Cell Notes on New Exodus 5 - Promised Land of Peace

Hebrews 4: 1 - 11

Entering God’s rest

Welcome

Ask each person to name an achievement in their lives and to briefly say how difficult it was to achieve.

Worship

Perhaps choose songs that focus on heaven or the peace that comes from God

Alternatively, meditate on the peace and assurance that comes from God – using a Psalm (Perhaps Psalm 23).

Word

Read:
Hebrews 4:1 – 11
1 Cor 9:24-27

Is there anything in these passages that you don’t understand or find challenging?

What do you understand God’s rest to be?

Do you see (as the writer of Hebrews wants) God’s rest as a goal in life, a prize to be worked at? Do you have any sense of fear (verse 1) of falling short?

How do you understand the passages that ward of falling short of God’s rest: Hebrews 2:1, 3:12, 4:1, 4:11? Are the passages aimed at believers or unbelievers?

Matthew 11:28-29:

What do you understand by rest for your soul? Do you have Jesus’s rest for your soul in your life today?

Prayer

Spend 10 minutes in groups of 3 or 4 and pray for each other for situations where there is a battle and a striving towards a goal.

Spend a further 10 minutes praying for Gods rest to be known to non-Christians (friends, colleagues and in Islington)

Anthony Walker, 09/09/2008