COMING,
READY OR NOT
The
3rd Sunday in Advent, Dec. 16th, '07, at Christ Church, Mandurah
MT
11:2-11
Notes: 1. Coming, Ready or Not is our
theme here at Christ Church, Mandurah during the weeks of
Advent. (We are now in Year A
again,
focussing on Matthew's Gospel.) This series of
work-sheets aims at helping us prepare for hearing the Gospel preached
each Sunday & be
better prepared
for our worship together.
2.These
notes are for use in Groups, or personally. It would help to
read the Gospel beforehand, & keep it to hand.
Prayer:
for Preparedness
in every sense.
Warming-Up
Exercise:
(Say 2 mins, for Groups): Are there other kinds of prisons than those
with bars?
Some
Questions to help us Enter Into The Story and make it our own:
1.
Can we have some sympathy for JB in his dilemma? If the 'One' we
believe to be the Christ has ever landed us, or let us land, in prison
or in any other kind of trouble, what does that say about issues
like: a) the way God works? b) God's power(s)? c) where we fit into
God's plans? If the 'One' hasn't landed us in trouble of any kind,
might that be our doing (or not doing) rather than His? Do we ever
wonder about whether Jesus really is the promised Messiah? On what
grounds? Are we tuned in enough to God to be able to recognize Him (God is neither male nor female, just God)
come among us in even the worst situations we're in? Do we have any
right to expect any or all of God's 'advents' to be for our personal
benefit?
2. How good are
we at a) recognizing, & b) telling others about God Coming into the
life-situations of people like the blind, lame, etc. mentioned in v.5?
Do we ever 'take offence' at God in any sense? Why do so many others
seem to? Could it be they're just more honest than we are? When we do
Come across someone 'taking offence' at God in some way, could we learn
to take that as an opportunity for them & us to explore the
issue(s)? Is part of the trouble that we & many others see God as
only having the right to Come into our situation to benefit us rather
than, say, growing us, stretching us, etc.?
3.
Would we really be more comfortable as individuals & as a church
with a Jesus who was more of
a soft option than JB? Was more like a 'reed...', 'dressed in soft
clothes...', etc.? Have we actually made Jesus into a soft option in
some ways? Could we ever really expect to recognize God Coming among us
as a soft option of any kind? Might our churches be stronger if we
lived out more clearly that Jesus is not a 'soft option'? Might we
recognize God's Comings among us more readily if we stopped looking for
'soft options'?
4.
What is at the heart of someone being a Prophet? Or, should that be, 'Who' is...? What makes Jesus
more than 'more than a Prophet'? Would it be true that not many people
in our society are willing to see Jesus as any kind of prophet, let
alone being able to get past that? Is that making it harder for them /
us to recognize His Comings?
5. If we were to take a more
active role in preparing people for Jesus' Coming in so many ways,
present & future, would we change tactics from JB's? What were his
tactics anyway? If when He says JB is less than the least in the
kingdom of heaven Jesus means JB hasn't completely made the transition
from old Hebrew ideas of God to God newly revealed in Himself, what
implications does that have for us as we recognize & respond to
God's Comings among us?
