Read:  Matthew 2:1-12

Open

What was the most difficult trip you ever had to make?  Where did you go?  Why did you go?

Dig

Who is troubled by the arrival of the Magi?  Why are they troubled?  Why do you think the citizens of Jerusalem did not rejoice at the news of the birth of a new King?

In the sermon we were told that Herod was not just a very evil man but that he represents Everyman in his resistance to the One who was born “King of the Jews.”  Do you agree with this?  If so, how do you see people (yourself sometimes?) “hating” this Jesus and resisting the possibility of his taking dominion over their lives?

According to the text, no one from Jerusalem went to Bethlehem to see this new king.  No one bothered to walk the six miles to see if it was true.  Can you think of similar ways that we refuse to make even a modest effort in order to connect with God?  Why is that?

Reflect

Is there an area in your life where you are acting like Herod?  Like the citizens of Jerusalem? Where you know what God wants you to do but you are determined to ignore or disobey him?

What needs to happen so that we can turn from being Herods to being Wise Men and Women?

Read:  Isaiah 35:1-10

Philippians 4:4-7

Matthew 2:7-12

Open

When was the last time you really laughed?  When was the last time you really rejoiced?

Dig

In the sermon we heard that joy is found in the promises of God.  What promises of God do you find in each of these three texts?  How are these promises sources of joy for us?

If these promises do not inspire joy in you, why not?  What are the obstacles to the joy that is linked to God’s promises?

Allan shared with us what joy is not dependent on—not dependent on a perfect body, perfect job, perfect relationship, a perfect Christmas gift, or on the absence of suffering.  He even said that we can know the joy of God in the face of death (as evidenced by the four funerals this week).  Do you agree with this?  Give an example from your own life of how joy is not dependent on these or similar things?

Reflect

How do you express joy?

Is joy something that happens to us or can we command joy?  Can we discipline ourselves to practice joy?  Why or why not?

Read Luke 1:26-38

Open

Growing up, did you and your family have any “Advent” traditions—things you did to prepare for the coming of Christmas?  What “Advent” memories are most precious to you?

Dig

The sermon encouraged us to look at Mary as an excellent model of Christian faith and devotion.  How do you see that most remarkably in this portion of scripture?

We were encouraged in the sermon to see two aspects of hope in Mary.  The first was to see the centrality of scripture in our lives if we are to be people of hope.  Allan said, “Hope is found in hearing and believing in the Word of God.”  How does Mary demonstrate that?  Contrast Mary’s response to God’s plan for her life with Eve’s response in Genesis 3:1-7.

The second aspect of hope that we see in Mary is her living life with her eye on the “eschatological horizon.”  This kind of living was defined as living knowing that God is at work and being confident—as exhibited by patience and trust—that God’s promised end will be accomplished.  What is hard about that for you?

In what temporal things/people are you tempted to misplace your hope (we were given examples of “perfect” holiday celebrations and our new president-elect)?

Reflect

Eve believed the serpent’s narrative of reality.  Mary believed and accepted the angel’s narrative.  What narratives are competing for your belief and acceptance?

How can you make scripture a more central part of your life and of your understanding of the narrative of your life this Advent?

How can we share the hope of knowing God’s “eschatological horizon” to those around us (and ourselves) who are in despair due to misplaced hopes?

Read Acts 6:8-15 (and 7:1-60 if you are ambitious and have time)

Open

Who would you cast in the role of Stephen if you were making a movie of this story?  Can you describe what “the face of an angel” [v. 15] looks like?

Dig

What does it mean to say that someone is “full of God’s grace” [v. 8]?  Can you describe such a person?

If Stephen is our example then when we are filled with God’s grace it is safe to say that this is different from merely “being nice.”  What do you see in Stephen here in chapter 6 and in his sermon and death in chapter 7 that would help describe what it means to be filled with God’s grace?

We can say that Stephen faces his death with grace.  Gannon spoke on how Stephen was prepared for this moment by two means: 1.  by his being filled with God which involves a death to self and 2. by his knowing his story—a story that goes all the way back to God’s dealing with Abraham, Joseph, and Moses.  What does it mean for us to prepare ourselves for death by these two means?

In the sermon we heard how Stephen teaches us about forgiveness—how he is able to forgive [7:60] because he knows he is forgiven.  We were told that forgiveness is a vulnerable act that is not safe.  Why is that the case?

Reflect

We were asked if we can “help each other to tell the story” and to “train each other to be prepared.”  Gannon gave the example of his roommate who asked him to pick up his shoes as a simple but important part of being trained and learning our story.  What do you think it means to help each other tell the story and train each other to be prepared?

Can you share an example of how you have been helped in these ways?

Read Acts 6:1-7

Open

Can you share with the group an experience when you were in conflict with another person and it was able to be resolved in a manner that felt right?  If you can’t think of a positive example, can you share with the group an experience of being in conflict and how you wished it had been resolved?

