SET OUR HEARTS ABLAZE: A Desire for His Presence

Icebreaker:

What food do you crave in the summer?

What is your favorite homemade ice cream flavor?

Overview:

The story of Jesus on the road to Emmaus is one we usually only read at Easter and, even then, not often enough. It is a human-interest story, one where we can imagine ourselves as one of Jesus’s followers. To hear Jesus explain the scriptures that referred to the Lord Himself must have been amazing! But it was challenging to hear the stranger rebuke them for not having enough faith in the scriptures and realize later they were in the presence of Jesus. When we experience Jesus’s presence, we crave more.

Discussion:

Read Luke 24:13-35.

What was the mood of the two followers as they walked home?

Why did Jesus hide His identity from them?

What did Jesus use to explain the crucifixion to them?

What prompted them (perhaps husband and wife or siblings) to invite Jesus home with them?

What caused the fire they felt within their hearts as they talked with Jesus?

What was the followers’ response to being in the fiery presence of the Risen Lord?

Prayer:

Pray for the Holy Spirit to set your heart ablaze as you study the scriptures this week.

Daily Scripture Reading: “A Desire for His Presence”

Monday, August 6 – God made a covenant with Abram and sealed it with His Presence in the form of fire. Read Genesis 15. Verse 17: “When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.”

Tuesday, August 7 – God gave Moses an important job after getting his attention by setting a bush ablaze. Read Exodus 3. Verse 2: “And the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed.”

Wednesday, August 8 – God’s Presence in the form of cloud and fire lead Moses and his people by day and by night. Read Exodus 13:17-22. Verse 21: “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night.”

Thursday, August 9 – Mount Sinai was set ablaze by the Presence of God to seal a covenant between God and the people of Israel. Read Exodus 19. Verse 18: “Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly.”

Friday, August 10 – When people experience God’s Fiery Presence, they shout and fall on their faces in reverence. Read Leviticus 9. Verse 24: “And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the pieces of fat on the altar, and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.”