Welcome to the Mariners Church Life Group leader podcasting. This weekly conversation is designed to equip and resource youth to build a healthy life group community that studies God's word, practices spiritual rhythms, and changes the world together. Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
Kim Hamilton, our group's pastor, joined us today for our Life Group leader podcast. Aren't you doing it again? I'm great. The best time of the year, right?
Yeah, it is. I mean, now that Thanksgiving is efficient, the rearview mirror, we can get going down to it with Christmas. I'm excited. I'm sure you are as well.
Totally as well. We are even decorated at our house. Ready to enjoy the season. I was going to ask, but Thanksgiving being later this year, what did you guys do in your house?
Was it? I was going to say Thanksgiving or we couldn't wait before the turkey was out of the oven. We broke the mold this year. We usually wait until Thanksgiving.
We didn't. But we didn't like the first of November. We did it. We did it November.
Yeah. That's a day after all we... I know. That's a really weird.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't want the neighbors to see, so I kept the curtains close for a few days. But now we're ready to share. We're going to a lot of camps now.
Oh, it's just Christmas lights. It's just Christmas lights. Incredible. Yeah.
That's pretty early. We're in the spirit of things. Totally. I mean, I was kind of holding on to let's wait till after Thanksgiving.
I was like, oh, we're going to go home to Christmas. So we get a few days ahead of... That feels good. Which felt still a little like this is early.
But respect me. That's awesome. Like you're cheating just a little bit. A little bit.
We're going to cheat anything, cheat the joy of Christmas. We bring that in because we are, you know, Christmas people living in an Easter world or something like that. Somebody said that. Great.
We're going to get into it. This isn't the first week of our promise Christmas sermon series. If you haven't listened to the series over you, that we do every time, but Eric go back and listen to that. So you get a full overview of the message as we're looking at how Jesus is the perfect prophet, priest, and king.
Actually, the order is priest, prophet, king. Because this week we're going to look at week one, which is priest. So we're going to look at what that means. Jesus says our high priest and boy, that's really good news for us.
And then talk through these questions together. So we got a lean in here. I don't really like the lean in. So I'm going to write a different lean in.
The lean in here is when you're having a rough day, what do you do to decompress and relax? And you could do that. You could ask that. But this is the Christmas season.
So more generic, but answerable question. What is your favorite Christmas song? Oh, that's nice. I like that.
Oh, that's awesome. It just takes me to the place to remember what the seasons about. I just love that one. That's awesome.
So that's your spiritual answer. What about your fun? Just an everyday cultural Christmas song too. Have yourself a merry little Christmas.
How do you go about that? That'll win. I love that. Like gospel version or jazz version.
Yeah, that's awesome. I like harpy arreld, angel sing. I like that. Oh, that's a good one.
Yeah, there's a lot of depth in that song. Did you grow up singing that? Hearing that? I think so.
You just always hear that song, you know, more in the raise. The songs that were born to give them second first. I mean, there's just some great gospel truth in that song. I love it.
Yeah, so great. And then I don't know. I like a lot of Motown Christmas. That's like my favorite playlist.
Motown Christmas or like Jazzy Christmas. For sure. Do a lot of that in our house. Alright, so there you lean in.
Fantastic. Well, why don't we read the passage? We've got Luke 1 to 35, which talks about the prophecy of Jesus being born to the Virgin. But we're going to skip into the main part of the teaching text, which is Hebrews 4, 14 through 16.
So we'll read that. And then there's one question to interact with with that passage is how does viewing Jesus as a high priest impact a way that relate to and understand God. So this week we're all talking about Jesus as a high priest. So how does viewing Jesus as a high priest impact a way to relate to our understanding and view of God.
So let's interact with the passage, answering that question. Do you have it in front of you? I got it. You want to read it?
Sure, I have it. Okay, here's 4, 14 through 16. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus is the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession, for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way as we are yet without sin. Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need.
Just the word of the Lord. Thanks, Peter. Alright, so what stands out? What would we want our life or gliors to help pull out of the truth of this passage as they engage in conversation with their group?
The part that stands out to me is the great high priest because that was such a big deal. You had to go to the high priest every year, but we have the greatest high priest that asked for a personal relationship with us. That we can go to it any time. And not only, he didn't just offer a sacrifice, he was the sacrifice.
