Jesus' First Words

January 3, 2021

Main idea: Jesus disrupts for good.

Four Responses (Luke 2:41-52)

1. People: Amazement (Luke 2:46-47)
2. Parents: Astonished and Anxious (Luke 2:48)
3. Parents: Confused (Luke 2:50)
4. Mary: Wonder (Luke 2:51)

Icebreaker

Describe preteen you.

• Where did you live?
• What was your family situation like?
• What were your hopes and fears?

Digging Deeper

1. Read Luke 2:41-52 multiple times.

   • What do you learn about Joseph & Mary? What do you learn about Jesus? [Tip: Divide your group to address one question.]
   • Why do you think Luke included this account in his Gospel? (None of the other Gospels mention this.)
   • What would be lost if this account was not included?

2. As we see in Luke 2:41-52, Jesus is often misunderstood – even by those closest to him! Divide and read Luke 9:45; 18:34; and Luke 24:5-7, 25-27, 45 for more examples.

   • Why do you think Jesus is so often misunderstood?
   • What do these passages reveal about humanity?
   • How do these passages challenge the way we should relate to God? Others?

3. How do the four responses found in Luke 2:41-52 parallel our responses to God's work in our lives? What have been some times in your life when God disrupted your life for good? Were you able to see how it was for good – or not yet?

4. On the challenge of seeing how God's disruptions are for good, consider the following interview excerpt:

Matt Tully

How would you change how you present something like God's sovereignty—which it is a hard thing if you haven't thought carefully about it, or even if you have, they are truths that strike at the heart of who we think we are and who we think God is—how would you present that to somebody who is struggling?

Jen Wilkin

I think we should understand it as a comfort, certainly. But it's an ultimate comfort. I certainly don't think it's a great topic to bring up when someone is in crisis, unless they want to talk about it. We want neat plot resolutions to our stories and we're accustomed to it. The entertainment industry is happy to give them to us, and novels are happy to give them to us, and so we are shocked when we learn that the sovereignty of God is a concept that stretches from alpha to omega. It stretches from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. When we think about God being sovereign, we want our story to make sense in our 70 or 80 years.

The idea that the sovereignty of God is bigger than my lifetime is jarring to me. The sum total of the decisions that I will make during my lifetime may have a big impact, but probably will be a drop in the bucket in terms of the direction of humanity over Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. It doesn't mean that those decisions don't matter—they matter very much—they just matter in reference to the sovereignty of God. And so I hope to teach those things with care and without soundbites attached to them, which I think can be a real problem of, Oh, the Lord's going work it all out. Well, he may not until three generations from now in my family. Am I ok with that? No. I want to see that now.

But God is not limited by time. He sees the beginning from the end. So there's a lot of comfort in that, but there's also some pressing on us to say, What am I willing to turn loose of that I have loved—that the Lord using all things for good is gonna happen in a time frame that I'm going to get to witness? Maybe it's better if that's not the case. Maybe not better for me in this life, but that I will stand with the saints one day and look back and say, Yeah, that was better.

Next Steps

Note: These were include in the 12/27/2020 guide; however, my sense is that most groups did not meet last week. Thus, I am including them again. They are helpful questions personally and for your group.

As we end 2020, discuss these personal questions (taken from The Growth Group Notebook).

• What has God been teaching you this year?
• How have you grown in Christ?
• What have you struggled with this year? What areas of godliness do you need to work on?
• How has God been answering prayer in your group? Who have you seen grow in your group?
• What or who are you thankful to God for in your group?

In addition (or alternatively), discuss these group questions:

• Do you think our group contributed to your growth in Christ this year? If so, in what ways?
• Can you think of changes we could make to our group that might result in a greater impact on your growth in Christ?
• Do you think your participation contributed to the growth in Christ of others in the group? If so, how? If not, why not and how could that change?
• Are you keen to be in the group again next year? If not, is there any reason you feel you can tell us?
• Do you have any suggestions for the leader in terms of how he/she could improve as a group leader? Or about how the group operates?