“Apply the Blood”
Click below to download the Cornerstone Connections leader’s guide and student lesson. This week’s resources also include two lesson plans and a discussion starter video which offer different ways of looking at the topic. Each lesson plan includes opening activities, scripture passages, discussion questions, and real-life applications.
The story of the Passover is a revelation of the plan of salvation acted out in symbols. It ties forever the concepts of the blood of the Lamb and righteousness by faith.
Scripture Passages
Risking It All
When people are gambling, their mind is saying, “You got this! I know I will get lucky and win this time! Just $500 more dollars on the table and I will for sure get the dice to roll the winning numbers!” Their perspective of how lucky they think they are versus the reality of all the times their choices caused them to lose thousands of dollars makes gambling addiction such a devastating and destructive situation. Pharaoh took a big gamble when he chose not to put blood on his door. He lost big time. As Pharaoh, he considered himself to be like a god, and that self-centered pride and his stubborn heart caused the loss of his first-born son.
How about you, do you sometimes gamble with your life? Choices you make everyday have consequences, and sometimes you might think, “Oh it’s not that bad. I won’t ever do this again, just this one time won’t hurt. Everyone has done this before, so why shouldn’t I do it?” Decisions are often made with little thought, but the reality is that every choice you make has eternal impact.
OPENING ACTIVITY: FAST FIRE
Every year, parts of our country are devastated by forest fires. One of the fastest fires to ever burn in the US was in 1935. It was called the Big Scrub Fire and took place in Florida in the Ocala National Forest. This devastating fire spread extremely quickly, covering 35,000 acres in just 4 hours.
Just like wildfires start with just a spark, but soon devour trees, homes, cars, and natural habitats, pride can also cause immeasurable damage in our lives. Pride, and the bad attitude it creates, flare up like a fire in our lives, causing brokenness, hurt, and loss. Pride is often fueled by our perceptions of how good we think we are or how successful we feel. Pride gives us a false sense of self-reliance, which can quickly lead to our downfall. Use the questions below to discuss the good and bad aspects of fire.
Source: https://tinyurl.com/2p8kxkae
QUESTIONS
BIBLE STUDY GUIDE
Read each Bible passage, then discuss the questions.
Pharoah’s Pride
Read Exodus 10:16-17.
16 Pharaoh quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. 17 Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”
Read Exodus 10:27-29.
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. 28 Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.”
29 “Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear before you again.”
QUESTIONS
From Saul to Paul
Read Philippians 3:7-14.
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Questions
APPLICATIONS
Pharaoh considered himself to be like a god, so when Moses told him that the true God wants His people to be free, Pharaoh's heart became hard and he refused to do the right thing.
However, after Pharaoh lost his first-born son, he felt defeated and let the Israelites leave, but once they were gone, his stubborn heart hardened again. That same pride and arrogance had caused him to take the greatest risk and lose the life of his son. Next, he took another risk with his army and it cost him all the lives of his best soldiers when the sea closed in over them as they pursued the Israelites. Pride and following your selfish ideas are huge risks. Pride can spread like wildfire, creating a path of destruction in your life. The attitudes and actions that pour out of your life lead towards eternal life or away from it. Pride, self-centeredness, and self-sufficiency are dangerous positions to be in. Jesus gives us the best example to follow—a humble servant, motivated by love to serve and save the lost.
SCRIPTURE PASSAGE
LEADER’S NOTE
For a Relational Bible Study (RBS) you’ll want to get into the Scripture passage and encourage the youth to imagine participating in the story while it’s happening. Then you will be able to better apply it to your own situation today.
You will need to ask God for the Holy Spirit to be present as your small group discusses the questions (no more than 3-6 people in a group is recommended). Start with the opening question. It is a personal question and the answer is unique for each individual. There is no right answer and nobody is an expert here, so don’t be surprised when you hear different responses. You are depending on the Holy Spirit to be present and to speak through your group. Say what God prompts you to say, and listen to what others share.
Take turns reading the chapter out loud. Follow that with giving the students some time to individually mark their responses to the questions (a PDF version of the handout is available as a download). This gives each person a starting point for responding when you start to share as a group. Next, begin the discussion by asking the students to share what they marked and why on each question as you work your way through. Feel free to take more time on some questions than others as discussion warrants.
Encourage each person in the group to apply what is discussed to their personal lives and to share with the group what they believe God wants them to do. Then ask them to pray that God will help each of them to follow through in doing so. Remind them to expect that God will show them ways to live out the message of this passage in the coming week, and that they are free to ask others in the group to help hold them accountable.
OVERVIEW
This section of Scripture describes the institution of the Passover. Directions are given for the annual celebration of this event which would be a vivid reminder of the Lord’s deliverance of Israel out of bondage.
God, who was about to smite with death the first-born in each Egyptian house, required the Israelites to find safety by means of a sacrifice. Each Israelite householder was to select a lamb (or a kid) on the tenth day of the current month, and to keep it separate from the flock until the fourteenth day at evening. Then he was to kill it, to dip some hyssop in the blood and to strike with the hyssop on the two posts and lintel of his doorway, leaving the mark of the blood on it.
He was the same night to roast the lamb whole and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. He was to have his clothes on, his sandals on his feet, and his staff in his hand, so he was prepared for a journey. If he did all this, God, when He went through the land to smite and destroy, would “pass over” the house upon which there was the blood, and spare all that dwelt in it. Otherwise, the plague would be upon them to destroy them. Such were the directions given for immediate observance, and such was the Passover proper.
In humility the people of God were to embrace His commands. This was to be in direct opposition to the pride displayed by Pharaoh. We today are to learn at least one important lesson from this escape encounter. Human pride stands rebuked in the presence of God and held in check by His power.
“The Blood for My Pride!”
Can you share a personal story about your pride being checked?
Read Exodus 12:1-12.
1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord.
1. After reading Exodus 12:1-12, how do you feel about Passover?
2. What do you think is the meaning of the Passover story?
3. What is God trying to share with Israel in Exodus 12:4?
4. What do you suppose Enoch and God discussed for 300 years?
5. Why do you think God wanted a male lamb or a male kid at Passover?
6. Why did God want them to eat the meal in haste (Exodus12:11)?
7. What is your attitude towards God; is it like Pharaoh’s?
8. Is there anything in your life that you need to sacrifice right now?
SUMMARY
In the Passover, as generally in sacrifices, the victim was first offered on behalf of those who sacrificed it, in this case the household, and then the flesh of the victim furnished a solemn sacrificial meal to the members of the household. In the communion service, where the true victim is Christ Himself, whose sacrifice upon the cross is salvation for all, we must offer our lives in loving surrender to Him; therefore, we must wear His life of humility and service to those we touch each day.
APPLICATION
The true bondage humans have is the bondage to sin. This is the “Egypt” from which a human requires deliverance. The death of Christ, which the communion service displays, is the one and only remedy for sin, is the one and only means whereby it becomes possible for a person to shake off the grievous yoke from their shoulder and become free.
Below, find some application activities to interface with this lesson. These are simply to provide ideas for your use, or to invite you to imagine and create some of your own, as you impact the lives of teens for God’s glory.