19. The Savior is Born (Luke 2:1-20)

Connect

What are you thankful for today?
How have you seen God working in your life this past week?
What difficulties are you experiencing in life? How may we help?
How did you apply last session’s discovery? What happened?
With whom did you share last session’s discovery? What was their response?

Instructions:

Please use the following steps to guide your discovery of God’s truth in the passages below. Need to review the Group Guidelines?

Discover

Step 1-Participants take turns reading sections of the passage (clarify new words/terms)
Step 2-One person reads the entire passage out loud while the rest listen
Step 3-A participant retells the passage in his/her own words (others add their thoughts)

The Savior is Born (Luke 2:1-20)

1At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. 2(This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. 4And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. 5He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant. 6And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. 7She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. 8That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. 9Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.” 13Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, 14“Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.” 15When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

Ask/Answer:

What do you see in this passage?
What does this passage mean to you?
What do you like/not like about this passage?
How does this passage change the way you see God/people?

Respond: If this is true...

How should it change the way you live?
With whom will you share today’s discovery?

Close

Decide when the group will meet again
Close in prayer (for needs mentioned above)