Sermon Tone Analysis
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Wildside May 26, 2019
The Golden Calf
Bible Passage: ;
Main Point: God punished His people for worshiping a golden calf.
Key Passage:
Big Picture Question: What is God’s plan?
God’s plan is to rescue His people from captivity.
Small Group opening
(10–15 minutes)
Large Group Bible study
(25–30 minutes)
Small Group activities
(25–30 minutes)
Leader BIBLE STUDY
God led His people into the wilderness, but He did not leave them there alone.
The Lord was with His people.
He provided meat, bread, and water.
He guided them to Mount Sinai, where He met with their leader, Moses.
The Lord came down on the mountain in fire and He spoke through thunder.
The Israelites could not have ignored His presence.
But when Moses went up on the mountain and did not return for several weeks, the Israelites felt abandoned.
They appealed to Moses’ brother, Aaron: “Come, make us a god who will go before us because this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!” ()
Aaron’s response led the people to commit a terrible sin.
He gathered gold from the people and made an image of a calf, and the people worshiped the golden calf.
God saw what the people were doing, and He told Moses to go down the mountain at once.
Moses confronted his brother.
Aaron claimed that when the people gave him the gold, he threw it into the fire, and “out came this calf!” ()
God punished His people for worshiping a golden calf, and Moses returned to the mountain to ask the Lord to forgive the Israelites’ sin.
Moses could not atone for the people’s sin; God said He would hold the people accountable for their sins, but the Lord did not abandon the Israelites.
Introduce the kids you teach to the concept of idolatry.
An idol is anything a person puts in the place of God.
Explain that idolatry is a sin.
The Israelites deserved to be punished for their sin.
In the same way, we deserve to be punished for our sin.
Point out that Jesus never sinned.
He is greater than Moses, and when we sin, Jesus not only talks to the Father for us, He atones for our sin.
God forgives those who trust in Jesus.
The BIBLE Story
The Golden Calf
;
Moses and the Israelites were in the wilderness.
God had delivered them from slavery in Egypt and from Pharaoh and his pursuing army.
The Israelites came to Mount Sinai (SIGH nigh), and they camped there in front of the mountain.
Moses went up the mountain, and God spoke to him.
God had a lot to tell Moses, and Moses was up on Mount Sinai for 40 days and 40 nights.
Meanwhile, the Israelites camping at the base of the mountain were getting impatient.
They began to wonder, Where is Moses?
What is taking him so long?
Is he still alive?
The Israelites went to Moses’ brother, Aaron.
“Make us a god to lead us,” they said.
“Moses led us out of Egypt, but we don’t know what has happened to him.”
So Aaron made a gold calf that they could worship.
God saw what the people were doing, and He was angry because of their sin.
God told Moses to go down the mountain.
“I will destroy these people,” God said.
“Please forgive them,” Moses said.
“Remember the great promise You made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
You promised to give them as many offspring as there are stars in the sky.
You promised to bless them and give them land.”
So God decided not to destroy the people.
Moses went down the mountain.
He carried two stone tablets on which God had written the laws.
Moses got closer to the camp and saw that the people were dancing before the gold calf!
He threw down the stone tablets, smashing them at the bottom of the mountain.
Then he destroyed the calf they made.
“What were you thinking?”
Moses asked Aaron.
The people were out of control.
The next day, Moses said, “I will go up to the Lord.
Maybe I can do something to make up for your sin.”
So Moses went back up the mountain to talk to God.
“These people have sinned against You.
They made a god out of gold for themselves,” Moses said.
“Please forgive their sin.”
God told Moses to return to the people.
“When the time comes, I will punish them for their sin,” God said.
Then the Lord sent a plague—a terrible sickness—to the people because they worshiped the gold calf.
God continued to meet with Moses and give him laws and instructions.
He made two more stone tablets to replace the ones Moses broke.
One morning, Moses went up the mountain to meet with God.
The Lord came down in a cloud.
He said, “Yahweh is a compassionate and gracious God ... but He will not leave the guilty unpunished.”
Moses bowed down and worshiped God.
“Lord, please go with us,” he said.
“Forgive our sin, and accept us as Your people.”
Christ Connection: God’s people sinned against God, and Moses asked God to forgive them.
Moses acted as their mediator, standing for them before God.
Moses could not do anything to make up for their sin, but we have a better Mediator—Jesus.
Jesus paid for our sin on the cross and stands for us before God.
When we trust in Jesus, our sins are forgiven.
Small Group Opening
Session Title: The Golden Calf
Bible Passage: ;
Main Point: God punished His people for worshiping a golden calf.
Key Passage:
Big Picture Question: What is God’s plan?
God’s plan is to rescue His people from captivity.
Welcome time
Greet each kid as he or she arrives.
Use this time to connect to your group and make sure each student is checked in.
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