Community Question: How does God’s unique entrance into this world change His relationship with you and enhance the wonder of this life?
Read Luke 2:1-21 as a group and write down what you observe about the passage. Talk about initial observations/questions of the passage as a group and then transition into these questions.
God entered the world in a very insufficient way. God needed swaddling, warmth, and comfort. Someone else was in control. None of us likes to experience insufficiency, so we may reduce the value of the situation, so we do not feel insufficient.
How do you react when you experience insufficiency?
How did this insufficiency impact God’s life on this earth?
How does this insufficiency impact your view of the wonder
associated to Jesus’ birth?
The Angel did not choose a king, but rather chose shepherds to whom the
birth of Jesus was announced. As shepherds these men were very exposed to the elements and other dangers. With exposure comes risk. However, risk can bring great opportunity to experience wonder, such as the announcement of Christ’s birth.
Have you ever faced an unexpected situation where multiple choices could lead to different results?
Have you avoided such exposure, perhaps as a result of our insufficiency? How might you embrace insufficiency to experience wonder?
This Christmas, take a step toward wonder in three ways:
Give up being right: Rather than working to make people wrong so
you can be right, open your eyes to see the wonder of who they are.
Give up the need to be good: We may feel entitled to receive certain
things, but we miss the wonder of the daily grace extended to us.
Give up the need to think you know the Christmas story: We miss the
wonder of what could be true of a baby who experiences life insufficiently so he may understand every aspect of your life.
