God With Us!

Discipleship Group Questions for December 19, 2004

Scripture: Isaiah 7:10-14, Matthew 1:18-24

The LORD spoke to Ahaz, saying: Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God; let it be deep as the netherworld, or high as the sky! But Ahaz answered, “I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” Then Isaiah said: Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary people, must you also weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

And they shall name him Emmanuel,

Which means “God is with us.” When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home.

Questions for Reflection:

1. Try to envision a time when you felt most loved . . . Does a specific time come to mind? Now really try to enter in to that scene. What can you remember about it? Just linger in that scene for a few moments and try to pick up as many impressions as you possibly can. Now what was it about that event that made you feel most loved? Please discuss.
2. I believe that what makes us feel most loved is that sense of the others “loving presence.” They are completely there “for you.” All of them is reaching out to you and you find yourself responding with “all of you.” This is what love really is all about – all of us reaching out to all of the other. Please discuss the preceding statement amongst yourself. Is this a far statement and how have you personally experienced this reality?
3. Well this is what happened when Jesus came into our world and became fully – physically, present to us. God’s love became incarnate – took on flesh – in His Son! God came down into the mess and murk of our fallen and sinful existence and became one of us! That’s love! God didn’t stand off at a distance and distain the squalor and horror of our fallen condition but rather He came right down into the middle of it. And He came the same way that we came into existence – through the birth canal of His mother. Reflect together what it means to you that God Himself came into our human existence to express fully His love for us! It was His desire to be fully present to us – in all of our earthiness!
4. Now focus in on the Scripture verses above. Read the Isaiah passage which is then quoted in the Matthew passage. Jesus came into our midst out of His love for us. This reality must encourage us infinitely but the question that I find myself raising is this – am I fully present to God? How much of my day is taken up in just being PRESENT to God? Discuss this in your group and try to discover ways that you can all be more present to our Lord in the coming months. What spiritual disciplines could you begin to exercise so that this time next year you won’t be where you are today.