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Group Discussion
Questions for facilitating dynamic discussion
The First Gifts of Christmas
December 11,2022
Week 2: FRANKINCENSE – Gift for a God
Jeff Griffin
Luke 19:1-7
The Wisemen brought Him frankincense. This expensive resin was burned on the incense altar as worship to God. As a gift for God, frankincense speaks of Christ’s deity. One of the reasons God came to earth was to show us the heart of the Father. The Old Testament descriptions of God’s gracious heart did not communicate as powerfully as did the gracious actions and words of Jesus. We must always study Jesus in order to know God’s heart.
Route 66! Jeff opened his sermon on the highway famously used for countless family road trips. Tell the group about a road trip that you remember and cherish.
1. Reread Colossians 1:15 (NLT) Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
Describe an attribute that you see and appreciate in Jesus.
2. Reread the “Divine Attribute Formula” found in Exodus, Numbers, 2 Chronicles, Nehemiah, Psalms, Joel, Jonah, and Nahum “God is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, forgiving of sin.”
What do you appreciate about God that is conveyed in this formula?
3. Reread Hebrews 1:1-3 (NLT) Long ago God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets. And now he has spoken to us through his Son. The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God.
Why did Jesus communicate the heart of the Father more effectively than the prophets?
4. Reread Luke 19:1-2 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector.
Why did the Pharisees and teachers of the law believe that God lacked love for tax collectors?
5. Reread Luke 19:3-4 Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him.
Why was Zacchaeus so interested in seeing Jesus?
6. Reread Luke 19:5 When Jesus reached the spot, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”
What does this verse tell us about the heart of God toward sinners like us?
Most of us struggle to believe God loves us as much as He claims. Ask God to help you believe.