Prophetic Imagination and the Poetry of Exodus

Sunday, August 3, 2025

Scriptures: Exodus 13+14

• Sermon Summary

  Summary
  In the fourth sermon of our series, Reads a Classic, Jeremy looks at Walter Brueggemann

  Empires: Jeremy highlights some of the details of the Exodus story that Brueggemann reveals in his work. Namely, that the God wants so see the Israelites liberated from their oppression and for Pharaoh to find freedom as well. The lack of specificity in the Exodus in the narrative, Brueggemann argues, shows that Egypt is a narrative archetype of empires that play out on repeat throughout history. Brueggemann says that these empires are marked by three distinct characteristics of affluence, amnesia, and numbness.

  Off-ramps:

  Self-sabotage:

  New ways forward:
  

• Discussion Guide

  Community is shaped by the conversations we share. These questions and reflections are a tool to help you meaningfully engage with the themes of this week's teaching.

  Summer Discussion Guide 2025

  If your group is meeting this summer and wants to talk about the sermons, here are a few questions that you could use to engage with our teaching.

  • What specific part of the message resonated with you the most? Why do you think that particular part, or idea, or story caught your attention?

  • Did the sermon speak into a particular struggle or question in your life or your faith journey right now?

  • What did the message challenge or encourage you personally? And what do you think the application could be for our church community? Was there anything that could strengthen or stretch us as a church?

  How did the exposition of the scriptures used in the sermon provide you with a new perspective of deeper understanding?

  It is good to remember that the conversation experience in the group is shaped by the personal stories of those who participate in it and how willing the people are to be open and vulnerable in the group.
  
  So if you’re leading the discussion, feel free to model and encourage person-centred and story-centred sharing by reflecting on how some parts of the sermon resonate with you personally.

  Additionally, what contributes to a more authentic group discussion is when people can share not about the abstract and theoretical applications, but one or two practical things they are taking away from either the sermon or the discussion.

  So, you can end your time together with this question:

  • What is one thing you are taking away from either the sermon or the discussion we’ve just had?

• Service Songs & Prayers

  CALL TO WORSHIP Psalm 29

  MUSIC Curated by Rebecca Santos
  Cody Carnes - Firm Foundation
  Brooke Ligertwood - A Thousand Hallelujahs
  Brooke Ligertwood - Desert Song
  Cody Carnes - Gratitude
  
  PRAYER OF CONFESSION
  Written by Jarrod Kokot
  
  SERIES BUMPER
  Reads A Classic