The Feast on the Mountain

In one paragraph

Brian walked Tribe fam through Exodus 24:7-11, the moment Moses, Aaron, and the seventy elders climbed Mount Sinai and ate a covenant meal in the presence of God. The central idea was that God places invitations to encounter him inside seasons of disruption and discomfort, not just in the easy, familiar moments of life. The passage describes the seventy elders hiking up to a high basin on the...

Read together

1. Matthew 18:20 opening prayer: wherever two or more are gathered, God is in the midst
2. Psalm 22:3 opening prayer: God inhabits the praises of his people
3. Jeremiah 1:5 prayer: God knew us before we were formed in our mother's womb
4. Exodus 24:7-11 main text read aloud: the 70 elders climb the mountain and eat a covenant meal with God
5. Psalm 23:5 God prepares a feast in the presence of enemies, cup overflows with blessing
6. Daniel 3 Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego thrown into the furnace, a fourth man appears in the fire
7. John 16:33 Jesus says there will be trouble in this life but take heart, he has overcome the world
8. James 1:2 consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds, framed as an invitation into maturity
9. Acts 27 Paul on his way to Rome is caught in a violent storm and receives an angelic visitation

What was said

• Read Exodus 24 on your own this week and notice the imagery of a courtship and wedding as you go through the story.
• When something disrupts your routine or comfort this week, pause and ask whether God might be extending an invitation to encounter him in that moment.
• Fill out the connect card in your seat if you are new or visiting, especially if you want to hear about young adults events this season.
• If you need prayer for anything specific, find Brian after the service and ask him to pray with you.
• Read Psalm 23 verse five slowly and sit with the idea that the feast God prepares for you may come in the middle of something hard, not after it is over.

Talk about it

1. Brian talked about how the story of Israel is our story, and that each of us is prone to worshipping a version of God shaped by our own convenience and desires. Where do you see that tendency showing up in your own life?
2. The 70 elders were invited to leave the comfort and familiarity of camp and climb an inconvenient, arduous mountain to meet with God. What has your version of that climb looked like, a situation where encountering God required real effort or discomfort on your part?
3. Psalm 23 verse 5 says God prepares a feast in the presence of enemies. Brian drew a distinction between an immature faith that just wants the feast and the anointing, and a maturing faith that is willing to receive those things in the middle of difficulty. Where do you honestly find yourself on that spectrum right now?
4. Brian walked through several examples, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the furnace, Peter stepping out of the boat, Paul in the storm at sea, where the encounter with God came inside the disruption rather than after it. Can you think of a time in your own life when that was true for you?
5. Bethany pointed out that the people in Exodus 24 said twice that they would do everything the Lord commanded, and she connected that posture of obedience and surrender to being open to God's invitation. How does that posture, or the absence of it, shape the way you respond when disruption shows up?