Come Up the Mountain

In one paragraph

On the first Sunday of 2023, Tribe worked through Exodus 24 together as a congregation, reading the chapter aloud and talking through it in real time. Brian Hunter traced three distinct "goings up" in the text and closed with communion and an outdoor water baptism. The invitation he put before the Tribe fam was to begin the new year by letting their lives be consumed on the altar of God. The...

Read together

1. Exodus 24 The primary text read and discussed throughout the entire sermon
2. Hebrews 12:1-2 Read during the offering segment about running with perseverance and fixing eyes on Jesus
3. Psalm (unspecified) Referenced as saying 'Lord, I have heard you say, come and meet with me, and my response is, I am coming'
4. Song of Solomon (unspecified) Quoted as 'with one glance of your eye, you have overcome my heart, my beautiful one, my bride'
5. Isaiah (unspecified) Referenced as saying the mountains and hills will drip with new wine at Jesus's return
6. 1 Corinthians (implied, unspecified) Referenced as saying we show forth his death until his return by partaking of communion
7. Hebrews 4 (implied, unspecified) Referenced as saying we can boldly approach the throne of grace to obtain mercy in our time of need
8. Hebrews (unspecified) Referenced as saying they were all baptized into Moses, into the sea, and into the cloud, and that most perished in the wilderness

What was said

• Read Exodus 24 on your own this week and write down one question or observation it stirs up in you.
• If there is a sin you have been carrying, take a few minutes alone to confess it and ask God to forgive you.
• Sign up on the sheet by Diana White if you want to serve a Tuesday night meal.
• Mark February 14 on your calendar and plan to help prepare and serve a meal for Teton County Search and Rescue.
• Think about one area of your life where God may be inviting you further up the mountain, and tell him you are willing to go.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about the Israelites saying 'all that the Lord has spoken, we will do' and then turning to the golden calf just a short time later. Where have you seen that gap between intention and follow-through in your own walk with God?
2. The 70 elders ate and drank in God's presence and still drifted. Several people in the conversation pushed back on the idea that a powerful experience with God is enough to sustain faith long-term. What do you think has to accompany those mountaintop moments to make them last?
3. Brian pointed out three different 'goings up' in Exodus 24, including Moses going into the consuming fire and the smoke of the burnt offering rising up. What do you make of the connection between Moses disappearing into that fire and the idea of a life fully surrendered to God?
4. Lanisha noted that many are called but few are chosen, and that Moses was asked to go further up the mountain than the 70 elders. What do you think it looks like practically to respond to an invitation to go higher or deeper with God, beyond what the people around you are doing?
5. Brian closed by saying that to the people around you, full surrender is going to look like death, just as Israel assumed Moses was gone when he walked into the fire. Has there been a time when obedience or surrender looked like loss to the people in your life? What happened?