November 20 – 26

Weekly Reading for November 20 – 26

Preparing for Next Week’s Message

Sermon Series: God With Us
Sermon Title: Where Is God When My Pain Is Unbearable

This reading plan will get your heart and mind set for the next message on November 27, 2022:

• SUNDAY: Acts 7:54-60, Acts 9,
• MONDAY: Acts 16, Acts 17,
• TUESDAY: Acts 22, Acts 23,
• WEDNESDAY: Acts 24, Acts 25,
• THURSDAY: 2 Corinthians 1,
• FRIDAY: Matthew 8,
• SATURDAY: Matthew 9,

Reflecting on the Most Recent Sermon

Sermon Series: God With Us
Sermon Title: Where Is God When the Bottom Drops Out
Delivered On: November 20, 2022

VIEW SERMON NOTES

Memorize and Reflect

Matthew 1:22-23
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).

Prayer Direction

Pray for people you care about who are going through really hard times. Ask the God who is with us to touch them with His presence, strength, and grace. Thank God for the times in your life when God was near you and He was your lifeline during a very hard season.

“Live It!” Challenge

Affirm prayer and offer help – As you pray for a person in your life who is going through a hard time, reach out and let them know you are lifting them before God. You might even want to email or text them a written prayer they can look back on this and remember that they are being lifted up in prayer. Then, offer to help them in some tangible way.

Small Group Discussion

1. Tell about a time you went through a life-challenge and experienced God’s presence near you in a deep and personal way?

2. Read: Job 1:20-21. As you think about the story of Job, why do you think he would still trust and follow God in light of all he went through?

3. What are some of the different ways God comes near his people in the midst of pain, loss, and sorrow?

4. Read: Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:18-23. How do the prophecy of Isaiah and the record of Jesus’ conception fit together? What do you think people in the ancient world would have anticipated when they heard that Immanuel would one day come among us?

5. When Jesus came to this world, some people recognized who he was (The divine God who was with us) and others missed it. Why do you think some people were able to recognize and embrace Jesus and how did their lives change when they followed Him?

6. What do you think got in the way of some people in the ancient world recognizing and accepting Jesus as God with us? What gets in the way of people receiving Jesus today?

7. We all have stories of times when we really experienced Jesus being near us in good times and hard times. How might a non-believer be impacted if we told them one of our stories of experiencing Jesus as Immanuel “God with us”?

8. Who is a person in your life that does not believe in Jesus, but they respect you? What is a story of God’s presence being near you in a hard time that you could share with this person?

9. How could your small group members pray for you as you look for an opportunity to tell someone a story of how God has been with you?