Real love doesn’t start with us trying harder, it starts when we finally grasp how deeply God loves us through Jesus, even in our sin. When that love takes root, it changes everything: healed people love people, and a life transformed by grace becomes a life poured out for God and others.

The command and capability to love Is from God

The proof and purpose of God’s love in Jesus

Remember your sin to rekindle your love

Life Group Discussion:

What “environmental inputs” (community, media, habits, worship, Scripture) are currently shaping your heart—for better or worse?

Where might God be inviting you to love someone this week by laying down comfort, convenience, or control?

How have you seen gratitude for God’s forgiveness deepen someone’s love, joy, or obedience (maybe even in your own life)?

JP taught that access to God’s Kingdom means little if we don’t truly love Him. From 1 John 2:15–17, he showed that pleasure, possessions, and position apart from God pull our hearts away from loving Him.

The pursuit of pleasure apart from God

The pursuit of possessions apart from God 

The pursuit of position apart from God

Life Group Discussion:

What desires or habits are shaping your appetite right now, and how are they affecting your love for God?

What is something you want right now, and how can you tell if that desire is rooted in gratitude or coveting?

In what situations do you find yourself most concerned with how others see you?

Love always changes your life, and Jesus says the most important thing about you is not what you believe, but who you love, starting with God and flowing out to others. This year’s invitation is simple but weighty: sit in God’s love, let it reorder your priorities, and watch your love for Him grow into real, tangible love for people.

This Command Is the Benchmark

This Command Is a Blessing

This Command Comes with a Barometer

Life Group Discussion:

What areas of your life (time, money, habits, relationships) most clearly reveal what you love the most?

Where do you notice restlessness or dissatisfaction in your life, even when things are “going well” on the outside?

Who is the hardest person in your life to love right now, and what makes that difficult?

Pastor John Elmore reminded the church to grasp the gravity of Christmas, that Jesus, fully God and fully man, humbled Himself to come for us. He called listeners to receive Christ as the servant who willingly came to die and save sinners. Finally, he challenged believers to live transformed lives that glorify Jesus in everything we do and offering back to Him all that He has first given us. 

Do you grasp the gravity of Christ?

Have you received the gift of Christ?

How will your life glorify Christ? 

Life Group Discussion:

What practices or rhythms help you slow down and truly reflect on the significance of the incarnation?

Is there anything that makes it hard for you to ask Jesus for help or surrender control to Him?

This week, what is one practical way you can “play your best for Him” in your everyday life?

True joy isn’t fragile happiness, it’s a settled gladness rooted in Jesus, often born out of waiting and disappointment. Psalm 98 shows that joy comes when we receive salvation, grows as Christ reigns in our lives, and lasts because God rules with righteousness. Because Jesus is the solution to our deepest brokenness, we can live with unshakable joy and hope, knowing how the story ends.

Joy comes when we receive salvation

Joy grows where Christ reigns

Joy lasts in righteous ruling

Life Group Discussion:

What’s a season or “well” Jesus has pulled you out of, and how does remembering that shape your joy today?

Who is someone you know that consistently lives with joy, and what do you notice about how they order their life?

How does trusting God with justice and fairness change the way you respond when you’re hurt or wronged?

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?