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Below is an outline for the sermon preached on Sunday morning. Accessing these notes allows you to take the sermon home with you. Feel free to add your own notes!
At the end of the sermon you can email yourself those notes from that day.
We hope this is a helpful resource for you as you dive deeper into the Scriptures and the messages preached at New Life Church.
Wilderness: Unwavering Blessing
Text: Numbers 22-24
Big Idea: God is faithful when we cannot see what he is doing
Introduction
- Series Overview
- What is God doing when we cannot see?
- Numbers 22-24
God blesses the Israelites and prevents them from being cursed
- Numbers 22: Balak hires Balaam
- Numbers 23: 3 Thwarted Attempts to Curse
- Numbers 24: Guaranteed Blessing
God is faithful even when we cannot see what He is doing
- We cannot always see
- Takeaway: Goal is not to see everything; Goal is know what God has promised and to trust Him
- God is faithful and will bring about his promises
- Jesus is the promised blessing
- Takeaway: Be encouraged while in the wilderness
Conclusion
- God is faithful even when we cannot see what He is doing
Life Group Questions
- Follow up on last week: did you let go of control and defer to God’s leading in a specific way this week? How did it go? What did you learn?
- As a group, see if you can summarize the story from Numbers 22-24. Use your Bible as you do so to jog your memory. Focus specifically on Numbers 23:8, 19-20 and Numbers 24:3-4, 9, and 17. What stood out to you about this crazy story?
- At the end of the story, we saw that Israel had no idea any of it was occurring. In the wilderness, our inability to see what’s happening doesn’t mean God’s not working. Why is it so hard for us to trust that? If you’ve struggled with not understanding what God’s doing before, what specifically did you wrestle with?
- Brian challenged us with this: our goal isn’t to see everything. Instead, our goal is to know what God has promised and to trust Him. Compare the goal of “seeing everything” versus trusting in God’s promise. What’s different about each goal? What path do you think each leads to?
- Which goal have you pursued in your current or recent wilderness? If it’s “seeing everything,” do you have an imagination for what it would look like to release that and move towards trust? What’s a barrier that’s been preventing you from doing that?
- Remember that the promise is not escape from the wilderness. It’s providing grounding within it, particularly in finding your life in Jesus. Is this encouraging to you? Why or why not?
- What’s something you think God wants to speak to you about His faithfulness and what goal you’re focusing on this week? How can that help you move towards trust in a tangible way?
- Conclude your group in prayer: Pray over what your group is wrestling with, and for God’s faithfulness to be a focus this week in those situations. Pray encouragement over your group, thanking God for His grounding and promise that we can focus on in the midst of the wilderness.
