1. What do you love most about the Christmas season?  What do you find challenging?  

2. Read Exodus 12:3–13.  These verses contain a series of instructions for Israel to follow in preparing the Passover lamb. Why do you think God didn’t simply pass over the Israelite houses automatically? 

3. In Exodus 12:12, the Lord says Passover is a judgment ‘against all the gods of Egypt.’  What emotions might the Israelites have felt as they prepared for this highly unusual event, designed as an affront to Pharaoh’s authority and state religion?  

4. Read Heb 2:14-15.  How does Jesus’ death relate to our experience of God’s power?

5. In Exodus 12:13, the word translated ‘pass over’ can also be translated ‘hover/protect’.  Read John 16:6-7.  How does Jesus’ death relate to God’s remaining presence today?  

6. In what way does promise/fulfillment framework of Exodus contribute to the Passover story?  To Jesus’ story?  Why do you think God chooses to work in a promise/fulfillment framework, where promises often take a very long time to come to fruition?

7. Like Passover, Advent is a season of remembering God’s past work while also looking forward to promises yet to be fulfilled.  What promise are you most eager for Christ fulfill at his next coming?  

For more info on the American Dialectical Society’s ‘Word of the Year’, visit: https://www.americandialect.org/woty/all-of-the-words-of-the-year-1990-to-present

1. This morning we watched a video of the invisible gorilla experiment,where the distraction of passing balls can keep viewers from noticing a gorilla walk into view.  In real life, what distractions most often keep us from being aware of life’s biggest, most important things?

2. Read John 1:1-18, and mark any reference to light or seeing.  What does this passage have to say about spiritual sight as it pertains to Jesus?  To us?

3. In John 1:5-12, the theme of Light is prevalent, but there is no reference to seeing.  What verbs does John use instead of ‘see’ to describe how people interact with the light of Christ?  What do these verbs tell us about what it means to ‘see’?

4. John 1:19-34 is an account of John’s testimony.  According to v31, why did John come baptizing with water?

5. In John 1:34, what did John do before bearing witness?  What would it look like for us to follow his example this advent season?  To whom might you bear witness if the Lord opens your eyes to new spiritual realities?

6. End with a time of intercession and thanksgiving.  Consider singing a carol like “O Come All Ye Faithful”