Last Updated on February 22, 2024 by Rocklyn Clarke
The Birth of Jesus – Part 3
Rocklyn Clarke – Sunday Februrary 18, 2024
© 2024 Life Church Ministries, Inc.
Helpful Links:
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Sermon Podcast Page (includes links to audio, handout, and slides for all sermons)
Series Passage: Luke 2
Sermon Resources:
Current Material
Previous Material
- Bible Project: Spiritual Beings Series
- Bible Project: Elohim (00:03:08)
- Bible Project: Divine Council (00:06:20)
- Bible Project: Angels and Cherubim (00:04:48)
- Bible Project: Justice (00:06:18)
- The Daily Show: Elon Musk’s Billionaire Games – Between the Scenes (00:04:19)
- Bible Project: Angel of the Lord (00:04:15)
- Bible Project: The Satan and Demons (00:06:20)
- Luke 2:1-7
- The Bible Explained: What We Get Wrong in the Nativity Scene – YouTube (00:08:39)
- Betrothal Guys: Betrothal and Marriage in the Time of the Bible – YouTube (00:05:14)
- Betrothal Guys: Hebrew Betrothal, “Erusin” – Exploring Betrothal in History – YouTube (00:02:29)
- Some resources on the topic of divorce int he Bible:
- Following Jesus: Focus On The Message – Matthew 19
- Lesson 1: Divorce
- Following Jesus: Focus On The Message – Matthew 19
- Luke 2:8-21
- Bible Project: Angel of the Lord (00:04:15)
- Bible Project: The Satan and Demons (00:06:20)
- Pursuing Veritas: Ancient Hebrew Cosmology
- Walking The Text: Always Near Us | The Lord’s Prayer Pt 3 | EP067 – YouTube (00:23:27)
- Walking The Text: The Characters of Christmas (5 part series)
Life Group Meeting
Spend 1 – 2 minutes in silence before you begin each question.
Welcome (5-10 minutes)
Worship (optional for Sunday breakout sessions)
Word – Discussion Questions (if there are no specific questions use the default questions):
Spend 1 – 2 minutes in silence before you begin each question.
At the time of Jesus’ birth there were people eagerly awaiting God’s Kingdom.
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- How did that eagerness express itself then?
- Are there people eagerly awaiting the fullness of the Kingdom now? How can you tell?
- What about you? How can we tell?
Simeon and Anna confirmed to Joseph and Mary what God was doing.
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- Have you ever received or provided confirmation about something that God was doing?
Simeon was waiting on a personal promise from God.
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- What about you? Have you received it yet?
Witness (check out the Witness section resources below):
How we work together as a team to be “good news” to the people around us.
- Is there someone that you need to talk to about Jesus this week?
- How is your group doing? Is anyone falling through the cracks?
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What are you doing to make your life group safe, healthy, and effective?
- Work on your testimonies.
- Identify people you can reach for Jesus this week. Pray for them.
Additional Life Group Meeting Components:
- Reflection – Include a brief time (e.g. 2 minutes) for quiet reflection sometime during your meeting. Potential times for this are:
- Just before reviewing the questions during the Word portion of the meeting.
- Just before prayer during the Witness portion of the meeting.
- Just after prayer during the Witness portion of the meeting.
Immediately after this reflection time, members may want to write down any thoughts or impressions that come to them and anything that they feel the Lord is saying to them or to anyone else. Encourage the members to consider how they might incorporate more reflection in their daily, weekly, and monthly routines.
- Life Group Housekeeping (do this once a month or more often if needed)
- Be familiar with our life group goals.
- Review our connection tools: e-Life & the life group email list
- Does everyone know how to use them?
- Is everyone’s information up to date?
- Is everyone receiving email from the life group email list?
- Is anyone not showing up for Sunday service or life group meetings? If so, who has been in touch with them?
- How will the group onboard the next visitor?
Word Section Default Questions
(Use these when there are no specific discussion questions for the passage:
- Question 1: “What is this passage saying?”
- Question 2: “What is God saying to you through this passage?”
- Question 3: “How can you apply this passage throughout the week?”
Taken from:
- What is the Best Small Group Lesson? (Three Questions that Will Help Revitalize Your Cell Group) – YouTube (00:5:15)
Witness Section Resources:
How we work together as a team to be “good news” to the people around us.
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- Following Jesus: Evangelism
- InterVarsity Evangelism Prayer Cards (PDF)
- InterVarsity Evangelism 2+PrayerISM (PDF)
- Evangelism and Multiplication – Joel Comiskey Group
- Questions For Use In Relational Evangelism
- Small Group Evangelism: Strategies for reaching people for Jesus – YouTube (00:04:50)
- Small Group Evangelism: Why Small Group Evangelism is Essential – YouTube (00:04:25)
- Multiplication: Effective Cell Groups First Make Disciples before Giving Birth – YouTube (00:03:36)
- Multiplication: Myths and Truths about Effective Cell Group Multiplication – YouTube (00:04:35)
Life Groups
Without life groups, we are at the mercy of cliques and people who aren’t in a clique will “fall through the cracks”. Furthermore, even the people who are in cliques will have some of their issues and needs “fall through the cracks”. This is because life groups are organized to please, and be led by the Holy Spirit, whereas cliques develop solely around whatever the people in the cliques find appealing. Life groups are organized to help you grow and overcome your “issues”; cliques simply aren’t! Becoming part of a life group is a major way that we “seek first God’s Kingdom and his righteousness”.
Check out our Life Group Pages for more life group information and resources.
Five Thresholds
Because the Five Thresholds approach to relational evangelism helps us to pay careful attention to the people that the Lord brings our way, it is an excellent way to meet people “where they are”. We want to prayerfully help them move through each threshold and become followers of Jesus. At any given stage, we may be planting a seed or watering a seed that we or someone else has planted. At each stage, we should see ourselves, together with other believers, as a hospital for sick and wounded people.
- Home Page | Evangelism
- The Five Thresholds | Evangelism
- Journey to Faith: The Five Thresholds | Evangelism
- Threshold 1: Trust | Evangelism
- Threshold 2: Curiosity | Evangelism
- Threshold 3: Openness | Evangelism
- Threshold 4: Seeking | Evangelism
- Threshold 5: Following | Evangelism