CHECK IN

If your group is just getting to know one another, here’s an exercise designed to help you connect through story telling. You’ll need three colors of sticky notes and something to write with for each person. If your group is already familiar with one another, take time to discuss the following question: What are you hoping for from this Jesus XP cohort experience?

Choose one color of sticky note, then write out, one per sticky note, some of the relationships, events and significant moments that have positively
contributed to your life story. Once you think you’ve captured the important ones, take a moment to pause, and then write down any others that come to mind.

Chose a different color sticky note, then write out (again, one item per sticky note) the moments of pain or struggle that have also contributed to your life
story. Again, as in step 1, after you think you’re done with this step, pause, and then write down anything else in this category that comes to mind.

Next, arrange the sticky notes in chronological order.

Once all items are arranged in chronological order, take a moment to identify the natural “chapters” that you see and create a title for each.

Take 3-5 minutes to share your story.

BIBLE

Read Luke 1:1-38 together. What do you notice? What questions does this text cause you to ask?

THIS WEEK’S READING: LUKE 1-2

The first two chapters of Luke contain a prologue introduction, the stories of the birth of John (the Baptist) and Jesus, and some of the only text we have about Jesus’s early years. Notice as you read who this “gospel” or good news is written to. Theophilus was possibly a real person – a benefactor of Paul and Luke’s ministry. Theophilus could also be a generic name that means “one who God loves.” Either way, Theophilus is a gentile name, which sets Luke’s gospel out the gate as written to outsiders of the Jewish world. Outsiders receiving the inside scoop! Luke spends a great deal of time discussing all that went into the birth of Jesus – and how people felt about it. He includes a teenage mother, shepherds (outcasts), angels, and even prophets to herald and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Who is this Jesus?

GUIDING QUESTIONS:

1. Luke said that he “carefully investigated” the claims of the Jesus story. Have you taken time to carefully investigate, or have you adopted a blind faith?

2. Luke describes what would have been the first Christmas. However, this one is messy and littered with rejection and death. Why do you think we tend to polish the stories that are naturally messy?

3. What does it mean that Jesus revealed Himself to us so simply, without a grand entrance? Why was this a pattern throughout His life?

PRACTICE: DAILY RHYTHM

SCRIPTURE BEFORE PHONE
How we start the day matters. Refusing to check the phone until reading a
passage of Scripture is a way of replacing the question “What do I need to do
today?” with a better one: “Who is Jesus and how can I become more like him?”
Daily immersion in the Scripture resists the anxiety of emails, the anger of
news, and the envy of social media. Instead, it forms us daily in our
true identity as the beloved children of God.

SPEND THE DAY WITH JESUS
Prayer keeps us connected to Jesus all day. One way to experience that
connection is through morning, midday, and evening prayer. Prayers are
simply our words to God, and a listening heart as He speaks to us.

NO PHONE WHILE WAITING
We are made for presence, but so often our phones are the cause of our
absence. To be two places at a time is to be no place at all. Choosing to be
present with ourselves, others, and God’s good creation is an act of love. What
unexpected moment might you encounter today as you wait with awareness?

MEANINGFUL CONNECTION WITH OTHERS
The habit of connecting with someone during a shared meal, coffee, or
conversation each day helps us orient our schedules and lives towards a
posture of hospitality - which Jesus regularly embodies and extends to us in
every moment. Who are you getting together with today?