He was the sacrifice. Like he came to earth for me and for you in such a very tangible way as an example of how to live, how to not sin, how to be tempted, how to rise above that. Yeah, I think it's a beautiful passage. Yeah, I mean, Eric taught wonderfully through the Old Testament understanding of the high priest who represented the people to God.
And as you're talking about the day of atonement one day throughout the year where the tonic sacrifice was made for the collective sins of the people. That high priest would pass through the holy of holies and sacrifice that spotless lamb for the sins of the people. But it wasn't enough. It wasn't enough to cover.
It was every year. The same sacrifice had to be given every year passing through the outer courts and the inner courts into the holy of holies. Jesus, who is a great high priest who passed through the heavens. He passed through the temple in one specific day, specific times, or specific people, but he passed us through the heavens.
And for all of us to make an eternal and toning sacrifice for everyone who puts their faith in trust in him. So he's a far better and perfect priest. Yeah, I mean, this priest who doesn't just represent people to God but is with his people, who can sympathize with our temptations, with our suffering, that Jesus experienced the same temptations that we experience. I mean, that makes God, I think, in so many more ways, some relatable.
I lived in the message to Eric was talking about how, you know, some would say, well, okay, Jesus was tempted and he didn't sin. So then he didn't really experience the fullness of that. It was too easy for him, but he was tempted and he didn't sin. And he talks about that.
You remember the C.S. Lewis story about somebody who's facing a very, very strong headwind. That if they eventually just get into it, lie down. Like you actually experience a little bit of relief because you're not fighting against it.
But if you fight against it the whole time, even that much more, there's a strength, there's endurance, there's suffering in that, which Jesus did because he never laid down and gave into it. Like he was always persevered through it. So it's not just somebody who could, yeah, I know it's hard, but somebody who knows that, the depth of it, and yet didn't give into it, which makes him, you know, it sounds almost like blasphemous. He's relatable, but he is, he's relatable, but he's also conquering over.
It gives us the strength, we can trust it because he has the strength through it too. And he did that on our behalf, knowing that we would need to see that, feel that, hear that, understand that. When I was reading that story and hearing that in the message, it reminded me of the years of playing music. When you have the tension in the music, you hold the suspension out and you just keep it going there and you don't resolve it to the end, you're sitting in that space that feels very unresolved and it makes you a little bit agitated.
But you, he sat in that space the whole time. The whole time he was on our piece in that space for us and he carried the weight for us to the cross. Yeah, it's good. Right.
So there's a relatedness to it. There's a strength to it. Jesus is our high priest. I love that the author says that we get approached through of grace with boldness, that we don't have to be tender, we don't have to hold back, we don't have to wonder if we're going to be accepted or rejected, that he's a high priest that's also welcoming and inviting.
You know, when you think about, I don't know how many people might think of priest in whatever context you came from, but you may think of someone who's special clothes is kind of detached in some ways, otherworldly, like they're this mediator between this place and they stand out in a way that seems almost like unrelatable or not approachable. But this says, man, approach to the place of grace with like boldness, like with confidence, that your quest is going to be heard and they've known. You know, it's a beautiful thing. It's amazing.
Yeah, yeah. So that's part of the beauty of Christmas, man. God, you know, God, the sun was born Jesus because our priests immediate for us. Awesome.
All right. Let's move into the lookout section then. A couple of questions here to interact with. What are some of the common high priest of our culture today that may claim to comfort us and are suffering but don't actually help us?
And then scripture makes it clear that God wants us to wants to be near to us. But why does it sometimes feel like God is so far away? So a couple of different approaches there. One of the questions is getting us to think about, you know, what are the places that we go to that we approach looking for grace that Jesus is that place?
But what are the other places that we go to? They stay there, they're going to comfort us, but they don't. They let us down. And then the other part of this question is why does it sometimes feel that, you know, we're talking about the nearness of God, Emmanuel God with us.
Why does it sometimes feel like he sees far away? So two different questions kind of getting you to think about two different things with related into the passage. What would you say to that or help coach through that? I'd say the first thing that comes to my mind, the places that we run to, one of them would definitely be friends when we need to process something or complain about something or release something.
A lot of times, and this is not a bad thing to go to friends to talk it through. But we don't leave in the way that we leave when we take it to the Lord. When we talk about it, we read from his word or we spend time seeking him or just listening letting him pour back into us is very different because friends are not there to heal our wounds. They're not there to forgive us from our sins.
