EXTRA! Ideas for Adults – Looking Forward to Christmas – Session 1

3 days ago 4

Date: December 1, 2024

Looking Forward with Hope

The Point: We have a sure hope because Jesus came to us.

Get Into the Study

Share the following as you conclude your discussion in Get Into the Stud.

At the end of September, Hurricane Helene devastated parts of North Carolina. Before recovery efforts even began, Hurricane Milton hit Florida and the Gulf Coast. The loss of life was enormous and excruciating. The altered state of living with no modern essentials like electricity, running water, combined with no infrastructure like work or school, created chaos, devastation and despair. People questioned how they would go on, and if they even wanted to go on.

Out of this monumental disaster came hope— hope that it was possible to rebuild. Encouragement was found in the form of volunteers, funds from agencies and donors, old friends and new, helping to pick up the pieces of shattered lives. The influx of aid and resources gave the hopeless survivors the support they needed to keep going.

The Jews in the Old Testament knew this kind of devastation. Though they knew that the Messiah was coming, their daily lives were filled with slavery, war, famine, death, and loss. They were losing hope, just like the hurricane survivors.

This Christmas season, we hope for the salvation of the world: a time of light filling the darkness of our lives, like a candle lit in the dark. The anticipation of the coming of the Messiah provided great hope for all of the Jewish people, even in their darkest days. As we look at the coming of the savior as a small baby, we realize He is the hope for a world in despair.

Based on: Heroes of Hurricane Helene: How communities are rallying to help

Get Into the Study (Option from Adult Leader Guide)

In advance, play a worship song about the hope that Jesus brings. Then close in prayer.

Live It Out

As you discuss the application ideas in “Live It Out,” share the following:

Isaiah 40:1-2 says, “Comfort my people, says your God,… and announce that her time of hard service is over.”

When Hurricane Helene passed through North Carolina, there was such devastation as has never been seen before. Mud slides, flooding, mountains crumbled and streets washed away. But in the aftermath, hope came in the form of strangers with no reason to help except for compassion. Outsiders, who didn’t know anyone affected nor had been affected themselves, came out of a deep desire to assist those in distress.

Paul McGinnis, the pastor at Grace Chapel in Forest City, NC turned his church into a shelter for survivors. He said that there has been “an amazing response,” as neighbors, residents in other counties and those who traveled in from out of state “just began showing up. The outpouring has provided crucial aid, but it also has acted as a resilient source of hope and inspiration in the wake of the storm.”

Without these amazing strangers in their midst, the people of this small town would not have been able to keep going and rebuild. But instead, their presence brough hope.

Hope can create motivation where there is none, a compass to the lost, a beacon for those in distress. When we see and feel that connection, we know there is hope. That Hope, our only hope, is Jesus—a stranger to some, the Savior of all. This Christmas, as we look forward to the arrival of Hope incarnate, determine how you can find inspiration in the wake of the storms of life, and share the everlasting Hope with those around you.

Based on: Heroes of Hurricane Helene: How communities are rallying to help

Erika Morrison provided these week’s Extra. Erika is passionate about being the hands and feet of Jesus to those around her. She and her husband Chris have been married for twenty-four years and are busy parents to three kids. Erika spent ten years in missions and now calls beautiful Southwest Michigan home, where they are active in their church and community.