- Isaiah 7: 10-14
- Psalms 24: 1-2, 3-4, 5-6
- Romans 1: 1-7
- Matthew 1: 18-24
- Finding God's direction
- Our God makes His desires known to us in lots of different ways. Learning to "tune in" to those various ways is a large part of our maturing process as His children.
- How do you think your deepest desires factor in to God's desires for you?
- Where do you think that your desires come from?
- Why do you think that they are there?
- How do you even find those deepest desires?
- It's all gift
- We speak of ourselves as God's stewards on this earth, using the things of this world to accomplish His kingdom in our midst. But that leaves a lot to our imaginations regarding where those goods need to go.
- What are some things that you give that you alone can contribute?
- How has that giving transformed you over the years?
- How did you find that calling in your life?
- Called to be an apostle
- Bringing someone to Jesus is not just about the message. If it were, the text of our beliefs would be enough to convince anyone. It's not just a matter of how its said, or even the timing. Often the Gospel only penetrates past a persons fear when that message comes from the right messenger at the right time.
- What are some things that God has convinced/convicted you of that you might never have been able to accept from just anyone?
- What was special about that person, that they were able to "connect" with you?
- Do you think that you might be the only one who can bring a special word to someone else?
- It takes a village
- The birth of Jesus was profoundly a community event. The infancy narratives show God working through multiple people to make it all come together, almost as though all of these events were choreographed.
- What's an event, a time in your life, when something wonderful happened because you were able to accept help from others?
- How did you come to realize that you needed that help?
- What were your worries/fears at the time?
- How did God inspire you through that season of your life?
- Preparation for Reconciliation
- Where is God calling me to be more authentic?
- Where is God moving in my life to get me moving in His?
- Where am I special in God's plan?
- How can I better serve with, in, through my community?
Heartbreak, Fear, Awe
My father used to tell me that, as a youth, he looked for four things in life:
A brick house,
A Buick parked in the driveway,
Well fed wife and children,
A dog in the back yard.
I never had the courage to ask him how that worked out for him.
I think that sometimes our vision of what makes success -
Gets in the way of true freedom.
We're so convinced that "good" can only look one way,
That we miss, or forget what real success means:
Bringing about the Kingdom by being our true selves.
The small self, that is a perennial coward,
Always afraid of losing what little it thinks that it controls,
Never wanting to step into greater freedom,
Greater authenticity,
Greater wonder in life.
The hard part is letting go of that smaller horizon.
And opening up to new possibilities
That are only now starting to emerge.
Letting them make themselves known in their own time.
Taking the attitude of a farmer.
Letting the mystery unfold on its own schedule.
Never daring to try to hurry things.
Trusting, waiting, listening for the signal
That tells me when the magic moment has arrived
To step into all of my tomorrows.
Finding those next horizons
Well beyond my latest dreams.
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