And then on the more shallow end, we go to the food entertainment, right, to release that tension or the things that we're carrying. And again, we leave and carrying the same load of the other one. Right. Because it doesn't.
Which I think ties into the second question of why does it sometimes feel like God is far away? Because the things seem more tangibly immediate and accessible. The friend that you can see, the food that you can taste, the alcohol that you can do, whatever it is, coping mechanisms that you can see in real time. And you can get some sort of like a door thing like immediate.
Oh, that felt great. But it doesn't last. It doesn't really. Can't sustain the weight of your burdens.
Can't sustain the weight of your longings. The questions, the sin that we carry, all of that stuff. You might serve as an immediate release. But we just go back to that same place of inward facing conviction or even a light enemy condemnation for us, right?
Yeah. Okay. That's good. That's great.
So that can help you think as you're navigating these questions, like, you know, I get it. So I'm just going to ask you to read these questions. How did these relate? How did this talk get helpful?
Because it can help you to think through the reason behind the questions. Very true. All right. Moving into the look in section.
And this comes directly from Eric's message. There's a point in the message where he talks about five different areas where our longings are met and Jesus, who is our great high priest. He talks through five areas where longings are met and Jesus are great high priest. And so what we're going to do is we're going to read those five statements.
These are those five areas where Jesus meets our longing as our great high priest. So give them a few read all five of them. And then as a leader, you're going to do the same. You're going to read all five and turn.
I would say read them one by one. And then ask your group to say, as I'm reading this, like, what's the one that stands out to you? And why? What's the one that you need to hold on to?
Why do you think that? Why do you think that? So can't want to read those over us? Sure.
It's my. When you carry guilt and shame for missing your own expectations and much more God's expectations, you want to preach to God for you for your forgiveness. When you wonder if you're really forgiven, you want to preach to a pronounces overview that your sin has been taken away. When you feel alone and thought no one understands what you're going through and God feels so distant, you want to preach to his near.
When you are in deep pain, grief or suffering, you want to preach to understand to you and can be with you in your pain. When you are overwhelmed with this world, you want to preach to cares for you and gives you insight. Great. So they have to be powerful.
I just read them in turn one by one before you read. Ask, hey, what's the one that stands out to you? Which one do you need to hold on to? And why?
And don't be uncomfortable just to sit in that space. These are heavy thoughts. And silence is okay sometimes. Allow people, the ones you care about in your group, allow them time to think through it a little bit and just to sit in that space because if it is something that's heavy on their heart, it may take a minute to process it.
Then share it. Yeah, process it, share it. And then that could really be your points of prayer for the week too. For sure.
You can, great. Hey, you stated this when you feel alone. We're going to pray the opposite of that. That you would feel the surrounding comfort of God's spirit with you during the season.
Let's pray with that. And even you could take time. You could do one by one. You could have a person share and then you could pray the truth of that over you now.
That's so good. And the truth over you, like to take time to actually leave that out in your group could be a powerful experience. Oh, it could be such a powerful experience because this season we talked about how joyful and how great a season it is. And sometimes it's really hard.
Yeah. And it's really hard. We rarely have time to talk about why. So to give that gift of let's just sit in this for a second and pray for one another.
That's really powerful. And it got given gift. Awesome. Great.
Fantastic. Well, it's going to be a great series. Lots to talk about in your group this week. Hey, we know that some groups of rhythm might be a little bit different as the years ending.
We had our group on Sunday night. We've got a serve coming up on the 14th. We're doing the Ancient Tree serve. We're going to have a meeting and then we're going to have our serve thing.
So we know our group looks a little bit different. But what would you say for groups ending the year, looking into January would be some keys to landing well and beginning well. Landing well, I would for sure at least try to get together this month. Even if you're not meeting weekly to celebrate the season together, to get together socially.
And you can talk about some of these questions that the interview will even. Sure. Right. We'll see some Christmas lights.
Do something where you're interacting and encouraging one another to end the year and talk about what God has done in your group this year. That's so powerful. Then you're ready to jump in to January. Ready to start.
That's right. We'll just be sure we still have to be awesome. Alright, Greg, we're just going to have a great week this week and we'll see you on the value of this weekend. Merry Christmas.