2024
Treasured and Pondered
Passage: Luke 2:8-20
“It is true the…smoke and ashes and that darkness is wide over the land. But your long memories have failed you. Of all creatures, you should know that the darkness is seldom complete, and even when it is, the pinprick of light is not long in coming.”
— Andrew Peterson, Wingfeather Saga
SERMON OUTLINE:
Mary treasured…
- the character and glory of God
- peace for us
We are invited to ponder…
- who needs to hear this story
- global implications of Christmas
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Describe what it means to treasure and what it means to ponder. What is one example of what you have treasured or pondered?
Read Luke 2:8-20. What challenges, encourages, or sparks questions for you in this passage? What phrases stand out to you that help shape your understanding of God’s character and your identity as a child of God?
In what ways does the Christmas story specifically help you to treasure the character of God and the peace he gives us?
Psychiatrist Curt Thompson states, “We are all born into the world looking for someone who is looking for us.” The good news is that God sees us in our need and has come to rescue us. Who is someone you know or interact with regularly who needs to hear this truth that they are seen and loved by God?
Jesus came to “make his blessings flow far as the curse is found” (Joy to the World). In what areas are you longing to see Jesus’s blessings flow? How does the truth of Christmas speak hope into that particular longing?
PRAYER
Share with your group how they can be praying for you: what is weighing on you from this past week? What are you praising God for from this past week?
Isaiah 9:2 / “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”