Shepherds | Salvation

Shepherds | Salvation

We wrap up our three-part Advent series this week with the arrival of Jesus in the little town of Bethlehem. In chapter 1 of Luke, we saw God come near to Elizabeth & Zechariah with generosity. In their barrenness, God came to the unable. Last week, we looked at Mary’s story and saw that God came to the unexpectant and invited partnership. This week, in Luke 2, we’ll see how God came to the undeserving. A group of lowly shepherds gets in on the marvelous news of Jesus’ birth. These unseen vagabonds, these outcasts of society, are seen by God and experience undeserved equality! These rejects are the ones who get to experience previously unseen wonders as the heavens are opened up and a choir of heavenly hosts proclaims God’s glory. The people that were always on the outside are some of the first to meet Jesus, as he lay in a manger. The community of the manger is the fellowship of rejects, and it is not just his birth that is set in the margins. Jesus spends his life among the least of all people, among the sinners, the sick, and the disgraced. Jesus’ entire mission is wrapped up in seeking and saving the lost and having compassion for the poor. Jesus embodies God’s heart for the poor. It is clear, throughout all of scripture, that God cares deeply for the poor and the marginalized. God has always been, and continues to be, a rescuer of the needy. Jesus’ birth was a beautiful act of justice and equality, not just for the shepherds but for the entire world. Even in his death, Jesus was serving those who had no means. Through his death and resurrection, he provides a way for the rejects and outcasts to be seen and welcomed into previously unavailable glory.

This is the story of Advent.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. In your everyday world, who are the rejects? Who are not being treated as image-bearers of God? Who sees themselves as unwelcome, unwanted, and less-than?

2. Where will the rejects gather? Where are the desolate places of our society? Where would Jesus be found as he seeks and saves the lost?

3. What wonders would the world be amazed to experience? What piece of the gospel would be good news to the rejects you listed above? How could we invite those around us to lift up and see God’s glory?

December 18, 2022 - Gabe Shippam

Mary & Joseph | Partnership

Mary & Joseph | Partnership

JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, and their friends coined the phrase, “Jesus is the true myth”. He is the better, truer story. He is the author of all other stories. Whether we recognize his penmanship or not, he is carefully crafting a far better narrative than we could ever come up with on our own. That is why he chooses to disrupt the story of humanity. In our text this week, we see God surprisingly visit Mary and completely change her plans. Any hope she had for life to move in a certain direction would be completely altered because of Gabriel’s announcement. Although she was a virgin, she would become pregnant with the Son of God. He would be great, would bring peace to the world, would assume the throne of David, and rule forever. Oh, the possibilities! The life-changing declaration and miracle! This interruption brought with it the unexpected, but deeply longed-for, salvation of the world. And on top of all that, God would choose to partner with humanity to unfold this new story. God put on flesh as a desperately needy human baby and partnered with young Mary to rewrite the course of human history. Likewise, God interrupts our lives, offering amazing possibilities, and commits himself to partner with us.

This is the story of Advent.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. In what ways is God trying to interrupt your life? Don’t ignore them!

2. What would be possible if you believed and lived like the King of the world was writing the story of your life alongside you?

3. What would partnership with God look like this week? What mission is within your power and sphere of influence?

December 11, 2022 - Gabe Shippam

Elizabeth & Zechariah | Generosity

Elizabeth & Zechariah | Generosity

The Old Testament ends in a dramatic sunset, followed by a dark 400-year night, kept alive with a theological pulse of expectation - will the sun rise again on God’s people? Where we pick up the story, in the first chapter of Luke, is during that dark moment before the sun comes. That hour often feels like the coldest, darkest, point of the night. During that darkness, there is simply no indication that God is worried about their plight. God’s people are in despair and hopelessness. Most of them are attempting to birth something new in their own power and through their own means. So it is fitting that Luke starts with the longing of Zechariah and Elizabeth and their painful contractions of hope. Like Abraham and Sarah in the Torah, these two were living in barrenness, hoping for new life but getting nothing. Barrenness was the inability to create life and goodness on our own. They lived in despair knowing that nothing truly new can happen in their life. They knew that if something was going to happen it would either be because they figured it out alone, or God opened up the impossible. What is required for the genuinely new to come into life? An act of creation! God enters, speaks assurance and truth, and generously creates a whole new world of possibilities! God’s generosity creates new life where there was barrenness and despair! And don't get it twisted, the sunrise of hope and new possibilities isn't the birth of John, it is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

This is the story of Advent.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Read Luke 1:67-80. What do you think Zechariah was feeling during this experience? How is he responding to God’s generosity?

2. Pray God would bring one person to mind that you can be generous with this week

3. Is there a way our generosity could answer someone else's longing, prayer, and despair?

4. Could our generosity bring joy, gladness, and rejoicing to a world filled with fear, doubt, and trouble?

5. What is one way you can be generous with your time, talents, or treasures this week?

December 4, 2022 - Gabe Shippam