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Stepping Through Christmas - Week Two

December 06, 2026 0 0

 

The Knock — Responding to the Invitation

 

This week focuses on the sound of the knock, the vulnerability of God asking to enter, and our personal response. God doesn’t operate through coercion but instead invites us into freedom through unconditional love — moving out of isolation and into fellowship and communion.

 

1. An Unexpected Visitor -- Luke 1: 26-38

Theme: Christmas can be full of festive invitations to events and shopping sprees. But are we keeping our ears open for the knock at the door to the last-minute adventures God could be calling us to?
 

Context: An angel appears with an invitation to adventure and wonder, compassion and glory. Mary is caught off guard, but she listens and responds with all her heart.
 

Discussion Questions:
 

  • Mary’s initial response to the angel is not an acceptance, it’s a question. Just because she is openhearted, doesn’t mean she isn’t still openminded. What would have happened if Mary had an open heart but a more closed, unquestioning mind? Or how about if Mary had that open mind, but a closed heart?
     
  • How can we learn from Mary’s thoughtful openness to God? How do we pair an emotional openness to God with a critical, engaged mind, willing to learn and grow as we go?

Personal Reflection: What invitations and opportunities have you let go by you? Perhaps because you have been preoccupied with the past or the future. Ask for God’s help to enter this present moment and embrace the invitations that come your way.

 

2. The Midnight Knocker -- Luke 11: 5-10

Theme: The power of bold, persistence in prayer and the promise that the door will open.
 

Context: This reading is Jesus responding to a disciple’s openhearted question about how to pray and immediately follows a version of ‘The Lord’s Prayer’.
 

Discussion Questions:
 

  • Do we sometimes focus too much on the ‘content’ of our prayers and not place enough value on their simple regular repetition?
     
  • As a Connect group, is there an issue you could agree to all pray about regularly over this season

Personal Reflection: What are you persistently taking to God’s door this Christmas?

 

3. The Feet on the Doorstep — Romans 10: 12-15

Theme: The importance of sharing the good news.
 

Context: Paull is telling us here it’s hard to knock on the door if you don’t have an address! Therefore he urges us to ‘geotag’ Jesus, to share our location, to point the way, type the postcode in the satnav, so that people can come to Jesus’ doorway themselves.
 

Discussion Questions:
 

  • When people tell their stories of coming to faith, they overwhelmingly focus on the important relationships that played a part in the process. What does a welcoming community need to have in place – in order to be able to offer these life-changing relationships at the right time and the right place?
     
  • As a Connect Group what could we do to share the Good News of Jesus this week?

Personal Reflection: When people look at me does my life quietly speak of Christ’s love for me?

 

Head to Week Three!