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This weekly conversation is designed to equip and resource you to build a healthy life group community that studies God's word, practices spiritual rhythms, and changes the world together. Hey, welcome to the Life Group leader podcast. My name is Dallas. I'm your host, and we have a special guest.
First time on the podcast. Yes, I'm honored to be here. My name is Isabella White, and I'm the group's coordinator here. Everything that happens behind the scenes with our groups, your hand is all over it.
You're not normally in front of people, but here you are on the podcast, forward-facing, life group leaders, mellitus so much for us. You wouldn't even know. If I could just list out, we'd take the entire podcast to list out all the things you do for Life Group leaders. It's so fun for you to do this, but one of the reasons why I also want you on the podcast is for all of your Life Group leaders, if you want to know who the person is that has their Bible out the most as I walk around the third floor, it's none of our pastors.
It's Bella. She always has survival out. She's always reading God's word, super, super knowledgeable, wise in God's word. I'm not going to turn it on the podcast.
Thank you, Dallas. I was very encouraging. I'm sending you guys all the emails and bugging you in 24-7. So answer the emails that she sends.
And Philippa Roster, all that stuff. We're jumping in week two of Exodus, plagues and Passover. I have my magazine. You're going to hear me.
You're going to hear the pages. There it is. Not beautiful magazine. All the people on TikTok.
It's more. There we go. But magazine is beautiful. I love our volunteers and all the things that they put in there.
So much great reading for you to make the most out of the series. But it's a great series. Summer series. We're going to dive in.
Ready to jump in? Let's do it. Okay. You're on the hot seat.
What is a favorite trip you've taken? So Life Group leaders, I think I would reword it in that way. What's a trip you've really enjoyed over the last couple of years? So instead of getting people to think of one trip you've ever taken, give them a time frame.
Hey, the last couple of years, what's a trip you've really enjoyed? Much easier question to answer. So what is a trip you've enjoyed the last couple of years? I would say I was able to go on a cruise around Europe about five years ago.
It was my mom and my best friend and her mom. And it was trip a lifetime. It was awesome. What made it so great?
I would say probably just like being able to experience a different culture and to see how the people there live a different way than we do here in America. So that was cool in the food, of course. What were some places you went to? We went to Rome, Venice, and then we did a few islands in Greece and Croatia.
All over. Italy was the best part, right? I'm Italian, so it had to be a best part. So what we're doing leaders is you're just getting everybody to talk.
I'm even asking some follow up questions because I'm genuinely interested in when people in your group see that you are genuinely interested, they know how much you care. And I do care. I want to hear more about your trip. So as a leader, I'm leaning in, I'm asking more questions.
I'm even putting it back. That'd be a really fun trip. Now I know if I ever want to do a cruise, you're the person I'm going to come talk to. What about you, Dallas?
Only two years ago, we did a family trip to Maui. I'd never been to Hawaii and went with my mom, my siblings, my wife, kids. Really fun. I'd never been to Hawaii, Southern California.
That's kind of where everybody goes to vacation. And I hadn't been there. And it was so amazing. I loved every moment of that.
The water, the vibes, the island vibes. Just spending time with family though. Every night, eating dinner on the patio, every morning, eating breakfast together, those are just memories that I'll cherish forever. So awesome.
So glad you got to experience that. We're going back this fall. Look at that. Off hours.
I love it. I love it. You've got to hear a little bit of people's stories in your group. You haven't heard everybody's full story.
You might be saying, no, I've heard everybody's story because of rooted. In rooted, they probably didn't tell you about a trip that they've taken. So with every week, you are still putting together pieces of everyone's story. So that's really what we get to do every week.
But we're not just there to tell stories in family vacations. We're looking down. We're going to look at the passage. And there's a lot of passage in this.
There's a lot of scripture in the whole message. But if you could read Exodus 3, 19 through 22. And if you have your magazines, it's on page 40 of your magazine. But we want to make sure we're reading guys.
We'll have you read that passage. Here we go. Exodus 3, 19 through 22. However, I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go, even under force from a strong hand.
