Welcome to the Mariners Church Life Group Leader podcast. 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. Hello, and welcome to the Life Computer podcast, Merry Christmas, everyone. It's Kirby here, and I have with me, Tim Arman's pastor.
Say hello, Tim. Hey, Merry Christmas, glad to be with you guys. Also, sweet, so glad that you're with us, Tim. I know that we've gotten to have a lot of good times in these conversations, laughing together, but also hopefully preparing our leaders.
And so this, you guys will be a special podcast today as it's the last of our series here around the beauty of Christmas, all these different vantage points that each of the different teachers have been able to share with us, which has been so sweet. Tim, how are you feeling about this Christmas season? And how have you been enjoying the series? Yeah, loving the series, it's always good to reflect on the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel, God with us, and it's just been a great Christmas season so far.
All sorts of Christmas things with the family, and we got a week left until- Oh, yeah, and then before we know it, I mean, Christmas is on Sunday. Like, we're gonna be here so quickly. Well, we've from Sunday. That's true.
Well, don't be listening to this, probably after Sunday. That's a good point, sir. You'll be listening after Sunday, but we're recording before Sunday, but all's the same regardless. But Tim, what are some of the things that you and your family are doing right now in this season as you're preparing for Christmas?
Well, last night, I went to my kids Christmas play. My son was one of the main characters. It's so cute. And the other two were in the choir, so that was super special.
We watched a ton of Christmas movies already. Oh, I love that. Christmas lights, we're going to Balboa Island and this week, all sorts of great stuff. Oh, awesome.
Oh my gosh. What about you? I'm actually going to Balboa next Monday, which I think looking at the lights with my friends and my boyfriend, I mean, it's such a sweet time to really get excited and be in awe of like the beauty that is Christmas. And sometimes I feel like Christmas can be like overly commercialized sometimes, but I actually think now, like especially in light of this specific series, I really but enjoying the fact that our culture has this weird like almost acknowledgement of the fact that Christmas is beautiful, by the way that we go extra in our decor and in the lights.
And you're like, you know, it's dark every night, but we choose Christmas time when we're, you know, hopefully looking for the light of the world, the point of light, you know, and to be more decorative. So I just find that to be so sweet and such a beautiful thing that's reflected in our culture. So of who that is. So as we kind of look to this discussion guide, I know you're probably needing right before Christmas.
If you're listening to this podcast and you're preparing with your group, you're probably doing a lot of fun activities, hopefully sharing cookies or stories or what have you. So you might not be able to get to all this content, but we're gonna try to point out a couple of things that if you do decide to walk through some questions, here are the ones that we love, here are the ones that really stick out. And if you are a leader who is gonna go through all these questions, hats off to you, but we are so proud of you. We like really commend you for kind of barreling in here at the last end of the year.
And we want to encourage you in that as well. So wherever you're at, whether you're just choosing a couple of questions or you're choosing them all, we're here for you and want to kind of talk through this, this guide with you. So for this, we can expect a really great reminder. We say worship, story and prayer, of course, I think worship is the one that will really stick out to you.
And the ways that we practice worship are by celebrating and remembering all that God has done for us. And so this first question is so great. Tim, do you see or in your own like men's studies and things, do you guys kind of go into a rhythm of like worship and reflection in a season? Yeah, one of the things that we do with my men's core leadership team is we always have a end of the year Christmas dinner together.
Oh, love that. We spend about 15 to 25 minutes depending on the stories. And we celebrate all that God did, whether it's in our personal lives, but kind of prompting particularly in the men's ministry. Where have you seen God show up?
Where have you seen transformation? Where has Jesus met with us and we celebrate? It's truly a beautiful time. And that's exactly what we would hope for you guys in your group.
It's just a natural time to look back, celebrate and go God is good. And let's celebrate, let's share the stories. Oh, I love that. I think that's such an incredible rhythm.
And it will feel so natural at this time where other times it might feel awkward, right? Like you're going in the summer and you're like, what did God do? It's like, no, this is the perfect time. So don't miss an opportunity leaders to really ask this first question here.
