Small Group Script

We all have things in our lives that we look forward to because we are sure of there meaning…for me growing up that time was in fact Christmas. The excitement all began almost immediately after Thanksgiving dinner…after the last piece of pie was eaten my mom would get out the box that housed our Christmas Tree.

I still remember how at the end of each wire branch was a color that matched the color of the hole in the wooden dow that was the skeleton of the tree.

We would take the next several minutes putting the branches in piles by the color on the wire…then we began to build the tree by putting the right branch into the color coded hole..then we would take the next hour putting on all the decorations and putting the stockings on that mantle of the fire place (It Was a wonder we didn’t burn the house down.)

This was the beginning of hope…hope that we would indeed get all the presents we asked for.

We also knew that Christmas was a time where we would get together with family…Christmas Eve we would gather with all of my mom’s family…Adults would draw names for each other but all the kids would get gifts…Then Christmas morning came and we knew that would means gifts from each other….then we would dress up (I hated that part) and go to my Dad’s side of the family and get gifts there in the same way as we did the night before. Three opportunities to get what we wanted for Christmas.

It was awesome until we had to move…my dad lost his job and the only way he could take care of us was to move to Texas. It was a long way from Indiana and that first year at Christmas there was drastically different…We went from more gifts than we knew what to do with to just a few special ones under the tree.

We also went from being around all of our family to having to settle for a phone call listening to all my cousins in the background playing and enjoy their new toys or clothes….I don’t know if I was depressed about it or not but I knew things were different.

So imagine my surprise when Dad told us that the next year we would go back to Indiana for Christmas…right away I began to look forward to three opportunities to get gifts…I could not wait…The only issue was that we were going to surprise our family which unknown to me would mean absolutely no presents. On top of that Santa Caluse would not know were we were so I probably would not get anything.

As a matter of fact that is exactly what happened. As I went from Christmas eve to Christmas day I received not on thing I wanted for Christmas.

I remember when it came time to open the presents and everyone what excited for that time, my cousins had the same look of joy on their face and instead of being upset or jealous I can remember simply being happy I was with them all.

Christmas morning that year we did not get up at the crack of dawn because I knew there would be not presents under the tree…yet as we brought the present of our presence to my dad’s side of the family that morning getting something to unwrap was the last thing on my mind.

I was just glad to be there... The joy of our family at seeing us overshadowed any disappointment that I may have felt in those moments.

Yet….I was surprisingly not that upset. The joy of our family at seeing us overshadowed any disappointment that I may have felt in the moment.

It was probably at the moment that I realized that there was a great meaning to Christmas than the hope of getting presents…

It was the hope of presence. Being present with my family was what I was really looking forward to. Not the presents that would go from the best toy ever to just that old thing.

Christmas shopping can be a stressful time…searching for the perfect gift, sometimes this leads to overspending or hurt feelings if the gift is not appreciated…but sometimes it is not about the gift…It is not about the sacrifice…it is about presence.

What if the thing we are hoping for this Christmas has nothing to do with the buying and exchanging of presents with the ones we love. What if it is about presence instead of presents?

I think that is exactly what it is about:

As followers of Jesus sometimes I think we fall into the trap of thinking I have to do something great for the cause of Christ. Some have preached this very thing that if you don’t give up something for Jesus then you somehow are not worthy of His love.

5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God,

“You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings.

But you have given me a body to offer.

Christmas shopping can be a stressful time…searching for the perfect gift, sometimes this leads to overspending or hurt feelings if the gift is not appreciated…but sometimes it is not about the gift…It is not about the sacrifice…it is about presence.

or other offerings for sin. 7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’ ”

7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God—

as is written about me in the Scriptures.’ ”

8 First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). 9 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Christmas shopping can be a stressful time…searching for the perfect gift, sometimes this leads to overspending or hurt feelings if the gift is not appreciated…but sometimes it is not about the gift…It is not about the sacrifice…it is about presence.

While sacrifice is noble when God calls us to it maybe it is more important to ask God to make us more aware of His presence rather than to look for ways to be worthy of His presence.

Christmas shopping can be a stressful time…searching for the perfect gift, sometimes this leads to overspending or hurt feelings if the gift is not appreciated…but sometimes it is not about the gift…It is not about the sacrifice…it is about presence.

I think that sometimes we can get so taken with the idea of finding or receiving that perfect gift that we fail to celebrate the fulfilment of the hope of the messiahs coming.

5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings. But you have given me a body to offer. 6 You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. 7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’ ”

5 That is why, when Christ came into the world, he said to God,

“You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings.

But you have given me a body to offer.

6 You were not pleased with burnt offerings or other offerings for sin. 7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God— as is written about me in the Scriptures.’ ”

or other offerings for sin.

7 Then I said, ‘Look, I have come to do your will, O God—

as is written about me in the Scriptures.’ ”

8 First, Christ said, “You did not want animal sacrifices or sin offerings or burnt offerings or other offerings for sin, nor were you pleased with them” (though they are required by the law of Moses). 9 Then he said, “Look, I have come to do your will.” He cancels the first covenant in order to put the second into effect. 10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

The promise of Hope has been fulfilled not because of the sacrifice of his people but because God is faithful to his promise....Holy Spirit that has come as a result of God fulling His promise to us… a gift worth receiving.

We no longer have to wait for or beg for the presence of God. We no longer have to live by the law of animal sacrifice…We now have the privilege of living under the law of Grace.

We have that privilege of being citizens of the Kingdom of God that has come through the birth of Jesus. The promise of Hope is realized…not a future event…Praise be to God!

We can be made whole…We can be free…all because of Jesus.

The promise of Hope has been fulfilled with the birth of Jesus…That Hope is still alive in us today.

The promise of Hope has been fulfilled with the birth of Jesus…That Hope is still alive in us today. So take some time away from looking for ways to make this season perfect and allow the perfect presence of Jesus to restore your hope for the new year.

So take some time away from looking for ways to make this season perfect and allow the perfect presence of Jesus to restore your hope for the new year.

Take time to live in the Thrill of Hope!