But when I stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all my miracles that I will perform in it, after that he will let you go. And I will give these people such favor with the Egyptians that when you go, you will not go empty-handed. Each woman will ask her neighbor and any woman standing in her house for silver and gold jewelry and clothing. And you will put them on your sons and daughters so you will plunder the Egyptians.
Powerful. So powerful. And this is before anything has even happened. That's so cool.
That story's great. It's epic. What I've loved recently, I mean, Thursday night service is as we're telling these stories and people are in the audience like, wow, this is crazy all throughout the Genesis series, just in awe of the story because it's a beautiful story. So let's engage with the text.
So one of the things that you could do live with your leaders is you read this passage beforehand and you're circling, you're highlighting, you are engaging with the text on your own. So that way you can be prepared for a conversation. So what does God say will happen when Israelites try to ask Pharaoh to let them leave Egypt? What's going to happen?
Based on that passage? What's going to happen? Yeah. So that Pharaoh will resist, but God's going to act with power and Israelites will leave with wealth in favor.
And keeping into mind, they've been enslaved for over 400 years. So the idea of, hey, you're not just going to leave and be rescued, which is great. You're going to leave with wealth, a lot of wealth. God's going to rescue you.
He's going to care for them. It's going to be incredible and only he can get the glory. So imagine sitting there, he's been 400 years. This is generations.
And you're telling me, we're going to leave this place. You're going to rescue me and we're going to leave with wealth. It's really remarkable. And then you see the fulfillment of that in Exodus 12.
So really connect those two passages. It's really beautiful. So in sometime at 3 19 to 22, let people just engage with the texts, read some of the context, and then have people engage and, hey, where do you see? What are we learning?
They planed with the Egyptians. It's really beautiful to get people to connect with the passage. So that's looking down. Looking out.
We are looking out into culture. Where are you seeing this in culture? And this question, this first one, and look out, is really, really beautiful. The plagues in Exodus are meant to demonstrate how the God of the Bible is more powerful than each of the gods worshiped in Egypt.
So they had a little g-god for pretty much everything in their culture. So now we take it to our context. What are some of the common gods that we worship today? Like as you look out in culture, as you're scrolling on TikTok, what are some of the common gods that you may be seeing?
Yeah. I'd say money, success, beauty, relationships, comfort, control. Yeah. So many.
There's so many. Yeah. And the question is, hey, if God were to send plagues to go after the little g-g gods of our culture, who are the little g-g gods that he would go after? So some of the ones I wrote down are self-anidentity.
We try to give ourselves our own identity. And leaders, these are ones that you can write down, you can share, you come up with your own, the little g-god of romance and sexual fulfillment that once I have a significant other, then I will be fulfilled and then I can do whatever I want. And that's where I find fulfillment. Or the little g-god of image and approval that I'm going to post whatever I want.
And I'm maybe a lie of who I really am because that's how I'm going to be liked. My success means my approval. So the other one is success and hustle. And you can see everything for me is from the lens of a young adult because it's my demographic.
But success and hustle that I'm going to work hard, I'm going to earn everything, and I'm going to strive and strive and strive. And I'm going to hustle and grind and do everything on my own. Yeah. Kind of going off of that then.
Do you want to answer question two for us? Like why do you think we worship those gods today? And rather than the god of the Bible? I think those things, they're tempting.
And they actually satisfy us for a moment. Like there is a moment. They work for a short period of time. But over time, you end up becoming powerless, which is the story of God's people, the Israelites in Egypt because they were powerless.
So all those things, they fulfill you, satisfy you for a moment. Over time, they will all fail you. So you kind of get that instant burst of success. Like when I post something and wow, I already have 50 likes in a couple minutes.
This is great. And I have that dopamine hit for a second. Then here we are two or three days later and I forget that. Oh yeah, I did.
I post that. That's what it was. So all these things, I think they're good for a moment, but they don't last over time. And the thing that lasts over time is our relationship with Jesus.
Jesus is the only one through generations and everything that will satisfy. Yeah. I feel like when we trust God that often like requires patience and surrender and kind of going back to the passage, God delivered the Israelites like we're talking about after 400 years. Like that takes patience right there.
