walking backward pt. 2 -guide

Gather

● Gather and open with prayer.

● You can use any prayer, but here is a new prayer to open the time:

Gracious God, as we gather once again we ask you to meet us here.

Send your Holy Spirit to open our hearts. Ease any anxiety that has come this day.

Help us to become more in tune with you and with one another.

Bring your light and let us find our peace in you. Amen.

Warm-up

Here are some suggested questions to get the discussion-juices flowing, and help us all

continue to grow in knowing one another:

● What would be your meal of choice to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, or other special

occasion?

● What is something that brought you joy in the past week?

Conversation

Start with the summary:

We are in a sermon series called “Walking Backward.” Spiritual growth often feels like walking

backwards—moving toward the future while facing our past. We can’t see exactly where we’re

going, yet faith invites us to trust that Christ walks with us in it all. This series explores how

looking back with compassion and forward with hope can shape a deeper, truer, more grounded

faith.

Have someone read the Scripture passages from Sunday out loud: Exodus 12:1-14. Leave

about 30 seconds of quiet. Then have a different person read it again. [This allows space for

people to really encounter the passage and hear it in a new way. Any version of the bible

enriches the reading.]

Questions for discussion:

● God established the Passover as a "lasting ordinance" to be celebrated for generations

to come (verse 14). Why is it important to have rituals and traditions to remember God's

actions in history?

● Why do you think God told Israel to remember what was going to happen with a meal?

What is it about a meal that would help them?

● The Passover was a communal meal, a family celebration. What is the role of community

in our faith and our experience of God's deliverance?

● How does our memory shape us?

● Can you share an “Egypt,” a place of bondage or darkness, that God brought you out of?

How did you see his hand in that experience?

2

● Have someone read 1 Corinthians 11:23-25. What do you understand to be the

connection between the Passover meal and Communion? How did Jesus use the

Passover meal he was sharing with his disciples to point to himself?

● Was there anything new or that challenged you in the sermon?

● What questions are coming up for you?

● What convictions are stirring in you?

● Are there other Scripture passages that this brings to mind? Read them together.

● [Ask other questions as they come to your mind or as appropriate. Go with the flow of

the conversation.]

Closing

● Have each person share one thing for which they are thankful right now. Have each

person share one challenge, concern, or place of adversity in their lives.

● If time, have an open time of prayer for people to pray for one another.. Encourage

people to do so without forcing anyone to have to.

End with prayer. Here is a prayer you can use if you so choose:

Lord, we thank you for this time. Help us to be people of memory who remember you. Help us

to remember what you have done for all of us in Christ, and help us to remember the specific

ways you have guided our journey of faith.

Keep us mindful of you.

Amen.