Week One

What are we leaving?

Getting rid and letting go

We begin our theme by thinking about what we are getting rid of and letting go as we we Get Packing with God! This month we are going to spend a lot of time in the Book of Exodus, the sweeping foundational story of the Hebrew people escaping oppression as God delivers them from captivity in Egypt. As we ourselves step into new life with God we reflect on what we ourselves are leaving behind.

Seeds to sow: What needs clearing out, sweeping up, and renewing in our communities? And what needs to be left behind?

Read Exodus 1: 8-14

Leaving suspicion, hostility and fear behind.

Exodus is the story of the Hebrews escaping persecution, animosity and resentment. They were trapped in loops of injustice, cycles of injustice.

As churches and communities of God’s people packing for a new future with God what are the power dynamics we are wanting to leave behind? As we look forward as a planet, what cycles do we want to break free from?

Read Exodus 1: 15-22

Leaving behind a legacy.

In the midst of the misery the audacious Shiphrah and Puah think on their feet and come up with an ingenious lifesaving scheme! They become

agents of life and hope for every pregnant woman, leaving behind the fear of death and hopelessness.

Looking back, what are the legacies — and who are the heroes — we are grateful for? Those who have acted bravely in the face of fear for others.

And as you reflect, consider who God could be placing in your life now. And, in fact, who you can be for others.

Read Exodus 2: 1-10

Leaving troubled waters behind.

Moses did not choose to go into the Nile and he did not choose who would find him — but the river delivered him to a new future and was part of making him who he was. All sorts of circumstances that we have no control over shape who we are to become and it’s with God’s grace that we trust that the broken pieces can be made into a beautiful mosaic.

Moses was drawn from water — his story an analogy of birth itself — coming through peril to be delivered by compassionate women into the world. The Nile could have been the end of Moses’s story, but it was only the beginning, it is part of him, but it does not define or limit him.

What do you notice in this story? What strikes you? What draws you in?