A Holy Nation

Read Exodus 19:1-6

• What does it mean to be holy? What does holiness look like for us as individuals? What does holiness look like on a corporate and structural level, as the Church?
• Read Deuteronomy 7:6, 14:2, and 26:18-19. What repetitions do you see, in comparison with our passage from Exodus? What do those repetitions tell us about what it means to be a people holy to the LORD?
• Being a holy nation means, in part, that we belong to a different Kingdom; our core identity, our core belonging, is with God and His people. Still, as Christians in today’s world, we sometimes look for identity and belonging in other places, such as our country of origin. How do we reconcile our primary allegiance to the Kingdom of God with an allegiance to our country of origin? What does it look like to hold together patriotism and allegiance to Christ? Give some examples of what this could look like.
• Read 1 Peter 2:9. What is the purpose of being a holy nation? How can you share about God’s rescue with the people in your life this week? 
• Take some time to pray for God’s mission in this world.
  • As one option, check out one of these interviews with LAC missionaries: https://www.lakeave.org/ministries/global-outreach/global-connections. You could watch it together as a group and pray for God’s work in that place. (This will take a little longer, so you’ll need to plan accordingly.)
  • As another option, watch the highlight video from VBS this last week: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaTRLPtDME0 and pray for God’s work among our children.

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