Session plan 90 min
- Opening 10 min
- Genesis 1:9–13 — Day 3 15 min
- Exodus 27 — The Altar and Courtyard 25 min
- The Seed Principle and the Feast 25 min
- Closing 15 min
Where We Are
| Week | Episode | Day | Focus |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 325 | Day 1 — Light & Darkness | Ark, Table & Menorah · Testimonies, bread, lamp |
| 2 | 326 | Day 2 — Separation of Waters | Curtains & Coverings · The door |
| 3 | 327 | Day 3 — Land & Vegetation | Altar & Courtyard · Community |
| 4 | 328 | Day 4 — Luminaries | Priestly Garments · Orientation |
| 5 | 329 | Day 5 — Birds & Sea Creatures | Ordination & Offerings · Presence |
| 6 | 330 | Day 6 — Humanity | Incense, Oil & Basin · Image & likeness |
| 7 | 331 | Day 7 — Sabbath | Sabbath Commands · Rest |
Last week: Day 2 built a door. God stands at the threshold. Love is what takes us through. Who is at our gate?
This week: Gathered waters produce dry ground — community. The altar is hollow until the people gather. The stones must come uncut. The feast is spontaneous. The seed is scattered without a brand.
Opening 10 min
Opening Question: Think of a community — a family, a church, a team, a neighborhood — that made you feel like you belonged without asking you to change first. What did it feel like? And what specifically made that belonging possible?
Genesis 1:9–13 — Day 3 15 min
Read Genesis 1:9–13 aloud.
Q1: Day 3 has two creative acts: waters gather, dry land appears; then the land produces vegetation. Josh reads the gathering of chaotic waters as community forming, and dry ground as something qualitatively new — stability where varied life can take root.1 What is the difference between a collection of friendships and an actual community? Have you experienced both? What made one produce dry ground and the other not?
Q2: Optional Day 3 is the first time creation takes part in its own creation — God tells the land to produce, and the land does the work.2 Josh connects this to rabbinic discipleship: disciples often do things their teacher never imagined. Who have you “produced” that surprised you by surpassing what you thought you gave them?
Exodus 27 — The Altar and Courtyard 25 min
Read Exodus 27:1–5, 9, 19 aloud.
Q3: The bronze altar is hollow and portable.3 At each campsite it was set over a heap of local earth and uncut local stones. The altar only exists where the people gather, and it is made of the earth of that place. What does that suggest about the relationship between the people and the worship space? What is the “local earth” that your community brings to God’s table?
Q4: Exodus 20:25 commands that altar stones must not be cut with tools. Josh’s application: communities that require people to reshape themselves before they can belong are “raising a sword” against those people.4 Where in your own community are you cutting stones to make people fit before they can belong?
The Seed Principle and the Feast 25 min
Q5: The peace offering must be eaten within one or two days.5 One family has more meat than it can eat; others in the courtyard have nothing. God doesn’t command the feast — God sets up conditions where people choose to start it. Is there a surplus in your life right now — food, time, attention, wisdom — that the conditions of your life are pushing you to share? What would the spontaneous feast look like?
Q6: Plants scatter seed and do not brand it.6 Josh’s goal is that someone far away starts a BEMA discussion group and nobody knows Marty’s name. Where in your current season are you holding your seed too tightly? What would it look like to scatter it without needing to watch it grow?
Closing 15 min
“Day 3 gives us community as the place where dry ground appears — stable, capable of supporting varied life that reproduces beyond what any one person planned. The altar is hollow until you gather. The stones must come uncut. The feast happens not by command but by proximity and surplus. The seed scatters without a label.”
Closing Question: One sentence —
“The uncut stone I have been cutting — or the seat at my table that is empty — is ___.”
Looking Ahead — Week 4: Day 4 and the Priestly Garments
Ep. 328 — Sanctuary: Listening by the Mishkan (2:00:54) — Note: This is the longest episode in the series.
Day 4 places the sun, moon, and stars in the sky. The stars are barely mentioned — yet they are the lights that matter most in real darkness. You cannot work by starlight, but you can know where you are and what season you are in. The priests are like the stars: not blinding, but navigational. Each of their garments communicates something about what a priest does: shoulder stones carry the whole community; the breastpiece holds each tribe’s name over the heart; bells make the priest findable; pomegranates promise fruit given away; the gold plate carries the people’s guilt into God’s presence.
Before Week 4: Who in your life has functioned like a star for you — not solving your problem, but helping you know what season you were in? What did they do, specifically?
References
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Ep. 327 notes. Genesis 1:11; land as active participant in creation. ↩
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Ep. 327 notes. Exodus 27:1–8; Exodus 20:24–25. The hollow altar and local-earth construction. ↩
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Ep. 327 notes. Josh’s direct application of the uncut-stone command. ↩
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Ep. 327 notes. Leviticus 7:15–18. ↩
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Ep. 327 notes. The seed principle. ↩
This discussion guide was developed using these notes and is aligned with the content and approach of the BEMA Discipleship Podcast (opens in a new tab) by Marty Solomon and Brent Billings.