Sermon Questions 11-30-14
What is your favorite Christmas movie? Why? Do you carve out time to watch it each year?
Advent is the season before Christmas. It begins roughly the first Sunday after Thanksgiving and goes through to Christmas Day. Christmas then lasts for 12 days – starting Christmas Day, December 25th and ending on Epiphany, January 6th. Epiphany is the Church Year holiday to celebrate the visit of the Magi to worship Jesus. Most Americans view Christmas as starting with Black Friday and ending on Christmas Day. After that the decorations come down and life returns to normal. What would happen in your family if you celebrated Christmas for 12 days?
Advent is a time of preparation as people prepare their hearts and homes for the Christ Child. But Advent is also a time of waiting for the second coming of Christ. No one knows the hour or the date of the second coming. That is the message behind the Gospel reading, Mark 13:32-37. Read through this lesson.
Does Jesus know the time of the second coming? How could He not know, isn’t he God?
Jesus is true God and true man. The human side of Jesus does not know the hour of the second coming. What would you say to someone who says they know when Christ will return?
What does Jesus say that we should do since we don’t know when that day or hour is?
How can one be prepared?
The Old Testament reading is from Isaiah 11:1-10. Isaiah was a prophet of God. A prophet wasn’t necessarily someone who predicted the future. He was mostly a spokesman for God. He told Judah and Israel to repent from their sin. Isaiah had the wonderful job of telling God’s people that the Assyrians would destroy Israel and Judah. But there is hope.
Read Isaiah 10:20-25. Will there be any survivors from the Assyrians?
In verse 25, what does God say to those who will remain?
Will God ever completely wipe Christians off the earth?
In Isaiah 11:1-10, who is the shoot from the stump of Jesse?
How does verse 6 amplify that the prophet is describing Jesus?
What day is the prophet foretelling? The birth of Christ? The second coming of Christ? Both?
Should we be afraid when things get ugly? Why or why not?