Between Two Trees (Part 2): The Family Tree

TO START

This Sunday, we jumped into part 2 of a series leading us up to Christmas.  The focus of this series is to consider how we can participate in the hope of God this December. This week will be the last week of discussion guides until Sunday, January 7th. To kick off discussion, start with the prompt below

  • Share an experience from your life where you remember waiting expectantly for something to happen, be in reach, etc. and when it came to pass, the joy was worth the wait. 

This week we are inviting your group to choose questions from the multiple options below.  Our hope is that these questions might help you to lead your discussion in a way that makes sense for your group this week as y’all “talk it out” and “live it out”

TALK IT OUT AFTER READING ISAIAH 11:1-5

STUDY

  • What is most powerful to you about Jesus’s genealogy being messy and complicated (feel free to read Matthew 1:1-17)

  • Can you think of examples in the Gospel where Jesus didn’t judge by what he saw or decide by what he heard? 

PROCESS

  • Have you ever been in a “dead stump” season of life, just looking for a sign of life or hope, where you received the help you needed? How did God show up? 

  • What blessings and patterns have you picked up in your life from the way you were raised? And how do they bubble up in your current season of life?

LIVE IT OUT 

PRACTICE

  • Are you in a “dead stump” season of life right now? What are some things that you may need to do that you have been neglecting that would enable you to see the hope of Jesus in what feels dead?

  • What are the main emotions you are feeling right now in the midst of this season when it comes to family? What could you ask for from the Spirit in order to bear fruit in the midst of possible frustration?

PRAY

  • We invite you to create space for the group to think through this prompt as you pray together: What do you need Jesus to remind you of in this season in order to accept that the Holy Spirit will mature us and provide grace to us as we come in contact with family and friends that bring up deep joy and deep angst?

Matt DeLano