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3 Phases of Discipleship week 3
Preparation for your promised land
Review this week's message.

Key Thought:

God uses battles to prepare us to inherit his promises



Key Quote

“Your life is either built on the right memories or destroyed by the wrong ones.” - Pastor Bil Cornelius



Start talking. Find a conversation starter for your group.
  • What’s the best job you’ve ever had? Who’s the best boss you’ve ever worked for?
  • If someone asked you to write your own job description, what would you write?
  • If you won the lottery today, what’s the first thing you would buy?
  • How would you describe your Promised Land?



Start thinking. Ask a thoughtful question.
  • Why is it so important to hold your leader’s arms up?
  • Do you believe that thinking positively or negatively can become a habit? How so?
  • What are some traits you see in people you think are good leaders?
  • How can God use our battles to shape us into the person He calls us to be?



Start sharing. Choose questions that create openness.
  • What qualities should a leader have that makes you want to follow them?
  • What is a battle in your past that actually ended up preparing you for the future?
  • In the heat of the battle, would the people you’re surrounding yourself with hold your arms up or would they leave?
  • How will you support someone whose authority you’re under?



Start praying. Be bold, and pray with power.

Dear Jesus, thank you for your love and faithfulness. Help us to submit to you and who you want us to become so we can be ready for the promised land you have prepared for us. In your name we pray, Amen.



Start doing. Commit to a step and live it out this week.
  • Leadership is often wrongly equated with being “the boss”, where it should instead be equated to positively influencing and shepherding people. Before you can effectively lead people, you must first learn to care and support your leaders. This week, find a way to show your appreciation and support for the person who leads you.
  • There’s a common phrase that says, “The start is what stops most people.” Often, we are never really ready for what God has for us, but like Joshua, we have to just “do it.” Pray this week for God to show you where he wants you to start, then commit to diving in with everything you have.
  • Identify your chosen goal and your one step. Then, take that step starting this week.
  • Let God prepare you for the Promised Land. What is an area of your life you are not surrendering to God? Ask God to show you this area, then ask for the strength to let it go in order to honor Him.


Scriptures

While the people of Israel were still at Rephidim, the warriors of Amalek attacked them. Exodus 17:8 NLT

Moses commanded Joshua, “Choose some men to go out and fight the army of Amalek for us. Tomorrow, I will stand at the top of the hill, holding the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did what Moses had commanded and fought the army of Amalek. Meanwhile, Moses, Aaron, and Hur climbed to the top of a nearby hill. Exodus 17:9-10 NLT

As long as Moses held up the staff in his hand, the Israelites had the advantage. But whenever he dropped his hand, the Amalekites gained the advantage. Moses’ arms soon became so tired he could no longer hold them up. So Aaron and Hur found a stone for him to sit on. Then they stood on each side of Moses, holding up his hands. So his hands held steady until sunset. As a result, Joshua overwhelmed the army of Amalek in battle. Exodus 17:11-13

Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd’s staff,” Moses replied. “Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back. Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd’s staff in his hand. Exodus 4: 2-4 NLT

David replied to Saul, “I am a shepherd for my father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. If it attacked me, I took hold of its mane, struck it, and killed it. 1 Samuel 17: 34-35 GW

The Lord is my shepherd; I have everything I need…Even if I walk through a very dark valley, I will not be afraid, because you are with me. Your rod and your shepherd’s staff comfort me. Psalm 23:1,4 NCV

After the victory, the Lord instructed Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder, and read it aloud to Joshua: I will erase the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” Moses built an altar there and named it Yahweh-Nissi (which means “the Lord is my banner”). He said, “They have raised their fist against the Lord’s throne, so now[c] the Lord will be at war with Amalek generation after generation.” Exodus 17:14-16 NLT

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