17 Dec Discussion Guide: Prophets, Poets, Priests, and Kings: The Priests of Christmas
Before We Get Started
For our discussion today, we will be using the sermon series discussion guides. If you would like to follow along you can access this discussion guide on the website at mosaicchurchaustin.com and then select “community group resources” in the menu options.
Prayer
Because the primary goal of our time together is to establish relationships and learn how to walk with one another in all that God has called us to be and do, we’d like to begin by praying for one another. So, does anyone have anything you’d like us to pray for or anything to share regarding how you’ve seen God moving in your life that we can celebrate together?
This Week’s Topic
Today, we continue with our series, Prophets, Poets, Priests, and Kings: Why Christmas Makes Us Sing. Join us as we take a look, one week at a time, at how the prophets show us Jesus is The Great Light, the poets show us he is our Great Longing, the priests show us he is our Great Lover, and the kings show us he is our Great Leader.
Today’s Topic
The Priests of Christmas
Discussion Questions
How have you experienced God’s heart in a new way this Christmas?
Priests are the Chosen People of God
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Malachi 2:1-2
And now, you priests, this warning is for you. If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.
1 Peter 2:9-10
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
Genesis 1:28 is considered the first priestly command. What did God expect of Adam and Eve as the first priests?
How did the priests in Malachi’s time fail God in their priestly roles?
How do you think God expects you to live as a member of his royal priesthood?
Priests Carry God’s Heart to Others
Malachi 2:7
For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth.
Romans 15:15-16
Yet I have written you quite boldly on some points to remind you of them again, because of the grace God gave me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
Christopher J.H. Wright, The Mission of God’s People
Mission arises from the heart of God himself, and is communicated from his heart to ours. Mission is the global outreach of the global people of a global God.
Barbara Brown Taylor, An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith
All I am saying is that anyone can do this. Anyone can ask and anyone can bless, whether anyone has authorized you to do it or not. All I am saying is that the world needs you to do this, because there is a real shortage of people willing to kneel wherever they are and recognize the holiness holding its sometimes bony, often tender, always life-giving hand above their heads. That we are able to bless one another at all is evidence that we have been blessed, whether we can remember when or not. That we are willing to bless one another is miracle enough to stagger the very stars.
What do you believe God expects of you as a priest?
Who has acted as priest in your life?
How can participating in missional acts connect our lives and hearts with God’s heart for others?
What are some of the circumstances or perspectives that hinder us from carrying God’s heart for other people?
Jesus, Our High Priest
Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven,[a] Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Thomas Merton
Christ is born to us today, in order that he may appear to the whole world through us.
How have you experienced Jesus as a high priest?
How does the Christmas story offer us a new opportunity to connect with Jesus as our high priest?
How can you ensure Christ appears to others through your life in 2024?
Closing Thought
Read Mary’s song together. How does her praise of God carry his heart to you today?
Luke 1:46-55
My soul glorifies the Lord
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful
of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
holy is his name.
His mercy extends to those who fear him,
from generation to generation.
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.He has helped his servant Israel,
remembering to be merciful
to Abraham and his descendants forever,
just as he promised our ancestors