Date: December 24, 2023
The Salvation Expressed in God’s Name
The Point: Everyone who calls on the name of Jesus will be saved.
Get Into the Study
As you discuss Question #1, point out that when a memory involves one or more of the five senses, it is even more vivid to us. Compare the ways you like to create Christmas memories with this survey of how Gen X and Millennials celebrate Christmas and create memories.
- 60% feel it is important they have the best holiday décor in the neighborhood.
- 32% prefer classic traditional décor.
- 20% prefer to keep everything wintery white.
- 14% embrace trendy, artistic décor.
- 41% believe handmade gifts are the most meaningful.
- 70% have the same holiday traditions for most of their lives.
Top traditions include:
- 59% watching favorite holiday movies.
- 56% cooking holiday favorites.
- 53% baking special cake, cookies, puddings.
- 40% putting up more than one Christmas tree in their home.
- 46% choosing artificial trees. (However, according to the National Christmas Tree Association,
- 81% of people have artificial trees!)
To save money this year: 58% plan to DIY their holiday gifts and decorations and 56% plan to give homemade baked goods.
Continue with “The Bible Meets Life” and read the last paragraph about the greatest reason to celebrate Christmas: the birth of Jesus. Suggest that for many people there are no Christmas memories related to Jesus. Later in the session (Question 5), we will discuss Christian activities that highlight Jesus’s birth.
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/new-traditions-how-gen-z-millennials-celebrate-the-holidays/vi-AA1kFgPC
- https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/tillman-aims-to-have-people-returning-every-year-to-his-town-of-scott-christmas-tree-farm/ar-AA1k59eF
Study the Bible
After leading group members to discuss Question #3, share the following story:
When Russia began its military operation in Ukraine, Vitaliy Tkachuk hurried his family to safety. As they drove along the highway, they saw other cars that had run out of gas. People had left their vehicles behind and were walking with their suitcases. Vitaliy knew he would return to help. He thought “We Christians have something that distinguishes us from other people-even in the hardest periods of life, we have a peace.”
When he returned, Vitaliy volunteered at a field hospital in Lviv and then became a chaplain coordinator for the Billy Graham Rapid Response Team of 73 chaplains serving in Ukraine. He ministers in areas that have experienced much devastation. He sees people struggle, when before they had comfortable, even well-to-do, lives with success, money, and beautiful homes. But they were disconnected from God then and did not recognize the sin in their lives and their need for the salvation Jesus offers.
Now everything has changed. “It’s the most important time for us as Christians to tell people about God,” he says. Vitaliy loves telling people that they need God. He gives them an opportunity to repent from sin and accept Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. During this crisis people are more open than ever. Knowing people will be changed by the war, Vitaliy and his church are preparing a military veterans’ center to deal with trauma and show people how to be saved from their sins.
https://decisionmagazine.com/thankful-even-in-wartime/
EXTRA was written by Carole Segars Waina, a Lifeway contributor for over 30 years. She became a Christian when she was 7 in a little country church under her daddy’s preaching. Carole and her husband love to travel from their Texas home to just about anywhere! They often take the whole family along, except for Oliver the cat.
Study the Bible [Option from Senior Adult Leader Guide]
To conclude this session about the promise of the coming of Jesus, ask the person you enlisted to lead the group in singing O Come, O Come, Emanuel.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/LWbranding/bsfl2019/2023/11/O-Come-Emmanuel.docx
Unable to post lyrics for Emmanuel, due to copyright permissions (see Baptist Hymnal, 2008, p. 201 for words and music to this chorus)
Additional Questions
Icebreaker
- What was your favorite Christmas gift as a child?
- What’s your earliest Christmas memory?
- What’s your favorite Christmas tradition?
- What’s your favorite Christmas smell?
Isaiah 7:14
- What are the implications of God being with us?
- How has knowing that God is with you changed your life?
- The name Immanuel means “God with us.” What does it mean to you for God to be with you?
- What would be different about walking through trials if you had absolute confidence, every second of every minute, that God Himself was with you?
Matthew 1:18-21
- What practices or traditions can help us highlight the significance of Jesus’s birth this Christmas?
- What are some reasons people give for not accepting that Jesus is the One who saves us?
- What connections do you see between the names “God is salvation” and “God is with us”?
- In your own words, why do people need to be saved from their sins?
- What elements of these verses are shocking or surprising? Why?
Matthew 1:22-25
- What does it say about the character of God in that He fulfills His promises?
- How have you experienced the presence of Immanuel (God with us)?
- When have you felt especially certain that God was “with” you?
- What hinders you from remembering that God is with you?
- How does knowing the true meaning of Christmas affect the way you celebrate this holiday?
For Those in Your Group
Send the following link to your group members as either a teaser before the group meets or as a follow-up thought:
Wait. What? TWO Virgin Births?
Magazine Article
This article complements the study. Share this link with your group members.
Mature Living – Speaking Their Heart Language
Podcast
Click here for a 20-minute podcast for both the group member and the leader.
Podcast (adultsleadertraining): Play in new window | Download
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