1. Think of your favorite or most unique Christmas tradition: (If in a group take some time to share them).  What makes that tradition special or meaningful? Why is it a tradition?

2. Thinking about your traditions:

What role do they play in highlighting Christ's Birth?

Do they draw you closer to the nativity or do the opposite?

3. Is it ok to have traditions that have no scriptural or spiritual meaning?

Is there a difference between a holiday tradition and an advent tradition?

Should there be a difference?

4. Read Isaiah 9:1 and Matthew 4:12-17

Why is it important that Matthew makes this note? What are the ramifications for this section theologically?

5. Read 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 and Mark 6:1-6

Do you think Paul's message in 1 Corinthians 2 is more true today than in His own time?

If Christ came today what differences would there be in His ministry or the way He dealt with cynics?

Why does the world find the message of Christ so foolish and unbelievable?

6. How have you seen the wisdom of Christ in your own life? How has Christ's Wonderful Counsel had an effect on you or someone you know?

7. How are you looking for Christ this advent season? Are there any ways you plan to make new, or change, Christmas traditions?

Main Point: Stand firm, by God’s strength, in God’s armor, during spiritual battle.

 Questions:

What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? Did you learn anything new about God or about yourself?

What do you think of when you hear the term, “Spiritual Warfare”? Do you believe in a literal Devil? What you know about the Devil from the Bible?

Read Ephesians 6:10-12. Where is the Believer’s source of strength? What is the purpose of putting on the armor of God? What are the Devil’s schemes?

Who are Christians at war with? How does this affect a Christians understanding of human “enemies”? Why is it dangerous to demonize people that you disagree with?

Read Ephesians 6:13-17. What does it mean to put on the full armor of God? Why is this practice important to living the Christian life? What happens when Christians do not put on the armor of God due to apathy or lack of awareness?

What are the pieces of armor listed in this section? What do they protect, and why are they important? What pieces of armor are to be worn all the time, and what pieces are to be put on when battle is imminent?

Read Ephesians 6:18-20. What role does prayer have in spiritual warfare? How can this understanding of prayer motivate us to pray, “On all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests”?

What does Paul tell the Ephesians to pray about? What do Paul’s prayer requests tell us about what he thought was most important?

By God’s grace what are some specific things you can do this week to apply what you have learned? How has your understanding of God’s love, grace, and salvation changed or deepened?

Main Point: Love and submission shapes our relationships.

Questions:

What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? Did you learn anything new about God or about yourself?

In this section, Paul addresses how the Christian life is lived out in marriage, family, and work relationships. Which one of Paul’s instructions did you find the most challenging?

Have you seen relationships marked by love and submission? What did they look like?

Read Ephesians 5:21. What does the word submission mean? What does it look like to submit to one another? How is submission to connected to a Christian’s relationship with God?

Read Genesis 1:26-28 and 2:24. What do these verses tell us about men and women? What do these verses tell us about marriage and the relationship God wants husbands and wives to have?

Read Ephesians 5:22-24. What are wives called to do in these verses? What does Paul say about the husband’s leadership in these verses?

Read Ephesians 5:25-33. What are husbands called to do in these verses? What examples does Paul give of how husbands are to love their wives?

Read Ephesians 6:1-4. What are children called to do in these verses? What are fathers instructed to do? What does it mean to exasperate your children? How is this contrary to training them in the faith?

Read Ephesians 6:5-9. A modern equivalent to masters and slaves would be managers and employees. What instructions are given to masters and slaves in these verses? How are slaves to serve their masters? How are masters called to treat their slaves?

For both the master and the slave, what is the motivation do what Paul instructed?

By God’s grace what are some specific things you can do this week to apply what you have learned? How has your understanding of God’s love, grace, and salvation changed or deepened?

Main Point: Live a life marked by the love of Jesus.

Questions:

~What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? Did you learn anything new about God or about yourself?

~Read Ephesians 5:1-2. What do you learn about God’s love in these verses? What words would best describe God’s love? 

