Discussion for 4 January 2015

Matthew 2:1–12

2In the time of King Herod, 

after Jesus was born in 

Bethlehem of Judea, wise men 

from the East came to Jerusalem, 

²asking, “Where is the child who

 has been born king of the Jews? 

For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay

 him homage.” ³When King Herod heard this, he was 

frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; ⁴and calling together 

all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired 

of them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵They told him,

 “In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the 

prophet: ⁶‘And you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are 

by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from 

you shall come a ruler who is to shepherd my people 

Israel.’” ⁷Then Herod secretly called for the wise men 

and learned from them the exact time when the star 

had appeared. ⁸Then he sent them to Bethlehem, 

saying, “Go and search diligently for the child; and 

when you have found him, bring me word so that 

I may also go and pay him homage.”⁹When they had 

heard the king, they set out; and there, ahead of them, went 

the star that they had seen at its rising, until it stopped over

 the place where the child was. ¹⁰When they saw that the star

 had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. ¹¹On entering

 the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they 

knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their 

treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, 

and myrrh. ¹²And having been warned in a dream not to 

return to Herod, they left for their own country by another road.

For Consideration
-In the Christian tradition, the season of Epiphany is a season for 
new sight, new vision, and paradigm shifts. How does this passage
correlate to an Epiphany?

Discussion for 21 December 2014

LUKE 1:26-38

²⁶In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, ²⁷to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. ²⁸And he came to her and said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” ²⁹But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. ³⁰The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. ³¹And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. ³²He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. ³³He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ³⁴Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” ³⁵The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. ³⁶And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. ³⁷For nothing will be impossible with God.” ³⁸Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

FOR CONSIDERATION

-What does this passage say about Mary's character?

-In verse 34, is Mary doubting the words of Gabriel? If so, why was she not punished like Zechariah?

-In verse 38 Mary says she is a servant of the Lord. Is she resigning herself to be a passive vessel for the work of God?

Discussion for 14 December 2014

JOHN 1:6-8, 19-28

⁶There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. ⁸He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.

¹⁹This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” ²⁰He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, “I am not the Messiah.” ²¹And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” He answered, “No.” ²²Then they said to him, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” ²³He said,  
     “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, 

          ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’” 
as the prophet Isaiah said.

²⁴Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. ²⁵They asked him, “Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” ²⁶John answered them, “I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, ²⁷the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal.” ²⁸This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.

FOR CONSIDERATION

How does John embody our relationship with Christ?

How could this passage help with the many folks who find Advent and Christmas more as occasions for loneliness and sorrow then community and joy?

Discussion for 7 December 2014

 MARK 1:1-8

¹The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

²As it is written in he prophet Isaiah, 
     “See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you, 
          who will prepare your way; 
³   the voice of one crying out in the wilderness: 
          ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, 
          make his paths straight,’” 
⁴John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him, and were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷He proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. ⁸I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

FOR CONSIDERATION

-What do you consider the most pressing political situations of our present time?

-Why would John the Baptist preach repentance as an introduction for the One coming who "will baptize you with the Holy Spirit?"

Discussion for 30 November 2014

ISAIAH 64:1-9

¹   O that you would tear open the heavens and come down, 
          so that the mountains would quake at your presence — 
²   as when fire kindles brushwood 
          and the fire causes water to boil — 
     to make your name known to your adversaries, 
          so that the nations might tremble at your presence 
³   When you did awesome deeds that we did not expect, 
          you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. 
⁴   From ages past no one has heard, 
          no ear has perceived, 
     no eye has seen any God besides you, 
          who works for those who wait for him. ⁵   You meet those who gladly do right, 
          those who remember you in your ways. 
     But you were angry, and we sinned; 
          because you hid yourself we transgressed. 
⁶   We have all become like one who is unclean, 
          and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy cloth 
     We all fade like a leaf, 
          and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. 
⁷   There is no one who calls on your name, 
          or attempts to take hold of you; 
     for you have hidden your face from us, 
          and have delivered us into the hand of our iniquity 
⁸   Yet, O LORD, you are our Father; 
          we are the clay, and you are our potter; 
          we are all the work of your hand. 
⁹   Do not be exceedingly angry, O LORD, 
          and do not remember iniquity forever. 
          Now consider, we are all your people.

FOR CONSIDERATION

-If in biblical times God intervened in history with "awesome deeds", why does God not do so today?

Discussion for 23 November 2014

MATTHEW 25:31-46

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, 

³³and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. ³⁴Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? ³⁸And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? ³⁹And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ ⁴¹Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; ⁴²for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

For Consideration

-Why is it difficult to look at this passage without consideration of the entire Gospel?

-Do you consider yourself "one of the least of these" or "one of those that gave [Him] food?" Why?

-Do we serve jesus and others better under the threat of judgment?

-Where exactly do you see yourself in this text?

Discussion for 16 November 2014

MATTHEW 25:14-30

¹⁴“For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them; ¹⁵to one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. ¹⁶The one who had received the five talents went off at once and traded with them, and made five more talents. ¹⁷In the same way, the one who had the two talents made two more talents. ¹⁸But the one who had received the one talent went off and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money.

 ¹⁹After a long time the master of those slaves came and settled accounts with them. ²⁰Then the one who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five more talents, saying ‘Master, you handed over to me five talents; see, I have made five more talents.’ ²¹His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ ²²And the one with the two talents also came forward, saying, ‘Master, you handed over to me two talents; see, I have made two more talents.’ ²³His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and trustworthy slave; you have been trustworthy in a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your master.’ ²⁴Then the one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; ²⁵so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ ²⁶But his master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? ²⁷Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. ²⁸So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. ²⁹For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. ³⁰As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”

FOR CONSIDERATION

-When is this scripture usually preached?

-How does the 3rd slave perceive the master and how does the master perceive the 3rd slave? What does this say about how we perceive God?