Stu Quakenbush // Rockford Campus // December 15, 2024

SMALL GROUP
DISCUSSION GUIDE

THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: Matthew 1:18-25

REMINDERS

CHRISTMAS CANDLELIGHT SERVICE (Sunday, December 22, 9am, 3pm, and 6pm)

Kids programming for Birth-Age 3 is offered at the 9am and 3pm services only. Kids are invited to join us for the 6pm service.

WINTER BIBLE STUDIES (Beginning the week of January 12, 2025)

Both Men’s and Women’s Winter Bible Studies will begin the week of January 12th at the Rockford and Northview campuses. Registration for each is open on the events page of the website.

LEADER DEVELOPMENT CLASS (Sundays, 6–7pm – Rockford Campus Room 304)

We’ve had some TERRIFIC LDC’s lately covering the topic of how to navigate Crucial Conversations. Thank you to the Leaders who’ve been able to make it!

Here’s the plan as we move into the holiday season for continuing to grow and learn together:

• Dec. 15: LEADER DEVELOPMENT CHRISTMAS GATHERING
• Dec. 22: OFF – Christmas Break
• Dec. 29: OFF – New Year’s Break
• Jan. 5: Continue Crucial Conversations

TOGETHER IN LIFE

This Sunday was the third Sunday of Advent, when we focus on JOY!

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11)

JOY is often used synonymously with happiness, but this is an inaccurate (or at least incomplete) way of describing what biblical JOY is. JOY is a mixture of peace and satisfaction in Christ whether or not there is earthly reason to be happy.

Scripture is full of references to JOY that goes beyond mere happiness.

Share with your group a moment around the Christmas season experience JOY and how that can be similar or different from feelings of happiness.

In what ways do you express JOY – how do people around you know you are JOYFUL?

TOGETHER IN THE WORD

THIS WEEK’S KEY PASSAGE: Matthew 1:18-25

Note: If you are meeting as a group, we encourage you to read the entire text together out loud.

KEY QUESTIONS:

Read Matthew 1:18-25

• How does the presence of God in your life affect how you treat friends and family?

GOING DEEPER:

God with Us – Old Testament

All throughout Scripture, we’re reminded of God’s presence everywhere, always (His omnipresence).

From the Garden of Eden, through the various Wanderings, Exiles, and Returns, God made it clear: “I am with you”.

QUESTIONS

• What examples of God’s presence do you recall from the Old Testament?
• Why is it significant that God is with the people in these ways?
• What happened when the people forgot God’s presence?

God with Us – In Fear and Pain

Read Isaiah 7:10-16

• What does this passage say about God’s presence?
• Who initiates in response: God or Ahaz?
• What does it mean for us to consider God’s presence while we are far from Him in our beliefs, thoughts, and actions?

God with us – Today

Read John 16:4b-15

• What does this passage tell us about God’s presence with followers of Jesus today?

The Holy Spirit is present with those who confess Christ as Lord and Savior and repent of their sin (1 John 1:9:2-1). His Spirit moves in all believers to:

• • Illuminate the Word to make it understand and able to live it.
  • Convict us of Sin
  • Commune with God in prayer and worship
  • Access His power for being sanctified and growing in living out His fruit.

Forgivenness

We all have a “list” in our hearts – a record of wrongs done to us through people and events that are sometimes too difficult or painful to discussed. In the midst of these things, God calls us to forgive others as we’ve been forgiven.

• What has God forgiven you of in your life? What sins has God given you grace and mercy for?
• Why is it important to remember what God has rescued you from?
• What is your first impulse in the midst of painful moments? Do you tend to run and hide, retreating into silence? Do you tend to lash out and become self-protective in verbal violence? Something else?
• How does knowing and trusting God with your heart help you forgive others?

Learning to Care

Experiencing bumps and bruises across the journey of life can cause us to become unfeeling or uncaring for people. One way the Holy Spirit helps us grow is in having a heart of compassion for others.

• Who are people that are easy for you to care about? Why?
• Who are people that are difficult for you to care about? Why?
• In what ways did Jesus instruct people to care for others? Be as specific with Scripture as you can letting the Bible inform you versus letting you inform what God has for you.

Sacrifice

It’s not enough – according to Christ – to merely care for things and people who will serve you in return. It is sacrificial love that is the hallmark of a believer in Jesus.

Read Philippians 2:1-18

• What does this text tell us about how we ought to love others?
• What are ways you enjoy serving or giving?
• What are ways that always feel like more work or more challenging for you to serve?
• What does “Sacrifice” mean?
• What does it mean to be “sacrificial in giving” or “sacrificial in serving”?

 

TOGETHER IN ACTION

Meditate on the amazing gift that in Christ, God is both with you and for you.

• Each day this week set a 5 minute timer and do nothing but sit in a quiet, undistracted space and contemplate God’s presence and power for you. If this time is short, consider longer.
• Using a journal after your time of meditation jot down a few thoughts of what that was like for you.

Love someone that is hard for you to love.

• Love is easy when someone loves us back. Find someone each day to do an act of kindness toward whom you assume will not act kindly back.

If there is anyone in your life whom you have not forgiven, seek them out and forgive them.

• Pray that God would open doors for you to have a conversation with someone to forgive them.
• For forgiveness- both seeking it and offering it – it can be helpful to start with 4S’s
  • Short: Don’t be long-winded, hoping that many words will ease the blow.
  • Simple: Keep your words simple and true to the context of the forgiveness.
  • Specific: Be direct about what it is that you are seeking or offering forgiveness for.
  • Soon: Do it sooner than later. If it’s been a long time, now is better than never.

If you need to repent, humble yourself and ask for forgiveness.

• Pray for strength to approach someone that you know you need to seek forgiveness from.
• Pray for forgiveness from the Lord first – your security in Christ and your understanding of the depth of His forgiveness for you will make all the difference in the world.
• Remember the 4S’s as a first step. More conversation and follow-up action is sometimes necessary for certain situations.
• Seeking forgiveness knowing the person your are seeking is not God and will not respond perfectly. Trust your Savior to rescue you and the one whom you need to seek forgiveness from.

TOGETHER IN PRAYER

And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.  And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. – Matthew 2:9b-11a

• Pray that God would help you keep your focus on the miracle that is GOD WITH US.
• Pray for JOY beyond human understanding: that out of the overflow of God’s loving kindness to you in forgiving you of your sins, you would respond with “exceedingly great joy” to Christ’s gift of His presence with you TODAY.