Dig

What caused the conflict that is mentioned in these verses?  In the sermon, the point was made that the conflict was the result of a very successful proclamation of the gospel, and that we need to realize that not all conflict is the result of something gone wrong.  Can you think of an example from your own life where there has been conflict because of positive changes in your life instead of something wrong?

The early church formed a “committee” of seven men to serve as deacons.  All seven had Greek-sounding names.  Is there any significance to this given the fact that the conflict was over the equitable distribution of food to the Greek-speaking widows vs. the Aramaic/Hebrew speaking widows?  Does this indicate a principle for how we should seek to resolve conflicts in our life together?

Allan gave the illustration of tilling his front yard in an attempt to get it to grow grass.  He used it as an illustration of how painful it can be for us to go through the positive kinds of changes we need to go through in order to grow, both as individuals and as a body of believers.  How do you see us as individuals and as a body resisting the necessary conflict that comes with the growth of the Holy Spirit?

Reflect

Allan used the specific example of the challenge of opening ourselves up to new people.  Does that ring true for you?  What hard, untended parts of your life do you sense the Holy Spirit wanting to till?

How can we, as a group, help each other not to be hard soil but fertile and open to the messy changes the Spirit may be bringing while maintaining a spirit of discernment?

2 November 2008

Read Acts 5:17-42

Open

Can you share with the group an experience in nature where you received a great sense of “perspective”?  It could be an awesome vista or the intricacy of a microscopic organism.  What has been one of your most awesome experiences in nature?

Dig

The disciples are freed from prison by an angel and return to the temple to teach the people the “full message of this new life.” [5:19-21]  They don’t run away or hide.  They go back because they were commanded by an angel to go.  They go because they are gripped by the reality of the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God.  Have we been gripped in such a way?  Do we need to have an angel appear to us to be gripped in such a way?  Why or why not?

After they are flogged by the Sanhedrin and released [vs. 40-41] we are told that the apostles left the Sanhedrin “rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.”  If you were a member of the Sanhedrin what would be your response to seeing these men rejoicing after they had been flogged and threatened not to speak in the name of Jesus?

Compare and contrast the apostles view of life with our own view of life, one that Allan characterized as a “risk-averse view of life.”

It was suggested that one of the keys for the disciples’ view of life was their understanding of the reality of the Kingdom of God and how Christ’s coming has changed everything.  Do you agree with this?  If our lives have not been gripped by the “reality of the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God” then why is that?  What is lacking in our understanding of the Kingdom of God or of our place in it that leaves us so unmoved, apathetic, or otherwise untouched?

Reflect

We were told that without a vision of the Kingdom of God, secondary concerns become larger than they should, especially a concern about the self.  Without that vision of the Kingdom of God we are prone to fight to build up the self and to protect it.  Is that true for you?  Can you share with the group an example of how in your own life when you have not had a greater vision for God’s Kingdom you have then become more focused on self and allowed your self to assume an importance greater than God intended?  Can you think of ways that the same thing happens to us corporately?

How does the celebration of the Lord’s Supper help to give you that sense of perspective, of seeing life in light of the picture of the incoming Kingdom of God?

Read Acts 4:32-5:11Open

Can you share with the rest of the group a humorous time in your life when you pretended to be something you were not in order to be “cool” or to fit in and the results of that pretense?

Dig

Acts 4:32-37 describe again for us the wonderful beauty of the early church’s life together.  There is a tension for us as Christians.  We read this description and some of us are tempted to make rules such as “all members of the church must sell all they have and share all things in common.” Yet at the same time we realize that we are called to a gospel of grace and that such rules lead us into legalism that is not reflective of God’s Kingdom.  And yet, we were told in the sermon that where the Holy Spirit is at work people live differently in remarkable ways.  When we know Christ and his gospel then we will hold nothing back from him and from one another.  Do you experience this tension?  If not, why not?  If so, how do you resolve this tension and the reality of what our life together is in our church community?  How does the reality of knowing Jesus and his gospel enable us to “sell everything” without getting stuck in legalism?

“Without knowing Jesus we can’t avoid legalism.  Knowing Jesus and his gospel makes legalism impossible.”  Do you agree with that statement?  Why or why not?

Allan described the judgment against Ananias and Sapphira as a “premature judgment” that reveals the judgment we all will face “in that day” when the light of the gospel exposes the motives of all of us.  He noted that these “premature judgments” in the Old Testament and the New Testament occur in the “frontier moments” when God is establishing His people as a distinctive community that reveals God’s character to the world.  Does that explanation make this story any more understandable to you?  What is your response to that explanation?