What experiences have you had that you never want to forget? And why do you not want to forget these things? And so I think this really gets us into that posture of looking back on what God has done and preparing our hearts for the Christmas season. There is a great leader note here that says, being sensitive to what God, some of the big moments in this past year might be because of some great successes, but also there might be some great pain.
So I just want to prepare you guys as you open up questions about significant things that you might hear some things from your group members of moments of pain or struggle. And hopefully this group will also be a place where you can celebrate where God has showed up. And those places not necessarily always with a healing or with an answer, but at least with his presence. And that's what hopefully your group does really, really well.
I think that's a good thing to know as a leader that the holidays is not always a celebratory time. Our church is beautiful and offering what we call blue Christmas and where people are suffering and struggling in there is the hope of Jesus. So as a leader, I think it's important to be aware. Like maybe there was a loss that you know about in their group, maybe someone struggles, particularly with the holidays, how can you come alongside as a group and a leader for those actually suffering through the holidays?
I love that. So and also another great point of encouragement, right? It's not just our presence for one another, but also God's word. So as we look down at God's word, which is specifically the account that we're looking at in this message from the weekend, is from Luke chapter two, eight through 12.
And this is some of the more traditional storytelling of the birth and announcement of Jesus. And so I just love that we're saved the best for last, right? You know, here we go with Luke, who is such an incredible storyteller for so many reasons, including the faculty as a doctor and he loves details and all that kind of stuff. But this really is a great question as we ask our people to look into God's word, to point out what really sticks out.
So it says, this passage may be familiar, of course, and nonetheless marvelous. You'll see a lot of strong language in these questions this week. But what are some of the things that are particularly astounding to you in the passage? So as I kind of point out, the astounding things, what do you think, why are we asking people to point out astounding things to him?
I mean, this is the birth announcement of the Savior of the world. And Luke, like you said, he gives a lot of just really neat details of just the good news. This is good news of great joy. That there's this child and Jesus even coming as a child and then the significance of what this means that God would become fully human yet fully God.
And even the announcement to the shepherds first and what that looks like is that Jesus is our God and his abundance is able to go, hey, the first people that I'm going to share with is the shepherds, which in cultural time, we're not the prestigious. This isn't the royalty. This is somewhat outsiders, but God has no bounds. And he is not outside loving anyone.
So it's a beautiful picture of a God who came here. Yes, absolutely. I so agree. And I think these questions about the shepherds, that's trying to help people see the humility.
And to this first question about the astoundingness, it's like you said, we're trying to cultivate the group to have a sense of awe and help them understand the tone of this passage. The tone is marvelous, spectacular. This is groundbreaking. The angels are coming and appearing.
And people are terrified. The language is so strong. And it's helping us to see how dramatic that this experience was in a beautiful, beautiful drama kind of way. So also another great question.
What are the three titles given to Jesus in this verse? I love that there is such a diversity of calling of who Jesus is in that. And that's, again, to help us kind of see the righteousness of God, the declaring of who he was, more than just a man. But also, the question goes on to ask about the significance of lying in the mangers.
That he is both glorious, marvelous, righteous, clearly God, but also lying in a manger. He's a human. He is a true baby. God himself came down to this verse, which is more and more astounding things as we think about this.
Going on, reading Luke 2, 13 through 20. Again, we're trying to point out where there's wonder that we can kind of attack or attach ourselves to in the scripture. And then the next question here on 17, based on what you know of Jesus' life, what sense of Jesus' arrival brings peace in favor to our peace, on earth and favor to people. Oh, I love like, where do we go, right?
With our amazement. We go towards, we get to experience peace and favor from that posture. Really good. So as we turn, we're coming to the end here.
You guys, as you can see, this story of Jesus is sweet in itself. So you need not make a make much, but really just enjoy the story here. But as we look up to the culture, where can we see culture losing the sense of wonder? What kind of things stick out to you that people might bring up in group?
