The Compass

A Daily Personal Reflection & Small Group Discussion Guide

by John Hay, Jr.
Senior Pastor, West Morris Street Free Methodist Church

Series: Christmas 2005 - "The Acceptable Time"
Week's focus: "On the First Day of Christmas"
Scriptures: Matthew 2:1-12
Week of: December 25, 2005

TRACKING THE WORD IN WORSHIP
Christmas Day ushers in a new err--fulfillment begins

These are notes from "Exploring the Word" in Morning Worship; message points are CAPITALIZED

1. Christmas Day divides LONGING and anticipation from saving grace and Kingdom FULFILLMENT.

Matthew 2:1-2

Question: Have I moved to the saving side of Christmas?

2. Christmas Day REDUCES kings to petty lords, but INTRODUCES the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Matthew 2:1-2; Luke 1:46-55; Isaiah 9:6-7

Question: Am I giving undue allegiance to idols, ideologies, and/or institutions when the King of love has come to restore my life and reorder our sin-sick world?

3. Christmas Day initiates an ENVIOUS STRUGGLE for ultimate power and control, but brings genuine seekers of life to the INCARNATE SOURCE.

Matthew 2:3-12

Questions: Am I seeking for satisfaction in the wrong places with self-serving motives? Have I yet allowed myself to be found by Life…and begun to live in worship?

READ, REFLECT, RESPOND
Explore the Word in personal devotions or in a small group

1. In your own words, what is Christmas about? What does it signal to you about the failures, problems, and brokenness of your past? What does it signal to you about the possibilities for new beginnings and your future? Share your responses with your small group or write them in your journal.

2. Read Matthew 2:1-2. What guided the Magi to the region where Jesus was born? What do you know or what can you discover about the Magi? What do you think motivated them to leave their own lands and follow a star to find the king its appearance signaled? What kind of persons might the Magi represent in our contemporary world?

3. Read Matthew 2:3-12. What do you see as the difference between the motives and search of the Magi and that of King Herd? List them and discuss or journal about these. What kind of people do you think would most closely represent King Herod today? Why? How might they be reached with the Good News?

4. Read Matthew 2:9-11. What signifies to you the sincerity of the Magi? Do you think their lives were changed by what they found and what they did at Bethlehem? The gift-giving in of the Magi is considered one of the sources of our contemporary gift-giving at Christmastime. What does gift-giving mean to you?

5. Luke 1:46-55. "Mary's Song," or "The Magnificat," is considered by some to be "the most revolutionary document in the world." What in these verses gives reason for this assessment? Who is to be brought down with the coming of Jesus Christ? Who is to be lifted up? For whom is the "bad news?" For whom is it "good news?" What kind of news is it to you?

MARKINGS LEFT BY PREVIOUS TRAVELERS
Selected quotes on anticipation & joy at the Incarnation

WHY THEY MADE THE JOURNEY. "Why did we travel so far to be there when it happened? Why was it not enough just to know the secret without having to be there ourselves to behold it? To this, not even the stars had an answer. The prophecy said simply that he would be born. It was another voice altogether that said to 'go'--a voice as deep within ourselves as the stars are deep within the sky." - Frederick Buechner

FOR THE CHILD WHO HAS EVERYTHING. "The gifts the three Wise Men, or Kings, or Magi, brought to the manger in Bethlehem cost them plenty but seem hardly appropriate to the occasion. Maybe they were all they could think of for the child who had everything. In any case, they set them down on the straw-the gold, the frankincense, the myrrh-worshipped briefly, and then returned to the East where they had come from. It gives you pause to consider how, for all their great wisdom, they overlooked the one gift that the child would have been genuinely pleased to have someday, and that was the gift of themselves and their love" -- Frederick Buechner

RESPONSES & OPPORTUNITIES TO ENGAGE
Want to explore The Compass with others? Have questions?

If you'd like to connect with others who are working weekly with The Compass, e-mail me or call the church office (317.632.8311)

If you have questions about Scriptures or some of the questions, or just want to share what your are discovering through The Compass, you are welcome to e-mail me.

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