Loved By the Father - Covenant Church

OUTLINE:

1.Divine Jesus
2.Human Jesus
3.Our identity in Jesus

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 

Share an event or person who has significantly shaped your identity or self-understanding.

Read Luke 3:1-22. What does this passage show you about God’s character and about being his follower? What challenges, encourages, or sparks questions for you in this passage?

Reflecting on the reality that Jesus is fully God (three persons in one – an eternal relationship) and we are created in God’s image, means we are an outworking of love created to experience and enjoy personal love of God. How does this truth shape the reason for your existence?

The reason for Jesus being born as a baby and for being baptized is for us and for our good. Jesus carried sins into the Jordan River that were not his own, but our’s. What does Jesus’s baptism teach us about our need and our value before God?

We are encouraged by our culture to find our identity within and expected to be self-reliant, but the Bible invites us to receive our identity based on God’s Word to us: that we are a child of God, dearly loved by our heavenly Father, rescued by the Son from sin, and sustained and transformed by the renewing work of the Spirit. Discuss the differences between finding or receiving our identity. In what ways is it challenging or encouraging for your self-understanding to be found completely in Christ?

In response to knowing we are loved by God, we can rest and enjoy the Father’s presence, know we are approved by God, and trust God for our good even when life circumstances are difficult. Of these responses, where are you finding comfort as a child of God and where are you wrestling with mis-placed self-understanding?

Throughout this week, keep an ear out for the three “Not’s”: people who express life is not going well or are not prepared for what they are going through, or are not in a church. As you listen, consider who you might share with that they are loved and invited to be part of God’s family as a child dearly loved, provided for and cared for now and for eternity. If someone comes to your mind, share with your group for prayer.