So, so. And I think this is a really great time for you as a leader to shepherd your group through that. And typically what people might come up with might be a sign of, hey, maybe there's something there. I know we have the rhythm reminders and it's sharing your story.
I think you're gonna get bits of your story. I even wrote down strongholds. Like as we go to look in, like this could be a really beautiful strongholds moment, a time for you to lean in, encourage people, don't be afraid to enter into that space. Don't be afraid to just stop that moment and pray.
And I'm just reminded because we just finished rooted in our group, someone was sharing a story and they're sharing bits of their past and it wasn't strongholds moment, but we just sat in that moment like this is a stronghold in your life. I mean, I didn't say that loud, but as a leader, I knew it. So I leaned into that and we stopped everything. We affirmed him.
We prayed over him. And as a leader, don't be afraid of those moments. You are the leader. And I think a trend that I'm seeing in so many leaders right now is like, okay, I know I know I'm a paper.
I'm a leader, but I feel imposter syndrome. I don't feel like I actually am a leader. So how could you encourage a leader to lean into those moments if they're feeling imposter syndrome, maybe some of the leaders you had in your life? Yeah.
It's a huge deal, truly. And you just have to remind yourself like you are there to lead them closer to Christ. You're not there to fix all of their problems. And so take that burden off of yourself, but also know that you were chosen to be a leader for a reason.
And also kind of like you were saying to us earlier, like listen to what your group members are navigating through. So then you know what you can be praying about for your group because prayer is so powerful. And so it's not alone. Yeah, there's a huge task in itself.
But yeah, this could be a really beautiful time for your group. The moments where I've had the confidence to lean into this are the times where people come back and we really needed that. Thank you. And those are the moments where my heart's racing.
I probably shouldn't do this and that's the lie of the enemy. But as you look in now you're getting into looking into ourselves like what does this mean? And one of the things that I wrote down was like we got to point people to Jesus. Jesus is the Passover Lamb.
Jesus is the only one who satisfies and then God has rescued us from our sin, like he has realized how does this affect how we live. I read a book on vacation a couple of weeks ago with the Green Letters by Miles Sanford. Really simple, really easy book. But one of the things that stood out to me was realizing that we have no strength.
We are dead in reference to sin. My way of thinking is impossible for me. I have to move to thinking it's impossible for me to resist sin on my own, hence I need Jesus. So it's impossible for self is possible with God.
So a prayer that I've been praying every day, how does this impact my everyday life? Is it a prayer that I've been praying? I wake up in the morning and say, I am so weak. I cannot do this on my own.
And it's really been beautiful because everything I do, it's like I can't do this on my own. Jesus, I need you to passover Lamb. Everything points to Jesus. And that's what's so beautiful about this series of points to Jesus.
Yeah, the Passover, like you said, foreshadowed a greater redemption. And then I'm going to take a moment to talk about the next series later. Another Lamb entered the city of Jerusalem. Preach, preach.
That's Jesus. And just as the Passover Lamb shielded Israel from death, the perfect Lamb saved us from death and provided eternal life. So so powerful. One last encouragement.
I'd like to say to the leaders, you don't have to have all the answers. And just being open and vulnerable to that of like, you know, guys, I'm not really sure let's dive into that together. And that is totally okay. It's about your heart posture too.
So just have a heart that's listening. And like you said, point people, Jesus, it's all point. That's it. There's no real thing to go.
That was a goal. You guys got to see Bella's goal. I love that. Leaders were so thankful for you.
Thank, thankful for how you faithfully walk alongside the people in our groups. Thank you for shepherding them. Thank you for discipling them. Thank you for pointing them to Jesus and encouraging them in the spaces that we as leaders can't always be in and probably are always welcomed in, not because we're bad, but like you have a beautiful group and they trust you as a leader.
So all of Bella's wisdom, go for it. We're thankful for you. We're thankful for you, Dallas. Seriously.
Thank you for you leaders too. Thank you all for listening and we'll catch you next time. Bye. Thanks.