Christmas isn’t just a nostalgic routine, we’re being reminded of the greatest announcement in history: the King has come, the King is Lord, and the King came to save us. Don’t tune out the miracle; respond, trust Him, and share the announcement that changes everything.

The Announcement: The King is Here! 

The Announcement: The King is LORD!

The Announcement: The King came to save us!

Life Group Discussion:

If Jesus showed up in your everyday life today, at work, school, or home, how would you honestly respond to His arrival?

Where do you struggle to trust Jesus’ authority, and what lies or fears make that hard?

What’s one area of your life right now, stress, sin, fear, or pressure, where you need to turn to Jesus for rescue instead of trying to fix it yourself?

Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:22–23, Isaiah 9:2, Luke 1: 78–79, Haggai 2:7, Isaiah 2:4, and Ephesians 2:14–17

Jesus has already come, He’s with us right now, and yet we still feel the ache of wandering, darkness, and chaos in a world that’s not fully restored. Advent reminds us to hold onto hope in that tension, trusting that the same Jesus who came once will come again to make everything whole.

Jesus is with us in the wandering 

Jesus is with us in the darkness

Jesus is with us in the chaos

Life Group Discussion:

How does remembering Jesus’ first coming give you confidence and hope while you wait for His return?

What kinds of darkness, personally or in the world, make you long for Jesus’ light the most?

What would it look like for you to “wait, watch, and hope” for Jesus in the middle of the chaos you’re experiencing right now?

JP compared spiritual growth to physical therapy, most of us “get by” but don’t put in the work to get healthy. Galatians 6 shows what real disciples do: help others, confront sin, stay in the Spirit, and keep showing up. The ideal follower of Jesus prioritizes Him above everything else.

Deliver the distressed

Improve without comparison 

Support the mission 

Confront sin

Influenced by The Spirit 

Persevere in discipleship 

Love all people, especially those here

Exalt Christ alone

Life Group Discussion:

How do you balance helping others without taking on their burdens entirely?

What habits or practices help you focus on your own growth?

How can confronting sin bring freedom instead of guilt?

Nate reminded us that we’re all being led by something, and following the flesh only leads to anxiety, chaos, and ultimately destruction. But when we choose to walk with the Spirit, He grows real fruit in us, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Real change doesn’t happen overnight, but through daily steps of surrender as God builds roots that eventually produce fruit.

The Spirit and the flesh are in conflict

Acts of the flesh lead to death

Walking with the spirit leads to fruit

Life Group Discussion:

Where do you most feel the “tug-of-war” between what your flesh wants and what the Spirit wants?

When you look at the list of “acts of the flesh,” which ones tend to show up in your life, and how do they impact you?

Nate said spiritual growth is often slow, like the bamboo tree building roots. Where do you think God might be growing “roots” in you right now?

Nate shared how he got scammed chasing a “free trip to Hawaii,” comparing it to how the Galatians were tricked into thinking they had to earn God’s approval. Paul reminds us there’s only one way to true freedom, trusting Jesus, who already paid our debt. When we grasp that, we stop striving and start loving others out of gratitude.

There is only one way to pay for freedom

There are many distractions to keep us enslaved

Love is the only way to respond to freedom 

Life Group Discussion:

Nate compared good works to worthless currency. What are some “currencies” you find yourself trying to use to earn God’s love?

How can you tell the difference between a good thing that’s from God and a distraction that keeps you stuck?

Who in your life could experience God’s love through your actions this week?

JP reminded us that our hope isn’t in how well we perform for God but in the promise, He’s already kept through Jesus. From Abraham’s story, we see that those who live by performance become slaves to it, but those who trust God’s promise live free. So, stand firm, not in what you can do, but in what Christ has already done for you.

Performers become slaves to performance

People of the promise live free

Stand firm in Christ’s performance

Life Group Discussion:

How have past experiences—like family expectations, school, or church—shaped the way you view performance and worth?

How does trying to control outcomes—like Abraham and Hagar—keep us from trusting God’s promises?

What are some ways you’re tempted to rely on your own effort instead of Christ’s finished work?

John Elmore teaches from Galatians 4:8–20 that we all face a daily choice: turn back to old habits and empty religion or turn toward Jesus. Real change doesn’t come from checking spiritual boxes but from knowing Christ and letting others call us back when we drift. The people and influences in our lives are shaping us, so choose the ones that lead you closer to Jesus, not back to bondage.

What are you tempted to turn back to?

Do you resent those who call you to repent?

Are your influences zealous for Christ?

Life Group Discussion:

Have you ever found yourself doing a lot for God but drifting from a real relationship with God? What did that look like?

Who in your life loves you enough to tell you the truth when you’re drifting, and do you listen to them?

What voices, environments, or habits are currently shaping who you are becoming, music, friends, social media, podcasts, culture?

Without Christ we were slaves, trying to earn God’s approval, but Jesus redeemed us and adopted us as sons and daughters. Now we don’t come to God by fear or performance, we come as family. Through the Holy Spirit, we get to enjoy access to our Father.

Without access to the Father, we are slaves

The Son has given us access through adoption

The Spirit enables us to enjoy our access

Life Group Discussion:

Where do you personally feel tempted to drift back into “slave mentality” in your walk with God?

What experiences with earthly fathers or authority figures might affect how you view God as Father?

What does it practically look like to enjoy God instead of just obeying Him from obligation?

The story of God has always been about faith. The covenant is permanent, the law gave perspective, and Jesus fulfilled the promise so we could be made right with God by faith alone. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

The covenant is permanent

The law gave perspective

The Son was the promise fulfilled

Life Group Discussion:

What’s an area of your life where you need to trust that God’s promises are still true today?

In what ways does God still use His “law” or truth to protect and guide us today?

What does it mean to you personally that faith, not performance, makes you right with God?

Every person is under something, either the curse of relying on ourselves or the blessing of being under Christ. Jesus took the curse we deserved so we could be made right with God. To be under Christ is to live in freedom, grace, and the power of the Spirit.

Under Curse

Under Christ

Under Blessing 

Life Group Discussion:

Why do you think it’s so tempting to rely on our own good works to feel “right” with God?

How does understanding that Jesus became the curse for us change the way you see the cross?

What are some of the blessings we experience when we are “in Christ”?