Moving from Fear to Joy


DDG, Unit 19, Session 4, Day 1 – Luke 2:8-14

I kind of like that we are revisiting the Nativity story in the Spring. Besides bringing the stories into the context of Jesus’ death and resurrection, it helps to visit these stories out of season and revisit them outside the holiday trappings. In today’s DDG study, we revisit the story of the shepherds outside Bethlehem on the night of Jesus birth. As you complete today’s study, you will be encouraged to see the move from fear to joy in the experience of the shepherds.

How does this story help you in our current situation? Can you move from fear to joy in the midst of a pandemic? The Sunday School answer is “of course.” But, if that is not your experience, it is okay. Stand firm in the faith given to you by your Father in heaven and in the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life to carry you through.

In what ways has believing the gospel moved you from fear to joy?

Popular posts from this blog

Welcome

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves."                           Matthew 10:16 (NASB)     Pastors generally are a decent group of people who have difficult jobs working with people who are hurting and needy. It breeds a certain special kind of compassion. It also sometimes leaves them open to the occasional scam artist. We generally have the tools to keep ourselves out of trouble with people coming in person (thank you church boards), but it seems like once or twice each year, we get an email from some pastor or another on our district warning us that their email has been hacked and not to respond to requests for financial assistance. Most pastors are not noted for their tech savvy.     As a pastor and an IT professional, I always cringe a little when those emails come. Many of our pastors have the "innocent as doves" part down (med...
Read more

The Man Who is God (Matthew 9:1-8) 21 February 2023

  On any given day, you will find people on social media who will proudly proclaim “Jesus never said he was God.” You will hear several different kinds of people with different motivations who make the claim. There is the ill-informed atheist who shouldn’t really care what Jesus did or didn’t claim, since he doesn’t believe in God in the first place. The exvangelical who has “deconstructed” his faith to the point that it is difficult to put back together again. Then there is the Muslim who believes Jesus was a prophet and, as such, could not claim deity. While it is true that Jesus didn’t go around proclaiming Himself to be God with skin on, there are numerous places where he made claims where he equated himself with God, whom he often identified as “Father.” Today’s passage includes one of these. Explanation In this short passage, Jesus arrives in Nazareth (his own city) and encounters a paralytic who had been brought to him. He is moved by the faith of this group, but says ...
Read more

Miracle Baby – Jesus the Christ

 Luke 1:34-38 (ESV) And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her.   Explanation It is easy to become too familiar with certain Bible stories, and the stories around Jesus’ conception and birth certainly rank in that category. In this passage, Mary isn’t just finding she’s going to have a baby under the most unusual circumstances. God is going to fulfill His greatest prophecy. Israel’s messiah is to be born. She, of course, is confused about the mechanics of the promise, as...
Read more