Ryan Moffat Luke 2:25-38

1. What did God say to you through the Scriptures this weekend?

2. Describe a season in your life where waiting on God’s timing felt unbearable? What did you do during that time? What did God do?

3. Luke describes two acts of God in this passage: Consolation (comfort) and Redemption (being released from bondage). Which one of those resonates more closely to what you need from Jesus right now in your season of life? What can you do to position yourself (like Anna and Simeon) to receive?

4. What specific promise of God do you need to more intensely focus on? Share that with the group and receive prayer around that need.

Mark Seekins John 1:14-18

1. Mark quoted from a study about what Americans believe about Jesus. Can you add to the list of commonly-held heresies about Jesus or how we get to heaven?

2. To be even more practical and make this study more personal…what are some ways that we commonly live like Jesus isn’t enough?

3. What about Jesus becoming fully human is hardest for you to understand or comprehend?

4. In the world that we live in, it’s hard to grasp that Jesus would not seek his own glory. What does this say about him? About us and our world? Jesus is “unparalleled” according to John. What have you seen added to Jesus? How have you seen this sentence finished “Jesus and ________.”

5. What do you need from God today that he and he alone can uniquely provide? Power, mercy, wisdom, love, etc.?

6. Are you functionally trusting someone or something else for the salvation of you soul today? Who or what? What can you do to bring your heart back around to Jesus?

Re-read John 1:1-18 and remember that Jesus is enough. Enough to change the world. Enough to change you and me.

Steve Stratos John 1:1-5, 14-18

1. What does God becoming human mean to you? Name three things.

2. What does Jesus revealing God tell you about God?

3. What do you learn about reality based on the person of Jesus?

4. Jesus is the only one that was born into the world to die. What does that mean? Why is that important?

5. What does the life of Jesus teach us about the Logos?

Steve Stratos and Ryan Moffat Psalm 133

1. Where have you experienced unity? What were the characteristics that made it good and pleasant?

2. What is the Origin of Unity, and how have you experienced or witnessed it?

3. What have you seen to be the undermining of unity, and how would you address it?

4. What is the blessing of unity, and how does it make itself known in teamwork?

5. What does unity look like according to Jesus’ priestly prayer in John 17?

Steve Stratos Psalm 132

1. Have you ever made plans that fell apart or were not fulfilled? What was your response? Did you find any growth through it? Explain.

2. Was there ever a time you believed your plans were of God and they did not come through? What was your response?

3. Read Exodus 25. Meditate on the importance of the Ark to God and the people of Israel. What does it represent to you?

4. “Never sacrifice the eternal on the altar of the immediate.” What does that mean to you as you walk with God?

5. How important is God’s dwelling place in the 21st century as it relates to the New Covenant? What is your role in making it known? How do you carry the Ark?

Jonathan Martin Psalm 131

1. Tell a story of a time in your life where you were most like a young child with its mother in your relationship with God. What were the circumstances that pushed you to this?

2. What keeps you from this kind of simple and pure faith?

3. What are those things too high, too lofty, too great, too marvelous – that you keep taking back into your own hands by demanding to understand, manipulate, or control?

4. What does it look like to let go of your pride in the following areas and to trust like a little child:

Relational - friends, family, neighbors that you can’t change

Circumstantial - things out of your control causing anxiety

Physical – health concerns or obsessions

Financial – the need to be secure

Intellectual or Theological – the need to know and be right

Ryan Moffat Psalm 130

1. What did God say to you through the teaching this week?

2. What was life like for you before you had your sins forgiven? How frequently do you contemplate this?

3. When you look at John Wesley’s small group/accountable questions, what stands out to you? Why don’t we have this kind of discipleship culture in our modern church moment? https://faithreflections.org/john-wesleys-small-group-questions/

4. What is an area in your life you’re “watching and waiting” and trusting in God’s word/God’s promises?

5. What else was significant to you?

Mark Seekins Psalm 127

1. Mark gave a pretty humorous job description for parents. Is there anything you would add? How would you write your job description as a parent? If you don’t have kids, how would you write a job description for your responsibility in helping to raise kids?

2. Do you agree that LOVE IS NOT ENOUGH when it comes to raising kids and a healthy family? Practically-speaking, if God is at the center of your family, how does that play out? What habits, practices, or traditions, might help to foster this centrality?

3. Mark mentioned that without the Lord you “work and wear out in vain”. What is the hardest thing for you as it comes to resting in the Lord? Do you agree with this statement: “There is a trust we can place in God, that he cares more about our children growing up right than even we do, so we can work our hardest, and then go to sleep entrusting God with the “city”/“field” of our family.” If so, how are you resting in God’s grace as it pertains to your family and your work?

4. How are children a “gift” or an “inheritance” from the Lord? What implications does this have on your understanding of your role in raising them? If you are the child, how does this strike you?

5. Mark said: “No gift from the Lord is intended to be a platform for us to gain our sense of significance or value.” Have you seen this kind of idolatry in society? In your life? How can we redirect our significance back to Him?

6. Can you answer the question “why did God give me my kids”? How are or have you set them free (i.e., loosed the arrow) to make an impact for God’s kingdom?

Re-read Ephesians 3:20-21 and remember your job description: Builds, Labors, Watches, and Works for someone else. Owns nothing, but manages everything. Trusts the boss with most important possessions. Knows there’s still “far more” to come each day.

Dustin Smith Psalm 124-125

1. When disappointment, pain, and disorientation comes, is your default praise or complaint? Why?

2. How has complaining or praise shaped your life?

3. What does it look like for you to move the needle toward a life of praise in all seasons to experience the peace of God?

4. How could you lead others toward this in the next week?

Steve Stratos Psalm 123

1. How have you experienced injustice in your life? What was your first reaction?

2. How did you resolve it?

3. Why does submitting to Jesus in the injustice help you grow?

4. Who or what was the most difficult situation you offered forgiveness to? What was your experience?

5. What does this mean to you? You have to Bow before you can Stand!