Week 6 - RESCUE (Jesus’ Birth and Mission)
CONNECT
What are you thankful for?
What challenge are you facing?
Have there been any answers to prayer?
Pray for each other.
Did anything stand out to you from last week’s follow-up Bible readings and connection prompts?
How did your “I will …” statement from last week go?
How did your sharing goal from last week go?
How’s your memory work coming along?
Colossians 1:13-14 (NLT)
13 For [God the Father] has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
DISCOVER
Let’s start with a review.
CREATION
God created everything and as humans, we have been made in God’s image to rule the world on His behalf.
REBELLION
Through Satan’s temptation, humans rebelled against God, but God promised One who would destroy Satan.
RESCUE (Abraham)
God called Abraham from out of the world and promised Abraham that his family would be a Blessing to the whole world.
RESCUE (Moses)
God used Moses to rescue His people from their slavery to the Egyptians and through Moses God gave His people His law and the sacrificial system.
RESCUE (David)
God promised King David that he would have a Descendant who would reign over an eternal Kingdom.
And now …
RESCUE (Jesus’ Birth and Mission)
The Angel Gabriel announced to Mary and Joseph that Jesus is both God’s Son and the promised Rescuer King.
Mark begins his Gospel saying the same thing.
Mark 1:1 (NIV)
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.
We have already seen that the Bible is divided into 2 sections. The Old Testament (sometimes called the Hebrew Bible) is about God’s promise to send the Messiah, the Rescuer King. The New Testament is about the fulfillment of that promise in Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:20 (NLT):
For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory.
Let’s turn to the story of Jesus’ miraculous conception and see how Jesus is God’s “YES!” to all of His promises.
Ask God to speak to you as you read His Word.
Luke gives us the angel’s pregnancy announcement to Jesus’ mother, Mary.
Luke 1:26-38 (NLT)
26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, 27 to a virgin named Mary. She was engaged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of King David. 28 Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!”
29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean. 30 “Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. 32 He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. 33 And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”
34 Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.”
35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. 36 What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. 37 For the word of God will never fail.”
38 Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.
Matthew gives us the angel’s pregnancy announcement to Jesus’ earthly “father,” Joseph.
Matthew 1:18-25 (NLT)
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, to whom she was engaged, was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly.
20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:
23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
which means ‘God is with us.’” (Quoting the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah from Isaiah 7:14)24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.
Have someone retell these passages in their own words. Just the highlights will do.
What stands out to you in these passages?
What do these passages say about God (The Father, His Son Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit)?
What do these passages say about people, including ourselves?
What do these passages say about the life God invites us to live?
Digging Deeper
From the angel’s birth announcement to Mary and Joseph, how is Jesus David’s Descendant (the promised Rescuer King and Messiah)?
From the angel’s birth announcement to Mary and Joseph, how is Jesus God’s Son?
How does the angel's birth announcement fulfill this prophecy from Isaiah?
Isaiah 9:6 (NLT)
For a child is born to us,
a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Jesus isn’t just God’s Son and David’s Descendant. He is also Eve’s Descendant (aka God’s Threat to Satan), Abraham’s Blessing and Moses’ Sacrificial Lamb.
1 John 3:8 (NLT)
When people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
Matthew 1:1 (NIV)
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Acts 3:24-26 (NLT)
24 “Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today. 25 You are the children of those prophets, and you are included in the covenant God promised to your ancestors. For God said to Abraham, ‘Through your descendants all the families on earth will be blessed.’ 26 When God raised up his servant, Jesus, he sent him first to you people of Israel, to bless you by turning each of you back from your sinful ways.”
John 1:29 (NLT)
The next day John [the Baptist] saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
How does Jesus’ identity and mission fulfill God’s promises in the Old Testament and our need for Rescuer King?
As with Abraham, both Mary and Joseph’s motto could have been “to hear is to obey.” How are you growing in hearing and obeying the Lord? What question or obstacle is holding you back from hearing and obeying?
Connection Prompt
You have been using these connection prompts:
Lift UP Your Praise - Lord, I praise you for …
Bow DOWN in Repentance - Lord, I repent of …
Take IN God’s Word - Lord, I hear You saying … & With Your help, I will …
Pray OUT Your Requests - Lord, I pray for ...
As the Son of God, you would think that Jesus had the authority to pursue His mission on His own. But that’s not what we see in the Gospels. For example, we read …
John 5:19-20 (NLT)
19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing.”
John 12:49-50 (NLT)
49 “I don’t speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say.”
How did Jesus know what to say and what to do?
If Jesus was fully dependent on His Father, how much more should we be?
So this week, let’s add this connection prompt:
STOP, Look and Listen - Lord, what do You want to show me or say to me?
Listen for the Lord and with His help obey His leading.
LIVE
What truth have you discovered from today’s Bible passage(s) and conversation?
What would stop you from believing and obeying this truth?
How will you live out this truth this coming week? Finish this statement: “I will ….”
Who else needs to hear this truth? How could you share it with them?
When will we meet again?
Who will facilitate that meeting?
Pray for God’s help as you seek to follow Jesus this coming week.
FOLLOW-UP BIBLE READINGS
Here are the Bible passages you are encouraged to read this coming week:
BUDDY SYSTEM
Connect with your buddy this week and ask each other these questions:
How are your readings going?
How’s your “I will …” statement coming along?
How’s your sharing goal coming along?
How can I pray for you?