COMMUNITY GROUP GUIDE
LEARNING TO LIVE FREE
A Journey Through Exodus
Each week, our Community Groups take the Sunday teaching into the rest of the week. We gather around a table, open Scripture, share our lives, practice the way of Jesus, and make space for the Holy Spirit together.
These guides are designed to help you do that. Use this with your Community Group, with a few friends, or on your own.
THIS WEEK: Who Really Rules?
Exodus 5:1–9, 7–10
Pharaoh asks a question that sounds ancient but is surprisingly modern:
“Who is the LORD, that I should obey him?”
We may not worship the gods of ancient Egypt, but something is always shaping us, telling us what we need to be okay, and competing for the final word in our lives.
Money promises security. Success promises significance. Approval promises belonging. Control promises safety. Even good things can become things we ask to give us what only God can give.
This week we’re exploring what really rules us, how God confronts the things we depend on to save us, and why surrender to Jesus is actually the way into freedom.
Freedom begins when God gets the final word.
Approx. 75–90 minutes
Gather + Scripture + Conversation + Practice + Prayer
GATHER + CONNECT | 10–15 MIN
Start with a simple check-in:
What has been taking up the most space in your mind lately?
It could be work, money, family, a relationship, a decision, something you're excited about, or something you're worried about.
Give everyone room to answer without immediately trying to solve anything.
Optional follow-up:
When that thing feels uncertain, what tends to happen inside you?
SCRIPTURE + STORY | 15–20 MIN
Read Exodus 5:1–2 together.
Pharaoh responds to Moses with one of the central questions of the story:
“Who is the LORD, that I should obey him?”
The next several chapters begin answering that question.
Rather than reading all of Exodus 7–10, have someone briefly retell what happens: God sends a series of signs involving the Nile, frogs, livestock, hail, darkness, and more.
These signs aren't random. Egypt depended on the natural world and the gods associated with it for life, security, prosperity, and order.
God is revealing:
The things you trust aren't ultimately in control.
And that brings the story surprisingly close to us.
Discuss:
Why do you think Pharaoh's question, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey him?”, is still relevant today?
What are some things our culture tells us we need in order to be happy, secure, significant, or free?
How can something good slowly become something that rules us?
CONVERSATION | 20–25 MIN
The sermon named several voices that promise us freedom:
Money: Get enough and you'll be safe.
Success: Accomplish enough and you'll matter.
Approval: Get them to like you and you'll know you're okay.
Romance: Find someone who wants you and you'll know you're lovable.
Control: Figure everything out and nothing can hurt you.
The question isn't necessarily whether these things are bad.
Ask instead:
What am I asking this thing to give me?
Talk together:
Which of these voices do you recognize most easily in your own life?
What happens inside you when something you really want becomes uncertain?
Where does disappointment begin turning into, “I cannot be okay unless this happens”?
What might that reveal about what you're trusting?
Sit with this line:
An idol is often a good thing we've asked to do God's job.
Don't rush to another question. Give people space to think and respond.
FROM NEGOTIATION TO SURRENDER | 10–15 MIN
As Pharaoh continues encountering God, he eventually starts negotiating.
Okay, worship, but stay here.
Okay, go, but don't go very far.
Okay, some of you can go.
Okay, everybody can go, but leave your livestock.
It's essentially:
“Yes, God... but.”
We can do the same thing.
God, you can have my future, but it needs to look like this.
You can have my money, but don't ask me to do that.
You can have my kids, but they need to turn out like this.
You can have my relationships, but don't touch this one.
Discuss:
Where are you most tempted to say, “Yes, God... but”?
What makes surrender in that area difficult?
JESUS + A GREATER LOVE | 10 MIN
The problem is that simply identifying what rules us doesn't make us free.
We can know approval has a hold on us and still desperately want people to like us.
We can know money cannot ultimately make us safe and still depend on it.
We can know we're trying to control everything and still desperately want control.
We don't just need to try harder. We need a greater love.
Pharaoh asks:
“Who is the LORD, that I should obey him?”
Ultimately, Christianity answers that question by pointing us to Jesus.
Pharaoh refuses to surrender, and the cost falls on others.
Jesus prays:
“Not my will, but yours be done.”
And his obedience costs himself.
The Lord asking for our surrender isn't another Pharaoh demanding more from us.
He is the King who first gave himself for us.
Discuss:
How does seeing Jesus this way change the way you think about surrender?
How might trusting Jesus free us in ways that simply trying harder cannot?
PRACTICE | 10 MIN
Keep the practice simple this week. Choose one area, not ten.
1) LISTEN
Spend time in Scripture and ask:
Jesus, what are you actually saying to me?
2) NAME
When you notice fear, anxiety, anger, or the need to control, ask:
What am I asking to give me what only God can give me?
Name it honestly before God.
3) SURRENDER
Identify one place where you've been saying:
“Yes, God... but.”
Take one concrete step of surrender this week.
Give the money. Have the conversation. Forgive. Release the outcome. Tell the truth. Obey what you already know.
PRAYER | 10 MIN
Give everyone a moment of quiet.
Invite each person, if they're comfortable, to finish this sentence:
“Jesus, this week I want to trust you with ______.”
Then pray for one another.
Remember:
We don't practice surrender to make Jesus love us.
We practice surrender because we're learning to trust the One who surrendered himself for us.
Freedom begins when God gets the final word.