Next Steps--Lesson 11--Would You Like to Be Free? Various Passages

Discussion Questions:

1.  What kinds of things would be in your backpack of rocks?  What kinds of burdens do you wish you could drop and not pick up again?

2.  Are there times you have lived so God would love you rather than because He loves you?  What difference does this make in your spiritual vitality?  Why do we fall into this kind of thinking?

3.  Why is knowing your true identity in God important?  How have you been lied to by the evil taskmaster to hinder you from being set free and experiencing a yoke that is easy and a burden that is light?

4.  How do you see people in our time and culture saying, “Let’s go back to Egypt?”  As God tries to lead us to the Promised Land, how are we similar to the Israelites and the way they dealt with the various trials they encountered?  How are we different?

5.  Do you fear having separation from God?  What kinds of things cause separation between you and God?  How do you respond to the statement, “The only thing between us and God is Jesus.” (If we are a believer)?

6.  Why is independence so appealing?   How have you seen independence get in the way of being set free?

7.  How does the Sabbath demonstrate God’s desire to set us free?  What makes keeping a sabbath time a burden?  Is it fair to say that giving into a schedule of busyness is like the Israelites wanting to return to Pharaoh as an evil taskmaster?  Why, or why not?