December 15, 2024
When The King Comes | Where Can I Find Joy In Life?
Advent 2024
When the Wisemen arrived in Jerusalem looking for the ‘King of the Jews’, the scholars read our Micah passage and told them to go to Bethlehem. Bethlehem was the place of the king's birth. That prophecy had been given 700 years before Mary and Joseph trundled into sleepy Bethlehem. All of this: Micah’s prophecy, the difficulty of his time in history, translates into joy for us and potential joy for all the generations of the earth.
Songs for this week: Spotify
- Look over your life; when did you feel the most joy? Tell that story to your group.
- How would you explain joy to your friends asking you about the Christian faith?
- Have you ever felt ‘under siege’ or that you’d been struck in the face emotionally? How did you respond? Do you think Jesus cares about your hard times? Explain.
- How do you explain “one whose origins are from of old, from ancient times”? Is this a legitimate claim to Jesus being God, or does it mean something else?
- What is gained in Jesus being our shepherd? Does that term deliver hope and joy, or does it feel underwhelming to you?
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Recent Sermons
Romans 12:1-2 - Jesus’ invitation is to follow him: to be with him, become like him, and do what he did. We surrender control to Jesus, resist the pattern of the world that shapes us, and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit for transformation.
Mark 1:16-18 -We begin our series on Practicing the Way—exploring how Jesus’ rhythms of prayer, fasting, solitude, and Sabbath invite ordinary people to grow in grace and intimacy with God
Acts 17:16-34 -Paul shares the hope of Jesus in everyday language, guiding seekers toward truth and showing where their search for God had gone astray.
Acts 13:1-5 -The first Christians had small groups! They knew, because Jesus modelled it, that we’re much better in groups than we are as individuals. The group that gathered in Antioch was diverse, zoned in on Jesus and figuring out how to be outward-facing. Your own group will want all that and more!
Acts 8:9-25 - Simon put on a good show (literally!), but his heart was full of bitterness. He wasn’t healthy and wasn’t taking the steps to be healthy. What about us today?
Acts 2:40-47 - As a church, we’re taking some time to talk about our vision and strategy. We’re hoping to add clarity to why and how we do what we do in this season.
