Expect a Miracle

Planning the Session

Fundamentals

1. Confirm your meeting place and time.

2. Secure a TV and DVD player, and ensure that they are operational.

3. Obtain extra copies of Christmas Is Not Your Birthday to have on hand so that each participant will have a copy to use during the study session.

4. Have extra Bibles available for participants to use during the study session.

5. Obtain newspapers and magazines that participants can cut apart during a group activity.

6. Secure paper, pencils, scissors, and glue sticks or tape for participants to use during group activities.

7. If your meeting area has Internet access, secure one or more computers and the necessary information for connecting to the Internet.

Session Goals

This session is intended to help participants

• identify their mental picture of God;

• understand that their mental picture of God shapes their faith and values;

• realize how distorted Christians' view of Christmas has become;

• hear that the message of Christmas is about a sacrificial gift;

• understand that Christmas is the celebration of a miracle;

• realize that God's miracles are conceived and delivered through ordinary people who are willing to act on God's vision.

Key Insights

1. The picture that you have of God has everything to do with the shaping of your faith and values. If your picture of God is distorted, your life perspective will be skewed.

2. The real meaning of Christmas gets lost in shopping, spending, escalating debt, making exhausting preparations, and building stacks of gifts that are not needed or will not be used. In the chaos of the holiday season, we miss the true gift of Immanuel, God with us.

3. Debt driven by the spirit of materialism holds many Christians captive today. Jesus came to break the chains of oppression and bondage—even the chains of debt.

4. Debt creates incredible economic challenges for families. Slaughter says that in 2005, for the first time in U.S. history, Americans reached a negative savings rate. Americans were spending $1.22 for every $1 earned.

5. It's time for Christians to focus on Jesus' birthday and celebrate Christmas in a way that honors the birth of the Messiah—concentrating their resources on the least and the lost.

6. Every work of God is conceived in the heart of a disciple, grows in conviction and clarity of vision, and then is delivered through God's intended action; more simply stated, God births miracles through ordinary people.

7. Throughout Scripture, God chose ordinary, unqualified people through whom to perform miracles—Moses, David, Elizabeth, Mary, and others.

8. The power of Immanuel is the power to create change in the world through God's action in your life.

9. Grace may be free, but it is never cheap. Miracles come at a cost.

Leader Background

• Jesus spoke more about money and materialism than any other single topic except the kingdom of God.

• One definition of miracle describes it as "a visible interruption of the laws of nature, understood only by divine intervention and often accompanied by a miracle worker."

• Although Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, were devout believers, traditional thought was that a childless couple was not in God's favor. They faced scorn and ridicule from their neighbors.

• Under Old Testament law an unwed mother faced possible punishment by stoning.

Getting Started

Opening Prayer

Merciful heavenly Father, as we begin this study of the celebration of the birth of your most precious miracle, open our eyes that we may see you clearly; open our ears that we may hear your voice; and open our heart that we may be a vessel for your use. We praise your name and lift our thanksgiving to you for the sacrificial gift of your son, Jesus. Bless this time of learning, sharing, and celebration. Amen.

Biblical Foundation

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel (Isaiah 7:14 NIV).

Opening Activity

Choose one.

• Divide the group into two smaller groups. Set out newspapers and magazines that can be cut, glue sticks, tape, scissors, and blank paper. Instruct participants to work together with their small group and use the newspapers and magazines to make a collage. One group should make a collage showing the consumer's view of Christmas while the other group makes a collage of the Christian view of Christmas. When groups have finished with their collages, have them come back together and share their collages. Lead a discussion of how the real meaning of Christmas has gotten lost in the shopping mall.

• Ask the group to call out the many names for Jesus—Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace, Messiah King, and so forth. Write these names on a board as the group calls them out. Then give each participant a piece of paper and a pencil. Instruct them to review the names of Jesus that you have written on the board, and from those names create a drawing of what Jesus looks like. When everyone is finished, ask for volunteers to show their pictures and tell why they drew what they did.

Learning Together

Video Presentation

Play the DVD segments for Introduction and Session 1. Running Times: 00:46 and 13:06

Group Discussion

In Session 1 of the book and video, "Expect a Miracle," Mike Slaughter points out that Jesus was not what most people expected. He did not possess worldly wealth or majestic power. In fact, he resisted the world's obsessions with wealth, pleasure, power, and recognition. In spite of this, we have allowed materialism and consumerism to skew our view of Jesus. We have created a Santa Claus Jesus who promises to fulfill all our earthly wants and wishes.

Ask participants to share how Christmas celebrations in their lives have changed throughout the years since they were children. This discussion may be especially interesting if you have a wide range of ages in your group. Then ask:

• If Jesus were a guest at your family's Christmas celebration, what would he observe? Would you change anything if you knew he was coming? Would you or your guests act differently?

• What are some things you currently enjoy or love about the holiday season? What don't you like? Is there a common theme between what you like and don't like?

Slaughter points out that the real meaning of Christmas is the celebration of a miracle—the birth of the Messiah. Jesus' mother, Mary, was an ordinary girl chosen to grow and deliver God's precious miracle. Today God still works miracles through ordinary people. God plants the seeds of miracles in the hearts of available people who are willing to act on God's vision.

Ask participants to imagine how Mary felt after speaking with the...