StoneBridge Community Church
Senior Pastor Jon Saur
The Moses Legacy: Leviticus
In this sermon series, we will be looking at the Law as God describes it to Moses in Leviticus. The language of Leviticus helps us understand the full meaning of Jesus' sacrifice. Without fully understanding parts of Leviticus, we cannot fully grasp how God accomplished victorious atonement over sin through Jesus Christ..
Leviticus 1:1-4 NRSV
Sermon Outline
I. What exactly is sin?
A. Behaviors? Not entirely
B. Cosmic Force? Paul uses this language.
C. Different answers - Burden, accounting/debt
II. Sin in Leviticus
A. Milgrom - Black mold
B. Sin dirties up the altar
C. Dorian Gray example
1. Dorian Gray's painting
2. Altar = Painting
3. Dirty altar drives God's presence away
III. Purpose of Sacrifices
A. Cleanse the altar
B. Retain God's presence
C. God instituted Sacrificial system to live with God's people
D. Proof - Ezekiel 8-10
IV. What does all this mean, though?
A. Pastor Jon's personal story
B. "We want you to be part of our life"
C. That's what God was saying to Israel
V. In Jesus
A. What God says to you - I want you to be part of my life
B. No worries about God leaving again (Ezekiel ref. & Matthew ref)
C. Jesus' blood cleansed the whole world, not just you
D. God inhabits the whole world.
E. God wants to be part of your life and will never abandon you
GROWTH GROUP / PERSONAL REFLECTION QUESTIONS
1. Have you ever looked closely at the sacrificial system? What did you already know about the sacrificial system before the sermon this week?
2. What was new to you, if anything, from the sermon?
3. Having some key points of the sacrificial system explained, what insights about God and Jesus do you now understand at a deeper level?
4. In Ezekiel chapter 10, God's presence leaves the temple. Describe a time when you felt like God may have left you? Does the truth that Jesus' sacrifice means God will never abandon us change your perspective on that time in your life? If so, how? If not, why not?
5. The gospels record that when Jesus died, the temple of the curtain ripped in two. What do you think the significance of the curtain ripping is?
NEXT STEPS
1. Do an inventory of everything you now know about the sacrificial system in the Bible.
2. Reflect on what, if anything, has deepened your understanding of this system.
3. Reflect on what has deepened, if anything, about your understanding what God was willing to do to be in your life.
4. Find those areas that you are still either withholding from God, or don't believe God can be a part of, in your life. Hand those over to God in prayer.
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