And what's kind of the purpose of that question you think, too? I think it's a refocusing question of remembering why and what we celebrate. And I think it's no secret that it is a holiday that is also expressed through materialism and things and gifts. And although those are wonderful, that is not the why.
And sometimes greed can come up. And just desiring things that we don't necessarily need when we really, truly only need Jesus. And so that can be, I'm sure, there's probably all sorts of statistics of how much revenue companies make during this time of year. Naturally, it would be more than any other time of year for a lot of especially retail companies.
So we can get sidetracked. And we can also the speed of the holidays of party after party or event after event or all the things that come with the hustle and bustle of Christmas season. So I would say it probably culture. And culture isn't celebrating Jesus.
Societies and celebrating Jesus per se, it's the Santa Claus is the reindeer, is the whole wonder. But it's not necessarily, oh, it's not out loud. Is this about Jesus? Yeah, that's good.
But we are. Yeah, I love that. I really think what also sticks out to me too is that it is for all people. And I like that this second question.
Really helps us to turn, OK, where is, so the first question helps us say, where have we gone wrong? And then who is this for? It really is for everyone. And so we can see the call into the amazement and wonders, also an invitation for us to share who Jesus is, share this amazement with others in our lives, specifically our family.
I know a lot of us will be around a lot of family during this time. And that can be challenging and beautiful altogether. But as we look in on ourselves, I would love to encourage you guys, if you're meeting, and if you are not sure which part of this to hone in on, I think this look and question is really good. I think it would also be really good to do, maybe just in a reflection.
You necessarily don't have to share or discuss with this question. But you could just prayerfully respond to this question and say, OK, guys, let's look inside of ourselves. And ask ourselves if we are eager to tell others about Jesus. Are we truly marveling at the story of Jesus?
And where do we need to grow in our affection and wonder for God? And if you take time, I think at the end of your little discussion here, or maybe this is just one of the things, you can ask God privately and corporately to help him compel you to worship, just like the angels did. So I think that could be a great way. And your group is prayerfully asking for more and more of wonder and amusement in the season.
That's really all we have for you guys today. But before we end, we'd love to just talk a little bit about, on the Table Series coming up in January. How are you feeling about on the table? And what do you know about on the table right now?
I'm super excited and proud of our church for this upcoming series that we're calling on the table. And we're putting it all on the table. We're talking about very controversial topics within the Christian church, but in culture as it pertains to the Christian worldview. So I think it'll give people a sense of both ways that they can articulate, what they believe, and be able to have conversations with friends, co-workers, neighbors, about their beliefs and where we stand and where they stand.
However, it will also be controversial and could cause some discomfort in challenging conversations. So I'm really proud of our church because we don't always talk about these kind of things in our particular views as a church, manners, in particular, but also really a biblical stance on where some of these big, heavy conversations are. Yeah, so good. So I can't wait.
I know. It's going to be great, you guys. I'm sure that you read a little bit on our email about what on the table is. And as Tim shared, it is going to be some hard-hitting conversations.
We're thinking, if you read over the series brief, it's a Bible outdated. It can be really trusted. It's Jesus the only way. We're talking thoughts on the transgender movement, thoughts on oppression, thoughts on sexuality, both why is God sexually repressive, all the way to what is He say about homosexuality.
And then we even hit even lighter topics, like why does God send people to hell? So we've got super light. Super light was super light conversations. But all of these topics are outlined in our series brief.
But we want to commit to you guys that we are here with you, your coaches, your staff. We are all ready to have these conversations with you and help you as a leader feel equipped. So please reject your coaches as necessary. But know that we have the series brief.
We will be having a workshop hopefully in person that we will be able to talk through group dynamics things. And then we also will be having some incredible sermon based content broken down here in this podcast with lots of different special guests. So you guys, please tune in to our podcast in the coming new year and walk through this sermon based content with us as we learn what the Bible says about some of the more controversial topics. So we love you guys.
We're praying for you. And we hope that you have a very, very good science.