Becoming A People Who | October 15, 2022 | Listen

In a world where speed sets the pace, louder is better, and busyness is the norm, God's invitation is to slow down and listen well. Your attention is one of the most valuable commodities you can offer, so where and who you give your attention to matters. Look across Scripture and find a God who listens deeply! Look at the Gospels and find Jesus who gives his fullest attention. If listening is an expression of value and love, what does your frequency and quality of listening to God reveal about your value and love for God? People will be able to encounter a listening God through your listening posture. This week, practice listening to understand, connect, and show up well!

KEY VERSES

• James 1:19-21 NLT - 19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls.

• Exodus 2:23-25 NLT -23 Years passed, and the king of Egypt died. But the Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.

• Exodus 3:7-10 NLT -7 Then the Lord told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering. 8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live. 9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them. 10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”

• Jeremiah 7:24 NLT -24 “But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.

• Nehemiah 9:16-17, 19 NLT -16 “But our ancestors were proud and stubborn, and they paid no attention to your commands. 17 They refused to obey and did not remember the miracles you had done for them. Instead, they became stubborn and appointed a leader to take them back to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God of forgiveness, gracious and merciful, slow to become angry, and rich in unfailing love. You did not abandon them,
  19 “But in your great mercy you did not abandon them to die in the wilderness. The pillar of cloud still led them forward by day, and the pillar of fire showed them the way through the night.

• Acts 7:51 NLT - 51 “You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!

• Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT - 8 “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

• Acts 7:51 NLT - 51 “You stubborn people! You are heathen at heart and deaf to the truth. Must you forever resist the Holy Spirit? That’s what your ancestors did, and so do you!

HEARING WHAT GOD IS SAYING

One of the best ways to hear what God is saying right now is to look at what He has said in the Bible with a few friends. Discovery Bible Study is an easy-to-use way to hear from God, make good changes in our lives, and share with others what God is up to. Grab some friends, pick a verse or story from above and dive in deeper to this week’s message.

Recap

+ Reconnect

To begin the study, each person answers these questions:

• What are you thankful for?
• What is causing stress for our neighbors and people around us?
• What can we as individuals or as a group do to help?
  

+ Recap

• Have someone retell the story from your previous meeting.
• Did you live out your response from last week?
• Did you tell anyone else about the story from last week?
  

Discovering What God Is Saying

+ Read and Retell the Bible Story

• One person reads the story out loud to the group.
• Someone else in the group retells the story in their own words as they remember it, and others fill in what’s missing.
  
  

+ Read and Look

• Read the passage again (different version if possible)
• What does this passage say about God, Jesus, or His plan?
  
  

+ Read and Look Again

• Have 1-2 more people retell the story as if they were telling a neighbor outside their home.
• What does this passage say about people in general?
  
  

Doing What God Is Saying

+ Consider

• What in me needs to change to better DO what God is showing me today?
• How will you respond to/obey this passage in a tangible, perhaps even costly ways in the next 47 hours?
• Have someone record these for prayer time, and for the beginning of the next meeting.
  
  

Sharing what God is saying

+ Praying Together

• Take prayer requests
• Pray together
  
  

+ Share

• Who in your life needs to hear this story?
• Who could you invite to study the Bible like this?
  
  

GIVING

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