Something Old, Something New: Part 4 - 'Out of Egypt'

This Sunday, Simon Lace brings us the talk in the latest of our EBC services. We encourage you to reflect on the bible text and join us in the prayer that follows below.
 
The talk will be available via live stream at 9.30am on Sunday 25th December, on our YouTube channel.
 
Once you have listened, here are some questions to consider:

Readings:

Matthew chapter 2 verses 7 - 15 (NIV)

Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.  When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.  And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”


Hosea chapter 11 verses 1-4 (NIV)

“When Israel was a child, I loved him,
    and out of Egypt I called my son.
But the more they were called,
    the more they went away from me.
They sacrificed to the Baals
    and they burned incense to images.
It was I who taught Ephraim to walk,
    taking them by the arms;
but they did not realise
    it was I who healed them.
I led them with cords of human kindness,
    with ties of love.
To them I was like one who lifts
    a little child to the cheek,
    and I bent down to feed them.



Prayer and Reflection:

Loving God, thank you that you are faithful and loving and that you rescue us from our sins and are with us in our struggles. Thank you for sending your precious Son, thank you for Your Holy Spirit, who guides and instructs us. Thanks you for this amazing season and for all the blessings and the gifts you have seen fit in your infinite mercy to bestow on us. Help us to use them well, dear Lord, for Your Kingdom and Your glory. Amen.



Questions to Consider:

1. Have you ever had a time in the desert, in the wilderness? What happened?
2. Did the experience turn out to have meaning for you in the sense of your spiritual life being shaped somehow?
3. Has it strengthened you, brought you closer to God, made you more compassionate?
4. Is there are “Egypt” that you think God might be calling you to for safety – anything you need to escape from? Alternatively, has the danger passed and might it be time to come out of Egypt again and into a time of flourishing?