This year we’ve been doing our Rooted Study a little different.  Instead of looking at a different passage each day, we’ve spent a week looking at a single passage through different lens, what is the original context, what are the words actually on the page saying, and finally what does the passage mean to our lives.  I’ve heard a lot of good feedback regarding this, it’s helped many of you feel like you’ve got a better understanding of the different passages.

In light of that, we are going to do something a little different in the next few weeks. We are going to be looking at the 10 Commandments as found in Exodus.  Today I wanted to have you read through them and see what jumps off the page.  What do you see?  What stands out?  What speaks to you?  What grabs you?  Make a note, we’ll come back to these things later.

So, what we are going to do is this – today we have this intro, and tomorrow we’ll look at the world behind the text of the Ten Commandments. Then we’ll go commandment by commandment, look at what the passage is saying one day and then the next we’ll talk about what that commandment means to us in this day.  My goal is to, after we are done, better understand exactly what it is that God is telling us through this important text.

It is not hyperbolic to say that the Ten Commandments is one of the most important legal “documents” in human history.  Much of our western system of Laws find their genesis in this passage.  So, even taking the religious aspects out of the equation, this is one of the most important works in human history. But then you add to it the religious truth and you see it’s true beauty.  Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is to love our God and our neighbor.  That is the distilled truth of what our lives should look like. What is great about the Ten Commandments is that they give us a tangible understanding of what that distilled truth looks like.  If you love your God will not take His name in vain.  If you love your neighbor, you won’t murder this.  This text shows us what that life can and should look like.

I think with us walking together through this passage, we’ll more deeply understand and appreciate who God is and how we are called to live.

So, get ready, for when we finished this, we’ll all better know and understand the Ten Commandments.

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