Introduction & ice breaker
Any New Years resolutions? Hopes for 2021?
Themes to Consider
Encountering the presence
The promise god makes.
How he communicates
When Jesus comes there will be a shake up
We have decided if we will surrender or fight for control
God speaks - prophecies, Scripture, generational instructions, infant cry, dream
We have to decide what we will do when Jesus is outside of our expectations or comfort
Worship involves:
1. Encountering
2. Bowing Down
3. Offering Our Gifts
4. Accepting Direction
Discussion Questions
Do you struggle with the premise that God is speaking to you?
What obstacles are in the way of Your hearing from God (doubt, skepticism, distraction, hurry)?
Can you recall an encounter with Jesus you may have had/a time he spoke to you?
How do you feel when you hear this: “Is the Jesus we want a nice American Sunday school teacher or a brown skinned poor immigrant doing to confront the existing power structures of our hearts and our politics? “
As the body of Christ, the world encounters Jesus because they encounter us.
What is the one thing you’d like them to notice about Christ in you?
Guided Prayer
God of the margins, thank you for being a God who goes to the far ends of our societies to find your people. We confess that we have become numb to the dignity of particular people groups. There are those of us who have known what it is to have status revoked or diminished, to endure the trauma of ableism, to know alienation more than belonging. Would you gather us up? That we would be become our own multitude, finding belonging in the journey back to where we are seen and loved and understood. And as You center us in your story, let us find our stories centered now, that the world would comprehend that we are essential to its flourishing and understanding of You. God, we come weeping, bearing wounds and birthing pains. Would you lead us by the water? That we would prioritize our rest and welfare in the journey, letting joy build as we heal. (@blackliturgies)
Supplemental Content
The season of Epiphany, also called epiphanytide is a time after advent which celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally the visit of the Magi to Jesus in Matthew 2, and thus Jesus' physical manifestation to the Gentiles.
We celebrate this season by considering how he has, and still is, revealing himself to us. During this series we will take a look at characters throughout the Bible who had encounters with Jesus, old and New Testament.
