Isaiah 9:1-7
The Christian Story - the good news about Jesus - uniquely involves thinking, doing, and feeling. Faith involves our whole person, and is never just mental assent to doctrinal truths or just a set of practices or morals for life. Real Faith moves the soul and requires emotional engagement - we feel its truth, often before we even fully understand it. This is particularly true when we focus on Advent, the arrival of Jesus into our busted up world as a baby some 2000 years ago. Why would God come into the world? What is he doing by writing himself into the story, putting on the weaknesses of human flesh, and dwelling among us? Nothing less than a total remaking of the world, putting all things to right, and ruling and reigning in justice and peace forevermore! This week we explore the emotion of Hope, and how the story of Jesus give the kind of hope we really need.
COMMUNITY DISCUSSION
1. When you think of hope, what images come to mind? What does hope look like?
2. What hope does Isaiah offer us in Isaiah 9:1-7? What makes this hope uniquely powerful?
3. Where do you most need the hope of Jesus right now? How does Advent stir us to feeling hopeful?
December 20, 2020 - Steve Hart