Tuesday 8th December

Carol Service | Comfort

Matthew 1:18-25

In the carol service on Sunday we heard so much in the songs and reading about the promise of the Messiah, the blessings that would come with His birth and the extraordinary things that happened as God Himself came and ‘moved into the neighbourhood’ (John 1:14 - MSG) to bring us comfort.

In his talk Ben explored the story of Joseph finding out for the first time that Mary was going to give birth to Jesus.  For Joseph – Jesus’ human stepfather – this was a pretty weird time. His fiancée Mary was pregnant, and it wasn’t his baby!

Before you get into the study, catch up with each other and how you’ve been.

Then read the passage together.

What stood out for you either from the passage or from Ben’s talk?

In particular, how do you think it felt to be Joseph in this story?

This is quite a short passage, mostly telling a story. We learn from what God is doing, what the other characters are doing and what this leads to. So, for discussion starters:

• What are your thoughts about Joseph’s initial attitude to hearing that Mary is pregnant?

• How does God help Joseph to understand what’s really going on?

• How does Joseph respond?

• What does this teach us abut the way God works and speaks to us/we can hear His voice when ‘weird’ things are happening around us?

Discuss the things that are happening in your life at the moment, and how you are/can listen to what God is saying to you.

What might start to happen if you are able to trust what you hear God saying to you:

• If you’ve been a Christian for a while?

• If you are new to faith?

• If you have only just started to hear about Jesus?

In what other ways has studying this passage stimulated/challenged you?

Spend time praying together.