Christ Church
A Cheap Christmas Week 2
Locations & Times
Christ Church Fairgrove Campus
2416 Zion Church Rd, Hickory, NC 28602, USA
Saturday 6:00 PM
The Plain Truth: We go cheaper to deeper when we surrender our agenda for God’s life-giving agenda.
Principles we can learn from Mary as we choose not to settle for less
1) Mary believed God’s promise and positioned herself in response.
2) Mary is willing to die to self.
1) Mary believed God’s promise and positioned herself in response.
2) Mary is willing to die to self.
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http://christnc.com/giving/Life Group Lesson for the Week of December 4, 2016 “Cheap Christmas” wk 2
The New Testament describes Christ as “the visible image of the invisible God.” The Christ of God existed before anything else was made “and is supreme over all creation” (see Colossians 1:15). At Christmas we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world, the blessed Son promised through prophets of old. The One given the name, Jesus, was not an afterthought of God—as though God needed a quick backup plan when He saw the downward spiral of man’s sin condition. No, God chose Christ as our ransom “long before the world began” (1 Peter 1:20a). We serve a God who is not cheap but generous, and in total control of all things. God speaks and things get done! Christ our Lord is that very Word of God (the logos) made flesh (John 1:1).
When the time came for Christ to be born, God sent the angel Gabriel to a girl in Nazareth with the news that she would be the one to bear this child conceived by the Holy Spirit. Upon hearing the angel’s message, Mary recognized that something great was about to happen to her, indeed for all humanity. She responded by praising and worshiping the Lord, gladly availing herself to God’s greater agenda. Although she lived in a dark time, Mary knew God’s purpose was stronger than Rome’s rule. And although young, Mary knew God’s plan of salvation (the ancient promise made to her ancestor Abraham) was about to dawn upon the earth.
Read Luke 1:26-55
1. Mary gives herself to God: “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true” (v38). If Christmas really is about Christ Jesus’ birthday, what are you and your family bringing to give Him this year?
2. Just as Mary humbled herself before the Lord, so should we as Christ-followers. What would it look like for you to humble yourself and surrender your agenda to the Lord’s agenda—His plan and purpose?
Let’s get practical—Are you being cheap or deep in your relationship with the Lord? In the course of a day – week – month, how many hours (or minutes) do you spend with God?
How many hours (or minutes) do you spend serving others?
3. In closing read the following prophecies (made hundreds of years before the birth of Christ) and write down one new insight you gain from each passage.
Isaiah 7:10-14 Isaiah 9:1-7 Isaiah 11:1-4 Micah 5:1-5a
The New Testament describes Christ as “the visible image of the invisible God.” The Christ of God existed before anything else was made “and is supreme over all creation” (see Colossians 1:15). At Christmas we celebrate the coming of Christ into the world, the blessed Son promised through prophets of old. The One given the name, Jesus, was not an afterthought of God—as though God needed a quick backup plan when He saw the downward spiral of man’s sin condition. No, God chose Christ as our ransom “long before the world began” (1 Peter 1:20a). We serve a God who is not cheap but generous, and in total control of all things. God speaks and things get done! Christ our Lord is that very Word of God (the logos) made flesh (John 1:1).
When the time came for Christ to be born, God sent the angel Gabriel to a girl in Nazareth with the news that she would be the one to bear this child conceived by the Holy Spirit. Upon hearing the angel’s message, Mary recognized that something great was about to happen to her, indeed for all humanity. She responded by praising and worshiping the Lord, gladly availing herself to God’s greater agenda. Although she lived in a dark time, Mary knew God’s purpose was stronger than Rome’s rule. And although young, Mary knew God’s plan of salvation (the ancient promise made to her ancestor Abraham) was about to dawn upon the earth.
Read Luke 1:26-55
1. Mary gives herself to God: “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true” (v38). If Christmas really is about Christ Jesus’ birthday, what are you and your family bringing to give Him this year?
2. Just as Mary humbled herself before the Lord, so should we as Christ-followers. What would it look like for you to humble yourself and surrender your agenda to the Lord’s agenda—His plan and purpose?
Let’s get practical—Are you being cheap or deep in your relationship with the Lord? In the course of a day – week – month, how many hours (or minutes) do you spend with God?
How many hours (or minutes) do you spend serving others?
3. In closing read the following prophecies (made hundreds of years before the birth of Christ) and write down one new insight you gain from each passage.
Isaiah 7:10-14 Isaiah 9:1-7 Isaiah 11:1-4 Micah 5:1-5a