Growing Deeper-Behold The Savior

Welcome & Icebreaker

(8 minute timer please)

Transition: “Before we dive in tonight, let’s warm up with something simple…”

GROUP Icebreaker: “The Last Thing I Really Noticed…”

“At your table, share:

‘What is one ordinary thing you truly noticed this past week?’

It can be anything — a sound, a moment, a detail you would normally overlook.

OPEN: Brife OPENER TO CHALLENGE…

You know… isn’t it funny how many of us long for vacation… or long for holiday break…

Yet in the midth’s of these times… we can find ourselves checkout out the glamourious lives of others wiching we we’re somewhere else?

I was talking to someone about educate… the other day and they said… you know… its never ok to just walk away without saying bye… or abruptly hanging up with someone mid conversation while on the phone… yet… we do this to poeople all the time with our divises.

Isn’t it wild how so many of us long for the holidays, time with family… yet we allow these divises to rob us of what we actually long for. I think they call that an addiction.

*** I can be so descriptive with all this becuase I have been guilty of it myself.

Let’s take a moment to be reminded of the heart of Sunday’s message…

Recap— Behold the Savior

“This week in our series Behold, we explored what it means to truly see Jesus — not casually, not hurriedly, but with our whole being.

ASK THEM TO DEFINE BE HOLD…

-

The word ‘Behold’ breaks into two parts:

To BE

 — Bringing our undistracted presence.

So.. what is trying to steal your attention right now in this moment that is hindering you from bringing an UNDISTRACTED PRESENCE?

Maybe as much as you love taking notes on your phone… you might need to go old school and use pen and paper

Or… put your phone on airplane mode or set FOCUS MODE that stops distracting apps (weather, espn notifications, SM, CandyCrush, etc..

To HOLD

 — to take in with all your senses.

Our senses are God given

Sight (Ps. 19:1)

Ps. 19:1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Sound (Jn. 10:27)

Jn 10:27 My sheep hear my voice - God has put eternity in our heart - we even have spiritual sense/ Sound…

Smell (Ex. 30:7-8)

Ex 30:7-8 The Priest burned fragrant incense, symbolizing God’s presence.

Touch (Matt. 8:3, Mk 5:27—34, Jm 5:14)

Matt 8:3, Jesus reached out his Hand and touched… (Leper)

His Touch

Mk 5:27-34 the woman reached out and touched

Our Touch - when we reach out to him

Jm. 5:14 Lay hands on the sick and they will recover

Our Touch -when we reach out to each other (healing in our hands)

Taste

Ps 34:8a “Taste and see that the Lord is good…”

And here’s why that matters:

Becuase we we’re created to experiance God unrestricted - unhindered - through all the human senses both physically and spiritually.

If I had more time on Sunday I would have connected Beholding to the biblical Idea of… so lets talk about this for a moment…

Delighting in the Lord (Ps. 37:4)

Psalm 37:4a says, ‘Delight yourself in the LORD…’

Delight is the Hebrew verb: Ah-nog (Aw-nag)

Delicateness, luxurious, pliable

Delight is more than a feeling — it’s a spiritual posture.

God fills our lives with gifts designed to lead our hearts toward Him:

The warmth of a meal

The sound of laughter

Laughter with family (game nights)

The comfort of family

The joy of friendship

The beauty of a sunrise

The peace of a quiet morning

The contentment of knowing you’re held by God

(When you take these things in… you are plyable-open-availabe… to the working of God within your heart…

To heal you, restore you, bless you, bring joy and pleasure to you

These moments are invitations — little windows where God says:

‘See Me in this… come near… delight in Me.’

Beholding begins with slowing down enough to delight - which is actually an ancient practice of Sabbath.

Delight is connected Sabbath

“And this idea of delight isn’t new — it’s been part of the Christian story for centuries…”

We teach about this in Dtrack 201 EHS and 301 EHR

We emphasizes that delight is central —to enjoying God through:

Food

Nature

Play

Beauty

Laughter

Life-giving relationships

Why?

Because delight retrains the heart to behold God, not just serve Him.

Even the early Church understood this biblical idea of delight in God…

Church Fathers on Delight

People like..

***have Clay put image on the screen

Irenaeus:

“The glory of God is man fully alive.”

Delight is part of being alive in God.

How about the Church Father…

Aquinas:

“Delight is the overflow of love in the presence of the good.”

James 1:17 NIV

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

Now commentate on both

Delight is to EXPERIANCE the treasures of God.

To not delight is to deny God of his gifts.

To not delight is to rob ourselves of the blessings of God

In their view: delight is worship.

It helps us behold the Giver and receive His gifts.

With that in mind, let’s move into our table conversations…

Growing Deeper Table Questions (30 minutes)

I’m going to put a timer on the screen and we’re going to give you 10min to answer this question at your table

What can you do to lessen the distractions in this season?

Where in your life do you struggle most to “be”?

What steals your attention?

What’s one simple way you can be with God this week?

10min timer please

Ask after timer is over…

Did you have any common themes at your table? 2min

Now let’s move to the next from presence or attention. to our ability to HOLD

What would it look like for you to listen with all senses?

Which gifts has God placed in your life that you rarely slow down enough to behold or delight in?

Think through the senses: sight, sound, smell, taste, touch.

What does it look like when you are missing these moments?

10min timer please

Ask after timer is over…

Did you have any common themes at your table? 2min

1 Practical tip to BE HOLD if you have lost the art of giving all of you.

PREPARE to BE-HOLD in the different spaces of your: (Prov. 21:5)

Scripture says in….Prov. 21:5… lets look at it on the screen together

Proverbs 21:5 ESV

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty.

Be DILIGENT about learning to BE… and HOLD- TAKE IN EVERYTHING in the proper MOMENTS

Scripture promises -you will see abundance in that area of your life.

When we are NOT diligent… we will lead to poverty in that area of our life.

Make A calendar-Block Calendar

Limit certain activities for certain times.

If its work time… WORK

Block out personal distractions / SM / personal life

If its family time… then Be with family when you get home 6-8 (2hrs)

Block out WORK life

If it’s PRAYER time then do that… BE

My screen time turns on at 9:30pm and my phone does not unlock when my alarm goes off at 5am….

It goes off after my prayer & Devotion time at 6:30am.

If its PERSONAL TIME/HOBBY/REST/FUN etc

then do that

Scroll Social media / Play Royal / or whoever your game obsession is

Set alarms to help remind you to do this

Set screen times on your phones to limit activity

PRACTICAL: ***I put an app on my phone a while back called OffScreen… to set new screen time settings on my phone to disable notifications and access during certain times to help me BE…. more present.

If need… Have a black box for your phone when needed.

Skipping down to the last growing deeper question…

What actions might the Holy Spirit want to take in light of this teaching?

10min timer please

End by praying for one another.

12. Closing Reflection (5 minutes)

Transition: “Before we dismiss, let’s quiet our hearts for a moment…”

“Beholding is not just seeing — it is receiving.

When we slow down to delight in the Lord, we realize He has already drawn near.

Let’s end with stillness.”

(Pause 10 seconds.)

“Jesus, help us to behold You this Christmas —

with undistracted hearts,

open hands,

and awakened senses.

Amen.”