The sermon highlighted two aspects of the church that we see in Acts: 1. The integrity of their life together that was evidenced by their absolute determination to stick together and; 2. Their generosity because all things belong to God and are to be used for God’s purposes.  What is it that strikes YOU about the early church?

In the sermon we were reminded that the problem is not outside of us, “in the culture.”  “The problem is us.  We like the culture and it is killing us.”  Allan cited several examples of how we are dying because of how we are following the culture (e.g. our busyness, our wanting to keep all our options open, our lack of generosity).  What examples would you give from your own life of how you are dying because of your love for the ways of our culture?

Reflect

We were challenged to make a choice between living life in the presence of God (including the danger of exposure that comes with that) and being “inoculated against him in religious niceness.”  What choice are you making?  What are the consequences of that choice?

Allan concluded the sermon with the question, “Shall we ask God to make us such a Body?” as the one described here in Acts.  What is our response to that question?  Can we as a group pray for that now?

Read Acts 4:1-31

Open

In the sermon David suggested that this text represented a battle of authority—a battle to see whose authority Peter and John would submit to.  Can you remember an experience in your life when you were under pressure from two different sources of authority (e.g. a parent vs. a coach or a friend vs. a friend or the government vs. your conscience)?  Can you share that experience with the group and how you resolved that conflict?

Dig

What do you think is the higher authority that Peter and John choose to follow instead of the authority of the religious rulers in the Sanhedrin?  How would you describe Peter and John’s passion for this other authority (“It is a passion for …”)?

What do you think Peter wants to accomplish in his speeches before the Sanhedrin”?

In the sermon we were told that we too face a “battle of authority” in our lives.  Do you experience this in your life?  Where do you see an authority that is seeking to control you in a way that is contrary to the Holy Spirit’s authority?

Look at the disciples’ prayer in vs. 23-31.  In light of the authorities that are “threatening” us, what do we need to be reminded of about the nature of God so that we are able to remain faithful to the Holy Spirit’s authority in our lives?

Reflect

Is it enough for us to pray “consider their threats” (v. 29) and leave the rest to our “Sovereign Lord” to take care of?

David noted how the disciples did not pray for protection from these threats but only for greater boldness in the face of these threats.  Could you pray similarly?  Why or why not?

Read Acts 3:1-26

Open

In the sermon we heard about the term “chiliasm,” the interest in studying the last days that is prevalent especially when we see the foundations of our lives being threatened.  When was a time when you felt as if your foundations were being threatened?  How did you cope or how are you coping with those threats?

Dig

Imagine yourself being a witness to this miracle.  How is Peter and John’s interaction with this man unusual beyond the obvious reason of their healing him?  How do you respond when you are in a similar situation where someone is asking you for money?  Do you think this was the first time Peter and John had heard this man ask them for money?

Imagine yourself being the crippled man.  What do you think his hopes were?  Do you think he ever imagined being able to walk for the first time?

What is the driving thought behind Peter’s sermon?  What is it that he wants people to know that this healing gives him the opportunity to tell them?  Does this driving thought drive you?  Why or why not?

Allan said that letting our lives speak for themselves is not enough; that we need to interpret our lives so that others can understand that it is Christ in us who makes us different.  Do you agree with him?  Why or why not?

Reflect

Peter gives witness to the new creation that comes with Christ—this inbreaking of the Kingdom of God.  The healing of this man is a sign of that inbreaking.  He responds by “walking and leaping and praising God.”  How will he live his life from now on?  We were challenged to picture ourselves to be that man.

Have we experienced the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom in our lives?  How will we live our lives in response to the inbreaking of God’s Kingdom in our lives?

Read Acts 2:14-41

Open

In the sermon we heard how Claude Monet had cataract surgery and how he saw the world in an entirely different way afterwards.  Can you share with the group a time when you had a similar kind of experience that caused you to see the world or yourself in an entirely different light?  Can you think of a humorous example of seeing yourself or the world in a new light because of a “revelation” you received?

Dig

In this sermon by Peter he emphasizes how the experience of Pentecost is a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies (Joel 2 in vs. 17-21).  What do you think is the impact on Peter and the other disciples when they realize that what has just happened to them was predicted in the scriptures?  What do you think is the impact on the crowd when they realize this?  Has what has happened to you in your experience with God been prophesied in scripture?  If so, what is the impact on you at your realization of this?

In vs. 22-36 Peter clearly and succinctly tells the story of Jesus.  What part of Jesus’ story does he focus on?  Why is that the most important part of the story for Peter?  For you?

Peter concludes the sermon speaking of God’s promise to all who are listening (v. 39).  What is this promise?

In the sermon, Allan talked about Peter’s call to “repent and be baptized” as a call to “exchange your story for His story.”  What does this mean?

Reflect

What are the implications for someone who exchanges their story for Jesus’ story?  How will one’s life change if they made this exchange?  Why is this good news?