The conversation was over in a minute with the Temple Guards (John 18). Yet the implications will be reverberating for quite a few more millennia. Help your group embrace the practicalities (a potentially, grossly un-mystical word) of the Christ's divinity, and his presence in our lives and thinking. While it may be interesting to continue to dig around only in the concept of the divinity of Christ for a discussion, his promise to be with us in the mysterious, ongoing whisper into our being, has far more daily significance. Dig there.
Thaw
- What do you notice going on inside yourself this Spring?
- What do you wish people knew about you? (yeah, so. we're starting heavy....relax....)
- What has most stuck with you from Sunday?
Read
- John 1:1-5
- John 1:14
Leader note: The phrase rendered "dwell among us" is actually "tabernacled with us", or set up his tent with us. The Greek is σκηνόω ("skēnoō")
- Thoughts?
- What are the implications of this passage on your next 24 hours? Take your time to think this through.
Read
- Zephaniah 3:14-17 ESV
Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion;shout, O Israel!Rejoice and exult with all your heart,O daughter of Jerusalem!The LORD has taken away the judgments against you;he has cleared away your enemies.The King of Israel, the LORD, is in your midst;you shall never again fear evil.On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:"Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak.The LORD your God is in your midst,a mighty one who will save;he will rejoice over you with gladness;he will quiet you by his love;he will exult over you with loud singing.
- Thoughts?
Leader note: Help the group note that the encouragement seems to come from the repeated promise of God being in His people's midst, not just being "for" them. Discuss the difference.
Read
- Matt 28:16-20
- Revelation 21:1-4
Leader note: Revelation 21:3 actually reads this way in the Greek;
"...And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the tabernacle (σκηνή skēnē ) of God is with men, and he will tabernacle (σκηνόω skēnoō) with them.'"
- Thoughts?
Discuss
- Do you operate with the understanding that God is present, or that God is watching? Is there a difference, and if so, what is it?
- How might we explain that God is currently present in Christ, while his "pitching a tent" with us in full is still a yet-to-be-fully-realized experience?
- When is a time that you have experienced God's presence?
- When is a time that you felt like God was nowhere to be found?
- How does God's presence motivate us to be at our best?
Leader note: It's worth noting that some of us, in our immaturity, need to know God is present to keep us from "acting up". Ultimately, like any good father, God does't seek to police us, but to guide and lead us into life. (i.e.John 10:10)
Reflective Reading
- The Book of Hebrews is a complex book. Actually, it's not a book...it was a sermon meant to be read aloud to the early Jewish followers of Jesus gathered in a particular region in the mid-first century. Choose someone from the group to read The Message translation of Hebrews 9 & 10, while the rest of the group listens, takes notes and allows the rich imagery to fill their imaginations. You can find the text here.
Discuss & Apply
- First thoughts?
- Does this passage motivate you, or offend something in you? Why do you think you are responding the way you are?
- How does submission to this affect your life immediately?
- What changes of thought are necessary for this to take hold?
- Access is both a blessing and a confrontation. Pray as a group that it comforts and challenges each person and their family as they step into tabernacling with Christ, the Logic of God made flesh.
Additional texts
- Heb 1:1-3
- John 14:1-9
- Exodus 3:1-16
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