Pentecost Week 8 - Freedom For…

Christ Church Elders
2 days ago
3 min read

Scripture Reading

*Explain the context: “This week, we will read about God giving Israel his law at Mt. Sinai after God had freed them from Egypt.”

Exodus 19:16-18; 20:1-2

Big Idea (For Parents)

God’s salvation by grace alone through faith alone is not freedom from his law, but freedom for his law.

Family Reflection

(Read aloud or summarize)

God freely saved Israel from slavery in Egypt. God himself defeated Pharaoh and Egypt’s armies. God had chosen to save Israel ahead of time, and he did everything necessary so that, in the right time, Israel would trust God enough to walk out of Egypt and into the freedom he had secured for them.

Now that Israel was already free, God brought them to Mt. Sinai so they could enjoy the thing for which he freed them—thankful, happy obedience to his life-giving law. Rightly understood, God’s law was never intended to be a crushing burden, but rather a gift from the God who already showed his love and goodness in freely saving his people. That’s why the summary of God’s instructions at Mt. Sinai, commonly called the Ten Commandments, begins with the statement in today’s reading that God had already saved Israel from Egyptian slavery. They didn’t gain freedom by law-keeping. They were already free. But they did gain their freedom for law-keeping. God wanted them to be happy in him, and for that, they needed to live by God’s law. God intended for all the things the people experienced at Mt. Sinai—like loud noises, fire, and shaking—to move them to believe that this God had all the power so they could continue to trust him and his instructions no matter what.

We see a similar pattern at Pentecost. The people were gathered at God’s mountain, Jerusalem, when they experienced a very loud sound and saw fire descending. When people heard God speaking to them through the disciples, they were astonished and cut to the heart. Upon hearing that God would freely forgive and save them, they were baptized and immediately devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42) that they must obey everything Jesus commanded (Matthew 28:20). They knew that they, too, had been freed for law-keeping.

Discussion Questions

(Choose 1-2. Adjust for age.)

1- What is one time you broke a rule and had a negative consequence as a result?

2- How do good rules, or laws, help us rather than hurt us?

3- How does it change the way we think about keeping God’s laws to know that God has already loved us and saved us?

Practice—Fire, Sounds & Shaking

The Hebrew word commonly translated “law” in the context of the Ten Commandments can also be translated “instruction.” God is a master teacher, and all that Israel saw, heard and felt at Sinai and Pentecost was part of his instruction. As you’re recapping the story, Think of creative ways to bring the Sinai and Pentecost scenes to your family’s senses.

For example, light a candle, darken the room, and make the candle descend like fire on Sinai and the flaming Spirit on the disciples. Use a drum (“thunder”) or trumpet to make loud noises. Blow a fan on your family members like the rushing wind at Pentecost. Stomp on the floor to make the earth shake.

Then, help them connect the experience to God’s teaching point: the God who already secured salvation for his people has ALL the power. We can trust him, knowing that his law is 100% for our good.