Stay in the Shade

In one paragraph

This message, preached on the last Sunday Tribe met at the TMC, took the story of Israel being led through the wilderness by a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire and asked what it looks like to stay under God's leadership today. Pastor Brian traced the passage through Exodus 13 and connected it to the season Tribe is walking into as the church packs up camp and moves on. The main image he kept...

Read together

1. Exodus 13:17-22 main passage read aloud, the pillar of cloud and fire leading Israel through the wilderness
2. Isaiah 63:11-14 cited to show the Holy Spirit was the one leading Israel, connecting the cloud to the Spirit
3. Philippians 4:6 quoted as the present-day equivalent of following the cloud, don't worry, pray, and receive God's peace
4. 2 Thessalonians 3:16 cited to show God gives his peace at all times and in every situation
5. Genesis 9 first mention of cloud in scripture, linked to the rainbow promise after the flood
6. Galatians 5 referenced briefly as the source of the fruit of the Spirit, including peace
7. Song of Solomon referenced regarding the woman whose skin was darkened by the sun, used as an image of being out of the shade

What was said

• When you feel anxious about a decision this week, stop and honestly ask yourself whether you have the Lord's peace about it before you move forward.
• Next time you see a rainbow, let it be a prompt to check in: are you following his peace right now, or have you drifted out into the sun?
• If there is an area of your life where you know you are out in the shade, take one step of repentance back toward the Lord and ask him to forgive you.
• If you are a college student heading into a new city, make finding and planting yourself in a local church your first-week priority, not something to get around to later.
• Wherever the cloud is moving in your own life right now, resist the urge to shortcut the route God has you on, even if the destination looks like it should be a straight line from here.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about the circuitous route God led Israel through the wilderness, and said being able to thank God for the roundabout journey while you are still in the middle of it is a mark of growing maturity. Where are you on that right now, and what makes it hard?
2. Brian said God led Israel the long way around for three reasons: protection, development, and to give them time to learn how to fight. Looking back at a difficult season in your own life, can you see any of those three things at work? Which one is easiest to recognise in hindsight, and which is hardest to trust in the moment?
3. Brian pointed to the peace of the Holy Spirit as one of the primary ways God leads his people today, and someone in the room shared a story about two situations where the presence or absence of that peace pointed her in opposite directions. Have you had an experience like that? What helped you tell the difference between God's peace and just getting comfortable with a decision?
4. Brian said the shade is always only one confession and one step of repentance away, and that the enemy tries to convince us the cloud has moved on and left us behind for good. Has that lie ever felt convincing to you? What helped you move back toward the shade?
5. As Tribe packs up camp and follows the cloud out of the TMC, Brian connected it directly to Israel taking Joseph's bones with them, saying the core of who they are is not going to change. What do you think of as Tribe's bones, the things that should travel with the church no matter where it meets, and is there anything about this transition that feels genuinely hard for you?