“When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law...” Galatians 4:4 ESVFor 100’s of years, Israel awaited the fulfillment of the prophecies of a coming Messiah.  The most famous of these from the prophet Isaiah…“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselo...  Read More

“In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the ang...  Read More

IntroductionThe following is a guide to help facilitate discussion. Feel free to add, subtract, or change questions to fit the conversation, and pray for the Spirit to lead in all things.OPENThink of a time when something happened to you that was so amazing that you couldn’t wait to share that news with someone else.  Share with the group what happened and how it made you feel.HEADRead Luke 2: 8-2...  Read More

At the end of each week of this series, we’ve been asking ourselves the question of what it looks like for us to live incarnational today, in the context of the topic for that week.  With this week’s focus on the angels of the Christmas story, and since angels were God’s messengers (the word in the Greek for angels, angelos, literally means messengers), how do you and I continue to herald the mess...  Read More

“Pray like this: ‘Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.’”Matthew 6: 9-10, NLTHave you ever imagined heaven?  Where it is?  What it will be like?When I was little, someone told me that heaven was located beyond the middle star in the belt of the constellation we call Orion.  Because I believed them, there we...  Read More

“[The shepherds] hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. AFter seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child.  All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished…the shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.  It was just as ...  Read More