Faith In God's Covenant

A Small Group Discussion Guide Based on the Teaching by Pastor Mirek Hufton

1. SERMON RECAP

Pastor Mirek Hufton opened this message by tracing the thread of blood covenant throughout Scripture and human history, showing that God's desire from the beginning has been to be made one with humanity. He explored how the Passover lamb, the covenants God cut with Abraham, and ultimately the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross are all part of one unbroken story of God pursuing relationship with people. He challenged the group to stop being strangers to the covenant and to begin living as full covenant partners with Almighty God, accessing everything that relationship makes available to them.

2. KEY SCRIPTURE

Ephesians 2:12-13 (NKJV)

"That at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ."

3. ICE BREAKER

Think of a time in your life when you made a serious, binding commitment to another person, whether a friendship, a marriage, a business partnership, or a promise you kept at great personal cost. What made that commitment feel meaningful and real to you?

4. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Pastor Mirek pointed out that the word covenant literally means "to cut until blood flows," and that virtually every culture throughout history has practiced some form of blood covenant. Why do you think God chose something as visceral and serious as a blood covenant, rather than a simple verbal agreement, as the foundation for his relationship with humanity? What does that tell us about how seriously God takes this relationship?

2. He described how God walked between the pieces of the slaughtered animals in Genesis 15, cutting covenant with Abraham while Abraham slept. In a typical covenant both parties would walk through together, but here God did it alone. What does it mean to you personally that God took on the full weight and obligation of this covenant himself? How does that change the way you think about your standing before him?

3. Pastor Mirek said that one of the great problems in the American church is that people want the blessings of the covenant without the surrender that the covenant requires. He described covenant as fundamentally a two-way relationship involving yielding your life, your possessions, and your future to the other party. Where do you find it hardest to surrender those areas to God, and what do you think holds you back?

4. He drew a connection between the Israelites keeping the Passover lamb in their homes for five days before the sacrifice, growing attached to it, and understanding the cost of what was being given. How does sitting with the reality of what Jesus gave up, rather than rushing past it, change the weight and meaning of communion for you? Has taking communion ever felt routine or disconnected, and what do you think would help make it feel like the covenant moment it is meant to be?

5. Pastor Mirek referenced John 6, where Jesus says, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you," and then connected that to the covenant language of becoming one with the other party. Many of Jesus's disciples walked away from him after he said this because it was too difficult to hear. What do you think Jesus was really calling people to when he used that kind of language, and what does it look like practically to be that fully united with him in daily life?

6. He closed by encouraging the group to think much bigger, saying that a covenant partner with Almighty God has access to healing, provision, favor, and supernatural outcomes that go far beyond what human effort alone can produce. In your own life, where are you currently approaching a situation purely through your own resources and effort, when you could instead be bringing the weight of a covenant relationship with God into it? What would it look like to actually do that this week?

5. APPLICATION CHALLENGE

Before taking communion this week, whether on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, or at your next opportunity, set aside at least ten minutes beforehand to do something specific. Write down on a piece of paper one area of your life where you have been holding back from full surrender to God. Then, as you take the bread and the cup, consciously bring that area before him and speak aloud a simple declaration that you are a covenant believer and that area belongs to him. Keep the piece of paper somewhere visible for the rest of the week as a reminder of the commitment you made.

6. PRAYER POINTS

• Pray that each member of the group would move from being a stranger to the covenant to being someone who understands, believes, and actively lives in its promises, particularly in the areas of healing, provision, and God's presence.

• Pray for the upcoming mission trips Pastor Mirek mentioned, to Zambia and to Raleigh, North Carolina, that those who are going would go as true covenant people carrying the full weight of what God has made available, and that God would do supernatural things through them.

• Pray that this Easter season, the remembrance of the blood Jesus shed would become deeply real and personally meaningful to every person in the congregation, and that the Resurrection Sunday celebration would mark a genuine turning point in how the church understands and walks in its covenant relationship with God.

7. MEMORY VERSE

John 17:21 (NKJV)

"That they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."

Guide prepared for small group use based on the teaching "Faith In God's Covenant" by Pastor Mirek Hufton.