~As a result of being loved by God, what should Christians (“dearly loved children”) do? What is the best way Christians can show the love of God to the world?

~Read Ephesians 5:3-7. In contrast to God’s perfect love, Paul now discusses how love can be perverted. What is God’s good plan for human sexuality? In what ways does Paul say that God’s plan for healthy sexuality gets corrupted? Instead of these unhealthy expressions of sexuality, what does Paul advocate in 5:4?

~What are the consequences of habitually embracing a lifestyle of sexual immorality? How do our actions reflect our understanding of God?

~Read Ephesians 5:8-14. What does it mean to “Live as children of the light”? What is the fruit of living in the light? 

~How is the darkness different from the light? What does it mean to expose the deeds of darkness? 

~What does the phrase, “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” mean? How can this apply to both Christians and those who don’t know Jesus yet? What is Paul calling people to do?

~Read Ephesians 5:15-20. What does it mean to make wise use of our time? What contrast does Paul make between being drunk and being filled with the Spirit? What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit?

~How are we to speak to other Christians. How does our speak reflect the condition of our hearts?

~By God’s grace what are some specific things you can do this week to apply what you have learned? How has your understanding of God’s love, grace, and salvation changed or deepened?

Main Point: Growing in Christ means building up, caring deeply, and forgiving like Jesus.

Questions:

What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? Did you learn anything new about God or about yourself?

In Ephesians 4:29-32, Paul continues talking about qualities of the new self. By God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, Christians can grow to become like Jesus. He is the only one who embodies all of these characteristics perfectly.

Of all the qualities that were encouraged or discouraged, which is the hardest for you? What experiences have made is hard for you to change this area of your life?

Read Ephesians 4:29-30. How would you define “unwholesome talk”? How does unwholesome talk tear others down instead of building them up in Christ? How would your speech change if all that you said was helpful for the people around you?

What does it mean to grieve the Holy Spirit? How does this relational element change your understanding of the choices I make?

Read Ephesians 4:31. Paul continues his discussion of anger from verse 4:26-27. The words in verse 31 build in intensity as anger grows. How do you handle anger?

Anger can intensify when it is not dealt with appropriately. How do you prevent your anger from building within you?

Read Ephesians 4:32. In contrast to the destructive nature of unwholesome talk and anger, Paul gives three important graces: kindness, compassion, and forgiveness. How would you define each one of these? Which is the hardest for you?

Jesus is our prefect example for all these virtues. Paul specifically links extending forgiveness to others with the forgiveness Christians have received from Jesus. What does this mean for the way we are to forgive others? How does Jesus’ forgiveness provide motivation to forgive others?

By God’s grace what are some specific things you can do this week to apply what you have learned? How has your understanding of God’s love, grace, and salvation changed or deepened?

Main Point: New identity leads to new perspectives and behaviors.

 Questions:

What impacted you from the message this weekend? What challenged you or encouraged you? Did you learn anything new about God or about yourself?

In Ephesians 4:17-24, Paul provides some specific ways for Christians to grow into the “new self.” He addresses truth, anger, and work. Which one of these areas is the most challenging for you? What experiences have you had that might Paul’s instructions difficult to live out?

Read Ephesians 4:25. What does it mean to “put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor”? How does lack of personal integrity affect the community of faith?

What reason does Paul give for speaking truthfully to each other? How does speaking truth bring health to the body of believers?

Are there things that you have trouble being honest about? What makes it difficult to speak the truth?

Read Ephesians 4:26-27. Anger can be a challenging emotion to handle correctly. What boundary does Paul provide in the way Christians are to express anger?

What reason does Paul give for urgency when dealing with anger? What happens when we allow anger to fester? How does this give the devil a foothold?

Read Ephesians 4:28. What are subtle ways that we can steal from people? Are these methods of stealing better or worse than directly taking something that doesn’t belong to you?

In this verse, what motivation does Paul give for working? How does this perspective challenge the typical reasons people have for making money?

By God’s grace what are some specific things you can do this week to apply what you have learned? How has your understanding of God’s love, grace, and salvation changed or deepened?