
            As Christians, Passover is still very important, though for very different reasons. The Bible says that it was at this annual family feast that Jesus gave bread and wine to the disciples and told them to remember him every time they ate these two things. We refer to this as “The Last Supper” because it was the last meal Jesus had before dying for our sins on the cross. Four times a year, we remember this Last Supper through eating bread and drinking grape juice together at church in what we call Communion. We do this as a way to receive the spiritual food God gives us, and to receive Jesus’ sacrifice anew.
            Passover is a big deal for both Jews and Christians because it reminds us of God freeing us from slavery. For Jews, the slavery was a physical one from Egypt. For Christians the slavery was to sin and rebellion toward God. Jesus is the “lamb” slain and his “blood” covers us so we can have eternity with God, just as the death passed over the Hebrews.  

Even though Passover seems a very gruesome story, it is a central story to both the Old and New Testaments. God told the Hebrews to make sure and tell this story generation to generation all through time. It’s hard to understand some of the symbols around Jesus’s story without knowing this story that all his first followers knew since they were children.  

Personal Reflection

            Have you received Communion? Did you receive more than just bread and juice when you took it? How has God freed you from slavery to sin and rebellion?

Lesson 2: The Burning Bush

Scripture

Exodus 3:1-4:17

Quick Summary

            Moses is out farming one day and sees a bush on fire but not burning up. He goes over to investigate, and God starts speaking to him. God tells Moses that God is going to use Moses to free the Hebrew slaves in Egypt. Moses doesn’t think he can do the job. God meets every excuse with tools for the job ahead: (1) a staff that turned into a snake (2) disappearing leprosy (3) his brother Aaron to give speeches.

The Point

God give us tools for the jobs he give us.

Questions for Family Time

1.     What was the job God had for Moses?

a.      Free the Hebrew slaves

2.     What tools did God give him?

a.      Staff that turned to a snake

b.     Leprosy

c.      His brother to speak for him

3.     What job has God given you?

4.     What tools do you have?

Our Song for today:

Chorus: Go down Moses way down in Egypt land. Tell all Pharaohs to let My people go
When Israel was in Egypt land                      Let My people go
Oppressed so hard they could not stand        Let My people go
Chorus
"Thus spoke the Lord," bold Moses said      Let My people go
“If not I'll smite, your firstborns dead”         Let My people go
Chorus

Deeper

            So often, we look at what we don’t have rather then what we do have. We look at our empty bank account, our lack of abilities or talents, the gadgets we don’t have. We look at our community and we look at the businesses and organizations we no longer have. We are like Moses, seeing our weaknesses and our lack.
            But God is a God of abundance. He doesn’t call the equipped for his work, he equips the called. He doesn’t see a food pantry recipient, he sees a creative chef that make a meal out of canned meat and green beans. He has given us all resources to serve each other. He sends us help, and he calls us to be help for others, so that no one will go without. Earlier this summer a LA resident offered me vegetables from their garden. I was not in need, so I sent them to another friend here in town who could use them. That friend turned around a couple weeks later, right as I ran out of vegetables, and offered me some vegetables out of her abundance. Together, we can share our resources, and support each other.
            Moses had every resource he needed, every tool he needed, for the job ahead. God has given us every tool as well. It may just be in someone else’s hand right now.

Personal Reflection

What tools do you have to add to our collective church’s tool box? What gifts do you have to share? What tool do you need that you don’t have?