Group Notes | December 18

Self on the Shelf: The Christmas Calling
December 18, 2016
Matt Willmington

 

Open:

If you have lived very long, you have seen the word “calling” mean many different actions. Give as many examples as you can think of!

During this Christmas season, we have attempted to take the focus off ourselves and put it on the true message of Christmas. It is the time of year when we reflect most on the action of Jesus the King, leaving heaven, to enter the world as a baby, born of a virgin. We began this series studying the birth of another baby three months earlier, that of John the Baptist, who was the one chosen to announce the coming of the Messiah.

Focal Passages: Luke 1:57-80

 Discuss:

Answer God’s Call

  1. Can someone summarize the events that took place when Zacharias and Elizabeth learned they would be parents?
  2. Read Isaiah 40:3. What had been prophesied of John, about 700 years before his birth?
  3. When he was born (verses 67-75), what did his father say of him in verses 76-79?
  4. Have you ever felt that God was moving in your life, so that you could respond in a particular situation?

Announce Jesus

  1. What was John’s “calling?” How did this fulfill God’s reason for him to be born at this time in history?
  2. Was his childhood very different than that of Jesus (verse 80 compared to Luke 2:40, 52)?
  3. In Matthew 28:19-20, how does John’s calling differ from yours?

Accept His Timing

  1. Go in your mind to the years when Zacharias and Elizabeth were of child-bearing age; what if John had been born then? About how long would it have been before Jesus would be born?
  2. What do you find yourself doing when God’s timing is not yours? Do you usually take over, or patiently wait for Him to act?
  3. What season are you in now—a waiting period, or is everything going well?

Close:

It is a magnificent lesson to all of us to reflect on the high calling of John the Baptist. In Esther 4:14, it is pointed out that she was raised up for the time that she would be needed to save her people from annihilation. John was born at a time in history in order to fulfill prophecy that he would be the one who would announce that the Messiah had come to Israel. But think of his parents: they had prayed long and hard—for many years—for a child, and still Elizabeth remained barren. Did they think God had forgotten them? They kept their faith, but sorrow still had to have been present in her heart. Yet had she been able to see her role from God’s perspective, she would have realized she was going to bear the forerunner to Jesus Christ, and that joy would have taken away all her pain! Perhaps when we have prayers that are not answered in a timely manner, we need to read this passage, asking God for the patience and trust to believe He is working out purposes that are so far beyond our ability to grasp, and have faith that He is arranging everything for the good of those we love. Pray for the insight to have a great confidence in Him who created you! And realize that, like John, you have been called to announce to your world the good news of Jesus Christ. What a mighty message you have!

Memory Verse: Luke 1:76: “And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways.”

Focal Passages: Luke 1:57-80, Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1 and 4:5.

 

 

/by